Thoughts on the Eve of Palm Sunday

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion,
 and turneth the shadow of death into the morning,and maketh the day dark with night;
 that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth:
The Lord is his name... Amos 5:8

Tonight, after dinner and a movie with Rebecca, I walked up to the barn with the terriers to take care of the evening chores.  High and off to the south shone my good friend Orion, the hunter.  Since we acquired this property, he has been my constant reminder that some things, the important things, never really change.  When I was a boy, my nights were filled with dippers and bears and pole stars.  We watched meteor showers and even got out our telescopes to view the occasional passing spacecraft.  There were fewer lights then, and we saw and knew so much more about the rhythms of the night.  Now, sandwiched between the lights of Lancaster and Columbus, much of my boyhood heritage has passed from sight.  But Orion is still there, defiantly resisting the waste and congestion of modern urban evening illumination, and reminding me that in spite of all which has passed, those things which really do matter are constant in my life.

When Tristan went to Afghanistan, I would look up and remember those days when we looked together at the great Hunter.  When Ashley moved away to start her own family, I found great consolation in the fact that the Hunter was still there, with his great club raised and his shield in position to stop the ravages of lion and dragon.  I still see Orion's presence as God's gift to me, ever telling forth the permanence of those things which are eternal.

So much has changed.  The Republic to which I dedicated my life is not the same place I so gladly served.  The Church into which I was ordained is scarcely recognizable on most days.  But Orion is there, reminding me that God is still in control, and that all the forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil will never triumph against Him or his Holy Church.  Kingdoms may rise and fall.  Economies may prosper or languish.  Ecclesial bodies may serve faithfully or lose sight of their calling.  But through it all I remain an incurable, if sometimes rather jaded and cynical optimist, for God reigns and my salvation is secure in Jesus Christ.  Orion helps me to remember these great truths, and to recall a simpler time when being in touch with the rhythms that God has established in creation was perhaps a bit easier, at least for me. 

And so in closing, may God bless my wife and children and grandchildren.  May he bless St. John's and his faithful people throughout the world.  May he bless the idea that America has been and still struggles to be.  May he bless those deployed and those who wait for them.  And may he bring peace to Jerusalem, and to all the world.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  AMEN.

Why I Love Being A Priest

The Most Beautiful Bird In America?
 

That time of year is upon us again. Friday morning, Chuck and I embarked with Fat Leo the Labrador on our first shoot of the season at Federal Valley Pheasant Farm, outside Amesville, Ohio.  We went five for five, and unfortunately, there was no one there to witness the feat.  Since everyone would naturally assume that Chuck and I would lie for each other in all things sporting, the wonderful claim falls into the same category as a golfing hole in one scored when one is playing alone.  But it was a good day, and Leo settled in pretty fast and gave yoeman's service on the lanes.

Todd Frazier's Rally Starting Home Run

On Thursday, I traveled to the Queen City to see the Reds close their last home stand of the year against the Brewers.  With two down in the bottom of the ninth, the Reds rallied to tie and then win the game.  The game had all the excitement of one of those devotional movie closings when the good guys come from behind to win, and it was great to be there in the flesh with my friends from St. John's to experience the jubilatioin of seeing the team I followed in my youth carry the day.

But the weekend was not all play.  I married a young couple from our parish and felt the joy of their decision to begin their life with each other in Christ.  I gave last rites to a dear friend, really more a sister, who is a longtime member of our parish.  I was priviledged to baptize a little boy whose father has just returned from an active duty deployment with the Ohio Army National Guard.  I had the opportunity to preach twice on our responsibilities as a parish to the children and the new Christians in our midst, and to lead a discussion on the difficult passages of the Bible and how sometimes it is hard to understand how God's character and person is revealed in those passages.  Later in the afternoon I was priviledged to bless a basset, three westies, a springer, a yorkie, a rat terrier, and a beagle at our annual animal blessing.  Along the way I had the opportunity to help a couple of folks with very real physical needs and to lend a listening ear to a handful more.  Oh yes, I also renewed a couple of old friendships and welcomed two families who spend half of the year somewhere else back to St. John's for County Fair week. 

Our Little Girls

But of all the happy and inspiring times of the weekend, the one which perhaps moved me the most was being able to spend time with my grand-daughters.  We laughed and played and fed the chickens and read books and just loved each other.  It is good to have them back in Ohio again.

Surely, life is a mixture of the wonderful and the difficult, of the inspiring and the discouraging, but I am so very thankful that God has immersed me in it as a Priest of His Church.  Someone asked me recently what I would be doing if I was not the priest at St. John's.  I really couldn't give them an answer, because I couldn't imagine doing anything else.  God has blessed me so richly in this place, and for that I am grateful.

Memories of My Dad

Federal's traditional purple 16 gague shot shell

Dad died a few years ago, and occasionally something reminds me of how much I miss him.  Today it was taking to the field with some friends for the first day of dove season.  I shot pretty well, always keeping in mind the truism from "Downton Abbey" that a shooter always wonders which is worse, "the sorrow at killing the bird, or the humiliation when you miss."  I had my fair share of both today, but the real story of the day was about remembering Dad.  He always shot 16 gauge.  In the old black powder days it was the perfect round ballistically.  When silver powder came along with its multitude of load possibilities, the "16" waned in popularity here in the US, although I'm told it remains very popular in Europe.  But I've always stuck with it because that's what Dad used. 

Last week, in preparation for the hunt, I stopped by Gander Mountain and picked up a few boxes of Federal shot shells in #8, the correct size for the small and elusive rockets that are called doves.  When I got to the peg today and opened the box to chamber my first two shots, I realized that the hulls on Federal 16's were still purple plastic.  My mind raced immediately back to the purple shells that were always stacked neatly in the bottom of the gun closet in Parker where I grew up.  It was almost like Dad was there with me.

My Dad: May he rest in peace

It's funny, the things that can trigger a memory.   For me is is usually something small and unexpected, like a purple hulled shotgun shell.  I'm glad it works like that.  I find great comfort in remembering what has gone before me, and in looking forward to what is to come.

Facing the Darkness

Sermon for August 5th
Preached at St. John's Lancaster

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah

And Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon King David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. (I Kings 1: 38-39)

It was an auspicious day, for a new king had been anointed in Zion. It was the latest verification of that promise which had been given by God through the patriarch Joseph, “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be…” (Genesis 49:8-10) The prophet Zechariah understood the prophetic nature of these utterances about the house of Judah and of David when he proclaimed “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, o daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zechariah 9:9) His understanding was vindicated and the prophecy fulfilled on that day “when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.” (St. Matthew 21:1-9)

The Jewish people suffered much in the thirteen or fourteen centuries which contained these prophetic events. There were wars and rumors of wars, slavery and deportations, famines and earthquakes and fire and flood. Invasion and economic ruin were never far over the horizon. For much of that time we might apply Churchill’s description of life in Iron Age Britain that “Life is brutal and short, and then you die.” But God’s promise prevailed, and among the people, even in the darkest of hours, that hope flickered that God would remember his chosen, and that the “scepter would not depart from Judah until Shiloh come.”

And now, by virtue of our response to God, we too are numbered among His chosen people. Because ‘we have confessed our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ (I John 1:9 sic) Because ‘we have confessed with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believed in our heart that God hath raised him from the dead, we shall be saved.’ (Romans 10:9 sic) Because ‘we have been born of the water and of the Spirit, we can enter into the kingdom of God.’ (John 3:5 sic) Because we ‘eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, we have life in us…and we dwell in him and he in us, and he shall raise us up at the last day.’ (St. John 6:53-56 sic)

Like patriarchs and prophets and kings before us, like those who are ‘unremembered…who were men of loyalty and good deeds…, whose lives led their children to stay within the covenant of God.’ (cf Ecclesiasticus 44:9-12) we find in our lives those times of dryness and disappointment, those times of difficulty and unexpected disorder, those times of darkness. But the promises of God are true. During the years when Jerusalem was in ruins and God’s faithful people wept by the waters of Babylon, they remembered the promises (cf. Psalm 137). In the most difficult of times, when they cried “Out of the depths” (Psalm 130:1), the people of God affirmed their faith that “he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” (Psalm 130:8) Blessed Job in the midst of his infirmities and misfortunes cried out in faith “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” (Job 19:25-26)

And so should we, when life’s vicissitudes and uncertainties and unpleasantries confront us, place our hope in God, who is “our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake at the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.” (Psalm 46:1)

As war descended across Europe in the closing years of 1939, King George VI addressed the people of the Empire and of the world. He quoted from a poem by Minnie Louise Harkins and said “I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown, and he replied. Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way! So I went forth and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.”

Whatever darkness my threaten you this day. Whatever sorrow you have known or whatever difficulties you face. I bid you this day to put your hand into the hand of God in the knowledge that Shiloh is come into the world and that the prophesies are fulfilled. Jesus Christ, who bid his disciples “be not afraid” on so many occasions, gives to us the same admonition today. Praised be God, who has not allowed the scepter to depart from the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and who in his mercy and grace has named you and me to be the heirs of the Kingdom of God. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.

Rector's Rambling- August 2012

The heat is more bearable today, down to a very seasonable 90 degrees from the 105 to 107 degree readings of a week or two ago.  The morning started with about an hour and a half in the garden and at the barn.  I don't do farm work on Sundays unless an emergency is involved, because I really do believe in keeping the sabbath as much as possible.  As a result of my "sabbath observance," the straw bale garden on the north-west side of the barn had gotten a bit dry and a couple of winter squash plants were looking extremely droopy this morning.  The good soaking they received will doubtless have the desired impact by mid-day, but the event gave me reason for reflection.  As a general rule, it is not the great events that distinguish my life, or build my walk with God.  Rather it is the mundane, the repetitive, and even the boring sameness of every day which truly demonstrate my character and bring me success in the spiritual as well as in the secular realm.

Since mid May, those squash plants have been watered nearly every day that it did not rain, and that is most of them.  They are large and flourishing, covered with blossoms and fruit.  And yet missing water for a day and a half could have been fatal to them.  Their health and well being depends on being watered and tended every day.  Continued neglect could not have been corrected by even the most heroic efforts.  It is the same in my life.  If I decided not to return calls or not to go to work for just a few weeks, my reputation and my business would suffer.  If I decided not to pray or read the Bible or receive the Sacrament for half a month, my walk with God would suffer, not because He thought any less of me, but because I had deserted Him.

Someone once said that character is the sum total of many consistant and regular small decisions made over many years.  I believe they are absolutely spot on.  A student who exhibits irregular attendance and only submits every other paper will certainly fail.  A workman who comes to work only when he feels like it will soon find himself on the unemployment line.  A Christian who prioritizes sports or hobbies or sleeping in or another object or person, over time with God in Word and Sacrament and Prayer will soon find his or her faith languishing and withering like my winter squash vines. 

The grace bestowed in Baptism and past Communion received is mighty indeed.  The direction from and intimacy with God that comes from reading the Bible and praying in months or years past should never be devalued.  But the Christian who neglects the regular cultivation of their spiritual life through those disciplines given and modeled by our Lord Jesus Christ is literally endangering their walk with God and giving Satan an entre into their spiritual life.  Before long, attendance on the holy ordinances of God are absent from the person's life.  Other spiritualities and forms of self-reliance replace those life giving springs in which we all agreed to participate in our baptism and at our confirmation.  While the person in question might remain a very nice person and a good neighbor, their faith in the immanence of the Living Christ dwindles, and like my squash vine, their Christian witness withers away and dies.

Jesus often told stories from the natural and the farming and the laboring world to make a spiritual point.  We call these stories his parables.  They have been defined as earthly stories with heavenly meanings.  With all my heart, I believe that they are an indication that a loving Father has built his truth into creation itself, that we might be drawn to him, and empowered to discover his truth.  Scripture tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the Earth shows forth his handiwork.  Even the humble winter squash has so much to teach us about ourselves, and our walk with God.  Let us all open our eyes to the prophetic design which is God's gift to us, and let us labour every day to draw closer to him by making those things which he modeled and commanded a regular part of our lives.

Bill+

PS: It occurs to me that there are real emergencies or situations in our lives which on occasion prevent our daily watering of our souls.  If you find yourself in such a situation, call me at 740/215-3900.  We have a priest, a deacon, and at least four licensed lay eucharistic ministers who can come to your home and help with the watering when real emergencies come into your life.

Hermit for a Day!

To live in a cave with a dog for a day,
is a dream often sought by a boy!

The last few days have marked one of those uninspired low spots that occasionally characterize my life.  I am neither discouraged nor depressed.  I go to work and do my job and have no lack of purpose or meaning.  But the inspiration to do great things or to be great simply isn't there.  In such times the colors on the farm seem a bit more vivid and the chatter of the birds more melodic than usual.  While I don't necessarily dislike people in general during these times, I find that I seek out my own company and more solitude during these short interludes of thoughtfulness.  I generally wake earlier than usual, and avoid main highways or congested streets in town.  The garden holds more fascination for me, and the small things, the ever changing things there, draw me in like Mesmer's bauble.

There was a time when these short flights caused me to wonder if I might be called to a monastic vocation.  I remember visiting a Trappist house and corresponding with one of the brothers there for two or three years.  His counsel was timely and wise, and I fell in love instead.  Then there were occasions when I toyed with the idea that such times as these might mean that God was getting ready to call me to another field of endeavor.  But an older and wiser voice told me that far too many clergy blame their inability to weather the storms of life or to experience the kind of intimacy which really makes them a part of a community of faith, on God's call.  It is easier to find self-esteem in being the misunderstood and maltreated itinerant than in weathering the squabbles and personality clashes necessary to really belong to a particular nodule of the family of God.

Perhaps it is because sometimes I feel so old, but I am coming to see these times of lowness as gifts from a loving heavenly Father.  He knows that I can only handle so much significance, and he occasionally gives me a break from the rat race of modern life.  When I played at being an academic so many years ago, on occasion I would get tired of reading significant literature or meaningful history, and would read something totally mindless- like "Conan the Barbarian" or Lord Home's musings on his patrimony.  I always seemed to come away refreshed and ready to go back to the library or the classroom.  There were times when as an Army Chaplain I simply needed to wear civilian clothes and call people by their first names.  And now God gives me the gift of the willingness to walk away from things, some of which are rather important, for just a little while to rest and refresh myself.  The change in mood or perception doesn't mean that he is calling me to another place or another job.  It is just a way that he can give me a break to preserve my spiritual and mental health, and probably my physical health as well (for after all they are one and the same.)

And so, from a soon to be old man who has been a bit tired of late, I hope you too will be able to find a time and a place apart- and to enjoy it as the gift of a loving heavenly Father who wishes your best, and your wholeness. 

Happy the man...

"beatus ille qui procul negotiis...paterna rura bobus exercet suis"
-happy the man who far away from business...tills with his own oxen the fields his father owned-
                                                      Horace, Epodes ii:1-3

I was up early this morning for no apparent reason.  The terriers were more lethargic than usual, but after they bounced out the door and down into the woods for their morning constitutional, I settled in to pay some bills and take care of some outstanding business.  But first, I walked over to the left wall of the chapel to turn on the propagator lights.  I love starting seeds in the late winter.  Last week it was broccoli and collards- this week lettuces, cabbage, spinach, and kohlrabi.  After a couple of weeks inside, they will all be ready for transplanting to the greenhouse, although hard freezes this time of year can be treacherous even with double frames inside the unheated greenhouse.  Sometime in the next week or two, the tomatoes and peppers will get their starts, although they take a bit more care in handling until the last frost sometime in early to mid-May. 

My gardening propositions this year include plans to be a bit more intentional about row-cropping flowers to cut and keep in the house.  With Rebecca back to teaching from home again, it is wonderful to experience the small joys of domesticity, and cut flowers are definitely one of those joys.  I'm also planning to be a bit more organized about rotational planting this year to give more of a rolling harvest for immediate consumption, with the larger crops of garden peas, tomatoes, fruits, and berries being the focus of preservation for winter's enjoyment.  The plan this year is to start everything inside, even the peas and beans.  In theory, this should allow for more systematic weed control and less waste of seed.  It also allows me to play with my propagator and greenhouse.  When the well stocked grocer is just around the corner, one has a bit more liberty in exploring new horticultural ideas.

Ohio is a wonderful place to be as winter fades into spring.  I think I'll have a cup of tea and read morning prayer and give thanks for it all.

      

Rector's Report 2011- St. John's Lancaster

The numbers look good this year at St. John’s.  Eleven Baptisms, a good list of confirmations receptions and transfers, a strong pledge base and small surplus going into December, and an Average Sunday Attendance (there is the real number for any church) of 110, up 15 from last year.  But cautious thanksgiving, not jubilant self-congratulation is in order.  After all, we have buried some very active members and seen good friends and members of our parish move away.  And our ASA is significantly skewed by the fact that Christmas fell on a Sunday this year and the fact that we had excellent attendance at both Christmas Eve services, which count toward Sunday attendance.  All the same, good things are happening at St. John’s.  We offer three Communion Services each week in our Church, all of which are well attended.  Two regular Bible studies are joined by a strong EFM program to provide Christian Education opportunities for our members.  We have a regular presence for Prayer and Communion distribution in two nursing homes.  We offer weekly lay led evening prayer at the church and also at the chapel at Pickering House, the home of our local tri-county hospice program.  We have a regular presence in the county jail, the transitions center, and in SEPTA- the tri-county jail in Nelsonville (Bill McCleery, assisted by Chuck Canter even baptized two men there this year!)  We have had good participation serving meals to the poor in Jackson and Hocking counties, and the support of our parish for the local Lutheran Social Services food pantry continues.  We continue to support missions ranging from Haiti to Liberia to East Asia and beyond, and youth work in Pennslyvania.  We support work among single mothers in our own community and provided hats and mittens to needy children in our own public schools.  Our building is used by AA and Alanon, Fairhope Hospice, the Lancaster Festival Art Walk, and a group of local elementary school cheerleaders regularly.   Special needs students from Lancaster High School come to our church every week during the school year for on-site job training experience.  All of these things and more are supported by all of the administrative and service structures such as altar guild, choir, office volunteers, and the like that make up the daily labour of the people of God at St. John’s.  We support the ministries of the Episcopal church directly through Episcopal Community Services Foundation,  Support for the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem on Good Friday, support for the Dohn's- medical missionnaries in the Dominican Republic, and direct giving to two Episcopal Seminaries at Nashotah House and in Ambridge PA.  This year, we saw one of our own families, the Canters, graduate from the House and accept a church appointment in the Episcopal diocese of San Diego.   We have been pleased to support the Good Earth Farm and Common Friars, our relatively new Episcopal Monastery in Athens.  Our own Emily Crawford served as a summer intern there during her break from Washington and Lee.  .We also pay our diocesan Mission Share fully and on time this and every year.  These are a few of the highlights of who we are and what we do here at St. John’s, and there are many more things we do to serve God and our fellows here and around the world.  Thank you all for your generous support and service.

2011 has also seen some big changes about how we do business at St. John’s and in the look of the Church.  First for the capital projects: We have new roofs on both buildings which should serve us for years to come.  A major masonry project was conducted on the west end of the church which included the rebuilding of both towers.  Many thanks to Glenn Newman, a long-time friend of this parish for doing the work.  He saved us substantial amounts of money with his patient and careful workmanship.  Thanks also to Martin Taylor, our good neighbor, who cooperated with us and Fairfield Federal to stabilize and reconstruct the wall that marks our property line.  Last year, our vestry decided to adopt a plan of “Common Ministry” or increased lay involvement in the running of the church.  A significant component of that plan was the replacing of our Church secretary with volunteer workers.  It has been a learning process, but the transition has been made successfully, thanks to the hard work of Tom Hammer, Schyler Crawford, and all of our office volunteers.  We hit a milestone in 2011 when our treasurer, Lowell Stallsmith, celebrated his  twenty fifth year in that position.  Thanks Lowell for a job well done.  We continued to get to know each other better thanks to the monthly fellowship breakfasts organized by Mark and Mary Alice Perrine and their crews.  Suzie Cork and the folks at Shaw’s continued to conduct the popular cooking classes which have brought joy to so many and raised a considerable sum for our parish.  Many thanks are also in order to the Fairfield Anglican Fellowship, an independent mission support agency and registered 501c3 for their continued substantial support of our mission through the payment of utilities and support for individual projects of our parish and their support of the Common Friars in Athens.  Thanks to all who support St. John’s by their labor, their giving of money and time and prayer, and by living the gospel every day.  We are truly blessed, and if 2011 is any indicator of who we are, I anticipate a great 2012 here on behalf of the kingdom of God.

Faithfully,

Bill+

After the Order of Melchizedek

It has been a long journey and a lot of work, but we all rejoice that Son In Law Matthew (center- aka "the preaching bear" by children in Malawi) was ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests by Bishop Mathes of San Diego on behalf of Bishop Lawrence of South Carolina on December third. Matthew asked me to preach for his ordination, and here is my sermon, along with some pictures of the day.

Concelebrating with Bishop Mathes

Presenting Fr. Canter and His Family

Putting up with Marines (little brother is on the right!)

Greeting Friends at the Reception

A Goodly Heritage

Ordination Sermon- Matthew Canter
Preached at St Michael’s by the Sea, Carlsbad California
On the eve of the feast of Nicholas Ferrar

Exodus 3:1-6
Psalm 121
II Timothy 4:1-8
Saint John 10:1-18

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be alway acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

There are times in our lives when we, like Moses, stand in the very presence of God. It may be at a burning bush, or in the vicinity of a bolt of lightening, or when we hear a voice in the dark, but we know instinctively that we have been in the presence of the living God. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are indeed the children of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. In July of 2000, Matthew’s mother Kathy received a letter from Scotland which I have been given permission to share with you today. Her son wrote, “I feel and felt within me on the late night of first July that my life be used to spread and minister the Word of God. I believe that God tells all of us different matters in our lives. It just so happens I was listening when he told me I should be in the ministry.” What a blessed letter for any mother to receive. It is no wonder that it has been so lovingly preserved. I don’t know the exact details of what happened in Scotland in July of 2000, but it made a young man aware of God’s presence in his life, and he was listening, and here we are today. I presume, in fact I know that over the last decade or so, that young man had times when he doubted what he experienced on that first of July, but over the years an ever growing circle of friends and family, mentors, congregations, bishops, seminary faculty, and the members of the commission on ministry have come to the same conclusion that he reached that night, that his “life be used to spread and minister the Word of God.”
Matthew, thank God that by his grace, you were listening. Thank God that the good people of Fairview Church had lived before you the Word of God in such a way that you had some idea of how to recognize the voice of God in your life. Thank God that Mike Morgan sent you to us at St. John’s, and that you met a godly professor at Presbyterian, and that there were men in your unit in Korea and Iraq who served God faithfully- until the very end of their lives. Thank God that you met my Daughter and fell in love with an Anglo-Catholic pietist and went to Nashotah House and met Bishop Salmon and went to Malawi and came here. As I imagine you can attest, there are no accidents in our lives. God has prepared you for this day that he anticipated before the foundations of the earth were laid. He knew you in your mother’s womb, and knew that your “life would be used to spread and minister the Word of God.” He has positioned us all, the members of his one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, along the way as witnesses to discern, and affirm, and acclaim the reality of your call. And now, under the leadership and direction of the bishops of his church, we gather today to affirm that you are called to be “alter Christus,” in the place of Christ, as a Presbyter of the church catholic. As president of the Eucharist, you will stand in the place of and along side of your bishop to model for your people the life and example of Jesus Christ. Like him, you will represent to the Father that holy sacrifice of ourselves in love and humility on behalf of the whole world and teach us that “no man hath greater love than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” By word and example, you will teach us to “love one another,” and to “prefer one another before ourselves.” You will make mistakes, and from time to time fall into sin, but you will return and repent, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ to shower you with his grace and to give you strength; because you are “sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.” You will discipline your life according to the precepts of the Bible, because it is in your behaviour and character that men and women will know Jesus. But now I have gone to preaching at my son-in -law, something I’ve looked forward to for a long time, but enough is enough, so let me regroup and restrain myself.
Son in law, as you are commissioned and ordained this day to spread and minister the Word of God, you are ordained by Bishop Mathes on behalf of the Holy Church of God to stand in the very place of Christ. At the Altar, in your preaching, and by your example, you are set apart in a very special way to proclaim to everyone, because God loves everyone, that the way to enter the sheepfold of God’s mercy is through the wicket gate, the door of Jesus, who died for us and was resurrected to glory that we might live forever with peace, and purpose, and hope, and the knowledge that God loves us. Love all those made in God’s image, and honour their decisions and their outlooks, and their beliefs, but never under any circumstances waver from your commitment that Jesus is the door, and that he is the way to the Father’s forgiveness and love.
Be faithful to your people, “wallow with them in the midst of their daily affairs”, and so order your life that they will see in you the Good Shepherd who giveth his life for the sheep. So order your life and your family that they will see in you the holiness and the humility of Jesus. When times are difficult and discouragement sets in, do not flee, thereby allowing the wolves of this world to scatter the flock of Christ, but stand firm in the Gospel you have received. Give your life for the people of God, that they may know firsthand the character and love of God in Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd, in whose place you stand.
As you strive to do this thing by his grace, remember your covenant with my daughter and grandchildren. It is so easy to become so busy in good works that we neglect those whom God has given us first. And yet it is in your marriage that you most perfectly model the image of God in the world. It is there that you show the respect and consideration that characterizes all true leadership and models the headship of Christ. It is there in your wife and children that people see the true role of the Church, submitting to godly headship not out of fear or mere duty, but because your character and fidelity to the Word of God produces for them an ark of safety and the knowledge that you would never demand or coerce anything that would be hurtful, or humiliating, or unloving. It is in your marriage, and in the begetting of children that God has allowed you to participate with him in the very act of creation. Cultivate and love your family with all humility and tenderness, that all people might see in your home the true nature of that love which exists betwixt Christ and his Church.

Matthew, would you please stand.

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” In this his second letter to Timothy, from which our second lesson was drawn today, St. Paul proclaims those same characteristics of effective life and ministry that St. John gives us in his first Epistle General, namely that our lives should be characterized by love, sound doctrine, and personal holiness, which is obedience to the clear teachings of Holy Scripture. Matthew, love everyone. Love everyone. Love everyone. for God has sent you to represent him as a priest of his church. Believe and teach the Faith received from apostles and martyrs, and from Christ himself; grounded in the Bible, contained in the creeds, and proclaiming to all the beauty of the Holy and Blessed Trinity- one God, and of the unique, historic person and work of Christ. Conform your life to the clear teaching and example of the Word of God written, which is the authentic eye witness Holy Spirit inspired record of the Word which was made flesh and dwelt among us. And with St. Paul I say “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me.” And I, along with Rebecca and your parents would add, bring the girls with you. Now, would you please face the people to whom God has called you.

Ashley, would you and the girls please come and stand beside Matthew.

Would the congregation please stand.

Behold one soon to be ordained a priest of the living Christ. Behold him whom you have acclaimed as one called and set apart to this holy office. Bear with him and remember that he is human. Love him and his family. In honesty and with kindness share with him in those tasks and sacrifices and risks to which God has called you. Share your burdens with him, and help him to bear his own. Remember that you are called together to be the people of God. None is above and none below, but all labour together in humility in the Name of him who called us all to believe in Jesus and to love one another. Remember that in God’s economy, the most experienced may learn much from the youngest and most naive, and the simplest man or woman might be the teacher of the most highly educated. Give thanks for each other, and go forth to show the people of this community that God loves them, and that he has a wonderful plan for each of their lives.

And now Father, continue with us in this place. Make this day to be not only a landmark for your servant Matthew, but for all the people of this parish and this church. Make it to be for us all a time of commitment and beginning as we do the work you have given us to do.. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.

Winter Squash, Vergil, and Grey Skies

At six this morning, I woke up and made myself a pot of tea. After letting the dogs out, feeding, and cleaning up, I read Vergil. I never fail to be amazed at how the basic human virtues seem to manifest themselves in every age. What a testament it is to God that in this fallen world, He always manages to lead us to the Christ through either the Natural Law or the Revealed Law of the Scriptures. Given, the Natural Law can never get us there entirely, for "how shall they hear without a preacher?" But certainly the sense of brotherhood I sense with the ancient heroes of Troy, or Rome, or a dozen other places, exceeds that which I sense with some of my neighbors with whom I share baptism. I surmize that God has written into the human heart a basic nobility which reflects his own image. It may be covered, and even damaged by sin, but so often it has blazed forth in the most unlikely places. It assures us that while we may be barbarians, we are still loved of God, and in His grace and mercy, he calls us all to a higher way through every culture that he has allowed to exist and develop in all of history. It only remains to us to see our finest yearnings brought to fullness as they are completed in Jesus Christ, who is the original virtue, and is indeed the "Author and Finisher of our faith."

After returning home from work today, I gathered the winter squash and put them in the cellar. It seems like they have been growing and twining for so long. A couple of unseasonable weeks early in the spring caused me to wonder whether they would grow to maturity. Today's harvest proved the foolishness of that fear. I suppose it is the same with us. Like Harry the King, it is a good thing that God does not judge us by the promise of our younger days. His grace is so benificent, His prophetic ability so absolute, that He allows us to seemingly perish in the unseasonable times of our rebellion. And then He comes in splendor to transform us into the image of His Son. We are truly blessed.

For several days now, the rain has been intermittent in our part of the world. Earlier in the week, I planted around twenty five or thirty various pine and spruce trees. Hopefully all of them are stiff enough and pungent enough to dissuade the deer and my beloved pony from seeing them as dessert. One day, they will shield our home from any trace of human habitation apart from our family, and they should provide a wonderful cover for the deer, bird, and rabbit population hereabouts. But they cannot grow without rain. And so even if I cannot till the garden today, I rest in the knowledge that my trees will grow with the rain that God has provided.

And so once again God has provided for all my needs. He has led me to Christ. He has allowed and enabled me to grow beyond the rashness of my youth. He has watered the trees and caused the desert to flourish like a garden. Surely he is good to me, and to all those whom he has called to be His own. And truly his rain, and all of His blessings, fall on the just and on the unjust alike. Oh, that we might have eyes to see, and hearts to appreciate His love and provision for us.