LAKE JAMES

NORTH CAROLINA

ADVENT SUNDAY + DEC. 2, 2007 + ST. PAUL’S, LAKE JAMES

+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Do you remember a series of movies (more years ago than we may wish to count) – a series featuring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as “Ma and Pa Kettle?” No one, I suspect, would ever have dreamed of nominating those shows for Academy Awards, or called them “great drama,” but they had an earthy, healthy humor which gave many people lots of enjoyment.

One scene, which after all these years, I still recall with sheer delight, is of the large Kettle family sitting down around a long dining room table for Sunday dinner. Ma has just finished placing the platters of food on the table and, amidst the loud chatter of happy people, a number of hands reach out to begin serving themselves. Pa, looking stern, stops the noise and the grabbing for food, saying “WAIT A MINUTE – WAIT A MINUTE!” There are ashamed looks on many faces as all bow their heads so that Pa can say Grace. Looking upwards, and tipping his ever-present fishing hat perhaps a quarter of an inch off his head, Pa says “Much Obliged!” and the and grabbing for food resumes with great enthusiasm.

Today, Advent Sunday, we begin a new Church Year saying, perhaps in a more elegant and appropriately dignified Anglican way, “Much Obliged!” to God the Father for so many things. Just two days ago, on November 30^th, the Church celebrated the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Patron Saint of Scotland. While those in the parish who are of Scots descent may have a special reason to rejoice in that holy day, all of us, regardless of ancestry, can and should thank God for the enrichment of Scottish poetry, and music, of prose, dance, art, and of wonderful woolens. But even more, for a history of fighting for freedom, rejecting subjection and slavery. While they are particular glories of the Scottish Church, such great saints as Saint Margaret the Queen, Saint Ninian the Bishop, and Saint Columba the Abbot not only provide powerful models of the Christian life but are even now praying for us from their vantage point with God in heaven. And in the 18th century, the Non-Juring Bishops of the tiny Episcopal Church in Scotland consecrated Samuel Seabury, giving the American Church its first bishop thereby bestowing on future American generations the gifts and graces of Apostolic Succession.

Just as there is a tradition that, on St. Patrick’s Day, not only Father John, but all the rest of us are Irish, so today, everyone can be a Scot. And if our coffee hour will lack what I think is a particularly wonderful whisky, I am sure there will be other tasty goodies for all to enjoy. So, whether we be genuine Scots, people whose are descended from actual inhabitants of that historic place (dare I say, people whose claim is really “kosher”), it’s fun to take time to consider all that the Scottish heritage includes, and then celebrate it!

But there’s more to it than that! Consider that, in its essence, what I have been talking about is being grateful for a sense of “belonging,” of being part of something which is larger than any single person or family, a heritage which brings us out of isolation, out of self-centeredness, into the warmth of fellowship with others. Others not only those like us, and for Scots, not only fellow Scots! Did you know that Saint Andrew is also the Patron Saint of Russia? So, God’s love and our connectedness reaches out to people with names such as Margaret or Ian, Donal or Bruce, but also to Ivan and Anastasia, Alexi, and Vladimir. Whether our path to God has been enriched by the beauties of the Scottish culture or the Russian, by the English, Irish, or Chinese, whether our personal Patron Saint is Blessed Andrew or Patrick, Boniface or Thomas, Elizabeth, Teresa or Hilda, the message is the same. We are called by God out of separation and alone-ness, into family, into that fellowship which is so far much more than fellowship, for, as those baptized into Christ, we have been made members one of another, we are part of a body, an organic entity which is unique in the history of humankind, namely, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, the Holy Church of God!

On this first Sunday of Advent, we are reminded that we worship not some distant deity who rules by power or terror and who cares neither about nor for us, but rather, a God who cared so much for us that He sent His only Son to be our Savior, entering life as a helpless baby. The message of Advent is that we both worship a God who came to us in the stable at Bethlehem, but who also comes to us, here and now. In the Collect for today, we asked that God would give us the grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, now. It’s important to know and cherish our heritage, whether it be Scottish or some other, but it is vital that we realize that we share the history of all people, because all people are those for whom Jesus Christ was born, lived, suffered, died, and rose from the dead. At the same time, unless we are to become mere history-worshippers, we also need to understand and be aware of what is going on now – right now! You and I have been brought into existence to live in the present, in the moment which is.

The present means different things to different people. For some, it is a time of joy, but for others, sorrow. It may be a time of good health or suffering from a serious illness, a time of strong faith, or doubt, of security or of fear of the future. Whatever our “now” is, it is the time in which we are, and therefore, the time in which we need to be aware of God’s love and presence.

For us as Anglicans, the most obvious and dramatic mode of God’s presence is experienced in the Holy Eucharist. Every time the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, the Lord comes not only to be with us, but, if we will, to be in us as we receive the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and in the proclamation of God’s holy Word in the readings from the Bible.

Sometimes, we may be so used to those sacred rites that they become mechanical and seemingly have little or no impact on us. How important, at such times, to take a step back and to be reminded of what it is that is happening at Mass, of just Who it is who comes to us under the veils of bread and wine. It might be nice if Our Lord would arrange to have a few angels suddenly appear at each Eucharist and blow trumpets to get our attention. But instead, we hear only the familiar words “This is My Body, this is My Blood – Do this.”

Remember those wonderful words in the beloved Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” by Bishop Phillips Brooks? Words which describe so perfectly what takes place in receiving Holy Communion: “How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given – so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming, but, in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Christ enters in.” I hope every time you hear those simple words, you will think about the incredible gift Christ gives you at each reception of the Holy Sacrament. I promise we’ll be singing them at Christmas, but maybe you’ll hear them in your head other times too because they are so right!

On this Advent Sunday, the lighting of the first Advent Candle, the Bible Readings, and the prayers all look forward to the great celebration of the birth of our Savior. But they also should remind us that there are continual Advents in our lives, Advents which take place whenever men and women are obedient to the Will of God by participating in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. True, we may choose to be present or to be absent, to receive the Blessed Sacrament or to abstain – those choices are ours, not God’s, for God is always there, always loving, always giving of Himself to those who will receive Him. Advent Sunday is an especially good time to ask ourselves how clear we are about that, and how responsive we are to Christ’s offering to us that wonderful sacramental banquet.

Another mode of Christ’s presence among us is found in his reaching out to us in and through people. One of the traditional statements about the very nature and essence of the Church is that it exists to carry on the work of the Incarnation, or, putting it more personally, we, the Church, exist to continue and extend the ministry of Jesus. We are to love in His Name, to feed the hungry in His Name, to heal in His Name, to teach in His Name. We are to be Christophers, that is, we are to be Christ-bearers not only to one another within the parish, but to the many folks who are not part of the Church, as well as to those who, while Baptized Christians, have lost their faith or found that the Christian religion has ceased to have much or any real meaning for them.

Saint Ninian was a Christ-bearer to the people of the Diocese of Galloway in the 5^th century, as was Saint Columba to the monks of his abbey a century later. Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland, was a Christ-bearer to her people in the 11^th century, and so were the brave bishops who bestowed the Apostolic Succession of Episcopacy on the young American Church in the 18^th century. They are examples for all of us, but the vocation to be a Christ-bearer is not limited to such great saints, to bishops, priests, deacons, monks, nuns, or friars. That vocation is open to all of us – all of us. Taking that call, that vocation seriously is what it means to be a Christian in our day. It’s a tall order – but it’s ours! I hope you find that not only challenging, but thrilling – because it is both, isn’t it?

+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The Reverend Alfred T. K. Zadig, Sr.

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