TAKING LEAVE

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor …

How do we say good-bye? How do we take leave?

The short answer is: We don’t. If you know the movie ET, Elliot and the Alien realize at the end that they will be here and here (HEART & MIND).

When Elijah ascended into heaven, he left his staff and his cloak behind, so Elisha could carry on the work that Elijah had begun. “If you see me go, you will inherit a double portion of my spirit.”

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he said to his disciples: Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.

In each of these leave-taking events, we are reminded that while we may be apart in body, we are never really apart in spirit.

In our time together, many of you have shared your experiences of clergy past – Dub Wolfrum, Rev. Karen, Ray Brown, Roy Turley, Todd Young, John Hay, Leigh Wallace – to name just a few.

So, maybe the question isn’t so much how we take our leave, but is there something we can offer one another that will serve as bread for the journey that lies ahead?

For my part, I would hope that you will remember that our task, our call, our vocation is always to share the Good News of God’s kingdom. Remember the church’s mission. 

Memorize that passage from the catechism: What is the Mission of the Church? The Mission of the Church is to restore ALL people to unity with God and one another in Christ. We pursue that mission as we worship, pray, serve, and give for the spread of God’s kingdom.

Jesus gives us great material to work with. What is the kingdom like? It is like a Pearl of Great Price. Remember to look at these parables from 2 directions. 

First, you are the Pearl of Great Price. God gave EVERYTHING to acquire you: you the individual; you the parish; you the diocese; you, the people of the world. In other words, look in the mirror and hear the good news: God gave his all for you.

The flip side of that is the kingdom of God is a real treasure to which we are invited to walk along, stub our toes, and discover to our great joy.

Imagine, if you will, stubbing your toe on Sheriff Plummer’s bag of gold in the backyard of some house in VC. You can’t just take it ... that would be stealing. 

So you knock on the door and ask the owners how much they want for the house. “It ain’t for sale.” “I want it. How much?” They suggest some ridiculous price, at least twice what they think it’s worth. You sell everything and you buy it, and when the dust settles, you “discover the bag of gold” – and it is yours fair and square. And then you not only get the value of the bag, but you get the movie rights, and you get Tom Hanks to play you, and Meryl Streep to play your spouse!

“The kingdom of God is like that!” says Jesus.

The question is, are we looking? Are we paying attention? Do we see what God sees? Do we see the value in our neighbor? “You have taught us to keep ALL your commandments by loving you and ...”

The challenge we sometimes face is that we can too easily become Pontius Pilates when it comes to the kingdom of God. We see people and maybe we don’t think they quite measure up – and we’re right. 

As St. Paul says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” But we have to remember that ALL includes US. None of us measures up fully, and if we make like Pilate and wash our hands of our neighbor, are we asking God to wash his hands of us?

God forbid! I want God to embrace me. I want God to hold onto me. I want God to love me with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind. And so I need to be willing to let go my prejudices, let go my greed, let go my laziness, let go all my other character defects – because if I let them go, then my hands will be free to become God’s hands; my hands will be free to embrace others in Jesus’ Name.

That’s why we prayed (in our collect): “Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, AND united to one another with pure affection …”

… because it is only by God’s grace that we can hope to do any of that.

Grace. That’s a gift, you know. As Paul tells us, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”

In other words, what Paul tells us is that we have all earned a spot in front of the Firing Squad. We’ve all been fitted with a blind-fold; we’ve all had our last meal; we’ve all had our last cigarette. But just as the executioner is ready to give the command to FIRE, a pigeon has arrived from headquarters, and the message tied to her little pigeon ankle says: Hold Your Fire; the King has granted a full pardon!

The question that leaves us is simply this: Will you tell your friends and neighbors how you deserved to die, but were given your freedom, instead?

Or will you live a lie? Free, but pretending nothing ever happened? You neither deserved death, nor did you ever gain or merit pardon?

There is no greater freedom I know than to admit I was a sinner, am a sinner, and will likely always be a sinner – and that God has a place at table for me anyway.

And the privilege that gives us is to say to another human being, that’s my story; that’s the truth and, you know what? I’d love it if you would join me for dinner, because I’d love to hear your story.

  

That’s why Jesus invites us (in today’s Gospel reading) to “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

You and I are not lone mules out pulling a plow all by our lonesome. Jesus has fitted us to work together with him and with one another.

I have a friend who used to own a pair of Belgian Draft Horses. One day he said, “You know, these horses may be able to pull a heavy load by themselves, but when teamed up, their strength is multiplied; not added.”

The kingdom of God is like that.

At the risk of moving from preaching to meddling, I would like to suggest that when parishes are yoked together, like Trinity and St. Paul’s are – it might be helpful to consider the yoke as a symbol of how God is strengthening us for service – multiplying our faith, rather than adding to or subtracting from.

There is an old story of heaven and hell where people are seated at a grand banquet table, loaded with Good Eats. 

In heaven, everyone is well-fed, healthy, and happy. In hell, everyone is malnourished, sickly, and grumpy. 

In both heaven and hell, everyone has a long fork tied to their hands – so long they can’t bend their elbows and eat.

What’s the difference between heaven and hell? In heaven, the people feed those sitting across from them; in hell they try to feed themselves.

In concluding my time with you here, I will openly confess that my spiritual health has always depended upon the generosity and grace of those with whom I’ve served – those who have fed us with companionship, friendship, phone calls out of the blue, drop-in visits.

Those are the sorts of things that sustain clergy in this life – more than anything else I can think of.

I would hope and pray that I have given at least half as well as I have received.

As English writer and philosopher Elizabeth Bibesco says, “Blessed are those who give without remembering, and take without forgetting.”

Barb and I have been blessed – honored to have been yoked with you, and we will never forget you. You will always be Here, and Here – in Jesus’ Name.

Amen.