7 Epiphany.C.25
Luke 6:27-38 (Annual Meeting)
The Rev. Melanie McCarley
Today’s Gospel lesson is a continuation of the “Sermon on the Plain” which we heard last Sunday. Following on the heels of the Beatitudes Jesus continues with this stunner—love your enemies. “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” It’s the Golden Rule. And it seems to me it is a perfectly fine way to begin my annual Address, on this the day of our Annual Meeting.
I’d like to begin by thanking several of my fellow saints. There are too many people to thank individually in this address—but there are a few who I would like to point out. First, thank you to our staff: David Tierney, our Minister of Music, Margaret Pless, our Parish Administrator, Bill Spada our Sexton, Maryann Badejo, our Bookkeeper and Stephanie Tang and Peter Tittler, our Nursery Care providers. They gift us with beautiful music, weekly programs, shoveled walkways, bills that are paid on time and children who are looked after with love and care during our worship. In short, it would be difficult to do our ministry without them. Thank you, as well to your Wardens, Astrid Mackenzie and Tom Beaudoin, our Treasurer, Barbara Hunt, David Ulrich, our Clerk of the Vestry and our vestry, each of whom have helped to shepherd us through this past year; particularly in regard to all decisions regarding our finances, programming and our Tower Stabilization Project—which brings me to a few more people who should be named in this Address: Our Property Committee Co-chairs, Joe Lavalley, and Olivia Hurlock, and Rick Edie, the Chair of the Tower Campaign Committee. Other folks, vital to our mission, are named in the Rector’s section of the Annual Report, which I hope you will read. Happily, there are too many of you to name, who week after week, enable us to praise God and live out our ministry. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Each year as I begin the project of writing the Rector’s Report of the Annual Report, I begin by believing that we haven’t done nearly enough—and I conclude with the realization: “We did all that!” Amazing. My task, here, however, isn’t so much to talk about what we did last year, but to look forward, to where God and the Holy Spirit are calling us this year.
However, I must begin with a glance backwards. Over the past four and a half years St. Paul’s has been consumed by an all-important project, which has been with us throughout Covid and it’s recovery. That is the overwhelming task of saving of our Bell Tower. Beginning with a Christmas Day flood in 2020 we realized we had a problem to address—and that our problem was large enough that simple patches would no longer suffice. Nor was this a situation that could be kicked down the road to subsequent generations. From that point on, over the past several years, much of our energy and effort has been focused on solving this problem. Your vestry, ably led this past year by Astrid and Tom, and advised by Joe Lavalley, Olivia Hurlock and Rick Edie, have conducted a capital campaign to raise the funds to complete what has been a Herculean task. We have begun work with our contractors and look forward to the completion of our task by the beginning of September. This is a project that could not have been achieved without all of us pulling together, digging deep in our spirits as well as our bank accounts to see that our tower will stand tall as a beacon of God’s love in Dedham for generations to come. You all had a part in that. Well done!
This project—so consuming, is finally coming to an end. Oh, we still have to pay for it (you’ll hear more of that in our meeting); but we are now free to focus more effort on our larger mission—the reason we are here—in St. Paul’s, in Dedham and the world.
Which brings me to the Gospel lesson for today in which we are told that there is enough—in fact, there is more than enough—more than enough love, attention, food, worth, honor and time—to go around. We know this, don’t we. For we have been blessed. Not many churches could have accomplished all that we have over the past several years—without the “can do” attitude, willingness and faith to give that we did.
But the Gospel awaits and there is not time for us to extend too much effort patting ourselves on the back, because I believe the Holy Spirit is calling us to more. We live in a world in which people are becoming more divided and isolated—mentally and spiritually. There is need—not only for assistance to the poor—but a need for connection, for fellowship, for a deeper knowledge and trust in the Lord. As trust in our time-honored institutions erodes, as attendance in churches declines, we need to respond—in faith, and with love, discovering new ways to connect with people who have yet to hear the Good News, and who may not know that God is calling them to something greater. This is where I see us heading in the coming year; we are a people called to grow beyond ourselves. It begins with giving, of our time, our talent as well as our resources.
You will note, in the budget section of our Annual Report that this year we are running a deficit. In the coming year we will be looking at ways to bridge this gap through an emphasis upon pledging as well as fundraising. It’s not an impossible gap to fill—indeed, the answer is right here, with all of us.
In the Gospel passage for today Jesus tells us to “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” He then issues us directives—many of which seem almost impossible to achieve. But what if we were to read this passage and hear within it a promise rather than commands that are difficult if not impossible to fulfill. A promise that the world does not need to be the way it is—the world does not need to be dog-eat-dog, crushing the opponent and getting to the top before someone else knocks you down. Instead, our Lord is calling us to participate in the creation of a world based upon love. Love for those who have loved you, certainly. But love, also, for those who haven’t. Love even for those who have hated you. This is a love that can be expressed in all sorts of creative ways, but more often than not, the best way to experience this is by caring—extending care, compassion, help and comfort to those in need, as well as forgiveness.
This relates to outreach, certainly. We continue our efforts on behalf of the Dedham Food Pantry and the Collaborative for Refugee Resettlement. But we can go deeper and further. This year I believe we should also focus on learning about our unique faith tradition in The Episcopal Church and also how to interpret the words of Holy Scripture from a perspective of faith and good scholarship—increasing our confidence in God as well as ourselves, so that we might be active, rather than passive interpreters of words that are as continually relevant today as they have been for thousands of years.
Love makes no sense in a competitive world where everyone is out to get as much as they can; but love is what I believe our Savior is calling us to do. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. These are words of promise. Our task, this day—and in this coming year, is to live into them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.