The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch
2 Timothy 1:1-14 Luke 17:5-10
Welcome to the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania! Do you know where you are? Do you know the story of Nativity? Are the names Packer, Sayre, and Linderman familiar to you? These are some of the names found on the memorial plaques along the walls of this Cathedral Church. So, let me tell you a story. It may be quite familiar to some of you, but here we go. Bethlehem was settled by the Moravians in the 1740s as a faith community with a missionary purpose. By the nineteenth century, it was also a popular summer spot for folks from New York City and Philadelphia. Among its attributes and favorite places of respite was the Sun Inn, then (and now) to be found on Main Street. Then came coal, canals and railroads.
When the coal fields of this region were discovered, transporting this commodity became an industry. A canal was opened up from Mauch Chunk to Easton to deliver coal. From Easton it was easily transported to Philadelphia and New York (if Mauch Chunk is not familiar to you, you may know it as Jim Thorpe; the town changed its name in 1954 to honor its famous hometown athlete). Enter Asa Packer, a familiar name around here, who knew a more efficient way to transport coal than by canal and built the railroad from Mauch Chunk to Easton the early 1850s. This Lehigh Valley Railroad was only the second such railroad in the United States. Robert Sayre was his chief engineer.
William Sayre, Sr., Robert’s father, and Asa Packer were friends and colleagues. In 1835, they were among the founders of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Mauch Chunk. Family friends had been gathering regularly in William Sayre’s living room for prayer and worship, and eventually a parish was formed. The life of the Sayre family continued to be centered in St. Mark’s and Mauch Chunk until mid century. In 1857 the Lehigh Valley Railroad was joined by North Pennsylvania Railroad just south of the Lehigh River making South Bethlehem a destination. Robert Sayre moved from Mauch Chunk to Bethlehem to manage the Leigh Valley Railroad and he soon succeeded Asa Packer as director of newly formed Bethlehem Iron Company. He built a beautiful home in South Bethlehem, overlooking the Lehigh River and the railroad. It is still there, across the street from us, now known as the Sayre Mansion Inn. Soon, like his parents before him, he gathered with friends and family in his home for regular worship. Records indicate that on June 16, 1861 the assistant priest from St. Mark’s came and held services. Robert’s brother, William Sayre, Jr., also moved to South Bethlehem and built his house (now the funeral home) across from his brother. In May of 1862, they and their friends met in Robert’s home and agreed to form a parish. Thus St. Mark’s in Jim Thorpe is the “Mother Church” of Nativity.
The parish began first with a church school of 52 students. William Sayre Jr. became the superintendent in the fall of 1862, a position he kept for 47 years until his death in 1909. He was loved by the children. Regular Sunday services began September 7th and have continued without a break to this day. The vestry was formally constituted on November 8, 1862 the official date of the start of the parish. First—education and youth ministry. Second—regular worship. Third—recognition and solidification of leadership. These were the building blocks of this parish. Services and Sunday school were held at the railroad station as parishioners sought to build a moderate chapel, and one that must include Sunday school rooms. The vestry bought an acre of land (this acre we are currently occupying) for $350. The corner stone was placed on August 6, 1864 and the first service in the church building was Christmas Day 1864.
The good people of Nativity didn’t stop there:
• in 1866 Lehigh University opened its doors, its president a member of this parish and Nativity’s first rector, Mr. Eliphalet Potter, the professor of Moral and Mental Philosophy and Christian Evidences (his brother Edward Potter was the architect of Nativity).
• 1868 Bishopthorpe School for Girls opened, founded by parishioners
• the folks of Nativity helped build Grace Church in Allentown
• they started a Sunday School on the North side of Bethlehem which became Trinity Church
• In 1873 St. Luke’s hospital opened, a dream of then rector the Rev. Cortlandt Whitehead
• Thus, by 1885 the moderate chapel they had built was no longer large enough and new construction began
Ruth May Sayre, daughter of Robert Sayre, was the first child baptized at Nativity. She married Robert Linderman and their daughter Ruth Evelyn was the first child baptized in the newly expanded church. You can read this in histories of Bethlehem or in our own parish publication, “One Hundred years of Nativity.” You can read it on the memorial plaques along these the walls. And I have only told the first chapter!
Now it may seem that this story of Nativity and its beginnings would more appropriately have been our Dean’s story to tell today. After all, he is the one who grew up at St. Mark’s Mauch Chunk/Jim Thorpe and played in the cemetery where all the Sayres are buried. But it is my story too, even though I only moved to Bethlehem 8 years ago. And although there are many here who can tell the story differently than I, and have a longer claim on it, it is now part of my life and I am part of it. We are all in its current this morning, even if you are visiting.
Knowing and telling our story is important. Episcopal priest Jerome Berryman, who directs the Center for the Theology of the Child in Texas, discovered the incredible power of storytelling working with troubled families. He was part of a counseling team treating families with suicidal children. They discovered that all the families had one thing in common; they didn’t tell stories. Not about how mom and dad met, not about where their family came from, not about births, deaths, vacations or anything. So they taught the families how to tell their stories. And once they did, the children stopped acting out and the families began to heal..
There is another reason why telling our story is important. Because that is how faith is passed on. Not one of us would be here if the story of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ was not passed on. And after all, how did Jesus teach the people about God’s love for them? He told stories. This is what is so important about Paul’s letter to Timothy, a beloved friend. It is a testimony to the power of passing on the faith. This is a letter to a second generation Christian. Paul writes to encourage Timothy to hold fast to his faith. Where did this faith come from? “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now I am sure lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you.” Faith is not something that is learned as much as it is absorbed. Faith is about our story, about relationships. There is research that shows that most adults who are faithful will point not to a church, but to a person who modeled that faith to them: a parent, a grandmother, a beloved uncle or godparent.
Now our faith story, any faith story, is not always easy to be a part of. This is because being part of God’s story of salvation is not so much about having faith, as it is about being faithful. This is what Jesus was getting at with the disciples. “Increase our faith!” they cry. If we only had more faith then we could…. You fill in the blank. Jesus’ response is that they do not need more. If your faith is only the size of a mustard seed, it is plenty. Because it is not about having a certain amount of faith, it is about being faithful. Another way to think about this: the opposite of faith is not doubt, but unfaith. What are we faithful to? Where do our loyalties lie? And it is when the going gets rough that our faith is tested. When disaster strikes, in our country, in our church, or in our personal lives, this is when we are called to be faithful. It is easy to have faith in our government when we agree with its policies. It is easy to have faith in our church when we are comfortable in our pews. It is easy to be faithful in our relationships when everything is going smoothly.
I am sure the story of the Sayre family and the beginning of Nativity was not as smooth as I told it. How was their faith tested? Like Timothy, I also have a grandmother and a mother who faithful (even Episcopalians) and they passed that faith on to me. I wonder how their faith was tested over the years. What brought them to their knees? What brought tears to their eyes? When were they about to walk away from it all? What kept them faithful? The disciples ask for more faith. But they do not need more; they need to exercise the faith they have. To remain steadfast and faithful even in the midst of trouble takes a dynamic faith.
Being faithful can be hard and painful. It’s like giving a gift. You know how a young child gives her little brother the gift she really wants, and then won’t let him play with it? You have to let go to truly give. I haven’t given it, if I want to control it. It is like giving our money to a cause, but then wanting to dictate how that money is used. I haven’t given it, if I want to control it. And this is like giving my life to God—I haven’t given it, if I want to control it. We have no control over how or when or in what way our faith is tested. Being faithful does not guarantee a life without stress. A dynamic faith is one that knows its story. A dynamic faith knows where it came from and is hopeful about where it is going. Ultimately, faith is about what and where God is calling me to be. Where is God calling you to be? This is the only question. And only you can answer it.
Amen
Copyright © 2007 by Anne E. Kitch
