Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Sunday ~ November 17, 2013






Sunday ~ November 17, 2013
The Cathedral Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa
Luke 21:5-19


Abbey Dore was a Cistercian Abbey built in the golden valley near the Dore River in what is today Herfordshire in the U.K. The magnificent stones that would construct this grand physical plan began to be laid in 1147.  Over the next 100 years or so amazing structures would be built.  A refectory, Chapter house, a presbytery, two magnificent chapels each about twice the size of this Cathedral.  Transepts would spring forth from each side of these chapels, dormitories/cells for the Cistercian monks who would pray, live, and work here.

In its day it would tower above the farmlands and villages that surrounded it, standing tall in majesty, in promise of stability, security, and provide a home for sustenance, prayer, healing, wholeness, and sanctuary not just for the monks who lived there, but for the village residents who could see it from miles away.

Never would they imagine the view I had of it some few hundreds of years later.  The large rocks laying in ruin, scattered about in a distance. Enormous archways standing in ruin and in disarray giving just enough form to help one imagine the enormity of a once standing structure, or at least part of it.  And there also , thank goodness, a last standing structure, one of the chapels restored in the 1600’s where it continues as a parish church now.

One can only imagine if one would sit in that now much smaller enclosure the prayers said there, the hopes imagined there, the sanctuary found there, the sustenance taken in there by fields bearing fruit and vegetables, literal sustenance for so many.  One can only imagine generations looking at this majestic grandeur of stability and promise wondering what the future might hold for them and for that place.  And now, one looks upon it so many centuries later aware that those stones could only hold so long, that place fades away now laying in ruin. One sits and wonders in its presence now, what endures?

Jesus speaks dramatically to his disciples in our Gospel lesson today.  He speaks directly to them with a stark and startling message about how to live in a moment, what endures in time, and how to be in the midst of an uncertain future.

The life-size sermon illustration before the disciples’ eyes is the grand splendor and enormity of the Jewish Temple. A place that in its enormity and majesty spoke of permanence and stability.  Jesus message to the disciples, there are things about this Kingdom I have invited you to witness, that will call upon you to find endurance and resilience in things not seen. You see that temple, even that will fade away, and tumble down in a world that is sometimes difficult, if not brutal.  The things I have called you to are things that can and will unsettle some, and can threaten to loosen the foundation of many.

One can just feel the disciples uneasiness in this conversation as they ask, well when Jesus, when will all this happen?  Jesus seems less concerned with the when of uncertain futures and more concerned with the HOW will the disciples live in this turbulence brought on by faithful living into this Kingdom he speaks of.  You remember by the way that Kingdom, where the poor are lifted up and filled and the rich are sent away empty. Where the sick and untouchables are caressed and made whole, and where EVERYONE, not just the self-righteous, are considered to be precious Children of God!  How then, will you live in the reality of an uncertain and turbulent future? With trust in God that in challenging times there is opportunity to “testify” that is give narrative by word and example to God’s Kingdom. And by endurance…..for it is by enduring that one gains souls.

Today is a special day for the young people among us celebrating a ritual of their coming to a place in their spiritual, emotional, and physical maturity. Today our rite 13 celebrities come before this community of faith  and continue on a journey of faith toward adulthood. What can we say about their future?  What can we say about them? What can we say about their God?  We can say truly and honestly about their future that it is uncertain.  Unpredictable. WE can let them in on the secret that this will always be true really. That the future is just that really…unpredictable.  It was true at 7 true at 13 will be true at 21, 31, 46, 53, 75, you get the idea.  But we can also say to them that their future is solid, is full of hope, and will be as enduring and rich because God is going with them into this future. That means when times are good God delights, when times are challenging God will send light. We can say about them that if they lean heavily into the stuff they are made of, they will continue to discover at the end of every day that who they are ARE Beloved Children of God! And this is good stuff.  And finally what words do we have for them on this journey? Well today at least, Jesus words, be enduring on this journey.  Endurance means to weather the storms that come your way.  To keep at it even when something seeks to knock you off the path. I like the cousin of this word endurance.  Resilience.  Resilience means to come back into form. To find a strength deep inside that helps you thrive even and particularly in the midst of challenges.  Resilience means to find air to breathe and light to thrive!  Always.  Discovering the things that endure and grabbing on to them.

Sitting in among the ruins of Dore Abbey, a visitor can move inside the last existing structure. There one finds the fruits of a Christian community that still lives in that place and space.  A glance at the bulletin boards standing inside this ancient structure one with eyes of faith see the recognizable fruit of that Kingdom Jesus spoke to his disciples about so many many centuries ago.  Prayers you see are being said there still.  Healing for the sick is being administered there, Sanctuary for the longing souls of many is being provided for there, Sustenance, Food is being provided there for those who hunger.  Stones and fallen and lay in fields about that place. Wars have been in history there, famine, sickness, have taken its place throughout history, and the worlds powerful have fought for control of those lands……but what has endured…..Prayer….Healing….Sanctuary….Sustenance.