Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen.

Transcription

1 Yr A Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16) Exodus 1:8 2:10 August 21, 2011 Romans 12:1 8 Tracey E. Herzer Matthew 16:13 20 St. Catherine s Episcopal Church, Marietta GA Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen. Good morning. My name is Tracey Herzer and I am the Executive Director of LeaderResources. We are the publisher of J2A the Journey to Adulthood program for teenagers that St. Catherine s uses. And for almost 15 years I have been coming to St. Catherine s at different times to help some of the adults who have worked with your young people. So I feel some strong connections to this parish and I am excited to be with you this morning. The ministry to, for and with young people has been a huge focus of my career and it is one of my great life passions. I think part of why this work has been so important to me is because of how deeply and intensely I believe in the gifts that young people have to offer to the church and to the world. Teenagers remind us of who we were when we thought the world was ours to conquer. And more importantly, they remind us of who we still have the potential to be if we are but brave enough. In the early days of youth ministry, people used to say how important this work was because teenagers are the church of tomorrow oh, but my friends, how much we miss of the gift of teenagers among us if we buy into this concept. The reality is teenagers are the church of TODAY. Our church and our world needs teenagers today, just as they are not only in the years to come as they grow into new levels of responsibility and involvement. We need their vitality and enthusiasm, their laughter, their understanding of the world around them and their ability to see things in a fresh way and ask insightful and sometimes piercing questions. We 2011, Tracey E. Herzer traceyherzer@gmail.com Page 1 of 6

2 live in a world that desperately needs the perspective and energy that teenagers can offer a dynamic, powerful, procreative energy that helps us envision new hopes and dream new dreams. If we are willing to listen to them and take the conversations seriously, teenagers can help keep us honest about who we are and what we stand for not just what we SAY we stand for, but how we actually structure our lives and priorities. I truly believe that no congregation in the world today can authentically and effectively live out our gospel imperatives without listening to the perceptions and perspective of our young people. They see the world in ways that we don t and if we want to continue to live into God s kingdom of love and redemption, then not only must we be committed to teaching and forming this younger generation of Christians we must also be willing to learn from them as well. One of the important things we can learn from our teenagers is how the church is perceived from outside our doors and what we can do to draw people inside our community of faith. There is a reputable research and polling firm called the Barna Group that has done several important studies about the perceptions of Christianity. Some of these findings were published in a book entitled UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity and Why it Matters. In the opening pages of the book, the author states Christianity has an image problem. Many people outside Christianity have little trust in the Christian faith, especially younger adults. They reject Jesus because they feel rejected by Christians. Let s face it: we live in a world that seems to grow more and more polarized every day. We have forgotten how to truly talk to one another and to listen thoughtfully, carefully, respectfully. Instead, there is more of a tendency to become entrenched in our own views and when those views are challenged, we dig our heels in and in many cases, the conversation 2011, Tracey E. Herzer traceyherzer@gmail.com Page 2 of 6

3 quickly devolves into, I m right and you re wrong. Every day in our world there seem to be more and more lines drawn lines which continue to reduce and divide us from one another. If you have any doubts of this, listen to the rhetoric around politics or the economy or religion. There s not a whole lot of Hmmm I d never considered that before or Yes, I can see how you might feel that way. Instead there are increasingly vitriolic conversations about us and about them arguments about how they could have done that and how our world is so much the worse for their influence or participation in it whoever they is in our perception. This kind of fear based disdain or even hatred isn t new to this modern age. In fact, it really isn t that different from the ruthless and harsh treatment we heard about in this morning s Old Testament reading. The Egyptians were intimidated and afraid of the Israelites afraid of their growing numbers and afraid of their potential power. And the Egyptians reaction to that fear was to try and tighten the control they exercised, even to the point of trying to control which children were allowed to live and which weren t. In a way that is less violent, but still dangerous, our pervasive us vs. them mindset has also had some disastrous effects. Not only has it made compromise and collaboration more difficult and sometimes even impossible, but also, as we have been slinging mud at one another and calling each other every name in the book, we ve had a terrible effect on the silent but very observant audience in our younger generations. What the Barna Group found was that young Americans from both inside and outside Christianity have carefully watched of the parade of righteous indignation we ve splashed over the front pages and airwaves of our society and a large and growing majority of them are absolutely sickened by what they've seen. The Barna report indicates that people under 30 both Christian and non Christian are strikingly more critical of Christianity than their peers were just a decade ago. 2011, Tracey E. Herzer traceyherzer@gmail.com Page 3 of 6

4 So even as recently as 2001, "the vast majority" of non Christians had generally favorable views of Christianity. Now, that number stands at just 16%. Furthermore, the number of people who are religiously unconnected has grown to over 20%, so when asked about religious affiliation, more than 1 in 5 people say none. When talking to people under 40, the number of unaffiliated folks grows to almost 30%! This is a huge problem, and while we can t afford to just ignore this reality, we also don t have to resort to a kind of sky is falling alarmism. After all, we are called to be a people of hope. Yes, it s true that there is definitely some brokenness in the ways in which Christianity gets expressed in the present day, but the good news is that this also gives way to opportunities for new kinds of theological understanding and expression. It s time to let go of harsh legalism and return to something that demands more of us. This is not the world of God s kingdom and it is not the world that Jesus invites us to but one of the most marvelous things about being a people of faith is that we believe that God s presence breaks into the world again and again, in spite of us and sometimes in rare and shining moments, even because of us. In the Old Testament reading, in the face of that violence and fear, a tiny baby was born and protected in the river a baby who would grow up and lead God s people to a promised land of peace and prosperity. Many, many years later, another baby was born into a world still full of fear and violence, governed by a politician who was so afraid of the unknown that he too tried to control who lived and who died. But into that small and forgotten manger, once again God s presence broke into the world and changed absolutely everything. For me, the question Jesus asks of his disciples in today s gospel stands at the heart of all I believe about my own relationship with this God who loves us so very much. And I believe that for all the ways Christianity has grown and changed over the decades since Jesus, the core question remains the same: But who do YOU say that I am? 2011, Tracey E. Herzer traceyherzer@gmail.com Page 4 of 6

5 Each of us has to answer that question within ourselves and then figure out ways to live that answer in the world where we are and into the ministries we are given. I think St. Catherine s must be an especially wonderful place to explore those opportunities. Not only do you have some of the finest leadership in our diocese and in our Church, but each time I come through those doors, I m struck again by the beauty and inspiration of your baptismal font. I ve traveled to thousands of Episcopal churches and have seen a lot of beautiful fonts but this one is all motion & movement. For me, it adds such a powerful context: baptism (and therefore, baptismal ministry) is not just something we observe and admire. Those drops that run down the head of the Baptized, also get splashed onto all those who witness the vows, reminding us of our own covenantal relationship with Almighty God. When I explore my gifts in light of my baptismal calling, I m clear that my ministry has always been centered in the gift of our young people and I think it offers lessons that can reach far beyond just providing a welcoming, nurturing space for our young people. The gift of the J2A program is that we have helped re introduced the church to the importance of everyday, ordinary adults sharing their journey with young people and together developing an authentic, growing spiritual life that reflects our understanding of who Jesus is in our lives and who he is calling us to be to the world around us. Together, we have learned to pray and to share our faith with each other. We have traveled to sacred places where others have found God and been able to rest in that place seeking God, learning to wait on the Lord and to be in God s presence. We have learned about God, but more importantly we have deepened our own individual relationships with God. And we finally, in some small ways, have realized that our work with young people is not just to amuse them or even just to hold them close for these few years, but to actively equip them for adulthood an adulthood where their deep spiritual lives and their ability to engage the 2011, Tracey E. Herzer traceyherzer@gmail.com Page 5 of 6

6 world joyfully and purposefully, enables them to be a part of God s healing presence in the world, because like Peter before them, they understand that when you encounter the Son of the Living God and you enter into a relationship with him as Messiah, you have placed a rocksolid foundation upon which the church can be built and rebuilt. And nothing not the politics of the day, or the angst of adolescence or even the gates of hell can prevail against it! I wonder what it would look like in our church and in our world if we could bring ourselves to truly believe that and do all in our power to support the ways in which that happens? Let s go find out. These words I have offered in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 2011, Tracey E. Herzer traceyherzer@gmail.com Page 6 of 6