GRACE CHURCH Honesdale, PA ALL SAINTS, observed - Proper - C (RCL) 5-6 November 2016 Daniel 7: 1-3, 15-18 Psalm 149 Ephesians 1: 11-23 Luke 6: 20-31 with HOLY BAPTISM MOUNTAIN CLIMBING + + + Does anyone here not know that I like to climb mountains? Our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, reminds us that important things happen on mountains: Jesus first sermon to the Disciples was the Sermon on the Mount, repeated in today s reading from St. Luke s Gospel. This is where we encounter the Beatitudes: those familiar comforting and yet challenging words, Blessed are the poor; blessed are those who mourn; blessed are you when others persecute you... Say what?!? Well, when others persecute you because of following Jesus in doing crazy things. I was tempted today to just read one chapter of Bishop Curry s book, Crazy Christians : A Call to Follow Jesus. But I know my duty to write and preach myself. Nonetheless, I ll source his book, and encourage you to pick up a copy. C r a z y C h r i s t i a n s Morehouse Publishing Bishop Curry reminds us of other important events that are mountain-top experiences in the Gospels: Jesus names his 12 Disciples on the mountain following today s Gospel; Jesus is often found on a mountain praying in the middle of the night; Jesus takes Peter, James and John up the mountain when he is transformed (the Bible says transfigured ) and both Moses and Elijah appear to him, and the disciples hear the shout of heaven, This is my beloved Son, listen to him. Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives in order to be arrested; Jesus is led to a mountain-top outside Jerusalem s walls to be lifted onto a Cross.
+ 2 + After the Resurrection, Jesus again invites the now-apostles to climb the mountain, as he gives them the last instructions and is lifted up to heaven in a cloud of sacred mystery. Not to mention the mountains of Moses - where he hears God speak from a burning bush telling him to go and speak crazy to Pharaoh. Nor on Mount Sinai to receive the perfect Laws to love God and to love all other people as ourselves, as Jesus narrows them down, with 10 very simple and yet humanly impossible suggestions OK - Commandments, like, don t lie; don t steal; take restful time before you end up in a looney-bin; oh, and once in a while, remember God - without swearing. Then there s Elijah wanting to hear God s voice on the mountain-top, and all he hears is sheer silence. Maybe that s what we need most - sheering silence! But there s another sermon I need to write. Then Isaiah promises in a reading often used at funerals, that on the Mount of Jerusalem, God is preparing a banquet, of wines and fine food, and death is destroyed forever. Can you see why I like to climb mountains? God dwells there. Magical, mystical, mysterious things happen there. One achieves enlightenment, transfiguration, transformation. When I was growing up, looking back, I never would have thought that I would become a mountain-climbing back-packer. I guess I owe it to my sons who made me become involved in Boy Scouts. I was the classical music loving, book-reading, theatre geek. I don t know if Mackenzye will become a Girl Scout - who knows at this point what Mackenzye will be - only God and Mackenzye know. [Tiffany and Kyle, give up any notion that you will have influence on her - she will form you, not you her! and that in itself is a wondrous mystery to unfold.] But I have become a mountain-climber because of my sons impact on me. (Now, I have to tell you that neither Philip or Andrew have climbed with me on Mount Baldy, Litttle Costilla, in NM, or Mount Washington in New Hampshire, but that is still a dream in this Dad s heart. Yet it is because of their desire and drive to be involved in Boy Scouts, that changed my life. That is the power and joy of children, such as Mackenzye.
+ 3 + And that is the power and joy of the future generations who will climb mountains unknown to us who sit here today. Two years ago, four of us stepped out on a drizzly Saturday morning at the base of Mount Washington - the tallest peak in Eastern US, Mount Washington - with the most extreme weather changes - in the world! In seven hours, the weather in mid August, changed from 60 degrees to 34 by the time we reached the summit! Mid-August! Seth and I stepped off, following an exasperating attempt on the AT. We were not quite sure of this highest mount in the Eastern US. Would we have a similar or worse day than our last day on the AT? But we set off - with friends. No matter what. That is what the Christian call is. To step off into the unknown - fearing from what you had previously had. But stepping off nonetheless. God calls us to be Crazy Christians. And we re going to invite Mackenzye to join us. She won t know it for some time, but we ll get her prepped for the journey. It s not a good idea to climb mountains alone - the possibility of avalanches, wild mountain goats and were-rabbits. And that s why Bishop Curry wants us to remember that we don t do it alone. We travel in a group, members of a family, and we never climb those mountains with the love and support, and sometime a safety rope or an out-stretched hand. Curry uses the image of our hands, saying, If you shake someone else s hand and then shake your own hands, you ll see it s far easier to shake your neighbor s hand than it is to shake your own. I would daresay that it is because we are made for each other. We were made to support each other and hold each other up... We will discover the reality that we are each other s sisters and brothers in Christ. Crazy Christians, p.24 It is that family of Christ into which we bring Mackenzye. It is with our help that she will climb mountains, and as we grow older, she will reach down her hand and pull us up the incline of life. We just read the names of a few saints who have traveled this journey. Some of them probably climbed higher than others, some needed that safety rope or extended hand, some reached out to help another in their faith.
+ 4 + We don t know how far any of us will climb. But in order to be Crazy Christians, as Bishop Curry exhorts us, we must follow Jesus and take that first step with Mackenzye, cause she can t walk by herself yet, and place our feet on the trail until we all reach the mountain-top together. Abraham had a mountain-top encounters with angels, so did his son Isaac. Moses had a couple of them with God. Elijah did, too; so did Isaiah. And they were just ordinary people like you and me, until they were ready to do crazy things for God - for love, for justice, for peace, for others, for God. Come, let s get crazy and do something crazy like pouring water over a baby s head! and give our own hearts and souls and minds to God. CHILDREN S SERMON a climbing/rappelling rope coil, and walking stick(s) Do you know what this is? It s a climbing or rappelling rope - you use it when you re climbing mountains. If I m climbing and need help, this will get me up the next height. I throw it up and... Wait. Something s wrong. How can the rope help all by itself. Well, if there s a tree or a rock that I can throw it around, maybe. But I m not a very good shot. That s why I don t play basketball or baseball or any kind of ball. What this climbing rope is really for is for a buddy to grab the other end and pull me up. Or if I can, send it down for another person to grab, then I can pull her up. Have you ever heard about The Buddy System? It s something we use in Cub and Boy and Girl Scouts - you always have a buddy with you.
In case something happens, you have a buddy to help. That s what being a Christian is all about - knowing that you are never alone, and that you have a buddy with you, and you can be a buddy to someone else. Let s pray. Jesus, help us to be a buddy to everyone who needs help...