Trinity Parish Church - Epiphany 3C - January 21, 2007
Luke 4:14-21, Nehemiah 8:2-10, & Corinthians 12:12-27
The Rev. Rachel Endicott

In 2002, I was truly blessed.  I had the opportunity to step away temporarily from parish life and take a sabbatical.  During this time, I was able to do things that as a parish priest are generally pretty hard to do.  I took some extended travel time, visited churches that were doing intriguing and exciting ministry with small groups.  I rested and relaxed with my family.  I went on a 7-day silent Ignatian retreat at a Jesuit retreat house, shocking my long-term friends who - to a person - commented, "You're not going to speak for a whole week!"  You'd think they believe me to be a chatty sort of person...  And I even got to visit some other churches in and around the Seattle area on Sunday mornings, a rare occurrence for most priests.

Now the churches I visited locally weren't for the most part Episcopal churches.  And I could tell.  The buildings were different.  None of them looked anything like Trinity.  I also came to realize that opportunities for communion in some denominations are far and few between.  And if you happened upon a communion Sunday, the form was not something most Episcopalians would be used to - from the very few words presenting the Lord's Supper, the form of the bread which reminded me of  "tic-tacs", and grape juice in single-serving containers sort of like the ones in which half-and-half is served in restaurants.  And the sermons or homilies were not standard Episcopal fare.

In one congregation I visited, the preaching was definitely the cornerstone of the service.  As a first time visitor, I followed along with the opening music and prayers.  Then the pastor stood up to preach...and preach he did, rolling along for 20 minutes (perhaps a bit long by Episcopal standards).  At about a half-hour, I'm sure he said something like, "And so to conclude ..."  Not that I kept looking at my watch, but his final comments and interpretation of the passage he'd chosen were made at about 50 minutes.  And I must say that the people in the congregation listened patiently, following as he expounded on the message.

Now for me, as a woman priest, one who shows up in public places wearing a funny white plastic "dog collar", it's not unusual for questions to get fielded my way...  "Are you a nun?"  "Are you some sort of pastor?"  "Are you religious?"  A few folks even take a stab and ask, "Are you Episcopalian or Lutheran?"  But if after I give my preliminary response, where I tell them I'm an Episcopal priest, the conversation goes on, there's often a further question about what is unique about our church and what do we believe.

One of the most straight-forward answers I can give is simply to say that we are people of the book and the body of Christ in today's world.

And being people of the book, the first part of this response, is exactly the answer suggested in our Scripture readings from today, the passages in Nehemiah and Luke about Scripture, about paying attention to and interpreting Scripture.

Our lessons started off this morning with that wonderful - if challenging for the reader - passage about the priest Ezra reading from the Torah, the law.  He comes before the gathered people, people who are back in Jerusalem after being exiles.  And he spends a bunch of time reading to the people, we're told that he read "from early morning until midday", not just reading, but engaging in interpreting and making sense of what was read.  He does this because we can surmise that in the three generations since the ancestors of those gathered were forcibly exiled from Judah, many can no longer understand the language.  They literally must have what is read translated.  And the leaders are motivated to teach the people.  Their exile had happened - we are told - because the people of God had fallen into apostasy that led to the downfall of the nation, Judah being overrun by foreign powers.

In Luke, we find Jesus in the synagogue reading an woven strand of passages from the prophet Isaiah.  As the rabbi, the teacher, Jesus not only interprets, but clarifies that he himself is the one to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah.  In his inaugural sermon, he sets the agenda for his entire ministry, to restore hope for all God's children, particularly those who are oppressed, downtrodden, physically or otherwise impaired, and those imprisoned.

In going back to our self-definition, that we are people of the book and the body of Christ in today's world, we address that second half, that we are the body of Christ.  In Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he clarifies clearly that as the body of Christ each of us is called to continue in that work that Jesus does.  We are each important, taking on a certain role, having been given specific gifts and charisms.  We are to continue to feed and nurture all the people of the world.  Just as Jesus didn't make distinctions between people of different ethnic heritage or social standing, so we are to minister to those whose paths we cross, the beloved of God.  Additionally, I'm reminded in this passage that when any member of Christ's body suffers, we all suffer.

So what does that mean for us when we hear of others suffering?  It means both action and speaking out.  I've known a number of people who as they aged regretted not having spoken out when they were younger about things that were happening.  I recently read of a gay college-aged young man who at a panel discussion at the University of the South talked about his shame at not being brave enough to speak out when other gay students who had come out in high school were persecuted.  (SEA, Synthesis, Jan. 21, 2007)

Now let me - on this Sunday within the Week for Christian Unity - be exceptionally clear.  Episcopalians make up only a small part of the body of Christ.  We, along with all our brothers and sisters who make up the whole body, are called to work together to proclaim the good news and to continue Jesus' ministry in the world.  Two examples of how we have done this well come to my mind.

First, we have often worked together in housing the homeless.  The Eastside's Congregations for the Homeless program has a variety of partners throughout the year.  St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, St. Louise Catholic Church and Holy Cross Lutheran Church intentionally minister together as part of this effort.  In a separate effort, when Temple B'nai Torah applied to host Tent City 4, a hotly-contested request and legally rebutted by the City of Bellevue, the covenant group of Lutheran, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic churches in the Crossroads area jumped into the fray in support of this effort.

Closer to home, sharing Thrift Shop responsibilities with the Baptist church has - no doubt - accomplished more than either small part of Christ's body could have done by itself.

Hmm, let's see.  I've only preached about 10 minutes, forty to go...  Don't worry, I'm only pulling your leg.  But there is a little more that must be said.  As people of the book and the body of Christ in today's world, where do we go from here?

First, continue to expand your knowledge of the Bible.  Read the Scriptures regularly.  Take classes or read commentaries on the Bible, so that you - like the people in Ezra's day - can have the word's translated into ones you can understand and have explanations for things that don't at first seem understandable.  Think about what you learn in terms of how it influences your life today and in the future.  If you need a new Bible, I can help talk through some of the translation options.  If you could use help to afford one, let me know and we can help.  In Lent, join the weekly study on the Gospel of Luke.

Secondly, as the body of Christ in today's world, don't forget that we indeed have work to do.  I leave you with the words of well-know hymn-writer Carl Daw:

Till pulpit, press and politics are free of greed and hate;

God has work for us to do.

(Carl P. Daw, Jr. (& John Bell), Common Ground: A Song Book for all the Churches, Church of Scotland Panel on Worship, 1998)