Sermon by Fr Chris Yaw; videos shown during the sermon can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkfoaWmQWwM
Did you notice our sign out in front of the church this morning - that is, if the 16" of snow we got this week isn't covering it up ..
It says, 'Tell someone you love them today," which was also our homework last Sunday, which I will be collecting after class later this morning...
And the idea is to put love in action - which a video team recently tried to do by offering random strangers $5 to telephone someone, on speaker phone, and to tell them they love them.
That's right, they stood on the sidewalk holding up a sign, and ask people to stop, get out their phones, and call someone to tell them they love them... And they would be paid $5... here's what they found...
(STEVE - Roll tape #1 I Love You – I will not talk over the images)
So what they found is that people didn't need to get paid to call their loved one, did you notice that both of these guys gave the money back?
What they needed, was to be reminded.
Because we all know that we don't express our love enough, we don't let those around us know that we care for them as often as we should, and at the end of the day we suspect this is a good habit to get into, this is the right thing to do:
It's because the more we normalize telling people that we love them, the more we strengthen our bonds with others and create a more connected world, a more compassionate world, a world more taken with love and care.
And that's what Jesus is up to this morning when he calls disciples to follow him.
This is what Jesus is up to this morning when he calls you and me to follow him - our job is to take that love that is in our hearts and to share it in ways that connect, reconcile, heal, and form our world.
Like the disciples, each one of us has God-given gifts, convictions, connections, personalities, and resources to contribute to the bettering of our world.
And each one of us has fallen prey, to one degree or another, to a very strong leaning in our culture - thanks, most recently to pandemics and snow storms, and this leaning is towards the apathetic, the hopeless, negative, and discouraging.
And so we come into church programmed to undervalue ourselves and over value others.
So this sermon is about challenging you and me to get back in the game.
To get back to looking at ourselves the way God looks at us.
To answer the call of Jesus who is always inviting us to places of hope, positivity, and courage.
To get more in touch with our purpose, to get excited about who we are, and to be enthusiastic about the work that we're called to do. That's exactly what Jesus did with Peter in today's gospel.
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We pick up the story when Jesus is in the northern part of the country by the Lake of Gennesaret, also called the Lake of Galilee, or the Sea of Galilee, and he goes out into a boat and performs a miracle that causes Simon Peter to fall to Jesus's knees and declare his inadequacy.
2 weeks ago, I stood beside Pilgrims from our parish and looked out at that very sea, and we envisioned what it must have been like for Jesus to command Peter to throw the net on the other side of the boat, and then to haul up an abundance of fish. This is what prompted Peter's response:
"Go away from me, Lord," he says, "for I am a sinful man!"
He doesn't yet know who Jesus is or, in his wildest dreams, what Jesus has in store for him.
So Jesus responds with compassion, telling Peter not to be scared, but also to respond to a challenge and a task; and he uses a fitting metaphor, for Peter will soon be catching people.
What this means is not immediately clear, but is unpacked in the following 3 years of Jesus's ministry. This includes making disciples, healing people, caring for people, loving people, being charitable, and standing up for justice.
This last part is perhaps the most difficult, it's what got Jesus killed, it's dangerous, inconvenient, unpopular, and uncomfortable.
Standing up for Justice means standing up for what we believe in - to what we believe God has shown us to be important. It means staying true to who we are and what we are called to do.
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Did anybody see the dust up about the podcaster Joe Rogan this week?
As you probably know, Joe Rogan is the most popular podcaster in the world, he has 11 million people who routinely listen to his very long podcast which features a lot of Joe talking about a lot of different current events.
One of the things Joe talks about is covid-19, vaccinations. He has come under fire recently for disseminating misinformation about the virus, making room on his show for people who discount the effectiveness and worth of covid-19 vaccinations.
He reportedly signed a $100 million deal with the platform that hosts his podcast, it's called Spotify, and while this corporation claims to stand against the dissemination of disinformation, they have done nothing to reel in Joe Rogan.
As a result several podcasters who were on Spotify, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, have pulled their podcasts from Spotify. They realize that this may have little effect on Joe Rogan's behavior, but they say it's something they have to do out of conscience and moral conviction.
Standing up for their convictions, making a ruckus on behalf of a cause for which they feel strongly.
What is the cause for which you feel strongly?
Where is the conviction in our hearts to make a ruckus around the things that matter to us?
It may not involve a political leaning or taking a moral stand, but it may be about being the best mother, or grandmother, or engineer, or neighbor, or parishioner that we can possibly be.
How strongly do we feel about these vocations?
If we believe that God has called us into these vocations, then how seriously are we taking that call?
St Peter decided to hang up his fishing nets because Jesus called him to do that.
The same God who called him into the vocation of being a son and being a husband was now calling him to a different place.
Peter decided to follow his heart, to follow his deepest conviction, and walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
That's what this sermon is about.
Because each one of us has something we have been called to do as well.
We have a job to do.
Maybe it's an idea to pursue, a business idea, a stirring in our souls that is asking us to stand up and to get busy.
A stoic philosopher named Epictetus once said this:
"Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals.
How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be?
Your nobler self cannot wait any longer.
"Put your principles into practice – now.
Stop the excuses and the procrastination.
This is your life!
You aren’t a child anymore.
"The sooner you set yourself to your spiritual program, the happier you will be.
The longer you wait, the more you’ll be vulnerable to mediocrity and feel filled with shame and regret, because you know you are capable of better.
"From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself.
Separate yourself from the mob.
Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do – now."
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Can I tell you the story of Louie the towel guy?
When you and I check into a hotel, we may be delighted to meet the general manager, even more thrilled to meet the owner.
It's because these jobs carry prestige, the people who have these jobs have important decisions to make, they command huge budgets, and tons of people rely upon them to feed their families.
The general manager, the owner, they have a lot of responsibility, they get paid well, and are highly regarded because they have risen to the top of their profession.
So what about the maids?
What about the people who change the sheets and pillowcases?
Who launder our soiled linens?
And who fold the tips of the bathroom toilet paper into nice neat points for an added touch?
The pay for these jobs, the respect garnered by others, and even the responsibilities are on a much, much smaller scale when compared to the owners and general managers.
So we might think that these folks would be much less motivated to do a good job.
And many of them are, because when you have a job like this it's much more difficult to see it as a noble profession, or divine calling from the Almighty to fulfill.
That is, if you are not Louie.
I met Louie last week.
He was the maid who had been cleaning my guest room for the previous two weeks.
And I sought out to meet him because Louie was different than any other maid I'd ever known.
His job was to clean my room, but he did it in a way that I'll never forget.
Steve can you roll the tape?
(Tape #2 Louie I will talk over the images)
This is why,
Because every day that our pilgrims returned from an adventure, out sightseeing, out praying, out following the footsteps of Jesus, this is how I would find the towels arranged in my room.
Louey was not content simply folding and hanging, folding and hanging, folding and hanging.
No, he used his imagination to come up with all kinds of different ways to arrange towels.
As you can see, he made dragons, and snakes, and scorpions, and lobsters.
He made imaginative figures striking humorous poses, using books and bracelets and hats to create truly unique and playful figures, that made our stay in that particular guest house, simply unforgettable.
END TAPE
So my beloved ones -
If the maid can take this much pride, can bring this much enthusiasm, this much energy, and imagination to his job, what can we take to ours?
This morning, we realize there is no job too mundane or obscure -
That Jesus extends his hand to you and me asking us to up our game -
Inviting us, just as he did St. Peter, to bring all of ourselves to life.
To jump in with fervor and enthusiasm -
To shun the temptations of apathy and discouragement -
And to see every day as an opportunity to shine.
May God arise anew in our hearts - so to do -
Amen.