Annual Meeting Sermon -- "Today"

St. John's Annual Meeting, January 27, 2013

Today

In our Gospel today, Jesus is beginning his public ministry.  He comes back home to his local synagogue, maybe for their annual meeting -- who knows? – and reads the lesson from Isaiah.  What he reads is a description of the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God.  The blind see.  The oppressed are free.  Captives are released.  The poor hear the good news.  We know that Jesus read it well because when he is done, he sits down and they are all still looking at him.  “Today,” he says.  “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Today is important for Jesus.  He says that today, he is about the work of the Kingdom of God.  But he isn’t only saying it about some particular day two thousand years ago.  He is also saying it about today.  Today, the Spirit of the Lord is upon him.  Today, he is the anointed one of God.  Today, he is proclaiming a year of the Lord’s favor to us.  Whatever day someone might come to know Jesus, whatever day Jesus is present a person, whatever day we might think of as being a special defining moment in the existence of Jesus, that day, that “today”, is defined by the Kingdom of God breaking into existence all around Jesus.  Wherever and whenever Jesus goes, God’s love is going to transform hearts and lives and souls.

Today, this scripture is fulfilled.  Today, the Kingdom of God has come near.  Today, the love of God made known to us.  Today,  two-thousand years later, we are still here, doing what Jesus told us to do in remembrance of him, because out of all the human beings that walked this earth, he was the only one for whom every day, every today, was entirely about the work of God.

For all of us, we have a choice to make each and every day about what we are going to be about today.  If we knew that we were going to die doing whatever we are going to do today, what would we want that to be?  I don’t mean that we need to get out our bucket lists or something, but are the regular activities of our lives such that they would speak about the kind of love and work we would want them to if today were the snapshot that ended up in the paper about our deaths tomorrow.  This question may not be as morbid as it seems, because today is really all that we have to determine who we want to be and how we want to use this precious gift of our existence.  What is past is forgiven and what is future may never come.  What is today, however, is entirely real.  We might even say eternally real, because eternity is as much about how we are today at this present moment as it is some unending series of days to come.  As individuals, we each get to decide if we want to say, with Jesus, that today the scriptures are being fulfilled as we live our lives in ways that love God and love our neighbors.

Today is also our annual meeting and this is my annual report to you.  As a parish, we have the same choice of defining ourselves each and every today as we do as individuals.  I think we understand that choice, and that we are choosing to make today speak to our dedication to the work of God.  Today, and for most of the todays in the past year and even throughout the parish’s history, we have been focused on worshipping God, caring for people and growing as Christians.  Even when those words were not used, if a reporter were to look at a snapshot of what St. John’s is about, those activities would most often have been highlighted, and that is a very good thing.  And since we never know when our prayer of “Thy Kingdom Come” will be fulfilled and this current state of affairs will pass into a better one, we want to act in those ways that God has called us to again today.  Today, we choose to worship God in creative, passionate and beautiful ways that inspire people.  Today, we decide to build authentic, loving relationships.  Today, we seek to serve children and families in our church and in the wider world.  Today, we reach out to meet people’s basic needs.  Today, we take opportunities to come alongside men and women of goodwill who are working to revitalize our communities. Today, we once again hand our parish life over to God to use as he will, knowing we have nothing more worthwhile to spend it on.

Today, we also know that we can live into this call of God because we have been doing it over the past year.  While we are far from perfect, for the most part the life of this parish has been more and more about the coming of the kingdom of God.  I won’t even hope to hit all the highlights, because the year has been a very busy and fruitful one.  But here are some of the things that have happened.

Episcopal Community Services, our food pantry, has continued its faithful work in the midst of funding cuts from various agencies.  At the end of last year, they made the decision to serve the clients from First Baptist Church’s food pantry that is closing next month, and ECS received a diocesan grant to help provide food for the coming new clients.  Thanks to Bob Edeburn and all ECS’s devoted volunteers.

St. John’s Community Kitchen went from serving a couple of dozen people once a month to working with additional churches and serving as many as 160 people a week.  We are grateful for all the work that goes into those lunches, and for helping St. John’s realize why we built Allen Hall.

The Alms Fund received more requests than in the previous years and has been slightly repurposed to be able to provide more support to our feeding ministries.

The Episcopal Church Women have held very successful rummage sales and the 3C’s again this year, which provides funds they use to generously support ministries at St. John’s and elsewhere.  Thank you ladies very much for your work.

Our worship continues as a central focus.  Highlights from the year include Holy Week and Easter celebrations, a large first communion class, a number of infant and adult baptisms, the largest Christmas eve services we have had in at least five years, and the successful hiring of Frank Dodd as our new music director after Paula’s retirement.   We also offered a Lenten recital series and a summer carillon series.  This Lent, the recitals will be on Saturday mornings to allow our lunch guests to enjoy them, as well.   Thanks to the choir, Eucharistic Ministers, readers, acolytes, ushers, greeters and the altar guild for this good work.

Our children’s programs have been renewing themselves.  We rearranged the Sunday school rooms to keep Allen Hall free for large events, and have seen new, younger children attending.  We held a Halloween Party with St. Jude’s, and did a summer Vacation Bible School as well as a Christmas break VBS.  The children’s choir has begun, and will be singing later today.  I am also pleased to announce that today is beginning of Diana Moreland’s ministry as the Youth and Family Minister here at St. John’s.  We also have plans for a regular children’s activity as part of the Saturday lunch program.  We couldn’t have so many children without Sunday school teachers, youth group volunteers, and Christine, our nursery worker.  Thank you.

We have been taking care of our long-time members and reaching out to new members.  In 2012, we took communion out 160 times to shut-ins or people in the hospital or nursing homes.  With the help of Deacon Randy and a group of faithful Eucharistic Visitors, we have been able to reach out to those that need it.  The Healing Team and our intercessors have also offered important ministries to many.   I am very grateful to all of them for their work, and especially to Deacon Randy whose love for people and dedication are a huge blessing to all of us.

We also have about twenty people attending St. John’s regularly who weren’t here two years ago.  Considering that we had about seven years when no new families came and stayed at St. John’s, these additions are great blessings for us, and are an indication that we are moving on the right track.  Three years ago, I got up and said in three-to-five years I expected another hundred people to be joining us at St. John’s.  We are on the way, and if we remember what we learned about welcoming and evangelism in Advent, we’ll get there sooner than we think!!

We don’t have any major building issues to report, although a large number of small things have been done.  I can’t thank our two junior wardens, Chuck Ferrence and Brad Eastman enough for their help.  Brad especially is usually here a couple days a week doing something, often finding things to fix before most of us realize there was a problem.  I would also like to thank Madge Tamber who retired this year from teaching and agreed to help out as a part-time volunteer staff person.  She has been using her many gifts on a variety of important tasks.  Thanks, too, to Becky Yoho for her support as senior warden this year, to Keith Rowlands who finishes two years as treasurer, Donna Billioni who has been our clerk, and all the vestry for their good work this year.

We also couldn’t do nearly as much as we do as a church without the wonderful work Tina Misavage, our parish secretary does.  She is a huge asset.  As is also Ed Gunesch, our sexton, who keeps the place ship-shape.

Over the next year, I see us continuing on the same course.  We finished our Seeing Through New Eyes process this year, and came up with a purpose statement, guiding principles and strategic directions.  Those directions will keep guiding us.  As new folks show up, we will welcome them, love them and help them use their gifts in ministry, which will help us touch more lives with God’s love and good news. 

I also just want to thank you for the true joy and privilege of serving as your rector.  My family and I are truly blessed to be part of this congregation which is filled with a lot of love and a lot of laughter.  Thank you.  I look forward to next year.

Today!  Today is what we have.  Let’s live today so that people know that the Kingdom is breaking in and God’s love is changing lives. Today!