Easter V

The Rev. David R. Hackett
April 20, 2008

The Pope is concluding his visit to the United States today. From all accounts it has been a public relations success for his Holiness. I do try to be charitable in my feelings and thoughts about the Bishop of Rome, even though he has declared that Christian communities other than the Roman Catholic Church are either "deficient" or "not true churches." I try to be charitable.

His visit and the scripture appointed for this day have prompted me to ask you to think with me about the Church: the Church Catholic (not the Roman Catholic Church, but the universal Church), the Episcopal Church in the United States, and this church in Charleston known as St. John's.

I usually begin sermons by quoting part of the scripture appointed for the day. This morning let me deviate from that practice by quoting one of my favorite writers, Fred Buechner, on the subject of "church."

"The visible church is all the people who get together from time to time in God's name. Anybody can find out who they are by going to look. The invisible church is all the people God uses for his hands and feet in this world. Nobody can find out who they are except God. Think of them as two circles. The optimist says they are concentric. The cynic says they don't even touch. The realist says they occasionally overlap.

In a fit of high inspiration the author of the Book of Revelation states that there is no temple in the New Jerusalem, thus squelching once and for all the tedious quip that since heaven is an endless church service, anybody with two wits to rub together would prefer hell.

The reason for there being no temple in the new Jerusalem is presumably the same as the reason for Noah's leaving the ark behind when he finally makes it to Mount Ararat."

You remember that in liturgical architecture parlance the place where the People gather is known as the "nave", same root word as "naval." This is the ship through which we sail through the stormy waters of life. Until we get to our final destination we are in the same boat: the Church.

This particular boat called St. John's is busily searching for a new captain. Your Search Committee and Vestry are in the final stages of discerning which priest out of the many who have been suggested will make the best rector of this parish. The Vestry appointed a committee of dedicated folks which are representative of this very diverse congregation and gave them the responsibility of sorting through and interviewing some 40 priests. That process has now resulted in four priests being brought to Charleston. Two of them have been here the last couple of weeks and two more will be here in the next two weeks. After care and prayerful deliberation one of them will be recommended to your Vestry by your Search Committee. The call will probably be made within the next month. That has sort of brought me up short and made me face reality. My time here has always been temporary, but after 14 months, it is beginning to feel a bit more permanent. But then, all of our life is temporary and transitory.

Everybody yearns for a sense of permanence. Everybody yearns for a place to call home. This place called St. John's is home for many of you. Place and space identify us, tells us who we are. One of the first questions asked of a newcomer is, "Where are you from?" Perhaps an even more important question for Christians is "Where are you going?"

Your Search Committee has been guided in its work by the parish profile which was developed after congregational meetings last year. All of you have an opportunities to read it. I you haven't it is available on our website. In that profile there are statements under the heading, "What We Want Next For Our Parish":

* Expand social outreach by seeking out unmet needs in the community.

* Strengthen Christian formation, especially for children and youth.

* Continue our excellent traditions in liturgy, preaching and music which is grounded in the Anglican choral tradition.

* Honor our legacy as an open, welcoming community.

* Encourage, develop and strengthen volunteers and lay leaders.

* Maintain and improve buildings and grounds.

* Continue to engage in ecumenical and interfaith activities and dialogue.

That is a wonderful list of hopeful expectations for St. John's future.

One of the goals is to maintain and improve buildings and grounds. When candidates are brought into this church I'm sure they are struck, as I was when I first walked in, by the distinctive beauty of this building. Many of you have expressed your appreciation and delight in having this unique place in which to worship. But we all realize it isn't our permanent home. It is, in a sense, our "home away from home." Our true home is heaven. Our true house is spiritual. That's what is being said in St. John's mission statement: "We reach out to the world in Christ's name in the hope that all might find a home in God's healing love." Our home is in God's healing love.

In today's second lesson, St. Peter declares, "Like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood." He goes on to describe Christians as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people." Let's face it; we don't often think of ourselves in those terms. But that is who we are meant to be. That's who we
are by virtue of our incorporation into Christ's Body through our baptism.

It is essential that we know who we are as things are changing around us. One of my favorite memories of my teenaged years is that of my mother calling out to me as I left the house to "hang out" with my friends, "Remember who you are!" It might have helped keep me out of trouble sometimes. Today, as we celebrate the ministry of these young people as Acolytes, it is something we want to say to them: "Remember who you are!" Remember whose you are!" You are Christ's royal priesthood. You are God's own children. To know who and whose you are is so important. That identity helps keep us centered and grounded.

It is also important to remember where you are going. In the Upper Room, after the Last Supper, the night before he died for us, Jesus wanted to assure his friends that where he was going they would be going also, "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also." In the Greek the word translated "dwelling places", and in older versions of the Bible, "mansions", is literally "resting places." Jesus is saying that on the Journey to God he goes ahead of us. And in God's kingdom there are many resting places where Jesus has gone before us.

What's it going to be like? Don't we all wonder about that? We'd all like to know the answer to that question. The Revelation to John tried to capture it with a variety of images. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, glorious in majesty, comes down from on high, a rare jewel "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." All things are made new: the
relationship between humanity and the God of grace is unbroken and complete. Every tear is wiped away. Death is no more, neither crying and pain.

And neither is there a temple in the new Jerusalem. Remember that. Does it seem odd of God not to include in the master plan of heaven a centerpiece of worship? But just as there is no need for the sun or moon to shine there, there is no need for a place of worship because worship happens at all times in all places in the realm of God.

Joseph Jeter, who used to teach at Texas Christian University, tells of visiting a dying man. The old man, in gasps, told him, "I saw heaven last night."

Jeter asked, "Was it beautiful?" "Yes, it was very beautiful." "What did it look like?" Jeter inquired. "Well, I couldn't tell about all of it, but there was a building right in the middle that looked like the capitol of Texas. It was marvelous." Jeter said they visited for a few more minutes, prayed some prayers, and the old man died. Later he said he had to smile,"The capitol of Texas?!" He said he hoped those who ran that capitol did a better job than those who ran the one in Austin (I am saying nothing about Charleston!). Then it hit him. That old man had lived all his life in the scrub country of south Texas, except for one trip to Austin where he had seen the capitol. It was surely the most beautiful and impressive thing he ever saw.

Words fail us. The imagination is overwhelmed. Surely heaven will be better than anything we can imagine, even Austin!

My friends, let us remember who we are: a chosen people, living stones built into a spiritual house; a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people on a journey. Let us remember the vision of this congregation for the future. Let us remember the mission of St. John's, "To reach out to the world in Christ's name in the hope that all might find a home in God's healing love." Let us remember whose we are: children of the living God who sustains us on the way. Let us remember where we are going: where Jesus has gone before to prepare a place for us. Amen.