A Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany

The Reverend Dawn-Victoria Mitchell with a sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany

The Reverend Dawn-Victoria Mitchell
+ St. Mark’s/CB 3 Epiphany + 23 January 2022 + Year C
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 + Psalm 19 + I Corinthians 12:12-31a + Luke 4:14-21

“Grace to you and peace, from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time
I remember you, constantly praying with joy
In every one of my prayers for all of you”
Philippians 1:2-3 (NRSV)

Paul’s words to the Christians in Philippi could easily be my words. I am truly grateful to be here with you and I feel blessed by St. Mark’s. You have welcomed me warmly and helped make my transition to New York a smooth one. Thank you so much to the Search Committee, the Transition Committee, and to the Wardens and Vestry, and to so, so many others!

I am excited to share with you my first Annual Report as St. Mark’s Priest-in-Charge. We have been together almost five months and I look forward to many, many more months and years to come with St. Mark’s. This year we look to the restarting of some things: a women’s gathering, youth group, and Sunday School, for example. All of these, of course, are COVID contingent.

January’s Lion’s Roar talks about becoming Re-IN-Vested, Re-IN-Involved, and Re-Committed. Our newsletter also offers some ways in which you and I might deepen our connections with St. Mark’s. If you have not yet had an opportunity to look at the newsletter, I encourage you to do so. The Garden Crew and the Prayer Shawl ministry are especially in need of members.

There is also Compline as offered by Deacon Dorothy and me. Deacon Dorothy uses Zoom at 8p each Thursday while I use FaceBook each Tuesday, also at 8p. And the GET-UP Group meets at 7p each Wednesday evening. Currently, the GET-UP group gathers via Zoom. If you’d like to join us but are unsure of the technology, please reach out. Your fellow St. Markians would be more than happy to walk you through.

In the Epistle for today, Paul reminds the community in Corinth, and us, that it takes all of us. No one person can do it on her or his own. There is strength in the wonderful diversity of our gifts. We are stronger when we come together. What’s more, God made it that way so that we need one another. Paul uses the analogy of the human body to make the point:
You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. You’re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in {the} church, which is {Christ’s} “body”:
     apostles
     prophets
     teachers
     miracle workers
     healers
     helpers
     organizers
     those who pray in tongues.
But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues
I Corinthians 12:27-30 (MSG)

If the body were all eyes, there would be no ability to move without our legs and feet. On the other hand, if the body were all feet, we would forever be stumbling around without being able to see where we are going. Each part has its own separate and unique purpose. When one organ does not do its job adequately, the whole body gets sick.

Every one of us has an important part to play. We are stronger when we bring our various gifts together for the glory of God. No one gift or talent is better or more useful than another. And something is lacking when one part is missing or not living into its full, God-given potential. I need you with your skills and you need me with my gifts to fully be the church.

​How easy it is for us to say, “but, that gift is not important.” Or to say, “I am too young, too old, too . . .” you fill in the blank. Our God-given gifts and talents do not have an end date. As our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, likes to remind us, “as long as you are breathing, God is calling.” Maybe we can’t drive people to church or errands. Perhaps, however, we can pray or knit prayer shawls.
The on-going pandemic has changed how we do things. We physically distance and we wear masks. We continually adapt to new information and variants. That constantly evolving nature makes it hard, if neigh near impossible, to plan. And I like to plan. The inability to make concrete plans has been the toughest challenge of the COVID crisis for me.
In February, the Vestry will gather to get better acquainted. We’ll also set some goals for 2022—for the Vestry, for St. Mark’s, and for me as your Priest-in-Charge. To help the Vestry with goal setting, I will be leading us in a series of conversations. The conversations will be held via Zoom and in person. The dates I am proposing are:
Wednesday, February 2 at 12n
Thursday, February 3rd at 7p
Sunday, February 6th at 4p
Each conversation will ask the same questions. I expect that each session will last an hour to an hour and a half. You only need to take part in one. I hope you will make the time to join us. If you are unable to attend one of the conversations, please be in touch with me. I am sure we can find another way in which you can be a vital part of this discussion.
These conversations will help the Vestry when they gather in February. Your Vestry may need to alter or adapt as circumstances require. We can learn from Biology here. Bacteria and viruses are constantly changing. The ability to adapt, or mutate, is how COVID survives. Any virus or bacteria that does not evolve dies.
As a church we, too, will survive by adapting. That does mean that we totally throw everything out. Our mission and core values will remain the same. We will continue Jesus’ ministry of proclaiming the Good News of God’s love for all. As St. Mark’s we will continue to feed the hungry, visit the lonely, and help make homes accessible (cf. our Gospel lesson today).
No, strength and endurance are found by building on what makes St. Mark’s such a great place. At the same time, however, we must hold our plans lightly and be ready to pivot. All of us will need to be flexible, patient, and gentle with one another. And, more importantly, together we will need to be open to what the Spirit of the Lord is doing and is calling us to do in this place.
A final word about moving forward.  This is new territory for all of us.  None of us have been through a global pandemic before.  Nothing can have prepared us for the times in which we find ourselves.  There may be speed bumps, obstacles, and challenges along the way.  Frequently we may feel like God’s people Israel- as if we, too, are wandering in the wilderness with no idea where we are heading.
But we can take comfort that in the knowledge that, now as then, God is with us. God continues to lead us by a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day. We can take comfort in the knowledge that we are together, and with God's help, we will make it.