How Does God Work In Our World?
Preacher: Al Zadig, Sr.

June 24, 2007, Sunday

+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

I’d like to pose a question to you in this sermon: “How does God work in our world – that is, where is God in the happy but also in the sad events of our lives, even in the comings and leavings of Rectors?” The Collect for today says that God “never fails to help and govern those He has set on the sure foundation of His loving kindness.”  That sounds like good, traditional church language, doesn’t it!  And it fits so well when things in our lives are going well.  But how do we square that with those times where what happens is anything but what we want?

That question is wonderfully expressed in a book of little children’s letters to God and I’d like to share some of those letters with you this morning.  One reads: “Dear God – If you know so much, how come you didn’t make the river big enough to hold all the water?  Our house got flooded and now we have to move! (signed) Victor.”  Another child wrote “Dear God – Charles, my dog, got run over.  If you made it happen, you have to tell me why! (signed) Harvey.”  And finally, a third youngster wrote this brief note saying “Dear God- I got left back in school.  Thanks a lot! (signed) Sally.”

Probably everyone of us here this morning has a memory of a time when we felt angry, depressed, or even frightened at some event in our life, an event which left us wondering why things happened the way they did and where God might possibly be. The question is one of relying on God, even when we are reasonably sure that whatever problem it is that faces us will not be whisked away by God together with an assurance that “everything will be all right.”

Do you remember the old Walt Disney movie “Fantasia?”  There is that powerful episode in which Mickey Mouse is supposed to clean the sorcerer’s castle, but being rather lazy and not wanting to work so hard, he looks for an easy way to accomplish his task.  By skimming through the sorcerer’s book of magic, Mickey creates an army of bucket-carrying mops to do all the work.  For a bit, all is fine, but then things get out of hand.  The mops and all their buckets of water won’t stop multiplying and soon the room is flooded with water and Mickey has no idea how to stop what he so rashly began.  As the flood level rises, he struggles to keep his head above water, and, just when it seems that he will drown, the sorcerer comes home!  Seeing the mess, he speaks a word of power – the water obediently subsides and drains away. For some people, God is all-too-much like the sorcerer, a kind of powerful magician whose job it is to make everything in life come out right – that is, the way we think it should be.  That God not only can, but should fix everything – if He chooses to do so!  So, if one prays for healing of sick person, but that person dies, it would seem that God didn’t choose to be helpful since He didn’t heal him or her. If that person was someone you loved, how would you feel about that God?

There are many kinds of calendars in use today.   The Episcopal Church has a calendar which is replete with religious festivals and saints days.  There is a national calendar which lists civic holidays such as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and so on.  There are calendars published by athletic teams telling when their games are to be played, and there is that ever-present contribution of merchants and greeting card manufacturers whose features include such commemorations as that of last Sunday, one dear to my heart – Fathers’ Day.  Thinking of that special day reminds me of a Dennis the Menace cartoon in which little Dennis explains the meaning of Fathers’ Day to a younger friend by saying “Fathers’ Day is just like Mothers’ day – except you can buy a cheaper present!”

Throughout the Bible, God is often portrayed as a parent and those who are, or have been, parents of small children know that there can be problems which accompany that role. I remember one Feast of Pentecost in a parish where I was rector.  Four young children were to be baptized and we all looked forward that event with delight. The liturgy had been carefully planned and rehearsed so that it could be done with appropriate very High Church dignity and solemnity. The problem was that one tot had clearly not been informed and simply screamed during much of the service (to the great embarrassment of her parents).  Her father responded by trying to utter words of power (like the sorcerer) but his “sshh!” and then a desperate “be quiet!” had no effect unless it was to make her howl all the louder.  Her mother used a different approach, and, holding the child in a comforting embrace, established a connection which soothed her and the yelling ended.  It reminded me of words from that wonderful hymn, “Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven” which so well describe the way God works: “Father-like, he tends and spares us, well our feeble frame he knows. In his hand he gently bears us…”

Going back to the question with which this sermon began, “How does God work in our world?” The power of God at work is not a force exerted on events by a whimsical super-magician, capriciously deciding when it suits his mood to intervene on behalf of this person or that or, conversely, deciding that he just isn’t in the mood to help, or even care, and, instead, is too busy doing the heavenly version of the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle.  The Good News, the Christian Gospel, is that God created the world as an act of love and continues to express that same love through an unbreakable connection with all of creation, especially that part made in God’s own image, namely, the human race.  In that connectedness with us, God’s involvement is expressed in a variety of ways, but almost always ways which include, rather than exclude a role for us.  That is, God works with rather than on us.  Sometimes we are well aware of that – even painfully so, while at other times, the Divine role becomes something we recognize only in retrospect.

Al, my thoughts go back some fourteen or fifteen years ago when  you called me on the telephone and began by saying “Dad, you’d better sit down.”  Probably like most parents, I groaned inwardly, wondering “what has he done?”  I suspect you remember that conversation – you told me that you had decided not to spend the rest of your life as a producer for television news.  My recollection is of surprise and saying “but you’re so good at it – you’re doing so well!”  Your response was “yes, but it isn’t enough!”  Puzzled, I asked, “what do you want to do?”  and heard your grace-filled reply “I want to be a priest.”  And then, with tears of joy, I did sit down!  Now, looking back on it, not only I, but virtually everybody who knows you, would affirm the role of God the Holy Spirit in helping to bring you to what has now been almost ten years of faithful ministry as a priest.   BUT!  And it is big “but” – you had to have a part in that as well, and not necessarily an easy part.  So often, it seems as if discerning what God calls us to do, what the right thing to do maybe, is uncomfortably similar to buying something which arrives in a box labeled “some assembly required.”  And when you look at the directions, they appear to have been translated from an incomprehensible foreign language into an equally incomprehensible form of English.

Most Christians, at one time or another, have longed to have God make it clear what we are being called to do.  The frustration is being willing to be obedient, but not being sure what that obedience consists of.  It reminds me of when I was a child asking my father how to spell a word, and instead of just telling me what I wanted to know, having him suggest I consult a dictionary!  I wanted to have him tell me (that would have been easy, quick, and require no effort on my part) but he wanted me to learn, to grow, to be part of the process instead of just a passive recipient of his help.  Now I have a hunch that, if I were God, I might keep things simple and just let everyone know quickly and directly what I wanted them to do and how they should do it.  But, as you well know, for some reason, I am not God, and the fact is that the Divine Wisdom is for humans to be included in a process of searching and discovery of God’s will as well as in the need for faithful obedience to that will.

Having had the privilege during these past months of being included in your seeking to discern God’s will for you and where your ministry was supposed to be, I know how conscientiously you have sought to know what the right choice would be.  You have had the blessing of a loving and supportive wife, who, if she had to, would probably testify to your many sleepless nights over this.  You have had the support of some excellent mentors including an archbishop, some bishops, priests, and faithful lay folk, many trusted friends, and prayer partners. And you have responded with courage and integrity.  As a priest, and as your father, I’m proud of you.

But there is another aspect to the discernment process for a priest, one over which you have little or no control, yet one which needs to be faced honestly, because the decision to stay or leave involves not just you, but so many others – especially your parishioners here at All Saints Parish.

Let me illustrate that with a short personal story.  When I was a youngster, my best friend was a boy who lived just around the corner.  He and I always seemed to like the same things, we were about the same height and weight, and we even looked a bit alike. We tended to play together almost every day, and if we weren’t at my house, we were at his.  Each of us was an only child but our mothers used to joke that, with us, they each had two sons!  One summer, after a lot of talking about it, my friend and I began to build a racing cart out of some orange crates and old wheels.  Although we didn’t really know much about what we were doing, it was lots of fun, the cart began to take shape, and might even have worked!  We were about half-finished with it when, one day at his house, his mother came out to tell him that his father was being sent to California on a business trip, and that his mother and he were going to go along for a vacation!  My friend was thrilled, bubbling over with joy, but I was crushed. With him gone, the cart-building would stop, there would be nobody to play with, and there went my happiness.  I’d like to think that I at least tried to appear happy for his sake, but I don’t suppose I really did.  That coming trip to California would be fine for him, but didn’t include me in any way.  I suspect there are many here this morning who, while they wish you well, are nevertheless feeling left out, left behind.  It is to any who feel that way that I address these thoughts.

Let’s go back once again to the question with which this sermon began: “How does God work in our world?” That question presupposes a previous question, which is “IS God at work in our world?” Forgive me if I am wrong, but I assume that most all of us here this morning would affirm that God is at work in our world, and therefore, in this, as in any important event in our lives, we need prayerfully to ask what the Lord wants from us, because we are constantly being called by our God to learn, to grow, to act.

Any fair minded observer would have to say that All Saints’ Parish is a wonderfully Spirit-filled community constantly trying to fulfill the mission of knowing Christ and making Him known.  Your Rector has had an important role in nurturing and leading this flock, but he has not done it by himself.  By God’s grace, it has been the whole family, the People of God, priests and layfolk, who have made this parish what it is – and that will not change!  If you focus on God, and how God is at work here, you will have no doubt that that same God who brought Father Al here will send another priest to be shepherd, pastor, and leader, bringing the gifts needed for the next chapter in the life of All Saints.  It is no mark of disloyalty or lack of admiration or affection for Al to look forward to what God will bring about here in and through the ministry of the next Rector acting with all of you.

So, let me end by asking and answering the questions which have run through this sermon: Is God at work in our world?  YES!  How does God work in our world?  Through His Holy Church – that is, through YOU!  If  your reaction to that is to think “Who me?  Who us?  No way – it’s too hard.”  Remember the wise words of Saint Teresa of Avila who said  “Teresa alone is nothing, but Teresa and God together are an absolute majority!” The future of this parish is in God’s hands and yours.  It does not depend on you alone, and God will not work things out without you.

In today’s Gospel, we heard Jesus pose a question to his disciples, namely: “Who do you say I am?”  He poses that same question to us, now: “Who do you say I am?”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in a minute we will answer that question as we join in reciting the Nicene Creed. With that belief in who He is, and with the assurance that God is at work in our world, look forward to the future of this great parish with joy and confidence, just as you can look back on the past five years with gratitude to the God whom we love and praise – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.