{"id":1072,"date":"2015-02-01T11:00:01","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T16:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=1072"},"modified":"2019-10-22T12:40:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T16:40:05","slug":"the-marsh-spirit-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2015\/02\/01\/the-marsh-spirit-6\/","title":{"rendered":"The Marsh Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen to the full service<\/a><\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 18:15-20<\/a><\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 8:1-13<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 1:21-28<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to listen to the sermon only<\/a><\/p>\n

One: \u00a0Black History Month<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

First. \u00a0Those listening from afar might want to know that Old Man Winter visited Boston this week. \u00a0\u00a0Those of you in Paris, Buenos Aires, San Diego, Tokyo, Beijing, London, Charlotte, Buffalo, and Miami who have connected with the Marsh Spirit in liturgy, music and homily, and support us from afar, might want to know that we have had a blizzard here. \u00a0On Tuesday, in the thick of it, I walked up Commonwealth Avenue, grateful for the hard work of BU staff who kept roads and sidewalks and the Marsh Plaza clear. \u00a0I saw, but then thought I was mistaken, that our new coffee shop across from CAS appeared to be open. \u00a0It was! \u00a0Then I knew the truth of the wisdom saying that essential and emergency services in Boston include the police, the hospitals, the fire department\u2014and Dunkin Donuts (\u263a).<\/p>\n

Stretch your legs and walk Commonwealth Avenue, \u00a0wonder and wander through the commonwealth of the Gospel. \u00a0\u00a0The Marsh Spirit awaits a faith amenable to culture and a culture amenable to faith. \u00a0Yours is a cosmopolitan, even secular spirit, one that envisions Christ transforming culture\u2014not just Christ against or Christ above or Christ in or Christ across culture, but Christ who brings not just theological reformation but cultural revolution. \u00a0Christ the Extraordinary incarnate in the ordinary. There is a particular spirit of this place and community.\u00a0 Secularity \u00a0is a feature of this spirit, which we probe today, as in other months, Inquiry, Hymnody, Recollection, Patience,\u00a0Life. \u00a0And today, the Secular. \u00a0You honor both the lectionary of the canon and the lectionary of the culture.<\/p>\n

It is in the ordinary, the extraordinary ordinary of early February, in the ordinary of Capernaum, the ordinary of the synagogue, the ordinary of teaching and learning\u2014that of a sudden, it can be, there is amazement, and healing, and trust. \u00a0What is this\u2014the Markan secret<\/i> unfolds. \u00a0Capernaum\u2014at the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee\u2014of the gentiles<\/i>, those coming to faith. \u00a0A powerful voice, a personal encounter, a perplexing adventure–Challenge and change\u2014a costly<\/i> discipleship. \u00a0Fame spreading now, but a fickle crowd and a fickle fate await\u2014the crucified <\/i>Christ. A maniac healed\u2014apocalpytic<\/i> encounter. \u00a0(Remember the 5 fingers of the Markan gospel).<\/p>\n

Voices come in many tones. \u00a0Sandy F Ray. \u00a0Gardner Taylor. \u00a0James Forbes. \u00a0Edgar Evans Crawford. \u00a0Howard Thurman. \u00a0Sojourner Truth. \u00a0Harriet Tubman. \u00a0And some closer to us in time and space, some closer to home. \u00a0Nikki Giovanni gave us creation in January. \u00a0February is Black History Month.<\/p>\n

Some deep winters ago later, Jan and I drove with a few others down to the Eastern shore of Maryland. \u00a0We went there to attend the funeral services for our friend, and Bishop, Violet Fisher\u2019s father, William Henry Fisher, who at age 87 had died early on a Sunday morning, after he had gone over to his church to turn up the heat and ready the sanctuary for worship. \u00a0It was important for our congregation to be represented in bodily support of our Bishop, whom we love. \u00a0But it was more important, for Jan and for me, to be with a friend, at the time of leave-taking. \u00a0After all, all the other departures of life, with their laughter and tears and valedictions, foreshadow the final departure. \u00a0So the benediction closing our weekly hour of worship.<\/p>\n

We traveled easily following our map and directions. \u00a0\u00a0Because I had a sense that we could do even better than the given directions, I took some alternate routes on the Peninsula. \u00a0In fact, these alterations, mid-course corrections, did not make the trip down any shorter. \u00a0We were not altogether lost. \u00a0Certainly not disoriented enough to actually stop and ask directions. \u00a0Nothing of that sort. \u00a0Just an hour or two of further sightseeing. \u00a0Anyway, since we had already gone out of our way on the way down, I just followed the directions home. \u00a0Jan slept, and as the sun set, it fully dawned on me just how much our dear friend had left behind to be in ministry with us. Not all the stories of Black History Month are played out on a global stage The scene from Mark is an idealized one. \u00a0Yet, over time, the Voice still calls to command, and, over time, people of faith summon the courage to leave, to change, to turn. \u00a0To leave the south for the north. \u00a0To leave home for others. \u00a0To leave family for ministry. \u00a0To leave dad for the joy of service. \u00a0To leave the energetic black church for the earnest white church. \u00a0To leave the lengthy eclectic worship for formal, liturgical order. \u00a0To leave familiar foods and sounds and rhythms and sights for a colder clime. \u00a0To leave, to leave. \u00a0\u201cImmediately they left their nets\u201d. \u00a0How lightly we weigh others\u2019 sacrifice. \u00a0It takes courage, a gift of faith, to turn and move, and itinerate. \u00a0\u00a0It is isn\u2019t only the globally known people who make a difference. \u00a0My colleague Phil Amerson reminded me this week of the line in Middlemarch: \u00a0Near the end of George Elliot\u2019s novel Middlemarch<\/i>, is a passage about Dorothea, a person who is not thought of as great.\u00a0 It reads: \u201cBut the effect of her being, on those around her was incalculably diffusive, for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on un-historic acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs.\u201d<\/i> \u00a0In ministry we remember to honor the hidden lives and remember the unvisited graves.<\/p>\n

Two: \u00a0Presidents\u2019 Day<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Second. \u00a0Paul exhorts his feisty Corinthians to watch for what causes another to stumble. \u00a0\u2018If it causes my brother to stumble, I shall not do it.\u2019 \u00a0He makes an even broader claim. \u00a0The point of life is not to know but to be known. \u00a0\u00a0One is known by God in love, and that is the point, not to know but to be known. \u00a0\u00a0We know a lot. \u00a0But when it comes to life, to the big things of life, to sin and death and the threat of meaninglessness, we have to go on faith not on sight, and if we think we know we do not know. \u00a0\u00a0Our recollection of the guiding Presidents in deep winter Lincoln and Washington, who had to step out with faith, brings a dim reflection of the truth in holy, ancient writ. \u00a0Washington freezing at Valley Forge. \u00a01777. Lincoln shot in the Ford theater. 1865. \u00a0One God from whom and one Lord through whom. \u00a0We are trying, every trying, to keep a sense of cultural humility, in and through the strains of history. \u00a0February is the month of the Presidents, as well as Black History Month. \u00a0These two may be distinguished without being set in opposition. \u00a0We honor those who served and so built our country.<\/p>\n

As the 1991 Gulf War began, we were meeting on Sunday nights, moving from apartment to apartment, with a group of graduate students. \u00a0I remember very little about this fellowship, from more than 20 years ago, other than its convivial spirit, its population by forestry students\u2014know as \u2018stumpies\u2019\u2014and it production over time of several marriages. \u00a0It also produced the single most unusual love \u201cpoem\u201d I have heard, which came in the aftermath of a summons to leave. \u00a0Keith met Amy in this group. \u00a0They were both stumpies and both competitive lumberjacks and both very bright and very attractive young people. \u00a0One night Keith was extolling the glories of \u2018his girl\u2019, to a few of us\u2014her beauty, diligence, kindness, spirit. \u00a0She came from a large family farm near Cooperstown and he from a similar farm in Medina. \u00a0Keith offered his love poem, reminding us that they had met in the lumberjacking competition. \u00a0With eyes glazed over, voice low and loving, with heart pouding, to all the rest he added: \u00a0\u201cand she is also a great lumberjack\u2026and man can she chop!\u201d<\/p>\n

I had their wedding in Hartwick Seminary some years later. \u00a0I think of the two of them as two of the finest young people that the Empire State has produced. \u00a0Like the early church, I remember almost nothing of detail, expect the word, \u201cchop\u201d. \u00a0A pungent saying, like, \u201cfishers of men\u201d. \u00a0In those winter months of 1991, Keith bade farewell to us, as a member of the Air Reserve. \u00a0He was summoned and he summoned the courage to serve. I honor even revere his courage to turn, to change, to leeave. \u00a0You and I know that many others today, some from our own extended family, have also summoned that kind of courage. \u00a0\u00a0In ministry, we recognize the crucial importance of face to face groups.<\/p>\n

Three: \u00a0Groundhog Day<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Third. \u00a0The Book of Deuteronomy, the second law, or the second rehearsal of the law contains very little that \u00a0has not already been written in the other Books of Moses. \u00a0Hence \u2018deutero\u2019. \u00a0At the heart of our reading there is embedded a firm conviction of the possibility of speaking and hearing. \u00a0Something can be said, and something can be heard. \u00a0We carry some seasoned doubt in our time about this. \u00a0There is after all so much said and so much to hear. \u00a0We are awash in endless, cacophonous information. \u00a0But here, as in the gospel of Mark, the ancient writer rings a bell, sings a song, tells a tale with confidence in the possibility and power of real speaking and realm hearing.<\/i> \u00a0The reading ends with what we might rephrase as a clear warning not to go against your own conscience. \u00a0You trust the prophet whose words come true. \u00a0And your voice, day by day, can bring an intervening, prophetic word (Numbers 11: 29) \u00a0In ministry, we live to serve the living Word.<\/p>\n

That afternoon of blizzard snow this week several waves of memory swept in. \u00a0We were raised in 200 inches of snow a year. \u00a0The day\u2019s cascade and nevada brought alive the clear memory of the full liberty snow brought us, in those far off years and humble villages. \u00a0\u00a0Snow brought a physical liberation to 11 year olds and others. \u00a0\u00a0The freedom to hike and walk unencumbered and alone, in a cold wonderland. \u00a0The freedom, sled in hand, to go over to Library Hill, then up and down and up and down until the street lights came on. \u00a0The freedom to skate on the Swan Pond or elsewhere, to play hockey there, to glide and cut and shoot. \u00a0The freedom to build forts, tunnels, caves, hideouts in the mammoth drifts. \u00a0The freedom of play, fully alive on a Snow Day (someone should write a book about it), and partly available every winter day. \u00a0In 1966 we had something like 2 weeks off from school, in the blizzard of that year. \u00a0\u00a0No one wanted to hunt you down in the bitter cold of January, so you were free, free to do what you wanted until you were frozen solid. \u00a0\u00a0Then home to sit on top of the heat register and thaw out. \u00a0Groundhog Day is the best holiday of the year, and comes in the month of February.<\/p>\n

That year spring did come, at long last, as it does most years. \u00a0Enjoy the winter. \u00a0Spring has its own rigors. \u00a0One May afternoon, with some early summer warmth and a garden about to go in, with school winding down and summer opening up, my Mother had me sit on the back stoop of our parsonage. \u00a0\u00a0Spring brings change, following the freedoms of winter.<\/p>\n

Now Bobby I want to tell you something. \u00a0Your sisters don\u2019t know yet. \u00a0We have lived here in this house since before you really remember, and it has been a good place. \u00a0Most places are good, and most people are good, too, once they come to trust you. \u00a0That\u2019s one thing you learn in life. \u00a0Most people are good people.<\/i><\/p>\n

I paid as close attention as I could, given my desire to get over to the lot and play baseball. \u00a0It all seemed a little odd.<\/p>\n

Anyway, son, I need to tell you something. \u00a0\u00a0This will not sound like a good thing but it is a good thing, and believe me when I tell you it will be fine. \u00a0We are going to move. \u00a0We are going to leave this house in June. \u00a0We are moving to another town.<\/i><\/p>\n

Now I was listening. \u00a0And now I heard words I did not fully understand. \u00a0Move. \u00a0New house. \u00a0Bishop. \u00a0Itinerant system. \u00a0Annual Conference. \u00a0And also I found I could not see very clearly. \u00a0Something was in my eyes. \u00a0My eyes were getting blurry and wet and red and I could not see too well.<\/p>\n

But Bobby it will go fine. \u00a0I promise. \u00a0You will find new friends. \u00a0You will have a new school. \u00a0You will have your own room. \u00a0You will see. \u00a0When school starts in the fall, you will be excited to go to a big, new school. \u00a0And it will all go well. \u00a0I will be there. \u00a0Your dad and I will make sure it goes fine. \u00a0I promise. \u00a0I will need your help with your sisters and little brother. \u00a0I know you will help, won\u2019t you?<\/i><\/p>\n

And so it was. \u00a0The word came true, as Holy Scripture says the word of a real prophet does. \u00a0It all worked out fine. \u00a0Why some have trouble hearing the divine voice in soprano or alto tones I have never understood. \u00a0The prophet spoke and it came to pass.<\/p>\n

We are in good hands. \u00a0So it behooves us to bear one another\u2019s burdens. \u00a0We are in God\u2019s hands. \u00a0So it behooves us to share one another\u2019s sorrows. \u00a0We are in good hands. \u00a0So it behooves us to bear one another\u2019s burdens.<\/p>\n

We believe in God:<\/i><\/p>\n

who has created and is creating,<\/i><\/p>\n

who has come in the true person Jesus,<\/i><\/p>\n

to reconcile and make new,<\/i><\/p>\n

who works in us and others<\/i><\/p>\n

by the Spirit.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

We trust in God.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

God calls us to be the Church<\/i><\/p>\n

The Body of Christ:<\/i><\/p>\n

to celebrate Christ’s presence,<\/i><\/p>\n

to love and serve others,<\/i><\/p>\n

to seek justice and resist evil,<\/i><\/p>\n

to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,<\/i><\/p>\n

our judge and our hope.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

In life, in death, in life beyond death,<\/i><\/p>\n

God is with us.<\/i><\/p>\n

We are not alone.<\/i><\/p>\n


\nThanks be to God.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

-The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill, Dean of Marsh Chapel<\/a><\/p>\n

For more information about Marsh Chapel at Boston University,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For information about donating to the Chapel,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen to the full service Deuteronomy 18:15-20 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28 Click here to listen to the sermon only One: \u00a0Black History Month First. \u00a0Those listening from afar might want to know that Old Man Winter visited Boston this week. \u00a0\u00a0Those of you in Paris, Buenos Aires, San Diego, Tokyo, Beijing, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1072"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1075,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions\/1075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}