"Chain of Love," the senior sermon of Margaret Ayers, from the Diocese of Montana, given in Christ Chapel on April 18, 2007

Please be seated. I lieu of a prayer, I would like to offer a poem given to me by a friend last night. Trust me, it is a prayer.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure about you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson
A Return to Love

The Gospel returns us to the beginning of Jesus ministry in the daily office just shortly after we celebrated Easter in the Sunday lectionary and as we wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. We hear John the Baptist – The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Wilderness, we have wilderness in Montana . It is the fourth largest state in land area yet with a population of less than a million people. There are wide open areas in Montana ; National Forest Service land, State Park land and one National Park and a small piece of another. Glacier National Park is located in the upper northwest corner of Montana . It was the destination of many family vacations when I was a child. It is a place of awesome beauty; craggy mountains jutting up into the sky; glacieral water running from melting snow pack, forming streams and then clear blue mountain lakes. The lakes one likes to wade in after a hot day, until the flesh goes numb and the bones ache. There are beautiful vistas, wildflowers and a wide assortment of wild animals. There is also an edge of danger pressed up against this beauty. There were hiking trails which dropped away precipitously; a misstep could end 1000 feet below. Wild animal are great to view from afar, but if they become agitated they will attack while others will find you a tasty morsel.

Wilderness is also the place John preaches and baptizes. He calls people from urban areas and other areas nearby to leave their amenities and come to the bank of the Jordan river to be forgiven, cleansed in baptism of water and called to a life which bears fruits worthy of repentance. Yet he also calls them ‘You brood of vipers!’ and asks ‘Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’ Well, maybe I am confused but I thought he did. I think what he is aiming at is a warning of the dangers involved in the baptism and not to treat it lightly.

He warns the people that they must turn 180 degrees in the way they act in their lives. They must move from a secular to a holy way of acting. Those with ample supply must share their clothing and food with those who have less. In your job do not use your power to extort, bully or overcharge others. The risk is being separated from the love of God through our own actions; our inability to share the forgiveness we receive.

In the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. These are dangerous words, listen again. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. Stanley Houerwas would have us take baby steps in forgiveness starting as early as possible so we would be trained to practice forgiveness more easily in bigger areas. We also have the words from the cross “Forgive them father for they know not what they do.” What would the world look like if that were the Christian response?

WARNING: Forgiveness does not take away accountability or responsibility on the part of the transgressor or else it becomes a tool of oppression.

I believe we have many layers we develop to protect us from each other and from God. It is these layers that keep us from returning to Eden , from the nakedness of soul which existed there. These layers also keep us from allowing vulnerability between us. How can we forgive when it costs us a level of protectedness? When it calls us to peel away layer upon layer? Oops, to far…just moved into scary vulnerability and I need to cover back up a layer.

Eight years ago, after the Columbine High School shooting fifteen trees were planted, one for each victim including the two shooters. But justice won out and in the middle of the night the trees memorializing the shooters were pulled out. It just wasn’t right or just to the victims they shot to allow the trees to stand.

Not long ago an Amish community taught the world about forgiveness when they forgave the man who took the lives of their daughters. They went so far as to welcome his family into their mourning. Two different situations, two different responses.

This week a gunman killed thirty two people on the campus of Virginia Tech before ending his own life. It is still too fresh to speculate which example they will follow, Columbine or Bart Township . It is easier to tell others what they should do but what if it was our loved ones? What would our response be?

In the Rite I Eucharist there is a choice in the introduction to the confession. The longer version contains these words “Ye who do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbor and intend to lead a new life following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways: Draw near with faith, and make your humble confession to Almighty God, devoutly kneeling.” Dangerous words, extremely dangerous words that do not appear in Rite II. What is the danger if we arrive at the table unmindful of this admonition? Or better still, if we were mindful? If we, in community, strip away the layers to reveal our nakedness? Like we did in the beginning of our journey here, entering into a circle with strangers where we shared stories and passed a candle. Our formation was built out of worship, community, study and outreach. Now we are called to share this formation with those we will be leading in community.

Let us all meet at this table in the sacrament of Eucharist as vulnerable as we are able to stand. I believe we will be given the grace to have the veil pulled back for the briefest of moments to expose the Banquet already begun, of which we are already participating. And if we see this, we will know the love and grace of God and not risk being separated from the banquet by our lack of grace. WE will not risk being chopped down and thrown into the fire.