XXXI General Synod of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil
June 6, 2010
São Paolo, Brazil - St. John's Episcopal Church
At the XXXI General Synod of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil, Bonnie preached the sermon at the closing Eucharist. In the sermon, she spoke of relationships - the blessings and the challenges of being in relationship with each other - and what it means to be lay people facing those challenges.
In the name of the One who has called us into service by baptism. Amen.
Good Afternoon. It is an honor to be with you in this sacred and beautiful place. It has been a joy to me to be with you as you deliberate your decisions and celebrate the 120th anniversary of the ministry of the Anglican Episcopal Church in Brazil.
Thank you to Luis Alberto, now retired president of the House of clergy and laity, and thank you to Bishop Andrade for the kind invitations. I would also like to express deep thanks for your kindness and significant support, through Episcopal Relief & Development, to the Diocese of Haiti. Obrigada.
Even though I do not know many of you well, it has been as though I am among close friends. Because, you see, we have been made one, the Holy people of God, by our baptism.
There is a saying I have heard around the Episcopal Church. Perhaps you say it too. People sometimes say, "it's all about relationship". In our Gospel reading we hear about relationship. These miracles are not done in private, they are in the context of community, of Christ working in community, with disciples present and with other people witnessing the miracle of life and death. The miracle story we heard from the Gospel of Luke is about God acting in the life of the people. It is all about relationship – relationship with God, with each other in the context of the Christian community that God has given us.
I am reminded of the long and strong relationship between Episcopal Church in Brazil and the Episcopal Church TEC. I give great thanks for that relationship. Your prophetic witness to justice, your creative and inspired worship, music and song is an inspiration to us and I continue to be thankful for our relationship. As the people who asked Jesus to guide and help them were courageous, you are courageous.
To me, courage does not mean that we have no fear. Courage is acting in the name of God, especially when we ARE afraid. We ask Jesus to help us and we act. When you speak out against injustices your voice gives courage to others to do the same. "It's all about relationship." We are blessed to be together in relationship. God has made it so.
When we are baptized into the body of Christ, when we take the baptismal vows and we are anointed with water and the Holy Spirit, we begin a journey in this life that relates us to each other through Jesus. From the moment we are baptized, we are in relationship in a new way. And not only are we in relationship with our family and our friends, not only are we in relationship with the people in our Church community, not only are we in relationship with brothers and sisters across the world, we are in unique relationship with all of creation. Baptism is the most important event of our life, because it marks us as Christ's own forever. We are marked to be in relationship, with Christ and with each other and we make promises, one of them is to love our neighbors as ourselves and, to respect the dignity of every human being. Our baptism changes us and sets a course for our life that is led by God.
God has not only placed us into relationship, holy relationship inspired by God … God has given each of us unique gifts to carry out God's work in the world. Because, these relationships God has placed us in, you see, are – here comes a big wake up call – these relationships are not about US. These relationships God has given us are about God. Through these relationships we learn about God, we learn and see how God is acting in our life. These relationships are about God's work in the world and God means for us to be in right relationship with God, with all of creation, including each other. These relationships bring us toward wholeness, as we were created to be, God's dream for us as whole beings in perfect relationship with God and God's world.
But, as we all know, there is a challenge to being in relationship.
The biggest challenge in God's Church today is the Church's inability to recognize, affirm and use the gifts of all the laity for God's work in this hurting world. In the Episcopal Church, in the catechism that is in the Book of Common Prayer, in answer to the question, "Who are the Ministers of the Church?" the answer we give is, "The Ministers of the Church are the laity, the priests and deacons and the bishops". Think of God's work we could do if we truly acted on this charge.
There is something we forget about the laity. We all forget it – even the lay people forget it. In the Body of Christ we are the backbone. We are keep God's Church upright.
Lay people are the ones who fund the work of God in the world. In Mexico City I watched women walk on their knees for miles to put their offering in the plate. I see people in my own parish church week after week, write their checks and put the money on the collection plate. I see people leave money to the church in their wills. I see children put pennies they have collected into the offering. Lay people fund this Church.
Another reminder to all of us, without lay people there would be no need for clergy. After all, to whom would they preach, to whom would they minister, to whom would they give the sacraments?
Without lay people, there would be no need for bishops. After all, there would be no need for clergy and the chief pastor would have to one to care for – whose conscience would the bishop stir up? Who would hear their prophetic voices?
The Church all across the world worries about decreasing membership. Why is membership decreasing in our Church? Our members are aging and large numbers of young people are not joining us. Why? One reason is because many of them want to make a difference in this world and our communion is still bickering about who can be full members. Our young people don't care about that. They care about relationship. They care about service. They want to worship God in meaningful ways, to be empowered in service to be in relationships that affirm and encourage them in their life. They want to be a part of a community that practices what it preaches, to truly love our neighbors as ourselves in a life of service and relationship. Not in a life of scrambling for what we perceive to be power and self-importance.
We need to get over thinking that lay ministry is about serving God at church. Of course that is important, our ministries are rooted in our prayer and worship in community. We serve God at Church, we are on vestries and committees, we take our place in the governance and councils of the Church. We organize suppers and fundraisers, we serve at the altar, we visit the sick, we pledge our money to support God's Church, we support our priests, our deacons and our bishops. We affirm their call to ministry, we call them to provide for us sacramentally.
Our primary work in this world is in service to God in relationship with God and each other. God is the One who is the source. God is the One who shows us the very upside down nature of power and turns power over into power with. God turns us all into vehicles of service for God. God is the One who commands us to love each other as we love ourselves. God is the One who curbs our self-importance and brings us always back to relationship. Godly relationship, holy relationship, serving relationship. Relationship with God and each other. It is all about relationship in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
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