Greenfield

Jesus teaches us: “Look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. (John 4:35)”

Last year, Bishop Doyle asked me to lead an exciting new venture, a “Greenfield Initiative,” by chairing a new Greenfield Commission. I have been leading this Greenfield Commission, a creative bunch that includes 8 clergy from all over our diocese. Yet our name - “greenfield” - brings about many questions as to the meaning of that word.

Evangelism in the greenfield means looking around you and seeing how the fields are ripe for harvesting. Greenfield evangelism does not mean knocking on unknown doors and passing out paper pamphlets about Jesus. Greenfield evangelism does not mean staying inside our churches and waiting for people to come to us, just because we have an attractive sign out front with our worship service times.

Greenfield evangelism means looking around at the places where you gather right now – and then seeing how the field is ripe for harvesting. Your greenfield might be a yoga class that you have attended for years. Your greenfield might be the group of guys that you go deer hunting with every fall. Your greenfield might be: a book club, the parents on your son’s football team, the college students on the floor of your dorm, the early risers with whom you power walk with every morning, the people who you meet for happy hour after work.

These are the greenfields that are ripe for the harvest. Then, in your greenfield, just open your mouth and share your story. And the harvest will come, in ways that we could never ask for or imagine.

Bishop Doyle is hosting a Conference on Evangelism at Camp Allen for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. The conference will be Friday, November 11 – Saturday, November 12. Jimmy and I will be there; please come and join us. You can register at www.campallen.org. If you come, I believe that you will learn to look around you, to find the greenfields in your life. You will learn how to share your story more effectively, so that the harvest of Jesus’ message of love will come, in ways that we could never ask for or imagine.

A video will be shown at the conference, highlighting the exciting challenge of the Greenfield Initiative. Our St. Alban’s Bible Study at Barnett’s Pub (the study begins again on Tuesday, September 27!) will be featured, an example of harvesting outside of the church buildings and into the ripe fields.

Where is your greenfield? Just look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.

Bi-Lingual Gatekeepers

Sermon from May 15, 2011
(Easter 4 – Year A)
John 10:1-10
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Waco, Texas

In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted by Congress.
This act was designed to make buildings and other public places accessible to all.
At the time that the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, I was working in the business world.
And one of my job duties was functioning as the manager of the 75,000 square foot office building that our company owned and occupied.

Looking out for the economic concerns of our financial partners, I was disturbed that the Americans with Disabilities Act would cost our real estate partnership thousands and thousands of dollars to comply with the new regulations.
However, in order to understand the Act better, I was sent to a training seminar.
At this training seminar, I learned a whole new language.
In managing our office building up to that point, I only knew the language of dollars and cents.
Yet this seminar taught me the language of those people who live with disabilities.

I learned that our office building was filled with gates, gates for people with sight disabilities.
Therefore, our elevators needed buttons on them in Braille.
Our building was filled with gates, gates for people with hearing disabilities.
Therefore, our fire alarms needed visible flashing strobe lights, in addition to audible alarms.
Our building was filled with gates, gates for people with mobile disabilities.
Therefore, ramps were installed and bathroom stalls widened to facilitate those in wheelchairs.

At this training seminar about the Americans with Disabilities Act, I learned that I was a gatekeeper, a gatekeeper who must learn to be bi-lingual.
In order to be a good gatekeeper of our office building, I had to know two languages:
The language of finance - and the language of the disabled.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims:
“I am the gate for the sheep.
And the gatekeeper opens the gate.”

Jesus is the gate, the way that leads eternal life in his sheepfold.
Jesus is the gate, the open access to the loving embrace of our heavenly Father.
And we are the gatekeepers, the gatekeepers who make Jesus accessible to everyone.

And at the training seminar that we know as St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, we learn that we must be gatekeepers who are bi-lingual.
In order to be a good gatekeeper of Jesus’ sheepfold, we must speak two languages:
The language of God - and the language of our culture.
As good gatekeepers, we must bust open the gate to Jesus Christ, by becoming bi-lingual translators of his good news.

As a priest, I believe that one of my primary duties is to be bi-lingual.
One of my primary duties is to be a translator of the Gospel.
Therefore, I learn the language of God’s good news by studying my Bible and praying about what the words of scripture mean in my own life.
Then I step into this pulpit and I strive to be a good gatekeeper, translating the good news of Jesus using the language and the images of our culture.
This is why I have stood in this pulpit in the past - and impersonated Oprah Winfrey and Ricky Bobby.
This is why I have used images of an unopened bottle of Cabernet and packets of fake honey at Bush’s Chicken.
This is why, on Easter Day, I sang the song that doesn’t end, as if I was Lamb Chop, the children’s puppet.
I do all these silly and foolish things as your preacher, because I want to be bi-lingual.
I want to be a good gatekeeper, making the good news of Jesus completely accessible for everyone.

And Jesus teaches us how to be gatekeepers.
For Jesus himself was bi-lingual.
Jesus did not drone on in a monotone, like some boring theology professor.
But Jesus knew how to translate his message to the culture around him.

To people who were farmers in an agrarian culture, Jesus translates his message by saying:
“The kingdom of God is like a tiny, tiny mustard seed that a farmer plants in the ground.
And from that tiny, tiny seed grows a giant tree.”

To desperate housewives, Jesus translates by saying:
“The kingdom of God is like a valuable coin that gets lost on the floor.
And the woman sweeps and sweeps the floor with her broom until she finally finds it.”

And Jesus translates the wideness of his Father’s love, by opening wide his arms on the hard wood of the cross, to draw the whole world into the saving embrace of his gate.

This morning, Jesus proclaims to us:
“I am the gate.
And the gatekeeper opens the gate.”

And Jesus teaches us how to be bi-lingual gatekeepers of his good news.
Jesus teaches us how to translate his message to the culture around us.

If you speak the language of cooking, you can translate a passage from the First Letter to the Corinthians.
Using the language of cooking, you can translate by saying:
“Knowledge puffs up, like a soufflé that comes out of the oven and falls.
But love builds up, like a tall wedding cake that is built with upon layers and layers of love for others.”

If you speak the language of NASCAR, you can translate the story of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down with a roar from heaven.
Using the language of NASCAR, you can translate by saying:
“The roar of the engines at the Texas Motor Speedway makes my heart pound in my chest.
And the Holy Spirit roaring through the people in this church makes my heart pound with excitement, as well.”

If you speak the language of gardening or facebook or baseball or American Idol,
If you speak the language of teachers or bloggers or lawyers or plumbers,
Then you, too, can translate the good news of Jesus and be a bi-lingual gatekeeper.

However, we are not good gatekeepers when our faith and our churches are inaccessible to others.

We are not good gatekeepers when we use our faith to alienate others.
Therefore, we should not alienate others by asking:
“Have you been saved?”
Instead, we should translate our faith, using the language of God - and the language of our culture - to invite others by saying:
“Come and see.”
And our own authentic faith will light the way to the gate, like a pulsating strobe light on a fire alarm.

We are not good gatekeepers when our churches are filled with gates, gates of Episcopalian code words, words such as “narthex” and “eucharistic visitors.”
Therefore, we don’t need to get rid of the unique words of our rich tradition.
But we make our church accessible for all when we install Braille buttons in the elevator, to translate and patiently explain our funky Episcopalian language.

We are not good gatekeepers when our churches are filled with gates, gates designed to keep people out.
Therefore, we make our church accessible for all, installing wide ramps of welcome that enable everyone to come into Jesus’ sheepfold.
And we open our mouths to spread the great news that it doesn’t matter if you are bi-polar - or have been in prison - or have a drinking problem - or are divorced - or don’t own a necktie:
All, all, are welcome at God’s Table.

Jesus proclaims today:
“I am the gate.
And the gatekeeper opens the gate.”

And in this coming week, you will have an opportunity to be a good gatekeeper.
Using the language of God - and the language of your missionary context, you will have an opportunity to use your bi-lingual skills.
By translating the best news in the world, you will have an opportunity to make Jesus fully accessible.

So hold open the door to Jesus,
And be a bi-lingual gatekeeper.

AMEN.

I Do Have a Voice

I highly recommend the Academy Award winning movie, The King’s Speech. The film is about King George VI of the United Kingdom. The King has a speech impediment that he overcomes through relentless coaching that remedies his fears. My favorite scene in the movie is when the King is in Westminster Abbey, practicing his lines for his upcoming coronation. His coach is prodding him, coaxing him along to find his voice. In a moment of released frustration, the King yells out into the empty, historic abbey: “I do have a voice!”

I am so proud of all of you. Jimmy and I worked very hard to teach the Gospel of John during the season of Epiphany; and you responded magnificently. Each session had moments of spiritual awakening and new discoveries. Together, we learned that John makes a witness, a testimony, as his voice cries out down two thousand years, leading millions of people to the good news of Jesus Christ. Together, we heard God’s voice, giving us courage to find our voice, to make our witness.

Last weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to teach at the Iona School for Ministry at Camp Allen. The Iona School for Ministry is the brainchild of the Diocese of Texas; the Iona School is a place to train and educate people who will be ordained as deacons or bi-vocational priests in our diocese. Last weekend, I was teaching a class on “Practical Preaching” at the Iona School. I led the students through a coaching exercise, helping them to “find their voice” so that they can make a witness, a testimony to their faith in the pulpits and in the pubs where they will proclaim the Gospel.

You can do this simple exercise, as well, to find your voice. Choose one or more of the following phrases and fill in the blanks:
* I follow Jesus because ________.
* The hope that is within me is ________.
* I believe that Jesus gives me eternal life because ________.

If you will do this exercise, filling in the blank with a short answer, then you will have a short witness, a testimony of faith, to share with anyone at anytime at a moment’s notice. You will find that you do have a voice and something to say.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 9. This Lent, it is our turn. It is our turn to be a witness to the Faith. It is our turn to step up our commitment to Jesus Christ. This Lent, I look forward to hearing you proclaim:

“I do have something to say. I do have a witness to give. I do have a voice.”

Something Better

Sermon from January 16, 2011
(Epiphany 2 – Year A)
John 1: 29-41
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Waco, Texas

What are you looking for?

In the Gospel of John, the first thing out of Jesus’ mouth, the very first words that are uttered by Jesus in this whole Gospel, is this question:
What are you looking for?

John the Baptist glances at Jesus walking by and John tells two of his own followers:
“Look! Here is the Lamb of God!”
And those disciples then follow Jesus.
To which Jesus turns around and asks:
“What are you looking for?”

The disciples of John the Baptist now seem ready to switch their allegiance to Jesus, and these new disciples ask Jesus an odd little question:
“Rabbi, Teacher, where are you staying?”
And then Jesus answers:
“Come and see.”

So the first two disciples do come and see what they have been looking for, something better than they could ever imagine.
The writer of the Gospel of John tells us a seemingly unimportant detail, a detail that it is four o’clock in the afternoon.
This means that it was far too late in the day to begin the journey on to the next town.
So Andrew and the other new disciple stay with Jesus through the night, sitting down to a long meal over a bottle of wine, telling jokes with Jesus late into the night and waking up to a leisurely breakfast of pancakes and warm maple syrup with the Lamb of God, the Messiah.

Jesus asks his first followers:
What are you looking for?
And after a day and a night with Jesus, they discover what they are looking for.
They discover something better.
They discover the Word of God made flesh.

So Andrew runs to tell his brother, Simon:
“We have found the Messiah.”
We have found something better.

What are you looking for?
I know that I am always looking for something better.

For starters, I am looking for better weather on Sunday mornings!

I also know that when I am at my house and lying on the couch watching TV in the den, Susan just hates it when I am in-charge of the remote control.
She and I will settle in to watch a good movie that we are both enjoying.
Then a commercial comes on the screen, and I immediately begin to flip through channels using the remote.
Susan chastises me for this behavior, yelling:
“What are you doing?
I thought you were liking that show!”
To which I respond:
“I’m liking the movie.
But I just thought I’d see if there was something better.”

What am I looking for?
I am looking for something better.

In 1863, in the depths of the American Civil War, the people of the United States were killing each other in the deadliest war ever fought on American soil.
People with black skin were held in slavery.
Years of sectarian thought and violence had ripped this country into shreds.
We were looking for something better.
So in the midst of dead bodies on the Pennsylvanian fields of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln rose up to give us a vision of something better.
Abraham Lincoln preached about a vision, a vision of a better people, a nation that “shall have a new birth of freedom,
[Where] government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

One hundred years later, in 1963, the people of the United States were still treated unequally, based upon the color of their skin.
Violent terrorism and fearful prejudice reared its ugly head.
We were looking for something better.
So on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. rose up to give us a vision of something better, a vision of a better people, “a nation where [people] will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Last week, the city of Tucson, Arizona was devastated by the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords and by the killing and wounding of 19 by-standers.
Partisan rhetoric quickly filled the airwaves.
We were looking for something better.
And in response, last Wednesday night, our current President Barack Obama rose up to give us a vision that we can be better, a challenge “to sharpen our instincts for empathy” and to not be driven by reactionary politics on both the extreme left and the extreme right, but to be a better people who are driven by kindness and love.

What are we looking for?
The people on the battlefield of Gettysburg were looking for something better, a better world where people are not divided into slave and free and Yankee and Confederate.
The people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial were looking for something better, a better world where people are not labeled as blacks and whites.
The people in Tucson and across this great land are looking for something better, a better and healthier world that is not molded by extremists or Rachel Maddow or Glenn Beck or the relentless news cycle.
And the people who followed John the Baptist’s message of repentance from sins were looking for something better,
A better world that is not centered on sin and the law, but is centered on love and forgiveness and grace.

Why are you here this morning?
What are you looking for?
You must be looking for something better - or else you wouldn’t be here today.

As for me, I here this morning because I am looking for something better.
I am here this morning because I am looking for an abundant life that is greater than my sins and shortcomings.
I am here this morning because I am looking for inspiration to sharpen my instincts for empathy and love toward others.
I am here this morning because I want to encounter this man named Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
I am here this morning to worship and pray and learn and stay and abide with Jesus, the Messiah, the loving Word made flesh.
I am here today because my family and my friends and you – all of you – have told me:
We have found the Messiah.
Come and see.

Yes, my friends, I am here this morning because I am looking for something better - and his name is Jesus.

And each and every day, we find and are found by him whose first question to us is this:
What are you looking for?
Each and every day, we find and are found by Jesus, who gives us life, an abundant life that is so much better than a life of violence and discrimination and political posturing and addiction and loneliness and materialism.
And each and every day Jesus invites us to stay with him, to abide with him, to sit up at night with him over a beverage and to receive a vision of something better, a vision of a better world filled with grace and truth and love.

What are you looking for?
We have found the Messiah, the loving Word made flesh.
So come and see
Something better.

AMEN.

Be Prepared to Give an Answer

Waco always gets excited when a new restaurant comes to town. As citizens of Waco, Susan and I get excited, as well, at the arrival of a new restaurant.

When Five Guys Burgers came to town, we told everyone about how we loved their huge burgers that we were introduced to when we lived in the DC area. When Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant came to town, we told everyone to request their spicy jalapeno ranch dressing to dip their tortilla chips into. Susan and I love to spread the good news about new and exciting restaurants that we have experienced.

When we experience a new restaurant that we love, people will ask us: “What did you order off the menu so that I can try it too? What is so good about the place?” And Susan and I have an answer at the ready, to tell them about the wonderful service we received from our waiter or the amazing Cajun French fries that we enjoyed.

The same is true with our Christian faith. People will ask you: “What do you think about Jesus? What is so great about St. Alban’s?” And if we do not have a good answer ready, then our experience rings hollow and we do not have good news, truly good news, to share.

We need to be ready to share the good news of what we have found in Jesus Christ, news about what we experience in this place called St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. So I invite you to do this little exercise: on an index card or a slip of paper, write down a short answer, a very short answer, to just two questions:

1. Why do you follow Jesus?
2. Why do you go to St. Alban’s?

When you have the answers to those questions in your proverbial hip pocket, then you will be ready to share the good news at a moment’s notice. As Paul writes, in his First Letter to Peter: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (3:15).”

Spend some time at the “restaurant” that we call St. Alban’s. Order something new off the menu. Give yourself room to experience Jesus in this place and to accept his invitation to follow him. Then, be prepared to give an answer, a short heartfelt answer, about the reason for the hope that you have.

Sharing a new place to break bread is wonderful; sharing a place to break the Bread of Life is even better.