St. James' Episcopal Church

Sermon for Sunday
June 15, 2008
Proper 6 A
(Father’s Day)
St. James’ Goshen IN
Arthur Hadley

Well, Happy Father’s Day. Have you noticed that Father’s Day is seemingly less celebrated than Mother’s Day. I think our attorney Senor Warden should file an anti discrimination class action suit for Dads to get equal attention This is obviously sexual discrimination. Chuck, just think what this would do to give you name recognition in the courts of the land, and in the election process May be not.

Well it is Father’s day and in the Gospel we have Jesus calling forth the earliest Church Fathers, the twelve Disciples: first Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Mathew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus had been going through all the cities and villages:
Teaching in the synagogues,
Preaching the good news, the Gospel, that the kingdom of God is now and healing every disease and infirmity.

The ministry of Jesus was and continues to be: Teaching, preaching and healing.

But Jesus realized that alone he was not able to do all the teaching, preaching and healing; so he commissioned the twelve disciples to go out and carry on the ministry of teaching, preaching and healing. At first they were to only go to the lost sheep of Israel; later they were told to go out into all the world, every land, every tongue, every tribe, every person.

And the disciples realized they could not do it all either; so they started calling others to help with that ministry. Barnabus was called by the Apostles in Jerusalem, with the charge to go help the new Christians in Antioch. And Barnabas went to Antioch and saw the great working of the Holy Spirit and was glad of the ministries of Paul. Barnabas and Paul worked together for over a year in Antioch. The minstries of Barnabas and Paul prospered and grew. And at that time a great famine occurred in Judah, and the church at Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to provide famine relief.

Ministry of the Church is always Teaching, Preaching the nearness of the Kingdom of God, and healing all kinds of infirmities.

Calling new people to carry on the ministries of the Jesus, the ministries of the Body of Christ, the Church, continues. Forty five years ago, on St. Barnabas Day, I was ordained a deacon, a servant, like Barnabas, to teach, preach the nearness of the Kingdom of God, and to heal infirmities. What I teach is what I know from scripture, tradition and reason, the famous three legged stool of Anglican authority: the scriptures were selected by the church using tradition and reason; Tradition is shaped by Scripture and reason. And reason moderated with Scripture and tradition The use of scripture, tradition and reason must always be balanced together in order to be authority. I must preach that the Kingdom of God is near, it is now We must do our part to make the Kingdom of God Now, not something that is far off and always delayed. I am charged with the task of healing: not just a mother’s kiss that makes all things well, nor an occasional band-aid covering up a wound. Real healing is knowing that harm was done, but new growth can overcome the harm.

Those thing are the ministries of the Church, the Body of Christ. Jesus knew he could not do it all, the Apostles knew they could not do it all and every ordained person knows they can not do it all. The whole church, each one of us is called to do the Ministry of Jesus to Teach, Preach and Heal. Go and do the work of the Kingdom of God -- Now.

Thanks be to God.