Announcements

Announcements, January 28

SUNDAY,  January 31

Taste and See, An Introduction to the Eucharist for Young Children, 9am: This simple little class is geared for kids ages 3 – 7, and your child is welcome, whatever their level of participation or understanding! Parents welcome too. :-)

Candlemas Last Sunday Worship, 10am: We will celebrate Candlemas with a brief story and candle-lighting prayers at the end of our liturgy. Bring your flashlights and emergency candles from home to be blessed!

Poetry at St. Dunstan’s: After the 10am service this Sunday, some members will share poems with themes of Epiphany and winter. If you would like to participate, bring a poem to read aloud – one of your own, or a favorite by somebody else. There is an optional rehearsal on Saturday morning at 10:30am at St. Dunstan’s.

Recovery Eucharist, 6pm: The Recovery Eucharist, celebrated in many churches, is designed for those recovering from any addiction and for those who support them in their recovery. Elements of the service are drawn from the Book of Common Prayer and the 12 Step readings. Our first Recovery Eucharist falls on the feast day of Samuel Shoemaker (1893-1963), who contributed to the growth of the Twelve Step movement. The Eucharist will be celebrated with grape juice instead of wine. All are welcome; feel free to invite a friend.

Survival Kits for Homeless Teens: We are stocking three backpacks with essentials for teenagers who are living on the streets. Thanks to all who have already helped out; please return all items by Sunday, February 7. Financial contributions are also welcome.

Do you love getting books into the hands of readers? Our St. Dunstan’s Little Free Library is seeking a new co-Librarian or two. The Library sits on the southeast corner of our property, and can be reached by car or on foot through our woods. The Library needs to be checked and restocked (every few weeks in winter, perhaps weekly in nice weather), and this task can easily be shared by a small team of helpers. Members and friends of St. Dunstan’s donate used books to put in our Library. Please talk to Rev. Miranda or email at to get involved!

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Game Night, Friday, February 5, 5:30 – 8:30pm: Join us for an evening of games for all ages. Friends, partners, kids all welcome. Bring a snack to share, or come as you are!

Birthdays and Anniversaries will be honored Sunday, February 7, as is our custom on the first Sunday of every month. Come forward after the Announcements to receive a blessing and the community’s prayers.

Healing Prayers, Sunday, February 7: Next Sunday, one of our ministers will offer healing prayers for those who wish to receive prayers for themselves or on behalf of others.

MOM Special Offering, Sunday, February 7: Next Sunday, half the cash in our offering plate and any designated checks will be given to Middleton Outreach Ministry’s food pantry. Here are the top ten items needed at this time: cooking oil, canned soup (no tomato), meals in a can, canned meats (tuna/chicken/turkey/salmon), meals in a box (helpers, etc.), laundry detergent, sugar, toothbrushes/toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, and Kleenex/facial tissue. Quality bedding items, such as comforters, sheets, blankets and towels are always needed too. Thank you for all your support!

Backpack Snack Pack Prep, Sunday, February 7, 12noon: The kids and families of St. Dunstan’s are invited to prepare Backpack Snack Packs, to help local school children from low-income households to have nutritious snacks for the weekend. Come to the Meeting Room at St. Dunstan’s following the 10am service.

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, February 7, 6pm: A simple service before the week begins.

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, Tuesday, February 9, 5-6:30pm: Great food and fellowship! Join us and bring a friend for a tasty meal. Suggested donation of $5 per adult, $10 per household, kids eat free. If you’d like to help or contribute, see the signup sheets in the Gathering Area.

LOOKING TOWARDS LENT…

Have you been baptized? The Prayer Book tells us, “Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church.” From the earliest years of Christianity, the season of Lent (which begins February 10) was when new Christians studied the faith and prepared for baptism at Easter. If you have never been baptized, or aren’t sure, and would like to learn more about this rite, please contact Rev. Miranda at 238-2781.

Ash Wednesday services will be at noon, 4pm, and 7pm on Wednesday, February 10. The 4pm service is especially intended for kids and families.

Ashes To Go, Wednesday, February 10, 8 – 9am and 2 – 3pm: Our drop-in “Ashes To Go” station will be at Old Middleton Road & St Dunstan Drive, besides our signboard and Little Free Library. Pull over on St. Dunstan Drive or park across the street on Stonefield Rd. Imposition of ashes, prayer, and warm beverages will be available.

Making Crosses: A Creative Connection to God, Friday, February 19, or Saturday, February 20. This two-hour event is both a crafting session and retreat for theological reflection on the themes of Lent. We will make crosses out of found objects. All skill levels are heartily welcomed. The event will be offered twice: Friday, February 19, 1 – 3pm, for adults only; and Saturday, February 20, 9 – 11am, all ages welcome. (Children 7 and up may participate. Younger kids will have their own program in another room.)

Seeking Found Objects! Do you have some interesting bits and bobs that have no practical use, and yet you’re somehow reluctant to simply throw them away? Check your junk drawer, your workshop shelf, the dusty corner of your crafting area, and see what’s hiding there. Whether you plan to participate in “Making Crosses” or not, you’re invited to gather and contribute a few items to the found-object crosses that we will create. All items should be clean, safe to handle, and no bigger than a standard desktop stapler; other than that, it’s wide open. Please bring items to the labeled box in the Gathering Area by Friday, February 19.

Lenten 9am Study Group – Growing a Rule of Life: In this series, offered by the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an order of Episcopal monks, we focus on God as the Chief Gardener of our souls, and we seek out ways to grow into the fullness he desires. This series uses a tool from monastic spirituality called a ‘Rule of Life’ to explore and cultivate our relationships with God, Self, Others, and Creation. To participate, sign up at ssje.org/ssje/growrule/ to receive the daily email prompts, and come to the Meeting Room on Sundays at 9am, starting February 14, for group discussion about our individual work. You’re also free to participate in this series as an individual, without attending the group gatherings.

Lenten Virtual Book Group: Unapologetic, by Francis Spufford. Rev. Miranda invites members and friends to a “virtual book group” this Lent, beginning the third week in February. We’ll read along together during Lent and share reactions and reflections on a Facebook group. We may also plan one or more in-person book discussion sessions as well, if there is interest. If you’d like to participate, please sign up in the Gathering Area, so we can get an idea of how many books to order. Books will be ordered the week following Sunday, February 7. A $10 donation to defray the cost of the books is welcome, but not required. You can also check the libraries for the book or buy it for your e-reader.

 

Giving Campaign, Sermons, Stewardship

Sermon, Jan. 24

Today is Annual Meeting Sunday, the Sunday in January when we pause to take stock of what we’ve accomplished in the previous year, and where we’re feeling led to growth in the year ahead. It’s my custom, as it is for many Episcopal clergy, to have my sermon also be my Annual Meeting address – my reflection on where we’ve been and where we’re going. It’s always a bit of an awkward hybrid, this thing that is both sermon and State of the Parish address; but I do really value the way the exercise keeps me grounded in Scripture. This year, the struggle was, WHICH Scripture? The lectionary hands us a bunch of powerful and relevant texts, today. They each have a word or two for us, I think, at this moment in the life of St. Dunstan’s.

The first word is… Time. The year of the Lord’s favor. Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. In our Gospel today, Jesus is talking about time – about a particular kind of time. The Greek used in the New Testament has two different words for time. The first is Chronos, which is clock time, calendar time, linear, predictable, orderly, ordinary. It’s the kind of time that tells you when to leave for work, or when your car will be paid off.

The second kind of time is Kairos. The word points to a special kind of time – often translated as “the opportune time.” It means the right moment, the moment that fizzes with potential, when everything falls into place or when new possibilities emerge. The time when things are brought to crisis; the decisive moment we’ve all been waiting for. In today’s text from the fourth chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is talking about kairos-time as he quotes chapter 61 of the book of the prophet Isaiah, and then says, This is the moment; and I am the man. Jesus doesn’t use the word “kairos” here, but he uses it elsewhere, all over the Gospels. It’s one of themes of his teaching, really: recognizing, discerning the right time. Reading the moment and knowing, This is it. The moment to act, to step up, to respond, to make a change. It’s almost as if this were one of the gifts, one of the challenges he offers to those who follow him… reading the signs, recognizing the moment, carpe-ing the diem.

I started to get the feeling that maybe a particular kind of kairos moment had arrived at St. Dunstan’s sometime last summer. Let me back up and offer just a little bit of history. When I came to St. Dunstan’s, we were running some pretty substantial budget deficits – between $40 and $70,000. It made my stomach knot up just to look back at it all, preparing these remarks. In 2013 we used $52k of our reserves to meet our expenses. That was what we needed to do – and we had the funds to do it.

But that year we also decided it was time to make a change. Our reserve funds were getting low and it just didn’t make sense to go on like that.  We called a Budget Repair Task Force to make sure we were using our financial resources as wisely and effectively as possible. We did some hard, hard work, and were able to present, adopt, and, though your pledges, achieve a balanced budget for 2014, and again in 2015.

I’ve been rector of St. Dunstan’s for five years – five years and 21 days, to be exact – and for basically all of that time, I’ve been caught in the tension of wanting to keep expenses tight and live within our means, and wanting to build, add, develop, enhance – which often requires some investment. We’ve done pretty well – we’ve been creative, resourceful, and patient; and diocesan grants and special funds within the parish have allowed us to invest in Christian formation, youth and young adult ministry, a new worship service, and more.

And then, this past summer, I started to get this feeling. This feeling that maybe we were entering a new chapter. That maybe it was time to ask the parish to commit to a budget that would sustain and expand all the good things that have been developing here.

I am – you are – so blessed in our parish leadership. Your wardens and treasurers and vestry are, without exception, open-hearted, thoughtful, committed, both wise and smart, both compassionate and playful. I asked the Wardens and Treasurers: What if we presented a budget for 2016 that asks for more – not just because we think we could do more, but because we’re already doing more, and need the parish’s support to keep it up? And the Wardens and Treasurer said, Yeah. It’s time.

So we took it to the Finance Committee – I’m so grateful for our Finance Committee, for those smart, skilled people who oversee the financial life of our parish. And the Finance Committee said, Yeah, it’s time. And we took it to the Vestry, and the Vestry said, Yeah, it’s time.

And so, friends, we took it to you, in the fall Giving Campaign. We asked you to raise our pledged giving by almost 10%. It felt audacious and terrifying. And you said, Yeah, it’s time. You did it. Our pledged income in our 2016 budget is fifty thousand dollars more than it was in our 2011 budget.  A 25% increase. I don’t even have words for that. I’m just staggeringly grateful – and humbled, and hopeful.

We’re not going to run out and buy a Porsche. We’re going to be just as watchful and mindful in a season of growth as we were in the seasons of scarcity. We’ll keep a close eye on our budget this year, make sure we haven’t overcommitted ourselves, and strive to plan wisely for the future. But I think it’s OK to take a moment here to just … exhale, and smile.

That kairos moment of Jesus, that moment in the synagogue, was of cosmic importance; but he teaches us that we should expect kairos moments in our lives and our institutions and communities, too. Moments when God’s will is fulfilled in our hearing, before our eyes. Moments when God’s purposes take hold, when human impossibilities give way to God’s possibilities.

I want to be clear that, while I’m talking about money, I’m absolutely not just talking about money. Money stands for something. You absolutely wouldn’t have stepped up the way you did if your parish leadership had just said, Hey, guys, we’d like some more money, please. You give, and many of you have increased your giving, because you believe in our common life, in what we’re doing and building here together. And I want to be clear, too, that while I’m talking about money, I’m absolutely not just talking about money, because there is no way we would be where we are without your contributions of time, energy, skill, food and art supplies, and so, so much more. We couldn’t be St. Dunstan’s if all we had was the money.

So, I keep talking about doing more; what more? Our 2016 budget doesn’t include big dramatic changes. It’s a budget that invests in the body. That’s the second word for today, from our second reading, Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth: Body.  Paul uses this wonderful metaphor of the body to explain to the church in Corinth, the way you might explain it to a four-year-old, that their church is a body, that all the parts matter for the body’s healthy functioning, and that they really need to work together to get anything done.

The increases in our 2016 budget are investments in areas of our common life that will bind the body more closely together, and serve some of its assorted parts. We’ve increased the hours – not a lot, but some – for our Organist & Choir Director, an investment in developing our life together as a people of song, one of the deep and formative ways we experience ourselves as a body. We’ve increased the hours for our Office Coordinator – not a lot, but some – an investment in developing our parish communication systems, the ways we know what’s going on in the body, and hear about ways to participate, contribute, and be nurtured; and ways that that those who are not yet part of the body may find, and be found by, St. Dunstan’s.

We’ve taken several ministries that had been launched with the support of grants or designated funds, and made them part of our budget, because they’re not experiments anymore – they’re part of who we are. Our Sandbox Thursday evening service, our monthly young adult nights at the Vintage, our Middle High youth program – all serve different parts of this body, and help to sustain and connect those who participate.

We’ve boosted our budget lines for a couple of key areas that help hold the whole body together. Think about what it feels like to be hungry: low-energy, headachy, cranky. We don’t want to be Hangry Church. We want this body well-fed. Sharing meals is powerful; we learn that from Jesus himself. Eating together isn’t just pleasant and practical – it’s a sacrament of sorts. It builds community, helps people gather and focus, and makes it easier to integrate church into daily life. Many of our best and deepest conversations take place over shared meals. And while the occasional “potluck” is wonderful, often people just need to come get fed – in every sense. Our Fellowship budget line provides the funds to make sure we can keep table fellowship central to our common life.

Also this year, we’ve funded a budget line for Welcome and Integration ministry. The people who’ve become part of St. Dunstan’s over the past few years are really amazing, interesting, gifted folks. We’ve got two of them standing for election to vestry right now. It is a tremendous sign of health to have people actively involved in the life of this parish whose time at St. Dunstan’s ranges from fifty years to less than one. And to be a body that is able to incorporate – that word literally means, to make part of the body! – the needs and interests and gifts of newer members. Funding that Welcome & Integration line in our budget ensures that we have resources to do that work well, but it’s also a statement to ourselves that this work matters.

Finally, this year’s budget inches up our investment in Outreach, the ways we support service and advocacy work in our city, our state, and the world. This year we raised the percentage of your giving that we pass on to others to 6%. Of course, monetary gifts are only one way we contribute; we’re seeing broader hands-on participation in some of our Outreach ministries, too. Watch this space! It’s my conviction and hope that, the stronger and better-connected the Body grows, the more we’re able to act together to serve our neighbors and join in God’s work of healing and transforming a broken world.

One last word on the church as Body: It’s important to keep asking, Are any of the parts neglected? Is there an ear or a pinky toe that’s not feeling connected, or getting what it needs? Let’s keep striving to be a Body in which all the parts respect and care for one another, and work together.

One more Scripture passage, with two words for us, church. The passage is this scene from the Old Testament book Nehemiah. And the words are, Celebrate and share.

This story needs a little context. A century and a half earlier, Babylonian armies had conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the great Temple, and taken most of the people away from their homeland, into exile. Fifty years later, the Persian empire conquered Babylon, and the Persion emperor, Cyrus, gave the Jews permission to go home. But being allowed to go home is not the same as having a home to go to. Jerusalem was in ruins, and other tribes and peoples had taken over the surrounding territory. Many Jews stayed in exile, where they had built lives for themselves, waiting to see whether they would someday have a homeland again.

Now, Nehemiah was one of the Jewish people living in Persia. He served in the court of King Artaxerxes, who was king after Cyrus. He was grieved by word from Jerusalem about how bad things were, and he asked the King for permission to go and help rebuild.  So Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem to be its governor, with wood and other resources to support the project. The Bible tells us that Nehemiah and his people rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 56 days.

The scene in our reading today is a moment of rebirth, a true kairos moment. Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest have called together all the people of Israel who have returned to begin life again in their homeland – men and women and even children old enough to understand. Ezra reads aloud from the books of the Law, the Torah, that tells them how to live as the holy people of a holy God, the customs and practices of their faith that had been largely forgotten during their time of exile. And the priests and Levites walk among the people, helping them understand, explaining, interpreting. And the people are weeping and mourning, because they have been so far from God, so far from the ways of their people and their faith.

But their leaders tell them, It’s okay. Don’t weep, don’t grieve. You’ve lost many years, and suffered much, but we’re home now, and we’re beginning again. This is a holy day, a kairos time, and God is with us. Celebrate! Go on your way rejoicing, eat rich foods and drink wine, and share from your bounty with those who have nothing.

Our thin years here hardly compare with the great exile. But this Body has been through some hard and anxious times, and we’ve arrived with hope and humility at the threshhold of a new chapter, a koinos time. Let’s take this day, and this season, to celebrate – and to share from our blessedness, in every way we can.

Announcements

Announcements, January 21

SUNDAY,  JANUARY 24

Annual Parish Meeting, 9am: Come to hear parish updates, including the 2016 budget, and help elect our parish leaders. All are welcome to attend!

Youth Lunch & Learn starts Sunday, 12 noon! Rev. Miranda invites the 10-and-up youth of the parish to meet with her for lunch after church once a month. We’ll dig into faith, Scripture, life, and our questions about all three. We’ll wrap up by 1pm, and we can arrange rides home for the kids if that helps the parents’ schedules.

Grace Shelter Dinner, Sunday, 7pm: Every fourth Sunday, a loyal group of St. Dunstan’s folk provides dinner for residents at the Grace Church shelter, and breakfast the next morning. See the signup sheet in the gathering area to help out.

Coffee Hosts Needed in February: Please consider being a coffee host. Sign-up sheets for upcoming months can be found in the Gathering Area. Thanks for lending a hand!

Survival Kits for Homeless Teens: We are stocking three backpacks with essentials for teenagers who are living on the streets, to be distributed through the Transition Education Program, a program of the Madison school district to support homeless kids and youth. Check out the display in the Gathering Area and take a tag or two for items you’d like to provide. In addition to the individual items, we are looking for a team to assemble three first-aid kits. We would like to gather all items by Sunday, February 7.

Do you love getting books into the hands of readers? Our St. Dunstan’s Little Free Library is seeking a new co-Librarian, or two. The Library sits on the southeast corner of our property, at Old Middleton Road and St. Dunstan Drive, and can be reached by car or on foot through our woods. The Library needs to be checked and restocked (every few weeks in winter, perhaps weekly in nice weather), and this task can easily be shared by a small team of helpers. Members and friends of St. Dunstan’s donate used books to put in our Library. Please talk to Rev. Miranda or email to get involved!

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Listening Group Gathering, Wednesday, January 27:  Are you seeking more clarity, direction, or sense of purpose in your daily life? Would you like a trusted group of spiritual companions to talk and pray with? We are gathering people interested in being part of a regularly-meeting Listening Group. If you’d like to be involved, please attend this meeting, or let Rev. Miranda know about your interest at 608-238-2781.

Taste and See, An Introduction to the Eucharist for Young Children, Sunday, Jan. 31, 9am: This simple little class is geared for kids ages 3 – 7, and your child is welcome, whatever their level of participation or understanding! Parents welcome too. :-)

Candlemas Last Sunday Worship, Sunday, January 31, 10am: We will celebrate Candlemas with a brief story and candle-lighting prayers at the end of our liturgy. Bring your flashlights and emergency candles from home to be blessed!

Recovery Eucharist, Sunday, January 31, 6pm: The Recovery Eucharist, celebrated in many churches, is designed for those recovering from any addiction and for those who support them in their recovery. Elements of the service are drawn from the Book of Common Prayer and the 12 Step readings. Our first Recovery Eucharist falls on the feast day of Samuel Shoemaker (1893-1963), who contributed to the growth of the Twelve Step movement. The Eucharist will be celebrated with grape juice instead of wine. All are welcome; feel free to invite a friend.

Game Night, Friday, February 5, 5:30 – 8:30pm: Join us for an evening of games for all ages. Friends, partners, kids all welcome. Bring a snack to share, or come as you are!

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, Tuesday, February 9, 5-6:30pm: Great food and fellowship! Join us and bring a friend for a tasty meal. Suggested donation of $5 per adult, $10 per household, kids eat free. If you’d like to help or contribute, see the signup sheets in the Gathering Area.

LOOKING TOWARDS LENT…

Have you been baptized? The Prayer Book tells us, “Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church.” From the earliest years of Christianity, the season of Lent (which begins February 10) was when new Christians studied the faith and prepared for baptism at Easter. If you have never been baptized, or aren’t sure, and would like to learn more about this rite, please contact Rev. Miranda.

Ash Wednesday services will be at noon, 4pm, and 7pm on Wednesday, February 10. The 4pm service is especially intended for kids and families.

Ashes To Go, Wednesday, February 10, 8 – 9am and 2 – 3pm: Our drop-in “Ashes To Go” station will be at Old Middleton Road & St Dunstan Drive, besides our signboard and Little Free Library. Pull over on St. Dunstan Drive or park across the street on Stonefield Rd. Imposition of ashes, prayer, and warm beverages will be available.

Lenten 9am Study Group – Growing a Rule of Life: In this series, offered by the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an order of Episcopal monks, we focus on God as the Chief Gardener of our souls, and we seek out ways to grow into the fullness he desires. This series uses a tool from monastic spirituality called a ‘Rule of Life’ to explore and cultivate our relationships with God, Self, Others, and Creation. To participate, sign up at ssje.org/ssje/growrule/ to receive the daily email prompts, and come to the Meeting Room on Sundays at 9am, starting February 14, for group discussion about our individual work. You’re also free to participate in this series as an individual, without attending the group gatherings.

Lenten Virtual Book Group: Unapologetic, by Francis Spufford. Rev. Miranda invites members and friends to a “virtual book group” this Lent, beginning the third week in February. We’ll read along together during Lent and share reactions and reflections on a Facebook group. We may also plan one or more in-person book discussion sessions as well, if there is interest. If you’d like to participate, please sign up in the Gathering Area, so we can get an idea of how many books to order. Books will be ordered the week following Sunday, February 7. A $10 donation to defray the cost of the books is welcome, but not required. You can also check the libraries for the book or buy it for your e-reader.

Announcements

Announcements, January 14

SUNDAY, JANUARY 17…

Guest Preacher, 10am: Percy Brown is the Director of Equity and Student Achievement for the Middleton-Cross Plains School District, and serves with Rev. Miranda on a local task force focused on addressing racial disparities in Middleton. We are glad to welcome Percy as our guest speaker this Sunday!

Sunday School, 10am: This week, our 3-6 year old class will be learning about Holy Baptism, while our 7-11 year old class digs into the story of the Wedding at Cana.

Rector’s Discretionary Fund Offering: Half the cash in our collection plate, and any designated checks, will go towards the Rector’s Discretionary Fund this day on and on every third Sunday. This fund is a way to quietly help people with direct financial needs, in the parish and the wider community. Thank you for your generosity.

Christian Formation Meeting, 12 noon: If you would like to help plan our ministries and programs that help people learn, reflect, and grow in faith, come along!

Evening Eucharist, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins. All are welcome.

Younger Adults Meetup at the Vintage, 7pm: The younger adults of St. Dunstan’s are invited to join us for conversation and the beverage of your choice, at the Vintage Brewpub on South Whitney Way. Friends and partners welcome too.

Kids for Kids Success! Through your generous gifts this past Advent, we raised enough to buy four goats through Episcopal Relief and Development’s Gifts for Life program! Thanks so much to all who contributed, and to the kids for their commitment.

Survival Kits for Homeless Teens: We are stocking three backpacks with essentials for teenagers who are living on the streets, to be distributed through the Transition Education Program, a program of the Madison school district to support homeless kids and youth. Check out the display in the Gathering Area and take a tag or two for items you’d like to provide. In addition to the individual items, we are looking for a team to assemble three first-aid kits. We would like to gather all items by Sunday, February 7.

Do you love getting books into the hands of readers? Our St. Dunstan’s Little Free Library is seeking a new co-Librarian, or two. The Library sits on the southeast corner of our property, at Old Middleton Road and St. Dunstan Drive, and can be reached by car or on foot through our woods. The Library needs to be checked and restocked (every few weeks in winter, perhaps weekly in nice weather), and this task can easily be shared by a small team of helpers. Members and friends of St. Dunstan’s donate used books to put in our Library. Please talk to Rev. Miranda To get involved!

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, January 22, 6pm: Join our monthly get-together as we dine at area restaurants and enjoy good conversation among women of all ages from St. Dunstan’s. This month we will meet at Sa-Bai Thong at 6802 Odana Road in Madison.

Annual Parish Meeting, Sunday, January 24, 9am: Come to hear parish updates, including the 2016 budget, and help elect our parish leaders. All are welcome to attend!

Youth Lunch & Learn starts Sunday, January 24! Rev. Miranda invites the 10-and-up youth of the parish to meet with her for lunch after church once a month. We’ll dig into faith, Scripture, life, and our questions about all three. We’ll wrap up by 1pm, and we can arrange rides if that helps.

Grace Shelter Dinner, Sunday, January 24, 7pm: Every fourth Sunday, a loyal group of St. Dunstan’s folk provides dinner for residents at the Grace Church shelter, and breakfast the next morning. See the signup sheet in the gathering area.

Recovery Eucharist, Sunday, January 31, 6pm: The Recovery Eucharist, celebrated in many churches, is designed for those recovering from any addiction and for those who support them in their recovery. Elements of the service are drawn from the Book of Common Prayer and the 12 Step readings. Our first Recovery Eucharist falls on the feast day of Samuel Shoemaker (1893-1963), who contributed to the growth of the Twelve Step movement. The Eucharist will be celebrated with grape juice instead of wine. All are welcome; feel free to invite a friend.

Understanding Racial Disparities in Dane County, Thursday, Feb. 25, 11am, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Middleton: Ken Taylor of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, which produced the Race to Equity report, and Percy Brown, who works with equity issues in the Middleton school district, will offer a presentation for all those interested in learning more about the barriers to racial equity in our local communities. A $5 donation is requested. Please RSVP to Rev. Miranda at or 238-2781 so that we can let St. Luke’s know how many we are bringing and make provisions for lunch!

Announcements

Announcements, January 7

SUNDAY…

Thorny Theology – Eucharist 101, Sunday, January 10, 9am: This is the first in a series of occasional 9am gatherings to bounce around some of the big difficult ideas and questions of church and faith. This week we’ll focus on the Eucharist. What is it, where does it come from, and what do Episcopalians believe about it? All are welcome!

Sunday School, Sunday, January 10, 10am: This week, our 3-6 year old class will be learning about the story of the Epiphany, while our 7-11 year old class will hear about the baptism of Jesus.

Spirituality of Parenting Lunch, Sunday, January 10, 11:45am: All who seek meaning in the journey of parenthood (at any age or stage) are welcome to come for food and conversation. Child care and a simple meal provided.

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Sunday School, Sunday, January 17, 10am: This week, our 3-6 year old class will be learning about Holy Baptism, while our 7-11 year old class digs into the story of the Wedding at Cana.

Rector’s Discretionary Fund Offering, Sunday, January 17: Half the cash in our collection plate, and any designated checks, will go towards the Rector’s Discretionary Fund this day on and on every third Sunday. This fund is a way to quietly help people with direct financial needs, in the parish and the wider community. Thank you for your generosity.

Christian Formation Meeting, Sunday, January 17, 12 noon: If you would like to help plan our ministries and programs that help people learn, reflect, and grow in faith, come along!

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, January 17, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins. All are welcome.

Younger Adults Meetup at the Vintage, Sunday, January 17, 7pm: The younger adults of St. Dunstan’s are invited to join us for conversation and the beverage of your choice, at the Vintage Brewpub on South Whitney Way. Friends and partners welcome too.

Annual Parish Meeting, Sunday, January 24, 9am: Come to hear parish updates, including the 2016 budget, and help elect our parish leaders. All are welcome to attend!

Youth Lunch & Learn starts Sunday, January 24! Rev. Miranda invites the 10-and-up youth of the parish to meet with her for lunch after church once a month. We’ll dig into faith, Scripture, life, and our questions about all three. We’ll wrap up by 1pm, and we can arrange rides home for the kids if that helps the parents’ schedules.

Epiphany House Blessings: In the season of Epiphany, which this year lasts from January 6 to February 9, there is a long tradition of blessing the homes in which God’s people live, work, and play. In honor of the journey of the Magi to find the Christ Child, we bless each home in the name of those wise and holy men. Would you like your home blessed this Epiphany? Call the church office at 238-2781, and we will work together to schedule times when we can visit to share this lovely traditional rite, honoring the holiness of your homes and inviting God’s continuing presence there.

Current Events, Kid-friendly, Stories

Honoring the Holy Innocents

IMG_9425The Feast of the Holy Innocents has largely been dropped from observance in the Episcopal Church. It’s a sad and grisly story, and rubs up uncomfortably against the obligatory joyfulness of Christmas and the impulse to take it easy for a while, in every possible sense, right after Christmas. I don’t know quite what led me to take a second look at this story, this year, and to decide to tell it after all – and to the children of the parish, no less. For one thing, I have a contrarian aversion to the practice of just ignoring the parts of Scripture that we find difficult or unpleasant. So while I feel the tension in holding up this story of murdered children as the coda to the Nativity, I also think there’s a deep truth and wisdom in its placement there that we may be missing. I’ve vaguely felt that way for several years. Then sometime before Christmas this year, I ran across the custom of blessing the children of the church (and, more, commending the practice of asking God’s blessing for our children and loved ones, to all our members) on the Feast of the Holy Innocents. I found that a beautiful and worthwhile custom, and it needs the story as explanation. So I drafted this. And then on Sunday morning between services, I pulled together some items to construct a simple prayer station to go with the story. After the Post-Communion  Prayer, I invited the kids – about eight of them, ages 3 to 10 – to meet me at the chancel steps and talk about this story. 

It all went fine. Nobody burst into tears. I talked with a few parents afterwards and they voiced some of the same convictions I hold, as both a parent and a person charged with the faith formation of other people’s kids: If we act like all the stories of faith are happy stories where good things happen to good people, then the faith we teach has little to do with the actual world in which we live. Kids, even quite young kids, know that bad things happen, that children get hurt or killed, that sometimes kings are evil. Let’s be brave enough to let Scripture speak in our churches with at least as much drama and danger as a Disney movie. 

I have a story for you guys.  The bad news is that it’s a scary, sad story; the good news is that it’s just a story.  To understand it we have to go ALL the way back to Moses.  Remember Moses? Remember baby Moses in the basket in the river?… Why was he in the basket?…  [We talked over that story a little bit.]

Matthew, who wrote one of our Gospels,  knew that story about Moses. And Matthew wanted the people who read his Gospel to see that Jesus is like another Moses – a great leader who calls his people into a new way of living with God.  So there are lots of little things that Matthew put into his Gospel, his story of the life of Jesus,  to make you think about Moses, and how Jesus is like Moses. And one of those things is a story about a bad, cruel king, King Herod, and how he was just like Pharaoh.  Matthew tells us that King Herod heard  that a baby had been born in Bethlehem who would become a king.  He didn’t know that Jesus was going to be a different kind of king; he thought Jesus might try to take his throne, someday. So he sent his soldiers to Bethlehem  to kill all the baby boys there.  But Joseph was warned in a dream,  so he took Mary and baby Jesus  and they ran away into Egypt to hide, and were safe.

It’s a scary story, isn’t it? But like I said: it’s probably just a story. King Herod was a bad, cruel king, and he did some pretty bad things, that ancient historians wrote about. But only Matthew tells this story, the story of the Holy Innocents, and people who study the Bible think that Matthew probably made up this story to make us think of Moses and of how he was saved, in Egypt, when all the other baby boys were being killed.  So baby Jesus escaping with his family is like baby Moses in his basket on the river Nile.

But stories are powerful even when they aren’t history. And of course there really are bad, cruel leaders in the world, and there really are children who live with danger, every day. So let’s create an altar to pray for those children. First, a red cloth – this is actually a chasuble. We use this color in church when we are remembering somebody who died for God. Next, a crown for King Herod and Pharaoh and all the kings of the earth. Next, a sword, for all the violence in our world. (NB: I asked a three-year-old girl to place the sword on the altar, guessing – rightly – that she would resist the temptation to start swinging it around.) Now, some of the sheep from our Nativity set. Lambs are a sign of children and innocence. Next, a cross, as a sign of life coming out of death. And finally, a candle in a dove-shaped holder, as a sign of hope and peace.

Now let’s pray for all those children in danger in the world.

Loving God, we remember before you the children whom Herod slew in his jealous rage, and all children of the world who face fear and danger. We ask that your love will enfold, protect, and comfort them, and we call on you to strengthen the hands of those who work for to ensure that all God’s children have safety, kindness, and hope. Amen.

One of the ways Christians have handled this hard story, over the centuries, is to use it as a time to bless their children.  Not just to have them blessed in church by the priest – that’s me –  but to learn the habit of blessing them at home –  at bedtime, before school, whatever. And remember kids need blessing not just by moms and dads, but by grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, godparents and teachers and close grownup friends.  I’m going to teach you a simple blessing now.  You can use it for any of your loved ones. May God bless you,  and be the guardian of your body, mind, and heart.  Turn to your friend and trace a cross on his forehead and say,  May God bless you,  and be the guardian of your body, mind, and heart.

And I say it now to all of you: May God bless you and be the guardian of your body, mind, and heart! Amen.

Sermons, Youth

Sermon, January 3

Who would you want to eat frozen pizza and watch cheesy movies with?

My son offered to help me with my sermon this week, to lighten my workload during our family vacation. And I accepted, because I’d already decided on a topic where I could use his input. It was his suggestion that I start my sermon with that question. And, you know, it’s not a bad place to start. Because eating frozen pizza (warmed up in our Presto Pizzazz Pizza Cooker) and watching cheesy movies is what our middle school youth group does together every Friday evening. And what we have in today’s Gospel is Jesus as a middle-schooler, seeking a context and a community with space for his developing faith.

In this story, found only in the Gospel of Luke, we meet twelve-year-old Jesus – presumably on Passover break from seventh grade at Nazareth Junior High.   This is the only story of Jesus’ childhood that appears in any of the Gospels.  There are tales about Jesus as a child in some later texts, like the non-canonical Infancy Gospel of Thomas, written probably a hundred years later than the Gospels found in the Bible. In one story, Jesus is five years old, playing on the riverbank.  He forms twelve sparrows out of clay, and is playing with them.  But then some pious grownup sees him and says, ‘Today is the Sabbath, when observant Jews are not supposed to do any work. Making those clay sparrows was work, and you have profaned the sabbath!’   And Joseph comes over and says, ‘You bad boy, what are you doing, breaking the sabbath?’ Then Jesus claps his hands, and tells the sparrows, ‘Fly away!’ And they come to life and fly away, singing.

Other stories don’t go so well. Once a kid was running past Jesus and brushed by his shoulder, and Jesus got mad and said, You will go no further! And the kid fell down dead.  And everyone in the street said, ‘Who is this kid, that everything he says comes true?’ And the parents of the dead kid came to Joseph and said, ‘You are not fit to live in this city, with a boy like that! Either teach him to bless instead of cursing, or move away!’…

I don’t see these stories as real accounts of Jesus’ life. I think that Jesus’ life as a child and young man were mostly unremarkable and/or unknown, and that’s why those years are almost invisible in our Scriptures. Later stories like these are a product of the human impulse to fill in the blanks and create an interesting backstory.

But I think there is some insight in their portrait of Jesus – not as a perfect, holy child –  “Mild, obedient, good,” as it says in the verse of “Once in royal David’s city” that we don’t sing – but instead as a very human kid with some remarkable powers.

The Church – the big-C church, that encompasses all our churches – has taught for two thousand years  that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. Both completely a human being and completely God.  A paradox and a wonder. What it means for us in looking at this Gospel story is that while Jesus was most assuredly not a typical 12-year-old, he also was a typical 12-year-old.

A scholar named James Fowler lays out a map of the Stages of Faith Development, based loosely on Piaget’s work on child development.  It’s not a perfect framework, but it’s helpful. It points out why we study Scripture and explore faith in different ways with younger children, older children, teens, and adults. And it helps explain why youth group is so important for kids in that Jesus-in-the-Temple age group.

So what’s going on with middle school age kids? The ten-to-thirteen-ish age group? These kids are beginning to move out of  what Fowler calls the Mythic-Literalist phase, the phase of our older elementary kids. The Mythic-Literal stage of faith development is the stage in which a child begins to take on for herself the stories, beliefs, and practices of her community. The playful imagination of younger children gives way to more linear and cohesive thinking. Rules, beliefs, and stories are all very important,  and are held firmly and literally. The stories and explanations of faith orient the child in the world, telling him who he is and why things happen. Deeper symbolism isn’t consciously understood, though it is at work, most assuredly.

As kids move into their middle school years – especially bright, inquisitive kids, and especially in a faith community that encourages thoughtfulness and questioning – they start to notice and wonder about some of these stories and teachings. Contradictions within the texts, and between the texts and daily life,  start to motivate deeper reflection and engagement.

Pre-teen and teenage youth begin to move into  what Fowler calls the Synthetic/Conventional phase of faith. Here’s what Fowler says about it: “In Synthetic-Conventional faith,  a person’s experience of the world now extends beyond the family  [to include school, peers, … work, and more]. Faith must provide a coherent orientation in the midst of that more complex range of involvements.  Faith must synthesize values, [information and lived experience]; it must provide a basis for identity and outlook…” In this stage, “trust is shifted from stories and explanations and is now placed in the need to belong to a group…. One finds one’s identity by aligning oneself with a certain perspective [or community] ….  Authority [may be] located in … traditional authority roles [and] in the consensus of a valued, face-to-face group…. One of the hallmarks of this stage is [imagining] God as extensions of interpersonal relationships. God is often experienced as Parent, Friend, Companion, Beloved, and Personal Reality. The true religious hunger of adolescence is to have a God who knows me and values me deeply.”

So: In this phase, our worldview and experiences broaden, so faith is exploratory and inquiring, working to put the pieces together. And our social worlds broaden,  so faith is social and interpersonal, grounded in connection and belonging.

Let’s come back to our Gospel story,  and look at Jesus as an extraordinary, but also and ordinary,  twelve-year-old kid. We see a Jesus whose experience of the world now extends beyond his family… a Jesus who needs independence and freedom  to follow his own interests and questions. I can’t even begin to imagine  how terrified and furious his parents would have been,  after losing him for FOUR DAYS.  But there’s something abidingly true about this scene – “WHAT were you THINKING? Don’t you know how worried we were?” “Look, I just needed some time, OK?”

That’s why I treasure having a church community in which my middle-school kid, and all our middle-school kids,  can connect with other faithful adults, people who respect them and love them, who’ll be there for them  when they need a break from their parents, but still need somebody to trust.

We see a Jesus who has questions – and answers – of his own.  A Jesus who is actively working on putting the pieces together.  Digging into the holes and the contradictions, working on making sense of it all, weaving what he’s learned  into a way of understanding self, God, and world that can guide him into adulthood.

That’s why I treasure having a church community in which my middle-school kid, and all our middle-school kids,  can ask their questions, and share their provisional answers. Where there are open-minded, thoughtful folks around willing to share their viewpoints and stories, and also willing to listen, respond, encourage. Sharon and JM, our Middle High Youth leaders, are stepping up to be the designated hitters  for the curve balls and spit balls our youth may toss their way; but it’s not just them. Many of you know our kids,  not just their names, but what they like, what they care about, what they struggle with. I’m so grateful for that, as both a pastor and a mother.

And we see a Jesus seeking community.  Seeking relationship with a group that will give him affirmation, connection, and direction.  Maybe the other twelve-year-old kids in Nazareth weren’t interested in the same kinds of things as Jesus. Maybe his local synagogue didn’t have a youth group. So the best peer group he could find  was the teachers in the Jerusalem temple.  As we talked about this story, my son remarked,  “Jesus was probably kind of a quirky kid, and having a youth group where it was safe to be quirky  might have been really important to him.”

That’s why I treasure having a church community that has chosen to invest in creating and sustaining  that space for our youth. That’s committing funds and space  and a LOT of volunteer time to developing a community for our youth,  a group where it’s safe to be their quirky selves, to laugh and struggle and wonder and share, and grow into kind, thoughtful young adults  with hearts turned towards God and the world.

Independence and questioning  within the safety of a trustworthy community.  That’s what Jesus found in the temple, when he was twelve. That’s what our kids –  as many as six of them, when they all show up and bring friends! – that what our kids are finding here,  what they’re building here. This is holy and important work. Please keep it, and them, in your prayers.

This Gospel was just asking for me  to tell you about our youth group – a new and growing ministry at St. Dunstan’s – and talk a little about the who and what and why. But I hope there’s more here too. My favorite thing about this particular Gospel story from Luke is that it gives us this vivid moment of Jesus’ humanity.  Maybe it was the God in Jesus that drew him to the Temple and kept him there, but there is so much of the human Jesus here too – failing to mention to his parents that he had this plan to just, you know, stay in Jerusalem when they left; and sassing them – let’s call it what it is – when they finally, frantically track him down.

I asked my son, How does it feel to think about Jesus as a twelve year old? And he said, ‘It feels like I’m more like Jesus.  It feels like, we will all be twelve, or we’ve all been twelve, and so was Jesus. Knowing that Jesus went through his teenage years too is reassuring.‘

Our prayers and hymns, our rites and Scriptures place so much emphasis on the divinity, the God-ness, of Jesus. And rightly so;  that is what makes us Christians.  But I welcome and treasure the moments in the Gospels that remind me of Jesus’ person-ness.  That invite us to imagine him  sprawled over a chair in the youth room, eating frozen pizza and watching cheesy movies  with the rest of the gang, and probably fitting right in.

Announcements

Announcements, December 30

SUNDAY…

Birthdays and Anniversaries will be honored this Sunday, January 3, as is our custom on the first Sunday of every month. Come forward after the Announcements to receive a blessing and the community’s prayers.

Healing Prayer, Sunday, January 3: One of our ministers will offer healing prayers for those who wish to receive prayers for themselves or on behalf of other.

MOM Special Offering, Sunday, January 3: This Sunday, half the cash in our offering plate and any designated checks will be given to Middleton Outreach Ministry’s food pantry. Groceries are welcome gifts too. Here are the top ten items needed at this time: macaroni and cheese, pater, canned meat (tuna/turkey/chicken), meals in a box, canned soup (no tomato, healthier varieties), mandarin oranges, canned pineapple, sugar, flour, diapers (sizes 4,5 and 6). There is always a need for quality bedding items such as comforters, sheets, blankets and towels too. Thank you for all your support!

Backpack Snack Pack Prep, Sunday, January 3, 12 noon: The kids and families of St. Dunstan’s are invited to join our Foundry 414 church neighbors in preparing Backpack Snack Packs, to help local school children from low-income households to have nutritious snacks available over the weekend. We’ll work in the Chapel Meeting Room following the 10am service.

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, January 3, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins.

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Epiphany Service of Light, Thursday, January 7, 5:30pm: Join us as we share the story of the Wise Men who came to honor the infant Jesus, and of how the light of Christ has spread through time and space all the way to here & now! All are welcome. Talk to Rev. Miranda or Sharon Henes if you’d like to be a reader for this service.

Men’s Book Club, Saturday, January 9, 10am: “Crossing to Safety” by Wallace Stegner is the book this month. Tracing the lives, loves and aspiration of two couples who move between Vermont and Wisconsin, it is a work of quiet majesty, deep compassion, and powerful insights into the alchemy of friendship and marriage. If you have questions, contact Jim Hindle.

End of the Holidays Lunch, Saturday, January 9, at Sprecher’s: After Advent, Christmas and then Epiphany, it’s a good time to gather for conversation, relaxation, good food and laughter as we celebrate the end of the Holiday season. We will meet at Sprecher’s – across from the Marriot West at 12:30pm. Men and women are invited. We will be ordering from the menu. This event is sponsored by the St. Dunstan’s ECW (Episcopal Church Women). Sign up on the bulletin board in the Gathering Space. Please join us! Questions, contact either Connie Ott or Rose Mueller.

Due to the fact that the 2nd Wednesday in February will fall on Ash Wednesday, the Madison Area Julian Gathering will not meet in January or February. We will resume on March 9, 2016, at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, 6205 University Ave., Madison, WI, beginning at 7:15 P.M. All are welcome to join us for Still Prayer and conversation about Julian of Norwich, her life and writings.

Sunday School, Sunday, January 10, 10am: This week, our 3-6 year old class will be learning about the story of the Epiphany, while our 7-11 year old class will hear about the baptism of Jesus.

Spirituality of Parenting Lunch, Sunday, January 10, 11:45am: All who seek meaning in the journey of parenthood (at any age or stage) are welcome to come for food and conversation. Child care and a simple meal provided.

Annual Parish Meeting, Sunday, January 24, 9am: Come to hear parish updates, including the 2016 budget, and help elect our parish leaders. All are welcome to attend!

Sermons

Sermon, Christmas Eve

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shined…” I’ve been hearing these words at Christmas for probably forty years. I was raised in the Episcopal Church – and this text from the prophet Isaiah is almost always used at Christmas, to accompany the Nativity gospel from Luke. Its message and images go along with the themes of Christmas – the kinds of words that come printed in gold on Christmas cards: Peace. Hope. Joy.

But there are some bits of this passage from Isaiah that don’t fit so well with that Christmas-card Christianity.  God’s people rejoice in their salvation… “as people exult when dividing plunder.” Does that sound like your living room on Christmas morning? It’s really an image of war, of conquest. Of the glee on the faces of enemy soldiers as they take whatever they want from the homes and barns and shops and synagogues of a conquered town.

And then a couple verses later, another image of war: “For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.”  I looked up this passage in several translations  and found that it’s really trying to call to mind the sound of those boots – the ominous and overwhelming clomp-clomp-clomp  of a marching army. Not your army. The other guys. Marching down your street while you and your family huddle terrified in your home, or flee into the countryside with nothing but the clothes on your back.

Plunder. Blood. The trampling boots of an invading army.  And that fire – the fire that both destroys and cleanses.  Very Christmassy, isn’t it?…

The prophet Isaiah lived in the 8th century BCE, 7 centuries or so before Jesus’ birth. The Biblical book we know as Isaiah, scholars believe,  actually contains the words of two or three different prophets, spread over a century or more,  but this early passage from chapter 9  is probably the voice of the real, the original Isaiah.  Isaiah was called by God to speak God’s words to the people of Israel.  Parts of what was once King David’s great kingdom had already been conquered by the Assyrian Empire.  Judah, the Southern Kingdom, was feeling threatened too,  as Assyria eyed their territory.

The message of this portion of the book of Isaiah is essentially this: Bad times are coming,  because God’s people have turned from God’s ways, worshipping other gods, perpetrating and tolerating injustice towards the poor and vulnerable, and mistakenly placing their faith in wealth and military might instead of in God.  But God is faithful even if God’s people are not; though much will be lost, some will be saved; God’s people will begin again, on the other side of the struggles to come.

In these verses from Isaiah –  a tiny snippet of a much longer text – the prophet Isaiah speaks of hope beyond the present danger, and of a child who will bring in a new time of peace and prosperity for Judah, living faithfully as God’s people.  “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

This text, like the rest of the Old Testament,  is shared by both Jews and Christians. Jewish interpreters see this passage as describing Hezekiah, the new king of Judah in Isaiah’s time. Hezekiah was faithful to God  and worked for reform and restoration of right living and right worship among his people.   Christians, on the other hand, see this passage as one of many in the Old Testament that point towards a coming Messiah, a Chosen One sent from God to reconcile God and humanity and usher in a whole new way of living as God’s people.  We read these words as a description of Jesus,  seven hundred years before his birth.  Who’s right? … I’d prefer to avoid the question! Prophetic texts, like poetry,  resist having their meaning pinned down once and for all.  I rather like the idea that the text could point to both Hezekiah and Jesus,  could mean both of these things, and more.

Anyway. Back to those bloody cloaks and tramping boots.  Those images were all too vivid for the people who first heard Isaiah’s prophesies. Their sister kingdom had recently been conquered. Surely people had fled south into Judah;  surely nightmarish stories had been shared, of pillage, murder and destruction.  Isaiah’s words intentionally evoke the violence and terror of war in order to overturn them with this vision of a new Kingdom of justice, righteousness,  and peace – ENDLESS peace! – under God’s authority and protection.

Context matters, for understanding our texts from Scripture. Those of you who hear me preach regularly know that I often do something like this – offer a little bit of explanation  of what was going on when these words were first written down.  I’m not just trying to show off – and for the record, I don’t just know this stuff.  I dust off seminary notes and check trusted Internet sources, and generally do just enough research to sound like I know what I’m talking about. I do that research because context matters.  Not to divert our gut responses into intellectual conversation, not to move the impact of these texts from heart to head; but because sometimes the context  helps us understand more deeply, helps us find where the world of the text overlaps with our world, how the time of Isaiah is not that different from our time. For the semi-automatic weapons, the pipe bombs, the suicide vests, shall all be burned in a cleansing fire,  and God shall usher in an age of justice and peace… 

Noticing the hard parts of this text,  these images that reveal the trauma of war, makes the word Peace stand out so much more.  This isn’t Christmas-card peace they’re talking about,  a day when your cell phone doesn’t ring and the kids don’t fight and you can drink hot cider and watch an old movie.  This is the bone-deep desperate longing  of people who see war coming,  who are listening every day for those tramping boots,  who plant their fields and raise their children and wonder if it’ll be next year or next week or tomorrow that the world bursts into flame. Peace. Please, God. Peace.

And you know, it’s true of the Nativity Gospel, too. We’ve let it become sweet, even saccharine.  We’ve romanticized the darker details,  or they’ve become so familiar that we don’t hear the overtones, we don’t read between the lines.  But there’s plenty to read, if we try.  Starting with “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus…”  Those words are Christmas for me; I’ve heard them so many times on nights just like this, in the pine-scented joyful darkness; I speak them and my heart fills.

But this is not a happy moment the text is describing.  Luke, our Gospeller, is reminding us that the moment when God comes to us as a baby is not one of the better moments in Israel’s history. Israel is under Roman rule,  and its own king, a puppet for the Romans, is corrupt, cruel, and possibly crazy. This registration that sends Joseph and Mary on their journey –  this is an empire’s management of a conquered people.  The registration had two purposes: taxation – figuring out whom to take money from, and how much – and conscription – registering men for the possibility of being taken to serve the Roman empire as soldiers.

I could go on.  I could wonder why this young pregnant woman  was dragged along on this journey instead of left with her mother and other older female relatives, as you’d expect, and hypothesize that her family cast her out  over her unexpected pregnancy. I could talk about the stony hearts of people  who wouldn’t make room for a woman in labor.  I could talk about how the straw on the stable floor  was probably less shiny and pristine than it usually looks in our pretty Nativity pictures.  I could talk about birth, the agony and mess and danger.  But I think you get the idea.

I worry about our Christmas-card Christianity. I do. I understand why we don’t have images of bloody war-cloaks, or governmental oppression, or filthy animal stalls,  on our Christmas cards.  Our real world has enough dark and troubling images in it.  We need the solace that we can find in images of peace and beauty. The serene baby, the adoring mother. The animals gathered round, clean and friendly as pets. Pure colors, warm lights, hovering angels. We need that.

But at the same time…  We citizens of 21st century media culture know that images are powerful.  And I worry about what we say, without meaning to say it,  with these images of Christmas,  of the moment of God’s incarnation among humankind.  Are we saying, or seeming to say, that God comes to us, that God is vividly and truly present with us, in moments of peace and simplicity, of beauty and love? Because that is true – so deeply true. I know it, with gratitude.

But it is also deeply, importantly true that God comes to us, that God is present with us, in moments of struggle, terror, grief, and despair.  And God is there, powerfully present,  in the moments of our lives where what is sweet and good and lovely rubs up against what is dark and difficult and painful.  In that troubling tension, destructive or productive, God is there too.

Noticing the hard parts of our Christmas scriptures can help us get past Christmas-card Christianity.  Those big words, Hope, Joy, Peace – they are so much more than just words printed in gold.  They have sustained people a lot like us, in times a lot like ours, for centuries and millennia. They are words that strive to name a Truth that is strong, and real, and enduring, the Truth of a loving God who is never not with us. Who never doesn’t love us.

Sometimes peace seems like a warm blanket that enfolds us,  sometimes it seems like a cruel joke, but God is here.

Sometimes joy is a fountain bubbling up to water our souls, sometimes it’s a half-forgotten dream or a mirage – but God is here.

Sometimes hope is the bedrock that lets us stand firm and unshaken, sometimes we struggle to see even a glimmer in the darkness; but God is here.

God is here.  Born among us, born for us, once and always.  Merry Christmas.

Announcements

Announcements, December 23

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services:

Family Service with Pageant, Thursday, December 24, 3pm

Festal Eucharist, Thursday, December 24, 9pm

Christmas Day, Friday, December 25, 10am

 

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27…

First Sunday of Christmas and Hymn Sing, Sunday, December 27, 10am: Father John Rasmus will preside. All are welcome!

Grace Shelter Dinner, Sunday, December 27, 7pm: Every fourth Sunday, a loyal group of St. Dunstan’s folk provides dinner for residents at the Grace Church shelter, and breakfast the next morning. See the signup sheet in the Gathering Area to help out.

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Backpack Snack Pack Prep, Sunday, January 3, 12 noon: The kids and families of St. Dunstan’s are invited to join our Foundry 414 church neighbors in preparing Backpack Snack Packs, to help local school children from low-income households to have nutritious snacks available over the weekend. We’ll work in the Chapel Meeting Room following the 10am service.

Birthdays and Anniversaries will be honored next Sunday, January 3, as is our custom on the first Sunday of every month. Come forward after the Announcements to receive a blessing and the community’s prayers.

Healing Prayer, Sunday, January 3: Next Sunday, one of our ministers will offer healing prayers for those who wish to receive prayers for themselves or on behalf of other.

MOM Special Offering, Sunday, January 3: Next Sunday, half the cash in our offering plate and any designated checks will be given to Middleton Outreach Ministry’s food pantry. Groceries are welcome gifts too. Here are the top ten items needed at this time: macaroni and cheese, pater, canned meat (tuna/turkey/chicken), meals in a box, canned soup (no tomato, healthier varieties), mandarin oranges, canned pineapple, sugar, flour, diapers (sizes 4,5 and 6). There is always a need for quality bedding items such as comforters, sheets, blankets and towels too. Thank you for all your support!

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, January 3, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins.

Epiphany Service of Light, Thursday, January 7, 5:30pm: Join us as we share the story of the Wise Men who came to honor the infant Jesus, and of how the light of Christ has spread through time and space all the way to here & now! All are welcome. Talk to Rev. Miranda or Sharon Henes if you’d like to be a reader for this service.

Men’s Book Club, Saturday, January 9, 10am: “Crossing to Safety” by Wallace Stegner is the book this month. Tracing the lives, loves and aspiration of two couples who move between Vermont and Wisconsin, it is a work of quiet majesty, deep compassion, and powerful insights into the alchemy of friendship and marriage.

Due to the fact that the 2nd Wednesday in February will fall on Ash Wednesday, the Madison Area Julian Gathering will not meet in January or February. We will resume on March 9, 2016, at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, 6205 University Ave., Madison, WI, beginning at 7:15 P.M. All are welcome to join us for Still Prayer and conversation about Julian of Norwich, her life and writings.

Sunday School, Sunday, January 10, 10am: This week, our 3-6 year old class will be learning about the story of the Epiphany, while our 7-11 year old class will hear about the baptism of Jesus.

Spirituality of Parenting Lunch, Sunday, January 10, 11:45am: All who seek meaning in the journey of parenthood (at any age or stage) are welcome to come for food and conversation. Child care and a simple meal provided.

Annual Parish Meeting, Sunday, January 24, 9am: Come to hear parish updates, including the 2016 budget, and help elect our parish leaders. All are welcome to attend!

IN THE WIDER CHURCH & COMMUNITY…

Madison-Area Confirmation Class, Winter/Spring 2016: Confirmation is a rite of the church by which a young person (ages 12 and up) affirms their commitment to the vows made for them in baptism, or in which an adult who has joined the Episcopal Church formally affirms their belonging. The Madison-area Episcopal parishes will host a six-week Confirmation preparation, starting February 6, for a Confirmation service to be held on April 30. The class will meet first and third Saturdays at 10am, rotating among the area churches. Talk to Rev. Miranda if you’d like to learn more or get involved!

Camp Webb 2016 (June 19 – 25) is accepting applications now! Camp Webb is an outdoor ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee, for children and youth grades 2 through senior high. It is held at a camp outside Elkhorn, WI. Camp tuition is $375 if you register before January 15, with a deposit of $75 due at the time of registration. St. Dunstan’s offers $150 in aid to all our campers, with additional assistance possible. Visit http://www.diomil.org/ministries/christian-formation/camp-webb/ for registration forms. Camp Webb IS EXPECTED TO FILL this year, so apply soon!

6205 University Ave., Madison WI

St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church