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The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
Keep, O Lord, we beseech thee, thy household the Church in thy steadfast faith and love, that by the help of thy grace we may proclaim thy truth with boldness, and minister thy justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 6)
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The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
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Scripture citation(s): Galatians 2:15-21
A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
on
Galatians 2:15-21
✛
It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
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Sermon preached on Leaving Sunday, 2016’*
You have all heard the ancient saying, quoted many times from this pulpit I am sure: “The one who sings, prays twice.” Singing is directly associated with the creativity of God and music has always played a part in the worship of the Church and, before that, in the Synagogue and the ancient Temple in Jerusalem for thousands of years.
Here at Saint Thomas Church we are truly blessed with wonderful musical resources that not only enriches our worship but changes lives; however, it is not just our worship that changes lives but also our wonderful choir school which, my friends, may well serve as an example to us parishioners here today.
Every school, of course, even those that are not faith schools, attempt to build a sense of community. But some schools go much further; they do not try and build a sense of community, for they live their lives as community. The character of Saint Thomas Choir School is to be first and foremost a Christian Community as much as it is to be a specialist music school.
Alex, Sehjin, JD, Leif, Nicholas, Daniel, Noah, Raymond – you have spent the past few years living in that community. No doubt you have had your ups and downs; there have been difficult times for you as well as good. Who will ever forget that fateful day last August when we heard the news that John Scott had suddenly died. I will never forget the way that you responded to that news. Yes, there was shock, then an agonizing grief followed by a kind of emptiness. But you did not stay there; from the day of his funeral until this day, you have built on his legacy and what he has taught you and you will have made him very proud. Then there is the great flood of 2016! You have lived in a building site since January and you lost your recreation room and gym. Sure, it has been frustrating, but you and the staff continued to live in community, accepting the inconveniences that became part of daily life. You have continued to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries; you have celebrated joy as well as sorrow; you have sorted out your differences and played some good soccer; you have laughed together and helped with the soup kitchen that you founded. You have surprised examiners that such a small school can produce exemplary work, and still find time to welcome back former choristers. They are hallmarks of living as a Christian Community.
But is it possible to sum up where the energy for making the community of the choir school, gathered around its headmaster, comes from? I think we heard the words today in our Epistle reading: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”
‘it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.’
The character of life in a Christian Community is to live Christ-like lives and put others first. Those of you who are now leaving us, my prayer for you is that you continue to grow in the love of Christ as he has loved you, sharing your home even when you didn’t recognize him. Jesus has set you an example – it is an example played out liturgically every Maundy Thursday in the Church, when the priest washes the feet of 12 representatives of the congregation – sometimes including some of you!
Very close to the action, you have sung the beautiful words that your brothers in the choir will sing for you today as you come to the altar for your last blessing as members of the choir school community:
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Where charity and love are, there is God.
The love of Christ hath joined us in one.
Let us fear and love the living God.
And love one another in sincerity of heart.
That seems so far removed from what we see happening in our world. I didn’t listen to the news this morning; as we formed the procession, one of the wardens, and then confirmed by the gentlemen of the choir, told me of another mass shooting that has happened during the night in Florida: 50 people dead; 50 more injured.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est – it seems the antithesis of hate crime.
Alex, Sehjin, JD, Leif, Nicholas, Daniel, Noah, Raymond, live your lives by those words – the example that Jesus gives us is one of selfless love. Where charity and love are found – there is God – not hate; God is at the heart of our lives; God is at the heart of our relationships; God is at the heart of our school; God is at the heart of our parish community. He is at the heart because he is found in love and not hate. Take that away with you today.
To attempt to live one’s life in this way can change communities, and attempt to change our broken world. Our choristers have studied your American history as well as your bible: The great Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of building a ‘beloved community’, which demands radical change, brought about by love. How ironic that I had already chosen this passage, and as I walked in I was told about this mass shooting today. In 1957 he was asked about responding to hate with violence. He said this:
“Love is creative and redemptive. Love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys. Physical force can repress, restrain, coerce, destroy, but it cannot create and organize anything permanent; only love can do that. Yes, love—which means understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill, even for one’s enemies.” (Martin Luther King’s column in “Ebony” – November 1957)
My friends, this is the radical love that we preach and live by day-by-day here in this Church. It is the radical love that Jesus talks about in the of the Gospel we heard today; the radical love of the mass; the radical, nay, outrageous love of the Forgiveness of sins, which flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus broken for those sins on the cross; broken through hate and evil in our world. It is the same radical love that is at the heart of our Choir School community, and it is summed up in these simple words, which I invite you to take home with you today:
“it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”
*During the early hours of Sunday morning, a gunman entered a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida and opened fire on the packed dance floor. He killed 49 people and seriously injured 53 others. The New York Times stated that it was “the deadliest mass shooting in United States history.’”
