News About Your Citizenship (And Why We're Aliens)
 

Dear Friends,

Your citizenship is in Heaven.

As the engine of American politics revs up to another election, I want to remind you of this fact.

Sure, you may have a piece of paper that says you are an American citizen, but the apostle Paul makes clear that Christians are actually citizens of the kingdom of God. 

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Paul makes this point explicit in his letter to the Philippians, residents of an ancient Roman colony renowned for its patriotism. The Philippians were, first and foremost, proud Romans. Paul’s best missionary strategy would have been to emphasize that to be a good Christian is to be a good Roman, but Paul was not a great strategist. When he came to Philippi to spread the good news about Jesus, Paul dared to proclaim among these proud Roman citizens that Jesus, and not the all-powerful Caesar, is Lord. 

What does this mean for you and me? It does not mean that we do not care about this world. It means that you and I pledge allegiance not to a flag, a group, or an ideology, but to a King. 

Paul cared very much for this world, and, like him, we work and pray for it too, in the midst of all our joys and sorrows, so that the reign of God might be known to all.

So fellow aliens, may the peace of Christ, which passes all understanding, guide your hearts and minds as you live as a sojourner in this world,

Ben

 
How Long Would Your List Be?
 

This month, we’re focusing on our financial commitment to the ministry of Calvary-St. George’s Church in the year ahead. And as a means of making this focus, Jacob and Ben and I are preaching a sermon series on “Mission: Immeasurable.” This Sunday, we’re delving deep into “Immeasurable Joy because of the Gospel.”

However, this coming Sunday, it looks at first as though it’s a bit of a stretch to see much joy or thanksgiving to make a pledge. 

Here’s why. If I were to ask you to make a list of the things you have prayed about that have not come to pass, how long would your list be?

That’s why, at first glance, the lessons for this coming Sunday are a problem. It seems as though Scripture is telling us that if we pray hard enough, and long enough, and in the right way, we’ll get what we pray for. It seems as though we are being told that the key to answered prayer is our own ability to pray hard and long and right.

So what about my wonderful Christian friend who had leukemia and who had hundreds of people praying for her and who died at the age of 35, leaving behind a devoted husband and three young children?

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Right here, of course, you can add all sorts of examples of your own, as well as stories of feeling like dropping out of this whole Christian business when our prayers seem to fall on deaf ears.  

That’s why you and I really need to be in church together this Sunday, along with all of our unanswered prayers. Because waiting for us at Calvary-St. George’s will be:

  • One who prayed harder and longer and better than you and I ever have.

  • One who had his own (temporarily) unanswered prayer - “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

  • One who utterly identifies stands beside us with our own (temporarily) unanswered prayers.

  • One whose grace is the deepest answer to our deepest prayers, prayers that finally are always answered.

Because, as the writer Anne Lamott puts it, “God’s grace bats last.”

See you Sunday morning!  

- Jim

P.S. Here are two other writers who will help us see God’s grace this Sunday: Watty Piper and Francis Thompson. I’ll have a prize for whoever can tell me the books by these fellows that I’ll reference.

P.P.S. If you won’t want to make a pledge by the end of our worship this Sunday in thanksgiving for God’s Amazing Grace, I’ll eat my socks.

 
'Tis The Season... for Stewardship
 

Dear CalStG Family,

This week, we kick-off our season of Stewardship.

This is the season where we invite you to consider making a financial pledge to Calvary-St. George’s. Some people make a pledge based on a tithe or a tenth of their income, others consider the tithe or a tenth of their income a goal to build up to. Either way, a financial pledge to the parish of Calvary-St. George’s is between you and God and should be given from the heart.

What we ask for is your participation.

This is because a financial pledge for the 2020 year says you are a partner with the parish in our work as ambassadors for Christ, heralding the Good News that because of Jesus and all his sufficient work on the cross, people can enjoy their forgiveness.

What we do at Calvary-St. George’s through preaching and teaching is so important.

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New York City is such a transient place and our ministry really has an impact worldwide. Last week, I was preaching in Sweden and someone from the town of Umea told us what a difference hearing the Gospel week in and week out from Calvary-St. George’s has made in her own ministry. Another parishioner, who has moved to Kansas City, earlier this year, told me what a difference the message of grace has made in her marriage and spiritual life.

All this is to say your pledge fuels ministry that makes a massive difference.

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This year, we have an audacious pledge goal. We are looking for 200 pledging units, which is totally insane.

We are hoping that prayer and cool swag will help us reach that goal (mostly prayer, of course, but swag never hurts). The reason for this goal is we would like to continue to share the Good News of the Gospel in creative ways and without any hindrance to the message. Our hope in 2020 is to continue to build our youth and family ministry, develop innovative education opportunities, and strengthen our worship services, including relaunching a new and innovative 5 p.m. service of Holy Communion that will connect modern people to an ancient form of worship in a way that is fresh and yet has integrity. We also would love to support and partner with different ministries that help us spread the Gospel throughout the world. 

So there is no time like right now to prayerfully get your 2020 pledge in... and then collect your swag:

We’ll see you this Sunday as we celebrate this Mission Immeasurable.

Pax,

The Reverend Jacob Smith

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Climate Change and How the Church Can Lead the Way

Dear CalStG Family,

I am currently in chilly Uppsala, Sweden sending Calvary-St. George’s greetings from E. F. S., the mission and evangelism arm of the Church of Sweden. I was invited to preach and teach this week at their national conference. During the conference, I was invited onto a discussion panel with other pastors and theologians to discuss the church’s mission and climate change. If you thought Greta Thunberg was a big deal in New York, she is on par with the second coming in secular Sweden.

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However, amongst their children, Sweden is seeing a rise in what psychologists are calling, “eco-anxiety”: a condition of crippling fear that is being induced by the apocalyptic language that is framing the current debate on climate change. 

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Next week, the church officially remembers and celebrates the life and witness of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of environmentalist. In the famous prayer attributed to Francis, he asks God to make him an instrument of his peace. “O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.” The approach of the world to climate change will not work. 

I think we can all agree that collectively the human race needs to be better stewards of the Earth; it is our vocation.

However, yelling at people, shaming governments, and frightening children in the end will not work. These are all means to be consoled, understood, and loved. These are all means which focus first upon the self. It means nothing to a person in India to tell them to stop with pollution because it will be unbearably hot in 2037, when their children are starving right now. 

This is where the church can lead the way differently.

From the Gospel, a place of forgiveness, we might seek the way of Francis and console, understand, and love. The church is absolutely everywhere from New York City, Stockholm, and especially in the developing world.

To help developing countries, on a local level, because governments won’t do it, through the church help educate and develop environmentally-friendly jobs and industries, which seek to honor the dignity of people, instead of shaming them into it. 

Also with a clear understanding that while this is the only earth we have, it shouldn’t be worshiped, for behold he makes all things new.  

If you have any thoughts on this, I would love to hear what you think, please comment right below on this blog.

Finally, I want to tell you about two very important things happening this week:

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First, this Sunday, at the 10 A.M. and 11 A.M. services, we will have The Right Reverend Mary D. Glasspool, the Assistant Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of  New York. She is an engaging preacher and we are thrilled to have her in our midst.

Second, we are just more than a week out from beginning our season of stewardship. By now most of you have received stewardship information in mail, if not call us or you can go online. This year we are giving out tote bags that read, “Enjoy Your Forgiveness,” to the first 200 pledgers. We need your pledge as our mission continues to grow. So begin to consider your generous commitment today.

Mel and I fly back tomorrow so we will see you all this Sunday.  

Pax,

Jacob

Ready or Not...

There’s no direct evidence that Jesus was into funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music.

But his words in this Sunday’s gospel surely set the stage for the musical genius of Sly and the Family Stone. In 1968, Sly sang, “Are you ready?”

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“Don’t hate the black

Don’t hate the white

If you get bit

Just hate the bite

Make sure your heart is beating right

Get ready!”

Other musical greats have sung the message of this Sunday’s gospel as well:

“Get ready, ‘cause here I come” - The Temptations, 1966

“Ready or not, here I come” - Delfonics, 1969

“Are you ready for love” - Elton John, 1979

And how do you get ready?

Well, there’s also no direct evidence that Jesus was a Boy Scout. But he would have approved of the Boy Scouts founder, Robert Baden-Powell, articulating the essential foundation for being a Boy Scout - “Be prepared” - as a response to the issue of how you get ready.

How do you get ready?

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus says - by being prepared. And my goodness, examples of the wisdom of this advice are all over the place right now.

  • Folks in the Bahamas got ready for Hurricane Dorian this past week by preparing with plywood window covers, extra water and batteries, and access to emergency shelters.

  • Thousands of runners are getting ready for the NYC Marathon in November by preparing with daily workouts. (When I got ready for the NYC Marathon many, many years ago, I prepared by cutting back from two packs a day to one…)

  • The staff members of Calvary-St. George’s are getting ready for the fall season by preparing all sorts of amazing programs.

  • I have a friend who is getting ready for his death by preparing his will. (He also prepares by calling me once a week to change the names of the participants in his funeral…)

  • I have another friend who was not ready for getting a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s this past week - pretty hard to prepare for that.

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus tells us to get ready for the work of following him. And the truth of the matter is that not one of us can fully handle the preparation needed for that work.

  • People still died in the Bahamas.

  • Runners still get cramps and drop out of marathons.

  • Our programs this fall will not make headlines in the Times.

  • My friend will never get his funeral program just right.

  • My other friend’s husband shares with me how unprepared he is for his wife’s Alzheimer’s.

Here’s the invitation:

Bring your failed preparations with you to church this Sunday. Because here’s the news: Jesus has already gotten ready for us by bearing the consequences of our failed preparations on his own shoulders on the cross.

And here are two teasers for this Sunday’s sermon:

  1. If you smoke a cigar, you are especially welcome.

  2. Refrain from saying the phrase, “Count the cost” - for the rest of your life.

See you Sunday!

- Jim