Sermons

The Rev. Eric K. Hinds
Rector, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church

Sermon preached by The Reverend Eric Kimball Hinds at The Episcopal Church of Saint Matthew on 4 May 2008, The Seventh Sunday of Easter. Lessons: Acts: 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11.

One of the reasons for our reading and study of scripture is so that we see our own story our own journey, growth and struggle connected to the great story of the people of God and their journey of faith.

If we recount some of the great leaders from the biblical story, we can make some interesting observations. Joseph became a leader only after surviving difficult circumstances— his own brothers sold him into slavery— and later his master sent him to prison.

Moses was a reluctant leader, arguing with God and proving a handful of reasons why he was wholly inadequate to the task of going before Pharaoh to ask for the release of the Hebrew people. During the time of the Judges. The Spirit of God rested upon Deborah and she unified several of the tribes of Israel and led them to military victory. David was the smallest of his brothers and yet even in his youth the prophet Samuel identified David as God’s anointed. As the story of David unfolds we learn of both David’s great conquests and success along with his tragic flaws and lapses in judgment.

The biblical story is one of human yearning and aspiration to move closer to God and to the divine vision for humankind. And so in the New Testament we focus upon the person of Jesus as a leader who attracted followers and we pay special attention to the community that he called, nurtured and prepared to proclaim the good news. And so when we read the account from The Acts of the Apostles given to us in the lectionary this morning perhaps we will see aspects of our own hopes, and aspirations reflected in the lives of the apostles.

As the name implies, The Acts of the Apostles is an account of how the apostles and gathered followers carry on with mission and ministry at the conclusion of the earthly ministry of Jesus. And this morning as Jesus prepares to depart we see the anxiety and the lack of assurance of the apostles.

They ask “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” In other words “surely you are not going to leave us without restoring Israel to the former greatness that we still remember from the times of David and Solomon?” or perhaps more pointedly “are you going to abandon us and leave us to bring about the Kingdom about which you spoke by ourselves?” “where are we supposed to start? Who will lead us?”

In the first letter of Peter we read of some of the struggles of the apostles And the early church in establishing their ministry in the midst of a sometimes less than hospitable world.

These many years later we can also feel overwhelmed by the task of striving to follow the example of Jesus and we sometime experience a lack of unity and direction among present day Christians in responding to the often desperate needs of the world in which we live.

As the coming feast of Pentecost attests the early church would come to understand the ongoing presence of God as the Holy Spirit moved in and through the Christian community and Christians would also gather strength and comfort from their experience of Jesus present in the midst of their community: in the Sunday Eucharistic feast— whenever individuals gathered for prayer and in the acts of reaching out and serving others Christians throughout the centuries Experienced their faith affirmed and strengthened.

This morning I want to make special mention of the way that we experience Christ in our specific actions of reaching out to others. This past week I was one of several dozen clergy from San Mateo County who attended the Service League Community Prayer Breakfast. The Service League Coordinates support services for inmates and the families of those in custody. The Service League partners with law enforcement and faith communities to strengthen the social fabric of our community. For any individual or even a single faith community this work would seem overwhelming and what was so encouraging at the breakfast was to not only see in numbers with a filled ballroom the magnitude of involvement in this challenging ministry but to also hear some of the stories of dramatic change of peoples lives.

If you are looking for ways to make a difference and strengthen this community you do not have to travel very far. Twice a week after school St. Matthew’s hosts a tutoring program to benefit local grade school children. The individuals who volunteer to encourage and instruct the kids seeking help and guidance without exception speak of how rewarding it is to see the tangible results of their teaching assistance and to hear from the school that there is a waiting list for student admittance to our tutoring program.

Saturday May 31st is Episcopal Build Day working with Habitat for Humanity. Saint Matthew’s will be joining volunteers from other Episcopal churches on the peninsula to assist in the effort to provide local affordable housing for families struggling to make economic needs meet. In the weeks ahead watch for Steve Whittaker’s announcements and see if you can lend a hand. Our parish and many individuals from St. Matthew’s have also supported The Shelter Network which also tackles the problems of housing and homelessness.

As a society and community especially in times when there is an economic down turn it is easy to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of our collective community problems— and to sometimes despair that God has seemingly abandoned us. On this day we note that those closest to Jesus must have felt much the same way. The prospect of carrying on without him leading in the flesh was overwhelming. And yet when one summons up their courage and will and ventures to find ways to reach out to those surrounding them, the good news of the gospel is that one discovers that there is Jesus in the midst of every act of goodness, kindness and compassion.

Jesus in his ministry promised to take every kind and form of our human concerns right to the heart of God. And we in turn discover that Christ is made known and our part in God’s kingdom is made known to us when we venture to reach out and share the gospel with one another.

Sermons

The Rev. Eric K. Hinds Rector, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church

Sermon preached by The Reverend Eric Kimball Hinds at The Episcopal Church of Saint Matthew on 4 May 2008, The Seventh Sunday of Easter. Lessons: Acts: 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11.

The Rev. Eric K. Hinds
Rector, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church