Sunday, August 4, 2019

A Life of Touching Others

PROPERS:         PROPER 13, YEAR C  
TEXT:                 LUKE 10:38-42 (The Gospel Lesson from Proper 11, Year C)  
PREACHED AT HOLY TRINITY, PENSACOLA, ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 4, 2019.

ONE SENTENCE:        Sometimes the most meaningful life comes from the                                             example of Mary.
                                    

            I am asking your indulgence this morning.

            The Gospel lesson today is from Luke 12 – which is a fine lesson.

            But I am asking you to understand why I will preach on Luke 10 – the passage assigned two weeks ago.  I did not preach on that lesson that day, and events of the last week have made the passage very relevant for me, and I hope it will be for you.

            The passage I have focused on is the one about the tension between the sisters, Martha and Mary, when Jesus came to visit their home.  Hear the words again, from Luke, Chapter 10:

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

            The Lord was visiting their house.  Martha was scurrying about, tending to all the myriad details of hosting a dinner for an important guest and his friends. She did not have Emily Post to rely on. Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet, hanging on every word.

            Eventually, Martha becomes annoyed by her sister’s inattentiveness to the demands of entertaining a group of important guests. She decides to appeal to Jesus, and seek his intervention.

            "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me."

            Jesus’ response surprises her:  "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

            Let those words sink in.

+ + + 

            This past Sunday morning, my friend and diocesan colleague, the Reverend Chuck Culpepper, died in his sleep.  He was 69 years of age.

            Chuck and I had known each other for nearly 60 years. He had been my patrol leader in Boy scout Troop 1 in Meridian.  He was a high school classmate of my brother at Meridian High, and was a college classmate of his at Millsaps College.

            He served in the United States Navy – and loved to regale us with his stories of being at sea.  To put it mildly, he had a wonderful sense of humor and could tell remarkable stories.

            He went to Ole Miss Law School and practiced law for a while.  But he came to know that his deepest joy was working with young people in the church.  So, he went to Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas.

            He was ordained deacon and priest.  He served his curacy at a church in his hometown of Meridian and then joined the diocesan staff about the same time I did.  We were in many staff meetings together and his presence always lightened the room.

            When Bishop Duncan Gray, III, decided to start a congregation for atypical Episcopalians, such as young adults, people on the margins, and street people, he tapped Chuck. The congregation had rented space in a vacant warehouse in downtown Jackson.

            Chuck was still the priest there when he died 13 years later.  And he was serving to two other small congregations – in nearby Brandon and Terry.

            Chuck’s congregations never flourished in a typical sense.  His main congregation, St. Alexis, had a small membership and depended on diocesan funds.  But, he touched hundreds if not thousands of lives in transformative ways.

            I used to refer to Chuck as the oldest living teenager.  He had the energetic spirit of a 16-year-old.  He guided many diocesan programs, including Happening, Vocare, Camp Bratton Green, and Winter Solstice.  He was the founding leader of the Young Adult Discernment Committee, and helped guide some very promising aspirants to seminary and ordination.  I worked with him on the Commission on Ministryand valued his wisdom, wit, and insight.

            He was always dressed like he was heading to camp, and not as an older leader of the Episcopal Diocese.  His playfulness and ordinary ways connected with whole generations of budding and searching Christians.

            His ministry could be encapsulated by his presence, his listening ear, his love of those with whom he worked, and his playfulness. The various social media sites have been overwhelmed by testimonials of those whose lives he has touched. His ministry reminded me of the saying, “Angels can fly because they take themselves so lightly.”

            Chuck, by his very nature, was a Mary– a human being, not a human doing.

            I look in the mirror. I reflect on our time together. There is much I have to learn from his example.

            My active ministry, I now see, was more like Martha. Always busy.  Always on the road.  Always in meetings.  Always promoting accountability, responsibility, and following the canons of the church, focusing on the seriousness of the work.

            I now see that I was a Martha, the diocesan bean-counter; human doing, not a human being.

            Two lives cannot be reduced to such simple descriptions. As Garrison Keillor once said, “We are all complex novels, and people tend to judge us by our dust jackets.” Nevertheless, there is truth to be considered.

            The words of Jesus speak so clearly to the life of my friend, Chuck, and they speak to me of my own ministry.  He was willing to sit at Jesus’ feet, with countless others who wanted to hear the words of life.

            Perhaps you may hear something, too, in Jesus’ words. The Kingdom of God will not be built by those who subscribe to the philosophy of the bumper sticker:  Jesus is coming.  Look busy!

            It will be built by those like my friend, Chuck. People who listen.  People who care.  People who love.  People who will sit with those who are searching.  People who are light of heart. People who know how to laugh and how to play.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this, David. I know there were a lot of Chuck sermons last Sunday as the news of his death spread quickly that morning, and the bishop preached a fine one on Friday at this funeral. Your memories and reflections on Chuck as a Mary are profoundly true and I'm glad I have that image now.