To watch the sermon click here.
Good Morning! For those who don’t know me, I am Barb Marshall. My husband, Doug, and I have been attending Epiphany for the last 10 or so years and I am grateful to be here with you this morning.
A few weeks ago, Doyt called and asked if I would be willing to give the sermon today during our annual appeal. You know I have to wonder if it isn’t God who loves us, but Doyt who has the plan for our life. Honestly, I’m glad he asked. I’m happy to be giving the sermon today because I love Epiphany. I love Epiphany because of the important impact it has in my life, and in our city, and in God’s kingdom.
Last week, in his sermon, Doyt talked about the value of Epiphany based on tangible things – things like our buildings, our staff, our finances, the ministries and programs we run and the people who are served. In doing so, he made a strong case for our parish.
Today, I’d like to follow that up by considering the value of Epiphany based on intangibles- of things like connection, and hope, and lives transformed and how it is the tangible things that make the intangibles possible.
For instance, when I come to Epiphany I experience deep connection. It is here, in this physical place I find that I am connected to the Divine, I am connected to you, and I discover I am connected to the church down through the ages. I love knowing that the creeds we say, and the sacrament we partake in each week, can be traced back to the earliest days of the church. I confess that if asked my opinion when Christianity got its start, I probably would have cautioned against entrusting it to people – to men and women like you and me. And yet more than 2 centuries later, the church still stands and because it does, the gospel continues to flourish. The church has endured. It has endured because of men and women, like you and me – men and women who sacrificed and invested over time to make that so.
Here at Epiphany, I think about all those who came before us – those who over 100 years ago laid the foundation and those since who invested in this place so that we can be worshipping here today. There are some weeks I look out at the pews and I remember the faces of those who are no longer with us. I can picture Ann Moldrem sitting right over there in the front pew and visualize Bob Barnes serving up at the altar. There are, of course, countless others whose names and faces I never knew. I realize that I’m here because of all those who came before me, those who invested in the church over time, and I am grateful for that. And it gives me pause. It causes me to think about what has been entrusted to us, to consider what our part might be to ensure that those who follow have a place where they too can gather and worship in the years to come.
Our connection to what came before and to what will follow is valuable, but so too is being connected to one another right now in the present. Honestly, I can’t think of many places I’m able to be in as wonderfully an uncurated community, as this. I love that at Epiphany there are no barriers to belonging. As a result, I have had the opportunity to meet and connect with a variety of people whose age and gender, race and sexual orientation, economic status and political persuasion are different from mine and I have been enriched because of it. I see how rare and important that is in our world today and I’m grateful that connection exists at Epiphany, where relationship really is primary.
Perhaps most importantly, I have experienced a connection to the Divine by being part of this community. Joining my voice in the liturgy, participating in the sacraments, engaging in prayer and seeing Christ in you, I have experienced a connection with the God who made me, with the God who loves me. It is this tangible place – this building, these pews, this sacred space that allows me each week to experience those connections.
Connection matters, but so too does hope. Hope is another intangible made evident because of a place like Epiphany. We’ve heard it said that the neighborhood church is the hope of the world and I think it’s true. For when the church is at its best, when the church lives into its mission as the church was intended, and I believe that describes Epiphany, then it can’t help but bring hope to the world.
I need that hope, too. I can become anxious and even, at times, afraid because of how quickly our world is changing and frankly, simply by reading headlines. But when I gather here in this place with you and participate in worship, I am reminded that the bad thing is never the last thing. Here I encounter truth, based on sound doctrine not on myth. And that encounter with truth brings me hope for, here I remember that I belong to a God who is eternal, who is present with us, and who loves us, who really, really loves us. That reminder allows me to let go of the fear and the anxiety for even a little while enabling me to take a deep breath and I hope that is true for you, too.
I think about the many tangibles here at Epiphany that bring hope to our broader community. Last spring I had the opportunity to facilitate a table at Relata. The table was made up of 8 people mostly new to one another with several from outside our parish. I was struck by how vulnerable the sharing was as we each told our stories. One individual shared with me how unique and meaningful the experience had been for her. She said it gave her hope at a time when she was in desperate need of it.
There is a long list of things at Epiphany that bring hope to others. I think about our music and how it lifts the spirits of those who hear it. I think about tiny homes built, meals served and backpacks delivered. But mainly, I think about the impact each of us has in bringing hope to the world because of the lives we live. Lives, that although not perfect, try to reflect the divine we encounter here at Epiphany. It is this tangible place that makes that hope known.
Finally, it is the gift of transformed lives made possible because of a place like this. Epiphany has been called a spiritual gym and I have experienced it to be just that – a place where I can exercise my faith and find it deepened and broadened.
I mentioned that Doug and I have been attending Epiphany for about 10 years. It was the bells that first brought us through the doors. We had recently returned to Seattle and bought a home just a few blocks away. We are able to hear the bells from our home and that hourly reminder that there was a church nearby initially ignited our curiosity. It was the bells that first drew us to Epiphany but it was the beauty we encountered when we walked through the grounds and entered the chapel that caused us to return. The architecture of this space, the beauty of the interiors from woodwork to stained glass captured our attention. And then there was the music and the liturgy that further fed our souls. But most of all, it was the people we encountered that made us feel like we’d found a home here.
In the 10 years we’ve been attending Epiphany, my faith has been nurtured and strengthened. I’ve been changed by this place – by its beauty, by the liturgy, and by the many opportunities I’ve had to learn – whether by going on a pilgrimage, participating in worship, or learning through things like Education For Ministry. There have been opportunities to serve as well. It has been a joy to serve as a Eucharistic minister, to be on the Vestry, and to help lead the Catechumenate class – all opportunities that have continued to stretch and strengthen my faith. \
But among the more transforming aspects for me at Epiphany has been my relationship with you, those of you who attend this parish and whom I’ve come to know over the course of my time here. I look out and see people I have come to care deeply for and who have made me feel deeply cared for in return. Many of you model for me what it looks like to be a follower of Christ through your actions, your attitudes, and your fidelity to this place and to one another. All of this has changed me over time and for the better. And I know I’m not alone. Epiphany is a place where that happens over and over again, where lives are changed, as we each begin to resemble more and more the Christ we follow.
Which brings me to the appeal part of this sermon. There is value in a place like Epiphany and each of us has a role to ensure that that continues to be so. Those intangibles I’ve just spoken of – connection, hope, transformation, they are made evident because of the tangible things at Epiphany – things like lights, and plumbing and salaries that all depend on our financial support. Every fall we launch our annual appeal. If you’ve been around awhile this doesn’t come as a surprise. But you may not know that there’s a practical reason for the timing and the importance of receiving pledges just now. Each year, just before the end of the year, your Vestry approves the budget for the following year. I think you’d be relieved to know that Vestry won’t approve a budget that can’t be supported by pledges. As a result, it is essential to know what will be pledged by each person who comes to Epiphany.
There is no barrier to belonging at Epiphany and there is no barrier to pledging either. Everyone is invited to participate whether you are someone who shows up all the time giving generously in many ways, perhaps someone who participates by watching on-line or maybe someone who can come only occasionally. Everyone has a place at Epiphany. Whatever your engagement, I encourage you to consider a pledge for the coming year – one that puts weight down on the value of a church like ours.
What would it mean for us to be generous with our pledge, really, really generous? The Apostle Paul encouraged us to “give not grudgingly or out of necessity but as one who purposes in their heart.” Doug and I have been prayerfully considering in our hearts what our generous pledge to Epiphany will be for this next year and I hope you will, too.
If you’re like me you are being asked right now to give to many other organizations that do worthwhile things. It can be a challenge to know where to give our resources, but I would like to ask us all to consider putting Epiphany near the top of our list because of the important role it plays in our life, in our city, and in God’s kingdom. I believe it is unique among the many things we give to because of its present and eternal impact.
Last week Doyt began his sermon with the value proposition of Epiphany and he ended it with these 3 questions…
What would our region be like without Epiphany?
What would our city be like without Epiphany?
And what would we be like without Epiphany?
For me the answer to all 3 is the same. I believe we’d be a place and we would be people who have less hope, who are less connected, and who are less changed for the better.
I’m really glad I heard the bells which brought me to Epiphany all those years ago, and I’m glad I still hear them because they are a tangible reminder to me that here is a place where hope can be found, where relationship matters, and where transformation is made possible. By your giving may Epiphany continue to be a place where that is so.