Sermon at Bishop seating

This is the original script of the sermon that Dean George Werner gave at the seating for Bishop Prior at the Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour in Faribault. Dean Werner would like to mention that he likes to ad lib and hopes and prays that the changes are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this text may differ slightly from what people heard at the actual event.

Opening remarks: Thanked Dean Zovatis and staff and volunteers for the warm welcome and assistance. expressed deep gratitude for the privilege of preaching at the Episcopal Church's fist cathedral, especially since I served for twenty years as Dean of Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh and have been part of the Dean's Conference of North American Cathedrals for three decades.

Before I begin this sermon, I should explain some things about Minnesota to your new Bishop. Brian loves Jesus, the Church, Staci and their sons, but he also loves basketball and some team called Gonzaga. Brian, in your new Diocese, the basement of Gethsemane Church in Minneapolis, you will find a shrine to a real dynasty called The Lakers. I am not talking about names like Kobe or Phil Jackson- but Pollard and Mikkelson and the great George Mikan who made the NBA a reality.

And Brian, also in Minneapolis, before some pointy headed Easterner put a roof over your football field, there were giants here in Minnesota, John Randal, the Purple People Eaters and a Viking Coach named Bud grant who had his team practice outside in sub zero temperatures while he was wearing shorts.

But it is not just athletes who are your new neighbors. The highest ranking military officer of our country in 1984 was a Minnesotan named John Vecsey (sp?). he was also the first Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who rose up through the ranks of a reserve unit to become a General of the Army. They raise leaders here in Minnesota.

Finally, as you know, I spent many years in New Hampshire where we liked to say we had two seasons, winter and road construction. We thought we were tough when it came to challenging weather... and then I learned about International Falls and felt like a wimp...

Now, I need to tell you Minnesotans a story about Bishop Prior. In 2003, we knew that our General Convention would be contentious. Whatever decision we made on consenting to the election of Gene Robinson as Bp.of New Hampshire would be painful for some of our brothers and sisters.

It was my responsibility to appoint a deputy as Chaplain for the House of Deputies, someone who would put aside personal issues to become the pastor of more than 850 deputies, evenly divided between clergy and laity; Representing 112 Dioceses from the United states and more than a dozen sovereign nations and US territories; in a legislative body which debated in English, Spanish and French- as Haiti is our largest Diocese. I chose Brian Prior, perhaps the youngest Chaplain in the history of our House dating back to 1785.

When the House of Bishops made the consent official by concurring with our House of deputies, long after we had adjourned for the evening, Brian called me. He asked me to come back to the Convention Center to meet with leaders of those who who were dismayed and crushed by the decision. As we headed into my office, the leader asked me if our Chaplain could join us. What an amazing testimony to Brian's pastoral gifts and integrity. 

What did Jesus do? About a quarter of a century ago, as I prepared to visit the Holy Land, I started to study the cultural background of Holy Scripture. About ten years later, I met the wonderful Kenneth Bailey. A Presbyterian missionary and son of missionaries, Ken had lived more than fifty years in the Middle East. He is recognized worldwide for his great gifts in this field. His new book, Jesus Through Middle eastern Eyes and his previous body of work have been instrumental on my journey to Jesus.

The Pharisees, Scribes and teachers of the Law held both secular and scared power in Jesus' time. The late Dr. Edward Hardy, brilliant Church Historian of the 20th Century taught us that the Pharisees, Scribes and Teachers of the law were committed to carrying out the covenant with God in the purest way possible. He pointed out that in addition scriptures, they devised more than 600 rules and statutes to define what that meant. He would then chuckle and add: "Of course, many of these rules excluded, banned, forbade, proscribed and exiled groups they believed to be outside God's Kingdom.

These included Samaritans, the ritually "unclean", gentiles, thieves, tax collectors, usurers and generally anyone else who did not follow their strict practices such as fasting two days each week and tithing more than 10% of their wealth. They also had different standards for women, which effectively limited and even isolated them. But when Jesus came, the messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, he did not embrace their understandings. Instead, he challenged and defied them.

What did Jesus do? Shortly before the time of Jesus there were two major rabbinical schools in the Holy Land. One led by Rabbi Shammai and one by Rabbi Hillel. Here is Dr. Bailey's research: "A 'heathen' approached the famous Rabbi Shammai, stood on one foot and said, 'Teach me the whole Law while I stand on one foot.' Shammai got angry and drove him away.

The 'heathen' then went to Rabbi Hillel, and posed the same challenge. Hillel responded, 'What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor; that is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary thereof; go and learn it." This is easily recognized as a negative form of the Golden Rule. Jesus apparently took Hillel's reply and turned it into the positive.

We all know the story of the Good Samaritan- not let's look at what Jesus did at the beginning of the Good Samaritan according to Luke's gospel A teacher of the Law puts Jesus to the test. "What shall I do to inherit eternal lief?" Jesus answers with a question,"What is written in the law? How do you read?" the lawyer responds, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Jesus replies, "You have answered right; do this and you will live." But the lawyer, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Jesus replies with a parable about a traveler who is beaten and stripped of his clothes and belongings and left by the side of the road bleeding and probably dying. In the style of the time, Jesus describes three men coming along the other side of the road. First is a priest, a part of the inner circle of the Scribes, Pharisees and teachers of the Law. He is under discipline to remain ritually clean, therefore, he walks by on the other side of the road. he is followed by a Levite, a lesser officer of the Temple but also a part of the inner circle. he, too, ignores the victim and passes by thus protecting his ritual "cleanliness."

But then Jesus breaks the pattern. Instead of the usual righteous Jewish layman, Jesus inserts a Samaritan into the parable. Samaritans were hated neighbors of the Jews who looked to MT. Gerazim, not Mt. Zion; who only accepted the first five books of the Old  Testament as authority and not the books of the Law and the Prophets. They were the Jews hated enemies and the outcasts of outcasts. Yet Jesus makes the Samaritan the hero of the story.

Not only does the Samaritan tend to the wounds of the beaten man, he transports him to an Inn and cares for him through the night, then leaves funds for the Innkeeper to assist the man's recovery. This is an example of Dr. Bailey's "Costly demonstration of unexpected love." since Dr. Bailey goes on to explain why the the scene at the Inn would probably result in a severe beating for the hated Samaritan or even his murder.

The extra rules and statues of the Scribes, Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were often in the best interest of the people. When someone became dangerous to the Health of the Village, the elders would banish the contagious individual. So the rules said, "No contact with the lepers!" What did Jesus do? He defied the religious and secular leaders and healed ten lepers. Scripture tells us that the one who came back to thank Jesus was also a hated Samaritan.

Another time, at Jacob's well, Jesus engages a woman in conversation. Jewish Mishnah says, "He that talks with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law and at the last will inherit Gehenna." This woman is not only a Samaritan, she is also the ex wife of five husbands. John's Gospel tells us that the woman left her jar of water and went into city and said to the people, "Come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? Our conservative scholar, Dr. Bailey refers to this meeting with the subtitle referring to the Samaritan Woman as the first Christian preacher.

What did Jesus do? Thieves and Robbers were considered damned, yet on the cross, Jesus promises Paradise to one of the thieves dying next to him. The Gentiles are forbidden and hated, yet Jesus ministers to a Centurion, a member of the Roman Legion

One last example, as Jesus travels to Jerusalem for what will be his crucifixion, he stops in Jehrico. The most hated man in the village is Zaccheus who has grown rich as the Chief Tax Collector and cheater of the people. The religious leaders of Jehrico offer Jesus hospitality, but Jesus chooses to eat with the sinner Zaccheus and spend the night in his home. Another "Costly demonstration of unexpected love."

What then shall we say to these things? Some question whether I am saying that sin is unimportant that everyone will be saved no matter what their behavior. I have no idea about that. Sin is important and we seem to be in an era where we have too many self appointed deputies to administer God's judgement, and too few of us humbly reflecting on our own failures of commission and omission. God is the judge and when we consider what Jesus did, it seems clear that God's sense of mercy and justice is different than ours, for which I give great thanks.

So my brother Brian and people of this Diocese, be sure that loving your neighbor as yourself is part of your DNA in community, congregation and Diocese... and pray that we may see the Christ in other people and hope that they may see the Christ in each of us. 

I close with a story that Bp. Prior and I share. In New England there is a terrible type of storm called a Nor'easter. It comes in sideways with gusts at hurricane strength and spitting snow, sleet and frozen rain. During on of these horrific storms a Coast Guard station got the call that a vessel was in trouble off shore. 

The Chief alerted his crew and while they got their gear together and prepared to go to the rescue, a recent graduate of boot camp started to panic. "Chief, do you see the weather out there?" The old Chief said "Yup." "Chief, have you looked at the barometer? "Yup". Finally, in desperation, the rookie pleaded, "Chief, if we go out there, we may never come back." And the old chief looked at him and replied, "Son, we don't have orders to come back."

From the day we were baptized we were called to go out into the storm in the name of Jesus, but as we sing in "Amazing Grace"- " It is grace that will bring us home." Amen