Praying for Syria and for our leaders

Dear friends of St. Paul’s,

As our national leaders weigh the moral decision of whether to take military action in the conflict in Syria, we as people of faith are called to common prayer that peace will prevail and suffering will end. Each Sunday we pray for our leaders and for all those in harm’s way. In this time of national debate, it is particularly important that we hold in prayer all those whose lives will be affected by the decisions of our elected leaders.

People of all the Abrahamic faiths – Jewish, Christian and Muslim – are responding especially to Pope Francis’ call to prayer and fasting this Saturday. I am aware of many Episcopal churches and cathedrals across the country that are holding prayer vigils Saturday. However, with a football game near our church it is not practical for us to hold such a vigil in our building. But I would ask that all of us find time on Saturday to pray for peace and an end to the violence in Syria and elsewhere in our world.

I also would urge all of us to be mindful that there are people of good will and strong faith on both sides of the issue on whether to intervene militarily in Syria. We need to be respectful of each other’s viewpoints, and especially hold each other in prayer.

I also want you to know that I met privately on Thursday with U.S. Rep. Robert Hurt, who represents our region in Congress. I assured him that we are praying for him, the Congress, and President Obama. I urged him to set aside political and election calculations and vote his conscience, as the Lord guides him.

I was asked to give Rep. Hurt a letter from Christian leaders in Syria representing the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon, which is a member of the World Council of Churches of which we are also a part. In their letter, the Syrian Christian leaders condemned chemical attacks “that have caused immense suffering,” but they also urged military restraint. “We appeal for help to stop violence and help bring about peace and social justice – violence only breeds violence, and justice enhances life. Help the Syrians have life, life in its abundance.”

I would humbly ask that we stand together as people of faith, and that we continue to pray that God’s justice and peace will prevail here on earth.

Blessings,

Jim +

Monday in Holy Week: Pray for those who have died in wars, and victims of gun violence

Today on Monday of Holy Week, as we have done for more years than anyone should have to remember, we will pray for those who have died in our wars at noon today. By name.

We will read the list of those soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since Holy Week of last year.

It is a very long list.

The list is a compilation of the names we have read each Sunday in our worship services. Each week when I compile the list, I feel a major streak of guilt that we limit the list to Americans. So many thousands, from so many nations, have died in these wars. So many thousands have died in our own country from violence.

We have many people to pray for, and much to be contrite about.

The violence that encircles Holy Week, culminating in the death of Jesus at the hand of the Roman Empire, is not so very far from us. I was much taken with the photograph above that appeared in The New York Times on Sunday. It shows a family in Syria that uses an ancient Roman cave as a bomb shelter to hide from the bombs dropped by aircraft from their own government.

As I write this, it is snowing in Virginia and the roads are clogging up. I am planning to get up before dawn Monday to drive to Washington DC to participate in a "Stations of the Cross" from the White House to Capitol Hill, led by our Episcopal bishops to remember the victims of gun violence in our country.

If the snow plows clear our road, and I can get out, I will be there. Pray for those who are in danger, those in grief, and those who care for them. May you have a blessed and Holy Week.

The Good Shepherd who takes no Sabbath

Painting by He Qi

I began my sermon today by asking for a moment of silent prayer for the victims of the shootings in Aurora, Colo., and for those caught up in the fighting in Syria.

The lessons for today are 2 Samuel 7:1-14a, Psalm 23, Ephesians 2:11-22 and Mark 6:30-34, 53-56.

Here is my sermon:

+ + +

I believe I can speak for all of us by saying that we could use a day off from the violence, cruelty and tragedy of our world.

Allow me to invite you to find space for that here in this sacred place this morning. Allow me to invite you to find moments for that space in your week.

And allow me to invite you to have a bit of compassion for Jesus, the prince of compassion. It has been a tough week.

In Mark’s gospel today, he cannot catch a day off.

He tries to go on a short summer break to the lake, and takes his friends and family with him.

“Come away,” he says, “to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile.”

So they get in a boat and go.

I wish the gospel lesson ended right there. If we were only to read the first part of the lesson, it would be a perfect permission-giving lesson for going on vacation.

But life intrudes. The crowds catch up to him, and before he knows it, sick people are begging for his compassionate touch.

We get both parts of this section of Mark’s gospel, and what is edited out of the middle, apparently in the interest of brevity for summer worship services, is the story of the feeding of the thousands.

Jesus and his disciples are doing a lot of heavy lifting when all they want to do is rest awhile at the lake.

You might say that this lesson represents a collision of the spiritual ideal and the reality of the world.

As your priest and pastor, I want you to pray, to make it a regular practice each day to set aside time for personal prayer and silence.

I would like you to read your Bible, read good books, think deep thoughts, enjoy a great meal, go on retreats, go to the lake, and, of course, come to church more often.

We do need rest – Sabbath time – to renew our bodies and soul. Slow down, take a break, keep life simple.

But I also know that life intrudes. There are kids to feed, the in-laws to visit, jobs that are demanding and require you to go in on your day off, even on a Sunday.

And the cruelty of the world does not take a day off. Not in the time of Jesus, and certainly not in our own time.

Life is complicated and it is often hard to find the time to feed our souls. Even Jesus, the prince of compassion, still had to work when all he wanted was a nap. He does what he must do.

Many come, and he is their shepherd, and not just the shepherd for his circle of disciples, but for the many. So he goes to those who are sick and hurting and in need.

He loves them all no matter who they are or where they come from. He does check their baptismal certificate or anything else. He goes.

Sometimes we, too, are confronted with moments when our compassion is tested, and sometimes we don’t get a chance to catch our breath. The call comes in the night and we go.

We do what we must do.

Summer is a time for a break and rest, and I earnestly hope you find that time. But I also know that real life intrudes – the terrible shootings in Colorado a few days ago, the fighting in Afghanistan and Syria, and people in our congregation who are in the hospital, or struggling with addiction, or who are out of work.

Real life takes no Sabbath, and the Sabbath does not always come when we need it most.

There are times when we need the Good Shepherd, and times when we are called to be the hands and feet of the Good Shepherd. We might be the one to give someone a meal, or a smile, or a sympathetic ear.

Sometimes all we can do is pray, and know that will be enough.

And I hope we will hold onto this:

The God of Grace, the good shepherd of all the sheep of this world, will be there to hold us, and love us, and carry us through.

That is the simple truth of this gospel, and the simple truth to hold close especially when life is most difficult or most perplexing.

My prayer and hope is that you will find those moments to pray, to recharge, to renew.

And when you find that moment, I pray you will have a renewed sense of the presence of the One who gives himself for us, and who will be there with us always.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.


He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his Name's sake.


Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.


Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.


Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. 

AMEN

By James Richardson, St. Paul's Memorial Church, Fiat Lux