Easter
5; Yr. A, May 18, 2014
Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; 1
Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14
Sermon
preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
Stones. Stones can be used for building up or tearing
down. When I was younger, we lived in
North Carolina. We were the last house
on the street adjacent to miles of woodland and a small creek where we would
often go to play. One day down at the creek,
I got mad at my younger brother. I
picked up one of the stones on the dirt road and threw it at him. It hit him in the face, right beside his
eye. Another few millimeters and it
would have taken that eye right out. As
soon as I threw that stone, I knew it was a mistake. I wanted to reach out and pull it back out of
the air, but it was too late.
That
was a literal stone, but we throw stones all the time, words or actions that
hit and bite the flesh of others in our lives.
Stones that can be just as hurtful, even if the other never sees
them. Some words we keep in our hearts,
names we call others in our frustration … judgments we make when we don’t feel
heard or when we’re not getting our own way.
Instead of voicing our feelings we let them boil and build up inside us,
and turn into hard stones of resentment that create walls between us and
others. Stones that can come out when we
least expect it, hitting someone right between the eyes.
We
do not have to become stone throwers. We
can become stone carvers, people who use the hardness of life to relate to
others in hard times; People who learn to share experiences of hate, or
disappointment, or fear with integrity and courage – sharing the stones we all
carry. We can learn to accept them as a
natural part of our human condition without wrapping them in layers of shame and
denial … where they just get harder and harder to safely contain. That learning begins in childhood.
Children
living in poverty have a rocky life.
Their lives are very unpredictable.
They come to school in the morning often hungry, sometimes in clothes
that haven’t been washed, perhaps coming from a home that is rife with conflict
and frustration, maybe having lost what little they had because the family had
to move … yet again. The city of
Rochester has areas of dense poverty that are unrivaled in other cities in our
country. Poverty breeds stones of despair,
mistrust, anger and resignation.
Why
go to school if your parents have a high school education or college degree,
but can’t find work? Why go to school if
you feel like no one understands where you’re coming from, and there’s no time
to tell them? Why go to school if it
doesn’t seem to address the problems you’re having today? Why go to school if
you’re afraid of what might happen there?
Hope gets lost amidst the rubble.
Many of those living in extreme poverty are people of faith, and hope in
God is their only hope. It’s what gets
them through the day.
Many
of you know that I’ve been part of a team in the diocese that is working toward
establishing a partnership with Nazareth Elementary School on Lake Avenue. It’s a Roman Catholic school owned by the
Sisters of St. Joseph. Originally the stones of that building housed Nazareth
Academy, a high school for girls. On a
separate site they operated Nazareth Hall, an elementary school. Four years ago, the Sisters closed Nazareth
Academy when they entered into a partnership with Aquinas High School, a Roman
Catholic school for boys located near to them.
Aquinas became co-ed and accepted the students from Nazareth Academy,
and the Sisters moved Nazareth Hall into the Nazareth Academy building,
focusing their resources on younger students, laying a solid foundation for
education, a rock to support young minds and shelter tender spirits. For almost 100 years that building has been
used to educate and form children for the future. In faith, the stones of that place have been
used to build up children in the city.
“As
part of a series called "My Big Break," All Things Considered is
collecting stories of triumph, big and small. [They are] moments when
everything seemed to click, and people leapt forward into their careers.”[1] Recently, they told a story about a doctor,
Sampson David, who started out as a Robin Hood in his neighborhood, stealing
money from drug dealers and giving it back to the poor who lived there. One night, they had jumped out of their car
and they were patting down the dealers when a police car showed up and everyone was arrested. Because he was 17, he spent the summer in a
juvenile detention center. In that cell,
he made up his mind to change his life.
He called it his “big break”.
When
he returned to school for his senior year, he and his two friends made a pact
to become doctors without even knowing what was involved, or how they would
accomplish it. No one in his family had
a college education, yet all three of them finished college. Today one is a dentist and the other two are
doctors. Dr. Davis returned to his
hometown of Newark, NJ and now serves as an Emergency Rom doctor in a hospital
there. One night, he heard the name of a
man who had been admitted to the Emergency Department the night before. It was a name he recognized as a man from his
neighborhood, so he ran down to see him.
The man had died, having been shot numerous times. Dr. Davis realized that that could have been
him. That could have been his fate, if
he hadn’t had his “big break”.
Several
things struck me about this story. First
I was reminded how making good choices in our youth can frame our future. Second, because young people are still
learning how to make those choices – second chances are critical. Third, because sticking to your choices,
especially if they’re ambitious, isn’t easy.
A supportive community helps us stay focused on some of the good, but
difficult choices we make in life. I
wonder if the story would have ended differently if this young man hadn’t had
two friends who were willing to make a pact together with him? Jesus sent the apostles out two by two for a
reason. Lastly, education is key to
breaking many of the destructive cycles we can get into … the cycle of poverty,
incarceration, and teen pregnancy to name a few.
Children
need places where they can learn in the presence of love and acceptance, where
resilience is nurtured and hope is a rock they encounter every day. Decisions made in security are much more
likely to be the right ones. Decisions
made with the support of responsible adults and caring peers are more likely to
be realized. Lives grounded in hope, encourage
dreams to become reality. That’s the kind
of educational environment I’d like to see every child in our city have the
opportunity to experience. That’s what
I’ve experienced at Nazareth Elementary School.
That’s why I am so passionate about supporting it.
Nazareth
currently has about 180 students in pre-school through grade six. They have the capacity to serve at least four
hundred in their building. In
partnership with the diocese we could help to lower tuition, offer more
financial aid, and increase enrollment to allow more children the educational
opportunities that can lead to a brighter future. Nazareth has a long standing tradition of
academic excellence. The Sisters of St.
Joseph have a long history of quality service in the city, and they have shown
themselves to be fabulous partners over the last two years. The school would be incorporated as a faith
based school honoring the Roman Catholic and Episcopal traditions, if we decide
to jump on board. Diocesan Council will
be making decisions in their May and June meetings.
They
will want to know how much support is “in the parishes”, so at the last
district meeting we were asked to return to our parishes to see what sort of
commitment, if any, each parish could make to a collaboration at Nazareth. It doesn’t have to be intrusive or
burdensome. It can be as small as
saying, this is a good idea and we’ll support it by placing materials in the
back of our church. Something we’re
already doing. Or it could be more. At Trinity Church in Greece, they are
inviting the children’s chorus from Nazareth to come sing at one of their
services in September, to have a Nazareth Sunday when they will collect
donations. Another congregation thought
about collecting school supplies in backpacks to be donated in September. Some are raising up volunteers to help in
classrooms. The question is whether we want to make a commitment, and what
form it will take. The vestry will be
asked to make a decision within the next month, so be sure that your voice
reaches one of them! As you think about
what kind of involvement you or the parish might make, be creative. Don’t be afraid to dream!
I
do not think this effort should detract us from paying very close attention to
the public school situation in Rochester.
Let’s not make that a stumbling block to cooperation. This is not an either/or commitment. It is both/and. Linda Dronsfield has continued to volunteer
at School 16, and there is much work being done in the community to bring School
16 back to the neighborhood and promote the concept of neighborhood
schools. I think that is all good, and I
support that work in whatever way I can.
A faith-based option is not for everyone, but if it’s an important
option … only the faith community will make it a reality. A system of free public education is critical
to maintain in our city. We can also
support that system. I’m happy to hear
your ideas!
Stones
… can be stumbling blocks or building blocks.
We are living stones … what will we build with ourselves … what will we
create for others in this kingdom of God that is constantly emerging in our
midst? The choice is ours.
Amen
[1]
From Without Life-Saving Pact,
This Doctor Would Have Been The Patient by NPR STAFF,
Broadcast April 27, 201412:41 PM ET on All
Things Considered. http://www.npr.org/2014/04/27/306915059/without-life-saving-pact-this-doctor-would-have-been-the-patient.
Copyright ©2014 NPR.
[2]
From Without Life-Saving Pact,
This Doctor Would Have Been The Patient by NPR STAFF,
Broadcast April 27, 201412:41 PM ET on All
Things Considered. http://www.npr.org/2014/04/27/306915059/without-life-saving-pact-this-doctor-would-have-been-the-patient.
Copyright ©2014 NPR.
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