The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori gave the sermon last night for the commencement-eve Baccalaureate Evensong at General Seminary, beginning with the Psalm, 94:
O God of vengeance, show yourself. Rise up, O Judge of the world; give the arrogant their just deserts…
He who admonishes the nations, will he not punish? He who teaches all the world, has he no knowledge? …
Happy are they whom you instruct, O Lord! …the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my trust.
Following is an excerpt of the sermon; the Episcopal News Service has published it in its entirety.
This community has had a challenging year, n’est-ce pas? I found myself wondering who chose the psalm for this service. It certainly sounds like someone felt duty-bound to have the last word…
This has been a year of dying and rising. It’s not the first such year and it won’t be the last, though I know many are praying for some respite. Those of you who have been active participants in this year of transformation have received a great blessing, though I know it hasn’t always felt that way. For many of you, it’s probably felt more like David being dragged in from his blessedly free-range life with the sheep. What do you suppose he had to say when Samuel summoned him? “Oh no, not me, leave me alone, I didn’t ask for this.”…
God seems to be asking all of us to get over some of our boundary issues and to let go of some of the church’s hereditary ways. We can’t go on choosing leaders “the way we’ve always done it.” We need to be looking for leaders’ hearts – people who are courageous and maybe even a bit reckless, not risk-averse. God will work with the reckless, if they’re willing to die a little. But there isn’t much hope for growth toward the Reign of God if someone is constitutionally opposed to changing direction or meeting a different neighbor…
Episcopalians will always treasure what we have loved about tradition and ancient ways, but the Good Shepherd is leading us out into the deserts and byways and cities to discover where the Spirit is working new creation. Jesus sent the 70 out to the same kinds of profane territory – and remember that at its root profane means “outside the Temple.” The risen Christ sends his disciples to Galilee in order to find him.
The Presiding Bishop encouraged the graduates to be adaptable, to welcome diversity and evolution, to “risk who you are,” to “travel light and open, and at each stop declare ‘peace to this house,’ whatever sort and condition of human life it contains.”
photo credit Episcopal News Service
Posted by Cara Ellen Modisett