The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Father Brown stopped into Starbucks for a cup of coffee. As he was waiting in line, the person behind him said, “Are you a priest?” “Why, yes,” he said. “I’m the rector of Saint John’s Church right across the street.”
“Wow!” the man said. “That’s my church.”
“That’s funny,” said Fr. Brown. “I’ve been the rector for seven years and I don’t recall ever having seen you.”
The man replied, “I said I’m a member, Father, not a fanatic!”
We’ve just had a fantastic Vacation Bible School, and if going to church five days in a row makes you a fanatic, we’ve had a lot of fanatics here all week long. Every morning from nine until noon we had 125 children through the fifth grade, 82 junior and senior high and college age young people participating as aides, and 68 adult volunteers, many of whom took a week’s vacation from work to help with our Vacation Bible School.
In today’s Gospel, we heard about a miraculous event—Jesus walking on the water and calming the waves. His disciples who witnessed this miracle were led to worship Jesus and exclaimed, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
When people encounter Jesus, they can accept him as the Son of God, worship him, and follow him as Lord, or they can choose not to believe and ignore him. The Church is a community of faith centered in Jesus. We’ve entered into this community of the Church through our baptism and every time we gather for the Holy Eucharist the covenant made at our baptism is renewed.
I’ve been in the Church for most of my life. There’ve been very few Sundays since I’ve been a Christian that I haven’t been in church on the Lord’s day. You can probably count the Sundays that I’ve not worshiped in the church on one hand. One time I had the flu, another time a two-car garage door had fallen on my big toe and I couldn’t walk, and then there’ve been a couple of Sundays when Linda and I have been traveling and we couldn’t find a church, so two of us had communion together. You can do that when you have a priest on site! I’m not trying to impress you; I’m just saying that for me, to be a Christian means that on Sunday worship is the highest priority. It’s not just that not to worship on the Lord’s day is a sin, but worshipping on the Lord’s Day is simply a basic minimum for the Christian life.
Since we’re beginning a new program year, I thought it might be good to speak with you about the importance of Christian formation. I thought one of the best ways to do that would be for me to interview one of our members who has a really solid understanding of Christian formation. I could’ve chosen many people, but I decided on Jacki Boedecker.
This is what Jacki said:
“When Jud and I were blessed with our children, we realized they were a gift from God. We wanted them to live their lives knowing the incredible joy of God’s grace.And so, the first thing we did after each of them was born was to “give them back to God” through baptism. It wasn’t just a social event: we made a promise to God, and to each other, as all parents do at baptism, to bring them up to know the Lord. We knew that keeping our covenant with God had to be foremost. That’s the deal. And we knew we could not do it alone. We realized that this simply is not possible outside the Church, in the secular world.
Thank goodness, our Redeemer community was there!
And so, just like brushing their teeth and washing their hands before eating, going to church on Sundays was the norm. The girls became involved in Sunday School, Logos, EYC, Vacation Bible School. They sang in the choir, served as acolytes, went on mission trips, got up early to attend Friday Morning Bible Studies. They were invited to ‘take their place’ in this remarkable worshipping community with peers and adults alike—and through that, intimately knew God’s grace, and were surrounded by friends who knew that blessing too.
Was it always easy? No! Were there conflicts like sports, overnights, and more enticing invitations for Sunday mornings? Of course! But always mindful of that promise we made to God when they were infants, we reminded them—and ourselves—of this fact: What greater priority is there than the worship of God, who has given us everything and through whom all things are possible?
In this world that is so broken, if we can give our children a faith that is bathed in love, there is no greater gift we can pass on. Being part of the Redeemer community has helped us share that gift—as it does for every member of this parish family.”
God yearns for all of us to know him, to love him, and to serve him. He wants us to pass the faith on to future generations, and that can only happen with a solid foundation. What can parents and grandparents do, today, to help build that foundation? It’s easy! Worship God every Sunday in church with them. Have them participate in Sunday School, Logos, or EYC. Have them join the acolyte or choir program.
I’m firmly convinced that for faith to be instilled in our children, this understanding of Sunday as the Lord’s Day must be the norm. Give it a try! In doing so, you will be blessing yourself, the next generation, and this community of faith. What I’m talking about, brothers and sisters, is not fanaticism—and it will reap everlasting rewards.
Sermon preached by the Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
10th Sunday after Pentecost
13 August 2017