Ash Wednesday 2007
at Trinity Episcopal Church, Clanton, Alabama
by the Rev. Steve Shanks, Deacon
Isaiah 58:1-12 | Psalm 103 | 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 | Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Beloved sisters and brothers, let us look to the Lord.
May only God’s word be spoken,
May God’s word be heard.
In the name of Jesus, I pray.
Amen.

Sometimes it seems best to simply read the texts slowly, clearly, and well, and then sit down. It is almost as if the read word speaks and comments clearly on itself, and a person like me who is called to offer a reflection on the readings must be careful not to detract from the written word. It seems that way to me for these passages appointed for Ash Wednesday.

A friend, Jim Sundholm, describes a time some years ago when a friend of his, a pastor in the American Baptist tradition, was reading the Isaiah 58 text in worship, that we heard just a few minutes ago, getting ready to preach from it. As Jim tells it, his friend got up to begin preaching, and said, “I can’t.” He paused. Again he said, “I can’t.” He then started to gently cry and said, “These words are beyond me, I can’t preach them.” The result that day, from the silence that followed, was that people spontaneously spoke out in similar confessions for about twenty-five minutes.

It is on this day that we face our frailty, our coming from and returning to dust, our sin. The Holy Scripture that we encounter calls us to be conformed to the values and character of God. For Isaiah, the call is to “do” the fast that the Lord chooses. For the psalmist, it is David’s desperate words about enduring the deep sadness of sins past that literally bring him, and us, to a position of humility and brokenness before God. For Paul in Corinth, it is engaging and demonstrating “the righteousness of God.” For Matthew it is recognizing that the “fast” is for you, it is about your internal life being conformed to the “mind” of God and “storing treasures in heaven.”

Isaiah in chapter 58 longs for a new day, one that is not formed or defined by the circumstances of injustice and oppression but rather a day that God chooses. A day of bonds being loosened and suffering being undone, a day of sharing our food with hungry people, offering shelter to those who are poor, and clothing those who are naked.

Kimberly Smith is a friend of mine whose heart burns for work in the international missions’ field. It is where her heart is broken. She and her organization, Make Way Partners, are engaged in work to prevent and combat human trafficking and modern day slavery which affects 30 million persons, mostly women and children. The work has taken this group to Portugal and Romania, and they are also on the ground in the south Sudan.

Today, at this moment, the challenge in the south Sudan is disease. Kimberly is there and in the midst of the ongoing meningitis outbreak. The disease is considered a fatal infection and is caused by bacteria that affect the thin lining of the brain and spinal cord, though if diagnosed and treated early it can be survivable. Those who do recover are very weak and face a variety of complications resulting from the disease, including brain damage and deafness. When a person survives meningitis, they are in great need of vitamins and minerals. The best way to get those into them is by using supplements since there is not a reliable, continual source of adequate food. Of course, it takes money to buy the supplements and arrange transportation to get it to where it’s needed.

The outbreak continues to spread throughout this area. It has been said that there is now written confirmation that 300,000 doses of meningitis vaccine are to arrive in the area on February 26th, more than a month after this current outbreak began. Hopefully, the aid promised by the government will come. Kimberly is today in the midst of working to organize an international medical team to bring skilled care givers and medicines to the region, but the costs and logistics are great.

There is a pressing need for simple medicines. A six-week old baby died just this past Monday due to not having anti-diarrhea meds. Kimberly reports that it is “frustrating” not to be able to get simple medicines. There are no local pharmacies where one can just go and pick up what you want. Meningitis can also cause pneumonia or other respiratory problems, and there is not an adequate supply of decongestants. I invite you to join me in remembering Kimberly and Make Way Partners in our prayers, as her team continues the work of raising up and delivering resources to people living in the dust in the south Sudan.

Isaiah knows the story of exile, as does Kimberly – the story of the scattered, starving refugee, those who are wandering, bearing great suffering. Isaiah cries out to God’s followers in their personal comfort, “Heed the unmet need about you, that’s what pleases God.” Yet, the cry goes on in every generation. The “fast” that Isaiah describes is what a broken, recovering community needed long ago; but the words are tragically fresh in our own day.

Matthew, in our gospel reading, reveals Jesus offering from the beatitudes – given from the mount in Matthew’s previous chapter and from level ground in Luke a couple of Sunday’s ago – a new, yet very old, word. Jesus’ call also seems similar to Joshua’s to “choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). I can choose the gods of this culture who entice me to pursue exterior comfort and appearance, or I can choose the Lord of inner confidence and certainty who treasures the connections that I make to the others around me.

When Matthew speaks (v. 21) about our heart and our treasure being located in the same place, it was helpful for me to reflect on the Hebrew concept of a single “heart-mind” where the heart is the center of our physical, mental, and spiritual life as human beings. This Hebrew sense of heart is not just about feelings, but is also linked with the activities of the mind and the will. The Hebrew sense of heart is about what is at the center of our moral and spiritual life. So, my treasure reflects not just how I feel about something, but it also how I “do” the fast that Isaiah describes, how I decide to choose to live out Christ’s call to me in every moment of my life.

For me, that includes a reordering in this new day that reflects the values of a new kingdom worth dying and rising for. This is a kingdom that not only recognizes that we both come from and return to dust, but a kingdom that invites us to reflect the new day of an old order, in both the fabric of our lives and the choices we make.

In Christ’s name, Amen.

I was pleased to have an opportunity to provide a gospel reflection and deacon's witness talk at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Leeds, Alabama this Sunday. I have many connections and friends to and through the parish. Below is the final draft of the my offering for this Sunday.

The Last Sunday after Epiphany 2007
at Epiphany in Leeds, Alabama
Exodus 34:29-35 | Psalm 99 | 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 | Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a]

Beloved sisters and brothers, let us look to the Lord.
May only God’s word be spoken,
May God’s word be heard.
In the name of Jesus, I pray.
Amen.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, allow me to say right now: It is good for us to be here in this holy place! I have been blessed to be with you at various times over the years, for some very happy occasions and for some tinged with the sadness of loss, but always in celebration, thanksgiving, and joy for the gift of God’s boundless grace. This parish of Epiphany has always seemed to me to be a place of tenacious hope, and for that I give thanks.

So, as we come to the end of the Epiphany season and start to look toward the beginning of Lent three days from now on Ash Wednesday, we find ourselves this morning in the midst of the scene of the Transfiguration.

I’ve read, that the Apache people of Arizona when they see the powerful lightning displays and hear the thunder echo from the canyons of the Superstition Mountains say, “That is the home of the thunder Gods.” The Kikuyu people of Kenya when they look at the majesty of Mount Kenya, alternately hidden and revealed by the clouds, say, “Ngai (god) lives there.” When the Hebrew people see Moses come down from Mount Sinai, his face shining with such a brilliance that he has to cover it to protect their eyes, say, “The Lord reveals himself there.” And when Peter and James and John come down from the mountain, after witnessing Jesus’ transfiguration and the appearance of Moses and Elijah, say, “God does spectacular things there!”

Mountains hold the mystery of the ages, the rock solid strength of the divine, the beauty of fellowship with God. They seem to have long held that kind of power for human beings, and I am no exception. I know that I’ve had the experience of going somewhere or doing something that lifts my soul to such a new height, that I’ve said, “I’ve had a mountaintop experience!” The psalmist even tells us to worship at God’s holy mountain. Mountains call us to worship God; who is Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of all that is.

Of course, my problem has always been that I want to stay on the mountaintop. There have been times when I’ve felt God’s presence so strongly that, like the disciples, all I want to do is to build a little house and stay there, soaking up all that divinity for myself. But, unfortunately, that’s not the way it works. As God told Abraham, “I am blessing you so that you will be a blessing,” and God has the same message for each one of us. Just think about what Moses had on his hands when he comes down from Sinai – a grumbling, mumbling people to be lead in desert wanderings. When Jesus and the disciples come down from the mountain; a great crowd of people meets them, wanting all kinds of blessings, including the healing of a child with a demon.

When the people of Kenya come down from their mountain there are more than one million children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, seven hundred deaths per day from the disease, and massive poverty caused by fifty percent unemployment. It has been said that the people of Africa don’t struggle for quality of life. They struggle for survival, to keep themselves and their families alive for another day.

When we come down from our mountaintops, we also encounter the reality of the urgent needs of the people around us that are to be met. I found encouragement for myself, when the psalmist describes this experience as looking at God and responding with praise; because God loves justice, and establishes fairness and righteousness. Paul (in his second letter to the Corinthians) says that when we have seen the Lord’s glory on the mountaintop, we who are created in God’s image are truly transformed into that image. That is when we become people who not only seek righteousness for ourselves, but also strive for fairness and justice for all of God’s people.

One of the ways that we seek to strive for justice and meet the needs of those around us, here in the Diocese of Alabama, is through the network of Jubilee Ministries. Jubilee Ministry as it exists today was created by action of General Convention in 1982 and now encompasses over 700 different ministries throughout the Episcopal Church as well as 13 foreign countries.

My role in this ministry is as Diocesan Jubilee Officer, to provide support and encouragement for folks doing, or interested in doing, Jubilee Ministry in this diocese. But what does it mean to “do” Jubilee Ministry? Well, the mission of Jubilee Ministry is to make a direct and dynamic link between our theology and our ethics – in other words– it is where we connect the Talk of Our Faith and the Walk of Our Faith. As Christians we do this by:

• First, calling the church to live out its prophetic role of empowering local people to “Do Justice, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly With Their God.” (Micah 6:8)
• and Secondly, by responding to the Gospel Imperative to “Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Welcome the Stranger, Clothe the Naked, Care for the Sick, and Visit the Imprisoned” (Matthew 25:35)

Perhaps, at its core, Jubilee Ministry is intended to help the church, and each one of us, focus attention on a specific question: How are we responding to the call of Jesus Christ who was born, who died, and who rose again two millennia ago?

Of course, the idea of Jubilee is established in the book of Leviticus: “You shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants” – although there is no evidence that it actually took place then. But it can and is taking place now, in the church and in this diocese, this time is a “season of unfoldment in which God’s blessing, compassion, and justice are unleashed, not from some remote heaven but from within the human heart.”

What better description of the Christian journey can there be? Being stretched and cracked open by God’s own joy and desire for our full flourishing leads us to acknowledge that it is not only ourselves who need to flourish: we, as the body of Christ in the world, are called to be agents of healing for the entire earth.

The concept of Jubilee has its roots in the idea of Sabbath – a time of “re-creation, reordering, and release.” Former presiding bishop Frank Griswold once said that, “ in Jubilee, all creation is to be liberated for the sake of finding proper balance and relationship in union with God and one another. God's liberation unfolds as we cease to hold one another hostage through unyielding bias, prejudice, judgment, suspicion, fears, and forgiveness. ... Jubilee is fundamental to our life as a resurrection community.” Indeed, indeed…

So, how does Jubilee Ministry work? Why does it continue to flourish 25 years after the resolution establishing it at General Convention, and why has it now grown to be a vital part of the ministry of more than 1 in 10 parishes in the Episcopal Church?
Jubilee Ministry begins with an Episcopal congregation, an ecumenical cluster with Episcopal presence, or an agency with connections to the Episcopal Church being involved in ministry programs among, and with, poor and oppressed people wherever they are located. That’s the point of beginning.

A Jubilee Center then includes at least one or more of the following:

• Advocacy – on behalf of others – by being the voice of those who have not yet dared to believe that their voice can literally change society and social structures.
• Empowering volunteers and staff, as well as the population being served – for the good of others and our own life in community. By working together with others – by breathing in sync with the Spirit of God and of each other to bring about a new way of being in which we truly do live out our baptismal vows of respecting the dignity of every human being.
• Evangelism – in our action, in our prayers, in a pastoral presence, in inviting others to share in our worship.

Jubilee Centers also covenant to actively participate in:

• Reflecting theologically upon learnings in ministry,
• Demonstrating the operation of programs as models to others, and to
• Act as a resource center for other Jubilee Ministry Centers.

The kinds of ministries offered at Jubilee Centers include: camps, clothes, food, community services, children’s programs, youth programs, emergency services, health, HIV/AIDS, housing, shelters, immigration, jail or prison, homeless, substance abuse, credit unions – any ministry program among and with poor and oppressed people.

In the Diocese of Alabama, Jubilee Ministry Centers take the form of, and I’ll briefly describe just some of the ministries at each: Grace Episcopal Church in Woodlawn with 55th Place Thrift Store, Grace-by-Day, Community Kitchens; St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Athens providing a multi-cultural preschool with bilingual teachers and a drop-in pantry; The Jubilee Community Center in Montgomery providing after school programs, an entrepreneurial class, direct health services, job training, and vacation bible school; Christ Episcopal Church in Fairfield with CityWorks which is an interfaith Community Development Corporation providing affordable housing, in addition to, a literacy program, thrift store, prison ministry, and emergency services; and the newest member of Jubilee Ministry in the Diocese of Alabama, Good Samaritan Health Clinic in Cullman providing free primary health care serving low-income, uninsured, and under-insured residents of Cullman County. In the 4 years since opening its doors, the clinic has delivered $4.6 million in services to more than 7800 persons in the community. Also of note, services are being provided on budget's that last year totaled $200,000 and a total of in-kind contributions of $325,000. This year the clinic anticipates around 4,000 patient visits and will potentially provide approximately $4 million in services to our patients. They currently have three medical clinics per week and could use one more, two dental clinics per month, one eye disease and one hearing clinic per month. We also have twice monthly diabetes and nutrition classes and provide diabetic monitors, test strips, lancets and insulin syringes to our patients.

Perhaps you’re wanting to discern your place in this vineyard. I found a great resource in this important little book "What Can One Person Do?" In it, two accomplished economists, Sabina Alkire and Edmund Newell, who also happen to be Anglican clergy, have outlined seven simple steps that we people of faith can take to heal a broken world. They are (1) pray for the healing of the world, (2) be informed by study of the realities of global poverty, (3) give 7/10ths of 1% of our own incomes for international development, (4) connect on a personal level with those who are poor and marginalized, (5) get active in events addressing global poverty, (6) become vocal about these concerns, and (7) get political and advocate for the poor in our governmental processes. If you want to know more about how you can become engaged with this work, then getting a copy of this book can be a good place to start, and, of course, you can also talk to me or Mother Lynette or Deacon Clyde.

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ, like Moses and Jesus and the Kenyans, we go to the mountaintop to strengthen and renew ourselves, and to affirm our place in God’s heart. Then we, too, come back to the valley, to level ground, where there are people who are struggling for life, and where we are called to carry on God’s purpose. In this process, we will not only discover shalom, God’s Sabbath Peace¸ within our spirits, but we will also become bearers of that shalom to the earth and all her inhabitants in response to Jesus’ call to us: “You are gifted with my grace; you are the light of the world. Now go forth in my name, proclaim jubilee, and above all, surprise me.”

Well, I'm happy to announce that, accompanied with lively debate both in the resolution committee and on the floor of convention, the living wage has been adopted as a standard for The Episocopal Church in the Diocese of Alabama. Please, keep our diocesan council in your prayers as they determine how to implement the living wage in our diocese. The final version of the resolution is as shown below.

A Resolution in Support of a Living Wage
Resolution # 4

Resolved, that the 176th Convention of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Alabama actively support the establishment of a living wage for all workers; and be it further

Resolved, that a living wage standard be defined as the Alabama poverty guideline for a family of four, to wit: 125% of the most recent federal poverty guideline for a family of four, as adjusted and published annually by the United States Department of Health and Human Services; and be it further

Resolved, that this Convention strongly urge those responsible for planning events hosted by the Diocese of Alabama to comply with this resolution and to commit the Diocese of Alabama at all levels, whenever possible, to obtain confirmation that local prevailing living wages are paid by hotels the Church uses; and be it further

Resolved, that the standard defined above shall be the goal of all parishes, worshipping communities and institutions of the Diocese as the minimum compensation of lay employees.

Adopted by the Diocesan Convention, February 16, 2007

Explanation

One of the central biblical imperatives is the call for us to uplift those living in poverty. Persistent and widespread poverty is for us a primary issue. In the Hebrew scriptures, the biblical prophet Isaiah offered us God’s vision of a good society. His words are as relevant today as they were 3,000 years ago, and show us the way forward. Isaiah envisions a society where:

"No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live a lifetime…They shall build houses and inhabit them: they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit: they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, or bear their children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord….” (Isaiah 65:20-25)

In the New Testament, Jesus defines his mission to be:

“to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, new sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18-19)

Jesus identifies so completely with poor and oppressed people that he told his followers that to meet or fail to meet the needs of the hungry, the stranger, the one without clothing, the sick, or the prisoner is to serve or not serve Jesus himself (Matthew 25).

This vision includes fair and good wages, housing and health, safety and security. In America, people who work should not be poor, but today many are. We must ensure that all people who are able to work have jobs where they do not labor in vain, but have access to good health care, decent housing, and are able to support their families. The future of our country depends upon strong and stable families that can successfully raise their children.

As encouraged by General Convention Resolutions GC2003-A130 and GC2006-D047, and in the midst of our prayerful conduct of the business of this Diocesan Convention, we call your attention to those who work in the hotels we occupy here; those workers who make the beds, vacuum the rooms, clean the toilets, carry our bags, and prepare and serve our food. We trust all will agree that in their work they deserve justice, respect, and a living wage that will support their families in our current economy. We therefore call your attention to the following facts, and invite your support of this resolution.

It is our understanding is that none of the hotels here in Tuscaloosa are either union hotels or providing a living wage. We deeply lament this. Some facts to consider:

In Alabama, 4.6 percent of hourly workers, or 53,000 people, earn the minimum wage of $5.15 or less, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The average hourly wage in Alabama for a Food Preparation & Service-Related worker is $7.04. (Source: The Living Wage Calculator at http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/)

Working full time (2080 hours per year), a Food Preparation & Service-Related worker above would earn $14,643/year. That falls well short of what it would take to provide even a minimum acceptable income - given today's soaring housing, health, and transportation costs. It is also reported that in 1999 (the last year for which figures are available) about 24% of persons at work in non-agriculture industries were employed less than 35 hours per week.
(Source: http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/658_persons_at_work_by_hours_worked.html)

This proposed resolution provides a definition and formula (125% of the federal poverty guideline for a family of four as published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/) for determining the current poverty guideline, and is also intended as a minimum guideline, on an annual basis, for compensation of lay employees of parishes, worshipping communities, and other institutions. The living wage is the minimum compensation to be paid to those employees.

For the year 2006, the federal poverty guideline is $20,000 annually for a family of four. The living wage guideline in this proposed resolution is 125% of that number, or $25,000. This equals $12.00/hour for a full-time worker.

Adopted by the Diocesan Convention, February 16, 2007

Sample Bible Study for Living Wage Discussion

Read Matthew 20:1-16 (The Laborers in the Vineyard) aloud.

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market place; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

Discuss it as a group:

What is your first response? What is this parable about?

Two scenarios are described below. The instructor/leader may form the class into two groups that report back to the main group, or address both scenarios in the main group:

The field: “The workers gathered in a parking lot hours before dawn. As with every day, they hoped the buses would come soon, and that the drivers would choose them to go into the field that day and work. The buses arrived, and one by one, workers were picked to go to the tomato fields. They picked tomatoes, gently tossing them into 32-lb. buckets and taking the buckets to large trucks. They received a token for each bucket. At the end of the day, their backs were sore and their hands were discolored with pesticides. Some of the people never got picked to ride a bus to work. Sometimes, a bus came back if there was more work to do, but it was unlikely. At the end of the day, those who had worked all day might take home $30. Those who had not worked went home with nothing.”

This is a present day description of the plight of many farm workers. It is uncannily similar to the story described in the parable.

The store: “The workers got to work fifteen minutes early, as always. They lifted boxes and stocked shelves for seven and a half hours, with two fifteen-minute breaks. One coworker had to miss work that day because she took her child to see a doctor. She did not have health insurance, because her employer limited her hours to 35 per week, less than “full-time,” and therefore exempt from the health insurance requirement. She had to pay for the doctor visit and her prescription out-of-pocket on top of missing a day’s wages – sick days are not in the hourly workers’ plans, either. After earning $7 per hour, the workers clocked out and took the bus to their various homes.”

In each small group, discuss the short scenario. Imagine being in the position of the worker in the field or the store. What would it feel like to take home such low wages each day? Do some math together and calculate the monthly salary. Would you be able to pay your rent/mortgage? Would you be able to buy groceries? Pay for your electricity and other utilities? Pay for car, insurance, and gas? Do you have children or other dependents to feed?

Most Americans agree that someone who works a full day should not be in poverty. What kind of wages do you think a person should get paid and why?

In the large discussion group, ask each group to briefly describe their discussion. What happened in the scenario they read, and what were the sentiments/thoughts of the group?

Ask someone else to read the parable again out loud.

Discuss:

• What do you notice this time?
• How do the present-day scenarios lend a new perspective to this parable?
• The vineyard owner in the parable says he will pay, “Whatever is right.” What is “right,” in today’s society? Minimum wage is currently $5.15 per hour. Is that “right?” Why or why not?
• Often, the authors of parables want the reader to imagine themselves in the role of the main character. Here, the writer is describing the day of the vineyard owner, the person with the power to affect wages. In what ways do we have the power to affect wages (lobbying congress, purchasing goods or services only from those who pay fairly, paying our own employees – including church employees—fairly, etc.)?

Offer the good news, that Christ came “to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (See Luke 4:16-19) One way Christ does this is through us, the church.

Closing prayer:

Holy God,
You bring good news to the poor.
Help us to be the bearers of that good news.
Help us to be the subject of that good news.
Help us learn how to make that good news happen.

You proclaim release to those who are captive.
Help us proclaim your will to the ones who may affect change.
Help us release those who are held captive by poverty.
Help us learn how to break those chains.

You bring recover of sight to the blind.
Help us learn what to look for, and
Help us to see it.
Help us teach others to see.

That we may speak your truth
That we may follow your way
That we may bring your light
And create your justice, your peace.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray, AMEN.

adapted from Jeannie M. Hunter, Emory University, 2005.