In his high priestly prayer Jesus said of his disciples, the believers: "Holy God, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one…Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth"…John 17

We are living in a time when the Episcopal Church is sharply divided. All the rhetoric we have heard regarding the Anglican Communion is coming to a head as we approach The General Convention of the Episcopal Church. If the Deputies and Bishops have any integrity, they will focus upon what binds us as a communion and as a national church rather than what divides us. At the heart of the struggle we find the issue of "truth," that which is central to our faith as Christians. It is couched, however, in arguments about "beliefs" and often that which is central is obscured by varying opinions as to how that might be lived out. It seems to me that, whenever we start arguing about beliefs rather than truth, we are moving into arrogant, self-righteousness. Those arguments presume an understanding of God's desires expressed in legalistic, pharisaic ways, rather than addressing what we learned from Jesus and living out that learning.

This raises the question: Where is our center? Is it in beliefs and law, or is it in Jesus Christ. If we believe that it is in Jesus, it is critical that we look at how Christ lived his life and what it would mean to follow his way today.

A further question might be: Is the call to be one demonstrated by our having identical beliefs, or are we one in proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Are we going to embrace differences, excluding no one, or are we going to develop a set of criteria for who is in and who is out? Further, if we embrace differences, can we endure the tension and potential rifts that might come with that diversity?

For example, as a person who believes in the right of a woman to choose what happens to her body, can I live in harmony around the central truth of Jesus Christ with my sisters and brothers of Noel, the 'right to life' organization of the Episcopal Church? As an intellectual exercise I find that I can embrace the tension. However, we are talking about an actual human experience, for instance the reality of carrying an unwanted child due to rape, versus the agony of an abortion, this tension is exacerbated. That reality is the litmus test – again, it is not what we preach but what we do. Can I still love those who disagree with me?

I call you to ponder these questions as we rapidly approach the beginning of the Convention. Let us all pray for the deputies and the bishops who will be struggling with these concerns. My prayer is that they agree to disagree and stay in communion with one another, so that "we may be one, as Jesus and God are one."

This is the last Sunday before I go on sabbatical for three months. Summer is a good time to stop, to look at our lives and to be filled up to live productively in the world. I would like to share with you some words of Edmund Browning, former Presiding Bishop. Despite the tensions and travel of his job, he never forgot what was important:

"If we do not take the time for ourselves and our families, here is what will happen: We will stop wanting to. If we do not take the time to feel the things we are feeling, we will stop feeling them. It will be more convenient not to. We will be more efficient. And inside, we will be more efficient. And inside, we will be almost dead. We will become addicted to the busyness of our lives, unable to feel at home unless we are running at top speed. And our families will make their lives without us, find their comforts elsewhere. And we will be in our offices, at our meetings, and we won't even know it happened. God did not call you into family life and working life in order that you might become angry and sick and dead inside. God called you to abundant life. Not every day is a wonderful day. But every day belongs to you, a gift from a gracious God. Reclaim your days. Find and savor their sweetness, even if you must do so through tears. Don't let a single one pass in a blur of responsibility and work. A day is too precious a thing to waste. You never get it back. …If we regard each day with an attitude of scarcity, we'll never feel we have enough time. But when we embrace them in an attitude of abundance and gratitude, we will have all we need, and more. That's the stewardship of time."
(The Most Rev. Edmund Browning, Anglican Digest, Easter A.D.2006, p. 51)

This is Sabbath time for me, and for you. For Christians, God as known in Jesus Christ is at the heart of Sabbath. My goal this summer is to find rest, refreshment, and a renewed and deepened spiritual life. I invite you to share that journey with me. Take the time this summer, when many things slow down, to carve out Sabbath time. Like the Episcopal Church we are called to see beyond the details of our lives to its central truths. We are to ask what matters most, and how we are living to reflect that. It is a time of re-creation, of making new. Let us stop and embrace an attitude of abundance and gratitude for all we have been given.

I leave here with great confidence in our staff, our lay ministry and our clergy. We are one in our commitment to St. Margaret's and the ministry of its community. After twenty years of priestly ministry, I welcome the opportunity to step back, to rest and to examine how I am a steward of time in my own life. I am most grateful to the Lilly Foundation and, especially, to you for this opportunity. Despite the wonder at this gift, to say I will miss you is a gross understatement. You, God's people in this place, are in my heart. I take you with me. Let us pray:

"The light of God surrounds us; the love of God unfolds us; the power of God protects us; the presence of God watches over us; wherever we are, God is."
AMEN


*Faith/Belief connection from: Winterrowd, William J., "In the Head, but not the Heart," The Living Church, June 4, 2006, pp36-37.