So the question we ask ourselves today is, how do we live together as members of Christ’s flock? There are myriad different types of sheep who all claim to follow the same shepherd. Some flocks would say that other flocks do not truly belong to the Good Shepherd. God’s desire for us, however, is clearly stated in today’s Gospel. Jesus says that he must bring the different flocks together, “So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
We have begun to discuss the various virtues in our adult education classes during the Easter season as a companion to the vices which we dissected during Lent. I suggest to you today that there are three virtues in particular which are especially noble, and which will help guide us to the loving embrace of Christ. In fact, they are permanently set into the floor of The Chapel of the Good Shepherd in mosaic form, directly before the altar. Part of the act of receiving the Holy Communion there is has to pass over these virtues in order to come before the Good Shepherd. They are Faith, Hope and Love, and we can recount numerous stories in which these three virtues have in one way or another impacted our lives and the lives of our spiritual forebears. One only needs to take a closer look around the many nooks and crannies of this old church to see testaments, both great and small to those who have gone before us, doing the work of God on this little plot of ground in New York.
Faith—in Latin, Fides—is at the seminary unfortunately usually covered up by the organ console, though this in itself is an interesting commentary on faith that is not lost on me. I cannot always see it, but I know it is there. A good working definition of faith in the Christian context is “A trusting acceptance of God’s will.” Each of us has times in his or her life in which we are called upon to make a “leap of faith”, that is to trust and accept God’s will for our lives (sometimes against common sense and our “better” judgment). This requires not a blind willingness to be led about by the snout, but it is a process in which we must actively participate. It is a real desire to know God’s will based upon the gift of discernment which he has instilled in us, putting away the distractions of personality and ego and humbly opening one’s heart and mind to better understand the direction in which God would have us go. The most publicly obvious leap of faith in my life was the pursuit of my call to the priesthood. I won’t belabor you with all the details, but like many with the same call, I did not listen at first. In fact it took several years of gentle prodding by God and outright agonizing on my part for me to follow in faith where I was being led. And when I finally did accept the call, through the prayer and discernment of myself and my community, I then had to learn to accept that it was not God’s will for me to immediately go off to seminary. At first I was resentful and jealous of others who seemed to sail through “the process” as it is called, seemingly without care. Of course I had no window into their souls. I am certain that they had their own devils to wrestle; we all do. By learning faith, the acceptance of God’s will for me, I was able to be more patient, if not perfectly patient, in waiting for the day to come for me to leave for seminary. Please do not take this vignette as suggesting that I am anywhere near being complete in my faith. Instead, it is meant to be illustrative of my first steps toward realizing my vocation. I still struggle daily with faithfully living into that vocation, doing with it what God wants me to do, and not what I would rather do.
The motto of this church is Fides Opera, in English, Faith and Works. Or, as George MacAdam, author of one of the biographies of this parish put it, “Faithful Work.” That is a much more helpful translation for me. In other words, the doing of our lives should be intertwined with our being people of faith, people who discern God’s will for us and accept it. And I ask you to look into your lives in the coming week and think about where you have been lead in faith so far, and I ask you actively to join God in discerning his will for you and then acting on your faith.
Hope—in Latin, Spes—is a cheap word these days. Fr. McPherson discussed this in his class on this virtue. We toss about phrases like, “I hope it doesn’t rain today.” We use hope to convey a wish not to be personally inconvenienced. Instead, let’s look at hope from a Christian point of view. Hope is the desire and search for a future good which is difficult, but not impossible to attain with God’s help. This is illustrated in the motto (since we’re talking about mottoes) of my home parish in New Orleans. It is, In Christo Speramus, in English, Our Hope is in Christ. To put it more clearly, our desire for the future good is contingent on the assistance of God. A time-tested motto if ever there was one, as the people of New Orleans certainly are in need of God’s help these days. Closer to home, a great exemplar of Christian Hope is Dr. George Hendric Houghton in the founding of this parish. Even today, our own dear Episcopal Church is sometimes chided by outsiders as “the country club at prayer”. Dr. Houghton was out to prove this false in his day. He was no stranger to Bellvue Hospital, to the indigent or to the houses of ill repute on the East Side. “All sorts and conditions” knew that they could count on him when they needed the services of the Church. Dr. Houghton’s hope was a “parish among the poor”. It all began in the back of a house at Number 48 East 28th Street in 1848. The first services of this parish were held there using only some borrowed school benches, a pine reading desk and a wheezy old parlor organ. Dr. Houghton had nothing but these borrowed quarters, his Bible and Prayer Book and “the surplice he wore.” He had no money or any prospect of getting any, but on February 12, 1849, The Church of the Transfiguration in the City of New York was legally incorporated. His dream was for a totally free church, that is, one without pew rents, located in the impoverished area adjacent to Bellvue Hospital. Reality and a stubborn Vestry forced a compromise, and the church was constructed on its present site, to Dr. Houghton’s dismay, in close proximity to fashionable Broadway and Fifth Avenue and with some, though not all, pews reserved for renters. Though the church was not without its share of hard times, it flourished. Dr. Houghton served God by serving the poor and those whom other churches would turn away. He harbored runaway slaves during the Civil War, faced a mob of rioters in the street, and welcomed actors to the Church. He had real hope, searching for future good which was difficult, but not impossible to attain, with God’s help. This church stands proudly today as a monument to Christian Hope.
And finally, Love—in Latin Caritas (think charity)—to the Christian is first directed toward God, but also toward oneself and one’s neighbors as objects of God’s love. We have all been taught that the greatest of the three virtues I have spoken of today is love. Love (caritas) in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd is enshrined between faith and hope, directly beneath the good shepherd himself. And that is appropriate, as Jesus used love as a way to radically reframe and supersede the Law of Moses. Instead of 613 laws, we need only two, and you can find them on page 324 of The Book of Common Prayer in the Summary of the Law. “Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” There is no denying the very centrality of love in the Christian life. Unfortunately, it frequently falls victim to prideful convictions and agenda-filled church politics. Nevertheless, love lives. I am sure that each of you can think of examples of instances when you felt touched by the love of Christ through the actions of another person. This church has been a beacon of Christian love throughout its storied history, from the reckless compassion of Dr. Houghton, to the bread lines of the Great Depression, to the ministry to struggling actors in the 1950s. Did you know that the Actors’ Guild ran a clothing bank, and Mrs. Ray, wife of the third rector, held regular teas for young actors? This gave them an opportunity to “network” as well as to get something decent to eat. And our ministry of Christian love continues today as we provide a haven of quiet and prayer in this otherwise noisy and frantic city.
I have mentioned some truly saintly figures, but don’t let that intimidate you. We can all show forth the love of Christ in the world. Following the example of the good shepherd, one way to begin is to show kindness to someone with whom you might not ordinarily interact. This seemingly simple action can be quite a stretch (it often is for me), but it can also be a powerful thing; you may never know the impact you had on that stranger, but God knows.
I’ll end today with a quotation from the Rev. Dr. Randolph Ray, third rector of this church. “Kindness is life’s blood, the elixir of marriage. Kindness makes the difference between passion and caring. Kindness is tenderness. Kindness is love, but perhaps greater than love…Kindness is good will. Kindness says, ‘I want you to be happy.’ Kindness comes very close to the benevolence of God.”
In faith, hope and love, we Christians can hear the voice of our good shepherd, who calls us all into the community of his flock. Let us listen for him, and follow him safely home. Amen
