The Rev. Noah Van Niel
Christ and St. Luke’s
September 11, 2022 (Homecoming Sunday)
Proper 19 (C): Exodus 32:17; Psalm 118*; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10
When I was playing football in college, during the off-season, we were required to get up very early in the morning to trek across the river to the athletic facility for workouts. We’d often be up before 5am to get to the locker room in time to get ready for the first whistle. Needless to say, this was not the typical college student’s schedule. More than a few of us had stories of passing roommates or friends who were coming in from a night of activity, while we were on our way out. And even though I am a morning person by nature, this schedule was extreme. So, I found that when the alarm went off and I wanted nothing more than to throw it across the room, some extra motivation was needed to get up and go. And so, I used a mantra that would break through my sleepy haze and get me moving: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!” …so get moving you lazy lug. (I added that last part in myself).
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I still use this mantra every morning. And it remains effective at getting me going because of where it grounds me. It focuses me on the present: this is the day. Don’t worry about the past, or the future, focus on today. And it focuses me on today as something that is given: that the Lord has made. In that way it grounds me, grounds the whole day in gratitude—a profound gratitude. It is a reminder that our very existence is a gift; to have woken up at all is reason to give thanks. For as many of us know all too well, while life may be given, it is not guaranteed. Such an acknowledgement means that you begin the day aware that the one who brought all things into being, also brought YOU into being and has given you one more day to be, to exist, to enjoy. Can you believe that!? This level of gratitude should be motivation enough to get out of bed. And once out the door, this orientation shades everything in a benevolent light. To have received such a gift is all the reason we need to rejoice and be glad. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
The alternative way to start our day, which does not acknowledge God as its source and our source is what it means to be a “stiff-necked” person. We see that phrase appear in our passage from Exodus this morning, as God’s anger flares over the golden calf debacle. It’s a phrase that appears repeatedly in the Old Testament, always as the source of problems for the people of Israel. It’s a strange epithet, but apt. To be “stiff-necked is to be a people who can look neither up in admiration nor down in thanksgiving. And with no ability to nod to the holy from which we draw our breath nor gaze up in wonder as we consider the world and all its glory, we are left disconnected from God, and focused only on what is right in front of us. Which means we are, as St. Paul warns us in Romans, liable to worship the creature, or the created order, instead of the creator behind it. Hence, the idolatry of the golden calf and many other examples throughout history.
Now, I won’t pretend these deep philosophical musings were what was running through my head at 4:30am on a subzero February morning in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but the verse did its job. It loosened up my neck just enough for me to be able to give thanks for the day that was before me, which was motivation enough for me to get going. And it has remained a touchstone verse for me as those early morning workouts turned into early morning feedings, turned into early morning meetings. Even in the grumpiest of mornings, this verse cuts through it all with the light of gratitude and joy, and gets the day started in the right way.
So over the summer, as our staff was brainstorming what might be the right Bible verse to serve as our parish theme this year—one we hoped would capture the sense of excitement and spiritual vitality that pervades this community as it embarks upon this new program year and the next chapter in its storied history, someone suggested the 24th verse of the 118th Psalm—”This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I was thrilled (and wished I’d thought of it). Because I knew intimately the power of this verse to inspire and motivate and orient an individual heart and mind, and now, we hope, it will do the same for our entire community.
For branding purposes, we shortened the verse to “This is the Day!” and you will see and hear us using it not only in worship but in many aspects of the parish’s life as we move through the year. As we continue the long process of regathering and reconnecting, we hope the enthusiasm of this verse will cut through any lingering lassitude we are experiencing with some conviction, some energy, some excitement: “This is the day I’m going to church!” We have also planned our adult formation programming around this theme. For example, since this verse is drawn out of the Book of Psalms, we’ll begin on September 25th at 9:15am with four weeks looking at that magnificent ancient songbook—where they came from, what they say, and even how we sing them. We hope you will join us as we delve more deeply into some of the most powerful and personal poetry ever written. Later this fall we will use the urgency of the verse (This is the day!) and the gratitude it evokes in us for the gift of our life, to tackle the hard work of planning for the end of that life. We will talk about how to prepare spiritually, liturgically, medically, financially, legally for death. As hard as these conversations are, this will be the day to address all of it. In Advent we will focus on the part, “the day the Lord has made” and look at the role of art and creativity as emblematic of God, the divine maker, the original artist. We’ll talk music, poetry, visual art and how such creative pursuits connect us to that Spirit of creation that comes to bear so fully in that season of incarnation. And that’s all just in the next few months! There will be more to share about the winter and spring offerings as we get closer.
We will also be using “This is the Day!” to talk about how we volunteer and participate in the life of the church. The work of the church is only ever the sum of all our efforts and engagement. Things like the ministry fair next week will, we hope, help replenish our depleted volunteer corps as we all pledge that “this is the day, I show up, or step in, or help out.” Speaking of pledging, “This is the Day” will also serve also as the theme of our financial stewardship drive this fall, as in “This is the day I make my pledge!” More to come on that in a few weeks, don’t you worry. And despite having a building renovation that is grinding on, rather than frustration, I hope this verse will help us approach the completion of this project with a spirit of gratitude and joy. For we have been given an opportunity, as a part of the long history of this parish, to complete and enjoy a new facility that will impact this church for generations and transform this historic neighborhood. What a gift! And I promise you this, at some point before the program year is out (don’t ask me when!) we will be able to say with full conviction, “This is the day the building is finished!” And long before that, I expect, “This is the day we use an indoor toilet!”
Friends, this is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made. This day. Today. Could there be any greater gift? Could there be any better reason to get out of bed in the morning? Could there be any better reason to rejoice and to give thanks? That’s true for each of us as individuals, and it is true for us as church community. We will have much to rejoice over this coming year, of that I am certain. But the first and most fundamental thing we have to be glad about is that we get to be here at all. That we get to breathe this air and swim in these seas, sing these songs, and walk on these roads, and love these people. God, what a gift. There is nothing more precious. In my first video message to you before I began as your Priest-in-Charge I talked about how I hoped our life together here at Christ and St. Luke’s would take up Jesus’s commandment to love one another as he loved us—through acts of humility and service. That remains true. But I want to add to it. I also hope our work together will be grounded in gratitude and joy. Because if we start this day, this year, this chapter from there, it will not just dictate where we end up, it will dictate the way in which we get there. So, as we embark upon this new year together, I invite you to get up, stretch out your neck, and join us however and whenever you can. Because here at Christ and St. Luke’s, “This is the day that the Lord has made; [we will] rejoice and be glad in it!” Amen!