delivered at the Cathedral in Nov, 2008.
Welcome!
We at St. Mary's are a faith community committed to being agents of social transformation and Gospel-inspired change. As a hallowed space, this cathedral church has been a house of prayer for all people since 1858.
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Dean of St. Mary’s listen to one of Andy's sermons
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| Your Playing Small Does Not Serve the World |
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You and I are beautiful, unique blessings of God. Each of us has been endowed with spiritual gifts that are essential for the building up of God’s kingdom. When we live limited lives, the world is diminished. When we lack commitment, the human family is less. Marianne Williamson wrote, "Your playing small does not serve the world." How about it? Are we being small these days? Are we serving well the world? Are we taking advantage of the wonderful opportunity God is giving us?
So many miraculous things are emerging in and around St. Mary’s. New families and new faces are being drawn to us. The St. Mary’s neighborhood is going through a dramatic shift – over 1.6 billion dollars pumped into the 38104 zip code. Melissa and Scott Elsholz, our new organist/choirmaster and his amazing wife, have been with us only a month, and they have already enriched our faith community with an authentic, contagious spirit that glorifies God’s goodness. Our new fence and deck are close to completion. Lisa McIndoo joins the St. Mary’s staff to rally our youth ministries. Richard Briscoe will assist me in creating a long-range planning committee in the fall. Brand new ministries are popping up in the strangest places. Jesus set forth the pattern of spiritual transformation: Cross and resurrection, dying and rising is our pathway toward perfection. It reminds me of my favorite collect. "…let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which have grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection, by him through all things are made…" (BCP, 515). We are being blessed by a holy momentum. It is time to dream big again. It is time to invest in St. Mary’s again as if we have a big future. God is calling us to be audacious people. Will we take a risk? Will we take advantage of this beautiful invitation? Will we be who God is calling us to be – generous, gracious, courageous – even in the midst of very chaotic world? I pray we are not frightened of failure. Failure is the beginning of our next success. The antidote to failure is failing – going ahead and trying something big, falling down and trying again. We are much further ahead every time we fall. I pray we will not perceive ourselves to lack the resources. This is a theological principle. Are we living in abundance or scarcity? Does Jesus not expect for us to do more things than we can possibly imagine? The money is in our pocket; the dream is in our heart; the strength is in our soul. So, dream big, my wonderful soul friends! Go outdoors and breathe in the sweet air and daydream about what God wants from you next. Our playing small does not serve God or the world. I pray God will open our eyes to see bigger than we could possibly imagine. |
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