October 11, 2020
The Episcopal Church of St. Thomas the Apostle
Dallas, Texas
The Reverend Stephen J. Waller
In the Name of the One God:
As usual, friends, I will begin my homily today with something very personal, but also very much a part of the Parish we all love…
On the 11th of October in the Year of Our Lord 1989, I was installed as the Third Rector of St. Thomas the Apostle…having been the Rector since my arrival in Dallas on September 1st. Bishop Patterson had selected the day… I doubt that the good Bishop knew that October 11th is National Coming Out Day. The Interim priest, Ernie Bell, was the preacher. Ernie and I had both served in the Diocese of Louisiana before and sort of knew one another…still, that he preached at that service means I had not yet made him mad enough to send me a not so nice letter I discovered on the office floor just before a Sunday morning liturgy. Ernie would become mad at me when I fired a member of the staff for wanting me to be the former Rector who had hired her… I just could not manage to do that…. Being Rector of this wonderful parish proved rich and complicated, fun and terrible, fulfilling and demanding and challenging years for me…and for the parish. So, rejoice with me today for this anniversary. National Coming Out Day was a very good day to be installed as your Third Rector.
Much of what follows in this homily is plagiarized from an excellent article by a remarkable priest:
“IDOLATRY?
If only idols could take the form of a golden calf only.
The passage from Exodus (32:1-14) which we heard read this morning has profound meaning throughout the history of Judaism, Christianity and Islam…the three monotheistic religions of the Abrahamic tradition.
One recurring theme throughout the Old Testament, one subject of profound concern for the prophets, was the tendency of the Israelites to return to ancient deities — Baal, Bethel, Gad … and to worship these gods in spite of the teaching of the prophets that there was and is only one true God.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me” and
“you shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth…” are the first two commandments that God spoke to Moses (Exodus 20:1-4). In Islam, the beginning of the Shahada (profession of faith) affirms the oneness of God: ‘there is no god (deity) but God.’ In Christianity, we believe in One God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit…the Trinity.
You would hardly find any representation of God in either Judaism or Islam. Throughout Christianity though, fiery debates and the destruction of images through iconoclasm have reminded us of the fine line between the carving of images, which serve as windows to the divine, and the worshipping of these images. Wherever we find ourselves surrounded by countless breath-taking artistic representations of Jesus, Mary and the saints…this may be particularly speak to us in our own day.
Yet, in our modern societies, we may believe that these debates are all outdated.
Are they?
What are our golden calves? What is it that we worship beyond everything else? What are the deepest, most engrained beliefs that we hold onto without noticing them and which keep us away from God’s presence and transforming love for all of us?
Like many of you, I have been thinking a lot about the debates over the taking down of statues in several countries around the World and the profound injustices and frightful impact of White Supremacy throughout this World. While these concepts and objects do not take the form of golden calves, they do shape our representations of the World, of the ‘good and the bad’, and, sadly, of each other.
It is never easy to examine our prejudices. It can even be painful to discover them. Yet, when we do the work, we are given the priceless gift of discovering Christ alive within ourselves and within those around us; our ears can hear anew, our eyes can see anew, and we may discover a capacity to love and be loved that we could not think was possible.”
This parish has been willing to open itself to see and listen to and to love “the stranger,” the diseased,” the “young and old.” “the rich and the poor,” “to those who think too highly of themselves and to those who have no self-esteem.” As parish churches go, St. Thomas the Apostle stands out on the front line of “welcoming everyone,” no matter who you may be. We stand out, I think, because many of us have known the sharp edge of being rejected and we do not want to do that to others. I am proud of that tradition and of all of you.
Still, brothers and sisters, we have more work to do: We have idols to destroy and burn, we have evils to address, we have injustices to right. Our work is not yet done. What idol do you need to burn in order to serve God and all of God’s creation? That is our work now.
I close with a prayer of Pope Francis which he prayed at Assisi on the Eve of St. Francis Day this year:
O God, Trinity of love,
from the profound communion of your divine life,
pour out upon us a torrent of fraternal love.
Grant us the love reflected in the actions of Jesus,
in his family of Nazareth,
and in the early Christian community.
Grant that we Christians may live the Gospel,
discovering Christ in each human being,
recognizing him crucified
in the sufferings of the abandoned
and forgotten of our world,
and risen in each brother or sister
who makes a new start.
Come, Holy Spirit, show us your beauty,
reflected in all the peoples of the earth,
so that we may discover anew
that all are important and all are necessary,
different faces of the one humanity
that God so loves. Amen.
