Alpha and Omega
Last Pentecost
Proper 29B
Dan.7:9-10, 13-14; Rev. 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37
11/22/09
Lorraine Ljunggren

        The author of Revelation writes, “Grace to you and peace from One who is and who was and who is to come.” (Rev. 1:4b) “'I am the Alpha and the Omega,'” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, [el Shaddai, the all sufficient God] the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:8)

        I have always been drawn to the spiritual beliefs that God is and was and is to come – that is Eternal – existing from even before the creation as we understand it through whatever rests in the future which lies shrouded in mystery – that God is aleph tav, the Alpha and the Omega – the first and the last – the beginning and the ending – all encompassing – ever-present in every age for every creature wherever life is.

        When I take all these things, put in what I believe about God the Creator-God in Christ Jesus-and-God the Holy Spirit, include my personal experiences of God along with that of worshiping God weekly in the midst of community, add my still unanswered questions, with a dash of my doubts – particularly when I doubt myself – fold in what I know of God from your experiences, sift with what Christianity and Judaism teach about God while listening to what still other traditions have to say about the Creator, and mix it altogether I come up with my recipe for the journey of faith.

        The weight and measures may vary, but however we take and add, sift and fold, and mix together what we feel and think, learn and experience of God, we each come up with a recipe for our journeys of faith. Bringing to this place our many recipes adds richness to a journey I believe needs to be shared – must be shared with others. Because I believe God creates us to live and learn, to worship and explore God who is and who was and who is to come – who is All Sufficient – who is aleph tav – Alpha and Omega – Eternal – I believe God creates us to journey alongside one another.

        Jim and I have been on a particular journey alongside you as your clergy team for going on ten years. The fourteen months I was your solo-priest before that seems like a long time ago. But, the Eternal is leading us into a new experience. Our prayer for Jim's priestly vocation to continue to serve God's people in a congregation turns out to be leading him, for a time, to serve as an Interim Rector some place else. God is calling Jim to journey in the coming year alongside others of God's people – those who worship and form community at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Family in Chapel Hill.

        There is no doubt in my mind, or in Jim's, that your love for us will be of immense importance as our vocation as a clergy team undergoes this change. This journey will harken back to the years we spent in separate congregations. Not my first choice, but the Holy Spirit has surprised us before and we're going to trust in Her presence now.

        While this change, which is coming December 9th, may feel as if it is a somewhat unexpected turn of events, it is one which, I'm sure, will contain many blessings for Jim and for the people of Holy Family.

        I am also a firm believer that we human beings need to always acknowledge outwardly and inwardly what it feels like to undergo transitions like this one. Let's face it – it will be a loss! Jim is a gifted priest. And I'm not just talking about his batting average with the Flyin' Lions or his light-hearted wearing of his bright red Pentecost Pumas every year – for those who are new among us – I'm talking about red shoes Jim wears on the Feast of Pentecost! Which he wore for us today in honor of the Last Sunday after Pentecost. That made me realize some traditions are worth carrying on. But, guess what?! They don't make those style Pumas any more. So, since I had a horse as a little girl and used to watch polo matches at the Palm Beach Polo Club, I had to switch – so I will now have red Pentecost Polos to wear! [showing the congregation the red high tops] Oh, and never fear – as a family member of St. Mark's he'll still be part of our softball team the Flyin' Lions!

        But I, for one, will grieve the loss to us of his fine preaching and sensitive pastoral presence. Of his teaching skills. Of his ministry with our children and youth and their leaders. Of his commitment to trying to get us to understand that stewardship is everything we do after we say 'I believe,' and is something we're to do with our minds and hearts, our hands and feet, as well as our checkbooks. I'll miss his willingness to climb on roofs with a hammer and tote buckets of concrete alongside some of you in nearby neighborhoods and in foreign lands in our housing ministry. The list goes on and on. I know better than anyone else in our faith community how Jim's ministry gifts serve God and you and are put to the test year in and year out.

        These are all aspects of ministry for which we give thanks and celebrate. And the folks at Holy Family need to take good care of their new Interim Rector when he comes among them or – well, we'll just have to have a chat!

        I do want us to celebrate with Jim this call to a different ministry in God's church. It is because the All Sufficient and Eternal God is with us wherever we are that we can celebrate this transition even as we will grieve our loss.

        My plan is to keep taking some deep breaths, to keep saying my prayers, to continue leading worship in this sacred place among you whom God has called to be here. Because this turn of events has been a possibility for some time, I've been working over the past months with my Spiritual Director to envision how my gifts for ministry will best continue to serve God and you but as a solo-priest again. I am grateful that we have dedicated and faithful vestry members who will help me stay sane, remind me not to overwork, and who will help you discern your gifts for ministry here at St. Mark's. We will continue our commitment to being partners in ministry – ordained and lay together honoring one another's gifts and trying our best to match gifts with needs inside and outside the church. Discerning how we can best serve is always important in ministry and, like a pair of Pumas, one size doesn't fit all – sometimes we try a ministry on but find out another one better suits our God-given gifts. There is much more to be said and to discover in the coming weeks and months.

        It is, perhaps, no accident of timing that we acknowledge the coming change in our staffing on this the last Sunday of the church's liturgical year. Today's readings are again apocalyptic in nature – they point to an ending that is also a beginning. Written in times of political and religious upheaval, like our own times, the readings from Daniel and the Revelation and the Gospel of John all point to change and transition. They are guideposts, pointing us to the reality that, in the midst of any and all changes, ever-present and ever-sure, there is God. They are readings which call on us to be witnesses to the truth of God as Creator, as All Sufficient, as Eternal.

        We will begin a new church year next Sunday when the Season of Advent arrives. For those of you who have come to be part of us in this calendar year, watch for the changes in our worship space – what in Hebrew would be aleph and tav – an Alpha and an Omega will adorn our walls, the Greek letters connected by waves of blues and purples. I am always strengthened and encouraged by those hangings because they symbolize for me the strength of God's presence in all the chances and changes of life. And, lest we miss another irony of timing, the Church of the Holy Family in Chapel Hill has the very same Advent hangings, having called a priest in the past who served them and served St. Mark's, the one who designed the hangings.

        A new liturgical year always brings with it new possibilities for serving and loving God and God's people. It always brings with it an opportunity for us to renew our resolve to live fully into why we come together in this place. As a faith community, “our purpose is to help each other experience and worship God,” we're to “openly share the Good News of Jesus Christ” which will lead us to invite into our midst those seeking a relationship with God, and we're to “respond in love to the needs of our neighbors” in the various ways in which God calls us. (St. Mark's Purpose Stmt.)

And so, my friends, let us give thanks for a year in which we have accomplished some amazing things, in which we have cried and laughed, lived and learned, surrounded always by the One who is and who was and who is to come. Amen.
©2009 Lorraine Ljunggren