Notes from Ann Fontaine's sermon for III Advent at What the Tide Brings In:
John the Baptist is in jail – and soon to lose his head, it is the low point in his life. Since he first leaped in the womb of his mother Elizabeth at the approach of Mary pregnant with Jesus- the gospels tells us that he has spent his life pointing to the one who was to come. From the high point of the baptism in the river Jordan when it all seemed to be coming true to now—seems like one of the saddest moments in our readings. He had been so sure – now – he sits in prison and wonders.
How many times in your life have you devoted yourself entirely to something or someone only to be disappointed in the outcome? Perhaps you worked hard in a job and still did not get the promotion you dreamed of? Perhaps there was a boyfriend or girlfriend or even your spouse to whom you placed your hopes and dreams and yet they left in the end? Or did not live up to your expectations. Perhaps it was a civic project to which you gave your time and energy but it was dashed to pieces in the politics or finances of the time? And then you wonder – like John the Baptist - was it all for nothing? Was it worth all that I gave it – will there be any good result.
Please read the rest of the notes from which Ann will preach tomorrow. She quotes the wonderful words of Roman Catholic Archbishop Óscar Romero, who died a martyr's death by assassination:
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
As I said in a comment over there, "...the words of Oscar Romero are heartening in times of discouragement. I've read them before, but they never get old." I'd add that San Romero's words also address our moments of self-doubt when we wonder whether any of what we do does any good at all.
Although San Romero is not yet included in the canon of saints by the Roman Catholic Church, he has a place in the calendar of the saints of the Episcopal Church and is considered by many to be the patron saint of the Americas and El Salvador.
San Romero, ruega por nosotros.
