"Glory"
Homily of the Rev. Dr. David A. Killian
Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 20, 2007
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Text: John 17-20-26
I
Last week I was on a retreat in the west of Ireland, where we heard insightful spiritual talks by the well-known poet, theologian, and teacher John O'Donohue and visited beautiful sites like the Cliffs of Moher, the Connemara Mountains, and the Aran Islands. The first few days of our retreat were blessed with lovely, sunny weather. Then, inevitably, the rains came, prompting one of the retreatants to say, "We're finally getting that rainy weather that we paid good money for!" The Irish call a day of mist and rain "a soft day." We were blessed with several soft days - which served to slow me down and put me in a reflective mood. I came to appreciate that rain is good and necessary. Rain as well as sunshine gives glory to God.
People from ancient times have sought to give glory to God. On my retreat in Ireland, we came upon ancient burial places called dolmens, which date back to the megalithic peoples who preceded the Celts in Ireland by 2,500 years.
The megalithic passage tomb at Newgrange, Ireland, is a huge structure that took 300 people working 20 years to construct. At dawn on the winter solstice, a shaft of sunlight passes through an aperture in the tomb's roof to shine on the burial spot. I marvel at their astronomical knowledge and their ability to transport huge stones create this homage to the sun. This tomb was their cathedral. They built this structure to please the divine. Sad to say, these megalithic people thought that God was pleased by human sacrifices. They annually selected the best of the community to be offered as their gift to give glory to God and to achieve oneness with the divine.
II
In today's Gospel passage Jesus teaches us another way to give glory and to achieve oneness with God: "The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." The glory that Jesus offers is the love that human beings have one for another.
Jesus teaches that we give glory to God through love, not violence, through service, not sacrifice. Jesus teaches that we give glory to God when we love our neighbors as ourselves and when we liberate those who are enslaved and oppressed, as Paul and Silas do in today's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, when they set free the slave-girl in Philippi.
This is what Christian missionaries have done for centuries as they brought the message of Jesus to the far corners of the earth and encountered people who were practicing human sacrifice or other practices that robbed people of their dignity. For example, when St. Patrick came to Ireland in 432, the Celtic people still practiced slavery as well as human sacrifice. In the course of his thirty years of ministry Patrick was able to see the elimination of slavery and human sacrifice. Patrick showed the Celtic people another way of giving glory. He and monks like those who created the beautifully illustrated Book of Kells gave glory to God through the practice of beauty, learning, and compassion.
III
Jesus teaches us that the glory we give back to God is first of all God's gift to us: "The glory that you have given me, I have given them." We give glory to God through acts of beauty, learning, and compassion. Today I want to talk about these gifts as they are found in our community.
Beauty - When the monks at Kells created the beautiful Gospel books illustrated in color and intricate designs they gave glory to God. Today, we thank Keith Glavash and the Schola Youth Choir for the beauty of their music that gives glory to God and has enhanced our worship services throughout the year.
Learning - the monks at Kells and at other monasteries in Ireland fostered learning of the holy scriptures, mathematics, literature, philosophy, astronomy, agriculture, and the other sciences. They preserved scholarship from the Greeks and Romans when Europe was disrupted by the barbarian invasions in a period known as the Dark Ages. These monks brought learning back to areas desolated by both the invasions and plague. In our liturgy today, we will bless our graduates and honor them for their learning and we will recognize Becky Taylor and the families, children and teachers in our Church School. They give glory to God as they develop their minds and learn to walk in the way of the Lord.
Compassion - the monasteries were places of hospitality, healing, stability, and culture. Wherever the monks established monasteries, civilization, order, and improved living conditions for the populace followed. The Outreach Committee at All Saints is our vehicle to reach out in compassionate service to heal wounds and meet needs in our society today - whether it is serving a meal to 100 homeless people at St. John's Church in Boston, as volunteers from our parish did on Thursday of this week; efforts to support the family of Dr. Yang Jianli during his five-year captivity in China; or organizing a trip of our youth to Nicaragua in August. These acts of compassion imitate the action of Christ and give glory to God.
In our worship today and in what we do for the rest of the week, we give glory to God when we create beauty, when we study and learn, and when we bring God's compassionate love to someone in need.
Amen.