Building Spiritual Muscles

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

22 January 2015

This coming Sunday we will hold our parish annual meeting, during which we will discuss the ways in which we will increase evangelism and outreach in and to the community around us.  We will distinguish between outreach in service (good works) and evangelism (proclaiming and sharing the Good News of God in Jesus Christ), although our prayer is that outreach and evangelism may always be found together. 

We know that we are not saved by good works; we are saved by Jesus Christ, by God’s free gift.  We cannot earn salvation.  But how do good works relate to our faith and our identity as followers of Jesus Christ?  The reality is that good works, as part of the practice of religion, reinforce our faith, and for those who do not have faith may help to lead them to faith.  How is this so?  It is so because when we reach out to others, when we give our ourselves without hope of receiving anything in return, we develop habits of the heart.  We reinforce a spiritual posture of self-giving, and this spiritual posture allows us to better perceive God’s presence.

The 17^th century philosopher and Christian apologist (and mathematician, and scientist ... you get the idea) Blaise Pascal is best remembered for stating that “The heart has its reasons which Reason knows not of” (Pensées IV.277).  This statement is often misunderstood, because in our day we tend to think of “heart” as something involving emotion.  But Pascal uses heart (as does the Bible and all ancient learning) to refer to our personhood and will.  Today we might say “personhood” or “humanness”.  To add to the complication, “reason” is not a reference to how we think—to cognition—but to how we perceive reality by observing it and participating in it.  In other words, by being human we are drawn to things that are particularly human (such as our relationship with God) in ways that we cannot describe in a cause-and-effect model.

What does all this mean?  It means that when we engage in good works we make ourselves closer to the author of all giving of self (God); we live more actively into our own identity as human beings each created in the image and likeness of God.  And, not only do we become closer to God, we become closer to His image and likeness in the person to whom we give and with whom we share.  Giving completes an essential human equation—what it means to be a created being—and even those who do not know God are touched in ways that reinforce their understanding of this equation.  Their spiritual posture, their heart, is changed in ways that allow them to better come to know God, and for those of us who do have faith, our faith is reinforced in ways that we can rarely describe, but which are experienced as real participation in the God who comes to dwell among us and with us.

Religion is the practice of faith.  Good works involve the practice of that essential core of humanness that is the image and likeness of God.  Practice develops our spiritual muscles.

Grace abounds:  Please thank:

§  Dale and Mary Massey for the Sunday coffee hours.

§  Bernie Markevitch and Barb MacEwen for preparing the Soup de Do fundraising reception, with clean-up by Jack Britton and Jennifer Pawlus.

§  Ben Dobey and the choir for the “Evocations” organ concert.

 “Leave behind” cards:  Small bookmark shaped cards are available for you to give to friends when you talk about the church.  These cards list the times of all of our prayer and worship services, how to get more information, when Bible study and adult education meet, etc.  The cards are available in the office or in the Ontario Avenue entrance to the nave.  The supply in the office is packaged with small olive wood crosses.  These “leave behind cards” should always be offered to visitors, but also take a supply with you to share in outreach.

Call for Contributions:  If you have a spiritual reflection to share, or want to point your fellow worshippers toward a resource, submit your contributions to Fr. Karl (by email) by Wednesday in the week of publication.

Youth and Family Ministry:  

Music this week:  The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Prelude                         Voluntary in D                                                 Samuel Wesley

Entrance Hymn 544                  “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun”

Offertory Anthem                     In a Monastery Garden                                               Albert Ketèlby

Communion Motet                    Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace                              S. S. Wesley

Communion Hymn 549             “Jesus call us, o’er the tumult”

Closing Hymn 655                    “O Jesus, I have promised”

Postlude                                   Carillon                                                                      Herbert Murrill

Parish Notices

§  The Annual Meeting: This year’s annual meeting will take place on Sunday January 25, 2015.  We will have one Mass at 9:00am followed by the annual meeting held in the Church.  We plan to have an all parish pot-luck lunch in St. Nicholas Hall at the conclusion of the meeting.  The agenda of the meeting will include committee reports, new Vestry and Warden elections, 2014 financial review and 2015 budget, review Vestry actions, and an overall review of the 2015 calendar. Please make every effort to attend and participate.

§  All Parish Potluck Lunch: Following the Annual Meeting we will have and All Parish Potluck Lunch. Please bring a dish to pass and share in fellowship. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex.

§  Soup-d’-Do: On January 18^th Grace Church introduced a new fundraiser. Bernie and Barb are offering 3 gluten-free soups for sale. The single $4.00 and double $7.00 serving containers are frozen and are ready for purchase. The soups offered are Sicilian Chicken, Pizza Soup and Bean & Ham.

§  Call for Diocesan Convention Delegates and Alternates: Diocesan Convention is scheduled for October 23-24, 2015 at St. John’s in Wausau. We are in need of 5 delegates and 3 alternates to attend and vote at Diocesan Convention. This will include a pre-convention information meeting, there are several scheduled including a webinar; Friday evening October 23^rd and all day Saturday, October 24^th. If you are willing to serve please call the office. In the event that we have more than eight responses we will vote on January 25 at the Annual Meeting.

§  Coffee Hour Schedule: There is a new sign-up sheet for hosting coffee hour in 2015. If you would like to host please sign up for either 8:00am or 10:15am. We are in need of someone to oversee the schedule and be the point person for questions. If you would be able to spend a few minutes a week double checking the sign-up sheet and giving reminders or if you have questions please see Deacon Michele or Bobbi Kraft. Thank you so much.

§  Flower Schedule for 2015: Giving the gift of flowers is a wonderful way to remember a loved one or to offer thanksgiving for your blessings. If you wish to sign up for a specific Sunday, the Flower Schedule is available on the table in the narthex. More than one person can sign up for each Sunday.