May 2016 Emmanuel Newsletter

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Donna Taylor found a sermon in Fr. Chuck’s office that he was going to preach on April 17. She has offered to share it with

everyone.

NewsletterEmmanuel Episcopal Church

May 2016

A man decided his wife was getting hard of hearing. So he called her doctor to make an appointment to have her hearingchecked. The doctor said he could see her in two weeks, but meanwhile there was a simple, informal test the husbandcould do to give the doctor some idea of the dimensions of the problem.

“Here’s what you do,” he said. “Stand about 40 feet away from her and speak in a normal conversational tone and see ifshe hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response.” That evening his wife is in the kitchecooking dinner, and he’s in the living room, and he says to himself, “I’m about 40 feet away, let’s see what happens.”“Honey, what’s for supper?” No response. So he moves to the other end of the room, about 30 feet away. “Honey, what’for supper?” No response. So he moves into the dining room, about 20 feet away. “Honey, what’s for supper?” No.response. On to the kitchen door, only 10 feet away. Honey, what’s for supper?” No response. So he walks right upbehind her and says, “Honey, what’s for supper?” She turns around and says, “For the FIFTH time, CHICKEN!”

Isn’t that the way it is sometimes in our lives? We are either deaf to what really is going on, failing to perceive reality, or,we think it is the other person’s problem when really it is our own.

Sometimes we have selective hearing - we hear what we only want to hear. Or, we act as if we are listening, butreally our attention is elsewhere. You’ve had that feeling, haven’t you, when someone is giving you eye attention, but

you know they are not listening, not hearing you at all? It is infuriating, and I know I do it myself, so I hereby ask forblanket forgiveness from you for the times I’ve done it.

Today’s passage is all about listening and hearing - following the voice of Jesus - and it really stirs me up. Picture thescene. A small group comes close to Jesus, kind of like the husband in my story. They are walking with him, right next tohim actually, and asking him to tell them plainly if he is the Messiah - “don’t keep us in suspense.” And Jesus says, “Whatdo you mean? What more do I need to say? In fact, I don’t have to say anything because my works speak forthemselves.”

Sometimes I wonder if we are hard of hearing and hard of seeing when it comes to Jesus. Are we listening to his voiceand hearing what he says and then doing what he tells us to do? Or, do we try to keep our emotional, intellectual, politica

distance? Every day you and I hear a lot of diverse voices. How do we discern what voice to listen to, which voice tofollow? There are a lot of voices out there telling you who you are, what you should want, who you should be. What voicewhose voice are you listening to? Do you listen to the voices on Fox News or MSNBC? Which describes reality? Who istelling the truth: John Kasich, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders? And of course the essentialquestion of faith is “Whose voice are you listening to, what voice do you trust, what voice do you hear?” The faith task isto hone in, lean towards the source, the authentic Divine voice, listen intently, and then to act out on what you are hearing

An infant knows its mother’s voice. In a room with so much stimulation of color and motion, this is overwhelming reality anI have seen it. The baby’s head turns to the source of the mother’s voice, recognizing the voice even before it has thelanguage to call out “Mama!” Even before we know, we perceive.


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Do you hear the voice of love even if you don’t know the speaker? Does not your heart know, doesn’t your gut movetowards that voice? Are we not called to follow that voice into the world? We are not in the dog-eat-dog arena ofcompetition. We are walking through the valley of shadows with the words of love in our ear and the banner of lovewrapped around our shoulders.

What voice do you hear? Whose voice are you following? Do you hear a voice of hospitality - that you are welcomehere? You don’t have to have your theological stuff together. I don’t even care if you believe half of Christian

doctrine. You will get there in time if that is where you need to go. Even if you don’t recognize the source, are youlistening and then following - being hospitable?

What voice do you hear? Whose voice are you following? Do you hear the voice of generosity? That you have beengiven the wonderful gift of life. The very stuff of creative order has been shared with you. You are alive, you aregifted - just because you are. Even if you do not yet know the Creator, are you listening and following and beinggenerous, not only with your money (you all have already shown such generosity, quite unbelievable) but with yourtime and your talent, with your joy and laughter and truth?

What voice do you hear? Whose voice are you following? Do you hear the voice of justice and compassion? That itis good to “treat others as you would have them treat you?” Are you listening to make sure that children have food

and families have homes, and the sick can be cared for, and the uninsured don’t have to be scared? That justicedoesn’t mean punishment; the voice of justice means celebration and restoration. You don’t have to acknowledgeJesus; you may in time, maybe not, don’t worry so much about it.

What voice do you hear? Whose voice are you following? It seems to me that you all listen very intently and followvery closely the voice of hospitality and grace, of joy and hope, of liberation and restoration So…keep doing whatyou are doing! I am telling you the truth. This is one thing I know for sure. If you are listening to the voice of love,hospitality, generosity, justice and compassion, creation and hope, NOTHING in this whole world will be able tosnatch you away - nothing will be able to knock you down, tear you up, turn you around - it simply can’t be done -because nothing can separate you from the grace and love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I call on the nameof Jesus because it makes sense to me now, it is how I view the world. Don’t worry if you can’t do it just yet…Listen

and follow that voice anyway.

In today’s passage, we read that the setting for this story was the festival of Dedication. Today I want this to be aday of dedication for us, of rededication for you to listen, to hear and to follow. Don’t take my word for it, listen foryourselves - the voice of love that is for you, which I believe is the voice of Jesus.

What voice do you hear? Whose voice are you following?Father’s Chucks’s Sermon April 17, 2016


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May Birthdays & Anniversaries 1 Michelle Brummel

19 Christopher Stone

2 Daniel Cassavaugh, Kari Loomis 20 Jamie Carrier Maistros

3 George Brummel, Paul Jones 21 Madelyn Morris, William Ballin III

4 Lacey Duell, Zacariah Harris 22 Christopher Paden

5 Levi Fink, Liam Fink 24 Amy Spittler

7 Van Mason, Jessica Wood 25 Alicia Woodard

8 Ella Maistros 28 Samantha Smith

10 Eleanor Champlin, Myra MacDuff, Tammy May 29 Fred & Sally Miers

11 Casey Lynn Markham 30 Justin Strauss

13 Kobie Decker 31 Jessica Strauss

17 Connor Zampetti

18 Carl “Charlie” Colton

May 15—9:30 AM—Emmanuel—Morning Prayer with Lynne Walton

May 22—9:30 AM—Emmanuel—Joint Service Holy Eucharist Rite II with Rev. Kate Day

May 29—9:30 AM—Emmanuel—Morning Prayer with Lynne Walton

Fred Miers is being recognized as the 2016Distinguished Citizen of the Year for his outstanding

achievements in Chenango County. Fred is being honored by

the local Boy Scouts of America at a dinner to be heldThursday, May 12th at the Canasawacta Country Club in

Norwich. Reservations for the event may be made bycontacting the Baden-Powell Council services center at 607-648-7888 and asking for information on the ChenangoDistinguished Citizens Award Dinner.

We rejoice for the

birth of

Cadence Rain

Clement born on

April 5, 2016 at

3:38 a.m.

She was 7lbs., 7

oz. and 20” long.

She is the

granddaughter of

Mother Lisa and

Gary Busby.

The Easter Egg Hunt at Emmanuel was wellattended and everyone had a wonderfultime. Many thanks to Lynne Walton, BernieDye and Sandy Colton for helping with theevent.


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PO Box 203

Norwich, NY 13815

Phone: 334-8801 or 847-6361

Editor: Fran Nash

Phone: 607-334-8801

Email: [email protected]

Newsletter

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Norwich, NY

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PERMIT # 8

MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS:

We Worship Together

To Know God and To Make Him Known

Remember the church in your Will!

Emmanuel Soul Kitchen

May 12, 2016

@

Emmanuel Episcopal

Church

5:30

Free Meal

Chicken Divan

Salad & dessert

Come for the fellowship

Hosted by

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Well, maybe winter will let go this me!! Can you believe

the snow we had in April?!? At least we didn't have to mow the

lawn. The food pantry is grateful for your connued support.

Any items you can donate are appreciated, and of course,

monetary donaons are always accepted. Right now, chicken

noodle soup is in short supply for some reason. Any canned

items are useful, as well as items like cereal and crackers. And

as a reminder to the gardeners, plant a row or two of fresh

veggies for the pantry. Thanks.

Barb and Gary Tompkins

Volunteer Coordinators

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry

May 2016 Emmanuel Newsletter

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