This past week, my husband David and I were driving home from our vacation in the mountains of western North Carolina. Somewhere in the middle of Kentucky, we picked up a country music station on the radio. I listened to the familiar sounds of singer Tim McGraw and his not-so-new ballad of two friends talking about a life-changing event. One friend recalls staring for hours at an X-ray, trying to comprehend the news he has just been told. The other asks, “What’d ‘ya do?”

“I went sky-diving… rocky mountain climbing…

loved deeper… spoke sweeter…

gave forgiveness I’d been denyin’…

watched an eagle as it was flyin’…

someday I hope you get the chance…

to live like you were dyin’…”

In those few minutes, all the loose threads of the readings appointed for this morning started coming together and my own sense of anticipation – yes, even my anxieties – about the Bishop’s election this weekend fell into place. Thank God for country music!

Those threads running though the readings show up against the backdrop of ruin and devastation in the passage from the book of the prophet Haggai. They are pulled taught by Jesus’ new interpretations of ancient texts and old traditions in Luke’s Gospel. The new picture that emerges is of the good news of God constantly at work in the midst of humanity. It is an image that has prevailed through the centuries and was most recently on display at our Diocesan Convention this weekend.

Representatives from all around the Diocese gathered in the northwest suburb of Wheeling to elect the 12^th Bishop of Chicago. I’ll speak for myself, but I felt the powerful presence of the Spirit of God at work as we elected The Rev. Jeffrey Lee, of Medina, Washington to succeed our current bishop, The Rt. Rev. William Persell. In our community today, as in the biblical communities of our readings this morning, themes of joy and wonder, opportunity and challenge, faith and hope are all laid before us today. The question before us, as was before them, is how shall we respond?

The exiled people of Israel, granted safe passage back to their homes by the Persian King Darius, returned to find a land devastated by war and the temple in ruins. With no place in which the Divine presence of God could abide, the people despaired of God’s presence, grace and mercy. They went about rebuilding their shattered lives and homes. The prophet Haggai calls them to the more important task of rebuilding the temple so that their sense of God would be returned to a central place in their lives. Even further, the prophet offers words of greater things to come, as the Lord speaks through Haggai:

“Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land… all the nations…”  

We might wonder to what life-changing event was the prophet referring?  

In the gospel reading, Jesus offers us an answer in his exchange with the Sadducees. The Sadducees were a sect within the Jewish community which clung fiercely to the old traditions and strictly adhered to the Mosaic texts found in the Torah – the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. For them, there was no basis in those texts for an understanding of the resurrection – any life beyond death. An extension of life – one’s family and name – was achieved only through children. Jesus’ teaching about eternal life was clearly an affront to their tradition and the Sadducees challenge him with a test case taken to the extreme – that of a woman forced to marry seven brothers in hopes of securing an heir to the family name.

Jesus responds that, in the resurrection, none of the normal “earthly” rules apply – there will be no concept of “marriage” to govern relationships – all will be children of God. But, as usual, Jesus goes even further to turn their own stubborn beliefs around by quoting the Exodus story of Moses and the burning bush. Jesus challenges them to hear their own blessed ancestor referring to God as a God of the living – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus challenges them to a new understanding of ancient texts – to a new vision of God as a God of the living – not the dead – “for all are alive to God.”

What strikes me as so profound about this particular teaching is the time in which it occurs in Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has finished his own journey to Jerusalem and this is one of his last teachings before he will be arrested and put to death. He knows what he is facing but he also knows what is to come after that. He knows that his resurrection will change everything. So Jesus, in his last days on earth, continues to live and continues to preach a bold and challenging message to everyone gathered around him. 

In the face of foreign occupation and oppression in a trampled land, in the face of worries and anxiety about the coming of a savior, in the face of conflicting teachings and interpretations of sacred texts, God was about to do a new thing. God was about to shake the heavens and the earth… all the nations. God did what God promised to do. Christ’s resurrection indeed shook the foundations of the world and continues to do so today.

Those vibrations extended to Wheeling this weekend. Bishop Persell, in his final address to the Convention, reflected on his original call to be Bishop of Chicago and what the expectations and hopes were nine years ago. Some goals were achieved and some are left unfinished. Against the setting of fractious times in the larger church, Bishop Persell urged us all to continue the conversation at the table, learning from each other, respecting the dignity of every human being. He firmly believes that the Diocese of Chicago is and can continue to be an example of doing just that for the broader church. But he asked, “Can we empty ourselves of our pride and prejudices (as Jesus did), so that what we have to offer can be heard?”

Our Bishop-elect has accepted a tremendous opportunity to help us continue to be such an example. When I heard him at the “walk-abouts” two weeks ago, Rev. Lee described the church as a web of living relationships. At our best, we can and should be anxiety transformers – not conductors of fear. He believes that the communion of Anglican churches is a gift of God and that the Episcopal Church can’t be thrown out of that gift. Bishop-elect Lee comes to us with energy and gifts in many areas – particularly pastoral care and a keen interest in church growth and evangelism – valuable gifts that will help us in our greater task of building up the church. With the leadership of a new Bishop, I believe that the Diocese of Chicago can continue to find innovative and exciting ways to demonstrate that (and I quote Rev. Lee again), “Christianity is not a religion but a way of life – a life spent living, dying and living again.”

In our personal lives – in our parish lives – we are offered the joy and wonder, the challenge and opportunity to embrace this way of life by living life to the fullest – to live as if we were dying. Several questions come from that. From what places are we willing to jump and spread our wings – ever trusting that the Spirit of God will lift us up? What mountains are we ready to climb – even if it means skinning our knuckles and our knees in the process? How might we love deeper and speak more sweetly to those who linger just outside our door – longing for just a glimpse of what we have to offer? To whom might we turn and offer forgiveness – a gesture we’ve been holding onto out of foolish pride and selfish anger?

I believe that it is only our own lack of confidence that keeps us from soaring to new heights and entering into an ever-evolving and deeper understanding of God’s truth. I believe that it is our own fears that blind us to the truth of God at work in our midst.

Yesterday, the people of the Diocese of Chicago spoke decisively in choosing Jeffrey Lee to be our new bishop. I trust that the Spirit was and is at work in our midst and believe that Jeffrey Lee’s call was our call to follow the example of our Lord and live each day boldly and fearlessly – to know that the old rules do not have to bind us in this new life – to live in the full and exquisite knowledge that it is only in dying to our own wants and needs that we are given the chance to live again. 

Amen.