Sex Trafficking --- Still With Us

I am just back from a symposium on Sex Trafficking sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women and the Jewish Women’s Foundation. Over 400 attendees heard first-hand the grim details of how children 18 years of age and under are sexually exploited in the U.S. Experts from law enforcement, social services, the Attorney General’s office and more presented over five hours of depressingly graphic material. Many kudos to these women for taking on such an enormous and important task.

Sadly, sex trafficking awareness activities are now nothing new. Those of us interested in ridding the nation of this heinous crime have been meeting, discussing, planning, and advocating for over six years. The end result – while state and federal laws have vastly improved and the public and private sectors are far more educated on this subject than ever before, statistics have not changed. Children continue to be lured, pimped, abused and dumped and/or killed on a daily basis. Pimps continue to pull in millions of dollars each year – sex trafficking in the U.S. is $32 billion dollar industry. Men, and women, seeking sexual gratification of all sorts continue to buy children for pleasure from a variety of resources. The media continues to glorify pimping and encourage the sexualization of all aspects of our culture.

What is wrong with this picture? What is frighteningly wrong is that we have failed to understand the root causes of this crime against children. Root causes that have resulted in a stunning violation of human rights and the institution of modern day slavery. What is wrong is that we are not holding accountable those who could truly address and, yes, even in the long run, prevent pimps and their buddies from having a hold on our society. What is wrong is that we are asking schools, law enforcement, the courts, social service organizations, and churches to “clean up” the mess, rather than asking parents and the media to prevent these children from exposure to extreme violence, abuse, neglect, indifference, and messages that blast through eyes and ears of fragile young hearts and minds puncturing the fragile veil of innocent childhood and encouraging behaviors that deny self-worth and well-being.

The good news is, of course, that so many people are trying to turn the tide of child sexual exploitation in America. The bad news – or, at least the ­­challenging news – is that we need to dig deeper, be braver, speak louder to those who have the power and the money to send a very different message to our children and their parents. A message that conveys the importance of being a family, caring for each other and ourselves, a message that condemns activities that lead to violence and loss of self and self-esteem, a message that leads us back to a place where that fragile veil of childhood innocence in honored, nurtured and protected.

The Rev. Clelia P. Garrity

Listen and You Will Know

Sermon

St. Paul’s Church

Sunday, January 12

Isaiah 42: 1-9; Matthew 3:14-17

Perhaps the most compelling moment of my ordination to the diaconate was the moment that Chip Stokes paused in his sermon and asked me to stand up and face him. Totally surprised, I stood and took several steps forward in order to be closer and directly in front of the pulpit. I looked at him; he looked at me, and he said, 

“Clelia, God has led you on an extraordinary journey and now calls you into an extraordinary ministry of service...I know you...I know you well....I give thanks for this day and for God’s call to you...I think it has been a long time coming....I am thankful for the privilege of sharing with you in this call....You know about power and privilege and celebrity and the all the superficialities and artificial categories of value that mark the world in which we live....You have lived among them....

You have also recognized the needs of the world and dedicated yourself as a layperson and social worker to responding to those needs....Christ now calls you into deeper servanthood and deeper love....On behalf of God’s people, I now charge you to continue to grow in Christ’s love and service and to grow in your servant ministry as a deacon....Continue to break boundaries, to  journey to places of discomfort and pain, to journey to places which challenge your own comfort level and perhaps even threaten your own self-understanding...Go to those places...Go to those places because you are needed there...Go to those places because Christ is needed there...Let those who see you, see and experience Christ, through you and  in you...Let his words resound through your ministry, “I am among you as one who serves.”

The charge was forceful and clear; the impact of its content and the way in which it was delivered have been with me ever since. The charge was and is the outward manifestation of my inner commitment to be a servant of God. A servant through whom the light of God and the power of the Holy Spirit shine forth offering compassion, love, hope and joy to those whom I serve.

Today, the day on which we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, scripture is filled with charges – 

In Isaiah we hear the charge, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations…”  (Isa 42:1) 

This charge from God is spoken directly to his people when he says, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.” 

“My servant, my chosen, whom I uphold and in whom I delight.” Nothing unclear here about what God is saying to his chosen people, Israel.

After identifying who is being charged, the charge itself is given. God says, “I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” 

Paul D. Hanson in his Bible commentary on Isaiah 40-66 writes, “The spirit in the Old Testament is the power and wisdom of God with which those called to serve are endowed (Isa 11:2. Through the empowerment of God’s spirit, weak and ordinary human beings rise up to accomplish daunting tasks on behalf of God’s reign of justice…”

God’s charge to the Israelites is indeed a daunting one. Even more daunting -- the charge is accompanied by many mandates of what not to do. God is specific when he says, “He will not cry out or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” (Isa 42:2-3)

The servant is not allowed to carry out his task in anger, violence, or oppression of any kind. The Servant must serve with quiet and patient gentleness, confident that all whom he encounters will be drawn to God’s reign of justice not by human force but by the power that is embodied in compassion and righteousness. The Servant is called to live a life patterned on the nature of God. 

For Isaiah, God’s servants are the instruments through which the world comes to share the light of God’s salvation.

Today, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord in the River Jordon by John the Baptist. In Matthew’s telling of this story we experience God speaking directly not to the Israelites but to Jesus. 

As Jesus emerged from the baptismal waters God’s charge echoed from heaven, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matt 3:16-17) 

Through this brief but direct communication between God and Jesus the divine sonship of Jesus was established – Jesus received his charge from God the Father; a charge perhaps best defined by Jesus himself in the Gospel of John, "I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest" (John 10:10).

A charge that initiated Jesus’ three short years of ministry.  A charge that brought the gift of God’s salvation to the world.

When we are baptized, we too are identified as beloved children of God. When we are baptized we receive our charge from a priest or bishop who prays, “Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit, you have bestowed upon this your servant the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring mind and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.” (BCP p. 306)

At our baptism, we are charged as God’s servants; those whom He upholds; those whom he has chosen; those in whom he delights. At our baptism God puts His Spirit upon us and charges us with the task of bringing him delight as we strive for justice and peace among all people, and as we move through life respecting the dignity of every human being.

To put it quite simply, through our baptism God charges us to be an instrument through which the light of His salvation shines in the world.

This then is our charge – to be God’s servant, whom he has chosen, whom he upholds, and in whom He delights. 

My friends, I encourage you to read and reflect on today’s readings. Let these passages be a catalyst for reflection on the nature of your response to the charge which you have received from God.

Remember, God chose you as his servant because he delights in you, and he has charged you with bringing forth His Light to the world. 

How can you best carry forth that charge? How can you be a servant through whom the light of God and the power of the Holy Spirit shine forth offering compassion, love, hope and joy to those whom you serve?

Listen and you will know.  AMEN

Are We Prepared?

Sermon

St. Paul’s Church

Sunday, December 22

Matthew 1:18-25

Well, it’s almost here - Christmas Eve. The night that we, once again, await with eager anticipation. The night on which the baby Jesus, our Lord and Savior will, once again, find his way into that stable manger in Bethlehem - a newborn baby encircled by Heaven’s angels, local peasants, and barnyard animals. The night on which we, once again, have the opportunity to hear or to tell the story of perhaps the greatest miracle ever. And, yes the night on which we, once again, share in the delight of opening all those mysterious packages piled under the Christmas tree.

Advent, the season of expectant waiting and joyful anticipation, is almost over. The glorious day of our Lord’s birth will be here in just a few days. In just a brief 48 hours we will gather round the family creche and gaze fondly at the baby Jesus, the precious figurine that we have just placed ever so gently among all the other creche figurines. Mary, Joseph, shepherds, animals and whoever else we have stuffed into that little barnyard scene are all waiting, waiting with baited breath for the much anticipated arrival of the baby - the baby whom Joseph will name Jesus.

The next day, on Christmas morning, we will gather as a family at church and sing traditional hymns of wonder and praise at the birth of “the Little Lord Jesus.”

Hymns such as Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Come All Ye Faithful, What Child is This?, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Away in a Manger, and perhaps one of the most famous... Joy to The World.

Joy to the World, the Lord is Come!

Let earth receive her King...

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns

Let us our songs employ...

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

no thorns infest the ground...

He rules the world with truth and grace;

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of his love.

Later, after the festivities of church, once again gathered around our beautiful Christmas tree, we open presents, greet family and friends, and feast on a big turkey or roast beef dinner followed by afternoon walks, family football, and other guilt driven exercises to “work off” that last piece of pie topped with whipped cream. At the end of the day we will be exhausted. In exhaustion we will “plop” down in our favorite chair or on our favorite couch and, as the Christmas tree lights glow brightly in the dimmed living room, chances are we will marvel, once again, at the mystery and glory of Christ’s birth - His coming into the world; God made man, to be with us - among us. God incarnate - our Holy gift from God the Father. A promise of righteousness among all nations.

Stretched out in relaxation, we may remember the final words of another blessed hymn, Silent Night...”Silent night, Holy night. Son of God, love’s pure light. Radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord at thy birth. Jesus, Lord at thy birth.”

Pure light, radiant beams, redeeming grace....words that bring expectations of joy, happiness, peace, redeeming grace, righteousness - justice for all. In this Christmas moment we are focused on God’s gifts to us - His gifts of creation, righteousness, reconciliation, and salvation. 

Yes indeed, Christmas eve and Christmas day overflow with the joy of welcoming, yet once again, the Christ-child into our lives, and it is filled with the hope that his coming will assure our salvation, justice throughout the world, and the peace that passes all understanding.

As we sit in our living rooms, bleary-eyed with fatigue and over-flowing with the bounty that God has bestowed upon us we are pleased with life and optimistic about our future - a future filled with hope and joy.

But wait - is that all that rests in the creche and under the Christmas tree? Our Christmas gifts - boxes big and small tied up in colorful ribbon, and the figurines in the Creche - figurines that exemplify the miracle of God incarnate; God made man in this baby Jesus? Is that it? The receiving and enjoyment of gifts and a bounteous lifestyle? Or, is there more? Is there something else tucked away in that creche and under the tree that we have overlooked - overlooked, at least for the moment?

I believe that there is a great deal more under the tree and in the creche - a great deal more that cannot be seen, cannot be described, cannot be known before it occurs. I believe that under the tree and lying in the creche is the presence of God that shines out and into in each and every one of our lives. A presence that cries out to us, like a voice crying out in the wilderness. A voice that cannot be heard. A voice that is silent, but that we hear so very clearly when it calls out to us. 

Contemporary Christian writer, Frederick Buechner writes,

“Listen to your life. Listen to what happens to you, because it is through what happens to you that God speaks. It's in language that's not always easy to decipher, but it's there, powerfully, memorably, unforgettably.”

(Excerpt from Listening to Your Life : Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner by Frederick Buechner)

In our Gospel reading today we have just experienced a perfect example of what happens when this silent voice unexpectedly calls out to us - the story of Joseph’s encounter with God through an angel that appears to him in a dream. Remember - God’s call comes to Joseph in his dream, and when Joseph wakes up he speaks not one word either of question or objection. He simply acts directly and immediately in obedient response to God’s instructions - instructions that send him in the exact opposite direction of where he had intended to go with his life. Joseph’s response is an example of the power of God’s call when it comes to us - if, we allow ourselves to hear it. God’s call can transform our decisions and our lives in a flash - if we are listening; if we have faith. 

In his obedient and unquestioning response to God, Joseph is a model of faithful discipleship. 

Joseph had made the decision to break off his betrothal to Mary after he learned that she was with child. Matthew tells us that Joseph made this decision because he was a “righteous” man. Joseph’s decision was based on teachings of Jewish Law. He was doing what was expected of any good and faithful Jew. 

Then unexpectedly - the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and commanded him to do the exact opposite saying - “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” What Joseph initially had understood as the righteous thing to do was challenged directly by the call of God. God instructed Joseph to act in direct disobedience to what he understood to be the demand of the law.

What to do? The law says one thing - God says another... This is the faith in action part of the story.

Joseph’s faith prevailed. Joseph was willing to risk becoming disobedient in the eyes of the world and the law. Joseph was willing to become an outcast to family and community. As God had commanded, he would marry Mary, and name his son, Jesus.

What would you have done? Not an easy question to answer, is it?

What happens to us when plans based on our concepts of righteousness and justice come up against messages that God sends us about His creative mercy? What happens to us when God’s silent voice intrudes on our comfortable Christmas evening afterglow and challenges our notion of law and righteousness or justice? What happens when God’s voice disrupts our carefully laid plans and decisions? What happens when God’s dream for us is in direct opposition to the dream that we have for ourselves? 

How do we know when God is speaking to us, and when the voice we hear is just the voice of our own ego needs? How deep is our Christmas Day faith? How far will our vows of discipleship lead us?

These are difficult questions - very difficult for any and all of us. But, I believe that these very difficult questions cannot be evaded. They are there - right there -in our lovingly arranged creche and in the beautiful gifts of abundance beneath the Christmas tree. Right there, in front of our eyes, Jesus; Immanuel; “God With Us.”

In his Augsburg Commentary Robert Smith writes, “This Jesus is a pure gift, holy surprise, a fresh act of God, a new genesis, a new creation. And it all comes about from the Holy Spirit. We live with an awareness that God’s power is among us and ready to lead us in ways that we can only imagine. Is that good news, or is the prospect a bit frightening? If we do not anticipate the Christmas event both with hope and with just a bit of anxious fear, then we are not sufficiently tuned to the implications of God’s presence among us.”

Are we prepared for the gift that shines out from under the Christmas Tree?  Are we prepared for Christ’s arrival in our lives? Are we prepared to respond to a call from God when it comes - even if that call mandates a major change in our lives? 

Are we prepared to receive the gift of God and to be a disciple of Christ? 

Are we prepared to allow Christ to rule our lives with truth and grace? Are we prepared to receive our King? Is our heart prepared to make room for him? 

Are we prepared prove the glories of his righteousness and the wonders of his love?

Are we prepared to be a Joseph?