On Friday and Saturday of this week, representatives of our Diocese met in the
Annual Meeting of the Convention. Five of us – Barbara Rice, Dee Spence,
Dennis and Eloise Blanchard, and I – represented St. Mark’s. It
was, I believe, a remarkable meeting in many ways, and our delegates will be
reporting to you with their impressions of the proceedings. It was an extremely
full meeting, and as I drove home last night, I did my best to sort out what
had happened and how we had worked together and what we had done. As I drove,
I realized for the first time that we had worked without an official break from
1:30 until our adjournment at 5. And then I realized that not a single one of
those 300 persons present had even called for a break, which I think speaks
to the degree of engagement that we brought to the work we were doing.
As I thought about these two days, many images came to mind, and I found myself reminded of both today’s Gospel portion and a story that a priest named Barbara Crofton tells about an event in her earlier life. She had a small part in a play, and the director told her that when you have a role in which you do one scene and the audience never sees you again, you are the star of that one scene. The only reason for you to be there is that it’s important that you tell the audience what it is that you know. That scene and the character wouldn’t be in the play unless it were important for the audience to hear what only that character can say. So, he told her, take the stage. It may be only one scene, but it’s not a small part.
There were many roles, many parts and many messages in our meeting of convention. There was drama. There was laughter. There was prayer. There was anger and frustration and confusion. And there was singing and applause and grateful recognition of the work that so many people do throughout the year. There was the graceful presence of our assisting bishop Silvestre, who with authority, modesty and great good humor kept us mindful that we are called foremost to be Christians together. There were persons who spoke frequently and at great length. There were persons who said only a few words but shifted the tenor of the moment. There were persons who perhaps never said a word but made their presence known by their votes. There were no small parts in the work we did in these two days.
At the end of the day, Bishop Silvestre said that it’s good to come to the end of a long day when we have worked hard in the presence of God. And it was good, but the end of the day wasn’t the end of the play. Each of us left Seaside yesterday with a story to tell, stories that only each individual can tell. I believe that most of us will be telling stories about the Good News we experienced. I don’t know how many times I heard people remark that the feeling of this annual meeting was so much lighter than many of the meetings in years past. We had conflict, but we were at times able to laugh about it, and there was a spirit of collaboration that led persons with opposing positions to seek ways to help us all move to common ground.
There were no small parts in the work we did in these two days. There are no small parts in the work we will continue to do.
Today’s gospel has no small parts. John the Baptist has most of the lines, as he points to Jesus and names him as the messiah. Jesus has only two lines, as he asks the people what they are looking for and invites them to follow him. Hidden away at the end of the reading is a part with only one line. It’s easy to overlook, but without it, you and I might not be sitting here today. A fisherman named Andrew listens to Jesus and John. He decides to follow Jesus, but before he does, he goes to his brother, Simon Peter, and says, “We have found the Messiah.”
There are no small parts. Each of us has an important part to play. Each of us has Good News to tell. Each of us has the story of how we have found the Messiah and how that has changed our life.
Thanks be to God.