Grazie

This past Saturday, we gathered in the Great Hall of New Brick for the Christ Church Annual Auction. This year, we were transported to Italy - that is why our theme is Grazie (Thank you). It was a great evening of good company and fun, with bidding and out-bidding each other, and raising over $ 20,000.00 to support our common life. The auction is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and I couldn’t be prouder of all the volunteers, donors, and attendees who spent so much to make sure that the evening was beautiful, fun, and engaging. There’s no way we could have had such a wonderful evening without the contributions of every single one of our leadership team and volunteers. To all of you, Grazie.

The following day was our Pledge Sunday. We launched our pledge drive in late September, inviting every single parishioner to support our common life with an annual pledge. These pledges are critically important to the overall sustainability of our congregation. In many ways, your pledges are the lifeblood of this congregation, and we depend on them to prepare our ministry resources for each year.

I do not have the numbers of how much was pledged and how many parishioners have returned their pledges. But I’d like to say that the joy of knowing that all of you believe in God, believe in the good news of Jesus Christ, believe in the new life that is made possible by the Holy Spirit, which empowers us, and believe that Christ Church endeavors to live out those beliefs that you hold so dear, fills me with unimaginable joy.

Many are the nights when I stay awake in prayer for our congregation and for all who worship here. Of the prayers for healing, peace, direction, guidance and comfort, I also pray that God touches each and every soul with the hand that invites is to be vulnerable. As I indicated in my sermon last Sunday, to be vulnerable isn’t about being a weakling or being weak. 

Vulnerability is the kind of strength that makes it totally possible for you and me to surrender to God. Vulnerability creates in us that same assurance that Zechariah saw in his vision during the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. The work of building the temple had stalled, and there was a growing sense of frustration. But in a vision, God uses Zechariah to pass on this message to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.’  What God seemed to be saying to Zerubbabel was that it wouldn’t be by your cleverness, ability, physical strength, or wisdom that the temple would be rebuilt; the temple would be rebuilt only by the Spirit of God.

Vulnerability is the ability to embrace the awareness that it is not by our strength and might, but by the Spirit of God. The Spirit always invites us to surrender to God. And it is only when we surrender to God that we refuse to shy away from the daily thoughts of Grazie.

We don’t shy away from living lives of Grazie because we do not doubt our minds that the God who invites us to be vulnerable is the same God who makes all things possible.

It is this abiding awareness that leads us to reach out in acts of mercy, compassion, and kindness. We commit ourselves to this spirit of vulnerability, and by so doing, we are empowered to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ and to take the good news of God’s redemptive love to the many places where there’s an obvious lack.

I am not exactly sure how many of you get to be asked this question: ‘What does Christ Church stand for?’

I'm asked this question all the time. And whenever I am asked that question, I do not hesitate to offer credit to you, our faithful parishioners, who have been such a huge blessing to this community of faith. It is through your faithful witness that Christ Church can bear aloft the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. To each of you, Grazie.

How often do you say Grazie, for both the uncommon favors and the common ones? The great philosopher, Cicero, once said that “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Not only does Grazie remind us that it is not by our strength and power, but it raises within us that unique spirit of compassion-if someone has shown favor to me, I ought to show favor to another. It isn’t surprising that Jesus reminds us in the gospel of Luke, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you.’ If you want to be shown compassion, you must first be compassionate.

Grazie constrains the pride within us and imbues us with a humble spirit. The truth is, it is only the humble spirit that can acknowledge the gracious favor of God working through another person. That humble spirit understands that it is not by might, nor by power, but it is by the Spirit. And that the Spirit moves people to act. And when people act, we should always remember the solemn word, Grazie.

Grazie builds within us the sweet culture of praise. And we praise, not only because of what God has done for us, but because God continues to put a new song in our mouths. And in response to the new song, we say Grazie, we praise God, we honor God, and we rejoice in God. 

Listen to St. Augustine: “Happiness is to rejoice in you and for you and because of you. This is true happiness and there is no other. Those who think that there is another kind of happiness look for joy elsewhere, but theirs is not true joy.”

We look for our happiness in the God of our savior Jesus Christ. We rejoice in this one God. And we offer our Grazie to this one God who makes all the difference in our lives. Grazie for your total commitment to this God and to Christ Church.

Deo Gracias. 

Manny+