Sermon preached by the Reverend Doctor Susan Kraus

St. Paul’s on the Green, Norwalk, Connecticut

Choral Evensong and Investiture of Choristers

17^th Sunday after Pentecost - September 23, 2007

After evensong and at the conclusion of the organ voluntary, we will offer a very brief service of Holy Communion in the chancel. There will also be a festive reception in the parish hall below the church immediately following evensong. We are delighted that you are here for this service, and we warmly welcome you to join us for the Eucharist, the reception, or both. At St. Paul’s all are welcome. Whoever you are and wherever you are on your journey of faith, you are welcome to God’s holy table and to our parish fellowship. This is the radical welcome we offer at St. Paul’s.

Now, hold on to your pews. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Luke 3:7). Well? Radical welcome, John the Baptist style! I was tempted simply to ignore John the Baptist and preach instead on some of the glorious words sung this evening by our choristers. But John the Baptist is too great a figure to be ignored, however his welcome to his followers might strike us today.

Let’s remember John the Baptist’s history. He was a “miracle child.” His parents were Zechariah, a priest, and Elizabeth, a kinswoman of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Zechariah and Elizabeth were old and had no children. Then, while Zechariah was offering incense in the Temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and announced “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John… He will be great in the sight of the Lord … even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:13-15).

When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, the angel Gabriel visited Mary to announce that she would bear Jesus. Mary then traveled to visit Elizabeth. Luke’s gospel describes their meeting: “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:41-44). Even before his birth, John the Baptist, often called the forerunner of Christ, helped his mother recognize her Lord.

John was dedicated to the service of God from birth. He lived an extraordinary ascetic life, famous for his diet of locusts and wild honey and his animal skin garb. He preached repentance, in no sweet terms, and had such a spiritual charisma that crowds of people came to be baptized by him and begin new lives in covenant with God. Jesus was baptized by John.

Like many Old Testament prophets before him, John had the courage to denounce the local ruler, Herod Antipas, for breaking Jewish law, in this case for marrying Herodias, the wife of his deceased brother Philip. Then King Herod, at his own birthday party, rashly promised his step-daughter Salome anything she wanted for so pleasing him with her dance. “Prompted by her mother, [Herodias], she said ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’” (Matthew 14:8). And so, speaking out about God’s law cost John the Baptist his life.

Now what does all of this have to do with Choral Evensong at St. Paul’s on the Green and the investiture of choristers? Here is the connection. John the Baptist was such a great spiritual leader that the people wondered if he was the Messiah. He answered them, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 3:16).

This great man always pointed to Jesus Christ and never faltered in his understanding of the greatness of our Lord. This is the message of John the Baptist to our choristers. As choristers here, you promise to give your best in the worship of the Church and strive to lift the hearts of all to God. Your task is like John the Baptist’s – to use the gifts God has given you to point to Christ. This is the work of the whole church and all Christians – to point to our savior, Jesus Christ. Not to ourselves, but to one greater than the greatest among us.

God has given you all a powerful gift, the gift of music. The notes you sing and the energy that comes through your bodies as you give your all to the music can bring new life to the words of scripture and of the Prayer Book which may have become stale for us. Music stirs our hearts and can lift us beyond ourselves to glimpses of God’s beauty. So, sing with your hearts and souls, rejoice in music, celebrate the gift God has given you, help all of us who listen to praise God in joy. And always point to Christ! Now, a word to us who have the privilege of hearing the beautiful music offered at St. Paul’s. If I may borrow the words of St. Benedict, whose Rule has guided thousands of women and men for more than fifteen centuries, “listen with the ear of your heart.” Listen not only with your mind, but open yourself, heart and soul, as you listen to this music. Let God speak to you through the words that are sung, through the beauty. The music of the church has the power to lift us to God, so that we may know God better and love God more deeply. Listen for the voice of God speaking to you. Be refreshed and strengthened and transformed by God’s glorious gift of music. And when these musicians use their gifts to point to Christ, follow him, and he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.