The sermon preached by Fr. Ernie on Sunday, November 27, 2022.

Wake-Up To Blessings

by Ernest Boyer

Before we begin on this first Sunday of Advent, let’s take a moment to gather ourselves.… Just sit comfortably and try to relax. Stretch of you need to. Let your shoulders droop. Release any tension you might have. Try rolling your head from side to side. Do you feel a little looser? OK, now let’s take three, slow deep breaths. Are you ready? Ok, breath in slowly, and deeply.…Hold it a moment or two.…Now, slowly release your breath.…Alright. Now do all that again.…And again.…

You know, every time I do that, I think of something that someone said to me many years ago. This was back when I was a hospital chaplain. At the time I was working with Julianne, who some of you know because she occasionally joins us for the 8 AM service on Zoom from her home in Maine. We were both chaplains in a hospital where most of the patients were either there for hospice care or else required permanent care because of multiple disabilities. Every week we held what we called a prayer service where all those were able would gather together to read that week’s gospel and reflect on it together.

Among the long-term patients who came every week was a man named Bill. Bill had been in a serious car accident and was paralyzed from the waist down. He also had brain damage. Even so he was able to participate in the prayer service. He didn’t have much to say, but there was one thing he said every week. It never varied. No matter what was being discussed, at some point he would raise his hand. I always knew what was coming, and yet I’d always play along.

         “Yes, Bill,” I’d say, “You have something you’d like to add?

         He’d nod, then point up to heaven. “Every time I breath in,” he’d say, “that’s God saying to me, ‘Here. I give you life.’ And every time I breath out, that’s me saying to God, “Thank you for my life.”  

Isn’t that amazing? The man was seriously brain damaged, and yet he managed not only to recognize but to constantly hold before him a great, great truth that most of us frequently forget: “Every time I breath in, that’s God saying to me, ‘Here. I give you life.’ And every time I breath out, that’s me saying to God, “Thank you for my life.”    

Let’s try that breathing exercise again, but this time with Bill’s words in mind. Take a moment to get comfortable.…Are you ready? Ok, three long, slow breaths. … One. Breath in. God says to you, “Here. I give you life.” Breath out as you say silently to God, “Thank you for my life.” … Now, two, on your own.…And three.

How was that? The thing is, we all know that gratitude is important, but it may be that’s it’s even more important than we realize. And you know why? It’s because it turns out that gratitude makes us happy. Think about it. As you were whispering ‘thank you’ to God for your life just now, did you notice that you began to feel a little lighter inside? More hopeful? More buoyant? Of course, we only did it for a very short time, but I think if we all did it a bit longer you’d see what I mean. The fact is, studies have shown that it is not just that happiness makes us grateful, but rather that gratefulness makes us happy. In other words, if you want to be happy, you need to learn to cultivate what folks in AA call an “attitude of gratitude,” that is, you need to learn to look around and notice all the things you have to be thankful for. And when you do, you make a point saying “Thank you.” That last part is vital. Many people do this at Thanksgiving, but if we want to know true happiness we need to practice doing this every day of our life.

And when we do, we start to see just how much there truly is to be grateful for. It’s just a matter of opening our eyes and looking around. As Paul says in today’s reading “now is the moment to wake up from sleep.” The fact is, every moment is the moment to wake up and see all that we have to be grateful for. Of course, just being alive is astonishing enough, but there is so much else too.

Just look at what we have here now at St. Stephen’s, for example. Look around at this church. We all know it so well that we often no longer even notice it. It really is a beautiful church, isn’t it. Personally, I think it’s among the loveliest in the diocese. Just look at these stunning stained glass windows, and of course, the amazing stained-glass cross at the front of the church. And what’s also rather remarkable is that the church seems large but also quite cozy. I’m very grateful for this church, so I say, “Thank you God for this church and I bless it.”

Even more than the church building, though, are all the people in the church — those in the church now, and those who join us on Zoom, and those who come when they can. They are the ones who make this church a church. I mean, just consider the fact that the roof of this church no longer leaks when it rains. That’s because of all of you. Last year the roof got so bad that we knew that major repairs were required, but it was not cheap. It was going to cost $50,000.  $50.000. But how were we going to get money like that from this little congregation? There was nothing to do though, so we prayed to God and wrote a letter to everyone in the church and somehow… somehow we raised the money. All of you made the continued use of this church possible. So I say thank you to God and I say thank you to all of you and I bless you. I also say thank you to Loren Cantrell who found the contractor and worked with him and with Gabe Paul and Anne Cantrell who calculated what money was needed and kept track of it. I thank God for all three and I bless them.

And what of the services themselves. They don’t just happen, you know. They are a group effort. There is, first of all, the beautiful music provided on a number of instruments – organ, keyboard, chimes and even French horn at times — by our amazing music director, Michael Barnes. What a precious gift he is. I thank God for Michael and I bless him.   

Then there is the Altar Guild who does so much behind the scenes. They are like angels working invisibly so that everything will be in place when it’s needed. Those Angels are Francine Head, Manel Stanley, Randie Madina, and Jane Olcott, and I thank God for them and I bless them. Then there are the readers who proclaim the scriptures to us every Sunday, Sabra Dupree, Holly Masalis, Jessie Farris, and Loren, and the Ushers, Jane, Sabra, Jessie and Loren and the LEMs Loren, Jessie, Jane and Sabra. As you can see, there are some who do many roles. I thank God for all of them and I bless them.

And what about the outside of our church — the church grounds — the trees, the lawn, the walkways. Well, first and foremost, there’s Loren. He does so much … so much … to keep the church going as well as make the services work. We are truly blessed to have him and I thank God for him again and I bless him. Then too, there are others who help him by cleaning the grounds. Among them are Eddie, Sandy, and Jessie. I thank God for them and I bless them also.

Then too there is the Resource Center, which helps so many who have so little. Francine works very, very hard to keep that afloat. She does this with the help of Sabra, Holly, and Joan, the generous volunteer from outside our church. In addition, there are all those who work to make our many fundraisers possible – too many to name. I thank God for all of them and I bless them  too. And the Vestry — Francine, Loren, Gail, Holly, Jane, Debra, and Sabra and Gabe as the treasurer. They do so much. This church would not be here without them. I thank God for them and I bless them. I also want to offer a special thanks to Gabe as treasurer and Gail a clerk. They are both so very good at what they do, and also to Francine and Loren, our Senior and Junior Wardens. Believe me, those two really do keep this church going. We all owe the world to both of them. I thank God for them and I bless them.

And don’t forget the food. What would St. Stephen’s be without it’s food. Week after week, we have such a festive gathering after church. Many churches have coffee hours, but St. Stephen’s Coffee Hour leaves them all in the dust with it’s warm fellowship and tasty food. Here we have to give a special thanks to Anne Cantrell. It is she who really makes all that happen. She truly is the Queen of the Kitchen, but there are many, many who help her in this: Stella, for one, but also Sabra and Gail and Sandy and Francine and so many others. I thank God for them and I bless them.

Finally, there’s all of you of our precious little group on Zoom — Kathleen, Brenda, Debra, Fr. Charles, who also helps so much with the Bible Study, EB, Loren, who once again does so much, Anne, and of course Betty, who closes us every week with song. I thank God for all of you and bless you. And last but not least, there’s Sondra, who is not only here week after weeks but works as our MC on Zoom. To her I offer a very personal thank you to God and bless her with all my heart.

There are so many others I could name, and I apologize for all those I missed. Please tell me who I’ve left out so I can feel the joy of my gratitude for them too. But that’s the thing about gratitude. Once you start to look for what you have to be grateful for — and so to be happy about — you start to see more…and more…and more. And after a while you start to feel grateful for…everything. And you start to bless everything too. Because that’s what happens in the end with gratitude. You not only end up feeling happy. You end up feeling blessed. Because that’s truly what we are. …We’re blessed.… All of us. Truly blessed. AMEN     

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