Luke 10: 38-42
July 22, 2007
The Rev. James Richardson
Interim Rector, All Souls Parish

Please let me introduce myself: I am Father Jim Richardson, and this is my first Sunday with you as your interim rector. I will be with you in the weeks and months ahead while you do the work you need to do before you can call your next permanent rector.

I am absolutely honored to be called to be with you in this time of transition, and I want to thank your parish leadership for making this possible. I will be working here roughly half-time, but I will do my best to be available to all of you as much as I can. Please feel free to drop in to see me when I am here, and I do welcome phone calls.

I will be with you until your Vestry – your board of directors – calls a new rector, which is a lengthy and elaborate process that you will hear more about in the next few weeks. The idea of having someone like me serve as an interim rector is so that things keep moving along before the next chapter unfolds.

In all truth, we are opening a new chapter together today – the interim chapter. It is my hope and prayer that this interim time will be a good experience for all of us – and all of us will grow more deeply into the people that God would have us be – and that we will grow more deeply into fullness of being the Church in this community and in the world.

Please let me tell you a little about of myself. I am a native of Berkeley; I was born at Alta Bates, as were all of my cousins. Both my parents grew up in Oakland and graduated from the University of California. All of my aunts and uncles also went to Cal. OK, I do have an uncle who went to Stanford but we won’t go there this morning. Let’s just say, I have a lot of relations scattered around the East Bay. We moved around when I was growing up. I went to public schools in Belmont on the Peninsula; I even went to the same high school as your former rector, Father Andrew. After high school, I headed south to UCLA where I graduated in 1975 and spent another year in graduate school.

I spent most of my adult life – 22 years – as a newspaper reporter; I covered crime and courts, the U.S.-Mexico Border; and I wrote a lot about politics and the Legislature. My last 10 years in journalism was at The Sacramento Bee, before I went to the Church Divinity School of the Pacific here in Berkeley 10 years ago.

My wife, Lori, is an editor at The Sacramento Bee, where we met. She’s been on the news and features staff for nearly 20 years, and she is working today to put out the Monday newspaper. I promise you will meet her eventually.

As a priest, I was the associate dean at Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento, for six years, serving with Don Brown, who is now a member of this congregation. For the past year I have been serving on a temporary basis in various congregations from rural to urban and everything in between. Besides working here as your part-time interim, I have another part-time job: I am the Chaplain of the California State Senate, where I open each legislative day with prayer. Being chaplain to the Senate is a little like being the vicar of a small congregation – except that everyone in the congregation thinks that they are Jesus.

In the months ahead all of us will be very busy – there is much to do. Many of you are going to work harder than you have ever worked in the church. And that is why I find today’s gospel lesson perfect for what we are about to do. In the lesson, Martha is in the kitchen making dinner and Mary is in the living room hanging out with Jesus. Martha is working hard, and her complaint is not without merit. Martha is a pillar; she is a pillar of her family, of the community, of the church – she serves on committees, goes to all the meetings, takes care of the kids, and fixes everyone dinner; and she never complains, at least until now.

But this time, seeing Mary slacking off, she complains to Jesus. But instead of upbraiding Mary, Jesus tells Martha that she missing the point. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things,” he tells her. “Mary has chosen the better part.” That may sound harsh, but work with me here. This story is a reminder to all of us that, yes, we will get very, very busy. We have much to do. We need Marthas to get it all done. There will be many challenges for you, and for me, in the months ahead at All Souls. We do need a lot of Marthas.

But let’s not miss out on the better part – being in the presence of God, being in the presence of the Risen Christ. We will miss out on the better part if we get so busy, so distracted, that we forget why we are here. As important as all of the tasks may be, we need to pause, catch our breath, and look for the better part. There is a lot of good news in this – and I’d like to offer a few ideas about the “better parts” that are ahead of us.

Take time to notice the presence of God around you. Dwell in the Spirit. Don’t forget to pray.
This is a tender time for this congregation.

So here is my first piece of advice as your new interim: Let’s be gentle with each other. Let’s share the blessings we are given – the better parts – and show each other the grace that God gives us abundantly. Let’s have fun. Laugh, celebrate.

Let’s all take time to take care of each other. Let’s be pastors to each other. Let’s go out of our way to be good to each other. Jesus will surprise us if we let him. Jesus often picks the most unexpected people to do his work. Remember the story about Paul on the road to Damascus. He is a persecutor of the early Christians, but the Risen Christ chooses him, of all people, to grow the church. By any conventional wisdom, Paul is the last person that any of us would chose to lead the church. But Jesus chooses him – and he chooses you and he chooses me. Be open to new people, be truly open to people who are searching for meaning in their lives. You have treasure here at All Souls. New people will come. This Church is place where people can come with their questions and their doubts and not be judged for being, well, human. Have faith that Jesus will find them and feed them.

There are people all around you who are hungering for something in their life. You run into those people every single day. Invite them here. Do everything in the Spirit of God’s love and generosity. Be slow to anger, quick to forgive. If you err, err on the side of love and generosity.

Here is the easy part: You don’t need to be anyone other than who you are. Be yourself. You don’t have to copy someone else’s church. You have everything you need right here in this place. It is all here, and God will give us the power to do amazing things.

God has given each of us this gift of life – so let’s make every day count. Worship the Lord, the Lord is with you here in at All Souls, and in our hearts. You are the beloved, God made each and every one of you good, so be glad in it and celebrate. The Risen Christ will be with us on our journey, each and every day, and in the age to come – forever.

Amen