Proper 28 B                                                                                        Daniel 12:1-13
November 19, 2006                                                                            Psalm 16:5-11
St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church                                          Hebrews 10:31-39
The Rev. Linda McCloud                                                                     Mark 13:14-23 

The End is Only the Beginning 

            “I heard but could not understand; so I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?’”  (Daniel 12:8)  

            Once again this morning we have living proof that Holy Spirit is in charge of our lectionary.  We have a reading from the Book of Daniel, the Old Testament prophet whose visions and word pictures spill over into our Gospel reading for today.  His words also spill over into the Revelation to John, which we have been reading in Morning Prayer.  Today’s reading from Daniel speaks about the end of the world and about other last things, as well as resurrection to reward and new life.  Today in our church calendar we are at the end of the Season After Pentecost.  Next Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, is the transition into the Advent Season, in which we eagerly await the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The underlying message of hope in Holy Scripture is that when there is an end, a beginning quickly follows.  After death, there is resurrection from the dead. 

            So our scriptures for today are very `a propos for our church year, and are equally `a propos for St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church in Moultrie, Georgia.  Here at the end of the Season After Pentecost, St. Margaret’s is also at the end of an era.  For better or for worse, it is the beginning of the end of my time with you as your priest.  I am not going to belabor this point in future sermons, but today it seems fitting to address this issue.  

On Wednesday evening I tried to cushion the blow of my announcement by offering a healing service and a church dinner before I said out loud that I am leaving.  But the occasion of my leaving should be a sense of pride for St. Margaret’s in some way.  You have been instrumental in launching me into my next assignment.  Bishop Louttit has assigned me to go to Camden County to be a Missioner and Church Planter of a new congregation which will meet at the Georgia Episcopal Conference Center.  The Bishop has named the new church The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek. It will be the first new church planting for our Diocese since St. Luke’s Effingham County on March 30, 2003.  Prior to that, King of Peace was planted in Kingsland in 2000.  And by the way, King of Peace is our mentoring church.  They have already contributed heavily to the work in prayer, time, effort, and finances. 

            The end of my time here will be for me the beginning of something I have trained for and longed for.  My life and work will be in the northeastern quadrant of Camden County.  By the grace of God and the good will of our Bishop, I will be the founding pastor and vicar of this new church endeavor.  We hope to offer our initial public worship service on or about Sunday, November 4, 2007.  I hope you will rejoice with me and pray with me that God will send all the right people - especially into the formation of this new church.  Please pray that we will grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Please pray also that our membership will grow exponentially.  We already have a small but strong core of “charter members.”  As more and more people move into Camden County, the fields are truly white to harvest.  Pray that the Lord of harvest will send forth many laborers into his harvest.   

            Although my time here will be officially over on January 15, 2007, my last day to conduct a worship service will be December 31.  After that I will prepare reports and go on an eight-day retreat so that I can make the internal transition from this place to Honey Creek.     

The New Year will bring new challenges and blessings for all of us.  It has been my joy to observe your spiritual and numerical growth during my time here.  As you know, the Bishop has allowed me to stay almost eight months longer than he had originally planned.  I think that together we have accomplished a great deal, and I will say more about that at our Parish Annual Meeting in December. 

            The scriptures for today sound generally dark and foreboding – “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  Yet at the same time they sound hopeful --“Happy are those who persevere . . . for you will rise for your reward at the end of days.”  Times of transition and change are crucial times—that is, we are at a crossroads and we don’t want to make a wrong turn.  We want to be careful not to make any obvious mistakes.  We might feel as if we are jumping off a precipice, taking a leap of faith—and we are.    

Your leap of faith during this time of transition will be to remain faithful to God and to be fed weekly by the Holy Eucharist.  You might be making calculations in your head as to whether you should consider your options to go or to stay.  I would very much appreciate your staying with me for the duration of my tenure.  I dread the thoughts of preaching to an empty church.  I know you have been through a lot, but God is faithful.  You never know what wonderful things might come of this.  You are sitting on a beautiful property in this beautiful church.  Our Psalm for today says, “My boundaries enclose a pleasant land.”  This is certainly true of St. Margaret’s.    

            St. Margaret of Scotland was known for helping the poor, and so are you.  Last summer when a family of four children needed clothes and school supplies, the Department of Children and Family Services knew just who to call.  You came through with flying colors and even volunteered to “adopt” the same family for Christmas.  Your generosity is known also to God, who blesses you abundantly with the gifts you so willingly share. You have a place in this community that is meaningful.  I hope you will take heart and find a way to grow.  The Bishop has suggested that you advertise for a retired priest to move to this area and serve St. Margaret’s on a part-time, regular basis.  Other churches in our Diocese have been doing this for years and have been very successful at it.   

            So, here we are at the end of the Season After Pentecost.  On December 3, the first Sunday of Advent, we will begin a whole new church year.  We do not know the outcome of this turn of events any more than Daniel did when he put that question to Michael the Archangel.  But be assured of this one thing— the end is only the beginning.  Let us offer praise to God for all he will do:   

“Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine:  Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.  Amen.”   Ephesians 3:20, 21