Sunday, August 25, 2024

Proper 16 Year B - Episcopal School Sunday

John 6:67-68

Jamie Martin-Currie, Head of School

Today’s Gospel got me thinking about how people make decisions. Various sources suggest that the average adult makes 30 thousand daily decisions, including what we will eat, what we will wear, what we will say, and how we’ll say it. Most of these happen automatically and simultaneously.

People go through various processes to make life decisions. Some people filter big decisions through their values. Some people make life decisions using processes influenced mainly by emotions, biases, reason, and memories. I appreciate the collaborative way Episcopal entities make decisions, even though consensus-seeking is almost always excruciatingly slow.

In John’s Gospel, when the people in the temple choose to turn away from Jesus after he tells them he is the bread of life, it doesn't seem they used any process or procedures. They did not gather any facts or think about the consequences but simply decided on the spur of the moment. Nope, I don't get that Bread of Life metaphor. I am out of here.

But, when the twelve disciples were asked if they would also leave Jesus, Peter said, “Who else would we follow? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." The disciples had answered the call to follow Jesus, and they were not about to turn back now. It seems they had actually considered the long-term outcome of that decision.

Every new school year, children and their parents face many decisions. Which after-school activities do we enroll our children in—piano, soccer, or ballet? Which softball league do we join? What if your children’s school friends play soccer on Sunday mornings, and they want to join them. 

The difficult decision in this scenario is weighing the benefits of church vs. sports. I wonder if parents systematically decide the outcome of these decisions or bother to filter them through their values.

Is it easy to bring your children to church on Sunday? No. Following God can be kind of difficult. Many people have already given up on it. Some parents will start with excellent intentions to stick with being a family who attends church on Sundays. Then, as the school year continues, they may fizzle out. A parent here recently told me their teenager was too busy for Sunday PM youth group. Are your teenagers choosing TikTok and YouTube over Youth Group? If so, how do you think they made that decision?

My parents chose golf over the church when we moved from Meyerland to Sugar Land, which naturally affected my adolescent choices and the friends I made at a new school. Only two other kids were in my confirmation class at the tiny Episcopal church near our new home. I missed our church's Sunday night youth group, but Mom and Dad were too tired after 18 holes of golf to drive me into town. I kept wondering about my St. Mark’s, Bellaire youth group friends. They were different from the new friends I made in Sugar Creek, but I didn’t know their phone numbers or how to contact them. Who would even take me to see them? And if anyone ever reached out from St. Mark’s, I would have never known.

My father’s dream was to live on the golf course, and I got that. But I didn't understand why Mom and I didn't go to church anymore. When I asked my mom, she answered, “Jamie, I’m really more spiritual than religious.” I  thought, seriously? Organized religion is in your DNA! Your parents were married at Christ Church Cathedral, the cross on top of Palmer is in honor of your father’s years on the vestry, you and dad eloped at St. Marks’, Bay City, and you were my Sunday School teacher growing up until we moved here. 

You can guess what happened next: I left the church. Until my late 20s, when I felt I was missing something, I finally wandered into a significant urban Episcopal Evensong service, opened the prayer book, smelled the brown-edged vintage pages, heard the choir sing, and wept.

Soon, I began working there. I have served the Episcopal denomination ever since. All of my BFFs work for the Episcopal Church, where I found my Christian friends.

Hopefully, you have found your Christian friends right here. These relationships can be like no other.

What I love about this parish is that it’s intimate enough that the children and youth have many spiritual aunts and uncles in these pews who know their names. My prayer is that you keep in touch with these young people as they venture out into the world so that they are never far from this Episcopal foundation St. Andrew’s staff has provided. Amen