The Fragrance of Zeal and Devotion

The Reverend Mr. Barber, setting down his account of Good Shepherd’s history, used this phrase to describe the nobility and fineness of the many spirits who wove their lives into the founding and early years of the life of this Parish. That same sense of zeal and devotion, to use a somewhat quaint expression, was much in evidence on the Fifth Sunday of Easter when we celebrated this milestone anniversary in the life of Good Shepherd. May the 19th was quite a fine day as we acknowledged the growth in Christian formation of our children, students, graduating high school seniors and EfM graduates.  In the evening we returned for a Festival of Easter Lessons and Carols where we heard again the story of Jesus’ great victory over sin and death, afterwards enjoying a lovely, evening garden party in the church yard.

Every Sunday we rehearse or retell the story of God’s love and grace made real and incarnate in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. In liturgical parlance this telling, this remembering and knowing of our story is called anamnesis and it is the opposite of amnesia. People with amnesia do not know or have forgotten who they are, and do not function well. Amnesia is a diagnosable condition resulting from brain injury or disease. 

This year we have been remembering our history as a particular people of God in a particular place. What have we learned from this process of anamnesis? Three things strike me:

First, there is, and always has been, since Easter Day 1869, one people of God, people here who have known Jesus to be the way, the truth, and the life. As the years roll by and the names and faces of those living stones change, nonetheless, there is only one people of God in Christ here who keep faith with one another on this hill and in heaven. Clergy come and go, doing what ordination calls them to, but it is the people of God residing here who are Good Shepherd as year turns into year.

Next, Good Shepherd belongs to Augusta. I have recently begun to understand that EDS doesn’t belong to Good Shepherd. It is Augusta’s school and we are merely entrusted with its stewardship. Like all Episcopal Schools, 70-75% of the students and families go to other churches, yet, it is their love and support, their financial gifts, that make EDS stronger and better each year. So it is with Good Shepherd. Have you ever noticed all the families shooting family portraits in our church yard? Or the prom and social kids taking pictures here? The uniqueness of our gingerbread church and lovely churchyard seem to endear this place to many others who do not worship here.

Finally, I have come to believe that Good Shepherd is not only blessed but enjoys God’s favor. I believe God’s favor is extended to this Parish. That is probably the most troubling thing I could say to you, for if is true, then, we must wonder why that might be and what it means for those here about being a faithful people responsive to God’s goodness and grace, his mercy and steadfast love. 

Is it because this Parish, in the devastation that followed the Civil War, still had the audacity to open a real reading, writing and arithmetic school for children in this neighborhood? Is it because the people here, no doubt influenced by the racial assumptions of their own time, could still see the God-given humanity of their black neighbors and work for their benefit? Was it the sense of duty and patriotism that caused the Parish to open EDS in 1944 then again to have the Christian courage to open that same school to black children a long time before the courts mandated integration?  Is it because there is another congregation of 180-200 souls whose lives have become unmanageable due to alcohol that “worship” here three nights a week? Or the homeless families working to regain self-sufficiency that find a clean, safe home in our Parish House? Is it because those who have gone before us believed Good Shepherd should be a place that existed not for itself alone but for the whole neighborhood as well?

I have no idea of course, I merely offer what I see and what I wonder, but whether we enjoy God’s favor or not, there is no doubt that God is good to the people in this place, who are his Church of the Good Shepherd on the Hill.