May 17, 2020 The Rev. John Saville The Feast of St. Dunstan St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Carmel Valley

Today we remember and celebrate the life of St. Dunstan. He was born “about 909”, and therefore, had he lived, would be exactly about, are you ready for this, 1,111 years old this year! But he died at “about” the age of 79, two days after Ascension Day, 988. Dunstan was the 25th Archbishop of Canterbury. St. Augustine was the first, chosen in 597, and Justin Welby, is the one hundred and fifth, being enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral in 2013

Archbishops of Canterbury are seen by churches of the Anglican Communion (of which we are a part) as their spiritual leader, but as first among equals of all 39 Primates of the various independent Provinces which are in communion with the see or Diocese of Canterbury.

In Thursday’s newsletter, I shared a brief biography of your patron saint. Today, I have invited a guest scholar to share a reflection on Dunstan’s life and ministry, in light of the gospel appointed for his feast which we just heard. I will conclude with a thought about our first lesson appointed for Dunstan’s day, one of my favorites.

Fr. Sam Portaro writes, “People are sometimes rattled or annoyed that I do not often wear my clerical collar. It is not that they need the symbol, but that they resent a religious person who goes stalking their world in plain clothes. Collaring the priest is rather like belling the cat so the birds will hear it coming; clerical collars warn the unsuspecting of a dangerous intrusion of religion into those spheres of life they prefer to keep separate from the church.

Dunstan believed that such separations are false, even contrary, to God’s reality. There is no place in this world where God is not, and no place where we should not be. For him, politics and government were as much a part of life in God, as his monasticism.”

Portaro notes that in the gospel we just read, “Jesus cautioned that the day of the Lord’s coming would be sudden and unheralded, and those found doing what God has given them to do will be blessed. Jesus does not say that those blessed will be at prayer or worship or even the study of sacred scripture. In fact, he offered the example of a servant charged with the responsibility of household meals. Meal preparation is of the ordinary work of life, part of the endless cycle of necessary but mundane labor. Those who are doing what God has given them to do, will find blessedness.”

“For some”, Portaro concludes, “this will mean prayer, worship and study, but for the larger majority God has given other work, for this world requires many talents and labors…Dunstan brought this conviction to everything he did, closing the gap between religion and government, between religion and arts, between religion and labor. He believed the work of reconciliation entrusted to us is more than bringing affections together; it is also bringing the physical world back into union with its Maker. Doing just that—nothing more nor less than doing the work God has given us to do, here and now— is a sure recipe for blessedness—happiness—as any.”

Doing the work God has given us to do, here and now. Of course, there is a distinction between “essential and non-essential” workers right now, when we think of things like health care and food supply and transportation and the non-stop efforts to discover the best therapeutics and a vaccine.

But as I’ve quoted George Herbert before, “Nothing is little in God’s service”. And as I’ve quoted William Law “If we are to follow Christ, it must be in our common way of spending every day”. Even, especially during pandemics, I would add.

The gift Dunstan gives us by the example of his life, which led him from abbot to archbishop, his devotion to study, music and craftsmanship, including the art of casting church bells, helps us to see that there is no part of life which cannot be used as a way to serve God.

And so, it is appropriate that our first lesson from Ecclesiasticus was chosen for his feast. It praises those who made the front page with above the fold headlines, and those who didn’t even get a paragraph on the back page of section D. But all were men and women of mercy whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten. Like any parish, St. Dunstan’s has its beloved saints and heroes, present and past. But everyone who has called this parish their home at any time since it was founded as a mission in 1955, long time members or those just passing through for a season, and even the one time, Sunday visitors, have been and are blessed, have been and are an essential part of the Body of Christ, because Christ uses all our gifts for good.

As we read in 1st Corinthians, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirt for the common good.” (12:4-7).

For the common good. That phrase has taken on a more urgent meaning than I can remember in my lifetime. May God help more and more of His beloved, not just as members of a parish or faith, party or profession, community or country, but as members of the human race, made in the image of God, keep living and working and praying together—for the common good.

We ignore that at our own peril-and our neighbors’. AMEN.