A story is told of a man who loved the color yellow. He loved this color so much that he wanted everything yellow. He drives a yellow car, lived in a yellow house and his garden…oh, and filled with yellow roses. He also had a yellow living room, yellow dining room, yellow bathroom and yellow bedroom. He also wore yellow pajamas. One day, he got sick…of hepatitis! He got so serious his wife had to call the doctor. The doctor went up and down the house looking dazed and the wife asked, “Doctor, what happened to my husband?” The doctor said, “I don’t know, I haven’t found him yet.”

The world in which we live is not a world of one yellow or brown or white color; it is a world of many colors. The world in which we live is not a world of one culture; it is a world of many cultures. Not a world of one race but a world of many races. Not a world of one language but a world of many languages.

If we, as a Church were to survive and thrive in the 21st century, we must be a reflection of this contemporary world. We must be a Church of many races, faces, cultures and ethnic groups. As on the Day of Pentecost when the Church was born, we must become a Church of many languages and tribes and peoples and nations.

Tonight, in this Service of Reception and Confirmation, the Episcopal Church of Holy Apostles in St. Paul’s in the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota has become such a reflection of the beautiful, colorful world in which we find ourselves. You have stepped out from the comfort zones of your yellow or white world and through a radical hospitality opened your doors to a new possibility, the possibility of growth, plurality and diversity. Who would ever think that the Hmong people, who came from a landlocked border of Laos and Cambodia, would be among us? Who would have dreamt that this beautiful Cathedral will be filled with new Americans and new Episcopalians who come from Asia, Africa and Latin America? Visions and dreams are the language of the Holy Spirit and tonight the Holy Spirit is here filling us with dreams and visions of what the Episcopal Church is and can be. Let me share my three visions of what the Episcopal Church is and should be:

1. CHURCH AS CHURCH

First, the Church must be Church where Christ is the Head and every person ---regardless of color, race, ethnicity, gender or sexuality--- is an integral part of the Body of Christ. It is a Church where there is no outcast. It is a Church where no one is marginalized; where no one is confined to the periphery; where no one is dispensable. It is a church of inclusion and not exclusion; a church that welcomes and celebrates diversity; a church that does not dominate nor look down on others because they look and sound different.

I came to the Episcopal Church only in 1993 and one of the things that attract me to this Church is its inclusiveness. Historian Norman Pittinger wrote that “the Episcopal Church is the roomiest Church in the entire Christendom.” The Episcopalian theology is called “via media” or in the middle; the Episcopalian ethos is one of accommodation; the Episcopalian way is not “either or” but “both and.” A story is told of a couple who dreamt that their baby would one day grow to become a minister but they do not know which denomination he would end up, so they gave him a test. They put a Bible and a Chalice and they said, “If he picks up the Bible, he is going to be a Baptist preacher but if he picks up the Chalice, he is going to be a Roman Catholic priest.” Guess what, the child picked up both the Bible and the Chalice so the parents said, “he’s going to be a Bishop of the Episcopal Church!”

2. CHURCH AS CAMPUS

Second, the Church must be a Campus, a center for learning the Word of God and the Will of God. The greatest commandment, Jesus said, is to “love the Lord thy God, with all thy soul, with all thy strength and with all thy mind.” Faith is not anti-reason; faith is with reason. As you might have learned from your Confirmation Class, the Episcopal Church has three pillars of faith-understanding and they are:”Scriptures, Tradition and Reason.”

Reason however, is not simply head knowledge; it is, and should be, heartknowledge. It is knowledge of the saving grace of God that translates itself in the life that we lead and the relationship that we create. The Church must be where Christians learn to observe all that God commanded, where Christians learn how to pray, how to witness, how to share the Gospel, how to do the mission and how to become better stewards of God’s mysteries. Bishop K. H. Ting of China Christian Council said that “theology is the reflection of the Church” and so the Church herself becomes a community of theologians as they reflect God’s word on their lives and relationships.

The Church as a Campus should nurture indigenous leadership and help each one to grow in mature selfhood in Christ. I have been with you at Holy Apostle’s Church during the first Hmong Baptism; I am with you in this Cathedral at this first Hmong Confirmation and Reception; I hope to be with you at the first Hmong ordination! And I hope to be with you when you commission Hmong missionaries who would go back to Laos and Cambodia to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Episcopal style!

3. CHURCH AS COMMUNITY CENTER

Finally, the Church is a “Community Center” where diverse cultures and welcomed and celebrated. Kosuke Koyama, a Japanese theologian said, “cultures are fingers of God, pointing to Christ.” Cultures are “whatever is good, whatever is lovely, whatever is noble” in a people. Asian Cultures can be characterized by 5 F’s: family, friends, face, food and festivals!

The Church must be a center for family values; for meeting new friends and strengthening old bonds; for saving face and developing healthy self-esteem. The Church as Community Center will have abundant food and magnificent festivals! As a Community Center, the Church must become a safe place for the beloved community----a community that inspires and judges one another--- neither by the color of their skin nor by the sounds of their tongues---but by the content of their character. This is the “beloved community” whom Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke about. This is the community whom St. Paul spoke about; this is the community whom Jesus Christ frees and unites. Being a community center, therefore, it should be supported by the community. You should not be afraid to engage in asking the community for support, financially and morally, because you offer yourselves and your facilities in meeting the needs of the wider community.