For the last 200 years the high priests of our society have not been connected with the Church. They have primarily been professors of science. The vast expansion of our knowledge about the workings of the universe and the dwellers upon this earth have made it possible for us to achieve a very high level of material satisfaction.

However, this century has shown that there is definitely a dark side to the accumulation of scientific knowledge. In warfare, the magnitude of weapons today makes it possible to destroy not just the enemy, but everything on this earth. The environmental pollution that is the residue of scientific advancement threatens not in one moment of time, but over a period of time to poison our society, our land, our water, our air, and make life impossible. The attempt to develop so-called scientific theories of economic behavior or the management of government have proven to be such failures that it took World War II to eliminate one, and the collapse of the Soviet Union to eliminate the other.

So it is not surprising that as we come to the beginning of the 21st century, there is a great quest on all sides for a deeper, fuller meaning to life than the gaining of material power for individual living. This search for meaning has produced a growth in spiritual and quasi-religious writings and conferences, and the increasing influence of so-called teachers of enlightenment.

This is an amazing phenomenon. The end of a scientific age has now brought about the re-entry of the ancient religions of the past and a renewal of the Far eastern religions. We now have the New Age religions, and cultism of all sorts, as well as occultism. One can go into any bookstore and find a very large section devoted entirely to these subjects.

This does not mean a return or a revival of the Christian Faith. It is, however, descriptive of the deep yearning and need we all have to develop a transcendent purpose in life, and to find in our own personal existence a deeper and more effective energy for living. This is certainly not to gainsay or downplay the advancements of science. They have been truly incredible and marvelous. I would not be standing here before you today without the benefits of medical science. Science only deals with one level of existence. A modern philosopher has written a book in which he speaks about one-dimensional living-- a flat and non-qualitative existence. This is what science alone would reduce us to.

In the academic quest for the PhD degree, we are given topics of very little meaning or purpose and directed to find out and publish everything we know about them. Therefore, we end up knowing everything about nothing, and nothing about everything.

It is the role of every religion to bring a unifying presence into our lives, to give us purpose and meaning and to help us through all of the critical stages of existence, so that we can truly enjoy life and be creative and strong. The quest for saving wisdom can lead us either to God and our own salvation, or else into the swamps of all of the various and sundry "isms", philosophies, theosophies, and theologies that may come and go upon this earth.

That is what is so significant in the gospel reading for today. When Jesus, at the age of 12, was brought to the temple by His parents for the first time, He was found three days later in deep discussion with the chief priests and rabbis and doctors of the Jewish religion. They were astounded at His understanding and His answers. This is the only portion in the adolescent life of Jesus that is preserved for us in the gospel writings. It shows us that in Jesus true wisdom abides. He is the one whom God has sent to give us an understanding of what it means to be a human being and that through Him we have all the spiritual and mystical presence that any of us needs in order to live a full, true and effective life.

Unfortunately, the modern mainline churches have neglected this truth. This is one of the reasons for the continuing necessary struggle for the traditional liturgy of the Episcopal church. In this liturgy we have presented to us the transcendent, mystical reality of God grounded in the Bible. This is what people yearn for, long for, and need. You do not come to church to hear the latest theory on economics or politics from a half-informed speaker. You come to hear about God. Anyone who preaches and prays from the Bible is telling you about God. That is why the Bible churches are growing and the mainline churches are languishing.

The spiritual presence of Christ through His Church is the saving power that comes to us at every critical moment and important transition in our lives. The way the church is structured and organized is in order to bring Christ and His presence to us when we need Him the most. It is around this framework that we should build our lives and not waste our time in exploring by-paths and making endless attempts to reach a God who is out of our reaching, when He actually with no effort on our part, has come to us.

In the hymn we sang this morning we have spoken of how the child Jesus, by the sweet influence of God, was led to respond to his Father's call. It is this same influence that comes into our lives when we are baptized.

To be born is the first crisis of existence. We are cast into this cold unfriendly world through no fault of our own. It is at that time as an infant that we need to have forever implanted in us the spiritual presence of God. It is through Baptism that this happens. Parents bring their children to be baptized, whether they are active in the church every sunday or just show up once a year. This is a moment of divine intervention, and at that time the spiritual reality of God becomes part of that child.

Someone once asked Martin Luther, "What can a little water do for an infant child?" He said, "It is not the water. It is the fact that this child is being baptized in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost." This means that this infant now belongs to God forever. It is through that influence, how weak or strong it might be, depending upon the parents and the god parents, and the presence of the church, that the child begins his or her life directed and guided by Christ and his Spirit.

The next crucial stage for all of us is when we leave our childhood existence, emotionally first, then physically, and pass on into that very difficult and dangerous period of adolescence. Then we need to break loose from those infantile ties that were so important and necessary for us in the beginning, and to develop our own personalities and independence. It is a difficult and dangerous period. It is filled with pitfalls.

Unfortunately, in the hymn we sang a moment ago, a crucial stanza has been left out which speaks of this next stage. Many people think of religion as something only for little children. What comes next is a much more critical and dangerous period of our lives. Listen to what the great composer wrote. He said:

"The rose that blooms beneath the hill must shortly fade away, and soon, too soon, the wintry hour of man's mature age will shake the soul with sorrow's power, and stormy passions rage."

It is into this maelstrom of life with all its conflicting emotions that we go in adolescence. Adolescence can be a period of temporary insanity for some boys and girls. There is nothing unusual about this. The strong passions raging in them, the great dangers they must face, grating sorrow and fear can disrupt the normal workings of the personality.

At this time Christ comes close to us through His Church. At the age of twelve we generally prepare our boys and girls for confirmation. This is the normal time when most of us begin to enter that "tweenage" period- between the ages of childhood and adulthood. At such a time we need a deeper presence of Christ in our lives, so we have Confirmation classes for boys and girls around the 6th grade. After sufficient instruction the power of the Holy Spirit is given to them through the laying on of hands by the bishop.

This is also a simple ceremony and we well may ask, "What good can it do when the bishop puts his hands on your head and prays?" It is not the bishop or his hands, it is the gift of the Holy Spirit that is coming into our life that is so important. "Defend, Oh Lord, this thy child with heavenly grace," prays the bishop to help us through this stormy period.

Some people never get over the period of adolescence. They remain adolescents their whole lives. For some people the temptations and the sorrows are so great they never make it over what Bunyan called "fool's hill" into adulthood. Unfortunately, this is a very tough life. Christ comes to us through His Church, and through the clergy who stand in the role of fatherly guides for us. They represent someone, other than our parents, who express kindness and concern guided by the deep truths of life in order to bring us on into maturity.

At the time of maturity the true role and purpose for all of us becomes evident. The reason we are created as men and women is to marry, to have families, to do our jobs in our community, and to accept and fulfill our careers. Again Christ is brought into our lives through the Sacrament of Marriage. At the altar a man and a woman pledge to love, to support, to help, to strengthen each other, and to forgive and to forget. They pray that they may bring children into the world, and raise and support them.

Every step of the way we need to have Christ's presence, and Christ's spirit. The priest blesses us at this moment and prays that we will so live in this world that we may attain to life everlasting in the world to come.

Finally, when we are about to leave this life, the Church intervenes bringing the Spirit of God in the sacrament of His Holy Unction. Christ brings healing and hope to those we leave behind and to those who are in sorrow-- our families, our friends. He assures them that those we love and have died are alive with God and are present with Him. We believe that they are really more alive than we are, and that we, too, will join them one day.

It is in each critical step of our life that Christ is brought to us through His church as the true wisdom and the true saving power for all of us- as infants, as adolescents, and as mature men and women. Finally at the end of our lives Christ is present, and Christ is real for us.

So let us live in the knowledge that our own endeavors and efforts can only take us so far. We are still bound to this earth. There are mysteries and there are marvels beyond our ever finding out. Yet out of the vast and wonderful creation that God has made, God has come to us in the person of His Son. He comes not in an abstract theoretical way, but in a very real way touching us when we are baptized, when we are confirmed, when we are married, and when we are buried. At every moment of our lives He brings us His healing power. This truth is expressed in the hymn we sang:

"Dependent on thy bountiest breath, we seek thy grace alone. In childhood, manhood, age and death to keep us still thine own."

Christ is the deepest wisdom for mankind. As the Book of Proverbs said, "For who so findeth me, findeth life and shall obtain favor of the Lord." The opposite is true, on the other hand, for those who reject Him. "He that sinneth against the Lord, wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate Him, love death." Christ is manifested to us in all His glory through the sacraments of the Church. Believe in Him, and follow Him, and live in that glorious life that He has prepared for you, both now and forever.