The God Who See Us Whole

I will give thanks to God with my whole heart- Psalm 111. Whenever I have seen this phrase, I so often think of it as speaking about the force of our commitment. But I was reading from Jan Richardson’s work on the Painted Prayerbook which is one of the online devotional sites I utilize. Richardson sadly lost her husband a little more than a year ago, and she has been focusing upon how her life is altered and yet how God is rebuilding her. She approaches this week’s lessons with a question that caught my attention. She asks about wholeness in a different sense. The sense where sometimes our hearts don’t feel whole. That there is in some way a sense of incompleteness, and then encountering the lessons as offering a view of God’s wholeness into those un- whole places. So here’s the question-Where might we instead of having whole hearts, have instead, a hole, that keeps us incomplete?

Perhaps we are falling prey for example to what Deuteronomy warns against- believing that some false god is our source of completeness. There are a lot of those to choose from. Food, possessions, activities, work, and more. What might we be hoping will fill that space? Sometimes each of us has that feeling.

The singer Jewel wrote a song called “A Hole in my Heart.” Part of the lyrics say, “There’s a hole in my heart, and I carry it wherever I go.. it travels with me down every road. There’s a longing, lonesome and deep, kind of bitter, kind of sweet. Time stealing swiftly, children having children of their own, and around life’s merry go round goes, and there you are wanting what you cannot hold.”

If this day, you are wrestling with a hole in your heart, perhaps it’s hard to imagine a wholehearted cry of thanksgiving. Yet here you are, and our calling in Christ is to help you find wholeness

But to complicate life, Paul tells us that while we are often trying to fill our own sense of what makes everything right, we must be mindful that individual choices have consequences for the health of the whole community. Maybe the hole we want to fill is the church just “perfect” while someone else is finding that desire to be a stumbling block to community. There you are, wanting what you cannot hold. Yet it is here that we are met by Jesus.

In our gospel today we hear of Jesus’ encounter with the man possessed. I’m not here to talk about what exactly was possessing the man and speculate about what it was. Because, more importantly is what possession looked like. And it is just as true that we all, are possessed by things that keep community and wholeness at bay. Here comes this man into a place called the synagogue. That word’s very meaning is people drawn together. But he’s been unable to be there. Imagine that man, seen by those around him as unable to be whole, told he cannot be whole-not physically, or in community. Imagine believing that you can never be whole.

And in one sense we can’t be whole if we are relying upon our power to achieve the wholeness, to fill the void, or heal a breach.

Yet, each of these passages shows us something of the wholeness in which God created us, and is working out within us. And each shows us that actions speak louder than words. We are drawn to acknowledge the liberation Christ brings us. And that only Christ can bring. That’s the last line in Jewel’s song- There’s a hole in my heart in the shape of you. There’s a hole in us that only God can fill. Maybe that’s the song we can sing to God. Whole heartedly. There’s a hole that only you can fill, God. The good news is that God wants to fill it. And that this is more than just words. It has to be more than words because otherwise we leave here just the same.

Jesus teaching in the temple happens in a way that shows he is something more. But it is when he liberates a man from what has denied him wholeness that we see God’s words come to life. This is what amazes people- a glimpse of God’s power that is more than just words. That the forces of separation cannot possess Jesus. And in our midst he shows that God’s desire, rooted in love is that they not separate and possess us either. This is what God is building in us and through us.

So perhaps the question that the gospel asks this day is: How might it be to open your heart—no matter how broken—to the One who sees you whole?

And then- How might it be to open your heart to someone who also has a hole? And help them see Christ

Our actions and words can perpetuate isolation and despair or center others in Christ who is our salvation. We gather here to believe and to share the glimpses of “what it means to have a whole heart, to live in a way that recognizes that, broken though we may be, God sees us complete and is about the work of helping us live into that completeness, not just for ourselves but for and with one another.”

That’s amazingly good news for all of us! So I close with the poem written by Richardson- Blessing for a Whole Heart

You think
if you could just
imagine it,
that would be a beginning;
that if you could envision
what it would look like,
that would be a step
toward a heart
made whole.

This blessing
is for when
you cannot imagine.
This is for when
it is difficult to dream
of what could lie beyond
the fracture, the rupture, the cleaving through which
has come a life
you do not recognize
as your own.

When all that inhabits you
feels foreign,
your heart made strange
and beating a broken
and unfamiliar cadence,
let there come
a word of solace,
a voice that speaks
into the shattering,

reminding you
that who you are
is here,
every shard
somehow holding
the whole of you
that you cannot see
but is taking shape
even now,
piece joining to piece
in an ancient,
remembered rhythm

that bears you
not toward restoration,
not toward return—
as if you could somehow
become unchanged—
but steadily deeper
into the heart of the one
who has already dreamed you

complete

Entering the Larger Life of God

Today the Sadducees are getting a bad rap in the gospel. It’s the first thing we hear-they don’t believe in the resurrection! But I got to wondering, how about us?

What do WE mean when we say we believe in resurrection? I asked a lot of people this week.

One friend says it simply means God promises life after death. Another said-life never ends, even if it seems like it from a human viewpoint. God's life-giving power will always be more powerful than death and destruction. The crucified and risen Christ is the ultimate promise of redemption and new life for all of creation.

Someone else said-It means that the fundamental character of God is to bring life from death. We receive that promise through Christ and we can depend on it throughout our life and beyond. It doesn't mean that life doesn't pass away. It means that we can depend on God's character to bring life from death…and it's a promise that all can trust in. As a Christian it means that I've been given the Spirit in order to participate in God's action.

Another friend shared-God is constantly creating and recreating. Now. And in the future. We see new life everywhere. Isn’t that resurrection?

Then I talked to our afterschool kids who told me that God's new life comes in how God gives us blessings in this life and promises more to come. Probably with lots of gold and fluffy clouds. "After all Pastor, the Bible says there's a lot of gold!"

And others told me about pets in the afterlife, and I starting imagining My Little Pony. But who’s to say?

I was struck though-all of the answers I got focused upon Life more than death. While many adults focused on the life to come, our kids whose lives are just as complicated think it matters where God is giving life now, even as some of them are still actively mourning the killing in our neighborhood of their friend Wilberto a few months ago.

My seminary President chimed in on Facebook and shared that he has a friend who is an Episcopal priest who always announced a death saying, "Jane/John has moved on into the larger life of God." I love that image! But I would expand it- it’s not only about the great hereafter. We gather here and say that gathered in the name of Christ we can experience this earthy and earthly life as a foretaste of the feast to come. Moments where the larger life of God come to us now. Resurrection starts now and resurrection extends beyond our horizon. But you know, I am also struck by the notion in the gospel today that as much as God desires us to live in this altered reality, God is not making us believe in resurrection. The Sadducees weren’t buying it.

On Wednesday night when we talked about this week’s gospel and right away the question was-just who were those Sadducees?  They were a small group within Judaism in Jesus’ day who had a particular view. Just like lots of people claim to be Christians but the message can be different, so too in Jesus’ day there were different viewpoints in Judaism. The Sadducees believed that even though there were more scrolls others considered to to the Hebrew Scripture, for them,only the first five books mattered- Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Numbers and Leviticus. That’s it. Most others felt God had more to say; they did not. The rest of the words on the scrolls were helping many develop a belief in life after death by the power of God-resurrection. But not the Sadducees. They also only believed that God was in the one temple in Jerusalem- and that’s where they were, so much so it kind of felt like “their” house. So when Jesus has come to Jerusalem and gone straight to the temple and set up shop day after day, it’s like he has occupied “Their” house. They’re miffed. So they come and ask him the question we hear today about an idea they don’t even believe in-resurrection. They can’t imagine even if there is more after this life, that it will look any different than their expectation. Instread they think the way you live on is that your name is carried on by your children- literally your seed lives. That’s why all those barren women matter. People are only children of our earthly creators. Even if there was an afterlife, for that poor woman, afterlife would mean continuing to try to produce that child-hardly paradise. Then Jesus shakes them up by quoting about Moses back to them- God is bringing life out of what seems like death, and the barrenness of the childless but it’s a whole different world. Larger than their vision.

It’s larger but we don’t know much. What will resurrection of the body and that next life be like? Over time this has generated tons of questions. During the Crusades and times of war when people lost hands or feet or heads and whole bodies could not be returned, people worried about how their body would be resurrected if not all of it had been buried. Some people literally went around worried about fingernails! Others worried about what if the ashes blew away, how would that work? How could God fix that? In our data gathering world, if we can’t have proof, we aren’t so sure. Perhaps a modern day version of what we will accept versus not. It’s why books about what heaven will be like are popular. It’s only natural we want to know. And for those missing dear departed saints we just named last week, it’s fresh. How will we know them? What will we look like? Us, only better? Or what it will look like- our favorite time? Who will be there? What about people we don’t want there, who we don’t want to see? We hope Jesus knows how to arrange our next house when he says that there are many dwelling places. When we say we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting week after week what do we know? Whatever the concern, we all worry how God will do it, or sometimes wonder if God even can.

Kind of like the Sadducees- we can fall victim to relying only on our vision, not trusting in the larger life of God. The God who says- you see all this? I created it. You can trust in what seems beyond your full vision. For the Sadducees, life came to a dramatic halt when their temple was destroyed 70 AD- since that was the only place God was, and it was gone, they just couldn’t go on. If, like the Sadducees, we limit our vision to imagine God’s love or power, that smaller view will not bring life for us either. It’s true we don’t know much, but we know God is powerful, God keeps promises and we will be with Jesus.

Now I come back again to what words people shared about resurrection- here’s what I see-all those responses were not so much about death but life. Life! That’s the mysterious good news. God who gave us life, gives life. And the promise that more lies beyond this life.  And in the meantime, we live in this life, and we should live! And it’s life with God! God who is in our beginnings and endings is in all of the in between as well, both the glorious and the frightening. Inviting us to live as those given promises, and power-resurrection now. This is the larger life of God. Where is it found? In all those new life moments-when we remember we are already God’s children claimed in baptism at this font. When we hear that we are freed from our failures and struggles to live anew each Sunday to start worship. When we hear that Jesus Christ is love and food and healing for us each time we gather at this table. When we get that second chance in relationships, or that new lease on life in some part of our lives. Moments of peace we didn’t expect that helps us carry on-resurrection. Given by a God who even more than life is love. That’s this cross for us. God loving us into life after all the kinds of death we experience.

In the end, this is what all the words we say when we gather remind us of-  In Christ, this life and love proclaim we are children of God forever. Children again this day invited even deeper into the larger life of God.

Amen

There Was the One

Here at Table Church every week we are experiencing the gospel in a living tableau as we remember Jesus telling the little children to come, and we challenge ourselves to mean it. And we remember what it means to honor our elders and challenge ourselves to realize that they should go to the food line first, and it will mean others wait, but they can be fed too, and there is a plate for all. And we sit close in the shape of the cross and recognize that we jostle each other a little, but we also serve each other with the body of Christ and the blood of Christ, for you as our hands, young and old, cradle what we share as we turn and face our neighbor amidst the timeless truths.
The most important thing I celebrate is how we are becoming in all its diversity and even chaos, the beauty of incarnational living centered in the good news of the cross of Christ.
Last night there were many things happening but just as I was about to lead us into the sharing of communion., there were folks at the door peering in. A man and woman and then two little girls, tentatively lurking, not sure. And I stopped to encourage them to come in, and sit and join us. We waited for a moment and without my saying much, people got up and made sure they had seats, at an added table, and cups for communion and worship sheets to follow as I reminded our now slightly larger group, on the night he was handed over, Jesus shared a meal with his friends. He blessed the bread and the wine and said, "Do this and know that I am with you."
The power of those words and our gathering spills over into our shared meal, and our time in community as we listened to a visitor tell us of ministry in Canada where pilots carry people to villages and share the good news, where one year the Bible camp was called FLY-Forever Loving YOU as an expression of God with us.
Earlier with our Bible Club kids we talked about this Sunday's gospel, the story of the ten lepers healed and the one who returns to thank Jesus and to praise what has happened. And we took time to write our prayers of thanks and our prayers for healing. The kids are so incredibly open and risk it all believing that we have a space where they can talk candidly. For this I give thanks and am in awe at the trust. As we believe that healing is real and learned that Jesus had already healed the men, even though not all stopped to say thanks, and maybe not all would go on to live faithfully. Because it is out of that love God has for us. Healing and blessing are signs of God's love for us.
At Table Church in so many ways it is evident that we are touched by who God in Christ is for us, and with us-you simply cannot be here and remain ignored! And I celebrate the beauty of our diversity and our challenges and our willingness to risk being authentic.
Being mainly introverted this takes much. The place too far is that we are not comfortable sharing our prayers out loud. But many will accept the invitation to later post them on the prayer wall. Or bring them to me. Last night, after some time in prayer where no one spoke thanks or prayers for healing out loud but it was evident that much was being lifted by the light of our candles in prayer, and in the inviting call of our music, we concluded to be sent forth.
And then came the one- the woman who had appeared at the door late. Wanted to hand me her prayer of thanks- Thank you that I finally have a home.
Just like the leper now healed. Who now had a home. Not only a physical home, but in Jesus.
For the woman, until this week she had been homeless. Now they had a home. And she wanted me to know how grateful to God she was for a roof over her head, just a couple blocks from the church.
Even more important, she had walked into the place where Jesus was moving us, and recognized a change. A liberation, a relief, and hope. And as I was speaking to her, one of our folks was coming to tell her about our afterschool ministry, and someone else wondered if she wanted food to take home, and one of our kids was telling me she is friends with the daughters, and yet another person said she had a lead for a job.It was exactly what had happened in the gospel- healing and thanks and restoration.
Community. Incarnational. Good news in the flesh. Experiencing the "with-ness" of Christ.
And I looked around again as they all were leaving- the gathered dispersing, the ones who know just how vital hospitality is, how much we need Jesus and each other. If we think about us, and if we remember that we have all been healed and restored, when we allow ourselves to embrace that part of us, the blessings God brings are beyond our imaginings. And every week I am profoundly moved to be in such a place where good news takes root in us and with us. Again.

Lost and Found Angels

After my sermon,

she came to see me to tell me-

All my angels have been sold or lost- beautiful angels.

I had so many.

There was the Abuse, but I have stayed sober.

But there is the addiction and the shame.

But today I realized that no one can take away the real angels

No one can take away those angels that sit on each shoulder

But I forget and the devil gets me-
I hear voices, sometimes and the doubts…

I get scared

I wish there was something that would help me remember.

She clutched and stroked a new cross necklace.

She had found it lying on the ground, lost.

And I remembered a man we would say had great faith,

Writhing on the ground, with those demons and doubts

Clutching onto a cross

I am yours, save me! I am yours save me!

another story of lost and found.

 We held onto that cross and said it together.

And we prayed for help to find again-

 that God is with us, in Jesus and in those angels

In us.

You are not alone. Not lost lying on the ground unclaimed.
You are
mine.

And she asked as she often does, for me to anoint her

With that cross that will cling to her.

And that slight but persistent fragrance in the air that lingers and remains

That somehow seems far greater

 than the smoke of dashed dreams and regrets
 of lost and stolen things

Speak to us of hope and protection,

love and healing

 no one can take away.

The Message the Angels Bring

I confess a selfish reason for celebrating Michael and all angels which is that it is my husband's "saint's day." And the name Michael literally means, "who is like God" but I urged people not to empower him. Yesterday, with our kids we looked at two of the stained glass windows in our church that depict angels- on each one the angels have orange wings. Not sure why. But any way, the first is an angel appearing to Abraham as he is about to offer Isaac, bringing important news to stop! The second is the angel Gabriel bringing important but joyful news to Mary- you will have a son! One of our kids is a girl named Gabriella who delights in the fact her name is the girl version of Gabriel!


It’s easy to look at today’s readings or others and focus on what we do or do not know about angels- who are these messengers?  What do they look like? We talked about how angels can bring good news, and tell things that are important and they protect us. And then we sang “Angels Watchin’ Over Me.” But of course there is more to all this because we are not so sure what to make of angels. And for many of us, we think about maybe the ones we hang on the Christmas tree where we imagine everything in the world is clean and pure and festive.

If art over time is a guide to popular thought, we like our angels to be pure looking girls, chubby blonde headed babies with miniature wings, or occasionally even sensual women. Smiling, or at least looking like they know a secret. We claim these images, perhaps even unknowingly as a way of escaping or smoothing over the world around us. But that’s not at all what we hear in the Bible. Angels sometimes look like nothing more than a curious visitor, or a fellow traveler. Other times, like a man, with dazzling bright light, like lightning, maybe with wings, as many as 6 wings, and as many as four heads, like animals and eyes all over, with a face like the sun. Kind of hard to hang that on a Christmas tree. Defender angels who look or sound more like something out of Lord of the Rings, or a fantasy movie, engaged in a kind of cosmic showdown that some are convinced the end of times will look like. And a tale of there no longer being any place for Satan in heaven- so he came to earth. How much is literal and how much is imagery? What to do with these creatures mentioned 600 times in the Bible?

Angels bring messages about something important. Most have no names. But when they do, there is usually a reason about big things. The two names we do know are Gabriel and Michael. Gabriel appears when births are being announced that will change the world-

the births of John the Baptist who prepared the way and Jesus, whose name means-  “he saves.” And Michael comes armed with the power of God to conquer evil. Their appearances are about proclaiming what we hear in verse 10 of Revelation- A loud voice proclaiming- NOW have come salvation and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of the Messiah. And no matter how adorable our popular imagery of angels can be- honestly, that passage is what I really want to know.

We may not know what to make of all of the imagery, but we know what it feels like when evil has knocked on our door, or life is full of chaos. And while we do not know where angels are visible, somehow when they are seen, the reaction is one of recognizing God’s power, and standing in awe. Whether you have ever had such an experience or not, stories of those who have reveal God in our world.

A few years ago I had my closest encounter with angels, but I didn’t actually see anything. I was working at the hospital and paged to visit a patient with end stage liver disease. When I walked into the room there was a man connected to lots of medical equipment, looking exhausted from his struggles, and a frantic wife unable to rest from the swirl of information they’d been given about just how serious things were. She was terrified, and he was resigned. And they were caught in chaos. He was preparing to die, and hoping to escape. She was looking for a miracle- she wanted a cure. But they couldn’t undo the struggle. It had started long ago, in a cloud of addictions, shame and contempt. Being deceived by the devil and all those empty promises. And now they knew. She urgently demanded- you have to pray for him to beat this! For him to be healed, she meant cured. While he kept saying, “no babe, it’s too late for that.” But it was like his lifestyle was standing there, accusing him, day and night, like we hear of in Revelation, with each beep of the machines. Pray for us.

In my mind at that moment, were so many thoughts- anger that evil had destroyed a life. And when I think about how there was no room for the devil and evil in heaven, that they fell to earth,  I could literally imagine seeing it all falling in a blaze of flames, but the smoke seeping into so many lives, overtaking and convincing people to cling to things that would destroy them. Like this guy.

And right about then I would’ve liked to do some cosmic butt-kicking with Michael the archangel. And then high five with the disciples that we’d conquered! But I was left feeling profound sadness, and frankly, helplessness. Because while I believe for God all things are possible. I knew I could not stand there and say “God will fix you.” I knew time seemed short.

And there we were. And I began to pray with them and to this day I do not remember the words. I’ve tried, but all I remember was saying “Almighty God” and closing my eyes as tight as I ever had ‘til I got to “Amen.” But at the end, as I opened my eyes, the woman was positively transformed. She had a glow in her eyes, and stood there in a state of wonder. And she kept saying, “Did you see that?...Did you see?” Followed finally by- “when you were praying, they came! The angels came and were in this room. It’s gonna be OK. It will be alright. We can do this.” She didn’t say he would be cured, but that she knew they could walk this road.

And I was so astounded, I never even asked what exactly she saw. Because what mattered was not the messenger but the message- that you are known to God and chaos has an end. Angels act in Scripture and in God’s world to bring this message. The woman in that hospital room moved from wanting a cure here, to being convinced that she now understood how to walk in the days to come with God. The angels had brought a message.

And just like Jesus told the disciples, it’s not so much about the messenger as the message. That power and salvation and kingdom are now.

So often we can lose sight of God’s power, and salvation and kingdom. And be deceived. Into believing on our own power, or deceived into believing we are alone in our struggles. Or that what swirls around is too great to be conquered. But Martin Luther writes that “we as Christians should have sure knowledge that (God’s angels) are with us, not only one or two, but a large number.” After all, it was a multitude of the heavenly host with the shepherds that dark night. And he says “ … if God did not in this way check the fury of Satan, we could not live for one moment.” But God does.

NOW have come salvation and power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah. This is the message that helps us worship and praise, and discern God’s will. This is what guides, protects, delivers, encourages, and answers.

The message that chaos has an end in Jesus Christ. All around us may swirl accusers, or adversaries. Those who do not cling to life. Times where evil has come, but the time is short. But chaos has an end. And we are not alone.

Angels work mysteriously to surround us, and to remind us to rejoice that there is such a message for us because we are known to God. And we are assured salvation.

And that is the message we like the early disciples are given to carry- to proclaim God’s good news- in preaching and teaching, baptizing and healing, and casting out evil. In the name of the one who sent us. With a powerful love that saves and brings peace because NOW have come the salvation and power, the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. Jesus is that message.

May God surround us with the power of all the heavenly forces guiding us to believe it and proclaim it.  AMEN

Lean Out

“Faith”- there’s a word that is used a lot, but is the subject of what Paul would call the “wrong gospel” just as often as it is used helpfully. For Paul, the “wrong gospel” was that there were certain rules and rituals the early church insisted upon in order for someone to be allowed to be even be in the room for worship- circumcision for men, rules about food and other things. And he reminded that those considerations were not at all about faith or God’s grace. But there are other ways we as Christians can take up the “wrong gospel.” One comes from a misreading of the gospel today. The centurion is a man of faith. His slave is dying and he believes Jesus can heal him. And Jesus praises him for his faith. “Never have I seen such faith!” But one of the expressions we can hear today is “you just have to have more faith” as though if our faith were stronger our lives would be different or better. That is the wrong gospel. It’s another way of focusing on ourselves. Another equally disturbing message comes from beyond the church, but can be one we take up as well. It is demonstrated in the recent story about Sheryl Sandberg, the CEO of Facebook who has written a book to inspire women who want to be successful in business, entitled “Lean In.” In response to the fact that many women still find it difficult to navigate the corporate ladder, Sandberg encourages them to be ambitious and grab power, to “lean in” to situations because she says” No one listens to the person on the edge of the room.” You have to lean in. That is a message that sometimes makes itself into our world as we wonder about the present and future of our church and where the people are. But “lean in” is not good news. In fact, I would suggest that our lessons from Scripture would suggest exactly the opposite about what it takes to be “in the room,” How God acts and how we should respond. God leans out.

Let’s take a trip back to our Old Testament lessons where Solomon has gathered the people of Israel for the dedication of the new temple. Thirteen years in the making, and a symbol of God’s glory. A place God would be said to be found, and God’s name would be praised and glorified. Massive wood carvings, lots of gleaming bronze and gold and silver. After all of the sacred objects were placed in the room, Solomon said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel. You have fulfilled the promises you made to my father, King David, and to our people. There is NO ONE like you. And I have built a magnificent temple for YOU.”  The same attention to beauty and detail has gone into the magnificent cathedrals around the world. And our own worship space is known for its beauty. We built this for you, God. But the real point is that it is a place where we come to encounter God. God who comes to us.

Meanwhile, back to Solomon. He begins to pray, for a L-O-O-O-ON-G time. Talking about the promises God had made and asking God in each and every circumstance to hear the prayers of God’s people in this place. Our lectionary skips these verses, about twenty of them. But what is being said there is important. Here is what we miss. “Lord, God of Israel- there is no God like you anywhere. You keep your promises of love. Let what you promised my father be true…   I know that no building can contain you, no space can contain you. Lord God, hear my prayer.

And when your people come to this place to pray – hear their prayer.

When they have wronged someone and they come to be forgiven-hear their prayer. When enemies have defeated them, hear their prayer. When there is a famine and they hunger, hear their prayer.

When they have judged others wrongly, hear their prayer. Hear them, forgive them and act- be God with your people. In this place. Hear our prayers. And just about when people have stopped listening,  at the end, he shifts-

“Oh, and God? About the foreigner…”We’re praying for people who are not us, and not here? “When someone who is not your chosen people prays, someone who cannot even be in the room, but turns toward this place, toward you, because they have heard your name? Hear their prayers too. When people turn to you God, no matter where, hear them. So all may know your power and your name. This is unexpected. This prayer is about more that Solomon and the people of Israel- it is leaning and stretching out into a broader vision of how God acts and who God is. This is faith. Stretching beyond what seems supportable by our system. Because of who we sense God is and where and how God will act.

This is where we find the centurion today, a man who is not at the edge of the room, he is not even in the field of vision. He is wealthy and powerful, and he can lean in because of these things. The leaders of the synagogue know well that he built their synagogue. They owe him. And as a leader of an army unit of the government oppressing them he’s in charge. And this is how the leaders respond- that Jesus should do as the centurion asks because of these things. Not because of his faith. But at the same time, the centurion is also the foreigner, not even in the room. In fact he and Jesus never meet directly. He is the foreigner who turns toward God in prayer because he has heard of Jesus’ name. Hear my prayer. And the centurion is the one who gets who Jesus is and grasps God’s power. While the leaders are saying he is worthy, he sends messengers to say – I am NOT worthy. But I believe in who you are and what you can do. He realizes that his own power cannot control death, and that Jesus is the only one who can.  In faith he turns.

And Jesus responds by leaning out. This is how God acts. God of the outstretched arm. God who came in the person of Jesus to enter our world to reach out. And to show God’s power and God’s love. Because it’s not about us trying to lean in, or prove we are worthy. It’s about God leaning out. And we who have received the love and grace of God, then continue this work and this movement. Leaning out in faith even when it seems to be beyond what our world says our systems can support.

Faith it’s not about our beautiful building, or focusing upon whether people are doing the right things to be in the room. And it’s not about hoping people will lean in so then we can meet them. The age old  question has become- “we’re here, why aren’t they?” I think God, is calling to us in faith with a different question-“ they’re there, why aren’t you?” It’s scary, and gets us beyond our comfort zone. But this is the place of faith.

Calling us beyond this place, to look and to listen for all of the people who are longing for forgiveness, and healing, and an outstretched arm and love. Who have heard God’s name but are not in the room. To lean out. Lean out, reaching to others- and we’ll meet God together there.

 

Proclaiming Jesus-God's Power Rising Out of the Hurt

Here in the city we have an afterschool ministry three days a week, offering a safe place for kids to get a hot meal after school, get help with their homework, work on literacy, and sometimes do crafts and games. Last year we were averaging about 45 kids a day and another 30 kids on top of that, who did not come for the program but came to pick up weekender bags of groceries we distribute one day a week.
Last year we found we needed more space and moved the program from a row house by the church into the basement of the church with a larger kitchen and more space.
This year when we opened our doors, and by day 2 we had 60 kids. By the second week we had to cut it off at 70 but between others coming who we could not accept and a few kids we had to ask to leave for behavioral reasons we could have been at 90.
When we had hit 60 kids on day 2, I literally went into re-think mode with our volunteer director and we grew again, moving into another room of the basement. We are now in all of the rooms of the basement.
And we are scrambling everywhere for volunteers but God is gracing us in many ways.
This is all the backdrop for what I really wanted to write about.

One of the strengths of our ministry is that we offer something different than the street and in some cases, offer something different than home. We know that sadly there are many reasons why the kids bond heavily with us- some are starved for attention as much as for food. Some have no role models for how to get along in the world. Sadly I can look at some and see their future stretching out in front of me and know it will involve jailtime, teen pregnancy or substance abuse.
But most of the kids we see are delightful, and funny and loving and trying hard to get by in school.
A few of our kids are gifted academically or are real models of leadership in places like JROTC or the arts.
These are the things that sometimes surprise others-
just like it is easy to assume what means to live in the city, we can fall into a pattern of thinking we know what city people are like. And when you live here it is easy to succumb to the belief that only certain things are possible. Or only certain people can be trusted and quickly people fall into defensive or offensive strategies. These are the things that our neighborhood kids learn.
Some learn that yelling and fighting are the answer. Some learn that lying and accusing are a good way to avoid things. And in groups of 60, this means we have to try hard to reinforce why the culture of this place is different.
Last week a small group of kids began to gather around one young girl. I have watched her almost patrolling the neighborhood. She is fiesty and bossy and physically confrontational. More importantly she has the capacity to get others to do her bidding.
Last week as she had left on our grocery distribution day, she came back to the door and demanded I find her little brother because she had forgotten him. I suggested she walk to the other door where people were not lined up to get groceries and others could help her. She began yelling and encouraging her posse to yell at me. She and another girl held up a cell phone and demanded that unless I left what I was doing to find this boy she was calling 911 to say I had kidnapped him. I laughed it off and sure enough he came out from around the corner from the door I had said would be the place to go.
I have watched this girl shakedown others for things she wants and at 10 years of age, she has well developed patterns and minions to help her.
Fast forward to this week when I could not be at the program on a rainy day but was called and told that outside the building of the church there had been a big fight. Where kids were holding down a boy so that this same dominant girl could hit him. The noise had made a local mom go to the window to see what was going on only to see that it was her son being hit. She came out and the fight broke up. But needless to say there was a lot of commotion and emotion as she came to our volunteers and wanted to know what had happened. And at least two moms were furious with each other about what had happened.

Of course the challenge was, while these were all kids from the program. The fight happened outside and just down the street, not inside. And we had not seen it all go down. But following the policy we had put into place, the director called the adult contact for each of the kids connected with the fight and invited them to a meeting the next day. The goal was that each kid would come with his or her parent or guardian and we would talk about what happened and who was involved in what way and what it all meant.
The moms connected with the victim, and those seen as holding the victim came.
No one came connected with the girl who was the hitter.
There we were with the three kids and the two moms, the volunteer director and myself as the pastor.
Since the moms are Hispanic and this was an emotional subject, English quickly turned into Spanish as the mom of the boy who was hit and then the boy himself talked about what happened. Then the mom of the other two kids began to talk and to ask questions first of the boy, but then quickly turning to her own two kids and demanding them to tell the truth. She told them she would not punish them for telling the truth but that they needed to be honest.
What emerged was that they had been with this aggressive girl and another larger boy who was not connected with our program but was known to the girl. That when the physical confrontation began the one kid was trying to break it apart and the other was trying to keep the victim from responding with aggression. That it all went down fast and that it was too big for them. That they had not realized what would happen.
I pushed a little bit on this and reminded the one girl of the events of the week before, pointing out that when she was not with this aggressive girl, she was a totally different person. That I was saddened to see who she became and that it would not be a path she should choose.
Both of the moms knew of the aggressive girl and shared other stories of bad connected with her, how they have told their kids to stay clear and this is why.
At this point the mom of the two kids confessed that she had no idea when she signed her daughter and son up that our program was at a church, but that as a believer she now was embarrassed. She spoke of having been in a bad car accident and being brought back to life and how she promised God she would live because she knew there was something she was to do. And how it was a blessing that while this was hard, God brought her here.
She and the other mom commisserated about being single moms and both looked at their kids and told them- these people are doing great things for us because they are Christians- they are doing this because of Jesus. You all need to apologize and remember that we are not going to act like this. They pushed hard, almost too hard, as the kids have tears in their eyes.
I turned to the bookcase behind me and picked up the cross sitting there. I held it up and told the kids that things went down fast and we all make mistakes but what matters most is what this cross means- forgiveness because God loves us. That I wanted each of them to be there and to be the really great people I know God has made them to be. And that this cross is also about the power of peace.
Transformative love was taking shape.
The two moms not only were no longer ready to take each other on, but had connected.
We talked about how our neighborhood is not the place people assume it is, and does not have to be the place some want to make it be. That this is an opportunity to think about how we walk together and with Jesus to make it be the place it ought to be.
We stood up to end our meeting and as we did, the door opened and in came the aggressive girl with four kids in tow but no adult. The moms looked at her and said
"We're done here, let's not revisit all this again."
We reminded the girl that to be here she needed to have an adult. That when we could sit with her and an adult, she could return and that we hoped that was possible.
She was escorted out.
I really wish she could return but without adult buy-in, my fourteen months of knowing her suggest there is not great hope otherwise.
Sometimes when I have said that we could reach out to the parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents of these kids, there has been trepidation, a kind of "if you think so" that belies lack of trust by our volunteers. We're not sure perhaps that we should. While in some cases this reaching out is not possible or fruitful, God showed that for us to use the broadbrush approach that keeps others as recipients of our benevolence and not co-workers in the kingdom, means we miss out on a part of the amazingly transformative power of that cross.
As we stood to end our time and before I could ask, one of the moms asked if we could all hold hands and pray. What a perfect way to solidify where we had been and who now united us.
As the kids went down to the program, we talked about our vision and hopes and about how they might be helping hands as they were able, not only because they now have a more connected interest, but because we have others who need to hear, and how some of those need to have people they can culturally relate to. I apologized that my speaking of Spanish is not as quick as my understanding what I read or hear.
"Oh Pastor, we help you. This is how we can help you."
We talked about worship and their desire to come, but also the possibility of developing an informal Wednesday night worship time that connected with the ending time of our afterschool program.
We talked about how to share this vision in their respective parts of the neighborhood and the power of women to nurture change rather than be victims. And to demand more. I am reminded of Leymah Gbowee's work- "Pray the Devil Back to Hell."

This fall I wondered why now the sky rained kids, then I wondered why this violence, but out of this I am increasingly convinced that God is breaking open something new. Healing and hope and promise.

There will still be violent kids, but my prayer is that we won't just turn away or yell about it.
We are going to proclaim Jesus into it.
Together.
Step by step, trusting in God's work in all of us.

Reflectionary thoughts and a sermon with no title

Spending alot of time thinking about this weeks Lectionary- for those who do not know I practiced family law for 22 years before entering seminary. But in my own family tree, divorce and heartbreak are pretty rampant. At the same time I am seeing this week's lesson not so much for the easy to grab onto- man and woman=marriage, or what do we say about divorced people or even only the treatment of women and children in society. These are all worthy of conversation but what about the larger picture of all the ways we cut out and cast off in relationships while God says it's not good to be alone? Right down to the techno savvy debates about friending and unfriending and following in Facebook and Twitter (though this last bit is probably lost on most of my flock) Here is my rambling so far- thoughts?


There was a couple who long ago had made their vows, and could proudly say that they had stayed together no matter what. They could at least say that. But long after the days of hope and promise and being bound together as one, little by little it had all fallen apart. And they found themselves in a place where she cut all of the pictures of them in half and threw his side away, and he had cast her aside for the affections of another. And she gave him the silent treatment which made every meal at their table exquisite torture. And he would disappear but then return. And she would get up at 4 am and make his lunch for work each day. But no one would call it a blessed relationship. Or even really a relationship at all. Some might even say that a divorce would have been a blessing. There are many such relationships where in some way, it all goes wrong. And many reasons why. Places where people wondered why they ever walked away from where they had been, to end up in such a place of pain or shame, or anger or regret. Places where people wondered why if this was a relationship blessed by God, it had gone astray, and where some in pain would shout out that God would judge the other in the end. people would come to see me in my first career as a lawyer to find out how the law would fix this. I listened as one woman told me that her abusive husband said that the church would shun her if she left, and as one man told me he was met at the door by his wife who told him she had found someone on the internet and she just didn’t need him anymore. I have hours or perhaps days’ worth of stories. Over and over again I saw people walking with great wounds and disappointment and bitterness. Moments of regret for so many things that had been done or they wished had been. Some came seeking justification, some revenge, some a life raft in the swirl of financial and emotional needs. How can two households run on what can only sustain one? It was hard to not reduce people to laws and numbers and statistics in the challenge of whose needs matter most. What do we do with this brokenness? I used to start out by telling people at some point that there were three things I could not guarantee they would receive no matter how gifted in the law I was. I could not get them “a pound of flesh”, or a meaningful apology and I could not turn back the hands of time. In short I had no real solution for the brokenness.


We find ourselves today in another challenging place with Jesus. Last week we heard graphic language about how God feels when we place stumbling blocks in people’s relationships with God, and cut them off from community. We heard that in the times we cast others aside or disregard the dependent, God wants our attention. And we move from hearing about the plight of children who were often caught in the wake of the decisions of others that left them hurt or worse, to the plight of women who were the object of marriage contracts and yet sometimes viewed as disposable and without concern for their being separated from the embrace of companionship and support. More talk about the pain and heartbreak of what happens when we cut off and cast out. And I would like to suggest that just as last week we could get caught up in the language about body parts, we could today get caught up only in the words “divorce and adultery”, or even the language of “man and woman.” There are lots of ways we divorce each other all the time. Cut off and cast out.

In the broader narrative across our lessons we hear that God does not intend us to be alone. We are created and intended to be in relationships- to have companionship and joy, to know embrace and love, to share comfort and care and to help each other. And when for a variety of reasons, and in a variety of ways, we are both on the giving and receiving end of broken relationship, it grieves God. Because God’s hope is even deeper than ours that we will be blessed and be a blessing to others in our relationships. And that when others see this, they will be amazed at our God. Sometimes it is hard to even hear that we are a part of God’s family, when our earthly understanding of families may look and feel more busted up than whole. It is in these moments Jesus again sees our need, and reaches out, embraces and blesses. Because beneath all our words and actions, justifications and regrets, we are those little children who need this. And so do our brothers and sisters around us in God’s world. Even the ones we cannot remotely fathom ought to be so blessed. We are forgiven and claimed by a God who in Christ, casts off our brokenness and failings and claims us through the cross. We can’t really expect or earn this, yet, by God’s grace, today again we meet Jesus at the table and hear the good news that in all of our need and need for forgiveness that we are not cut off or cast out but invited. Even in our conflicted places, we are invited, forgiven, healed and fed. The solution to our brokenness can only come from this. And yet in union with Christ, it does come.

Today happens to be World Communion Sunday, and if we really think about those words –World Communion- the whole world drawn together and made one in a relationship forged by Christ’s love, it means that it is a comfort and challenge that God’s family and table are that wide. But Thank God there is a place for us all. Blessed indeed.

Let’s listen to God in the words of Jan Richardson, a blessing entitled- “And the Table will be Wide”

And the table

will be wide.

And the welcome

will be wide.

And the arms

will open wide

to gather us in.

And our hearts

will open wide

to receive.



And we will come

as children who trust

there is enough.

And we will come

unhindered and free.

And our aching

will be met

with bread.

And our sorrow

will be met

with wine.



And we will open our hands

to the feast

without shame.

And we will turn

toward each other

without fear.

And we will give up

our appetite

for despair.

And we will taste

and know

of delight.



And we will become bread

for a hungering world.

And we will become drink

for those who thirst.

And the blessed

will become the blessing

And everywhere

Will be the feast.



Jan Richardson the Painted Prayerbook

And They'll Know We are Christians

Back in the 1970’s this was a popular church camp song. If you remember it too, feel free to join in as we sing.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

I learned this song was written in 1970 and I sang it in elementary school. Now you know something about me and based upon how many of you joined in I know something about you as well. But recently I asked people to fill in the end of the sentence “They’ll know we are Christians by our ________________.” The most popular answer was not “love” but “potlucks.” One person said she wasn’t sure if she should say they’ll know us by our love or potlucks but that they were both pretty much the same in her opinion. She’s right that how we interact at our church gatherings like potlucks says a lot about us. So what do our gatherings say?

We envision a communal experience that expresses our identity and demonstrates free and generous hospitality and if you are like me growing up in the Midwestern US, throw in a little pioneer spirit. But I would suggest we struggle to live out this vision, confronted with our own structures, just like the Pharisees.
• Raise your hand if your church has “kitchen ladies, and keep it up if you know this is not an open group”
• Raise your hand if when you have a potluck you tell people to sign up, keep it up if you ask them to tell you what kind of food they are bringing.
• Raise your hand if you know that someone will be looked down upon who comes to the potluck empty-handed or who did not sign up. If someone is not on the list and extra seats need to be set up, there is a sigh. I saw some head nods on a fair amount of these questions.

• These are some of the ways that we “domesticate” hospitality and rein in the welcome.

And if you observe our meals from the outside, there is the flurry of activity before the meal. People are bringing in their contribution. Some “up the game” by bringing it in a Longaberger basket, or with a cute label, promising to share the recipe with select people. Some people slyly move another person’s dish so theirs has pride of place. Meanwhile, others are dispatched to secure seats with friends, family and the question is “Did you get us our table?” It is pretty absorbing but, what is it like to be the stranger; the single person; the person with the bad leg who struggles to get to the basement only to find themselves on the edge? One elderly widower who struggled with mobility said he quit coming to potlucks because it was too humbling to have to ask someone to make room at their table much less help him get to the food. Right about now I am wondering if we CAN sing “they’ll know we are Christians by our potlucks?”

Communal meals among worshippers are nothing new. Jesus was invited to such meals, and today we hear he did some people-watching. All around him people are scurrying and jostling to get the best places, walking around “on display,” making sure their status was intact. People who were holy and proper. The two people who are on the edge at first are Jesus and the man with “dropsy”- today we would call it edema- filled with fluid, bloated and dying of thirst. Right in front of them-Impossible not to see him, yet ignored. Because while it was important to give charity to those in need, it was never on their radar to sit at the same table and eat and drink with such a man. No Pharisee would do that. In fact the word “Pharisee” means “separate”- to separate themselves from the world as a sign of being dedicated to God.
But at some point the separateness stopped being about God’s desires and started being about their desire for status. Here’s how far they took separateness in worship, in dining and in their understanding of who God would deem worthy. The following people were excluded:
no one paralyzed in the feet or hands- no arthritis, no one lame, no one blind, no one unable to speak clearly, no aged people who totter, no one who cannot stand still, no one with any visible blemish or impurity.

That’s a pretty long list- It’s a wonder anyone was even there. Add to that list women and children. I can safely say few of us would fit the bill- no hope for God’s favor. This is why the Pharisees were always so critical of Jesus and his dining habits. This is how blessed we must count ourselves that Christ has given us a seat at the table!

One author states, “all of our efforts to domesticate or rein in hospitality are like clouds blotting out the sun of God’s generosity. Jesus spent his whole life breaking through that cloud to bring fresh healing in the sun of God’s love.” Maybe we need to acknowledge our own lists that diminish our living hospitality toward others. The challenge of Christian hospitality reveals our struggles to reconcile different cultures, different beliefs, different abilities, lifestyles and needs.
God’s view of hospitality calls us to fundamentally reverse our views. Christian hospitality is different than just being nice. It is our reflecting God’s gracious hospitality toward us and re-enacting the feast as a foretaste of the feast to come. We are the invited who invite, but the invitation is not to our table, but to Christ’s table. We called to draw others not to ourselves but into the kingdom of God. We do this not because of what it earns us, power, status or indebtedness, but out of sheer gratitude for God’s grace and love toward us. This hospitality is about more than building a better potluck.

But thinking of our meals may be a good place to start. Think of the joy you feel when sharing a meal with those closest to you, to know you belong. Think of the wondrous grace of knowing Christ has made a spot for you. We hear the words “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.” Are you willing to bless ANYONE? This is what we are called to share- to tell others who are hungry for a welcome that there is room. That we will sit and share face- to-face, rubbing elbows, sacrificing our needs and lists and using God’s list instead. To bring healing and dignity and blessing and I think is why healing and breaking bread appear together so often in Luke as we hear a calling to more than just swapping lists of who is in and who is out.

We’re called to embrace a much larger view of the table, where we have been told we need to get out the leaf to make the table bigger, and bigger. And to not just gravitate toward people and places we know will bless us- that doesn’t place God at the center. Instead, to seek those people can’t give us anything. This kingdom living stretches us beyond our boundaries. It’s countercultural. But this is how we are invited to reclaim hospitality as a Christian practice. To constantly ask who is on the margins, including those who don’t take an invite for granted, and greeting them as “friend” and as equal. Living out the literal meaning of the word “hospitality”- showing the depth of love and affection we have for family toward those we see as strangers in a bigger and bigger table.

It ultimately takes us all the way to the cross to live Jesus’ command to love our enemies and to bless them as we break bread together. Blessing and challenge, but when we continue respond to God’s grace in this way, they really will know we are Christians by our love.

Healing Touch

This past Sunday's gospel lectionary reading in Matthew told the stories of Jairus' daughter and the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years who reached out at touched the fringe on Jesus' clothes. Here in the land of CPE, I have been thinking alot about touch and healing. In one room there is a man who is experiencing a failing liver and is inelegible for a transplant. Lots of other things are going wrong as the liver fails. I am sure he would love to stand in for the woman. Deeply spiritual, he and his wife believe in earnest that a healing by God could occur. I doubt it will, and some of this is denial, but yet I am sure that those who saw that unclean and probably pretty unseemly woman grovel to touch the fringe, thought it was equally incongruous. And I am certain that value judgements about her sin that brought on this affliction were even more rampant than the thoughts of today about someone who admits to living a wild life in the past. Then there is the woman with cerebral palsy. In the hospital because at her age and with her condition, she is pushing the extremes of life expectancy. Each time in the hospital is closer to assisted care, rather than the apartment on her own where Mom checks in to see how she is. She was praying simply for this crisis to end. And it passed. I came in as she had heard things were improving. And this woman for whom life is not only a challenge, but a compromise, is determined to get out, go home and keep praising God. She loves to sing, she shared her music. A little garbled for most, but to God I am sure it was just as ethereal as any heavenly choir. We shared a prayer, and before I began, I asked if we could hold hands. Her hands have some mobility, not a lot. She was so joyful that I would hold her hands to pray. I did not think twice about asking. But later a peer stated that her joy was the fact that I was not put off by her disability, that I embraced her as she was. Healing touch for the soul. There was the elderly woman with emphysema. Outgoing and engaged, trapped in a body that is letting her down. Sitting with her oxygen she is trapped, yet leaning into our chat. She is feeling good today, she put on her lipstick, a touch that gives her dignity. As we get ready to pray, I ask her if she wished to hold hands. I thought she would leap out of the chair with enthusiasm. Touch is a connection- touch draws her in. Touch for her was a tight sqeeze of my hands- I am still vital. Healing touch.
And today a terminally ill patient- what cancer has not taken, this weekend's stroke did. He cannot talk. He is stuck. Yet when I stopped in to say hello and offer a prayer, he grabbed my hand before I asked at his bedside. Touch cannot heal his body, but perhaps it touched him. God knows.
"If I can just touch the fringe."
I was asked how we know God is present or speaking.When I held the hand of an anxious spouse and prayed,"Lord you know what is on our hearts and minds, our struggles. Grant us peace" the hand relaxed with an audible sigh." When you prayed that I felt angels enter the room," she says. Healing touch. A touch I cannot offer on my own, but by the power of the Spirit, a healing of a soul, for now, just the same. I am overwhelmed.

Freed from Blindness-Part II

SOrry for the double post but I had trouble getting Photobucket to do what I wanted. Many of my classmates are still battling endless bouts of disease this winter. For them I pray for healing and restoration. It somehow seems appropriate that the reading for Sunday from the Gospel of John is a story of healing. In this case the healing of a man who has been blind from birth.

It is hard to imagine the flood of emotions when you see for the first time- ever. I have been told that when people hear who were deaf that it takes awhile for their brain to catch up and be able to interpret what the neurons are doing. But imagine what it would be like to actually see what only your imagination could provide before. And imagine the even greater liberation of knowing that you are not an untouchable sinner. It is hard today to fathom that it was believed that being blind was the result of sin- what it your sin? your parents'? It is a harsh reality to picture one's health in terms of " you get what you deserve."
Each of the pictures in this slide show depicts the healing of the blind man. Each has a distinct style and message. My favorite is the Mafa picture because it is in this picture that there is a look of deep emotion on the face of the man being healed. While this story speaks of the power and identity of Jesus, the transformation of this man from multiple levels of bondage is most clearly seen here for me.
In many ways this man has been freed from a life where, as a sinner, he has been shunned. He is beyond the aid of the community, a community which has judged him and his family. Dependent upon the benevolence of others who might only give when it was important to look good. He cannot work or worship. He has no friends. His parents have long been wondering what they did to deserve a blind child. He is a beggar not merely for money but for any sign of love or care. The community is in fact blind to him.
Blindness in our lives can be literal or figurative. The things we cannot see, choose not to see, are unable to see. In each of our lives, there are things to which we are blind, people to whom we are blind. May Jesus work in us to remove our blindness so that we may more fully be about the mission to which we are called.

Lives of the Saints

Today I survived another Sunday without taking out Jesus. In seriousness, today was our Sunday for Laying on of Hands and Anointing. In my home parish I am not sure how many people would get out of their pews and come forward. In this parish, I think it was everyone. Coming forward for a laying on of hands and anointing with oil , the sign of the cross in the name of our Lord. And it was clearly very moving for people to hear a word of forgiveness and healing. And very moving for me to serve in this way.

And I said I would stay for a choir practice. There were 6 of us. Unlike in my home church where we have a library of anthems, here we are singing a two verse hymn in With One Voice. And it would happen that this is originally a Hispanic hymn. And it would happen that I know some Spanish. Could I sing in Spanish so people can hear it?

So next Sunday they will sing a verse and I will sing it in Spanish. And then we will so the same for the second verse. Everyone knows they will have no idea if I say correctly, but in their way this is becoming aware of others. Many churches with anthem libraries would not do as much.

And today the children put dimes, nickels and pennies into ELCA Hunger Appeal envelopes during the childrens sermon on the poor man. And I know a church with an anthem library that did nothing to make the message become action.

They may be small and they may have limited resources, but these people are a flock that is trying.

After church I had some time before the corn maze outing. I went out into the very large cemetery. It has been there since the 1800's and one can learn much about a people there. I found a couple Civil War veterans. One died of thyphoid fever in a Civil War hospital. Of the several World War veterans, one died in combat that I saw. Then I came across a large obelisk of a family. One two sides were the names of 5 children who had either died at birth or within the first year or so. On another side was the name of the wife, Susannah. She died at 34. Then I started doing the math. The youngest child died after her. But when? By two months. Child number 6 - she died in childbirth and the child two months after. No children survived.

When we think of the lives of the faithful, and put it into the context of the parent who has just gotten that knock on the door or telegram from the Defense Department,"We regret to inform you..." or the family of one who died alone in a hospital and news came by letter much later, or the husband who has buried six children and his bride, how much they must have endured and yet remained here in the faith.

Today I see men and women whose spouses struggle with illness, whose children labor with adversity. Yet here they are, wanting to understand the larger world, and put their change in envelopes for change. And they come forward believing in God's saving grace, forgiveness and promises. Come Holy Spirit.

The power of faith

Well, we have returned from a truly amazing family trip to Quebec, more on that later. Among all of the fantastic touring, dining and attempting French, one thing that stood out was a trip to Saint Anne de Beaupre. This basilica is up the Saint Lawrence river from Quebec city and is more than just a place of worship, but is a shrine to which Catholics make pilgrimage. The brief history is that the church was built in the 1700's by fishermen who survived a bad storm, and attributed their survival to Saint Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom they prayed. The current basilica was built in the 1920's and is magnificent architecturally, from enormous copper depictions on the doors, to every aspect of the worship space. But this is not what depicts the power of faith. What strikes the eye upon entering is that each of the columns at the rear of the nave have crutches, canes, braces and orthopedic shoes mounted upon them. These are placed here by people who have traveled to the shrine and prayed for healing, and believe that St Anne has interceded, leading to their healing. While I contemplated this display, I heard the shuffling of feet and turned to see a sighted person leading a chain of blind people, linked hand in hand, who were headed to pray to St Anne. Their faces were those of people with hope, maybe even a glimmer of joy at the thought their prayer might be answered. Regardless of your thoughts about veneration of saints, or intercessory prayer, these people were a modern depiction of those who hoped to merely touch the hem of Jesus' robe. And their statement of the power of faith, without a word ever uttered, said more that day than anything anyone could have written.