Last Sunday before Advent

Christ the King Sunday B, Sullivan Park Care Center, November 25, 2012 by Annette Fricke

When looking up resources for this particular Sunday, which goes by the names of Christ the King, the Reign of Christ, and the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, a number of images as well as thoughts pop into my mind.  I picked up the old Service Book and Hymnal of my childhood which I stole from my sister’s house to see what the Introit, Collect, and lessons might have been.  I soon discovered that it really had no title then.  It was simply the Last Sunday after the Trinity: still another way in which to designate the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent.  When looking on the computer for a take on this feast, one preacher actually decided to go with the Thanksgiving texts and preach on Thanksgiving instead.  Liturgically speaking, the term ‘King of the Universe’ comes from the Jewish prayer: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, for in your wisdom you have formed us. The ancient liturgy provides a rich array of concepts that are based on scriptures and actual liturgical practice. More fully, in the Evening Prayer liturgy, we read or sing, “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who led your people Israel by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night: Enlighten our darkness by the light of our Christ; may your Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for you are merciful, and you love your whole creation, and we, your creatures glorify you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Another rich resource that goes back several centuries is from the so-called Church Fathers. From Tractates on the Gospel by St Augustine: Come to the kingdom that is not of this world. Do not be enraged by fear, but come by faith…. What in fact is Christ’s kingdom? It is simply those who believe in him…. Indeed, his kingdom is here until the end of time–and until the harvest, it will contain weeds.

My mind also goes back to Thanksgiving.  We sit around at the table to give thanks to God, one of the most intentional places we do that as a family gathering outside of church. And then, many of our country participate the very next day in what is termed “Black Friday.”  On Black Friday, an activity that I also participated in once a few years ago, I experienced the aggressiveness that sometimes becomes quite physically violent as people paw over each other to get that last item left on the shelf they desire for a loved one, that you would think it was a matter of life and death.  How quickly thankfulness for what we have turns into the coveting of what we think we need.  I like a good bargain like anyone else: I just can’t see how participating in the frenzy of fanatically going after dazzling deals in the marketplace can be at all healthy.  I could be wrong.  Maybe someday in the distant future, the virtues of such hunting for and obtaining treasures for Christmas in such a manner will be revealed.  In the meantime, I remain unconvinced.

The passage we are given in II Samuel is King David’s final speech.  It tells us what the king of the universe is as well as what the king of the universe is not.  The king of the universe is “One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.” II Samuel paints a picture for us the ideal image of a king as well as the realities of all earthly kings missing the mark.  For all his greatness, King David also fails miserably.  He has another king killed by sending him to the front lines of battle, in order to sleep with his wife, gets her pregnant, and has a son. It displeases God and the son dies.

And now back to our day and time when we hear about former president Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern and General Petraeus and his relationship with his biographer.  “Television evangelist and ultraconservative Pat Robertson doesn't think General David Petraeus should be condemned for his affair with writer Paula Broadwell. After all, she is "an extremely good looking woman" and "he's a man."  Most people of conscience would see both of these as an extreme lapse of conscience and morals as well as the Bathsheba and David coupling. As much as we might like to see the divine in the human, we are often disappointed in our leaders.  Perhaps, before Jesus, God also had that vision, that kingly rule by the best of the people would actually work to govern the peoples of the earth.  God saw the constant wavering of the people of Israel, but mostly their unfaithfulness and going after other gods.  People seem to be much the same as in the days of King David, perhaps a bit less violent and a bit less into an outright monarchical type of government.

But God’s covenant with the people, who are God’s, is an everlasting covenant.  Even David, despite his life of murder, adultery, and a divided house realizes this.  Despite David’s faults, he had a vision of the peacefulness that his house should be and God promises David an eternal throne.  As it says in Psalm 132, the appointed Psalm beginning at verse 11 for today, “The Lord has sworn an oath to David; in truth, he will not break it: A son, the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne. If your children keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their children will sit upon your throne forevermore.”

And so Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  And we also, when we are unfaithful, ask the same question.  Have we also behaved as those people in the past with their indiscretions and going after other gods?  Is it just the people at the top, so the rest of us have an easy target?  Do we behave in certain ways just to fit in, to live under the radar, so to speak?  What are our motives and our reasons for doing what we do?  Does it matter what we do?  Do we allow the Word of God to transform our lives or simply live day to day, the same routine, as always?  A resident recently confessed to me that she used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, but she stopped once she started living there, because she didn’t fit in.  Saying the word that contradicts or challenges does not make us popular and indeed, there are times when we may, in fact, be walking on thin ice.

Jesus’ challenge for us is to live into that kingdom, the everlasting covenant with God.  Jesus says in this gospel text that he came to testify to the truth.  It is more than a simple assent that what Jesus tells us is the truth.  It is something that is done.  We must seek to know God and live as active witnesses on this journey into God.  Jesus’ life and mission is a model of this for us.  In Jesus, we learn that truth is a stimulant for faithful living and witness, rather than only a matter for contemplation.  It is something we do.  We are not called to imitate the culture around us.  We are not called to fit in.  We are to not only accept responsibility for the world around us, but seek to be a part of God’s transformation of the world.

And so we read in Revelation: “to him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.”  You are free to serve and honor the Lord. Go in that peace.  Amen.

Let no one Lead you Astray

25PentecostProper28B, Sullivan Park Care Center, November 18, 2012 by Annette Fricke

            I have been watching a bush that is just a few feet outside my living room window.  Every winter, it returns to a dormant state and looks as though it has died.  But, every spring and summer, it comes alive again and blooms with fresh flowers.  The changing of the seasons is evident within one bush.  You don’t need a whole floral garden to notice how bushes and trees change with the season.  Even the pine trees, so called evergreens, change.  Some of the needles turn brown from lack of moisture and become covered with the snow. Hannah lived at a time and place where she likely observed the years also as they went by, and was probably depressed when thinking about her barrenness and yet, we are told, she held onto her hope.  We know about her prayer in the temple, but I would bet that she prayed continually, everywhere she went. She was determined that God would hear her prayer. I am not saying that her hope may not have wavered.  I am sure that just like any human, her hope wavered.  A preacher in my past once told me that the grace of God is most profoundly in our struggles.

            Hannah is a woman who lived a very long time ago, and just like the bush I observe year after year, I am sure she also observed the changing of the seasons as seen along and beside the pathways she trod on a daily basis.  And even though our text does not tell us this, I bet she noticed those changes and wondered why it did not work that way for her body.  Although treated well by her husband, she was taunted by other women. We are never told if she ever got upset with or mad at God. Even the priest, Eli made mockery of her, thinking she was drunk as she was praying. She bore the shame of a woman amongst a people who valued women in their ability to bear and raise children, but especially male children.  There is a parallel here with the story of Ruth and Naomi.  Do I abandon this faith I was taught from an early age or do I continue to be faithful, in spite of the hopelessness of my years of barrenness?  This is a passage about hope in the face of despair.  It is, more than anything else, a text about spirituality.  How can I be faithful to God when all I see about me speaks of barrenness, death, and decay?  How can a womb that has been infertile year after year, ever produce a child, just one child, just one male child heir?  Is that at all possible? Then I think of Job, a story in which all of his children are taken away.  At one point, Job cries to God that it may have been better if he had never been born.  Again, we are talking about a religion for which this life is all there is.  This Jewish community does not believe in a resurrection.  Life is here and now.  Krister Stendahl, once bishop of the Church of Sweden said about American Christianity in general that too much emphasis is placed on eternal life.  We too, ought to live our lives to the fullest in the here and now.  If your thoughts are too much about the future, how is it that you can live your life to its fullest in the here and now?  There is much we can learn from Jewish faithfulness to God.  We can dismiss this guy’s remarks by noting that he was an Old Testament scholar; but can we?  Where in the New Testament does it say that we should only think about eternal life with God in heaven and that nothing else matters?  Eternal life begins in the here and now.  Hannah understands that her relationship with God is in the here and now.  That is how we should understand it.  Our gospel text states emphatically, “Do not let anyone lead you astray.”  Life is filled with many temptations to be unfaithful to God on both a personal level and in observation of all that may be around us. 

            Hurricane Sandy was quite vicious in its devastating hurl onto the east coast and then another storm came on its heels.  People lost their lives.  It seems that no matter how much know-how and technology we possess, we are never quite prepared for disasters brought about in the natural occurrences in our world.  The tsunami of Japan is still washing up various items onto the Pacific Ocean beaches. Katrina, in another part of the US also destroyed many homes, property and businesses.  The American Red Cross always is in need of volunteers for local and across the country needs from wind, fire, flooding.  We don’t have to go far to see nature getting out of control.  There has been several times when I have watched the local news of the Spokane area and learned that yet another family has been displaced by a fire.  In the face of all this, some people respond that there is no God.  If there was a God, why would a just and good God allow this to happen?  And many of our questions, as when the book of Job was written, are good questions, but we don’t have the answers.  We come up short.

            We struggle as a nation to make things right for people in the workplace and surrounding the issues of delivering healthcare.  Many of your may remember the poor farm.  Often the poorhouse was situated on the grounds of a poor farm on which able-bodied residents were required to work; such farms were common in the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries; it could even be part of the same economic complex as a prison farm and other penal or charitable public institutions. Poor farms were county or town-run residences where paupers (mainly elderly and disabled people) were supported at public expense. They were common in the United States beginning in the middle of the 19th century and declined in use after the Social Security Act took effect in 1935 with most disappearing completely by about 1950. In a book written about a resident in my care, there was apparently one of these in the Spangle area. From the book, “Palouse Pilot,” we read, “As Jake drove the family car past the Poor Farm, (and this was in 1945) Pauline told Scotty that there was talk of it being disbanded and put up for sale.  Social Security had come in with the New Deal, and Old Age Pensions would enable the old folks to make do without ending up in such a place.  Yes, there were changes in the air.  A lot could happen to a society in the two and a half years he had been away to war.” (p.350)

            Do not let anyone lead you astray.  “Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.  When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.  This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”

            We can wait on the Lord and be faithful servants.  We can pray for ourselves and for others.  We can trust that God will see us through our darkest hours.  As in the Hebrews text, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  The early church was deeply confused as to when Jesus would come again and various Christian groups have made predictions throughout the years.  We still do not know.  The best advice I can give you is the same as Luther’s, “Live your life as though this is the last one.” None of us really knows as to when the second coming will be or even the end of our own lives.

            The stories of Job, Ruth and Naomi, and Hannah all remind us of the fragility of our lives here on earth.  No one escapes a hard life, especially if they are determined to remain faithful to God. Live your life as though this is the last one.  Amen.

War and Widowhood

24PentecostProper27, Sullivan Park Care Center, November 11, 2012 by Annette Fricke

Friday's numerical date, two years ago was written out as 11/11/11. And for some people, that number sequence was more than a coincidence or inevitability — it was a spiritual signal linked to 2012 Mayan prophecies of both doom and spiritual renewal.

Nov. 11, 2011 mythologies were pervasive on New Age corners of the internet, with believers suggesting that 11/11 numerical sequences were signals from angels or numbers with hidden meanings. Even people who think little of numerology were finding meaning in the day: The Orlando Sentinel reported that Walt Disney World was to host 11 weddings on 11/11/11.

But perhaps the most intriguing 11/11/11 mythology to pop up was the number's link with the supposed 2012 Mayan Apocalypse. The ancient Mayan long-count calendar ended on Dec. 21, 2012, and some people believed that this date would usher in a new spiritual era, or even doomsday. Nov. 11, 2011 most likely became linked with Dec. 21, 2012 when believers noticed that the U.S. Naval Observatory had set the exact time of the 2012 winter solstice for 11:11 Universal Time on Dec. 21, according to John Hoopes, a scholar of Maya history at the University of Kansas. According to Hoopes, "It's essentially based on the notion of synchronicities."  Does it have any significance because of the numbers?  Probably not and it certainly did not have the significance yet that was predicted unless in retrospect, we see the ushering in of a doomsday or a new era of spiritual renewal when December 21of this year arrives.

So what else is November 11^th?  Well, it is the day that Martin Luther was baptized and the day after his birth.  He was baptized on St. Martin of Tours day and given the baptismal name of Martin.  But you say you don’t know who St Martin of Tours was?  Most people don’t.  I didn’t until I looked it up in a liturgical calendar book I have at home.  Martin of Tours was a bishop who died in the year 397 of natural causes on November 8, but was buried on the 11^th in Tours, France in the Cemetery of the Poor.  He was born about the year of 316.  We don’t even know for sure when his birthday was.  We know that his father was a Roman legionary. And with me, you are probably saying to yourselves, what is a Roman legionary?  The Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the Roman army.  Legionaries had to be Roman citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign. The last five years were on veteran lighter duties.  But Martin, his son, decided on his own at the age of ten to become a catechumen.  That meant that he decided on his own to receive instruction in the Christian faith.  But at the age of fifteen, because he was the son of a soldier, he was drafted to serve in the army. He was apparently a good soldier and was popular with his fellow soldier buddies.

According to popular legend, while stationed at Amiens, Martin saw a vision of Christ after giving half of his army issued cloak, sliced in half by his own sword, to a poor old beggar to wrap him in and protect him from the cold of a particular winter night.  In that vision of Christ, he heard, “Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with his cloak.”  If you know this story from another source, there is more and varied detail, one of the details that the cloak reappeared onto Martin and the next day Martin was baptized and thereby became a Christian.

But regardless of the timeline as to just when Martin was baptized, as a result of the vision, Martin became a conscientious objector and asked to leave the army.  I would like to add a little context here.  In the early days of Christianity, Christians could not be soldiers along with other occupations; which, of course, leads to that concept of conscience.  Martin was faced with the question of, “Can I, in good conscience, one who is studying to join the Christian faith, continue to be a soldier?”  It is a question that some ponder today as well. Like many of his modern counterparts, this fourth century conscientious objector had difficulty proving that he was not a coward, but finally was released, now about twenty years old.  Martin became a hermit, staying in a hut for about ten years until being joined by others and formed what was probably the first French monastery.  He was a source of inspiration and help to many people who came from the surrounding countryside.  In the year 371, the people around him pleaded that he would become their bishop.  He finally agreed, but continued to live a life unlike most bishops of the time. He travelled all over the diocese, preaching and teaching the gospel to the peasants and tribes people, fighting against paganism, and setting up centers of Christian life and faith.  He was a strong opponent of the mixture of Church and state and thought that Christians ought to discipline their own, not the state.  The state, in fact, at that time executed Priscillian, a bishop who was charged with practicing magic and six of his companions. Pricillian was among the first to be executed for heresy.

I am sure that it is purely coincidental that Martin’s death and burial happened at the same time of the month as the remembrance for veterans.  People who do chose to be conscientious objectors in this day and age are probably not very numerous and have taken a not so popular attitude and way of life. 

The same may be said for Ruth and Naomi.  They followed their own hearts, probably what we would see today as the Holy Spirit.  They did not take the usual path of being female for that time period.  Yet, some of the Jewish community thought well enough of this story to include it in the books of what we, as Christians, call the Old Testament.

It is a story also of death and loss which is what Veteran’s Day is partially about.  The flip side of honoring the service of the soldier, whether living or killed in a war or conflict is that of the widows and widowers, girlfriends and boyfriends, children and various other friends and relatives.  The flip side is those who are left behind, grieving, wondering how to continue their lives without their loved ones. The ravages of war are bittersweet. Although there may be a feeling of triumph in squelching the so called enemy, there is also the cost.  Every US president in office must ponder before declaring war, “At what cost?”

Naomi and Ruth are widows.  There is no family to care for them.  Naomi loses her husband as well as her two sons.  Ruth is a daughter-in-law who does not share her mother-in-law’s faith.  Naomi is Jewish, but Ruth is not.  Naomi urges Ruth to go back to her kin, but she refuses and clings to Naomi.  She says some of the most beautiful words in the Bible: “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!  Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die---there will I be buried.  May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”  And then Naomi has an idea.  She had kin on her husband’s side of the family: a man named Boaz.  She is blessed by Boaz for taking care of Naomi.  She is to watch over the other women in the field also.  Ruth is thankful for the blessing and the comfort that Boaz brings, even though she is a stranger and foreigner, a non-Jew.  He provides food for her. Then Naomi tells Ruth how to connect with Boaz.  And this is where the lesson I read today begins.  Ruth wins security by seeking out Boaz to be her husband.  Ruth took her chances by turning away from her gods to become a follower of the God of Israel.  Hospitality is central to this story.  It permeates the story for stranger, guest, and host.  This story is really about God and how God operates in the world.  God is the stranger—the one who is different from us, God is our guest when we take a stranger in, and God is the host.  God is the presider at every encounter we have with God and in each worship setting.  God blesses us to be a blessing to others, to all others.  We are to bless everyone, even those who aren’t Christians or don’t act the way we think a Christian should. If we were to display a bumper sticker on our wheelchairs, walkers, or cars, it should say something like, “Christianity welcomes you.” Amen.

15PentecostBProper18, Sullivan Park Care Center, September 9, 2012, by Annette Fricke

            This past week, I was saddened by the news of the death of an actor I had enjoyed seeing in his role in the movie titled, “The Green Mile.”  The actor was not the lead actor in this movie, but played a very important role in the movie as one that made a big impact as a healer.  The actor was Michael Clarke Duncan.  In this movie, Tom Hanks is a supervisor for a state penitentiary in the state of Louisiana in a place that houses only males on death row.  This is not to be confused with the more recent movie, “Dead Man Walking” with Sr. Prejean, the nun who is adamantly against the death penalty.  The theology portrayed is not against the death penalty, but rather it is seen as justice in which the crimes of murder committed are paid for by the taking of the perpetrator’s life.  It is the simple theology we find espoused in the Old Testament and which Jesus refutes in the gospel according to Matthew.  It is this: an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth.  In this case, it is a life for a life or lives.  The role that Tom Hanks plays as Mr. Edgecomb is complicated.  He is the leader and inspiration not only of his staff at the prison, but even his own boss looks to him for spiritual support.  He takes risks that he shouldn’t take in such a situation in order to be more human to the inmates and he is especially friendly with and attracted to one inmate in particular.  The inmate’s name is John Coffey and as John Coffey himself admits, he doesn’t know much of anything but does know that his name is the name of the drink, but is spelled differently.  He is uneducated and he is black in a very prejudiced part of the country in a very prejudiced time in the history of this country.  Mr. Edgecomb is a saint.  He is in relationship with everybody, but even he has his limitations and his nemesis. He suspects that John Coffey, gentle as he is, cannot have possibly committed the crime of which he is accused.  He even goes to the defense lawyer for John Coffey, who sadly, believes otherwise.  Above everything else, Mr. Edgecomb is a seeker of justice.  He goes out on a limb throughout the three hour movie seeking justice for himself, but mostly for those with whom he works and their families.  And that justice is linked to the very powerful healing that lies at the heart and emotions of John Coffey.  You see, John has the power of healing.  In the movie, he brings a mouse back to life and heals Mr. Edgecomb’s bladder infection.  But someone else could use that healing and he convinces his staff to go with his idea.  They take John Coffey outside the prison to Mr. Edgecomb’s bosses’ house in the middle of the night.  Mr. Edgecomb is on a mission and he will not be deterred.  John Coffey is on the same mission and seems to know that he has been summoned to help a lady.  He gets out the truck, past the boss who has a gun pointed at him, up to the upstairs bedroom and heals.  He heals the wife of the boss who has been diagnosed with a tumor the size of a lemon in her brain.  It is inoperable and there is nothing the doctors can do.  But John Coffey succeeds in taking away the tumor and the wife comes back to life, erasing all the memory of the x-ray and the findings.  Not only is she grateful, but expresses that she had a dream where the two of them met. But before John Coffey dies in the electric chair, he completes one more task.  He gives a part of his gift to Mr. Edgecomb.

            You might dismiss this as not being real since it is just a movie that is based on a book.  But think of it this way: if we truly believe that the Bible points us to God, our lives and the way we live them are based on what we see in the Bible.  In the gospel lesson for today, if we look at it really close, we will see that Jesus is really also quite prejudiced.  He actually called the Syro-Phoenician woman a dog.  That is a derogatory name, much the same as a white person being called a Spick by a Mexican or a white person calling a black person a nigger or calling people who live in trailers trailer trash. When we really see this for what it is, we are quite shocked.  Who is this Jesus who puts down others?  In that society, she was unclean.  She was a Gentile.  Her daughter was also unclean. Perhaps, as has been suggested, Jesus also had his moments of spiritual growth.  Perhaps some of his would be followers stretched him spiritually to be more inclusive with his teaching and healing ministries.  And just perhaps, that is the main message of both the “Green Mile” movie as well as this text from the Gospel of Mark.  Are we, in fact, open to getting outside of ourselves and our own conceptualizations of the world to see things differently?  The Jewish people have their set of problems, even today; but so do the Gentiles, the rest of us.  Poor people have problems, but so do the rich.  But the biggest problem we have is when we shut ourselves off from people that we don’t understand, whose cultures are different from ours.  It is difficult and challenging to work with people who have a heavy accent because we don’t know if they understand English and sometimes we find it difficult to understand their English.  Language, cultures, and subcultures are all potential barriers to relationships but it is in relationships that healing takes place.  Jesus calls the woman, who was desperate for a miracle for her child, a dog, a dehumanizing ethnic slur common at the time. No matter what sort of literary tap dance we might create to avoid this uncomfortable truth, eventually, we have to face this stark truth. Jesus uttered a racial slur. When confronted with the Gentile pagan in this story, he explains that his message and ministry are for Israelites only, a comment of ethnic exclusion and prejudice that calls to mind a similar refrain – whites only – that reverberated throughout the South not too long ago. In the South; just like in the movie, “The Green Mile.”  I would be lying to you if I told you that I no longer see that kind of prejudice today.  One of the women I took care of for almost two years, with every new nursing assistant, would ask, “What color is your skin?”  She didn’t want to sound prejudiced, so she never asked, “Are you black?” although we all knew that’s what she meant.  And we also knew she didn’t want a black person working with her. Similarly, there’s the comment, “I don’t want her sitting at my table.”  After which I explain that there is no assigned seating.  But I am a realist and I realize that there are certain some ones who will probably always raise specific negative feelings in us.  However, I think we can all work on trying to live as best we can with those around us and we can do our best to try to get to know people that we even consider to be particularly vile. How we respond, when confronted with the narratives of the oppressed, reveal who we truly are. Do we continue to ignore or deny these realities of oppression? Mock them? Continue to brush them aside as dogs? Or do we, like Jesus, do the miraculous and listen to them, be changed by the power of the truth they are speaking? We are not so different.  We are people who like to be identified with certain groups and exclusiveness.  We like to be comfortable and like to belong to groups that are consisting of people who are just like us.  It’s just not the same when we are with people who have different values.  One resident complained to me one night when “other people” sat at his table because they didn’t talk.  He was frustrated and angry because he was looking forward to having a conversation and it just didn’t happen.  It was not something to which he was accustomed.  It made him feel insecure.

            Going outside our comfort zone is sometimes what makes a difference in people who feel isolated and not a part of the group norm.  Initiating conversation with someone we normally don’t associate with or trying to see things from another perspective, risking being rejected by those we reach out to and those who are our friends.  That’s what sharing the gospel is all about.  We are called to be healers to those outside our group, not because they are outside, but because we are all God’s children, all heirs of God’s eternal kingdom.  It is something we can all celebrate together. All need God’s healing touch through us.

14PentecostProper17, September 2, 2012, Sullivan Park Care Center, by Annette Fricke

            I attended the funeral a week ago last Saturday of my mother’s best friend from childhood.  As it turns out, she was also the great friend of many others and the little church of both her childhood and mine was as full as any Christmas pageant presentation I had ever seen there.  The pastor who has been there for some years now, as well as the previous interim, always asks people before they die or their relatives after their death, what their favorite verse or passage from the Bible is.  Some people are actually able to pinpoint what theirs is, but for the rest of us, we have many favorites.  I can actually see where a person can find certain passages to be particularly meaningful. Other people will actually tear apart someone else’s choice.  I know that a couple of priests where I worship do not care for the book of Job.  I personally like that book and I like it because Job is not afraid to question even God and yet also knows that even though his understanding of God may be lacking, still stands in awe of God and God’s creation and what God has done with that creation.  On Wednesday of last week, the church I attend does not commemorate the beheading of John the Baptist, but chose the contribution of John Bunyan, moved from Friday.  I personally have never read the work that he is most famous for, “Pilgrim’s Progress.”  Just like John the Baptist, John Bunyan was jailed for preaching the gospel.  Why?  It was because John Bunyan was not licensed to be a preacher in England. He was not licensed to be a preacher in England, because at the time you had to belong to the Church of England.  He, in fact, refused to attend Church of England services and was actually a member of a Baptist congregation. And here I stand before you in the same manner: I am not licensed to preach.  I am in direct conflict with the authority of the church and yet also doing what the church has said is a proper ministry.  I am a baptized child of God and at least according to the Gospel of Matthew, it is the ministry of every baptized Christian to go out into the world in the name of Christ, preaching and teaching and baptizing.  I read in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer on p. 855, “The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.” But also, “The priest’s prayer on page 562 is appropriate only for rectors of parishes, vicars of missions, hospital chaplains, and other priests having similar canonical charge.” I had friends that joined Lutheran campus ministry as unordained pastors who the church later decided that they needed to ordain in order to fulfill the functions of that particular ministry.  The Church, both Protestant and Catholic is now in great flux as it decides whether or not to maintain the long held hierarchical tradition handed down to us throughout the generations. The church now celebrates the person of John Bunyan, who at one time was considered an itinerant and illegitimate preacher. I think John the Baptist would also have been seen by the Jews as an itinerant and illegitimate preacher, yet both of them have done what all Christians are called to do and that is to point others, both believers and non-believers, to Jesus Christ. That is our mission as Christians and has always been our mission as Christians.  But how that has taken shape in the Church has, in fact varied throughout history. However, Jesus tells us that time and again, just as he does in this gospel reading assigned for today: we are to point to him and what he has taught us.  Jesus also bucks the Jewish tradition and laws by stating that we are called to follow the commandment of God, not the traditions of humanity. The reading that the lectionary devisers have coupled with the gospel from Deuteronomy echoes this sentiment.  We are to follow the law of God, neither taking away from it, nor adding to it. There was once an early Lutheran leader in this country who believed that if you feel called by God to be a pastor, you should be a pastor.  It doesn’t matter what this or that person or congregation thinks. Jesus is highly critical of the rules of the Pharisees and seeks, it seems, more than anything else, to put everybody on a level playing field.  All are equal in God’s sight.  All were created in the image of God.  None of us is better or worse than anyone else.  All of us, even Job, must realize our humble position before God in order to be put right with God.  We do not make the rules; God does. But if you do not follow the rules that people have placed before you, you can be truly out on a limb and sometimes that means that you may be feeling that you are all alone to face the world, that perhaps only God is your true friend.  To that, I will quote one of my friend’s daily morning favorite: “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, he who formed you, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you: For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." ~ Isaiah 43: 1—3.  There are times in our lives when we will have trials that will cause us to become discouraged or even depressed about our situations in life.  There are times when we need to be reminded that God still cares for us and will see us through every storm, wind, or tempest however great and overwhelming it may seem at the time. God will preserve us in both this life and the next. Almost every single great hymn in Christianity has been written by those who have been through huge storms in their lives, but their faith in God has brought them through to calm waters time and time again.  There is no magic pill or magic formula, we will always have storms, but we can also always rest assured that God is still at the helm of our boats and will calm those storms, however unbearable they may seem at the moment. 

            This specific text from the Gospel of Mark is a difficult one for us to understand except from a non-literal rendition.  It seems to be written from a Gentile perspective.  Gentiles are being brought into Christianity, but do they need to observe all these laws of the Jews in order to be faithful to Christianity?  If we are to read v. 19 in this chapter, we find that Jesus declared all foods to be clean. Yet we live in a world where the Jews remain following a Kosher diet and some Christians follow a no meat diet and others believe that vegetarianism is the common sense way to be and remain healthy.  Jesus tells us that we can do what we want with our food and cleanliness is something we follow, not for the ritual, but hygiene purposes.  At the same time, it is not up to us to point out to others what we see as the folly of food practices in others.  What Jesus is teaching is not new.  We see it in the Old Testament text for today, we also see it in Jeremiah.  Jeremiah also declares in chapter 31: 33, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me.”  The notions that obedience to God must come from the heart, and that the disobedient heart is the source of all wicked actions that take us far from God, are at the core of the Old Testament prophets.  The gospel in Jesus’ words for us is that God wants our heartfelt response, our full-hearted obedience. “…for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”  Amen.

5EasterB The Eunuch

FifthSundayEasterB, Sullivan Park Care Center, May 6, 2012

          The Jews of Jesus’ day had a long history of some very physical rituals as well as the surrounding cultures and religions.  As a young child between the ages of twelve and thirteen, I was required by my parents to take catechism classes.  That meant a series of instruction in the Lutheran faith for two years on both Sunday mornings as well as Wednesday nights.  It was a requirement to voting rights in the church as well as admission to the sacrament of Holy Communion.  During this time, it was our pastor’s task, as a new seminary graduate, to teach our class of five girls.  One of the topics was circumcision because that is one of the things that were required of all Jewish men as well as their male non-Jewish slaves.  But the other thing that puzzled me even more was the word Eunuch.  What was a Eunuch anyway?  I guess the best way to describe it is what you do to a young male piglet when you don’t want it to reproduce and want to raise it for meat only.  Upon looking this up in the dictionary, I found this:  

 

Eunuch definition

 literally bed-keeper or chamberlain, and not necessarily in all cases one who was mutilated, although the practice of employing such mutilated persons in Oriental courts was common (2 Kings9:32; Esther 2:3). The Law of Moses excluded them from the congregation (Deut. 23:1). They were common also among the Greeks and Romans. It is said that even to-day there are some in Rome who are employed in singing soprano in the Sistine Chapel.

Three classes of eunuchs are mentioned in Matt. 19:12.

This passage states, “For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  My footnotes at the bottom of my Bible indicate that in reference to this last category, Jesus accepts the possibility of voluntary celibacy, as did other pious Jews.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary 

The Eunuch can serve a different purpose, just as a castrated male pig.  A male who is a eunuch cannot impregnate a woman and can potentially sing Soprano.  It was a matter of control and purity in the Jewish religion; and thus the prohibitions in that religion against all that are physically different.  We read in Deuteronomy, chapter 23, “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.”  In Ezra, chapter 10, we read, “All these had married foreign women, and they sent them away with their children.”  Many of those sent away became a part of Samaria. It was considered an abomination to the Lord to have a physical defect or to marry someone outside of the religious community, such as an Ammorite or Moabite.  Despite this, Ruth was a Moab, great grandmother of King David and thus also of Jesus.  I guess that means that Jesus is not from the pure, untarnished Jewish line. Our second lesson has a lot to do with prejudices, prejudicial treatment of others, and the all inclusiveness of Christianity.  Interracial marriage goes back many years and so does other types of sexuality.  Christianity, in its truest form includes those that were formerly excluded by Jewish law.  The interesting thing is that people either don’t seem to read their Bibles, or don’t take note of the history of many, many years that it contains.  And if you have ever watched the TV show about various celebrities’ genealogies, if you go back far enough, we are likely related to everyone anyway.

          Another point that I would like to make is that Philip is not one of the big name apostles, although I agree that this passage illustrates he was chosen by God specifically for the purpose of the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch.  Philip was one of seven deacons chosen by the apostles in Act, chapter 6, verse 5.  This story takes place after the stoning of Stephen, also a deacon, who was stoned for his testimony about Jesus. Faith began before in the Eunuch as evidenced by his reading of the book of Isaiah.  He was a religious man, we are told, but without the good news of the gospel. He asked for the ability to understand what the passage in the book of Isaiah meant and as Philip opened the meaning of the scriptures for the Eunuch, the Eunuch was able to see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world.  At our baptisms and those of others, we are reminded that the faith journey is a continuous one.  It is one that is to continue to the end of our lives here on earth. Philip, being directed by the angel of God, and then by the Holy Spirit; obeyed God’s direction to this specific person and by doing so, showed compassion. It didn’t matter that this person was a different race, a different sexuality, a wealthier classed person.  Philip was called and empowered by the Holy Spirit by the prayers and laying on of hands by the apostles.  And we are all called by God in this way, sometimes with the addition of oil, beginning at our baptisms, then at confirmation, whenever we receive a blessing at the communion rail, whenever we receive unction for the sick and/or dying, when set apart for a specific ministry of consecration or ordination within the Christian community.  At each of these times, we are again asked to recommit our lives to the ministry of Jesus Christ in our daily lives. There is still much to be done and much to think about.  Think of how the vast majority of this planet's inhabitants experience life: poverty, infant mortality, recurring famine, fatal epidemic, natural disasters, and deadly war. And even in Europe and North America, as so many struggle with joblessness and foreclosure, to claim that God is love goes against so much of our common, human experience.

Nevertheless, as Christians we persist. We even sometimes sing: "Love Him, Love Him, all ye little children. God is love; God is love." We proclaim that God's love transcends and pervades common human experience. Perhaps today we Christians sometimes proclaim this too glibly. Perhaps we sentimentalize this love. Perhaps we, when things are going all right for ourselves, forget that this is not the case for everyone. We forget that God's love is not obvious to everybody. God calls us to reach out to others and share that love, helping others to understand the love of God in Christ Jesus. There is no middle ground here. Either we are bearers of a new truth about God and the world, or we are above all to be pitied as the greatest of fools.

That is the way of the Gospel. We are bearers of the message that God is for you, God is with you, God cares for you, and, yes, God loves you. This message should strike us as a message so good as to border on folly.

But for Jesus Christ, this Gospel of ours would be folly. In Christ, God brought divine love to common human experience, not to trick us, not to make sport of us, not even to judge us or condemn us, but to join us, to live fully our common human experience, to be born, to live, to suffer, to die, all out of love--and to rise again to show that nothing, not even death, can extinguish this love. This is our hope, our calling, and our mission. Having been loved by God, we likewise must love, and not just those closest to us or those who are easiest to love; our love must extend to places and to people where love is foreign, where love is absent, where faith in love has faded or died. To be loved by God is to be given a mission: to take this bold faith to those who just cannot accept it, to the destitute, the broken, to those who have lost hope, and not to tell them this improbable truth, but to show them it is true, through our lives and actions. No one will believe it unless they see it in us.

6EasterB Hospice woman and Cabbie

6EasterB, Sullivan Park Care Center, May 13, 2012

A NYC Taxi driver wrote:

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, any knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard
box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, and then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.'

'Oh, you're such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive
through downtown?'

'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly.

'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice. ‘The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her purse.

'Nothing,' I said

'You have to make a living,' she answered.

'There are other passengers,' I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

            Last Sunday, the gospel lesson that I did not read to you was from the beginning of this fifteenth chapter of John about Jesus being the true vine and the Father being the vinedresser.  The gospel lesson for today is a continuation of that chapter.  The key word throughout this chapter is, “abide.”  And I say this because, that word shows up eleven times in this chapter. What does the word abide mean?  If we look in the Greek New Testament dictionary, we find that the Greek word men-oh which is the word translated into the English abide means, “stay, abide, live, remain, dwell; last, endure, continue” and in the transitive form, it means, “await or continue.”  I am pretty sure that this was a strong inspiration behind the words to the hymn, “Abide with Me.”  Rather than the text itself, last Sunday I read what appears to be the meaning of that text.

            In this story about the cabbie and the fare that he takes to the hospice house, he does the most kind and compassionate thing.  That is by far the best response this cab driver could possibly make, but some people think that being nice is always the correct response.  I don’t believe that is true and the older I get, the more I know it isn’t true.  Take, for example the raising of children.  If parents don’t encourage fair play with other children, or to not wander off in a store and never receive discipline or correction, they will have difficulty in school and other social situations.  Even as adults, some think that as long as nobody says anything, it is OK to break the rules of the employer and do things their way. Sometimes the best thing you can do seems to be anything but kind.  Sometimes we will disappoint someone because our best is to say, “No.” to someone.  There were times for me when it has been very hard, but necessary to say.  I remember many years ago sitting in the office of my supervising pastor who said to me, “There are times in our lives when we have to do something because it is part of our job; we may not like doing it, but it is part of our job.”  Every job that I have had consisted of parts that I don’t particularly enjoy doing and I venture to say that it may also be true of other people and the jobs that they have had.  As some have said to me, “Just say no.”  As in the theme for Nike, “Just do it.”  The best way seems to be the simplest.  Even the simplest things we do, small as they may seem at the time, can be the biggest.  The simple things we do today can have big percussions in the future. Remember the analogy of the mustard seed that a big bush can come from a very small seed.

            Jesus explains in the gospel lesson that our relationship to Jesus is no longer that of a servant and master, but one of friendship.  There are no secrets because Jesus has told us everything that has been revealed to him from the Father.  But remember this: Jesus has chosen us.  We did not choose Jesus.  In this relationship, we have the responsibility to bear fruit, fruit that will last.  It is this fruit that will last if we remain with Jesus, if we abide with him in all that we do and say.  Jesus will help us to love others as he has loved us and brought us before the throne of grace.  We always have that free will to walk away or to engage in disbelief.  We can always reject the love of God, but how could that possibly be beneficial for our lives?  How is that possible if we truly understand the depth of love that God has for us?  It is up to us to bear witness to God’s love for the world.  The congregation I was with before this one, for almost seventeen years does what they can to feed the hungry.  Just that one simple act has created disciples because they have reached out in love, the same love that God in Jesus Christ has for us.  The Holy Spirit is at work; even here.  Amen.

The Velveteen Rabbit

5LentB, Sullivan Park Care Center, March 25, 2012 by Annette Fricke

The whole idea of losing in order to win, of dying in order to live, of sacrificing in order to save, runs counter to reasonable living. It goes against the common sense of humankind’s basic instinct to survive. It is nonsensical. I am sure that many in the crowd that day walked away scratching their heads, confused and bewildered by the words they heard, disappointed in Jesus. I am sure others in the crowd understood what Jesus said and reckoned him a madman. And a few, I am quite sure, of those who came to see Jesus were inspired, encouraged, and greatly challenged as they began to follow the teacher and his new teaching. It is my hope that these passages from the scriptures are always challenging whether stories of Jesus, or the prophet Jeremiah, or any other Biblical prophet. We can learn much, even from people very different from us. I also hope that you may find inspiration and encouragement to continue your journey with God.

That is how it is when a teacher teaches. Children as well as adults will come away with different things when someone teaches them. I don’t think Jesus used flannel boards or something that was used for Sunday School when I was a kid; but I am sure that people thought about what he said because they knew that he was a fellow Jew and had been known to attend Temple like other religious Jews. They knew he was the son of Mary and Joseph and enough about him to consider that he had something worth teaching and therefore worth hearing.

As tradition would have it, Jesus’ father was a carpenter. I always wondered what kinds of tools they used then for carpentry. They definitely did not have power tools because it was way before electricity and batteries which we now consider to be commonplace. I imagine it is possible that sawdust could have been a byproduct of the use of a hand saw or chisel.

My favorite toy, as a child, was a sawdust stuffed dog. I named the stuffed dog, Doggy Daddy not knowing till much later that it was also the name of a cartoon character. I toted Doggy Daddy around with me around the house and my parents’ property, but nowhere else. I was not allowed to take him in the car. But like the Velveteen Rabbit, it did not have hind legs, only front ones.

The original Velveteen Rabbit was written in 1922 and has survived the test of time. It is still available in the original version at the local library. It is a story told from the perspective of the Velveteen Rabbit who is a Christmas present that originally sits on the shelf or the floor of the nursery and is not played with by the boy. The feeling of aloneness of the rabbit, which doesn’t get playtime, is expressed by the rabbit. Finally, the boy’s favorite toy is nowhere to be found, and the Nanny replaces it with the Velveteen Rabbit. The rabbit sees himself and all of the toys as people, especially the Skin Horse who talks to him and says that he is real and that the rabbit can become real as well when loved by people. The horse explains that the reason the horse looks so beat up and has most of his hair missing is because he was loved by the boy’s uncle. When the nanny gives the rabbit to the boy, the boy loves the rabbit and takes him everywhere he goes. When the boy gets sick, the rabbit is still there in the bed with the boy and stays the duration of his illness with Scarlet Fever. The rabbit senses, from his conversation with the horse, that the way to become real is the goal and to become real is to receive and be loved. There is also a hint that perhaps the rabbit loves the boy, although it is quite clear that the boy is the initiator of love and the rabbit is dependent upon the boy. The Velveteen Rabbit ends up on the burn pile because spending all that time with the boy meant that he was full of Scarlet Fever contagion. Burning, as most of you know, was a common way to attempt to alleviate the spread of disease before vaccinations were developed. If you don’t know the story, you will be thinking surely this is the end for the Velveteen Rabbit. He will be burned up with the rest of the heap. But that isn’t what happens.

The Greeks mentioned in this gospel reading appear to be Gentiles. They are trying to get to Jesus through Philip. They say to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” These Greeks are not Jews, but they see something of value in Jesus, something they want. The Velveteen Rabbit sees something in the Skin Horse that he wants, too. He wants to be loved and accepted, not a discarded, forgotten toy. He wants to become a real bunny.

How can we see Jesus? The Jews at both the juncture of the life of the prophet Jeremiah as well as the life of Jesus worshipped God in the Temple. Both Jeremiah and Jesus suggest a different way to worship God. God says, “I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Just as a wood carver goes deep into the wood carving with loving care the vines, fruits, animals and people desired for all to see; just as the crafters of the sawdust stuffed animals of times past; so also is God’s love except God’s love is even deeper. The law of love is the standard. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself. Just like the relationship between the Velveteen Rabbit and the little boy, so also and even more so, God has loved us in Jesus Christ, and so also are we to love God. That love of God goes beyond this life. It is not the end when we die, but a new beginning. The Velveteen Rabbit begins a new life, transformed into a real bunny---the same, but qualitatively different.

It is easy to sit around and complain about loss of hair, constipation, poor appetite, feet that hurt and various other ailments of getting old. But it happens to all of us, to one degree or another. Sometimes we focus so much on ourselves that we forget that we are God’s creation, created to love as God loves us.

“What is REAL?" asked the Velveteen Rabbit one day... "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When [someone] loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand... once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.” ― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real

God’s love never ends.

4LentB, Sullivan Park Care Center, March 18, 2012

I share a poem written in 1942 by Margaret Wise Brown:

Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away.
So he said to his mother, “I am running away.”
“If you run away,” said his mother, “I will run after you.
For you are my little bunny.”
“If you run after me,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a fish in a trout stream
and I will swim away from you.”
“If you become a fish in a trout stream,” said his mother,
“I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you.”
“If you become a fisherman,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a rock on the mountain, high above you.”
“If you become a rock on the mountain high above me,”
said his mother, “I will become a mountain climber,
and I will climb to where you are.”
“If you become a mountain climber,”
said the little bunny,
“I will be a crocus in a hidden garden.”
“If you become a crocus in a hidden garden,”
said his mother, “I will be a gardener. And I will find you.”
“If you are a gardener and find me,”
said the little bunny, “I will be a bird
and fly away from you.”
“If you become a bird and fly away from me,”
said his mother, “I will be a tree that you come home to.”
“If you become a tree,” said the little bunny,
“I will become a little sailboat,
and I will sail away from you.”
“If you become a sailboat and sail away from me,”
said his mother, “I will become the wind
and blow you where I want you to go.”
“If you become the wind and blow me,” said the little bunny,
“I will join a circus and fly away on a flying trapeze.”
“If you go flying on a flying trapeze,” said his mother,
“I will be a tightrope walker,
and I will walk across the air to you.”
“If you become a tightrope walker and walk across the air,”
said the bunny, “I will become a little boy

and run into a house.”
“If you become a little boy and run into a house,”
said the mother bunny, “I will become your mother
and catch you in my arms and hug you.”
“Shucks,” said the bunny, “I might just as well
stay where I am and be your little bunny.”
And so he did.
“Have a carrot,” said the mother bunny.
I love this story because the relationship between Mother Bunny and her Little Bunny can easily be paralleled to the relationship of God and God’s children. No matter where the Little Bunny goes, where he tries to run away or hide, what he attempts to become, Mother Bunny always knows how to find him and is right there for him. And in the end Little Bunny realizes being safe with Mother Bunny is the best place to be anyway. Just as God always knows where we are no matter how far we stray (intentionally or not), and one of God’s deepest desires is for us to come to the place of simply wanting to be God’s disciples.

It truly boils down to the grace of God that pursues us everywhere because God is everywhere and God’s love is everywhere. Being a musically minded person, I often think in songs. The song that came to mind this time around was Sir John Stainer’s “God so loved the World.” It follows the text of this morning’s gospel lesson. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoso believeth, believeth in him should not perish, should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world. God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world. But that the world through Him might be saved.

God’s love is everywhere. It is for everyone and it is both now and into eternity. As I worked my job this week as a certified nursing assistant, I found myself thinking once again about grieving. There is a quite logical reason for that. One of the residents that I had worked with for almost two years died in the last week. It struck me that both the book I had been reading and what she wanted displayed on her death notice were the identical passage from the Bible, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It is from Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13. She had no knowledge that I was reading this book because I had quit working on that unit four weeks earlier.

I share with you a summarized version from a book titled, “Shine and Shadow” by Kathleen McTigue. Kathleen tells a story titled, “How to give a Blessing.” That is a much more general title than what actually happens in this story. She tells about what it was like for her when her father died and having to go to the grocery store to pick up a few items. When she got to the checkout, the cashier asked her, “How are you?” She did not intend to say it, but she said, “I’m not so good. My dad died last night,” The cashier was caught off guard and his face turned red. She did not say the expected, “Fine.” Or “Everything’s good.” The exchange suddenly became an awkward moment between the two. Neither knew what to do or say next. Suddenly, the grocery bagger, a person with Down’s syndrome said the most simple, yet most profound words to her, “I bet you feel really sad about that.” She said to him, “Yes I do. Thank you.” It is not the gifts God gives you; it is the sharing of them with others. God does not expect any of us to walk alone. With God beside us, we are never truly alone. But besides that, we should always be about making connections with others because we are all God’s children, all part of God’s family regardless of what we believe. God’s life-giving grace works through all of us both now and into eternity. There is no interruption of life when we die. We continue to live on with God. As stated in the Nicene Creed: “We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” That resurrection begins with our baptism, our uniting to Christ in his death and resurrection by allowing God to transform us into the image of God in what we say, do, and think.

We may sit back and think about Little Bunny Foo Foo hopping through the forest or the Runaway Bunny as being silly, old children’s stories. However, they give us a glimpse of the two-sided nature of what it is like to be both alive and living in God’s grace and in need of God’s comfort in the forgiveness of our sins. May we always be reminded that God is there every step of the way, to forgive, to strengthen, to walk with us in our faith journeys. Faith comes by the grace of God.
It is God's work, not ours. Salvation is available to all. We are those who condemn, make exception, separate and judge. God does not do that. God loves and cares for each and every one of us. The work to procure that salvation is already finished in Jesus. In Him we live and work and have our being. Amen.

words from the poem Desiderata, written in 1927 by a German Methodist and lawyer:

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.