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.

This fourth Sunday in Lent is a significant one. It was hinted at in the Gospel lesson for the day which is that of the Prodigal son. One of the prominent themes of this lesson is that when we are repentant, God goes out to meet us before we even get down on our knees and fully verbalize that contrition. From God's perspective, repentance is a time of celebration, "Rejoice with me" (Luke 15:6), "Rejoice with me" (Luke 15:9), "...let us eat and celebrate" (Luke 15:23) and "...celebrate and rejoice." The whole of chapter 15 is about rejoicing and celebration being directly connected to repentance and being embraced and kissed by the God who meets us in our sorrow over realizing what we have done and attempting to mend that broken relationship. There is a historical significance to the usage of this theme for this particular Sunday. In the early Christian church, the period of Lent was a time for penitence for both those who had been separated from the Christian fellowship of the church by grave sins as well as for those seeking fellowship for the first time with the Church. This particular Sunday has traditionally been one of rejoicing in the penitence of sinners (and we all fit that bill). The Introit from the SBH (Service Book and Hymnal, 1958) on page 85 reflects this theme, "Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her: all ye that love her. Rejoice with joy with her: all ye that mourn for her." That is also the traditional introit of the Roman Catholic Church. In Isaiah 66:10, "Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her---" Hmmm, that IS the introit for this Sunday.

Luther Quiz

Luther Quiz

A poem on Ash Wednesday:

Ash Wednesday

Now forty winters have besieged this brow
that bears the mark of ashes once again,
its shallow furrows yielding to time's plow
as, on command, I turn and turn again.
With every year the mark goes deeper still
and stays there longer than the year before,
reminding me, despite my flesh's will,
there comes a spring when I'll be marked no more.

Yet still I bow and part my graying hair
to make way for the dust that makes us all,
the mortal touch, the cross traced in the air,
the voice that tells me to regard the fall
that each of us must know before we rise
and raise unwrinkled brows to greet Gods' eyes.

Angela O'Donnell

The Bible tells us about Simeon which have become the words used in the Daily Office--namely during Vespers. "Lord, let your servant depart in peace..." from Luke 2:29ff. We assume by the context that Simeon's death is very near, but we do not hear any more about Elizabeth from the scriptures. We do hear much later about their son, John the Baptist. We probably do not hear about Elizabeth any more because she is a female and females are not as valued in the society of the time. Some have speculated that she died also and possibly left John as an orphan and that might explain why he is dressed the way he is and following the diet he is said to follow. Despite all that, people did hear what he had to say and followed him anyway. Hooray for John that he pointed away from himself to Jesus and gave Jesus his rightful place of honor.

The following is found in Wikipedia Encyclopedia:

The Advent Calendar originated with German Lutherans.

The word Advent is fro the Latin 'adventus' meaning "coming" which is translated from the Greek word 'parousia' which refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Advent is an observance that has the dual purpose of the original Hebrews who were waiting for the Messiah which Christians believe to be Jesus and the second coming of Jesus.

The newer Lutheran and Anglican Churches use of blue during Advent is a custom traced to the Church of Sweden (Lutheran) and the medieval Sarum Rite. It is often referred to as Sarum blue.

Late Advent weekdays (December 17-24) mark th singing of the 'O Antiphons.' These are the antiphons sung for the Magnificat at Vespers in the Roman Catholic and Lutheran communions as well as Evensong in the Anglican communion. This is the basis for the Advent hymn, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."

As we near the beginning of the Advent season, I think it is pertinent at this time to bring up some church history and liturgical history. It seems to be very lacking since people are afraid to really say what might offend others.

According to Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Advent Wreaths are from the Middle Ages, but the first modern one was made by Johann Hinrich Wichern, a German pastor, teacher, and theologian who lived 1808-1881. It was made from a wooden ring (probably a cartwheel) with 198 small red candles and 56 big white candles to teach children. The small candles were lit each day of Advent while the white candles were lit on Saturdays and Sundays.

As a German tradition, it had taken root in the beginning of the 20th century, but not until 1930 in Bavaria (southern Germany) and Austria.

In the Catholic church, the tradition was to have four candles, three of them were violet and one was rose to match the vestments of the priests during the Sundays of Advent. The violet candles represented faithful expectation whereas the rose candle represented joy and hope. The rose candle was designated for the third Sunday of Advent called Gaudete Sunday which is Latin for "Rejoice." It also is named that it also signify the first words of the Introit for that particular Sunday. Those who have studied liturgy as a course in seminary know that it is a long tradition to name the Sundays after the beginning words of the Introit.

Another tradition, which has been followed at Trinity Lutheran in Tacoma where I still hold membership is for specific designations for each of four candles in accordance to the content of the lessons for each Sunday in Advent. They are as follows: the first candle is the Prophets' candle, the second candle is the Bethlehem candle, the third candle is the Shepherds' candle, and the fourth candle is the Angels' candle. Trinity combines this tradition with the following tradition by lighting a big white candle for Christmas.

The next tradition is for five candles. The first candle is the Candle of Hope to represent the patriarchs of the faith, the second is the Candle of Peace to represent the prophets who foretold the birth of Jesus. The third is the Candle of Love representing John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Christ, the fourth is the Candle of Joy representing Mary, the mother of Jesus and the fifth is usually white representing Jesus Christ and is lit on Christmas Day.