Don't Steal my Joy!

Epiphany3C, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 27, 2013 by Annette Fricke

                My mother used to give my brother and me a blank check to purchase groceries at the local grocery store.  For those of you who need to know, it was Hurd’s store in Rockford. Somewhere along the way, my brother had acquired a mixed yellow lab that followed us everywhere.  So one day we all went to the grocery store, our wagon in tow, and the owner of the store, Neil Hurd, asked us, “Whose dog is that outside?”  Neither of us wanted to say it was ours because we knew instinctively that Neil did not want any dogs in front of his store.  We asked him what it looked like and then said, “We don’t know.”  We went to the cashier, filling out the amount, and left without another word. 

            Then there was the husband of the usual cashier at Hurd’s store.  He would get mad at us for riding our bicycles on the sidewalk next to his house.  He saw it as his sidewalk. We figured it was safer than being in traffic and we literally rode our bikes all over town: to the top of the town hill, to Wes Brown’s place, to the cemetery, to the town dump, and even to the Melvin LaShaw farm. At one time, my brother bicycled half the town and I the other half of town to deliver the Spokesman-Review.

            The pursuit of joy in the midst of conflict was a theme of my life that began when I was very young.  Preachers and teachers, for the most part enjoy preaching and teaching.  But there is always bound to be conflict.  President Obama, in his second inaugural speech mentioned the often quoted portion of our US Declaration of Independence, from the beginning of the second paragraph, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights: that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”  He went on with, “The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.” I admit that I did not pay much attention to what the critics said following the speech, but I am sure that this phrase and what followed is what ticked off a few people in the governmental offices as well as the general public.  There is always conflict in the midst of joy.

One thing in particular that struck me as I was reading up on this particular gospel text is this: This is Jesus’ inaugural speech.  It is the beginning of his ministry according to Luke, just as last week’s gospel from John is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is telling us here what he is going to do.  Consistent with the rest of the gospel of Luke, we are again talking about the role of the Holy Spirit and God making it right for the poor and the lowly.  As I mentioned two Sundays ago, the Holy Spirit’s work in the story of Jesus in Luke is from the very beginning.  At the start of Luke, people are praying in anticipation of the Messiah, the one who will once and for all set everything straight and God’s justice will be accomplished on earth.  Or as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father: Your will be done on earth. I don’t think the disciples at this point understood “as it is in heaven.” We see Anna and Zachariah, Mary and Elizabeth in expectation and anticipation and the excitement they express when their prayers are answered.  We see the joy expressed in Nehemiah when the Word of the Lord is read to them.  We see the implied joy when the crisis of no wine left at the wedding becomes way more than enough.  God’s word to us is intended to be one of joy all the way back through the Old Testament. We need to separate the conflict from the joy.  We need to dismiss those who see only conflict. Remember that every time you pick up the Bible to read it. There have been many minds writing the Old and New Testaments. Don’t get caught up in the “eye for an eye” sayings.  As put forth on a sign at a church on Ray St, which I am certain is a quote from the movie, Fiddler on the Roof, “If we executed the ‘eye for an eye,’ everyone in the world would be blind.” The in-breaking of the kingdom of God is intended to be one of joy. It is exciting. For the longest time, all I could think about was these two men from my past saying essentially, “Don’t bring your dog to the store.” And “Don’t ride your bike on my sidewalk.”  And now, I would say to them if they were still alive, “Don’t steal my joy!”

Everyone likes compliments, especially when they first get up to read a lesson or preach.  I don’t know if this was Jesus’ first time reading in the synagogue, the second or even the last, but for some reason, they didn’t like it.  I am thinking they didn’t like the part where he said that this prophecy from Isaiah is being fulfilled in the present.  They might even have thought that he was being some kind of smart aleck talking in such a way as a child brought up in the area. Why?  Because Jesus, by saying this, is claiming to be no ordinary person and is claiming that he is the ideal messiah of Isaiah’s prophecy.

Now, I flunked out of Hebrew my second quarter, but this much I know: the word we translate from the Greek messiah means “anointed one.”  One of the first places we find one who is anointed is in the book of I Samuel when we read about the anointing of Saul to be a king, the first king.  So actually, it follows then that there were several messiahs before Jesus, but none of them were permanent nor meeting the expectations of the ideal messiah.  Remember two Sundays ago when I talked about the permanency of the Holy Spirit with Jesus?  I said this: As Richard Jensen observes, only in Luke is the Spirit of God described as a bodily descent of the dove upon Jesus. Bodily descent has the character of permanence.  The Spirit will remain with Jesus, unlike the prophets and kings of old when the Spirit would only last the length of their ministry or kingship. The Spirit in those cases was temporary. 

When men in the Old Testament were anointed as king, they were set aside, so to speak, for a specific purpose.  They were to be the king for the people and to do what God, through the prophets told them to do.  Saul was called to account for his behavior by Samuel for not doing what God told him to do. Saul was human and gave in to what the people wanted.   Samuel was very harsh with him. Saul came to him in repentance. Saul deeply regretted what he had done.  And remember David who killed another king so he could take his wife?  Even the greatest of the kings of Israel had serious faults.  The whole purpose of the kings was to carry out the will of God.  So also, the whole purpose of Jesus is to carry out the will of God.  Our whole purpose is to carry out the will of God. And where do we find the will of God for our lives?  Is it not the same as that of Jesus?  Isn’t that what God expects of us?  The Spirit of the Lord is upon you, because he has anointed you to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent you to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.  This is good news.  It is a joyful duty.  It is indeed right, our duty and our joy that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to God, through our Savior Jesus Christ. By the leading of a star you were shown forth to all the nations; in the waters of the Jordan you proclaimed Jesus your beloved Son; and in the miracle of water turned to wine you revealed your glory. Strengthen us for the journey by your Holy Spirit and your holy sacraments to bring good news.  Amen.

The Wedding at Cana Revisited

2SundayEpiphanyC, The Wedding at Cana, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 20, 2013 by Annette Fricke

                Oh, love, how deep, how broad, how high, Beyond all thought and fantasy, That God, the Son of God, should take Our mortal form for mortal’s sake! For those who might benefit from the Latin itself: O amor quam extaticus,
Quam effluens, quam nimius, Qui Deum Dei Filiam Unum fecit mortalium! The love of God is quite beyond our comprehension, especially when we contemplate our own failure to reach that type of love in our own lives.  How is it possible that God could love us that much?  I look at this gospel text and that is what I see: I see the love of God in Christ Jesus.  Last Sunday, we see Jesus standing in line with sinners for baptism and this Sunday, he comes not as the bridegroom of a wedding, not as the center of attention, but as a guest. God comes among us as one of us, a guest among many guests to a celebration of a wedding. He is a guest among many guests just as he was one person among many who came for baptism. Jesus came as one of us.

            It seems that by this time, Mary knew that Jesus was more than just one of us.  Why else would she give the order to “Do whatever he tells you?”  I don’t know what her expectations were when she apparently directed her son to do what he did, but I am positive that there was a great reaction to such a changing of water into wine.  The steward was quick to point out that there is a lot of good wine available for the celebration. Even though we don’t have many details, we can guess how this made the occasion a very joyful one.  In fact, we don’t have the details of this story at all—the name of the mother of Jesus is not named and neither are the disciples of Jesus.  In the gospel of John, only five disciples are ever named in the entire book. The mother of Jesus is never called Mary in this gospel.  Perhaps the point of this is that we should not be looking at the other characters in the story, but Jesus alone.  The important figure to note is Jesus, not anyone else.  Never mind his mother or his disciples because they are only minor characters to this story.  It is not what they do that matters, it is what Jesus does.

            The early Church, however, saw something else: 1) Christ shows himself to be one with the Creator.  This is the conclusion of Origen, Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Irenaeus.  2) The marriage feast is a symbol of joy.  This is the main emphasis of Origen who states that bread is a source of strength and wine is the source of joy. 3) Christ transforms the water of Judaism into the new wine of Christianity, especially for Origen, Clement, Cyril, Cyprian, as well as Chrysostom.

            Augustine, however, has a different view, “The miracle indeed of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby he made the water into wine, is not marvelous to those who know that it was God’s doing.”  But, I would argue, it is marvelous and it is God’s doing. And I would argue that this miracle is about the abundance of God’s love, that it is plenteous and overflowing, it is over kill and beyond what is needed.  It is in excess. It is about the excessive lavishing of love that God has given to us in Jesus.  If you add up the figures, it is an overwhelming amount of wine.  There is far more wine there than that which is required or needed to satisfy the joyous celebration of a wedding in anyone’s book.  That is what I get out of this story. The quantity of wine is not only generous but the quality superb as well. 

            Martin Luther calls this text a lesson of love, visible in the difficult but finally happy relation of Christ with his mother, but then even more he sees the lessons of divine grace and discipled faith: “Thus Christ lures all hearts to himself, to rely on him as ever ready to help, even in temporal things, and never willing to forsake any;… Christ waits to the very last moment when the want is felt by all present, and there is no counsel or help left. It is like I was taught about one of the principles of counseling:  frequently, the best time to be ready to change one’s habits is when you are most in crisis, when you have hit bottom, so to speak.  It is a concept that is used widely in Alcoholics Anonymous.  Change is not going to happen until you yourself can see it with your own eyes. If I perceive that all is going well, there is no need for me to change.  Even if all in the room can see what I need, unless I see it myself, my motivation for change will be lacking.  Change will come sooner when we are willing to entertain someone else’s observation.

            Jesus’ mother has made an observation of what is going on.  The celebration, to be a true celebration needs wine.  The wine had run out. No commentary I have read has suggested this, but perhaps this also could be a reference to Judaism.  The joy of being in relationship with God has run out due to the Pharisees’ insistence on the observance of every letter of the law.  The law weighed people down and it became not a joy to worship God, but drudgery.  Those that thought they were living by it were actually hardened by it. They were proud of their standing before God and felt entitled. They believed that they were first in the Kingdom of God and deserved to be honored by God. Luther says, “Whoever still deems himself wise, strong, and pious, and finds something good in himself, and is not yet a poor, miserable, sick sinner and fool, the same cannot come to Christ the Lord, nor receive his grace.”  Luther is referring to the other purpose of the law which is to drive us to Christ. The other people encountered by Jesus in his ministry were those who had been broken by the Law, and were humbled by it. They knew they were condemned under it and found Him to be a source of redemption and a savior which they longed for. Luther makes a distinction between those who are filled with pride and do not have any room for grace.  If you see no need for God, you will fill yourself with other things, including what you think are your accomplishments when in fact everything you have is from God and owed to God.  Sometimes we need reminding about this.  Sometimes we are content to think that it has all come from us and we want to pat ourselves on the back.  We forget to give God the credit.  Instead of filling our vessels with the wine of God’s grace, we have filled them with our own pride.

            But now, let’s return to the text.  In John, the whole life and purpose of Jesus culminates where God is glorified.  God is glorified ultimately in Jesus’ death on the cross.  Crucifixion is glorification for John, no more and no less.  Throughout the gospel of John, we read, just as in this gospel text, that Jesus’ hour had not yet come.  However, just as every Sunday is a mini Easter, every story about Jesus is a glimpse of what the glory of God is all about.  The glory of God is the defeat of sin and death which is accomplished only by the death of Jesus on the cross.  According to John, that is the defining moment.  As Schnackenburg has noted, “This first Johannine miracle story points---as do all the Johannine miracle stories---beyond the narrated incident itself to Jesus’ work as a whole and to the fundamental saving event of the ‘Hour of Jesus.’  In the transformation of water of ‘Jewish purification’ into Jesus’ gift of wine, which was a sign of the Time of Salvation, the scene is set for the end-time Turn of Times. The Cross.”

In Christ, that promised day, that promised hour of Jesus has arrived and all the abundance of God’s blessings are poured out onto the people.  Their depleted resources are filled to the brim with God’s grace. The water for purification is transformed into the wine, which is God’s gracious offering of himself in Christ.  As the people during Jesus’ life on earth apparently demanded, “Give us a sign,” realize this: This is a sign along with others, but the most profound sign that Jesus is who he says he is, is his complete sacrifice for us in which he poured out love and grace unbounded for all.  Give us faith every day, gracious Lord to believe it and live into it. In the words of the second half of verse 4: “By words and signs and actions thus Still seeking not himself, but us.” Amen.

 

BaptismofOurLordJesus

BaptismofOurLordC, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 13, 2013 by Annette Fricke

            The snow falls silently and softly to the ground and onto everything not sheltered.  It blankets all with its cold caress.  People hurry to and fro outside the walls of this place where you reside and some do come to visit.  However, in this season of winter, people sometimes forget to slow down, and they don’t think to visit, and being here can get lonely.  Some people get into car accidents like the three car accident on the South Hill on 29^th on Friday. People sometimes forget to take care of themselves and care for others as well and end up doing the opposite.  Sometimes we are tempted to go about taking care of business in a way that does not do justice, it is simply task-oriented with no special thought as to intention or consequences, with no thought except maybe to complete the task and get it over with.  Sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking that we are controlled or that we are in control when in fact, it’s probably a bit of both.  We see a statement that declares, “Our destiny is determined by our decisions.”  Well, yes it is, but not entirely. I don’t pretend to know how people get to where they are today and yet because of that, I think we are all called to live in the present and to make the most of the present moment. A resident of mine declares, “I would not have bought a new car had I known I would have a stroke.” Here are the details: his mind has not been affected by the stroke, but his body has. Sometimes, my co-workers and I forget that not all of our residents have dementia and really do remember the details of how they are treated and what we say and do that triggers feelings in them. As a caregiver in a similar place as this, I appreciate the perspective you have to offer.

            Most of us have probably read the accounts of Jesus’ baptism as found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John many times in our lives.  I don’t know about you, but I forget the details.  I forget how Luke and Matthew’s accounts use the same source for their gospels, which goes to Mark and to a source before Mark.  Yet, I know it is the nuances that make each gospel story unique in what gets emphasis and what does not.  And it is always interesting what the crafters of the lectionary readings leave out.  This morning’s gospel leaves out the context of John the Baptist being imprisoned by Herod. We are commemorating the Baptism of Jesus today and yet Luke gives us very few details.  It is almost a non-event when Luke says that the people were baptized and then Jesus was baptized, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.” Robert Brearley notes, “Jesus got in line with sinners and was baptized with them.” Simple---kind of like all of us: we were baptized, period.  Luke’s emphasis is not on the people’s baptisms nor on Jesus’ baptism, but rather on what follows. And that is why we need to pay attention to the details.  Those of you who have read Luke many times may have noticed the detail that Luke talks a lot about the working of the Holy Spirit in both his gospel as well as the book of Acts.  As Richard Jensen observes, only in Luke is the Spirit of God described as a bodily descent of the dove upon Jesus. Bodily descent has the character of permanence.  The Spirit will remain with Jesus, unlike the prophets and kings of old when the Spirit would only last the length of their ministry or kingship. The Spirit in those cases was temporary.  Take notice of the details!

            Take notice of another detail: according to v. 21, Jesus had been baptized and was praying.  Where do we first hear about prayer in the gospel of Luke?  That would be chapter 1, verse 10 where we are told that the whole assembly of the people was praying outside the sanctuary. The angel Gabriel came to Zechariah and said that the baby John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Then we read about the Holy Spirit will do even greater than that by coming upon Mary whose child will be holy, he will be called the Son of God.  And then we are also told that nothing will be impossible with God.  All of this is in chapter 1, where Luke establishes from the very beginning the distinction between John the Baptist and Jesus.  The difference is in the details.  These visitations of the Holy Spirit seem to be private visitations whereas, at Jesus’ baptism, the working of the Holy Spirit is very public.  You can see now some of the reasons that historically may have been behind the Eastern Church’s melding all three stories of Jesus into one feast: the visitation of the Magi, the Baptism of Jesus, and the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. You can see now the Lutheran emphasis I was taught in the seminary, that baptism is a public act and there should be no private baptisms.

            It is never about me and mine and what I want.  It is never about my will.  It is always the community that surrounds us, the saints in heaven, and God.  All of this points to God and our relationship with others in our lives, even if they are now a fading memory.  God loves us so much that we have nothing to fear, not even our death when the time comes. God stands with us, just like Jesus so many years ago waiting in line with every other Joe, Barbara, Harry, and Mary and their neighbors.  God is not against us, but has proven in Jesus, that the love of God is far greater than we can ever imagine.

            I share with you the words of an Epiphany hymn: Songs of thankfulness and praise, Jesus, Lord, to thee we raise; manifested by the star to the sages from afar, branch of royal David’s stem in thy birth at Bethlehem: anthems be to thee addressed, God in flesh made manifest. Manifest at Jordan’s stream, prophet, priest, and king supreme; and at Cana wedding guest in thy Godhead manifest; manifest in power divine, changing water into wine; anthems be to thee addressed, God in flesh made manifest.  Grant us grace to see thee, Lord, present in thy holy word; grace to imitate thee now and be pure, as pure art thou; that we might become like thee at thy great epiphany, and may praise thee, ever blest, God in flesh made manifest.

                The snow falls silently and softly to the ground and onto everything not sheltered.  It blankets all with its cold caress.  People hurry to and fro outside the walls of this place where you reside and some do come to visit.  I don’t pretend to know how people get to where they are today and yet because of that, I think we are all called to live in the present and to make the most of the present moment. I think we can begin like the first verse of that hymn written in the 1800s.  We can sing songs of thankfulness and praise to Jesus, for all that we have and for that grace bestowed on us by God who loves and cares for us so much that he also sent the Holy Spirit and invited us to pray and to strengthen us on our journeys here on earth. In the words of The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, Choctaw "Religion is spirituality shared. I know there are many people who say they are spiritual but not religious because they do not like the idea or experience of organized religion. Often they have been hurt by their religious institution. I can understand that because, like so many others, I have also been gravely disappointed by institutional faith. But I also know that my spirituality alone is only half the truth. Unless I share it in community I will not complete the dance of wisdom. Spirituality encounters the self. Religion encounters the other. Both encounter the wholeness of God." Amen.

Epiphany C, 2013

EpiphanyC, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 6, 2013 by Annette Fricke

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”  The days of preparation in Advent which led to the birth of Jesus have now led us to the significance of that birth: Jesus is the Lord and giver of salvation to all humankind.  Epiphany is the bright light, the bright and shining star of dazzling brilliance.  Jesus is the lux aeterna, the eternal light, inviting all people into relationship with him forever.

An old tradition has been brought back, thanks to those who insist that the old ways are somehow better.  In this case, I think those who say it are correct. Here is the modern version of an old tradition:  Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us until the day of his return.  Through the rhythms and times and seasons, let us celebrate the mystery of salvation.  Let us recall the year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum or three days of the Lord: his Last Supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his resurrection celebrated between the evening of the 28^th of March and the evening of the 30^th of March.  Each Easter, as on each Sunday, the holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has forever conquered sin and death.  From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy.  Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the 13^th of February.  The

Ascension of Our Lord will be commemorated on the 9^th of May, and the joyful conclusion of Easter, the Day of Pentecost, will be celebrated on the 19^th of May.  Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the Passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy mother of God, in the feasts of the apostles, martyrs, and saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed. To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, the Lord of time and history, be endless praise, forever and ever. [pause] I guess I should have asked each of you to bring your calendars to write all of this down, although I am sure that there are other ways of knowing when all these important parts of the church year will be taking place.  This tradition has been revived in some churches because it teaches that the celebration of the birth of the Christ child is only the beginning of the Church’s celebration of the life of Christ and has it’s culmination at Easter, the resurrection of Christ.  Easter, not Christmas, I and others contend, is the center of the Church year. 

            Today is the Feast of the Epiphany.  It is the day that as a child, my mother said it was time to take the Christmas tree down.  It is also the 12^th day of Christmas for those who know that tradition. But most importantly, it is the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, an anticipation of the second coming of Christ when he will come again in all his glory to gather the nations under his gentle rule. As one of my classmates from seminary likes to put it using the words

of an Epiphany hymn, “God in flesh made manifest.”  The God of Judah and Israel, the God of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rachel, Leah, Rebecca, Jacob, and Moses is now, most clearly made known as the God of all.  God is even God of the non-Jews, the Gentiles. God comes to bring life so that none may perish.  One of my favorite Epiphany hymns begins like this: O Morning Star, how fair and bright! You shine with God’s own truth and light, Aglow with grace and mercy! Of Jacob’s race, King David’s Son, Our Lord and master, you have won our hearts to serve you only! Lowly, holy! Great and glorious, all victorious, Rich in blessing!  Rule and might o’er all possessing!  It is one of two hymns written by a pastor who had lost 1300 of his parishioners to the plague in Germany, most in the second half of the year of 1597, 170 in one week. The light of Christ can pierce even our darkest hours, when we struggle to make sense of our lives both as those who see others dying around us as well as those drawing their last breaths. 

            Epiphany is a short journey to Lent and it used to be that the length of Lent was longer and also there was a time when there were three Sundays preceding Lent called Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima.  Never mind what any of those Latin words mean because they do not coincide with the actual Sundays in relation to Easter. When I was a child, these three Sundays were preparation for the season of Lent, therefore taking on a penitential nature. But, when I was a child, I just marveled at the sound of the Latin names!  Epiphany itself was also different than today.  It used to include the visit of the three kings or magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana otherwise known as Jesus’ first miracle.  Now, those are spread to three Sundays. If we see Epiphany as simply the celebration of God in flesh made manifest, we lose the point of Epiphany because every Sunday is a celebration of God in flesh made manifest.  We always celebrate God becoming flesh in the form of Jesus, don’t we?  Yet I get communications from my sister and my friends that somehow God is not being celebrated nor is God being prayed to—at all.  We have all somehow lost God, even those of us who faithfully attend church and really do pray.  That sentiment keeps circulating—we are not allowed to have God in school or the military.  We are somehow shutting God out.  Nobody really prays anymore.  The atheists are out to get us.  And my answer to that is that it begins with the family.  Read the Catechism and the Bible at home, pray with others before and after meals and other times of the day.  If worship or Bible study is offered at other times than this, take that opportunity to strengthen your faith journey with God and each other. Christianity is not practiced faithfully by our-selves.  I am told that Jesuit monks are taught to pray as they put each article of their habit on, but they too live in community. There is a reason that being a desert father only worked for

Jesus and that practice, when others tried it, died out. We need the community and fellowship of other believers.  We need each others’ support. We need to gather with other Christians to strengthen our faith.  We need to be fed and nourished by God as God speaks to us in the scriptures and in each other.

            As we look at the gospel lesson we see dueling ideas.  Jesus is the hope of the world, yet a threat to the power of the reigning King Herod.  The announcement of Jesus’ existence and identity as king of the Jews brings fear to King Herod and his whole entourage that has become the supporters of his reign.  The kingdom of Herod is at stake.  What if the world as we know it, King Herod is thinking, should suddenly change and I am no longer in power? Herod is not above using violent means to stay in power or deception in seeing how he can stay in power.

            We don’t have to look far to see that violence continues in our world today, not just in places of declared war.  After the shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, many more shootings throughout this country and others have occurred, including at a previous location, a movie theater.  People have every reason to fear for their safety because all of these have happened in public areas previously assumed to be safe places. In a very real way, Jesus cannot protect us in a way we

might prefer.  Jesus is not likely to suddenly take care of all the problems we face.  Jesus does not do magic or pretend to do magic.  Our increased faithfulness in prayer and worship does not mean that God will respond in the way we think God should.  Our only hope in this world is that we will find ways by talking to one another and our governing bodies about making our world safer. But despite what is happening in our world today on both a personal and global level, God is still there to be with us, dispensing grace universally and freely to all who would have it.  That is good news. And may we always remember this: In the heavenly country bright Need they no created light;  Thou its light, its joy, its crown, Thou its sun which goes not down; There forever may we sing Alleluias to our King.  Amen.

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.