God, use my power for good!

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we tell the Sacred Story this fall from Genesis to Jesus, we often make big jumps.  Today we have leapt from Abraham and Sarah to their great-grandson’s story: Joseph.  Israel, Joseph’s father and Abraham’s grandson, has become the namesake of the entire family.    Israel, a man you may know better as Jacob, was the one who caused some serious family issues by stealing his brother’s birthright.  He was loved more by his mother, his father loving more his brother.  So it’s no surprise, really, that he continued those family “issues” with his own sons, loving a younger more than the older.   In fact, reading this story, reminds us of the first story we heard about the first two people God made and the garden paradise from which they were evicted.  When we humans gained the power of knowledge of not just good, but also evil, we learned destruction. We cannot unknow what we have known.  The power Israel has to love is unevenly distributed. Now that we have learned to play favorites, now that we have learned to cheat, steal and lie… the story continues.

Scene 1

Narrator: Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them,
Joseph: Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.
Narrator: His brothers said to him,
Brothers: Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?
Narrator: So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.


Just like all humanity, from the beginning of time: your parents mess you up.  I can see it happening with my own kids: eek.  When the words that come out of their mouths sound an awful lot like the ones that have fallen from my lips in my less-gracious moments.  From the ad-am and the eve, through the faithfully doubtful like Abraham, through the broken family of Israel, comes what none of us can escape: original sin.

We have chosen the path of knowledge of both good and evil, for having just goodness is never enough for us.  And so we live, in this hurting world, with the power to heal, and the power to break.  And the dangerous destructive patterns in the human family leave no one innocent.  Even Joseph, given a great power of knowledge through dreams, he had to learn to use it.  To be a steward of the gifts God had given him.  17 year old Joseph is foolish and boastful.  And, sadly, Joseph’s brothers had little patience for him to grow his power of knowledge into the full maturity of wisdom.

Scene 2

Narrator: So [Israel] said to [Joseph],
Israel: Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.  […]
Narrator: So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another,
Brothers: Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
Narrator: But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying,
Reuben: Let us not take his life.
Narrator: Reuben said to them,
Reuben: Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him —
Narrator: —that he, [Reuben] might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.


I have to wonder what Israel was thinking, sending Joseph after his older, stronger, jealous brothers like that.  Did he not see what was happening?  Did he not see the hate that was brewing inside his own family? Sometimes it is harder to see in our own families...  Where is God in this mess?

Joseph was not the only one given powerful gifts by God.  Reuben has been given the gift of compassion, or maybe just the gift of self-preservation and maturity.  Here is God’s power, in love.  Reuben he sees that Joseph’s death does not solve the brother’s envy.  Their violence will not be redemptive.  The story tells us, from Cain and Able to Joseph and Rueben: violence is never redemptive.  Whatever Joseph’s flaws, be he boastful, power-hungry or simply immature, he will not be of service to God if devoured by wild animals, or wild brothers.

Rueben, the eldest of 12 brothers, is about 33. While the others brothers are in their twenties.  The elder Reuben cannot quite control the mob mentality of his desperate, fearful and frustrated brothers.  They are a part of a wealthy family, relatively speaking, and there will be enough land for each of their tribes, but this is not enough.  They long for the affection, or at least equity of their father.  Reuben uses the moral compass he has been given and uses the power he does have stop the brothers from killing Joseph.  He gives them all a second chance.  A chance at a life where reconciliation is possible, with this brother they cannot see as worthy now.

Even this hurting and broken family, God works.  And Reuben helps us to begin to ask the question this story shapes for us: How am I going to use my God-given power for good today?

Scene 3

Narrator: Then Judah said to his brothers,
Judah: What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.
Narrator: And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. He returned to his brothers, and said,
Reuben: The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?
Narrator: Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said,
Brothers: This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.
Narrator: He recognized it, and said,
Israel: It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.
Narrator: Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.


Reuben’s plan did not work out.  He was not able to save Joseph the way he had hoped.  But God uses his act of salvation for another good.  A greater good the brothers cannot yet see, and certainly do not intend.  The brothers who are saved from killing a man, are still enslaved to their sin.  They sell him.  Human trafficking.  As an issue, it certainly has resonance for us today, when we hear about young men and women are kept against their will, often for cheap labor, sometimes for prostitution.  We read articles online about how to spot human trafficking at truck stops, and awareness campaigns that encourage us to call the authorities if we see a person, usually a young girl, who is spoken for rather than speak.  Who is kept hidden or isolated.  Who is given a tattoo to mark her ownership.
From human trafficking in Joseph’s world to ours; from deception and envy that hurts and denies the full humanity of our brothers and sisters.  We weep with Jacob, who is Israel.  And we who know there is more to the story begin to wonder, “How am I going to use my God-given power for good today?”

Years pass and Joseph faces many adversities, then uses his God-given gift of dream interpretation to rise to be the right-hand man of the Egyptian pharaoh.  Joseph is the steward of Egypt’s great resources, and when a famine hits the land, Joseph, warned by a dream, has prepared for it.  Joseph now has more than knowledge given in dreams, this has given him great power, as he predicted, and he has grown into the wisdom to go with it.  He is now giving away food to those who need it, and the brothers come see him, desperate to survive they leave the promised land for Egypt.

The family is reunited in Egypt, living together there to be able to eat and live – for Joseph saves them when they were on the brink of death.  Not only the brothers, but their father, Israel, too.  Jacob, sons, wives, children, all of them move to Egypt and are reunited with Joseph joyfully.

Joseph cares for them for many years before Israel dies. But the brothers still think about that day when they sold him into slavery.  When they used their power for harm, overcome by the knowledge of evil that had enslaved them, the knowledge that leads to deceit, envy and malice.

Scene 4

Narrator: [Many years passed, and Israel died an old man.] Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said,
Brother: What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?
Narrator: So they approached Joseph, saying,
Brothers: Your father gave this instruction before he died, ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.
Narrator: Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said,
Brothers: We are here as your slaves.
Narrator: But Joseph said to them,
Joseph: Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.
Narrator: In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.


They ask for his forgiveness.  They are still trapped in the knowledge that cannot be unknown.  They know they did him harm.  Joseph, though he knows it too, though he can never unknow the pain it caused him to be sold into slavery by his brothers.  He is not trapped by it.  He has given up holding tight to what is evil, to hold tight to what is good.

Joseph hears their burdened hearts crying out.  Crying out, even with a lie about their father!  They ask for forgiveness even as they lie!  In their brokenness, Joseph hears them.  He asks, Am I in the place of God?  And the question goes unanswered.  Because the question can go both ways.  IN one way, Yes.  Yes, Joseph, you are in a place like God’s.  You have the power to enslave the brothers as they did to you.  You have the power they give you when they ask for forgiveness.  Your response holds great power to free them or to keep them in bondage to sin.  But also No, of course, Joseph knows he is not God, it is God who forgives, it is God who can release us from our bondage to sin and the burden of evil in our lives.  It is God who brings redemption to the fallen, who redeems us for goodness and love.

Joseph knows this God well, for when Joseph found himself in the midst of the knowledge of evil, regardless of who was to blame for that, Joseph holds fast to the knowledge of good… God has redeemed.  Even this.  God has redeemed even the brother’s death wish.  God has redeemed his brother’s selling him into slavery.  God has redeemed the power they used for evil and out of it pulled good after good after good.  For when God made this world, God said it was good.  And when God’s creation suffers famine, God used Joseph’s powerful gifts to alleviate the suffering.

In this story, God is telling us, God is working all the power of the universe for good.  And God is asking us, How would you like to come along?  Ask yourself, How am I going to let God use my power for good today?

There is a little chant that is used in the church, often with youth and young adults.  But will you try it with me?  “God is good.  All the time.  All the time.  God is good. “

From Paul’s letter to the Romans, and God’s Word for us:
28 We know that all things work together for good[d] for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.[e]

Come, let us be conformed to the image of his Son, for we are called according to God’s purpose… that God might use all our power to work together for the good God is already doing.
Amen.

Abram and the In Between

Image by Steven Thomason
http://www.stevethomason.net/2016/09/16/visual-guide-abrahams-story-genesis-12-15/ 

Listen Here.

Genesis 15:1-6
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Last week we began the Narrative Lectionary, the series of Bible stories that we will tell each Sunday that tell the Sacred Story from Genesis to Jesus.  It’s a good chance for us to reconsider anything we think we know about these old stories and characters.  Maybe the last time you heard from them was in Sunday School as a child, or maybe you have picked up a bit here and there, but never considered how they build on each other and why these are the stories God chose to tell us.  Why these are our Sacred Stories we have kept for generations upon generations.

Well, today we get to consider Abram.  Abram/Abraham is the man whom we share with the two other major faiths of the world: Islam and Judaism.  He is our common ancestor.  You probably have heard of him as Abraham.  God gives him that name a bit later in the story, one of the many times that God reassures Abram that, yes, indeed, God is good for his promises.

And it’s no wonder Abram asks the question, he and his wife, Sarai/Sarah, are old already, and have not yet had one child, much less many.

[ppt by Steve Thomasen]

Abram’s story points us to those times in our own lives when we are standing, looking up at the sky, asking God, Why?

Why must the world be so broken?  Why must our politicians be so disappointing?  Why must there be wars and refugees and abused children?  Why must our children die violently?  Why must we be brother against brother? Why is my body failing me?  Why can’t I have the child I so hoped for?
We stand, our arms raised toward heaven, asking God to answer us.

And in the questioning, the disappointment, the hurt… is there not a deep-seated belief in us that the world could be, and in fact, should be, different?

When we stand before God demanding an answer… do we expose the hope that we have for a world that is more whole and more loving?

“What do we do with that?  How are we called to live in the gap between the promise and the fulfillment?”[1]

What is our part to play?

This Sacred Story we have begun is hurtling through time at a rapid pace, from the story of creation last week, past Noah and Babel and straight to Abram today, next week we will leap over Jacob who becomes Israel, straight to his 11th son of 12, Joseph.  Each Sacred Story pointing to God working in this broken world to bring glimmers of wholeness and healing.  Each story pointing the way to a God who, over and over again, has No Reservations when it comes to us.  The One God who has claimed us as stars in the sky; has named us as beloved children of Abraham through baptism.  Our God who promises us we are blessed to be a blessing.

What is our part to play?

What vision has God cast for us, as God showed Abram in those stars?

What does the God of No Reservations intend us to do with this hope we have revealed in the questioning, and the crying out, and the doubt we have expressed to him? Between the hope and the doubt, we live, between the promise and the fulfillment.

Standing in the between together we seek God’s vision for us as a community.  We have already expressed it in our mission, vision and values – printed on the back cover of the liturgy booklet.  We are getting a Strategy ready for you to see on Oct 2nd to give us action steps to move further into God’s vision for us.  And all of this is a discernment process – where you are needed.  With your questions and your crying out and your doubts.

For as those things reveal our hope for a better world.  Our addressing them to God reals our trust in the God who made us.  So that, like Adam and Eve last week, though we too often choose our own will over God’s will, there is a seed planted deep within us.  A seed of hope that comes from knowing God’s future for us will look much different than what we can do for ourselves.

May we question, cry out, doubt, and trust that future together. For this is the Faith God gave to Abraham.  And, by God’s mercy, to us.

Amen.

[1] From POP resources on Narrative Lectionary Holly Welch, Facebook group: Narrative Lectionary.

No Reservations: Telling the Sacred Story from Genesis to Jesus

Listen Here.

Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17; 3:1-8 (NRSV)
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

When I was a teenager, I remember saying “If God doesn’t intend me to become a mother someday, then he’s playing some kind of cruel joke.”  Looking back from the other side, having been blessed with the astoundingly rewarding and amazingly difficult job of parenting – twice, I was struck when I read again the beginning of the sacred story that in life, here are things you cannot un-know.

When I said that as a teenager, I did not know what it would be like to be awoken every two hours by a hungry baby, looking only to me for nourishment.  I did not know what it would be like to have a little piece of my heart separate from me in this person, but always pulled back to me when in need.  I did not know the joy and ache of watching a small person grow up in front of my eyes, reflecting back to me all my best – and worst – qualities.  And one I knew these things… there was no going back.

Labor and delivery is by far the best example.  I spent more than 9 months preparing for labor, seeking all the knowledge I could about what it meant – in nitty, gritty, real-life terms – to bring a new life into the world.  I wanted to know every possible way I could make my first birth healthy and whole – and I was blessed that it all turned out that way.  But there is nothing like birth to awaken us to our sense that we do not, in fact, know everything.  We can seek the best information and the best experiences of others and the best providers who we have the most trust with… but in the end… there was no way I was going to know the reality of birth until I actually went through it myself. Until they handed me that 9#7oz real live person and I said (and I quote) “It’s a baby!”

What exactly did I think I had been preparing for?

But once they handed that real live baby to me, it was no longer wondering or wishing… I knew he was ours.  And there was no going back.

This fall, our theme is “No Reservations.”  And as we begin at the beginning again today, we see humans who seem to have had a lot of reservations once they taste the bittersweet fruit and feel the difficult, vulnerable, anxious knowing that you cannot unknow.  They who had no reservations about picking the fruit, no reservations about grasping at being like God.

After the face, Eve and Adam are a little like new parents, freaked out at the knowledge that a part of them is no longer protect, no longer covered.  Their nakedness.  Their innocence.  Their lack of knowledge has been exposed.

They have gained what they wished, they know more now than they did before, they know they are not God, and they can never be God, but they are forever in bondage to wanting to try.  Their knowledge has left them feeling ashamed.  For when the human beings begin to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, they show us the pattern we all live and breathe and cannot escape.  We have a way of choosing our own control over trusting God.  Our desire to know better than God what is good for us… leads us all straight out of the garden and the life lived solely for and with God.  Yes, we call it sin.  But it is less a willful act of destruction or immorality, and far more a life of denying God’s goodness and power in favor of our own devices, wherever they might lead us.

This is not a condemnation of curiosity or knowledge in our world today.  I am confident that Adam and Eve could have learned much in the garden about the creation God had made, the intricate balance of ecosystems and the generative life of fruit trees, of wild grains and all plants that feed us.
But it is a clear description, and even a story of grief over the choice that humans always make.  The choice to seek to “know,” to have all the information for ourselves, over the choice to trust the God who made us.

What God does next is to explain the consequences of their actions: serpents become snakes, women have pain in childbirth, men must till the ground for sustenance…life choosing oneself over God will be hard.  There is no going back, no reserved spot for them in the Garden of Eden. Eve was right, their entire existence and understanding of life died there with that choice.

But God.  God tells a different story.  God says, no, there is no place reserved for you here any longer… BUT (And when God is talking consequences, you know there is always a “But”)…
But there is still life.  There is still grace.  God does not scrap them and start all over… I mean, if you were God, would you?  No, God has No Reservations when it comes to us.  And this is the beginning of the beginning of THAT story.  God is the one who has No Reservations.

God gave them clothing and a new way of living.  God did not destroy his creation.  God looked at them, choosing to live away from him with what I imagine could be characterized as anger and grief, but God still loved them.

God has no reservations loving Adam and Eve, and all of creation.  The sacred story reminds us that God gives us life and breath and plants and animals and ecosystems and curiosity and knowledge.  Yes, even knowledge!  We grasp for knowledge of our own situation, not wanting to live innocently, wanting to grapple with truth and reality.  God adds to our knowledge and equips us to live independently from the utopian garden.  Even after our rejection, God has no reservations gifting us with what we need for this mortal life.

And even more, when God sends Christ the king, to host us at his table, we don’t need a reservation either.  In God’s kingdom, there are no reservations needed.  The table is open to everyone.  All are invited, all are embraced, even us who have chosen to walk away from God, are invited back, even with all our newfound knowledge.  Even when we think we know better.  Even when we have lost our innocence.  Especially when we feel vulnerable and exposed.  God accompanies us in this difficult life, with no reservations.
Thanks be to God!
Amen.

The Warrior Arm Gets Wet

Origin of photo unknown.  Found on Pintrest.   
Project Semi-colon is not directly related to this sermon,but it's very cool.  
All Warriors need the water of life!

GOSPEL   Luke 10:38-42
The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke…
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, "This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.
33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
The gospel of the Lord.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. 

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

At the beginning of his book, Giving to God, Mark Allen Powell tells a story about a community in what is now France/Belgium who was converted to Christianity.  They had a strange ritual.  During baptism, which was by immersion in a river, like we never do, the person being baptized would hold one arm high up in the air, so that it did not get submerged the way the rest of his body did.  It was usually men that did this, though some women may have too, and it was almost always the right arm.  A visiting priest or missionary would have found the practice very strange, this was not something that would have been seen elsewhere.  Why do you think they did it?  

Maybe you guessed, especially if you are on Council and you have read Powell’s book.  The arm held up in the air was the fighting arm.  Should the warrior come up against an enemy, and though he was a Christian and knew that Jesus had said “pray for your enemies” and “love your neighbor”, he thought he would still be able to use that arm to kill his enemy.  For it was unpurified in the waters of baptism.  It could still act on the old adam or eve sinful impulse without guilt that he (or she) was being unfaithful to the gospel. 

What do you think of that?

Completely ridiculous!  Who thinks that holding one’s arms out of the baptismal waters reserves it for actions contrary to the gospel?  To God’s Word, the God by whom we have been adopted and to whom we have pledged our hearts and lives?  

Certainly, I imagine that’s what God thinks of it.  I am confident that the act of baptism is not for 99.9% of us, but rather for every last drop. 

Yet when I think of all the things the gospel asks me to do: prioritize God above my family, carry heavy burdens of pain – and not just my own, but others in my community too!, letting go of my own desperate grasp at comfort by surrounding myself with more and more things – just so I can drown in them.  

I wouldn’t mind leaving my bank account or financial plans on the dry banks of that baptismal river.  Or maybe my desire to feel better than other people, more competent, more perfect.  I wouldn’t mind leaving my family relationships or that seed of bitterness leftover from old wrongs held up out of the waters.  It sure would be easier to leave those parts nice and dry, and just let my soul that is heading to heaven be the only part of me that gets truly wet.  

But Thank God, it doesn’t work that way.  Because if I get to hold back part of myself, what part of God’s blessings do I expect to not receive?  That’s not like God.  Our God doesn’t have a bunch of conditions: you must do this or that or follow these rules to be a good person.  God takes the people we are, good, bad or awful, and re-births us.  Holds onto us like a newborn baby, unable to do anything for him or herself, and God does it all.  God gives us air and water and heaven and earth.  God gives us life and new starts, and coming clean again and again and again.

  

It is only in that context.  Knowing ALL of THAT.  That we read this scripture today:

28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, "This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 

Jesus effectively says, when God claims you, he gets all of you.  NO turning back.  Would you like that gift? That blessing?  That comfort to be in God’s arms?  Of course!  I would!  So be careful, following Jesus, following God’s ways, will lead to great gifts, but they won’t always be the gifts you think you want or need.  God’s ways encompass your whole life and being, God’s peace pervades every anxiety you could possibly have.  God’s way of working is that you lay down your whole, entire, life, warrior arm and all. 

Last Sunday night about 25 people lost their homes due to the fires in Southbridge.  Most of them lost everything.  And not in the waters of baptism, but in the flames of the burning rooms they had rented.  There were 12-15 people who were renting single rooms in the Main Street building.  There were another three households in the Benefit building. 

Hearing that, after remembering how God works.  It’s pretty easy to know what we do next.  We find a way for our brothers and sisters in humanity to be sheltered, clothed and fed and back up on their feet again.  

So this week several clergy of the area met with the Red Cross, and the Town Manager and a couple of Town Counselors joined us as well.  We came up with a plan: 

The first thing people need are new homes.  So if you are a realtor or a landlord or know how to get in touch with inexpensive rentals in Southbridge or one of the neighboring towns, you are needed.  Christ is calling you.  In order to get into those homes, most of these people will need help with first/last/security deposits.  So cash donations are being collected through a special fund that Catholic Charities has generously offered to host.  A group of pastors will help to determine how the money gets distributed.  100% of those donations will go directly to the residents who are victims of these two fires. 

People also need all the basic living needs: clothing, toiletries, and most of all food.  They are mostly living in hotels right now, so cooking is difficult.  Therefore, after much debate, it was determined that rather than try to provide meals, what would be most beneficial would be gift cards to restaurants or grocery stores or big box pharmacies or places where packaged food and personal items are available.  These will be distributed through Catholic Charities in Southbridge as well.  

Finally, Bethlehem’s closet has become the hub for clothing distribution.  We have had just one family who was able to take us up on this so far, but I hope others will come as soon as they have a more stable place to live.  And certainly there will be an influx of clothing donations.  When people here about our great ministry, they just want to help!

So, here we go, once again, going all in for God’s mission in the world.  Evil in the world never stops, even the evil that looks like house fires and warrior arms.  But God never stops either.  And God invites us to go along for the ride, spreading love and peace to all our neighbors, showing God’s presence for them in the world.  

It doesn’t matter if your forehead is the only part the water drips on; God has every ounce of you soaking wet with the promises of new life, freedom and courage. 

Amen.