"Never Forgotten" June 28, 2015

2nd Samuel 9: 9-13 Mark 5:1-9, 21-29 This is the day each family dreams of! When for a moment, whether we were known or unknown, the whole Village and Township hears your name, and recognizes you, your accomplishment. From this day forward and forever more, you will be remembered as having accomplished all the requirements and expectations for graduation in Skaneateles, NY. You will always be part of Skaneateles, but no longer will you be students, no longer will you be children, you will be Graduates of everything our school system could teach you! What they have been looking forward to since they entered Kindergarten, more than shaking hands with the Principal, more even than their diploma, whether it is raining or not, at about 1:45 this afternoon, they will jump in the lake, something unique to this community, something to be remembered for a lifetime. If we are honest with ourselves, for most of us, this is a difficult day. All throughout their lives, our daughters and sons have been told when to go to bed, told to awaken from sleep, fed nutritious meals, driven to school, where they have been given information that they were to be tested over, driven to practices where they absorbed the muscle memory of how to perform. And suddenly, upon completing the 12th Grade, you are to be publicly recognized as having everything all together. Except, along the way, they have made relationships. They have developed caring for friends, classmates, teammates, teachers, coaches, counselors. The unplanned circumstances of life have effected who each have become. If we were completely candid and honest with ourselves, they know we know they do not have it ALL together, and are more than a little afraid of whether they will be accepted when they leave this place. Parents, Grandparents, extended family, have come to take pride in their' having it all together, because they are related to you. Just as each learned through practice, how to hit their mark, what to do at each position, we as extended family, practiced cheering for them, practiced taking pride in their accomplishments. As parents and grandparents we agonized over missing games because of meetings, weighing how to be in two places at the same time. This is an idyllic place to live, to grow up, Graduation this afternoon looks like something out of a Norman Rockwell lithograph. But what caught me off guard after several years, was that with all the scholarships, each of the members of this year's class receiving deserved honors and financial support for their education, this is also a Memorial of all the daughters and sons who have died too young. Throughout this week, there have been interruptions, circumstances and events we did not plan for. A Baptism for a couple who were married here. Family gathering from out of State, to remember their loved one. A Father who is with our Graduates in Spirit, but could not be here physically because of Cancer treatments. The late Henri Nouwen, great Catholic teacher, pastor, said that in the prime of his career, he became frustrated by interruptions. He was teaching at Notre Dame. With writing and teaching he had a heavy agenda each day and didn't like to be disturbed. Then it dawned on him that his interruptions were his work. Someone said, "Life is what happens between what you planned!" Over the years I have learned that no matter whether the meeting follows the plan or not, it is going to last almost exactly the same amount of time. The difference is that, when we take time to listen and remember each person is a person, then the meeting runs very smoothly and effortlessly. When we do not pay attention, when we do not listen and remember each person, agendas get sabotaged, by people needing to be remembered. The story of Mephibosheth is one few remember, in some churches it has never been read or preached. Different from Noah, Abraham or Sarah, Mephibosheth is a story important for this day, because it is not about God speaking to him, or working through him; not so much about his being Grandson of the first King of Israel; but that when David became King, even when King David had it all, possessing everything he ever desired, King David wanted to remember and never forget those whose families knew him as “a Son of this community.” He knew he needed to remember those whose lives were changed by his existence, those who can help to keep him honest and candid and real with himself. This is a terrible story of war... when the palace of King Saul was being attacked, the Nanny picked up the baby to rescue him, and rushing she tripped and fell on top of the infant crushing his legs. All throughout his life, the would-be king had been hidden, in fear of execution. When one morning coming over the horizon and down the road is an army, the army of the King, marching toward your place of hiding. There is a pounding on the door, “Mephibosheth, come out!” And he is dragged from that place, taken to the Capital, to the Palace that should have been his but now belonged to the one responsible for his father's and grandfather's death. Dragged before King David, who has everything, possesses everything that was supposed to belong to Mephibosheth. When the King speaks, remembering your parents and their parents, and you, and restoring you to a place of respect and honor in the world, that you are a child of this community and we cannot sit at Table without you. The Gospel comes from a point early in Jesus' ministry. Not a great teaching, not a set of parables. But everyone, every person is described as being in need of healing. Even more they appear in contrast against each other. A displaced Prince of Israel is contrasted with a Roman Soldier no longer in his right mind. This traumatized Soldier with PostTraumatic Stress Disorder, so severe he cannot live among people. He no longer remembers who he is, he only remembers the hundreds that he killed. Doing harm to others changes you! And Jesus listens, simply listens, and the evil leaves his mind. A leader of the Temple, is about as different from a battle weary soldier as could be. Jairus is revered, charged with keeping the people pure through absolute adherence to the Law. Yet he has a 12 year old daughter who is ill, and suddenly it does not matter whether about the Law, his child is dying. Holding her dead body, he will not be allowed into the temple, but this is His child. And he seeks out Jesus. Part of the nature of healing, the nature of faith, is that sometimes it happens sometimes it does not, and the results are not based on how much we pray, or how much we believe, or who we are... But we do wonder whether we/ our child can be healed, whether God cares? A week ago, we read of Jesus calming the seas and controlling the wind, if God cared whether we are destroyed in natural disaster. Today is more personal, does God care about our needs? Does God remember us? A woman has been bleeding for a dozen years. A Fistula is a common malady in parts of the world, where a woman in delivery tears from vagina to rectum. Following which there is constant bleeding, and smell, and infection. In that culture she would be unclean, unable to be accepted, unable to worship, unable to socialize. But in the midst of the crowd, this outcast reaches out, that her fingers might touch the hem of Jesus' robe. And her belief in him, in his ability to help her, saves her. These are stories of miracle healing, they are not logical or reasoned, but are recorded as having taken place. We have known those who recovered from Cancers, those who were healed from what could not be explained, we have known those who came through a different kind of healing, where they learned to not fear their problems, to not be isolated or afraid. Mephibosheth, Legion, Jairus and his daughter, and the un-named woman all were in need, we each can identify with at least one, they knew they did not have it together, yet still they were never forgot. Each was precious. St. Augustine 17 Centuries ago described God loves each of us, as if we were the only person on earth, yet God loves all, as God loves each. There's no one on earth today that God loves any more than God loves you, nor is there anyone God loves any less than God loves you. There is also a subtle element recurrent in each of these stories. When the daughter is brought back from death to life, Jesus commands that they give her something to eat. When David sits at the Kings's Table he refuses food until Mephibosheth is at his place. In Judaism you always had to be on guard, whether you were living a life that was holy and sacred, following Kosher Laws. Here what is essential is whether those who were in need, our daughters and sons are gathered at the table with us.

"Faith Beyond Faith" June 21, 2015

I Samuel 17 Mark 4:33-41 This morning the Bible and current events, instruct us to talk together about Fear and Faith. There is a great deal to be afraid of today, according to popular television shows, there are Aliens, Zombies and Walking Dead, there are Tsunamis waves off the coasts, depending upon the news we watch, we are told to fear the Democrats or fear the Republicans, there is Al Quedda and Isis, and some new plague we have yet to discover. That in the House of God, after listening and praying at a Biblestudy for over an hour together, someone would beginning lynching 10 people because of the color of their skin. That because so many companies have left the North East, when our local company announces growth and expansion by merger with another company, we would fear layoffs and closure. I have a brother-in-law who went to Wharton Business School and works in the Satellite industry in Washington DC, he has gone to the same office for over 20 years, yet he has worked for over a dozen different companies, because his job is to expand the company until it can be bought by new ownership, whereupon he expands another project in the same business. Fears, some are very real, some are not. But we, are never alone. As many times as we have read the story of David and Goliath, as often as we heard reference to this, the point was always how small little David the Shepherd boy was against the 9' tall Philistine Giant Goliath, underscored by how Goliath was covered in armor, with Javelin, Sword and Shield, the head of the spear weighed 20lbs. where David only had a sling shot and stone. This was a comforting story, that no matter the obstacle, having a child's faith and innocence, the little guy could surpass overwhelming obstacles. HOWEVER one of my first Sundays in Skaneateles, I recall telling this story at the Children's moment, when one of the 6 year olds stood up protesting that he read this story every night at bedtime and we missed the overkill, “You stopped before David ran to the fallen Goliath, taking Goliath's own sword and cut off his head, carrying it back to Jerusalem and everyone else was afraid.” That morning, I realized comforting stories child-like innocence of faith, might no longer suffice. In recent years, with Al Quedda and Isis, there have been present day videos of decapitation executions. As horrific and gruesome as this is, I am told the viewing of these on the internet has been as popular as Cat Videos! There is something in human nature that cannot turn away from a Sacrament of Violence, Demonstrations of terror so traumatic as to inspire fear, intended to paralyze and demoralize opposition. There is an intended irony to the setting for this narrative in Mark's Gospel, that Jesus did not Call as disciples: shopkeepers, bankers and carpenters, the Messiah called Fishermen here asking them to go across open water to the otherside. These experienced sailors, had grown up on the water, knew the power of storms, they knew what to do in danger, how to balance, adapt and how to survive. In these first three chapters, Jesus has instructed the disciples and the community of followers, with parables of faith as Mustard Seed and Leaven, where the tiniest amount is sufficient. He had taught the parable of the Patient Farmer, who watches and waits through rain and sun, day upon day, night after night, until the harvest comes, and it does. Jesus had shared the parable of the Sower sowing seeds of faith, which are scattered in overflowing abundance, and what matters, the only thing is whether we are receptive; or whether we are shallow, or hard, or corrupted with weeds. When they get to the other side, after the storm, Jesus will provide miracles of healing, a soldier so terrorized by war that his psyche is a Legion in Battle, a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years, a child who was dead brought back to life. But in between, in this dark night, these disciples of Jesus, these fishermen, were terrified with fear. Cancer survivor Reynolds Price, in his book, Letter to a Man on Fire, describes a 3rd year Medical Resident who himself was suddenly diagnosed with Cancer. Jim described “I want to believe in a God who cares... Because suddenly I may meet God sooner than I thought. And I think, I am at the point of believing there is a God. But I am having a hard time believing God could/would care about me.” In between the parables told on one side of the lake and the miracles witnessed on the other side, there was a storm, a storm whose waves were larger than the length of the boat was long. More than waves, more than a storm, they were in the midst of chaos... That primordial Deep in the dark of night. Before God created, when the wind blew upon the face of the waters it was not rippling the glassy calm but the Spirit of God was in the midst of a battle between crushing waves, a battle between wave upon wave, wind and water. Here, the little boat with twelve fishermen and Jesus laying asleep in the hull was tossed like an innocent bystander. Filled with terror, the disciples woke Jesus, crying “We are going to die, Do you care?” And Jesus did not rebuke them, the Savior did not say to the disciples There is Nothing to Fear! He rebuked the wind, and calmed the chaos. At which point, the Gospel names that the men went from fear to a FEAR BEYOND FEAR. Rather than fearing the wind, or drowning, or the chaos of the sea, they could not control; Rather than fearing that Jesus cared so little, while they were in terror of dying, Suddenly they witnessed that Jesus rebuked the wind and calmed the sea, which only God had ever done, and that, at the dawn of Genesis. It is only then, that we glimpse the overkill of this story, not only that Jesus cares about our suffering, cares about us, Not only that he has the power of God to calm the storms that threaten us and rebuke the wind that buffets us, but that as Christians there is CHRIST ASLEEP IN EACH OF US! From Genesis onward, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, have each affirmed that God cares! The Creator knows every creation, knows every creature by name and loves us. While comforting, that is also overwhelming. Theologian Diogenes Allen describes that “Understanding we are not the center of all things gives us perspective. But what we often forget is our dual nature. We are Material beings, subject to physical laws of the universe, vulnerable to injury, illness, decay and death. We are also Spiritual beings, created by God in the likeness of God.” When Job hears God in the whirlwind, as we did in the Call to Prayer this morning, JOB who has been reduced to nothing, has had his business destroyed, his home and property wiped out, his children, and his very flesh killed, suddenly has the conviction that no matter what else happens: He belongs to God. On this Father's Day I am reminded of all the nights of our children's nightmares. When we would rush into their room to take them in our arms, wiping the wet locks of hair from their foreheads, drying their tears and saying “There is nothing to be afraid of, no reason to fear.” The problem our children learn eventually is there is a difference between things we need to fear and things we do not. Aliens and Walking Dead, are fantasy, but there are also very real and appropriate fears. Instead of dismissing there is nothing to fear, I wish we had said “It is all right, you are not alone, fear not, God loves you.” There needs to be a Reformation in the Church today. In the early Church, there was identification of there being TWO Baptisms, a Baptism of Water the Baptism of John, and that there is a Baptism of the Holy Spirit, as John professed the coming of one into our lives the very bow of his shoes we are unworthy to untie, faith planted as a Mustard seed, a tiny bit of leaven that matures into a Tree of everlasting Life, the breath of God that came upon the Apostles in the Upper Room to go out and live faith. The corruption of the Church is that we have made the Sacrament of Baptism into Affirmation of the innocence of Children. Everyone and everything is to be Baptized, as infant or adult, happening only once, never to be repeated. You are claimed by God, loved by God, no matter what. That is true and vital, but just like telling a two year old “NO!” that vow of Love needs to be accompanied by growing awareness of the results of our actions, otherwise Baptism would be License that whatever you want to do was blessed by God. However, the problem being that the maturing of our leaven, the faith beyond faith, the awakening of Jesus Christ in us, comes at different times in life, and can come repeatedly. Most often at the most troubling times in our lives. When we are most vulnerable, when we are risking differently than we have ever known others to do, so to make a religious scene of this is at best impractical. Generations ago, in order to graduate High School, in addition to reading Dickens, The Lord of the Rings, The Odyssey and Iliad, everyone read John Bunyan's book Pilgrim's Progress, an allegory in which the main character is named Christian and he is traveling through one struggle after another. The final obstacle before he can reach the Garden of Paradise, before he gets home, is that he and his companion named Hopeful must cross a body of water. They wade deeper and deeper, until the waves are washing over Christian's head, he cries out “Does no one care that the wind and waves will take his life?” And his friend Hopeful responds: “Be of Good Cheer brother, I can feel the bottom and it is good, we will get through this together!”