"AfterWords" September 16, 2018

Jeremiah 4: 18-28 Mark 8: 27-38 Sunday, September 9th, 2001 we as a congregation read this passage from Jeremiah for the first time as part of the Lectionary. I knew the passage well because for Ordination, I had to translate this from Hebrew, write a 15 page research paper and Sermon on this text, all within 4 hours. Tuesday Sept 11th, the sky was a brilliant blue, when suddenly Our Reality changed. Other than the Revolutionary War, our Mainland had never been attacked by a foreign power. Since that time we have become almost accustomed to Terrorist Attacks. We have learned to take off our shoes and belts at the airport, to take cell phones and lap tops out of suitcases, that we cannot carry nail clippers, or pen knives, liquids, or aerosols, and those with artificial knees and hips may be subject to a body search pat down. On Sept 11th the Clergy of our Village had been gathered together to meet. Skip Adams had just left to become Bishop, Natalie Scholl and Deron Melville had recently arrived at the Methodist and Lutheran Churches. When we were told what happened, we prayed, then promised to worship together that evening here, then Natalie and Deron went to the Schools and I went to the Welch Allyn Factory, Father McGrath joined me there as we did grief counseling and prayed, listening to stories of family who live in NYC, or work at the Pentagon. At 2pm I was called to come lead prayer services with the telephone operators and also the engineers, and I recall recognizing that my own sons would be eligible if the Draft were activated for War. That evening, I had written prayers and all of the Clergy shared in leadership. But when I preached on this passage, it was different. At Ground Zero, the sky was black, ash was falling in snowdrifts, space seemed to ripple as temperatures shifted from extreme heat of airplane fuel fires, to extreme cold; but most difficult, no bodies were found, there was no sound, no birds, no traffic. Seventeen years later, we have learned to be suspicious. We have learned fear. We have become accustomed to Orange Alerts and Mass Killings, barriers and cameras. But have we found any redemption, any new faith, or understanding? We have returned to routines, added new ones, all rooted in fear, not based on faith. That December I wrote a piece: “This Christmas is Different.” ➢ In Christmases past, we often thought about all we did not have; this Christmas we recognized all we do possess. ➢ Christmas past we hung wreaths on doors, then placed wreaths @ cemetery. ➢ In the past we counted our 401Ks, Christmas 2001 we counted our blessings. ➢ Christmases past we paid lip service to Holidays; then began to honor them. ➢ Christmases past we gave kids toy guns, then had to teach: Guns are not toys. ➢ Christmases past we wondered how to afford all the presents, Christmas 2001 we imagined all money cant buy: Security, safety, peace. ➢ Prior Christmases, Relatives got on our nerves, then we got on our knees. ➢ Christmases past we complained about Office-stress, then offices were gone ➢ Some Christmases we wondered what it was to be affluent, then to be alive. ➢ Heroes played sports, now we know Heroes who run into burning buildings. ➢ In Christmases past we contemplated the changes we wanted to make, Christmas 2001 we began considering all the accommodations we had made. Here we are, as Survivors, each of us have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. What are we going to do with life, that we have nothing to lose by living? Frederick Buechner, was a classmate of our Veterinarian Bill Nichols who wrote the book Listening to Your Life asking questions about where we are going, and who we are: • When you look in the mirror, What do you most like and what do you not? • If you had only a brief message, 25 words or less, to leave, what would it be? • Of all the things you have done, which would you like to undo? • Which makes you the happiest to remember? • Is there anyone or any cause, you would be willing to risk your life for? • If today were the last day of your life, what would you choose to do? The things done in fear, are the ones, I would undo, the times I backed down. But the ones I am happiest about, revolve around family and faith. What I have been willing to sacrifice for, to make, amends or to accept loss for, have also been for the Family of Faith, the Church, You. Jesus went about life with his congregation, when he asked: “Who do they say I Am?” Some called him a Rabbi, some a Priest, some a Faith-Healer, some a Charlatan, some said he was Elijah Returning for a new Era, some a new Moses, some a Prophet, some said the reincarnation of John the Baptist. Andrew’s Brother Peter loved Word-Games. In Hebrew, the Name of God, the name given at the Burning Bush to Moses, “Yahweh” means “I Am,” so if Jesus asks “Who I Am” the right answer had to be God; but saying that out loud would be blasphemy because only GOD could be God, so Jesus was “sent from God” the anointed “Messiah!” in Latin “The Christ!” Jesus says “Exactly! But what does it mean to sent from God?” The Messiah is not a King, not a Warrior, not a Scholar. To come from God means to be a gift of love, of redemption and transformation for the world. Frederick Buechner, whom I quoted writing about Life & faith also wrote about love. o To love an equal, a friend, a brother, a spouse, is a very Human thing. o To love those less fortunate, to love those who suffer, is Compassion. o To love those who succeed when we fail is rare. The world is bewildered and awed by Saints, uncertain whether to envy. o To love those who undermine, who inflict pain, who have hurt you, to love an enemy is God’s love, which conquers the world. Phillip Yancey writes in his book The Jesus I Never Knew that as a journalist he had opportunity to interview famous people: Sports Greats, Politicians, Authors, Movie Stars, Royalty, and he found a People dominated by self-doubt and worse. So he set out to interview “Saints” Medical personnel working with outcasts, Relief Workers, those who run Homeless shelters. He said he was prepared to Honor and admire them, as inspiring examples; but he was not prepared to envy them, but he did. He found that these who were underpaid, and often unpaid, owning little or nothing, had found joy. Wasting their time on the uneducated, and on those who would never pay them back, provided riches unknown anywhere else in the world. In the process of losing their lives, they found the meaning of life. And so will we.