"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.