Thankful Giving

Mark 12:38-44

“Has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on.”

I’ve been thinking about this phrase all week. What does it mean to give everything we have? More so, what does it mean to give the things we need to live on?

Today, we come to the final installment of our journey through the Gospel of Mark. It’s been a great 3 months, or so, in which we learned about discipleship, walking with Christ as our guide, and remembering that we never travel alone as not only is God always with us but so are fellow travelers which God has put on our paths. We heard stories about not hindering other’s approach into God’s love and to be as welcoming to the outcasts and the unwanted in our communities as we are to Jesus himself.

Mostly, though, we heard story after story of how Jesus calls his followers to do what is right in the eyes of God: to love one another with the same unconditional love God has for us and to love ourselves in the same way and above all to love God with all we are. I think it’s that same unconditional love we here at Ewa Community Church have for one another and for those who live within, as well as beyond, our community; one look at this chancel speaks louder about that than any words I can say.

As I watched you bring your gifts forward, I thought to myself, “This really is a great church. We are mission-oriented and do what we can to provide for the well-being of others. We might not be a big church, but we most certainly give all that we have.”

We don’t do so to show others how great we are, or to bring attention to ourselves in any way; instead we give from a place within ourselves that speaks as loud as silence, the same kind of silence with which the poor widow in today’s story spoke.

Today we find Jesus in one of the in-between places Mark is known for. The presentation of the child to his disciples in Capernaum and the stroll through the villages by Caesarea Philippi are recent examples we have seen of those same kind of in-between places; places where Jesus’ more intimate teachings take place.

Today’s passage takes place between the grueling interrogation by the temple elite and Jesus’ moment on the hill across the temple. If we recall last week’s message, Jesus had just finished a debate with some of Jerusalem’s smartest religious and legal counsels. He then stepped out of the city and away from the temple where he warns that bad things have to happen before the people fully understand what he is trying to teach.

Before they leave the city, though, Jesus sits down right outside the temple, in full view of the collection box to watch how people give their money. After all, he did just say something about people who long for places of honor in the synagogues and who like to show off by saying long prayers. Jesus just thought it would be interesting to see if any of his words were getting through.

My guess is it didn’t. Jesus watched as person after person came to the collection box, haphazardly tossing in money, throwing it in without a thought as to what their contributions meant to the building of God’s Kingdom. However, in contrast to those who give without a thought, the poor widow approaches the collection box with pride and dignity, willing to give everything she has.

The widow gave to the temple not out of duty, nor does she give with the hopes God will somehow rescue her from her dire situation. The widow gives because of her faithfulness to God, and God’s faithfulness to her. She is devoted to the fact that God is in her life, regardless of where she is on life’s journey and for that she is thankful – so much so that she comes into the temple during one of their people’s largest festivals in order to give what she can, which is all she had, to thank God for everything God has done in her life.

The widow is being a good steward of the gifts which God has given her and as such is retuning that gift to God so that God’s Kingdom will be stronger.

In a recent article, author Benjamin Corey said a few things about the Kingdom of God. He said that the Kingdom of God is not concerned with building walls, but tearing them down and that the Kingdom of God is not concerned with having more, but giving more. Those are interesting words to ponder in the place Mark’s Gospel has us today.

It seems as though we’re living in a time when some people would rather put up barriers, or as Mark’s Gospel describes them, stumbling blocks, instead of making the path to God’s all-encompassing love easier. It seems that we’re living in a time when most people are more concerned with their self-interests than they are about the lives of those who are seeking a chance at life, literally. It seems as though the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees of which Jesus warned us are once again cheating widows out of their homes.

But, it only seems that way if we let it be such. There was also one more thing Mr. Corey said in his article: The Kingdom of God exists to help those in need. It’s in helping those in need we are reminded about today.

Stewardship is defined as an ethic that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. It is the blending of 2 words; stig which means house or hall, and weard which means guardian or keeper. Stewardship, then, is a set of moral principles with which one manages and plans how to utilize that with which they are entrusted.  

Biblical stewardship is doing the same with the gifts God has entrusted to us. Oftentimes when stewardship is mentioned in the church we think of money. Yes, helping to finance the work of the church is important, but that’s not the whole thing. Financially, I’m sure we all do what we can. It’s with the other gifts God has entrusted to us that we should truly be considering.

Some of us are gifted with great organizational skills and could help with planning events for our church and the Ewa community in which we live. Some of us are gifted with being able to moderate a group discussion and could lead a church study group. Some of us are gifted with making crafts or baking cakes and cookies and could make things to sell at our mission fairs. Some of us have good leadership skills and could help facilitate one of our committees. Some of us are good at being a caring presence for others and could visit our members who, for whatever reasons, cannot attend church on a regular basis.

We each have something we’re gifted with and it doesn’t matter if the gift you have is small or big. What does matter is how you give that gift to better the Kingdom of God and to do so with the same outlook our widow in today’s story has: thankfulness. A thankfulness that God is in our lives and a thankfulness that we are able to do what we can in order to help others realize that God is in their lives as well.

Her gift to the temple also highlights one more thing that needs to be mentioned. We are told by Jesus to beware of the legal experts who do things only to make themselves look better, the same people Jesus says do so at the expense of the widows of the world. Yet the widow gave anyway. Jesus tells his followers that the poor woman is a direct recipient of all the things the religious figures of his day had created – division between different classes of people, the inability for the unclean to re-enter God’s presence, and the separation of the church from the people who needed it the most; but none of that mattered to this woman, she gave anyway.

Her faith in God and how God would use whatever gifts she brought to the temple to better the lives of those around her was more than enough for her to give all that she had, everything she needed to live on. Perhaps she also gave out of a sense of hope. In ancient Israel, the “poor” were not required to give; they simply did so because they believed in the goodness of the institution, the goodness of its leaders, and the need for the religious institution to remain. Her hope was that her gift would be used to better the lives of others, even if she herself had nothing left after giving.

I want to tell you a quick story which was posted in Facebook by a childhood friend of mine.

It was this time of the year 4 years ago, I was sitting at a stop light next to Honolulu Hale, when I witnessed a homeless couple crossing the street. They wore torn dirty clothes, Their hair uncombed, skin unwashed. They held each other’s hand as they used the cross walk to make their way to the other side as the traffic waited for the light to change.
Then. . . unexpectedly, in the middle of the street the man turns to the woman and ever so lovingly and gently kissed her, and in full view of the waiting traffic gave her the most incredible embrace as if to say " My Love, let others watch. I will use this moment to bear witness to the world that although I have nothing to offer you, from now until breath leaves my body for the last time, I am yours and shall always love you with all my heart".
For a few seconds, I couldn't see a homeless couple, but instead I saw a man and woman deeply in love with each other.
For those in love, a blessing that your love grows and endures.
For those looking for love, a prayer and a blessing that the Heavenly Father will grant you the love you are looking for. . .
Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends!

What an amazing gift for my friend to be given. That couple had nothing of which to call their own except for the love they shared with one another; a love so strong they didn’t mind sharing it with the rest of the world. Such, my friends, is the love of Christ.

When we read on from today’s passage we will find Jesus entering his final days here on earth. He is going to be betrayed by those closest to him, lied about and made to endure a trial of mistruths and falsehoods. In the end, all Jesus will have to offer as a gift is his life – which he does without so much as a complaint because it’s in that gift he hopes we begin to understand the depth of his love for us.

Thanksgiving is this week. It’s that special day we set aside as a people to be thankful for all that with which we have been entrusted. It’s also a day we can reflect on all we can give back to God with that same gratitude. It’s only when we are able to give of ourselves as freely as did Christ, that those around us will be able to understand the love we have to share. A love which comes from God and flows through us and into the world.

A world where God is ever-present and where God’s ever-present love lives. A world where Ewa Community Church can remain to be a beacon of hope and a path towards rebuilding relationships within our community. All of which is possible because of the gifts you have been entrusted with and are now able to give back to God to help make God’s Kingdom a better place for all.

God is with us all, and a very Happy Thanksgiving to you!  Amen.

The End Of A Bad Day

Mark 13:1-8

We pick up today’s story from Mark at a time when Jesus and his followers have had a few very busy days. It was only a couple of days ago that Jesus rode through the gates of Jerusalem as people laid leafy branches and their coats on the ground for the colt to step on as shouts of “hosanna” and “blessed is the one” rang through the air.

Mark tells us that by the time Jesus entered the temple that day it was late, so he and his followers leave Jerusalem and head for Bethany, a town that was maybe an hour’s walk away. The next morning Jesus and his followers return to Jerusalem, where upon entering the temple he sees how it’s been turned from a place of worship to a place where tradesmen hawk their wares for profit. This upsets him and he turns over their tables and drives out the buyers and sellers from what has become a marketplace.

It’s here when we’re told the temple elite have finally had enough and look for a way to kill Jesus. What I find interesting, and good for another day’s discussion, is why the chief priests and scribes wanted to kill him – because they regarded him as dangerous due to the fact that people were becoming captivated by his teachings.

The end of that day comes and Jesus and his followers once again leave the temple and head towards Bethany. The next morning as Jesus tries to enter the temple, the chief priests and scribes stop him at the door to inquire as to what authority Jesus has to teach in the temple. This begins a day where Jesus is tested over and over by those who profess themselves to be experts in either the law or religion.

The Pharisees, defenders of the traditional written Mosaic laws, ask him if it is lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor. Sadducees, who the great historian, Josephus, described as boorish and rude keepers of the law, asked Jesus about the resurrection, a subject they themselves did not believe in. The scribes, who copied down the laws and taught them to others, asked Jesus what was the first commandment from God.

Mark’s gospel goes to great lengths in chapter 12 to show us the hypocritical positions of those who were considered the temple experts, and he does so quite well. Those who are interrogating Jesus in the hopes to catch him in what we would call a “gotcha moment” in today’s vernacular, leave Jesus in the temple without so much as a reason for those who have gathered to be taught by the great Rabbi to doubt anything Jesus is teaching.

The chief priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes each try to trap Jesus with their questions, and in the process only bring those who Jesus is teaching, the common people of Jerusalem, closer to understanding God’s truth about what the law is supposed to represent: God’s unconditional love for us and the hope that we would have this same unconditional love for others as well as ourselves.

This brings us to the end of another day – a long, grueling, difficult day for Jesus. It’s one of those days where one isn’t sure if any of what was done had a meaning; whether or not the words and actions which were said and done fulfilled a purpose.

Jesus must have been showing his unsureness from the day’s events. I’m sure he was showing at least some fatigue, having just been in grueling arguments with some of Jerusalem’s brightest minds for most of the day. I can just imagine as he and his followers come out of the temple after the day he just had when one of them, apparently trying to lift Jesus’ spirits tries to point out the beauty of the place they were just in.

“Teacher, look! What awesome stones and buildings!” he says to Jesus. He attempts to get Jesus to look at the great craftsmanship, to look at the exquisite stones used to build that place, to look at the artistic carvings each column and wall had to offer. “Look”, he says to Jesus, “look at the beauty of this place.” While thinking, “I wish I could somehow make Jesus feel better.”

If we’re true to Mark’s version of Jesus’ story we almost immediately see his eyes sadden and his head drop a little. He has just spent a full day teaching and repudiating attacks from others when one of his disciples, those who have followed him through every land and walked every path of this journey with him, those who should have understood Jesus the best by this point in the story, tries to cheer him up with something of material value.

That disciple might as well have said, “Don’t worry about speaking God’s truth to the people who need to hear it the most, look at the pretty walls.”

I can almost hear Jesus, tired from a long day, say in a slightly subdued voice, but still matter-of-factly in its tone, “Do you see these enormous buildings? Not even one stone will be left upon another. All will be demolished.”

It’s like Jesus saying to that disciple, “Really?! After the day I had you want to talk about things that don’t matter now, nor will again ever matter?” His disciples just don’t understand.

Jesus then finds a spot he can be alone with his thoughts. A place high atop a hill across the temple, probably with a great view of the buildings he just left. As his head contemplates the words which were spoken that day, and his heart lay heavy knowing that he doesn’t know how to reach the people he feels called by God to reach, he is approached by 4 of his followers – Peter, James, John, and Andrew.

They ask him a question, “Tell us, when will these things happen? What sign will show that all these things are about to come to an end?” It is a question Jesus never answers. You see, it isn’t important when or how or why the temple will be destroyed. It isn’t important what will bring the temple down. It really doesn’t matter who will be responsible for the stones of that great building being thrown down and demolished. The thing that is important is that from this point forward Jesus’ followers understand that things will become extremely difficult and that they hold on tightly to the words and actions Jesus has taught them along their journey together.

It is here I feel a need to remind you that Mark was written at a time when people of the Jewish faith as well as Christians were being persecuted. Mark would have a keen understanding that the temple which stood for all that Israel holds close to its heart would soon be torn down. Mark would be living through a time when his people would once again be dispersed throughout the land and the one place in which they found refuge in God would no longer exist.

Mark was also being written in a time when many others who called themselves the true prophets of God roamed the towns and villages. We know this from Paul’s writings, which were written before Mark or any of the other Gospels. Paul warns the churches in Ephesians, Corinth, and Rome about such teachers and preachers. He reminds those churches about the importance of keeping their focus on the one who is truly sent from God to speak and teach God’s truth, Jesus our Christ.

Mark’s Gospel continues in today’s passage with that same idea. “Watch out” he says, “that no one deceives you. Many people will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the one!’ They will deceive many people.” Mark’s Gospel, by linking these two points – the destruction of the temple and the caution to stay true to the words of the one true Christ – warns his readers that regardless of how much the world around us falls apart, if we strongly hold on to the words and life of Christ we will break through whatever is hindering our journey.

On Friday evening, a small group of 7 men exploded bombs and shot innocent people in their misguided war against those who don’t agree with their ideologies. It’s an ideology which no rational human being can agree with. Ideologies which include the oppression of woman, the detachment of hands or feet for not doing as one is told, even death for any who will not swear allegiance to what these ideologists consider to be the one and only way.

A misguided ideology because the doctrine from which these ideas are taken teach the words of prophets who speak only of peace, hope, joy, and love. Yet, just as these people currently misuse the words in their version of a bible so have many others from humanity’s history.

My intention is not to defend another’s religion, or another’s way of life. My intention is to speak about how, even in the face of fear and terror, even in the face of imminent death and the destruction of all you believe, it is our faith which pulls us into the safety and security which the one Creator wishes for all people.

I don’t know how many of you were glued to the constant news cycle of the last few days; a cycle which spoke of how terrorists took almost 130 lives around the life-filled city of Paris, France. We heard witness accounts from survivors who spoke of people falling around them and how they feared for their own lives. We heard stories from France’s government swearing they will find whoever did this and bring them to justice. Yet, there seemed to be more questions than answers.

Within hours the world responded. France’s national colors began to light monuments across the world. While the Eiffel Tower sat in darkness, the arch over Wembley Stadium shined with the Blue, White, and Red. The sail-shaped canopies which cover the Opera House in Australia shined with the Blue, Red, and White. The Empire State Building in New York City; The CN Tower over Toronto, Ontario, Canada;  the High Roller, a 550-foot Ferris Wheel in Las Vegas, and The White House all shined with the Blue, Red, and White to show solidarity with the people of France.

Of all the world’s monuments, however, the one that made me really stop and think, no, more than that, the one that brought truth to my heart was the Christ of the Redeemer, the 125-foot statue of Jesus Christ with his arms spread open, inviting all to him while at the same time keeping watch over the people of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Seeing our Christ shining with the light of solidarity, glowing with the light of unity, radiating with the light of harmony told me that all things will be fine.

It is in the light of Christ I found my peace. It is in the light of Christ I know the people of Paris will find theirs. It is in the light of Christ I hope you will find yours as well.

When people from around the world want to share something on social media they use what is called a hashtag. For those my age, or older, it’s the symbol on the push-button phone that looks like the symbol for number or pound. In fact, it used to be called the pound sign. In the past few days a hashtag has been created in order for the world to share their thoughts with the people of Paris. I’d like to share some of those with you now.

#PrayForParis: I will never understand what makes a person think they can take another life away. Life is precious and they have no right.
#PrayForParis: can't stop thinking about little ones who woke up today with no mommy, no daddy, big brother or sister
#PrayForParis: Because of God we are: Found, Saved, Hopeful, Inspired, Forgiven, Blessed, Stronger, Optimistic, Loved.
#PrayForParis: "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear..." -Is 58:8
#PrayForParis: "When the city of light goes dark, the rest of the world lights up for them"

When people turn against people and battle lines are drawn it begins to feel like our world is falling apart. Sometimes those things must happen in order for us to fully come to understand what Jesus’ life was truly about. Jesus asks us to hold tight to his words; words which shine brightly on our love of neighbor regardless of who they are; words which shine brightly on loving ourselves in the same way; and words which shine brightly on the love for a God whose own Light came into this world, not to condemn it, but so that all people might find the joy of peace through him.

All we have to do is share this Light as it shines brightly in our lives and in our hearts.

God is always with us.  Amen.

Trust, Obedience, Reconciliation

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

At the time Ruth’s story was being told, there was a law within the nation of Israel which prohibited women from owning any property. All of a family’s holdings – land, livestock, houses, and the like – were owned by the male head-of-household. The women of the household were completely dependent on their husbands, sons, brothers-in-law, or other male family members who were within the lineage of their husbands.

If a woman’s husband died, his inheritance went first to his sons. If he had no sons it would go to his brothers, beginning with the eldest. If he had no brothers it would go to the closest living relative who would publicly claim that the deceased male is a relative and who would also claim full responsibility for all of the man’s property; including his wife and, if he had any, his unmarried daughters or any other female left under his care.

If no one would lay claim to the property – the land, livestock and such – it would automatically be awarded to whoever was the highest religious or political authority in the area. If nobody laid claim to the women, however, they would be deemed widows and orphans and as such would be considered outsiders of the community and unclean in the eyes of the temple. This would mean that any woman whose husband died was truly at the mercy of any male relative who thought enough of them to care for them as part of the man’s own family.

Such is the place Naomi and her two step-daughters find themselves in today’s story.

During a time of famine, Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, moved from Judah to Moab in the hopes of finding a new life for themselves and their two sons. This had to be a difficult move for them as Moab was known as a pagan land where the one God which they worshiped in Judah did not exist. But, as it is now so was it then, the safety and security of their family outweighed all else, causing them to move into a life where they would do the best they could.

Unfortunately, Naomi’s husband dies while they’re in Moab, leaving her and her two sons alone in a foreign country. Of course, according to their laws, when they move back home to Judah the sons will automatically inherit their father’s properties, so they really don’t have anything to worry about.

There’s still a need for them to be in Moab as the famine which enshrouds their homeland of Judah is still in effect. So they stay there and take Moabite wives as women. This is a good thing as now there would be a way to ensure that their father’s inheritance would continue through their lineage.

As fate would have it, after 10 years of toiling away in Moab and trying to make a living for themselves and their families, Naomi’s two sons die. This one event leaves Naomi with nobody to continue watching out for her safety and security as she gets older. It also leaves the two women who married into the family with a decision to make. They are both Moabites, and according to Jewish laws at the time were unable to participate in any way with the traditions of the Judeans. This means that they also don’t have any of the safeties or securities being married brings.

However, because they are Moabites they are free to re-marry as they wish. So along the way back to Judah, where the famine has apparently ended, Naomi tells her two daughters-in-law that they are free to return to their place of birth in order that they might find a way to provide for themselves. Naomi understands that she is returning to a place where there are no guarantees for her livelihood and her wish is that they don’t share in the same possible fate.

One of them decides to return to Moab, while the other, Ruth, makes the decision to stay with Naomi and together face whatever may come.

Ruth and Naomi return to a land where fields are once again producing and where the people are living within the blessings of God. But, they neither have a place to live or a way to provide for themselves; so they glean. Gleaning is the act of following harvesters as they pick the wheat or other crops, gathering whatever might be left over in the fields. Naomi and Ruth, as well as many others, survived in this way.

Now, we’re not told about the well-being of Naomi’s husband before he passed away. We know absolutely nothing about what kind of a lifestyle Naomi had before the famine and before they decided to settle in Moab. What we do know is that at this point in the story Naomi has nothing – no home, no land, not even dignity in her self. What we also know is that Naomi held dearly to the truth that she had an undying loyalty from Ruth, and that God was in her life.

Those are two things that, when all else seems to be falling apart around us, we can also count on: we are loved by the people who are loyal to us and we are always in the presence of a God who never stops loving us.

When I first started in ministry I was blessed to work with young people. I say blessed because working with teenagers also gave me the opportunity to be in ministry with their parents, grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunties, and even their friends. I especially enjoyed talking with their grandparents who gave me a keen insight into life; not just those of their grandchildren or their families, but of life in general.

I remember when one of the youth I ministered to lost a grandparent. It was difficult for her, to say the least. She completely shut down, not knowing how to act or react to anything or anyone. One day, after church was done and youth group was winding down, I asked her to go outside with me so we could talk. We crossed the basketball court and sat on a wall by some classrooms where we simply sat quietly for a while.

She started to cry and I gently placed my arm around her shoulder. She leaned into me and started crying more. After a minute or so she calmed down enough for me to ask her what was going on. She told me how much she missed her grandmother and how empty life was without her. I turned her towards me and just listened.

She told me of all the times her and her grandma would bake, or go shopping, or just hang out and enjoy one another’s company. But now that she was gone, life didn’t seem worth living. I let her be silent again. I gently asked her to look up at me, and when she did I said to her, “I consider myself to be very lucky to have known your grandmother. She was a woman filled with life and love and gave hope to everyone she met. I miss her too.”

Then I said, “I especially remember one day when we were talking after church and she said to me, “Randy, life will always be good for me because I have love. Not just the love of those around me, but the love of God in my heart.”

Then I asked the young girl, “Do you believe you have love?”

She nodded.

“Do you believe there are people around you who love you?”

She nodded again.

“Do you believe that God still loves you?” She shrugged, then after a few seconds she nodded.

We talked more about the pain we feel when someone close to us has gone, and how much life will be different because of that loss. Then after a while she looked up at me and smiled. It was in that smile I knew she would be okay.

Naomi’s story reminds me of these kinds of moments. Moments when all seems lost, but because of our love for God and our trust that God is always at our side, we know that things will get better; just as things got better for Ruth and Naomi.

You see, Naomi had a relative of her passed husband in Judah; not just any relative but one with money. So when they get to Judah, Ruth tells her mother-in-law that she would like to glean in his fields in the off chance she might find favor, or be noticed, by the man. And get noticed she does. Boaz, Naomi’s relative, really takes a liking to Ruth, even so far as to allow her to walk among the young men as they harvest the fields, taking as much as she needed.

As the rest of the story goes…At the suggestion of Naomi, Ruth goes into Boaz’s room during the night, where she is discovered by him laying at his feet. Instead of punishing her as was custom to their laws, Boaz sends her away with enough barley to sell in the markets, not so much for her to make money, but in order for him to make right that which should be made right.

As Naomi and Ruth sit in the marketplace, Boaz has a meeting with his older brother, the one who is rightfully in line to gain possession of Naomi’s fields. Boaz tells his brother that he should purchase that field in order to take what is rightfully his – the land and all that is in it. However, Boaz also reminds his brother that as a part of the purchase he must also gain possession of Naomi, and the Moabite woman Ruth.

Boaz’s brother wants nothing of the deal. You see, a Moabite is regarded as an outsider, one who can never enter into the Kingdom of God. They do not follow the rules of the Jewish faith and by taking possession of Ruth he puts into jeopardy all of his own possessions. Instead of claiming what is rightfully his, Boaz’s brother denies claim and Boaz, being next in line to the inheritance, redeems what now becomes his and takes Ruth to be his wife.

The story ends well, with Ruth bearing a son wo is named Obed. Obed grows old and takes a wife who gives him a son, whose name is Jesse. Jesse grows old and takes a wife who gives him a son, whose name is David. David will grow up to become the greatest king of the Jewish people and it’s from David’s house the lineage continues until Joseph is given a son by Mary, who we all know as Jesus, our Christ.


It is in Jesus that humanity’s hopes are rekindled. It’s through Jesus we are all shown the way into God’s love.

My encounter with that young woman must have been 12 or 13 years ago and she must be close to 30 years old by now. I haven’t seen her recently, in fact I don’t think I’ve seen her for at least 8 or 10 years. I don’t know what she’s up to now, having lost track of her as she grew from a teenager into a lady.

I would like to think she’s doing fine. I’m sure her life hasn’t been all easy, nor am I led to believe she’s reached every one of her life’s goals; none of us really do. Somehow, though, I know that she is doing fine. I caught a glimpse into the woman she would become on that wall outside the church classrooms, and what I saw in her smile was a woman who knew that regardless of where her paths took her she would be surrounded by people her life to help her who would be there through the difficult times as well as share in her times of joy. I saw a woman whose faith in God was made stronger because for just a while it had gotten weaker. I saw a young woman who knew that regardless of her circumstances she would find a way into a better situation.

Somehow, I also knew that her trust in Jesus Christ would endure all things and that she would find a way to heed God’s call to better the lives of those around her; in the process being as Jesus was to many – a way into reconciliation with others, our self, and with God.

God is with us always.  Amen.

The Newness Of All Things

Isaiah 25:6-9

I have found that the more open I am about my faith at work, the more opportunities I have to share that faith. I enjoy conversations with people from all walks of life who both share and don’t share the same beliefs I do. It’s really good for my personal journey when I remain open and try my best to learn about what others have to offer me in order for me to continue growing in my relationship with God.

For example, I was talking with a fellow teacher about biblical healing. We were talking about how Jesus could easily heal with the touch of his hands or with words of compassion. We were in agreement with most things, not all things, but found within our mutual respect a spiritual growth in our relationship.

During the conversation, she had told me about her experience with the Sunday School she teaches. She has a small group of 5 year olds where she talks with them about how God loves them through stories from the Old and New Testament; stories about Noah’s ark and Moses being found by an Egyptian queen, stories about Jesus feeding thousands of people or what it means to be a good Samaritan.

Her class is getting ready to participate in their church’s Thanksgiving service, at which they will be performing a song about God’s love and how they can lean on his strength when they feel sad. She began to share the song with me, mumble singing it as she went through the movements she was teaching the kids in order to help them remember the song.

She wrapped her arms around herself to represent love and she held her arms in some kind of a muscle pose to represent strength. She pointed to heaven to represent God and to me and her to represent all of us. I wish I could remember the song and do it for you, but…yeah.

However, it wasn’t so much about the song she wanted to share with me, it was about the teaching moment that followed. She told me that as she was explaining to the kids what the song meant to her, about how through God we are protected and loved and how we’re to be thankful for all of that, she mentioned that it’s also through the people God puts in our lives we can share that same love and protection.

Then she told me something she was surprised came out through her words. She said, “Just imagine that if all those people we learn about in the bible could watch us and know that the stories they tell us really help us learn about God and Jesus, they would be so very happy with us right now.”
She could only describe that moment as a Spirit moment; where the Spirit of God took over and led her to say that all the people in our lives, even those from an ancestral past, are what makes us the people we are today; and a good people at that.

I shared in that moment with her, seeing how the many people God has put on my path has led me to where I am today. I’m not just talking about family and friends, colleagues and coworkers, or even professors and pastors. I’m also talking about those same people she was – Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Jesus, and so much more. And not just them, but all of the others with whom we share stories; so many saints, so many stories, so many lives, so many opportunities for God to show God’s self to us.

But, you know, it isn’t just the people who are directly in our lives who help us to get to where we are. There are so many others we don’t know or have never heard of that helped us along the way as well. I’m sure we all have countless stories where our day isn’t going well and is made better by someone holding a door open for us, or smiling and saying hello, or letting us cut in front of them on the freeway.

Yes, God has surrounded us with so much love, and placed before us many opportunities to understand that love, that I can firmly say that the saints of our past are definitely looking down on us and smiling, knowing that they have made a positive difference in our lives.

The hope of God is that we continue to do the same for others.

As I read through today’s passage from Isaiah I thought about all of those saints, those people who are either directly or indirectly a part of our lives and where, if anyplace, our paths will meet. I thought about Isaiah’s words in the midst of the Prophet crying out about the destruction of the world and how the whole earth will dry up and wither away.

Isaiah says in chapter 24, “The wine dries up; the vine withers; all the merry-hearted groan. The joyous tambourines have ceased; the roar of partyers has stopped; the joyous harp has ceased. No one drinks wine or sings; beer is bitter to its drinkers. The town is in chaos, broken; every house is shut, without entrance. There is a cry for wine in the streets. All joy has reached its dusk; happiness is exiled from the earth.” Isaiah paints a picture where all joy is removed from life’s very existence.

He does this because the world he is living in is falling apart. The 2 kingdoms which make up his beloved nation are close to being destroyed. The enemies of Judah and Israel are at the gates and Isaiah knows that soon it will all be gone – if the people don’t stop living the way they are and follow the ways that were set before them by their ancestors.
His call is to a nation to remain unified under the one thing which was passed down from generation to generation to generation: faithfulness in God lived through righteousness.

Then, after prophesying about withered vines and the lack of joy in sharing wine, Isaiah has a promise: God will once again come and unite all people. It is that unification of all the saints, of all those whose stories from within the pages of the bible and of all the lives of our ancestors, that we are so beautifully told about, when Isaiah says, “On this mountain, the Lord of heavenly forces will prepare for all peoples a rich feast, a feast of choice wines, of select foods rich in flavor, of choice wines well refined.”

Isaiah then gives us a glimmer of what life on that hill will look like. “He will swallow up on this mountain the veil that is veiling all peoples, the shroud enshrouding all nations. He will swallow up death forever. The Lord God will wipe tears from every face; he will remove his people’s disgrace from off the whole earth.”


Wow.

It is for this unification, this newness of all things where all people will once again know peace, joy, and love that we have been shown the path we now travel. It is for this unification we also show those around us the same path; a path into God’s feast on the hill where all are welcome and all will live a life eternal.

As I said earlier, whether we know it or not God places people into our life’s journey so we can begin to see how we are all invited to the feast on the hill. It’s when we realize God has placed people in our lives when we least expect it, that makes those moments very special; just as those Sunday School kids might have understood what their teacher was saying or how she felt as that Spirit moved through them.

A very good friend of mine lost her son about a year and a half ago. It was unexpected and she’s been coping with the pain of losing a child as best she can. I admire her courage in the way she allows people to travel with her on the journey towards reconciliation. She is inviting to all who want to be with her, as much as she invites others to join with her.

She wrote the following letter to a couple of young men who were sitting behind her in the movie theater:

Dear Young Men Who Sat Behind Us in the Movie Theater Last Night:
My husband and I don't go out often. We don't travel as much as we used to do. We've been married for twenty-two years. We were able to have just one child together.
We enjoy going out to the movies and would have family date night for the three of us. For many years, my husband took the aisle seat, and I'd sit in the middle with our son to the right of us.
Our son died two years ago after completing the last day of his senior year of high school. Instead of seeing him go to senior breakfast, having his senior class group photo taken, and then attending graduation rehearsal we held his funeral and burial services.
So last night, my husband and I went to see "Bridge of Spies." It was a good movie about an American hero during the Cold War.
I listened to the two of you talk during the movie trailers about which films you'd see or not see. One of you had a distinctive, loud laugh. You liked the previews for comedies and for the new James Bond movie.
And then the movie started, and you both got quiet and intently watched the movie, and laughed at appropriate places.
I wanted to turn around and see what you both looked like, but I didn't because I didn't want to be obvious, didn't want you to stop laughing.
The movie ended and you both left in the darkened theater.
On the way home I told my husband the best part of the movie was listening to you and your friend. Forgive me for listening to your conversations. I told him it was like having our son and his best friend sitting behind us. It was like hearing our son have a good time. It was like hearing our son laugh.
So, thank you both for being yourselves. Thank you for providing me with a glimpse of what life could have been for my son. It was good to hear my son's laughter through your laughter. I prayed to Creator to provide you both with a good life free from anxiety and depression. May you both have happiness and great success in life always.

She goes on to say how much she misses her son and how she longs for the day they will be reunited in God’s house, tor s Isaiah would say, to sit at the table of God’s feast on the hill.

Our paths might be individual, each of us carrying that which we accumulate along the way. But when we take into account everyone with whom God has sent to be with us, we realize we don’t have to carry those things alone. There has always been and will always be someone willing to help us reach the goal by carrying some of our baggage for us, just as we will be there for others along their own paths. It is God who ultimately provides us with our fellow travelers and the strength to be a good companion along the way. As we head towards the feast on the hill which is filled with joy, peace, and love in a life of hope fulfilled, let us honor all those who have traveled before us, and remember to be with all those who will travel the path when we’re no longer able.

God is always with us. Amen.

The Blind Leading The…

Mark 10:46-52

This journey through Mark’s Gospel has been enlightening and filled with great opportunities for me to delve a little deeper into my faith, especially the last few weeks or so. Actually, it’s been the last 6 weeks that I’ve honestly grown closer to an understanding as to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

This particular journey started with Jesus and his companions as they traveled through the villages surrounding Caesarea Philippi. If we remember, the scene was painted for us which had the travelers walking down streets lined with idols worshipping other gods as Jesus stopped to ask his followers who they thought he was. Peter’s reply was that Jesus was the Christ, the chosen one, the living Christ. This story is known as the gateway from the Jesus who healed and did signs of wonder to the Jesus who had decided to fulfill his one mission on earth.

With that story, Mark’s Gospel tells us that to become a disciple of Jesus we must first and foremost recognize Jesus as the chosen one of God; the one God sent to live among us and show us how to reconcile our lives with God, those around us, and ourselves.

Next we traveled through Galilee and into Capernaum, Jesus’ adopted home and safe haven. Capernaum was that place in and around the Galilee area where the Roman Empire had no presence. This was to be Jesus’ rest stop before heading out to Jerusalem, but instead of resting he uses the time to teach his disciples about what it means to be a servant; a theme he’ll repeat again before he gets to the gates of Jerusalem.

To show us about the meaning of being a servant, Jesus takes a little child, someone of no significance to society in his days, and says to the gathered followers that they need to take people like that child – the outcasts, those who live on the fringes, those society has all but ignored – and place them first as those whom we will serve; first as those for whom we will take care of and help provide for.

Then while still in Capernaum, Jesus teaches his followers about what it means to place stumbling blocks in front of those who are trying to do work in his name. They are told in no uncertain terms that to do so, to hinder anyone from traveling their individual paths into the love of God, would be alike to that of being sent to Geena, the place where the fires of punishment never dies.

Here Mark’s Gospel reminds us to continually invite those seeking God through Jesus, regardless of the paths they have traveled to get to where they are.

We took a break from Mark’s Gospel to celebrate the one church in Jesus Christ on World Communion Sunday, but our break didn’t last for long. The very next week, as Jesus began to travel again, we were introduced to the rich man who followed all the laws and did all his prayers and was, for the most part, a good follower of the Jewish faith. But because he was unwilling to give up his prized possessions, he also found himself unwilling to do what was necessary to enter into God’s realm.

Then, just last week we heard yet another story about the two disciples who approached Jesus with a very bold and courageous question. Jesus asks James and John, “What do you want me to do for you?” To which their reply was to hold positions of power in what they were certain was going to be Jesus’ victory over the Roman Empire. However, Jesus once again tells them that whoever wants to be first among them will be the servant of all.

So, if we’ve been following Mark’s Gospel as to what are the expectations of being a disciple of Christ, we have learned that first we must proclaim Jesus as our chosen one, sent by God to lead us into a life reconciled with God, each other, and ourselves. We must also put the needs of others before ours, especially those who have been outcast or pushed to the edges of society. We must also be willing to give up that which we treasure or value the most as we follow the call of Jesus to do God’s work. To add to this we must never hinder someone’s progress into the community of Christ, always inviting and accepting those who come into the community, regardless of any preconceived ideas we might have of what that community is supposed to look like and who we think are the approved members of such a community.

This is the community of Jesus Christ, and as such all who seek to be here should be welcomed with open arms. It is in that welcome, in that full acceptance of one another in our diversities, that the making of a disciple of Jesus is possible. That is basically what our lesson from today’s passage of the healing of Bartimaeus is about.

Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” What she meant by this is that no matter the living conditions of people around the world, whether they live in mansion-like homes or cardboard shanties, if people don’t belong to a community of others who care for and about them, they live a life that is poor in spirit and devoid of love.

No person should ever have to live in such a world.

It’s unfortunate that even in our day and time, here in the 21st century after the birth of Christ, people who are considered “different” are sometimes still living a life of the poverty Mother Teresa spoke of. But, the good news we are given is that there is still hope.

A few years ago, as I was stuck in horrible traffic on Vineyard Boulevard I was witness to one of these moments of hope. I don’t know what the reason for the back-up on the road was, but it was one of those situations where it took 3 or 4 light changes just to move a few car lengths. I don’t remember being anxious, though, so I must have been in a place where time didn’t much matter.

Being stuck in that traffic gave me the opportunity to look around and take in life as it passed me by. I watched as business people walked along the sidewalk. I watched as college-aged young adults dodged between cars trying to cross the street. It was all amusing to me as I truly enjoy watching people interact with their surroundings.

Then I noticed a blind man, possibly in his late forties or early fifties, as he tried to walk along the sidewalk. The first thing I noticed was where he was walking. He was dangerously close to the road, using his walking stick to tap against the side of the curb as he moved forward. There were more than a few times it looked as though he would stumble right off that sidewalk and onto the road.

A young couple, people possibly in their mid-twenties, approached him from the front, but as they both looked up to see him struggling to walk, they both quickly put their eyes down and moved to the opposite side of the sidewalk, making the choice to ignore the man, rather than help.

A man in an aloha shirt walked by, talking on his cell phone. He had a look of concern on his face as he watched the blind man tapping his way along the edge of the curb. He didn’t move away from the man, but neither did he move towards him, choosing instead to keep talking on his cell phone as he walked right on by.

Everything in me wanted to pull my car over, onto the sidewalk if I had to, so I could help that man reach his destination. I didn’t have to, though, because just as I couldn’t take watching this man possibly fall off the curb and onto the street anymore, a young lady, I would say maybe 20 years old, approached the man and said something to him. He smiled and stopped, reaching out his hand to grab hold of the arm of this young lady, and together they walked towards the center of the sidewalk and along their way.

I thought of this story while reading today’s passage. I thought about how Bartimaeus might have felt as person after person would pass him by all day long, every day of his life. I thought about how at least in today’s society there will be someone willing to reach out and touch someone like Bartimaeus, unlike in the days of Jesus when it was actually against the laws of his people to do so. A blind man living on the streets was unclean, imperfect, and therefore incapable of entering the communities of his day.

Then I thought about the lessons Jesus was trying to teach his followers about discipleship, and I realized that this one story was the culmination of what Jesus, through Mark’s Gospel, was telling them during the approximately 100 mile journey which started in Caesarea Philippi and was now in Jericho.

Jesus and a large group of people are leaving Jericho, a city which theologian Megan McKenna says would have been known in Jesus’ day as one filled with danger and violence; filled  not only with bandits but also with those who were fighting against the Roman Empire. Along their way from that city the group comes across a blind beggar named Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus shouts, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” It’s not the cry for mercy Mark’s Gospel is hoping we focus on; it isn’t that a blind man somehow knows that Jesus is walking by. Mark’s Gospel, for the first time, has someone identifying Jesus as who he is – the Son of David, the rightful heir to the throne of Israel. Bartimaeus recognizes Jesus as not only the Christ, the chosen one as did Peter, but as the one to whom all the glory of Israel should be given.

What the followers of Jesus do next is what Jesus had said is the one thing they should never do as a disciple – they hinder Bartimaeus’ approach into the community of Christ. They scold him and tell him to be quiet, but the blind man will have nothing of it as he calls out even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!”

Jesus, again being the example of what a disciple is supposed to be like, stops what he is doing and calls the man to him. To be honest, this really is what being a disciple of Christ is about. People call out to us for help all the time. Sometimes the cry is subtle and barely noticeable, sometimes it’s so loud we can’t ignore it even if we try. Our call, as followers of Christ, is that when we hear that cry for help we stop what we’re doing and be a presence in the lives of those who need us.

Jesus’ followers call out to the blind man to get up and go to Jesus, which Bartimaeus does.

Now, I’ve worked with a lot of people who live on the streets. I can tell you that the things which they hold close to them, literally on their persons or no more than a few feet away, are their most prized possessions. The clothes they wear, the food they will eat, any monies or other valuables they might use in trade for something else are all kept well within reach.

I can imagine this would hold even truer for a blind person living on the streets. If we stop to think about it, once a blind person loses something on the streets, it is lost. The chances of him or her ever finding it is slim, if that. A blind person who is houseless will do everything they can to keep their possessions on them, if not directly attached to them.

I would say this holds even truer for a blind person in the days of Jesus. Such would be Bartimaeus; a blind beggar living on the streets, with nothing to call his own except maybe the morsels of food someone may have given to him, the clothes he would have been wearing for days or weeks on end, and his coat. A coat which would have been the only way for him to survive the cold nights living on the streets outside Jericho, let alone provide a possible place of sanctuary from the bandits who traveled the roads at night.

His coat, which for all intents and purposes is really the only possession Bartimaeus has, is what he tosses aside as he jumps up to come into the presence of Jesus. Unlike the rich man we heard about a few weeks ago, Bartimaeus is willing to cast aside, and possibly lose forever, the one thing that he depended on for survival so that he could have a chance at a better life with Jesus Christ.

Bartimaeus knew, without a doubt, that his life was about to be transformed. He knew that he no longer would need that coat, or anything else, because Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the one chosen by God to reconcile people under the one love of God, had invited him to be in a community where all are welcome.

Bartimaeus put all of his trust in Jesus Christ. Bartimaeus put all of his faith in Jesus Christ. And when Jesus asks Bartimaeus, “What can I do for you?” unlike the answer James and John gave him, Bartimaeus simply asks for the one thing he had desired for what might have been his entire life: to see. He didn’t want power, he didn’t want fame, he didn’t want riches, he didn’t want friends, he didn’t want anything except for Jesus to make him whole. Bartimaeus, the outcast and unwanted of his society, simply says to Jesus, “I want to see.”

For his faith, for his recognition of Jesus as the Christ and the one sent by God to heal humanity, for his willingness to cast aside all that which he holds of value in his life, for his simple request to just be made complete, Bartimaeus is rewarded with that which he had sought all along: a new life, invited into and to become a part of a community of others who will accept him for who he was in a past life and who he will become in a new life with Christ.

Bartimaeus follows Jesus. Because we know how the story will end, we also know that Bartimaeus won’t be following Jesus for much longer – not here on earth anyway. But something tells me that because of the true examples of Jesus in what discipleship is about, he will follow Jesus for the rest of his life, all the while being as good a disciple to others, just as his savior was to him.

Mother Teresa was right. There really is no worse poverty than to go through life without belonging to a community. And just as that young lady invited the stumbling blind man to be a part of her community, even if just for a moment, let us be the disciples Jesus calls us to be and do the same.

God is with us all.  Amen.

Serve, Give, Liberate

Mark 10:35-45

While reading a few commentaries on today’s passage, I came across one by Matt Skinner, Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, which said, “This passage plays a key role in the Gospel according to Mark's understanding of why Jesus dies and what his death means.”

That statement got my attention. To read that this passage plays a key role in understanding why Jesus dies and what his death means, according to the Gospel of Mark, said a lot to me. The commentary continued to describe the impact of this particular passage, saying that “It describes the Christian gospel and the community it creates as utterly different from the ‘business as usual’ we encounter all around us.”

Utterly different than the business as usual we normally encounter. The words written by this Professor of New Testament pointed to Mark’s Gospel as saying that the death of Jesus Christ is meant to call his followers to live beyond “business as usual.”

I had to think about that for a while. I mean, just what is “business as usual”?

I’m not sure if you had a chance to read last week Saturday’s paper. Not yesterday’s, but the one from last Saturday where there was an article about how the Mayor of Honolulu is upset with churches because he feels as though churches aren’t doing “their part” to solve the homeless crisis on our island.

When I began to read the article I was a little upset with the Mayor, even to the point where I said out loud, “What do you mean we don’t do our part to help the homeless?” I honestly felt offended because I know of many churches who go out of their way to help the homeless. There are churches who house families in whatever open spaces they can, churches who let the homeless shower or use the restrooms during the night, churches who let the homeless park their cars in their parking lots so the families who live in those cars feel safer.

I know churches who cook and serve meals for the hundreds of men, women, and families with children who live in various shelters around the island. Then there it was, on that last thought about how churches who serve meals to our homeless brothers, sisters, and children that my ranting stopped in its tracks.


“Exactly what does that mean?” I thought, “What does it mean to serve meals? More to the point; what does it mean to serve?”

I reread the passage, my heart a little more receptive to the message of service, or rather the idea of being a servant, and what I read opened me to just what the author of that particular commentary might have meant.

James and John are fully aware that Jesus is about to enter into the gates of Jerusalem, and if they were paying any attention to what Jesus said in the verses before today’s reading, they would know what’s about to happen. Jesus tells them, in as straightforward a way as he can, “Look! We’re going up to Jerusalem. I will be handed over to the chief priests and the legal experts. They will condemn me to death and hand me over to the Gentiles. They will ridicule me, spit on me, torture me, and kill me.”

How much more candid can he be?

The two disciples have a request, however, and a rather bold request at that.

To be honest, I kind of admire the two disciples for taking the chance they did. They knew what Jesus’ mission was; to confront the temple elite. For them to ask to be Jesus’ number one and number two in this battle probably took a lot of courage. However, Jesus didn’t see it that way. Instead, John and James as well as the rest of the twelve disciples receive a lesson in what it means to place themselves last.

In other words, what it means to be the servant, not the ones being served.

In Jesus’ day a servant was considered one of the lowliest of all lives; even lower than the sheep herder. Servants didn’t own property, nor did they have a place in society. They were owned by those whom they served and had to do as their owners said or they would face consequences ranging from a severe beating to imprisonment or even death.

However, a good servant, one who was exceptional in their tasks and in understanding the needs and wants of those they served, usually lived a good life. These servants developed a personal relationship with their owners and learned to anticipate the needs and wants of those whom they served. These were the servants who were welcome to eat what their owners did, accompany them on their daily travels, and often were rewarded with a better place to live for them and their families.

These were the servants who didn’t live as though business was usual. These were the servants who found their rewards in life by putting themselves last and those they served above all else.

This is the kind of servant Jesus was trying to teach his disciples they needed to be.

James and John were looking to hold places of power and prestige within the community Christ had begun. Jesus reminds them, and the rest of the disciples, that it is exactly that kind of hierarchy which Jesus has come to stand against. Jesus tells them that those who hold the true power, that which will be given through the all-encompassing grace of God, are those who place themselves as the servant of all people. He tells them this with the hopes that through the life he has shared with them so far, they can see that the kind of servant Jesus is talking about is the one who finds a way to invite and include, not the ones who divide and exclude.

I heard a story this past week about a teacher and her 4th grade class.

This teacher was thinking about different ways she could help her 9 and 10 year-olds with their writing skills while at the same time introduce them to being involved in wider community activities. The idea she came up with was for her students to become pen pals with a local hospital for children with special needs. She introduced the pen pal writing project to her kids, who immediately got excited about the idea of writing letters to children their age who were in need of a friend.

The letters were simple and included words which described how they looked, what they enjoyed doing, what their families were like, what kinds of foods they loved, and other things children their age would write about. The responses from those to whom they wrote were the same; descriptions of how they looked, their different ages, various activities which they enjoyed.

As the school year progressed, so did the desire to continue writing letters to their new friends. They were delighted every time they got responses from their new pals and would read their letters with joy and a unique sense of awareness.

Then one day, as it was inevitably going to happen, the 4th graders rose up in unity and requested, if not demanded, they meet their pen pals. The teacher didn’t know what to do. The children her class was writing to were for the most part on the lower scale of their disabilities. These were mostly children who were wheelchair bound and unable to accomplish even the most basic tasks most of us take for granted.

But the class was persistent, so the teacher agreed to inquire and see what, if anything, could be worked out. Much to her surprise, the staff person from the hospital she was working with had said that something could most definitely be worked out. So they planned to have a meet and greet between the two groups at the hospital.

The teacher didn’t know if her children had ever seen people their age in such conditions, so she felt it necessary to prepare them. She told them there would be kids in wheelchairs who would not be able to speak. She told them there would be children their age who had to use helmets to protect their heads in case they fell down. She told them that a lot, if not all, of the kids they were going to visit would look, speak, smell, sound, dress, and in many other ways be different than they are.

Those 4th graders didn’t seem to mind those differences at all and it would seem they had made up their minds to go to see their new friends.

The day had come for them to visit the hospital and the teacher was nervous, but she had to put her trust in her kids. They arrived at the hospital and were taken to the room where they would meet, and before anyone had a chance to introduce anyone else, those 4th graders took one look around that room and ran, literally ran to their pen pals. It would seem that each one of those kids instinctively knew who their pen pal was, and all without ever seeing a picture of them.

She overheard one of the girls tell her pen pal that her letters made her “feel pretty because in the letter you said I was pretty.” She heard one of the boys talk about last week’s baseball game and how their favorite team did. It was as though these kids had been friends for a very long time. And you know what, in a way they have been.

What was most amazing to the teacher was that not one of her students, not one of them, recoiled, refused, or in any other way did not want to be in that room. Each one of those kids, in both groups, accepted one another for who they were and where they found themselves on life’s journey.

The story gets a little better, and this is the part I really want us to listen to.

When it was time for them all to take a group picture, the teacher and hospital staff did their best to assemble all those excited kids. Some would walk off, others would turn their bodies just before the picture was to be taken. You know, business as usual for 9 and 10 year-olds.

Then, just as everyone finally got settled and the picture was about to be snapped, one of the students ran away from the group. The teachers and staff call out to him, and his only reply was to tell them to wait. When he returned to the group he was holding a paper towel. He reached around to his pen pal, his little arm stretched out, and softly touched the towel to his new friend’s mouth, wiping the drool that was coming down his chin.

His tiny voice echoed through that quiet room as he said, “You have to look good for the picture, so I want you to look good.”

In that moment every adult came to understand what every child already knew. It doesn’t matter who you are, or in what kind of life you find yourself. It is our duty as God’s children to serve others. It is our calling as Christians to be a servant to all.

This little boy, this child, gave something to everyone in that room that day. He gave them the gift to understand what Mark’s Gospel was trying to say 2000 years ago. It’s in being a servant to others we give of our lives in the hopes that the lives we touch will be liberated from whatever their oppressions might be.

This is what Mark’s Gospel says is the reason Jesus dies. This is what Jesus hopes to help us understand in the giving of his life: that God, through Jesus' ultimate act of service, will free people from the things that hold them back from experiencing joy, hope, peace, and love, and restore them to membership in the community that is God’s realm.

God is with us all.  Amen.

Partners In The World

John 17:9-23

As I was trying to write this sermon the other day, my mind kept wandering. I honestly felt unsettled in my heart and soul as I tried to write what I wanted to say from my mind. For me, that style of writing a sermon never works as I need to be fully connected to the words from the bible and how it is God is trying to talk through me. So, as much as I didn’t want to postpone writing my sermon, I closed my laptop and waited until God had something God wanted to say.

I went to school the next day, still cluttered with empty thoughts, and walked up the stairs I walk up every day to get to the classroom I work in. I went through the door of the stairwell and for the first time this school year the door to the math class that meets next to our classroom was open. I peeked in and there was the math teacher, sitting alone in her room with no lights on and a distant look on her face.

I said good morning and she didn’t respond. I spoke a little louder and she turned towards me. Then, with an almost satisfied look on her face, she said to me that she didn’t know the shooter or anyone who had been hurt. I was confused at first, but remembered that she was from Oregon, and perhaps she was talking about the most recent school shooting.

She was. She must have noticed my confusion because she went on to explain that she was from the same town where the college was located and had actually attended that school. She had also tutored many students who had gone to that school and had a very close relationship with many who still taught there. She once again said that she was glad she didn’t know anyone, or the families of anyone, who had been involved.

She is a Christian, very much involved with the Church of Latter Day Saints as a Sunday School teacher, and she asked if I would say a prayer for her as she was struggling with the news and thinking about the families of all those who were shot, as well as all those in the community who must now feel unsafe to leave their own homes.

Our conversation turned towards the shooter. We both felt very sorry for him and his family as well. We began talking about all the other shootings which seem to be plaguing our communities across the States. We took note at how, for a vast majority of those shootings, the description of the shooter’s personalities had all been the same: quiet, distant, feeling as though they are not part of the community, a loner. We noticed that these shooters had one thing in common; they felt as though nobody cared about them or for them.

Almost as an afterthought I said, “Imagine if they had reason to believe they were cared about. Imagine if they knew they were cared for. Imagine if they understood that there are people who do love them. Would they still find it necessary to do the things they did? Would they find it necessary to seek attention in the way they did?”

That’s when it hit us both. What if instead of feeling like the outcast, these hurt souls felt as part of a community who cared for and loved them? Would their hearts still have found the hatred it needed to do the things they did?

The warning bell rung and I had to go. I was left without an answer to those questions. But, I was also left with the opportunity to let those thoughts fill me as I went through my day.

I began thinking about today’s passage. My focus couldn’t get off the first verse where Jesus says, “I’m praying for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours.” As that verse began working its way through me, I suddenly felt the intimacy of those words. I could feel how Jesus was about to plea for those to whom he was closest.

I began thinking about just how close Jesus was to his disciples. I began thinking about how for 3 years he had traveled paths that were sometimes difficult with them. I could see him sitting with them to share meals, heal the sick, and argue with scribes and priests. I could see how those other intimate teaching moments with his closest followers all led to this one moment in their lives; this one moment when Jesus fully understands what is going to happen to him and how he prays that God will continue to be with them, guiding and teaching them as they, too, will begin to travel their own paths with their own followers.

I read on and came to the verse closer to the end which says, “I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word.” I began thinking about those people who feel as though they don’t belong to any community and who feel as though they don’t have anyone who cares for and loves them. I asked myself, “What if the intent of Jesus in this prayer was that God help his followers to bring into their communities all who they meet by teaching them about the unconditional love and acceptance of God?”

As many of you know I work as an Educational Assistant at Kapolei High School. My job involves working with the Special Education Department of the DOE to assist special needs children with their academics. That job description sounds rather cold, and is far less of an accurate description of what I actually do.

It’s not listed as a part of my official duties, but during the school year I find myself building close relationships with the students placed in my care. We talk about family and friends. We talk about things they did over the weekend or over the breaks. We also talk about their personal feelings and how they sometimes feel like they don’t belong.

I remember one particular student I worked with a few years ago. He was one of the kindest, sweetest young men one could meet. We grew very close, which was unusual because he didn’t like getting close to anyone, especially girls. It was cute how whenever a young lady would approach us he would literally curl up and hide within himself.

It was also sad to watch him during recess and lunch or after school when he would sit by himself. I would watch as other kids talked and joked around, but how they would never stop to say hi to him. One day I asked him how this made him feel, how he found himself reacting to the fact that he didn’t have much friends. He told me it made him feel lonely sometimes, especially when he watched some of the couples on campus holding hands.

I watched his eyes as they started to tear a little. I could literally feel how sad and lonely this young man felt. I told him there were a lot of people who cared about him to which he replied he knew. But as he pointed out they were people like his mom and aunty or me. He didn’t have friends his own age.

That year was the first year our school had started a Best Buddies club. Best Buddies is a club where the socially awkward could go to meet people who were just like them. The club organized outings such as hikes, bowling, and going to the movies in the hopes that the club members could make friends with people their same age.

I encouraged the young man I worked with to join the club, and he refused – at first. As the year went on, and with a constant push from me and other adults, he finally went to a club meeting. I’m not sure what happened at that meeting, but when I saw him the next day he was full of a different energy, one that was positive and filled with life.

He excitedly pulled me aside and told me he was going to the movies with his friends. I couldn’t help but widely smile as his joy radiated and filled my heart. I asked him who was going and he quickly listed names of people I didn’t know. I asked him what movie they were going to and he said he forgot. I continued to smile, and laugh a little, as his excitement grew and grew and grew.

I want to say that for the first time in his life he felt truly accepted by people his own age, and that helped him to overcome the feeling of being lonely and unloved.

I’ll also say that the path which he was on wasn’t a pretty one. He often talked about what it would be like if he never existed. He often talked about how nothing mattered because of how nobody cared. He often got very close to talking about acting in a violent way towards others or himself. There were times I had to take him to a counselor or teacher for talking that way, not because I wanted to, but because the laws required me to. And I often knew that he held a lot back from me because he knew that if he said certain things I would have to turn him in.

I never liked those laws. They separate me from being in a complete relationship with those whom God has placed in my life. But, regardless of his dark thoughts and my inability to fully be his pastor, I was still able to find a path for his life which led to pure joy which became a gateway to peace.

He went to the movies with his newfound friends that weekend. He came to school the following week a changed man. He was somehow more at ease. He was somehow more at peace. He was somehow less dark and more enlightened. All because he found a community that accepted him for the way he is and took him in regardless of where on the path of life he found himself.

Jesus knew the time had come when he will no longer be able to guide his followers. Jesus knew that those who God had entrusted to him must now find a way to move forward on their own, albeit not alone. Jesus’ prayer is that his followers find a way to live in unity, not just with God through him, but with one another, as well as with all those they meet along the way as they travel their individual paths. His prayer is that the love of God finds a way to live through his followers, just as it lived through him and into them, so that everyone will come to know how that love brings peace and joy.

Jesus’ prayer is that through us darkness will be overcome by peace, and that peace will find a way to enter into and take hold of all that is God’s creation. Jesus’ prayer is that we find a way to be unified as one people. The way we do this is one life, one love, at a time; starting with ours.

God is with us all.  Amen.