Sunday Sermon: Living Generously, Part II:Beyond our Fear

Luke 12:13-35

            One of my earliest memories – as a very small child – is going to visit my grandma Mary in the Good Samaritan nursing home in Jackson Minnesota.  

            Grandma Mary was not my grandma – she was my great-grandmother, my mother’s grandma, and I must have been just four or five years old when we visited.  

            I remember going with my grandpa and my mom and visiting her in her small room in the nursing home. 

            She was sitting in a wheelchair, a small, frail woman with a warm smile.   

            There were no other children around – I was grandma Mary’s only great-grandchild – and I don’t remember so much about our visits, but I do remember that every time I came – she would open up a drawer and give me something to take home.  

            Maybe a handkerchief, maybe a small stuffed animal.  But she always found something for me to take home.  

            It was like she was slowly giving her life away, and she chose to give a small piece of it to me. And I don’t remember the items any more – but what I remember is the act of giving.  

            What a contrast to the rich man in Jesus’ parable today.  He had a green thumb.  His fields produced abundantly.  

            He was rich!  And then he had a problem – although I guess he didn’t think of it as a problem – he didn’t know what to do with his abundance! And only thing he could think of was to tear down his barns and build bigger ones.  

            Now he did not think he had anything to fear.  Now he didn’t have anything to worry about.  

            Now he possessed everything he needed – in fact more than he needed.  At least – that’s what it looked like.  What more could he need?

            What makes the difference between my great-grandma and the rich man and his bigger barns?  

            Sometimes I think it was just her age – sometimes you gain wisdom when you reach a certain number of years – that makes you feel differently about your life.  

            When there is more behind you than in front of you – some things seem more important – and other things seem less important.  My great-grandmother had already pared down from a farmhouse to a room at a nursing home. 

            She knew  that “you can’t take it with you” – so she was starting early, giving away the things she still had left, little by little.  

            But I think there’s something else as well.  I think that perhaps the rich man with his barns – and my great-grandmother

             – that they had different ideas of just what is valuable in the first place – they had different ideas about where their true treasure was –       and so they feared different things, and they placed their trust in different things. 

            Think about it.  

            The rich man was rich in property – and he was blessed in goods.  But you know what he didn’t have?  He didn’t have anyone to share it with.  

            He didn’t have relationships – either with God – or with a family or friends.  At the harvest, he didn’t think of having a banquet and inviting people to share it.  

            He didn’t have children with whom to divide it.  He didn’t have a partner to share his joy.  This doesn’t seem to bother him, though.   

            But my great-grandmother – well, I don’t know – because I only knew her a little, and I was very small – but I imagine.  

            She was a mother to my grandpa, and a grandmother to my mom, and a great-grandma to me.  

            And I imagine in my mind that those relationships were more important to her than any wealth she could have accumulated. 

             She had a son – and a grand-daughter – and she even had a great-granddaughter now.  

            Her legacy was not in things, but in relationships.  These were her treasures.  WE were her treasures.

            When Jesus tells us not to worry about our lives, but to seek first the Kingdom – I think that God is also thinking about relationships.        The ravens and the lilies receive what they need – but what we need most of all – more than barns and more than grain and more than a large investment portfolio – are relationships.   That's what they discovered when people studied children in orphanages.  they discovered that -- as much as they needed food and clothing and shelter-- they only thrived when they received touch -- when they were loved. 

             So when Jesus tells us to Seek first the Kingdom of heaven – I think he is telling us to seek this particular network of relationships – beginning with our relationship with God.   

            I remember once hearing a story about a young child who was on her way to visit her grandparents. “We’re going to grandma’s!’”  

            She said.  She didn’t say, “We’re going to “Bismarck” or “We’re going to “Conroe”. 

             Perhaps heaven is not so much a place as it is a face. THAT is the treasure.  

            For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  

            I remember a stewardship program once which the title “Where your heart is.,…”  it’s an attractive idea.  

            Where you put your heart – your love – there you will invest your treasure.  

            It makes sense.  If I love something,  I will invest in it.  But Jesus says it the other way.  

            And it’s not quite the same thing.  “Where your treasure is – there your heart will be….”  Where you make your investment of time, or finances, of work – that’s where you will find your heart.  

            So, Jesus says, invest in the Kingdom.  Invest in the kingdom of heaven.  

            Invest in that network of relationships, starting with your relationship with God.  

            And Invest in the values of the kingdom of heaven –  where the hungry are fed, the homeless are given shelter, the poor and the brokenhearted are lifted up. 

             Invest there – and your heart will follow….  Invest outside yourself – where people are hurting, or hungry or lonely or doubting --- where people are thirsty for grace and to know they matter – 

            Stewardship is investing in the kingdom of heaven – investing in relationships 

            – including the relationships here – and in our neighborhood.  And your congregation – Grace – is a part of that.  

            When you give to Grace – you are investing in relationships – relationships that show the face of God in Christ, relationships that bring the bread of life to the hungry, relationships that show compassion to the lonely.  

            When I think of my great-grandmother giving away her things – to me – I think maybe she saw the future in my face.  The fourth generation.  

            She wouldn’t live to see me grow up, but she trusted the future.  That was her legacy to me.  

            And I hope that my hands can be as open as hers were.  

            As for us – we see the future in the face of Christ,  the one who died and rose, the one who gave himself for us.  

            Do not be afraid, little flock.  Open your hands and receive true treasure.  The kingdom of heaven is yours.  

            It is yours – to share.

            Amen

Sunday Sermon: Living Generously, Part 1: Greater than our Grief

based on Mark 10:17-31

            I recently heard a riddle that I could not figure out the answer to.  It had me stumped!  Here it is: “What’s better than God, worse than the devil?  Rich men want it, poor men have it, and if you eat it, you'll die?"

       What’s the answer?

            Nothing.  

            You wouldn’t think it would be so hard!  Right? Nothing is better than God, nothing is worse than the devil, rich people want nothing – and poor people have it. If you eat nothing you’ll die.” There you go.   

            Except that, according to the gospel reading today, it’s not exactly true.  

            The rich young man – as it turns out – he did want something.  “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  

             it’s an odd question, if you think about it.  I mean, what do you DO to inherit anything?  

            Nevertheless, there is something that the rich man feels that he lacks – and Jesus begins by reminding him of the commandments. 

            He has kept the commandments, since his youth, he says.  And Jesus must sense that this is not bragging but a sincere answer – so he looks at the young man with love and says, 

            “Well all right. There’s one more thing.  Sell, all of your belongings, and give the money to the poor. Then come, follow me.”  

            You wouldn’t think it would be so hard!  

            In fact, it should be easy, shouldn’t it?  

            That’s what I told my dad once.  He was sitting in his wheelchair at the nursing home, and was suddenly worried about salvation.  Eternal life. What if he wasn’t good enough? He thought.

            Dad, do you trust Jesus? I asked.

            Yes, he answered.

            Well…. “You mean it’s that simple?”

            That’s what I told my dad.  

            But Jesus told the rich man, “Go, sell all of your belongings, and give the proceeds to the poor)

            And then, follow me. And the young man went away grieving, because he had many possessions.  

            And you know what? I think I know how he felt.

            And it makes me think back – to when I went to be a missionary in Japan.  

            And no one said that I had to sell everything I had and give the proceeds to the poor, but, truthfully, I could fit everything into two suitcases and one trunk that I sent ahead.  

            It was easier to go, because I didn’t have so much.  

            And after I graduated from seminary, and was called out to rural South Dakota – two farmers came up to my mom and dad’s house with their pick ups and hauled everything I owned to the parsonage. 

             It was more than I took to Japan, but it was still not a lot of stuff.

            This last move though – this one was hard 

            A whole house full of stuff.  A whole office full of books.  

            And even though no one told me I had to give up everything, I knew I couldn’t take everything. And I grieved.

            You wouldn’t think it would be so hard!    

            Trust Jesus!  They said.  It’s so simple!  They said. 

            But the truth is, when you follow Jesus, when you trust Jesus, there is grieving involved.

            There’s something else as well.  

            I think perhaps the young man thought he could follow Jesus – but just sort of keep all of his possessions on the side for when they returned from the journey.             

            Selling it all and giving it to the poor – that’s so permanent.             There’s no security in case things don’t turn out the way you planned.   

            There’s nothing to go back to if you have sold everything and given it to the poor.  

            It’s just like that old camp song we used to sing, “I have decided to follow Jesus…. no turning back, no turning back.”  

            And it’s an invitation to journey with Jesus, an invitation to life, an invitation to trust him –but don’t kid yourself that there’s no grieving involved.   

            Because trusting Jesus involves trusting him with – everything.                 Trusting Jesus involves trusting him with your soul and trusting him with your work, and trusting him with your relationships, and trusting him with your …. Finances.  Your wealth.    

            And you wouldn’t think it would be so hard. 

            There’s another side to Jesus’ hard saying.  

            When he tells the rich young man to sell everything, and give the proceeds to the poor – Jesus it not only inviting him to transform his life – he’s inviting him to transform the lives of the poor too.

            And he is creating a connection between them, between his future and their futures,  his life and their lives.    

            And that is what “eternal life” is about – it’s not simply about a secure future “after you die” – but it is a life worth living, right here and now, a life where we are walking with Jesus, and where 

            – whatever we have left behind – we have gained in a wider and more abundant community, a life of purpose, and where we have eternal value.  

            It’s the promise of Jesus to his disciples, who have given up everything.  

            Jesus promises that whatever they have given up – they will receive back 100 fold – in the abundance of family and relationships and the abundance of wealth.   What kind of wealth?  

            Well, I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that it is the wealth that comes from belonging to a community of believers with a shared mission of transforming the world around them. 

            That’s treasure in heaven.

            But there’s grieving involved.  

            Whether you turn away, like the rich man, or whether you are all in with Jesus, there is grieving involved.  

            The grieving involves realizing that everything you thought you owned – was never yours to begin with.  

            The grieving involves leaving behind things you thought were important.

            Because Jesus is looking at each of us with love, and every single day he makes the invitation, “Follow me.”  

            He makes that invitation to us as individuals – and he also makes that invitation to us as a congregation.

            He makes an invitation to us as individuals to be all in – to trust him and to follow him with our whole lives.

            And he is making an invitation to our congregation to do the same.  Feed the hungry. Give Shelter to the homeless.  Give hope to those who are on the edge.  Nurture the children.  

            Share the Grace of God in our community. 

             

             “Trust Jesus.”  That’s an invitation to stewardship – which is to entrust our WHOLE lives to him – the one who loves you so fully that he went to the cross for you. 

            At Grace we’re a small part of God’s BIG mission – and so every October we ask you consider your gift to Grace as a small part of your total commitment to following Jesus.  

            Because through this congregation you have experienced the Grace of God – and because through your giving, we can continue to embody the love of Jesus, and share his invitation with others, so that they can see his love and follow him as well.

            And what do we want our neighbors – our community – the world – to know – through our lives – and through our giving?

             The answer to the riddle – “Nothing” – that “Nothing” can separate us from the love of our generous God – in Christ Jesus our Lord.

            Amen

            

            

            

            

Generosity

I have been told by at least one person that I don't preach on Generosity enough.  I think that this person means, in particular, that I don't preach about financial generosity enough, about how to use financial resources for the glory of God.  It is possible that he is correct, for all of the predictable reasons:  1) urging people to give feels a lot like nagging when I imagine it, 2) I don't want people to think I need them to give so that I can get paid, and 3) I love preaching grace.  I confess that when I look at a scripture passage, for some reason, my mind does not go to financial generosity first -- even though I have studied and know that Jesus spoke about our money, and our relationship with it, far more than he spoke about other things that we may be more concerned about.

So I have been thinking about how to be more intentional in that regard, and I marked one Sunday of my sermon series, "Children in the Bible," to specifically address generosity.  It's the story about the little boy and his loaves and fishes.  This story is about generosity, isn't it?  The little boy didn't have money, but he did have a lunch, and that's almost the same thing.

But a funny thing happened on the way to preparing this sermon on generosity.  Children began to be separated from their parents at our southern border.  That did not seem to me in any way about the story of the loaves and fishes and the boy's generosity, until early this week, when I read a story about a woman from Guatemala who has just been re-united with her seven year old daughter after they were separated for two months.  The woman had advice for people who might be coming to the United States seeking asylum:

"If you are coming here to seek asylum, choose another country.  The laws here are harsh.  And the people don't have hearts."

The woman and her infant son had come here just before the zero tolerance policy took effect.  After they left her husband started receiving more death threats from the gangs, so he decided to take his daughter and flee.  They were separated at the border and her husband will be deported back to Guatemala.

Suddenly, when I looked at the story of the feeding of the five thousand, I saw something different than I had before.  I saw the people who are coming over our border, fleeing violence or hunger.  I heard the voices of the disciples, saying, "Send them away," because they were certain that there was not enough to go around.  And I thought of generosity, although a different kind of generosity.

It's not a generosity of material things:  money or food or possessions.   It's a generosity of heart, of what we are willing to believe about people, people we don't know.  Are most of them criminals, with just a few possible "good people"?  Or are most of them looking for the things we all look for:  freedom from fear and want, freedom of expression and worship?  I know that immigration is a complicated issue, and I absolutely know that not everyone who wants to come here will be able to come here, and I know that our borders aren't and can't be completely open.   But there absolutely is a legitimate humanitarian crisis going on in Honduras and El Salvador and Guatemala.  What are we going to believe about the people who are coming here?  Can we be both strong and compassionate?

I have seen things on the internet that accuse people who are coming here of "demanding citizenship."  I know this is not true.  Asking for asylum is not the same as demanding citizenship.  Citizenship is a long process that immigrants can only enter after several years.  It takes a long time to study, to learn the history of the United States.   I want to be generous with those who write these things, and believe that they have been misinformed, and if only they knew -- their hearts would be open.

Lately,  when I read the story of the feeding of the 5,000, I think that it's about a God who doesn't want to send anyone away, a God who is generous.  That's what Jesus wanted to show his disciples.  He wanted to show them a God who is big enough, and who has love enough to feed all who come to him, to save all who come to him, to welcome all who come to him.

Pentecost 23 Year A: Shining in the Gift of Worship

Matthew 22:15-21

            Recently I’ve been thinking back to the long journeys I took to church when I lived in Tokyo many years ago. 

            I would get up early on Sunday mornings, walk to the train station, and then transfer twice before I got to my destination. 

            After I got off the train, it was a twenty minute walk to Hiyoshi Church, where I worshipped in Japanese every single Sunday. 

            I remember the first week, when someone walked with me from the train station, I thought, “I will never be able to do this on my own.”  But I did. 

            I remembered the route, and took the trains and walked the winding streets every single week.

            Then one week, a gentleman sat down next to me on the train and struck up a conversation. 

            Where was I going, he wanted to know.  To church, I replied. 

            He was curious, having never been to church before.  He asked if he could go to church, too.  I said that he certainly could. 

            I was thinking that I was fulfilling my calling as a missionary!  Someone is going to church because of me! 

            But then he kept asking me if he needed to have money in order to come to church. 

            I kept assuring him that it was perfectly okay if he didn’t have money.  He could come to church and worship without paying for it. 

            I wondered why he was so worried, or what he could be thinking.  But I kept assuring him – no offering was necessary.

             I just wanted him to experience a worship service.

            You don’t have to pay to go to worship.  There is no entrance fee.  I stand by my statement to that Japanese gentleman. 

            But today – when we are ‘shining in our worship –‘  there is an offering – and it is an integral part of the worship. 

            It’s not an entrance fee and you don’t ‘have to’ – but it’s not optional either.

            Today we are “shining in our worship’ – and we will also be receiving our commitments for the coming year. 

            And today the gospel reading is all about money – and about what it means…..

           

            The setting is the temple. 

            The time is “Holy Week” – which means that Jesus will soon be crucified.

             The religious leaders are trying to trap Jesus by asking him a question about money and taxes – and they believe that no matter which way he answers, he will be giving the wrong answer to someone.    They asked him, “What do you think, Jesus?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 

            If he says, “Yes,” he’s made the Pharisees angry – because they think it is not right to pay taxes to the occupying forces of Rome. 

            If he answers, “No,” he will obviously be leading an uprising, and the forces of Rome will be need to bring him down.  What is Jesus going to say?

            So this is not just money, is it?  Like everything else in life. 

            But it’s about money too.  Like so much in life.

            It’s interesting that the two groups who approach Jesus are the Pharisees and the Herodians.  They hate each other. 

            They don’t agree on anything. 

            But it appears that they are united in one thing – their hatred for Jesus.  So they ask the question – they bait the trap – and they wait.

            But Jesus takes it in another direction.

             He answers their question with a question.  First, he asks them if they have the coin.  Surprisingly, someone does have a coin.

             I say, it’s a surprise because they are in the temple, and Roman coins should be changed to Jewish coins for offerings in the temple. 

            But, someone has a Roman coin, and Jesus asks, “Whose image and likeness do you see?” 

            Of course – it’s Caesar. 

            So Jesus says, “Give to Caesar the things that our Caesar’s – “ which, on the face of it means – meet your obligations, pay your taxes, be a good citizen, -- all well and good – but he doesn’t stop there. 

            Then he adds something else, “And Give to God the things that are God’s.”

            Well.

            What DOESN’T belong to God?

            This casts everything in an entirely new light, doesn’t it? 

            It doesn’t mean that we don’t have responsibilities to the state – It doesn’t mean that Jesus says it’s okay not to pay taxes

            – but Jesus is also NOT saying that there are compartments where we can divide our loyalties either. 

            In fact, there are several places where Jesus speaks out particularly about loyalties which are divided.

             NO – regardless of all of our other obligations in life – ultimately, everything belongs to God.

            It all goes back to the “image and likeness” on the coin. 

            “It’s an interesting phrase, “Image and likeness”. 

            It is Caesar’s “image and likeness” on the coin.

             But if you go all the way back to Genesis, chapter 1, verse 26 (and I can’t help but think that Jesus is counting on us remembering this verse),

            when God made humanity, he made us “in the image and likeness of God.’ 

            Each and every one of us. 

            And then for us who have been baptized, and who have had the cross traced on our foreheads, there is even more:  we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked by the cross of Christ forever. 

            We belong to God.  Every one of us.  And every part of us.

            And that is, in part, why we take the offering every Sunday during worship. 

            It is God of course who is always always offering himself to us.  And that is what Sunday is about. 

            But it is also about us, offering ourselves back to God.  And offering ourselves to our neighbor. 

            We offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, confessing that God is God (and we are not). 

            We offer our time and our talents. 

            And we don’t hold back our wealth either.

            What we put in the offering plate, no matter how big it is, is just part of the picture. 

            The part that doesn’t go in the offering plate – well, that belongs to God too, and it matters how we use it. 

            What goes in the offering plate – helps us to remember that EVERYTHING belongs to God, helps us to remember that everything is a gift from God, and also helps us to remember that we are a community of faith, and that we serve and worship God TOGETHER.  

            So I told that man, you don’t need money to come to church. 

            In the Shinto religion of Japan, you put your coin in before you can pray. 

            You pay and then you can pray.   You pay to get access.

            So it was a good answer, the right answer . 

            For us, You don’t pay your money in order to be able to pray. 

            You put your coin in the offering because you can already pray – for free. 

            You put you dollars in the offering because we already belong to God because of what God has done – because God’s image and likeness has been stamped on us, because we are redeemed. 

            You give up a portion of your wealth because it was never yours to begin with, because you are part of the body of Christ, that body also made in the image of God. 

            You give because you are part of the body of Christ and part of the mission of God and –well --  it’s not your mission either, the mission belongs to God, and because we are privileged to play a part in it. 

           

            Let your light so shine before others

            That they may see your good works

            And give glory to your father in heaven.

           

            AMEN

            

Sermon for Pentecost 14: Let Your Light Shine

            “YOU are the light of the world.  A city build on a hill cannot be hid.  No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light so shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your father in heaven.”

            Dear friends in Christ, dear people of Grace, grace to you and peace…

            Long ago, many of us were expected to learn Bible verses by heart.  Sometines by Sunday School teachers and sometimes with gold stars attached. 

            That practice has perhaps fallen by the wayside, but sometimes I still think it’s a good idea.  And there’s one verse I would like us all to know this fall, so let’s say it now—a little at a time:

            Let your light so shine before others

            That they may see your good works

            And give glory to your father in heaven.

            This verse was given to each of us at our baptism – whether we were three weeks old or 80 when we were baptized – we were given a light – a candle – and a mission, and it was this –

             Let your light so shine before others/ that they may see your good works/ and give glory to your father in heaven. 

            And this fall we are going to hold this verse up to the light and look at all of its facets, and look at all of the ways that God calls us to shine.

            So  -- today the first thing I want to do is show you something.        This is big – and it was expensive.  And it was on the list.     Everyone told us that you had to have one of these in order to be prepared.  Water.  Food.  Flashlights.  Candles and matches. 

            So we went out looking for all the things on the list and we ended up with this pretty big, and pretty impressive flashlight. 

            And then you know what – we couldn’t find any D batteries ANYWHERE. 

            As far as I could tell there were no D batteries anywhere in Conroe or Montgomery. 

            We have batteries NOW – but – too late.

             It doesn’t do any good to have an impressive flashlight if it doesn’t work – right?  The flashlight is not as important as the light it brings.

            It made me think more about that verse, our theme verse.  And what it means.

            Let your light so shine before others

            That they may see your good works

            And give glory to your father in heaven.

            I’m thinking about why the flashlight was on the list of things to have in our “hurricane kit” and of course that is in case it’s dark, and the electricity goes out, and we need to see. 

            That’s what it’s for FIRST. 

            The first thing we do is make sure we are okay, or at least as okay as we can be. 

            But the light doesn’t end there, does it? 

            One thing I’ve learned about since I’ve come here is that the our synod encourages us to be “72 hour Lutherans”, which is to say we should have supplies to last for at least 72 hours in case of a storm.

             But the next thing that I noticed is that the provision is not jUSt for us. 

            If we are prepared for ourselves, then we are prepared to help others.  And that’s what I heard that people from Grace were doing right after the storm. 

            They were out there helping their neighbors when the water started coming into their houses.

             They helped neighbors move furniture.  They were letting friends stay with them.  They were volunteering their time. 

            They were helping evacuate their neighbors.  They had their lights – not just for their own safety – but for others.

            Let your light so shine before others

            That they may see your good works

            And give glory to your father in heaven.

            The next thing I notice is this:  Jesus says, Let YOUR light shine before others, and you know what, He doesn’t just mean your individual “Little light.”

             IT’s hard to notice in English, (Unless you say ‘all y’all), but when Jesus says YOU are the light of the world, he is really saying YOU all are the light of the world.

             He’s not just saying “Jennifer is the light of the world” individual by herself, or “Darryl is the light of the world” or that “Jaxson” or “Ava” or Connor

            – is the light of the world – although our individual actions matter – but that Grace is the light of the world – that together we are the light of the world. 

             We actually CAN’T do it ourselves. 

            We need each other – like that small lovely verse in Matthew 18:  “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of you.” 

            Where two or three or forty or one hundred are gathered – YOU ALL are the light of the world.

             We need each other.     

            We need each other for the encouragement we give, and we need each other for the gifts we share, and we need each other just because that’s the way God planned it. 

            YOU ALL are the light of the world. 

            And:  Let your light shine before others

            That they may see your good works

            And give glory to your father in heaven.

            Jesus doesn’t say “You should be” – he says “You are.” 

            He says that ‘You all are” because “I am.”  

            It is his light that is our light.

            So, I have a confession to make. 

            This is a stewardship sermon, and there was a point where I was going to say that our resources – the resources that we give – are like the batteries – and that the light can’t shine without them.

              But that’s not true. 

            It’s true that the resources that we give – our finances, our talents, our time – are all important and necessary – but they aren’t the battieries.

             And they aren’t the matches. 

            The batteries and the matches and the light – that’s the power of the Holy Spirit – that’s the love of Jesus. 

            That’s the grace of God.

             Maybe the resources are sort of lke the flashlight that we put the batteries into – or like the candle that the matches light – or like the mirror – but the image – the image is the image of God. 

            And that’s a gift, and that’s a promise. 

            You are the light of the world.  You were made in the image of God.  How do you – you all – reflect God?  How are we going to reflect God – here at Grace?

            This is a stewardship sermon, which means that it’s about how we will use all of the resources God has entrusted to us – to serve God – to reflect God.

             It’s about how Grace will gather in Grace, will grow in Grace and will Go in Grace in the next year.   

            It’s about how we will reflect the light, which is a gift in the first place, and how we will recognize all of the gifts around us – the wisdom of the elder, the wonder of the child,

             the gifts of our strengths and our weaknesses, our wealth and our poverty. 

            Let your light so shine before others

            That they may see your good works

            And give glory to your Father in heaven.

            We saw – in the midst of so much devastation in the past two weeks – we saw that light too – didn’t we? 

            We saw people pulling together.

             We saw people giving their time, their skills and yes, even their reosurces because they knew – even if just for a moment – that we belong to each other.

            Even more – we belong to God.  It is the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection that shines this truth.  We belong to God because Jesus died for each and every precious one of us. 

            How do you reflect God?

            Let your light so shine before others

            That they may see your good works

            And give glory to your Father in heaven.

            You ARE the light of the world.

            YOU are.  YOU ALL are.

            Oh, what love he can shine in us…

            AMEN