05-30-10 Walking Side by Side

Walking Side by Side

John 16:5-7 & 12-15 (CEV)

May 30, 2010 - Memorial Day Weekend

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

One Sunday a pastor was standing outside the sanctuary looking at pictures that had been hung on the wall, when a little girl stopped and asked, "Pastor, what are you doing and who are these people."

"Well," the pastor replied, "tomorrow is Memorial Day and these are the pictures of all of the people in our congregation who have died in the service."

Before the pastor could say another word the little girl cried out in alarm, "Which service the 8:00 or the 10:30?"

Tomorrow is Memorial Day and despite the little girl's confusion, we know that it is a day that was begun to honor those who had lost their lives in military service. Originally called Decoration Day, this custom of putting flags and flowers on the graves of the war dead began in this country during or just after our Civil War in many different places. As one historian puts it: "Each ... and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead and each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen. Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868."[1]

Perhaps that need to honor our dead, whether their death occurred in war or by some other means is one of the reasons that Memorial Day came to be a time when people went to the cemetery and placed flowers or wreaths on the graves of all their loved ones. At least that's what I grew up doing. Around our house the Peonies were generally in bloom by Memorial Day and we cut buckets full of them and made the trek to several different cemeteries. I can remember pulling weeds and cutting the grass around my grandparents graves. Next my parents and my brother set up mayonnaise jars filled with water and secured them with cut wire coat hangers. Then I got to put the Peonies in the jars. I had known some of my grandparents but others died before my birth. So this was also a time for sharing stories about what we remembered and loved about those who had died; and it helped me know the grandparents I had never met.

So today, I want to invite us into that story telling mode as we engage in an interactive time of reflection. To begin please get the blank half sheet of paper in your bulletin and grab a pencil or pen. If you need something to write with hold up the sheet of paper and we'll bring you something. ...

OK everybody set? Call to mind one or two people in your life -they can be living or dead- who have been a positive influence in your life; people who have helped you grow into the person you are today....

Now write one or two sentences telling something specific that person did for you. Let me give you some examples of what I mean:

©   The pastor of my church in Ohio, Kerry, saw gifts in me that I couldn't see in myself, he called me to use those gifts and nurtured and supported me as I risked stepping out in new directions.

©   My dad, Herb, delighted in my being. Each night he would give me his undivided attention as he listened to stories of my day and shared his wisdom with me.

©   Tom knows all about me, the good stuff and the not so good stuff and loves me anyway. His love brought me back to life after a painful and difficult time in my life.

OK, got the idea? You can either have two or three sentences about one person or one sentence about two or three people. Of course what you write is only part of who this person was to you, but it is an important part. [pause for reflection & writing]

Now I hope some of you will share with us the sentences you wrote. All you have to do is stand or wave at me and then you can read right from where you are. [pause for sharing]

Thank you for sharing.

In our passage of scripture today we hear Jesus promise to send what the CEV translates as "the Holy Spirit" or simply "the Spirit". But according to one of my seminary professors the Greek word used here is Paraklētos. "It is a word that has always challenged translators. In English, it has been read as Comforter (KJV), Helper (NKJV), Counselor (RSV, NIV, New Living Bible), Advocate (NRSV), or simply transliterated as Paraclete (NJB). The Greek word is made up of the participial form of the verb "to call" and the preposition "beside" and thus means one who has been summoned or called to the side of another."[2]

So try something with me: how would it be to substitute Jesus, God or Holy Spirit for the name of the person in the sentences you wrote?

Let's try mine and see:

©   Jesus saw gifts in me that I couldn't see in myself, he called me to use those gifts and nurtured and supported me as I risked stepping out in new directions.

©   God delighted in my being and loved me unconditionally. Each night God would give me his undivided attention as he listened to stories of my day and shared his wisdom with me.

©   Jesus knows all about me, the good stuff and the not so good stuff and loves me anyway. His love brought me back to life after a painful and difficult time in my life.

Let's hear some of yours [pause for sharing]

It has been my experience that God has always sent the right person at the right time to walk beside me, to comfort me, challenge me, love me, teach me, empower me, or simply be with me in whatever way I needed. And there have been times when, whether or not I knew it, God sent me to walk beside another who needed to feel God's presence and know God's love.

Just a little while before Jesus spoke the words in today's scripture, he said to his disciples "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever." [John 14:16 NRSV] So today as we remember and celebrate those Advocates, Helpers, Counselors, Comforters and Friends that have walked beside us, let us thank God for promises fulfilled and love given and received!

We are going to sing a familiar song We Are Marching in the Light of God, but this time we are going to add verses which substitute singing, dancing or praying for marching. As we sing, you are invited to walk, march or dance your way to the front, pick up a candle and light it in celebration of the people you remembered in writing today and also for all of the people God has sent to walk beside you and for the opportunities God has given to you, to walk beside another.

[pause for people to come forward]

Prayer of Thanksgiving

God, whose love and compassion are beyond anything we can imagine, we thank you for all the people who have sent to walk beside us as advocates, counselors, comforters, helpers, teachers, companions and friends. We thank you that the fire of your love has burned brightly through them. Thank you also for the times when your fire has burned in us to light the way and smooth the path of those you send us to walk beside. In times when we feel frightened or alone and think that you are far away, help us remember again the ones you have sent to us and trust that in many and various ways you will always walk beside us. Alive in Christ and open to your love, we pray. Amen.