You Can Choose Life!

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NLT)

September 5, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Michael was the kind of guy who had such a positive outlook that you either loved him or hated him. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a natural motivator. If a co-worker was having a bad day, Michael would encourage them and help them to see the positive side of the situation.

A friend asked how he could be so positive all the time. After all, it seemed so unnatural compared to the rest of the world. Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'You have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

The friend protested that even though it sounded great in theory it would be hard to live out.

Michael responded, "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

Standing on the edge of the Promised Land, their forty years of wilderness wanderings nearly complete, Moses calls the Hebrew people to make a choice. "Now listen!" he says. "Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster." It is a choice about how they will live their lives in this new place, this new reality they are about to enter. It is a choice that has two parts: a prohibition and an admonition which are really the heads and the tales of the same coin. The prohibition: don't allow your heart to turn away from Yahweh and serve or worship other gods, because if you do you will loose your hard won freedom and become slaves again. The admonition: love God, keep God's commands and walk in God's ways because when you do the quality of life you experience will bring you peace and love and joy.

On the one hand, life and blessing and on the other, slavery and death; it seems like a simple and pretty obvious choice doesn't it? It would be great wouldn't it, if the choice -especially when it is such a big choice- was always simple and obvious -like a line drawn in the sand with the word death on one side and the word life on the other. Then we'd know; but as one commentary on this passage says:

Seldom in our lives do we face such a big either/or. Rather, we make the big choices about how we live our lives in the million little choices we make every day. Each of those little choices moves us one way or another unaware, to life or to death.[1]

Maybe that's what Moses is trying to help his people see: the quality of the life they would find in the Promised Land will be determined by all the little day by day choices that lie ahead of them. And the touch stone for those choices is their covenantal relationship with the One they encountered in the fiery pillar, the manna from heaven and the water from the rock; a relationship grounded in God's unconditional, unending, life-affirming love and lived out in the in their loving response to that love. Would they continue to be faithful to that relationship -trusting God and following God's way- in the face of the gods of ease and wealth, pleasure and greed, safety and security, doubt and fear?  Of course they loved God, after all, look what God had done for them. But Moses knew and wanted them to understand what is so easy to forget, that love is verb and when we love God, we love the things that God loves and that love is visible in the simple choices we make each day.

R. Glen Miles tells the story of a friend who serves each summer as the director of a Christian camp for high school youth. On the first day of camp he opens with the camp covenant. He tells the teens, "We have two rules this week for camp: Love God with all of your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Any questions?" It is usually quiet for a few moments. The teens can't believe that there are only two rules for the camp.  Then one of the boys usually asks, "Wait a minute, does that mean we can go into the girls' cabins?" He looks out at the young people and asks, "Well, what do you all think?" At first there is a loud cry from most of the boys saying, "Yes!" Then, almost surely, one of the young men will raise a hand and say something like, "You know, that doesn't seem like a very loving thing to do. I mean, you know, it is an invasion of privacy, or something." Underneath the two major rules he then writes "Sub-units of the Covenant" and from there he records the specific restrictions and rules that the young people themselves come up with for their week together. The session can last for an hour or two, but it is a wonderful way of building community and clarifying what matters most for the young community of faith. The Biblical call to love God always needs a practical guide to help determine how that is carried out.[2]

Several years after his conversation with his friend about the choices he makes each day, Michael he fell sixty feet from a communications tower where he was working. As he lay on the ground, the first thing he thought of was the well-being of his soon-to-be-born daughter. Then, he remembered that he had two choices: He could choose to live or he could choose to die. He chose to live.

The paramedics arrived and went to work. They kept telling Michael that he was going to be fine. But when they wheeled him into the ER, he saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses. He began to feel fear overcoming his body because he could read their eyes: "He's a dead man." He knew he needed to take action.

A big burly nurse was shouting questions. She asked Michael if he was allergic to anything. He replied, "Yes." The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for Michael to fill in the missing blank of his allergy. He took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity." Over their laughter, he said, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me with that understanding."

After eighteen hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, and also because of his amazing attitude. When asked about his health, Michael now responds, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?"[3]

The wisdom, the strength, the power to choose life is rooted and grounded in our relationship with the One who calls us to life. The question is are we faithful to that relationship -trusting God and following God's way- in the face of the gods of ease and wealth, pleasure and greed, safety and security, doubt and fear?  Today and every day, moment by moment each of us has the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Oh, that we would choose life! Amen.

Entertaining Angels

Hebrews 13:1-3

August 29, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

It happened one day as our Nursing Home Light Team was leading worship at Rosewood Nursing Home in Joliet. Jane Kiedaisch was playing the piano and Nancee Pennington and Darlene Frink were helping the residents find the correct pages in the songbooks and then sing the hymns we had chosen for the day. One resident was sitting in her wheelchair directly in front of me. The songbook was lying open on the table to her side, even though she was no longer able to read the words. In fact, due to her advanced mental decline, this particular resident was no longer able to communicate in any meaningful way. But the song we were singing, I believe it was What a Friend We Have in Jesus, was evidently one she knew deep in the recesses of her soul, because I noticed that she seemed to be singing. But more than that I noticed her eyes; she was looking at me -staring really- with a clarity and depth that drew me in. I simply could not look away. It was a holy moment as I felt the brush of angels' wings and saw the glory and light of Divine Love radiating from her face.

As the once popular Alabama song says so profoundly:

I believe there are angels among us

Sent down to us from somewhere up above

They come to you and me in our darkest hours

To show us how to live

To teach us how to give

To guide us with a light of love

I have always loved the portion of the Epistle to the Hebrews that Pat read for us today.  I think it is because the concept of entertaining angels without knowing it and encountering the holy in the ordinary, especially when we show hospitality to strangers and reach out to others in loving caring ways, is a powerful and mysterious gift of God's love and grace. These could be literal angels; I do believe they are among us. They could also be folks just like you and me whose presence opens the veil and communicates a message from the heart of God. 

When I was serving the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Chicago Heights, I was blessed to serve once a month as one of the volunteers in the PADS program. Each Monday, from mid-October to mid-April, we opened our Fellowship Hall to approximately 60 homeless men, women and children. The doors opened at 7pm, mattresses and bedding were assigned and dinner was served at about 7:30pm. The guests then played cards or watched TV until it was time to bed down for the night. After an early breakfast everyone left with a sack lunch for the day and the building was cleared by 7am.

At our November Planning Council meeting someone mentioned that Christmas Eve fell on a Monday that year. They went on to tell me that members of the Jewish Synagogue came in to staff the shelter that night so that all the Christian volunteers could attend worship. They also told me that the guests would be allowed to stay all day on Christmas Day; that gifts would be given and Christmas dinner would be served. Then someone mentioned that the normal start time for our Christmas Eve worship was the exact time when the guests would be checking in. Now I expected them to go on to say how this would be a problem and would interfere with people coming for worship. But I was surprised and delighted to hear that there concern was that perhaps some of the guests might want to attend a Christmas Eve worship and the time of our service would interfere with them having their evening meal. So the decision was made to change the time of our Christmas Eve service to accommodate our homeless guests.

As we gathered for worship on December 24, 2001 about 30 of the shelter guests walked tentatively into the sanctuary and took their seats among the congregation. Standing in front and looking out at the people -some clean and well dressed, some in clothes that had not seen a washing machine for weeks or perhaps even months- I was overwhelmed by the power of God's love. And then he caught my eye, the bearded man sitting to my right. His eyes were clear and radiant pools of love and as I watched him during the service I couldn't help but notice how much like Jesus he looked. And I wondered if Jesus was pleased with our worship. Then as we received communion, formed a circle around the sanctuary, each person holding a candle and singing Silent Night, I could see and feel and hear the angels singing "Peace on earth, Good will to all."

I believe there are angels among us

Sent down to us from somewhere up above

They come to you and me in our darkest hours

To show us how to live

To teach us how to give

To guide us with a light of love

Thursday morning, as I was just beginning to think about these verses from Hebrews and what I might say, Tom came downstairs with part of the Chicago Tribune and he said, "Plainfield is on the front page of the Trib today. There are some stories about the 20^th anniversary of the Plainfield-Crest Hill Tornado." As I read the articles I began to think of all the angels that were in this community 20 years ago this week. I talked with a few of our members who were in Plainfield at the time and read several articles all of which affirmed my belief that there definitely were angels among us, thousands of them. They could be seen in the way residents pulled together to help one another, bringing comfort and support. They could be seen in the ordinary people who helped families find one another or helped others out of the wreckage. They could be seen in the more than 5,000 people from outside the community came to help with recovery and clean-up. They could be seen in the rescue workers and those who opened their doors to provide shelter for others whose homes were damaged or destroyed. They could be seen in the way churches became temporary shelters, supply depots or sites for food distribution. They could be seen those who helped the survivors piece their lives back together again.

Such angels, I believe, are God's way of reminding us that we are not alone. I remember a TV show I was watching recently when the main character rescued a little girl from her kidnappers and the child asked "are you my angel?" Most of the time, we never know who the angels are who are among us. Likewise, we have no idea that our hospitality, our kindness, our generosity, our forgiveness, our words of comfort or challenge or hope just might be the brush of angels' wings for a sister or a brother who needs to know God's love.

In the next few minutes as we listen to Angels among us, I invite you to remember and give thanks for the angels God sent to this community 20 years ago. I also invite you to give thanks for the angels in your life -whether or not you have always recognized them. And most of all I invite you to open your heart and your life to the ways in which you might become an angel to a sister or a brother who needs God's love and grace.

Play Angels Among Us.

Angels Among Us

I was walking home from school on a cold winter's day
Took a shortcut through the woods and I lost my way
It was getting late and I was scared and alone
Then a kind old man took my hand and led me home
Mama couldn't see him, but he was standing there
But I knew in my heart, he was the answer to my prayers

Oh I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love

When life dealt troubled times and had me down on my knees
There's always been someone there to come along and comfort me
A kind word from a stranger to lend a helping hand
A phone call from a friend just to say I understand
Ain't it kind of funny at the dark end of the road
Someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope

Oh I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love

They wear so many faces
Show up in the strangest places
Grace us with thier mercy
In our time of need

Oh I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love

Ready to Be Blessed? !

Luke 12:32-40 (CEV)

August 8, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

As most of you know I have spent the last eight days at Pilgrim Park Camp with seven of our youth, thirty-two other seventh and eighth graders from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as thirteen other adults who served as counselors, teachers and our camp directors. It was a great week; exhausting, but great! Each day the adults guided the campers through a variety of classes, games and worship experiences. Tuesday night was the Exodus Experience where we got a taste of what the Israelites experienced as they wandered in the desert for forty years. Like our ancestors in the faith, there was a considerable amount of whining and complaining before we reached the Promised Land. On Thursday we had our own version of a passion play. In this experience, the adults portrayed many of the people Jesus encountered from the time of his baptism until his crucifixion while the campers became the crowds who followed Jesus.

Friday night we shared an experience called The Hunt. For those of you familiar with Geo-caching it worked much the same way. Hidden around camp were ten different caches, each with a stamp that was a symbol used in the life of the church. For example one was a dove, another was a chalice and loaf of bread, another a crown of thorns and so on. Each tribe (that's what we called the groups at camp) was given two GPS units in which the locations of the caches had been stored. As in Geo-caching these stamps were placed in various size containers which were covered in camouflage tape and hidden around the camp. When a tribe successfully located a stamp they were to stamp their notebook, identify the symbol and write a few sentences about the meaning of the symbol.

As we started out, Jer, the leader of this activity, told us that he had hidden the caches on Sunday before the campers had arrived; so we had literally been walking by them all week. That did not, however, make them easier to spot. 2½ hours later 2 tribes had found 9 caches and the other two had found only 7. As Jer debriefed with us he pointed out that in all the tribes there was only one young man who was able to easily spot the cache once they got within the parameters of its hiding place. He went on to talk about the story of Moses and the burning bush and God's command to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. "I wonder how many others might have passed by this burning bush and not even noticed it," he said "or even how many burning bushes Moses walked by before he learned how to see and recognize the presence of God."

Jer then went on to talk about the GPS and how the game would have been impossible without the directions it offered. "Like the GPS," he said, "things like the Bible, attending worship, praying and talking with others helps guide us in the right direction and the Spirit can help us look with new eyes."

As we pick up today's story in Luke's gospel we hear Jesus say to the followers, "My little group of disciples, don't be afraid! Your Father wants to give you the kingdom." [Luke 12:32 CEV] Now if we were reading Luke from start to finish we would see that Jesus has just finished reminding the disciples, not to anxiously worry about food or clothing or having enough of anything, but to seek God's kingdom and everything needed will be given. The disciples don't need to worry, Jesus seems to be saying, because God wants to give them -us- the kingdom!

Now that word kingdom is a difficult one for us to understand, because there have been far too few places in which countries have been ruled by kings or queens who do what kings or queens are supposed to do; that is govern so that all in their realm are blessed. But when Jesus talks about the kingdom or the domain where God reigns, what he is pointing to is a realm where all who enter in are blessed. It is a realm characterized by the word Shalom in Hebrew or Shalma in Aramaic. It is a community where all people have whatever is needed to grow into the fullness of who they are created to be. It is a place where every man, woman and child has food enough to eat and opportunities develop and grow the abilities they have been given. It is a society characterized by mutual respect, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, patience, peace, generosity, and most of all love. It is an environment where blessing abounds and joy fills every heart. So I believe that what Jesus is saying here is that God wants to bless us! It is God's deepest desire to bless each and every one of us! This assertion is given shape as Jesus tells the parable about the servants who are awake and ready when the Master returns from the wedding feast. What happens? The Master serves the servants and they are blessed.

But the question is "Are we ready to be blessed?" Sounds like a silly question doesn't it? Who doesn't want to be blessed? Yet as the parables of the Master and the servants and the thief in the night point out, the kingdom comes, the blessings happen at times and in ways where we least expect them. We cannot force them or predict when they will come. All we can do is trust that in God's own time blessings will come. In God's own time we will know moments of the peace that passes understanding and the joy of living.

As we played The Hunt game it became clear that Jer really wanted the tribes to find the caches. He did everything he could to help them. He made sure they knew how to use the GPS units. He encouraged them to look in unusual places once they got near the place where the cache was hidden. He even walked around with the various tribes asking them questions that might help them look in new places or see with a different set of eyes. So, it seems to me, does God. Yes, God wants to bless us!

So how do we get ready to be blessed? Well, if we take the next few verses seriously we sell what we have and give the money to the poor. Now I don't think this is a path most of us are ready to follow, but that doesn't necessarily mean we are excluded from God's blessings. We can, I think, develop the kind of generosity of spirit, trust in God and simple life-style which seem to open the door to God's blessings.

Because I gave myself away this week, offering who I am and what God has given me to a whole bunch of seventh and eight grade youth I was blessed in surprising and unexpected ways. One blessing came through one of the campers - a girl with some learning disabilities- who came up to me during breakfast and said "I really like your sermons and the worship you do with us. I look forward to them every night." Then there was the loner camper who just happened to sit next to me at supper just moments after I had heard she was having trouble with camp because of something I said in worship and she was having difficulty with this "religion stuff." As we talked I had a chance to ask her some questions and share with her in a deeper way what I meant by what I said and some of what I believe about God. Whether it had any impact, only God knows; but I was blessed in the coming our coming together and I pray she was as well.

Like caches hidden in plain sight the blessings of God are all around us. And God wants us to find them.

'The man whispered,

"God, speak to me"

and a meadowlark sang.

But the man did not hear.

So the man yelled

"God, speak to me"

And the thunder and lightening rolled across the sky.

But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said

"God, let me see you"

and a star shone brightly.

But the man did not see.

Then the man shouted,

"God, show me a miracle"

and a new life was born.

But the man did not notice.

So the man cried out in despair,

"Touch me God, and let me know you are here"

Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man,

But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.'

Are you ready to be blessed?

Amen.

Shaped by Prayer

Luke 11-1-13

July 25, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

I have never been all that excited by exercise. I know some people find it exhilarating and well worth the effort. Not me! But, over the last five months I have discovered something about exercise. In February I started seeing a Chiropractor who believes that in addition to adjusting what might be out of place, it is important to build muscle strength and tone so that the adjustments hold. So at each visit a physical therapist takes each client through an exercise regime. My discovery? With regular consistent exercise I have begun to develop core strength. I have muscles that work and when I engage those muscles I experience less pain and more physical endurance. In short, regular exercise has begun to shape my muscles and my body in ways that are more life-giving and life-enhancing.

Jesus and his disciples are on the way to Jerusalem. Along the way the disciples have been learning many lessons about life and what it means to be a disciple of this Rabbi, Jesus. They have begun to recognize that Jesus is a person of prayer. They have begun to suspect that it is through prayer that he draws the wisdom, the strength and the power of divine love into his being and becomes a channel for that love as it heals the sick, opens the eyes of the blind and sets free those who are oppressed. More than likely prayer is not a new concept for these disciples. They had no doubt learned the prayers of the torah, and they might have even practiced some of them. But they see something in Jesus that they have yet to experience for themselves. So one day, when Jesus finishes his time of prayer one of his disciples asks him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his followers to pray." [Luke 11:1]

Now it's not that these disciples want to be like John the Baptist, it's that they want to be like Jesus and they know that it is the practice of most rabbis to give their disciples a distinctive prayer, one that will help them to grow more and more like the rabbi. In fact it was true that you would be known by the prayer that was distinctive to your group, gathered around the teacher you followed.  So Jesus says to them:

"Pray in this way:  

`Father, help us to honor your name.

Come and set up your kingdom.

³Give us each day the food we need.

⁴Forgive our sins, as we forgive everyone who has done wrong to us.

And keep us from being tempted.'" [Luke 11:2-4]

You might recognize this prayer as a shortened version of what has come to be called The Lord's Prayer. The longer more familiar version being found in Matthew 6:9-13. In one version or another it has most certainly become a prayer that is distinctive to Christian communities wherever they gather and whatever language they speak. And if this prayer is more than just words we have memorized it does indeed have the power to shape us and transform us into the fullness of all it means to be a disciple of Jesus, a follower of Christ, a Christian. Like exercises build our physical muscles, this prayer can help us build our spiritual ones. Let's take a closer look in the hopes that both Luke's shorter version and some fresh translations might awaken us in new ways to the power of the prayer Jesus gave his disciples.

First, as Kate Huey reminds us: "It is not a prayer of private piety, although we can say it alone, in our room.  It is a "we" and "us" prayer, and it gives voice to our human longings for bread, forgiveness, and escape from the time of trials we cannot bear."[1]

But it begins where all prayer must begin with taking time and making room. To pray the words most often translated as "hallowed be Thy name" and here rendered "help us to honor your name," in the original Aramaic was to acknowledge our need to create space and clean out the clutter within our lives so that the light of the Holy One shines through us.

Then once there is space, emptiness, openness, to say "come and set up you kingdom" is to pray a prayer of surrender; it is allowing God's will to become our will, asking that God's way becomes our way and not the other way around.

 To pray "Give us our daily bread" reminds us to pray not for everything we want but for what we truly need. In Jesus' time having enough food to sustain life was no small matter. Today, hunger is still no small matter."[2] What does it mean to pray not just for my daily bread, but for our daily bread -in other words to ask that all our sisters and brothers will have enough food to sustain life? But the word translated "bread" goes far beyond just food. It also means wisdom, insight or understanding. So in truth this line calls us to trust that whatever we need will be provided in each sacred moment.

Open to the Spirit and trusting God's goodness we encounter the need for forgiveness -both receiving it and offering it. For most of us these words about forgiveness are perhaps the most difficult ones in the prayer. It calls for honesty with ourselves and with God -facing our mistakes and failures and trusting that God's mercy and forgiveness will erase all of them. But it is so hard for us to forgive others, isn't it? That little word as frightens us. We hope God is more forgiving than we are. We hope God's forgiveness is not conditional on our forgiveness of others. So how do we understand this line of the prayer? Again in Aramaic this petition has to do with letting go of what keeps us tied up in knots and accepting, really accepting, God's forgiveness. Knowing that when we truly let go of all the stuff we have done or failed to do, when we stop beating ourselves us and accept God's unconditional love, we are empowered, little by little to let go of blaming others for what they have done and allowing the spirit to heal the hurt and the pain of living.

Finally we come to the words about being tempted which in Aramaic really point to forgetfulness. Don't let us forget the Source of Life. Don't let us get so busy with life that we forget to live. Keep us awake and aware, open and in tune with the rhythms of grace and the heartbeat of Love.

It's not that there is magic in these particular words. Yet when we learn them by heart and take them to heart, when we don't just say them, but honestly pray them, they become a doorway into a relationship with God that leads to LIFE, TRUE LIFE!

I think that's why Jesus goes on to add a curious little parable about an annoyingly persistent neighbor and the reluctant householder who relents, not out of kindness or friendship, but simply for the sake of a good night's sleep. Jesus then concludes this teaching about prayer with a brief comment about parents who know how to give good gifts to their children and the promise that God "is even more ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks."[Luke 11:13] 

Between the two we find those incredible promises, "...ask and you will receive, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks will receive, everyone who searches will find, and the door will be opened for everyone who knocks." [Luke 11:9-10]

Jesus seems to be saying that when we pray persistently and without ceasing we do we can count on the fact that we will indeed be shaped by our prayers into the very people God has created us to be. I believe Jesus is inviting us to trust that it is God's deepest desire to lead us into the fullness of life. So let us ask and keep on asking, search and keep on searching, knock and know that doors will open to a life more amazing than all we could ever hope for or imagine. May it be so. Amen.

Worship and Work

Luke 10:38-42 (MSG)

July 18, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Martha and Mary! Can you get the picture? Martha invites Jesus and his disciples (and there were considerably more than twelve of them) to her home. Luke says she "welcomed him and made him feel quite at home." In other words Martha had the gift of hospitality. She probably loved having people in her home, feeding them and tending to their needs. But on this particular occasion she is feeling just a bit overwhelmed. There is so much to do and she seems to be the only one doing it! She might even be able to hear what's going on, listen to bits and pieces of what Jesus is saying. She probably wishes she could take the time to just sit and listen, but, Luke says, she is "pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen."

Boy, can I relate! Whether it's hosting parties at my home or getting ready for some function at church there have been times when I've felt swamped, overwhelmed, distracted and pulled away by all that had to be accomplished. It's even worse on those occasions where I feel like I'm doing it all alone. There's something about having companions to share the load that makes it all seem easier somehow. But Martha was stuck doing it all herself!

Meanwhile Mary is sitting in rapt attention, hanging on every word that Jesus is saying, filled with wonder and perhaps even joy, because she seems to be just as welcome to receive the teachings of this rabbi as any of the men. Mary might even be aware that she should be in the kitchen helping her sister, after all that's where women belonged, but she just can't tear herself away.

I've been there too, and I know some of you have as well. Needing so much to be fed, filled, nurtured, cared for that we don't have anything to give. I've heard some of you say that you hear the call to help teach kid's quest, assist in the nursery, serve as liturgist or some other job that needs doing, but you really want or need to be in worship.

Yes, if we're honest I think we can relate to both Mary and Martha, although we may feel more kinship with one or the other. But the tension between these two sisters is familiar ground for most of us.   

Finally, when Martha is at the end of her rope, she barges into the room where Jesus and the others are gathered and says, "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand." Now I have to give Martha a lot of credit here. Me, I'd probably just fuss and fume and bang cupboard doors, hoping that Mary would catch my irritation by all the noise and get herself out to the kitchen where she belonged. I know for sure that if I had risked saying anything it would have been directly to Mary, not to Jesus. But Martha took her concern, her irritation, her need to Jesus. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? And I can well imagine that she was more than just a little put off by his response; at least I know that I would be. It seems uncharacteristically harsh and uncaring.

"Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it--it's the main course, and won't be taken from her."

Mary and Martha; what are we to make of this story? What is Jesus saying here? What had Martha missed that Mary got? And most importantly, what wisdom might we glean for our own lives?

This story, it seems to me, points to an age old tension in the church. Are disciples called to piety or service, prayer or action, worship or work? And, on the surface of this story, it would seem that Jesus would have his followers choose piety, prayer and worship over service, work and action. However, if we read the gospel of Luke from beginning to end, we would see that just before this story of Mary and Martha is the story of the encounter of Jesus and a lawyer and what we call the Parable of the Good Samaritan -a parable that is all about serving. In fact, it was the priest and the Levi who put worship ahead of responding to one in need that seem to fall short. And Jesus last words to the lawyer were "go and do likewise." Then, immediately following today's story, we find the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. Whereupon he shares with them the prayer we have come to call the Lord's Prayer -which, as we will see next week, is a prayer that deals with both worship and work.

By his positioning of these stories, Luke seems to point to his understanding that those who seek to follow Jesus must balance piety and service, prayer and action, worship and work! But balance is a tenuous thing isn't it? We can be balanced at one moment and then all too easily out of balance in the next. Yet Jesus says what Mary has chosen will not be taken from her. So perhaps there is something more than just balance that we need to understand.

As I was thinking about this I thought of Jesus' instructions to his disciples to "seek first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness..." Then I thought of the definition of "righteousness" as "doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason."

This past week I spent two days at an Interplay retreat called Praying the Body: Interplay as Soulwork and Deepening Our Body Wisdom. Cynthia Winton-Henry, one of the co-founders of Interplay, was our retreat leader. We danced and played and talked and sang. We listened and moved to the rhythms of beautiful music and the rhythms of our hearts.  We talked a lot about noticing -one of the core elements of Interplay: noticing our body data; noticing the things that give life and energy, joy and ease; noticing, paying attention, being aware of the deep movements of the spirit in the movements of our life. At one point Cynthia gave each of us a card that said something about one of the core elements of Interplay. Then she invited us to reflect on what it might have to say to us. My card had the element known as leading and following. As I listened to the wisdom pulsing up from my deepest self, I began to think about my need to move back and forth between the two -sometimes being a courageous, insightful leader and sometimes being an ecstatic and joyful follower. Then I began thinking about Mary and Martha, and the Spirit seemed to be saying to me that the one thing that Mary had chosen was to listen to her own deepest, truest wisdom -that part of herself that danced in partnership with the Divine Dancer; to pay attention to what she needed in that moment; to trust that her deepest wisdom was life-giving and then to act on that wisdom. So despite her duty to help her sister in the kitchen, Mary chose to sit at Jesus' feet and learn. In another moment her choice might have led her into some act of caring, compassionate serving. Martha, on the other hand was distracted, pulled away from her deepest knowing, so caught up in "shoulds" and "oughts" that she missed the joy that could have been hers.

Worship and work, it seems to me, are part and parcel of the divine dance of life. Like Mary we are invited to listen deeply to the music of our soul and move with the rhythms of grace, ready to respond to the nudges of the Spirit with the right action at the right time and for the right reason. Amen.

Special Presentation            Baobab Blast!

 Pastor Nancy & Volunteers and Youth from Vacation Bible School

Song:                                Baobab Blast

(Pastor Nancy) During our week of Vacation Bible School we gathered each day around the Baobab Tree. We learned some amazing things about this tree. But one of the most important things we learned was that this tree is the gathering place for people. They come together to share their stories and oftentimes to listen to the village story teller who has a way of putting things so that God's truth shines through. Today some of the 61 youth and their leaders who were part of VBS will join me to tell you some stories. And hopefully you will see God's truth and love shinning through all we do and say.

Day 1: (Paul) On the first day our theme was Trust. We heard the story of how God called Abraham and Sarah to go to a new place and become a great nation.

        (Paul) Our Bible verse was from Psalm 37:5. It was

All:   ⁵Let the LORD lead you and trust him to help.

(Paul) But we sometimes shortened it to

All:   "Trust in God"

(Pastor Nancy) I was in my office getting the bulletin ready for the upcoming Sunday when the phone rang. It was a woman calling for help. Her name was Michelle and she said she had just been released from prison and needed help, not for her self so much as for her daughter. She needed diapers and food and someone to talk to. I guess she was just going down the list of churches, trying to find someone to respond and she got to me. She didn't have a car. She had no way of getting from where she lived to the church, but she needed help. She was living on the far east side of Milwaukee -in an area that some people called the ghetto. I was in one of the far western suburbs. I had a lot of work to get done and I really wanted to just say to her that there was nothing I could do to help her; but something deep inside, something that I've come to know as God's spirit pushed me to respond. So I told her that I would gather some things together and bring them to her the next morning.

Song:                                From East to West

Day 2 (John) On the second day our theme was Love. We heard the story of how God's love helped Joseph love and forgive his brothers. We also leaned that even though the brothers meant to hurt Joseph, God used what they did for something good.

(John) Our Bible verse was from 1 Corinthians 13:8a It was

 ⁸Love never fails!

(Pastor Nancy) So the next morning I set out driving east toward Michelle's apartment. As I drove along this street that runs between the city of Milwaukee and the suburbs, I couldn't help but notice the changes that were taking place as I drove. It wasn't long until I was out of my comfortable suburban neighborhood and heading into places where the buildings were more shabby. And I began to wonder what in the world I was doing, going all by myself into the heart of the ghetto to meet a woman who had been in prison and I didn't even know what her crime had been.

As I drove, I felt my heart begin to constrict as fear began to fill my mind. The people on the street suddenly looked menacing -gang bangers and druggies I thought. I dreaded having to stop at red lights for fear they would jump off the curb and attack me. Just then, of course I came to a red light and as I sat there God spoke into my anxious heart and said, "Nancy these are people just like you. They are my children too. Pray for them."

Now when I'm in stressful or difficult situations I have a couple of breath prayers that I use. One of them is called the Metta. It consists of four lines: May I be filled with loving-kindness; May I be well; May I be peaceful and at ease; May I be happy and filled with joy. Each phrase is spoken silently as you breath, one phrase for each breath. You begin praying it for yourself and then changing the "I" to "you" you send the prayer out for others.

So I began, 2-3 times for myself and then once for each person I saw as I drove -the people walking down the street, the people hanging out in front of stores, the people in line at the welfare office. As I drove and as I prayed for each of these strangers a miraculous thing happened; the people who moments before had seemed scary now looked like my sisters and brothers. As my heart opened I saw each of them surrounded and filled with God's light and love.

Song:                                Love Never Fails

Day 3 (Emily) On the third day our theme was: Follow. We heard the story of how Jesus called ordinary men and women to follow him and learn from him. They were called disciples and so are we.

(Emily) Our Bible verse was from Psalm 119:15 It was

All:   ¹⁵I will study your teachings and follow your footsteps."

(Emily) But we sometimes shortened it to

All:   "I'll follow Jesus"

(Pastor Nancy) When I arrived at Michelle's place the neighborhood was worse than anything I had ever seen and fear tried to grip my heart again. So I began my other favorite breath prayer: I am the light, the light is within me; the light flows through me; the light surrounds me; the light protects me; I am the light. After a couple of times through, I knew that God's light and love were surrounding and protecting me, so I got out of the car and headed to her door.

When she answered my knock I was greeted by a beautiful smile, a warm gracious heart and a precious little one. "Come in," Michelle said, "and please sit down if you can. I'd love to talk with you if you have the time.

As we talked she told me some of her life story. I actually can't remember most of the details, but I do remember the little jump in my stomach when she told me that she had been in prison because she had been convicted of second degree murder. Then she asked me to pray for her and her child that they would find their way. After I finished praying she said that I had brought her such peace that she wondered if she could stay in touch with me. I said yes, of course she could call me.

Every couple of weeks she would call, sometimes because she just wanted to talk and have me pray for her, sometimes because she needed something for her daughter. As time passed she talked about her fear of her boyfriend and wishing she could get away from him. Most of the time I just listened. If I said anything at all it was to remind her how much God loved her and what a beautiful person she was.

Song:                                We Have Heard the Call

Day 4: (Dustyn) On the fourth day our theme was Care: We heard the story of the Samaritan that helped the man who was hurt.

(Dustyn) Our Bible verse was from Jeremiah 17:16a It was

All:   "O LORD, you chose me to care for your people"

But we sometimes shortened it to

All: "Care for others"

(Pastor Nancy) The next time I visited Michelle, she was living in a place even worse than the first place. She had left her boyfriend and this was all she could afford. She needed furniture and lots of help, so I got several people from the congregation. We collected a number of things and took them to her.

After that each time she would call, she seemed stronger and more confident. Finally one day she asked if she could come to church because she wanted to thank the people of our little congregation and share with them some of her story. We were eventually able to make that happen and what a blessing it was. Not only did we see the way that God had loved Michelle though our willing hands and hearts, but we recognized the way God had loved us by sending Michelle into our lives.

Day 5 (John) On the last day our theme was: Share: We heard the story of a guy named Philip who shared his faith with a man riding in a chariot.

(Paul) Our Bible verse was from Philemon 1:6a It was

All:   "Share your faith with others"

(Emily) Although that's pretty short we also shortened it to

All:   Share your faith

(Pastor Nancy) Some time after that Michelle connected with some of her aunts who invited her and her daughter to move in with them. The last time I saw her she was living in a safer neighborhood in a clean well-furnished apartment -not luxurious by suburban standards but a palace compared to where she had been. As I arrived the apartment was full of women who were talking and laughing. Michelle introduced me and then asked me to come into her room so we could talk. She had found a job and had these wonderful women to help her. She was so grateful for everything we had done to help her. Now she hoped she could help others. She also hoped she wouldn't have to call to ask me for help again.

We hugged and prayed together and then went back into the living room where the women had put on some music and were dancing. "Do you dance?" Michelle asked me.

"I sure do" I replied as I joined in.

"Hey a preacher who dances," one of her friends said.

When the song was over and I was preparing to leave Michelle said, "Pastor Nancy, you got some jive; you don't dance like no white chick." We all laughed and hugged again. As I left I thought "God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good."

Song:                                Share Your Faith 

Freedom to Love

Galatians 5:1, 13-18

July 4, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Freedom! On this day that marks the 234^th birthday of our country, which our national anthem rightly calls "the land of the free and the home of the brave," we have freedom on our minds. But like most words in our language freedom means different things to different people at different times and in different contexts. The Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary defines freedom as:

· the quality or state of being free

· the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action

· liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another

While Answers.com points to some of the many nuances of freedom, listing several different ways to use the word freedom:

1. freedom of assembly or freedom of speech
2. freedom from want.
3. We have the freedom to do as we please all afternoon.
4. loose sports clothing, giving the wearer freedom.
5. she was given the freedom of their research facilities.
6. he was given the freedom of the city.

Freedom!

o  According to Abraham Lincoln "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."

o  While Robert J. McCracken believes "We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls."

o  Moshe Dayan asserts that "Freedom is the oxygen of the soul."

o  Benjamin Franklin warns us that, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

o  Nelson Mandela cautions that, "to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Freedom! But as we gather in the midst of our reflections on freedom if we listen carefully we will catch the echo of an even deeper freedom from the Apostle Paul: ^"It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. ... Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom."

To understand Paul's wisdom for our lives, we need to look at the situation that evoked his words. For Paul Christ came to proclaim God's unconditional love and set us free from trying to assure our own salvation by slavishly following the whole of the Jewish law. Bondage to the law, according to Paul, created a climate of anxious self-protectiveness where good deeds -if they were done at all- where self-centered and self-serving; done to assure one's own place in God's coming realm. This was how Paul lived until his encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus Road, where he found the freedom and joy he had never experienced living under the law. Embraced and empowered by God's love, Paul was moved from the inside out to do what, living under the law, he had not been able to do -that is to truly love and serve others.

But some had a very different idea about the law. They believed that all the practices of the Jewish law were binding on everyone who sought to follow Jesus. By their impassioned speeches these troublemakers, called the Judaizers, stirred up fear in the hearts of the believers. Were they really saved? Or would their failure to follow the whole Jewish law keep them from experiencing God's grace? Where there had been peace and love, now there was doubt and fear. Where there had been trust and growth, now there was uncertainty and stagnation. Where there had been community and cooperation, now there was alienation and competition. It was to these troubled and anxious believers that Paul wrote.

Paul had grasped the truth that in Christ we are given freedom from fear. It is freedom from trying to secure our own way and make our own future. But even more than that, he understood that in Christ we were given freedom to live in love. And in fact, living in love is part and parcel of what keeps us free. When we live in fear our world is limited, for fear contracts, it causes us to pull in, to build barriers, erect fortresses, sharpen our defenses, seeking only to provide for our own safety, our own security, our own life. But when we live in love our world knows no limits, no borders, no boundaries; love expands our view, opens our hearts, awakens our creativity and moves us to reach out in ever-widening circles.

When talking about our freedom as a nation we often point with gratitude to the sacrifices made by those who have fought to defend our freedom. We know that freedom isn't free. We know that freedom depends on our willingness to sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. But all too often we believe that such sacrifice is what the men and women who serve in the various branches of the military do. Or if we are really thoughtful, we know that the families of these brave citizens also make sacrifices. But we fail, I think, to understand that to truly be free, we must all be willing to "use our freedom to serve one another in love," even when it means sacrificing some of our comfort, our wealth, our ease.

As I was thinking about this I thought of the Great Law of the Iroquois Nation- which says "In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation; that is whether the decisions we make today would benefit our children seven generations into the future."  It is, of course impossible to know that for sure. But to live with such "other-directed" thinking causes us to at least consider whether our actions benefit others. For example, I can't simply think of what is best for me and my family -in any sphere of life- without taking into account what is best for all my sisters and brothers.

But this is not just one more law to follow. It comes about naturally, Paul says, when we are "animated and motivated by God's Spirit." [Galatians 5:16]  It happens when we allow God's love to set the agenda. In the section following our reading for today Paul describes what life looks like when we live in the freedom of love and what it looks like when we give in to our anxious self-serving fear. Listen to what Paul writes:

 ^19-21It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community.

 ^22-23But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard--things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

²⁵Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

So my friends breathe deeply, ... feel God's love flow into every fiber of your being ... let all you do and say be "animated and motivated by God's Spirit" and claim God's freedom!  Amen.

Called! Sent!

Luke 10:1-11 & 17

June 27, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

It happened during my second year of seminary on the second day of my unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Children's Hospital in Columbus Ohio. Having been oriented to the hospital on the first day, we were scheduled to be in class the entire day learning the basics of what a chaplain did. Sometime during the middle of the morning our teacher -the Chaplain of the hospital- received word from the emergency room that a 10 year old boy had been brought in. The boy was dead, but the family had not been told and they needed a Chaplain right away. As he was telling us this, I thought, "I guess we're going to get a break while he goes to deal with this."

Then I heard him say, "OK, whoever is on call for today will handle this one while we continue class. Who is on call for today?"

With a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I checked the schedule and my worst fear was realized, it was me. So I tentatively raised my hand and said, "It's me."

"Do you know how to get to the Emergency Room?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, thinking, but what in the world am I supposed to do when I get there?

"Good," he answered. "Head on down there as quickly as you can. They're waiting on you."

Now even though I had been an emergency room nurse, I had no idea what a chaplain was supposed to do in this situation. I had been called to be a follower of Christ; called to allow the Spirit to mend the broken places in my life; called to grow in faith; called to work in the church; called to seminary to learn how to be a pastor; called to life. And in that terrifying moment I was being sent; sent to embody God's love and grace; sent to offer comfort and support; sent to proclaim God's ever-present care; sent! I felt completely inadequate and totally unprepared to do what I was being asked to do. I was terrified! "God, please help me," I prayed as I walked.

I wonder if the seventy-two disciples Jesus sent out felt as unprepared and uncertain as I felt. No matter how long they had been traveling with Jesus, no matter how much they had learned from him, I suspect that they too didn't feel quite ready or totally prepared for the task. I mean really, Jesus had just said to them, "I am sending you like lambs into a pack of wolves."[Luke 10:3] And "Oh by the way, don't take any provisions with you, not even the basic necessities for survival. Just trust that when you offer God's peace, you will find peace in return."

At least I was just going to the emergency room!

Augustine was tutoring young clerics to go into the world to start churches and preach the gospel. At their ordination and commissioning ceremony, he reminded them of the importance of their mission. Then he said, "Preach the gospel with all your heart. If necessary, use words."

So too, those first missionaries sent by Jesus were called to practice what they preached, to live God's gracious love, to be a healing presence in the midst of each community. For sure they had words to say that would help people recognize that there was a power beyond them that gave them the wisdom and the strength to do what they did. But the most important thing they had to offer was their presence. As they dared to step out in faith, as they risked trusting that with God who they were and what they had to offer was enough, they became channels of grace, beacons of hope, instruments of healing and agents of transformation.

One day a group of teenagers went out to the abandoned railroad tracks near the edge of town near to challenge each other to walk the length of the rail. Despite their best efforts none of them could do it. Now as it happened the younger brother and sister of a couple of the teens had followed them to the tracks. After watching the older kids try for some time, the little girl, named Lucy, said, "I bet Steve and I can walk the tracks." Well, of course the older kids laughed and heckled these little ones. But finally, feeling pretty safe in their judgment of the kids ability, they said, "OK, if you can do it, we'll take you for ice cream"

Looking at each other and smiling a secret smile, Steve and Lucy got up on the tracks at the same time and reaching out and taking each other's hand for balance and support they proceeded to walk the entire length of the tracks!

I think it is a vitally important detail of this story that Jesus sent these first missionaries two by two; for balance, for support, for encouragement. They needed each other. That's the power of a spiritual friend; that's the power of a caring community; that's the power of small groups formed to study or pray or minister together.

Linda Graham, along with her friends Kellee, Lisa and Julie, went to Haiti on what they thought was a routine mission trip to deliver blankets, clothing, and medical supplies to an orphanage. The women had no idea that they were walking into one of the worst natural disasters in modern history.

As their taxi was leaving the airport the earthquake hit. Unable to drive to the orphanage they were dropped off at a church where about 2,000 people were singing and praying. "I've never felt the presence of God in such a tangible way as I did that night," Linda said.

The next morning wounded people lined up in front of the four women assuming they were nurses. Linda admits feeling inadequate knowing that she had no idea how to help the injured. Then she remembered that they had medical supplies in their luggage. The women sprung into action doing whatever they could do.

The biggest test of their faith came later that morning when two Haitian women went into labor. Linda was asked to deliver the babies in an abandoned hospital without electricity or running water. Linda prayed seeking the Lord's guidance. A healthy baby girl was born followed by a baby boy. The overjoyed father of the baby boy asked Linda to name his son. "I told him to name the boy Judah which means 'praise,' " Linda replied.

Each and every one of us is here because we too have been called; called by Christ to receive God's extravagant love, God's unfathomable grace, God's immeasurable healing, God's restorative justice, and God's life-renewing hope. Each of us is also sent to share with others what we have received, because it is in that sharing that we grow into the fullness of who we were created to be. Now it seems to me, that if we were only sent to do the things we already know we can do, that there would be no growth in faith in ourselves or in God. It is only when we find ourselves just a little beyond what is easy, comfortable or secure that we discover who God is and who in God's love we can become.

As I walked into the emergency room to meet that young boy's family, the nurse introduced me and then promptly disappeared. For the next several hours I sat with them, mostly just listening and trying to be present in whatever way seemed best at the moment, all the while wondering what in the world I was supposed to be doing and silently praying for wisdom and guidance. Then as they were leaving the grandmother said to me, "Thank you so much, I don't know how we could have gotten through this without you. You were a true blessing in this horrible nightmare."  As I walked back to class I wondered what I had done. In answer to my quandary the Chaplain said simply, "you were there!"

Whether we find ourselves in the middle of a natural disaster, in an emergency room with a grieving family with a friend, a co-worker, or even a stranger in times of pain, grief, challenge or fear, whether we are sent to bring comfort or hope, justice or peace, we are simply sent to be there; to embody God's love and live Christ's compassion, with open hands and open hearts, trusting that with God we are enough. Amen.

Great Love, Great Joy!

Luke 7:36 - 8:3

June 13, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Her name was Candace. I met her during my tenure as Student Associate Pastor. As part of my ministry mandate to "create something for the young adults in our congregation" I had started a Relational Bible Study Group. I think we started with two or three participants. Candace was a friend of one of them, who told her about the group and invited her to check it out. I remember how quiet and reserved she was the first night she came. But something in the group drew her back the next week and the next until she was a regular and full participant.

We began each session talking about the stresses and joys of our week and offering each other support and encouragement. We also talked a lot about how we related personally to whatever Biblical text we happened to be exploring. The group grew together in love, in their sense of God's presence in their lives and in the joy that seemed to flow from that awareness. All of us felt our lives being touched, transformed and empowered. But none more so than Candace; she was like a flower opening up, a rose starting to unfold, a light beginning to shine.

I'll never forget the night she asked if she could share a song. She said it was a song that captured her story and she wanted to share it with us.

(Song)You Gave Me Love

You gave me time when no one gave me time of day.

You looked deep inside while the rest of the world looked away.

You smiled at me when there were just frowns everywhere.

You gave me love when nobody gave me a prayer.

That's why I call you savior.

That's why I call you friend

You touched my heart; you touched my soul;

And helped me start all over again.

That's why I love you Jesus,

That's why I'll always care.

You gave me love when nobody gave me a prayer.

You gave me laughter after I cried all my tears.

You heard my dreams while the rest of the world closed its ears.

I looked in your eyes and I found the tenderness there.

You gave me love when nobody gave me a prayer.

That's why I call you savior.

That's why I call you friend

You touched my heart; you touched my soul;

And helped me start all over again.

That's why I love you Jesus,

That's why I'll always care.

You gave me love when nobody gave me a prayer.

Picture in your mind the woman who stood behind Jesus, weeping, bathing his feet with her tears; can you imagine her singing those words as she gently massaged his feet? Can you hear her whisper or shout "you gave me love when nobody gave me a prayer"? She was after all a woman on the outside of polite society, a nothing, a nobody. Worse than that, she was a sinner; one who had sold her body to keep her life; one who had done whatever she could do just to survive. Now here she was crashing the party of Simon, the Pharisee, touching the feet of this itinerant preacher, interrupting the meal and rendering Jesus and anyone who came near enough to touch him or her unclean. It was the law. Simon knew it and so did Jesus and so did this woman! Women -even good, upstanding, reputable women- were not to speak to or touch men in public. She knew it, but her love was so great and her joy so profound that she dared to risk further retribution to just to say "thank you."

Now we don't know for sure just how it was that she had come to experience the love Jesus came and comes to bring. Perhaps she had been in the crowd and heard him speak. Perhaps she had caught his eye and when he looked at her she felt the love of God he talked about touching her deep within. Perhaps it was a smile. Perhaps it was the stories she had heard of other sinners he had welcomed, other outcasts he had included. We don't know. All we know is that something profound had happened to her and in its happening the love that had been hidden for so long was released in joyful service.

That's what happens when we receive a gift beyond anything we could ever hope for or imagine, isn't it? Our hearts are filled with gratitude that simply must find some expression. And when that gift is love when we have been told we are unlovable; when it is acceptance when all we have known is rejection; when it is extravagant welcome when the doors of life have slammed shut in our faces then that gratitude releases the love and the joy that makes us whole. I have seen it time and time again as individuals discover the love of God lived out in the extravagant welcome of a community of faith. I have seen it as the hurts and wounds of a lifetime begin to heal through the gift of Divine grace. When we have been loved like that, the great love and great joy that we experience simply must be shared, offered, given.

Meanwhile Simon, watching the scene unfold, simply cannot believe that Jesus is just sitting there, doing nothing to stop this woman or condemn her and her lifestyle. So Jesus tells him that story about the two debtors and asks him which debtor would love the creditor more. Cautiously Simon answers, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." Whereupon Jesus points to the woman and, after enumerating the number of times Simon failed to show Jesus common courtesy and respect while this woman poured out abundant love, Jesus says, "Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love."

Unfortunately several of the English translations of this passage have it backwards. They imply that this woman was forgiven because of her love. Not so, says Jesus. As a matter of fact the belief that forgiveness, love and acceptance come as a result of something we say or do was part of Simon's problem. He thought that only good, upstanding, proper, law-abiding people -like himself- deserved God's love and grace. He believed that only those who could follow every iota of the law were acceptable. He believed that one had to earn one's way into God's favor. He believed that because he faithfully kept the commandments he was somehow superior to those who did not. What he didn't understand was that in judging others inferior and in believing that he was capable of earning his own way, Simon was just as separated, just as distant, just as alienated as the woman was. He believed he had earned everything he had and there was no loving gratitude in his heart, no joy in his service, no room at his table for those he identified as sinners.

So much of the time we seem get it turned around. We think that we must do something to make ourselves acceptable to God. Oh, we utter the phrases about salvation by faith, but we turn faith into a work. We must have faith, repent, confess our sins; then and only then will God love us, accept us and forgive us. "No! Not so," says Jesus!!!  We have it backwards. God loves, forgives and accepts us - period - end of sentence. The question is will we accept God's acceptance of us and in that acceptance and love grow into all God dreams we might become?

How different our lives might be if we finally accepted that we are loved in spite of the number of times we have failed and will fail to live into the fullness of who we are created to become! How different our lives might be if we finally understood that we are -each and every one of us- people of infinite value, limitless dignity and immeasurable worth?

On the day of my ordination, several years after Candace first tentatively shared her song with us, she stood in the middle of the sanctuary and with great love in her heart and great joy radiating from her life reminded us all of God's incredible love as she sang her story, my story, our story:

You gave me laughter after I cried all my tears.

You heard my dreams while the rest of the world closed its ears.

I looked in your eyes and I found the tenderness there.

You gave me love when nobody gave me a prayer.

Amen.

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.