Surprise Surprise!

It took a bit for this one to be posted, but in the surprising way that God continues to work, life happened in a way that led to some key edits resulting in the message below.

The lectionary texts for this week are:
Acts 16:9-15
Psalm 67
Revelation 21:10, 21:22 - 22:5
John 14:23-29
OR
John 5:1-9

Surprising God, surprise us into loving in the exact ways, times, and places that you would have us love. Amen

It seems to me that the texts we have been reading and studying since Easter have a sort of a pattern to them. Of course, they have all come from the book of Acts so they are all part of the same story in the same book, but when I took a step back this week I noticed this:

Easter – Resurrection – SURPRISING!

Easter 2 – Peter declares to the church leaders that Jesus is more powerful than they are, so he and his pals are going to follow Jesus - SURPRISING

Easter 3 – Paul is knocked off his horse and makes a very surprising turn from the life he had been living - SURPRISING

Easter 4 – Peter raises Tabitha from the dead – a woman whose widow-friends remembered for her textiles, not for her kindness or goodness. We don’t get the whole story, but could it be that Tabitha was not the “perfect woman” and it was just a little surprising that she is the one Peter ended up raising from the dead? - SURPRISING

Easter 5 – Peter has a vision and ends up ministering to <gasp> GENTILES. Because apparently God does not think that God is only for the Jews. That was quite a twist for the Jews, but the twist for us today might be that the Jews REJOICED that those outsider Gentiles had been brought into the fold - SURPRISING

It’s as if, in the aftermath of Jesus doing the most unimaginably surprising thing that a human being could do (because it had never been done before), God just keeps on raining surprise after surprise after surprise down on his followers.

And then today we have Lydia.

Lydia is characterized as a maker of purple cloth. You may have learned at some point that purple was the color of royalty. It was, and being a maker of purple cloth meant that Lydia had some highly specialized skills that put her work in demand by the richest folks in the land.

The reason purple was such a big deal is that all cloth was handwoven, usually from flax, so it had kind of a natural color – somewhere between white and beige. To make it colorful, the weavers had to use dyes that occurred in nature. Indigo for blue, a plant called madder for red, clay for an orangey-red sepia color. Natural dyes tend to result in a muted, “earthy” tone. But combining “ordinary” blue and red natural dyes is as likely to produce kind of a muddy brown color as purple. Instead, purple came from tiny little mollusks that were available from the port city of Tyre, clear on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea. To be a maker of purple cloth, then, meant that Lydia had skill at turning flax or other fibers into cloth, and then having the wherewithal to get mollusks and do the intricate set of things required to turn it into purple dye.

Lydia was no slouch.

But Lydia was a woman, so it might not be totally intuitive that when a man from Macedonia appears in a vision, Paul and the others (including Luke, most likely) would end up finding and relying on Lydia.

And yet… that is exactly what happened. They obediently went to the area of Macedonia known as Philippi. They hung out for a few days, and it doesn’t say, but I am guessing that they were pretty confused and frustrated. WHO were they supposed to help? Where was the man in the vision?

It seems that things were not going well.

So, what do you do if you have been knocked off your horse, your life turned upside down, and you went to Macedonia because of a dream?  If you are Paul, you go find a place to pray. And apparently the place to pray was outside the city.

Apparently the place to pray was where the women gathered.

Paul and his buds didn’t have anything else going on, so they sat down to talk to the women. If Gentiles could worship the same God as the disciples, and if you have been literally knocked off a horse and interacted firsthand with Jesus, and if you have gone to Philippi (Macedonia) based on a vision, then talking to women had to seem just… one more thing.

Maybe they were so tired and confused and discouraged that they were willing to talk to anyone who would listen.

Or maybe they sensed Lydia’s authority.

Or maybe… maybe Lydia and her friends were so interested in the story that the apostles loved so much – the story of Jesus – that it seemed foolish not to talk about it! Because in the end, Lydia prevailed (e.g. insisted in a most authoritative way) upon Paul and Luke and the others to stay with her.

Lydia was the person they were called to see.

Given that the Christians at Philippi ended up being one of Paul’s most beloved congregations (see the Book of Philippians), it seems that things worked out! And it all started because Paul was not afraid to talk to women.

It makes me wonder:

Where were the men?

What about the patriarchy?

Could it be that women were not as oppressed as we think?
OR… was it just that God (through Paul et al.) did not give a fig about the patriarchal rules that guided the society of the time?

What if the Gentiles, and the women, and the religious leaders, and the guy who was intent upon finding men and women who followed Jesus and putting them in prison were all as much a part of Jesus’ ministry as anybody else?

What if, like Lydia, God picked those people because they would hear the word and live the life, not because of who they were in some human-created social order?

How might ministry be changed today if, instead of identifying as denominations or members or people who fit some system that is geared to human characteristics rather than those pesky unpredictable calls from God… we did what my friend Amy suggested and wander around and talk to whomever we run into who will have the conversation about God?

Peter and his pals were outside of the religious system of the day, and the jail could not hold them.

Paul was determined to punish those outside of his view of religious propriety, and was knocked off his horse and turned into a high-energy apostle.

Tabitha was outside the world of the living, but was brought back to life.

The Gentiles were outside of… everything they disciples and apostles knew and thought about God and Jesus, but were called to be inside the circle of God’s love.

And today, Lydia and her friends were literally OUTSIDE THE GATE. They were outside the town, with it’s male-dominated structures. They were at a prayer place, outside the city.

And in each of those cases, the social surprise was no reason to stop sharing. The surprises were because of how human beings had arranged the world… not because of God’s arrangement.



What do you suppose they talked about?

They didn’t have hymnals or liturgies or committees to write rites of worship. What they did have was a story – the story of Jesus, and all the smaller stories that Jesus told. The stories of their lives with Jesus (in the case of Peter and the other apostles) or a dramatic encounter with Jesus (in the case of Paul.)

What they had was stories – including the most astonishing story of Jesus Resurrection. And in light of the Resurrection, I wonder if they backtracked to make sense of it all:
* “Remember what he said about being raised in three days?”
* “Remember when he turned over those tables?”
* “Remember that guy who kept breaking chains? How Jesus calmed him down?”
* “Remember when those pigs went running off into the lake?”
* “Remember how that dove came down, and there was that voice, when John baptized Jesus?”

There was baptism, and there were stories.

I suspect they talked about healing, and raising from the dead. Loving. Sharing meals.

… about their personal interactions and how different it was to be around Jesus.

… about the broiled fish after the Resurrection, and maybe the whole story of Thomas.

Did they mention that Jesus didn’t even have a house, but he always had a place to be because he cared so much for everyone he encountered?

I wonder if the stories were more about the Jesus who loved than about the Jesus who bucked the system.

I wonder if the stories focused on the Resurrection rather than the crucifixion.

As we see in the Bible today, there are so many stories! Because they were about 2000 years closer to the time Jesus actually walked the earth, I imagine Paul and friends had even more stories than we have today.

What we do see is that the people at the center of the power structure did not want to hear the stories. They just kept throwing the storytellers in jail. Sometimes God took them out of jail (as in Peter’s case) and sometimes God broke the jail and the people stayed behind (Paul). But in every case, the laws of the religious and political leaders did not seem to hinder God at all. God did what God did.

And in the face of that new world, Peter and Paul, Luke and all the other apostles and disciples, must have felt a wild disorienting sense of freedom. So much freedom that anything seemed possible and ok.

Even talking to Gentiles, and women outside the gate, and ignoring the Powers That Were.


The apostles and disciples did not sit in their buildings waiting for people to come join them in worship. They went out to tell. They went out to be what eventually became church.

But their church was not a formal liturgical business organization. Their church was about telling the stories of Jesus and living like Jesus had lived.

Which meant… wandering around and doing whatever there was to do.

It is not the kind of life we encourage people to live today. We worry about money – what if God can’t provide enough? We worry about safety – what if the political powers want to hurt me? The apostles and disciples had all that but still… all they could do was go find people who would listen to the stories. The stories of Jesus. The stories that culminated in Resurrection.


So today I ask you: will you join me in the quest to go wherever people are?
* To pray?
* To talk about the Jesus who loved in completely counter-cultural and incomprehensible ways?
* To go where you are invited because people see in you the love that Jesus has put on your heart?

It is an uncertain life. You may wander around a bit. You might have to sing different songs or pray in different places – even places outside of the gates of where you feel safe.

But if you are following Jesus, this promise of Jesus will echo in your heart:

Peace I leave with you… but not like the worldly peace. Don’t be troubled! Fear not! Because I may not be here but I’m also not gone. You’ll be ok. You can love like I did. With anyone who shows up needing that love. And then… then they will know you are mine.

Amen.

What are we supposed to do?

This week it's all Jesus and love, and pretty counter-cultural.

The texts are:
Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

WILL THE PAIN EVER END?

* Abortion legislation that leaves out any of the human beings firsthand involved – including all of the fathers
o No grace for the mother
o No grace or accountability for the father
o No concern for supporting the baby who will be a live person who needs food, clothing, housing, health care… and love.
* Eliminating recess for children and enforcing silent lunches with no recourse for a child’s pent up energy, ways of learning, or ramifications for teachers who are thrust into the role of enforcer rather than nurturer.
* Over and over and over again we see real human drama with its infinity of perspectives and particularities into issues of power and control and who-gets-to-be-in-charge rather than working together or figuring out how to agree on something… anything
* SO OFTEN turning to some section of the Bible to (apparently) say “SEE??? God wants exactly what I want! God clearly wants me to be in charge and wielding my power in whatever way I prefer.”

While white dudes are currently the ones who are set up to wield that power in ways that (apparently) allow them to have an ever tighter grip on power…

Power is a seductive thing and not fundamentally connected to a pale Y chromosome.

In her book “The Power”, Naomi Alderman gives us a deeply considered treatise on that very issue. And it’s a great read!

But I don’t want to preach Naomi Alderman (even if I do find her work to be quite insightful.)

Today I want to talk about an even more powerful read:

THE BIBLE.

In “A Year of Biblical Womanhood”, Rachel Held Evans said

“If you are looking for verses with which to support slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to abolish slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to oppress women, you will find them. If you are looking for for verses with which to liberate or honor women, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to wage war, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to promote peace, you will find them. If you are looking for an out-dated, irrelevant ancient text, you will find it. If you are looking for truth, believe me, you will find it. This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not "what does it say?", but "what am I looking for?" I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, "ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened." If you want to do violence in this world, you will always find the weapons. If you want to heal, you will always find the balm.”

Or put more briefly… perspective matters, and the Bible is for all everyone, not just for a few.

I thought of that comment in reading today’s text from Acts 11. Peter talks to “outsiders” (aka Gentiles), gets in trouble for it with the church leaders (imagine… Peter in some kind of trouble…), and then Peter tells his whole story. They talk to each other.

I can almost see Peter’s hands out, palms up, plaintively saying

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?? GOD WAS SHOWING UP FOR THEM JUST LIKE GOD SHOWED UP FOR ME!

I feel like that a lot. As a woman married to a woman who is also being called quite adamantly by God, I have often had to “explain myself” (something my white, cis-hetero brothers rarely have to do.) And I always feel like I’m standing there, arms outstretched, palms up, saying

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? GOD KEEPS SHOWING UP AND EGGING ME ON!

It makes me think, in fact, that Peter would advocate for me. That Peter would say something like “if Jesus could be Resurrected, who am I to say what other things God will say or do that don’t make sense to me… how am I supposed to know who God will call next?

Which brings us to my very favorite part of the story: the last line.

“Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

How might we say that today?

“Then God has given even to the…
* Women
* Lesbians
* Transgender people
* People with mental illness
* Sex workers
* Prisoners
* Immigrants…
* On and on and on… the repentance that leads to life.”


But just what is that repentance?

Did they repent of being Gentiles?

Did they put restrictions on them about having to act like they were Jewish?

Well, it turns out they tried.

But the fact that very few Jesus-followers are Jewish today tells us that, ultimately, the answer is NO. They did not ask the Gentiles to stop being Gentile.

Repentance was turning away from a life without God, turning to follow Jesus. It was not about being Gentile or not. Likewise, following Jesus today do not mean stopping behaviors for legalistic reasons.

Instead, we are transformed in following. The transformation comes in the following, not before we even start to follow.

So… what if… denominations and congregations, individuals and communities could look past the particular bothersome characteristic to say PRAISE GOD! Praise God that someone else has gotten to know Jesus! Praise God that another person has opened themselves up to God’s transformation rather than relying on human privilege!

And why might they have said that?

Why might we say it today?

The answer comes in today’s Gospel from John 13:

Jesus was giving a new commandment because in his like he had fulfilled the first ten. In his Resurrection the power of death was broken.

So if there is no more need to focus on being great hall monitors and making sure everyone else lives up to our standards of behavior (because Jesus already fulfilled all our behaviorally requirements)

THEN WHAT DO WE DO?

We love, that’s what we do.

We love like Jesus did when he
* Consistently honored and welcomed women
* Called out the other side of sin – the privileged accusers
* Embraced and loved in spite of demons (and in doing so sent the demons packing)
* Welcomed criminals into paradise
* Shared a meal with a man who would betray him to death – and Jesus knew what he was doing

Translated into the parlance of today, that might means that we
* Admit that queer people can love and be loved by Jesus (and called into ministry)
* Admit that women have something critically important to say in sharing the love of Jesus
* Admit that people who do not look like you can follow Jesus
* Admit that following Jesus is enough.

In fact, following Jesus is the only thing that we have to mark Christianity. Being a Christian is not about being a law-follower, or purity-keeper, or having the right skin color or body parts.

The mark of being a Christian is this:

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So go forth and love, and you won’t even have to talk about it. Everyone will know you are a Christian… because you love.

Amen.

The Resurrection Matters, Y'all!

A story about a woman named Tabitha who loved God and showed it... how she died, and how Peter prayed and brought her back to life. A story about a friend whose father died, but there was no Peter to bring him back. Death is a reality in our life and world, but death does not win. Because the Resurrection really, really matters.

I delivered this message to Church of the Abiding Savior on Sunday morning and to the delightful folks of the Stewart Health Center at Springmoor Retirement Village. A recording of the Springmoor message is here.

The lectionary texts for this message are:
Acts 9:26-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30

Holy Spirit, please come. Speak your will into our hearts. Amen

Psalm 23. Such a lovely Psalm! So comforting! It was my Mama’s favorite. She would recite it over and over to herself as she was going through cancer treatment.

And that story about Tabitha (also known as Dorcas). She had just died and when Peter came, all they could think to do was show him the beautiful tunics and other clothing she had made. Such a legacy! My Mama was also a seamstress and for most of my life she was the one who kept me clothed, with clothes she fitted and made with her own hands.

Mother’s Day is not actually a biblical thing, so it was interesting to me that today’s texts were so connected to my mother. But then I realized something else:

I am not here to talk to you about my Mother (although we can do that later if you are really interested). Today I am here to preach Jesus

Christ crucified

Jesus Christ, the one about whom we say (y’all ready?)

CHRIST IS RISEN!

<Christ is Risen indeed, Alleleuia!>

I am here to talk to you about Jesus Christ, because 16 years after her death due to the cancer, my Mama is still in the grave… while three days after his death, Jesus was alive.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

<Christ is Risen indeed, Alleleuia!>

This Resurrection matters y’all. One of my best friends, I’ll call her Mary – a young woman, 27 years old - was with her father when he died this past Friday. She had been sleeping at the hospital for weeks, taking care of him, talking with doctors, generally managing his care through one surgery that was supposed to get him ready for even more intensive procedures. Instead it was more than his body could handle and after a couple of weeks of fighting, he died. Mary will be heartbroken for awhile, I believe, but right now shocked is a probably a better word.

Because death is shocking.

Not one thing that the very best doctors at two of the very best hospitals in the country did could have stopped it.

Wanting him to live with every fiber of Mary’s being did not stop it.

Death will come.

To Mary – to anyone who is feeling the fresh grief of the death of a loved one – the Resurrection matters.

A lot.



But here we are. People of faith on the 4th Sunday of Easter. In the face of death and pain, injustice and evil, we are reveling in what Jesus did. What Jesus did for us!

Today, in this place, we step out of the pain and heartache of this broken and cruel world.

Today we put out our hands to help, and our hearts to pray and care for and love those around us who are feeling the pain.

And because you may be the one feeling the pain, today I bring you this news:

     Jesus loves you,
   
               Jesus cares for you,

                          You can count on that.

We gather here today to be nourished by Word, to share a meal at the table because this life is hard on us and we need to rest in the arms of Jesus and eat the life-giving food of Jesus’ body and blood.

In our conversations yesterday, Mary and I talked about miracles. She knew that miracles do happen. And I imagine there were lots of miracles surrounding her in those hospitals, but she did not get the miracle she wanted.

In our texts today we also hear stories of miracles:
* The miracle of Peter, raising Tabitha with prayer, even though the grieving had already commenced. The widows did get what they wanted.
* The miracle of a God who promises TWICE in our Gospel that if we look to Jesus following his voice as we have come to know it,

No one can snatch us out of his hand.

No one can remove us from the miraculous love of Christ.

What bold stories, bold statements. How different than the lives we so often lead, right?

It is easy (and tempting) to hear and read these stories and go to this pat place:

Just have faith.
     Follow Jesus!
             Just do that, ok?

Do what the widows did: have faith that Jesus is the answer and call one of his besties. But they did that when all they had was her handwork. The artist they loved was gone. Were they holding the cloth to their faces, hoping to catch a whiff of the scent that was only Tabitha’s?

Do what Peter did: pray in faith. Even when there was no reason to think anything would come of it. But what did he say? How did he intercede with God? What do we say when our brains are frozen and we have no words?

Live into the promise of Psalm 23: trust Jesus to lay out a spread, right in front of our enemies. Even the greatest enemy of all: death.

This is so much easier said than done! It is all so much easier to tell each other to do… than to do it ourselves.

It puts me in mind of my friend Martha. Martha has moved heaven and earth to raise a child and go to school and work, and things have not always gone well. She says “Every day something else tries to kill me, and every day, Jesus says NOT TODAY” She has a very keen and practical understanding of what it means to feast on God’s goodness at a table spread before her enemies. All the forces of culture, and academia, and regular everyday life were not going to stop her from following Jesus.

Because THANKS BE TO GOD even a mustard seed of faith is enough.

And when we have no words, the Holy Spirit will intercede for us.



So how do you react in these situations, like Tabitha’s situation?

Would you act like you believe – like you KNOW – by making beautiful clothing and doing acts of charity, like Tabitha did?

Would you appreciate the beautiful work of others and show up when someone has died, like the widows did? To bring the courage borne out of your faith into the moment of tremendous pain? To hold each other gently and lovingly, as a reminder that Jesus holds us gently and lovingly – and with a grip that will not be broken?

Or maybe you would be the one who goes to get help, who rustles up prayer from all over.

Would you be the one who prays, even when the situation seems hopeless? The one who says “yes, miracles happen, and I am going to believe that Jesus is there with us making miracles, even if they are not the ones I had hoped for.”

Can you see all the things Jesus has done in living a perfect life, in loving every person – EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON – and say “oh, yes, I believe.”

Can you hear of the Resurrection and say “even DEATH could not stop Jesus! He is the one!”

I hope you can.

I hope you can hear the stories, see God working in your own life, and have faith.

Because if you have faith, you are safe in Jesus. This is not an earthly safety. This does not have anything to do with money or politics, with possessions or family.

This Jesus, who could not be held even by death, is holding you. Gently, lovingly, certainly. And nothing will snatch you from his hand.

CHRIST. IS. RISEN.

<Christ is Risen indeed, Alleleuia!>

So relax into the Jesus who is stronger even than death.

Fear not.

Even when it is the most incomprehensible, frightening moment ever. Because in those moments – ESPECIALLY in those moments – Jesus is holding you in loving care.

Live in the confidence that you will one day be wearing robes washed and made white because this ordeal has ended.

Live in faith that the work has been done, and all that’s left to do is worship the one who made it all happen.

Live like the Resurrection matters. Because as my friend Mary would tell you… it really, really does.

Amen.

Feeding each other (even when it's hard)

It's been a full week, and my weekend responsibilities did not move me towards a message. But I also could not stop thinking about God saying that God would tell Paul how hard things would be. So, below are some thoughts.

The lectionary texts for the week are:

Acts 9:1-20

Psalm 30 

Revelation 5:11-14 

John 21:1-19 

Come Holy Spirit. Breathe your life and energy into us, that we may live as we were created to be and feed each other. Amen.

If you’ve known me very long you probably know that I am a big fan of Peter, especially when he boldly speaks his truth even to people who are powerful and have the power to hurt him.

But I am also a fan of Paul because Paul got knocked off his horse, led to the place he thought he was going all along, sat blindly for awhile praying to understand what was going on, and was finally brought to his new line of work by people who were a little suspicious of him but went to him anyway.

Oh, and God declared “I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

WHO IS THIS GOD?

Who is this God who goes around, taking people who are well qualified in every way except the crucial element of attitude, and saying “you, go do this now.” And then they go.

What kind of God DOES that?

Well, it turns out… my kind of God. The kind that loves us so much that even the impossibly hard stuff is compelling and irresistible.

Yesterday I met with a group of people who have just the right set of resources: one group has building space, another group has expertise in giving food to hungry people, and another group knows the political environment of food banks, school districts, and the like. 

Everyone in the meeting had reason to distrust everyone else but…

Everyone had dreams. And those dreams all pointed in the same direction. And God had come knocking… saying

Feed my sheep. Literally. Go to the little children and their parents who are hungry, and give them food that would be wasted otherwise. Give them produce and meat. Give them good, healthy food. Feed my lambs.

But God is kind of a show-off, you know?

So earlier in the week I had met a pastor who left farming to become a pastor, with the intent of putting farming and pastoring together. It took him 12 years, but he’s doing that now. And along the way he has worked closely with Presbyterians and Lutherans, Methodists and Episcopalians. And I’m sure there were some Baptists and Catholics, and probably even a few Jews and Muslims in there.

Because God told him to go feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. Live in one of the richest countries on earth and buck the trend to turn every activity into a money-making scheme.

Go feed people.

Now, you may be thinking… WAIT A SECOND.

Jesus didn’t mean for Peter to go five food to people (or sheep), did he?

Wasn’t that a redemption of the three times that Peter denied Jesus while Jesus was on trial?

Wasn’t that about going a loving people? Setting up organizations that would make sure the right people were doing things?

Well, yes. Of course it was.  

And wasn’t Paul knocked off that horse because he was a bad dude? Going to capture both men and women who were followers of Jesus? (Incidentally, I love that Paul thought that women were every bit as dangerous as men if they were followers of The Way.)

But like Peter, Paul was being sent. And God was very clear that it would be hard. But nobody else was allowed to behave differently. Paul’s lot in life – God’s calling on Paul’s life – was Paul’s. And God would carry him and protect him as he went out to share what Jesus had done. Paul was being sent to love the people he had hated so much just a few days earlier.

So today I wonder… who do I dislike so much that God would knock me off of my high horse to teach me to love them?

Who am I being sent to teach, and to love?

Which lambs am I supposed to go feed?

You might be wondering the same thing. You might be worried about getting knocked out of the comfort zone, the path you think is right, the way you grew up thinking was right.

It could happen! And if it does, know this:

Nobody knows better than God how hard it is. And nobody can make the burden possible to carry except God.

Which lambs and sheep are you being called to feed?

Is it the men and women who live in the shelter at Urban Ministries or other ministries around town?

Is it the children in a public school who don’t have anything to eat but cover up their pressing need in a wide variety of ways?

Or is it talking to policy makers? Or speaking up when your friends and co-workers make claims that place the blame on people who are suffering? 

I don’t know what it is for anybody but myself (and even that is kind of blurry most days) but I do know that God is calling each of us to something and that the call is something we can do ONLY because God has already paid all the tolls and requirements and necessity.

God sent us Jesus.

Jesus lived a life as a human being and did all the things that human beings do. Jesus fed everyone with whom he came into contact. He fed their bodies, and minds, and spirits. He showed us how to do it.

It got him killed, but Jesus showed us anyway.

And because Jesus had lived the life that we were all created to live, 

      The life that we would live if we were not sinful people living in a sin-broken world, 

      

      he did not stay dead. 

He was Resurrected (ALLELUIA!) And now we are freed to love each other.

We do not have to get to the bottom of why we are all so hungry for something (unless it is your call to go there, and help improve policy).

We are FREE. Free to love each other, and feed each other in all the ways we hunger.

Feed each other with garden produce.

Feed each other with hugs.

Feed each other with listening ears, and sympathetic voices.

Feed each other by being present in our darkest hours.

Feed my sheep, said Jesus, feed my lambs.

And will it be hard? Yes. As with Paul, God won’t even try to hide that… but in Jesus, there is enough love. 

Always enough love to feed the sheep. 

Amen.