Straighten Up and Fly Right. Proper16c Aug 25, 2019

Proper 16c Straighten Up and Fly Right

+I don’t know too much about horses. But Pete did. She showed horses throughout her childhood and all tv horse shows (along with the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness and The Belmont) were “must see” tv in the Dempesy-Sims’ household. While watching the Olympic horse jumping competition a few years ago I learned that horses can’t see directly in front of them. So when they approach the jump, they have to trust their rider to keep them from slamming into the wall. Of course, considering a horse’s anatomy it makes sense that they can’t see straight ahead—after all their eyes are on the side of their head. Now, the horse doesn’t know any differently and if you watch horses you’ll see how they adapt to primarily having peripheral vision.

The woman in today’s gospel can’t see directly in front of herself either. The osteoporosis from which she suffers has caused her to be so bent that her view of the world is confined to the ground directly below her. To see the world more broadly requires adaptation: a painful twist of the neck or an arduous lifting of her eyes to see more than the feet of whomever stands directly in front of her.

How many of us only see what is right in front of us? How many of us are so burdened by whatever ails us that all we see is the ground directly below? How many of us are so weighed down by darkness that we fail to see the light surrounding us on every side? How many of us have adapted to all the stress in our lives by just dealing with whatever is right in front of us, missing out on the beauty and opportunity around us?

We don’t need to have eyes on the side of our head, or a spinal deformity to keep our gaze downward, our worldview, narrow. The stress and worries in our hearts can keep our heads down.

The “bent woman” isn’t looking for Jesus, no doubt she was used to being overlooked by the folks at the synagogue, used to being considered less than the able bodied people around her. But Jesus? He has a laser focus when it comes to the outcast. When he entered the synagogue he saw her right away, and called her over. Jesus notices the un-noticed, He reaches out to the Other, He touches the untouchables. We don’t know what synagogue this is—what we do know is that he has turned his face toward Jerusalem, so he is traveling along the road that runs from Galilee down through Samaria and into Judea. Along the way Jesus does a lot of teaching, a lot of preaching and quite a bit of healing. So it would be easy, if you were reading the Gospel of Luke straight through, to read this excerpt as just another healing, just another miracle performed by Jesus. But as I spent time with the Gospel this week something more became apparent.

I don’t read this just as another miraculous healing story …I see it as a story that speaks to each and every one of us as a way forward, a way out from under the burdens that weigh us down…the burdens that, as Jesus tells the woman, Satan has laid upon us.

OK, a little bit about Satan...Satan is short hand for the forces of darkness, the forces of evil that exist in this world. It’s clear that the forces of light and goodness, which is God, are in a seemingly endless battle with evil and darkness---Satan. God is all that is good and bright and hopeful and true. Satan is all that is evil and dark and hopeless and false. The forces of darkness are at work in this world, the forces of darkness are at work in our world, in our lives, right now.

Lest you think I’m overstating this, look at how Jesus characterizes the woman in today’s gospel: “whom Satan bound for eighteen long years…” Bound by Satan. This world can get so bound by Satan, our own lives can get so bound by Satan….

Paralyzed by fear? That’ s not God. That’s Satan.

Unable to forgive?That’ s not God.That’s Satan.

Full of doubt? Satan. Full of hopelessness? Satan. Full of despair? Satan. The stuff that weighs us down is Not of God. The hatred that leads to terrorist attacks, the despair that fuels our politics, the inability to forgive that keeps our families in turmoil comes from darkness, from evil, from Not God.

  But here’s the Good News… no matter how fiercely the darkness tries to envelope us, no matter how hard Satan tries, we have the perfect antidote:  God, the source of all good and of all light. God, who takes our bentness, who takes our downward gaze, who takes all that weighs us down and straightens our backs, raises our eyes, lightens our burden and sets us free.

So this morning, no matter what binds us individually, no matter what binds us collectively----no matter what version of darkness and despair that happens to infect us, it’s temporary, not permanent; it’s curable, not terminal, it’s of this world, not of God’s. So shed what weighs you down, straighten up and look around, and allow yourself to be enveloped in the light, love and wonder that is God. Release yourself, straighten up and fly right. +

Proper 15c Talkin Bout a Revolution

Such an uplifting message from Jesus in today’s Gospel right? 

I promise to break that reading open in a bit, but to get there we need to begin with the poetry of the prophet Isaiah.

This story of the vineyard has been interpreted and reinterpreted many times over the generations.  It began as a poem to lovemaking gone array and along the way has been used and reused to make a variety of points, probably most famously as the basis of Jesus’ Parable of the wicked tenants and most recently as the lyrics to a Sinead O’Connor song. It has meant a lot of things to a lot of people…..but today what really jumps out at me is the final verse: 

God looked for justice, but found bloodshed; for righteousness but found only a cry of suffering . 

God looks for justice but instead finds bloodshed, God looks for righteousness yet only finds suffering. 

Phew.

This could have been written last week, right?

Perhaps you all are tired of hearing it, of living it. I know I am. More people shot, more children separated from their parents, more hate-filled speech screaming at us from the airwaves, the internet, the newspaper….and sadly sometimes our own minds. How often…how often does God look upon this part of Creation, expecting to see the Divine dream, only to find a human-made nightmare? To find righteousness, only to hear cries of suffering?

How often do we? 

It's so unrelenting, the horrors we inflict upon one another, that my heart rises to my throat each time a news alert flashes on my phone with the words shooter or gunman, or wounded and dead. I’m enraged that black teens are targeted for being alive, that migrants, fleeing for their very lives, are rounded up

like the Jews of Germany and Poland in 1940 , where people shopping, dancing, listening, praying or learning are assassinated by young white American men who’ve been given free rein to hate.  My breath catches, my heart races, my head throbs, my soul hurts and I lament, “how long Lord, how long?” 

Oh how I wish I could just turn it over to God. How I wish I could get by with thoughts and prayers. How I wish a well-written rant on social media would relieve that pain. How I wish all my thoughts, all my prayers and all my turning this over to God would be all it takes. 

But those are in and of themselves, incomplete actions.

God made humanity an ongoing, always unfolding, ever-changing creation. A creation that is not finished. 

A creation that requires participation. Action. Intention. 

A creation imagined and invoked by a God who created us to be partners in the ongoing work of this thing called life. 

And this task given to us, this holy and sacred and above all else necessary, vital and urgent task —-is not easy. 

It’s not easy at all. 

It requires bravery, endurance, commitment, willingness, courage, faithfulness and strength. 

It even requires us to stand tall against those we love. To turn away from those we love but whose views and rhetoric we can no longer tolerate. It requires us to say—out loud—-that which may hurt and anger others. It requires us to step up and speak out when our own lives, our own livelihoods, and maybe even our own safety is at risk. It requires much of what was just read to us from Luke’s Gospel. It requires a revolution.

My friends, to follow the way of light and love, to follow the teaching of the prophets, from Isaiah to Jesus, to Martin Luther King, to Maya, to Toni, to those whose voices are crying out now, but to whom we are not listening, to follow that way, the way of God,the way deep into the dream of our Creator, we must take risks. There’s no time to spare, for our world in general and our country most specifically is spinning out of control—the base needs and wants of the forces of darkness at play are winning and it is up to us…each and every single one of us sitting here today to light a fire upon the earth, to say that which is uncomfortable to stand for that which is frightening, to turn away from the darkness, the evil and the hate and turn toward the light and the good and the love. And when we turn away from the dark and walk into the light we must—-and I mean this with every fiber of my being—we must spread this light to every corner of our lives, no longer worrying if it will tick off our boss, or our parent, or our neighbor, or our spouse or our children or our priest, or our Bishop or our very selves—-to spread this light, this goodness this love—-means risking everything—-our comfort, our 401K’s, our relationships , it means picking up the cup Jesus chose, and taking a long deep drink of revolution. The peace of this world will only be achieved when the horror of this world, the horror of this country, the horror of our lives is overcome by, defeated by, disintegrated by, obliterated by us. 

Our thoughts, sure, our prayers, yes, but above all else, by our deeds. 

It’s time to do the work we’ve been given to do. It’s time to turn away from those who live in darkness, who spew hatred, who live only for themselves. It’s time to see more clearly, love more dearly, follow more nearly, 

I’m talking about a revolution, the revolution of Jesus, the revolution of Ghandi, the revolution of Martin, the revolution of Toni., the revolution of light. Of love, of God. I’m talkin bout a revolution. God expects it, our world needs it and You and I can — we must— lead it.

I’m talkin bout a revolution.

Amen. 

Belief is what we hold onto so that when we lose our way, our belief will hold onto us. Proper 14c St Paul's Springville, NY

“Yes Lord, I believe.”A friend of mine always says this when he receives communion. It’s a compelling response to receiving the sacrament.

“Yes Lord, I believe.” It’s a powerful statement and one that stays with me for days after I hear him say it. 

Belief is a big part of our readings this morning—-

First from Genesis:

Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Then from Hebrews:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 

These quotes reference Abraham And Sarah’s obedience to God, their commitment to following God even when it all seemed like folly, their belief in something they couldn’t explain, something they couldn’t see, something they didn’t understand.

You remember the story, Abram and Sarai (their original names)  were told to move from the home they knew to a new home, a place they did not know. And in that new place God promises them children. Even though they were childless and very very old, far beyond child bearing years, God says, don’t worry, have faith, I will provide!

 These quotations are full of hope and blessed assurance. In many ways they offer a formula for our faith—- we believe, God provides. 

We believe even when it seems impossible. 

We believe even when we don’t want to, when we don’t know how it’s going to look, we believe against all odds, for God doesn’t operate according to our ways, God operates according to God’s ways.

And God’s way? God’s way is the way of truth and light and love. It is the way of righteousness, it is the only way, it is The Way. 

I think the example of Abraham and Sarah is one we all can benefit from. Abraham questioned, argued, debated, wondered, and Sarah? Well as we hear elsewhere in Genesis, Sarah laughed. 

Questioning, arguing, wondering and laughing are all, I think, pleasing before the Lord, especially when such things lead us to believe. 

Now belief isn’t some pie in the sky method of living, belief isn’t signing off on every single nuance of the Christian Faith, nor is it saying that you always, always accept every decision of the Episcopal Church, this diocese or even this congregation.

Belief is knowing, somewhere in your heart, in your soul, in your gut, that God is. That Love exists, that peace is possible and that through this God...who we can’t prove, we can’t describe and yet we can’t live without...all things are possible.

Belief takes what we profess in the creed and gives it skin and bones... it’s what we live everyday and it is (at least I hope it is) what we fall back on when things are rough, when we feel lost, lonely and afraid. Belief is what we hold onto. And when we work that belief, when we exercise our faith, it becomes a part of us so that when times do get so tough, when life does feels so difficult, when Hope seems so fleeting, the belief we have worked on, the belief we have exercised, is what will hold onto us. 

Belief is what we hold onto so that when we lose our way, our belief will hold onto us. 

My friends, it is, as Jesus says in the gospel, God’s  good  pleasure to give us the kingdom. To give us everything, always and forever. Of course, God doesn’t always give us what we want, but God always gives us what we need, for it is God’s good pleasure to do so. All we have to do, is believe. 

So don’t worry whether your prayers are eloquent enough, if your faith is strong enough, just look at the stars expanding across the night sky and remember what God can do when we simply say, “yes, Lord, I believe.”

Amen.

Only when we take this personally will we act purposefully.

From Colossians:

“But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!”

Dear God may we learn this.

Know this.

Live this.

Today we need to figure out, deep in our hearts and our souls, what to do. 

There is an epidemic of hate in our world.

The rhetoric is coming from the highest levels of our government, it is being acted out by lost and rageful white men who are citizens of the very country they are destroying. 

If this was happening elsewhere—-when this has happened elsewhere— we as a country unite and act to wage peace in their lands.

Who will wage peace in ours?

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Who are the peacemakers?

We are. 

Instead of the readings and the creed and the confession we usually recite on Sundays, to day we need to dig deep.

Really deep, to determine how we can stop this madness. 

How we can turn the tide of America

How we can activate the Jesus Movement here and now. 

We will never fully live unless we are willing to remember and honor those who have died....

Because of our Day of Discovery, the Eucharist was going to be shortened anyway. This morning we are changing it up quite a bit.

To get us started we are going to listen to some music, pray a litany and then have some silence.

We will then offer the peace. When the peace if offered look in each other’s eyes and realize that it is up to you to save the other person. Only when we take this personally will we act purposefully. 

We will then break bread together as our Lord taught us. For without this nourishment, we are nothing. 

Going off script with God July 28, 2019 Proper 12

I remember, soon after I was ordained, my mother asking me to offer grace before a family dinner. I was in town because a very close family friend was seriously ill and none of us thought he would live through the night. So I commenced to offer a  standard food blessing, with a petition for Richard tacked onto the end. My mother, being a fairly rigid person, said "Amen," as soon as I ended the familiar "grace" portion of the prayer... She was used to a specific formula for saying grace and darn it how dare I mess with it! My mom was astounded that I would " go off script" while praying.

The disciples ask Jesus: teach us how to pray. John the Baptist did for his followers, do it for us, give us the formula, write us a script.

Everyone wants the inside track on the right way, the fool proof correct way to pray.

As if there is a wrong way to pray.

This is Jesus' point at the end of today's Gospel--- knock---Whatever you do knock! That is, PRAY, people. Whatever, however, wherever, whenever....God wants to engage us in a conversation. God wants to hear from us. God needs to hear from us!

And this is what personal prayer is: a conversation with God. Whenever we speak to God, God listens.

God may not respond as we expect ( or wish or sometimes demand ) but God does listen and God does communicate back to us through the work of the Holy Spirit.

But what the disciples were asking, and what many people ask me is, just what’s the magic formula...the exact right way to pray?

I understand the question. People assume that God is like us. Like my mother--That God has a very distinct and proscribed way of doing things. That God is of the "my way or the highway" club.

God isn't.

However, because the disciples are an earnest bunch, Jesus offers them a formula for prayer. An outline of what a prayer could --NOT SHOULD-- look and sound like. The Lord's Prayer. Now it's  important to realize that although the prayer is known the world over- it's one of  the first prayers children learn, it's one most all of us have memorized -- it is not the be all and end all of prayers. It's simply an example, a prototype for a general kind of all encompassing prayer. It isn't magic, it's just handy.

We needn't pray as the Lord's Prayer is structured, nor must we pray like others pray. We must pray as we feel compelled to pray.

The only absolute is that we do, indeed, pray!

However that looks and however that sounds.

Author and Christian seeker Anne Lamott says that all prayer falls into three categories:

Thanks

Help

Wow.

THANKS

 thanks for giving me life

Thanks for giving me love.

Thanks for healing my hurts , my illness, my loss, my sadness

Thanks for getting me through that sticky wicket.

THANKS. Thanks thanks

HELP

Help me I'm lost

Help me I'm scared

Help me I'm hurt

Help me I'm over whelmed

Help me

Help them

Help us

WOW

wow what An amazing sunset

Wow what an incredible baby

Wow that's some kind of Love

Wow this is some kind of life

Wow. You amaze me God--you totally and completely amaze me.

WOW WOW WOW.

I tend to agree with Anne. This is all God needs.

The basics.

Thanks….Help…..Wow

Have you ever been in a period of profound pain and loss and fear? Have you ever had people intentionally and consistently pray for you during that time? Have you felt their prayers? 

I have. Through my own journey with cancer, through my spouse’s cancer fight and death. 

And I’m here to tell you, it works. I’ve been sustained by and through the prayers of so many people… As a woman of faith I've certainly done my share of praying and  intellectually I’ve known that research shows the effectiveness of prayer. But it wasn’t until I was the recipient of extensive, intensive, pointed prayer that I understood---deep in my bones, my heart and my soul---the power of prayer. 

After two year’s of Pete’s illness and death in 2017, followed several months later by my mom’s own decline and death... through a complete change of staff responsibilities that accompany a change in Bishops, through a major move.... people ask me all the time——how are you still standing? Perhaps I am strong, perhaps I am resilient, perhaps I am stubborn and perhaps all those characteristics have helped. 

But I know the primary reason, prayer. My own, sure. But the real power comes from the prayers of others. The intercessory prayer of people across this diocese, that’s what has and does sustain me.

I was, and remain incredibly humbled by my prayer warriors and have seen again and again and again that same intentional intercessory prayer work absolute wonders for others. Prayer works. The prayer of others offers the recipient a spiritual undergirding that buoys them up enough to endure whatever it is they are enduring. Prayer brings peace to the hearts and souls of those who are prayed for. Your prayers, my prayers, our prayers are powerful. Your prayers, my prayers, our prayers have a clear and definite effect in this world. And it is our responsibility, our duty, but above all else 

{i hope}our honor to offer prayers for others. Always.  

So, my charge to you is to pray.

Take the church directory and every single day, pray a page of that directory. The next day, the next page. Rinse and repeat!

Pray for those you know and for those you don’t.

Create a prayer chain, join the prayer chain and pray, as best you can. 

Go off script, blaze your own path and in your own words and through your own heart find a way to tell God thanks, to ask God for Help and to offer God Wow. 

Amen.

Hospitality isn’t the issue. Discipleship isn’t the issue. Attentiveness is.

+My parents were great entertainers. Together they had terrific parties, elegant dinners always opening our house to any number of social gatherings. Hospitality was and is very important in the Dempesy-Sims family.
But, there was a downside to all that entertaining. As the day of the party got closer, my mom became increasingly stressed—the house had to be spotless, the food perfect, the table settings, exquisite. Mom became anxious, irritable, and distracted. A lot like Martha in today’s gospel.
    This is a familiar story and one that causes strong reactions in people. Because of the way it’s been interpreted over the years, many women struggle with this Gospel. For some, their role behind the scenes at church, on Altar Guilds,  as members of the Daughters of the King  or ECW appears to be disregarded and belittled by Jesus. For others, this Gospel is irritating because it seems to pit two women against one another.
    Before setting ourselves firmly in one of those camps, I invite us to pause because this story is actually quite nuanced. With these four verses, Luke shows us that there are a number of ways to serve God, and that how we serve God doesn’t matter nearly as much as the fact that we do serve God--- at all times and in all places.
But still it does seem that Jesus is siding with Mary doesn’t it?
 That somehow Martha was insulting Jesus while Mary was honoring him.
    I don’t think Jesus meant to suggest that Mary’s way was the only way, nor was he suggesting that Martha’s way was the wrong way….I think Jesus was using that moment—when Martha’s anxiety had taken firm hold—as a teachable moment.
    This scene immediately follows what we heard last week—the parable of the Good Samaritan---a story in which Jesus implores his followers to be do-ers of the Word not just hear-ers. In that parable the inaction of the priest and the Levite—both bound by Jewish law to not go to the man’s aid— are criticized by Jesus, while the hospitality—the tangible action of the Samaritan— is honored. Last week, Jesus said, “Go and do like wise.” Go and be do-ers of the Word.
    But then this week Jesus appears to contradict himself, praising the seeming inaction of Mary who sits at his feet to receive his word, while condemning the action of Martha who’s offering the culturally expected  hospitality —Jesus praises the hearer of the word, while condemning the do-er. What’s up with that?
But neither Jesus nor Luke is being contradictory. Instead they’re using these two different stories to illuminate how a community of Christians need both do-ers and hear-ers. Both receivers and givers.
We, over the years, have applied our own bias to the story. Somehow we’ve decided that doing all the behind the scenes work—the altar guild, the ECW, the hospitality committees, the coffee hour, is somehow “Less Than.” Less than studying the Bible, learning about liturgy, debating the polity of the church. Somehow we’ve made the hearers of the Word more glamorous than the do ers of the word. What a mistake.
    Both Mary and Martha are acting as disciples in this story.
    Both Mary and Martha are loving and serving the Lord.
    Both Mary and Martha are loving their God with all their heart, all their soul and all their mind, and
    BOTH of them are loving their neighbor.
Mary and Martha are two halves of what is needed to make a household work: their household in Bethany and the household of God. They are two halves of what makes God’s Kingdom hum.
    There’s no problem with Mary hearing the Word and Martha doing the Word. BUT, there is a problem afflicting Martha, a problem familiar to my Mom, a problem familiar to many of us as we navigate our lives:
 anxiety, worry and distraction. Through Martha’s effort to love her neighbor as herself, she’s become anxious and distracted.
While focusing on her tasks, she’s lost sight of the goal.
The tasks of hospitality have gotten in the way of being hospitable. When the details of hospitality, the serving of food, the setting of the table [the liturgies, music and preaching] become more important than the welcome and love of neighbor, then we’ve all missed the mark.
In today’s Gospel Jesus was saying to Martha,” what you’ve done is enough, thank you. Now stop and let us be in fellowship.”
    Martha and Mary isn’t an “either or” proposition,  it’s a “Yes and” proposition.
 To Love and Serve the Lord requires giving AND receiving. To love and serve the Lord requires both speaking and listening. Both busyness and stillness.

Hospitality isn’t the issue.
Discipleship isn’t the issue.
Attentiveness is.
The Holy and Undivided Trinity: One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, asks one thing  of us: that we’re open enough, willing enough and aware enough to receive the Love of God in all that we do. And that we, in turn, give that Love to others. Everywhere and always.
My friends we are both——two halves of one glorious whole—-it takes many Marthas and many Marys to bring the dream of God to fruition here on earth.
In many ways this gospel passage is the first public service announcement promoting work-life balance! Let us give with all our attention, let us receive with all our attention and let us strive to strike a grace-filled balance between the two. For in doing so, we are doing the .org we’ve been given to do. And what a good, holy and oh so necessary work it is.
Amen. +

Proper 9C God’s Truth Fuels God’s Dream. Through Us.

+This morning’s collect reads, in part:
“O God you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and your neighbor.”
Sounds simple, right?
But, as Jesus explains in today’s Gospel and as he explained in last week’s, following Jesus, being his disciple, isn’t easy.
Because being a follower of Jesus, being his disciple, proclaiming him as our Lord and our God makes us lambs in the midst of wolves.
It makes us bait.
It makes us targets.
It makes us vulnerable….because love challenges fear, love defeats hate and love, when spread throughout the world, shakes up the status quo.
The Love of God, the loving actions commanded by Jesus— this Love—makes a lot of people really uncomfortable.
    Loving God and Loving our Neighbor is not only being nice and polite and considerate.  Sometimes it’s not any of that!
Loving God and Loving our Neighbor sometimes---oftentimes----means ticking off our neighbor, our family, our fellow parishioners, our co-workers.
Loving God and Loving our neighbor means we have to stand up, speak out and say no to injustice. Why? Because it’s what Jesus did.
Loving God and loving our neighbor means we have to stand up, speak out and say no to hate and intolerance.
Loving God and Loving our Neighbor means standing up to those who would exclude and belittle others because of the color of their skin, the gender of their beloved or the name of their God. Why? Because it’s what Jesus did.
Loving God and Loving our Neighbor means confronting those who spew hate speech and showering them with the Love speech of Christ---that is, disputing their hate, challenging their intolerance and refusing to accept that there are just some things (and some people) that cannot be changed.
Loving God and Loving our neighbor means welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked and feeding the hungry.
Loving God and Loving our Neighbor means seeking out that stranger and dismantling the systems that lead to people being hungry, naked, lonely and afraid.
Loving God and Loving our Neighbor means being afraid to say out loud that assault weapons are designed for one thing and one thing only: killing people, but saying it anyway.
 It means being afraid to say there are sensible immigration laws that don’t include, condone or accept imprisoning children as a strategy, and then saying it anyway.
Loving God and loving our neighbor means being afraid to say those things churning in our heart,  but SAYING THEM ANYWAY.
Loving God and Loving our neighbors isn’t easy, but it is absolutely, positively our job as followers of Jesus, as proclaimers of the Good News, as Christians.
     Loving God and Loving our neighbor is God’s truth, it is God’s dream,
it’s God’s goal.
     And the only way it can be reached, the only way God’s dream can come true is through us.
Here and Now.
    We are God’s foot soldiers. Just as Jesus sent out the seventy, two by two, God, through our baptism,  sends us out, one by one, two by two, three by three, congregation by congregation: to Love everyone as we ourselves are loved by God. No exceptions. No exclusions, No “yes buts” everyone, everywhere, always.
       We do this by respecting the dignity of every single human being.  And when we witness someone NOT being treated with dignity, we do something about it.
Every. Single. Time.
     Loving God and loving our neighbor isn’t comfortable, it isn’t easy, it isn’t safe.
But it is what God wants for and expects from us. This dream, this goal, this commandment is what this country was founded on. It may seem we have lost our way, but our readings today tell us—- no matter how lost we feel, God has the pathway back. We just need to follow it.
     It’s tempting to say, “no, this is too hard. This is too big. I can’t do anything to stop this. All I can do is pray, pray that someone smarter, someone bigger, someone stronger can come and fix it.”
    But, as Jesus repeatedly tells us, as the prophets repeatedly show us, as God continually expects of us, it’s the least among us, the most unlikely among us, the regular folk-- you know, you and me-- to change the world.
One act of loving our neighbor at a time.
One act of Loving our God at a time.
    So as we settle into the heart of a glorious Western New York summer, as we gather with friends and family to celebrate this amazing country of ours, as we slow down a bit to rest and rejuvenate, I challenge you…I challenge me….to make this dream of God a reality by standing up, by speaking out and making sure that God’s truth will make Gods dream come true, through us and by us, thanks be to God.
Amen.