Introduction
I had started preparing for today’s sermon earlier in the week, but with the holiday I got a later start than usual. Throw in some appointments, the daily schedule being interrupted because a certain nine year old daughter had to be prepared for, sent off to, and then picked up from Girl Scout Day-Camps, and the need to help a seven year old son who has been left alone without his sister to play with from getting so bored he just stares at the ceiling of his room muttering, “Can we watch Battle Bots? Can we watch Battle Bots?”, and suddenly it’s Thursday morning and you are facing a print deadline for Sunday’s bulletin that includes the need to submit sermon text—which isn’t usually a big deal; and a sermon title—which is always a big deal.
*By the way, if you don’t know what Battle Bots is, or do, but have never watched the TV show, do yourself a favor and check it out.*
Throw all those things together, and then find yourself clumsily slipping on the stairs you have traversed every day for two years which leads to the need to go to the ER and suddenly a preacher finds themselves in a pickle for Sunday morning’s sermon because there is no Sunday morning sermon!
And now some of you are thinking, “That’s not a pickle, that’s an ice cream ‘Sunday’ with a cherry on top—trip to the ER aside of course.”
But in the hands of a lesser preacher, this would be a problem! Becasue this preacher knows how to delegate! And so the remainder of our sermon time will be filled by today’s Lay Leader Elder, Laurie Robinson! Take it away Laurie!
*******
Thank you to everyone who offered their support and help this week following my clumsy fall and trip to the ER. I am grateful for your text messages, your phone calls, your generous offers to help in any way, your willingness to step-in in whatever ways needed, and most especially your prayers. I remain dependent upon them all the time, but especially this past week.
Now I know I could have called upon any of the Elders to help fill any voids in today’s service, and I know I could have had Chuck and Andrea lead us in some additional song and music to help as well—and those thoughts and ideas did cross my mind as I lay about with strategically placed pillows and ice packs—all while thumbing through Facebook to distractedly pass the time.
But then on Friday afternoon, I saw something while thumbing through Facebook to distractedly pass the time that gave me a different idea.
And it made me think of the text I just read—a text we have all heard; a text we all know so well. But a text nonetheless, that bears repeating and is essential we remember at all times.
Move 1
In this text Matthew tells us of a conversation Jesus is having with his Disciples. It is a text that has apocalyptic implications, as it is a story shared in the days following Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, and the days before betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion all unfold.
And though it has apocalyptic implications, speaking of a final judgment where ‘goats’ and ‘sheep’ are separated one from another, it is also good and faithful to hear this text as encouragement to see and experience and respond to this world in new ways—in ways that are counter to the typical responses we would normally see and do.
Jesus’ words today remind us that we simply don’t know when we will encounter the face of Christ next: thus making nearly all ground holy ground.
And in the end, maybe that is precisely what these words are meant to do— remind us all ground is holy, and all faces are the face of Christ.
Move 2
Long time preacher, teacher, and writer, Rev. Dr. Janet Hunt tells of a time when she was reminded of these words of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew—a reminder that had less to do with any apocalyptical end times, and more to do with a compassionate moment in time.
Dr. Hunt, writes, at length, sayings…
One day I had driven the half an hour to my mother’s house for Friday chores and errands. I had taken her car out to fill it up with gas when I noticed two Latino men trying to balance a very blonde Anglo woman between them. All three walking but the woman did not seem to be doing well. In fact, as I drove by they were trying to pick her up off the ground. Well, my errand felt pressing— or maybe I just wanted it to be pressing— and so I kept going.
Ten minutes later when I returned that same direction, I noted they had not made much progress. So with no ready excuse to do otherwise, I pulled the Buick over and rolled down the passenger side window and asked if they needed help. The younger of the two men had an undeniable look of relief on his face as the two of them steered her toward the car. The woman was insisting she was having seizures which caused her repeated stumbling as she walked, but the younger man gestured to me that she was drunk.
I asked the woman her name, and she said it was Brenda.
I offered to take her to the hospital emergency room which was less than a block away, but she declined saying the hospital would only charge her a lot of money and she’s had these ‘seizures’ before and she knew she would be just fine. She just wanted to go home.
Against my better judgment I gave in to her request and drove her to her apartment in subsidized housing just beyond the hospital.
I’m sure it was quite a spectacle for the two old men sitting on the park bench out in front of the apartment building that afternoon as I pulled the Buick up close and stopped in a no parking zone, walked around the car to the passenger side, opened the door and steadied Brenda as she swung her legs out of the car. She leaned on me as we walked to the front door where she handed me her key card. I swiped it, and together we walked inside and rode the elevator upstairs where again, she gave me her key, and I opened the door. When we walked inside she flopped down on the sofa. I asked her if she needed anything else. She asked for my phone number, but I didn’t give it to her.
As I headed past the lobby on my way out I overheard people talking about me and my passenger. “I think she took her upstairs…” I heard one of them say. So I walked over to them, said hello and introduced myself. They had lots of questions for which I had few answers. One among them shared that sometimes she gets lost when she goes out. I suggested that someone might want to check on her later. And I went home.
I’ve thought of Brenda from time to time since then, wondering each time: “Was it, in fact, the face of Christ that could be seen in Brenda who apparently had too much to drink and got lost walking those few blocks home from the Dollar Store that afternoon?” It would seem so, wouldn’t it? And unlike far too much of the time, this time it presented itself to me in a way I felt I could not ignore it.
The reminder of Brenda straightforward to me: We will encounter Jesus in the ‘least of these’ — in the hungry and the thirsty. In the stranger and the naked and the sick and those in prison. Oh no, our faith is not only of the mind and of the heart, but is also for the hands and the feet. We live our faith in what we do. We live it in what we do in places that aren’t always pretty.
Perhaps most of the time we can ignore that this is so. But the truth is, a lot of the time I don’t have the courage or the heart or the will to step towards it. Too much of the time, not unlike the story I offer above, I do just enough and then extricate myself as quickly and as politely possible.
Indeed, I don’t offer this story to congratulate myself for I really did so very little. I offer it only as a reminder that we don’t know when such opportunities will present themselves. I offer it now as a way to begin to wonder what it means to see the face of Christ and respond.
Conclusion
This past week, while thumbing through Facebook to distractedly pass the time, I came across a friends post who shared about having a surgery this week that required of her what post-surgery require—slowing down, stopping, resting, trying to be patient; all while we thumb through Facebook to distractedly pass the time.
As part of her post she expressed sentiments that were relatable to me. She expressed her gratefulness for the kindness, compassion, and helpfulness of those who gave her the medical care she needed. And along with her post she shared this picture… “Some stranger, somewhere, remembers you because you were kind to them.”
For Brenda, the stranger she remembers was a woman who was kind to her in a time of need and brokenness. For my friend, and for myself, the strangers we remember are the medical personal who were kind to us in our time of need and brokenness. For you, I am certain you can recall such times as well.
So may we consider the times when some stranger somewhere was kind to us when we were broken and in need—and know it was then that we saw the face of Christ. And may we be open to the times when some stranger somewhere near us is broken and in need; and how our kindness might be the only chance for them to see the face of Christ. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, July 11, 2021
Holy God, we thank you that when we are in your presence we stand on Holy Ground. We thank you that in all who we cross paths with, we can see the face of Christ.
It does, of course, require us to be aware of the holiness we stand within, and that the Christ in us can see the Christ in others.
So we pray you would bless us as we seek to be faithful to that which you present to, and bless us with, each moment of each day. May we too know, and be abundantly aware of your presence, of your holiness, of your face. May we be made ready to hear again and again your call to inherit the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world by feeding the hungry, giving a drink of water to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the imprisoned.
And may you help all of that to happen by giving us a faith that assures us you are leading us to fulfill such ministry.
Give us faith like the grain of mustard seed which has small beginnings but yields bountiful results.
Give us faith to move the mountains of difficulty which come to each of us.
Give us faith which has a vision of a new world where peace and love characterize the interactions of people, and of nations and where war is no more.
Give to us a faith to move forward even when we are not sure of our destination, but trusting in your guiding providence.
Give us a faith which sees the welfare of humankind as our business because it is the focus of your enduring love for your people.
Holy God, give us faith to walk with you through the ebbs and flows, the victories and the defeats of life and to achieve a mastery of life where we are guided always by the holy ground we tread, and the face of Christ we see.
*******
Hear now Holy God, the prayers of our hearts as we offer them to you in this time of Holy Silence.
*******
All this we pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”