Of Mosquito Bites and Bridging Boundaries

The following is an expanded/narrative version of the children's message about healing, both from physical ailments, and from our own prejudices.

There's been lots more mosquitoes recently after all the rain, and I am covered in bites.  The trouble is, I'm kind of extra allergic to these bites, and the itch doesn't go away for a long time, no matter what I do.  (This seems like it gets worse every year, and I have a whole shelf full of remedies to try and make them less itchy, but nothing works really all that well. Seriously, they itch for days, sometimes weeks. I'd give just about anything for a really good mosquito bite treatment).

Still, there's so many worse things you could have than mosquito bites.  Leprosy, for example, is a horrible disease where your skin basically falls off and you have all these open sores on your body.  It's also really contagious.  We have antibiotics that treat it now, but back in Biblical times, they didn't have any good medicines for it, so people really suffered.  Learn more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy

This is the background of the story of Naaman.  Naaman was a wealthy and powerful man, but he suffered from leprosy.  No amount of money could cure him from his suffering.  His wife's servant girl, an Israelite, told her to send Naaman to the prophet Elisha in Israel in order to be healed.  So the king sent Naaman to be healed, along with lots of expensive gifts to buy his way to being healed. (In fact, the king of Israel was terrified that Naaman was coming, because he thought the king was playing a trick on him and setting a trap to attack him).  However, the prophet Elisha calmed his king's fears, and when Naaman came to the prophet's house, Elisha told him to simply wash in the Jordan and he would be healed.

Now, Naaman was angry, because he expected a more impressive treatment, something that would be worthy of his might and status.  However, his own servants finally convinced him to follow the simple instructions, and trust that they would work.  He washed in the Jordan and was indeed healed!

There were a couple kinds of healings that took place that day.  First, Naaman was healed of his leprosy.  Second, he learned that a simple man with a simple answer could be more powerful than all of Naaman's might and wealth.  Third, the king learned that a foreign ruler and his general could need his help, rather than only be ready to destroy him and his kingdom.  Not only physical ailments, but also prejudices, were healed that day.

Sometimes we are asked to help people we'd rather not, and we have all sorts of reasons for not wanting to. It's important to be safe, but also, it's important to examine our own prejudices and ask ourselves whether God is calling us to something greater than what we knew possible before.  It is just as much a miracle to heal human divisions as it is to heal any other kind of human suffering.  Thanks be to God!

The People in Our Neighborhood

July 14, 2013

Amos 7:7-17; Psalm 82; Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37

Today we have the story of Amos, who delivers a very unpopular prophecy, but says, “hey, it’s not like I’m getting paid to say this; I know what I’m saying is unpopular, but God compels me to say this.”  We have Paul encouraging a congregation who is working to grow both spiritually and in numbers and asks for them to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will and be Spiritually fruitful while patient, giving joyfully, and be made strong.  Then we have the famous Gospel passage that starts off like a lawyer joke, and asking the crucial question, “And who is my neighbor?”

Friends, the topic of today’s message is outreach.  I might argue that every sermon I’ve preached since my arrival has been about outreach, but I guarantee you that every sermon I preach in the remainder of my time here is going to be about outreach.  The reason for this is not because I woke up one day and thought it would be a good idea, but because when you called me to come here, you asked me to support this congregation in living out its commitment to outreach.

And yet, "outreach" seems to be such a scary idea, perhaps because we are mainline Protestants (aka, the Frozen Chosen), perhaps because we have images in our head of ringing doorbells and awkward opening lines, or whatever.  And then this past Tuesday was a sort of turning point, where I was at coffee with a group of pastors, and nearly everyone was lamenting how to get their congregations excited about outreach.

Outreach doesn’t have to be scary.  After all, it’s grounded in love, as Jesus lays out in the greatest commandment:  Just love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Do this and you will live.

Along comes a lawyer, and he perhaps also is anxious about outreach and asks, who is my neighbor?  Who, indeed--because that question is everything.

Last week we talked a little about Jews and Samaritans, how there was tension and suspicion between these two groups.  To understand today’s Gospel, you need to know that a priest and a Levite (or member of the Jewish priestly clan, maybe like a pastor’s kid today) are both expected to do the right thing because of who they are.  But they both fail, because they keep to themselves on the other side of the road. Finally, the Samaritan, despised by Jewish people of the time, is moved with compassion and crosses the road, does everything he can to help, then enlists help from others to carry on the work.  In doing so, he demonstrates both love of God, and love of neighbor.

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I’d like to share a few stories about our neighborhood right here around the church, and then I’d like to share with you who I think today’s Good Samaritans might be  

First, if I haven’t already, let me tell you about our interview weekend with the PNC [pastor nominating committee].  Things had been going okay, but the point at which we thought we’d blown the interview was when we turned our old, dented van onto Bergamont Boulevard.  You see, we’d seen pictures of the old church.  It’s an old building, small, and there’s an approachability to it.  Since there’s not a parking lot, who knows or cares what kind of car you drive?  But at the far end of a street of expensive homes, our first thought was, “if they even give us the job, I think we’ll have to go out and get a nicer car.”

However, what kept us going down the road despite our concerns, was that we’d already met the people inside, even if only a little bit, and they had invited us in!  So we went.

Well, we did get the job, and we didn’t, as you know, go out and get another car.  We consciously even didn’t get the dent fixed.  Part of that is that we got to know you all, and knew the kind of car we drove didn’t actually matter.  The other part though, is that we realized other folks coming to visit the church after us, might have those same fears.  We decided that there might be people who needed to see an old, dented car out in the parking lot, in order to feel welcome.  (And the car runs great, anyway, which is what really matters).

We have a lovely new building at the north end of Bergamont Boulevard.  And that is truly a gift, a wonderful tool for ministry.  Let’s talk though about that grand building at the other end of Bergamont Boulevard.  The Clubhouse is beautiful, and I know down the hill there’s some really beautiful, expensive homes as well, but those are private homes, and the Clubhouse is semi-public, so let’s talk about that one.  Even though it has this big sign on the highway advertising the fish fry and that it’s open to the public, I have to be honest, as a young parent from a working class background, I might feel pretty uncomfortable in there.  I would probably not ever have worked up the courage to go in there on my own, let alone bring my family. But we have been there, with our nominating committee, who invited us, and being among people that I’d met a few times made it a much more comfortable experience.

Now, this metaphor is going to break down a little because apart from the public aspects, they are, indeed, a members-only private club, and they look like a private club.

I know how many of you in this room are passionate about outreach, and the first rule of outreach in any kind of church is:   Let’s make sure we don’t ever look like a members-only, private club.

Now let’s talk about Olive Garden.  Their ad campaign says: “When you’re here, you’re family.”

Family--we know this word well here and we do it.  We turn out when folks need it, you all do.  When [our long-time member] Florice passed away and had no family of her own here, and yet her funeral was full, people were gathered and also, may I say, well-fed!  Because our church excels at stuff like this. We could just borrow the ad and say, 'When you're part of this church, you are family!'  When the word gets out that one of us needs help, we turn out--and we should never change that about us.

We gotta be careful about how we use that word ‘family,’ though--let’s just talk about normal families--because normally, families live in private homes.  Especially these days, you don’t go into a private family home unless you know the folks inside already and you have an invitation.

Hold that thought a moment.

Now, have I ever told  you about the daily bike and stroller patrol?  On any day in spring, summer or fall with half-decent weather, we have dozens of folks from the neighborhood enjoying our property.  They are teaching their kids to ride bikes, they’re moms going on walks after picking up the kids from daycare and getting home from work, they’re playing basketball or foursquare, they’re waiting for an AA meeting, they’re visiting a friend who lives behind the church, they’re walking the dog, they’re parked eating lunch, whatever. You know what?  I’m glad they’re here.  I try to be here at least a couple nights a week when they’re here.  

[Our long-term member] Doris keeps asking us to have a block party to welcome the children of the neighborhood.  I know it’s a lot of work, but I also say, let’s take that one step further, maybe three steps further.  How do we say to these folks, hey, we’re so glad you’re here, please keep teaching your kids to ride bike on our driveways, we’re glad we’re a safe place to do that--how do we make these folks’ lives easier?  What else might they need that we can offer in hospitality?

These are the kinds of things that made me think of my recent visit to Hillcrest--which might be a good example of Good Samaritans in this town, you see, because we’re different kinds of Christians, from different backgrounds--and I think they are sometimes viewed with a little suspicion about what they’re doing over there. Again, I wasn’t sure if I was going to feel comfortable there, but their pastors and I have gotten to be friends, and they invited me.   

Good Samaritans practice hospitality--you’ll notice they’ve crossed the road in an extreme way, to be in the high school building, which is not as threatening for a first-time visitor perhaps as a church building might be.  Within that school what Hillcrest excels at is welcome.  Everything is geared to the first-time visitor’s welcome.  Well-trained greeters and ushers get you where you need to go; big signs tell you where to bring the kids and how to find the bathroom.  People see you with kids and help you find a well-staffed nursery immediately.  The worship service itself assumes there are people there who’ve never been there before.  I came away with a deep appreciation for some of the things our neighbors there are doing.  Sure, we’ll still continue to have our theological differences, but we can learn from them, and building a friendship with their church, as well as with all the churches in town, despite our differences, will help to make us all better and more welcoming churches.

It doesn’t have to take a lot of money or effort to be a Good Samaritan.  Sometimes all it takes is the willingness to look a little foolish, get outside ourselves, be the first one to speak up and introduce ourselves.  Sometimes, we all just have to work up the courage and cross to the other side of the road, figuratively or literally.

And as we start down this road, seeking to grow spiritually as well as physically, we are not alone.  Like Paul and the Colossians, may we be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, that we are strengthened for service, patient, able to give joyfully, and above all things, go about this work in love.  For in doing so, we will live.  Thanks be to God!

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Prayers for this week:
+For our mission service trip, departing this week to Kentucky, where they will fix up homes and help in other tasks for our brothers and sisters in need in Appalachia.
+For all places of strife and tension in the world, that leaders may find wisdom to build reconciliation and peace and justice.
+For all people suffering from violence, that they may find healing with their families and communities.
+Healing and comfort for all who are ill or injured; comfort to all who are grieving the loss of loved ones.
+For families, especially visiting relatives and safe travels to be with family members.
+For all who are suffering from disasters and tragedies, particularly the plane crash and train wreck.

Of Snapping Turtles and Good Samaritans

*The following is an expanded version of the children's message for this morning.

In our family, we kind of have a thing with turtles and tortoises--this is mostly through my brother and my mom.  My mom would send my brothers out into the road to rescue snapping turtles that were in danger of being hit by cars.  She herself raised turtles in aquariums as a kid.  Some of this compassion rubbed off on my brother, who rescued two African tortoises while in college, and who will likely outlive him (they have quite the setup in his basement and are growing steadily).

I like most turtles and tortoises, but I don’t like snapping turtles.  In fact, I’m afraid of them.  After all, their jaws are big enough to take off your finger.  In my adult life, I’ve not had to contend with them at all--until a few weeks ago, when, coming home from the church office, I realized one was in the other lane on Netherwood Road (which is kind of busy that time of day).  I could see that the turtle was in danger.  However, I was still quite afraid of what might happen if I stopped to get him off the road.  In fact, God and I had to have a little conversation about whether I was going to help the turtle or just keep going, and I finally decided that I’d turn the car around and go back and help, but God better not let that turtle bite me in the process.

All this transpired over only a few minutes, but when I got back to the place where the turtle was, I discovered he was already gone.  He couldn’t have made it on his own.  What happened is that somebody else coming along had already stopped their car and rescued the turtle, putting him safely back in the ditch.  I was grateful, both for the turtle’s safety, and sort of secretly, because I didn’t have to be the one to rescue him.

In the story of the Good Samaritan, a priest and a Levite both see the man who was beaten, robbed, and left for dead at the side of the road--and they just keep on going.  I wonder if some of these thoughts were going through the minds of the folks who didn’t stop to help the man.  Were they afraid of being injured?  Or perhaps of getting dirty?  Or perhaps they just didn’t want to get involved and hoped someone else would take care of the problem?  I do kind of understand those feelings after all...

Sometimes, though, we are called upon to help someone when we’d rather not.  Perhaps they are dirty or upset or angry.  Perhaps we feel afraid.  Perhaps we’re unsure what to do.  These are all good times to ask for God’s help in deciding what to do, and if we possibly can help someone else, then we should try to do so.  We should practice good sense and safety when we’re helping others, and we can also ask for help from others when the job is too big for ourselves alone.  Once the Good Samaritan offered the ‘first aid’ which he could, he brought the man to a place where he could be given proper care until he had fully healed from his injuries.

God is always with us, in any situation, even when we’re afraid.  With God’s help, we can share God’s love with others and help them in their times of need.  Thanks be to God!