Stretch Marks

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Mark 4:35-41

On my back there are two stretch marks. They are a physical reminder of when I grew the most. Sometime during the summer between Ninth and Tenth grade I grew seven inches. I can show you; this type of rapid growth leaves lasting marks.

Over the last three month we have been asked to grow at such a rate that it is sure to leave a mark. What will these marks say to us years from now? Will they be symbols of a challenging time now forgotten, or symbols of great growth from what we have learned, that has become a part of who we are?

One of the critical growth lessons I hope we are learning during this time is the difference between good and bad leadership. This morning, I want to emphasize the great importance we must place on creating and empowering moral leaders.

            With our graduating seniors in mind this morning, let’s examine the concept of biblical leadership.

            In “The Connected Generation,” a recent Barna study conducted in partnership with World Vision, the data shows that young adults face unique headwinds on their road to becoming effective leaders. When we take time to listen—an essential practice for connecting with 18–35-year-olds—we hear a sense of unease about the future and uncertainty about the kind of leaders that could make a difference.

            Part of it is the underlying sense of anxiety that permeates many societies today. For good reason, the connected generation perceives deep, wide, systemic problems facing the world’s future. Four out of five affirm—and nearly half strongly affirm—that “society is facing a crisis of leadership because there are not enough good leaders right now” (82%). David Kinnaman:  The Connected Generation.

            This country is having a prescient conversation regarding leadership right now.  It is the recognition of how much everything rises and falls based on the quality of leadership.

            In this leadership crisis, perhaps we should look at a really unique and compelling picture of Jesus’ leadership style.

Q. When the storm came what was Jesus doing?

A.  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. v.38.

            Is this Jesus having a great leadership nap?! What is going on here?

            I believe the nap is not incidental to Jesus’ leadership style, but actually reveals one of his most powerful leadership characteristics; centeredness. 

            One must remember that these men, at least the Fishermen among the twelve, had sailed this lake many times. They were skilled sailors, so for them to react this way was legitimate. They knew the danger, and it was real.

             “The Sea of Galilee is in a depression between various hills, and because it is a relatively small body of water in a basin, a storm and wind can arise and quickly change the caricature of the lake.” – Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark, A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary.

            The storm came up really fast, the sailing experts were sounding the alarm, water was filling the boat, but Jesus was not concerned. Jesus was so centered in His mission, and His identity, that the storm did not raise his blood pressure one iota. It didn’t even wake him up.

            Now, when we see odd things in the text like this, (in fact this is the only time Jesus sleeping is mentioned), it is really important examine why is it there?  

            There is a strong case to be made that this Gospel story is a parallel story with the first chapter of Jonah. Remember Jonah was a strong napper as well. Jonah was also asleep in the middle of a massive storm. Except he was on his way to where he shouldn’t have been going. Jonah was trying to run away from God. The sailors on the ship find him, and he tells them the reason for the storm is because of his failure to accept God’s calling on his life. He tells them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea… and it will become calm.” The sailors resisted throwing Jonah overboard, and the storm grew worse. Finally, they ask forgiveness for taking an innocent man’s life, and throw him into the water. The raging sea becomes calm.

            While some of the details of the story are the same, Mark is really making the parallel to draw out a distinction. One prophet is seeking to escape his mission. The other is so centered on His mission, he knows no storm can stop Him from getting to where He is going.  

            Crisis is the great revealer. The storm gives us insight into what was really going on with these two men.

            For Jesus the storm was a moment to be at peace, and to bring peace. For Jonah the storm was the moment to wake up, and come to terms with what he was avoiding. By not accepting his true mission; he wasn’t just putting his life at risk, but everyone else as well.

            I must confess this morning, that in this moment I feel more like Jonah than Jesus.

            I grew up in one of the most privileged environments that anyone could ever grow up in. Door after door has been opened for me, safety net after safety net has been placed under me, and it is hard for me to criticize these institutions of privilege, because they have worked for me. If you are like me, this is where you feel an ache in your spirit. The very reason I am a pastor engaged in the teaching of scripture is because in this book, I found a Jesus who called me to leave my place of privilege. Not just for my sake, but for the sake of those who are treated unjustly.

            Teaching biblical truth is what it means to be fully human; fully alive. God himself gave us these teachings, and without them there would be no hope for any of us. Why would we ever look upon someone else’s suffering, if there wasn’t first a savior who looked upon ours. He invites us to do the same? We all have our limits, but I pray that in these humbling times, God shows us how to make more room in our hearts for the suffering of others.

            Recent graduates, if you are listening to me this morning, let me share a quote with you, that has been shared with me many times, and every time it rings true to me.

            The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. -Frederick Buechner.

            Jesus rests easy, because he knows that his mission is the mission. He sleeps like a rock because he never worries about His mission, or if he is making a difference, or if he is wasting His time.  Jesus is at peace; He is standing at the center of the storm, right where he was meant to be.

            The story of Jonah and the story of Jesus today, through both positive and negative example reveal the same essential truth. Personal peace comes to the degree you are being used by God for the purposes he designed you to pursue.

            We need to make Jesus our center. Not just the center of our private lives, but the center of our entire lives.

            “As God is exalted to the right place in our lives, a thousand problems are solved all at once.” – A.W. Tozer

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:14

            We need leaders with a moral center. We need leaders who can teach our children values will stand the test of time.

            We need true players not pretenders. Crisis is the great revealer. It separates the players from the pretenders.

When I was boy I spent countless hours shooting baskets in my backyard. I liked to imagine that my team was behind by one point in the last seconds and I had the ball in my hands. I’d dribble, spin away from a defender, and shoot from twenty feet out. Time expired, and the final buzzer sounded as the ball was spinning in the air…, Swish! I made it!! We won!!! 

The thing that most Los Angelinos loved about the late great Kobe Bryant, was his Mamba Mentality. When the game was on the line, everyone knew who wanted the ball in his hands.

John Wooden once remarked that he wished he could wait to name the captain of his team until four or five games into the season because he wanted to see who wanted the ball when it really mattered. When crunch time came, who wanted the ball, and who faded to the background, was the best determiner of a captain; the leader.

Pretenders can hide during normal times. They can hide behind their titles, rank, and degrees, but crisis squeezes out who we really are. Pretenders are happy to fade away because they always want to look good. They are afraid of looking bad, afraid of embarrassment. Players go where their needed, where they can do the most good. They search out those who value what they have; the ability to lead in a crisis.

            Graduates please hear this quote as well, one that I have to tell myself often;

            It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt

            As we end this morning, I want to share with you a true story about what Teddy Roosevelt is talking about.

            It happened in Birmingham, Alabama September 28th, 1962 when Dr. King was giving the closing speech of the four-day annual meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, (SCLC).

            The auditorium was packed with 300 SCLC members, black religious and civil rights leaders from all over the South who had organized and participated in numerous boycotts, protests, rallies and marches, all of them conducted peacefully, following the guidance of Dr. King.

            Nearly everyone was dressed in their Sunday best, with the men wearing conservative dark suits, white shirts and formal ties.

            But in the sixth row that day sat Roy James a 6-foot 2-inch, 200-pound white man, who stood out because of his color, but also because he was wearing a casual white T-shirt.

            The SCLC meeting was open to all; however, its members didn’t know this man was a Lieutenant Storm trooper of the American Nazi Party; and James grew angrier as Dr. King spoke.

            Finally, James could take no more. He sprung from his seat, bolted on to the stage and slammed his right fist into Dr. King’s left cheek, hitting the 5 foot 7 inch civil rights leader so hard, it sent him backward and into a partial turn.

            James went after Dr. King and kept punching him rapid fire as the audience screamed in horror.

            As people rushed to the stage, there was an instant when Dr. King was able to stand and face James. As James got ready to hit Dr. King again, the civil rights leader dropped his hands and looked his assailant in the eyes.

Dr. King was bleeding profusely from the punches, his lips and face rapidly swelling and his ears, neck and back were aching from punches that hit him there.

            But this crowd of civil rights leaders watched in awe as Dr. King did as Jesus had advised all of mankind, “to turn the other cheek.” James was also stunned at Dr. King’s reaction, as the two men silently stared at each other.

            James anticipated these black men would beat him to a pulp. But immediately Dr. King’s voice rang out, “Don’t touch him,” and then again, “Don’t touch him. We have to pray for him.” And no one harmed James, instead they prayed for him.

            As they prayed, Dr. King assured James he wouldn’t be harmed. Then he took James to a private room and the two men calmly spoke.

            Afterward, Dr. King declined to press assault charges. But James was still prosecuted and served 30 days in jail and paid a $25 fine.

            James left the auditorium perhaps as stunned as the man he had attacked, he had witnessed “turn the other cheek,” not as words in a bible, but in practice from a man he had severely injured.

            The seeds of reason and love Dr. King planted in James that day did not take, but they did reach a far bigger audience.

            For no-one who witnessed that attack and Dr. King’s response to it ever forgot what they saw. Dr. King had already been threatened numerous times, his house had been bombed with his family in it and he had been shot at, beaten, stabbed and jailed.

            But most delegates hadn’t seen it for themselves, although they and their families had often been threatened and in some cases beaten and jailed. However, thanks to Roy James, now they had seen how Dr. King would handle so horrific an incident, putting nonviolence at his core.

            This bloody scene reinforced Dr. King’s words of nonviolence and when the SCLC delegates, the leaders of the civil rights movement returned home, it was with the belief their marches, boycotts and protests must remain nonviolent.

            In Dr. King’s words, “Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence, but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” And Dr. King did not hate James or anyone else, but rather tried to reach them with reason and love as he and other civil rights marchers absorbed their blows. Walk the Walk: The #1 Rule for Real Leaders, a book by Alan Deutschman (2009).

Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly

As many of you may have noticed, one of my favorite verses from scripture was being evoked a lot this week. Doreen Philbin put it this way on a Facebook post, “Pastor Peter Dunn closes most services with Micah 6:8. I think even my non-believing friends can get behind 66% of this advice

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

So I wanted to take a moment and really unpack these words. These are the words that many Christians chose to call upon this week. They are the words that best speak a scriptural truth into our current moment of agony and turmoil. Why?

Background

The book of Micah was written in the Eight Century Before Christ. It was written in a time when the Nation of Israel was going through significant internal pressure. Again, and again in the Book of Micah, God summons the voice of the prophet to express extreme disappointment, lament and judgement. It is a jarring book. It is about divine accountability, a community that is being called too task for the dissonance between what it professes, and what it does. God desires to have His people reflect His character, so He can truly fulfill His promise to Abraham, that He would bless their nation through him. So, how can God do that if His people do not reflect His character?

The story occurs over many years. Like a continuing drip on a hard surface, we painfully listen as Israel loses its moral center. Israel is being lured into the surrounding nations’ pagan ways of life. The Israelites were giving themselves over to their most base impulses, and the corruption that comes with it.  Israel’s leaders had become wealthy through theft and greed. They were promising God’s protection to anyone who could afford to pay them. The prophet describes how the poor were deprived of their land, their security, and hope. Micah 6:12, puts it bluntly, “Your rich men are violent; your people are liars, and their tongues speak deceitfully.

The Prophet Micah lived in a little town called Moresheth, but he was called to give a big message. He was called upon by God to speak truth to power.

But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.

Micah 3:6

Old Testament scholar Walter Bruggeman describes the role of the “Office of Prophet,” like this, “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.” ― Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination.

            Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”-Matthew 21:12

Jesus, in this story, is living out the prophetic tradition of Micah. He is turning over tables in the temple to demonstrate His righteous anger at injustice. He is literally “cleaning house.”

As a parent, I will admit, I hate disciplining my child. It takes way more energy to discipline them, then it does to pacify them, or just give in, “do, what you want to do,” (if you catch my drift). But if I never discipline them, they will never learn the difference between right and wrong. My heart is not to discipline my children, my heart grieves as I discipline my children, but sometimes love requires discipline. The Heart of God is always love, and justice is what love looks like in public.

      Now that we have some background, let’s talk about Micah 6:8.

Doing Justice

            What does it mean to act justly?

Micah is calling out the injustices of the Nation of Israel. To speak about biblical justice, we need to make a distinction; between private charity and societal justice. To help us understand the difference, let me share with you a parable from the book, “The Holy Longing,” by Ronald Rolheiser:

“Once upon a time there was a town that was built just beyond the bend of a large

river. One day some of the children from the town were playing beside the river when they noticed three bodies floating in the water. They ran for help and the townsfolk

quickly pulled the bodies out of the river.

One body was dead so they buried it. One was alive, but quite ill, so they put that

person into the hospital. The third turned out to be a healthy child, who they placed with

a family who cared for her and took her to school

From that day on, every day a number of bodies came floating down the river and, every day, the good people of the town would pull them out and tended to them—taking the sick to the hospitals, placing the children with families, and burying those who were dead.

This went on for years, each day brought its quota of bodies, and the townsfolk not only came to expect a number of bodies each day but also worked at developing more elaborate systems for picking them out of the river and tending to them. Some of the townsfolk became quite generous in tending to these bodies and a few extraordinary ones even gave up their jobs so that they could tend to this concern full-time. The town itself felt a certain healthy pride in its generosity.

However, during all these years and despite all the generosity and effort, nobody thought to go up river, beyond the bend that hid from their sight what was above them, and find out why those bodies came floating down the river.”

Biblical Justice looks at the entire society within which we live. It identifies and

provides structural changes that care for every member of the community. Its goal is

equality, “justice for all.”

This is a message that needs to resonate in our religious communities. If you don’tlike

people that are from a different race, you’re going to have a hard time in Heaven.

Scripture teaches us that every race has a seat at Heaven’s great banquet table. If it is,

once again, our prayer this morning, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on

earth as it is in heaven,” then it is our job to strive every day to usher in a Kingdom

reality; now.

Whatever we practice, is what we get good at. If you want to be a great pitcher, you  

better throw some pitches when no one is watching, if you want to be a good doctor you

better get an internship, if you want to usher in the Kingdom of God; you need to

practicing justice, mercy and humility. Are you practicing Heaven yet? If not, will you

be any good at it when you get there?

      The practical manifestation of such a reality may seem overwhelming, perhaps

impossible; so be it. I worship a God of miracles. I worship a God who parted the

Red Sea; in order to liberate His people from injustice. Is that the God you have come to

worship this morning?

A better question might be; do you have faith enough to take the first step? To listen, and to learn, to grow in your understanding of the issues of racism and poverty that were so vigorously being spoken this week. Micah reminds us that God commands his people to “do justice.” That is a clear call for people of good conscience to move from passive sentiment, to active engagement. What lies behind injustice, in not so much individual sin, but rather societal indifference to the plight of those who have suffered historical oppression.

      “We can be morally impeccable within our own private lives (churchgoing, prayerful,

kind, honest, gentle, and generous in our dealings with others) and still, at the same time

unknowingly, unknowingly participate in and help sustain systems which are far from

charitable, gentle, prayerful, and moral.” -Ronald Rolheiser

            I must say that I have recently been convicted to consider how have I profited from a system that rewards status, wealth and privilege. I am wrestling with how is it that I should be held accountable, am I a part of the indifference that has brought us to where we are today? If so, how may I repent of this indifference?

Love Mercy

      What is the true motive behind our actions for justice, so that our actions do not mimic injustice, and do violence to that which we are trying to change? 

            Micah was in touch with God’s mercy, it inspired him to cast a vision for a better world.  

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into

pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither

        shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and       under his fig tree; and

none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it” Micah 4:3-5

      Micah casts a beautiful picture of what a fully restored humanity looks like. Micah is crying out for justice, working towards the day when all of humanity is reconciled. Nations will no longer arm themselves against one another. A powerful image of a time when weapons of war, will be divinely transformed; turned into farming tools. Instruments of death transformed into tools needed to sustain life.

      How can we realize this dream?

      We must be prepared to receive and give God’s mercy.

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there,

along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.  Jesus

said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are

doing.”-Luke 23:33

      The mercy of God is even given to people we do not like. Just as much as it is given to us, in those places we do not like about ourselves. What are we to do when confronted with people we do not like? Someone who has wronged us?

            Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”- Matthew 18:21

            You can’t be more loving than God; it’s not possible. If you understand God as

Trinity—the fountain fullness of the outflowing of the love relationship; there can be no hatred in God.

Who is a God like you,
    who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
    of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
    but delight to show mercy. Micah 7:18

 Walk Humbly

On Wednesday of this week, I had just sat down at my desk with a cup of coffee, and my commentaries, to begin writing this sermon, when I got an email from a friend, that really challenged me. I had been praying through my tears all morning, really heart sick over how awful things had become. The night before, we received dystopian text messages ordering a county wide curfew, as a result of the looting and violence in our streets. Additionally, my friend and colleague, Rev. Andrews Eagles at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church shared some picture of his Church’s sign that had been graffitied with the words, “I can’t breathe.”

Then I got an email from someone I love and trust, calling for clergy support from

      white pastors, requested by black pastors, who were going to hold a prayer vigil as part of the ongoing protests near Los Angeles City Hall. The specific ask was for a “clergy presence” to help maintain the peace. I soon concluded that I could not sit and write a sermon on Micah 6:8, and in good conscious deny this request. So, I put on my clergy collar, and went to the protest. I went with a true desire to learn and to understand.

      As I drove into our city, I was reminded of how Jesus wept on Palm Sunday as he Stood on the Mount of Olives, looking out upon his city, a city that was also lost, filled with turmoil, and anger. As I walked towards city hall I was overwhelmed with the massive presence of the police and National Guard. So many people in uniform, with two helicopters constantly patrolling; I have to say it was intimidating.

      I did my best to smile as I walked past, trying to make sure they knew I was a pastor coming in peace. When I met up with our group, I quickly befriended a black colleague; who just happened to be tall, athletic, kind and incredibly generous; to myself in particular. He stood out in his white robe, so I knew he was the guy to hang with. As clergy, we were instructed to stand on the perimeter of the crowd between protestors and police. This turned out to be an impossible task, there were about thirty clergy and many thousands of protestors. They filled the entire block. The majority of them were below the age of thirty. I kept these two scriptures in my heart, as I stood there in that crowd.

            Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God -Matthew 5:9

            If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. -Romans 12:18

      These scriptures reminded me that it was not my calling to chant profanities at the police. My job was to pray; to present another way. I did however, listen to one mother after another, share their stories of how their children had lost their lives at the hand of law enforcement. I listened in humility, the same way I would if they came to my office for prayer or spiritual direction. Honestly, I still struggle to understand everything that I saw and heard on Wednesday. I can best describe my feelings as desperate. Desperate for the day when swords are beaten into plowshares. Desperate for a day when we fulfill the scriptures we speak in church on Sunday morning. Desperate to see those words of love and grace, for all of God’s children, fulfilled in our daily lives, throughout the coming week.

      Perhaps you share this desperation as well..

I Am Willing

            Mark 1:40-45

                        A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

            Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning:  “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

According to Levitical Law (Lev. 13:45) a leper was to go about crying, “unclean, unclean,” so that no one would approach him and be contaminated. Witherington II, The Gospel of Mark a Socio-Rhetorical Commentary: Pg. 103.

 The conversation about clean and unclean between Jesus and this man with leprosy is distinct to the Jewish culture of the time. It is not just about the physical body, that conversation would have most certainly used, “well or unwell,” language. The statement, “clean and unclean” points to an additional layer of the societal consequences that come with the stigma of defilement.

This is a relevant topic for today. Currently churches and businesses across the country are trying to figure out how to reopen during a time of pandemic. Let’s be honest; one of the things that they want to avoid is being “that church” or “that business” where an outbreak occurs. This is not only because they do not want anyone to get sick, but also the public stigma of being labeled “unclean.” My inbox is currently full of news articles, shared between pastors, of churches experiencing Covid 19 infections, in Germany, Canada, the state of Washington, and Bakersfield, California, to name a few. They are being held up as cautionary tales regarding what you don’t want to have happen to your church. It is the new the virtual shaming post. Every day we see a new person or business take their turn in the stockade of public reprove. One might wonder, will these churches forever carry the public shame of spreading a deadly disease?

Jesus heals the man with leprosy, in part, to answer this question. The Levitical priest can declare someone clean or unclean, but Jesus can MAKE someone clean. Jesus desires to free hurting people, who have been cast out to the fringes of society. This is especially true if they had little or no control over what has happened to them. They call out to Jesus, “I am willing.” Are we?

            Let’s examine this idea from another angle by looking at Mark 2:13-17.

            Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.  As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

            While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.  When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Laurie Santos is a professor of psychologically and cognitive science at Yale University. She was distressed by the number of students who were struggling with anxiety and depression in her class. So she developed a course entitled “psychology and the good life,” and it quickly became the most popular course in the history of Yale. She begins her course with this picture.

This is McKayla Maroney. She was the favorite to win the gold medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics for the gymnastics vault competition. Unfortunately, she stumbled during a routine that she routinely performed flawlessly in practice, so she won the silver medal, not the gold. As you can see McKayla is not impressed. Surprisingly, the Bronze Medalist next to her is much happier. How can this be? McKayla has just proven that she is one of the best in the world at what she does, (an achievement most of us can only dream of) and she is unhappy. Why?

            Professor Santos points out our mind is constantly telling us what we need to be happy, but what if sometimes it’s telling us the wrong thing? As it turns out silver medalists are very prone to experience a common psychological problem.  We do not just react to what actually happened to us, we also react to what might have happened. What could have happened, what almost happened!? The silver medalist who is so close to attaining her desired goal, think of her achievement, not as an achievement, but as a failure. Failing to achieve the imagined reality of winning the gold, poisons the reality of the great achievement of winning silver. This can cause what is known as toxic envy.  It is natural for the mind to obsess over, the one person who beat you.

            “This experience isn’t just a problem for Olympians; it is a part of human nature. It is a bias that is deeply ingrained in all of us. People do not react to what is actually happening to them, they react to the meaning they attach to the experience. Second place is great, unless you have assigned the meaning of nothing but gold. 

Interestingly, bronze medalists are almost always happier than the silver medalist, who just beat them, because they are focused on all the people who didn’t beat them. They are thinking about the likely scenario, they avoided, of not getting a medal at all. Some of the happiest moments in people’s live, are the moments when they think something bad might happen to them, and then it doesn’t. They think they might have a brain tumor and then the results come back negative.” - Laurie Santos

We use other people as reference points often to our disadvantage. If we constantly pick unflattering reference points, we make ourselves unhappy. We compare ourselves to the very best pictures of others. We never pick reference points that are in the middle of the road, we always compare to those that are the very best looking, the very best at doing our jobs, etc. This standard is the worst possible standard. If we are constantly comparing ourselves to perfection, it makes us miserable. 

Jesus didn’t come to reward the overachievers, the most talented, the best keepers of the law, the rich and powerful. He came for the sick, the poor, the oppressed.

So what meaning do you attach to your life’s story? Are you the silver medalist, doing very well in the eyes of others, but internally always comparing, always wanting more, focused on what you don’t have or just missed out on? Or are you able to pause, breath, and even in the midst of a pandemic, count your blessings.

Does the voice in your head sound more like a forgiven tax collector that gets to be the honored guest at Jesus table of friendship, or the jealous Pharisees who despise that tax collector, because they think he has no right to be near to God.

What are you focused on today? All of the things you don’t have, …yet? Or have you have been paying attention to how God is working in this time? Have you counted your blessings?

Forbes magazine recently reported that calls to the suicide prevention hotline have sky rocketed by 600% since the beginning of the pandemic. My wife is a therapist and she can tell you, the demand for mental health services has dramatically increased.

Where we put our attention, as things seem to be getting worse all around us is so important. What we expect our lives to be, and the meaning we assign to our life is so vital to our well-being.

St Ignatius has a beautiful way of teaching on this, it is called the Prayer of Examen.

The Ignatian Examen, or the Daily Examen is a contemplative prayer led by memory. Rather than a prayer utilized to clear one’s conscience, the Examen is a prayer of consciousness. During an Examen, one reflects on the current day, focusing on memories from the events of the day as a way of recognizing the Divine Presence.

Often, the Examen awakens the practitioner to the Divine through routine, or ordinary moments, to illustrate the subtle and surprising ways God speaks to us. This prayer practice helps cultivate and refine discernment, as well as an awareness of God’s presence.

Traditionally there are five movements, or steps in the Examen. The steps outlined below are adapted from the technique outlined in the Spiritual Exercises developed by Ignatius Loyola in the 16th century. St. Ignatius required his companions, the Jesuits, to practice the Examen daily at noon, and before turning in for the night.

Instruction

This is a vision of the five-step Daily Examen that St. Ignatius practiced.

• Acknowledge an awareness of the Divine.

• Review the day in a posture of gratitude.

• Recognize a “Consolation” and a “Desolation” from the day.

• Choose a “Desolation” to pray into.

• Look with hope for new tomorrow.

A consolation is an experience that causes you to feel fully alive, at peace, joyful, happy, comforted, whole, connected, your best self, etc. This could be understood as an experience in which you feel close to God.

A desolation is an experience that causes you to feel drained of energy, frustrated, irritated, angry, sad, sorrowful, alone, isolated, unaccepted, fragmented, less than your best self, etc. This could be understood as an experience in which you feel far away from God.

            Let us spend some time in prayer with these themes in mind.  

My Cup Runneth Over

This will be our last sermon looking at Psalm 23. And as promised I have committed it to memory. It has been a joy to get these words, given to David from God, deep down in my heart. In this time, I have had with them, they have been a reminder of what matters most. When all I wanted to do was complain, they have been a blinking warning light, alerting me when I was running low on spiritual fuel. They are the words I have used to express my gratitude for the way God has been with me through this valley. We never know what life has in store for us, so it is good to get some of God’s word in a place where it cannot be taken away. No matter what. So, let’s go through them one more time.

The Lord is my Shepherd

I shall not want

When John Kavanaugh, the noted and famous ethicist, went to Calcutta, he was seeking Mother Teresa, … and more. He went for three months to work at “the house of the dying” to find out how best he could spend the rest of his life.

            When he met Mother Teresa, he asked her to pray for him. “What do you want me to pray for?” she replied. He then uttered the request he had carried thousands of miles: “Clarity. Pray that I have clarity.”

            “No,” Mother Teresa answered, “I will not do that.” When he asked her why, she said, “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.” When Kavanaugh said that she always seemed to have clarity, the very kind of clarity he was looking for, Mother Teresa laughed and said: “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.”

This morning let us refuse to pray for clarity. We must let it go in exchange for trust. Have you learned yet that you have a Good Shepherd who is the only one truly worthy of your ultimate trust? That you have everything you need in Him?

He makes me lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside quiet waters

He restores my soul

Before we went into lock down, we had started a Lenten series on Idolatry. The premise of the series was to poll the congregation on what were the most significant idols our community struggled with. The top idol we identified, as a church, was the idol of comfort. Now, I know we cut that series short because; frankly it wasn’t the right time, while people were in shock, to hammer them regarding their idols. Perhaps with a little distance now, we can look back and say that this journey we are enduring is a direct assault on our number one idol…comfort.  

I can remember when I was a kid, medicine tasted terrible. Now days, praise God, they have figured out how to make medicine taste like candy, so my kids are all over it. Seriously, they request liquid Tylenol like it’s a cherry Slurpee (which I’m sure causes a whole new set of problems), but the medicine we were taking back in the 80’s tasted like liquefied chalk.

My mom loves to tell the stories of how she used to have to wrestle me to the ground, hold down all of my limbs, hold my nose so my mouth would stay open, while pouring the medicine straight down my throat. To the outside observer, this might have looked like a child being tortured. But in reality, it was a mother who would stop at nothing to give her child what he needed, even when he fought against it with every fiber of his being.

When our comfort is being attacked, we get anxious and we want to take control, it seems like we will do anything to get ourselves back to a place of comfort. So, don’t forget sheep, the Good Shepherd has been known to make His Sheep lie down. Sometimes what is best is to stop, to reflect, to lay down for a moment, and remember the Lord knows what you truly need.

So, we must ask again this morning…

Who is the one who can nourish us? Who can restore us?

Have you received it from the giver of life?  The restorer of life? Has he put you in headlock, wrestled you to the floor and forced you to rest yet?

Can we admit, that we live in the most powerful nation on earth and we have enjoyed the freedom it provides for so long, we may have fallen under the illusion that we were entitled to our comfort.

Over the last 8 weeks, we have, in so many humbling ways, been brought to our knees by an invisible enemy. It has revealed a truth that has been there all along, that truth is we are all vulnerable.

So, we must remember (as Psalm 23 reminds us), that our vulnerability is seen by a Good Shepherd who desires to bless, protect, sustain and guide us. 

The Bible has beautiful images of God holding back the waters of chaos that seek to overwhelm us.

He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead the mother sheep.

 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
    and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,
    and weighed the mountains in scales
    and the hills in a balance?

Isaiah 40:11

            For it is only because God restrains the forces of evil, that you and I are able to exist at all.

            We, like most precious things, the most beautiful things, are incredibly fragile. Scriptures reveal that God takes every precious one of us up into his loving arms. We exist because of those loving arms. When he holds us close and we hold Him back, we understand why we exist, and we are reminded that God doesn’t make mistakes, and we are precious in His sight.   

            He guides me down paths of righteousness for his name sake

Now at first we might think, he does all of these things for us. The thinking goes something like this, the Lord is my Shepherd and it is His job to take care of me, and give me green pastures and quiet waters and peace. Sure, things can get a little bumpy just to keep life interesting (but manageable), but ultimately God is there to take care of me.

Some of us are frankly, kind of like my friend Tyler’s cat. Tyler is a really rich, trust fund kid, who I grew up with. He lived in a multimillion dollar house in Calabasas, and half the reason I would go to his house was to use all of his cool stuff. To be honest, over time the emptiness and absurdity of his life really started to annoy me. Strangely, one of the ways it really got to me, was by watching his cat. His cat was the most obese animal you have ever seen. It did nothing but eat and lay around the house. They called him “Jabba the hut.”  I remember thinking this cat has a better, more pampered life, than most people could ever dream of.

Comfortable Christians can be like Tyler’s cat. They like to be fed, and they just keep eating, and eating, and eating, until it becomes hard to move.  But did you catch what comes after green pastures and quiet waters? God says here is a righteous path, time to get going.

This week our staff devotional was from Colossians 1:9-12.

            For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,  and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

One of Kayleigh’s reflections after reading this text, was that she was going to teach the kiddos something almost identical from another scripture this week during online Sunday school.  I just love how she put it, she said it’s “like endurance and joy like to share a sentence.” She is most certainly correct.

            Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

            Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted  Hebrews 12:1-3

We all get to walk down this road called life and one of the questions we have to answer is why am I here?

            Why do I get to walk this road? The answer of Psalm 23 is that God put you here for His glory. He says if you will walk my righteous path, at the end you will know His Glory.

He gets you all rested and peaceful and fed so when you walk the righteous path, you are ready to endure all the tests of the enemy, which seek to derail you. If you can walk His path, and endure the challenges of living righteously; in an unrighteous world, the result is GLORY, and the byproduct of glory is JOY.

I have never felt I created my own joy, have you? Maybe a little temporary happiness... but joy? The only times I have ever felt joy was when I quieted myself just enough to stand in total awe of His goodness. I believe the maximum amount of joy is achieved when we are able to disappear into God’s goodness.

            Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death You are with me

            Your rod and your staff they comfort me

            You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

In a sermon after the events of 911, Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu spoke these healing words.

            “On Many occasions at home back in South Africa when ghastly things were happening in our struggle against apartheid…Often the cry went out from our people, God where are you? God do you care? God do you see?

            We are reminded of that wonderful story in the book of Daniel, where God’s servants had been cast into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to the king. In response God didn’t stand at a safe distance, giving useful advice…no God entered the fiery furnace, to be in the heat of the flames with them.”  

            The most famous turn in Psalm 23 comes in verse four. It is ultimately a turn from the impersonal description of “The Lord is…” to the very present and personal “you are with me.”

            Friends, there is another in this fire with us. He is Immanuel “God with us.”

            You anoint my head with oil

            The point of anointing oil is consecration. It a symbol of being set apart for God’s purposes. Exodus 30:31 speaks to generations and generations of people that will be set apart for God’s purposes.

Say to the Israelites, 'This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.            -Exodus 30:31

            A youthful Jeremiah is given these words when he learns of God’s calling on His life to be a prophet.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,
and before you were born, I consecrated you. Jeremiah 1:5

            Ephesians 2:10 expands this calling to the entire New Testament Church.

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

            We have been set apart for this time. Before we were formed in our mother’s womb, God said, I have work that needs to be done, by my people. A people who will be set apart and anointed with the Holy Spirit. They will live in a time of pandemic, and they will be my hands and feet. God knew that we were going to live through this season Church, to get somethings done on earth, He set His people apart.  This all came as a great surprise to us, but maybe; He is saying to us, what He said to Ester, “I made you for such a time as this.”

            My cup overflows

            When we are doing the work that God created us to do, we discover that our cup runneth over.

            Let me share with you two stories of what God has been up to over the last couple of months.

Our Church has been praying for Morgan Ferrier for many years now, you know her as the talented young person who plays piano for the worship band, and has even played the organ for us in the past. Her story goes like this,

            “In 2019 I was hospitalized three times. My entire family was struggling with the fact that I was coughing constantly, (due to my cystic fibrosis). We had been praying for a cure for my cough for months, and the Lord delivered in a spectacular way.

            “Shortly before the quarantine started, I began taking a new protein-modulator drug called Trikafta. It has an 80% success rate, but I have a very rare mutation of cystic fibrosis (along with the more common mutation deltaF508 which is the one Trikafta targets), so we didn’t really know how I would respond. As of now, it’s been weeks since I’ve so much as coughed and... there simply isn’t anything stuck in my lungs anymore!

            “Not only do I rarely if ever cough now, but my digestive issues have greatly lessened, I can run faster and better than before, and I’m the healthiest that I’ve been in at least a year or two. Imagine if I was coughing all the time during this Coronavirus outbreak! I am so thankful to the researchers who created this drug and to God for guiding their hands and allowing this drug to work on my body.

            Also, I just did a lung function test and I got 102%, which is the highest I've ever been and has basically reversed like 15 years of lung damage!!” – Morgan

            Lilia Omura-Garcia is the homeless outreach coordinator for Redondo Beach. She works closely with Miriam and the FAITH St. Andrew’s team to help people get off the streets and into housing.

            Lilia wrote a few weeks back;

            “24 of my people are safely indoors today with another 5 scheduled for this coming week. This is my target number for an entire year & it was done in just 10 days because of the opening of our new Recreation Centers & Project Room Key. All barriers were removed so I was able to focus on our most vulnerable, seniors & clients with severe medical conditions. The impossible was done!”

            Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the lord forever.

            The goodness we experience here is only a foretaste of what is to come.

            Last Sunday I took a long drive with My 2-year-old baby girl Glory in the back seat. A quarter of the way into the drive she fell asleep, and so it was just me and some worship music. All of the beautiful promises and stories from the work of this church started to come into my mind. As I began to reflect on the last two months it was as if the love of God was following me, and frankly the tears began to flow in worship and gratitude. Because for all my exhaustion, frustration, and anxiety, the love Zamboni of Heaven was there to clean it up. 

            The truth is church, that this is not our home…we are just pilgrims here.  Just passing through, and the good news is we are headed for an avalanche of love. So, may we be; all were made to be, in this in-between.

Through The Valley

            “This is it,” says Sam, “If I take one more step this will be the farthest from home I have ever been.”

            Friends, we are not in the Shire anymore. We are in that place, when you have gone farther from home than you have ever gone before, and you are wondering what is out there? What is out there in the unknown? If we take another step certainly, we are committing to the journey. A journey that will inevitably take us to a place known as The Valley of the Shadow of Death.

            “Let’s go,” replies Frodo. “Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

            We have all been swept up by life, and taken further from “home” (although that is the only place we can legally be), then we would have ever chosen. We now know that tomorrow will not always look like today. It seems as though, the entire world has been forced into a collective meditation on our own vulnerability.  So, we must learn, now, what it takes to go through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

Honest Speech

            Let’s start with “even though.”

            Healthy spirituality is always honest.

            How are you?

Recently, something has changed for me about that question. It feels like (over the last who’s counting), I have literally had to re-train my brain to answer the question,” how are you?” More honestly.

            So, how are you?

            My prayer is, by the end of our time together Psalm 23:4 could be your honest answer.

            How are you?

            Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

The problem is, we learn implicitly, over many conversations, that most of the time this question is a polite courtesy to tack on to the beginning of a conversation. So, we give the customary “doing fine, a little busy’” (but that is because I am really important), answer. So both parties can move on to what we really want to talk about. 

Cultures, institutions, families, marriages, friend groups often develop a code of what can be said, and what can’t be said.  What is okay to talk about, and what is not okay to talk about. We learn what to avoid and what is acceptable to say.

            As we walk through life, we pick up the message that our honest expression isn’t always welcome. We search and wonder, “is there a place where I can I finally be honest about how I am actually doing?”

            The consequence of these unspoken rules is that so many of us are left carrying (consciously and unconsciously) around heavy and painful amounts of grief, loss and heartache.

The bible presents a counter narrative to this narrative of denial. It makes space for an honest, hard look at God and ourselves.

Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. –John Calvin

Perhaps, the most honest speech ever spoken is the lament of David found in Psalm 22:1 My God My God why have you forsaken me! It was certainly true when David wrote it, but it took on its fullest expression when it was quoted by Jesus to describe the agony of the cross.

You might think that Jesus would come up with his own unique description of Lament, but instead he quotes David. David and Jesus were two men who were well acquainted with the Shadow of Death. The greatest earthly King, and the King of Kings, both had moments in their life where the only natural response was, My God, My God why have you forsaken me?

            “Lament is what happens when people ask, “Why?” and don’t get an answer.”- N. T. Wright.

What this means is that you don’t have to be afraid to say how you really feel. It is okay to get to the heart of what you are feeling, God is not surprised. He has heard it all before.

Now if you are like me, when you hear big bad numbers and statistics, they fly through your brain, with this strange, “I know this is bad but I can feel it emotionally,” feeling of a cold, disconnected, numb; dread.

            But when I hear about individual experiences, it gets to me.

This week I read a description of the new normal for Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs-Zehnder, Presbyterian Hospital Chaplain at LA County/USC Hospital, and it got to me.

            She wrote, “In order to conserve scarce resources like N95 masks, chaplains don't provide face to face routine support to patients who are hospitalized because of COVID-19. We do reach out by phone and offer prayer and spiritual support to those patients and their families. The exception to this is at the end of life, when anointing or prayers for the dying are requested. In those moments, we gown, glove, mask, cap, and face shield up and draw near to the one who is dying, while one of their loved ones watches through the glass.” 

            As I imagined her, one of my colleagues, trying to console a patient dying of the Corona Virus, with the equivalent of a hazmat suit on, as loved ones are only able to look on through a glass window, my natural reaction is to ask why?   Why Lord; why?

            John Calvin concluded that a sense of being forsaken by God, far from being unique to Christ, or rare for the believer, is a regular and frequent struggle for believers. He wrote, “There is not one of the godly who does not daily experience in himself the same thing. According to the judgment of the flesh, he thinks he is cast off and forsaken by God, while yet he apprehends by faith the grace of God, which is hidden from the eye of sense and reason.”

            Now we are getting a little more honest. Honesty makes room for us to be our true selves. No need to pretend things are fine when we are in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, we all know they’re not. This is our “even though” moment, even though I walk through the Valley of Shadow of Death.

Keep Walking

            Let’s move to “I walk.”

            Winston Churchill still said it best “if you are going through hell, keep on going.”

            I have been so inspired by all of the creative movement that people have generated in this time. My wife Katie will tell you, there was an advertisement going around of people working out on their rooftops in creative ways that made me a little teary eyed. People doing jumping jacks, break dancing, tangoing, anything to remind themselves they are still alive. The human spirit driven to overcome difficult circumstances is a beautiful thing to behold. The dancing, the ridiculous dancing we have done. They are going to have to scrub the internet of all these embarrassing videos, after this is all over. Movement means that we have not given up. Movement means that we are willing to face the uncertain hours of waiting with all the creativity we can summon. Movement creates momentum, momentum gets us through.

            For a long time, the Baptists thought that dancing was of the devil (and certainly some may say mine is), but I never knew how they could make that teaching work, when scripture clearly says that David was dancer.

So, David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 2 Samuel 6:14

Dancing, as a form of worship, is a declaration of victory. David is declaring what he has just learned. The truth, that when you have a good shepherd there is no reason to fear evil.

            “You become like what you worship. When you gaze in awe, admiration, and wonder at something or someone, you begin to take on something of the character of the object of your worship.” ― N.T. Wright

            When we worship in the valley, we become more like the One we worship. We declare His goodness with our whole body.

            Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. John 4:23

            The Boss (Bruce Springsteen) said it like this; "You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart…baby we were just dancing in the dark.”

            So, go for your walk today. Put some worship on the headphones. Keep moving.

Carry Each other

Rods and Staffs

            Comfort has never been something I’m comfortable with. You see, I like to be the helper, not the one being helped. You might see nobility in that, but really, it’s all mixed up with my pride. I don’t like feeling weak. But weakness is what we must experience in order to grow.

            Suffering and solidarity with the suffering of others has an immense capacity to 'make room' inside of us. It is probably our primary spiritual teacher."  --Father Richard Rohr

            At the end the of Sam and Frodo’s journey, at its darkest moment; we have one of the most powerful scenes of “Lord of the Ring.”  Frodo the keeper of the ring, is overwhelmed by the suffering he has been asked to endure. Frodo has collapsed, all hope seems lost, until we hear from his friend, Sam, “Come, Mr. Frodo!" he cries. "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.”

            This was even true for Jesus, when the cross was too heavy for Him to carry alone. So, this mysterious figure, Simon the Cyrene, helped Jesus carry His cross.

            Could it be that Simon’s stepping in to help Jesus make it to the cross, to help Jesus at that moment, was the provision of the Good Shepherd? Giving Jesus what he needed to complete His journey through the Valley of the Shadow of Death?

            Jesus, the Messiah, King of Kings, needed help. 

            The world is too difficult and dangerous to go it alone. Have you asked for help yet? Have you let someone carry you?

            I love how Neil Gaiman puts it,

sometimes it only takes a stranger, in a dark place, to hold out a badly knitted scarf, to offer a kind word, to say we have the right to be here, to make us warm in the coldest season.

            I might not always be the guy who can help, but I know a guy with a rod and a staff, if you know what I mean.

            I know if you asked for help; people from this Church would line up.

In summary

When you get honest, keep moving, and ask for help; even when it feels overwhelming, you will make it through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

And may you never forget that shadows only exist because there is a Sun.

Amen.

Still Waters

Living God,

like those disciples on the road to Emmaus,

we struggle to recognize you in the everyday journey of our lives.

We seek your wisdom in the midst of the questions we have

about the circumstances we find ourselves in—

circumstances sometimes beyond our control.

Open our eyes, O God,

to your work of transformation in and around us.

As we walk with you day by day,

may your new life be made manifest in what we say to and how we treat others.

Help us to understand the power of our words to hurt or to heal;

give us the graciousness to reflect your love in all we say.

As you opened the scriptures to the disciples

and taught them everything,

open our eyes to behold you in your Word.

Help us to live these words in all we say, do, and think.

You were known to the disciples in the breaking of the bread.

May your resurrection presence guide our lives.

We pray now, silently and aloud, for the things weighing on us today…

So often we forget

that you invite us to abide with you;

to have our lives hidden in you.

We thank you that you travel with us in our joys and our concerns.

Amen

I thought I would take a moment, and name a reality for parents in this season. Sometime this week, depending on what school district you are in, It will hit 40 days since schools have closed. 

Not that I am counting or anything. 

This is important because parenting is a war of attrition. Attrition is defined, as the action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure. 

You might spend an hour with my children and find it charming. Like when they are coloring in there coloring books; until the second you turn your attention to an adult thought, it’s guaranteed, that they will start coloring all over their faces, eating the marker, coloring anywhere but on the paper; on each other, or the couch, or the walls. 

Now in small doses anyone can take it all in stride. If you take this example, and apply it every day, for 40 plus days, you’ve got parents who feel like they are losing a war of attrition to their own children. They are not sure when reinforcements are coming, and the parents are about to panic. The kids are winning the game of parental attrition.

My sister is a Fifth Grade teacher in San Diego. In the midst of describing how “Zoom Teaching” is working out, she tells of a challenging students behavior on the Zoom call. She said one of his retorts to “Zoom Classroom Discipline” was, “My Mom says at my house right now there is only one rule, don't die.” 

Maybe that should be the only rule in all of our houses right now. 

To get personal for a moment. 

When we realized that school was closing, and child care was not going to be a possibility, it meant that we had about 15 hours of work that we were going to have to add to our already jam packed life. 

Not that I am counting or anything. 

Now compared to what many of us are dealing with, we are incredibly thankful for our health and well being. But I still want to express solidarity with others out there who are struggling with our current chaos. I want to keep it real when it comes to thinking about green pastures and still waters this morning. 

Green Pastures 

Returning to the theme that we can know something cognitively, but we really haven’t fully learned the lesson it has to teach us, until we are deprived of it, lets talk about green pastures.  

We all know that life thrives when it is lived in a vibrant Eco System. Now, through our lack, we have experienced the truth that we are holistic beings. We need nature hikes, hugs from family, meaningful work, strong coffee, art, good conversation, music, and Mexican food. In order to stay healthy. We know what it is to miss our run on the beach in the morning; that helped us be a better parent, boss, and co-worker. 

Sitting in this empty church on Sundays for the last month has taught me that singing, praying, and ministering, in person; with all of you is nourishing to my soul. I knew that cognitively, but as I stand here in this empty church, I must imagine seeing you in your homes. It is a truth I feel so much deeper now. It is a lesson that I will carry with me long after this is all over. My lament is simple, I miss you all dearly.

When the church comes together we create a vibrant Holy Spirit Eco System that nourishes us, at a level we might not have been aware of until now. 

So how do we get to green pastures and quiet waters now? 

I like the language of Psalm 23:2 where it says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures…”

The implication being, there are times when we act like bad sheep. Sheep that want to keep going, when it is time to lie down. 

In the rare moments when my kids let me put them to bed, (because they prefer their mom, of course) I have been known to make my kids lay down. Every parent knows the dreaded “over tired” mode of children. Children that are up way past their bed time, are really more tired than their external appearance; they exhibit delirious reserves of energy. Maybe this is what Jesus was referring to when he spoke of Gehenna, the place of great tears and gnashing of teeth. 

Sometimes we just need to be given permission to lie down. 

David is speaking of true rest, not the rest that comes from a vacation or something on Netflix. Not the “Tiger King” rest many of us have been experiencing lately.  

To find the true rest; our heart’s desire, we must submit ourselves to the Lord.

“Thou hast made us for thyself, Oh Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” - Saint Augustine 

The true rest our heart desires is only found in the providence of the Good Shepherd.

A great centering prayer during this time is, The Serenity Prayer. It is a prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, to help us to find God’s peace in a turbulent world. 

The Serenity Prayer goes like this,

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change

Courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him;

Forever in the next. Amen.

Do you see all the submissive language in this prayer. 

Accepting hardships are the pathway to peace

Taking the sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. 

Trusting  that He will make all things right. 

There is a fascinating  rabbinic tradition that says that on the Seventh Day God created peace. The idea, is that God’s peace is a place that we can enter into. Much like a green pasture. 

Psalm 95: 6-7 

Come, let us bow down in worship,

    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

for he is our God

    and we are the people of his pasture,

    the flock under his care.

Lets keep going.

Still Waters 

Take a moment and get a glass of water, or whatever beverage is in front of you. Don't drink it, take it and shake it a little bit, and notice the form of the water, notice the shape it takes. 

Now stop and observe when it is calm; shake it again and then let it get calm again.  

If you were to describe the state of your soul today, which one of these would it be? 

Some of you feel like you’ve been shot through a fire hose? 

This is what the psalmist tells us; God leads us to still waters that connect us with our souls.  

For a Shepherd in the Judean wilderness there were very few places of still water. It is a desert climate, hot and dusty. So when it did rain, it evaporated quickly. Then, on a rare occasion  their might be a flash flood. So still waters were rare, a vital life giving resource.

God wants to take our turbulent waters and make them calm, still waters. Could anybody use that today? 

The word for “soul” in Hebrew is Nepehesh. 

It is an ancient Hebrew word that can be translated as Spirit/Breath.

So is the soul a mystical spirit; as natural as breathing? 

For far too long we have thought that there is a great divide between that which is mystical, something of the spirit; and our normal day to day lives. For many in the modern world, spiritual things are somewhere over here; and life, blood, sweat, sandwiches, Saturday night, are over there. 

But the scripture reminds us that these things are connected. Humans are integrated beings. Our Spirit is inseparable from our life.

So what does God do? He revives our humanity, He renews our soul. 

You are more than a “to do list.” In the midst of the hustle and bustle of daily life, your job, the laundry, meals, dishes and children, stop for a moment and realize how much God longs to care for you. To have you lay down with Him in green pastures beside still waters.

Still Waters, remind us of our value as God’s children

Still Waters, are a reminder of our fundamental human dignity, that no abuse, wrong, or sin can take from us. 

Still Waters, is where God reveals the essence of our soul to us, who we really are.

Still Waters, is the place where God abides with us.

Maybe God wants to take this time to really teach us how to make our home a church. Forcing us to ingrate our spiritual life, with our home life. 

I saw a great internet meme the other day that went something like this; 

The devil said to God, look I cancelled church. I Win. 

God answered back, church isn't cancelled, I just opened millions of satellite campuses. 

Now is the time to learn how to integrate work, family, and spirit into our daily routines. What we do now out of necessity, may create a deeper well of understanding and practice going forward. 

The other day I had the opportunity to spend a little time at my childhood home. I grew up in a magical place near Malibu, called Monte Nido, Spanish for Mountain Nest. This time of year it is lush with the green of spring and blooming flowers. In my parents front yard there is a creek. This creek most of the year is pretty small or even dry, but every so often there is a spring rain that creates a strong, steady flow of fresh water. As a child when this happened I would spend the days playing in the creek. The other day, I got to share this experience with my son. The other times he went to the creek without me, he was only willing to venture in so far as to get his feet wet. But the day I went with him, he went all in. My Son was willing to go all in, because his Father was there. So we went on an “adventure” navigating the rocks and rapids together.  When things got scary, he would reach out his hand so that I could help him balance, when he didn't know where to go, I went ahead of him to show the way, when he fell down and skinned his knee, I was there to pick him up and encourage him to keep going; and when the waters were calm, he ran ahead. 

St. Andrew’s, you have a Good Shepherd who is with you now. To give you confidence, if you feel unsure. Leading the way, on the path of righteousness that he blazed just for you. To restore you, to lift you up when you fall down, and to delight in you as you discover the green pastures and still waters that He leads us to, even now.  

SHEEP

We will start this mornings sermon with a claim from the writer Dallas Willard, “One of the greatest needs today is for people to really see and really believe the things they already profess to see and believe.” 

We are all probably familiar with the phrase, “if you want to know what people really believe, don't so much listen to what they say; as pay attention to how they live.” The words of the 23rd Psalm are some of the most familiar in all of The Bible. They are beautiful words, but they are more than poetry to be read on special occasions, they are an invitation to a life that we all desire. Willard calls this, “a life without lack.” 

At this point you might be saying, a life without lack? 

I lack…let me count the things I lack….

I lack: 

toilet paper,

answers, 

work,

childcare,

patience,

stability, and

sanity, and

the ability to be with the people I love.

Just to name a few, Pastor!

But this is not what David means when he says, I lack nothing. He is not saying that we will never have to go on that journey through the valley of the shadow of death, no he is saying, when, WHEN! WHEN! When will I pass through. 

Life’s difficulties inevitably come our way, but if we have a Good Shepherd to guide us, we have everything we need. 

I have all things and abound; not because I have a good store of money in the bank, not because I have skill and wit with which to win my bread, but because the Lord is my shepherd. -Charles Spurgeon

How did David learn to live a life without lack? First off he knows he is one of God’s Sheep. 

The Lord is my Shepherd 

Right off the bat we discover that this Psalm does not sit well with self sufficiency. Psalm 23 is the song of a mature David, who reveals a deep and personal relationship with God. He says the Lord is My Shepherd. David’s true greatness did not come from his nation, or his army, or his victory over the giant Goliath, rather it came from his ability to rely on God. He started at the bottom, with nothing and nobody to help him, and he ended up the King over God’s chosen people. 

He sinned boldly (as Martin Luther once said), and he worshiped with Power.Through it all David learned, his true identity was that of one of God’s Sheep. Not the most flattering animal to compare oneself too, but by taking on this humble identity, what he got in return, was a benevolent caretaker who knew him by name, saw the value in him, and searched for  him when he wandered from the righteous path. In those times, when he was desperately lost, he knew God would seek him out. Through confession, he knew God’s Grace would bring him back into the fold. In his battles, he knew God would give him the strength to overcome his enemies, and when he did, David offered thanksgiving.

 David, by knowing he was a sheep in God’s pasture, could live a life not determined by his current circumstances. David’s life story transcended his present reality, and allowed him to find his true self, the man God intended him to be. 

Now let us turn our attention to the second part of Psalm 23:1 

The lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

To do so let’s look at a lesser known story from the life of David, that demonstrates how David was able to live a life, wanting for nothing. 

1 Samuel: 22 

David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.

It is in a cave, hiding from his enemies, that David truly learns what it means to be a leader. All the people, with all of their problems, gathered around David, they brought him their distress and discontent. 400 people gathered in a cave, hiding, with nothing to do, but focus on how difficult life had become. (Sound familiar? ish.) 

Now, we might think what happened next is David rose up, gave his best “Brave Heart” speech, and led them out of the cave and into a glorious victory in battle; but no. 

1 Chronicles 11: 17-19, reveals what was really going on with David in the Cave of Adullam. 

At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.  David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”  So the three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the Lord. “God forbid that I should do this!” he said. “Should I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives?” Because they risked their lives to bring it back, David would not drink it.

Oh that someone would get me some water from the gate near Bethlehem? 

You see, what David is saying? Remember back then, when things were simpler. David grew up in Bethlehem. He most certainly would have tended his sheep outside the city, near the gate, and would have often drank from the well.

We might be saying; remember when…when we could go surfing without getting arrested?

Remember when we could go to the store without looking like we’re there to rob it?

Remember when we went to school, went on vacations, celebrated birthdays, anniversaries; you remember, the good old days. 

David is surrounded by problems, all the troubles of his community are being placed at his feet. His community is in crisis, and he is responsible for all of them.  It is no wonder that in a moment of despair, his response is…. remember when things were simpler…ever been there? 

But don’t miss the other story. Three of his mighty men take him seriously. They don’t understand the poet, only the spoken orders of the commander. They can’t help but take David literally, so great is their loyalty and courage.

Times are not simple for David.  Bethlehem, his home had been conquered by the Philistines. So when he says he wants a drink from the well outside its gates, he doesn't think that anyone would actually try and do it. But these three radicals, make it their mission. They risk their lives for a cup of water. But, when they brought it to David he refuses to drink it. Not only that, he pours it out in front of them! Really?! Can you imagine if you were one of these guys! They’re probably thinking they are sure to get a medal, a promotion, something for pulling off this one. Then their leader says, actually, on second thought, “I prefer Gatorade!” 

  Actually, what happens is that David is so aware of the sacrifice that it took to get this water, he sees it as a sacred act. David may be thirsty, but everyone is thirsty. Is he really going to drink this water while his army watches? Some Kings would, but not David. He knows, he is not worthy of this kind of sacrifice, he is no different than his men, he is one with them. He is, like them, one of God’s sheep.  

In that cold dark cave, facing poverty, discontent, distress, and fear, David chooses to  make an offering. He pours out the water. Water taken at great risk, for him; a vanity that he will not endure. Rather, he pours it out as an act of worship to his God.

He is revealing that this ordinary water from a well in Bethlehem, is sacred. David or anyone else are unworthy to drink it. He knows that in the eyes of God it is the sacrifice that makes something sacred.

David is teaching us that a life without lack is a sacramental life. Sacramental living means to look at all of life the way we look at sacraments ( Communion, Baptism). If all of life  is seen as sacramental, then everything becomes sacred for the believer. Every act, every thought, every word becomes sacred.Romans 12:1  puts it this way, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship.When you see the world sacramentally it changes your approach to everything.

It is a direct assault on our desire to control others. 

 This reality that so often when we meet someone, we like them, but over time we discover there are few things we would like to help them change. Of course these changes have to do with making our life a little easier. Naturally, we are the ones who can help them change. So we create a criteria in our head for what they should do, how they should change. And, then often we judge them for not changing into the person we tried to manipulate them into becoming. 

It is a direct assault on how we see ourselves as well. This reality of  how we give ourselves goals, and start evaluating ourselves based on the amount of achievements we accumulate. The ability to have a certain job, a certain lifestyle, a certain friend group, the perfect family. But the things of this world are transitory, and when they pass away, as they inevitably do, that’s when you hit the wall of life, the one you cannot scale alone. 

Then we wind up looking upon our lives with cruel reflection. “I wasted how many years of my life before it blew up in my face? What do I have to show for it?”

But the sacramental tells a different story. Those years you gave of yourself. Those years filled with uncertainty, anguish,  and pain, those were not wasted years. The love you poured out, regardless of the outcome, was sacred. 

Remember David, as he was hunted by his enemies; his hometown is occupied by a hostile army, and he doesn't know how he is going to provide for the people who count on him. He is not exactly winning, but in the midst of it all, he sees an opportunity to make a sacrifice to his God. 

He shows something essential regarding a sacramental life. It is not the outcome that matters, It’s not about the drinking of the water, it’s about the sacrifice. 

Our life with God has never been about worldly achievement, or personal gratification. Rather, it is about the gift, a gift from God, freely given, and meant to be given to others. The gift of a right relationship with our God. When we walk through the truth of the 23rd Psalm, no more do we desire the outcomes of our own schemes, instead we turn our attention away from ourselves, and towards our heavenly Father; and recognize it is all a gift from God. Freely given, and meant to be given by us to others. We need not worry about the outcome, because we have a Shepherd who takes good care of us. 

We might say, “God you are my Shepherd, you know what I need, and I know in both good times and bad, no matter what the score board says, what you care about is the sacrifice.” 

Today, may we take a step back from our ourselves, from our feelings of lack, and recognize the beautiful sacrifice that we are all making for one another. Our mutual sacrifice, on behalf of each other, is sacred. It is the gift freely given, God’s sacrifice given for us, to be freely given by us, to each other. Just as God gave us the atoning sacrifice of His only Son, our lord and savior Jesus Christ.

Easter 2020

The Nature of Daylight

A couple of days ago, I was bored enough to start organizing my shoe closet. As I was sorting through my junk, I happened to find an unopened Amazon package. So I took it out, and asked my wife what it was. She sighed, and told me it was supposed to be Glory’s Easter Sunday dress. Glory is my two year old daughter, and my mom had bought her, and her one year old cousin Leah, matching dresses for Easter.   I opened it, and took in this beautiful little dress, realizing that my baby girl will only be a two year old on Easter morning once, and she would never get a chance to wear this dress to church on Easter. It all caught up with me in that moment, the loss overwhelmed me. What I felt is known as grief. 

Various forms of grief, big or small, have been hitting us all lately, haven't they? 

In crisis, it feels as if the nature of time changes. Things slow down, we forget what day it is, everything seems upside down, disorienting; I feel like I have aged ten years in a month. 

We hear the news of the sick and dying and we grieve; we hear about the destruction of our economy and we grieve; and we hear there is no solution, medical or otherwise, that will rescue us today, and we grieve. It is a time of great sorrow. 

So what does Easter look like today? What are we hoping for in a time like this?

Why get up; way too early in the morning, hoping to catch the sunrise, even if there’s a bad weather report? 

A friend of mine and mentor, Pastor Dave Worth told me he used to host an Easter sunrise service every year, and people would get up extra early, wipe the sleep from their eyes; hoping on this day, they would see all the glorious colors that shine through as the Sun rises. Trouble was; some years it rained. 

Inevitably; someone would say, “Pastor the sun didn't rise this year.” Then he would remind them, “the Sun still rose, you just didn't see it.” 

There is this false, twisted view offered by some, that somehow you have to have it all together; to have a relationship with God. That somehow God only cares about the people who look like they already have it all figured out. 

If you don’t have 2 1/2 kids, a white picket fence, and a cheesy Christian smile on 24/7, God doesn’t know you. Why bother seeking God, He obviously doesn’t know you. But the Truth is, The Bible paints a completely different picture. 

The scriptures are filled with tears, desperate pleas for rescue; salvation. The first time God shows up for the Israelites, it is because He has heard the cries of His people, their lamentations. Yes, there is an entire book called Lamentations; it is filled with vivid imagery of what it means to experience grief. 

In Lamentations; Jeremiah looks upon Jerusalem after it has been decimated by a foreign army. As he looks out upon a sea of destruction; all the things he has given his life to lay in ruins; and he tells us, 

I am a man who has seen affliction… I know nothing but darkness, it feels like my skin and flesh are growing old, and my bones are breaking. I have been deprived of peace and I don’t know what prosperity looks like any more, it is as if a lion lays in wait for me, ready to pounce when I least expect it. Lamentations 3:22-24

There are seasons in life where the long walk from night to day seems like it will last forever, aren’t there? The entire world right now is on this kind of a long walk. Barely able to put one foot in front of the other, wondering if daylight will ever come.  

• Thankfully, it did for Jeremiah; 

  Yet this I call to mind

  and therefore I have hope:

  because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

  for his compassions never fail.

  They are new every morning;

  great is your faithfulness.

  I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

  therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:21-24 

  What Jeremiah is describing is the coming of daylight. No matter how dark the night, we must remember the merciful light of morning is on its way. 

  "Weeping may endure for a night," says the Psalmist, "but joy cometh in the morning.” This is an eternal truth; no matter how dark it is, light will conquer darkness. Jesus is that light, He is the Light of the World, He has come before, He will come again.

  This was especially true on that first Easter. 

    Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

  John 20: 1-2. ….

  Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

  They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

  “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

  He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

  Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

  Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

  She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). John 20:11-16

  Now if you are not careful, you will miss an important detail in this story. It is found in verse 15; where Mary mistakes Jesus for a gardener. 

    Mary Magdalene is the first person to encounter the risen Christ, and it happened in a garden. At first, Mary thought Jesus was the gardener. A logical mistake? A prophetic mistake? A beautiful mistake? Or, perhaps it’s not a mistake at all.

  The story teller, in this one detail, brings together the past, present and future, of all of human history. 

  It reflects the past, when Jesus was present in the Garden of Eden, before those first humans made that fateful decision, selfishly choosing for themselves against the peace of God, the sin that leads to death. A choice that touched us all, as we have similarly chosen, to separate ourselves from God with sin. 

  It tells of Jesus in the present, as he has risen from the grave, the risen Savior of today and always. He remains the gardener, planting our souls with eternal truths, pruning our character to His purposes. Jesus is a gardener! A gardener cultivating salvation; resurrection of life for all who seek him. Jesus is the gardener who makes wastelands into luscious  gardens.

  Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John: 12:24 

  It looked like sin and death had the final word on that fateful Friday, as Jesus died on a Roman cross, but instead a seed was planted. A seed that was watered by Mary's faithful tears, until that magnificent first Sunday of Easter. That promised third day, when we learned that new life was possible, planted in our souls is the seed of eternal life; for all those who chose it, by placing their faith and trust in the resurrected Christ. 

  Lastly, there is the garden of the future, the one our holy gardener has prepared for us. 

  Eden Restored;

  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5

  What does it all mean? It means that we are in; the in between, the time after the first garden, and before the last, a time when pain and suffering fills the world we live in. 

  But the light of day still breaks through; again, and again, and again, until someday it will break through in all of its fullness; for all who put their faith in the gardener of our salvation, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

  To our surprise Jesus tells us that the sunlight of our garden is within us. Jesus told his disciples, “you are the light of the world.” 

  The light of the world looks like this;

  Like Gia Boysen who marched into Costco determined to endure the angry looks of those who might think she was a hoarder; in order to provide over 1,000 lunches, personal items, and canned goods, for the poor, the oppressed, the homeless and disabled. Gia is a light in our world.

  My neighbor, dressed up like superman, handing out free face masks. My neighbor is a light in our world.

  o tirelessly serve us in groceries stores, deliver anything and everything, they are a light in our world.

  Those who protect us, respond first when we are in trouble, injured or afraid, they are a light in our world.

  Those working in health care, the doctors, nurses, ambulance workers, and all who courageously assist them, they are a light in our world.

   Those who encourage others, like our bothers and sisters who held up signs of appreciation at our local hospital, thanking those doctors and health care workers who daily risk their lives for us all, they are a light in our world.

  Beloved brothers and sisters of Redondo Beach take another step, in defiance of the oppression of a pandemic, and add a ray of light to our world. 

  You see Corona virus is not the only thing that is contagious, courage is contagious. 

  It is as Kipling once told us, If you can;

  Watch the things you gave your life to, broken, and stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools, we will then know what it is to rise again. Because, He is risen! He is risen indeed. 

  And lastly know this, Glory wore her new Easter dress today, so is she to me, as we are all to each other, the light of our world.