We know why Jesus, why Kwanzaa

On this last day of Kwanzaa, the day when the seventh principle of Imani is lifted up. I post this sermon preached on the second day of Kwanzaa. Please don't get caught up in the grammar. This sermon was written to be preached not read!

We know why Jesus, why Kwanzza?

All Peoples, Milwaukee

Luke 2:41-52

December 27, 2015

Grace and peace to you from God

Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer

As we continue in the season of Christmas

We celebrate the birth of a baby

A baby born to an underaged, unwed mom in what was literally

the equivalent of  a barn

This baby,

despite his underprivileged circumstances,

 is born to be the savior of the world

He is  born to teach to love ,

though some in the world didn’t show him much love

He is born that we might have life

and have it more abundantly

though he didn’t have much

This morning

we see that this baby that brought the divine into the ordinary

has grown into a boy child

He was 12,

for us just short of being a teenager

and everything that implies

and in Jewish culture just short of being a man.

In other words

the writer of the text wants us to know that

 Jesus is still a boy

subject to his parents dictates

The bible tells us that they were looking for him

Wondering and worrying about where their child was after three days

and when they find him

he answers them surprised that they didn’t already understand

where he had been and what he was doing

that he was listening to and asking questions of the religious leaders

He tells them:

Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house

in other translations

his reply

“I had to be about my father’s business”

This boy child who was born into a world of  strife,

oppression a political and economic system

that kept one group of people down,

to keep others ensconced in privilege

Things were so serious when Jesus was born that he and his family became refugees because the king was afraid

afraid that this baby,

this child would threaten his power and authority

Today we read,

 when his mother finds him,

instead of being mad at him

 she treasures these things in her heart.

Because as Jesus said

“I had to be about my Father’s business.”

His father’s business was the businees of. . .

turning things around,

lifting up the lowly

filling the hungry with good things

guiding our feet in the way of peace

giving knowledge of salvation to the people

As we celebrate this 1^st Sunday of Christmas and this second day of Kwanzaa

we understand why Jesus

……

Why Kwanzza?

I sure that you guys already know that

Kwanzaa was birthed in the1960’s

during the height of the civil rights movement

when the Black Panthers, US and SNCC, Commandos

were fighting for the rights of Blacks,

when MLK was preaching non-violence

When it came to the rights of the Negro as we were called back then

This country was a mess.

Blacks were fighting for the right to vote,

the right to live wherever they wanted

Blacks were fighting for education and for the success of their children

to achieve what was back then the American Dream

Yet, the system, the government, the world as it was did everything it could to deny those rights.

As if black lives didn’t matter….

Kwanzaa was born,  49 years ago as Maulena Karenga

pulled together different aspects and elements of African Culture

language of kiswahill from East Africa,

the strength and determination and colorfulness of West Africa

to give African Americans a holiday that connected them to their roots

……

Kwanzaa was born

in an era of marches and protests

In the 1960’s when I was a child,

there were images on black and white television screens

as police officers turned hoses on protesters

and loosed dogs on them in an attempt as they would say….

 to keep order, but whose order?

…………………

and what are we seeing now?

All over our television screens we are seeing

the video tapes of the death of  our children,

the unlawful arrest of our sisters

the nonindictment or acquittal of those who take lives instead of keeping peace

we see such unjust treatment in so many places

Yeah we know why Jesus because the world still needs a savior,

violence, poverty, oppresion

even in Brazil that has the largest population of African descent persons

outside of Africa.

While Afro –Brazillians make up over 50 percent of the population in Brazil workers earn less than half of the lighter skinned population

Yes this world needs a savior

to turn around systems of oppression

to lift up the lowly and send the mighty away…….

…….

 Why Kwanzza?

Because no matter how far we have come in this country

 as African Americans

there is still so far to go

 because of  the history, of being

foreceable being brought to this country and needed for labor

In the 1800’s an ideological theory of the inferiority of those with darker skin was constructed that allowed for the systemic  enslavement and continue mistreatment of blacks,

all over the world

The people of the world can’t get in their minds that black lives matter,

because of course you know

to be correct, we’re told….

all lives matter

Why Kwanzaa

because of sterotypes, because of injustices….like slavery

redlining, separate but equal school systems,

the prison indistrial complex

Why Kwanzaa because

of Dontre, Darius, Trayvon, Tamir, Eric, Freddie, Sandra, Michael, Tyshawn,

the Charleston 9

And so many whose names you know

…….

Kwanzza is

Not religious or political but in the midst of an injust world we need something that is cultural

that speaks to those of African descent of where we come from

and helps us determine where we are going.

something that reminds us that black lives matter

And we need the seven principles of the Nguzo Saba

Umoja, Kujichaquila, Ujima, Ujamaa,

Nia, Kuumba, Imani

We need these principles-- the concept of unity so that we will stand together in times of trouble,

self determination---

so that we know we have the strength to decide our lives,

our realities and who and what we will be as individuals 

how and what we will do as a community

So that we have faith not only in a savior but in ourselves and in others

Karenga said it so well as he writes about the focus of this year’s celebrations

“The Nguza Saba is a Black value system. . . directing our lives toward good and expansive ends,

and towards conceiving and bringing into being the good communities,

societies and world we all want and work and struggle so hard to bring into being.”

……..

because we are those who follow Christ

those who celebrate the birth of a saviour

celebrating Kwanzaa helps us put the two together

In our text,

Jesus, the boy who will save the world has now discovered who he is

and is not afraid to let his earthly parents know that their priorities for his safety are not his,

“I had to be about my father’s business.”

………..

These seven principles strengthen us to be about the business of the community and the uplift of a people

To be about the business of speaking up and out about injustice,

to be about the business of educating the next generation

to be about

loving each other as God loves us

It’s been over forty years since the civil rights movement

and a new generation of young people has been come to understand racism and inequality, still exist

There was a whole generation that was raised to think

everything was okay or at least better

The proof that many pointed to is that a black man made it into the white house

Some of us never thought that would happen.

 This reality seemed to anger main stream America so much that all hell has broken loose

This black man in the white house has faced criticism and lack of cooperation that seems unprecedented

And yet Obama was elected to a second term

and has improved the finacial condition of the country though his critics don’t want to believe it

Despite all of this racism still exists!

It’s Christmas and we know why Jesus….

because through it all we have something to hold on to

because he brought us this far by faith

because we come too far to turn back now

because we know Jesus loves us

because black lives matter

Why Kwanza?

Because the world hasn’t figured out yet how to love black people

the world doesn’t belive that black lives matter

whether in the Central African Republic

where the poorest of the poor live

where the country has been in strife since 2012

Have you heard about that on the nightly news?

because who cares about poor black people whether on the continent of Africa

or  Baltimore, Ferguson, Chicago

where black boys, black men…….girls and women

don’t even warrant due process

Yeah we need Jesus

the one who died on a cross

and rose from the grave so that even

we know that we matter,

that God’s love is for the entire world

not just a few….

You know :

“for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whomsoever believes”

he sent this boy child into the world!

Yeah we need Jesus

and we need this celebration

of Kwanzaa so we don’t forget

no matter what anyone says

Black Lives Matter!

Do You Not Care That We Are Perishing?

"Teacher, is it nothing to you that we are going down?'

"Do you not care that we are perishing?"

This text from Mark chapter 4 appears in the lectionary on this June 21, a Sunday in ordinary time. It is the story of Jesus getting in the boat to get to the other side, the other side of the lake. Whether it is to preach to others gathered or just to get away we don't know.  I have read sermons today that speculate that Jesus was going to the other side to meet with those who were other, different than those on the side of the lake he was leaving.

What we are sure about is that while they were going a storm rose and there was wind and waves and trouble.  The scripture reads in Eugene Peterson's translation of the text in The Message., "And  Jesus was in the stern,  head on a pillow sleeping!"

I wonder was he really sleeping, or was he "playing possum" as my grandmother would say, pretending to be asleep waiting for his disciples or someone else on the boat to take care of the problem, to batten down the hatches and ride out the storm, or steer a course away from the rough seas. Was he waiting to see what the people who followed him would do?

"Teacher do you not care that we are perishing?" was the question.

I haven't posted on this blog since July of 2013 when I was writing in response to the acquittal of,  George Zimmerman,  the man who killed Trayvon Martin. Anyway, I was writing to my dark skinned boys to say how much I loved them and to ponder whether the absence of love in our lives matters.

Yes, it has been two years since I have made any entry.  Today I am writing because we are only days away from the murder of nine African Americans: Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Rev. Depayne Middleton, Rev. Clement Pinkney, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Daniel L. Simmons and Myra Thompson. They were killed by a 21 year old white boy who mouthed racist rants and shot them. What is worst than the heinous murder of nine people, what is worst then the racial rants, as if that is not enough, is that they were shot down in a church during a bible study. Yes, a bible study, where this man was welcomed with opened arms, a bible study where the members of Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina were discussing the word of God and talking about God's goodness.

"Do you not care that we are perishing?"

What this horrendous event has done is opened up for me the wounds and pain of growing up  and living while Black in the United States of America. Rev. Billy Michael Honor, a preacher in Atlanta writes, "Being Black in America is exhausting. Constantly having to navigate the perils of the color line and having to live within a system that repeatedly reminds you of your contested existence is beyond burdensome."

I, like Rev. Honor, know too well what it means to navigate the system, to try and try to prove again and again that you belong, that you are smart enough to do the job, that you deserve a chance, that you are not the cook or the janitor at the place where you preach and preside at table. Yes, I have endured these things, but I know that this is par for the course for being Black in the U. S. of A. I have lived long enough to know that being Black comes with hazards, whether you are driving in the suburbs or shopping. Yet, the events of this week have hurt me to my core and left me weeping.

Before this week I had smacked my lips, prayed about and railed against the incidence of injustices that happened in the last two years: the murders of Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Tamar Rice, Reka Boyd,  Ferguson, Baltimore.... just to name a few. I shook my head and prayed about the incident just this month of the manhandling  by a white police officer of a teenaged Black girl in a bikini at a pool party in a mostly white neighborhood in McKinney, Texas. I have even been left speechless this month by the idea of a white woman parading around as Black. Being hired and using the identity as an African American to her advantage to gain prestige and to be taken as an expert on Blackness. But this, the murder of nine people at a Bible Study in an historically Black church. This is too much!

"Teacher is it nothing to you that we are going down?"

Over the years our society has been debating whether or not we have reached a post-racial period in our history. This was especially the conversation after the presidential election of 2008. Of course, we are post-racial. See, we elected a Black man as president of the United States of America. Isn't that proof enough? I have even had a fellow clergy person in the ELCA tell me there was no more racism because, at that time, I was a successful pastor in a predominately white congregation --- as if that were the measure of the end of racism. Folks, let me tell you racism is far from over.

In case you don't understand let me define racism. Racism is the social construct that decides that one group of people, because of skin color, physical features or parentage is inferior to another. Systemic racism is prejudice plus power. It ". . . involves having the power to carry out systemic discriminatory practices through the major institutions of our society." We live in a racist society, because "whites dominate and control the institutions that create and enforce American cultural norms and values." The problem with racism is that most white people don't recognize that they receive "benefits automatically, unconsciously, unintentionally."  So if they are not in someones face yelling racial slurs most whites believe they are not racist, yet whites, as I said benefit in American society just because they are white.

Racism isn't always in our faces, most of the time it is those subtle things. So when an incident of clear racial hatred occurs most people are shocked! We must realize that a racist society produces the opportunity for subtle and yes, extreme racial hatred.

Lately, every time we lift up our heads there is another incident that shows that racial hatred is alive and well in this country. As a matter of fact it may have made a resurgence. We might have felt like we were in a post-racial era, because the voices of hatred weren't as loud. They were there, I am sure, but just under the surface.  I can't help but feel that racial hatred is back with a vengeance, perhaps because of the fear of lost of control after the election of our first Black president. "You people are taken over and this has to stop," the killer uttered.

"Master, carest thou not that we perish"

I am convinced that Jesus cares, I am convinced that Jesus is able to do something about this storm, this wind and waves that are buffeting us about so much so that we might drown, go under, or perish.

In the fourth chapter of Mark, Jesus fixed the problem. Jesus has the power to do that. Jesus loves us and does care whether or not we perish. So Jesus spoke to the wind and waves and calmed the sea. But then, Jesus reprimanded the disciples: "Why are you such cowards?" "Don't you have any faith at all?" It is though he is saying to all of us. "Of course I care, but haven't I loved you enough that you might care? You batten down the hatches! You steer the boat in another direction! You do something to get us out of this storm of racism, hatred and injustice!" Do you not care that you are perishing?

Yes, Jesus loves and yes Jesus has the power to calm the storms; yet, I am asking you my brothers and sisters, "Do you not care that we are perishing?" Through the power of God's love what will you do to stand up to racism? Will you call out your friends when they tell that "off color" joke? Will you investigate the practices of your company--in hiring, in lending, in everything and see if they are discriminatory? Will you stop being shocked and become a little more outraged at the incidence that keep on happening in our communities? The disciples asked Jesus, "is it nothing to you that we go down?" And Jesus did something. Will you?

I hope you do care and can hear my rambling.

Here is a list of articles you might read on the internet:
 "White Fragility and the Rule of Engagement"
 "Conspiracy of Silence" Jim Rigby
 "My Commitment to Social Justice Does Not Mean I Hate White People" Michelle Denise Jackson
 "11 Ways White America Avoids Taking Responsibility for Racism" Dr. Robin Diangelo
 "A Beginner's Guide To Becoming An Ally To The Black Community"

For My Dark-Skin Boys

What can I say that has not already been said? Countless numbers of my friends and colleagues have commented on the conclusion of George Zimmerman's trial. In the past, when national, political or social catastrophic events have occurred I have had a forum. I have been in the pulpit taking the word of God and trying to shine it on the situation of the day. No longer serving a parish, this time I had no such forum. So, I struggle to figure out what I would have said to my upper middle class predominately white congregation in the light of a not guilty verdict. I don't know, but I know now I have to write.

The text for the Sunday after the verdict was from Luke 10. It was the story of the Good Samaritan. We know the story so well; we have heard it over and over again. The lawyer wants to win an argument with Jesus or show that he is righteous before God, so he asks Jesus a question: “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus does what Jesus is prone to do, he answers the lawyer with his own questions “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He is talking to a lawyer, so of course this lawyer knows the law. He was trying to prove how smart he was.  We too know the reply; so say it with me …..”You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus affirms that the lawyer gets it right, but before I write about the next question the lawyer asks, I have a question of my own. Did George Zimmerman love himself?

Go with me for just one moment. There is something in my spirit that tells me that this neighborhood watch guy had no idea how to love himself. At least, he didn’t know how to love that part of himself that was a person of color. I have read articles and post that posit that this incidence, this killing of a young black male couldn’t have been about race, because Zimmerman is Hispanic. Really? I ask. His mother is from Peru, but did he embrace his Hispanic-ness? his brownness? Could he laugh, talk, dance, relate as a Latino? I don’t know. I do know he had a hard time loving his neighbor and this makes me think he doesn’t love himself. Someone who needs to carry a gun....someone who was always calling to report when someone else was doing wrong -- Was he trying to prove he was better, or smarter or show himself righteous? Someone who has taken it on himself to be the guardian of streets in a non-official capacity, seems to me is trying to find self-esteem in these endeavors, a place to belong, authority outside of himself. Seems to me he was looking for affirmation, attention possibly love.

The lawyer asks "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus tells him a story that contains violence, that speaks of difference, that reveals enemies. This story tells how one man responds when their is a stranger, an enemy someone he should despise is in his neighborhood. So let me talk a little about neighborhoods for a moment.

I have also heard the question: "what is the black community so upset about when so many young black men kill each other right in their own neighborhoods?" I now live in Chicago and since I moved here in November, I cannot count the times I have heard of another shooting on the Southside of the city. Little dark-skin boys are being killed by little dark-skin boys. This is absolutely horrific. I cannot fully answer those who ask such a question. Yet, I do have a hypothesis. If the only thing you heard from society, on television, in the media, if the culture you grow up in has no respect for and does not love you, it is hard for you to love yourself. So, you act out because of oppression, systemic racism, lack of economic opportunity, poor educational systems as if you hate yourself by exhibiting power over those who look like you. I would say little dark-skin boys kill other little dark-skin boys in the broader context because they have a hard time loving themselves. You see over and over again in this society they are told they are worthless…….and so they become worthless.

Many will now point out that there are many successful dark-skin men and I would say yes, of course. Perhaps, these are some of those who have learned to love themselves. I know my hypothesis sounds simplistic, but it is so complicated. I don't know how to instill love in those who see themselves as unloved. I further believe, until we figure this out, until we as a country can love and embrace them, little dark-skin boys will continue to be victims of violence. They will continue to kill and be killed trashing each other, their neighborhoods and live in fear of walking in other neighborhoods.

There is no reason that Trayvon Martin should have felt that he didn’t belong in that neighborhood. His father lived there. I wonder if the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho thought he was in a place that he didn't belong. The religious folk obviously thought he didn't belong and  wasn't worth their help because they passed on the other side. It wasn't until the person most despised, a Samaritan, stopped did this injured man find help. When, where and how will our society be helped? When will little dark skin boys be deemed worthy of our patience, compassion, and kindness (we have to get there before we can get to love)?

The Sunday morning after the verdict I sat and read posts on facebook and I cried; I shed tears for all the dark skin men in my life. I cried for my son, my nephew, my cousins and their sons. I sobbed when I thought of my grandsons Jawon and Kerry. I want them to know they are loved. I want them to know they are made in the image of God and God loves them. I want them and all little dark skin boys and girls to feel this love, to know this love. I want them to walk in this world as though they love themselves and others. Now, I can’t guarantee that those they encounter will walk in the same way. I cannot guarantee that they will be safe and that breaks my heart. Yet, I want them to live in love and to love their neighbor.

I am so sorry, so sad, so f'ing angry that George Zimmerman did not know what it meant to love himself or his neighbor. I am so sorry that he could not identify himself in another man of color. I feel a mixture of anger, disgust and pity for him. But I am going to stop wasting my time thinking about him.

I wonder out loud: how do we keep this from happening again? What can be done to change the law and change attitudes? How do we in this country act, behave, be neighbors to one another black, white, yellow and brown? How do we love self and other? That is what Jesus calls us to do.

Jesus asked the lawyer, "Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" The lawyer answered, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus doesn't simply say to him that he has the right answer. There is no pat on the back or prize. Jesus does not care that he is smart or strong or that he has authority. Out of love Jesus issues a simple statement: "Go and do likewise."

Might we show each other a little mercy, a little kindness, a little love!

Just rambling

My Story

"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." (Psalm 40:5)

As I I sit here the song "Life and Favor" is playing in my ears. The first words of the song are "You don't know my story." How true these words are for all of us. When we look at a person, we have no idea the story behind the person we see standing in front of us. I feel these words are especially true for me right now. Those who look at me, who see me now, have no idea of the things that I have gone thru. They have no idea of the things that I have had to overcome: poverty, lack of education, divorce, single motherhood, low self-esteem. There has been a long road to where I am now: multiple degrees, pastor, position in global mission. 

Some people may think that this life was planned. They would be wrong. Some think that I pushed and pulled and manipulated my way here; they would be wrong. My journey has been more like one crisis after another averted and then a move on. This is not my own doing. For me to have orchestrated my path would have been impossible.

I know despite what anyone says or thinks that this, my present life situation, is all God. I have gotten here inspite of myself, my faults, my mistakes, my inadequecies. My only prayer is that my life might be a witness, a testimony to the Grace and Glory of God.

I'm just rambling.

Rejoice?

“O Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.” (Psalm 98:1)

As I write, my joy in this holiday season is a bit subdued. From November until now, since I moved to Chicago, I have been unpacking boxes, furnishing an apartment and pretty much spending every waking movement that I am not learning about my job and West Africa trying to make myself at home. I haven’t put up a Christmas tree or done any substantial decorating for the holiday. I have not had the pleasure of unpacking family ornaments and placing them one by one on the tree; there is not enough time or inclination. To add to that, I miss my husband who is still in New Jersey. My life transition makes me think of all those who are away from loved ones this holiday season. I am reminded of those who serve in the military, those who work late nights, weekends and holidays. I’m reminded of those on a continent far away.  I hear the words of David singing, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre with the lyre and the sound of melody.”  I can’t seem to move my mouth to rejoice. Yet, it’s Christmas.

Here in the US there’s music everywhere. In the malls, grocery stores and office buildings, everywhere I go I hear the happy sounds of Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Noise Reindeer and Christmas Carols. People are dressed up in the colors of the season. Sparkling reds and greens, ornate Christmas sweaters and Santa hats make up the outfits du jour. But, I can’t get out of my mind the images of the twenty children and their teachers who were gunned down in Connecticut earlier this month. The images of those beautiful six and seven year olds remind me of all the babies I have had the privilege to baptize as a pastor, all the children that I introduced to the bible in third grade. I think of all the young people I have had the opportunity to watch grow as a parish pastor. I think of my grandson and my heart breaks, tears flow and I try unsuccessfully to move my mouth to rejoice. I know it is Christmas.

The violence in Connecticut brings to the forefront the violence we see on the streets of US cities every day. Since I have been in Chicago, numbers of people have been shot or stabbed or affected by violence in some fashion. I read the news reports of violence in Syria, Nigeria and the rebels who are capturing one town after another in the Central African Republic. What are they fighting for: justice, freedom a different way of life or power and money? No matter, it chills me to know that there is no peace on earth. I want what we sing about, hope and pray for at Christmas!

Yes, it’s Christmas and we know that the peace, the love, the joy we sing about is here in the faces of our children, in our loved ones and in the promise that a babe born in a manger brings. Yet, that peace, that love, that joy is not yet fully experienced, fully available fully present in our world.

Yes, it’s Christmas and we celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, Emmanuel-God with us. Jesus comes into the world as a vulnerable child, showing us that God loves us enough to take on human flesh, to live as we do, to be vulnerable and to give up this fleshy life on a cross for our salvation.

Remembering this, knowing this my mouth moves and I can “sing a new song to the Lord." My joy may be a little subdued, my life may be in transition, the news may not be good, but it's Christmas....So I will, I can, I shall rejoice because, "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness [will not, cannot, shall not] did not overcome it." 

May you too rejoice!

Blessed Christmas

Pr. Andrea

Enough
Last Sunday at St. John’s

1 Kings 17:8-16

November 11, 2012

Grace, mercy and peace to you from 

God our Creator, Jesus our redeemer and the Holy Spirit the one who sustains us.

I want to say a tremendous amount in this sermon this morning. I want to be able to explain the text perfectly because it’s my last sermon with you. I want to use it to kick off a financial stewardship campaign because it is that time of year again. I want to be able to talk about little Frederick Vincent Stoll as he is baptized and remind you of the baptismal life that we share.

I want to adequately express to you how much you all mean to me; how you have helped me to grow and strengthened me for the next call, the new journey, the adventure that God has prepared for me. I want to put into words how much I love you. And I know it won’t all get done and I will fall short. So, I’ll just talk about our first lesson.

..................

Go with me on the path leading to the town of Zarephath. Here we will find Elijah. Elijah is a prophet who has just before our text today been living a very sparse life: You see he had dared to predict a drought in the name of the Lord and there is indeed a severe drought in the land. 

This drought will not end until Elijah says so. So, I imagine to avoid recriminations and repercussions from the people who are suffering because of this prediction God had Elijah hide himself by the Wadi Cherith, which is a little brook. There he is fed by ravens a ration of bread and meat both morning and evening.

We find him here because of the brook has dried up because there is no rain. “Then the word of the Lord came to him saying, Arise go to Zarephath which belongs to Sidon”

He starts on his journey to Zarephath because God has told him that a woman will provide for him. Seems impossible in the middle of a drought when there is scarcely food for anyone.

Yet, Elijah has every reason to trust God after all up until now God’s word has been trustworthy and true.

As he enters the town he sees a widow gathering sticks and he says to her “Please get me a little water in a jar that I may drink.”and while your at it. “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”

.....

You should hear Vicar Blake’s outrage at Elijah’s request from the widow…"How dare he?

….in the midst of all that she is going through…in her fear and in the pain of not being able to care for her son…to keep her son nourished and fed to have this stranger, this foreigner who comes asking her to share with him the little she has.This is outrageous!….Isn’t it?"

After all she tells him,“I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Can't Elijah get a clue?  Elijah persists. He utters those famous biblical words, “Do not be afraid.” And we know something is about to happen.

One commentator asks in Sundays and Seasons:

“How would you live if you were not afraid? Fear is used by politicians to gain our votes, by the media to get our attention, by advertising firms to sell us what we don’t need, and by TV evangelist to get our donations. What fear is used against us? The fear that we won’t have enough or won’t get our share.” 

“We struggle with feelings of scarcity despite the abundant world that God has created.”

Yet, when the widow shares her paltry meal with Elijah, she discovers in her risky generosity that the abundance of God will, can, does supply her basic needs. This widow is connected with the bounty and abundance of God.

The bible tells us that the jug of oil did not fail. There was enough: enough for Elijah, enough for the widow's son, enough even for the widow.  The bible reminds us of God’s provision and God’s abundance. "They ate for many days."

We have been living a little sparse lately---hurricanes, power outages, snow storms.

Many of us have lost loads of food, warmth from our homes, and have almost lost our minds.

But again and again I have seen the offers of generosity, heard of friends taking in friends, estranged families helping each other.

So here’s my stewardship pitch. In the light or darkness of all we have been through

in the last few weeks, we have the opportunity to continue to risk generosity. We know that there are those who are still suffering, those still without lights or heat or provisions, those who have lost everything. And though we may not have much we have enough to share. We can respond to the goodness of God in our lives.

We can be like this widow and give food to Loaves and Fishes, give food and clothing through community agencies, give money to Lutheran Disaster Response, the Red Cross and to St. John’s, so this congregation can continue to be known as a warm and welcoming place,

There might not be much for sure---much energy, much patience, much well--- just not much. But there has been enough. Enough to take us through these strange and frightening weather conditions.There is enough!

Enough for the people of St. John’s to weather the storms of transition. All the stuff happening at St. John’s--- with the beloved musician gone and even the pastor leaving. Talk about being pushed over the edge. And though right now there isn’t much called staff here---there is enough!

Look around you. Look around at your family and friends. Look around at the fellow members of this community of faith: at the talented musicians; at the capable and quick intern; at the tenacious and efficient staff; at the detail oriented council. If you aren’t paying attention it may not seem like much. But look at God’s provision, God’s abundance. It’s enough to get you through these changes, to help you in a call process and into the next phase of your wonderful life together…

Elijah sat by the brook and wondered how he was going to be fed and God provided; he walked into Zarephath and met a widow who was looking to die, yet God provided. Hurricanes, winds and snow storms and we’re still here. God provides.

.......................... 

And God promises. For St. John’s God’s promises are trustworthy and true. The promises that come to us through Jesus on a cross and in an empty tomb. The promise that little Frederick Vincent Stoll will receive today. These promises are of God’s unconditional love, grace, mercy and forgiveness…. 

God’s provision and God’s promises are what has held me up through the last nine and ½ years. Some of which were a little rocky.

And these promises will hold all of you. 

These promises might not seem like much when you are going through a hard time, when all hell is breaking loose in your life, when the power, the energy, the resources are scarce. Yet, God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, God’s love never fails. Especially when we see God’s love through helping hands, family and friends who come together to help one another, through the prayers and support of those all over the country and the world, through the community of faith. May not seem like much but, it’s enough.

All the widow had was some meal and a little cruet of oil and it was enough.

As they say in the black church tradition “It may not run over, but it won’t run out.”

To remind you no matter what your going through, no matter your fears, God gives enough

I have a gift for you a little vial of oil. It may not seem like much, but it symbolizes the oil you were anointed with in your baptism.  The oil that traced the sign of the cross on your forehead as you were, "Marked with the Cross of Christ forever."

It is a token of my love for you and a reminder of God’s unconditional love for us all.

Remember: "It may not run over, but it will not run out."

It's ENOUGH!

Amen