The Need in our Midst

            I love the last verse of Psalm 19:

                        Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
                        heart be acceptable in your sight, *
                        O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.

Clergy often use those words before preaching.  They are certainly good words that we all ought to keep in mind when we are speaking.  An awful lot of the problems of the world are created by the things that we say.  This current political circus is ample evidence of that.  The media take every word that is said by the politicians and those who want to be politicians and turn them around to mean whatever the media thinks is controversial.  Sometimes I just want to turn away from the television set when all of this stuff starts.  I get tired of the arguments and the posturing and the constant blaming.  I just wish that this election was over and we could get on with the things that need to be done in this country to help everyone.

            Politics is a flammable subject.  Sometimes the small things that we say can flame up into bitter arguments that threaten friendships.  It is important for us to learn to bridle our tongues, as James says in his letter.  It isn’t always important for us to win a political argument if it means losing a friend.  The art of compromise is an important thing for us to accomplish when we have disagreements.  In order to compromise, we need to learn to listen.  Listening is another of the ideas that we sometimes can’t seem to make happen.  That is where the trouble starts.  I think that I would faint if in one of the debates, one of the participants would say “I never thought of that” when his opponent made a point.  Listening doesn’t seem to me to rank very high in the list of political skills, and that is a shame.  The main reason that nothing seems to get done in our nation’s capitol is that those exalted elected leaders don’t listen to one another.  That is why we have gridlock in the government, and it is also why we sometimes have gridlock in our friendships. 

            Jesus was well aware of the importance of his reputation during his years among us.  At one point, he took his disciples aside and asked them a very important question:  Who do people say that I am? They answered him very quickly: Some say that you are John the Baptist, some Elijah, and some say that you are one of the prophets.  Then Jesus asked them the clinching question:  But who do you say that I am?  Peter quickly answered him:  You are the Messiah!

Jesus then told them not to tell anyone.  He then told them all that was going to happen to him, that he would undergo great suffering, be rejected by the elders, the chief Priests and the Scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.  Peter berated him for this and Jesus said to Peter: Get behind me Satan; you are setting your mind on human things, not things heavenly!  He then spoke to the crowd that had gathered telling them to take up their cross and to follow him.  He said: Those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their lives for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will save it.  Paradoxical words from our Lord, but certainly the truth that became the history of Jesus’ life on this earth.

            In that encounter is the crucial question for all of us:  Who do you say that I am?  It is crucial because it affects the way that we order our lives.  If Jesus is not the Christ, not the messiah, then we as humans can do whatever we want.   But if Jesus is truly the Son of God, God in human form, then we have an obligation to follow and to listen and to order our lives around the things that he not only told us to do, but showed us what to do with his life. 

            Several weeks ago, a woman came into the church that I attend asking for help.  Her car was almost out of gas and she and her family had spent the night sleeping in the car with very little resource.  With the help of a couple of the members of that parish, she got her car full of gas, a few dollars in her pocket and her family sent on their way.  That is exactly what we are asked to do by our Lord to the strangers who show up among us.  She wasn’t turned away; nobody said that they couldn’t help her; they just did some small things to make her life a bit more comfortable.  That isn’t something that I want to trumpet to the world to tell everyone what wonderful people church is; but I want to tell all of you about it so that you can see the beautiful core of the Gospel that resides in that place.  May we continue to do as our Lord did and take care of what we find in front of us.  God bless all of you for your faith and for your willingness to share what you have with others.  That is exactly what God has in mind for all of us and for this world