Friends, as I said in the bulletin message for this week; the chosen scriptures call us to service in the footsteps of our brother, Jesus.  And we see clearly what that service will entail—it is and will be about meeting people where they are—loving them there and doing what we can for them there.

I think many times we are like those first followers of Jesus—we want to choose where we will serve,  at our convenience, and for only those whom we find acceptable.   Jesus’ followers in the gospel today didn’t want to be bothered with some “screaming creature” on the side of the road. But Jesus shows them the way—“Call him here.” And then he does an even more astounding thing—he asks Bartimaeus what he wants Jesus to do for him. This is clearly not about Jesus’ agenda—he wants to do for Bartimeus what Bartimeus needs, a good reflection for the bishops as they conclude their Synod on the Family.  I reflect on this when I’m deciding what to do with my time in retirement—is it all about me or is my heart big enough to truly discover what people need and then do it? It truly is a work in progress, because I am as human as the next one.

I am encouraged in this journey—struggle really, to do what people most need as I read Nadia Bolz-Weber’s, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People.  I recall an incident where she was called to do the funeral of a young, suicide victim, someone not from her parish and on one of only three days her had off in that month.  Everything human within her was saying, “No, I can’t,” yet, within another place, came, “I have to do this!” The family said they would understand if she couldn’t and she left it with, “I will get back to you.” Within a short time, she called the family back and agreed to do the funeral.

Something, actually Someone, was calling her to fulfill what this family grieving the loss of a beloved son to suicide—probably one of the most horrible ways to lose a child, most needed and wanted. Families of suicide victims always agonize over what more they could have done or said to have prevented this tragedy and see it as a failure to have been there for a loved one. Within some belief systems it is even seen as an unforgiveable sin by God.  Nadia assured this grieving family that “God is always present in love and suffering and that God was present both the moment Billy entered this world and the moment he left it, loving him back into the arms of his Creator.”  This was all his family, not religious, needed and wanted to know, and they thanked her.  Would someone else have been able to do the same for this family if they could have even found someone—we don’t know.     Now having said that, I do feel the responsibility of throwing into the mix, for those of you who give tirelessly, the caution of taking care of ourselves too—it’s a balancing act.

In our lives as baptized followers of Jesus, the Christ, we are called and in fact have the responsibility to carry on his work of love in our world.  Sometimes it is like planting seeds; we may not harvest the fully grown plant, but we still have the responsibility of getting things going and growing.

More than fifty years ago, a man of the people, Angelo Roncalli, now Saint John XXIII, pope, brother and friend to all, was about getting things going— in his words, “Opening some windows,” letting some fresh air into our Church, long stagnating, falling short of the message and work of Jesus—he was truly about Jesus’  work—that of loving, simply loving.  Today, another man of God, by the name of Francis is attempting to once again let fresh air into the Church.  He “gets it”—the idea of loving and extending mercy and moving away from the trappings of power so long associated with the hierarchy in Rome. It is the hope of many women that his love and mercy will extend to us as well; that he might make the connections to the poverty of women and their children in this world really starting at his doorstep by his inability to see and treat them as equals.

It is the needs of people, where we find them that the readings are really speaking about and calling us to today.  Jesus told the people of his time that “the reign of God” is here now, among you.   He also talked about the “harvest” and I think we can get our minds and hearts around that notion when talking about the great gathering of all of God’s people at the end of time.  Jesus’ teachings and parables are filled with this kind of terminology because it was language that the people understood.

Fifty years ago when our brother John was about opening windows to let fresh air into our Church and to basically get us back to the message of Jesus, language that was not understandable or readily used in the world (Latin) was dropped from the liturgy—the idea being, we want the Scriptures—God’s  Word to be more intelligible—we want God to be better understood, closer to us. What a wonderful idea!

But, for whatever reason, Church fathers tend to want to push God further away, keep HIM (their word, not mine) more mysterious, so that they, I believe, can have control over what we believe.  This has been the struggle these 50 years since our brother, John, left us and it would seem one that continues today as we have watched the Synod on the Family march through its paces. There is just the smallest bit of hope this morning in the news in their final document that communion for the divorced and remarried may able to happen on a case by case basis.

These many-times, entrenched Church fathers really missed the Spirit-led joy of the Second Vatican Council that called for more and greater participation of the laity in Church matters.  An issue that Vatican II didn’t address because it wasn’t yet time was gender equality, but now it is time! Church fathers’ blatant sexism at this Synod was only too apparent as 18 men from religious orders were invited, none of them bishops, and each was given a vote.  Of the religious women invited, not one was given a vote!  It is time!

Gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender rights were not dealt with at Vatican II—it was not yet time—but it is time now! Not allowing all the voices at the table gives us a “poor” Church, one where the Spirit of God cannot fully be heard or acted upon and until and unless this happens, it strikes a death knell for our beloved Church.

The Scriptures today are very clear.  Jeremiah speaks of a time when all people will be gathered together—not just the rich and the famous, but the blind and the lame, the pregnant women and children—all the outcasts of society—we might add those of the “wrong” gender or sexual orientation.  The reading from Hebrews speaks of Jesus as the high priest and the gospel reading shares the wonderful story of Bartimaeus who is cured of his blindness. Even in that much of a review, we see the intention of the Spirit to include all under the high priest Jesus who in fact did include all.

Jeremiah is talking about a future time when all will be one, gathered and welcomed.  Jesus is indeed named as high priest, but this distinction, came as a result of his giving of himself for the many, for us—in his life, his death, his resurrection—all of it.  Bartimaeus receives his sight from Jesus’ intervention; but as Jesus said, it was Bartimaeus’ faith that saved him.

I think this is an important piece for each of us to remember—Jesus isn’t just running around performing stunts to amaze—he is very much engaging people, meeting them in their need and responding accordingly.  I believe too, what Jesus, our brother and loving God is calling forth in each of us, beginning with Bartimaeus today, is the fruits of the cure—the transformation in our lives.  The scripture says that Bartimaeus immediately began to follow Jesus along the road.  We can assume that it meant that he would become more like the one he followed.

As we know, Jesus’ words and actions always carried a deeper message than what appeared on the surface.  Here today, Bartimaeus is the depiction of someone who cannot physically see.  From the story, we realize that he has spiritual sight through his faith in someone greater than himself.  The question comes to each of us as well—what are the areas in our lives where we are blinded to a larger truth?

I think we are all blinded at times as we rush around tending to the cares of life—so much so that we miss the beauty of our ever-changing earth, especially here in the Midwest with our delightful change of the seasons.  And most importantly perhaps, how often are we blinded to the beauty and joy that family and friends and others—friends yet to be, do and can bring into our lives? We were astounded again by the wonder and goodness of our family to keep things going during our sojourn to Alaska—those who came and picked our garden, saving some for our return, many family people, especially our son Isaac and his wife, Lauren who disrupted their lives every weekend leaving their Minneapolis home to come and mow the Redig Family Farm’s extensive lawns, along with Dick Dahl and all of you for keeping things going here at the parish.

How often do we take our families and friends for granted when all is going well?  I, as you have had times in life that make us realize how fragile we are—how fragile life is, and of how there are no guarantees.  So, I personally want to take my life more  seriously, being more mindful and take my responsibility to share life with all whom God puts in my path, realizing that if I choose to see, to truly see, I can assist others who themselves , simply want to see—in whatever way that might be! We are called friends by our brother Jesus to the table, to life, to participation, to the sight that includes all, leaves no one behind. Let us turn our backs on those who would thwart the work of Vatican II saying that we need to go back. Our response should be to say, yes, let’s go all the way back then to the time and words of Jesus. We must keep pushing forward, doing the work of the kindom, opening windows, planting the seeds that others may have to harvest as did Good Pope John—listening, truly listening to the Spirit that calls each of us to life and to love in the here and now. And, let the people say—AMEN!

Friends, we all have images in our memories of incredible suffering that has been inflicted upon people in our country and around the world, and we wonder, “why.” We are aware of suffering experienced due to human trafficking, ignorance, poverty, war, gender inequality, sexual expression, gun violence, and we wonder if it has to be this way. What is missing in the human will and consciousness that allows such situations to go on?  Is it apathy, greed, frustration at trying and not succeeding to solve these problems, or all of the above?

We are all faced with the question—what’s the point of it all? What’s the point of all the suffering?  Our religious tradition has tried to give answers to why people are subjected to so much pain—people ask; if God is so good, why does God allow this?

The readings for today could be considered, troublesome.  We hear of servants “being crushed” in Isaiah; Hebrews says that Jesus too “was tested” and in our Gospel, two of Jesus’ closest friends and disciples are told they must drink the cup of suffering that he does.  On face value, this is not a very consoling message.  In all of these readings one person is called to suffer for others—and our sense of justice cries out—is that fair?  But maybe, that is the wrong question.  Both the servant and Jesus have moved past that question to a greater point—they are seeking to bring good out of the suffering.

The reality my friends, is that suffering simply is a part of human existence—we all get our crosses along the way; illness, job loss, marriages that fail, children that lose their way for our best efforts to guide them, and death—it comes to us all, one day.

I would offer that rather than get caught up in “why?” the suffering, “who caused it? –or “where should I lay the blame?”—the grander point seems to be, as our brother Jesus did, in bringing some good out of the suffering.

Many in this community had the opportunity this past week to hear the story of a woman pastor, ordained in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America), Nadia Bolz-Weber as she visited our community and challenged her listeners in several presentations to basically be true to themselves and true to the message of Jesus.  She is a striking presence in her tall, lithe frame, ripped jeans, tattooed arms and colorful language, but even she says, that after five minutes, that loses its attraction.

What really stood out for me in Pastor Nadia’s presentation that I heard as she challenged a group of pastors here at the Lutheran Campus Center on Thursday afternoon was her absolute love for Jesus because of the way she has been first loved by him in all the incompleteness she finds in her life which includes alcoholism. She challenged all of us as pastors to be true to Jesus’ message as she shared that she is positively convicted by that message and that calls her to love God and find God in, as she says, “all the wrong people.”  Of course we were challenged to do the same.  She pastors House of All Sinners and Saints in Denver, CO and there, as here, at All Are One, all are welcome at the table. Her ministry, in many ways—I would say, is to bring good out of the suffering she finds in people’s lives.

The theology that wants to point to God as this avenger of evil—sacrificing the First Born Jesus, to a horrible death on the cross, to satisfy the need for reparation, is one that we should really leave behind, as I have said here, repeatedly. Jesus became one of us, not to let us know of God’s vengeance, but of God’s love.  When we love totally, completely, and without exception; we are then called to do things that some people don’t always like or appreciate.  We may have to step on toes to follow the dream of bringing justice to all, and as a result, some may want to crucify us, excommunicate us, or they may want to “set us straight.”

Being the “radical” woman in the Church that I am; I will from time to time get a letter from a well-meaning person delineating why I am wrong, some even expressing their concern for my eternal well-being, or their anger at what I am doing.  But following our brother Jesus calls us to get above the negative feedback and follow the Spirit’s lead which will always show itself in peace, when we question the way to go.

And it will be important for us to come to a different view of God than we may have grown up with.  I have mentioned to you in the past the work of Sr. Ilia Delio in her book, one of many, The Emergent Christ.  I was reading a section this week where she is writing passionately about the love that our God has for each of us.  Rather than holding our God at a distance so that this entity can remain more mysterious, as I understand was the intent of all the strange phraseology in the Mass a few years back, she says that God wants to be part of our lives.

It was for this purpose that Jesus came to be one of us—so that God could live our very lives, and have a human experience alongside of us.  And as Paul in his beautiful letter to the Philippians says so well, he “took on the image of oppressed humankind” so that we would always have someone to turn to who understands all that we go through.  Or as the psalmist said today, “May your faithful love be upon us, O God, as we place all our hope in you.”

Most of us don’t enjoy punishment, so to say that suffering, as some church people do,  is a punishment from God makes me want to say—for what purpose?–to stop the wrong-doing? We should know from watching the effects of capital punishment in this country, that it is not a deterrent to crime.  And again, coming from a God whose only purpose, according to the 23^rd psalm in the bible translation, The Message,  is to chase after us every day of our lives until we are finally home; it would seem strange that this loving God would be about punishing us by inflicting suffering.

Just this past week; we saw an example of this type of theology when the news carried a deplorable story of two people within a religious sect who beat one of their sons to death and nearly killed the second one to force them to confess their sins. Such a mindset for God that depicts an all-powerful, mysterious Being, set apart, waiting for us to fail is not the God of our brother, Jesus.

Yet, suffering, my friends, will probably always be part of our human existence—we will never totally understand why or from where it comes.  What we can do is what Jesus did—pray for the grace to withstand it with courage and strive with all our being to bring good from it, knowing that our God, rather than causing it, walks through it, with us.

We have talked a bit here today about “mindset”—how we look at God, how we look at ourselves. Today’s Gospel clearly states that greatness is about service—service to all, even those we may despise. Jesus told us before leaving this physical existence that we would carry on his work—in fact that we would do greater things than he did through the power of the Spirit.  The suffering that is a part of human life, that we can’t always change, can be made more bearable through our service and our care for each other.  Let us pray today friends for the strength to be good and faithful servants, not accepting of the evils in this world, but somehow, finding a way to accept the perpetrators of the evil, who may sometimes be ourselves.

Friends, some news items of this past week:

• The Synod on the Family is meeting now in Rome and through most of the month of October. This synod is comprised of lots of celibate men— bishops, apparently “experts” on the family, representatives from religious orders, and 17 married couples.  The outlook so far isn’t too good for change, seems to be the opinion of Phyllis Zagano, writer for the National Catholic Reporter, as none of the lay people has a vote at the proceedings.
• The major Republican candidates for president basically agreed with Jeb Bush who responded to the latest mass shooting at a community college with, “Stuff happens!” There has been another mass shooting since this writing! Hillary Clinton has a comprehensive plan to make our country safer from gun violence.
• Women are continuing their fight for equality in our Church against the odds.
• A young man born without arms lives his life as normal because no one ever told him he couldn’t do whatever he tried to do—he makes due with the body parts he has.
• Gavin Quimby, 5 year-old Winonan who lost his battle with a rare form of brain cancer in September has become the poster-child in the fight for early detection in infants of this form of cancer.

Friends, all of the above, in one way or another are examples of how God’s word, as the writer of Hebrews says today, is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,” and divides even soul and spirit, basically cutting to the bone.

The Gospel calls each of us to walk in our brother, Jesus’ footsteps, both when it is easy and when it is not so easy, and chances are; there will be more times when it won’t be so easy.

If we look at the news items I have lifted up for this week, a random sampling; we get a sense of this:

• The Synod on the Family, in preparation for two years, gathering the thinking of the Church Faithful, yet in the power structure, the voices of the faithful have no voice, no vote, no power.
• With regard to those running for office—the connections must be made to the real concerns in people’s lives whether it gets you elected or not—kowtowing to big money falls short of the Gospel message.
• Taking on the Church hierarchy in the fight for equality for women may not be the politically correct thing to do, but it is definitely in line with the message of Jesus.
• The young man with no arms, who rides a bike, drives a car and operates his computer, working as a vehicle engineer for the NASCAR Racing Team at Hendrick Performance does it all with his feet! We might ask on any given day, how will I get through this day?—this is literally a whole different question for Richie Parker. From the beginning, his parents said, “We’re going to make this work!”  Less strong people wouldn’t have been able to give their son what he needed to negotiate his life so well. It all seems to come back to love and doing what seems impossible, but for love, where nothing really is.  This story said nothing about this couple’s faith, but one has to believe that there was strength beyond them.
• To lose a child as the Quimbys did this fall is something none of us can know the pain of without that experience. To allow their child to live on through advocacy for other children is what life and love calls forth from each of us.

Living the Gospel message is always going to call us to a bigger world view than the meeting of our own needs or as Thomas Aquinas said, “The things we love tell us who we are!”

The first reading from Wisdom literature today asks us to decide what is most important in our lives.  My friends, sometimes, as in this reading, the choice is between good and good, not good and evil.  The choice is more difficult then, but we must never lose sight of Jesus’ message that we remember and care for those in our midst who can’t care for themselves.

For all the proclaimed Catholics and Christians who populate the seats of our U.S. Congress; you wouldn’t think this is the case as we watch the budget being cut around social programs that give aid to the disadvantaged as the military budget continues to grow.

The Wisdom writer seems to suggest that when our view is bigger than our own personal needs, we receive “all good things”—almost as if the giving, the moving out beyond ourselves has its own reward, which we know to be true.

Wisdom also calls us to apply the law of love, always, even if it conflicts with Church and State laws.  So, we might ask why our Church would ever tell us not to question—that certain doors are closed! Our human walk draws us always to God—that is the part in our human lives that feels unsettled—we will always be restless until we rest in God, as St. Augustine wisely said.

I mentioned last week that I was reading the story of a woman who left the Mormons in her search for God. Faith should lead us to love and love, ultimately, to God. Our faith must always move us outward to God as it did Martha Beck—outward to what we can name as life and love.

The present national discussion around gun violence that is beginning to get steam is a case in point.  When we consider that 1.45 million deaths have been caused since 1970 from fire arms and this includes mass shootings, suicides and accidents to people trying to “protect” themselves as compared to 1.4 million deaths in all the wars since 1776; we have a national disaster that has moved well beyond the 2^nd Amendment to bear arms!

And if all this is not enough my friends; Jesus challenges us around the difficulty of the rich entering into the kin-dom of heaven. Again, this is an issue of focus, of balance in our lives.  The Wisdom writer in encouraging choices that reflect the needs of others, above and beyond our own, and the Hebrews’ writer who states that such choices are like a two-edged sword, cutting to the bone, know the difficulty of living a life of balance.

With regard to the material goods of this world, Jesus’ caution is that we don’t get lost in the acquiring of these goods—it can be an addiction like anything else, wherein we lose sight of what is most important. Many a love song,  past and present, speak of the times before the wealth that were the happiest—when the two depended more on each rather than the luxuries of life.  Balance.

This is the sorrow that our brother Jesus feels for the rich, young man when he looks on him with love—he knows how difficult a choice he has to make–choosing between a good in life, for a much greater good.  My friends, lots of challenges and choices—let us pray for each other that we can be strong and choose wisely.