My friends, this week throws us out “into the water,” and “into the boat,” to fulfill our baptismal and confirmation promises, to “be fishers” of the “beloved people” as Pastor Danielle calls her flock. But before we get into that, just a few words about the “sadness” that many of us feel over the mean-spirited, and selfish actions coming out of Washington these days.

Pastor Danielle shared with her community via her bulletin this week some thoughts from Diane Butler Bass, pastor and writer, that I feel are worth repeating. Just as I have been uplifting for all of us, “that in the face of actions that are clearly not, about love, we must continue to do the good that we do, and not be discouraged,” which is easier said than done, and Bass encourages the same.
At times of low-spirit, and that inability to do the loving thing, we must turn to others of good faith who are at a better place perhaps than we may be, for support. We call that, “holding onto the hope,” and we must do that for each other—sometimes we can be the “receptacle” of hope—sometimes other people can be.
Diane Butler Bass recently attended a meeting of spiritual colleagues, wherein one, woman pastor shared that during these “disheartening times” she focuses on a picture of a house in Los Angeles that survived the recent fires because as she said, “it was built to do just that!” The builder of that house, Pastor Traci Blackmon stated, employed “fire-resistant technologies and architectural building techniques” so that this structure could withstand what many houses could not. She then tied this example to a well-known Scripture passage that you all will recognize.

Jesus said, “a wise [person] built [their] house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it was built on rock.” We all know what happened to the foolish [person] who built on sand… In these times my friends, we should remember that our lives are built on rock too, and as Jesus says in today’s gospel, “Do not fear,” when you live and move and attempt to be your best—because this is “ what [we were] made to do.”
But because we are human, and not infallible, nor always, at our best, Bass suggests 10 W’s that may not fix all that is wrong, but will, “steel us,” so to speak, for “the fires, and for the storms.”

1. Wake up every day—sleep is important—be on some sort of schedule to get it!
2. Welcome the day with gratitude—say, “thank you” and believe that each new day gives fresh hope.
3. Walk everyday—get outside—get fresh air—feel the ground beneath your feet—notice all that is around you! I would say, this is prayer in its basic and probably one of its better forms.
4. (Be) with others everyday—don’t isolate yourself—reach out and connect with someone everyday—volunteer at the library, reading to children, feed the hungry—many of you are doing that this month through Home-Delivered-Meals—thank you! Write letters, make calls—many are doing that—thank you! Whatever it is—get out of yourself!
5. Work (most days) –but rest too—seek balance.
6. Write every day, weekly, or often—if you don’t like to write, be creative—draw—throw pots, and I believe she means, “make pots,” but it might help to actually throw something!
7. Watch the news (if able) –if you can’t watch it, do stay informed—that is important.
8. Wide – sight—(a practice to develop) –author, Parker Palmer has introduced this concept—using “soft eyes” or, as he basically says, looking at the bigger picture rather than focusing on the immediate threat—there is more of a chance that you can perhaps “hear or see” something new, instead of moving into the “fight or flight” mode—this one takes a bit more thought—granted.
9. Weep (whenever)—tears are good and cleansing—don’t be afraid of the emotions that come up in these times—anger, joy, laughter, sadness, whatever.
10. Wonder (as much as possible) –go out into nature, go to the art museum, listen to your favorite music, read books, get obsessed with space photos from the Webb telescope… So friends, keeping the above in mind, as a rather long way to begin, let us turn to today’s Scriptures more briefly, because all of the above are really ways of practicing the messages given us today by Isaiah, Paul, and Jesus.
    Isaiah answers God’s question of, “Whom shall I send?” [to care for the people] saying, “Here I am, send me”[!] His response my friends should be ours as well; and this is so because it is what our elders promised at our baptisms, if we were baptized as infants, and what we eventually promised at our confirmations—basically,
    that we would show up! To say that we are “Christian” calls us to no less, than doing our part, in the ways that we come to see that.
    Paul reminds the Corinthians, and ultimately us, that if we basically follow the gospels, they will save us!
    And the instructions today from Luke, in Jesus’ words are profound if we are willing to go deeper than the surface story of a huge catch of fish.
    As you know, Jesus always encloses a deeper story within a surface one. The miracle of the huge catch of fish was, in part, meant to get his new disciples’ attention. And that happened we can assume, because afterward, we are told, “they left everything and followed him.”
    Within this simple, yet profound story, Jesus lets this rag-tag group of fishers know that now, they will be “catching people.” He tries to calm their fears of whether they can do this “new thing” seemingly so foreign to them—as we said earlier, he tells them to “not be afraid,” because he knows what they are capable of—he in fact, “knows how they were made—just for this task!”
    Jesus trusts each of them with “humanity” (we might say, fish) that they will engage with. He trusted them, as he trusts each of us, to bring all the “fish” home.
    This simple story is profound in that it says that “all the fish” – all the people are welcome in the boat, at the table! And if the “boat” gets too full, we, as they did, “must call for help” from friends, to get all the “fish” ashore.
    Friends, I see this story today from Luke as instructive as we continue our relationship with the First Congregational community,
    looking for joint ways to share our brother Jesus’ message –we are more alike than different –they teach us and we teach them. The Scripture quote from John 17: 21, that names our church and our mission, “All Are One” is what Jesus intended and spoke of the night before he died—more than anything, he wanted his little band to stay together, to help and support one another, “to be the hope,” one for another, and to go out and share what they had found.
    So today my friends, as we struggle anew in the face of a time and a place—in a country and world where we haven’t yet, as a people, got the message that all are indeed welcome, are precious and loved, let us here, at least strive, “to be our best” in the memory of Jesus of Nazareth, our brother, who so wanted us, “to be one!” Amen? Amen!