My friends, being that today we are following our liturgy with a pre-Thanksgiving meal, I thought it might be good to address the virtue of gratitude.  Many times, being “thankful,” saying “thanks” for a good bestowed on us is thought to be the same as gratitude, and we may hear the two words, “thanks” and “gratitude” interchanged.  I would like to suggest that they are different.  Webster’s Dictionary seems to agree.

   “Thanks” the dictionary says, is “an expression of gratitude.”  “Gratitude” is described as “the quality of being thankful,” along with, the readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” From those definitions, I would say, being “grateful,” is the “grownup” expression of merely being thankful.  We all were raised to say, “thank you” when someone does something good for us.  Now, while we as children, may have said the words to appease our parents or others who thought we should say those words, it is probably true to say that we weren’t “grateful,” at least at that point. 

   The virtue of gratitude, it seems to me, only comes to us humans with lived experience, and the maturity to realize that so much of what I am as an individual is due to others, and what I have been gifted with in life, in order that I can then go on to become the person that I was called to be.

   Some of you may be familiar with Michael Perry, national author, and speaker.  He began his career as a registered nurse and recently was invited to his alma mater in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to give a key-note address. Part of what he had to say, was sharing a piece on gratitude that he had previously written, and the university requested him to include.

   One of the things that perked up my ears and heart in his address, was the word, “privilege.” Michael is aware that from the “get-go,” he was privileged above many others in this world, due to his “whiteness,” the place he had on the economic ladder—not rich, but certainly not poor, which afforded him, shelter, food and so much more, every day.  Many, if not most of us could say the same for our own lives. 

   The gospel for this liturgy might have given some of us reason to pause and think that the employer was a bit cruel.  Again, as with much of Scripture, we shouldn’t take Jesus’ story literally, but remember that he is always trying to teach us something deeper than the words might at first suggest. 

   The story tells us that the “employer” (think God) “entrusted” individual employees (think us) with a gift. I believe that “to entrust” someone with something is different than “simply giving” someone something.  Again, Webster’s would seem to agree.  The “big book of words,” and now I am dating myself, (smile) tells us that “entrusting” means, “assigning a responsibility.” 

   So, my friends, let’s go back to what we always say within these walls, quoting a wise person, “We are spiritual people here, having a human experience.  Our God, who loves us beyond all imagining, as Jesus shared in his earthly life, through stories like the Prodigal, and the Good Shepherd, and the Woman who turned her house upside down in search of a lost coin, gave each of us the wonderful gift of life— “entrusting us” with the responsibility of living out our potential, not just for ourselves, but for others. 

   We might look at the seeming “cruelness” depicted in the Gospel story as God’s “disappointment” in us for not living up to our potential.  And, even if that is the case, God never stops “chasing after us,” as the Scripture translation, The Message says so beautifully in the 23^rd Psalm, or stops loving us, wanting to be in relationship with us, again depicted so beautifully in the story of the Prodigal.

   So friends, this journey of life as Christian followers of our brother Jesus, is about in part, giving back, “paying it forward,” as it were, a bit of what we have been so “graciously” given.

    A piece on the nightly news this past week caught my attention as a couple were lamenting to the newscaster, about struggling financially, comparing themselves to immigrants coming into this country and wondering why, “these people are given so much, and we get so little.” 

   Now, while I am sure there is more to the story than was presented, I can say from experience in working with immigrants coming into our country, that they are mainly given, “entrance” if that, and then temporary helps until they can make it on their own.  Additionally, unlike the light-skinned woman interviewed, all the immigrants coming across our southern border, live every day with the fact that “they are different,” –no small task, which I think we can’t ourselves truly understand.    

   Looking at the first reading then from Proverbs, we get a good road map on how to show our gratitude in being “entrusted” with the gift of our “one wonderful life” –again as someone else said.  This reading was always entitled, The Virtuous Woman, and the Priests for Equality Group, whose version of the Scriptures that we use, saw fit to make this reading, “gender-less” as the virtues depicted here are ones that we can and should all adhere to. 

   Therefore, we should hear in this reading that we are called to, strive after perfect love, instill confidence equally in each other, bring advantage, not hurt, doing our work for the benefit of each other and holding out our hands to the poor.

   Paul tells his converts in Thessaloniki that they are people “of the light” and hopefully, we hear the same for ourselves.  He is telling them that when our God comes, they will be ready because they are trying to be their best selves, sharing what they have with each other, showing their gratitude for all that they have been “entrusted” with.

   As we come to the end of another Year of Grace, it’s good to look at how each of us faces our world—what have we done well, what could we do better? May God bless us all in our discernment. Amen? Amen!

   My friends, with being away this past week at retreat with my Mid-west sister priests, I took a few short-cuts in preparing my homily before I left on Wednesday.  I found a homily from 11 years ago whose basic themes and ideas could be brought forward and really serve us well, today.  And if you haven’t been with us for 11 years, than most of what I am saying here will be new!

   The basic thoughts given from the Scriptures today are simple, and to the point:  We must “lay all things on our heart,” says Malachi.  This thought fits well with a book by Rachel Wheeler, entitled, Eco-Spirituality, that I read for the retreat this past week.

   Even though the author doesn’t say this specifically, “laying all on our hearts” before acting is clearly what she is suggesting as she advocates for opening our hearts and minds toward having a greater relationship with all created life—human, animal, and plant life, realizing through the process, that in reality—each form depends on the other for quality of life.  I will share more on this in the future.

   Malachi also reminds us humans that we all have, “one God” who created us—an interesting thought amid the abominable war in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The Israelis are of Jewish dissent and faith, the Palestinians who are mostly Arab and Muslim, claimimg Islam as their faith.  Additionally, Christians live in this area, with all three claiming Jerusalem as their sacred place.  Amazing! To an innocent by-stander, me, it would seem that this should make a difference in how they treat one another, but as we all know, this is a very complicated issue.

     Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, states that when the people there heard, “the Word of God, they changed their lives.”  This point seems to be important, no matter our faith background, which is confirmed in Jesus’ words in the Gospel referring to the Pharisees and the Scribes, “their words are bold,” [listen to them] “but their deeds are few.”  In other words, we, in particular, can’t say we are Christians and then act as though that makes no difference in our lives.  I believe Jesus would say the same to the Jewish and the Muslim people! So, it would seem that we are all called to “walk the talk!” 

   Eleven years ago, I shared the following story with regard to these Scriptures, about a young man sharing what life for him was like, growing up in an evangelical, bible-toting, radically conservative family as he was coming to terms with his own gay sexual orientation.  Randy Roberts Potts is the grandson of Oral Roberts, a long-time TV evangelist. Oral Roberts told the world and believed it himself that gay and lesbian people are an “abomination,” and having such feelings was in fact, an “abomination.” 

   Part of Randy’s coming into his own space and truth about himself was discovering who his Uncle Ronnie, his mother’s brother, was.  Ronnie was the family’s secret. He made the attempt to be “normal” by marrying and having children, but eventually tore his heart open with a bullet because he couldn’t reconcile his dad’s belief that he was an “abomination.”

   Randy told his audience at the First Congregational church here in Winona that the way his uncle Ronnie chose to end his life was a very slow, painful way to go; but Ronnie knew what it was to have his heart torn open and that happened long before he did it himself for the second time. 

   So what does this story have to do with the 31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time and the readings we just shared?  I would say, everything!  As I said earlier, Malachi boldly prophesied, “everything must be laid on the heart.”  Jesus continues, “Follow the words of the Scribes and Pharisees, but not their example. Paul seems to bind these two and give us a clear path to follow: “When you [hear] the word of God, it [should] change your lives.”

   My friends, we cannot, simply cannot continue to hear the word of God and fail to have it change our lives.  Malachi minces no words, “everything, everything must be laid on our hearts.  We must be convicted of the words of Scripture in our actions—the words we hold so dear; otherwise, it is all a sham.

   As I have reflected on Paul’s words this week in preparation for this homily— “when you heard the word of God, it changed your lives”—I found myself thinking about Randy Potts, a physically beautiful, young man, but more so, an interiorly beautiful man.  He was able to stand before an audience of perhaps 100 people and say without anger or malice that while he doesn’t agree with his parents, he can put himself in their shoes and understand their position—these are parents who haven’t invited their son home for Christmas since 2004!  My heart broke as I listened to him, but I am convinced that he has taken Paul’s words, “when you hear God’s words, they must change your lives” and laid them squarely on his heart as Malachi demands. And there is a part of him that believes that one day his parents will change—hopefully since 2011, this has happened.   

   A second speaker was Linda Gray. Her sister, Angie, grew up struggling over feeling different and not being able to fit in, often crying herself to sleep.  She worked through depression and finally came to terms with who she was, broaching the issue with her mother, finding acceptance.  Angie let her mom share the news with her dad that their daughter is a lesbian because Angie wasn’t sure how he would take it,  and wasn’t sure if she could handle his reaction if it wasn’t positive.  He took the news with silence and sometime later called Angie and told her that “no matter who she was, she had his love.”  This mom and dad had allowed the word of God to change their lives, taking its message to their hearts.  Linda says, we have a phrase at our house, “Love is love!” 

   Randy and Linda were invited to the First Congregational church 11 years ago as part of their year-long study to become an open and inclusive parish—welcoming all people, regardless of sexual orientation into their community and into their parish life.  This parish took a vote in December 2011 and became an open and inclusive parish—those who were against the measure left the parish in protest.  This is no insignificant matter in Winona as several parishes that I am aware of have tried and have failed—the congregations voted inclusivity down.

   This parish has truly been convicted by the word of God, laid it on their hearts, and acted accordingly.  They are the only other parish besides ours in the entire Winona area that is open and welcoming to all. 

   My friends, usually we ministers of the word are cautioned against mixing politics and religion, but 11 years ago, I took a bit of literary license to speak against the Minnesota Marriage Act that our state said “no” to in November of 2012.  At the time, Bishop John Quinn was waging an all-out campaign to get this law passed, which I can say with no doubt, was an abomination.  We cannot on the one hand say we love God, follow Jesus, and on the other attempt to pass a law that would strip gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered people of their civil rights. 

   Another speaker, Jeff Wilfahrt, father of Andrew, who died in Afghanistan in February of 2011, spoke of how his son gave his life defending the constitution that would, if this law passed, exclude people like Andrew.  He reminded us that the right to marry is a civil right—what religious denominations choose to do with the ritual around marriages is their own issue.  This is so clear an example of hearing the word of God—the message of Jesus—laying it on our hearts and allowing our lives to be changed. 

   Jesus goes further today, letting us know what must be done once we have heard his words—we must act! The action that was asked of us is service for others, moving out of our comfort zones, speaking truth for justice, whenever necessary.  It isn’t enough to be students of his words—we must show in our lives, through our actions, in all areas, that we are his followers.

   Jesus is especially hard on those who claim they are leaders, those who wish to show they are a step above because of their ministry.  He basically says, “Lose all the show, the phylacteries, i.e., roman collars, pointy hats, the places, and positions of power. People should know you by your deeds and not your position or what you wear.  It seems the only “phylactery” that God wants to see is our life of service for others—in the ways we have taken all of God’s people, especially the most disadvantaged and scapegoated, to our hearts and allowed them to change our lives. When we claim the power, the status above the service, we have exalted ourselves and we know what Jesus says about that!

   It will be very important for each of us to keep our eyes on our loving God, on Jesus, our brother to know just how to handle all of this. God, in Jesus so wants us to understand the importance of keeping our focus on God that Jesus will at times say things that seem harsh as in the Gospel today where we are instructed—call no one “mother” or “father,” but only God.  We of course aren’t meant to take this literally and denounce our parents, but simply to remember who is at the heart of everything. 

   In the story of Randy Roberts Potts, one wonders where the compassion comes from that allowed him to try and understand the position of his parents and we realize that it had to come from the God who created us all, wonderfully, and equally, different.

   It seems sometimes in our present-day Church there is so much about regiment, law—moving back to a time when God was a mystery, totally distant from us, unlike the compassionate image that Paul recalls from Scripture for his service among the Thessalonians, of a compassionate God, “gentle as any nursing mother fondling her little ones.”  Sadly, 11 years since I originally wrote this, our diocesan Church is still wanting to go backwards, rather than forward.

   We must beware of those among us claiming by titles and phylacteries and positions of power and the right to lead us, who really only want to separate us from the love and intimacy of God who wants for nothing else but to be among us.  As we continue our journey toward the end of this Year of Grace and prepare for a new one with the First Sunday of Advent, let our prayer for each other be, that the word of God would convict us of “laying all on our hearts” and having done that, change our lives for the good of all.

Amen? Amen!