My friends, I continue to be amazed at how the Scriptures given us to ponder each week do give us a way forward even in the seemingly darkest of times. And sometimes that way forward comes in the smallest of ways…
Our first reading today from Kings we have all heard many times before—that of the prophet, Elijah asking a poor woman and her son, “living on the edge,” to share some of what she has with him. I would like to lift up for us to consider a few words from Elijah that seem to me to speak, volumes: Elijah says, “bring [me] a little water.” I believe his words here are a fine way forward in our world that today seems to be so in need.
If any of us had to be responsible for all that is needed, we would have given up long ago. But if we each can do our “little bit,” together we can become, as Episcopalian bishop, John Shelby Spong has said so well, “divine,” and when that happens, he continues, we have reached “heaven,” the place, more than just physical, that God intended for us all along, “giving, caring, loving, and living for [not only ourselves], but for others.”
In today’s gospel from Mark, we are shown another poor woman, “living on the edge,” who gives from her need, and it seems that our brother Jesus wants his disciples, including us, “to truly get” the meaning here—we are all asked to give something. Many of us are blessed to be able to give, for the most part, out of our excess—sometimes life calls us also, to give out of our need—perhaps, and I know there are those of you either hearing or reading this today, that while maybe financially secure, are being called to give, emotionally and spiritually, out of your need as you care for spouses, children, friends, and more.
We can look again to the prophet Elijah’s comforting words to the poor woman in his time that he requests help from: “Do not be afraid.” Elijah asks her “to share,” and if she does, “there will be enough.” Others have written about this phenomenon when trying to make sense of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes that our brother Jesus accomplishes: “when we all share, we encourage others to do the same, and then, there is enough.”

A comment that I have heard repeated several times since the “will of the people” was brought to light on November 5th was the fact that many in our great country, “felt unheard.” Somehow my friends, it would seem that we all need to become better listeners, hearers of what people truly need. None of us as true followers of our brother Jesus, should be okay with the fact that anyone in our world is hungry, homeless, lonely, or afraid—frankly, it should weigh heavy on our hearts that this is the case.
Now, having said that, I want to lift up for each of you, that I know, all of this does weigh heavy on your hearts, because I see the generosity of your giving through our parish in many ways, to do our “little bit” in our world to make a difference. All of this is about striving to be “our best,” which Jesus modeled so well for us.

Being that two of our readings for today speak of women “living on the edge,” I would be remiss, as your pastor, a woman too, if I did not at least lift up a comment that came from a man in the past few days that speaks to the sexism still so prevalent in our country.

This nameless man simply asked, “What kind of a resume does a woman have to put forth in this country to be elected president?” I share this here, not to be political, but just to lift up the issue of “sexism” and to say, it’s time to grow up as a country, and a world and see the tremendous gifts that women, as well as men bring to our world. And our Church is no better—Pope Francis ended two years and more of study and contributions to make our Church better –including seeing women equally in the mix, and he could only say, “the time is not ripe,” to which I say, “if not now, when?”

I would like to further encourage all the men here and those reading this who have faithful, trusting and caring women in your lives to begin more purposefully advocating for them—speaking truth to power and calling the lie that it is whenever you hear it, “that women are not equal or acceptable!”
I did not mention the second reading today from Hebrews yet, but what I would like to lift up from there is the simple fact that, “the Jesus from the gospels,” (Paul and Barnabas—probably the writer of this letter)—never knew. They always speak of him as what he became through time, “the Christ,” –someone big enough for all believers in this world. It would seem that we all as believers need to realize, as the banner behind me signifies, our God who loves us in an over-the-top way, is big enough to include us all.
So friends, I will conclude here today, trying to make sense and to respect wherever you and I are at this point, by sharing something that came to me this week that gave me hope, direction and purpose for all that comes next, continuing to be about something bigger than myself—hopefully, there is meaning here for you as well—

From Rebecca Solnit, author of Hope in the Dark:
“They want you to feel powerless and to surrender and to let them trample everything and you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving. You may need to grieve or scream or take time off, but you have a role no matter what, and right now good friends and good principles are worth gathering in. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is. The pain you feel is because of what you love…
You can be heartbroken or furious or both at once; you can scream in your car or on a cliff; you can also get up tomorrow and water the flowerpots and call someone who’s upset… A lot of us are going to come under direct attack, and a lot of us are going to resist by building solidarity and sanctuary. Gather up your resources, the metaphysical ones that are heart and soul and care, as well as the practical ones.
People kept the faith in the dictatorships of South America in the 1970s and 1980s, in the East Bloc countries and the USSR, women are protesting right now in Iran and people there are writing poetry. There is no alternative to persevering, and that does not require you to feel good. You can keep walking whether it’s sunny or raining. Take care of yourself and remember that taking care of something else is an important part of taking care of yourself, because you are interwoven with the ten trillion things in this single garment of destiny that has been stained and torn, but is still being woven and mended and washed.”
And I say—Amen? Amen!

My friends, we have arrived at November and our Church calendar calls us to two significant days at the beginning of this month each year. November 1st marks “All Saints Day,” reminding us of those special people who have gone before us, who for the most part, lived exemplary lives, journeying in Jesus’ footsteps. What our Church hierarchy probably doesn’t do as well is, call each of us to the realization that, we too are called to living “saintly” lives, even though most, if not all, will never be officially canonized into this outstanding group. Interestingly enough, one of my sister priests from out east has just published a book entitled, The Cost of Sainthood, wherein she basically says that those who don’t follow the rules aren’t canonized, even though they may have done many wonderful and outstanding things in their lives.

November 2nd calls our attention to “All Souls Day,” a group of all those who have lived, loved hopefully, and gone on before us—a group that we will each, and all, be a part of one day. These folks include our family members and friends, who have shared life with us, for good or ill—shared their faith and values, whom we remember during November each year as we mark the ending of one Church Year with the feast of Jesus, the Christ, our Brother and Friend, (formerly, here, Christ the King) and the coming of Advent, on Sunday, December 1st this year. Our All Are One church Book of Life will be available each Sunday of November to record birth and death dates of family and friends who have died in this last year and who will be part of our prayers throughout the month, along with all those previously listed.
Our Scripture readings today, as always, call us toward being our best selves.

The 1st selection from Deuteronomy lifts up for us to consider the chief prayer always on the lips of the Hebrew-Jewish people, and I paraphrase, “Hear O Israel…you are to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and these words [should] be written [on] your heart[s].” Our brother Jesus, in Mark’s gospel today, as a good Jew, repeats God’s command and adds to it—a law that he says, “is no less important, that we love our neighbors as ourselves.” This commandment reminds us of the apostle John’s words in the first of three New Testament letters that he wrote ( 1 John 4:20) questioning how we can say that we love God, whom we cannot see, and not love our neighbors whom we do see.

Jesus goes on today in Mark’s gospel saying that, “no commandments are greater than these” [two]. It is said that St. Paul, who studied under Jewish Scripture scholar, Hillel, learned from him, that after the two great commandments, “all else is commentary.”

The idea of “love of a neighbor,” interestingly enough is deep in the religious and spiritual history of the Israelite people, being that they were a nomadic people in their earlier history, often moving from place to place, with the possibility of being stranded somewhere without shelter, water, or food. For this reason, they had a deep sense of caring for “the stranger” as well as “the guest,” and treating the stranger, who may even be an enemy, as a guest, if that person came to their door, seeking hospitality. So with this understanding, it was right for Jesus to call his people’s attention, along with others, us, to the 2nd of the two great commandments, along with the first.

Another point that is very important for us hearing Moses’ instruction in Deuteronomy today is that we all remember that the commandment to love God with our total being, soul and strength, is written on our “hearts.” We have often talked here about the fact that as Christians, we should make our decisions based more on our “hearts” than our “heads,” because the “heart” is wiser. The heart allows, and pushes us in fact to see the world as more than “black and white,” the heart allows women, for instance, to break the unjust Canon Law 1024 that says ordination is only for men—in effect the heart gives us all, in other situations as well the ability to choose love, always love, when compared to merely following a law. Many of you have heard of the Danube 7 –the beginning of our Roman Catholic Women Priests movement. We learned this weekend that one of the 7, Gisela Forster’s husband, one of the ordaining priests in 2002, has died.

An additional fine-tuning of the Scriptures today, that will help us to ultimately become our best selves, is the admonition to listen—Moses says, “Hear O Israel.” This reminds me of the work of three Roman Catholic Women Priests, who recently finished 3.5 years of diligent work, updating our Constitutions, checking back over nearly 25 years as a movement, to see that our work reflected accurately our original words and that if needed, the words were changed and expanded upon to be more inclusive and loving, going forward, in the memory of our brother, Jesus. After reading the entire updated set of Constitutions, I shared with one of the writers that I was most impressed with their statement again and again throughout the document, that we attempt to minister by first using “sacred listening,” to understand how best to be in our world as Roman Catholic Women Priests.

This “sacred listening” it seems to me, would be a great tool for most of us in our world, in order to better come together on issues that divide us. And it should then lead us toward “acting” in our world just as the writer to the Hebrews today says, “You can’t just hear the Word, but must act” [upon it].

This idea was again something that Jesus could appeal to in his teachings with his people. He and they came out of a history of having made a “covenant” or promise, we would say, with God—God would be there for them as their “rock, fortress, deliverer, and refuge” as the psalmist prayed today, and they would love God in return.

And when Jesus came into existence –he became initially, a “high priest,” saying he would always be there for the people. In time, he would become “the Christ” –a being for all people, as modern theologians, Teilhard de Chardin, and Franciscans, Ilia Delio and Richard Rohr, among others, have described Jesus.
From the beginnings of the sacred journeys of our sisters and brothers in the Jewish faith, on through our brother Jesus, all have instructed that we love God as we know God to be, and attempt to love others to the best of our abilities. When I think on this personally, and especially when it is hard to do, I ask Jesus to help me do what I find hard. Sometimes, trying to see beyond what someone shows by their actions, to what may be driving them from inside helps—maybe it can for you as well. Amen? Amen!

My good friends, I will begin today with four lines from Scripture for this 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

• Psalm 146—“God has done great things for us; we are truly glad.”
• Jeremiah speaks of our loving God—“I will gather them from the ends of the earth…the blind, lame, expectant mothers and women in labor—I am forever a mother and father to Israel.”
• Hebrews—the writer speaks of the high priest that God has appointed to be there for the people and deal with the things of God.
• Mark—in this gospel, Jesus asks a wonderful question of the blind man—“What do you want me to do for you?”

   All of the above my friends, can guide us in our spiritual journeys, toward keeping a balance in our lives—”what is mine/yours to do?”—as St. Francis of Assisi asked of himself, and his followers, to better life not only for myself, but for others.  I had the opportunity this past week to view a film about the Berrigan brothers, Dan and Phil, entitled, Devout and Dangerous.  As you may recall, these two began their adult lives as Catholic priests, Dan a Jesuit, and Phil, a Josephite priest.  Dan remained active throughout his life, as a priest, even though sanctioned many times by the hierarchy of the Church, while Phil chose to marry and have children with his wife, Elizabeth McAllister, a former nun.  They were both excommunicated on their wedding day!

   Dan, at one time in his ministry, and much of that work involved speaking vehemently against nuclear buildup in our country and around the world, asked this question of the bishops and others in spiritual leadership, “How can you preach the gospel, and remain silent?”  For this activity in the world, besides being sanctioned often by his Church, he was jailed countless times.

   The way that the Berrigans, and this included Elizabeth McAllister,  chose to live out their commitments to their brother Jesus in their earthly lives was not something that many of us could do.  Actor Martin Sheen, a Catholic himself, who supported their work for disarmament, said as much, “I wish I could be like them.”  I find myself “convicted” by Dan’s question of [am I] “preaching the gospel when I remain silent?”  That is why you will always hear me advocating that we, “check the fruits” before we act. In Dan’s later life, he softened somewhat by saying basically, that you don’t have to complete the task, “start small, [even] stay small.”

   “Gratitude” is a virtue uplifted up in the prayer of the psalmist in 146 today.  “God has done great things for us; we are truly glad.”  Gratitude seems to be implied here for the chance each of us has in life to not only enjoy it, for ourselves and our loved ones, but to share the gifts we may have with those who have less. 

   Our “Christian walk” does implore us to do our best to “see” others and their worth.  Dan Berrigan once said, and I paraphrase, when I walk down the street, I try to think of each person as a “bead on my rosary, [someone] valuable and to be treasured.” 

   Jeremiah, in today’s first reading speaks of our loving God as One who will “gather” everyone,  as a mother and father, and that this will be done with mercy. In today’s second reading from Hebrews, we see this idea of “gathering” continued in the sense of the “high priest” being there to guide the people.  In both readings, from the prophet Jeremiah, and in the gospel from Mark, we see the issue of “blindness” addressed.  We know that one can suffer from “blindness” in several ways; physical, emotional, and spiritual, and these Scriptures call us to look at the “blindness” we may see in our world—in all ways. 

   Bartimaeus was definitely suffering from physical blindness—his own, but given the mores of the society in Jesus’ and his own time, we could probably agree that he suffered from the emotional and spiritual blindness of others in their reactions to him. 

   Bartimaeus’ family, friends, and acquaintances no doubt saw his physical blindness as punishment for some sin in his life, a common belief at the time.  His cry-out to Jesus’ question of, “what do you want me to do for you?” was also it would seem, an imploring that Jesus take away all of his and others’ “blindness,”—“God, I just want to see,” to have some fullness in life! 

   Bartimaeus’ statement is one that we might all pray in these troubling times in our country and world—one that seems to have lost the value of truth-telling, and basic decency—in a world that too often chooses conflict and war, over diplomacy, to the detriment of its innocent victims.  God, we just want to see—to find our way—to do our part.  Show us perhaps what we are missing.  Dan and Phil Berrigan spoke of always, “checking themselves against the gospels.”  We can only imagine when the hierarchy of our Church came up with the “just war” theory,  they weren’t checking that statement against the gospels.  We have probably all heard, a time or two in the past, the prophet Isaiah’s words, (2:4) “beat your swords into plowshares…”

   So my friends, lots to think on and pray about, and so, I’d like to close with the following lines from The Talmud, the body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law—something our brother Jesus would have been very familiar with. I have shared these words before, but thought they bear repeating:

Do not be daunted, by the enormity of the world’s grief.

Do just[ice] now.

Love mercy, now.

Walk humbly, now

You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it. 

Let us come together friends, all, to make our world, and its people, all that it, and we can be to the glory of God who loved us so much, in the beginning, and now.  Amen? Amen!

My friends, as you know, I steer clear of ever trying to tell you how to exercise the precious gift that each of us as adults has to vote for those, we want to lead us in these United States of America.  What I have done, and will always do, is to tell you to “look at the fruits,” and I feel a need to do this now, again, in response to my own Christian walk and responsibility that I feel toward all of you as your pastor.  For us as Christians, as followers of our brother Jesus, it is all about keeping our eyes on him—his words and his actions, and then doing likewise. 

   In today’s gospel from Mark, we get a most clear idea about what Jesus considers our lives, as his followers, to be about. We humans, as is demonstrated well through the words of James and John in their questions of “place and status” in Jesus’ one-day kindom, tend to stay on the surface, missing the point of what Jesus’ mission and ours is, and should be, in our world. 

   Jesus clearly tells them that he did not come, “to be served, but to serve,” and their and our stance in the world should be no different, that of serving others.  Jesus continues, “this is what makes one great,” [if that is what you are after]. 

   On this point, “to be great,” let us look at the “fruits” of the two major, political parties, and their words to their followers:  One party says that keeping immigrants out and sending massive numbers, already here, “back where they came from,” and lying about who most of them are in the first place, as opposed to a message of hope, and trying to give everyone an even break in our country, to realize the American dream, and basically, helping and supporting one another. 

   And again, “checking the fruits,” we each need to choose between two very different ideas for our great country, just as we Christians need to constantly be doing in our daily lives—checking the fruits! 

   As I stated in the bulletin, Pastor Danielle will be addressing the topic of “Christian Nationalism” later this morning, and I believe lifting up for us, the “real inability of being a true follower of Jesus” along with this “nationalistic” agenda. 

   The writer to the Hebrews, whom we think was Paul’s student, Barnabas, speaks of our brother Jesus as “one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet never sinned.”  Someone once said, “this is our experiment here, not God’s [we are spiritual people here having a human experience]—we have free will and can make it whatever we choose.” In other words, if things don’t go well, it is not God’s fault!

   We can choose to follow our brother Jesus, and be about “service” as he was, and “justice toward all,” or we can choose the more selfish road that basically takes care of “me and myself.”

   This decision over the last several years has divided friends and families, and so, while not always easy to walk in Jesus’ footsteps, it is our Christian call.  Barnabas continues in the 2^nd reading to the Hebrews: “Let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and favor, and find help in our need.”  Thus, we are not alone friends.  Additionally, the psalmist today prays with us:  “May your faithful love be upon us, God, as we place all our hope in you.” 

   “Checking the fruits,” one final time, I raise for all of us to consider, the sense of “hope,” which I believe we humans carry throughout of lives. I recall one journalist and commentator, Jonathan Capehart, assessing the National Political Conventions this past summer—he spoke of how one campaign’s week-long events left him so down with their heavy message, while the other one peaked his sense of hope with each passing day of events—one campaign chose old messages of hate and name-calling, and belittling of their opponents, while the other was ready, “to turn the page,” and work toward “justice for all.”  As was said earlier, we have our God-given “free-wills” and can make [of our lives and actions in this world] whatever we choose. 

   Therefore friends, let us choose wisely, as we vote, “checking and re-checking the fruits,” –are they about, “service to oneself,” or “service toward all.”  Amen? Amen!

   My friends, this Sunday and this homily bring us to this beautiful, new space, of which I believe we are all most grateful to have, to meet and pray in—one that is easily accessed, keeping in mind all our changing, physical needs. 

   As one who has always loved the liturgy well-done, and the beautiful rituals within our Catholic tradition, and realizing too, that good liturgy can be done in any setting, as we have done for the last 16 years of our existence, at the Lutheran Campus Center, I do personally, still love a space that is intentionally set aside for liturgy.

   Additionally, I am glad too that this space will bring us, “up close and personal” with another faith community and even more so than the relationship we had with the LCC—as our “many roads lead to God “ banner, behind me here affirms, we are always stronger and better when we share with others, and I think we will have many opportunities to do that here at 1^st Congregational church. 

   Some of you may recall a former pastor of this community, commonly known as 1^st Congo, Pastor Rick King, who “walked” his group of fellow Christians toward becoming “an open and affirming” church community over 20 years ago. This community under his leadership became the first such religious group in Winona to publicly do so.  All Are One became the second.  When I was chaplain at Winona Health, I had a short list of 4 places that I could send our LGBTQ+ sisters and brothers to, who were looking for an accepting community.  Of the 4, 1^st Congo was the only one, besides us who “publicly” announced their welcome—the other 3 welcomed, but didn’t publicly say so.  So friends, I would say that in being part of this larger community, we will be among “kindred” spirits. 

   With that introduction, let’s open up our Scriptures to see our path for this week.  An overall theme for this 28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time is the “hard work of love,” and of how our wise and good God will help us, “stay the course” when life grows difficult. 

   Let’s start with the 1^st reading from the Old Testament book of Wisdom.  We believe the words of this reading come from Solomon, David’s son, who served the Israelite people as their king over 900 years before Jesus came into this family line. 

   I found myself smiling when I read Solomon’s pithy comment on acquiring wealth, “all the silver in the world was worth no more than mud.”  Beyond the “earthiness” of his comment, I think looking broadly at his possible meaning, we can see the “wiseness” of it.  Over our lifetimes, we have heard the stories told through many musical pieces, of people striving for over-the-top material wealth, and in the end, realizing that they were happier when they had less. 

   Solomon goes on to say more eloquently that, “the light of day,” [which we all need, doesn’t compare to wisdom].  Through wisdom, Solomon continues, “I received all good things and had wealth beyond counting.”

   We can most probably see what Solomon is speaking of in recalling the Old Testament story where two women, each living in the same house, and each having a baby, one of whom was accidently smothered during the night. The women came before Solomon, each claiming that the live baby was theirs and wanted the king to make the decision of whom should have the baby. In his wisdom, Solomon stated, since we can’t decide, I will cut the baby in two, and you each can have half.  The true mother said, “no, give it to her,” at which time Solomon gave the baby to the mother who showed true love. 

   From this example, we can see the true value when a person acts with wisdom, and ultimately, love.  The psalmist prays to God, “with your love…we will celebrate all our days.” It would seem that the person blessed with “wisdom” is much more able to do the “hard work” that love calls for at times. 

   I believe that most of us are “good-hearted,” and when we see needs in our world, want to respond to those needs in the ways that we can.  Wisdom would teach us to balance, “our need to give” with the possible effect on the person receiving the gift—will this gift enable this person to move to a place where they can then, “help themselves,” or simply fill our need, “to give?”  These are truly, tough questions, and “the hard work of love.” 

   Moving into the 2^nd reading from Hebrews, the writer says, “the Word of God is living and active, … it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  We have spoken in the past that taking matters “to the heart” is always better than to the mind alone, because the heart is wiser.  I believe that the “heart” of King Solomon could only utter the profound and seemingly harsh words that he did because his heart was guided by Wisdom Sophia, the feminine face of God. God-Sophia was thought of in this way, as feminine in Old Testament times, and is represented also, behind me, in the statue created by our friend, Michael Maher. It was believed by these ancient ones that Sophia, resides in our hearts.   

   Today’s gospel from Mark gives us a “piece of the truth,” concerning acquired riches and wealth in our human journey: Jesus says, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kindom of God!”  Jesus compares it to something the people were very familiar with in their time—“the Needle’s Eye gate,”  and the possibility of a “camel getting through it.” 

   The Needle’s Eye was an extremely small passage for people to get through once the large gate in the wall around the town was closed to protect those inside from invaders. Getting a camel through this small passage could only happen, if at all, by unloading the camel of all baggage it was carrying, plus a “good squeeze.”  Thus, we see Jesus’ warning to the people of losing sight of what is truly important in their lives.

   Back in 2020, a momentous year for many reasons; the onset of COVID, the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police, and a summer of unrest and the push for justice, finally, finally among our black sisters and brothers, and a civil rights activist, John Lewis, also died.  He knew, probably better than most, what being a Christian was truly all about—“making good trouble.”

   I believe he coined what he was doing as “good trouble” because many of us humans look at others’ “doing good,” as upsetting the “status quo,” thus as “trouble” –as it makes those of us on the sidelines feel guilty, so we are wanting to say, “stop making trouble!” 

   So my friends, perhaps this next week, let’s think of how the world might be different /even better if we could see those sitting on the sidelines, basically just caring for themselves as the “troublemakers,” while those doing the “hard work of love,” balanced by “heart-wisdom” as those who are seeing, rightly, to it, that all can live in basic comfort.  Amen? Amen!