Young at Heart Message
 
Every Palm Sunday, we hear the same story. But I wonder how often we really think deeply about Jesus, the disciples, and the crowd?
 
So, I want to try a little exercise.
 
Those of you on the left side of the room, I want you to imagine that you are part of the crowd that is shouting praises to Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem.
 
You are excited! You are shouting “Hooray! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!”
 
You are ready to believe that this man is Immanuel – “God with us.” He is hope for the future, and you believe in this moment that he is the Redeemer.
 
You don’t know it yet, but in just a couple days, you are going to completely change your tune. Instead of shouting praises, you are going to be condemning Jesus to death by crucifixion.
 
And on the right side of the room, I’d like you to imagine that you are Jesus. Today, you are entering Jerusalem to the praise of these people who, just a few days from now, will condemn you.
 
You probably know these people will condemn you. And yet, you enter Jerusalem and allow them to welcome you and shout your praises anyway.
 
Now, each side of the room, imagine how you feel as either the crowd, or as Jesus.
 
Really take a moment to put yourself in their shoes. Let us take 30 seconds of silence for you to explore how you might feel if you were in their shoes.
*****
Now, those of you in the crowd, imagine that you get a moment alone with Jesus to talk with him. He knows you praised him today, but will condemn him on Friday.
 
What do you say to Jesus? How do you feel standing before him, knowing that he knows?
 
Likewise, those of you who imagined you are Jesus, how do you feel talking 1:1 with someone who praises you today but will condemn you on Friday? What might you say to this person?
 
Let’s take another 30 seconds to think about this and imagine this conversation.
*****
If anyone from the crowd is willing to share – how did it feel to stand before Jesus?
*****
And, what about those who imagined you were Jesus? How does this conversation feel to you?
 
The Message

Today, we are witnesses to the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem surrounded by a crowd shouting praise and celebrating his coming.

And, as we know, just a few days later, those same people shouting praise and celebrating Jesus will condemn him on Good Friday.

And, every year we are reminded that we are a part of both crowds, at least symbolically.
​
We confessed during our Palm Sunday liturgy:
 
“Although we welcome you today with the multitude… we confess we have also stood with the condemning crowd on Good Friday. Our thoughts, words, and deeds have cried, ‘Crucify!’”
 
Of course, we are not talking about our literal participation in the condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus.
 
But symbolically, we were there. We have been there on and off throughout our lives – perhaps not with Jesus, but with others.
 
How many of us have echoed over and over in church on Sunday that we are called to feed the poor, shelter the homeless, and forgive those who have sinned against us, but then turned around and refused to offer cash to someone begging on the street? Or refuse to offer a spare room to a homeless person?
 
How many of us have struggled to forgive someone, perhaps to the point where it haunts us throughout our lives?
 
Palm Sunday - the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem to shouts of praise by the same people who will shout to condemn just a few days later - is an invitation.
 
It is an invitation to look at our own lives and recognize the ways in which we might say one thing but do something different.
 
It is not an invitation to feel guilt or shame. Rather, it is an invitation to experience God-given grace.
 
Jesus is well aware that these people shouting his praises today will condemn him a few days later. And yet, he enters Jerusalem anyway.
 
Jesus knows Peter will deny him three times, and yet he continues to love and forgive Peter anyway.
 
Jesus knows Judas will betray him, but he forgives anyway. And, he allows Judas to come to the realization that Jesus knows what he’s going to do. It doesn’t stop Judas, but Judas knows that Jesus knows.
 
All of these people – the crowd and the disciples – they all receive Jesus’s forgiveness and his grace.
 
On Easter morning when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, we know for certain that even though the crowd condemned him and the disciples denied him, Jesus returned and forgave them.
 
And Jesus died for all of them, and for us, too.
 
Jesus wants us to know that he knows that we might be among those who would shout praises one day and condemn or deny him the next.
 
He wants us to know this because he wants us to feel so deeply loved and forgiven that we could extend that to every corner of our being.
 
He wants us to know because he wants us to radiate his love outward – to know so fully and deeply that we are loved that we extend that love fully and completely to everyone we meet.
 
And he wants us to know that we are forgiven.
 
There is no need for shame or guilt because we are wholly loved and forgiven. We bear all to Jesus and he says, “I know, and I still love you.”
 
So, as we enter into Holy Week and look inward to become more aware of the ways in which we might be like the crowd, we also go into this week knowing that Jesus loves us. Jesus loved us before we were born, he loves our past selves, our present selves, and our future selves.
 
He loves us when we are shouting praises and he loves us when we are shouting condemnations.
 
He loves us when we are happy, and he loves us when we are down, depressed, uncertain, or anxious.
 
He loves us when life is going our way, and he loves us when life is hard and we aren’t sure where to go next.
 
May we remember how deeply loved we are.
 
May we remember that Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to enter Jerusalem knowing that his death was just days away.
 
For us. Jesus did all of this for us. That kind of love is deep, abiding, and ever-lasting. We are loved.
 
You are loved.
 
Let’s say it together: I am loved.
 
Amen.
 
Let us pray: God of grace, thank you for allowing us to choose – to choose to be in the crowd shouting praises and in the crowd shouting condemnation. And thank you for forgiving us and offering grace when we choose condemnation. We don’t intend to hurt you or hurt others, and we are grateful that you know our hearts and our intentions. We pray that you would continue to guide us, and we pray that you continue to forgive us and offer us your grace when we stray. Thank you for your endless love. In your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

I don’t know about you, but today’s Gospel reading leaves me with a couple of questions.

So, to help us think about this story in a new way, I want to imagine the story for us a little differently.

This portion of the sermon is adapted from a Children’s sermon published on Gary Neal Hansen’s website, GaryNealHansen.com.
​
He does give permission for this to be used broadly with credit to his page.
 
One night, Jesus and his friends had camped out on the Mount of Olives. The next morning, Jesus got up and said. “I’m going for a walk. See you later.”
 
“Where are you going?” they asked. 
 
“To the Temple,” he said.
 
When Jesus got near the Temple doors, people crowded around him. So he started teaching them about the Kingdom of God, as Jesus tended to do when he was at the Temple.
 
But then a noisy group of men came down the road. When they got closer everybody moved out of their way.
 
Jesus noticed that they were bringing a woman with them, holding her tightly by the arms. She looked really upset, like she wanted to get away.
 
“Jesus!” said the man leading the group. “We were hoping to find you here. We brought this… this woman!”
 
“I see that,” Jesus said. He tried to catch the woman’s eye, but she wouldn’t look at him. She just looked at the ground.
Jesus got down on his knees and started writing something in the dirt. She was looking down, so she could see him writing.
 
“Well?” said the man. “We caught this woman!”
 
Jesus didn’t look up. As he kept on writing, he said, “Well maybe you should let her go. I think you are hurting her arms.”
 
The woman couldn’t quite see what he was writing, but she was curious and kept trying to see more clearly.
 
The men eventually let the woman go. They gave her a shove, so she stood between Jesus and their group.
 
“I said,” the man went on, “we caught her with the man who lives next door to her. They were doing something God’s law forbids. The Law of God says we should kill her by throwing rocks at her. That’s what we are gonna do!”
 
Jesus said, “You said she was with the man who lives next door to her. Where is he?”
 
The men shrugged and looked at their feet.
 
“Well, he’s a friend of some of the guys here,” said the leader. “But this woman is guilty. We caught her.”
 
“Yeah, you mentioned that,” said Jesus. “Seems like you only want to obey God if the person you punish is not a friend.”
 
Nobody spoke.
 
“So did you bring the rocks?” Jesus asked.
 
The men looked at each other and shrugged. Their leader said, “No. We, um…”
 
Jesus interrupted. “Well if you’re going to do what that law says, you’re going to need rocks. It seems like you are wanting me to do it for you. Why don’t you go away and come back when you’re really ready.”
 
All the men shuffled off. But someone shouted “We’ll be back!”
 
And Jesus got back on his knees and started writing, slowly, in the dirt again. The woman watched him write, mesmerized and wondering.
 
The woman said “Are you going to let them throw rocks at me?” He didn’t speak. She started to cry.
 
Then he said “Maybe they won’t come back. But tell me: did you do what they said you did?”
 
She sniffled, but before she could answer, the men returned, with big rocks in their hands. “We’re back!” the leader said. “And we’re ready to do what God’s law says we should do!” 
 
Jesus stood up, dusted himself off.
 
He said, “I’m afraid you will have to wait a minute. I’ve got a question for you. Is this maybe the first time you’ve tried to obey God’s law?”
 
“Why do you ask?” said the leader. 
 
“Because it sounds like maybe you’re new at this,” Jesus said. “Anyway, we need to make sure you’re the right people to obey this particular law.”
 
“Oh come on,” said the leader. “Everyone should always obey God’s law. And we never broke the law she broke.”
 
“Think about it,” said Jesus. “If you knew someone stole a lot of money—say he’d already been convicted in court—would you let him decide who gets arrested for stealing?”
 
“What does this have to do with us?” said the leader. “It’s time for us to stone this sinful woman.”
 
Jesus stood up again. The woman tried so hard to see what he’d been writing. She tried to look subtle, but couldn’t quite see it.
 
Jesus dusted himself off once more. He said. “Okay, how about you arrange yourselves in three groups. If you’ve broken a whole lot of God’s laws, make a group over there.
 
If maybe you used to break God’s laws but you don’t do it much any more, stand in the middle. And if you always try to be good and hardly ever break God’s laws, make a group right over here.”
They grumbled, but they did it. They made three groups. Then Jesus said, “Okay, so now let’s go one at a time. Whoever here has never ever broken even one of God’s laws, that person gets to go first.”
The group close by all looked at each other. But nobody stepped forward.
 
So Jesus started writing in the dirt again.
 
One by one, the men drifted away. They dropped their rocks by the roadside and they left.
 
Eventually he looked up and caught the woman’s eye. “Oh, so isn’t anyone going to stone you after all?”
 
“No sir,” she said.
 
“Well,” Jesus said, “I’m certainly not going to.”
 
“But…” said the woman. “What should I do now?” 
She was holding her face in her hands and weeping.
 
“My daughter,” Jesus said. “Go and live your life—But from now on, live the way God teaches you to live.”
 
The woman nodded tearfully. With her path clear of men surrounding her, she could finally see what Jesus had written:

The Message

While that story is a reimagining of many of the details that are left out of the Gospel, it does help highlight some of the questions that we might have as we read this passage.

The first, and perhaps most important, is who is considered guilty of sin.

When these men brought the woman to Jesus, they said, “this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn’t her husband.”
 
This naturally implies that another party was involved in the “transgression.” So why only bring one of the people who broke the Law of Moses rather than both?

This would be like if they brought the woman to Jesus and said, “this woman was caught robbing the local bank with a man who lives in town.”

Why would they only bring her, and not him as well? Shouldn’t they both technically be stoned for breaking the law, if that is the required punishment?
 
The second question, of course, is what was Jesus writing in the dirt? And why was he doing this?

The Bible doesn’t actually tell us, which has led to many different interpretations and speculations over the years.

But it’s an intriguing question – was this akin to Jesus texting on his phone instead of engaging directly with the accusers of this woman?

Almost as though he intended to seem distracted so as to diffuse the situation and make it clear that he was not going to get worked up like they hoped he would?
 
We won’t ever know for sure.

It’s certainly easier to speculate as to why only the woman was brought to Jesus and not the man. That we can guess simply based on how women were treated at the time verses how men were treated.

But even today – do we find it more problematic when women commit adultery, or men?

I am sure we’d get a lot of different answers to that question if we asked different people, but I think often the initial reaction of most people would be to feel more upset about a woman than a man.
 
But speculating about what Jesus was writing is much more difficult.

And, it’s largely unimportant for our purposes.

What IS important is finding the Good News in this passage.

We see Jesus offer tremendous compassion to this woman. Jesus is not immune to the cultural norms of his time so he could have easily gotten swept up in the anger of the men who brought the woman to him.
 
But he didn’t. He saw a woman in front of him with all the complexities of humanity – no different than anyone else standing before him.

Who knows why this woman was with a man she wasn’t married to? Maybe she was abused at home, maybe her husband died, maybe she was being blackmailed, maybe she didn’t have a husband at all.

Jesus doesn’t assume one thing or another. He simply sees her for who she is and meets her where she’s at.
 
And, he does the same for the crowd.

He offers compassion by demonstrating for them what compassion can look like.

And he also offers compassion while also teaching them something.

We have to be careful here not to imply that the Law of Moses isn’t important or that Jesus is superseding it somehow because that’s not the case.

What he is doing is showing them that they are equally as guilty of breaking the law.
 
Maybe they haven’t committed adultery, but adultery isn’t the only thing they could do to break the law.

His point is that they have all broken the Law of Moses at some point.

So who are they to accuse someone else when they are equally as guilty?

In other words, if stoning is the punishment for breaking the law, then go ahead and throw stones as long as you are completely innocent yourself.
 
The men in the crowd, humbled by Jesus’s words, realized that they are no less guilty than she.

And yet, Jesus offered compassion and forgiveness to everyone. He didn’t argue that they should all be stoned.

And the Good News here is that Jesus offers that same level of compassion and forgiveness to all of us.

Yes, Jesus also encourages the woman to live the way God teaches us to live, and if the men were still around I am sure he would have said the same to them.
 
And, likely, to us too.

But Jesus suggests this out of love and compassion for the humanity in each of us.

And this is the beauty of this passage.

There is no need for guilt or shame, because we are wholly loved, cared for, and forgiven.

So, may you leave here today knowing this Good News.
​
May you allow Jesus to show you compassion, and may you show others that same compassion, each and every day. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Merciful God, thank you for your loving kindness and compassion. Thank you for meeting us where we are. Thank you for forgiving us and understanding that our humanity and the complexities of life in community make us vulnerable. Thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ to show us a better way. Continue to walk with us and guide us and help us see your love all around us. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

I looked up the word “vulnerable” to see what the official definition of the word is prior to writing my sermon today.

Oxford defines the word “vulnerable” as “susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm.”

So, with that in mind, I would like to ask you all: Who do you consider to be among the vulnerable in the world today?
*****
 
We have created a pretty good list of people we consider vulnerable.

Do you see yourself on this list in some way or another?

Do you see people you know – family, friends, neighbours, or anyone else you interact with regularly?

Of course, because we have all felt vulnerable at some point in our lives. At the very least, we were all children once – a season in life in which we are incredibly vulnerable.
 
But, when we don’t feel vulnerable, we can forget what it feels like to be vulnerable.

Once we grow into adulthood, we tend to forget the vulnerable feeling of being a child, for example.

And of course, there are many on this list we created that will always be or feel vulnerable, at least until our culture shifts.

This is just as true now as it was when Jesus was here on Earth and when Moses spoke prophetically to Israel as well.
 
The Message

The thing about vulnerability is that we all experience it at points throughout our lives.

As children, we are in an incredibly vulnerable position. We haven’t learned enough about the world yet to have “street smarts,” if you will, so we can be easily taken advantage of if there is no one around to protect us.

The same can be true as we reach the golden years of our lives.
 
Older adults are also in a more vulnerable position, for a variety of reasons.

But the same is true for immigrants, for those with physical or mental impairments, for anyone who has lost a spouse, for the poor, and for so many other people.

And, we can move in and out of vulnerable positions throughout our lives.

At the end of the day, what we all need to remember is that none of us are immune to feeling vulnerable, and it can happen at any point in our life.
 
We might be feeling strong and invincible, until we get a cancer diagnosis.

We might be feeling on top of the world until we lose our job due to downsizing.

On the other hand, we might have pulled ourselves out of poverty or out of living paycheque to paycheque, and now we are comfortable and further removed from those feelings of financial vulnerability.

Maybe we have been in remission from cancer for 10 years and we’ve left behind some of our feelings of physical vulnerability.
 
The point I’m trying to make is that as we live our lives in whatever position we are in among society, we must remember that we have been on the receiving end of vulnerability.

This is exactly what Moses is reminding his people of in the Deuteronomy passage we heard today.

“You were slaves in Egypt until the Lord your God rescued you.”

“You lived in poverty as slaves in Egypt until the Lord your God rescued you.”
 
In other words, remember your vulnerability when you interact with others who are vulnerable now.

It can be easy for humans to get off track. It can be easy for us to look at the person standing in front of us and judge them.

It’s also easy to think things like “well, when I was vulnerable, no one helped me. I had to ‘pull myself up by my own bootstraps.’ Why shouldn’t others need to figure out a way to do the same?”

But what if someone had been willing to help us out in our time of need?
 
I’ll share an example with you of how this might look in the world today.

I talked with someone once who worked in a factory.

He would talk about how the young people today were constantly pushing back on management to get things like better sick time and vacation time, more benefits, etc.

This annoyed him tremendously because he never got any of that when he was younger.
 
He had to deal with the one week of vacation time they got a year, and he had to go to work when he was sick.

Why shouldn’t they have to do the same? Why should they get better working conditions than he got? Have these kids gotten soft?

But the thing is, he should have also gotten those things. Because everyone deserves to be treated fairly, everyone needs time off to recharge, and employers should be providing those things.
 
Just because his generation didn’t get those things doesn’t mean that was right. And it certainly doesn’t mean that conditions should never improve for future generations.

Moses is reminding Israel of exactly this.

Just because they experienced being slaves in the desert doesn’t mean that was fair or right. And it doesn’t mean that others experiencing vulnerability like poverty, or being a foreigner in the land, or being orphaned or widowed deserve to remain in those conditions either.
 
And it certainly doesn’t mean the Israelites should ignore the vulnerable or not help them out.

Jesus says something similar in Matthew 19 as well.

Some people brought their children to Jesus because they wanted Jesus to pray for them.

But, Jesus’s disciples acted as though the people were bothering him.

This might sound harsh to our ears today, but in that time period, spending time with children who were not your own seemed wasteful or purposeless.
 
Children would have been considered a distraction from their ministry.

But, as he often does, Jesus easily flips the cultural narrative.

He says, “People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom.” This is important because he’s including anyone who might be considered vulnerable.

This would have been very different than the cultural expectation of the time period.
 
Jesus is essentially saying, “you were vulnerable like these children, and you deserved attention just like they do.”

Instead of continuing the social narrative that children (especially those who were not your own) didn’t deserve time or attention from adults, Jesus tells the crowd that they do, and that they deserved attention and care when they were children, too.

Jesus is trying to change the narrative. He’s shifting the culture in the way that only Jesus can do – by example and without shame or anxiety.
 
Jesus is reminding the disciples and everyone else who is watching that the most vulnerable people deserve love, compassion, care, and attention, too.

And we are reminded of this 2000 years later, as well.

We are called to protect and care for the vulnerable, even if, when we were vulnerable, we did not receive the care or protection that we deserved.

This is not “an eye for an eye” situation. We are called to do better from generation to generation.
 
As individuals, as community members, and as nations, we are called to care for one another not only by our individual actions but also through our collective actions.

Jesus reminds us that everyone belongs to God’s kingdom. Everyone on the list we made earlier belongs to God’s kingdom.

And if God’s kingdom is right here on Earth, then everyone on this list belongs and deserves love, kindness, compassion, and care.
 
And this is the Good News that Jesus so often preaches and that we are called to continue living into.

Care for the vulnerable. Love society’s “unlovable.” Offer compassion to everyone. Know that even when we are most vulnerable, we are still part of God’s kingdom and we are worthy of God’s love and of the love of our neighbours.

May you leave here today with this encouraging reminder that we are all loved and cared for. Amen.
 
Let us pray: Holy God, sometimes the simplest of your commands are the hardest for us to hear.

You say, “Love your enemy.” “Turn the other cheek.” “Care for the widow and the orphan.”

And we want to know: How? When? Where?

Open up space in us to simply hear your truth for what it is. Open up space in our hearts to dream new dreams, to imagine new realities, to draw closer to you and closer to love.
​
With hope for a better tomorrow, we listen and we pray. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

We are going to start our sermon off today with a video clip.

Some of you may recognize this clip. It’s a scene from the movie “The Great Outdoors.”

For those of you who might not be familiar with the actors, you’ll see Dan Aykroyd on the left, and you’ll see John Candy on the right.

Let’s see what these two gentlemen have to say:

​As you can see, these two characters see something very different when they look out at the lake and the trees.

Dan Aykroyd sees underdeveloped land ripe for development. He sees an opportunity to make money, and he doesn’t seem to care one bit that it might also destroy the environment.

What does John Candy see?

Trees. That’s all. Just trees.

John Candy’s character sees what is right in front of him, and he believes it is enough.

Dan Aykroyd’s character cannot see the beauty or the joy right in front of his eyes because he is striving for more – wealth, power, money, control.

He has a scarcity mindset when he looks out across the water – what he sees before him is not enough. It’s not “producing” enough, in his mind.

John Candy has an abundance mindset. He sees what is right in front of him and rests in knowing that it is enough.
So, when we look at the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, what do the disciples see?

They see 5 loaves of bread and two small fish, and they panic. They are thinking with a scarcity mindset. There is no way this will be enough to feed all these people.

But Jesus sees with an abundance mindset. He says “yes, this is enough. This will do perfectly.”

And then he brings a community together, they feed everyone, and he offers perhaps the most important lesson of the day.
 
The Message

When I first bought my business back in Wisconsin, I had a week to get it ready to re-open. I couldn’t wait any longer than that because I needed clients to start coming back so I could start earning revenue.

But there was a LOT that needed to be done in that week. I walked in and I looked around and I was overwhelmed and, if I’m being honest, I didn’t think it was possible. I was doomed before I even started.

And then, some of the staff who were going to be working for me called and said, “what do you need.”

And a few of the clients who were ready for the business to reopen stopped by and said “we are here. How can we help?”

And together, with no expectations from anyone about getting paid, we got everything done and ready.

I walked in with a scarcity mindset. I don’t have enough. I am not enough. There’s not enough time, I don’t have enough money, etc etc.

But the community looked at it and said “yup, we’re enough. You are enough. We have hands to help, and we have some money to spare and we’ll make this happen. Let’s get to it.”

And together we built something new.

I thought it was impossible. I was ready to give up before I even got started. I was in over my head and I thought maybe I was crazy for even thinking it was possible in the first place.

I wonder if that’s how the disciples felt?

I can understand their stress when Jesus says, “let’s feed them” and the disciples go right into scarcity mode, wondering how on earth they’re going to afford food for all those people.

But the thing is, God doesn’t start with the problem: How do we feed all these people?

God starts with what God has – which is everything held in God’s hands.

And God also starts with what God has given us.

In my case, God gave me a community of people ready and willing to help.

In the case of Jesus and the disciples, God gave them five loaves of bread and two fish.

With God, all things are possible because God knows that God is always... God!

It’s us who break faith. It’s us who listen to scarcity. It’s us who fear our own hunger.

Our God is a God of abundance.

However loud the scarcity of the world yells, God delights in feeding the hungry. God delights in providing what we need when we need it. And God delights in accomplishing what we dare not imagine.

God doesn’t start with the problem. That’s how we work, but God starts with what we have.

God meets us where we are in the moment. And God provides, but perhaps not always in the way we think God will provide.

None of the disciples thought that five loaves and two fish could feed 5000+ people.

But Jesus said “I got this.”

We often don’t think that what we have or who we are is enough.

But God says, “I got this, and so do you. Together, we got this.”

When I bought my business, I did not have any idea that anyone would be able to help. All I saw was me, and the time and money I had available. And it wasn’t enough.

But God said, “we got this,” and showed me that it wasn’t impossible because I was surrounded by a community of people who loved and cared deeply about the business re-opening.

They didn’t know me yet, but they came to offer their help anyway. And the community just grew from those brave souls who were willing to take a chance and step forward.

So, what about us? What about this community?

It has become easier and easier for churches to look at the world and say “it’s impossible. There is nothing we can do. We don’t have enough people. We don’t have enough money. We don’t have enough energy or time.”

But what happens – what shifts in our mindset – if we look around at one another and instead we say, “we are enough. Collectively – together, we do have enough time, energy, resources, love, compassion, daring, and whatever else we need”?

What could we accomplish together? Who could we help? Who could we serve?

What issue could we support? How could we provide for and serve the community around us?

What is God calling us to do?

God doesn’t start with the problem.

God starts with what we all have.

Nothing is impossible with or for God.

May we leave here with this in mind.

May we begin to shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.

We have enough. We are enough. God is enough.

Together, we can do wonderful and amazing things.

Amen.

Let us pray: Holy God, we could press our ear to the page, hoping to hear you more clearly.

We could silence all the alarms and notifications, hoping to catch a murmur of your voice. We could still our beating hearts, and still we might miss your voice.

So today we pray, open up space in our hearts, in our spirits, in our minds, to feel your presence among us.
With you, anything is possible. We believe. Help our unbelief. Amen.

* Prayer by Rev. Sarah A. Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.
* Some portions of this sermon were adapted from A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.

This sermon was given by David C. Jones on March 1, 2026.

The heart of the last 20 years of my teaching university graduates was The Company of the Good.  And that Company exists to this day ten years later.  It is, after all, eternal and invaluable.

Sometimes in the Company I would do something different.  I would tell the listeners something like this….

I am going to offer some comments and questions, then give a relevant quotation, without telling you who said it. Names sometimes interfere with Truth and understanding.  If known, they can prompt judgements on the validity of what is said; if they are not known, but given, they can spur annoyance and irritation.  Who in the world is that!  When judgements or annoyances occur, the message is often lost. So today, we will leave out the names.

Truth comes from many sources, some strange.   Someone, unnamed, said, “A parrot in the house screamed at 2 am—‘The house is on fire!  The house is on fire!’   Now is this the time to say, ‘I’m going back to sleep. The parrot doesn’t know what he is saying!’”

So, focus only and totally on what is said.  Ask inwardly to discern what is true and meaningful, and perhaps helpful for you.      

First thought: Do you smile very often?  Perhaps at a little child, or at someone you don’t know as you pass by?

Now the quotation: “Whatever lifts the corners of your mouth, trust that.”

Second thought:  Have you ever raced though life, even its beautiful parts?  Have you ever sped through a magnificent garden, or through a holy place?  Just glanced as you tore by?

Now the quotation:  “Tortoises can tell you more about the road than hares.”  Turtles can tell you more about the road than rabbits.  They see more than a blur, which is really not seeing at all.

Next thought:  In a world that increasingly cannot tell true from false,  it is imperative to know what Love is and what not.  Many are confused.

Now the quotation: “Whenever we manage to love without expectations, calculations, negotiations, we are indeed in Heaven.”

The quotation again: “Whenever we manage to love without expectations, [Expectations… That’s not love… a list of requirements or services]… whenever we manage to love without calculations [Calculations… that’s not love either… love is spontaneous; it doesn’t calculate]… Whenever we manage to love without negotiations [love doesn’t negotiate; it doesn’t settle for a C plus… or a 30% tariff; that’s not Love and its not Heaven].

Next thought:  We all have to say a last goodbye at times in this world. Goodbye, mom or goodbye dad, or son or daughter.

Now, the quotation: “Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes, because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.”

Next thought:  You have noticed the virtual omnipresence of discord and conflict in this world….  The horrific enmity, hostility, malice, malignance, bitterness, resentment, revenge, venom….

Now the quotation: “The holiest of all the spots on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love.”

Next thought: We are all God’s children.  We are part of a Oneness that is unbreakable, inseparable, and eternal. And Oneness is not here today and gone tomorrow.

Now the quotation one Remembrance Day: “Let us never forget the solemn truth that the nation is not constituted of the living alone.”  It’s bigger than that. The dead are part of it, and they always will be. This is a deeper, more profound inclusion that the word Nation implies.

Next thought: We admire and adulate heroes in this world, but not all of them.  Some are left out.   And only a kind heart has the sight to notice them.

Now the quotation: “[Humanity’s] greatest actions are performed in minor struggles.  Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment and poverty are battlefields which have their heroes—obscure heroes who are at times greater than illustrious heroes.”

The world is full of these little people. I doubt if there is a single soul here who does not know one of these heroes, perhaps many. 

Now let me tell a story of the rescue of beauty. We have lost the importance of the virtues.  They have flittered away, along with their beauty.  But their beauty will be rediscovered and rescued.  There are, of course, things that never look beautiful. And things that generally don’t—the criminal justice system, for example.  But even that can be beautified.

Joe Serna, an American, was a retired army sergeant first class who did three tours in Afghanistan and was twice wounded.  One night he and three other soldiers were driving along a creek when the road suddenly gave way and the truck careened into the creek.  Slowly it filled with water, and Serna, unable to extricate himself, knew the end was near.  The water rose past his legs, his waist, his chest, his neck, and stopped at his chin.  He was the only survivor.

Later, back in the States, he was arrested for drunk driving, [part of post traumatic stress syndrome… war tears you to pieces] and as part of his probation, he was not permitted to drink.  Then he lied about a urine test and was caught.

“I knew what Joe was going through, and I knew Joe’s history,” said Judge Olivera, himself a picture of kindness and empathy, for he was a veteran too.  “But he had to be held accountable, so I sentenced him to one night in jail.”

As Joe entered the cell, terrifying flashbacks of being trapped in Afghanistan hit him.  A moment later, Judge Olivera surprised him and joined him in that cell for the whole night.  They ate meat loaf and talked of everything including family.  And the frightful walls of Joe’s nightmare seemed to open and then vanish.  “He brought me back to North Carolina from being in a truck in Afghanistan,” said Joe.

The beautiful video of Judge Olivera and Joe then fades to a scene of the two in court, hugging.  And Joe, deeply moved, says quietly, “I won’t let you down, ever.”

Steve Hartman, narrator of the story, said, “Sometimes jail is not what a man needs.  Sometimes the best sentence is compassion.”

As Joe and Judge Olivera embrace in mutual respect in the last scene, Joe says, “I love you…. Thanks for believing in me.”[i]

The crucial key in Judge Olivera’s blessing is in not just knowing how to help, but doing it, putting it into practice.  “When the word ‘Lamp’ is uttered, darkness does not vanish; when a patient is told of the properties of a drug, his illness is not cured by attentive listening; when a man suffering from the agonies of poverty is told of the various ways in which funds can help him to overcome it, he does not feel a bit relieved; a hungry [soul] is hungry, even after hearing a tasty description of a magnificent banquet.”[ii]  He gets the description, but nothing to eat.  If a beautiful teaching is only heard and not applied, it is useless.  If it is not extolled out of the depth of one’s experience it is valueless.

The great Judge Olivera acted.  He acted.  That is the good news of the Company of the Good.

One act of kindness infinitely outweighs a thousand intentions.  Amen.

Draft 10, March 2, 2026

[i] https://www.cbsnews.com/video/judge-spends-night-in-jail-with-man-he-sentenced/

[ii] David C. Jones, “God, Love, Service and Practice—The Curriculum of Sathya Sai Baba and the Re-vitalization of Our Schools,” Journal of Modern Educational Review, vol. 3 # 5, 339-346.