Sunday
August 20
Surprised, Touched, Inspired
By Marsh Chapel
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Conversation is part of the fabric of human interaction. Our words can hurt or heal, divide or unite, create community or chaos. The recent violence in Charlottesville has sparked conversation about free speech, racism, antisemitism, national leadership, and the inherent values of our nation.
Robert A. Brown, the President of Boston University sent a letter to the community this week in which he said:
“As we seek in our democracy and our academic community to appreciate and understand difference, we speak of tolerance and the fundamental importance of free speech and respect for diverse points of view. But tolerance doesn’t necessarily imply or entail acceptance or approval. Palpably evil acts, such as occurred in Charlottesville, invite the challenging question about what is and is not tolerable or morally acceptable in speech and accompanying deeds.”
President Brown’s letter continues: “I believe it is a view that is broadly shared in our community, that a claim of inherent racial or ethnic superiority is abhorrent. We must, I believe, explicitly denounce white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups that make such claims. The obligation of our community must be to hold fast to the values that are in our Boston University DNA. As we participate in broader conversation in our society, we should seek to set a standard of civility and generosity of spirit in discourse that perhaps over time will be an illuminating counterpoint to the hate speech that threatens the very fabric of our republic.”
In this time in our country when there is so much division and hurt, we do seek deep conversations that help move us into awareness and actions. Persons of faith also seek spiritual strength to guide us in our conversations and actions.
In Ephesians 3, St. Paul asks God to strengthen us by his Spirit—“not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength.”
Paul says: “And I ask God, that with both of your feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”
Today I want to talk about 3 conversations that help bring us into the fullness of God, so that we can serve in a fragile world with inner strength and love.
Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen is a pioneer in integrative medicine and relationship centered care. Dr. Remen writes books, practices medicine, teaches and works with helping professionals and activists who are burned out, feel like they have given all they can give, are tired, annoyed or resentful, and don’t want to do it anymore.
In her workshops, Dr. Remen takes participants through three questions.
What positive thing surprised you today?
What touched you?
What inspired you recently?
All of three questions are directed at what we call the heart.
In Hebrew scripture, the heart is the place where human beings connect with God.
These vivifying questions open up the heart, the place of aliveness, compassion, energy, connection love, deep understanding. The Psalmist knows about the importance of opening the heart. The Psalmist says:
Create in me a clean heart O God,
and renew within me a right spirit.
Let’s examine each of these questions starting with the question:
What surprised you?
In the healing story of Jesus in Matthew 8, Jesus is approached by a Centurion (a high ranking Roman military official) who says:
Sir, my servant is home, paralyzed, racked with pain and paralyzed.
Jesus responds without hesitation: “I will come and cure him.”
The Centurion says:
I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. You are the great healer. Just say the word and my servant will be healed.
Scripture says that Jesus was astonished. Really, really, really surprised. For one thing, a centurion would never say that he is unworthy. He had a power position. Jesus said, “Nowhere I have found such faith. Go home and so let it be done for you according to your faith. And the servant was healed in that hour.”
What does being surprised do? Surprise wakes us up. Surprise almost has a gasp quality to it. Our perception of how the world works shifts, making way for a new reality that has unlimited possibilities.
In that new reality I ask myself, is my faith that bold? Am I willing to trust that all will be well?
For example, I would never say that if you have enough faith in Jesus you don’t need health insurance.
But I do have great faith in working as a team across party lines for our nation’s healthcare system in a way that brings equity and healing to all. And I do treasure the saying:
Everything will work out in the end.
If it doesn’t work out, then it is not the end.
And I am surprised how the healing stories of Jesus always make me think.
“What surprises you?” is a vivifying question.
Another surprise story is not in the Bible, but like many stories, it points to the gospel message:
Some frogs were hopping in the forest, and suddenly two of the frogs fell into a deep hole. They jumped and jumped trying to get out of this almost impossible situation.
The other frogs looked into the hole and shouted: “You should have been more careful, give up, you are already as good as dead. Stop jumping so much, your struggle makes us uncomfortable.”
Exhausted and dispirited one frog lay down and died, but the other frog put forth a super-frog effort and by a miracle, jumped out of the hole.
The observer frogs were shocked: “Why did you continue jumping when we told you it was impossible and why did you continue jumping when you knew it made us uncomfortable?”
Reading their lips now that he was close, the frog explained them that he was deaf. When he saw their gestures, he thought they were cheering him on.
The surprise ending is beautiful: It is astonishing that encouragement, companionship, just being there for each other has so much power. How can that be?
In the end, it is not about the words.
It is about the power of what we call the Divine presence.
We are surprised about the simple power of encouragement.
Jesus was surprised that the Centurion really got what Jesus was teaching about the true power of God. I think Jesus spent his life giving a message that people couldn’t take in. And when they did, He was deeply touched.
Let’s examine the second question: What touched you today or recently?
What was so beautiful or so powerful, that you were humbled by it, opened, connected, heart-filled?
I am always touched by the story of Moses at 120 years old, in the wilderness giving his final lecture to the people of Israel who would have to enter the Promised Land without him.
FINAL lectures or sermons are so touching when people sum up years and decades of wisdom and give it to us as a parting gift.
Deuteronomy 30: 11. The commandment (commandment to love and obey God), I lay on you this day is not too difficult for you, it is not too remote. It is not in heaven, that you should say:
Who will go up to heaven for us to fetch it and tell it to us, so that we can keep it?
No – it is a thing very near to you — on your lips and in your own heart so that YOU can do it.
The story of Moses’ last lecture touches that deeply vulnerable place in us where we feel like we can’t go on, we can’t recover from loss, can’t turn our country, our world, our planet around.
Moses says to the gathered people: God has given you everything you need to keep moving forward towards the promise. That is God’s covenant with us. But remember, Moses said that to the gathered tribes, not just one person.
The story is touching because it touches a place in each of us that is afraid; and says to the fear: As a community, you have everything you need to create a Promised Land.
A second touching story is from the Islamic faith tradition. It has been a really horrific year for the Muslim community in our country and parts of our world. So I want to honor this tradition, this faith, by telling one of their ancient stories that always warms my heart.
Shuaib received a magnificent horse from his brother as a present. The next day Shuaib came out of his house, and saw a street urchin walking around the powerful beautiful animal, admiring it.
“Is this your horse sir?” the ragged child asked.
Shuaib nodded and said “Yes, my brother gave it to me.”
The boy was astounded. “You mean your brother gave it to you, and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish….” He hesitated.
Shuaib knew what he was going to wish for. The street boy was going to wish he had a brother like that. But instead the boy said:
“I wish I could be a brother like that.”
We are touched by acts of selflessness. We are all longing to be lifted out of ourselves. Out of our egos that want more and more, the ego constantly compares ourselves to everything and everyone, and labels things as good or bad, less than, more than. It is exhausting to live racing around in a pool of self-absorption or self-loathing, which is simply the other side of the coin.
We long to be surprised, touched and inspired to higher ideals, authentic relationships, deeper healing.
What Surprised you? What Touched you?
Dr. Remen’s third heart-opening question for us is: What inspired you?
The word inspiration is from the same root word spirit, breath, life. Inspiration implies that our spirit is alive, breathing, awake.
Inspiration opens us up to the divine life force that is always and everywhere around and within us.
A family took care of a 96-year-old Mom who was dying of weariness and Alzheimer’s, and inability to swallow. It was a long arduous journey. It was smelly and not fun. They really wanted to be there for her and with her, but they were wearing down.
One day the son came across an article about how Japanese tea bowls are repaired. The Kintsugi method is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powered gold.
Basically, you fill the cracks and chips with gold. The bowl is not thrown away, but becomes more beautiful because of the events in its life that occurred as it served us. The cracks are honored rather than disparaged.
The image of the old bowl, its cracks and fragility honored with gold, inspired him, and reawakened his desire to serve and love in the face of the great challenge of taking care of a dying, non-communicative elder.
What surprised you, what touched you, what Inspired you?
These questions take us to the place of the heart, the place where God is able to speak to us, energize our spirits and motivate us to move forward and create a world that benefits all of God’s creation.
I close with St. Paul’s hopeful words to the Ephesians and to us:
“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” Ephesians 3:20-21
Surprising, Touching, Inspiring.
That is the good news of the Gospel. And how will you bring those three golden elements to honor and encourage a chipped and cracked world that needs them so much?
–The Reverend Rebecca W. Dolch United Methodist Minister Church of the Upper New York Conference, Ithaca, New York
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