Pentecost 17a 2005

Genesis 50:15-21

Psalm 103

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

“We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” Romans 14:7-8

I have been talking to my sister a lot this past week. As you may know, she lives in Texas. College Station/Bryan, home of Texas A & M. A town a lot like this but with more cowboys and less snow.

She has been volunteering most of her free time to help the evacuees that have been flowing into her community. We are gathering backpacks this morning to send there for the kids. She promised to keep sending me lists I can share with my colleagues around Ames, an informal “adopt-a-town” program. We will only get a few families here at this point, and churches are invited to sponsor them when they arrive.

But most people, understandably, want to remain close to home, or what was home. Especially at this time when there are so many folks separated and unaccounted for.

So Christine has been helping with meals, meeting with other volunteer groups, gathering up lists of needs…

When she called me on Thursday, she was incredibly frustrated with her own church. She is the organist at a church in College Station and last Sunday the pastor said, “I’m not going to talk about the Hurricane, we have heard all about it on the news. And you can go out on your own and volunteer if you want.” That was it. From a town in the midst of it. My sister was angry. So was I when I heard the story.

Way up here in Iowa we talk about it, prayer about, send money, cry….our own John Gryzawcz is down there right now helping coordinate relief efforts. One of my pastoral colleagues is from Mississippi and has not heard word from most of his extended family.

We see pictures, get angry at the slow governmental response, get frustrated that we can’t do more, and suffer from survivor guilt.

We are still going to talk about it and pray about it and gather up our backpacks and gift cards and look to do more. For we are in this together.

That is right there in that verse from Romans: WE do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. WE.

Not just me or you, not just the folks in this room. But the big “WE”. We are in this together, just like we were grieving the victims of 9-11 together.

For when the body count comes in, a part of us dies. And when we here of a family reunited, a part of us rejoices.

That is what is meant by being children of God, having the same creator.

We feel and have compassion and pray and weep. Not just for ourselves but for each other, and for all those folks whose lives are irretrievably damaged.

My sister’s church is like the servant having received forgiveness, and can’t deal with it. The mercy is so out of imagining, out of what we are used to in this world, that they can’t cope. And instead of eliminating the pecking order, they strengthen it.

What happens when we receive untold mercy, wild-eyed forgiveness, unrelenting love? Does it scare us and make us turn even more strongly to our old selfish ways? Sometimes. But if we take a breath and open our hearts it changes us for the better.

Being aware of all the good gifts we have received, having houses and clothing and neighborhoods and friends, down to having our own favorite socks, we can feel guilty for being so blessed, living out of reach of hurricanes… And hunker down to protect what we have.

Or we can share it all, well, maybe not the favorite socks, but our resources. Money and time, school supplies and backpacks…furnishings if we get family to adopt.

Think of what would have happened if the ungrateful slave had been grateful? He would have forgiving others in turn. And they would forgive others and everyone would have a fresh chance to live lives of love and generosity.

And eventually the whole social and commercial structure would fall apart.

And be replaced with a just and equal society. Where no one has too much and everyone has enough. That’s God’s economy. God’s kingdom. God’s world.

The Hurricane will be news for a long time. I can’t fathom how long it will take for people to rebuild their lives and their towns. How long will it take to identify the dead? How long will we mourn our loss?

We are in this together, this family, this church, this world. We are to live together in respect, forgiveness, and compassion.

Helping one another out in times of need. This is a time of need. May God continue to show us what we can do.

Once again we gather in remembrance of those who cannot, we commune mindful of those whose churches have been destroyed. We prayer on behalf of those who have no prayers left.

We. Together. Children of God in every time and every place.

Amen.