Frail and stooped with the ravages of illness, out of the hospital… her only yearning: to go to church. Out of the hospital  into the sanctuary… Wearing joy upon her wrinkled face, she is full of light. Her hand shaking, she places her offering on the plate. O God, a widow’s mite! This day in this time  lovingly, cheerfully offered to her Lord… O God, a widow’s mite! a sign of hope among us!
                                                         - Ann Weems

READING
Looking up, Jesus saw rich people throwing their gifts into the collection box for the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow throw in two small copper coins worth a penny. He said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than them all. All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had to live on.”
                                                        - Luke 21.1-4 (CEB)

REFLECTION
NOTE: Pastoral needs have called me away from my reflection, whisking away in one fell swoop the time I need to prepare an adequate preparation for worship. I would say, “I’m sorry,” but I simply can’t apologize for providing pastoral care when and where it is needed. That, after all, is why we are here. 

This much I can say about Sunday's topic: There has to be a reason the widow in this story offered her all to God – a whopping two mites! – and only by peering into her heart and finding there this reason would Jesus be moved to affirm her action above all others in the temple that day. While her motives are not transparent to us, we can imagine the interior of a heart so willing to share. Ann Weems certainly has her idea, and it is expressed in the poem cited above. As you meditate on this passage and poem, seek to discern the widow’s reason for giving… and join us on Sunday as we consecrate our stewardship pledges to God.

If you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving every creature, our Beloved will enter you from our sacred realm and we will be, we will be so happy.
                      - Rumi

READING:
Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.”
                                        - Luke 4.16-21 (CEB)

REFLECTION:
Frederick Buechner likes to talk about beyond words; words that open out to things residing beyond their proper meaning and, more importantly, words that suggest images of things that could never be expressed in words at all, partial and limited as they are. They are mysterious words, because they point to mystery; they are strong words, because they have the courage to take on the nigh impossible, they are profound words, because they offer a glimpse of sheer profundity, and they are open words, because they are the gateway by which such profundity becomes present in our world. As stand-alone words they are partial and quite limited. As symbols of holy things, however, they are powerful beyond words (sorry; just couldn’t avoid the pun!).

Take the word favor, as in the year of the Lord’s favor. We understand it most of the time as a stand-alone word, a word we could define in our sleep. Shoot, ever’body knows what it means to receive favor: being looked on kindly, being given the choice piece of meat on the platter, being pampered and spoiled with all kind of good things. And more times than not, this is how we choose to understand God’s favor, as a stand-alone word that means just what we want it to. Many prodigious prosperity preachers (in this instance prodigious is synonymous with abnormal rather than amazing, at least in my humble opinion) take advantage of this habit by expounding on the material “blessings” God has in store for the favored. Hey, you too can be favored; send in a donation of any size and I will send you my latest book that explains how to become favored in God’s eyes!

In the passage from Luke 4 cited above, Jesus is not playing the prosperity preacher. He is using favor as a beyond word, a word that introduces us to a unique favor available only in God. Is it material? Is it money, success, or accomplishment? Don’t bet on it. These things don’t count for much in God’s estimation. You can, however, bet on it being beneficial, a source of healing, wholeness, and joy. Good news is always welcome and beneficial; but it is rarely accompanied by a cash deposit. The very thought of release is exciting to a prisoner; but will it remain so if the prisoner serves the remainder of the sentence? And sight is valuable beyond description to a blind person; but the sight Jesus mentions won’t necessarily provide a sharp image of the KC Royals playing in the ALCS.

Favor, in this instance, is totally new, beyond our day-to-day understanding (especially when that understanding is shallow and selfish!)… and life transforming. Favor, as Jesus uses it, is a thin veil through which we can see God drawing near. Favor, as Jesus presents it, is the gift of God’s presence which, when all is said and done, is all we need, or could ever hope for. Favor, as Jesus incarnates it, is found in God’s service, being the good news, opening cell doors, and touching lives with light. On Sunday we will examine this notion – the year of God’s favor – and explore any elements of the beyond it may offer as gifts. 

He drew a circle that shut me out – Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win, and we drew a circle that took him in!
                               - Edwin Markham


READING
“Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us”… God created humanity in God’s own image… male and female God created them. …There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.
- Genesis 1.26f. (edited)


REFLECTION
World Communion is always a sweet experience for me. The very thought of sharing communion with Christians around the globe thrills me. The fact that it may be celebrated with coconut milk, wine, nut beer, or stale Diet Pepsi makes no difference; the fact that it may be celebrated in a somber manner or with vibrant dancing makes no difference; and the fact that it may be celebrated in church, under a tree, or hidden from the view of predators makes no difference. When we gather at God’s Table, in both act and intention we are one. We dip, eat, remember, and believe.

The celebration of World Communion is way sweet! But, to be honest, it has a touch of bitterness as well; at least for me. World Communion is bittersweet for me in at least two ways. Firstly, the unity we celebrate in ritual form doesn’t translate into actual unity. The ideal of Christian unity is just that… an ideal; it is a fervent yearning nestled deep in God’s heart. From worship wars to doctrinal disputes to the rejection of heretics (whatever that means) to divisions over social issues; there is little that resembles unity among Christians. We play games with the circles we draw, seems we're persnickety about whom we admit. In the face of this reality, I pledge each year that I will refuse to be a part of the problem. I refuse to withhold fellowship from those who differ from me in the expression of faith; I refuse to withhold fellowship from those who differ from me in their reading of the biblical tradition; and I refuse to withhold fellowship from those of a different social or political stripe. Only with this attitude can I approach in good conscience the celebration of World Communion.

Secondly, World Communion is bittersweet for me because it excludes, rejects, ignores, or condescends to God’s other Children (the title of an excellent book by Bradley Malkovsky). Be they Hindu, Muslim, Agnostic …whatever; in my humble opinion their spirit is marked indelibly with that divine image mentioned in Genesis 1. Is there no unity we can recognize or pursue with them? My all time favorite World Communion memory is of the year my congregation celebrated communion under the sukkah of peace (a shelter erected during Jewish Sukkoth, which fell at the same time), accompanied by friends from the Temple that was nested in our church. I felt the presence of God in an intense manner that day; I felt spiritually clean, if that makes any sense; and I felt an overwhelming sense of peace. I recognized that day a yearning nestled deep in my heart; a prayer for the day God will spoil our circle games and bring such unity to fruition. Will you pray with me?