1 Samuel 1:1a-2, 9-11, 19-20 (CEB Version)
Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the highlands of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah.  Elkanah had two wives, one named Hannah and the other named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah didn’t.  One time, after eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah got up and presented herself before the Lord. (Now Eli the priest was sitting in the chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.) Hannah was very upset and couldn’t stop crying as she prayed to the Lord. Then she made this promise: “Lord of heavenly forces, just look at your servant’s pain and remember me! Don’t forget your servant! Give her a boy! Then I’ll give him to the Lord for his entire life. No razor will ever touch his head.”
They got up early the next morning and worshipped the Lord. Then they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, which means “I asked the Lord for him.”

“When hospitality is viewed as entertainment, the house is never ready.” – Christine Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as Christian Tradition

Scripture: Genesis 18:1-10a (Common English Bible)
The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he sat at the entrance of his tent in the day’s heat. He looked up and suddenly saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from his tent entrance to greet them and bowed deeply. He said, “Sirs, if you would be so kind, don’t just pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought so you may wash your feet and refresh yourselves under the tree. Let me offer you a little bread so you will feel stronger, and after that you may leave your servant and go on your way—since you have visited your servant.”
They responded, “Fine. Do just as you have said.”
So Abraham hurried to Sarah at his tent and said, “Hurry! Knead three seahs of the finest flour and make some baked goods!” Abraham ran to the cattle, took a healthy young calf, and gave it to a young servant, who prepared it quickly. Then Abraham took butter, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, put the food in front of them, and stood under the tree near them as they ate.
They said to him, “Where’s your wife Sarah?”
And he said, “Right here in the tent.”
Then one of the men said, “I will definitely return to you about this time next year. Then your wife Sarah will have a son!”

​Reflection: The last several weeks in worship, we've been focusing on the Core Values of OPCC and the characteristics of Vision as we seek to see through God's eyes.  The last several weeks in our world have also been very hard as we consider the violence and terrorism that has been so stunning on our human family.  The feelings of hopelessness abound as it seems impossible to turn on the news without yet another tragic story of violence.  

In these situations, and in this time, we know we can turn to scripture; scripture is full of situations that remind us to hope, even the ones that don't expressly talk about hope.  This Sunday we will focus on this passage from Genesis that reminds us of the Hope in Hospitality because hospitality is much more than simply getting your house ready for a party.
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We hope you will join us - the table is simply not complete when we are missing some of our family in faith!

Unity is not something we are called to create; it’s something we are called to recognize.
        - William Sloane Coffin

“We are more alike, my   
                                                  friends, than we are unalike.”
                                                          - Maya Angelou

READING:
In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises.
                             - Galatians 3.28-29 (The Message)    


REFLECTION:
I will never forget Louis Moore and the lesson he taught me one sultry summer’s evening long ago in the Deep South. The year was 1967, and Louis was one of a handful of Blacks bussed into Minor High School where I attended. They were all kids of significant courage who braved the slurs and abuse of far too many students who – how shall I say this? – lacked moral fiber. But Louis stood above them all. Of the 150 or so kids who went out for football in the spring, Louis was the only black. Most of the other 149 had advanced from Dixie Junior High School, the home of the rebels. Colors? Blue and Gray. Mascot? A Confederate flag. But Louis was not to be intimidated. He stood up under pressure I can’t even imagine, went back day after day always finding himself at the bottom of the depth chart and starting over, and finally made the team. He was the first, and at the time the only, black football player for the fighting Tigers.

The day etched in my memory occurred half way through summer training camp, 2 weeks of twice a day practice. There was a morning practice of 3 hours, several hours of sleep, a bite of food, and an evening practice that lasted until the cows came home. We were always exhausted; battered, sore, and bruised; never sure if we could make it through one more day.

After one particularly grueling evening practice, I sat on the bench facing my locker, stripped from the waist up, elbows on knees, utterly exhausted, trying to find the strength to get up and go to the showers. Suddenly the isle cleared out and looking up I saw Louis at the other end of the isle sitting on the bench facing his locker, stripped from the waist up, elbows on knees, utterly exhausted, trying to find the strength to get up and go to the showers. Our eyes met, and we shared a pained expression that said everything that needed to be said. But in that moment a light dawned in my spirit, and in that most common setting I realized that we were the same, Louis and I. We mirrored each other; like a reflection in a mirror.

That experience shed a little light for me on ethnic unity and equality, and the light has been shining ever since, growing stronger, and illuminating other groups equally despised, rejected, and pushed to the margins of society; groups with which we need to recognize unity. On Sunday we will celebrate equality and unity with friends from the Historic Second Baptist Church of Olathe, our own ministry partner Rios de Agua Viva, and friends from The Raindrop House in Lenexa. Join us at 10:30 AM for a rousing worship gathering, and stay for dinner… it’s on us.

“…These words – the words of Jesus - are not a list to be read. They are not even a sermon to be preached. They are a score to be played…”
           - Dominic Crossan 
             (clarification added)

 I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through— listen to this music.  
                                                - Hafiz

READING:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
                                                  - Hebrews 12.1-2 (NRSV)  

REFLECTION:
We have invited the members of our faith community to adorn the chancel on Sunday with photographs of loved ones whose memory they want to honor on All Saints Sunday. We’ve done this before; so I know from experience that this visual reminder of that great cloud of witnesses surrounding us is both moving and powerful. I’ve looked forward to it for months. So imagine my near panic when I couldn’t find my favorite picture of mama and daddy; two of the many saints that have graced my life, and let’s face it… my favorite saints. 

I searched high and low around the house, and couldn’t find it anywhere (in point of fact, I still haven’t found it!). I was devastated, and as I searched fell deeper and deeper into a funk; until it dawned on me that I didn’t need an image at all, because their voices still resonate within my spirit. I can still hear the spiritual wisdom they shared with me, the sage advice they offered. Occasionally I have to dismiss mom’s disapproving refrain, “Bobo, I taught you better than that…” I can’t forget it, because she said it so often (my personal development was, shall we say, slow to see the light of day, and often obscured by clouds), but no one offers gems of wisdom every time.

I am still guided by their voices, voices in which I find comfort and courage; and theirs are not the only ones. There are more voices, many voices to which I can turn for inspiration and hope. One voice, two voices, three and more, all speaking at once. You might think it would be hard to hear anything useful amidst such cacophony, but it’s not. Voices that speak in love and support, voices whose only purpose is to give, to share with others; these voices blend, harmonize, and in truth become one. Beyond the deafening roar of such a multitude, there is the sound of but one voice. This voice offers us an inkling of the unity that grows in and around us when we open our spirits, and add our voices to theirs; a hint of the music God yearns to make through our lives. Listen; can you hear the music?  

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.