Sermon for March 4, Lent Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22:22-30; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38 by Wilma Neal

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1 Sermon for March 4, Lent Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22:22-30; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38 by Wilma Neal Prayer: May the God of gentleness be with you, caressing you with sunlight and rain and wind; May God s tenderness shine through you, to warm all who are hurt and lonely. May the blessing of gentleness be on you. Here we are wearing our hats in honor of Margaret Barnard and her birthday, our dear friend who loved to wear hats and who lived to be 100 years old. The prayer I offered reminds me of Margaret. She loved the sunlight, rain and especially the wind, because she loved to sail, often alone in her little sailboat. She was a mountain climber in younger days and must have loved the sun, and because she lived in the northwest and spent a lot of time outside, she must have loved the rain, too. Margaret was also a gentle person who cared so very much for others that one felt blessed to be in her presence. We honor you today, Margaret. We listened to the first scripture reading this morning where the Lord appeared to Abram and made a covenant with him. God told him that he would make him exceedingly numerous, and that kings would come from him even though he was 100 years old. Abram was also told that from this point on, his new name would be Abraham. God then told Abraham that his wife s name would also be changed to Sarah and that she would be blest twice: 1st -- that she would be given a son by Abraham, and 2nd -- that she would give rise to nations, that kings of people would come from her. She was only 99 years old. Several years ago, Jim and I put together a skit for an event at our church in Kirkland about this story of Abraham and Sarah. Scripture goes on to say in our Romans lesson today that when this couple heard what God was saying, Abraham fell on his face and began to laugh because he knew that his age of 100 years might pose some difficulty for him to father a child. As a result, if you can imagine, Sarah surely was contemplating about being 99 and bearing a child -- and her sense of humor must have been obvious with laughter as well. In the skit, Jim and I were definitely laughing as we played the parts of Abraham

2 and Sarah. If I remember right we got a bit overwhelmed with laughter, as did our audience, then straightened up and got on with the skit. 2 Several years later, Jim and I took the opportunity to put together another skit which was from Fiddler on the Roof, one of our very favorite musical productions. In this story, poor Tevye, an older Jewish man, is trying to make the best of a difficult situation involving his daughters -- a situation where he was feeling that the world was changing and his opinions didn t matter. Sadly, Tevye approached his dear wife Golde, asking, Do you love me? AND poor Golde replies with Do I what? Then Tevye responds Golde do you love me? She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. For 25 years I ve lived with you, cooked for you, cleaned for you, given you children, milked the cow After 25 years, why talk about love right now? It seemed that Golde missed the point of what Tevye was earnestly trying to say. Well, getting back to Abraham and Sarah, I can picture Abraham approaching Sarah in much the same way. His trust in God made him know that the promise of this covenant of making him a father and blessing his family with many descendants was in earnest and it gave him the desire to proceed with God s promise. Can you hear Abraham saying, Sarah, do you love me? And just as Golde said, I can hear Sarah answering without thinking, Oh, dear Do I What? It sounds like she missed the point. She was also a good Jewish wife who had heard the message regarding her bearing kings and heads of nations. Do you suppose that when Abraham once again said, Sarah Do you love me? Sarah thoughtfully asked herself, Do I love him? After 80 years I suppose I do. In our Gospel lesson from Mark today, Jesus is talking to his disciples about the things that would soon be happening to him and to them -- that he would be rejected by friends and those he had studied with, by elders, chief priests, and scribes -- and that he would be crucified by them and others who were now against him. He had told them before and tried to explain again to the disciples that he was chosen, and knew this was surely going to happen. But Peter, who couldn t bear the thought of living without Jesus, because he loved him so much, took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, reminding Jesus that he was the Messiah and that no way could these people kill him, that Jesus could surmount that. At this point Jesus could sadly see that Peter just didn t get the point. Jesus invited his disciples to take up their cross and follow him -- to believe him.

3 3 Was he asking them, Do you love me? As Peter and the disciples respond unbelievingly with Do I what?, Jesus asks earnestly once again, Do you love me? When our God of gentleness offers us sunlight, rain, wind, and asks us to warm all who are hurt and lonely, is God asking each of us, you and me Do you love me? One of the ways I hear Jesus asking me if I love him is through music. Music can unite us with peace and joy, offering the chance to warm ourselves and those who are hurt and lonely. I feel blest with the opportunity of coordinating music here at St. Hugh. Since we will be using both the Blue Hymnal and Voices United during Lent I ask you to pay special attention to the lyrics in each hymn. We are so fortunate to have our accompaniment from these hymnals recorded on the synth by the extremely talented Dent Davidson and Dianne Everson. This makes it possible for us to sing the lyrics as we worship and to incorporate their message. Did you know that for worship services, hymns are selected for each of these books in supplements that go with the scripture lessons? First I read the lessons for a given Sunday, look at the selected hymns, then try to be prayerful in choosing the right ones for that Sunday. Sometimes I use the selected hymns, and sometimes I search further to see what might seem more meaningful. Studies are being done regarding what music does for us in our minds, attitudes, hearts, and disposition as we sing all together on a Sunday morning. God and creation may be more evident to us when we sing or hear music than at any other time, and depending on the choice of music -- contemporary praise songs, traditional songs, classical music -- he is often there in the words. Lyrics are composed by people who have the gift of poetry. If you look through the hymnals, at the top of each page you will find topics about justice and compassion, healing, Communion, peace, baptism, Christmas, and Easter, as well as hatch, match, and dispatch (birth, marriage, and death). Many lyrics in our music offer prayer. We find ourselves praying the words we sing. In fact, you are more than welcome to join this fun-loving, wonderful, talented, and dedicated choir at 10:30 any Thursday morning right here. Even those who have shared with me that they can t sing are invited with all of you to never stop singing. Now I want to share a story of how God sent his love and tenderness to shine through others to warm me at a time when I was hurt.

4 4 About 9 years ago, in 2003, on December 1st, I experienced a cerebral aneurysm. This was something that Margaret Barnard and I had in common, as she told me some time later. When the pain began it was obvious that I needed emergency help. Jim called 911, who immediately sent out EMTs. They put me on a gurney and whisked me off to Mason General, where a scan was performed. It was determined that something extensive needed to be done. Immediately I was again whisked off to St. Peter s in Olympia, where early on December 2nd, a gifted neurosurgeon, Dr. Lang, performed intracranial surgery. The last thing I remembered of any of this was when I first left our home on the gurney in the aid car. I was told that the next day, following Dr. Lang s surgery, I was in ICU for a number of hours. The first thing I do remember upon finally waking up, was that something major had happened. I then felt my head which seemed to be covered by a great big bandage. I looked around to see where I was, and then looked up to a big window where there were three faces, big as life. They were laughing as they looked at me. In my vision was the most beautiful picture that I will never, ever forget of Jim and Nick and Troy just laughing! I remember smiling back, saying Hi Guys, and waving -- so glad to see them -- but wondered what they were laughing about. Later I was told that the doctor had shared with them that he had no idea what movement or memory or speech that I might have upon recovery. Apparently I had been wiggling around and moving everything when I was in the waking process -- and then I recognized them. They were joyously happy that I was apparently experiencing normal movement, memory, and could talk. Then I went right back to sleep. For the next few days, in my waking moments, as I thought about this experience, it was so apparent that I saw God s love in those faces for me -- there was no doubt in my mind. It was a powerful love that came across to me and continues in the many times that I see the picture of their faces in my mind. I will never forget that picture and am so grateful to have experienced their laughter and love. Dear Ones, May the blessing of gentleness be with you, caressing you with music and sunlight and rain and wind;

5 And listen for God s tenderness as you are asked, Do you love me? 5 Amen.

Laughter or Possibilities

a script from Laughter or Possibilities by Jennifer Jolly What God visits Abraham and Sarah to give them new names and to announce that they will have a baby. They are beside themselves with laughter,