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Sermon January 15, 2023
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, MSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
The Second Sunday after the Epiphany
https://lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Epiphany/AEpi2_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__January_15__2023
Video: https://youtu.be/v6cvPA7VEPs
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus…. 1 Corinthians 1:4
It was the Sunday before Christmas and I was traveling to Elizabethville to the Wal-Mart. I hadn’t traveled up that side of the Susquehanna in quite a long time. It’s not the fastest travel, is it? No big highway; just a 2-lane road up and down the hills and mountains and farm fields.
Why was I going to the Elizabethville Wal-mart?
Well, back in October, Bishop Scanlan asked us if we could help a friend of a friend who lives in Lykens. I’ll call him John. John had had his foot and part of his leg amputated. There had been complications and so he wasn’t able to get his prosthetic and get back to work. He needed help to support his family. The Bishop had already given and she asked if we could help, too. Of course we did with some grocery store gift cards.
Just after Thanksgiving, John reached out again for help. He’d finally been casted for his prosthetic and was waiting for it to come. He’d need therapy and to get used to it before he could return to work. He was looking for new jobs, even, but nothing had come through. He and his wife had 3 children they were trying to provide for. Could we help for Christmas.
It took awhile, but finally we decided we could provide $300, using some money we’d collected for other similar efforts, a private donation and grocery gift card money. John asked for a gift card from Wal-Mart. I tried getting a gift card online, but no luck. Christmas was coming soon, so getting in the car and driving to the Wal-Mart closest to the family was the answer.
I was able to meet John. He was so appreciative of our donation. He explained that his first prosthetic ended up not fitting well and another one was being made. He still had a ways to go before he could get a job. Our donation provided some joy and relief to him and to his family at this challenging time.
This morning we heard the opening of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. It opens in a typical style of the times, but also a typical style of Paul – gratitude for the community. “I give thanks always to my God for you….” Paul gives thanks to God for this community who is doing their best to follow Jesus Christ.
It is the community of the faithful, working together that see, know and act upon the grace of God given through Jesus Christ. This letter was probably written about the year 53. We have a legacy of nearly 2,000 years of communities of the faithful working together to see, know and act upon the grace of God given through Jesus Christ. And what we do today, provides a legacy for those who follow.
Together, we affect so many lives. It might be just in our daily interactions and daily living as individuals. Being part of this community strengthens and deepens our faith. We have a community to which we are accountable, don’t we? We think about what we do and how we live our lives, because we have relationships with each other and in some ways are answerable to each other.
We are also living examples to everyone we meet. We represent our parish and how people view us and how we live our lives gives them a message about our parish community and our understanding of the love of Christ.
Then each Sunday, we come together and worship and pray and praise God together. We answer the call of people in distress. We collect food and items for the Neighbor Helping Neighbor Food Bank each month. We give financially to help people with their heating. These are just a few of the ways we work together to show the love of Christ to our community.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus….
And today, I also think about The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and thank God for him and for his work and ministry. He gave us a vision of a world that I think we all would like to see and to live in. He challenged the norms and laws of his time that were unfair, at great cost to his own life and the welfare of his own family. He had his flaws and he was certainly and assuredly led by God, the all-encompassing love of Christ, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus….
Amen
