Winthrop Congregational Church, UCC No matter who you are. No matter where you are on life's journey... you are welcome here!
  • Home
    • Church Calendar >
      • Mowing Sign UPs
  • Who We Are
    • Where We Are
    • How Can I Serve?
    • Our Mission and What We Do
    • Support Our Ministry!
    • Sermon Blog
    • The Community We Serve
    • Worshiping through the Christian Year >
      • Worship Aids
    • Events that are important to our Church Community
    • By Laws
  • Open & Affirming Statement
    • What is Open and Affirming (ONA)?
  • Covid 19 Worship Resources
  • Current Events
    • Christian Education >
      • Sunday School blog
    • New Directions
    • Fish Chowder >
      • Luncheon brings Friends
    • Honduras Mission Trip Blog
    • Memorial Tree Lights
    • Music
    • Other Events
  • Newsletters
  • History
    • Brief History
    • Early History
    • Later History
    • Recent History
    • 225th Anniversary
    • Pastors
    • Memorials
    • Historical Documents
  • Home
    • Church Calendar >
      • Mowing Sign UPs
  • Who We Are
    • Where We Are
    • How Can I Serve?
    • Our Mission and What We Do
    • Support Our Ministry!
    • Sermon Blog
    • The Community We Serve
    • Worshiping through the Christian Year >
      • Worship Aids
    • Events that are important to our Church Community
    • By Laws
  • Open & Affirming Statement
    • What is Open and Affirming (ONA)?
  • Covid 19 Worship Resources
  • Current Events
    • Christian Education >
      • Sunday School blog
    • New Directions
    • Fish Chowder >
      • Luncheon brings Friends
    • Honduras Mission Trip Blog
    • Memorial Tree Lights
    • Music
    • Other Events
  • Newsletters
  • History
    • Brief History
    • Early History
    • Later History
    • Recent History
    • 225th Anniversary
    • Pastors
    • Memorials
    • Historical Documents

Winthrop Congregational Church,​ United Church of Christ

No matter who you are. No matter where you are on life's journey. You are welcome here.

Broken Bread and Burning Hearts Luke 24:13-35 (April 26, 2020)

4/30/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Luke 24:13-35
​Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
​

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

When I was in Divinity School in North Carolina, our program had developed a tradition around graduation. Just before the graduation ceremony, we would have a party to celebrate the new graduates. There was food, of course, but also some fun activities. The graduating third-year students would leave gifts to first- and second- year students who were following in their footsteps. And, the first- and second-year students would write a very silly play where all the characters were members of the graduating class. In my class, that was about 24 people. The more junior students would volunteer to act like the out-going students in the play.  

It was a successful play when the writers and actors managed to either capitalize on a well-known story involving a particular graduating student or when the actor managed to portray someone’s well-known mannerisms and/or clothing style. Katherine, the woman who portrayed me in the weeks before my graduation, captured some key behaviors of mine with such clarity that me and my classmates laughed out loud. I had longer hair than I wear right now and had a habit of running my fingers through it during particularly passionate theological debates. She did that the whole time she played “Chrissy” in the play. I also always carried little, tiny woven purses, purses that I couldn’t carry now when cell phones and notebooks and keychains full of church keys take up so much room. Katherine found a little woven purse just like mine. Also, during my third year, I kind of went on a knitting kick. I knitted all over Wake Forest’s campus. As she played “Chrissy,” Katherine held knitting needles and yarn. She may have even knitted a little bit. She was pretty committed.  

One of the main reasons we did this play was to demonstrate that we paid close enough attention to one another that we knew how each other moved, what each other wore, and what one another was passionate about. You might have heard something about imitation being a kind of flattery. We were using imitation to indicate intimacy. We could playfully pretend to be one another because we knew each other and cared about each other. When Katherine knitted and raked her hand through her hair, I saw something I recognized. And, it brought me joy.  

A couple weeks ago, Tasha and I watched the new film version of Little Women. One of the things I liked best about the movie is the riot of movement and sound that the four March sisters are when they are together. There’s this one scene when they travel to a neighbor’s house, meeting him and his grandson and another young man for the first time. The sisters all talk the whole time. They talk over each other and through each other and gain energy from one another as they engaged with this kind man and bewildered boys. As the sisters leave in a tornado of good will, one of the boys, the one who had tried to keep up with the conversation and had utterly failed, looked like he had just run a 5K. He was wore out, and all he was doing was trying to talk. Tasha looked at the sisters and looked the blown-over boy and said “That’s what you and your mom and sisters are like when you all get going.” And, she is right. It was exactly like me, my mom, and the two sisters that I grew up when we really get on a tear. We are a force of nature. I finished that movie imagining that the director Greta Gerwig might have had sisters like that, too. Because, she created a family that I recognize, even if it’s not exactly like my own. Again, the surprise of recognition brought me joy.  

As I’ve listened to people talk about what is hard about the traumatic events in their lives, what is most frustrating is the ways that the trauma disrupts what is familiar and comfortable in their lives. I mean, let’s think about our own experiences with the stay-at-home policies that we are living in right now. Even as we know that we need to practice social distancing, we are still missing both the normal and celebratory stuff we used to do every day. For example,  I follow a COVID-19 mutual aid group on Facebook and a significant portion of the requests are from parents who are trying to make their kids’ birthdays feel as normal as possible. They ask other parents for ideas, and strangers offer to send cards and toys, anything that feels normal, recognizable as a birthday. Anything to bring a bit of joy. 

In our scripture today, two of the disciples, traumatized by watching their friend be killed by the government, have already realized that nothing will feel normal for a while. They were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and talking about all the things that had happened in the last couple days. At this point, they had heard the story of the Resurrection from the first women preachers and from Peter, who had gone to check the tomb himself, but they hadn’t seen Jesus yet. They had a sense that something amazing had happened but were still so unsure.  

I often wonder how distracted they had to be not to notice that the man who joined them on the walk was Jesus. And, then I remember that grief makes things harder than they would usually be, and I cut them some slack.  Jesus asked them what had happened and, bewildered that the man who was walking with them hadn’t heard, began to explain about the life, teachings, and death of the prophet Jesus of Nazareth. And, they even went on to tell him about the Resurrection sermon they had heard but weren’t sure if they believed.  

The stranger was surprised, and possibly annoyed, that were so slow of heart. Then, he began to interpret the law for them, teaching them, again, what the Messiah meant. This is another place where I often don’t understand why they didn’t recognize him. He was teaching them all the time. Surely, they would hear these familiar lessons repeated and realize that their teacher was with them. But, this is not where they felt a jolt of recognition. Not yet. 

They got to Emmaus and the stranger was going to go on ahead of them, but the two disciples stopped him. They had learned at least one important thing from Jesus. You always offer someone a safe place to stay. They invited him to stay. And, he did. They sat down to dinner and the stranger Jesus did something you might recognize. He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. And, in that moment, they knew. In that moment of compassion and care and grace, they knew who he was. It says, “Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.” And, then, he vanished. They said, “were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road.” So maybe they were recognizing him, but just weren’t ready for it yet.

They ran the seven miles back to Jerusalem and told the rest of the disciples what they had experienced. What a new and strange joy that must have been.   You’ve probably got your own seven mile walk to Emmaus and your own trauma that may have affected how you can see new life that has joined you along the way. I know I do. I can struggle with how to recognize the Risen Christ in the midst of all this death and disruption. But, this story is here to remind us that in acts of grace and hospitality, in blessing and sharing, we will come to see Jesus sitting with us. He’s been here all along.  

​I’ve got one more story to tell you. Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, shared it on Friday. A retired farmer named Dennis had sent him a letter, all the way from Kansas, where Dennis and his wife live. In the letter, Dennis shared that he knows the Governor is busy and that we are in the midst of a national crisis. He doesn’t seem offended that Cuomo may not have time to individually read every letter. Dennis just appreciates the work he has been doing. Dennis also shared that he is in the age demographic particularly affected by COVID-19 and his wife has respiratory problems. He tells the truth. He’s afraid for her. Importantly, though, he is not letting his fear stop him from being a good neighbor.   The final portion of his letter reads, “Enclosed find a solitary N-95 mask left over from my farming days. It has never been used. If you could, would you please give this mask to a nurse or doctor in your city.” Dennis has kept four masks for his immediate family but had one left and knew someone else, particularly some in a state as hard hit as New York, could use it. So, he sent it on. Grace and hospitality in the face of fear. Blessing and sharing with strangers. I recognize this story. It looks like Jesus to me. Things may not be normal. But the presence of Christ is still familiar. I hope, this week, you feel a joyful recognition of Christ in your midst, whether you are in Emmaus or Kansas or right here in Maine.  ​

Resources mentioned in this sermon:  
  • Gov. Andrew Cuomo shared Dennis’ letter here:   https://twitter.com/NYGovCuomo/status/1253729749177970689?s=19 
  • Greta Gerwig’s film adaptation of Little Women:  https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/littlewomen 
Art on the blog post is from JESUS MAFA, found here: http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48275 
0 Comments

Did This Happen to You? Matthew 28:1-10 Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020

4/14/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Matthew 28:1-10
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’

     I have been particularly grateful for technology over the last several weeks, as it has let me keep up with people I care about when I can’t safely see them face to face. I know that the Bible talks about seeing through a mirror dimly as though it were a problem. But, these last couple weeks, the mirror of our society that has been social media, has been a gift, even if what I see is incomplete. Recently, I saw, and participated, in something lovely over social media. I’ve been given permission to share it with you today.

     My colleague, the Rev. Tamara Torres-McGovern is on staff at Woodfords Congregational Church in Portland. She also works with a new church start called Arise. She and her spouse Piper have a really great three-year kid named Tovi. Last week, Piper and Tovi went on a walk. On their walk, they also brought Tovi’s new scooter, which she was excited to learn to ride. According to her mom, there were the usual tumbles you might expect when you are learning to do a new thing, but eventually, little by little, Tovi grew brave enough that she began balancing on one foot and gliding along the sidewalk. I think that’s pretty impressive for the first day out.

     As we would say in Tennessee, Tovi was having a big ol’ time, scooting around and laughing out loud. That is, she was having a good time until she fell. And it was a bigger fall than the others she had taken up until that point. The scooter managed to roll over her finger and smashed one of her fingernails way down at the bottom. It bled and bled. Tovi cried and cried. Piper scooped Tovi up and ran home. Now, at first, Tovi wouldn’t let either of her moms touch her finger. But, eventually, they got it everything cleaned up and found a good band aid. I hope it had Star Wars on it. Those are the best band aids.

     Something fascinating and very sweet happened after Tovi’s finger had been bandaged up. Once she had finished crying, she asked Tamara, “Mami, when you were little, did this happen to you?” What a thoughtful question! Not that I am surprised. Three-year-olds are very thoughtful. Her mom said not that exact thing, but something else happened. She was sledding down a gravel driveway covered in snow and got to going too fast. Before she had time to think about it, she tried to stop the sled using her elbows. The gravel tore through her jacket and a piece even got stuck in her elbow. Then Tamara showed Tovi the scar that is there now. Tamara shared with that this answer seemed to comfort Tovi.

     Then Tovi turned to Piper and asked, “Did this happen to you when you were a kiddo?” And Piper said, “Not that exact thing, but once I was on a four-wheeler that was going too fast and it crashed and see, right here on my cheek, you can see where I got hurt.” According to her Tamara, Tovi was fascinated by these two answers and then asked if they could call her grandmothers to find out if this had happened to either of them when they were little. After the grandmas, Rev. Torres-McGovern said that Tovi ended up asking about almost everyone she knew, wondering about their injuries that had healed into scars. Rev. Torres-McGovern put it this way: it seemed “like somehow, their stories of their injuries… injuries that had that healed, were making her feel braver.”

     I heard about Tovi’s accident after her moms, having run out of family injury stories, turned to social media to see if other grown-ups might be willing to tell stories about times they got hurt as kids and ended up with scars. There are at least 89 comments on that post! Three of them are mine. I shared a story about a bike wreck scar on one knee, a scar from scratching my other knee on a heater, and a scar on my pinkie finger from when I cut it on some chipped glass on a candle globe. That last one wasn’t a childhood story. I did that, like, two years ago.

     Rev. Torres-McGovern will tell you that not all these stories are easy reads. People shared accounts of hands going through glass panes, severe burns from boiling water, broken bones, missing teeth. There was one woman who nearly lost an entire toe in a childhood cycling accident. After reading these stories, which run the gamut from common childhood antics to harrowing trips into surgery, Rev. Torres-McGovern realized that they all had something in common. She said, “Every single story, no matter how gnarly the injury was, is a story about healing. Because each of those wounds turned into scars. And each of those experiences turned into a story of how the person recovered and got better.” Tamara shared kid-friendly versions of these healing stories with Tovi. Tovi loved them. She began to create stories about her stuffed animals having the same accidents and then getting better. And, Tovi has been getting better herself.

     Rev. Torres-McGovern also started making connections between all those healing stories her friends were sharing and the ways humanity is currently learning how to move through the COVID-19 pandemic. I don’t know if any of you have seen or heard the writer Rebecca Solnit talk about her research on disasters. She’s been writing about it on social media, where I saw some of her work. My colleague listened to a podcast where she talked about it. On the podcast, Solnit said that often when we are thinking about hope, we try to imagine something in the future for inspiration, a thing that we are looking forward to, maybe even the people we want to leave a better world for. She said that might not be what helps us the most. She said that “hope might be better practiced by looking backwards.”

     Let me explain. How do communities know that they can recover after an earthquake? One way is that they look back to the stories of people who experienced earthquakes before them, and how they recovered and that gives them hope that someday, they, too, can recover. I know I’ve been doing this. I have found it very helpful to read accounts from the 1918 flu pandemic. I’ve wanted to see what our forebears did well and also the things they did that we don’t want to repeat. Solnit’s ideas about recovery and healing aren’t always on the scale of a natural disaster or global health crisis. Think about your own life. How have you recovered from the loss of a relationship or the loss of a job or when someone you care about has died? I imagine that talking to people you trust about these losses has been part of your healing process. Perhaps you are a bit like Tovi. Hearing about others who have been hurt and later healed has helped you find your way forward. Solnit tells us that the stories of the survivors who precede us don’t take away our pain, but can give us a map to how we might one day recover, too.

     We Christians are a storytelling people. We inherited that from Jesus, who learned it from his Jewish religious traditions. When terrible things happen and we learn to live in a new way, scarred, but also healed and changed, we have learned the power of telling those stories of healing and transformation. We might call it testifying or witnessing or even just telling the truth about how God has moved and how we have survived. Easter is one of those stories of scars and transformation. We begin the story in sadness and desolation, walk to the tomb, and we wind up falling at Jesus’ feet, relieved and awestruck at the Resurrection.

     What we can’t forget is that Jesus tells us to tell our stories, to share what we’ve seen and how we’ve been healed. That was his message to the first witnesses to the resurrection, our first preachers of the Resurrected Christ, Mary and Mary Magdalene. Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, there they will see me. Beloveds, what is the story of survival and healing that you have heard that helps you make your way in this frightening time? What story is Jesus asking you to tell about pain and healing in order to help those around you be less afraid? Surely this is the Resurrection at work in our times, showing us the frailties and bravery of our forebears, and teaching us how to use their testimony to build a more hopeful future. These days don’t quite feel like Easter yet. But, Mary and Mary Magdalene have shown us how to get to the empty tomb. May we follow them, and share our own stories of what Jesus has done.

Resources consulted for this sermon:
  • Thank-you to Rev. Tamara Torres-McGovern for permission to share this story.
  • Rebecca Solnit Interview: https://onbeing.org/programs/rebecca-solnit-falling-together/
Art at the beginning of this post is from JESUS MAFA:
     http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48301
    


0 Comments

    Author

    Pastor Chrissy is a native of East Tennessee. She and her wife moved to Maine from Illinois. She is a graduate of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University and Chicago Theological Seminary. 

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Anton Vakulenko, dno1967b