Author Archives: reebeegirash

So You’re Shopping for a Study Bible

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It’s December, and someone on your Christmas List wants a Study Bible.  Or, you want to put a Study Bible on your wishlist.  How should you choose?

If you’re reading this post, I assume the following about you and your recipient:

  • You’re part of a progressive Christian tradition.  You’re mainline Protestant – UCC or otherwise.
  • You’re looking for something scholarly.  Your use cases include following along with the texts from Sunday’s church service, devotional study of the Bible, and an intellectual curiosity about historical context, authorship, and form.  
  • You’re also looking for a study Bible with recent scholarship. 
  • You’re looking for something easy to use.  You’re also looking for articles, maps, and footnotes.
  • You want your Biblical interpretation to support being a good neighbor.
  • You’re looking for a physical Bible, rather than an app or an online-only resource.

-The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version, 5th Edition. Also excellent: The Harper Collins Study Bible, NRSV. Why? The NRSV was released in 1989 and remains the standard for most mainline Protestant churches. It’s in the pews at Pilgrim Church, for example. My Oxford Annotated NRSV is still my go to Bible – and 30 years later it turns out the paperback binding was not the right choice. Splurge on the hardcover! If you’re really going for the very latest scholarly translation, you want the NRSVUE – The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. The NRSVUE was just released which means most Study Bibles do not include the NRSVUE. There is a Lutheran Study Bible, Second Edition (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition) from 2025. Looking for one for a teen? Generally, youth study Bibles from the past 10 years that rely on the NRSV and are published by SparkHouse or Cokesbury are worthwhile choices.

–The Jewish Annotated New Testament edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler.  Why? The scholarship in this edition helps us avoid antisemitism.

–The Inclusive Bible, The First Egalitarian Translation by Priests for Equality. Why?  The scholarship is good, the language is poetic. However, this is not a study Bible, so it’s a second volume for your shelf.

These are my recommendations!

+Pastor Reebee

Pastoral Letter on Freedom

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Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Conscience, Freedom of the Pulpit

In this time of profound and swift cultural change, we are buffeted by strong winds.  While there are many dramatic headlines of late, I have been watching some related to the freedoms that are central to the US, and pondering how these events relate to my pastoral role and to our shared life in this faith community.

A few weeks ago the General Counsel of the UCC offered concern that houses of worship receiving federal grants for building security may be required to align with the principles of the current federal administration.  (http://ucc.org/federal-grants-local-churches-must-review-and-understand-requirements/ ) While Pilgrim Church has not applied for such security grants, this letter from the national UCC stunned me. The broader risk pointed to by this memo is that of limiting the freedom of a local congregation to discern its beliefs, limiting a local congregation’s freedom to speak based on the faith held by those gathered, and limiting a preacher’s freedom to speak from their individual faith and conviction.  As a Congregationalist, reading our General Counsel’s advice, I grew concerned about freedom of religion.   As a pastor in a tradition that affirms the freedom of the pulpit, I wondered what the next headline would say.

A story unfolded over the last two weeks that might feel totally unrelated to church business.  It began with an awful event – and let me be clear that I condemn violence against anyone and mourn for all deaths from violence. That terrible and violent event quickly became the rationale for limiting free speech, including the cancellation of a program because government officials did not approve of the host’s speech. (After major public pushback, today’s headline is that this late night program will go back on the national network but not all local affiliates.) While TV and ministry don’t generally overlap, these two matters feel related to me.  Freedom of speech and freedom of religion are enshrined in the first amendment of the US Constitution. 

In my years at Pilgrim this has been my steadfast practice: to never be partisan in my pastoral role, meaning that I never endorse candidates for public office and I respect that members of our community may vote differently from one another, according to our conscience. I hold to that principle even since the Johnson amendment has been set aside. I also believe deeply in speaking kindly whenever it is possible, and it’s always possible (to paraphrase the Dalai Lama).  But as a pastor and preacher, I balance a commitment to non-partisanship and kindness with the principle of Freedom of the Pulpit. Drawing on freedom of the pulpit as described in my call agreement and in the principles of the United Church of Christ, in my sermons and my role, I prioritize regularly speaking on matters of the common good.  Matters that are relevant to our lives beyond the walls of the congregation. Matters of the polis.  Matters of politics.  I speak to the church, not on behalf of the church, and not every church member agrees with me all the time.  In the wisdom of an ancestor, I seek to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

I do this in the lineage of the greatest preacher and teacher that I know, whose preaching and teaching I aspire most to follow, preacher Jesus.  Whose pulpit was the mount and the plain and the synagogue and the city gate, whose congregation included fellow Jews as well as Gentiles, the rich and poor, the hungry and well fed, whose sermons declared the radical notion that in the kin-dom of God no one starves. Whose sermons drew from the teachings of his ancestors in faith and whose sermons provoked the powers that were. Whose sermons, heard in our time, provoke the powers that be.  It turns out that Jesus spoke on the common good.  On matters of the polis.  Jesus’ preaching was at times political.  He is my model. 

I have, in my pastoral role over many years, preached politically.  I have lifted up issues of great importance – homelessness and hunger, reproductive justice, climate change, gun violence.  I have called upon communities to change oppressive systems.  I have shown up in my role to call upon local and national elected officials to act with wisdom and compassion and I have critiqued leaders of multiple parties when their actions have shown primary allegiance to power and profit.  I will continue to do so, even in moments when freedom seems more tenuous.

I’m a Congregationalist.  I’m a pastor in a tradition that affirms the freedom of the pulpit. I live in a country that treasures freedom of speech and freedom of religion. So I will continue speaking from my conscience, speaking my truth to the powers that be, and working for the common good.  I pray for freedom: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the pulpit.  Some of those freedoms are civic, and some of those freedoms are religious.  I pray also that wisdom and compassion might guide our speech and actions, now and always.

Pastor Reebee

Postscript:
It is also crucial in this moment to reflect on violence and non-violence.  I commend two recent pieces in the magazine Christian Century – the first by Lilia Ellis, the second by the Editors; they speak very clearly on this subject.

We Are Bearing Witness

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On a warm day in early August, I park my car in an unused lot between stores and office buildings.  Dozens of folks are walking toward some trees next to the sidewalk carrying water bottles, and sun hats, and signs – I’ve found the right place.  I pull on my clergy collar and rainbow stole and carry my Love Your Neighbor sign.  Within a few minutes after, there are hundreds of us, our attention turned toward a small office building.  We are Bearing Witness @ ICE.

An organizer comes to the mic to welcome us.  “We are here to support the dignity and rights of every immigrant.” He shares the story of this moment in this place. Inside the ICE facility, detainees are held in converted conference rooms, with no beds, no natural light, no clocks. Immigrants sleep on concrete floors with a toilet in the middle of a room. There is no soap. Sanitary products are not available for those menstruating. This is cruel and unusual punishment. Lawyers are not allowed to see clients being held here, and detainees are not able to contact their families. Due process is not available.  We are within sight of the Burlington Mall.

The gathered crowd walks slowly down the sidewalk.  Just before we begin to walk, our conveners ask us three questions. Are you here because you support immigrants?  We cry, yes.  Do you support the Constitution?  We cry, yes. Are you committed to nonviolent witness?  We cry, yes.  We walk or wheel or use rollators toward the main road chatting and holding banners and flags.

One Friday we gather with Blanca.  She has been called to an appointment at 7:45am and no one knows whether she will come back out of the building.  Hundreds of us sing and pray with her.  The wind blows through the trees and I find myself praying that the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and love (Hebrew: ruah – the breath of God) will blow through this innocuous-looking parking lot and move through the hearts of everyone in the ICE building.   We don’t know why and we don’t know whether our presence helped, but Blanca is released – for now.

Every time I attend, I see people I know from Lexington, Arlington, Burlington. Last week that included Pilgrim folks.

There is power in these gatherings.  Immigrants called into appointments know their neighbors care for them.  The people who work in that facility are asked by their neighbors to follow legal and ethical standards and treat every human being with dignity and due process.  For the foreseeable future, I’ll be there, most Wednesdays, 11-1.  Bearing Witness.  Would you join us?  Feel free to email me if you’d like to coordinate.

Pastor Reebee

Blessings of the West Highland Way

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A Reflection for Pilgrim Congregational Church, UCC, Lexington

Rev. Reebee Kavich Girash

August 17, 2025

Psalm 128:1-2

1 

Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,

    who walks in God’s ways.

2 

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

    you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.

Ephesians 5:1-2

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

–

Bless to me O God

The earth beneath my feet.

Bless to me O God

The path on which I go.

Bless to me O God

The people whom I meet.

From: Celtic Prayer from Iona, compiled by J Philip Newell

I walked the West Highland Way as a part of my sabbatical.  It’s a 96 mile hike that runs from Milngavie (outside Glasgow, Scotland) to Fort William – though my phone said 106 miles when I completed the path on my eighth day, and so I’m claiming the “century.”  It was at the same time one of the hardest and one of the easiest things I’ve ever done.  The hard parts were obvious: hiking on my own an average of twelve miles a day, up and down big hills, over gravel and tree roots, along drovers’ roads and through swarms of Scottish midges.  But all this made it easy, too: my sole focus for those eight days was on walking, which I did as a pilgrimage journey of sorts.  In fact, for the first part of my sabbatical, my work was to walk in preparation for this journey, and to spend time with family and friends.  Easy.  On the West Highland Way, my focus was singular. My schedule, my pace, my snack choices, my thoughts.  Long days?  Yes.  But easy ones, too.  


My trail name is Mountain Turtle.  I planned a reasonable pace of eight days, starting early most days and just plodding along at my own speed, inn to inn.  However – though I walked on my own, I was rarely alone on the Way.  I kept meeting people whose pace was very much like mine.  The thing about a multi-day walk like this one is that you come to have trail buddies.  I’d set off early in the morning and walk an hour with the retired motorcycle enthusiast from England.  And then a trio of women from Seattle would catch up and we shared stories.  Then I walked alongside a couple from Glasgow and their dog.  And the Canadian lawyer living in London who hill walks every chance she gets.  And that tall couple from California.  And the special needs teacher from Czechia, who re-sets his spirits through long hikes.  Most of the time we knew nothing about our lives “off the trail” but we could still be trail buddies.  At stops and breakfasts, we asked after each other.  We took care of each other. We shared Compeed (excellent for blisters), snacks, duct tape (excellent for emergency tent pole repairs) and kind words.  

And that’s actually what I want to highlight to you this morning.  The kind words.  The blessings of the West Highland Way that I think can extend to all of us, whether or not we’re hill walking through the Scottish Highlands. 

What I’m saying here is that if a random group of strangers can love each other – we can all love our neighbors.  Walk in Christ’s way.

Offering blessings and kind words became part of my spiritual practice on this eight day journey.  I was very intentional about this as a daily habit.  When I was walking by myself, particularly in the early morning, I prayed for all my folks back home.  And when I walked alongside someone – or was passed by another walker – I picked a word or idea each day to offer as a blessing, silently or aloud, for my fellow travelers.  It was a form of prayer.  It was an offering of love. I didn’t say, “hey, I’m praying for you” or “would you like a blessing?”  Honestly I flew under the radar as clergy or even Christian most of the time.  I just offered a little word that was my theme for the day, in some manner subtle or obvious.

The first day the blessing word was excitement. We were all fresh at that point, and eager.  May your walk be exciting – but not too exciting.  

On the second day, which is known as the hardest because it goes over Conic Hill, the blessing word was courage.  Be of good courage I said to many people on the very long switchback up Conic Hill.  Being passed by so many, I had a lot of opportunities to bless.

The third day, which was very very hot and the only day I came close to running out of water, the blessing was Stay Strong!  

The next day, which was so bright and sunny all day, the blessing word was Lively.  Thinking of the Iona prayer, Creator around me, Christ accompanying me, Spirit animating me, I offered that Spirit to sore-footed passersby: keep stepping Lively.

Sunday was day five, and brought me to a sweet Church of Scotland service in Bridge of Orchy.  The gospel for that day was the Good Samaritan. Who was a neighbor?  The one who showed mercy.  So my blessing word was care: Take good care, now.

Monday we walked across Rannoch Moor.  In rain.  No breeze.  Loads of Midges.  A tough day for us.  So the blessing word this day was Hope.  Hope to see you in Kingshouse, our next stop.

Day 7 was just the most beautiful day I’ve ever experienced outside, and I was filled with joy and wanted everyone to feel the same so the blessing that day was joy.  Enjoy your walk.

And then it was Day 8.  The end!  The blessing word was blessing.  Blessings on your journey (the West Highland Way and whatever your future journey may be).

At the very end of the Way, the path brings you through a commercial district lined by shops and pubs.  The cynical part of me thought: that’s so everyone is funneled right into commercialism before we even finish the route.  But actually this turned out to be another great blessing of the Way for me.  Because, a block from the end – just before the statue of the hiker with tired feet – I heard my name called out with joy, and people clapping.  For me!  Some of those same trail buddies who had gotten there faster sat on the sidewalk with their fries and drinks and turned to watch hikers come in those last, hobbling steps of the last, long day.  And our trail friends cheered us, blessing us right over the finish line.  

And this is the blessing we can offer to each other every day, in hiking boots or patent leather heels.  We can bless people for how far they’ve made it today.  Well done.  Look what you did!  Which also translates to, I love you, Neighbor. 

Maybe you want to try this.  Pick a blessing word and notice the people who share your path.  Don’t make a big show of it (I am certain no one who walked beside me on the way knew what I was doing, and that’s never the point of a blessing).  Just bless folks and pray for them – and notice who has made it so far today, and notice and help those who are stuck.  Because we all need trail buddies, every day. 

Amen. 

Nothing is Disposable – a Meditation from Iona

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A Reflection for Pilgrim Church 

August 3, 2025

Rev. Reebee Kavich Girash

Luke 14: 12-14, as offered by Caro, the Iona Community’ss Warden, during worship at Iona Abbey July 2025

Jesus was eating a meal in the house of one of the leading teachers of the law, and he said to his host, ‘Whenever you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends or colleagues or wealthy neighbours.  They might invite you in return and thus repay you.

No, when you have a party, invite those who never get invited out because they are deemed awkward, or different, or unworthy.  And then you will be, and experience, a blessing.  Then, even if they can’t repay, it shouldn’t matter to you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of God’s people.

—

(I have just returned from sabbatical. My final week was at Iona Abbey on the island of Iona, Scotland.) 

In the Iona Community, within the walls of this Abbey, nothing is disposable.

In the morning when you make your tea, it’s in a hearty mug which you wash by hand with a microfiber cloth that is color coded for its purpose and reuse.  You dry your mug with another towel that has been used and laundered again and again.  Your tea bags, surely bought with care and fair trade, are composted to continue the cycle. Nothing is disposable here.

In the ruins of the Nunnery on Iona.

In the Abbot’s House where we stay, we press a button to get thirty seconds of water from the shower. We can press as many times as we like, but we are reminded each time: water is life.  Even water is precious here.

In the Abbey Church, there are walls a thousand years old.  In some places the local ferns have taken root within the mortar but they, too, are not taken out or thrown away.  They become as wreaths bringing color to the high stone walls of the chancel.  In the Abbey Church not even a weed is unvalued.

In the Abbey Refectory, nothing is disposable.  Once the locally sourced supper is complete, we tuck our bandana napkins back in our pockets for the next meal. There is no plastic here.  Our apple cores are composted and our leftovers carefully stored for the volunteers’ intimate meal on Friday when the guests have all ferried away again.  In the Abbey, no fruit of the earth is disposable.

When we walk around the island together on sacred Pilgrimage, we go at the slowest one’s pace and thus our hurriedness gives way to noticing.  Around the Abbey, no moment is disposable.  

Here, this week, scraps of paper are cut into squares to receive sacred, tender prayer requests: the names of those in need of healing are read aloud by candlelight in the Abbey Church connecting all of us to all of you for whom we pray.  In Community, scraps become offerings and even paper is not disposable. 

In the Abbey Cloister, fallen walls have become a sacred site, not swept away for the new.  

In the Abbey Community, when one of us walks in a near tumble and speaks with staggered, marbled words, we pause, and wait, and listen until we hear.  Because in the community, nothing is disposable.  

Here in the Abbey we learn, imagine and pray that in the Kindom of God, nothing and no one is disposable.

Amen.

Pastoral Letter before the 2024 Election

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Grace and Peace in these autumn days.  

You may recall that I offered a letter similar to this one in the fall of 2020.  It seems appropriate once again to reflect on my pastoral approach to  politics and elections, and our life together as a Christian community in an election season.  

I do not intentionally or in my official pastoral office offer any partisan endorsement.  This is my longstanding policy.  I respect the tradition of religious groups remaining non-partisan, and I respect that people of good conscience can come to different conclusions about which candidates they vote for.  

However, church is a place where we can share our concerns about our world.  This election season makes many of us anxious and worried.  Let me be specific: people are concerned about voting rights and ballot counting, reproductive rights, the US role in wars abroad, racism and xenophobia. These are deep and personally felt concerns. We need compassionate and brave spaces to share our concerns and I believe church needs to be that kind of space. It is beautiful that we can lift our individual and communal prayers up on Sunday morning, be held in community, and renew our own commitments to God’s creation and our neighbors.

Some have said to me, let us be careful not to assume we are all of the same opinion on the election.  That is a worthwhile reminder, and I’ll repeat my belief that people of good conscience can reach different conclusions in the ballot booth.  We do not have to agree on how our votes will be cast in order to enter into a deep spiritual practice of empathy and compassion. I urge you: if you are wondering why someone is feeling anxious, take a moment to truly listen to what is making them fearful.  Listening to one another with love and care will help us maintain community beyond election day.

Speaking of community beyond election day, I am setting aside time for reflection and prayer during the week of the November election, so watch for opportunities to gather in a group for prayer, deep compassion, and listening.  I’m also available for 1-1 conversation.  And if you are uneasy in this season and seeking daily prayer resources, you may appreciate this one from Mission Hills UCC.

I’m also deeply aware that as a pastor, I have a call to be both pastoral and prophetic. This includes drawing connections between our faith and the way we live in the world. Our faith is sometimes political – meaning that our faith is relevant to the ways we seek the common good.   In the words of Peter Bollard, “what are politics but the enactment of our values?”  Jesus himself had more than a few words to say about the Roman government, and his teachings offer timeless guidance.* As followers of Jesus, I believe that our engagement in the world should be informed by our faith and our sense of God’s yearnings for our world.

And so, there are matters of common good that I feel require me to speak.  I speak against racism, antisemitism and xenophobia.  I speak against violence and against the political incitement of violence.  I speak in support of the immigrant community and in support of my LGBTQIA+ siblings.  My Christian faith also calls me to work against voter suppression, to ensure voting rights, and to encourage you to vote according to your conscience.  Following the wisdom of our Congregational polity, I speak to the church, not for the church, and I do not claim to speak on Pilgrim Church’s behalf unless it’s on a matter about which the congregation has clearly discerned and spoken, such as being an ONA church and a church committed to caring for creation.

Being committed to these things means, for me, that I aspire not to neutrality but to actively working for the common good. I aspire to restore creation, not just avoid more damage. I aspire to be invitational to people of many gender identities, not just accepting.  I aspire to neighborliness toward siblings in other religious traditions, not just tolerance. I aspire to be anti-racist and to work against white supremacy, not to be quiet on the topic of racism.  And I believe that the Pilgrim community shares these aspirations, in every season.    

Blessings and peace,

Pastor Reebee

*Recommended: Richard Horsley’s Jesus and Empire (2002) or Obery Hendricks’ The Politics of Jesus (2006).

(Pastoral Letter to Pilgrim Church)

Boundary Training during CoVid19

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Boundary Awareness During Unprecedented Times

an Online Continuing Education Opportunity
with Revs. Reebee Kavich Girash and Gregory Morisse

Tuesday, June 16, 2020 from 3:00-4:30 PM
Tuesday July 14, 2020 from 3:00-4:30PM
Tuesday October 13, 2020 from 3:00-4:30PM

and future times to be determined

We’ve developed materials reviewing the Foundations of pastoral boundaries and considering specialized topics.  While we cannot offer these sessions in person right now, we have been in conversation about what pastoral boundaries during the current pandemic. We are offering a three part training:

2. Watch: Boundary Awareness During Unprecedented Times

 

 

These materials are ideally suited to pastors who have already completed Boundary Awareness Training 101 in the past five years in the historic MA conference but others are welcome. This should not be considered a substitute for BAT 101, but may be a first step for those delayed in completing 101 by CoVid19.

 

Limited to 25 participants per session.

The registration fee for the first session was donated to the RIP Medical Debt fund of the

Southern New England Conference of the UCC.  The second session’s registration is also being donated to a charity.

Reebee Girash <rev.reebee@gmail.com>
Gregory Morisse <revmorisse@gmail.com>

On Pies & Bandaids

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This reflection was originally posted as a Daily Devotional through the United Church of Christ on November 24, 2014.  

“He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them.” – Luke 10:34a

I had a terrific idea for a November Sunday School Service Project.  It was awesome.  We’d gather pumpkin pie supplies – all but the eggs – and the kids would bag them up and decorate them with cute turkeys and pumpkins and it would be perfect for the Food Pantry we support because everyone loves pie.

Then I told the pastor and the administrator for the church* that’s hosted the food pantry for 30 years my wonderful idea.  Well, that’s awfully nice, they said.  But most of our guests don’t have ovens.  Why don’t we ask our folks what they would actually need?

This is what they asked us to do: to make first aid kits – band-aids and bacitracin, soap and washcloths. On that Sunday we told the story of the Good Samaritan – and then I confessed to the kids that I had made assumptions about our neighbors’ needs.  When I paused to listen,  I heard an unexpected story.  Our kids were able to offer them bandages, and salve, and respond to our neighbors’ actual needs, not my assumptions.

Prayer

God, make us thankful people. Make us generous givers.  Make us humble listeners.  May we have some small part in your story of healing.  Amen.

*Thanks be to God for the hospitality of the Brighton Allston (Massachusetts) Congregational Church, UCC, which hosts a food pantry, a community supper and a thrift shop.

Bike Blessing

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This reflection was originally posted as a UCC Daily Devotional on January 4, 2014. It is no longer available on ucc.org.

I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. -Ephesians 1:16

I often commute by bicycle through one of the most congested neighborhoods in greater Boston, Davis Square. At rush hour, this is an obstacle course requiring absolute concentration. My goal is to arrive safely, not quickly – and thus I must stay constantly alert in order to avoid pedestrians as well as car doors. On occasion I loose focus, and get a little too close to a turning vehicle. Sometimes I hear unkind words or blaring horns.

Last week was different. For five days in a row, my commute through Davis Square included a blessing of me and my bicycle. Monday through Thursday, it was the same gentleman, standing at the bus stop, who grinned, raised his hand and called, “God bless you, have a good day, be safe!” as I pedaled past. Once while I was stopped at a light next to him, I told him how much I appreciated his blessings, and he replied “I like to look out for the cyclists, and the moms and babies, and the blind folks who come through the Square.” Friday, it was a different gentleman, who asked me and a fellow cyclist if we were having a good time on our bikes. Yes, we replied. Good, he said – I had fun commuting by bike for thirty years! And then he said, “God bless you and be safe.”

This week, as I rode through the Square, I could not stop thinking about these gentlemen, and their blessings. What gifts of peace in the storm!  I do not cease to give thanks for them and I remember them in my prayers.

Prayer

God, thank you for the folks who bless us on our way. And whether we’re commuting by foot, bus, bike or car, may we offer more blessings than blaring horns. Amen.

Sermon: You’ll Never Walk Alone

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You’ll Never Walk Alone

A Sermon for the Allin Church of Dedham, UCC

Rev. Reebee Kavich Girash

July 7. 2019

 

Text:

 

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

10After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ 

 

16“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

17The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

 

Prayer:

 

Sermon:

 

A week ago today, thunderstorms worked their way through our area. We sat at home in our front room watching the driving rain and wind, oblivious to what was happening in our back yard. 

Between storms we took a post-dinner walk and in the midst of it, the text from our next door neighbor came: there’s a big branch down out back.  Looks like it missed your house. We scurried back to assess, and as we walked into our yard, our neighbor appeared with branch clippers and a saw for us to use. The real work began Monday morning when the skies had cleared and we amassed a 6 foot tall stack of twigs and leaves and a pile of firewood that is still available, if you’re interested. Charlotte, our neighbor, appeared again to help me haul the twigs and leaves away from the house.

 

Our neighborhood is like this, and particularly our next door neighbors.  Whatever minor or major crisis, they watch out for us, and they show up, with the right tools, and quiet wisdom about the way the neighborhood works.  

 

When we moved in three years ago, we thought the view and the nearby pond had brought us to this spot. But I think it was the neighbors. In this place, we know we are never alone. There are companions on the journey.

 

There is a storm happening here, in this community, I hear. Your dear, amazing Gabe is facing a great challenge and your strong, courageous pastor Cheryl is taking time to walk more closely to Gabe through his treatment. This whole family is traveling through an unexpected storm, and your church is simultaneously supporting them and dealing with what this storm means here, in your pews. You are stepping up to ministry in new ways. You are on a different journey than you were just a couple of months ago.

 

So this morning’s Gospel reading, in which Jesus sends out the seventy (or the seventy-two, depending on which translation you have in front of you) on a new mission is a good model for this moment.

 

There were seventy of them, which matches right up with the first seventy descendents of Noah, who formed seventy nations in the Jewish tradition. Moses chose seventy to go up Sinai with him to eat with God.  And Israel was captive to Babylon for seventy years. In other words, the number seventy had deep meaning. So Jesus sends 70, into the world, to minister in his name.

 

The work Jesus sends them out to do is urgent, important, and timely.

It’s also not always easy.

But:

They are not asked to go it alone.  They are sent in pairs, companions for comfort, strength, and challenge. Most of the time, throughout the Christian Testament and since then, followers of Jesus have ministered together, in community.  I wonder if this is in part because our triune God is within God’s own self, in community. In William Willimon’s words, “There is something about the Trinity that refuses to work alone.” Certainly, it is more possible to do ministry with companions. In one of the other readings in the lectionary today, Paul celebrates the power of companions:

 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

 

When we go out to do a hard thing, having a companion on the journey means the joy and challenge of bearing one another’s burdens. 

 

They are sent with a word, and that word is peace. The seventy are asked to begin each visit, each project, each ministry, with a blessing of peace.  While we don’t often go out to proselytize today, nevertheless, we are sent out to minister by Jesus. And a blessing of peace is an awfully good place to start any encounter.

 

They are sent out, not knowing how they will be received or what the power of their ministry will be. They are told to expect and accept hospitality, and not to be picky or critical of that hospitality. The good news for us is that these models of ministry come back to Jesus testifying to the healing power of the ministry he sends them to do.  We may not know what the next phase of our ministry journey will be, but this text gives us hope that it will be fruitful, healing, and powerful.

 

Jesus sends the seventy out, two by two, because they cannot do what he has asked them to do, on their own. We see again and again in the Bible, the mandate to share ministry and to seek help.  Jethro tells his son-in-law Moses that he cannot do what God has asked him to do on his own (Exodus 18). And God tells Moses the same thing – to share his burden with the people (Numbers 11). And Paul tells the Romans, we do not live for ourselves – we live for one another. 

 

Growing up, my congregation would recite a statement of faith at the end of worship most weeks, and it’s opening words became a great promise to me:

 

We are not alone. We live in God’s world.

 

( https://www.united-church.ca/community-faith/welcome-united-church-canada/new-creed ) 

 

This is indeed one of the greatest promises of our faith: we are not alone.  God sends us companions on the journey, and God is with us, too.

Jessica Tate writes, “This is where we often find ourselves…in these empty places, uncertain of the end of the story.  We do not know how, or if….our hope will be restored. We are left with simply a promise – a promise that we are not alone….This is God’s promise to us…that God will be with us, no matter what…This is how God acts.  God clings to us, refusing to allow us to bear our despair and emptiness alone. In so doing, God shows us loving kindness that sows in us hope and fullness, in short, salvation.” (Between Text and Sermon, Ruth 1:6-22, Interpretation)

God sends us through this world with companions. 

 

God sends people with casseroles and branch cutters, Spiderman capes and encouraging words.

 

 The people who pledge to us that they will walk beside us on the road, whether it be through forest or desert, whether it be through despair or redemption, these are the people who carry us, until the tears are wiped away. These are the saints who bring us the message of hope, that we will get through this life, together, and with God’s grace.

 

And there is another companion on our journey, one whose presence and wisdom and strength is steadfast.

 

 It is all well and good that Jesus called his disciples to follow him; called us to follow him.  But the reason Christians have said yes to that call is because Jesus came to us, to share our common lot, to walk the unknown journey with us, to embody God’s own love and cling to us, whatever may come.

 

Thanks be to God, who sends us people.

 

And who offers us hope of redemption and restoration and new beginnings.

 

Let me end with this prayer from Kathy Galloway of the Iona Community (in Coracle 3, no. 11 copyright Iona Community, 1992, from Resources for Preaching and Worship, Year C).

 

 Let us pray: Our brother Jesus, you set our feet upon the way and sometimes where you lead we do not like or understand. Bless us with courage where the way is fraught with dread or danger; bless us with graceful meetings where the way is lonely; bless us with good companions where the way demands a common cause; bless us with night vision where we travel in the dark, keen hearing where we have not sight, to hear the reassuring sounds of fellow travelers; bless us with humour – we cannot travel lightly weighed down with gravity; bless us with humility to learn from those around us; bless us with decisiveness where we must move with speed; bless us with lazy moments, to stretch and rest and savour; bless us with love, given and received; and bless us with your presence, even when we know it in your absence; Lead us into exile, until we find that on the road is where you are, and where you are is going home. Bless us, lead us, love us, bring us home bearing the Gospel of life. Amen.