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2022-07-03 – 14th Sunday,
One
of my friends told of the story of how she and her family felt “left out of the
celebration”. They weren’t actually left out…but they were disconnected because
they had moved outside the United States in 1975, the year before the Bicentennial.
And,
so she told this story…you would think
that when we were being required to move – as children – from our home in New
York to go to France – that we we would be sad about missing our friends – our
mission our school – or having to learn a new language – or missing our
grandparents, etc ….
What
she remembers about the moment was that she and her sisters and family were sad
and distressed because they were not going to be in the United States for July
4, 1976.
And,
so when that day came… she and her family got some food and drinks and
sandwiches and picnic basket together and they went to to a park in the city of
Paris where they put their decorations, their
RED WHITE BLUE … I’m not sure if they had hot dogs or hamburgers…
And,
they even had some fireworkrs or
sparklers to mark the occasion.
Telling
the story, now, my friend tells the story not with sadness but just with irony
and acknowledgement that she and her family seemed to be in the wrong place at
the wrong time, trying to pull off an American celebration of an American
holiday in a French city and French park.
At
the time, it seemed that they were not equipped or properly arranged to
celebrate the 1976 Bicentennial of the United States in the middle of Paris. No
one was paying attention to them. No one seemed interested in what they were
doing.
[that in 1975, she and her family moved
to a suburb of Paris, to France and ]
[_02_] Have you ever had an experience such
as this where you could not make it to the party or celebration that everyone
else was attending, perhaps you could not make it to a family reunion, or a
wedding …
Or, even the significant
event of being present when a loved one dies and is buried.
Isn’t it meaningful when
we can be there in the flesh for significant life and death events?
[_03_] In the Gospel, Jesus was giving
encouragement to his disciples and to you and me at the moments when we might
feel we do not have the equipment or support or logistics necessary to follow
through or to be identified as a disciple.
Has it ever happeed to you that you
felt called to do something, but felt simultaneously that you lacked the
logistics or logic or resources to complete the task – has this not, e.g., been
your experience if you are –
-
Parent of a child
-
Teacher or coach
-
Adult or spouse trying to take care of a
family member or spouse or friend who is in failing health.
We may feel that we lack what we need.
Jesus is urging us at this very moment
to focus on him and his grace and mercy –
“Go on your way; behold I am sending
you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and
greet no one along the way.” (Luke
10:____)
Perhaps, my friend and her family –
trying to celebrate the American Bicentennial in Paris also felt that they were
without their regular resources.
By the way, I would say that their
“USA Bicentennial on international soil” simply makes the day for their family
more memorable, something to rejoice in, something to remember that they faced
it together.
They
were no less “American” because they were in France.
[_04_] [Life / Death] C.S. Lewis, the British Christian writer,
made some observations after the death of his beloved wife, that what he missed
most about her was not manifested – necessarily – in his HOME, or at their
favorite restaurant. He did not miss his wife any more or less in any
particular place.
He wrote that where he missed his wife
– his spouse – was in his body. That was
the place where he felt her absence the most.
It is safe to say that the “place ”
where a mother or father or grandparent feels the loss of a child who has died
is in their body. Because the child was and remains so much a part of them.
It’s called LABOR pain for a reason …
‘cause it’s really hard to bring a child into this world.
To lose a child is to lose a part of
yourself.
C.S. Lewis then also goes on to
observe that HEAVEN then is not a place, not simply a place of luxury.
Sometimes, we think of HEAVEN as a place of LUXURY – e.g., there is DARK
CHOCOLATE in heaven. Or, my favorite illusion is that there is GOLF COURSES
with a view of the ocean are in heaven.
Neither dark chocolate nor golf with a
view of the ocean are in heaven. Sorry to disappoint you.
Heaven is not simply a restoration or
recovery of what we used to have.
The analogy I would use is this…
imagine you are re-united with a friend you have not seen in some time –
someone you have not seen in so long that you did not even recognize her or
him.
Heaven is about having everything but
also recognizing that we are nothing without God.
This is alos the reason that the 72
disciples who return to Jesus are rejoicing. They are rejoicing and joyful
because they have conquered evil. And, we might also rejoice when we have done
the right thing, when we have cared for our loved ones, when we have been
honest and upright in difficult circumstances.
On the other hand, Jesus is saying
what we shall truly rejoice in is our connection to him, that we are united to
him, even if we are disconnected from others, our names are written in heaven
along with his and that we need not fear being sent out as one of his disciples,
or finding ourselves in what may seems to the wrong place at the wrong time.
Living as disciples, we are called to
ask God to guide us so that might make every time and place give him glory,
celebrate his the anniversary of his existence and our true freedom as his
children.
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