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Sunday's Sermon
Jan 13, 2008

1095
"Sunshine Dancing "
The Rev. Dennis Posno

 

There’s something about listening to an old song that moves us.
It will often take us back to another time and place
where the memories were sweet and life was good.

There’s something about looking at an old picture of someone you love
and that one moment, captured on film,
brings to mind countless moments that warm your heart.

There’s something about watching an old movie you’ve seen before.
You never tire of it.
You know what’s going to happen but it doesn’t matter.
It’s like seeing it for the first time.

There is a story I love to tell.
I last told it in the summer of 2006.
You may recognize it as soon as I begin telling it.
You may already know how it will end.
But the telling of it, every time, stirs something deep within you.

Let me preface it with a quotation, a sentence,
written by a missionary named E. T. Niles.
He wrote:  “God appears to a hungry person in the form of a loaf of bread.”
Hear that again.
“God appears to a hungry person in the form of a loaf of bread.”

This is the story I love to tell.

There was once a boy who wanted to meet God.
He knew it was a long trip to where God lived,
so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer
and started his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman.
She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons.
The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase.
He was about to take a drink from his root beer
when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry,
so he offered her a Twinkie.
She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.
Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again,
so he offered her a root beer.
Once again she smiled at him.
The boy was delighted!
They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling,
but they never said a word.

As it grew dark the boy realized how tired he was
and he got up to leave,
but before he had gone more than a few steps,
he turned around,
ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug.
She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later,
his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face.

She asked him,
“What did you do today that made you so happy?”
He replied,
“I had lunch with God.”

But before his mother could respond, he added,
“You know what?  She’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home.
Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked,
“Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?”

She replied, “I ate Twinkies and drank root beer in the park with God.”
But before her son responded, she added,
“You know, he’s much younger than I expected.”  

We meet God in many places.
Unexpected places.
And we meet God in many guises.
In a man named Jesus, whose life was so God-filled,
people who were with Him were wont to say,
“I was with God today.  And you know, He’s not what I expected.”

A woman I know was at a low place in her life.
A dear friend, her companion of many years, had died.
There was a tear in her heart that seemed unmendable.
There was an emptiness in her life that seemed unfillable.
There was a sadness in her spirit that seemed beyond comfort.

And one day she went for a walk along Kempenfelt Bay.
Looking for a sign,
needing a sign:
that there was a God …
that her friend was at peace in that holy Presence …
that her life still mattered and could be lived with happiness.
She went for a walk around Kempenfelt Bay searching for a sign.

She sat down by the waters edge looking out over the bay
and the sun hit the water in a moment of dazzling light,
shone around her in a wondrous radiance.
And in that moment, in that light,
the love of God shone for her,
within her.
                Perhaps the One who had said
                        “I am the light of the world”
                                was shining on her in that moment.
                                        Who knows?
                                                Who could say, or not say, for certain?

And looking for a place where she could learn more about that light within,
she found this place.

“God appears to a hungry person in the form of a loaf of bread.”

God appeared to this hungry woman in the sunshine dancing on the water
and dancing within her.

There was a woman in scripture who found herself at an awful place.
        A place of shame.  A place of humiliation.  A place of fear.

She had been caught in the act of adultery
and had been thrown into the street.
Her accusers stood around with rocks in their hands
ready to stone her to death.

And seeing Jesus there, they put a question to Him.
        “Our scriptures say that a woman like this is to be stoned to death.
              But Jesus, what do you say?”

Jesus looked at them.
And with a gaze that was able to see within them,
He turned the tables with his answer …
turned the question back to them …
and ultimately turned them on their heals.
Jesus said, “Let the one among you who has no sin throw the first stone.”

And, looking within, none of them was able to say they were sinless.
None of them had lived their lives in such a way
that they could throw the first rock with impunity.

And all of them, dropping the rocks they were holding,
dropped their heads in shame and walked away.

And the woman whose life was spared?
Jesus asked her, “And where are your accusers now?”
“Gone,” she answered.
And Jesus said to her, “Then I won’t accuse you either.  Go, and sin no more.”

“God appears to a hungry person in the form of a loaf of bread.”

She had a hunger, too.
        The hunger for forgiveness.
                The hunger for the things forgiveness brings:
                        hope;
another chance  ~ to live, and to live differently.
                                        In that incredible moment
                                                it was like sunshine dancing on the water
and dancing within her.
                   Her hunger was met.

I know a man whose life has been turned upside down.
        In a moment, in a time as brief as it takes you
to breath your next breath,
                        his wife’s life was unalterably changed.
                                Seizures gave way to a diagnosis that shattered both their lives.
                                        She would never be the woman she was
                                                and the life they were looking to share in their old age
would now be counted in days, weeks, not years.
Things would never be the same.

In visiting with him,
in aching for them both at this distressing place,
I asked a question for which I received a remarkable answer.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
And more deeply, “How do you do it?”

The answer was this.
“I do it by living in the moment.
It is too difficult to look ahead, to imagine what is going to happen  ~
this sad, day by day slipping away.
And it is too difficult to look back,
to think of how it was and in looking back,
wishing I could have that time again.
No, I live in the moment,
grateful for this time to be with her …
grateful that I am able to be here to love her.
And I know that God will give me the strength for the moment.”

“God appears to a hungry person in the form of a loaf of bread.”

This man has a hunger, too:
        a hunger for the strength not just to live in the moment
                but to meet the moment with grace and courage.
                        And his God  ~  who he knows loves him  ~
                                is the source of that strength.
                                        It is not a sunshine dancing on water experience.
                                                But God’s light shines within to warm and strengthen him.

Last Sunday I baptized a beautiful little girl  ~  Avery Jordan Larmon.
I can tell you that I have never held a child that I did not think was beautiful.
And wasn’t the moment wonderful.
I mean  ~  wonderful!

There she was  ~  yawning after everything I said.
        “It was for a child just like you, Avery, that Jesus was born,” I said.
                And from her a big yawn and lots of chatter.
                        “It was for a child just like you, Avery, that Jesus lived,” I said.
                                And from her, another big yawn and chatter.

She had us in stitches.
The kind of laughter that comes not from hearing the punch line of a joke
but the kind of holy laughter that comes from discovering,
in a sunshine dancing on the water kind of moment,
that life itself is wonderful after all.

Last Sunday there were people who were hungering for a glimpse of God
to help them through a difficult moment.
Last Sunday there were people who were hungering for forgiveness
for some something in their lives for which they had great regret.
Last Sunday there were people here who were hungering for strength
not just to face but to deal with the seemingly impossible.

“God appears to a hungry person in the form of a loaf of bread.”

And in that moment, in this place, in that child,
        in her sweet innocence and lovely possibilities,
                God fed those hungering hearts.
                        It was a sunshine dancing on the water moment …
a sunshine dancing within us moment.

Where are you today, my friends?
Are you walking by the shore looking for a sign?
Are you standing in front of your accusers looking for a friend?
Are you standing at a bedside looking for a way?
Where are you today, my friends?

It is God who says to you
in the words of Jesus that are as true today as when they were first spoken:
“I have come that you might have life
and have it to the full.”

It is God who says to you:

“I am the Good Shepherd
and the shepherd knows his sheep.”

“In this world you will have troubles.
But take heart.
I have overcome the world.”

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.”

It is God who says to you
in the words of Jesus that are as true today as when they were first spoken:
“Peace I leave with you.  Peace is my gift to you.
Not as the world gives but as God gives:
peace, even in the midst of troubles.
So let not your hearts be troubled.
Neither let them be afraid.”

We meet God in the storm
    as we meet God in the quiet places of our hearts.
                We meet God in our greatest joys
as we meet God in our deepest sorrow.
We meet God in our quiet times of prayer
        as we meet God in the noisy busyness of every day

And God, in meeting us, can become
                                the peace in the midst of turmoil …
                                the hope in the midst of despair …
                                to joy in the midst of unimaginable sorrow …
                                the life everlasting in the midst of death.

Let God in.
Today, open your hearts to God’s gracious Spirit.
Today, give your lives to it.
Let the sunshine dance on the water.
Let the Son shine within you.

 

SOLI  DEO  GLORIA

 

SCRIPTURE

It is God who says to you
in the words of Jesus that are as true today as when they were first spoken:
“I have come that you might have life
and have it to the full.”

It is God who says to you:

“I am the Good Shepherd
and the shepherd knows his sheep.”

“In this world you will have troubles.
But take heart.
I have overcome the world.”

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.

It is God who says to you
in the words of Jesus that are as true today as when they were first spoken:
“Peace I leave with you.  Peace is my gift to you.
Not as the world gives but as God gives:
peace, even in the midst of troubles.
So let not your hearts be troubled.
Neither let them be afraid.”