Proper 11 b
2 Samuel 7:1-14a; Psalm 89:
20-37; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Each one of us is an
incomplete puzzle. We do not always know
what pieces are missing. Sometimes we
don’t even recognize that there are missing pieces. But God knows. Since God has the gift of the long view, the
panoramic vision, God knows what pieces we need. And God sends them our way. Sometimes we recognize the pieces of our
peace as they arrive, and sometimes we don’t.
Sometimes we mistreat them, embrace them, refuse them, or simply ignore them. The Good
News is that God just keeps on sending us the pieces we need.
These pieces of our peace
puzzle, our wholeness, they come in the form of people who shape us, who change
our way of seeing, who transform our understanding; people who help us to see
beauty, who help us to know comfort; people who help us to be able to give
thanks and to sing praise.
God also sends us pieces of
our wholeness in the form of rituals, of practices, in the form of bread, wine,
and oil which restore our knowing of who we are and whose we are. These pieces realign us with Jesus---the One
in whose footsteps we walk.
And as we walk this way with
Jesus-- as we take part in practices, as we serve others, as we spend time with
God, and as we are served and fed ourselves – our hearts are softened, our eyes
are opened, our hearing becomes tuned to God’s frequency, and we begin to
recognize the richness of community, the need to be bound to one another as the
Holy Spirit knits us with our fellow pilgrims.
In this life of discipleship, this flourishing of our faith, we are
re-bound and made whole.
Beloved, our health, our
wealth, our status, and our occupations --- they can either be tools to help us
gain our wholeness or they can be obstacles.
They can either be tools to help others gain their wholeness or they can
be obstacles put in others’ way toward wholeness. But, in and of themselves, health, wealth,
status and occupations do not comprise our wholeness. How we think of these
things, how we allow them to affect our hearts, our spirits, our vision
determines whether or not they are tools or obstacles for us and others. But, our wholeness, our shalom and peace,
come simply and completely from our connectedness to God and to one
another. Each of us a piece of the
whole---each of us a piece of one another’s shalom, just as the other is a
piece of our shalom. A beautiful mosaic.
A mosaic that is the dwelling
place of God. As we allow these
disparate and varied pieces to restore our peace, as we allow ourselves to be
touched and healed by Jesus, we are fashioned into God’s household, becoming a
sanctuary---where God dwells—a thin place where others experience and know God.
Today, the Word reminds us of
our Truth that, if we choose, we can be empowered, inspired and equipped to live
our shalom and become God’s dwelling place.
Sanctuary: A place where all can find refuge, restoration, and life.
Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy,
tried and true.
With thanksgiving, we’ll be a living sanctuary for
you.
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