Sermons for the Month
The Prayer Shawl Connection
DATE: June 22nd, 2003
SERVICE: Second Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Mark 4:35-41To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
Throughout this week people who ended up in the church office work room found themselves drawn to the Prayer Shawls that had been set out for today's service. The beautiful shawls were touched and nearly everyone wanted to pick one up and be covered by its softness. Even if the image we project to the world is a tough one, at times we all need to be comforted. Or, as David Miller, the editor of "The Lutheran" put it, "We crave a oneness, a communion, to heal our terrible loneliness." That is what the Prayer Shawls are all about, they connect the congregation to those who need a special blessing, not only individuals, but families as well. And, most significantly, these shawls are a tangible, touchable reminder of our connection to God. About a year-and-a-half ago there was an article in "The Lutheran" about the Prayer Shawl ministry of a congregation in Michigan. After it was published the church was inundated with inquiries about how to make the shawls and how to start such a ministry. The idea came to our congregation through Penny Thompson, who experienced the ministry while visiting a Lutheran congregation, and initiated it here. It seems that the idea has taken on a life of its own. Here at Faith it was not difficult to find people who were willing to use their creative gifts to make the shawls. Why is that? Pastor Miller says it's because of the terrible loneliness of our age, because of the craving for connection and for true community. He tells various shawl stories. One is about a hospice organization that asked the Michigan congregation to give a shawl to a patient who had requested baptism. A church member attended the service, presented the shawl, and prayed. There was not a dry eye in the room. Or, there was the account of an attorney who made a shawl for a friend. The friend is not facing difficulty herself, but she prays for the troubled children that the lawyer represents. I have to agree that there is more to this than giving knitters a tangible way to care for others. Too often in this life, and even in the church, people are alone with their wounds and fears. They do not sense a connection with others, nor with God. We are like the disciples in today's Gospel lesson, who wonder if their Lord truly cares for them. We all know the story, don't we? Jesus and the disciples have embarked on a voyage across the lake. But, a fierce squall suddenly arises, and the boat is in danger of being swamped by the waves. Amazingly, Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat. Overcome with fear, his followers wake him up, wondering if he is concerned at all about their well-being. They cry, "Jesus, do you not care that we are perishing?" Some artists who have painted this scene picture Jesus standing up, raising his arms, and loudly proclaiming, "Peace. Be still." But in my mind's eye Jesus simply opens his eyes, sits up and says those words as if he's talking to himself. Then, when things have calmed down, he shakes his head, looks at his followers who no doubt are sitting there with their mouths open, and says quite matter-of-factly, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" And can't you imagine them sputtering, "But, the waves were higher than the boat, and we were rocking to and fro, and then the lightening flashed so close we could have touched it, and, and .." Perhaps Jesus said once again, "Peace, be still." And when they were quiet they realized just who it was they were spending time with each day. Only the one who has the power to create the forces of nature has the power to control them. There is a great deal of symbolism in this story. The word translated rebuked is used earlier in the Gospel of Mark when Jesus ordered a demon to be silent and to come out of an afflicted man. So it is that most scholars say that the storm represents a demonic force and Jesus calming the storm represents his power over the forces of evil. This event is a precursor of the victory of Jesus over sin and death. Now, I'm sure this interpretation is not only valid, but also vital to the disciples' understanding of Jesus, as well as our own. But, I think there's another message for us in this account. It is that Jesus is the one who brings peace to our lives, especially in the midst of chaos. One of the commentators I was reading talked about being a member of the "Three O'clock Club" whose participants wake up at three o'clock in the morning suddenly panicked over some problem that was of only mild concern the day before. I would have to admit that my Club, from which I keep resigning and rejoining, meets an hour earlier - at 2 a.m. It is at that dreadful hour, when loneliness is particularly profound even if the house is full of people, that one might be inclined to shout out, "God, don't you care that I am perishing?" In those moments it matters whether or not we have nurtured our faith in good times so that we can draw on it in bad. And, the question is, will we honor our faith or our fears? Let me ask that again. Will we honor our faith or our fears? Will we hear the voice of Jesus saying to us, "Peace, be still?" As writer Oswald Chambers so eloquently said, "Living the life of faith is no a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting. Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the one who is leading." And maybe, just maybe, a Prayer Shawl can remind us of who is leading. Perhaps it can help us honor our faith rather than our fears. Could something as simple as yarn lovingly shaped into a shawl connect us with God and with a community that cares? At 3 a.m. might it be a reminder that we are not alone? Who knows how this ministry at Faith might expand? We are beginning by giving shawls to those members of our congregation who are unable to attend worship, as a sign of our connection to them and their loved ones. But perhaps there is a broader vision of connectedness, more ways that we can communicate the peace that Jesus offers to a lonely and hurting world. I'll close with this prayer shawl story. It's my own. When I was installed here at Faith Lutheran Church a year ago, I was given the gift of a prayer shawl. It was a labor of love from Mary, the daughter of a St. Luke resident to whom I was close when I was the Pastor at that retirement community. Mary has a creative spirit, and often came up with wonderful ideas for engaging Alzheimer's patients in worship. She said she had prayed for me and my new ministry while making the shawl. Well, it's so beautiful that I found myself hesitant to use it, and yet whenever I saw it draped over my grandmother's chair - the one with the cane seat - I'd think of Mary, of her gentle spirit, of her support of my ministry, and feel less alone. I've decided to take it off the chair, and to put it somewhere where I'll easily pick it up especially at 2 a.m. so that I may honor faith rather than fear.
AMEN