[Propertalk] 4 Easter b rcl

[Robert P Morrison]

This will need re-reading and checking, but I think this is close to what will be preached tomorrow.

Hope you all got your invitation to the party with Jesus!

Bob

THE EPISCOPAL PARISH OF ST. JAMES, LINCOLN CITY      4 EASTER B RCL 
 ACTS 4:5-12                       3rd MAY, 2009   
1 JOHN 3:1611-24	  PSALM 23       
JOHN 10:11-18

	How do you get a whole city to do something? I’m not talking Lincoln City’s seventy-five hundred. I’m talking millions.
	Last February, when I travelled east to take part in evaluating the General Ordination Exams, I stopped off to visit Kirsten and her husband Randall in Philadelphia. The visit was great. It’s always good to see them - and I enjoy Philadelphia also. But that wasn’t what intrigued and impressed me so much this time around. Everywhere I went on the city streets I saw posters; in most of the stores in which I browsed, I saw flyers; on counters ranging from City Hall, to Churches, to Starbucks, I saw postcard announcements. They were all proclaiming the same thing. Philadelphia is reading. Everyone in the city was being encouraged to read the same book. For at least a month - I’ve forgotten the exact time frame, maybe it was longer - but it was for at least a month, everyone in the city, and everyone who travelled through the city, whether for work or for pleasure, was invited to participate in this book-reading immersion.
	Nor was it difficult or expensive to participate. Each branch of the City’s library system had multiple copies, and some were reserved for reading in the building, so there would always be the possibility to get one’s hands and one’s mind on a copy. In venues all across the city and out into the suburbs, discussion groups were arranged, with facilitators available for those who wished.
	It was enough to make an English major or a librarian beam with joy. And, apparently, this is a relatively common occurrence - not only the beaming, but the book-reading marathon also.
	This was impressive enough in itself, but what REALLY made me stop in my tracks was the book that was chosen for this massive read-in near the beginning of the year.
	There we were, still in midst of a desperately cold winter, with wind, rain, snow and ice. There we were in a city which has as difficult a time as any in terms of coming to grips with those who live on the streets or are trying to fit into what some might describe as a normal life - with access to food, hygiene, health-care, and so on. And the book in which everyone from the mayor, to kindergarten teachers, to clergy, to baristas was trying to engage us? It’s the one called “The Soloist”, on which the movie released a couple of weeks ago is based.
	Last Monday, Los Angeles-based movie critic Donovan Jacobs had his review of this movie published. Under the heading “’The Soloist’ connects with humanity on L.A. streets”, Jacobs began with the obvious. “We live in troubled times – times where too many people both withdraw into themselves and ignore (even more than usual) the plight of those less fortunate.” Then the critic went on, “While it may fall short on some levels, the new film The Soloist deserves praise for confronting us with the danger of living in this way and emphasizing our need to connect, especially with individuals whose humanity can be hard to embrace. 
	“(It’s b)ased on a true story (about) Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, who initially meets homeless, schizophrenic Nathaniel Ayers playing the violin – brilliantly, even though the battered instrument only has two strings. Lopez learns that Ayers was a former student at the Juilliard music academy in New York (a man) whose passion for classical music remains undimmed after more than 30 years. But as Lopez challenges Ayers to fulfill his potential by leaving the streets and treating his mental illness, Lopez is forced to explore his need to find true meaning in his life and a relationship to something larger than himself.” 1 Listen to that again. It’s the JOURNALIST who’s drawn to find true meaning in his life and a relationship to something larger than himself - NOT the mentally ill, homeless, stressed-out musician.
	Isn’t it hilarious the way God works!
	Like any work of art, the movie appears to have a few shortcomings. Some things are emphasised at the expense of others and, as often happens, when the story is transferred from the written word to a visual as well as auditory medium, changes occur, some of which may disappoint someone who’s read the book. However, Jacob wrote that the director allows “the movie to work most effectively when it follows Lopez and Ayers while they slowly develop a greater sense of responsibility to each other and the world around them.”
	Nevertheless, “The Soloist performs a vital service by doing what few mainstream movies even attempt – listening to the stories and attempting to capture the humanity of the homeless individuals Ayers shares the streets with. Wright (the movie director) insisted on casting residents of Los Angeles’ Skid Row as actors and extras, and the respect shown to these characters (mainly by portraying them in a straightforward, unsentimental way) gives the scenes at a beleaguered homeless services agency a sense of authentic warmth.”
	The review concludes by saying, “The movie's most intriguing spiritual musings, however, involve Ayers and his devotion to great music. Ayers' commitment to the works of Beethoven has suffused his life with grace, a sense of meaning and joy that Lopez is humbled to realize he has never experienced. It can be all too trite when a movie suggests that the ‘crazy’ are saner than ‘normal’ people, but there's something truly profound and provocative in The Soloist's suggestion that Nathaniel Ayers, in losing everything but his music, has found the kingdom of God.”
	I haven’t finished the book yet, although it’s fascinating and well written. I DID hear the author when he was interviewed on National Public Radio about two weeks ago. 2  To me, what was stressed was the whole aspect of the humanity of every individual on this planet - be she a musician, a schizophrenic, a youth, someone mal-nourished, or homeless, or any combination of these, or possibly all of these combined in one individual.
	  Where am I going with this? Well, what was Peter preaching about before the Jerusalem Ministerial Association and the City Council? He was talking about healing; he was talking about making people feel whole; he was talking about acknowledging the worth of everyone, whether in the city or in rural areas, regardless of financial and social circumstances. Peter was talking about the fact that knowing Jesus, being called by Jesus, first to follow, and then himself to lead, being part of the community of Jesus, MANDATED that everyone be cared for, regardless of any pressure brought about by individuals, or groups, or councils.
	But where did Peter get this half-cocked idea that he and the others had a responsibility, or, indeed, that everyone should be made to feel dignified and made to feel safe? From Jesus Himself. “I am the Good Shepherd,” said Jesus. “Not the one who runs at the first hint that some individual might try to strong-arm disciples into not giving everyone shelter. Not the one who isn’t willing to face challenges. I am the Good Shepherd who not only sees to the needs of ALL the sheep, but also who’ll stick around no matter what the weather, what the company, what the threats, until I know that each sheep is safe and secure. But I won’t stop there. After that I’ll go looking for other sheep, and more sheep after that. In fact, I don’t know when I’ll stop, because there’s no end to the sheep who belong to Me.”
	It’s an amazing concept this. One of the closer comparisons of which I can think today is something like the organisation “Doctors without Borders”. They go wherever there’s a need. They don’t stop to say, “This place is dangerous. That place doesn’t have many people who’re worth the effort of getting into the country. The governing body of this institution is nuts - or worse!” They simply go because there is someone who has a need, and they take care of it.
 	Are the physicians nervous or scared? I don’t know - ask one of the local health care professionals from Lincoln City here who make yearly trips to almost unreachable areas around the world. What do they feel about snakes - reptilian or human? How do they react to extremes of climate? Do they have any qualms about changing their diet? But ARE they nervous or scared? Probably. I know I would be. There are still issues with which I have to deal before meeting with someone, or coping with a certain situations, or even talking, never mind moving into unknown territory, whether it be the company of people whom I hardly know, or a geographical location. But no matter where, no matter when, no matter how I feel called to go, I DO know that “my Shepherd will supply my need”!
	What I find amazing about these “Doctors without Borders”’ responses; and the local care-givers’ ministries; the help agencies in this community, including the meal programme of which we’re a part in this parish; what I find amazing about all of this is the way in which we who may once have thought of ourselves as having the same sort of talents as sheep - and some of the less desirable features also! - we have heard the Shepherd’s voice sufficiently loud and calmly enough to know that now we ought to turn to help other sheep who may not have been able to recognize the Shepherd’s voice. 
	Back in Philadelphia in February the whole city began to become more and more engaged in getting to know the shepherding business - by that I mean not just rounding up the sheep, but becoming fully engaged with the care and nourishing of sheep - feeding, bathing, protecting against attack from predators or vermin, and, yes, speaking to them as well.
	Back when the initial story was playing out in Los Angeles, journalist “Lopez chronicled Ayers’ struggle in several columns at the Los Angeles Times. These columns inspired readers to send instruments to Ayers through Lopez. The friendship that Lopez formed with Ayers and eventually helped the musician get off the street, settle into an apartment and find treatment for his schizophrenia.”
	The really interesting things is that “Lopez says his friendship with Ayers has ‘always been a two-way street, it’s not just me doing for him.’ The writer explains that the musician re-ignited his passion for journalism and gave him a sense of well-being: ‘You know, there’s this humility, there’s this good feeling I have from giving something,’ Lopez says.” 3 
	It’s not mentioned in the Gospels - that might be just a bit TOO radical for first century writers - but I’d be willing to bet that the relationship between sheep and the Christ Shepherd was two-way also.  It’s only natural. The more time a person spends in the company of others the more each gets to know the other, and the more trust and sharing can develop. That’s what makes Jesus’ shepherding all the more unique, all the more effective. This was no ordinary boss, no matter how benevolent. This isn’t someone who, when the chips are down, will use brute force of mind or body. Shepherd Jesus time and again when on earth put His life on the line, and talked in a cajoling way. Even when He blew up at the authoritarian folk who simply couldn’t see how destructive they were being to God’s flock and God’s creation, even when Jesus blew up at people, He didn’t smite them dead. He simply laid down the Gospel of Love and left it up to the others to decide whether to take up that Gospel, put it on and live it out.
	The GOOD Shepherd, however, will spend an endless amount of time on the straggler, the lame, the half-blind, the rejects of the flock. The Good Shepherd will bring them ALL in so that no one will be left out of the experience of enjoying that incredible fold which God’s prepared for us.
	And if the city of Philadelphia - right now going through such difficult times that belie the meaning of its name - if the city of Philadelphia can energise its citizenry and its visitors to become aware of what’s happening and what can be done, surely we’re up to that challenge here.
	And the good news is that we can all be bi-vocational; we can all be sheep, to be ministered to, to be comforted, to be encouraged when our hooves are being knocked out from under us. At the same time, though, the good news is that we may be called at any time to be that Good Shepherd in Jesus’ Name, to make sure that everyone is protected.


NOTES

1 	“FILM: 'The Soloist' connects with humanity on L.A. streets” by Donovan Jacobs, April 27, 2009 http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_107105_ENG_HTM.htm  
2	Fresh Air with Terry Gross from WHYY : NPR April 24, 2009 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103415385
3	Donovan Jacobs: op. cit. 


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Robert P. Morrison
The Episcopal Parish of St James,
PO Box 789
Lincoln City, Oregon, 97367

541-994-2426 (Church)