[Propertalk] 3 Advent a 2016 - Part 1

[Robert P Morrison]

Here's the first part for tomorrow.
Bob

	THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY  3 ADVENT a 

	ISAIAH 35:1-10   11th DECEMBER, 2016 

	JAMES 5:7-10   CANTICLE 15 (MAGNIFICAT) 

	MATTHEW 11:2-11 

	 I read a report the other week which touched me quite strongly. The
story was published first just a few days after Christmas, last year. 

	“A photo of several stray dogs sleeping in a Greek Cafe is touching
hearts all over the world. The tired pooches are pictured passed out
on cushioned benches and chairs, really all over the place. The pups
didn’t sneak their way in, but rather were invited by open doors
after the shop closed down that night. 

	“The cafe, Hott Spott in Mytilene, Lesbos, opens its doors every
night so that local stray dogs have place to sleep. They have been
running this little pet motel since July, and have no plans of putting
these pups back out into the cold. 

	“Antonis, a waiter at the cafe, said, ‘In the city there are many
dogs. When the bar closes each night, the dogs come and sleep here. We
don’t have a problem. From July, every night there is a dog on the
couch.’” 1 

	What an amazing thing of which to read, especially in December –
either last year, when the story was written, or this year, when we
know what it’s like to be cold, and wet, and, possibly, chased from
any spot of shelter one might find! 

	We know how so many people love animals, especially their pets. We
know how far we’ll go to care for them, whenever we possibly can.
Yet this stops, sometimes, when the animal isn’t our own, or one we
know. Oh, yes, we can be fairly generous in making gifts to SafeHaven
and other shelters. But to open the doors of a café to let
street-living dogs in for the night? I find that marvelous. It means
that someone cares SO much for these animals that he or she is willing
to put up with whatever comments may be made by folk in the community.


	In this case, there don’t appear to be any. Maybe the town’s folk
say that the owner of the café is a little soft in the head. Maybe
they tease him or her. But there’s no mention whatsoever of anyone
boycotting that café. 

	The owner is willing to take responsibility for any damage or wear
and tear that may result from the canine lodging, yet, equally
strangely, no mention is made of that in the article either. I wonder
if the dogs realise what is being done to and for them that they, in
turn, settle down for the night to recoup their energy, to find some
health and strength, and respect what’s been given them. 

	It seems that everyone wins. 

	What was it that Jesus said to John the Baptist’s disciples? “Go
and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are
raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is
anyone who takes no offense at me.” 

	John’s been having a miserable time. Many of those on the margins
of society – the sick who have no one to care for them; the poor who
can barely scrape together a meagre meal once a day; those who realise
how much they’ve been abusing both their own and other’s lives –
John had preached hope to them. But he ran into such horrendous
difficulties with the authorities, who’d come to spy on him and
harass him for the way that he felt he was fulfilling God’s call to
him. Kind of like the city ordinance here which fines both a person
receiving AND the person giving some sort of tangible aid at the side
of the street or through a car window. 

	This is, probably another issue for another time, but think about if
and how it ties in with the ministry of John. 

	John may well have been wondering what on earth he’d been doing,
trying to call the nation’s people to live in hope and to make a
commitment to God to wait for the Love of God to bring resolution for
people’s lives. When law enforcement finally caught up with him and
their embarrassment became too great for them to tolerate, they hauled
him off to jail. They did what authorities did for centuries before
and have continued to do for centuries afterwards. They tried to shut
John down. His message of hope, of peace, of the coming of God’s
Anointed One, was too troubling, and when it was coupled with attacks
on the way that folk were being harassed and mistreated – well, that
was too much, and John was shut down. 

	So he sent his closest friends to Jesus in anguish, wanting to know
whether his life had been a total misunderstanding. 

	Back came the words I quoted already – about the blind, the lame,
the seriously sick, the deaf, the dead, the poor. “Those with no
hope, the very ones for whom you had so much compassion, John,” said
Jesus. “They have not been forgotten. They WILL NOT be forgotten.
They will always have my attention.”  

	And then Jesus turned to those who were sort of hanging around. They
weren’t quite party members. They weren’t sure whether or not they
wanted to put their trust in Jesus, no matter what they may have seen
and heard about the needs of the community and the way he was
addressing them. Jesus confronted them and asked them bluntly,
“What’s your motivation in life? What do you do with your time?
How do you use your resources? How do you interact with those whom you
meet, or try not to meet? Why did you bother with John?” 

	Now that last one must have stung! Jesus was on the point of saying
that they were there for the spectacle, as long as they could go home
afterwards and try to wipe out the memory of those folk who listened
to John, who went into the Jordan beside him and asked for renewal for
their lives. 

	And THIS is Jesus, pushing the crowd so early in His ministry! He was
asking them to make a decision, a commitment, not so much to Him,
although that was important. He was asking them to make a commitment
to themselves, to find the truth within themselves, to find the Divine
Spark, that reflection of God’s Love which was within them all, but
needed to be coaxed and allowed to come to the surface. 


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