The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:10-11 On April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren learned through Boston’s revolutionary underground that British troops were preparing to cross the Charles River and march to Lexington, presumably to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Fearing an intercept by the British, Warren had devised a redundancy plan to warn Hancock and Adams. He would send one rider by land and one by sea. (Source.) He gave a silversmith the easier route and to the local tanner he gave the more dangerous mission. The tanner set off at 9 p.m. and managed to make his way through a British Checkpoint– according to one account, by pretending to be a bumbling drunk farmer. Soon after all travel out of Boston was halted. He arrived at the Lexington Hancock House at 12:30 a.m., meeting up with his fellow town crier. The two proceeded forward to then warned the residents of Concord and on the way the silversmith was captured when they encountered a British Patrol. The tanner, however, concocted a ruse about an ambush, which scared away the British soldier. In the end the ride was successful. I know you know the name of the silversmith, does anyone know the other? Who managed not to be captured and took the more dangerous route? Williams Dawes faded into obscurity while Paul Revere became a household name. It’s hard to tell how history chooses those to honor and those to be forgotten. Both men, however, fit into the mold of town crier or herald, if you will, respected members of society out to warn people of the danger to come. But the Bible is fascinating in who’s voice it chooses for God’s heralds. It features the obscure, the rabble rouser, the non-conformist…someone much more likely to be forgotten by history than William Dawes. And yet the very first verses of Mark’s gospel feature a wild-eyed man from the wilderness. John the Baptizer who spoke with even more urgency and fervor than those on that midnight ride, for he came not to warn of an enemy assault like Dawes and Revere, but the coming wrath of God and the arrival the Lord’s anointed, the Messiah. In Roman times, a herald would announce the coming of the emperor hailing his kingdom and lauding him as savior and deliverer. It was of course through war and devastation that this so-called peace came. Specifically, the emperor’s herald would describe their whole message as “euangelion” that is Greek for “Good News!” In stark contrast to these Roman heralds, John the Baptist displays an entirely alternate visage. Rather than pomp and circumstance surrounded by royal attendants in fine robes, John emerges wild-eyed from the wilderness in a hair shirt with locust on his breath. John comes to announce a new king and kingdom of which God, not the emperor, will be sovereign over. As you see, the words used by the gospel writers were very deliberately chosen:“savior” and “good news”, “king”. They were offering an alternate world view from the Roman world. Jesus as savior not Caesar, and the good news is not Caesar’s arrival but the coming of a heavenly kingdom ruled by a loving God not a tyrant. This kingdom will not be established by the brutality of Roman warriors but by the apostles of servanthood. And though it is not by the sword it will require sacrifice. In Matthew’s gospel John warns the crowd of God’s coming judgement. Though John’s words sound harsh they are meant to awaken us to a whole new world, a whole new kingdom that will bring us true peace. He needs to be forceful because so many have become numb to a different reality that they must be jolted into new possibilities. And the people listen! They receive John’s gift and then are ready to hear Jesus. This is the primary role of the herald. As one source tells us, “Kings and emperors would send heralds ahead of them as they journeyed to a city … to instruct the people to make preparations for the arrival of the king.” That is a task for every one of us to make preparations for the arrival of our Lord, to be the mouthpiece of God announcing the coming of the newborn king. And that is why we are here this morning in the season of Advent. To prepare for the coming of the King and His kingdom. And if John’s message prepared people for Jesus back then it can surely prepare us today. When John the Baptist comes most famously to “prepare the way” he does so by telling people to get ready through repentance. Repentance in our common understanding means being sorry for the mistakes we have committed while being determined to set yourself on a new path. It is a very logical human approach. Self-improvement through a steely determined will. It was Edison’s path to success, as he said of his famous 4,000 attempts to invent the light bulb, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” In the football world hall of fame coach of the Packers, Vince Lombardi observed, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." Certainly, both of these sayings are wise and true, and I am sure many of you have used a similar drive to find the success you have enjoyed in this life. But unfortunately, what works in the world of business, and school, and life may not work in the life of faith. It requires and different type of effort and a new disposition. Human nature shows us willpower will only get us so far for so long and faith can lead to despair, especially If we think repentance means turning ourselves around, changing your life by willing yourself to do something different! Telling yourself, “This time I will stick to my diet.” “This time I will not lash out at the ones I love.” This time, this time, this time… But this is not what John is talking about. Note the wording of his message calling us to “a baptism of repentance.” It is not “repent and be baptized.” We don’t repent. We can’t, or else Jesus would not have had to die on that cross. It is the baptism that does it for us. God changes us. We can change our habits, we can change the words we use, we can change our spending patterns…but we cannot change our soul; we cannot find our true selves on our own. This is why John’s message is such good news. These baptismal waters wash away our pride, our fear, our self-grasping and make us receptive to the love of our infant Lord. It is why when Martin Luther was struggling, he would shout out, “I am baptized.” That is, I am something new, not because of me but, because of God’s gift in Jesus Christ. This Advent, take the time to remember your own baptism and consider all that it implies. It makes you a part not only of the Brick family, but of the worldwide family of 2 billion Christians, and even more a part of the heavenly family of father, son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism has the power to heal and restore, it is a moment in which the parents who bring the child forward place all their hopes for a long, healthy, and glorious life, in which the parents are keenly aware that they do not have to do this all on their own, in which there is a community who vows before God to help. It is a moment when the congregation who sees these priceless children are reminded the profound preciousness of their lives and of all life and the amazing God who grants it. As we gaze into the eyes of these children all the ways we adults have complicated life dissolve away and the raw beauty of life shines through the fog of hearts and mind that have been dimmed by the trials and stresses of our lives. And for the adult who is baptized it is the moment of deep realization of God’s infinite love, in which we let go of barriers of protection and our lives become shine like our Advent candles: hope, peace, joy, and love. Remember your baptism of repentance and herald it to the world with passion, joy, and fervor for we are heralding something more than “The British our coming!” Instead, it is the King of Kings who comes, the Lord of all creation who comes humbly in a manger as one of us. Amen.

As we step into this Advent season, the time between December 3rd and December 25th, we will explore a rich tapestry of biblical characters who served as heralds, preparing the way for the arrival of the King of Kings, Jesus. These heralds, from Mary and the humble shepherds to the divine angel messengers and the unconventional John the Baptist, collectively echoed a message of hope, peace, and salvation. A common thread unites these heralds—they never spoke on their own authority. Instead, their words reflected the divine message from the King. Their purpose was clear: to make the people ready for the arrival of Christ the King, whose coming signified not only strength, power, and protection but, above all, peace. Mary, a young and single girl; the lowly shepherds proclaiming, "We have seen the Messiah;” angels delivering the message of Emmanuel (God with us); and the outsider John the Baptist urging repentance—all played a crucial role in heralding the arrival of Jesus. But God’s message of salvation doesn’t stop with the characters in the Bible. We are all modern-day heralds, entrusted with a unique message proclaiming God is with us. This Advent season, we are called to listen to the unique messages placed within our hearts. Through our voices and contributions, we can proclaim: Christ came through a baby and Christ is within each of us. When we speak this message, we bring forth the Kingdom of God which is based on love and service, where enemies become brothers and sisters, and strangers become friends. In the grand tapestry of heralds, we find ourselves as integral threads. What kind of herald are you? What is the message God has placed in your heart? Are you the bearer of gentle and loving words, or are you challenging the status quo? These questions invite us to reflect on our role as heralds in our communities and the wider world. As we embark on this Advent journey, may we embrace our roles as heralds of salvation, carrying the timeless message of peace, love, and service. In discovering and sharing the message within us, we contribute to the restoration of God's vision for humanity—a vision where all are united in their love of God and one another.

The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. - Luke 2:10-11 This Advent we will be exploring the role of the herald in God’s plan of salvation history. You know the word perhaps most famously from the hymn, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” A herald was the official mouthpiece of the King announcing his proclamations and his impending arrival. Today the choir serve as God’s Advent heralds; singing of God’s messiah, that Jesus Christ is coming into the world, not only that He came so long ago but that He is coming again. And the composer, Conard Susa, offers us something exceptional and distinctive. For as believers in a God who reigns over the all the earth, it is essential that we listen to heralds from other contexts and cultures to give us the widest and broadest view of our most amazing Lord. Sousa has brought forward traditional music from Spain, Puerto Rico, and more. Here is what Sousa said of his visit to Mexico: And the people have a look of long-suffering patience about them...Everything – their language, their food – all works together, just so beautifully. .. I felt very drawn to the south, and in a lot of my own music I’d written Spanish and Mexican type music. I don’t know why, but it comes out. … I felt very at home with those tunes, as if I had known them as a child. (San Francisco Conservatory of Music / Conrad Susa Oral History) One of the early performances took place in the barrio in, of all places,Minnesota. A few days before the performance only 40 tickets were sold in a church that could hold 500. But thanks be to God in this case for Garrison Keillor, who played one of the pieces on his radio show and that set a spark! Listen to this report from the concert as reported to Sousa: “Conrad, I have to tell you that that church was packed with people. They were even standing in the back aisles. There were more people than the fire laws admit. We’re going to have to give a second concert for people who want to hear it live.” I said, “Oh, well, that means it’s a great success.” He said, “Yes, there was a woman who came up and said, ‘Thanks for giving us back our carols.’” (San Francisco Conservatory of Music / Conrad Susa Oral History) Let us listen to these voices from the Southwest, heralding the coming of the King. Amen.

Shared during Sunday Worship on November 26, 2023. Heavenly Father, We thank you that we can abide in Your presence through the communion of the Holy Spirit, and offer You our prayers of supplication and thanksgiving. Help us to be people who pray to You in times of prosperity and in times of distress. Help us to love You, to love Your people, and to serve those in need. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Shared during Sunday Worship on November 19, 2023. All-wise God, our hearts overflow with gratitude because we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Together, we thank You, God, for being so intentional in forming each of us. Even better, we are grateful that You put us each in community with others – we don’t take for granted the love of family, the joy of friendship, and the company of colleagues and neighbors. Through these lives, we see Your hand move in our lives to the glory of Your name! As if making the world and all that’s in it wasn’t enough, You are doing new things through us today, God. For all our essential workers, we lift up our worship. For all who defy the weather daily to get primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors of the world’s economies running, we are thankful! We also thank You, God, for those who are not able to work or are unemployed. Help their self-worth and meet their every need. And in these turbulent times of wars and disasters, God, we can’t thank You enough for our humanitarian workers and peacemakers. May their lives be preserved in the line of duty and may God’s counsel ring in our governments' ears to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before God. Here at Brick, we know we are called to join in God’s work among us and in the world. Reinvigorate our hands and feet, God, with Your divine power so that our energies and resources may not wane. Holy Spirit, open our eyes and ears, so that we may know how to go in our missional activities locally and internationally – let it be only where God needs us. May we be like God’s Son, Jesus, in every way, overflowing with God’s love and compassion for the lost and marginalized. Let these be, God, in the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ Isaiah 6:8 I will tell you from the outset of this sermon there are more questions than answers and, perhaps like me, you will leave baffled by God’s action / inaction in the case of Samson’s story. His whole story runs contrary to our concept of justice, of mercy, of love, of fidelity. I could not find a single clear virtue in the whole of the Samson cycle! To tell you the truth, it was depressing to reread it. I had remembered a noble, courageous man of God with superhuman strength which he used to defeat the enemies of God. I remember as a child being mesmerized by the story of him using the jawbone of an ass to slaughter 1,000 men. Undone by the trickery of a beautiful woman, in one last moment of desperate faith, he gave his life to vanquish the evil philistines! But that’s not the story. He is not a hero, not at all! At least not in the traditional sense. Every act he commits is based on self-aggrandizement, sexual bravado, and petulant revenge. Samson was given an extraordinary gift from God. He was meant to be a hero. He was meant to be the original superhero. The Philistines had been a thorn in the side of Israel for decades, defeating and humiliating them time and again. God gave him this strength to defeat them. He was to keep and protect Israel, but instead he used his gift for his own entertainment and personal revenge. He wreaks such havoc that his own people tie him up and give him over to the enemies! Unlike others we have explored these past weeks – Joseph, Sarah, and Jonah – who are flawed characters with some redeeming qualities, Samson does not demonstrate a single one. Not one redeeming or godly act. Read it for yourself! Even his most famous act of pulling down the temple is simply to get revenge for being blinded by his enemies, but he is perfectly willing to kill 3,000 people-men and women for this purpose! This is what Samson said in Judges 16:28, “Lord God, remember me and strengthen me only this once, O God, so that with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.” He could have said, “Lord God, grant me strength so I may repent for my acts and defeat your enemies and save the Israelites!” He wasn’t doing it for God, or the Israelites. It was revenge, pure and simple. Samson is a man whose virtues are clouded by his own personal faults and demons. He is like the star athlete that becomes so enamored with his own bravado that his entire life becomes a train wreck. Samson never used any godly virtues such as patience, love, or mercy in his trials. He never sought the wisdom of others who could have helped temper and moderate his raw passions. And yet the Bible tells us he judged Israel for 20 years. He was the leader of the people for that time. It was clear that God had given him this special gift. But God is oddly silent throughout this whole story. We might expect a call story like God’s encounter with Jeremiah as a boy in which God declares, “Samson, I have given you this strength that you might free my people from the Philistines.” Nothing. You might think God might warn him, “Samson, only use this gift in battle. Do not tell the secret of your strength lest you spurn this gift and violate my command and die.” God never speaks. Furthermore, the narrator does not offer any evaluative judgements regarding Samson’s actions for good or ill. We are left on our own to judge Samson the Judge. First in God’s story of salvation, it is ultimately about the purposes of God and not our faith. Samson keeps Israel for 20 years because God wills it and so it will be. God is sovereign over heaven and earth and as such the Lord’s plan cannot be thwarted by humans. Samson is the Lord’s appointed. However, if Samson had been a godly man this story could have been much different. Take the horrific incident regarding Samson’s wife. He asks the people a riddle about a lion that he killed, which was filled with honey. The riddle was impossible to guess. In the end because of his actions 300 foxes die, olive groves, vineyards, and wheat fields are burned, his wife and father-in-law are murdered, and 30 random men are slaughtered. All of it completely unnecessary. All of it due to his low moral character. As you can see, if Samson had simply fought the Lord’s enemies in battle with his God-given strength things would have been very different for everyone. God’s intentions were fulfilled, Israel had defeated the Philistines, but rather than a story of triumph it is a story of tragedy. The key to understanding Samson’s tragedy rests in his hair. That was the source of his power, that special gift from God and he spurned it. Samson was a Nazirite. This was a tradition found in the book of Numbers in which people devoted their lives to God, abstained from wine, cutting one’s hair, or touching a corpse. His strength was literally in his hair but there is another layer of meaning for us all. For each of us our strength is found in those places in our lives we have devoted to God. When we cut them off or treat them cheaply, we lose that strength. Samson abused his great power and others in our time have done so with similarly disastrous results. Take the disgraced Sackler family, private owners of Purdue Pharma. Endowed with entrepreneurial power, they helped manufacture drugs that would bring great relief from physical agony that so many in this world endure. This alone would make them fantastically wealthy. Yet, their greed outstripped their morals, and they wielded their power and influence which spurred the opioid epidemic taking 450,000 lives. “[They] also instructed its pharmaceutical representatives all over the country to tell physicians that oxycontin was not addictive primarily because of its slow-release properties. Purdue told its representatives to tell doctors that only persons with an “addictive personality” became addicts.” Over half of the deaths began with a doctor’s prescription. Along the way they corrupted thousands of doctors and pharmaceutical representatives to be a part of their scheme. Like Samson the collateral damage they caused can scarcely be calculated. And they have ended in disgrace, their names being taken off buildings. When Israel first arrived in the Promised Land Moses reminded the people that God had blessed them “with houses full of good things, which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out, which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant...take heed lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." All that we have is a blessing and gift from God and God calls us to dedicate it all in Nazirite fashion to the Lord. Consider Jonas Salk in contrast with the Sacklers. He liberated millions from the scourge of Polio. Unlike his contemporaries, he believed that “vaccines composed of ‘killed’ polio virus could safely immunize without risk of infection.” He boldly immunized himself, his wife, and his children demonstrating the courage of his convictions. In the two years before the vaccine was widely available, the average number of polio cases in the U.S. was more than 45,000. By 1962, that number had dropped to 910. Hailed as a miracle worker, (and this is the incredible part that would never happen today) Salk never patented the vaccine or earned any money from his discovery, preferring it be distributed as widely as possible. Like Samson he was given a gift from God. But unlike Samson and the Sacklers he used it not for his own benefit but for others. God gives us the call and the abilities but the shape and character we put on it is our own. Samson had extreme power but made poor choices which ended in his death despite his power. The strength we have is the strength of character we execute each and every day we wake up with every single person we meet. May we use all that we have and all that we are to the glory of God and the benefit of others. Amen.

Check your closets! If you have gently used adult-sized winter coats that you no longer need, the residents of the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter would greatly appreciate your donation. Please drop them off in the Garden Room on or before December 15th. We are specifically seeking adult sizes, and the larger, the better. Thank you for generously sharing warmth with our neighbors!

I do Order of St. Paul because I like having a purpose in the Worship services. It's a way for me to contribute something beautiful, and feel more connected to my church community. - Holly Miller Calling all seventh - twelfth graders! Members of The Order of St. Paul assist in the worship service each Sunday, carrying the cross (we call the crucifer) in the Procession, serving as flag-bearers, and serving as candle attendants, as well as assisting the pastors at special services during Lent. If you are a seventh grader or older and interested in worship leadership, The Order of St. Paul is for you! Community service credit is available at program-year end based on service hours and commitment to the Order.

Shared during Sunday Worship on November 12, 2023. We thank You, God of Heaven and earth, that You’ve revealed to Your people the mystery of the gospel in holy Scripture: the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that Your will for the nations will be furthered: that You would reconcile all the church to Yourself through Christ’s death and resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We pray that You would forgive us of our sins and deliver us from all evil, that we might worship You with a clear conscience: in spirit and in truth. Compassionate God, infuse us with Christ’s compassion for our ministry in the world, especially among those who don’t know God. Grant us divine patience and grace as we fulfill our respective callings, so that in all things God’s love may be seen and felt by those to whom we’ve been sent. Hear us, God, when we call and guide us both in our journey of faith and our faithful witness in the world. Thank You for Your deep care for souls and for staying true to all Your promises of salvation even today, in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Help make Christmas merry & bright for families who could use a little lift this year! Select an angel ornament from the tree, shop from the wish list and tag an unwrapped gift with the ornament. Please return gifts to the Garden Room by December 15th. Alternatively, you can bring a wrapped gift tagged with the angel ornament to Brick Church's Christmas Eve service at 4:00 PM on December 24th. Otherwise, make an online donation via the link here, and we will do the heavy lifting!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ Isaiah 6:8 When reading scripture, it is all too easy to think that taking it seriously means there is no humor to be found. But what makes Jonah great literature is that it is one of the most intriguing, fun, clever, and curious books. It is filled with absurdity and outlandish situations. Prayers from a fish’s belly, animals wearing sackcloth, people sleeping during raging storms, and Jonah praying for death because he misses the shade of a plant. Furthermore, Jonah’s attitude is comically shallow and there is virtually nothing redeeming about his character, making his cowardly action all the more remarkable that God uses him in the plan of salvation. If God can use Jonah, then God sure can use me and you! However, through its structure and storytelling, it is also one of the most revealing, pointed, and troublesome books as well. There is something very familiar to Jonah’s character that ultimately might hit home to many of us. It begins when God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh and Jonah refuses. For most of us, running from God’s will is an apt metaphor for the subtle ways we avoid being obedient. For Jonah, it was a track meet! Immediately after God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, he packed his bags and went in the exact opposite direction. No subtlety with Jonah! We have all done it at one time or another. Perhaps it was a call to go on a mission trip or serve on the school board. But it might have been something more life changing … when you refused to take a new job or move to a place you knew in your bones God was calling you to go to. You just didn’t want to do it. But we would have to try very hard to be as faithless as Jonah. As he kept running, he found himself on a boat with strangers. God sends a storm. Jonah knows it’s God trying to turn him around, but he says nothing. He continues to endanger these strangers’ lives by keeping to himself. Jonah not only refuses to tell those on the boat it’s his fault, but he also fails in another way. While the others are praying, Jonah refuses even to speak to God. Perhaps he is afraid to pray, for he knows it could mean turning around and heading in God’s direction. Desperate, the sailors cast lots to figure out who is to blame. It falls on Jonah! He finally comes clean. At this point, Jonah actually shows some humanity, as well as another layer of stubborn refusal. We might have thought Jonah would be ready to repent and do God’s will, but no such words pour forth from his lips. Instead, as a way to save the other sailors’ lives, a commendable action, while still not doing the Lord’s will he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you.” Jonah would rather die than go to Nineveh! Like great humor there is something profound underneath it all that exposes his motivations and our own sometimes weak faith. He hates the Ninevites. It is hard to blame Jonah for his hatred. The Assyrians, of which Nineveh was their capital city, were ruthless conquerors, bent on world domination and they had committed endless atrocities in this quest. They destroyed portions of Israel and deported 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel. Listen to this description: A captured city was usually plundered and burnt to the ground, and its site was deliberately denuded by killing its trees. The loyalty of the troops was secured by dividing a large part of the spoils among them...prisoners were dispatched after the battle; they knelt with their backs to their captors, who beat their heads in with clubs, or cut them off with cutlasses. It sounds tragically familiar. Jonah went the exact opposite direction because he wanted the exact opposite of God. He hated them enough to want them all to perish from God’s Old Testament-like wrath! Fire, brimstone, and hellfire destruction is what he wanted for Nineveh. Literally! We see this powerful hatred today. Jewish students’ lives in this country are being threatened. Reuters reported the following antisemitism: In Los Angeles, a man screaming “kill Jews” attempts to break into a family’s home. In London, girls in a playground are told they are “*!$ Jews” and should stay off the slide. In China, posts likening Jews to parasites, vampires or snakes proliferate on social media, attracting thousands of “likes.” And we also see tragic hatred of Muslims. A Muslim mother in Illinois told her neighbor to pray for peace and he proceeded to murder her six-year-old son. In the end, Jonah tells us exactly why he does not want to go: O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. Jonah knows God. He prays to the Lord. He thanked God for being delivered from the fish with great and lofty words of praise and glory. He offered the sailors an orthodox-creed understanding of faith and professed God as Lord of all things. It is easy to worship and praise God when things are going our way, like when we are being rescued, when God’s will conforms to our own. But the crux of the story takes place precisely because Jonah knew God all too well. He knew God was a God of love and mercy. But Jonah was not ready to see Nineveh forgiven. He was not ready to let go of his hatred. This story ends very much like that of the Prodigal Son, with Jonah playing the role of the elder brother. Jonah, it turns out, is a whining complainer who asks for death four different times in the story! He cannot stand to see mercy for others. And, because he cannot forgive, he ends the story alone, in the blazing sun, angry enough to die from heat prostration! Jonah is the part in each of us who really does not want our enemies to find peace and wholeness. We want them to lose their business, their crops to fail, and their lives to fall apart. That is the anger we see on the streets. That is the anger burning in the hearts of the innocent Israelites and the innocent civilians of Gaza. I do not know the political solution to this situation. But I do know what God calls individuals to do. Nadine Collier showed us the way. In 2015 her mother was one of those murdered in cold blood by Dylan Roof in Charleston, SC at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church during a Bible study. She would have understood Jonah’s feelings toward Nineveh and what they had done to the people of Israel. But, unlike Jonah, she did not run away from God’s call. She did not shy away from Jesus’ command to repay evil with good. So, with great courage and commitment she uttered those now famous words to him, “I forgive you.” But, even more, she realized that God is the ultimate source of forgiveness. This is what else she had to say: You took something very precious away from me. I will never get to talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you, and have mercy on your soul. …You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people. If God forgives you, I forgive you. So, Jonah is not a quaint story about a fish and some people. It lies at the very core and heart of scripture – the mercy and forgiveness of God. Eventually, of course, Jonah does preach to the Ninevites. It must have been the most lackluster sermon in the history of sermons! Unimaginative, but short and to the point, “​​‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” And they repent! Despite Jonah’s failures, God used Jonah and accomplished His plan – the redemption of Nineveh – over 120,000 people! The good news, the great and glorious news of the Gospel, is that God is always filled with infinitely more mercy than we could ever muster within ourselves. Let each of us be willing to speak the truth to others, accept it about ourselves, and most of all, walk into the stream of divine mercy and love. Amen.

The Power of Sacrificial Love Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ Isaiah 6:8 This week we continue our series exploring God’s agents in the plan of salvation. We have learned of Sarah and Abraham, whom God chose to be the progenitors of the people who would become Israel, and to whom a Promised Land was given. Despite their personal faults and failures, God remained steadfast, and the plan progressed. Last week we discovered the plan was threatened. A famine in the land exposed Israel, but Joseph, who endured slavery and prison, rose to a place of prominence in Pharaoh's house, enabling them to obtain the food they needed, and Israel was saved. This week we find ourselves in Moab, a neighboring kingdom to the east of Israel. Three women have become widows. One, Orpah, quickly falls away from the story and it turns out this book of Ruth is actually about two women, Ruth, a Moabite widow and her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi, whom she follows to Israel. It is the only book of scripture in which the multiple central characters are women and only one other Biblical book bears a woman’s name, Esther. Phyliss Trible, prominent feminist scholar who has taught at various universities and seminaries around the country including Union in New York, has several key observations: Though the story takes its name from the younger woman, the older is the dominant character. Naomi’s plight shapes the narrative, and her plan brings it to resolution… Scene one (1:1–22) opens with a famine that sends a Judean family across the Jordan to Moab, a foreign land. In introducing the family, the storyteller subordinates Naomi to the man Elimelech. She is “his wife,” and their children are “his sons” (1:1–2) (emphasis added). But his death changes the situation. He becomes “the husband of Naomi,” and she is “left with her two sons” (1:3) (emphasis added). They marry Moabite wives, Orpah and Ruth, but die without progeny. So, Naomi shrinks again. From wife to widow, from mother to no-mother, this woman is stripped of all identity. ​But though Naomi is stripped of purpose and identity does not mean she will become a passive player in this ancient land of patriarchy, as Trible pointed out, the resolution of the story and the next step in God’s plan of salvation comes because of Naomi’s moxie, which both flouts and conforms to the societal norms of the time. ​But Naomi will need Ruth; a humble younger woman with a profound sense of devotion to her mother-in-law; she gives up her whole life for her. This story is incredibly tender and one of the most existentially poignant in all scripture. Ruth can sense the utter desolation of Naomidue to her devastating losses of two sons and a husband. ​In fact, Naomi makes her plight painfully clear. Upon returning to Israel, Naomi’s friends barely recognize her. No, it's not her appearance but her demeanor. “Naomi” means pleasant, but her tragedies have made her name a farce. So, she tells them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, (which means bitter) for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” ​A few decades ago, another woman not well situated in power or prestige used moxie and fortitude to bring about hope, Erin Brockovich-Ellis. Not without faults like the rest of us and the Biblical heroes, she came to be known around the country after Julia Roberts played her in the Academy Award-winning movie that bore her name. A twice divorced mother of three with no money, no job, not much education as she recalls, “There were many days when I didn’t think I would make it.” But she was not without valuable resources. Her tenacious spirit landed her a job at an attorney’s office whom apparently,she simply badgered into hiring her. Like Naomi, Brockovich both cared less about being acceptable and being liked than the passion of her convictions, for Brokich it meant saving people’s lives and finding justice in the town of Hinkley, CA. Pacific Gas & Electric had used a toxic chemical that eventually seeped into Hinkley’s water supply. “Everywhere I was going in this little community, somebody had asthma, a complaint of a chronic cough, recurring bronchitis, recurring rashes, unusual joint aches, nosebleeds”,Brockovich told “20/20” in an interview. She convinced her boss to allow her to investigate; he finally agreed simply to get some peace and quiet in the office. “It didn't make sense, and so the more I ask questions... the more I started to piece the puzzle together.” In 1996, the case was settled for $333 million -- the largest ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit at the time. When asked in an interview, “How does it feel to be a hero?” She replied, “I would say I have a hard time seeing myself as a hero. I was appalled at what happened to those people and had compassion…” And it was also compassion that led to the reversal of Naomi’s bitterness. Ruth’s compassion to follow her mother-in-law to Israel opened an opportunity for both to find a future. Naomi is a bold courageous woman who will not meekly accept the fate that either the patriarchy or even God will give her; she acts to save herself and Ruth proving the adage, “Well-behaved women rarely make history.” In fact, it seems Naomi uses her bitterness; it goads her into bold action to secure progeny for Ruth and by extension herself. Sometimes old age has stripped us of so much that all that is left is moxie and defiance. Listen again to Trible: Not waiting for matters to take their course or for God to intervene, she plans to secure Boaz as husband for Ruth. In seeking security through marriage, her plan fits the strictures of patriarchy, but it departs from them in proposing a dangerous scheme. Naomi tells her “daughter” to dress in fine clothes and visit Boaz in secret at the threshing floor. There she will ask him to make good on his prayer for her blessing (3:3–5). The plan succeeds. While the story is powerful at first glance it is hard to discern why it is a part of our canon. But on this All Saints’ Sunday, in which we give thanks for our ancestors, we discover in the last few verses of this book, almost as a throw away, that these women’s courage and faithfulness leads to the birth of King David, the preeminent king in Israel’s history and the ancestor of our Lord Jesus. God indeed has a plan – the salvation and restoration of the world. And today’s story invites a challenging question for us all – did God intend all along for Ruth, a Moabite woman,to be the ancestor of the key king in Israel’s history? Or did God pivot, seeing the courage and moxie of Naomi and the sacrifice and humility of Ruth to form an alternate path? Perhaps the same way God used Erin Brockovich to bring justice. Like Jacob, who wrestled with God and received a new name, Naomi wrestled with the circumstances handed to her and turned it into something personally healing for herself and her daughter-in-law, and eventually the salvation of the world. When we act in loving, sacrificial ways God can use that in amazing ways to further the plan of salvation. And even so, in the end, the blessings return back to those who gave so much. Listen to the joyous resolution of the story. For Mara, the bitter one, has found wholeness as her friends proclaim, “And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” (Ruth 4:15). Amen.