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What a week!  The anxious anticipation of Hurricane Dorian consuming just about every moment … and it seemed to last forever.  Do we evacuate?  Or, do we shelter in place?  Do we have the necessary hurricane supplies, or do we need more?  Is our house safe from flooding … or safe from falling tree limbs?  When is this hurricane ever going to get here?  

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In this morning’s reading from Luke’s Gospel Jesus is invited for a Sabbath meal by a leader of the Pharisees.  Arriving early, he sits and watches as his fellow guests scramble for places of honor around the table.  These guests know the pecking order, and they relish it.  If I'm imagining the scene correctly, they jostle and shove each other, feigning dignity while still fighting for prestigious spots near the host. 

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For the past week or so Caren and I have been in Edinburgh, Scotland for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  Every year thousands of performers take to hundreds of stages all over Edinburgh to present shows for every taste. From big names in the world of entertainment to unknown artists looking to build their careers, the festival includes theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children's shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions and events. The week we were there was also the week of the Edinburgh Book Festival with authors and lecturers from around the world.

Sermon by The Rev. Deena M. Galantowicz
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Don’t we all prefer the words of Jesus to be more soothing and comforting than what we just heard in today’s Gospel?   This is a challenge but, let’s see what we can learn from it.
 
One thing of note is that this is one of the moments in our Lord’s life when the HUMANITY of Jesus appears very clearly.  Think of it…We all know the feeling when something we intend, or we attempt …begins to show its true cost for us…in effort, in money…in some other sacrifice. We say yes to something and only later a fuller complexity of what is involved becomes apparent for us.  Suddenly we begin to wonder what we were thinking to even have tried in the first place.//  I think this is what is happening here.  Listen to Jesus:  He says, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!”   When you think of it, we too know this feeling. We do not want something awful to happen, but at the same time we wish it would just all be over.  Just get it over with.   Soldiers tell of this…that there comes a point where you just want the battle to begin so you can get past it one way or another.  On a smaller scale, it is like the speech rehearsed over and over again, where one is going to let the boss know that she is worth more money, knowing perfectly well that that confrontation may cost her her job…but, finally, we just want to get on with it.

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You have often heard me quote from the Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer: “Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deed, with and without words.”  This sermon is about the “thoughts and prayers” that have gone up for the victims of mass shootings … last week, last month, last year … this last decade.  Those “thoughts and prayers” in all their many forms … not just hollow words.  The prayers of anguish where no words are uttered … just screams and sobs.  The prayers of the feet of protesters marching and waving signs.  Prayers of the blood-stained garments lying on the floor of the ER.  And, the empty prayers of the of those who recite words but take no responsible action to deter the carnage … all for self-serving reasons.