Pentecost +15

This past Sunday, in addition to Elizabeth's sermon with the generous title "Curious advantages that come along with being transformed by the renewing of your mind, OR, What we learn from Pharaoh on his way to the bottom of the Red Sea," we also had original Prayers of the People by Brad Offutt that drew strongly from each of the scripture lessons.

Two of my favorite sentences from Elizabeth's sermon: "According to the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, this is how the world is to be saved -- by the weak, the lowly, the despised shaming the strong. It is an understanding that is completely inside out from the thinking of this world." When she said those words, I couldn't help but think of an article I'd just finished reading in the current New Yorker magazine, telling the story of how the Burmese people quietly went about assisting and saving their own fellow citizens after the terrible storm that ravaged the delta area, right in the face of the indifference and even opposition of their military rulers. ("Letter from Rangoon" by George Packer, The New Yorker, August 25, 2008)

By acting with justice, mercy, and compassion, the people shamed their own rulers, and the story suggests that their actions, more than in the actions of any outside power (like us, for example), may contain the seeds of the downfall of that empty and corrupt government.

And my favorite sentences from Brad's prayers: "God, you blessed the Hebrew midwives with families because they listened to you. We are listening to you today, yearning for family. Help us see that our family is everyone, everywhere, who is looking for you."

Margaret D. McGee
http://www.inthecourtyard.com/