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}May 25, 2008\line Pentecost (2) A\line St. Luke 6:39-49\line{\b0\par}}

\pard\nowidctlpar\nooverflow\sl240\slmult1{\f0\lang1033\fs24\kerning28 Once there
 was a community of ducks who were waddling off to duck church one Sunday to hear
 their duck preacher. After they waddled into the duck sanctuary, the service began
, and the duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with
 which to fly.\line\line He pounded the pulpit with his beak and said, \u8220\'93
With these wings, there is nowhere we ducks cannot go! There is no God-given task
 we ducks cannot accomplish! With these wings we no longer need walk through life
. We can soar high in the sky!\u8221\'94\line\line Shouts of \u8220\'93Amen!\u8221
\'94 quacked throughout the duck congregation.\line\line Every duck loved the service
. In fact all the ducks commented on what a wonderfully inspiring message they had
 heard from their duck preacher...and then they left the church and waddled all 
the way home....////\line\line But, we protest, we are not ducks...nor are we like
 them...Hearing Jesus\u8217\'92 words in this Gospel, assuring us that God loves
 and cares for us without limit, that we need not worry and fear, that our names
 are inscribed on the palms of God\u8217\'92s hands, surely we soar, we don\u8217
\'92t waddle!\line\line I had a friend in the parish in Rolling Fork who liked to
 say, whenever the subject of the poor and poverty came up, \u8216\'91the poor have
 poor ways\u8217\'92. I would usually respond with \u8216\'91my brother, what are
 you willing to do to help the poor learn better ways?\u8217\'92 He would try to
 parry my question with humor: \u8216\'91but I\u8217\'92m no teacher; I couldn\u8217
\'92t teach a monkey to peel a banana.\u8217\'92 Maybe not, but he made sure that
 when he died, his body would be offered to the medical school at UMC. And that 
was only one of the ways he witnessed to the Kingdom of God.\line\line I have a 
friend who comes to see me now and then. I think this last week may be the first
 time I\u8217\'92ve really listened to him with my heart and seen him, felt him, 
as a struggling, fellow human being. I got angry when he told me about borrowing
 money at 25% interest. The poor have poor ways; truth there, as far as it goes. 
TENS and the new stewardship program.\line\line What would it mean for us to soar
, to fly as on eagles\u8217\'92 wings? To not be earthbound and waddle? Would it
 mean that we would give more of ourselves away? That we would give more of our 
resources away, to ministries like Our Daily Bread (we\u8217\'92re looking for a
 place for a food pantry), ND, Habitat, Gray Center, MadCaap? Epistle: stewards 
of God\u8217\'92s mysteries; it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy
. Generous hearts? Generous lives? Generous purses?\line\line Bishop likes to quote
 the poet Annie Dillard: if we knew the power of the One whom we serve (our gift
 to soar and not waddle), we would lash people to the pews with ropes and issue 
crash helmets...\line\line Prince Caspian: Lucy, the youngest of the four,{\f1\u960
\'f0} has seen the great lion, Aslan, and she tells Peter, Susan, and Edomond...
Finally, she goes to meet Aslan by herself...oh, Aslan, I knew it was you, but the
 others wouldn\u8217\'92t come with me... \u8216\'91why did you need the others 
in order to come to me, my child?\u8217\'92 I should have been braver! If you were
 any braver, you would be a lion!\line\line Aslan, I want to come to you! I want
 to be like little Lucy! I want to be brave and trustworthy and generous...I want
 to find my voice! I want to soar! With my continued exposure to the Scriptures, 
my wife\u8217\'92s example, my friends who love me, receiving the Sacrament often
, with your help, I want to be your servant. I want to serve you and no one else
. Amen.\par}

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