I always have a hard time reading and preaching this text from Luke.

It is hard to know what to say.

Jesus gives us a difficult teaching here.

Sometimes when we are reading Scripture and we get stuck with what we are reading it is helpful to look at a different translation to see if we get any additional insight into the text or possibly a new perspective.

With this reading from Luke, I decided this past week to look at it from the translation, The Message.

The Message is a translation of the Bible through the lens of our modern language.

It is not a perfect translation as no translations are.

All translations of the Bible are filtered through the lens of the people who are translating it but still The Message is a fairly good translation that I enjoy reading from.

It’s also a translation that I like to use with my confirmation students because of the modern language.

The Message reads almost like a novel.

Now with the NRSV, the New Revised Standard Version in mind, which is what we have in the bulletin, I would like to read that text again but this time from the Bible, The Message:

A reading from the Gospel of Luke chapter fourteen:

One day when large crowds of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, 

“Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters- yes, even, one’s own self! – can’t be my disciple.  Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.

Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it?  If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish.  Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: “He started something he couldn’t finish.’

“Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other?  And if he decides he can’t won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce?  

“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple”

There is certainly a different feel here with a different translation.

The same message from Jesus but given in a different light.

What Jesus is getting at here, I believe, in this particular teaching is that he is pointing out our very human tendency towards idolatry.

Idolatry is extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.

Jesus is teaching us here that God is to be source of our admiration, love, and reverence.

We are to place Jesus and his cross central in our lives.

Our sanctuary points to this truth as the cross is at the center of our worship space.

The cross is the point of our focus and worship.

I love that verse in The Message:  “Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.”

Probably here the use of the word, hate in the NRSV translation, which again is in your bulletin, was not meant to mean the definition of hate that we have today in our context.

A more accurate translation for us would be what The Message uses, which is letting go, meaning that we hold on to Jesus in a way that we do not hold on to other people or possessions.

For example, I love my family but I do not worship my family or look to my family as the source of my life.

I receive help from my family and love from my family but I know that the gift of my family comes from God and the love that I receive from my family comes from God.

I am grateful for the possessions in my life but I know that possessions can be here one day and gone the next.

My savings in the bank can look good one day and then be gone the next but God’s provisions continue and God continues to provide even during times of scarcity.

We worship God and God is the source of our lives.

Through the cross of Christ, we look forward to the resurrection and we trust in God’s ability to give life and to make things new.

When we lift up the cross and follow after Jesus, we are given by him a new direction and a new path for our lives.

In Christ we lay a foundation for our lives that he helps us to finish.

We will be like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither.

Last month I came down with Covid and I was knocked out for about a week.

So, I had a lot of time to think and also to pray.

And one thought that continued to stay with me during that time is this… that if everything was taken away from me the one thing that remains is my faith.

My faith grounds me and keeps me close to Jesus and his cross.

Fortunately, I did recover well, and I certainly pray for the families that have lost loved ones because of Covid, but for me, the blessing that lingered after my recovery from Covid is that my illness gave me a different perspective on my life and on my faith – just like how a different translation of Scripture gives you a different perspective on the text or texts that you are reading.

And so may we, walk more closely with Christ and cling to his life-giving and healing power.

It is a power that sustains us in this life and it is a power that can even bring life in death.

With God’s help may we let go of those things that prevent us from following him and from picking up the cross.

May we lift high the cross of Christ.  Amen.

What a miracle it is to be healed.

To suffer for so long and then to instantly be cured.

It all happened on the sabbath day.

Jesus was teaching the people and then there appeared a woman.

This woman was crippled and bent over.

For eighteen long years she suffered in this way.

But Jesus sees her.

He notices the woman – he does not ignore her.

And most importantly he sees her pain.

He calls the woman over to him.

“Woman,” he says, “you are set free.”

Jesus then lays his hands upon her and immediately, without delay, she stands up and praises God.

Now you would think that the healing story would end there.

And there would be this great celebration of the miracle that Jesus preformed.

A woman who was crippled is now set free from her ailment.

But, as we see from the text, this is not the case.

The leader of the synagogue instead of joining in the celebration and the joy of the healing miracle he is instead indignant.

He is upset that Jesus would heal on the sabbath.

Here in this Bible reading we see division on how one should treat the sabbath.

Now remember from last Sunday – Jesus said his words and his actions would cause division.

Today we see this happening in the healing story.

The synagogue leader is upset that Jesus would do such a thing as to heal on the sabbath.

By doing so he believes Jesus is breaking God’s commandment of working on the sabbath.

He is blinded to God’s ways and he cannot see the miracle that just happened.

At that time healing a person was seen as work.

To the synagogue leader Jesus is not following the law.

But wisely, Jesus will have none of it.

Jesus can see through this man’s intentions here.

The man is not concerned about God or on the woman in need of healing rather his intentions are focused on casting judgment on Jesus.

And so, Jesus says to that man and to those who are listening that this woman, who Jesus just healed, is a daughter of Abraham, in others words, Jesus is saying that this woman is a child of God.

And that she was in bondage for eighteen years.

Jesus sees the situation for what it is and he makes it right.

What is more important not working on the sabbath or in helping someone who is suffering.

Of course, we know the answer.

This is not a trick question.

God’s will is always to relieve suffering.

In this case it is to relieve the suffering that the woman is enduring.

Jesus wants to heal her.

In the end Jesus puts his opponents to shame and the crowd rejoices.

In hearing this Bible story right now, I wonder what comes to your mind?

How do you understand the sabbath?

What meaning does that day hold for you?

And what are your thoughts around healing and being cured?

As with every gospel reading that we hear on Sunday mornings there is always a lot to unpack.

So much is happening in this particular text.

We have the woman who is crippled.

We have Jesus who is teaching on the sabbath day.

We have Jesus breaking the sabbath law and healing the woman.

We have the synagogue leader who is indignant that Jesus would heal on the sabbath.

And finally, we have the crowd who witness everything that happens.

Now if I had to pull one key takeaway from this Scripture reading it would be this… that Jesus loves the woman who is suffering.

This text is really not about the sabbath or the synagogue ruler and his feelings about Jesus or the crowd or even about Jesus’ teachings.

This reading is about Jesus’ great love for a child of God who needs help.

What we learn from this reading from the Gospel of Luke, is that Jesus loves us and wants to heal and save us from our pain and suffering and then to bring us back to God and to others.

By healing on the sabbath Jesus shows us that he does not want us to suffer for even one day more – he wants us to be healed now.

In our world today there is great suffering and pain all around us.

Even God’s earth cries in pain from the ways in which we have harmed God’s creation and have not acted as faithful stewards of God’s world.

There is much healing that is needed.

Healing for the world, healing for our communities, healing for families, healing for those who are crippled.

To be healed is to be relieved from suffering and to be brought back to wholeness and oneness with God and others.

As we place our hope and trust in a God that desires wholeness and wellness for us, we too will rejoice with the woman who was healed.

Even on the sabbath Jesus wants to heal and to restore and to forgive.

For that – may we praise God for Jesus’ power over the spirits that cripple us and for Jesus’ great love for each one of us.

Amen.

When I have a text like this to work with for my sermon I often wonder where the best place to start is…

There is a lot here in this morning’s Bible reading from Luke.

It is an extremely provocative text.

Jesus’ words here are meant to cause a strong reaction.

It should make us feel something and to awaken something within us.

Maybe a good place to start in unpacking today’s Gospel reading is to break it up into two texts.

We have verses 49 to 53 which is largely about division and then we have verses 54 to 56 which is largely about interpreting the present time.

First, the part on division.

Jesus said, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Not peace but division.

When we think about Jesus we think about peace – we do not think about division.

But in this teaching from Jesus, he is talking about division.

Jesus said that a household will be divided.

Family ties will be cut.

Separation will occur.

And how painful it will be.

Whenever division happens there is great pain.

Whether it be in a family or in some kind of a group whenever there is division there is loss and pain and anger.

We long for unity and peace and when that doesn’t happen the pain and the conflict can be so severe.

In the text Jesus is naming a true reality.

His teachings and his ways will bring division.

And, at that time, that is exactly what happened especially among families.

In the first century, Jesus’ teachings caused division within families.

And it did not stop there.

If you study church history you will find that in the last two thousand years the church has encountered division, conflict, and separation – again and again and again.

The hard truth here is that as much as we might like to preserve unity – Jesus’ words point to a greater truth.

In our sinfulness we turn from the peace of Jesus.

We cannot say that we believe in Jesus and his peace and then act in ways that are contrary to his peace.

We cannot pray to Jesus for peace and then act in our old sinful ways.

To know God’s peace, we must take steps towards peace.

To have peace in our families we must take steps towards peace.

It is like the old saying… “Hard work doesn’t guarantee success but without it you don’t have a chance.”

We cannot expect Jesus to do all the work of bringing peace and love and grace to the earth.

We need to join him in that cause.

We are to be part of the solution.

When division happens do we make it worse by our actions or do we make amends and find a way back to peace and harmony.

God wants to use us to bring about the kingdom of God – but we must not get discouraged when division happens, as Jesus warns us that it will happen – it is inevitable, but as Christ followers we are to stay with him on the path.

Then after saying these words on division Jesus turns his preaching to the interpretation of signs.

“When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’ and when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens.”

In today’s time we know so much about the weather and about the earth and sky and even space.

We can know things about the natural world that brings incredible insight into the smallest details of creation.

But as Jesus warns us here can we interpret the present time?

Jesus is calling for awareness.

First, he warns us that division will happen as followers of Jesus and next he calls us to be aware of signs of God’s kingdom.

We are to be aware of the things of God and not blind to God’s ways.

If we can know so much about creation, can we also know so much about Jesus and his mission.

We are to put our hope in him – not wavering back and forth but staying true in our faith.

People of God, may we pray for unity in our families and in our church, may we pray to be aware of signs of God’s presence around us, may we pray for grace for when we fall short of God’s ways, and may we pray for understanding and for compassion.

We are to be peacemakers in a world that seeks to be divided, we are to be the people that point to God’s reign around us, we are to be the one’s that work to heal and to restore that which is broken.

We can do this because Jesus is with us.

Amen.

Today’s parable of the barns is unique to Luke.

This teaching can only be found in this Gospel.

And even though this parable can only be found in one of the four gospels the message here is both convicting and instructive.

In the parable Jesus argues for extreme reliance on God.

Jesus also teaches us here to place our trust in God and not in wealth.

It seems simple enough until one tries to put this into practice.

Our world operates around money.

It is kind of like this…

Have you ever seen the 1947 movie:  “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring James Stewart as George Bailey?

I can use the example of a Christmas movie in my sermon because my family and I just celebrated Christmas in July at home with some friends… so I have Christmas on my mind.

Anyway, at one point in the movie George Bailey is desperate for money since his Building and Loan business suddenly loses $8,000.

Today that would be like losing more than $100,000

Then in an answer to prayer George’s guardian angel, Clarence comes to visit him.

During a conversation that the two are having George asks his guardian angel, Clarence if he has any money.

Clarence responds with a laugh and he says, “No, where I come from, we don’t need any money,” to which George then says, “Well, it comes in handy down here.”

Yes, it does.

We simply cannot function in the world without money.

Jesus knows this and that is why he tells the kind of parable that he tells.

This parable is told by Jesus to teach us to direct our attention from money to God.

God is the source of all blessings and all good things.

Last week in my sermon I spoke about how we are to pray each day for our daily bread.

Daily bread being all that we need in life.

Martin Luther writes in his Large Catechism of instruction that the petition “daily bread” includes everything that belongs to our entire life in this world.

Luther went on to say in his Large Catechism that this would include not only our food, clothing, house, and health but also peace in our daily activities and peace with the people whom we live with and work with and interact with.

Luther is teaching us here that we are to ask God for all that we need and then to trust that God abundantly provides.

Jesus said in another Gospel in the Gospel of John that he came to bring abundant life.

Abundant life in this context means a life that exceeds one’s expectations.

In Christ one’s life is more meaningful and is richer, and fuller than one would even hope for.

This past week Evie and I both watched a movie together and after the movie was finished, we both said to each other that the movie was better than we thought it was going to be.

We had high hopes for the movie and we were hoping to see a good movie together and, in the end, the movie went even beyond our expectations of it.

This is how it is with Jesus.

The life he gives is of a higher level then what we can even imagine.

So, in going back to the parable, why would we place our hope and our trust in things of this world like building bigger barns when there is something much greater for us – which is a life of faith in Jesus.

What is true wealth is knowing God.

Neither wealth or poverty is a sign of our relationship with God rather what is a sign of our relationship with God is our trust in God and our faith in God’s ability to provide all that we need.

Although God gives and provides us with everything that we need even before we ask, God’s wish for us is that we would put our trust in him so that we would know that the gifts in life come from him.

And more than that… that we might come to know his great love for us.

In our lives we put Christ and his cross at the center of our daily living we do not put bigger barns at the center of our daily living.

This does not mean that we do not practice faithful stewardship with our finances and careful planning and saving but what it does mean is that our faith is more important than what we own.

A great depression can wipe out our savings, a flood can ruin our home, COVID can take away our ability to gather together but God’s gift of faith in Christ remains through it all.

As the Apostle Paul says in Romans:  “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or sword… for nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

May this promise from Scripture go with you this coming week.

Amen.

When you pray, how do you pray?

What do you say to God?

What are your prayers like?

Do you pray these words that Jesus taught his disciples to say?

“Father, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come.  Give us each day our daily bread.  And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.  And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

Today we know this prayer as the Lord’s Prayer.

It is one of the first prayers that we learn to say and it is the prayer that we say before we receive Holy Communion.

Do you remember when you first learned this prayer.

I can remember as a small child, saying this prayer over and over until at last I memorized it.

I can recall how happy I was when I finally got it and could recite the prayer from memory.

Maybe you have a similar memory.

Hopefully, this is a prayer that you pray regularly.

And it does not matter if you prefer the traditional style or the contemporary style of this prayer.

The important thing is that we pray the prayer often and with heart.

Jesus teaches us that we are to pray this prayer over and over and over throughout our lives.

Praying this prayer without ceasing and faithfully praying each petition of this prayer.

We are to prayer this prayer with great persistence like the friend in the parable who continues asking for bread over and over and over again until the friend receives the bread.

In the same way we are to prayer the Lord’s prayer continually throughout our lives.

For if we ask it will be given to us, if we search, we will find, and if we knock the door to a life of faith will be opened to us.

In life it is easy to get caught up in praying for things that in the end do not matter at all.

Jesus teaches us today in the Gospel of Luke what we ought to be praying for.

First, we are to pray to God whose very name is holy.

We are not God, only God is God, and we are not alone.

God is above us, around us, and within us.  God is here.

We are not alone in life.  God is always with us.

That truth is something we talked about in VBS this week with the kids.

God is always with us.

And God’s kingdom is what we are to be seeking.

What is God’s kingdom?

God’s kingdom is where peace, joy, and love are found.

God’s kingdom is where God is.

There can be a heaven on earth and there can be a hell on earth too by the way in which we believe and by the way in which we treat others.

As followers of Jesus, we are to strive for a heaven on earth – that God’s kingdom in heaven is also found here on earth – that God’s kingdom will come in this world.

We are to ask each day for our daily bread.

Daily bread is not bread alone but everything that we need in life.

Each day we ask God to provide us with what we need and then we ask God for the generosity to share the rest with others.

We do not need to hoard God’s gifts and blessings but we are to share and to give as God shares and gives.

Next, we are to pray for forgiveness for all of our sins.

In asking for forgiveness, we then try to forgive others and to show grace to those who have hurt us.

This is a hard one and we certainly do not do this one perfectly.

It is only by God’s grace that are we able to show grace to others.

It is only in receiving God’s forgiveness that we are able to forgive.

Now this does not mean that we forget the harm that was done to us.

Sometimes the pain is so deep that the relationship can never be returned to what it once was.

This is especially true in the case of abuse and sometimes boundaries need to be put into place but even still by God’s grace we are to work to find a way to forgive and to let go trusting all the while in God and God’s ability to restore and to heal.

And lastly, we ask the Lord to save us from the time of trial.

We need God and without God we fall into temptation and without God there is no life.

God is our protector and our savior.

These things we pray for throughout our lives.

God is good and loving and God is ready to hear our prayers and to answer our prayers even before we say the words.

God provides for us all.

God provides for us even if we do not believe in him.

But O, how much greater it is to know that all that we have and all that makes us who we are comes from God.

Knowing this brings about a great inner feeling of gratitude and peace.

The gifts that we have in our lives comes from God.

Even life itself comes from God.

Each of us have the ability to experience peace, happiness, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In fact, Jesus said in verse thirteen of today’s Gospel reading that the heavenly father is only too ready to give us the Holy Spirit when we ask him.

This means that right now we can know and feel the very presence of God in our lives.

This means that we can have faith in Jesus.

To live a life of faith is a tremendous blessing from God.

No money, no success, no power can compare to the joy of a simple, humble life of faith.

I have known people in my life who have died without a penny to their name but have died in peace because they had great faith.

The door will be opened.

Jesus waits, always waits for us at the door.

I have always loved that painting of Jesus knocking at the door.

Maybe some of you own that painting in your home.

In that famous painting Jesus becomes the friend in today’s parable, he is the one knocking and waiting.

He is the one who is ever persistent never giving up on us.

He comes not asking for bread.

He comes looking to give bread.

He comes as the bread of life – looking to give us what we need, looking to give us life and salvation.

Jesus will never force his way into our lives.

He gives us free will.

Jesus is at the door, he is waiting for us, and he will never stop believing in us.

He waits even now to hear our prayers.

Lord, teach us to pray.  Amen.

In Colossians chapter three we hear that we are to let the word of Christ to dwell richly in us.
We are now halfway through summer.
Each Sunday during the weeks of summer we hear teachings and parables from Jesus.
I hope that these stories from our Lord dwell richly in you during these summer days.
Each Sunday we are given the opportunity to ponder Jesus’ words for the new coming week.
Let these words work in you during the week.
Let these words from Jesus, dwell in your hearts and your minds.
Last week we heard the parable of the Good Samaritan and how Jesus taught us to redefine
who our neighbor is.
Maybe we took some time last week to truly consider what this teaching might mean for our
lives.
Today we hear a Bible story on the priority of hearing the Word of the Lord as Jesus visits the
home of Martha and Mary.
When I read this Bible reading now what came to your mind?
How might you apply this reading in your life?
In this story from Luke chapter ten we have two opposite responses to Jesus.
When Jesus comes – Martha decides to get busy with her many tasks.
Mary simply sits at Jesus feet.

Now it doesn’t say this in the text but I image here that Martha prepares a nice spread of food
for Jesus.
She was the one who welcomed Jesus into her home.
So probably she is also the one who is serving Jesus.
And, as far as we know, Jesus accepts her hospitality.
But Mary is not helping at all.
Mary is not helping her sister with any of the jobs that need to be done.
This is just not right!
She should be serving too and helping Martha.
I learned early in my marriage with Kalen that when we have company over,
I cannot let Kalen do all the work in preparing for and having company over,
and then for me to just sit on the couch while she is busy working.
Well, I actually I could do that but that would be a very bad idea.
No, I need to help and to serve with Kalen when we have company.
So, there is this feeling of: “Where is the fairness here?” – that Mary is not doing any of the
work and Martha is.
Where is the justice in that?

But as it is the case in many of the Bible stories and parables from Jesus – Jesus is making a
larger point here.
This Bible reading is not so much about Mary not working and Martha working as it is about
how we respond to Jesus.
Here Mary is giving her complete devotion to Jesus while Martha is distracted by other things.
The distractions are pulling Martha away from and not closer to Jesus.
Martha’s worries and her distractions are keeping her from Jesus.
In verse forty-one we hear:
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one
thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
When I first read this text earlier this week, Jesus’ answer to Martha about her worries and her
distractions jumped out of the text for me.
I said to myself, “That is me too.”
My worries and all the distractions in my life pull me away from Jesus and from my faith.
In this text there is a way in which Mary does something very beautiful here.
She simply sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to him.
At that time, to sit at the Rabbi’s feet meant that you were taking the role of a disciple ready to
learn from your teacher.
Here Mary takes on that role as disciple eager to listen to and to learn from her teacher, Jesus.

Martha is not doing anything wrong here.
If she is serving Jesus food, Jesus is probably eating the food that Martha gives him.
But what Martha needs to do is to let go of her worries, to let go of her concerns, and all of the
distractions and tasks at hand and then to go and to sit by Jesus.
There she will learn things about God and she will receive exactly what she needs to receive –
God’s love and God’s grace.
God’s love and God’s grace will never be taken from her.
Jesus loves her and Jesus wants her to be a follower as well.
This coming week let this Bible story dwell in you richly.
Consider the worries and distractions in your life and how they pull you from Jesus.
What is preventing you from sitting at Jesus’ feet in order to listen to him?
What is getting in the way of your relationship with Jesus?
Remember that Mary chose to sit and to listen to Jesus and by doing so she was given
something that will never be taken away from her.
How might you find time this week for purposeful silence to simply listen to Jesus?
No phone, no screen, no distractions, just time with Jesus.
This coming week may we take this teaching to heart…
May this word from Jesus dwell richly within us…

May we be ready to welcome and to serve Jesus as Martha did…
And may we especially be ready to sit and to listen to Jesus as Mary did.
Amen.

Jesus appoints seventy people to go ahead of him to prepare the way for his coming.

Once again, we encounter the sacred number seven in Scripture.

The number seven in seventy points to God and to divine perfection.

Jesus here is doing a divine work – it is God inspired.

There is also an Old Testament story in the book of Numbers where Moses is told by God to bring seventy leaders forward to join Moses in the work that he is doing.

Here Jesus is doing the same thing.

Jesus says to his seventy, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”

Today just like in Jesus’ time workers are needed in God’s kingdom.

When the people have gathered, Jesus gives them a warning.

They will be like lambs in the midst of wolves.

The wolves come to destroy and to attack the lambs.

Jesus’ disciples will not be welcomed by everyone.

Some will turn them away and some may even attack them.

As they travel, they are to share the Lord’s peace with those they meet.

In verse six Jesus gives a very interesting teaching to them.

I have always been fascinated by this teaching.

In verse six we hear:  “If anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.”

I would like for us to think about that word, return for a moment.

To return is to go back to something.

Here Jesus is using this idea as a positive thing.

In life if you share the Lord’s peace with someone that peace will rest upon that person but if the person chooses not to receive that peace, then it will return back to you.

So, nothing here is lost.

Either you bless someone with peace and that person receives peace or the peace is not received and then it is returned and you are blessed by the Lord’s peace.

Jesus teaches us here a very important truth about life.

If we put out peace into the world that peace will be received by others or it will return back to you and you will receive that peace.

Either way peace is given and received.

Think for a moment about the peace makers in the world.

Jesus said in another Gospel:  “Blessed are the peace makers for they will be called what… they will be called children of God.”

This verse reminds me of a person that I have admired for many, many years.

In her life this person simply went by the name, Peace Pilgrim.

Her actual name was Mildred Norman but everyone knew her as Peace Pilgrim.

Peace Pilgrim was a spiritual teacher, mystic, and peace activist.

For twenty-eight years she walked around the United States going from town to town spreading the life-giving message of God’s peace.

She had no money or possessions.

She walked until she was given shelter and she fasted until given food.

The day before she died someone asked her if she was happy living such a life.

Her response was simple and profound.

She said, “I am certainly a happy person.  Who could know God and not be joyous?  I want to wish everyone peace.”

After her death in 1981 her ashes were spread in a family plot near Egg Harbor City, New Jersey and in 2017 she was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

She lived today’s Gospel reading literally and blessed so many people with the Lord’s peace.

Now we may not pick up and start going from town to town spreading God’s peace as the Peace Pilgrim did but still, we all have a calling from the Lord to spread Jesus’s peace.

People like her and others inspire us to do what we can to spread the life-giving message of God’s love and peace.

And we live right not at a time when peace is very much needed in our world.

In the Bible peace refers to wholeness.

The word shalom is used in the Old Testament to mean peace.

The word shalom is a Hebrew word which means not only peace but also harmony, completeness, and abundance.

To receive God’s shalom is to be blessed by God.

In the Bible shalom can also refer to restoration and a return to completeness.

Now hear again that word, return.

Sometimes in life it may feel like we do not have peace.

The peace that we desire is not with us.

We have stress, we have conflict in our lives, we live with regrets and we have of sorts of problems.

If this is the case know that this is not what God wants you to experience in your life.

God is with you in your pain and God wants to bring you healing and peace.

God wants us to return to that place of peace and shalom where we know God’s joy and God’s happiness.

So often in my life when I have felt the absence of God’s peace it only took for me to return back to the Lord where my peace was restored.

If I am struggling and life feels very difficult that’s when I need to return to Jesus in pray to receive his peace once again.

How valuable my morning prayer and meditation time is for me in finding a new sense of peace in my life.

Without fail, when I begin my morning with prayer and with meditation how much more deeply, I feel the Lord’s peace.

Then when things come my way, I am able to handle those things with more grace.

I am certainly not perfect so don’t hear me saying that… what I am saying here is that the Lord’s peace comes to those who seek it.

And when we receive God’s peace, we are to give it away knowing that even if the peace is not received it always returns back to us.

Jesus said, “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

And again, he said, “If you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into the streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.”

In other words, as we spread God’s peace, as we share the Lord’s peace with others, after we do so we then let go.”

We let go and give it to God.

Either it will be received or it will not be received but either way you have God’s peace upon you.

People of God, live in this peace.

Do not let your life to be filled with anger and resentments.

Forgive, give your peace, and pray to the Lord of peace for the gift of God’s shalom.

And above all rejoice that your names are written in heaven – for we belong to God.  Amen.