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 The Gospel: Mark 6: 30-44
The Epistle Reading: Ephesians 3: 20-21 Jesus and the disciples needed a break; they needed to rest. The disciples had just come from mission work sent out in pairs with nothing but a staff and told by Jesus (Mark 6: 10-13) “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them. So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” The inference here is although they may not have been welcome in some homes, they were welcome in others and they stayed there and did work for the people in Christ’s name. Next they heard that John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod at the request of his new wife and former sister-in-law through her daughter. I can imagine they were both tired and overwhelmed with grief and worry wondering - will we, too, go the way of John the Baptist for following Jesus? Jesus gets what they are feeling and responds accordingly suggesting, (Mark 6: 31), “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile.” What a relief this must have been to the exhausted, worried disciples. They left by boat but by the time they got to the other shore, the people had gotten there by foot first. I can just imagine the disciples sighing and looking to Jesus for help. Rather than getting back in the boat or running and hiding, Jesus felt compassion towards the people and began teaching them. He put the needs of the people before his needs and those of his disciples. And, as we know in this story, he fed the people physically, not just spiritually. One has to feel a bit sorry for the disciples though. They are tired having just finished a successful mission healing and teaching and they were hoping for a rest that Jesus had suggested. We can easily relate to their suggestion that maybe the people should be sent away to find food but Jesus gives them a much more challenging, seemingly impossible task: “You give them something to eat.” You can just imagine them giving each other looks like, “Is this guy crazy…we are supposed to feed 5000 people?” Of course, they are polite and do not say that but they do skeptically ask, “Are we to go and buy 200 denari worth of bread?” Then Jesus surprises them again by not emphasizing what they don’t have but asking what they do have. They respond that they have 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. “Aww… a starting point,” I can imagine Jesus thinking as he puts his feeding plan in action. Every task needs a starting point, even a seemingly impossible one. Jesus quickly shows that the impossible is possible with God as he tells them to organize the people into groups and he performs the miracle of turning scarcity into abundance. I imagine that the Disciples, tired as they were, were fed and restored in a very different way by this miraculous lesson of focusing on what you have rather than what you don’t have and working with it. Jesus is not the only one who can do this. It just takes having a starting point and a lot of faith. Hard work sometimes helps too. This was certainly true last fall when Linda, inspired by something in one of my sermons, decided to organize the Stuffed Shells to Stuff Hungry Bellies Dinner to Fight World Hunger. With hard work reaching out to Rotary, church and community members as well as local businesses, she coordinated a dinner that raised over $3000 to fight world hunger and the leftovers were donated to The Mission Homeless Shelter in Rutland and the Mountainside House here in Ludlow. She turned an idea into abundance. Neighboring is the concept of helping to sustain others when you have the capacity to do so. That is what we helped do in our local and global neighborhoods with that dinner but we are not the only ones who do that. The Sand River Community Farm in Upstate NY started with a gift. The Farm had been in the same family since just after the Revolutionary War but the last descendent had died in 2004 and the property had been rewilding for 17 years when a neighbor with inherited family money gave the $500K to Adam Wilson to buy the farm to continue his work of food gifting, which he had started over the border in Vermont at the Brush Brook Community Farm in Huntington. Adam calls it, “Radical Neighboring - a farm where nothing is for sale.” He harkens back to a time when people lived sustainably, where neighbors shared resources whether it be labor, crops or livestock. As he began with sheep, cattle and growing vegetables, he began bringing soup containers to be given out free from the library. People were encouraged to take two, one for themselves and one to give away to another neighbor. He will also just go to neighbors and give away beef asking nothing in return but sometimes receiving eggs or other gifts from the earth. When giving the food away, he often hears,“Surely someone needs this more than I do.” But the gift seems to beget generosity and a change in heart for people. They host monthly Gratitude Feasts, a community meal at the farm that is served Family Style “Simply changing our relationship to the food awakens a capacity for village mindedness” “It’s not a hardship for people to share with one another; it’s actually joyful,” Adam says. The meals begin with a song. They then share a Farm Gratitude Blessing (loud enough for the sheep and cows to hear them) that goes like this: “For the dark soil that cradles the seeds, For the rains that bring forth the green leaves, for the stars that give form to the flowers, for all this goodness and beauty, We give thanks. Blessings on the meal!” Adam says, if we can “Free the land up to do its work of breaking the spell of scarcity. Feeding humans…the world might look a little bit different.” This is what Jesus was doing with the loaves and fish. He was breaking the spell of scarcity. He was feeding people with food but also with hope. He was changing the mindset that there is not enough by beginning with what they had. Life will send challenges where we feel like we do not have enough money, food, health, love, or luck at times. When that happens we should step back and consider but what do we have? Do we have family, friends or a church community who cares about us - YES! Do we have a beautiful landscape to look at, at times YES! Do we have clothes and a roof over our heads at the moment- YES! Do we have wonderful memories from different times in our lives YES! The list could keep going. And when we have extras we can follow Jesus and Adam’s model of abundance by giving it away. Because when you give gifts with no strings attached, it changes hearts and lives. They soften, become more open, and inspired. Those who receive, also, when they can, want to give as well. Selfless giving of time, talent, or treasures from our pockets, lands, hands, or kitchens, brings pleasure not just to the receiver but the giver as well. Somehow, I think those disciples were replenished in a very different way as they collected those leftover baskets of loaves and fishes and considered the scarcity that was turned into abundance. As they went to sleep that night, I bet they considered what they had: a teacher to guide them, the fellowship of their fellow disciples, some homes that welcomed them, the ability to help and heal others, rather than considering what they did not have. I bet they rested well and were excited to go out the next day to share their own gifts. This Lent, I invite you to take stock of what you do have. Whether it is a lot or a little, it is likely enough. If you have more, give some of your abundance of time, talent, or treasure as a gift, no strings attached, to help or inspire others. If you need something, graciously receive the help offered to you knowing that the gifter is getting as much out of sharing as you are in receiving. Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain
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3/1/2026 0 Comments March 1, 2026: Acts of Love The Gospels: Matthew 25: 35-40, Luke 7: 36-50
The concept of hospitality and welcome goes way back. In fact it was much more important in the ancient days when there was not only no room at the inn, there was actually no Inn. The ancient Greeks practiced the art of hospitality for practical reasons: there was nowhere to stay and if they helped the traveler in need then when they travelled, hopefully, someone would help them when they needed a place to stay and a bite to eat. In fact the Rule for Hosts and Guests in Ancient Greece went something like this: when a traveler showed up at your door seeking hospitality, you invited them in, fed them and gave them a place to rest and refresh themselves. Then and only then, did you ask their name and their story. In exchange, you got news, often of far away places and likely some entertainment in the story itself. After all, it would be a long time before Netflix was invented. Think of Odysseus telling the story of his long and arduous journey fighting monsters to the Phaecians who offer him their hospitality and help on getting home. By Jesus’ time, the rules for host and guests had not changed that much, you still offered an abundant welcome, and it was customary to have a servant wash the feet of guests who would come in dusty from walking in sandals. After the foot washing, a bit of rest and a meal, the guest would often share a story. But in our Luke scripture today, Simon the Pharisee, who has invited Jesus in, has forgotten an important part of hospitality, the foot washing, but the woman has not. Who is this woman? We only know per Luke that she is a woman in the city who is a sinner. Many want to label her as a prostitute but we do not know that. She, however, knows her sin, and she also has faith in Jesus who she learned was eating in Simon’s home. Cognizant of Jesus’ teaching and power of forgiveness, she wordlessly enters Simon’s home, possibly an outdoor courtyard where they are eating, places herself behind him, lowers herself to the ground crying, presumably in acknowledgment of her sins, and begins to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and to dry them with her long hair. Picture that, she is on her feet behind him, leaning forward and crying unabashedly to create enough moisture to wash his feet using her long hair as a towel. Her face is right at his feet. It never says she looks up; it never says she speaks to him. Once his feet are clean, the dirt transferred to her hair, she kisses his feet continually then opens her alabaster jar and anoints his feet with ointment, moisturizing them. Simon is utterly dumbfounded but also disgusted by her, but maybe also by Jesus for letting this happen as he thinks to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of a woman this is who is touching him — that she is a sinner!” Simon the Pharisee had invited Jesus in, presumably as a welcome guest to learn from him but he did not extend the hospitality due to a guest nor did he have a lot of faith in Jesus whom he seems to seriously question because he did not stop this woman groveling before him. Jesus, as if hearing what Simon is thinking, answers with a bit of a parable. If a man forgives two who owe him debts one for $50 and one for $500, who will be more grateful? Simon correctly answers the one for whom a greater debt has been forgiven. Then Jesus points out what Simon did not do in welcoming him that this sinful woman has done, very humbly, as he forgives her. He looks back at Simon and says, “But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Imagine Simon’s shock not only that this man Jesus is forgiving sins, especially of that woman, but also that he, Simon, a Pharisee, pales in comparison to her acts of love, hospitality, humility and kindness. Simon is so sure of himself and his position, that he does not have the ability to love and care for Jesus the way this woman has. Simon thinks he has little to forgive but he also seems to have very little to give Jesus, unlike this sinful woman. This story is a challenge because, if we are honest, we have all been Simon at one time or another. We have looked over and judged someone thinking they are less in some way. They might not be following society’s guidelines of decorum, they might dress differently, act differently, live differently or just not have what we have. They might not follow what we think of as the unwritten rules of society. However, in the act of judging, we are breaking Jesus’ rule of love and hospitality; we are the ones sinning. If we have a question as to what these rules are, we need only look at the Greatest Commandment: Matthew 12: 30-31: 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.” Jesus links these two because it is the love of God that helps us emulate God’s son Jesus in both loving our neighbor and forgiving them. Jesus further emphasizes this by equating the welcome of a stranger, the feeding of the hungry, the clothing of the naked, taking care of the sick and visiting those in prison with doing these things for him. He is saying by taking care of others, by welcoming all, we are indeed welcoming Jesus. We love God by loving all of God’s people, especially those who are in need at any given moment. The Ancient Greeks actually had a connection to this idea in their rule of Host and Guest as well. In addition to the practicality of helping folks who were traveling and getting some entertainment along the way, there was always the possibility that this stranger could be a god in disguise, thus you had an added incentive to treat strangers well. There were lots of examples of this such as when Athena disguises herself as an old man named Mentor who appears to Telemachus, is welcomed in by him, and then helped by him/Athena to find his father Odysseus. The Ancient Greeks often found out that they were welcoming a God rather than someone else when they transformed before them as Athena later does as she flies away as an eagle. While we are not likely to have the opportunity to invite Jesus over for dinner to learn from him in the way that Simon and others did, what if we could take his lessons of love and those of the Ancient Greeks to heart by treating anyone we meet like we would treat God? If God was hungry or homeless, wouldn’t we offer food or direct God to shelter? If God needed clothing or household items, wouldn’t we donate them? If God was sick, wouldn’t we drive God to the hospital and stay there to comfort God? If God was lonely, wouldn’t we listen to God’s story and stay there or connect God to others to make sure God knew God was not alone. If God escaped injustice somewhere else, wouldn’t we welcome God into the safety of our community? If God needed a job, wouldn’t we try to help God find one? If God was imprisoned unfairly, wouldn’t we work for God’s release? If God made a mistake, wouldn’t we forgive God as God forgives us? If God lived or looked different from us, wouldn’t we welcome and love God anyway? The unnamed woman with the alabaster jar showed a kind of humility that most of us, me included, would not likely be able to do. Maybe we need to be at our very lowest to be that humble. And the beauty is, God will be there to receive our act of supplication if we do get there. But we are all called to learn the lesson that Simon and the disciples learned that anything we do for God’s people, we are doing for God. To show love to God requires us to show love to all of God’s people. These do not always have to be big acts, they can be small acts of kindness as well. In fact, as we move towards the 250th birthday of our country, there is a campaign called the United Acts of Kindness that encourages us to do 250 acts of kindness in 2026. Sponsored by the Values in Action Foundation, a partner of the United Church of Christ, this movement celebrates everyday good deeds, creating a wave of positivity that unites and uplifts people. I have registered our church for this campaign and will work on setting up a way to record our collective acts of kindness from delivering for Meals on Wheels, to collecting soap, toilet paper and cleaning products for Black River Good Neighbors to decorating trees with hearts etc. I actually think we can far surpass 250 acts of kindness this year and in so doing, we are living into the Greatest commandment as God’s ambassadors of love. But there will still be hard days when we do not feel as loving. So the next time we feel a sense of judgment welling up within us for what that person is doing or what that person is wearing or what that person isn’t doing, let’s picture that person as a beloved child of God and consider what God would do in response. Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain |
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