Plymouth Congregational Church of Fort Wayne, UCC
November 26, 2009
Interfaith Thanksgiving Service
Temple Achduth Vesholom

IS THERE A PRAYER TO SHARE?

"... their courage melted away in their calamity ..."
(Psalm 107:26b)

Prelude

To Rabbi Spanjer,

Madam President Beth Zwieg,

members of Congregation Achduth Vesholom;

I'm mindful of your efforts in helping

make this evening's service possible,

you have been generous in

extending welcome,

providing hospitality,

and we are grateful. 

To the reverend clergy and honorable religious leaders

who are present; who are generous with time,

and committed to religious cooperation;

who show respect and build trust 

whenever and wherever possible;

and to all who gather for this thanksgiving service,

may I say:  isn't it good that we be together this evening.

The psalms says:  "How very good and pleasant

it is when kindred live together in unity" (Psalm 133:1).

I'm so grateful for the hope that resides with us,

that we can give evidence of such unity

in the service we share this evening.

Let me be clear in my giving of thanks.

When the lot was cast that I bring a message

tonight, I did not say:  "Thank you,

I'm grateful for the opportunity." 

It was assignment received, not sought. 

While this is not in a strange place,  

the role makes me just a little bit anxious. 

I am a novice when it comes to

participating in interfaith services,

"always a student." 

So I pray, earnestly,

the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart

will be pleasing and acceptable to the God,

so awesome and full of wonder,

under whose charge and in whose grace

I have vowed and seek to serve.

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          IS THERE A PRAYER IN WHICH WE CAN SHARE?

Is there a prayer in which we can share?

That's the question I've been puzzling over

in preparation for tonight.

Our text for this evening comes from Psalm 107,

"noted" in my Bible as a "group thanksgiving for pilgrims."

(New Oxford Annotated, NRSV, p. 768), "perhaps sung by

groups of pilgrims making way to Jerusalem for

celebration of a festival."

"O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good,

For God's steadfast love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those

redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands."

The psalm is sectioned into a quartet of verse

mentioning travelers - the wandering/driftless times (vv. 4-9);

and prisoners  - dark and despairing, doom and gloom times (vv. 10-16);

the sick - near death, the broken times (vs. 17-22),

and the seafaring - the chaos times of life (vs. 23-32);

each section includes doxology, an appeal to

"Thank the Lord for steadfast love,

And the wonderful works, the blessings

we behold (see vs. 8, 15, 21, 31).

The seafarers, as you recall from the lesson,  

are likened to being on board a small ship in big waters,

and storms ensue, with the assault of battering waves.

This is no small storm on the Doppler radar of Psalm 107.

The waves that rock and roll are said to mount up to heaven,

then dip down to the depths.  And those so caught in the storm? 

They "stagger" and reel around, as if filled with too much drink,

at their "wit's end."  And courage melts in the face of calamity.

This imagery seemed appropriate for this Thanksgiving.

We are in such a thick and stormy time.

The global economic meltdown has a

personal dimension to which many of us can speak,

creating circumstances some thought they would

never see.

There is an intense debate over health care reform,

and it is staggering to consider doing nothing, as much as something.

The waging of war lingers:

without protest, without cheer, with resignation. 

We share this ride upon stormy sea, do we not,

and we are all staggered when the waves roll and buffet,

waves of apathy, ignorance, and malice.

This past week, the Journal Gazette ran a front

page article under the headline:

"Apathy ensnarls courts, irks judges"

(FW Journal Gazette, Monday, November 16, 7a,).

The gist of the article:  community health,

the maintenance of justice and goodness and peace

is jeopardized by a mass of citizenry that doesn't care. 

"How do you have a society where

you don't take care of each other?" 

so questioned Allen Superior Judge Fran Gull.

Karen Richards, Allen County Prosecutor, weighed in:

"It seems like we've lost the feeling that we're all in

this together.  (We've) lost sight of the fact that this

is a community and we need to look out for each other.

This is a timely reminder as we approach Thanksgiving.

There is a danger, I suggest,

in not doing what we do this evening.

There is danger when we don't know each other,

for then we can't care for each other and show,

if not love and understanding, then common decency

to each other.  Apathy is an open door for ignorance and

a hijacking of the soul.

On my computer at my church workstation,

I received a virus identified as a "hijacker bug."

At first it was a minor irritant, but then it become

something far more sinister;

in using a search engine for internet

exploration, my inquiry would be diverted to

a site that was basically subverting by quest, all

roads led to an internet dead-end.  

The virus hijacked my every search.

I could exit, but every subsequent search

ended up the same.  I'm told this "hijacker bug"

is particularly nasty, for it flies under the

radar of normal protection programs;

with successfull infiltration, it attaches to

a sub-root system of the operating system.

The hijacker bonds with the heart of the computer;

it takes over the brain, you might say,

and the only remedy for the technician

is to shut her down and start over. 

There is a malice loose in the land, and we need to

be careful that we not be hijacked by the virus.

This is an interfaith concern, and an intra-faith concern.

Hijackers come, they bond, but then they take us

to places that limit and frustrate and deny the quest 

that is by divine design ours to pursue. 

A report was shared with me just this week of a church

whose prayer comes Psalm 109:8-9 - "May his days be

few and another seize his position.  May his children

be orphans, and wife a widow."  

A church's prayer for the President -

that's not apathy, nor ignorance; it is malicious. 

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Is there a prayer in which we can share?

Some would say no.  But I'd like to think so. 

I'd like to think we can share in a PRAYER OF HUMILITY

(I commend this as a prayer of personal petition).

In Plymouth Church, we trace at least part of our spiritual lineage

to the Plymouth colony of 1620; to Plymouth Rock, Mayflower boat,

to a band of Pilgrims who crossed the stormy ocean,

spent some 66 days seeking new life in new land.

We have a room in our church called the Mayflower Room.

You got one of those around here Rabbi?

No?  Really.  Hmmm. 

The story is really quite dramatic! 

For years it was not uncommon for church folks

to dress up in 17th century costumes, broad-rimmed,

brown hats, white neck collars, aprons;

to extol and bask and swell in pilgrim pride. 

Of course, that first Thanksgiving had no such

prideful sentiment.  The ranks had been ravaged

by death and disease.  Folks shared a meal

with natives whose lives had also been devastated. 

They feasted together with joyful humility borne of

traumatic stress, which is not something people

are prone to dress up and play about. 

Real pilgrims know one when they see one.

It is not about who came first, but who has borne the expense,

taking leave, boarding the boat with little more than hope.

 Barbara Cohen reminds us in her wonderful children's book,

 "it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving."

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We can also share in a Prayer for Believers

(which I would call an intercession).

I'm mindful of the poem by Indiana native,

Philip Appleman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at IU;

This is not what I would call an orthodox prayer, but

then again, my tradition is rarely accused of being Orthodox! 

O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie,

gimme a break before I die:

grant me wisdom, will & wit,

purity, probity, pluck & grit.

Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind,

gimme great abs & a steel-trap mind,

and forgive, Ye Gods, some humble advice -

these little blessings would suffice

to beget an earthly paradise:

make the bad people good -

and the good people nice;

and before our world goes over the brink,

teach the believers how to think.

We can spend a lifetime in this multi-storied prayer, yes?

I don't have want for great abs, but really,

making the bad people good, and the good people nice,

that could be daily devotion in my world. 

But two strands do stand out especially for me:

1.  We are not, yet, over the brink; this is good thing, and

we can share in giving thanks for time to right our passage,

and good sense to appreciate what grace and vision propels it.

2.  It is also a prayer we all need;

teach the believers how to think.  I'll do my part for

the Christians, but this is a prayer to be shared by all of

us in all our religious traditions!

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Is there a prayer in which we can all share?

I suggest there is a prayer of gratitude that

can come unexpectedly upon all of us. 

Haven't we all be staggered, found ourselves  

at wit's end, and haven't we all cried out for heaven's help?

And when troubled times don't always last, isn't there

the breathe of thanksgiving in our souls?

Psalm 107 has special significance in the Christian tradition,

for there was early midrash in the community providing

commentary on it.  So the story is told of disciples

in a boat, crossing the sea: the storm came upon them,

and the waves began to rock and roll,

courage melted and calamity threatened death,

and Jesus?  Jesus is asleep in the stern; they cried out,

and Jesus was aroused, and spoke:  Peace, be still.

And the waters calmed. But Jesus was a bit irritated at

being rustled:  Why afraid?  No faith?

Take your tradition, insert what you find compelling,

and see if there be no gratitude for unexpected grace,

for friends who have brought light, for blessings you

received without seeking.  From our different traditions,

we are all storm weary and light sensitive.  

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by

a spark from another person.  Each of us has cause to think

with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame

within us."  Albert Schweitzer

I invite you to ponder a moment, those moments,

when the light has gone out ... yet a spark was struck

by some other person, an agent of grace, that rekindled

the life as a precious and wonderful gift of God.

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Is there a prayer in which we can all share?

It is a tall order given our stormy lives,

yet we each in our own way hold hope for

peace and good will to prevail for our common good. 

In the best of our traditions, different though they

be, we share core values based upon compassion,

and for this we can and should pray for each other,

that we be strong, resilient, steadfast in protecting

and promoting this advance. 

Do you know, there exists a charter of compassion

that recognizes at the hearts of all religious, ethical,

and spiritual traditions a call to treat all others as we

wish to be treated.  There is such profound wonder

in this simple teaching.  Compassion is the bond

that springs from our different faith founts.  In the words

of the charter, we need to dethrone ourselves from the

center of our worlds, and to honor and treat other

without exception, with absolute justice, equality,

and respect.  The "principle" has been lost, so argues

the charter, and it needs to be restored with principled

determination!

(see http://www.charterforcompassion.org/)

We can share the prayer for the restoration of compassion

in all our lives.

Few have impressed this better upon the religious community of

late than Ebbo Patel, whose grace-filled journey as a Muslim

is narrated in his book, Acts of Faith.   

Eboo Patel speaks of his journey to becoming

a participant and leader in what he calls

"the movement of religious pluralism." 

Patel, as you may know, spearheads and cheerleads for

the Interfaith Youth Core,

a Chicago-based group whose mission

is to serve as a catalyst for modeling

interfaith service projects,

for fostering interfaith cooperation,

for providing resources for interfaith understanding.

They work on a principle, expressed by the Dali Lama,

that religions must have dialogue, they must come together

to serve others.  Through this contact, there is a deeper

learning and appreciation of one's own religion. 

(see Acts of Faith, p. 96).

In a word:  we need each other; we better each other.

We may even like each other.  Patel puts it this way:

"Pluralism," he writes, "is everybody's business."

Is there a prayer we share?

I say, yes, a thankfulness for our diverse expressions of faith,

and for the resolve that is ours to forge a better land,

a land in which we all may be blessed due to the

mercy and compassion we all hold for the

health of the human family.

          *****                   *****                   *****

In my life - I don't have to look far

for practical applications in working with pluralism.

Thanksgiving day I will gather with my family.

We will share in the feast. 

I expect we will overeat;

at table, I can tell you truthfully, there won't be

one adult who hasn't had a moment when the

storms threatened, and staggered,

and when a cry didn't sound out;

and the question wasn't asked:

where is the good God in the midst of this?

Odds are good that somebody will break a dish,

and that some elder will yell at some younger;

and if we spend too much time together talking God or politics,

we will be as glad to part as we are to gather.

Knowing what we know, still we gather.

Still we work to love and understand;

we will work to ward off apathy, ignorance, malice;

we will feast, and hope to have at table

a welcome calm within the storms of the age.

The psalm will there be in my mind,

and the prayer that we can share

thanking God for the steadfast love,

the wonderful works displayed to whole of the

humanity.

May it be so for each and all of us. 

Amen.