Sunday Services: 8:30AM and 10:30AM

Wednesday Service: 9:30AM
Our next recital in our Grace Notes Series is a special one!
October 24, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

Grace Notes 2018: The Joy Huttar Memorial Organ Recital, November 4 at 1:00pm: Joy Huttar served as Grace’s organist from 1978- 2005 and as such is the longest serving staff person in Grace’s history.  This concert marks the first of what will be an annual event in her memory. Mr. Alfred Fedak, Hope College graduate, former Grace Choir Director, composer and Minister of Music at Presbyterian Church on Capitol Hill in Albany, New York will be our recitalist. Al became an Episcopalian while serving as Grace’s Choir Director decades ago. 

 

What in the World is the 144th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan?
October 24, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

Every year, the elected delegates from each parish in our diocese gather to worship, sing, celebrate, and conduct the business of our part of the national church’s presence in the world. We are what our Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Michael Curry, calls the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement. This annual gathering of about 300 people from all of the churches in our diocese is a joyful, thoughtful, and important part of the work we are called to do in Western Michigan.

The convention is always held the first weekend in November, and this year we will gather at the Radisson Hotel and Convention Center in Lansing, Michigan on November 2nd and 3rd.  Our theme is “Going Deeper,” which is an inspiring notion of living into our diocesan re-structure so that we can continue to bring to life God’s dream for us and for our world. Our keynote speaker is The Right Rev. Robert C. Wright, the Bishop of Atlanta. He is a dynamic preacher, teacher, and evangelist, and we look forward to his message and presence!

At this year’s convention, we will hear news from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, discuss and decide on various resolutions, policies, and procedures, and engage in the annual business meeting of our diocese. We will also have an inspiring and meaningful worship service at St. Paul’s Church with a real celebration of our lives in Christ in this time and place, including Holy Baptism, Confirmation, Reception, Holy Eucharist, and an incredible choir! Watch the diocesan website for videos, photos, and summaries of all that occurs at this year’s convention. You can also talk to Rev. Jen Adams, Rev. Jim Steen, Robbie Schorle, Karen Bylsma, Renee Kruger, or Joanie Smith, as they will all be representing Grace Church at this event!

Submitted By: Joanie Smith

HOW Steward Ship – The Musical(s) CAME TO BE
October 17, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

It started in a Vestry meeting during a discussion about an upcoming Stewardship pledge drive in 2016 and the wish to “do something different.” And the blame (or credit) can all be laid at the feet of Elizabeth Brubaker who said, “I know, we should do a musical.”

When I heard about it, I thought, “A musical? About Stewardship? Mmmm. Stewardship. Wait… how about a musical about the Episcopalian ship. It could be called the ship Steward – the Steward ship!” And with that Steward Ship – The Musical was born.

The challenge was to make it as serious as stewardship is and yet entertaining enough so the audience will stay awake (unlike some stewardship presentations – present parish excluded, of course). While I had done some writing, I don’t write music, so I contacted Brad Richmond. We agreed I would write the lyrics and he would write the music. Unfortunately, two things went wrong: we didn’t decide which came first so I waited for him to write the music, while he waited for me to write the lyrics, and, Stewardship Sunday fell on the same day as his choir concerts. Sadly, the team of Richmond and Bylsma was not destined to become immortalized like the team of Rogers and Hammerstein.

I moved to using existing popular songs and re-writing the words to fit the three themes of stewardship: time, talent, and treasure. The theme of a ship led me to a voyage with passengers to play out the themes. A bumbling First Mate who wouldn’t give of his TIME to assist the ship’s captain in the stormy sea (and who better to bumble then John Shea), a damsel rescued from a deserted island (and who could be more TALENTed than Kim Shea to play my favorite damsel and her soccer ball friend “Wilson”), to be followed by a fearsome pirate who would board the ship to hijack its TREASURE, and who could be more fearsome than a chemistry professor?

So, the makings of a story line existed, but now came the task of making it entertaining. I decided to combine several forms of humor and set up the stewardship message with parodies of well-known songs. For the first mate, I borrowed the ship scene from and film classic, Princess Bride, where the cast made all their lines end in a rhyme. It came out like this:

Ship Captain: Wake up mate

and help me or we’ll be late.

First Mate: I’m not experienced as a first mate.

You’ll have to demonstrate.

SC: We’ve no time to wait,

get busy or we’ll become fish bait.

FM: Your attitude is hard to tolerate.

I’m sorry I signed on to sail this crate

This was followed up by revising the words to “Time after Time” by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, i.e. “Time after time, I tell myself that I’m, so lucky to be serving Grace….” (Instead of “…lucky to be loving you”).

The damsel in distress, a.k.a. soccer-loving Jennifer Adams, was rescued by the good ship Steward from a deserted island with her sidekick “Wilson”- the soccer ball from the movie “Castaway.”

Here the humor was to portray the castaway as out of touch (or worse) because of being on the deserted island for so long as portrayed in the following dialogue as she talks about the sermons she and Wilson preached in her one-person church. (Hint; hermeneutics is the study of methods of interpreting the Bible and exegesis is the study of Biblical test to discover their original meaning).

Damsel in Distress: As you might expect, the sermons were outstanding when I preached (wink wink), but Wilson’s were full of a lot of hot air. And he bounced around the lectionary too much. And psst, (holds the ball out of hearing) he doesn’t know the different between hermeneutics and exegesis.

Ship Captain: Do you know the difference between hermeneutics and exegesis?

DD: (Indignantly) Of course I do. Herman Neutics was one of my professors in seminary. Exegesis is nothing but a fancy word for the ascension.

SC: A fancy word for Jesus’s ascension is “exegesis”?

DD: You know…. “Exit Jesus”.

The lyrics for “There’s No Business Like Show Business” were modified to “There’s no talent like Grace talent…” belted out Ethel Merman style by Kim.

For the TREASURE theme, a looting pirate was called upon to hijack the Steward’s treasure only to be disappointed that the treasure at Grace is in the form of pledges to the stewardship campaign. Because the pirate (Brent Krueger) admittedly can’t sing, a rhyming patter was used, like this:

Pirate: As a pirate, I’m confused…

Chorus: This pirate is confused…

Pirate: It’s been my pleasure – to take treasure – without measure – at my leisure

I like to plunder – as I wonder – how to rip a ship asunder – and I never make a blunder.

Pirate: But here I must peruse…

Chorus: Here he must peruse.

Pirate: I need to cogitate – as I estimate – and also celebrate – what I can confiscate

From a ship – that I predict – is not equipped – with any loot that can be nicked.

Pirate: Now I’m not amused…

Chorus: This pirate’s not amused…

Pirate: This Captain now kvetches – and stubbornly alleges – that all he has on board are pledges.

Pledges for a budget – and if I’ve not misjudged it – unless he gets to nudge it – he’s going to have to fudge it.

After the lighthearted stuff, the announcer (Gary Bogle) got down to the business of reminding us that this was the kick-off of the annual stewardship pledge drive, and that the continued success of Grace and its ministry required the time, talent, and treasure of its parishioners.

Some light-hearted stuff, some serious stuff… but no doubt “something different, Elizabeth.” Its acceptance prompted a sequel which looked in on our heroes of the first musical some years later in time. “Not enough,” the vestry cried. So a third musical portraying our heroes as they might have been in their youth will soon premier. Come see the Off the 9th Street Players in Steward Ship – the Musical – the Prequel at the Oktoberfest dinner on October 21.

Submitted by: Jay Bylsma 

Being Grace
October 16, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

While I appreciate the sentiment, a part of me cringes when churches proclaim they’re welcoming and affirming of LGBTQ people. It’s a step in the right direction, no question. But, for me, it isn’t a matter of being welcomed or affirmed. That should go without saying. It’s a matter of being.

And what I love about Grace is that I’m Grace along with all the rest of Grace. Whoever we are, wherever we happen to be, or feel, or find ourselves, we’re Grace. And there’s something about how we come together and are together that makes Grace home for all of us.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot because October 11 is the 30th anniversary of National Coming Out Day, a day created to encourage the LGBTQ community to make ourselves visible. The founders’ goals were to help dispel fears and stereotypes by enabling the broader community to see who we are.

There’s been a lot of progress in the past three decades, thanks to places like Grace and events like National Coming Out Day. LGBTQ people are more visible at work, in the arts and entertainment, in government, and in the church. We have the right to marry and, in some states, to adopt children. But we’re still a long way from full equality, especially in areas like Western Michigan where the fear and reality of discrimination in employment, housing, and everyday living are real.

Which makes Grace as home all the more important.

One of my favorite parts of Grace’s 150-year history is that we provided space for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) to meet in the early 2000s. That was – and still is – a big deal in Holland. We’ve also been instrumental in Holland is Ready and the opening of Out on the Lakeshore, an LGBTQ resource center. Grace is a place where all of us can be. We call it Being Grace, and it’s a tradition I know will continue in the coming years and decades.

Submitted by: Holly Anderson

For All Kids 90 Years and Under–Come Visit the GRACE CHURCH ZOO!
October 16, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

Dr. Charles Huttar is an expert on the stained glass windows at Grace Church, and he will be doing a special tour of the windows during the adult education forum in January. In the meantime, he has created this guide to the Grace Church window zoo! It is especially appropriate that we publish this blog post this week because October 4 is the Feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals.

Can you find all the animals in the Grace Church zoo? Grab a friend, go on a hunt, and make sure to share your discoveries with Charles!

  • First, there are a number of birds to discover: 4 doves; 2 phoenixes; a pelican, and 5 other birds             
  • There are 6 sheep or lambs. Also, there is something strange about one of the sheep—can you spot it?  
  • Representing aquatic life, there are 3 fish and three 3 seashells             
  • There are 2 snakes. Hissssssss.               
  • And there are a number of other animals: 2 horses; a deer; a donkey; a camel; a pig; a cow, and a butterfly                     
  • BONUS QUESTION: Can you find anything for them to eat? Bananas? Grapes? Anything else?
Oktoberfest This Sunday!
October 16, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

October 21 Oktoberfest (5:00-7:00pm): Don’t miss our annual and fabulous stewardship dinner featuring Dublin Cottle, Amaretto Chocolate Bread Pudding, cider, beer, and special food for kids as we kick off the pledge drive and experience the world premiere of Stewardship the Musical: The Prequel (the final in the ‘Stewardship the Musical’ trilogy).

A Powerful and Difficult Grace
September 30, 2018 by Jennifer Adams 0

The Rev. Jennifer Adams – Sermon preached on September 30, 2018 – Proper 21, Year B: Mark 9:38-50

Esther 4:1-17; 7:1-10; 9:20-22

James 5:16, 19-20    Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective… My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Mark 9:42-50  Jesus said, “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.  “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

This morning I’m going to dive into a hard story.  I’m asking that you hold this with me and that we wrestle with it and seek meaning in it together.  If we keep talking to each other, together, over time we’ll get somewhere new.  And we need to get somewhere new.  As a people, we need to get somewhere new.  Let’s start now.

This is a story about a woman who was invited into the highest courts of a land and while there, she took a stand for her people. Because of injustices that had been done to others, and political games that had been played along the way, the process by which this woman gained fame was not a perfect one.  But she was given a position of access to leaders, and therefore, she had power and used it well. The “saving” in this story was messy and it was achieved by a process that nobody would endorse as good, or even just, or “the way it should be.” Lives were lost along the way and at the end of this story, there was peace granted to a people, but the citizens of the land were left wondering what had happened, how it had happened, and if they could even begin to trust the promise of peace that had been given them.

In case you’re wondering, this is the story of Esther, Queen Esther, from the Old Testament lesson we heard read a few minutes ago.  Here’s a little background and some more detail now that you know who I’m talking about:

Before there was Esther, there was Vishta, and she matters too.  Vishta was the first queen to King Ahasuerus. One night the King got so drunk at his feast that he asked Queen Vishta to come and dance in a room full of the King’s colleagues and friends.  And Queen Vishta, for good reason, refused the request.  And she was, therefore, banished from the kingdom.  It was an extremely high price for her to pay, an unfair and unjust price for her “No.”  But she held it.  And so Vishta is one of those people in Scripture whose name we should know.

Then Esther was brought in to be queen, because the King had declared Esther to be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.  What King Ahasuerus didn’t know (because he was overly focused on other things,) was that Esther was not only beautiful, she also happened to be a Jew.  And the Jews were living in King Ahasuerus’ land as exiles with little power and few protections. And because of the tensions among the peoples of this land, some of the leaders were plotting to literally have the Jews massacred.

And so through a very complex series of events that involved Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, a plot by Ahasuerus’ right hand man, Haman, and Esther risking her life by appearing in the court and asking the King for mercy, Ahasuerus decreed peace rather than death for the Jews. And Esther was given credit for saving her people.  She is a hero in this Biblical tradition.  And the Jewish feast of Purim is in remembrance of this story.

Now there is a very high “ick” factor involved when you read all of the verses of the many chapters of the book of Esther. It is not pretty.  In the end, an entire people who were in the process of being completely wiped out were saved.  But the process of getting there was at times a pretty ugly one. And this wasn’t the last time these people would face the challenge of annihilation. But they got through that moment in time, and were able to give thanks.

So this week I went to Scripture to read this story while being full our stories too, which is how I always go the Scriptures.  I am present to them and present to now, as much as possible anyway. And from that place I listen. And this week like most of us, the stories I brought with me to this task involved the process of confirmation for Judge Kavanaugh.  I carried the testimony and presence of Dr Ford.  I was full of the images and voices of many of our leaders, and Judge Kavanagh too.

And here was the story of Esther.  And Vishta.  And King Ahasuerus.  And Haman.  And his family.  And the people.  All the different kinds of people – of different backgrounds, and different faiths, and different experiences and privileges and hurts and fears. And so as I listened to them and to now, it was like we were all in one huge ugly yet ultimately redeemable mess together. Mess? Obviously.  Nobody would argue that. Redeemable? I believe it is. Because I believe we are, we always are.  That’s why we’re here, wherever here is. It’s why God is here too. Trying to help redemption happen.

Now I want to be very clear that I’m not making direct correlations between the people in the story of Esther and the specific people involved in the process we are currently watching play out as a nation, the story of which we are all part.  I also want to be very clear that the themes involved in both stories are remarkably, and in some ways devastatingly, similar.  And we have to look at those. Because redemption involves looking into and talk about the very, very hard themes we know and live, those that Esther did too.

And if we keep talking to each other, together, over time we’ll get somewhere new.  And we need to get somewhere new.  We might as well start now.

We need to talk about how political games are being played while the stories of real human beings are tossed around not for the healing or freedom of a people, but for gain of one side or another.  We have to consider the abuse of alcohol and how too often, related to the abuse of people. We need to talk about the very hard choices women have to make, and the vulnerabilities, unfair consequences, and inequalities woven into our many systems.  And the very hard choices men have to make. And the vulnerabilities, unfair consequences, and inequalities woven into our many systems.  Truth is, we don’t have this set up well for anyone, for some better than others to be sure.  But it’s not set up well for anyone.  Even those for whom it seems to be set up well, aren’t well.  We can do so much better than this.

Like in the Book of Esther, we have to make room for the occasional voice, the occasional voice whose risk in speaking helps us at the very least to see something we need to see about our collective selves, even if the means of that voice coming forth are far less than ideal. We need to listen and we need to engage, even if more hurt occurs before we establish a collective means of causing less pain.

And so, this is a very hard story.  It’s two very hard stories.  Actually, it’s a bunch of very hard stories. Esther’s and ours, all of ours.  James suggests in the Epistle we heard read today that the way forward into the healing and redemption for which we long, he suggests that the way forward begins with a confession of sin and a commitment to prayer.  Not because such an approach is magic. Not because it removes accountability or action from the process of healing, but because such an approach will frame the conversations we need to have within a frame of humility, honesty, and hope. Because that’s what confession and prayer do. James then says an amazing thing.  He says that we actually have the power, “brothers and sisters,” to bring one another back to the truth.

And this week I realized what a powerful and difficult grace that is. We have the power to bring one another back to the truth.

To bring one another back takes time.  It takes the commitment of many and it requires that we hold a communal desire to acknowledges our sins as a people and a communal desire to heal as a people. This begins, as James said, with confession, a willingness to say that something is very wrong and if this week didn’t reveal that or the past many months didn’t reveal that, I’m not sure what will and I’m even more afraid for what it will take.  Today let us hear that the story of Esther is not that far off, which in itself should be revealing to us all.

In the gospel, Mark says that our work is to remove stumbling blocks from getting in the way of the little ones. And perhaps that’s is a good place to start; it’s related to what the Epistle told us too. We have stumbling blocks all over the place, and perhaps our first confession can be that we’ve made causing each other to stumble into a fine art.  It’s like we’re actually trying to trip each other up, rather than build each other up.  It shouldn’t be this hard to be good, to be caring, to not hurt each other as much as we do. We’ve gotten too good at banishing from the kingdom, rather than building the kingdom to which we have all been called.

And so our work is to make time, to make space and to foster desire for healing to come.  It’s to remember in the words of Brene Brown (whom we listened to in Forum this morning) that “We are inextricably bound to each other.”  And in the words of our Baptismal Covenant that we are “to respect the dignity of every human being.”

We have the power to bring one another back to the truth, and that is a powerful and a difficult grace.  But it is a grace given us, over and over again. Because we need it given to us over and over again.  And so, as church, let’s remove whatever stumbling blocks we’ve put in the way, so that the little ones which are all of us and those who differ from us can be present with the truth we carry.  And if we keep talking to each other, with stories and confessions and prayers, we’ll get somewhere new.  And we need to get somewhere new.  Let’s start now.

Amen.

Grace Youth Group: A Way Station on the Journey
September 27, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

I am beginning my seventh year with the youth group. The makeup of the youth group changes slightly yearly, as the older youth move on and the younger youth become part of the group. I have seen some parents every year, as the older children graduate from high school and the younger siblings have become part of the youth group.

Some things have not changed. The pressures that the young people face have not changed, nor decreased in intensity. Their spiritual needs remain the same. But as the youth have more to do and less time in which to do it, the youth group has had to be more than just another social group. The youth group leadership has become more intentional with our time and meeting content. We work with parents to find the right balance of number and type of activities. And we want to address their spiritual needs through our activities.

Activities span a broad spectrum: from indoor (a game night) to outdoor (a nature walk in the woods); from not weather dependent (an overnight retreat) to weather dependent (e.g. skiing/snowboarding, with a backup plan, too); from local (e.g. rake & run service project) to not so local (overnight retreat at a monastery); from serving adults (literally, as at a church dinner) to serving the little ones (providing child care for the parents). Throughout the church calendar we also celebrate liturgical events such as Advent, Christmas and Lent. The goal is to have fun, to build healthy relationships and to provide a setting where issues and questions can be discussed and needs can be met.

Youth group is not limited to those who only attend Grace. Many of the youth have invited their friends to various activities, not just once but on multiple occasions.

In addition to what we do during the school year, we have a periodic big summer activity every other year. On years divisible by 4, there is a pilgrimage to England. On the intervening even years, there is a week-long service project. In 2014 it was gleaning food (from as small as tomatoes to as large as watermelons) in Arkansas; the food would be donated to the local food pantries. In 2018, it was working on an urban farm in Detroit (weeding, spreading mulch, working with other groups). These service projects seem to occur during the hottest part of the summer. J One of the key objectives is service, but another is community building.

What I have to bring is outweighed by what the youth have to offer, each young person in his or her own way. My primary goal is to listen to them deeply, to help them build character and confidence. If we view the youth as being on a journey in the process of maturing, then the Grace youth group is a way station, providing respite, refreshment, and encouragement along the way.

Submitted by: Howard Huyser

September 26, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

This Sunday, September 30- Tour de Grace: This year’s Tour de Grace is designed to encourage the entire parish to learn more about Grace’s history as we celebrate our sesquicentennial. After church we will   bike by the three previous sites of Grace Church and end at the Pilgrim Home gravesites of Grace’s founding members. A light lunch will be provided at Grace before the ride and desserts at the end of the ride. The route is about 2.5 miles each way and is child friendly!

 

September 21, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

In the Tour de France you ride 21 days through some amazing European topography. In the Tour de Grace you ride 150 years through the fascinating history of Grace Episcopal Church. All in under half an hour. Sure, you won’t get the strenuous exercise of the race, but our casual pace will take you past all three former building sites and bring us to a picnic at Pilgrim Home Cemetery. There we will celebrate the communion of saints at the grave sites of Grace founders, Heber and Jenny Walsh and Sarah and Manley Howard. And this year you don’t even need a bicycle! Everyone is invited to join us at the picnic whichever way you wish to travel. (Of course, you really have been waiting for a reason to take your bike of the hook, right?)

All the details will soon be published but put it on your calendar now: September 30 following 10:30 worship.

This is the third annual Tour de Grace, a project started by the Creation Care group in 2016. These biking events are for the entire family with different length rides around Holland, including to Windmill Island. We encourage everyone to attend and enjoy the great outdoors!

Submitted by: Phil Harrington

Grace Youth on a Mission
September 12, 2018 by AdminAccount 0

The Grace Youth mission trip to Arkansas back in 2014 is one of the best trips i’ve ever taken (the other best trip also being a Grace trip). The satisfaction of helping others, bonding with fellow youth, a chance to see parts of the country I had never previously seen… it was a rewarding experience that I highly recommend to anyone considering a mission trip.

There was plenty of work involved, make no mistake about that. We would spend hours in the hot Arkansasian heat picking eggplant or harvesting watermelon or whatever produce our day’s field had to offer. But knowing that the food we picked would go to help hungry families was more than enough reason to wake up the next morning and get back to it.

The experience I shared is something that I will take with me for a very long time!

 

-submitted by Dunan Kelley

A Change of Heart
September 8, 2018 by Jennifer Adams 0

The Rev. Jennifer Adams – September 2, 2018 – Proper 17, Year B: John 6:51-58 Mark 7:1-23

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them….5So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

8You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

14Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:1-23)

Ugh. This gospel passage is a hard one, actually it’s a is a tricky one, isn’t it? Just as this passage gets rolling, just as the blame is finding a focused place to land, just as I and perhaps the crowd in this passage are becoming sure that “if only the pharisees would change their ways everything would be OK” and the anti-Pharisee movement is gaining momentum, Jesus changes direction. And that shift is a hard one, I actually sort of feel it in my gut. About half-way through this passage, Jesus makes a hard shift from speaking about the Pharisees as hypocrites to implicating us all. And so I think this passage is inviting us, all of us, to take a much needed pause.

Because dang it, I want to say it’s their fault! I really do. Here is Jesus who has come into this world with a profound message of forgiveness and love, mercy, and peace, and the Pharisees stand up try so very hard to interrupt that amazing grace at every turn. Passage after passage, after hungry people are fed, and they’re on the brink of widespread celebration, the Pharisees say things like, “Why didn’t you wash your hands?” Really? They’re actually looking for ways to restrain the grace.

Passage after passage when hurting people are healed and the lame are just beginning to dance, the Pharisees interrupt the whole scene by asking, “Why did you heal them on the Sabbath?” And I want to scream. They use religious law as a means by which to limit Shalom.

Throughout the gospels Jesus offers mercy and the Pharisees find a reason to stifle it. He opens a a door and they insist using religious reasons on keeping it closed. Jesus embodies a wide-embrace and the Pharisees justify their distance from that other. There is abundance offered and they emphasize a reason not to share. And I can hardly stand it.

And so this morning, I want to stand up and cheer Jesus on as he exposes their pattern:

“Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

8You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

To that I want to say “Hah, finally, they are getting put in their place!”And then sit down, smugly. And so I admit to appreciating passages like this one, perhaps a little too much. The passages where Jesus lets them have it. That time Jesus calls them a brood of vipers? Just for the record, I like that one too.

But here’s the thing, and why this passage is so very hard: I have my patterns too. Hence the call to pause. One of my patterns is that they so very quickly become a “they,” and it can all fester in that place inside of me that is in the grand scheme, in the kingdom scheme not a good place at all. Because it can come out it harmful ways.

The Pharisees are an easy target on which to hang the woes of this world. And I can go on for hours about how I think this connects with our world today. Trust me I have an internal list of who falls into the Pharisee camp these days. But as I said, I have my patterns too and one of them is that I can come pretty close to convincing myself that if only the Pharisees changed their ways, everything would be OK.

And while this gospel is challenging those who lean toward the Pharisaic end of things to take a hard an honest look at themselves, there is challenge in this for us all. This is a hard passage for everyone. Notice that while Jesus is shouting in a very focused way for about three verses at “them” he then invites “the entire crowd” and for four verses says things like, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

And so while Jesus is telling the Pharisees to let go of purity codes as a means by which to discern who is worthy and unworthy of holiness, he’s telling all of us that what comes out of us matters. And what comes out of us shapes whether or not we are able to love that neighbor; it shapes our experience of the kingdom of God.

How we speak to that person who is hurting matters. And how we speak to that person whom we perceive to be inhibiting wholeness matters. How we speak to that person who has never been welcomed to the table matters. And how we speak to those whom we perceive to have had too much control over who is welcomed at that table matters too. Jesus is telling the Pharisees to celebrate the wide embrace, the hospitality, the feast, to which they are also invited. And the same is true for us if for no other reason than the table and the experiences of wholeness and so much else that is a means by which the kingdom is proclaimed has come for us all – them too.

And so we are to seek a way that is genuinely reflective of the mercy, forgiveness and love of Christ in every direction. In every direction outside and inside of ourselves. In every direction politically, religiously, neighborly and otherwise too. We need to carry the awareness that what comes out of us can do harm.

But what comes out of can also do good. What comes out of us can do love.

And this is so very hard today because the lines have been drawn and it’s so very easy to fall into patterns that do not invite this embracing Shalom which is the peace of God, that one that “passes all understanding.” We go so easily now to, “It’s their fault,” but this gospel reminds us that that is never the whole story. We can’t find one category of people who are entirely responsible for the woes of the world and that approach has in itself led to some of the most heinous acts every done.

I think this week we’ve celebrated voices in our country who have attempted this approach certainly imperfectly, but at times with strength and with grace. John McCain. Aretha Franklin. R-E-S-P-E-C-T all around, please.

What comes out of us no matter who we are matters. Created in the image of God we have power and we let it go when this becomes of matter of simply placing blame. We pick it up when we learn to speak with strength that is fueled and tempered with compassion, compassion frankly for all.

This passage invites us to pause, perhaps every day. To pause and re-center ourselves as they say to seek a way that is genuinely reflective of the mercy, forgiveness and love of Christ. As hard as this passage is, the good news is that this way of grace is open to us all. Everyday. We have the power to do harm, and sometimes we do. And we have the power to do love, and sometimes we do. Our work is to keep it heavily weighted in the direction of mercy, forgiveness, peace.

May we be a people willing to acknowledge the ways in we have said things, or done things or perpetuated patterns that hurt others. And may we be a people willing to receive forgiveness and to help make change, even in ourselves.

Amen.

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