<html><body>Part 2 of tomorrow's sermon:<br>
<br>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-outline-level:1"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>I
can hear despair in Jesus’ voice in the words of today’s Gospel
passage. I can hear Jesus being so frustrated at the inability of folk
to see what it takes to live with God. He wasn’t looking for perfection,
just an effort . He found that the people had lost whatever sense of
connection with God and with one another that they may once have had,
this despite that wonderful imagery contained in the Song of Solomon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-outline-level:1"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Throughout
both Old and New Covenant books, but especially in this wisdom song,
descriptions of marriage and the intensity of the relationship between
spouses is seen not only as an affirmation of love between humans but
also as an allegory for the intensity of the love that God has for us.
What drove Jesus to distraction was that if God’s love for us is so
focused, so passionate, why people failed to respond. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-outline-level:1"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Time
and time again, God wants to be able to respond to our needs, to
celebrate in our victories and achievements, to cry in our pain and
disappointments, to walk with us, “</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">to
live together in the covenant (…), to love, comfort, honor and keep
(one another …), in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others,
be faithful to each other (for all eternity).”<sup> 2</sup></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-outline-level:1"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>What
God desires completely is that we celebrate our new life, with all its
possibilities, because it’s in the entry into this new life, this new
relationship of commitment, that we find the rest, the grace, the
freedom fully to be Jesus’ sisters and brothers.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>One of my friends recently described the restoration of a relationship with his cousin. <span class="textexposedshow"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">“</b></span>Recently,”
he wrote, “a cousin indicated that she would like to reconnect after
over 30 years. She's an ardent Baptist, and I have been an embarrassment
to her. Accordingly, I have respected her by staying away and
connecting only with notes for birthdays and Christmases.” </span><sup><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri">3</span></sup><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The fact that she is, or was, an ardent Baptist and that he’s gay set up the scenario.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>He
went on, “I have always loved her in a special way: I was 9 years old
when her parents took me with them to receive her from Alabama's
adoption agency. I have never seen any face light up like theirs and
then hers, at 6-m<span class="textexposedshow">onths old. I like to think of that as the way God's face lights up when we become God's children by adoption.”</span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>In
a few minutes, we’ll celebrate such a moment. Three people will come to
the water of Baptism. They and their sponsors will affirm belief in
God’s passion for them and for us all. They and their sponsors will talk
about their trust in God to bring us to a new life. They’ll have water
poured on them as a sign of the cleansing and the renewal to which God
brings us. Then they’ll hear the words that they are marked as Christ’s
own for ever.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>When
they make this commitment, symbolised by words and water, I can see
God’s face light up. Whether they – especially Phillip – will smile in
return, I can’t say. But the good news is that God doesn’t wait to see
how Caitlynn, Connor and Phillip react before breaking out in joy. This
happens even as God sees them moving towards the moment of Baptism.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>In
the midst of everything that can make us despair, that can make us
depressed, Caitlynn, Connor and Phillip are setting out on a journey.
They’re moving towards something that they believe will give them hope.
They may not be able to see what lies ahead – none of us can much. But
we’ve heard stories. Other people have given us messages about their own
experiences, enough to make us curious at first, then willing to take
the journey ourselves, no matter what the risks. The promise of a new
life becomes stronger than the difficulties, even the fear and danger of
living in isolation under threat, with no support.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>I
was gripped with thoughts of grief and sorrow when I heard of the truck
which was found abandoned inside the Austrian border this week. People
have been fleeing countries on the eastern and southern shores of the
Mediterranean for quite some time. Life at home has become intolerable.
People are aware of the ships that have sunk in storms at sea. People
are aware that there are incredibly unscrupulous individuals who prey on
the fear and the pain of those living in countries where civil wars
continue to bring devastation. Yet people continue to take a chance on
making these journeys.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>More
than seventy bodies were discovered in that locked, abandoned truck,
the bodies of people from one month to many decades old, each hoping and
praying for a new life. <sup>4</sup></span></span></p></body></html>