Run and not go weary . . .together

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Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

St. James’s, West Hartford, CT

5th Sunday after Epiphany, February 4, 2024

Isaiah 40:21-31; Mark 1:29-39; Psalm 147:1-12, 21c

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Our reading from Isaiah ends with the lines: “but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

They shall run and not be weary? Really? I want to say, Isaiah, are you paying attention? Have you read the news headlines? Have you seen our calendars? Do you know that we still have not figured out what it means to have lived through a pandemic? Can’t you see that we are exhausted? From work, from school, from the stress and strain of all that we are supposed to be doing. Also, it’s February. It’s cold outside and the days are still short. It’s hard to be energetic when we can’t get enough sunshine.

And then I pause. I take a deep breath. I think about what I know of the world in Isaiah’s time. The plagues. The persecutions. The stress and strain of everyday life where you had to walk to get your water and there was no such thing as food security for anyone. Oh. Maybe instead of arguing with Isaiah, I should listen more deeply, because if he can talk about running and not being weary then maybe he really does know something. 

So, how could we keep going and not burn out? What is it that allows us to be capable of more than we think we are? Well, our faith, for sure. And there’s more to it than that. 

A story my brother told me kept coming back to me this week. In high school, he did a number of NOLS wilderness trips in the summers. One of his leaders told a story of leading a group in the tundra of Alaska. The leader was out ahead of the group. He came up over the crest of a hill to discover that he was only yards away from a mother grizzly bear and her cubs. He froze. He stood absolutely stock still. The mother bear rose up on her hind legs and stared. He thought: Well, this is it. Not sure how I can get out of this one. Then she returned to all fours and quietly walked away with her cubs. The leader was stunned. How could that possibly be? And then he turned around and realized that the entire group of 20 people had come up behind him. With their arrival instead of being a lone person far smaller than the bear, he had become something enormous that frightened the bear. 

I have held onto the image of that story for years and years now. Whenever I have had to go into a difficult situation, I have thought about who I am bringing with me. My family, my friends, my mentors, those people in my life who incarnate God’s love for me, whose wisdom has always helped me be grounded - sure of who God is and who I am. 

And if we turn to the Gospel for today, we see that Jesus is not doing his ministry alone either. He is with his disciples. He does his healing ministry with others. He sends them out two by two to minister on his behalf. Jesus takes time for himself, of course, but he does not stay on his own. He knows that success only comes with shared power and authority - with shared ministry. 

Oh. That. Not doing it all alone. Not thinking we are on our own to face this challenge or that crisis. Hmm. Maybe that is what Isaiah meant? We won’t grow weary as long as we stay connected to God and to each other. 

So, my friends, just in case you have been or are ever tempted to go ahead on your own like that NOLS leader, may I remind you that there truly is safety in numbers.  You might think you are just fine out on your own. I might think that too. I often have - usually with poor results. So may I recommend that whatever challenges lie ahead, you do not face them alone. Look around. See? You are surrounded by people who care about you and would drop everything to help. That’s what it means to be community. That’s what it means to be Church. We hold the faith for each other. We incarnate God’s love for you. This community is here. Day after day. Week after week to remind us that we are never alone. And we are beloved of God. Amen. 

Cultivating What Lasts

Bogart in 2020

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom

Nativity of John the Baptist

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

"The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever." So says the good news of Isaiah today. The prophecy we celebrate on this nativity of John the Baptist. It has gotten me thinking about what fades and withers and what lasts. 

Our freshman year in college my roommate bought a plant. She named it Bogart. She cared for it all through college. After graduation, it was decided that Bogart was not going to make the long car trip to Miami, so he went to live with my wonderfully green thumbed mother. That was in 2002. Bogart is still thriving at my parents house, eighteen years later. It is a reminder to me that things (like grass, flowers, and plants) may wither, and it is also possible to care for and cultivate something to make it last. 

So, my friends, as we are in the midst of these tumultuous times, our Scripture for today invites us to think about what we should let wither and what should last - in our lives, in our Church, and in our society. In recent weeks, we have come to realize more fully just how many things  must wither and die for God’s kingdom, God’s dream for this world to be realized. The realities of systemic racism and white supremacy need to die. The complicity of people in positions of power in the structures and the sin of racism, needs to die. This means we have hard work to do. This withering will not happen by us sitting and waiting. This requires action. It requires us taking a hard look at our systems and structures and figuring out how to do things differently. No doubt there will be challenges and loss in that work. It will be painful at times, and yet it is work that is essential to realize a future where we are all free and thriving. 

There are structures that will need to die in order for us to move forward. There will also need to be withering in our hearts and minds. Building a new future requires us to be doing our own internal work with colleagues and friends with whom we can be honest and vulnerable. We need people who can hold a mirror up and help us to realize all the racism we have been taught and caught without even realizing it. We need to be looking at the world with an analytical lens. We need to be asking ourselves in all facets of our lives, personal and professional, what we can be doing differently. 

The fact that so much in our world is changing right now means that we have an opportunity. A remarkable opportunity. An opportunity to pause and reflect - to decide what we are going to carry forward. What from the old way of living and doing things are we going to keep and what can wither? From here on out, how can we cultivate habits that are life giving? 

Which are the facets of our lives that need water, need more sunlight, need a little bit of fertilizer? Which are the ones that no longer serve us, that are in fact, pulling away nutrients from where they are needed most? 

What might it look like for us to look at our lives with that question in our hearts: Is this of God? Is it something I want to last? If so, then cultivate away. If not, then cut it off or at least stop feeding it valuable nutrients. 

What might it look like for us to cultivate the kingdom, to cultivate God’s dream in our hearts and our communities? It think it might look a lot like this chapel group. I think it looks like taking time for prayer and reflection. I think it looks like prioritizing relationship and community as an equally important “task” in our workday. I think it looks like cultivating the habits of curiosity and kindness, so that they are our first reactions rather than judgment or fear. I think it looks like choosing to follow the Way of Love, to seek joy, to seek that which is life giving and to be willing to stand up and speak the truth when we experience or witness actions that are not life-giving for ourselves or for our siblings in Christ. 

May today be a day that we focus on cultivating the things that endure. Amen.