Calvary Episcopal Church

November 18, 2001; Luke 21:5-19

Deacon Jean Chess

In India, monkey traps are made out of coconuts. The coconut is cut in half, hollowed out and a small hole - just big enough for a monkey hand - is cut in the top. The coconut shell is then anchored to the ground, and some fruit - which monkeys really like - is dropped inside. Along comes the monkey, who notices the fruit, slides its hand down in the hole, grabs hold of the fruit and then is stuck. The monkey's fist won't fit back through the hole - and the monkey remains stuck there because it won't let go.

I'm here to tell you - on my last Sunday as your deacon at Calvary - that it's not only monkeys with their hands inside coconut shells that find it hard to let go.

Calvary has been my parish home for all of my adult life. Now that's not to say that I've been a regular church attendee for all of my adult life but when I decided, about 12 years ago, to find a church - I looked for a big church, where I could sit in the back, be anonymous and not get too involved.

I had to let go of the "being anonymous" idea pretty early on, because even though I did sit in the back, I sat in the row behind Dorothy Taylor. Dorothy introduced herself to me, asked my name, and week after week we developed a friendship. Although Dorothy is now unable, physically, to make it here Sunday mornings - she is a wonderful and wise presence in this congregation - and I am grateful for her continued friendship.

After a few months of sitting behind Dorothy, and being greeted by Arthur at the door, I finally got up enough to nerve fill in the little information card and request that my membership be officially transferred to Calvary. I was sent one of those lay ministry forms asking what I'd like to be involved in - and I checked off "tutoring with EECM'. I then got a phone call, from John Greeno who was on the Vestry, asking if I would help with the youth group. I remember thinking that while I hadn't checked off or even been particularly interested in the "youth group" - if indeed Calvary was so desperate as to call up someone that no one even knew to help with the youth group - they must really need help. So I agreed. And by letting go of my concept of "not getting too involved", I was received into a wonderful community of youth and adults.

Losses - as we all know - are not always as easy as letting go of "not being too involved" and our lives - as we all know - are full of loss. We lose loved ones to death. We leave behind friends - and security - when we move to a new house or a new school or a new job. We can be blindsided by unexpected losses that shake us to our core - we receive an unexpected medical diagnosis, a job ends, airplanes crash.

Gretchen Wolff Pritchard - in her wonderful book titled "Offering the Gospel to Children" writes about the dis-service we do to children by not telling the "whole" story. She writes - "we carve up the Bible into "Bible stories" - so that few children (and I would add few adults as well) - even suspect that the story of God's people - our story - is not a collection of object lessons or heartwarming anecdotes, but is a long story of unbearable loss and unbearable hope".

Today's reading from Luke's Gospel has Jesus teaching at the Temple. The Temple, in those days, was a spectacular building of white stone covered with gold sculptures. Perhaps not as beautiful as Calvary, but pretty darn close. And as the people were admiring the beauty of temple, Jesus says "Yes, it's good looking now - but in the future it will be completely destroyed.". Jesus goes on to tell them that not only will the Temple building be destroyed, but that they themselves will live through earthquakes, wars, plaques and betrayal by both family and friends". Although this passage is usually understood to be describing the end times, as I read it this week it spoke to me of the patterns of human life. Each of us, in the course of our lives, experience gut wrenching losses - over and over again.

And we can respond either by clinging to all the things that might have been, or we can let go and follow Jesus to whatever comes next.

Jesus told the people at the temple not to worry about all these terrible things that they would have to go through - because by their endurance they would gain their souls. Again, in the past I've understood this to mean "if you're good and faithful to God - you'll get your reward someday in heaven". However, as I read it this week, what I understood was that indeed by enduring and letting go - over and over again - we do gain our souls - we let go of all those things that we were never really ours to begin with - and we are left standing as ourselves - as our souls and our bodies that have been uniquely and loving created by God.

One of my favorite parts of being a deacon on Sunday mornings is getting to do the dismissal at the end of the service. The part where we, as the people of God, move out from this place of refuge and refreshment into the work we're called to do in the world. We are all sent out to love and serve the Lord - and we go in peace - knowing that our lives are lives of hope beyond what we can ask for or imagine.

Calvary has been my anchor and my refuge for the past 12 years. I am so grateful for the journey that we've shared together in this place. It has been a privilege to celebrate with you in times of joy and it has been a privilege to be beside you in times of great pain. You have taught me about myself and you have taught me about God.

Sometimes it can be hard to remember the "unbearable" hope that we, as Christians, have. But I have been very luck here at Calvary because I have my friend Julia Carr to remind me about joy and hope. Julia winks at me - and whenever Julia sends a wink my way, I know that no matter what difficult things may be going on - that all is indeed right with the world. Hope and Joy abide. Amen.