Jumping Jehoshaphat!

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Readings 111226 

Do you remember Bugs Bunny?
Do you remember Yosemite Sam?
"Jumping Jehoshaphat!"

Say it fast.
It sounds like a shout of joy.
And with a name like Saint Josaphat,
you should be happy.

Then there's Philemon.

 A name derived from phileo, beloved
I wonder if his friends just called him Phil.

Paul writes to his friend 

 that he may have called Phil:
"...the hearts of the holy ones
have been refreshed by you, brother."

Refreshed hearts.
That's what love does.

Then Paul asks for more:
welcome back a runaway slave
"as you would me."

Josaphat spent his life on that kind of welcome,
calling divided Christians back to one another.

The Pharisees ask when the Kingdom is coming.
Jesus says you won't spot it.
No "Look, here it is.
No "There it is."
The Kingdom is among you.

Not a place.
A beloved people.
The Kingdom of God 

 is the joy, hope, and peace
we bring to the world.

Whose heart can you refresh?
Who needs you to say, "Welcome"?

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, 

Refresh the hearts around me today.
Give me the courage to say, 

"Welcome."
Heal what divides us, 

as Saint Josaphat prayed.
Let your Kingdom 

be found among us. 

Amen.

St Josaphat, pray for us

Carry the Faith After the Water Dries

Readings 111126 

Today we remember Saint Martin of Tours,
a soldier who told his commander,
"I have served you as a soldier;
now let me serve Christ."

It is also Veterans Day.
So we honor those who served,
and those who still carry what that service cost.

Martin took two oaths.
One to Rome. One at the baptismal font.
And that second one takes me to the font myself.

I have baptized many infants,
and I watch the parents, the godparents, the family.
Sometimes I ask, where is that faith?

Then I remember Saint Paul:
"Not because of any righteous deeds we had done,
but because of his mercy, he saved us."

That baby can't speak, can't choose, can't earn a thing.
And that is the point.
Grace is not a prize. It is a gift.

So where is the faith? It is carried.
By a mother who held that child all night.
By a godparent who said, "I will."
By a Church that has said "yes" for two thousand years.

Jesus said, "Your faith has saved you."
Sometimes that faith is shared.
Sometimes it is borrowed until it can be owned.

So don't just carry the child to the font.
Carry the faith after the water dries.
And like Martin, keep serving.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, 

Bless those who have served,

and those who still carry what it cost.

Hold us at the font 

in the faith of your Church,

and make us faithful, 

to keep serving you. 

Amen.

St Martin of Tours, pray for us.