WEdnesday of the First Week of Lent

Date: Wednesday, Mar 1             
Contributor: Mary Pendergrass
Lectionary Link 

My thoughts for today were first sparked by an opinion I read in the January 25, 2023 Washington Post by Bibi Bahrami, a Muslim woman belonging to a small mosque in Muncie, Indiana.  And then I recalled a sermon from our rector on January 15, 2023 on the subject of being an evangelist which seemed to mesh with the op ed.  The woman who wrote the op ed spoke of an unfamiliar man who showed up at her mosque and seemed very angry.   He was a non-Muslim and former military and his actions were suspicious but she and her husband welcomed him and offered comfort.  She and her husband are Afghani refugees and based on their past experiences they believe in the idea that strangers must be welcomed and all must search for common ground.  They decided to trust their instincts and they and other members of the mosque continued to welcome him there and to trust him with various responsibilities.  Then the woman became aware of rumors among some congregants claiming that the Marine had first come to the mosque with a plan to blow it up.  She invited him to her home for a meal and then questioned him about the rumors and what he was thinking.  She learned that he had indeed planned on destroying the mosque because while serving in the Marines he had been at war with Muslims and had developed a deep hatred for them.  But he then said that he had been treated with such kindness and compassion by the woman, her husband and other congregants that he had changed his mind.  They had given him a place to belong and shown him what true humanity is.  Over time he became a member and a leader at the mosque because of the example of others.
 
Randy’s sermon spoke to the idea that being an evangelist doesn’t entail stepping onto a soapbox to harangue others as to their state as sinners or approaching strangers to spout verses from the Bible and push tracts into their hands which reproach them for not believing in your way of belief.  When we weaponize Christianity we are forgetting to love one another.  As in the op ed we should give evidence of God’s goodness in our own lives by what we do.  How we live and our attentiveness to others should give the story of God’s love.
 
Both the story of the Muslim woman and her mosque, and Randy’s sermon, remind me that this is how I want to live my life - by being attentive to others and their needs and offering comfort and kindness where I can.  It’s difficult and I know that I often don’t live up to my aspirations but I’ll continue to try and do the best I can each day.  I encourage you to go to St. Christopher’s website and listen to the sermon of January 15 as well as Marilyn’s sermon on February 5, 2023 regarding using your light to do the work of Jesus.

Click here to find the sermons.