Today
we give thanks for 50 years of God's blessing on this community, this assembly
that began to meet in the living room of Fr. Sheehan's home, then in the
bowling alley, then in Kirk School and finally in the building where we sit
today. In preparing for today, when I
looked at the pictures gathered over the years, I gained a sense of the decades
of prayer and service and fellowship that comprised 85% of your life together
before I joined you on this journey.
As
I thought about our life together during the last almost eight years and the
readings today from the first letter of Peter and from Matthew's gospel, the
children's story of "Stone Soup" came to mind. You know the story of hungry travelers who
convinced villagers to part with a little of this vegetable and a little of
that spice to put in the water, along with the stone, to make the soup better. What began as a stone and some water in a
soup pot turned into a amazingly delicious meal. This story speaks of generosity--yes, a story
of the sharing of blessings, given by nature, to make something more wonderful
than any of the villagers could have made on their own.
It
seems entirely appropriate that our readings for this anniversary celebration
contain references to stones, an important resource for building a structure
that will last. Stones can make up a strong foundation for a building; stones
can be laid on top of one another to make the walls of a structure. If they are properly engineered, stone
buildings will last for centuries. We hear from Jesus that the foundation of
our faith and how we live out our faith needs to finds its base in his
words. Jesus becomes the rock upon which
we as wise people build the houses of our lives.
At
St. Nicholas' we find our foundation in our weekly hearing of God’s Word and in
our weekly receiving Christ within us as bread and wine. We also find our foundation in our service to
others in the name of Jesus Christ who are hungry and may be homeless.
Jesus
might also be called the stone at the center of our St. Nicholas'
"soup." He draws us into
relationship by his presence in our midst, mediated by the Holy Spirit. Each of us brings with us something to add to
this “soup”: something we do well, an enthusiastic attitude, problem solving
skills, compassion, clear thinking, a willingness to work, an encouraging
spirit, leadership talents, and many more gifts of God to enrich our life
together.
Yes,
transformed into being more in the "soup" than we could ever manage
to be on our own, we become living stones--components of a very special stone
soup, you could say, with Christ at the center.
Let us reflect with gratitude on the 50 years of God's “soup making”
here. May each of us continue to respond to God's presence in our midst by
adding something unique and wonderful to our common life. May the "soup" we will become over
the next 50 years provide nourishment and sustenance not only for ourselves,
but also for our neighbors—and even for the whole world.
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