Sermons
"A Wheelchair in the Waves"
May we know that voice of God when we hear it; in your holy name we pray.
Amen.
Good Morning.
There appears suddenly in the wilderness,
a man, a prophet
as in the days of old;
a man preaching and proclaiming
the coming of our Lord.
He was must have been an odd sort
-even by biblical standards
for he is one of the few characters
in the sacred texts
for which the authors spend
any length of time
describing his wardrobe and diet.
There is no mention of the outfits Mary wore,
or Joseph, and for Jesus
we only find about his seamless cloak
at the time of his crucifixion.
In the same way
Peter, Paul,
James, John,
Andrew, Mary Magdelene
are all major players,
yet fashion mysteries.
Not so with John the Baptist
we know his hair was a tangled mess,
we know he wore
a leather belt around his camel hair suit
-let's be perfectly clear
the camel's hair is not
just referring to the color of his outfit.
Picture it-long and shaggy haired,
roughly cured, smelly dromedary skins
wrapped strategically around his body
-held in place
by a leather thong of sorts.
That's his daily wear.
Our descriptive notes
don't end with the fashion ensemble,
but continue on to discuss
his high protein, high sugar diet
of grasshoppers and wild honey.
The honey we understand
-the grasshoppers are less comprehensible
both to us now
and to those who gathered then.
John the Baptist was an odd sort
-makeshift clothes,
wild hair and no doubt
-bad breath
and yet he was a man
with a compelling message.
Get your act together
don't even think of waiting much longer.
The time has come,
the Lord is at hand,
something different is on its way.
You can be left on the sidelines
or you can repent,
have your sins forgiven
and be ready for the one
who is coming after me.
It's your choice and your chance
for something different.
Something more.
John is the wild man
-who demands action and offers hope.
God is coming,
the messiah is on the edge of the horizon
-your life
-our lives
-our world can change.
Wade into the water,
take the risk
its time to be ready for the change.
If now were then,
and you were there-
would you have gone out to see this man?
Would you have ventured forth
with the notion
-the hope that our lives can change.
The following story,
by Blayney Colmore,
the retired rector of
St. James by the Sea in LaJolla, Ca
appeared
in the San Diego Union Newspaper
this past week.
I do believe it has a bit
of the modern day John the Baptist in it.
A week ago today,
Colmore was taking his customary swim
in the ocean.
He writes,
Monday, there it was again,
the wheelchair in the
surf.
First time I saw it I was going for
a swim
on a chilly, overcast winter afternoon
feeling heroic
water temperature 57 degrees
no wet suit
just me, cap, goggles and my old leather skin
bucking the tide.
Just as I was about to dive into a breaking wave
the wheelchair materialized in my
peripheral vision.
Being a do-gooder
I let the wave crash coldly against me and
waded wide
right to rescue the chair.
It was stuck in sand, wouldn't budge.
Struggling, I heard
someone shouting
over the sound of the surf
and turned to see a man
up on the walk stretched on his back
on an odd sort of bicycle
his head and feet level, his hands on the pedals.
Shouting at
me.
"Don't touch the blank blank [God damn] chair,"
I made out over the roar of the breakers.
So I didn't.
Went for my swim and was catching a ride in.
Something bigger than some seals seemed submerged
in the wave
next to me.
In the shallows a man emerged.
Younger,
broader shouldered than I, he
steered to starboard and dragged himself by his
muscular arms
along the edge of the continent until he reached
the wheelchair.
Gripping the metal arms, he waited
for the full flood
of the next wave and, in a single mighty motion
boosted his body into his chair
clenched the wheels
rocking so violently I thought he'd
certainly capsize. He freed the frozen wheels and
plied himself, through soft sand,
to a van parked by the beach. (Pause)
I thought all astonishment had been wrung from me
when he hoisted himself into the
van's ramp, ratcheted up,
swung into the driver's seat and drove
away.
Starting to shiver from chill
and awe
I asked the
Lying-down- bicycle- man,
who had hollered at me,
to tell the story.
"We're spinal cord guys, training for a triathlon."
"Awesome!" I allowed.
"Not really," he responded.
"We only feel that 57 degree water on half our body."
John the Baptist pushed people
to look at a the world from a different perspective.
John the Baptist
is like the spinal cord guys
training for a triathalon.
Appearing out of the middle of nowhere
in the wilderness of our lives.
Not there-and then suddenly brashly among us.
What's the wheelchair doing there?
Not a normal wheelchair.
But one-- frozen in the sand
-overrun by waves
-home to a man
-who does not fit ordinary categories.
A John the Baptist type,
appearing,
surprising those who come upon him, pointing toward a different path,
a different way of understanding the world.
An individual
who does not let
the limitations of this world
set the boundaries for his hopes,
expectations and actions.
There's that wheelchair,
rocked by the waves,
silent sentinel,
reminding us
that there is so much more
that we can do,
that we can experience,
if we take the time
if we have the courage
to wander out into the cold water,
the water of difference and change,
the water beyond our land of comfort.
The Wheelchair,
wheels frozen in the sand,
parked among the waves
silently pointing out the possibilities
of moving past
what is now seen
and known
to what sits on the edge of the horizon.
The wheelchair-crying out
-"Lift up the valleys,
lay low the mountains,
level the uneven ground
and make the ragged places a plain."
Then when all things are reversed
-when all things are turned
upside down and inside out,
then the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed.
Then our God will be made known.
One wheelchair,
parked in the ocean,
proclaiming God's ability
to turn our world upside down.
Advent is that time
-that sacred holy time
when God calls us
-when God beckons us
to move to the edge
of what is known.
Advent is that time
when God invites us
to release the limitations
we have imposed upon our lives.
Advent is the time
when God calls us
to venture into the realms
of new hopes,
new joys,
new possibilities
always aware that with God
so very much more is possible
than we can ask or imagine.
Every valley shall be lifted up
-and every mountain and hill laid low
-And then the glory of the lord shall be revealed
and all the people shall see it.
Amen.