Let us as a community of faith break the fast of Ramadan and the feast of anger

For Sunday’s sermon I will start with an exegetical breakdown of the lost and found stories in Luke with an emphasis on the rejoicing by the one doing the seeking at the lost being returned to the completeness of the community, the family of God. I will then follow up with the comments regarding 9/11 below. For information on this I was inspired by the exegetical studies of Brian Stoffregen at crossmarks: http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke15x1x10.htm

It has been nine long years since the fanatically fueled hatred of fear flew the planes into the twin towers of the world trade center and fear spread around the world. In that initial attack some three thousand individuals from seventy nations lost their lives and the world was set in mourning. For a brief period in time we were surrounded in our grief by the thoughts and prayers of all but a few throughout this world. Since that time the fanatically fueled hatred of fear has continued to rear its ugly head as those who quest for power and possessions in this world seized this opportunity for peace and compassion and turned it instead into a feeding frenzy of fear coming from many factions throughout the world and leaving tens of thousands of victims strewn along its many paths.

On Saturday a solemn ceremony again gathered at the site of the destruction and remembered the victims. Names were read, lives remembered as we recalled those lost to us, but not God, on that day. There were also the voices of protest, the voices that continue the call to live in the darkness and thickets of fear.

We have now reached another point in history, and with it another opportunity. Amid the media feeding frenzy of mosque buildings and burnings and the public desecration of sacred texts and sacred days, there is a convergence of events that opens the door to truly celebrate our calling to love the Lord our God with all our heart, our soul and our mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves. At least in theory combat operations in Iraq are over. The naiveté of that statement not withstanding it at least marks a major change in focus from conflict to reconciliation. After many long years Israeli and Palestinian officials have been brought together and there are at least the beginnings of talks between the major parties in that pressure cooker of the mid-east which even if it only manages to let off a little steam, it is a move in the right direction. The costs of war, neglect and greed have taken their toll on the jobs, finances and futures of many not only in this country but throughout the world and although the battle continues there is at least the glimmer of hope on the horizon. In the Islamic world, Ramadan, a time of fasting and focus on humility, forgiveness, patience and spirituality has ended as they prepare to move on with life much as Christians do moving from lent to Easter.

My son asked a tongue in cheek question on his facebook page yesterday. If I didn't fast, can I still celebrate? He was referring to Eid ul-Fitr the Islamic celebration of the breaking of the fast following Ramadan. The question is can we all begin to celebrate the end of a time of mourning and self reflection and move into the light. Can we allow ourselves to be found by the God who seeks and celebrate with our brothers and sisters throughout the world the joy of coming together in completeness?

Following the events of September 11, 2001 rather than taking the opportunity of a world in grief to forge a new solidarity and quest for peace many in this world chose instead to feast on anger. Fredric Buechner describes it this way. Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back--in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.

The angry feast of war is over and we are left with the skeleton of our former economy, many are ready to move forward and the journey will be long, but even if we didn’t fast on purpose, can we still celebrate Eid ul-Fitr, the breaking of this fast with our Islamic and Jewish brothers and sisters in this world along with people of faith everywhere as we move forward and allow ourselves to be found by the one searching for us? Can we heed the call to come out of the thickets and weeds, out of the dark hiding places and into the light of our Lord and Savior and celebrate with joy the community coming together? Can we begin to grasp the uneasiness of incompleteness we have learned to live so comfortably with and learn to reach out to neighbors in this community, across the street and across the world with the message that we are not complete without you? And then can we join the young maiden, and those who have been lost in the thickets, weeds and dark places everywhere and celebrate with the shepherd who has found us the light that shines into the lives of all creation? Can we take this convergence of events, this time of humility, forgiveness and spirituality to reach out, not in anger and fear, but in solidarity and community with all those created in the image of God and called good?

Let us as a community of faith break the fast of Ramadan and the feast of anger and fear as we move forward with the message that God’s grace is for all of humanity regardless of the names and traditions used to celebrate this God who seeks us where we are hiding. And let us as a community of faith reject and confront the messages of fear and hatred with the light and the life the God who seeks us and calls us into the light to celebrate with joy when we are found and reunited in a community of peace.