St. Luke's Blogs

“Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.”

One of my favorite characters in all musicals is Bishop Myriel. It is a small role in the powerful musical Les Misérables. This amazing musical is based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name. Bishop Myriel, in both the book and the musical, is a pivotal character that helps to change the life of Jean Valjean. The Bishop encounters Valjean, homeless and hopeless, and invites him to come and stay at his residence where he can rest and be fed.  Jean Valjean’s encounter with this humble, caring clergy sends him down the path of redemption and new life.

When our two daughters – now teenagers – were around 5 years old, we watched “The Sound of Music” in a continuous loop. I can still picture our girls sitting on a staircase singing “So Long, Farewell” or sitting on their beds singing “My Favorite Things.” The mantras “the hills are alive with the sound of music” and “climb every mountain” are not only musical tunes in our family, but have come to represent favorite memories of our trips to Colorado and motivational reminders that together we can accomplish just about anything.

Mark records the amazing journey of Jesus and his disciples. Much of their journey and ministry together took place around the Sea of Galilee. They would move throughout the villages in this area teaching and sharing the message that God’s kingdom was present and open to all the people of the world. This is the good news. As they moved throughout the villages, Jesus and his disciples would often encounter people who needed help. There were many requests, most often for feeding or healing. Jesus would respond with mercy.

I love standing at the top of the stairs at St. Luke’s Downtown and hearing little feet hurrying to get to the top for children’s Sunday school. On a recent Sunday morning, Jack hurried upstairs and as we greeted one another he exuberantly exclaimed, “I’m SO excited!” I thought perhaps his family was leaving on vacation that day, or maybe it was his birthday, so I asked, “What’s so exciting?” To which he loudly and excitedly replied, his face beaming, “I’m in God’s house!”

The disciples were faced with a difficult task when Jesus was crucified, rose from the grave and ascended into heaven. Jesus asked them to continue the work he begun and, “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) The book of Acts is the story of how the disciples worked to fulfill this commission given to them.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

“Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.” -1 Peter 3: 8-9

In 1965 I was six years old; my sister was five and my little sister had just turned three. I remember my Dad taking us to see The Sound of Music at the movie theater in England. Of course, at that time there were people who came by at intermission and sold ice cream and candy, as well as drinks. That was the most important part of the outing, or so I thought at the time.

One of the Olympic athletes I will be watching this year is Sydney McLaughlin. Sydney will be representing the USA this year. She will be running the 400m hurdles. Her list of track accomplishments is long. She began competing in track at the age of six. By 2016, she had already earned a spot on the USA delegation to the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. She was only 16, one of the youngest track athletes to compete for the USA. She is talented, and she is a favorite to win the Gold this year. I will not be cheering for Sydney simply because of her athletic skills. I will be cheering for this young lady because she is a strong person of faith.