This is what
prophets do; they show how present events might connect to God and God's purposes.
-Matt Skinner http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2837
Carrying
my black duffle bag, I entered the laundromat…the one next to Indy Taco and
down the strip mall from the Mississippi Belle Restaurant. I didn’t have any coins. Apparently, I left them back in Minnesota, in
Jeff’s truck, so I was scoping out change machines. I also didn’t have any soap, even though I
had just been over at the Family Dollar Store minutes before.
I went
to the counter where two women were chatting to ask if there was any laundry
detergent available.
Before
I had a chance to ask, I overheard a little of their conversation. “We are going to start studying John next.”
Of
course, I couldn’t remain silent.
“John. That’s a good one!”
Both
of the women looked over to me and one asked me if I was also a part of a
national Bible Study program. I said no,
but then introduced myself as the new priest at St. Alban’s. I was joyfully
welcomed!
I got
my laundry started and sat down with the other customer, who introduced herself
as Audree. A friendly woman, she showed
me a photo of her grandson on his way to prom.
He graduates next week. She told
me about being a little Black girl in a white neighborhood in the south, about
being in the Army during the Vietnam War, about all the places she goes to meet
God. She is active in her Methodist
church, but she also goes to activities at The Crossing, and yoga at another
church. She found her calling as a care
giver to the elderly, the dying and the dead when she was a child, and she is
an active volunteer at a nursing home.
Her knee was recently replaced, so she can now be more active. Active enough to plan to come over here and
volunteer in the Peace Garden.
She
lives in Fishers, but has developed a relationship with the ladies who work at
this laundromat, so she brings the big stuff, like the rugs, and the white
towels that need extra bleach here, so that she can continue her
relationships.
It was
a lovely conversation. We exchanged our
contact information and hugged before she departed.
The
woman who was working was doing what I did years ago when I worked in a
laundromat: washing other people’s
clothes. She said that some people are
too busy to do their own laundry, so they drop it off and pay by the
pound. She did it joyfully, chatting
with the patrons, providing a comfortable environment for those of us doing one
of those jobs that we all have to do and one that is never-ending.
After
Audree left, this gal told me about her life.
About how shortly after her son was born and she divorced her husband
she was sitting in her apartment and a storm came up. Now, she wasn’t involved in church at the
time, but this storm changed that.
Through the trees she could see a cross.
The wind was whipping those branches, but she could see a cross behind
them. The next day, she went to the
other side of the tree, and there was the church. On Sunday, she walked in and asked what she
could do. The pastor pointed to the
children’s Sunday School area and she went.
As it happens, she showed up just in time. The Sunday School coordinator was leaving the
church that day, and that Baptist church did not know what they were going to
do.
She is
still the coordinator of that ministry.
I
suspect she has been for at least 40 years.
When I
left the laundromat, less than 90 minutes later, I went to this woman and
thanked her for her hospitality and her welcome. We hugged.
I
never expected to feel that way leaving a laundromat.
Last
week we learned that Jesus prayed for us.
For our ministries. For us to be
One in Him, as he is One in God. It was
a big prayer. A prayer with a goal that
no matter where Jesus followers come from, no matter their context or their
time in history, they are all One in God.
We
three women, a Baptist, a Methodist and me, were One in God.
It
reminded me of the old days, where the women met at the river, beating clothes
on the rocks, talking, teaching, ministering with the rhythm of the waves and
the whisper of the wind.
Okay,
we weren’t at the river, and doing laundry today isn’t really all that hard,
but we were still talking. We created a
community and shared our love for Jesus and for God in the mundane.
Each
of us came from different places, from different times, with different
experiences. Even though we all spoke
English, we still spoke different languages because of where we come from. We freely spoke of how God was present in our
lives, of how the Holy Spirit has guided our callings, of how we trust Jesus. We spoke of our love and devotion toward our
faith, our faith communities, our desire to seek out holy, life-giving
resources beyond our walls and we experienced God.
While
we spoke, a gentle breeze blew through the doors of that warm space.
We
were One in the Spirit.
Jesus
spoke of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, as he helped Phillip know more fully
the presence of the Spirit of Truth that abided in him and would continue to
abide in all who follow Jesus. We need this Spirit to help us do the work Jesus
has asked us to do.
We
need Her, the Holy Spirit, to be present with us so that we are able to feel
the gentle or not-so-gentle nudge of God in our lives and in our ministry.
We
need the Spirit to take away fear or worry or anxiety when we open the door,
figuratively or literally, on something new or different with people we may or
may not be able to understand.
She is
there to help us, to be the Advocate, opening hearts, ears, and arms to receive
what it is God has to say, in whatever language it is being said, wherever it
can be found.
And
the Spirit creates and provides opportunities like I had in the
laundromat. There was a different one
about two blocks away where I could have gone to wash my clothes, but I went to
this one, where these women were because it was where we were all called to be
at that moment in time. The Spirit blew
softly through the door, circled around us and helped us see God’s love in one
another.
We
found grace.
We
found peace.
We
found hope.
How do
I know? Because each of us embraced one
another in the Spirit of Christ and in the Love of God.
We
embraced.
I
later thought about those hugs. Here I
was, hugging two women I had just met.
It seems like a simple act of kindness, but it really was more.
Those
hugs were an expression between
two unique individuals, individuals who brought their own history, their own
religion, their own culture and who embraced a common message that God is
present.
In those hugs, we crossed an invisible barrier
breaking walls that may, for some, hinder understanding and which can sometimes
divide and separate people across faith, politics, education, race, and ability.
In those hugs, we were One in the Spirit. We were One with God.
Never mind the differences. Never mind the years between our ages, or the
variation of the pigment in our skin, or what is in our bank accounts, or the
nuances of language we used. We were living
the prayer of Jesus, that all who follow would be One. We were speaking of
God’s work in us and in the world. We
were fulfilling the expectation of Jesus, that we love one another.
A gentle breeze blew through those doors. Three women embraced because God was in our
midst. Three women became friends in the
Lord.
Let us pray.
Come, Holy Spirit, blow gently
through our windows and our doors, through our minds and into our hearts. Breathe on us, breath of God, for we need to
feel your presence. Enter our lives,
fill us with strength to do what it is you need us to do in this world. Use us to share your love, to show your love
and to shower your love. Come, Holy
Spirit. Come. Amen.