Falling Into Grace:
"It’s OK. Be Nice To You. Be Strong and Turn Toward God."
Ruth 1: 1-18; Mark 12: 28-34
An adaptation of Ann Weem’s "Touch In Church"
November 5, 2006

What is all this touching in church? It used to be a person could come to church and sit in the pew and not be bothered by all this friendliness and certainly not by touching. I used to come to church and leave untouched. Now I have to be nervous about what’s expected of me. I have to worry about responding to the person sitting next to me. Oh, I wish it could be the way it used to be; I could just ask the person next to me: How are you? And the person could answer: Oh, just fine, And we’d both go home…strangers who have known each other for twenty years.

But now the pastor invites us to look at each other. And, I’m worried about that hurt look I saw in that woman’s eyes. I’m concerned, because when the pastor asks us to pass the peace, the man next to me held my hand so tightly I wondered what’s wrong. Now I’m upset because the lady next to me cried and then apologized and said it was because I was so kind and she needed a friend right now.

Now I have to get involved. Now I have to suffer when this community suffers. Now I have to be more than a person coming to observe a service. That man last week told me I’d never know how much I’d touched his life when all I did was smile and tell him I understood what it was to be lonely. And I wonder if it’s time to go to one of these Living Waters Sunday Night Retreats….for the hurting, the loneliness, the assurance, the touching.

Lord, I’m not big enough to touch and be touched! …at least not on my own. The giving and receiving scares me. What if I disappoint somebody? What if I’m too pushy? What if I linger too long? What if somebody ignores me? What if somebody truly sees me….and touches me?

Lord, sometimes I’m not so sure that I deserve to be touched or that I am worthy of touching someone else….because so much of my own life feels out of control…and no one knows about my shortcomings the way I do!

And now they ask me touch others not only with a hand shake…but with a commitment to be here, to support instead of observe, to stretch my wallet and not only my spirit….they say it is for my good as well as the church’s ministry.

And not just some little adjustment…but truly give more of myself. Can I stretch for others? Should I? Would I? Will someone else stretch for me?

Well, I guess someone is…already has.…stretched for me….that’s why the lights are already on, our pastor is already full time, our mission is strong, and our members and friends growing….and I have done little differently in my life to support it! I guess I feel more like I’ve fallen from grace than fallen into grace.

Here’s what I notice at this church:
I’m noticing the focus isn’t on what’s broken but what’s working, not on what’s fair…we can’t all do and be the same. I noticing it’s not about carrying as little as you can get away with….trusting someone else will pick up the slack…the focus seems to be on….YOU Lord! Like Ruth’s focus on Naomi, like Jesus’ focus on us….like when the scribe invites us not to give only cheap, already burnt offerings but real devotion. ….loving my neighbor as myself….loving my God with all that I am….not just my thoughts, not just my prayers, not just my works, not just money….all of me all the time.

But…..what if nobody but me gives more? What if nobody but me shows up? Would it matter…be OK? …..it’s sorta like that old saying….if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does its falling make a sound? If only I give, I show up, does anyone notice? Do you, Lord? Will it make a difference even if no one sees?

Do I only give if someone is looking? Do I only care when I can see what I get in return? Do I only do the things easy for me to do? Do I only want to touch but not be touched? Have things the way I want them and expect someone else to do for me?

Mean it when I say: "Pass the peace." "The peace of God be with you." "And also with you."

Lord, I can’t resist meaning it!
I’m touched by it, I’m enveloped by it! I find I do care about that person next to me! I find I am involved, even if I don’t want to be! I belong and the ministry matters more than grumbling, personalities, challenges, chairs, my weekly splurges of coffee or cigarettes or even my cell phone.

And I’m scared.

O Lord, be here beside me. Touch me, Lord, so I can touch and be touched! So I can care and be cared for! So I can share my life with all those others that belong to You! So I can find a way to be really nice to the really real me…and turn toward You…really return to You….give me Ruth’s courage and the scribe’s wisdom.

All this touching in church—Lord, it’s changing me! Maybe I am…Falling Into Grace!