Streams of Mercy
With the coming of fall each year, I remember a special experience on my journey of life and faith; it’s time for the Presbyterian Pilgrimage (formerly Cursillo) Week-end. Pilgrimage is much like the “Walk to Emmaus,” but instead of having separate week-ends for men and women, Pilgrimage is a mix of women and men together. My Pilgrimage was in the fall of my first year as pastor of a small Presbyterian Church in south-central Virginia. This experience was a great blessing in my life that deepened my faith, and I was blessed to be a part of the leadership team for other retreats during my years in ministry in that special place. We met at Camp Hat Creek, in the Presbytery of the Peaks, and that spot became “holy ground” for many of us.
We talked a lot about grace – “the precious, unmerited favor of God” as the song goes. We spoke of life as a journey, with a current of grace carrying us through; and of looking for bits and pieces of grace in all the struggles and difficulties to be faced along the way. We shared our lives, we laid our burdens at the foot of the cross, we sang and prayed and laughed and cried, we broke bread and shared the cup, we renewed our baptismal vows, we received letters of appreciation and encouragement written by family and friends, we were loved by the leadership team and by our small groups; and through that love, we experienced deeper measures of God’s love. At the closing service, we were given a special cross with a rainbow cord (De Colores – the many colors of Gods’ love) to mark the moment. The words “Christ is counting on you,” were spoken; our reply was, “And I am counting on Christ.” Our journeys of life and faith are richer for such moments all along the way.
Yesterday’s passage from Matthew’s gospel told of the generous landowner, who hired workers for his vineyard early in the day, and agreed upon the daily wage to be paid. The story tells of the landowner’s repeated trips to the marketplace; his repeated call for workers to come to his vineyard. He won’t stop going back and forth into town; he won’t stop calling, inviting, seeking and offering- until everyone is at work. This is the story of God who refuses to leave us alone, refuses to leave things with just what is fair; God who comes out and pursues us, seeks us, and finds us – early or late. The grumbling begins when the last to work are paid first and the first to work are paid last – and all are paid the agreed upon daily wage!
The truth of the matter is that we’re all 11th hour workers; we’re all recipients of a blessing far beyond our own effort or deserving. When we truly allow ourselves to recognize and experience the generosity of God’s grace, we have some understanding of the giver of that grace, and we begin to grow in our understanding of sharing that grace with each other.
In her book Traveling Mercies, Ann Lamotte writes, “I do not understand at all the mystery of grace, only that God meets us where we are, but doesn’t leave us there.” Thanks be to God for that good news!
Elizabeth