You Matter!

• Holly Fair is on November 29th from 9-1
• A Holiday Luncheon Tea with NQCA & CCNOT is on December 13th at noon (RSVP required)
• Next Death Cafes are November 15th and December 13th at 4pm (join us for an informal conversation around death and dying that may include curiosities, living well, and managing grief–we provide the sweetness with snacks and coffee)
• Discussion Circle with Pastor Charlotte is on November 30th after Church: “Discussions around Christmas and Winter’s Holy Days”; in person and via Zoom. An open discussion around how our themes and words inspire our way of living and being in the world
• Bible Study with Seth is on the 1st and 3rd Sundays after Church; in person and via Zoom

Watch the recording HERE

When we are deeply reading a Story, we want to use all of our mind and and all of our senses to really take in everything the Story has to offer.  To gather all of its meaning then and (more importantly) now.  

We want to “set the scene”.  Some people will argue that this isn’t like a novel, we’re not “setting a scene”, we’re not getting know “characters”, but within every story, there is time and place, and the Story is populated by people.  We want to get to know where we are.  We want to really get to know the people.  It is through this that we really understand what’s happening and what is the meaning.  If we don’t really sense in and deeply listen to the Stories, we get “flat characters” and we get a “flat story”.

We want, especially in our Great Stories, depth and meaning.  We want to explore the Story and people and meaning as much as possible.  We want to understand how and why these stories and these people…matter.  

We want to know where we are.  We want to know where we are in geography: what region, what town, what topography.  Are we high on a mountain or sitting beside a sea?  Are we at the bottom of the mountain or riding a stormy sea?  Where are we?  

We also want to know where we are in space.  Who is standing?  Who is sitting?  Who is walking on water? Who’s in the front and who’s in the background?  All this “setting stuff” will influence the meaning of the story.  

For example, where Jesus is up on the mountain with only a few of his disciples present is a different story (and meaning) than where Jesus is at the foot of the mountain with all people.  

We want to know who is there.  Who are the main people?  Who is at the center of the Story?  Who’s in the “second circle”?  Who are the common people and where are the common people?  It’s a whole different Story if the main crowd is way up and hidden away in the nose bleed seats and the rich people have the orchestra seats from a story where the common people are at front and center and the rich and powerful in the background, or a story where everyone is mingled together with no regard for status and power.  

Can we sense into the story?  Yes, exactly, sense.  What are the sounds and the feels?  What are the tastes and the smells?  It’s not just seeing the story, but being fully immersed in the story.  

We get a bigger picture when we “sense into” the story.  These Stories are full of crowds and geography that is often loud, smelly, pushy, dirty, and overwhelming.  These are comforting Stories, but they are not often comfortable.  

We might even notice…what’s “missing” from the Story.  Or who is “missing” from the Story.  That is also “telling”.    

The more we explore the Story, the more we discover ourselves.  

Let’s start with setting.  Jesus has “come down” in this Story.  He comes “down” from the mountain with his disciples to teach the masses and to be with the masses.  He doesn’t go “up” the mountain to teach.  He doesn’t just teach his close disciples and then let them go teach the common people.  He teaches the masses.  

This is God, or the Teacher Jesus, coming “down” into the fold of the everyday people.  Notice how many people are here.  Everyone.  Everyone is here, from all over.  The believers and the nonbelievers.  The rich and the poor.  The sick in body, sick in heart, and sick in mind.  The hungry.  The forgotten.  The ignored.  The people we turn away from.  

This is a BIG crowd and Jesus not only comes down to be near them, he walks among them.  Not only does he walk among them, he kneels before them.  He has made himself vulnerable with the vulnerable.  

Jesus is on his knees healing the sick.  This is the man who washes feet, uses spit and mud to heal, and touches the untouchable.  He is among the people.  He is walking with. Jesus is acting out: Compassion.  Walking with all people.  All people.  

It is a beautiful scene.  Uncomfortable, but comforting.  

In these Beatitudes there is a deep sense of belonging.  Everyone belongs.  This scene turns the world upside down and it should still do so for us.  It should change us.  Where are we in this story?  We are part of the multitudes.  We are a part of all people and with all people.  

Jesus creates a setting where all people belong. But…it’s not just belonging…it’s more than that.   

I was reading the work of a friend this past week who works around mental health.  One of her topics is on “Mattering”.  Mattering is more than belonging and it seem that this is what is happening in the Jesus Movement.  

Let me explain (and there is much more to this work than what I am sharing here).  Belonging means we are part of the group.  Inclusion means that we have an active role in our group.  Mattering means that we feel valued by the group and are adding value to the group.   

It is more than just belonging.  It is significance to the group.  

People who feel that they matter are healthier and more resilient.  They are less likely to fall into patterns of abuse (in all its forms).  People who feel they matter are less lonely.  It’s not just that we are surrounded by people that keeps us from being lonely, it’s that we matter to those people.  This is where we can see, perhaps, the difference between belonging to a group and mattering a group.  

We are more isolated, lonely, and divided than ever.  Many of us don’t even feel like we belong anywhere, let alone matter.  

Before we move on, let me share the “opposites” to mattering: unseen, unheard, and unvalued.  

Mattering is what Jesus does.  We call it by something else, but it is mattering.  People feel seen, heard, and of value.  This is what is happening in this scene. 

Jesus comes down from the mountain and walks among the group.  He notices and sees all the people, not just the wealthy or the powerful (those we can too easily begin to think “matter more”).  He also walks among not just the people who already believe in what he has to say, but the nonbelievers and the skeptics.  Everyone belongs and is seen.  

He also affirms the people. Jesus kneels down and touches and heals.  We know this, because when he begins the words of the sermon…”he lifted his eyes”.  Jesus looks up.  He is not standing and preaching from on high.  He is grounded.  He affirms each person by being with them and reaching out to them and not being afraid to be vulnerable.  He is not afraid to touch them.  Jesus connects by connecting, with literal touch.  

He has gifted the people with a work, something that matters.  “Blessed” in Jesus’s language (Aramaic) is not passive!  It is actively doing.  We have been gifted with a work, something that matters.  Jesus cannot do this alone.  He teaches those gathered that they are needed.  

We are seen.  We are affirmed.  We are needed.  

One could say that being redeemed is that we are loved, seen, and forgiven, but that being a part of the resurrection is a call to what matters: to love, to see, and to forgive ourselves and others.  We are needed to orient ourselves and our fellow beings toward what matters most.  We are needed to walk with compassion with others, as Jesus has walked (walks) with compassion for us.