Matthew 18:20; 25:35-36
“Where two or three gather in my name, I am there with you.”
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
I grew up in a home where the Winnie the Pooh books were read. They were read to me when I was small, and when my own children were little I read them the same books with their delightful stories that usually emphasized, in some way, the gentle, understated kindness of the characters. Our grandchildren were raised on them, too.
In the last year or so there have been Winnie the Pooh references popping up often on Facebook – nostalgia, I suspect – as well as gentle reminders to care about each other.
I saw a post recently of one particular story that was always one of my favorites. It's a mini story, where Pooh and his best friend Piglet realize that they haven’t seen nor heard from another friend, Eeyore, the perpetually depressed donkey, for several days. So they grab their jackets and hike over to Eeyore’s house (which is only a lean-to made of sticks) to check up on him.
When they ask how he’s doing, Eeyore mumbles on for a while but ends up replying that he is feeling rather sad, and alone, and not much fun to be around at all. (This is basically Eeyore’s regular state of being.)
Pooh and Piglet looked at each other, and then they sat down, one on either side of Eeyore, and announced that they are Eeyore’s friends, and friends don’t leave their friends to be alone and lonely, especially when they are rather sad, and alone, and not much fun to be around at all. The three sat there quietly, and very slowly, Eeyore began to feel not so sad and lonely.
This story became popularized on-line at a time when the numbers of people dealing with depression are higher than ever. COVID forced us into distancing ourselves from each other, as well as throwing many people into unemployment, and eventually even homelessness – and, in many cases, hopelessness.
This story within a story within a story comes from A.A. Milne’s “The House at Pooh Corner”, published in 1928, but for many people, the story still fits our time remarkably well.
We have lived within COVID’s story for the past four years, and four years is a very long time. Things are getting better now as a whole, but for many people the depression is still very much how their lives feel.
So, what does this have to do with us sitting here this Sunday morning? Well, just last week a friend, Bentley Stewart, posted a thought which I suspect he had been pondering for quite a while. He wrote that for him, the most profound Spiritual truth is “Emmanuel,” meaning "God with us." He went on to explain that when we show up for each other, we are the embodiment of God's Emmanuel. Further, Jesus himself promised that "whenever two or more gather in my name, I am in their midst."
As soon as I read those words they linked up, in my thoughts, with the Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore story I started out with today. “When we show up for each other...” That’s what we are called to do – show up for each other. It’s not just a heartwarming story – this is our calling as followers of Christ.
Bentley explained that when we can avoid the felt need on our part to ‘fix’ another and just settle into ‘being with’ them, we can then experience ourselves and each other as Emmanuel. (Thanks, Bentley)
Emmanuel is more than a word, a concept. We become a vessel for ‘God with us.’ We embody it. And just how do we embody Emmanuel? Well, our second reading gives us some ideas there ... I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me ...
Most of us who belong to a church community of some sort are familiar (and comfortable) with giving food to the hungry and drink for the parched; but we can also give what Pooh and Piglet gave to Eeyore – acknowledgement of another’s valued existence. We can’t fix depression, but we can most certainly be with our sisters and brothers who suffer. We can show them they are not alone.
There’s all kinds of ways – Matthew offers us several: Meeting a stranger and welcoming them in; giving the sick not only medical care but sharing time and attention with them when they feel cut off from human contact; visiting those who are imprisoned by disabilities, by fear, by poverty and showing them they are not forgotten.
That, it seems to me, is truly embodying Emmanuel. Jesus promises that anytime two or three are together, he is there also – all we have to do is care enough to show up.
In the last year or so there have been Winnie the Pooh references popping up often on Facebook – nostalgia, I suspect – as well as gentle reminders to care about each other.
I saw a post recently of one particular story that was always one of my favorites. It's a mini story, where Pooh and his best friend Piglet realize that they haven’t seen nor heard from another friend, Eeyore, the perpetually depressed donkey, for several days. So they grab their jackets and hike over to Eeyore’s house (which is only a lean-to made of sticks) to check up on him.
When they ask how he’s doing, Eeyore mumbles on for a while but ends up replying that he is feeling rather sad, and alone, and not much fun to be around at all. (This is basically Eeyore’s regular state of being.)
Pooh and Piglet looked at each other, and then they sat down, one on either side of Eeyore, and announced that they are Eeyore’s friends, and friends don’t leave their friends to be alone and lonely, especially when they are rather sad, and alone, and not much fun to be around at all. The three sat there quietly, and very slowly, Eeyore began to feel not so sad and lonely.
This story became popularized on-line at a time when the numbers of people dealing with depression are higher than ever. COVID forced us into distancing ourselves from each other, as well as throwing many people into unemployment, and eventually even homelessness – and, in many cases, hopelessness.
This story within a story within a story comes from A.A. Milne’s “The House at Pooh Corner”, published in 1928, but for many people, the story still fits our time remarkably well.
We have lived within COVID’s story for the past four years, and four years is a very long time. Things are getting better now as a whole, but for many people the depression is still very much how their lives feel.
So, what does this have to do with us sitting here this Sunday morning? Well, just last week a friend, Bentley Stewart, posted a thought which I suspect he had been pondering for quite a while. He wrote that for him, the most profound Spiritual truth is “Emmanuel,” meaning "God with us." He went on to explain that when we show up for each other, we are the embodiment of God's Emmanuel. Further, Jesus himself promised that "whenever two or more gather in my name, I am in their midst."
As soon as I read those words they linked up, in my thoughts, with the Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore story I started out with today. “When we show up for each other...” That’s what we are called to do – show up for each other. It’s not just a heartwarming story – this is our calling as followers of Christ.
Bentley explained that when we can avoid the felt need on our part to ‘fix’ another and just settle into ‘being with’ them, we can then experience ourselves and each other as Emmanuel. (Thanks, Bentley)
Emmanuel is more than a word, a concept. We become a vessel for ‘God with us.’ We embody it. And just how do we embody Emmanuel? Well, our second reading gives us some ideas there ... I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me ...
Most of us who belong to a church community of some sort are familiar (and comfortable) with giving food to the hungry and drink for the parched; but we can also give what Pooh and Piglet gave to Eeyore – acknowledgement of another’s valued existence. We can’t fix depression, but we can most certainly be with our sisters and brothers who suffer. We can show them they are not alone.
There’s all kinds of ways – Matthew offers us several: Meeting a stranger and welcoming them in; giving the sick not only medical care but sharing time and attention with them when they feel cut off from human contact; visiting those who are imprisoned by disabilities, by fear, by poverty and showing them they are not forgotten.
That, it seems to me, is truly embodying Emmanuel. Jesus promises that anytime two or three are together, he is there also – all we have to do is care enough to show up.
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