Transcript
Twice a year, I get to put on this chasuble and facetiously ask the congregation what colour they think it is. Invariably, someone boldly suggests that it’s pink, to which I reply, “In fact, it’s rose, because Jesus rose from the dead!” Lame? A little bit, but did it bring a smile to your face? As we eagerly anticipate Christmas, Gaudete Sunday is all about rejoicing at Jesus’ presence in our lives. “Look,” Isaiah proclaims, “your God is coming… He is coming to save you!” Friends, our faith is so much more than about what we believe and profess. Because it’s principally about our reaction and subsequent action to what God does and is doing in our lives. “Tell others what you see and hear,” Jesus says, don’t keep it to yourself! I’d like to share a joyful story with you. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of anointing an elderly woman in the palliative care ward. She was dying from cancer in both lungs after a lifetime of smoking. The light in her eyes was dim as she shared with me her pain that her children didn’t practice the faith she’d done her best to pass on. Immediately after laying hands on her and anointing her forehead and palms, however, her eyes lit up as with a joyful smile, she whispered, “It’s going from here to here.” It wasn’t lost on me that the gentle warmth she was describing went from the site of her anointing to the site of her cancer. And do you know what she whispered next? She said, “Now I can tell my family that it’s all true, Jesus is real.” Friends, may we rejoice at Jesus’ living presence in our lives. Amen.