13th Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 16B

13th Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 16B August 22, 2021 This past week, I read a post on social media from a friend from high school. This woman, who is now a wife, a mother, and a judge, was sharing with her Facebook friends that her mother was in the ICU with non-Covid pneumonia. This family has had some tragic occurrences in the past decade, including the death by suicide of my friend’s father. I was intrigued by my friend’s post, so I’ll just read it to you: “I was taught a long time ago that all of us have a direct line to Jesus. None of us have more access than another. We can all go straight to the source. However, as I've gotten older, I've recognized that there are certain people who walk among us who seem to have a sensitivity to the spiritual world that is extraordinary. Maybe they listen better and are willing to hear more, so they know more, feel more, and are just more in tune. A friend of an aunt of mine is one of those people. When our family has a big prayer request, we send that request to her friend that I will just call "S." I've never met her, but I feel like I know her. I sure know her heart. I think her spirit must be one of the most beautiful on Earth…. I know many of you know my mama has pneumonia (non-Covid) and is in the hospital. She's been there for a week today. None of us have put it on Facebook, but most [everybody in our small town] knows she's there and it isn't a secret. She is a private woman, and I respect her privacy, but I also believe that when you are given a message by a woman who listens to and hears Jesus via the Holy Spirit---you don't just keep that to yourself. So, I'm not. S told us to pray, ‘Lord, turn it around.’ I've been praying it over and over and over today. I've prayed it for my mama, and I'd sure appreciate it if you would pray it for my mama, too. But S may hear more than she even knows she hears. Covid. "Lord, turn it around." Afghanistan and national security. "Lord, turn it around." The grief everywhere you look. "Lord, turn it around." The division that only gets deeper and wider. "Lord, turn it around." I believe S is a woman who is willing to listen and hear more than the average person. I know I don't need her to give me a prayer to pray for my mama for it to be some kind of magic. I also know that those who listen and hear get specific messages the rest of us may miss. So I'm humbly asking, if you are a pray-er, you consider praying the four simple words: "Lord, turn it around." And when you watch something in your world turn, will you post it? Your turn may be little to us but big to you. It may be big to every last one of us. It may make a huge difference to many, all over, no matter his or her belief or faith. It may give someone out there hope. And we ALL need a big, fat dose of hope. Lord, turn it around. Please.” Our Old Testament reading for today takes place just as Joshua is about to lead the Israelites into the promised land. Joshua recounts all the ways that Yahweh has saved the Israelites, and he urges them to renew the covenant that Yahweh made with them in the wilderness. As a part of that renewal, they will be pledging to turn solely toward Yahweh and to turn away from and renounce any of the gods of the land they are entering. “Choose this day whom you will serve…as for me and my house we will serve the Lord,” Joshua urges them. It has been interesting for me to think about how when we choose or turn toward something, we are inevitably turning away from something else. In this instance the people are choosing Yahweh and turning away from all other gods. But if we think about it, there are so many times in our lives that mean that when we choose one path, we are turning away from something else. I think of all the times I have chosen work and turned away from family. Times I have chosen my self and turned away from the other; chosen easy answers over mystery and uncertainty when it comes to my relationship with God. Times when I have chosen any and everything else and turned away from God and the way Jesus taught me how to be in this life. So as tempting as it is for me to pray my friend’s prayer, “Lord, turn it around” (and I certainly have been praying that for her mother Judy), I realize that the choices we each make and that we have all made together are what determine where we find ourselves now. So I can pray, “Lord, turn it around.” But I also need to pray, “Lord, turn us around. Lord, turn me around.” Because the nature of this human life and the nature of what we refer to as sin, is that most of us have never been able to consistently choose God, to consistently turn to God and away from the forces that destroy us. We see it in this story from Ancient Israel. We see it in the disciples who leave Jesus when his questions become too difficult. We see it everywhere in the world around us today. So this week, I invite you to pray for my friend’s mom who’s name is Judy. Pray that God will turn her pneumonia around. And I also invite you to join me in praying: “Lord, turn it around. Lord, turn us around. Lord, turn me around.” Covid. "Lord, turn it around. Turn us around. Lord, turn me around.” Afghanistan and national security. "Lord, turn it around. Turn us around. Turn me around.” Haiti "Lord, turn it around. Turn us around. Turn me around.” The grief everywhere you look. "Lord, turn it around. Turn us around. Turn me around.” The division that only gets deeper and wider. “Lord, turn it around. Lord, turn us around. Lord, turn me around. And lead us back to you.” Amen.