Seems as if everywhere you look today, people are encouraging us to reduce, reuse, recycle.  That little triangle symbol shaped by 3 arrows is all the rage.  After years of puzzling the cashiers at Target or the grocery store when I told them I didn’t really need a bag,  they now are encouraging me to bring my own!  Instead of just us grown up hippies remembering Earth Day, rinsing out our tin cans to put in special trash bins, and tying up piles of old newspapers, we suddenly have found we’re not alone anymore. Turns out, recycling is cool!  Buying second hand, finding another use, freecycling appliances and household goods have all become the new normal. We’re all so cutting edge and hip!

But what happens when we recycle faith?  What if going green refers not only to the physical creation, but even to the love that God has for each of us? One of the first bible verses I remember memorizing as a child was this one: We love because God first loved us. We are creatures that share the goodness of God. God’s love is ours so that we can love others. The best sign of God’s love being ours is when we offer love to others. And the best sign of our offering love to others, is when we discover we are loved in return.  What goes around comes around, and it’s all good.

You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? How many times have we said these words to others – I thought I was there to help, but I found that I was the one who was being ministered to.  It’s the amazing thing about caring for others, we’re almost always being cared for in the process.

The story in Acts we read today is an early example of this. Listen to all the surprising ways healing is recycled in this story.  A girl is healed, but her healers are imprisoned. The prisoners sing praises so freely that their guard can’t help but listen in. An earthquake brings freedom.  The powerful prison guard becomes terrified. The imprisoned ones experience peace.  The captor ministers to the captives’ wounds. The grace and peace that Paul and Silas know is shared with the guard’s entire household. The one who offers comfort is the one who receives salvation.  You can lose track of which characters are being healed and which ones are healer. And I believe that’s the point. God’s healing is so freely poured out in this story, it’s being shared in all directions.

The same thing seems to happen in our gospel text.  Jesus prays not only for his immediate followers, but also on behalf of those who will believe in him through their word, that they may all be one. But isn’t that us?  Jesus is praying that we also might be one, just as he is one with this disciples, just as God is one with him. Jesus prays that God’s love be in them, in us, just as God’s love is in him.

If you read the passage carefully, the subjects get confused – God in Jesus, and Jesus in those for whom he prays.  That they may all be one, Thou in me and I in thee…  Christ in God’s love, Christ in me, God’s love in them, I in God.  You can lose track of who is loving and who is being loved. Perhaps that’s the point. God’s love is so freely poured out in Jesus, it’s being shared in all directions.

Today at Gloria Dei, we are honoring and encouraging the Care Based Ministries of the congregation. We are remembering all the people who through this congregation offer care and support to other members of the community.  Eucharistic ministers take communion to our homebound members.  Care Team ministers connect with someone who might need a friendly visit or help getting groceries. 1-to-1 ministers carry a greeting to a member at holiday times.  As they will again today, prayer teams offer prayers of healing to those who long for a caring touch in the midst of their journey.  Quilters make quilts;  knitters knit prayer shawls; van drivers pick up riders;  neighbors cook and deliver meals;  friends offer to take the kids for an afternoon.

Some of these heroes work so quietly behind the scenes that the rest of us never even know that care has been extended.  But all of them offer comfort that is based first on God’s love for us.  The healing of God is best experienced when it’s passed on to another. Recycled comfort turns out to have been in fashion around here for a long, long time.

Our Parish Nurse Mary Jo Hallberg has been collecting stories of recycled comfort lately, and with permission of those who are involved, is writing up many of these stories in her Guide article for June.  I’ve been given permission to borrow a few of them now.  (Notice that I didn’t say, “steal;” I think the whole point is that they’re not really “steal-able.”  These stories are recycled signs of God’s love in the first place, and we are privileged enough to be able to share them.)

Here are a few we know of:

One of our members writes the following:  When I became a Eucharistic minister several years ago, I didn’t realize that my own life would be blessed in so many ways. Through the nourishment of the shared meal, the prayers, the listening and reminiscing, and the joy seen in another’s face, I am reminded how our extended welcome brings comfort and helps to heal feelings of alienation. Having a connection to our community is so vital, and the relatively simple act of visiting someone, bringing them a copy of the Sunday bulletin, and sharing communion together truly reconnects people to this community. 

One of our Care Team members describes her work with homebound members that she’s been involved with for more than 10 years.  I have been touched to the heart by each of the Care Partners I have come to know!   One of my Care Partners was a very sweet and elegant lady, whose husband had recently died.  She was grieving terribly, without family remaining in town, and her ability to care for herself gradually diminished, but she maintained her hospitality and thoughtfulness all through our relationship… She nurtured my spirit, as much as I did hers, by opening her heart to me.  I really miss her gracious spirit.

One of the Women of Gloria Dei circles, the Esther Circle has grown wise together.  They talk about their ongoing ministry to each other as their numbers have dwindled.   Six of our members are now homebound.  [The other five of us] gather treats, coffee, plates, cups and napkins and take our Circle on the road.  Each month we visit one of our homebound circle members.  So far we have visited [two of our circle members].  We will see [four others] in the coming months.  Have Circle;  will travel!  The care these friends have received from each other is not limited by their difficulties in getting together, they’ve just found more creative ways to share it. 

A member reconnects with a widow whose late husband was an inspiration to him when he picks her up for worship.  A young mother receives an unexpected sign of grace when a more experienced mother reaches over to take her baby so that she can attend to the needs of her older children.  A mentor and confirmation student visit a homebound couple and receive their incredible witness.

I could keep talking, but I don’t need to.  I suspect if we listen to each other we could all hear stories of recycled comfort whispered right here.

God’s grace is flowing.  God’s healing is being shared, from wounded healer to wounded healer, from prisoner to freed one, from hurting soul to caring friend, from compassionate heart to open arms, from the beloved to the beloved, God in us and we in God, that we may all be one.  Caring, healing, welcoming carers, healers, welcomers, recycled comforters and living signs of Grace. that we may all be one.

Today we give thanks for the healing God shares with us, and as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ this one last Sunday, we give thanks that God’s living comfort passes though us all. 

Thanks be to God.  Amen

7^th Sunday of Easter (C)

Texts:  Acts 16:16-34;  Revelation 22:12-14, 15-17, 20-21;  John 17:20-26