A sermon preached by the Rev. Jeanne Leinbach
at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
on January 31, 2016
Epiphany 4, Year C
Jeremiah 1:4-10; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30
Langston Hughes wrote a wonderful poem entitled Aunt Sue’s Stories:
Aunt Sue has a head full of stories.
Aunt Sue has a whole heart full of stories.
Summer nights on the front porch
Aunt Sue cuddles a brown-faced child to her bosom
And tells him stories.
Black slaves
Working in the hot sun,
And black slaves
Walking in the dewy night,
And black slaves
Singing sorrow songs on the banks of a mighty river
Mingle themselves softly
In the flow of old Aunt Sue’s voice,
Mingle themselves softly
In the dark shadows that cross and recross
Aunt Sue’s stories.
And the dark-faced child, listening,
Knows that Aunt Sue’s stories are real stories.
He knows that Aunt Sue never got her stories
Out of any book at all,
But that they came
Right out of her own life.
The dark-faced child is quiet
Of a summer night
Listening to Aunt Sue’s stories.
We have so many stories to tell. Stories entertain. Stories remember. Stories pass down
traditions from one generation to the next. Stories inspire. Yet, we have a tendency to keep some
stories to ourselves – experiences of a more spiritual nature – experiences we don’t quite
understand, or can’t quite believe, or wonder what others will think if we think this is a holy spirit
moment. But, sharing our stories can transform people’s lives. Of course, the many, many stories
in Scripture were told for the express purpose of transforming people’s lives. We continue to tell
these stories because they continue to transform. The Book of Jeremiah was written 2,500 years
ago. What did we hear this morning? God speaking to Jeremiah, God telling Jeremiah that he
will give him the words, he will speak through him. Jeremiah was a prophet to the Israelites for
forty years, leading up to and into the years that the Israelites were exiled from their home and
sent to Babylonia. Imagine what exile was like for the Israelites who believed that God resided in
the temple in Jerusalem. Here they are in Babylonia, far, far away from their God. What do they
learn in exile? That God does not merely reside in the temple. God lives with us, wherever we
are, in all times and places. God is with us in each and every conversation. Remember, Jeremiah
was a boy, not yet a man, when he hears God’s comforting words, “I am with you.” God is with
us in every conversation, with the young and the old, and everyone in between.
We have stories to share. Here is a wonderful Rummage story from Christ Church
Winnetka. Rummage is a significant outreach effort at Christ Church. Not only does it serve the
many people who come to shop at the annual sale, it also serves people throughout the year. A
local agency might call needing a clothing donation or dishes or linens or furniture for a family in
need, or a parishioner might have a specific need. A few years ago the Rummage Coordinator,
Charlotte, shared this story with me. A parishioner named Alice died. The next day, her husband,
Dale, tracked down Charlotte. Of course, Charlotte was surprised to be getting a call from Dale
so soon after Alice’s death. Charlotte asked Dale what she could do for him. He explained he had
a house full of out-of-town guests and he needed a coffee pot. His guests told him to go to the
store. Alice was a long-time supporter of Rummage. Dale decided he would call Charlotte and
see what might be available in Rummage. He explained what type of coffee pot he was looking
for, what type of filters, etc. So, Charlotte went to see. And, right outside of the Kitchen Dept, in
plain view, as though it had just been dropped off or just taken down off a shelf, was a brand new
coffeepot, the exact right one, with filters and all. Charlotte says it was absolutely a Holy Spirit
moment – Alice was taking care of Dale.
We have stories to share. Many years ago, I lived and worked in New York City one
summer. Generally, I knew my way around. I was in a taxi one day and the driver got off the
main road and turned right, in a different direction from where I was going, headed on to what
looked to me like a pier. Something felt very wrong. And, then, a policeman appeared, almost
out of the blue, stopped the taxi and made the driver turn around. I have always wondered if an
angel was looking out for me that day.
We have stories to share. I remember a parishioner telling me about his experience in
WWII. He was is in a bunker, in the midst of enemy fire, and had a remarkable spiritual
experience, one that transformed his life. I remember a parishioner, a woman in her 90’s, sharing
a story, an event that had occurred many years prior. She prefaced the story with: “I have never
told anyone this before.” I can’t remember the exact details…I recall that she encountered an
intruder in her home, or her neighbor’s home, and she is convinced that the Holy Spirit intervened
and saved her life. “I have never told anyone this before,” she said. We keep stories to ourselves
– experiences of a more spiritual nature – experiences we don’t quite understand, or can’t quite
believe, or wonder what others will think if we think this is a holy spirit moment. Yet, when we
share these stories, we are making God known in our lives. God is in the conversation.
Perhaps your story is not as concrete as a coffee pot in plain view or a policeman
intervening. Perhaps your story is more intangible. How many of us have had the experience of
thinking about someone we haven’t seen in a while and then running into them, or perhaps calling
them and finding out something quite significant is going on in their life? How many of us have
had a little voice inside of ourselves tell us to do something or tell us to not do something and that
voice was absolutely correct? We have stories to share, spiritual experiences to share. We all
have them. Sharing our stories helps us to understand that these experiences are far more
common than we might guess, and helps us to recognize for ourselves what these experiences are
all about – God is here. God is in all the in-betweens. God is speaking to us through the
conversations. When we share our stories, we are living with, listening to, hearing, loving God.
And, God is loving us. God loving us is the inspiration for us to love one another.
There is a thin line between heaven and earth – not a physical barrier, rather an opening of
our selves to a fuller reality. What can’t be seen, can be felt, can be known. I hope you will share
your story. Amen.