Sept. 11, 2005; The 17th Sunday after Pentecost Readings: Ecclesiasticus 27:30-28:7; Psalm 103:8-13; Romans 14:5-12; Matthew 18:21-35.   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith Claiming the Day I’ve been looking forward to being back this Sunday following my surgery—back with you, my friends and my family in Christ. I’ve been thinking a lot about you, about us, about the troubles that come our way in life and about the hope we have in God. As I prepared to have surgery to remove speciously large lymph node in my neck, I was keeping one eye on the news. I had wondered if my own time of stress had caused me to miss something, because all of the sudden I realized the extent of the disaster cause by hurricane Katrina. And, of course, this day, we remember another tragedy. Today is the first time since 9/11/2001 that Sept. 11th falls on a Sunday. Life can be full of trouble—health issues, natural disasters, terror attacks; it can seem hard to comprehend—hard to make sense of it all—just plain hard. The point of reference to make sense of things is God. We know that God is love. God loves us; God loves you. As the psalmist claims, “our God is the Lord who is full of compassion and mercy…” God goes to great lengths to reach us with a touch of grace. Once, for all, through Jesus Christ, God reached us. The new community of faith that resulted from experience of resurrection reached out in love. We are here today as gentle friends who share the touch of grace with each other and those who come into our lives. A touch of grace, a touch of love, redeems and heals. No matter what the trouble, a touch of grace brings relief. St. Paul felt that grace in his life, and he sought to share the peace. “Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike.” People live in time; we have a sense of history, and yes certain days are better, we can say with conviction. Four years ago, Sept. 11th, was one of the worst days. The Katrina disaster has brought many sad days. Paul knew about troubles and he could see the strain in himself and others. In our reading from Romans, Paul’s points the way to peace and to the greatest truth for you and me: “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” We are the Lord’s. That is true everyday. Whether we are sick or homeless or at war, we are the Lord’s. That is who we are—that is what defines us. In times of joy and times of sorrow, we are anchored in God. Paul advocated making God our point of reference. He did not deny the pain in life, but he did not make the pain, or the joy for that matter, the point of reference. You and I belong to God, not to the trouble in the world. Knowing that we belong to a loving compassionate God, we seek to share the grace of compassion with others. Illness, natural disasters, and violence, have energy that can overwhelm, but the loving compassion of God’s graceful messengers has a power to heal and help. With God as our point of reference, we can be gentle and forgiving with each other. There is trouble in the world, but you and I do not belong to it. We belong to the Lord of compassion, healing, and peace. That reality is our point of reference. When we respond to trouble with compassion, others begin to feel the reality of God’s love in their lives through us. We saw great compassion and sacrifice for others on 9/11. We are seeing great compassion for the hurricane victims. Many thanks to all who helped me, through their prayers and actions, during a time of trouble in my life. It was a lovely thing for me to be on the receiving end of compassion from you. I felt the support of your prayers and the compassion of God through your care. As a parish church, we do this well. We take meals, send cards, and care for each other. Whether a person has been coming for one month or ten years, we respond with compassion to those in need. Some days will seem to be better than others. Some days will all seem to be the same. Everyday we have an opportunity to remember to whom it is that we belong. Everyday we have a chance to show mercy as we have known mercy. Everyday we can be gentle and forgiving, thereby claiming the day for God. May we continue to show forth God’s compassion and be graceful messengers of love in a world that sorely needs people who act from a divine point of reference. Amen.