Sermons, Spirit and Circumstances

For those of you who 'sat in' on the sermon I gave this weekend and have sent your comments email or in person- thank you.

I thought it would be important to blog and clarify one point. That is- I didn't write the sermon. And I didn't plagiarize it either. For the past two weeks the Holy Spirit has been whispering to me about the James 1:17-27 passage. And because of circumstances last week, I was in no condition to go through my normal hours of reading, preparation, writing and editing process. The sermon was written in little over an hour last Friday afternoon. A rare occurance and a new record. (That's why I cannot take the credit.)

Today I feel like a Muppet after Jim Henson has left the building. The hand that was working through me and has left me empty, tired and depleted- another indication that I wasn't really in charge of what took place this weekend.

And it is a gift because on Monday while my husband flew home from California we received the biopsy results that confirmed that my mother in law's stage four breast cancer from 2001 has returned. Her doctor calls this 'incurable breats cancer' because it will always come back. Chemotherapy treatments will help us run ahead of it for as long as she has life, but that is about it. And the chemo will either do the job or it will not.

After he got home we talked late into the night about our grief, our sadness, our loss and how to help our daughter through this experience at such a young age.

On Wednesday my husband and I took long lunches to visit Mom, take her a care package, Holy Communion, and some food. When we got there her breathing was so severely compromised (because the lymph nodes are so swollen with cancer cells and are pushing on the larynx and sternum) that we rushed her to the hospital. She passed out and her heart stopped beating. Before medical intervention could be initiated, her heart resumed beating.

She then was given radiation treatments and will have ten more before starting the chemo. The radiation along with a few other things has given her some relief for her breathing.

By Friday I was in no condition to write a sermon and thanks be to God- God's Spirit did the work and then helped me give a sermon with great passion and conviction. A sermon that I needed preached to me as much as our congregation needed to hear it.

So, don't thank me if you were moved- thank the Spirit.