I have a smile on my face this week. It is there because I am remembering someone special.
Let me give you some background. Recently my wife, Debbie, threw away a coat that I dearly loved. It was my favorite spring coat. It was one that she had given me actually. But I wore it so much, because it was such a perfect jacket for those chilly spring days, or fall days, or even the rare chilly summer days that come.
I liked the way it fit me. I even think it looked good on me (forgive me for my vanity).
But Debbie threw it away, because the white collar could no longer get cleaned. The rips that I had fixed throughout the jacket were looking like I had fixed them. So Debbie threw it away, because it was starting to look bad. Since she threw away my favorite jacket, I would occasionally grumble about how much I missed my favorite jacket.
On Sunday afternoon, I was in the midst of mid-grumble, when Debbie said, “Oh for Pete’s sake.” She came out of our back bedroom, down the hallway and handed me a new, black, Dockers Jacket that I hadn’t remembered seeing before. I looked at it and said, “Wow that is nice. Where did you get it?” It even looked like it might fit me well.
She said, “Try it on. It was your dad’s.”
I tried it on. It fit me nice. Then I reached into the pockets and realized something was there. THAT is what brought the smile to my face. It was a pair of brown, cloth gloves. My dad, who died in January of 2004, had a brown pair of cloth gloves in every coat or jacket he owned, except his winter coat. In that coat, he had a nice pair of winter gloves.
My dad had gloves in everything, because his arthritis was so bad, it helped to stop his hands from hurting so much.
So all week I have been smiling. I have been thinking of my dad. I have been remembering his little phrases and his (bad) jokes. Each day I have put on the jacket, a smile comes to my face. It is a smile of familiarity and love. It is a smile of remembering one who has played such a large role in my life. It is a smile of knowing who I am (I am his son) and it is a smile of knowing where I come from. It is a smile of knowing something good from my past has been recovered.
This week we are celebrating Holy Week. We will have many services in church. Some people will continue their routine and come to church, because that is what they do. Others will come and be here because they are looking for a church home. Yet others will come, looking for a safe place, longing to recover something from their past that can remind them of hope and wholeness.
The age old story of Jesus’ faithfulness, that brought him to the cross, that placed him in the grave, that broke open into resurrection on Easter Sunday will get spoken and acted out in worship here. It is a story that will be familiar to some. It is a story that brings smiles to faces. It is an offer of hope that changes lives. It is an invitation to recover something that is vital to life.
My hope and prayer is that as we gather this week, we will smile as we remember and reaffirm the ancient story that calls to us anew and invites us to recommit to the God of life. My hope and prayer is that we will welcome people who come in our doors, thereby creating space for them to reclaim the promise of this ancient story.
I look forward to seeing you in worship this week and this weekend. For worship is the place we can be wrapped in God’s love and grace, like we can be wrapped in new/old jackets that bring good memories and promise of hope.
In the hope Jesus offers us,
Rev. Scott