Dear friends,
I pray this finds you and your loved ones well. This Sunday, September 25th, St. Andrew's and Bethlehem are coming together to have a joint worship service at Moonlight Beach at 10:30 am. I hope you and your family will join us!!!
We are a gated community, not only around our neighborhoods, but at the border 35 miles south. We police and 'protect' our gates with passcodes and weapons, keeping the 'riff raff' out, and deeming a select few 'worthy' to come in on our terms. This week, our Gospel story involves a gate, built around a rich mans property, while just outside it lives Lazarus, a poor homeless man who is hungry and sick. We, too, have Lazarus's at our gates. As I went to drop off the backpacks filled with school supplies from a service event at Ocean Knoll, the office coordinator told me stories of families in desperate need of gas and grocery resources. This is Lazarus at our gate. The children pictured above and the thousands of others from all around the globe who wait at the southern 'gate' to this country for months on end with nothing but the clothes on their back. This is Lazarus at our gate. While the rich man in our Gospel story does nothing to help Lazarus, I pray we aren't as ignorant. I pray we listen to and embody God's call on our lives to get rid of the gates all together, to welcome, love and serve ALL people.
