On a recent Sunday, I attended church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and heard my rector, the Reverend Robert Stevens, Jr. (as opposed to his dad, who is also a priest in the Episcopal church) deliver a most meaningful sermon. Since it might have been referred to as "Three Kings' Sunday", the hymns sung at the later service would reflect that. Rob's topic dealt with two principal topic areas: the adventure of life and no reservations. As is so often the case when I listen to a sermon or reflect upon it following the service, my mind tends to wander (perhaps as I wonder) and it brought me to a couple of points.
First, Rob spoke of the adventure that lies before each of us. He spoke of the fact that God had offered adventure to many, as related in the various stories of the Old and New Testaments in the Bible. God offered Moses adventure, but Moses was reluctant, because he had a stammer; he offered Isaiah adventure, but he too was reluctant; but when God offered the teenaged Mary adventure, without any hesitation, she signed on for the journey. She said, "Yes!" to God. Imagine for a moment, a young girl of perhaps sixteen years, who was not from royalty or a family of standing, agreed to be the mother of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. WOW! Talk about adventure! What lay in store for Mary in the coming months and years was literally of historic proportion and she alone stands as the one and only person who never refused God's offer for adventure.
This brings be to the second point - no reservations. As we all remember, having heard the Christmas story told for years and years (even though we may be Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or Christian). Remember? There was "no room in the inn!" And to make matters worse, Mary and Joseph had not booked ahead, and they had no reservations! They were fortunate to find a stable next to the inn, where Mary gave birth to her baby son and wrapped him in swathing bands (strips of cloth) and laid him down into a trough (aka a manger). Imagine, just for a moment, that your sister or your wife or your friend gives birth to a baby (to say nothing of being the Son of God) and having no more comforting or safe or clean place to place the baby but into a filthy trough, where pigs and sheep ate their grain and their slop, where dried food encrusted the wood. Quite a visual, no? But let's return to the "no reservations" concept. My thoughts took me back to Rob's first point - the adventure that had been offered by God, and without any reservation or equivocation or hesitation, Mary said, "Yes!" to God. Talk about your leap of faith and trust!
Fast forward a couple thousand years, and God remains present in each of our lives. Whether called Yahweh or Krishna or Allah or Supreme Being, God remains in each of us and in our lives. I propose that God continues to offer each of us adventure - and whether we take up the challenge and accept the offer is entirely up to us. Nothing is forced upon us.
Throughout my thirty-plus years as a member of my local Rotary Club, those challenges or offers of adventure have been plentiful - nearly unending. There is no question that I and my fellow Rotarians have not accepted all of the challenges or the offers for adventure, but through the vehicle we call Rotary International, we have discovered a way in which while working side-by-side or hand-in-hand, we can not only experience extreme adventure, but we can actually change for the better literally thousands and millions of lives, regardless if these lives exist around the block from our homes or businesses, or if we reach our arms and our hearts around to the other side of the globe, to places where some might fear we are in harm's way. Well, as I once told Caroline Harries (who traveled with me to India as a member of a Group Study Exchange Team) when she expressed concern for her safety, as a beautiful young American woman entering a totally Muslim village in India (about a year following 9-11) "It is okay, Caroline. This is Rotary, so you are totally safe!" From where did I draw this faith and strength? From knowing that as Rotarians, we have one object and one only - to SERVE others. Because we do not have religious or political affiliations as Rotarians, our mission to SERVE stands before all to see and to judge. The adventure presents itself and without reservation, we Rotarians push forward - to immunize the world against the crippling and often deadly disease of Polio; we raise funds to help soup kitchens or food pantries; we help to ensure clean water in the middle of densely populated cities or remote areas in Africa and Asia; we provide shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry and clothing for the naked. Funny how that story of Jesus saying that "whenever you do this to the least of these, my brethren, you have done this to me" comes to mind.
As a Rotarian who has been offered adventures to many parts of the world, as well as in my own community, I truly believe that when I look into the eyes of any man, woman or child, I see the face of God. I know I am truly blessed and I am ready to sign on for yet another adventure, when the offer is made - and with no reservations!
