Once upon a time in the old country, there was a tiny town in a wine-producing region of Eastern Europe. The Bishop was scheduled to visit them, and so they all met, “We must host a great celebration in the Bishop’s honor.” `
They devised a plan. They put a big oak barrel in the center of town, and every week, just after sundown on Sunday, every household was to bring a small pitcher of red wine and pour it into the barrel. Then, by time of the Bishop’s arrival, they would have a full barrel. [Reveal the barrel]
One of the village families was Luke and Amy. Luke told Amy, “You know that we are not a rich family. Everyone is going to be bringing wine and there will to be so much wine in that one barrel, ours certainly will make no difference. Why don’t we just fill our pitcher up with water? No one will notice.” In addition, that’s what he did, every week.
And every family in the village came and emptied their containers into the barrel. [Have kids come up and pour wine into the barrel] Six months later, the big day arrived. The villagers set up a stand in the center of town and put the barrel on top of it. Right on schedule, the famous Bishop appeared. The people were all very proud of their village and their wine, and they were anxious to impress the Bishop. They presented him with a wine glass to taste the wine and begin the celebration. The Bishop put the glass under the barrel, turned it open [I open the nozzle and reveal only water coming out.]
The Bishop lifted the glass and the crowd gasped. The glass was filled with water.
In the second reading, James asks, “What good is it to have faith, if you don’t put it into practice.” We can all pretend to be holy and good. We can even say the right words that impress others. But what good is this without doing something?
Now, being a follower of Jesus is not easy. Peter wanted it to be easy, simply, fun. Jesus yells at Peter and calls him a devil. For following means, we put ourselves “out there” even if it means hardship and sacrifice.
And one reason, that Christ Our Parish is so vibrant, is that so many of you understand. You get it. It is NOT someone else’s job to do the work. Like it is someone else’s job to pour wine and that we can “get away with it.” It is all of responsibility.
You have a chance to do that in volunteering for Fall Fest. It occurs next Sunday, the 19th. We need you. If not you, then who? Also, in a few weeks we will have a sign up for helping out at the Church. We call it our SIGN ME UP weekend. It is the chance for each of us to STEP UP. Not with excuses. such as other people have more time, or other people are better at it. That’s goofy. This is your parish. This is your opportunity to pour in your wine and not water.
It’s like the story of the three bricklayers working on a church. One crouched, one half-standing and one standing tall, working very hard and fast. To all was asked, “What are you doing?” The first guy said, “I’m a bricklayer. I’m working hard laying bricks to feed my family.”
The second bricklayer, responded, “I’m a builder. I’m building a wall.” But the third bricklayer, “What are you doing?” replied with a smile, “I’m building a great cathedral to honor God.”
You can sign up for Fall Fest or for a ministry, because I am guilting you into it. You can sign up because that’s what you are supposed to do. OR, you can sign up because you believe in the parish, believe that goodness is better than badness, believe that when we all come together and work together . . . it will be like a resurrection. A statement of HOPE. For there’s so many burdens out there . . . we are invited to build JOY, hope and a community of love.