In September of 1986 CBS News anchor Dan Rather decided to try out a new way to sign off his evening broadcasts. Right before saying good night, he added a two-syllable word to close out the nightly news.

Courage.

By that point Rather had reported on an awful lot of tragedies. As a local affiliate in Houston he covered Hurricane Carla in 1961 as it whipped through the Gulf of Mexico, before making landfall in Texas, killing 43.

By 1986 he’d spoken to important national news during crucial moments like the JFK assassination, Watergate, the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.

His one-word synopsis of the daily news made for a mantra of sorts. It represents one way to view the challenges of life.

It asks us to recognize the difficulties we encounter. It begs us to face fears head on. It implores us to talk with others to understand. It demands we seek to solve the problems of our day, together. It requires just one little thing to press on.

Courage.

After using this signature line Rather was ridiculed by fellow newscasters, parodied by others. So much so that he discontinued it after only a week. Courage, in the face of adversity can be hard. And not always understood.

On his last broadcast for CBS Evening News, on March 9, 2005, Rather returned to his signature line one last time. Suggesting he had asked us to show courage, amid challenging news, all the while.

Then
Today’s gospel features another story of bravery. In it we are introduced to a woman with a heap of problems. She suffered from a blood disorder that would not go away. Because of it she’d hemorrhaged for a dozen years. The unnamed woman had gone to physician after physician and found no cure. Doctor’s attempts to heal her had likely been invasive, painful. She didn’t have much to show for it.

Then, as is now, there was no universal healthcare coverage she could rely on. The woman paid for all attempts at healing out of pocket. By the time we meet her she’d spent all she had. No money equals no healing. It was as simple as that.

The nature of the woman’s ailment meant money wasn’t the only cost she faced. Cultural norms of the era dictated that women, during their monthly cycle, were ritually unclean. This led to restrictions on what they could or could not do, at certain times, for much of their lives. For this woman, whose condition never improved, the limits never went away.

It was a Scarlet letter of sorts people could see.
It was a Scarlet letter people would judge.

It was a pre-existing condition no one would desire.
If only someone would cover her.

But no one would get near. Her future prospects were dim. She might as well be a leper, tossed out of community as she was.

But then?
Enter Jesus.

As Christ spoke to a crowd the woman had an epiphany. Word of his miracles were getting out. “If only I could touch his clothes, I will be healed,” the woman thought.

Touch.

The very thing society said she could not do.
Was the very thing that would make her well.

If only I could touch.

Perhaps it was time to break some rules.

Her insight was not without risk.
What would Jesus say?
What would the crowd then do?
She was, after all, unclean.

Healing could be in order, yes.
She prayed it was.

Though punishment, from the law-and-order crowd, could be too.

The woman gathered all the strength she could muster, as physically unwell, financially broken, socially isolated as she was, and reached out, touching Christ’s cloak.

Courage.

And immediately, upon touch, the woman was healed. A lifetime of trauma and pain, instantly gone.

Sensing the healing, Christ turned to the crowd, asking “who touched me?”

The woman approached Jesus, knelt with fear and trembling, shared her life story. Shared what had led the two to meet.

Jesus listened.
Jesus did not judge.

Jesus said go in peace, daughter.
Your faith has made you well.
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For courage is an outward sign of an inward faith.
Her act of faith had made her well.

The woman, in this moment, was not made merely physically well. She also received a status update, from unclean to clean. She could now participate, fully, in community. She could now touch, and be touched, by others. Without fear of transmitting anything some might judge.

While we don’t know how this story ends, we do know this:

She had been healed.
She had new life.
She had new community.

Where before she had none.

Now
Similar to this woman, each of us, at times, bleed out, in various ways, and are in need of healing. We too on occasion have Scarlett letters people may judge. Scarlett letters of –

Greed,
Guilt,
Addiction,
Apathy,
Envy,
Pride.

Just to name a few.

In a society where healthcare is still not universal – I pray one day soon we fix that – Christ says extend your hand, touch. Your faith will make you well.

Christ offers to restore us to spiritual wholeness with our God.
Christ offers to restore right relationship with each other.

Christ asks that we step out of our isolation, reach out and connect, with others, to be made physically and mentally well, through –

Friends,
Family,
Therapists,
Doctors,
Clergy,
Coaches,
Clinicians.

We know some healing happens here.
Some occurs in the hereafter.

For all healing begins, when we call on our God, seeking help from each other along the way.

As the Catholic church in America debates, again, who is and is not worthy of the eucharist I can only lament.

If only we can touch Christ’s body.
If only we can touch Christ’s blood.
If only we can take Christ into ourselves.

For it is then when we become whole.

There should be no in group, no out group for that. If only.

If Judas could commune with Christ, he who would betray, so can you and I.  If only.

Here, as with many ELCA congregations, we practice an open communion table. All are welcome to come and receive the gift of God’s grace. All are welcome at the Lord’s table, no matter who you are, what you’ve said, what you’ve done.

All are welcome.  All means all.

It takes faith to extend your hand. A faith that, when put in action, can be summed by one little word.

Make it a mantra.
A way to deal, with the challenges of life.
Just reach out, touch, and receive.

Courage.  Amen.

Last summer, in the middle of August, the craziest thing happened. I remember sitting at the morning church staff meeting, alongside a half dozen others, and watching as the winds whipped up outside, batting tree limbs back and forth like tiny blades of grass. As we watched though the windows of Centennial Hall I couldn’t help but think…

WHAT ON EARTH IS A HURRICANE DOING IN IOWA?!?

With gusts up to 140 miles per hour it mimicked wind speeds of a Category 4 hurricane. Which is nothing to sneeze at. Later that day I learned a new word to describe the weather event: derecho.

Aka a straight-line windstorm.
Aka Our Iowa Hurricane.
It still sounds so absurd to name aloud.

And, unlike a hurricane, we hardly knew it was headed our way.

My thoughts quickly moved to wondering what was to come – how many trees would be felled, how many livelihoods disrupted, how many people lost.

Over half a million Iowans lost power from the storm, saying goodbye to cool AC in the August heat for days, sometimes weeks. The derecho created property damage to the tune of about 7.5 billion dollars, making it the costliest thunderstorm disaster in U.S. history. There was plenty to worry about.

It was a great windstorm, no doubt.

Windstorm
Today’s text also features a great windstorm. After teaching a large crowd, when evening had come, Jesus asked the disciples to set sail for the other side of the sea. Ministry for the day now done, he headed to the stern of the boat and laid down to sleep.

Time to rest.
Time to recharge.
Time to relax.

But then the weather turned.

A great windstorm arose.
Waves beat the vessel.
Water began to get in.

These weren’t rookies out on the sea. At least four of the twelve were fishermen by trade. They knew something bad was coming up.

You better believe they too wondered what was to come.

How many boats would be sunk?
How many livelihoods disrupted?
How many people would be lost?

So much of what they loved in this world was on that ship. Soon, perhaps, it would all be no more.

It was a great windstorm, no doubt.

Fortunately, all storms, no matter how great they may be, share one thing in common.

Eventually they end.
And then?
Often this is where humanity shines best.

Derecho
After the derecho passed through insurance companies got to insuring. Out-of-state resources rushed in. Utility companies sent trucks and teams. As a result, we got power back weeks earlier than Iowa assets alone could have done.

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I asked Facebook friends to share their 2020 derecho experiences, here are some of our tales.

Trent’s twin daughters were in their backyard, trying to reign in a huge limb that fell into the yard next door. One of their neighbors noticed the girls struggling and came over, with chainsaw in hand, to help. In less than an hour the limb had been cut to manageable pieces and stacked up nicely.

Larry mentioned venturing outside to see what damage had happened near their home. There was plenty. The street was blocked on both ends by fallen trees. He joined alongside other neighbors; chainsaws, axes, ropes and rakes were on the street in minutes. After the streets were cleaned up several people stuck around to clean up individual yards. No one asked, people just got out there and got to it.

The Brakke’s were out of town when the derecho hit. Their home lost power, no surprise there. But they have a backup generator, a real asset in a weather emergency. A friend came over to get it running. They then invited people to their home to cool down, to work, to sleep, to store their refrigerated or frozen foods. Whatever their needs may be.

Lynn remembers there was no power in Collins. So the mayor brought in a food truck and everyone ate for free. The volunteer fire department cleaned streets and cut down branches for only a thank you. She felt some real small-town pride that day, seeing people come together like that.

At our home we lost a major branch on the big ash tree out front. Ironically, after going through half a dozen hurricanes in Florida, we’d never had much tree damage. And didn’t own a chainsaw, go figure. One neighbor loaned us an electric chainsaw, and we got to work on the massive branch. Another neighbor came by with a gas-powered chainsaw, and we worked together until everything was cut into firewood sized logs.

Bobby Douglas, the retired Iowa State wrestling coach, and also our next-door neighbor, came over, and helped move our storm debris to the ravine out back. I tried telling him we were fine; Bobby is no spring chicken.

But he insisted.
He stayed until the job was done.

It was a day I’ll never forget.

Calm
With wind still whipping water into the vessel, the twelve woke Jesus up in the middle of the storm. It’s easy to bag on the disciples. They often seem so hapless. But this time? Pretty sure I’d have woken him up too.

Jesus speaks.
Calm returns.

Disciples are filled with awe.

I like to think the twelve then band together and swab the decks, correct course, get a good night’s sleep. Helping each other until all is well.

And before you know it they arrive on the other side of the sea, unharmed.
Jesus then immediately heals a man with an unclean spirit – this is Mark after all – and the business of the day goes on.

When great windstorms pop up, remember this.
On the boat of life we are never alone.

We have our Lord.
We have each other.

With these –
Fear can dissipate.
Peace is possible.

Just look for guidance, from above.
Just look to help your neighbor.

For the storms of this world, when we band together, will end.

Every. Single. Time.

Many years ago, a woman stopped author Leslea Newman on the street. “I don’t have a book to read to my daughter that shows a family like ours,” the woman told Leslea. “Someone should write one.”

So Leslea did. Partnering with illustrator Laura Cornell, the 32-page children’s book tells the tale of a family type that far too often gets judged. An excerpt from the book helps explains why.

Heather lives in a little white house with a big apple tree in the front yard and lots of tall grass in the backyard.

Heather’s favorite number is two.  She has two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears, two hands, and two feet.  Heather has two pets: a ginger-colored cat names Gingersnap and a big black dog named Midnight.

Heather also has two mommies, Mama Jane and Moma Kate.

The book, fittingly titled Heather Has Two Mommies, is one of the first children’s books to highlight a family with two gay parents in a positive light.

Published in 1989 Heather Has Two Mommies preceded changes to U.S. marriage law and our Lutheran denomination’s LGBTQ+ inclusive shift by decades.

The book sought to expand the notion of what family is, and became Leslea’s biggest seller, out of the 75 she’s written, along the way. It is both her most praised and most critiqued work, perhaps no surprise there. School districts and library systems across the U.S. initially tried to ban the book. Ultimately they were unsuccessful. For large cultural change was already underway.

Heather Has Two Mommies has been reprinted multiple times over the years, including in Spanish, as Paula Tiene Dos Mamas. Recent editions were tweaked to stay current with the more open, accepting and affirming language of our times. As the understanding of family evolves, how we describe them evolves too.

And If you aren’t familiar with Bethesda’s statement of welcome, please check it out. It’s on our church website and the front page of the bulletin every week, right next to the rainbow. We’re also are part of this evolution of what family represents. I couldn’t be more proud ?.

Diverse Families
The recipe book for how to make a family has been growing for a while. Families come in more flavors now, arguably, than ever. No longer is the union of one man, one woman, both from similar backgrounds, having 2.5 kids – produced the old-fashioned way – the gold standard.

High divorce rates alone preclude this for most. The gender of who we choose to love matters less and less each year. More than one sixth of newlyweds in the U.S. have a spouse from another race. That is double the rate of all current marriages, and still going up.

Thirty percent of Americans have adoption in their immediate family, including adopting, placing, or being adopted. Biology, too, in defining what makes a family matters less than it once did.

Growing up, I was the oldest child of six. Among my brothers and sisters –
– Some share biology, others are adopted
– Some are black, others white
– Some are straight, others gay
– Some are single, others married
– Some have children, others do not

These traits define the six of us as individuals, no doubt. But it’s what we have in common that matters most. Because this is us. This is family. A complex tapestry of beautiful diversity that knits us together as one.

Expanded Families
Long before Heather Has Two Mommies was written, Jesus too, sought to expand our notion of family.

Today’s text from Mark 3 finds Christ’s relatives joining a crowd where he taught, asking for him. Those gathered passed the message along: your mother and brothers and sisters are here. And they’d like to speak with you.

Jesus did as Jesus so often does, turning something seemingly straight forward – family is a matter of bloodline, right? – into more.

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asks rhetorically, not skipping a beat. Turning to those that sat around him he said, “here are my mothers and brothers.”

Disciples, followers, hearers of the Word. This is what it is to be part of the New Community. For Jesus this is what it is to be family.

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Good morning, mother.
Hello, father.
Greetings, sister.
Welcome, brother.

This is what it is to worship together.  It unites us in a grand family reunion every time we gather.

This new identity transcends families defined by biology, or anything else for that matter. Our spiritual families are bound together not by what runs through our veins but instead what flows through our Soul. And if what flows through your soul is the same as what flows through mine, then we, in a very real way, are family.

I hope you have a really big table for Thanksgiving dinner. Cuz the invite list just expanded a ton ?.

Baptismal Families
Today we celebrate the baptism of Carter Rowen McGinn. It’s a celebration that welcomes this sleepy baby boy into a new family. Carter has been claimed as one of the Creator’s own, washed by the waters, adopted into the divine. Carter, you are a beloved child of God.

Baptisms are this great feel-good moment. They remind us of this identity through our own baptisms, no matter how recently or long ago that watery moment occurred.

But baptisms are more than just celebration. They are also commitment.

– By the parents, to help the child grow in the Christian faith.
– By the sponsors, to nurture the child in the faith, empowered by the Spirit.
– By all of us, the people of God, to support and pray for the child.

This, too, is what it is to be family. You help, nurture, support each other along the way.

Helping Families
This understanding of family comes through in today’s text. After sharing that everyone within the sound of his voice is family, Jesus explains why.

Whoever does the will of God, they are my brother, my sister, my mother. They who accept guidance from above are grafted into the vine. They who do are now one with all that ever was. One with all that ever will be.

To be part of God’s family is to follow Christ’s ways. It is to bless the hungry, the thirsty, those without. It is to do justice, show kindness, walk humbly with your Lord. It is to welcome the immigrant, the unaccompanied minor, the widow.

It is to love your neighbor as yourself, regardless of gender, race, orientation, country of origin, or any other group identity used in ways that exclude.

One of my favorite memories here at Bethesda was the Sunday we joined with Body of Christ Church – a local congregation with more racial and ethnic diversity than our own – for worship followed by a potluck meal after service. The food was an eclectic mix of cultures; seeing kringla alongside collard greens, both in the food and the people they represent, was pure joy. This is what it is to be join Jesus in the New Community. This is what it is to part of our Creator’s family tree.

Heather Redux
In Heather Has Two Mommies, Heather goes to her first day of kindergarten, and is asked by a new friend an innocent question, “what does your Daddy do?”  She replies, “I don’t have a daddy,” and wonders, Am I the only one here who doesn’t have a daddy?

Ms. Molly, sensing a teachable moment, asks the class to draw pictures of their families. From this Heather learns families come in all shapes and sizes.

Ms. Molly concludes that, “each family is special.  The most important thing about family is that all the people in it love each other.”

Can you hear echoes of the greatest commandment there? Neighbors, in our spiritual lineage, become relatives when we treat them as well as we do ourselves.

To be part of God’s family isn’t a matter of DNA. It is so much more. To be part of God’s family simply reach out, embrace everyone, no matter who they may be, and do one little thing.

Love.