GATHERED AT THE RIVER
May 13, 2007

TEXT: Acts 16:9-15
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

TEXT: John 14:23-29
Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

I usually don’t like to tell old jokes, especially ones that has been told so often, but this one seems a bit relevant.
The minister was preaching on the evils of drink. He first said he would like to gather up all the wine and dump it in the river. Then he moved on to beer and said he would like to get all the beer and dump it in the river, and then all other forms of alcohol to be dumped into the river. The choir director's face began to show a worried look. The next hymn they were scheduled to sing was "Shall We Gather at the River?"

Well, I’m not going to talk about temperance even though our choir will sing, “Come to the Water,” and we will sing, “Shall We Gather at the River.” The Apostle Paul had received a vision of God to go over to Macedonia in northern Greece. On the sabbath he went to the river which apparently was a gathering place for prayer and worship, and he sat down and talked with the women. Luke, the writer of Acts who apparently was there, says that “a certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.”

Since this is Mother’s Day, you should take note that women were leaders in the early church. Not only were women the first to encounter the risen Christ, but Lydia was the first European convert to Christianity and a pioneer of the faith. We seem to be returning to first century Christianity since two-thirds of all seminary students are women. Even in Paul’s day women seemed to be more receptive to receiving the gospel and to be willing to share it with others.

Luke tells us that they gathered at the river because it was a place of prayer. In the Bible, it seems that while the sea is a place of turmoil and confusion, a place of tumult and restlessness where storms frequently toss the traveler about, rivers, on the other hand, convey a sense of peace and new beginnings. Two hymns that come to mind are, “Joys Are Flowing Like a River” and “When Peace Like a River.” Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River in preparation for the beginning of his ministry. The Hebrews crossed over Jordan to enter the promised land and a new life. The Book of Revelation speaks of the River of Life which is associated with healing: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”

We come to the River of Life at the end of our earthly days. In Greek mythology, one enters the afterlife by crossing five rivers. These are the rivers of separation, of leaving behind the things of this life. Each river has a symbolic meaning. There is Acheron (the river of sorrow), Cocytus (lamentation), Phlegethon (fire), Lethe (forgetfulness) and Styx (hate). The truth of this myth is that if you want to begin a new life, you have to let go of the old, and therefore you leave behind your sorrows and regrets. You burn the material things in the river of fire; you forget and forgive those who have committed any offense against you, whether real or imagined. The final river to cross is that of hate. If you want to enter a life of love, you must learn to put aside all hatred and learn to forgive.

Luke was correct in supposing that the place by the river was a place of prayer. If you want to cross the river, you must leave behind the unnecessary baggage that weighs you down and prevents you from moving on.

There is story of an old monk and a young monk who were walking through a forest when they came to a river bank and saw a beautiful young woman standing at the edge of the bank.
The woman told the monks that she was afraid to cross the river because she might slip and be carried downstream. She asked if one of the monks might help her across.

Now it so happened that these two monks were members of a sect which practiced celibacy and they had both taken vows never to touch a member of the opposite sex. But the old monk, sensing the extreme anxiety of the young woman, lifted her onto his back and carried her to the other side of the river.

The young woman thanked him and went on her way. The two monks continued on their journey, but the young monk was shocked and disturbed at having seen his older companion break his vow so nonchalantly. Finally, after three hours of walking and thinking, he could contain himself no longer and he burst out, "Tell me, old man, what did it feel like to break your vow of so many years? What did it feel like to allow sensuality to tempt you from your spiritual path? What did it feel like to have her arms around your neck and her soft cheek almost one with your own? Tell me, old man, what is it like to carry such a beautiful young woman?"

The older monk remained silent for several steps and then said, "It is you who should tell me what it is like to carry such a beautiful young woman. You see I put her down three hours ago at the river, but you are still carrying her."

We carry in our hearts the memories of the past that hurt us, ill feelings that we allow to take root and grow over the years that like weeds choke off forgiveness and reconciliation. Our memories deprive of us the possibility of peace and happiness when we fail to forgive and to forget.

I have often heard people say that they can forgive, but they can’t forget what someone has done to them. But it is the nature of forgiveness to also forget. In speaking about the new covenant that God has made through Jesus Christ, God says, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” I will forget all that you have done that was wrong.

Are there burdens that you are carrying because of something someone else has done? Are you holding in your memory someone else's sins because it minimizes your own, or because it allows you to divert attention from your own failurres? If you want to cross the river you have to leave those feelings behind and carry only that which belongs to you.

A mother’s day story from this morning’s news tells about a sixty-year-old man from California who has spent seventeen years trying to track down his mother, a Holocaust survivor who disappeared in the aftermath of World War Two. He finally located her in Israel, but she refuses to see him or communicate with him.

Speculating on a possible reason why his mother didn't want to meet him, the son said: "Many survivors, they want to put the past behind and not have it brought back to them." Johanna Gottefeld, director of the Jerusalem branch of Amcha, a group that assists Holocaust survivors, thought that the mother's reluctance to speak could be related to some trauma she experienced. She said, "It's very threatening to open up emotionally to all the feelings it might bring up. It might bring out things that she might have a very difficult time dealing with afterward." A reunion could ignite bad memories, Gottefeld said. "It might bring back all sorts of things that in order to continue to live, and not to become too depressed, to build a life she had to put aside," she said.

But did the mother really put her trauma aside as much as she refuses to recognize that she is still carrying the burden with her. Forgiveness and healing requires both forgetting and remembering: forgetting the pain and trauma and remembering that which is most important, remembering how to love.

There are rivers of separation, but there are also rivers of access and nurture that bring new life as one continues the journey. The river where Lydia and the other women gathered was a place of prayer and quietness, where one could learn anew faith and a new life, where things begin again. Jesus’ final words to the disciples were those of peace: “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

If we want to move forward, we need to let go. If we want peace in our hearts and lives, we must let go of fear and resentment. If we want the joys flowing like a river, then we must leave our own anger on the bank. If we want to be made welcome in the household of God, we must accept Lydia’s invitation, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” If we would practice the love of God, we must extend the same hospitality to others.

Let us gather at the river in order to cross over and to move beyond it and to enter into the peace of God.

Dr. Harry L. Serio