Last Sunday I preached a sermon. It wasn’t a bad sermon. Perhaps it even inspired someone. I hope so. I spoke about the need to live our faith with works. I raised the issue of hunger in our neighborhoods and the reality that hunger doesn’t just leave people hungry but deprives people of dignity and the smells and tastes that evoke love. Think apple pies, turkey soup, or cookies baking in the oven.

As the day continued, I found myself in the presence of so many lived sermons:

• A caregiver who continues to care for neighbors who are disabled or dying.
• People who bring flowers into the church.
• Guys who spend hours volunteering to repair homes of people living in awful conditions.
• People who come together to feed the hungry.
• Artists whose art evokes something in me that is beyond words.
• Musicians who generously share music they have spent decades writing and performing.
• People who bring flowers into the church.

I am humbled and grateful that I live and work in a church and community with so many gifted and generous people.

Many of us struggle to maintain hope in these times. Yet when I pause and look around, I see people making a big difference.

Jesus only feed the crowd that was in front of him. He healed people one by one.

We can feed and love and care for those close by, trusting that others will continue to pass on the gift of God’s love and mercy.

My job as pastor is to amplify the lived sermons of the people of my community. I pray that I am doing my bit to sustain these saints in my midst as day after day they love one another in word and deed.