by Rev. Eric Folkerth

I’m going to somewhat contradict last week’s sermon.

I know, I can be confusing that way. Telling you one thing on one Sunday, and perhaps backtracking later. That is the gift and burden of a faith that is well examined and considered; to be constantly re-evaluating and re-assessing what we believe.

For the past two Sundays, we’ve talked about how our calling as Jesus’ Disciples is to simply “do our duty,” and to not be concerned as to whether or not we ever get “thanks” for what we do. We’ve unpacked the challenging parable of the ten healed lepers, and only ONE of ten who ever apparently express gratitude.

The overarching theme of Jesus’ teachings here are:
Be a Disciple.
Do what you’re called to do.
And don’t *expect* thanks.

There is one piece of to this to consider and that is what we do when genuine and sincere thanks DO come our way. That’s what I’d like to talk to you about today.

So, I suppose I’m not so much contradicting what I’ve said these past two Sundays, but I would like to qualify it just a bit.

Because you all need to know of the gratitude of our Kessler Park neighbors. Specifically, you need to know of the gratitude of neighbor parents for our “Wednesday Night Live” program.

Every week, as that program begins or ends, I try to take some time in Roberts Forest, greeting the parents as they pick up their children.

I wish you could all be there.

Because what I am hearing is PROFOUND gratitude for Wednesday Night Live and our overall ministries. Parents are telling us how much the kids enjoy the ministry, how it’s becoming the highlight of their week, and how they even organize other activities, such that their kids can always attend.

They are deeply grateful…to Pastor Kay and Taryn…and to all of you.

Further, I had a long conversation with one parent who urgently wanted to tell me even more. She said she was from another faith tradition that she has since left. (I gathered it had been a challenging exit…)

She said that while she hasn’t attended Sunday worship, she *has* been watching KPUMC online. And she told me how profoundly grateful she was for our worship, music, liturgy, and social witness.

She said, “It’s all the good things I remember from church when I was a kid…”

I’ve been telling you for some time that our path back to “doing church” in person again would be rocky and perhaps contain small victories that we needed to embrace, rather than “grand slam” gestures and programs.

In the near term, we’ll likely try many new ministry ideas and it is likely that many of them will fail. And, as Jesus reminds us, even if we never gain the thanks and gratitude of the whole world, our calling is to still do our duty.

But every now and then, friends, we DO get thanked. And when it happens, take it in with gratitude. Whether or not it’s always apparent to you, what Kessler Park UMC does, it makes a difference to our neighborhood.

And our neighbors are grateful.