It is a blessing to know that there are those who help – who lay down their lives to help – and we salute Veterans’ Day thanking those who served – we cherish Armistice Day grateful for a stop to fighting in World War One – and (new to me) learn about St. Martin’s Day and his gift of half his cloak in a cold winter to a beggar with none.

This is the season of thankfulness, of helping, of harvest  and of fruits and vegetables that last – if kept in cool temperatures – like squash and apples – seeds and nuts… This is the season of cooler temps and today (first time in over a month) there is rain – beautiful rain – and perfect season setting…

The story of St Marin (from Wikipedia) says that ‘Martin of Tours (died 397) was a Roman soldier who was baptized as an adult and became a bishop in Gaul. He is best known for the tale whereby he cut his cloak in half with his sword, to give half to a beggar who was dressed in only rags in the depth of winter. That night Martin had a vision of Jesus Christ wearing the half-cloak.’

Jesus is our hero and our martyr and our helper and our priest above all priests – above all angels – above all saints. Jesus IS God – and this act of helping one person is the act of helping Jesus – as Jesus said Himself, like the song lyric: ‘whatever you do for the least of my brothers – that you do unto me’…

And with my aptly-found printout of the Lost Son Parable from Luke 15, we remember that God as the Father to His wayward children – He is always looking for us to come home.

And so today – we remember – we remember the helpers – like the soldiers and the peace keepers – we remember those who remember us and share with us – and we remember the ultimate remembering: THAT GOD LOVED US FIRST. 

God loved us so much to help us.

Thank you Jesus. 

Amen

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The Sheep and the Goats – Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”