This Graduation Sunday morning we are blessed to have a Gospel passage about another graduation of sorts.

There are two primary issues afoot in this Gospel passage. First is the witness we see to restoration. This man has been laid up for some unspecified reason for 38 years. We must assume that over that time his limbs, especially his legs, must have atrophied. John is not specific as to how long he had been at the pool of Beth-zatha, or you may know it as Bethesda, but it appears Jesus picked him out from among the many who had gathered there to seek some healing effects from the waters, perhaps water aerobics although there is no mention of pool noodles, or perhaps aid from the crowds coming to the pool.

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Today’s Gospel presents a moment that is at once extremely encouraging and most somber.

Not long ago I received a call from a young woman who is getting started in life, early 20’s. She was in tears because she had been reading about terrible suffering that some children endure, especially in human trafficking and especially in developing nations. That got her thinking about other awful things. She wanted to know why God allows such evil in the world.

When Judas leaves Jesus and the other disciples that night of the Last Supper, it is one of the most awful moments in human history. We spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure out the best ways to help people learn about Jesus. That includes introducing his story and him for the first time, helping people to grow in their knowledge and love of him, and helping people who have drifted away from him or been wounded by life or even the Church in some way. We view all of that in terms of progress; if only they knew, or if only we knew better.

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In October of 2018 I was working for the bishop and I had a meeting with the search committee at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Eustis. On my way home, I decided to grab a quick dinner at the Panera Bread restaurant in Apopka. I’d never been in there before nor have I been there since. I walk in, order my food, take my drink to my table and this elderly man comes up and asks me, “Are you my rector?” No one has ever asked me that before and no one has ever since.

It was a pregnant question. At the time, I wasn’t anyone’s rector. I was the bishop’s Canon to the Ordinary. I served the whole diocese and it wasn’t unusual for people to see me in a restaurant and speak to me. I had just accepted the call to come to Lake Wales, but this was Apopka. When was the last time you went to Apopka? So I answered, “Maybe. Where do you go to church?”

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