Some of you are familiar with the writing of Madeleine L'Engle. She has inspired many people with her work. She reports that one Sunday she visited a unique Episcopal church in New York. A man stood up in that church and said, "I hope this is appropriate to ask. I was an abused child. I'm terrified of being an abusive father. I need help and prayer. " Madeleine L'Engle knew then this was a church she could stay in. "Because people are willing to be vulnerable," she says, "this church is very different. Sometimes it gets messy, but that's okay. People are not afraid to ask questions. We're able to admit we're all broken, we've all made terrible mistakes, we're all in need, and we all want things we don't have." 

"There's not a mink coat in the place," she says, "and there's not anyone else my age there either. They're all very young, very alive. The five o'clock Eucharist is largely street people on drugs, HIV-positive, or with AIDS." One member told her it was the only place where he was called by his name. "It's a church in which a mother whose 27-year-old son has died is free to say, ‘People think I'm terrible because I can't pray.' And I can reassure her, ‘You don't have to pray. We're praying for you. That's what the body of Christ is about.'"  That is what the church is all about. Some churches are known for the people they keep out. My guess is that makes Jesus very angry.