Annie Lamott is probably exaggerating when she says that there are only two really sincere prayers: “Help me, help me, help me!” and “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Probably.

We have a lot invested in not seeming to be as desperately needy or as desperately grateful as those two prayers would suggest. But, once in a while, it’s worthwhile to let down our guard a little and admit how much we depend on God. And each other.

In the In Crowd a couple of weeks ago, they were talking about whether grown-ups could learn from young people. They, of course, were convinced that we could, but we couldn’t come up with examples right at the moment. I’m sorry that I didn’t think faster, because, with a bit of reflection, I’m loaded with examples.

Hillary Berche and her mother, Kim, regularly take communion to Bill and Jo At Lee. It comes from a conversation Hillary and I were having one day when she mentioned that she missed Bill and Jo at services, but that it’s just a little too hard for them to get here on Sunday mornings. I said she could be trained to offer communion and both Hillary and Kim jumped at the chance. For Hillary and Kim it was as simple as that – there are people we miss and we want to see them. If we can bring them communion, too, let’s do it!

Kelly Kitzmiller has started bringing her friend Brooke to services. They go to Sunday school and talk – conversation in that class goes a mile a minute and rarely touches on the same subject for more than 30 seconds. But for Kelly to invite a friend to church is as simple as that – why wouldn’t I bring a friend to church with me? Actually, there are quite a few people who bring friends to church, but mostly they’re youngsters, at least so far.

Last week, the 8th grade confirmands led worship for the 7th graders and the parents. It wasn’t a big thing – readings, a skit, a short sermon by Maggie Scopel, leadership from Nicole Brown and some music by Reid and Eric Hyland and the other 8th graders. We certainly weren’t over-rehearsed, but it was fresh and lively and I found myself near tears during the communion where each was fed by and in turn fed another confirmand or parent. They had a little trouble saying the words that have been so frequently said to them: “Body of Christ, given for you, Blood of Christ, shed for you.” But the worship itself was as simple as that – there were parts for us to play so we stood up and served.

Now, I’m not going to say that the Christian life is simple and we are the ones who make it complicated. I will say, though, that the Christian life could be a lot simpler than we make it. We hedge it around with rules and limits and conditions, perhaps just because God’s love is so uncontrollable and limitless and unconditional. We get out of touch with the basic facts; that God loves us and wants our lives to be rich and abundant, that we are at our best when we serve simply and directly, that our lives and others’ lives are full of both need and gratitude and all our lives are intermixed and interdependent.

Hillary’s (and Kim’s) kindness, Kelly’s friendship, Maggie’s conviction, and Nicole’s, Reid’s and Erik’s leadership are simply the result of their opening their hearts to God. They, and we, all recognize that we’re not perfect (and won’t be any time soon!), but that God has work for us, work that we can do, work that makes us better for the doing of it. God has a job for you, too. What might it be?

Pastor Greg