Wrapped in Love

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

November 25, 2012

Celebration of our Prayer Shawl Ministry

Wrapped in Love

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

“Today when I received the lovely prayer shawl

from all of you wonderful people of the Ministry

it brought a tear to my eye.

The shawl is so soft and such a lovely color

that I wanted to keep it for myself,

but also felt compelled to pass it on to a friend

who has just been diagnosed with cancer

in almost all of her major organs.

I know that the ripple blessing of my passing this on

will mean so much more to both Mary and me

than if I kept it for myself.

Your ministry is fantastic;

keep up the good work.”

That was from a letter sent to our Prayer Shawl Ministry.

        

Here’s another:

“You can’t imagine what your gift meant

to a family who was under terrible stress.

They were faced with waiting for a two-month old infant

to survive open heart surgery.

Her weight had dropped to a dangerous level

and the surgery simply could not wait.

Your gift and your prayers were highly instrumental

in bringing about the desired results.

She not only survived the surgery,

but in the week following that surgery

gained a significant amount of weight

and things are looking good.

The family told us how much it meant just to know

that Christian friends were praying

and waiting to hear the good results.

They were amazed by the beauty of the gift

and the healing touch it brought to all their lives.

We are all so grateful for your dedication

and the practical, stitch by stitch,

working out of your faith.”

And one more:

“I wanted to thank you for our shawl.

When our deacon delivered it on a hot, late summer day,

we admired its deep purple color

and acknowledged the kindness

in having been chosen to receive it.

Since the weather was so warm,

I put it in the spare bedroom

and there it sat, forgotten, until this week.

This week the weather turned cold and blustery

and parts of my life were beginning to spin out of control.

Then I remembered the shawl.

I got it out of its bag

and wrapped it around my shoulders,

thinking, at the least, that it would warm me up.

And it did –

a lovely warmth began to spread throughout my body

and I began to feel calmer and more serene.

The parts of my life that were spinning stopped

and a peace settled over me.

I wanted to share that with all of you.

But then, this comes as no surprise to you, does it?

So, many thanks to all of you wonderful people.

Now I am spending time with my shawl every day

and feeling the comfort and joy

of everyone who made it.”

These are excerpts from dozens and dozens of letters

our Prayer Shawl Ministry has received

over the past few years.

Each letter is so touching, so heart-felt.

They speak to the power of the ministry

our knitters are engaged in.

Something so seemingly simple:

knitting a small shawl,

or perhaps a hat, or a scarf,

or even a little prayer square,

and then giving it to a person:

young or old,

male or female,

a friend, a stranger;

perhaps even to a friend to give to a stranger.

You can buy a heavier shawl;

you can find a thicker hat;

there’s fancier knitwear with designer labels.

But nowhere can you find anything

that will warm you and touch you,

soothe you and grace you with peace

the way these prayer shawls do.

For these shawls are knitted in love,

knitted for love,

knitted to spread love.

They are given to anyone who asks:

the sick,

the troubled,

the frightened,

the worried,

the anxious,

the lonely,

the exhausted.

Anyone who needs a hug

knitted with yarn made of hope and love.

Shawls have been given to every family in this church,

every one of us wrapped in the love

which is the foundation of the Prayer Shawl Ministry –

that very same love we’ve talked about the past few weeks:

Love that begins with God

and extends through each of us to neighbor.

My mother received a prayer shawl

shortly after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

She knew none of the ladies who knitted her shawl,

and they didn’t know her,

but that didn’t matter.

My mother wrapped herself in the shawl each day,

wrapped herself in love,

love knitted in every inch of the shawl.

When my mother died,

we wrapped her in her shawl

and I find it very easy to picture her in the joy of heaven

with the shawl still wrapped around her shoulders.

After all, the shawl was knitted in love,

given in love,

to wrap her in love,

and now she knows only love,

so it just fits that she’d still have round her shoulders.

Our Prayer Shawl Ministry is part of a national,

even global ministry,

started by two women in Hartford Connecticut in 1998.

Our group is celebrating its 7^th year of activity,

and many saints have been part of the group.

I enjoy popping into the Youth Room

on Thursday mornings when Nancy and her ladies –

to use her term –

are hard at work,

laboring at love

enjoying one another’s company

as they knit, talk, and pray.

    

The national organization’s website

captures the spirit of the ministry:

“Shawls ... [are] symbolic of an inclusive,

unconditionally loving God.

They wrap, enfold, comfort,

cover, give solace,

hug, shelter and beautify.

Those who have received these shawls have been 

uplifted and affirmed,

as if given wings to fly above their troubles...”

It was the poet Rainer Maria Rilke who wrote,

“I live my life in widening circles

that reach out across the world.”

From the two women who started knitting in Hartford in 1998,

ever widening circles of knitters have expanded

to include our church and countless others,

children of God reaching out

in still more widening circles of love

to other children of God,

the ministry giving life to the words

Paul wrote so long ago,

that we are able to console any and all

who are afflicted

“with the consolation with which we ourselves

are consoled by God.”

        

Rilke continued,

“Only in our doing can we grasp God;

only with our hands can we illumine him.”

In the act of knitting,

our Prayer Shawl knitters grasp God’s call

to reach out to all with compassion and consolation,

and then with their hands illumine God,

the bright light of his love radiating out,

in ever widening circles,

drawing more and more within the circles,

everyone wrapped in love.

AMEN