The Cobbler

Scripture Lesson

Hear these words from the Gospel of Matthew 28:16-20 (NRSV)

The Great Commission

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

My name is Sarah Hostetter, if you have not heard of Highland you may have heard of Samaritan center who received a grant to offer services o counseling here at Landis Homes.

Prayer of Illumination:

God of love, God of grace, and God of empowering goodness, open up the hearts and minds of all of those worshiping together here at Landis Homes today. Allow me to speak with your voice of love, kindness, and peacefulness as you reveal yourself in new ways. Amen.

Peggy Winckowski, of St. Louis begins her Wednesday morning tradition at 4am. Sitting on her counter is 5 cartons of eggs, 5 pounds of uncooked bacon, 2 jumbo sized loaves of bread, and a few bowls of fresh fruit. The tradition started in October 2021, when her grandson started as a freshman at Bishop DuBourg High school, and his friends met at a local diner before their late-start Wednesdays. Sam told them, “My Grandma Peggy makes a better breakfast than this.” Then he added, “You guys should really come over to her house instead.” That casual invitation turned into a weekly tradition, now known as the Wednesday Breakfast Club.

Each Wednesday morning a steady stream of teenage boys and girls trickled into Grandma Peggy’s kitchen, where she greeted each of them with a warm one-armed hug as she skillfully flipped bacon with the other. It was clear that Peggy new each of them well, not just their names but what was going on in their lives, like who had a dreaded Chemistry test, who was healing from a painful breakup, and who was working hard to break his vaping habit. She truly loved each of them, and they loved her too.

One morning a friend of Peggy’s joined their Wednesday Breakfast Club, after breakfast she asked a few teens what these mornings mean to them. One told her, “It just feels really good to be here.” Another girl, in a soccer hoodie, took a moment before saying, “I think its knowing someone is always happy to see you.” Grandma Peggy, overhearing this conversation, piped in and added, “We feed eachother.”

What is special about these Wednesday morning traditions was not just the food, but it was the way Grandma Peggy paid attention. She noticed things without anyone saying a word, like who seemed off that day, who was under a lot of stress, and who needed a little extra attention. Peggy was tuned in to the signals and the spirit of these young people. That kind of care of souls, without being asked, is rare.

I love that.

Because I think Grandma Peggy gives us an image of discipleship that we sometimes miss.

Our passage this morning is one of the most familiar passages in Scripture.

Jesus says:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

We call it the Great Commission.

This text is often read as a command to travel, to go. To get off the couch, jump on a plane, travel across the world to the ends of the earth, to unreached communities, and all of the dark corners of our world, and spread the goodness of the gospel. We put a lot of emphasis on one particular word:

Go. And all of those can be wonderful expressions of the Great Commission.

But this can also be a very limited reading and interpretation of the great commission. Because what if we can’t go. What if we have young families with children in school and sports, what if we are caregivers of our parents or loved ones, what if our bodies prevent us from getting up and going?

What if where we are right now, is not where we were the last time we read The Great Commission.

I think this is a question every disciple eventually has to ask: What does the Great Commission look like for me, right now? I have a 3 year old named Preston and a 6 year old named Sunday Grace. Sunday Grace is starting full day 1st grade in two weeks, my husband and I would love to take them to visit our friends in Liberia, West Africa or our missionary friends in Peru, but when I found out the long process and all of the paperwork just to simply take them out of school for 5 days, and all of the shots and vaccines they would need, my husband and I recognized that the verb “Go” has to look different for us right now. So we are asking the same questions, What does the great commission look like for us with young kids and busy schedules.

But, what we were focusing on was the verb, Go. Jesus didn't simply say, “Go.”

Jesus said, “Go and make disciples.”

And I wonder if sometimes we have put so much emphasis on the going that we have missed the disciple-making.

We see from Grandma Peggy that you don't necessarily have to travel very far to shape a life. Sometimes it happens around a kitchen table. She shows us consistent Holy presence. She quietly shows each young person at her table that they are seen, known, and loved.

Grandma Peggy, who is also a caregiver for her husband with Parkinson's cannot travel far, often cannot get to church, and many weeks has her groceries delivered to her house, yet her presence and love is carried in all of the young high schoolers coming in and out of her house on Wednesday mornings.

And Scripture gives us another grandmother like that.

Her name is Lois, and she is the grandmother of our New Testament early church leader, Timothy.

Paul writes to Timothy:

“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.” 2 Timothy 1:5

I find that remarkable. Because, Timothy goes places. Timothy travels with Paul. Timothy participates in the ministry of the early church and helps carry the Gospel into another generation. But before Timothy ever went anywhere, somebody shaped him. There was a grandmother named Lois and his mother Eunice.

We don't have a sermon preached by Lois recorded in Scripture. We don't know about the committees she served on. We don't know whether she traveled anywhere. We simply know that there was a faith that lived in her, and then lived in Eunice, and eventually Paul says to Timothy, “I recognize that faith, it lived in someone before you!”

Perhaps Jesus is asking us a different question.

Not: What can you still do?

But: Who can you chose to invest in and chose to love each day?

Who can you encourage? Who can you pray for? Who can you remind of who they are? Who needs to hear one of your stories? Who needs a note from you? Who needs to know that they have a Grandma Peggy who is always happy to see them?

Who might be carrying a little bit of your faith with them?

Maybe it's your grandchild. Maybe it's your great-grandchild. Maybe it's someone you coached or taught Sunday School to. Maybe it's a nurse or your kids. Maybe it's the person who sits beside you at dinner, or a friend you call every Tuesday. or Maybe it's somebody whose name you bring before God every single morning.

Discipleship has never depended upon how far we can travel. It depends upon our willingness to let the love of Christ that lives in us, touch another life.

In the Adam Sandler movie, “The Cobbler,” there was a quote which said, “it’s a privilege to walk in another persons shoes but there is also a responsibility, you are a guardian of souls, you are a cobbler.” This quote intrigued me. So of course I had to look up the job description of a cobbler.

In Britain, traditionally, a cordwainer is someone who makes new shoes, while a cobbler is someone who repairs them.

I love that distinction. The cobbler takes something worn down and helps it keep walking. A cobbler repairs what has torn, puts in an insert where there is pain, strengthens the places that have become thin, adds a little cushion when the shoe is worn out, and helps a pair of shoes weather a little more weather.

What if that is a picture of discipleship? Being a disciple is simply being a little more like Jesus to the world that we occupy. Caring for souls, tending to them, strengthening them, and encouraging them, so when your not there they can weather a little more weather.

There is something holy about walking closely enough beside another human being that we begin to know where the shoe hurts.

And that’s just what Jesus did.

And if a disciple is someone learning to become more like Jesus, then perhaps making disciples begins by being disciples ourselves.

By tuning in to those around us, by opening our doors, by showing up, by loving people well, and by becoming cobblers.

The cobbler may never walk in the shoes they repair, and they may never see the roads that those shoes travel. But the work of the cobbler goes with them. The various repairs, and stitches, and new cushions make another mile possible.

In July of 2022, the Wednesday Breakfast Club was hit with a terrible tragedy. Grandma Peggy received a phone call one morning that her grandson, the one who had convinced his friends to start the Wednesday Breakfast club, had been in a fatal car accident. Grandma Peggy’s world was shattered. That very day of the news, his closest friends, regulars at the breakfasts gathered at Grandma Peggy’s house to grieve with her. They weren't coming because they needed her. They came because she needed them.

And then everyday that first week, the teenagers would drop by to check in on her and ensure that she was eating, and doing okay. In the days and weeks following her grandsons funeral, Grandma Peggy's home remained a space where his friends could gather. When the school year resumed, one asked if the breakfast club would still continue. Grandma Peggy responded, “ If you come, I will feed you!” Grandma Peggy now feeds more than 30 students every Wednesday, she believes her faith and her community has helped her cope with her grief and significant health problems of her husband, and her own battle with stage 4 colon cancer. In St. Louis when the news outlets heard about her story, donations began to pour in to help cover the cost of food. What started as a small favor to her grandson Sam, turned into something she never could have imagined, a community that built itself around grief, comfort, and the simple act of tuning in to each other and showing up week after week.

Grandma Peggy shared with the News outlets, “ I think Sam put this breakfast together so I wouldn’t be lonely.” She smiled, and blinked back tears, “Turns out, he made sure none of us would be.” (pg. 144)

The Great Commission starts with “Go.” But that isn't where Jesus leaves us. Jesus ends: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Go. Make disciples. And remember:

I am with you.

When you can go across the world: I am with you.

When your world has become a little smaller: I am with you.

When you are teaching a classroom full of children: I am with you.

When all you can do is pray for one of those children: I am with you.

When you are the one doing the caring: I am with you.

And when the day comes that you are the one who needs to be cared for: I am with you.

Our Great Commission is this: To Go, and be disciples who leave the fingerprints of Christ's love on the lives entrusted to us.

We are called to be cobblers, and Christ will be with us always till the end of the age. Amen.

Benediction:

Friends, we may never know how far the lives we quietly shape will travel, you are a guardian of souls, an imitator of Christ, a repairer, a disciple, you are a cobbler and you are not alone.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and always. Go in Peace. Amen.