Miriam

Amazing Children of the Bible Series

Meditation on Exodus 1:8-2:10

Rev. Dr. Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

July 12, 2026

It hasn’t yet been two weeks since I returned from our denomination’s 227th General Assembly in Milwaukee. I am still processing much of what happened there. But today, I would like to share about the delightful tribute to Margaret Towner at G.A.

Margaret, who turned 101 in March, was born in Columbia, Missouri, in 1925, and grew up in the Presbyterian Church. Her father was the Rev. Dr. Milton Carsley Towner, who would become a prominent American educator, psychologist, and religious scholar. Her mother was active in the church and supportive of her daughter’s dreams. In Carleton College, Marg majored in pre-med and graduated with a B.A. in 1948.  She had been into photography since a young girl as a hobby but was trained in college by a fellow student who had served as a photographer in the Army. After college, she would work as a medical photographer for the Mayo Clinic until she moved back to Syracuse where her mother was living. There, she used her skills as a photographer with Presbyterian churches. As she became more involved with churches, people began to ask her, “Marg, why don’t you explore ministry?”

So she did. She attended Union Theological Seminary in New York, earning a Bachelor of Divinity Degree in 1954. But women were not permitted to serve in full ministry roles until a 1955 decision of General Assembly, which went into effect in 1956. This paved the way for Margaret’s ordination on October 24 of that year by Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery. That day was far from smooth or routine for her and the church. There was confusion, and her mother fielded a flurry of phone calls from the media asking, “Is she going to be the first?”

Eugene Carson Blake, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly at the time, then canvased all the other presbyteries in the U.S. Sure enough, Margaret Towner would be the first woman ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. When the media found out, Life Magazine sent one of most famous photographers in the country, Alfred Eisenstaedt, to cover her ordination. The Allentown church usually gave a black robe to those being ordained as ministers. But they didn’t give Margaret a robe. They gave her a set of encyclopedias. Not having a robe to wear, her mother borrowed one for her from Forster Freeman, probably the shortest minister in the presbytery, Margaret says. It still didn’t fit. The wife of the Allentown pastor and one of the choir members sat down and hemmed it up so she could be dressed and ready for the 8 p.m. ordination service.

The two pastors Margaret had worked with in Allentown did not approve of women’s ordination. She decided to invite them to participate in the service. One was to deliver the sermon and the other to do the prayer before the service when all the elders and ministers gathered. It was there that one of the clergy, Bill McConaughy, gave her a beautiful cross from Iona that she wears to this day.

Those early years as she started out in ministry were difficult. In Allentown, she was permitted in the pulpit only when she gave the benediction at her own service of ordination. She was allowed to pantomime the service during Communion in the overflow auditorium. Meanwhile, she received letters from wives of ministers telling her that the Bible forbids women from preaching and accusing her of taking away the jobs of their husbands.

The persecution went on in other ways when we she was serving First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan. People would call the church office to ask who was preaching on Sunday. If the secretary said Margaret, they weren’t going to come. “They just didn’t have any idea,” Margaret says, “of what a female can do.”

Today, we began our series of amazing children of the Bible with Miriam. Did you happen notice that she isn’t named in our passage in Exodus when she, with guidance from her mother, saves the life of her baby brother Moses? This isn’t unusual for women and girls in the Bible. They are often mentioned through their relationship with an important male character. In this case, her brother Moses. But she will be named later.

Miriam is probably 7 years old[1] when she is watching over her brother in the Nile, floating in the basket her mother has carefully made and waterproofed. The princess, moved with compassion by the baby’s cries and beauty, and persuaded by Miriam to pay his own Hebrew mother to nurse him, isn’t named, either.  She never will be. But then again, her father, the Pharoah who didn’t know how Joseph had saved Egypt and hated and feared his descendants because they were growing too strong and numerous, isn’t named, as well. Most scholars agree that he is not named because he does not need to be remembered.

Miriam’s mother, another important female character, isn’t named in this passage. We do know her priestly family line, as Exodus begins the story describing Moses’ parents, “Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.” The Levites were an Israelite tribe descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and half-brother to Joseph. They were selected to serve God in the Holy Temple and were different from the other tribes in that they received no land inheritance; they were supported by the tithes of the people. Exodus 6:20 tells us that the mother’s name is Jochebed, and her husband is Amran—and is also her nephew.

You may not realize that Miriam is the first woman to be explicitly called a prophet in the Bible. Not only that. She is the first person to be called a “prophet” in the Bible, too. [2] She is introduced in Exodus 15:20 as “Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister” before she famously leads the Israelite women in song and dance to celebrate the crossing of the Red Sea. She picks up her tambourine and sings her “Song of Miriam”:

“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously,
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.” (Exodus 15:21)

Like all the people of the Bible, including her brothers, Miriam is very human. All three struggle in their faith and complain to God throughout the wilderness trials. But she remains supportive of Moses until many years have passed—and the land of the promise is nowhere in sight. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is when Moses divorces his longtime wife, Zipporah, and marries a Cushite woman, not a Hebrew. We read in Numbers 12:1-2, “While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman); and they said, ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?’ And the Lord heard it.” Miriam is struck with leprosy, and Aaron cries out to God on her behalf. She is healed in 7 days but, like her brothers, will die before reaching the Land of the Promise. Still, she will be remembered by later prophets to be as important in the mission to save Israel as her two brothers. The Lord speaks through Micah 6:4,  

“I brought you up out of Egypt
    and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
    also Aaron and Miriam.”

Today, as we baptize Luke Andrew, I urge you to remember that it may be a few years before all of Luke’s spiritual gifts are evident. And that he will be very human and won’t have the ability to sit still and remain quiet for some time, yet. But as we nurture him in the faith, teach him about the love and grace of Jesus Christ, and support his family, the Lord will use him to fulfill God’s wonderful plans, perhaps while he is still young like Miriam at age 7. The important thing is to encourage him in all his dreams and never forget that with God, all things are possible.

Margaret’s parents had no idea when their daughter was a teenager, obsessed with photography, that she would become a minister.  Margaret herself had no inkling when she was studying pre-med that God had planned a future that included her serving in ordained ministry. How could they when women’s gifts for ministry were not even recognized by the Church until 1955 when she was 30 years old?

Looking back, Marg remembers one thing that she said years ago that she has often regretted saying. Trying to placate those in the church who were against the ordination of women, she told “Presbyterian Life that ordained women would likely serve as associate pastors, in roles subordinate to men, rather than alone. She faced pushback from the upcoming generation of women to follow in her footsteps.” The statement has come back to haunt her, she says, as the article is still read by students who have sent many unhappy letters, saying, “Hey, look I want to pastor on my own. Maybe that’s not your bag.”[3]

While Marg did start in pastoral roles that were subordinate to men, she was a strong advocate for women receiving equal pay and opportunity. Eventually, her pay equaled that of her two male co-pastors with whom she served a parish of 6 churches in the last 17 years of her ministry. Marg would go on to serve as a role model for women with her leadership roles in the national church, chairing such committees as the Language of God, the Holy Spirit, and Worship and Theology. She would go on to become in 1981 the Vice Moderator of the 193rd General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.

When asked how she will be remembered, she prays that others won’t just remember her mistakes, but that they will graciously remember “some of the fun things,” she says with a smile, that “we did together in ministry.” She has become a big believer in the Holy Spirit to lead the Church in ways that the leaders “feel called to go, in whatever ministry they feel called to. And to persevere. Hang in there.”

As we clapped in standing ovation after the tribute, Co-Moderator Tony Larsen at GA in Milwaukee said, “Margaret, we do remember your contributions in ministry. We remember your faithfulness, your courage, your boldness.”

Let us pray.

Holy One, thank you for your Spirit that continues to the lead the Church in surprising ways. Thank you for all the women and girls, such as Miriam and Margaret, who are models for women and men in ministry today. Forgive us for our mistakes, dear Lord, and stir us to have grace for one another and ourselves. Help us to inspire and encourage our next generation, including little Luke Andrew, to be courageous like Miriam and Margaret. To be faithful. To be bold. To believe that with God, all things are possible. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

[1] Nissan Mandel, “The Story of Miriam in the Bible” (Viewed on July 11, 2026) at https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112396/jewish/The-Story-of-Miriam-in-the-Bible.htm

[2] Phyllis Trible, “Miriam: Bible” in Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women’s Archive. Viewed on July 11, 2026 at https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miriam-bible.

[3] Ed Wicklein, “Margaret Towners Reflects.” Presbyterian Historical Society Blog (1978) Accessed on July 11, 2026 at https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/blogs/historical-society-blog/margaret-towner-reflects

Celebrating Our Country’s 250th Anniversary

Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

July 5, 2026

You are not going to hear the story of Miriam today! Lord willing, you will hear all about Miriam next Sunday as I begin my series on Amazing Children of the Bible. On this weekend, as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I have been inspired to share a different message with my flock. I hope that’s OK!

It all started when I was on a bus headed to Milwaukee airport on Thursday, having finished my work as a commissioner to the General Assembly. I received a text message from Dawn at the church office. Nicole, one of the organizers of Smithtown’s July 4th celebration at Town Hall, had contacted the church. I was recommended by the mayor and town historian, Richard Smith, to lead the opening and closing prayers. She said the ceremony would last about 20 minutes and that I would also be welcome to speak about the history of our church and the role of faith in the founding of our country.

I said yes.

It was last minute. I wouldn’t have much time to prepare. I was a little tired from my trip. And I knew it was going to be hot standing outside Town Hall. But it was the right thing to do. They didn’t have other clergy for the event, and I knew that praying for peace and unity for our country would be important to fit in on the day of parades, flags, and family barbecues. And I looked forward to telling the story of our patriot pastor, the Reverend Joshua Hartt.

He was born on a farm in Dix Hills in 1738. At 32, he was ordained a minister, and at 36, in 1774, he came to serve the Presbyterian Church in Smithtown. Joshua soon earned a reputation for preaching “fiery sermons against British rule, calling on parishioners to take up arms in the patriot cause.”[1] He said, “He who hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one.” And “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning shears into spears and let the weak say I am strong.”[2]

One Sunday, he stepped into the pulpit and was fired upon by two British soldiers. Either the soldier was a poor shot or Hartt, an imposing figure of 300 pounds, simply ducked in the nick of time.[3] Hartt was uninjured, but bullet holes were left in the church as a reminder of the danger of speaking out against an unjust government. Hartt would be arrested on several occasions because of his inflammatory preaching, including once when he was placed in chains, thrown in a wagon, and hauled to Provost Prison in New York City. During his imprisonment from May 27 to October 25 in 1777, the 39-year-old “came near to dying from an illness and want of food. A fellow prisoner was the celebrated Colonel Ethan Allen, who had captured Fort Ticonderoga in the early days of the war. Allen attended the ailing Rev. Hartt and by his lively manner and cheerful conversation did much to make his sickness and confinement endurable. One day Ethan Allen knelt at Rev. Hartt’s bedside and prayed for his recovery. Soon after, Rev. Hartt, through the assistance of a Tory friend, was paroled from the prison.”[4]

Hartt wasn’t the only one preaching fiery sermons in Presbyterian churches during the Revolutionary War years. The most famous Presbyterian leading the opposition to the British at the time was the Rev. John Witherspoon, the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. The prominent Scottish American Presbyterian minister had emigrated in 1768 to serve as president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).[5] He was a fiercely outspoken leader in the Patriot cause that King George III dismissed as a “Presbyterian rebellion.”[6]

George III wasn’t alone in his assessment of the situation. Horace Walpole, earl and youngest son of the first British prime minister, upon hearing that the American colonial possessions of Great Britain had written their Declaration of Independence, he wrote in a letter to a friend, “One has griefs enough of one’s own, without fretting because cousin America has eloped with a Presbyterian parson.”[7] That Presbyterian parson was John Witherspoon.

As Dissenters from the established Church of England, Presbyterians mistrusted British colonial power—and were not afraid to assert a right to religious freedom when it was threatened. Presbyterian influence in the colonies grew in the mid 1700s, shaped by the Great Awakening and an influx of Scottish and Scots Irish immigrants, most of whom were Presbyterian. With words and actions—and sometimes with violence—these religious dissenters challenged colonial rule and felt moved to defy the status quo in the name of God.[8]

Ambrose Serle, secretary to British General Howe in New York City, wrote to the British Secretary of State in 1776 telling him that the American Revolution was ultimately “a religious war.” He said that “the revolt would not and could not be sustained were it not for the Presbyterian ministers who bred it. He lamented the fact that almost every minister in America seemed to double as a politician.”[9]

Many Americans today aren’t aware that the majority of the 56 delegates from the 13 colonies who gathered in Philadelphia in the hot summer of 1776 for the Second Continental Congress were people of faith. Their families came here from Europe for a fresh start, new opportunities, a better life, and, most of all, freedom to live out their faith without fear of persecution. The signers of the Declaration were Deists and Unitarians. They were Roman Catholics. The majority of those who helped shape and then voted for Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence were Anglicans, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians.[10]

The 12 Presbyterians who signed the document were physician Benjamin Rush, James Smith, George Taylor, lawyers James Wilson and Thomas McKean, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, John Hart, Abraham Clark, and Matthew Thornton, although not all of them made it into John Trumball’s famous painting of the presentation of the Declaration to Congress in 1776.[11] “George Duffield of Philadelphia’s Third Presbyterian Church (today’s Old Pine Church, next door to the Presbyterian Historical Society) served as chaplain to the Continental Congress, and patriot pastors (such as Joshua Hartt) supported the war effort from their pulpits in every state. Everyday Presbyterians felt the war’s impact in their communities and houses of worship. British troops occupied Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, and Savannah. From New England to the Carolinas, Presbyterian churches were seized to quarter troops or damaged by forces loyal to the Crown.”[12]

The Declaration, amended in committee and presented to Congress on July 4, 1776, asserts that all human beings are created equal and endowed by God with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It also asserts that just governments derive their authority and powers from the “consent of the governed.” And that people have the right to change the government when it becomes destructive to these ends and does not provide for their safety and happiness. The document includes references to God the Creator, Provider, and Judge, the source of nature and nature’s laws.[13]

It felt strange to be the only minister at Smithtown’s 4th of July celebration. It felt strange that the local and state leaders sitting on either side of me had not been given permission to speak more than 90 seconds each. I was the guest speaker, the one to share a message after one of Richard Smith’s relatives read the Preamble to the Declaration. Well, it turned out that he read not just the Preamble, but the entire Declaration. People, wilting in the heat and tired of standing, began to disperse.

At the podium, I looked out and saw members of my church, red faced and perspiring in the heat with me, but smiling as they stood on Town Hall’s lawn. Some had found a little patch of shade under a small tree. I felt a surge of confidence and joy. “Today, my friends,” I said, “I am grateful. Grateful for my family and my flock here in Smithtown, with its long history of ministry in this community through times of plenty and times of need and uncertainty. I am grateful to Reverend Hartt and all the brave patriots willing to speak up and act out, though it might mean arrest and imprisonment, injury or loss of life. I am grateful for our town and country that has weathered struggles from within and without.”

By the grace of God, we continue in hope for our future as the United States of America, enjoying our lives and liberties, including our freedom of speech and freedom to live out our faith as God leads us to do. We continue in hope in our pursuit of happiness, dwelling in a land of purple mountains majesties and fruited plains. I encourage all of you, my siblings in Christ, to pray for your nation, just 250 years young, a country larger and more diverse than those who first envisioned our system of government ever imagined. We embrace our freedoms, earned at a cost of those who gave their lives in the American Revolution, the Civil War about a century later, and many more wars and conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries so far. We are still struggling to find unity amid our differences and diversity of cultures, languages, ethnicities, and religions.

We are Deists and Unitarians. Roman Catholics. Anglicans, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and many other varieties of Protestant faiths. We are also Jewish, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims. We are people not affiliated with any religion at all.

We are ALL children of a God who urges us to love one another and live together in peace.

Will you pray with me?

Holy One, thank you for your grace and the Spirit that continues to dwell with us in this nation that we call home, the United States of America. Thank you for those who labored and struggled and continue to labor and struggle to figure out what it means to live with this new kind of government—250 years young—in a land much larger and more diverse than Richard Smith ever imagined. Strengthen us to pursue peace and unity with one another and neighbors around the globe. Help us to reflect your grace, generosity, and gentleness and walk in the way of righteousness and justice. Heal our divisions. Make us whole. Amen.

[1] “Reverend Joshua Hartt (1738-1829),” Northport Historical Society Museum, accessed July 4, 2026, at https://www.huntingtonny.gov/filestorage/13747/99540/16499/Reverend_Joshua_Hartt.pdf

[2] Richard Mehalick, Church and Community (1675-1975) The Story of The First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, New York, (2010), 65.

[3] J. Richard Mehalick, Church and Community (1675-1975), 66.

[4] J. Richard Mehalick, Church and Community (1675-1975), 66-67.

[5] James Smylie, A Brief History of the Presbyterians (Louisville: Geneva Press, 1996), 57-58.

[6] A Presbyterian Rebellion,” Presbyterian Church, USA (March 15, 2019) accessed on July 4, 2026 at https://pcusa.org/a-presbyterian-rebellion

[7] Glenn A. Moots, “Early America’s Political Pulpit” in Law and Liberty, Dec. 28, 2021, accessed July 4, 2026 at https://lawliberty.org/classic/early-americas-political-pulpit/.

[8] “Presbyterians and the American Revolution” (Louisville:PresbyterianHistorical Society, 2026) accessed July 4, 2026, at https://pcusa.org/historical-society/exhibits/presbyterians-and-american-revolution#1

[9] George Grant, “The Presbyterian Rebellion” (July 2, 2026) accessed on July 4, 2026, at https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/the-presbyterian-rebellion.

[10] Kevin DeYoung, “The Presbyterian Signers of the Declaration of Independence” in Clearly Reformed (May 12, 2026) accessed July 4, 2026 at https://clearlyreformed.org/the-presbyterian-signers-of-the-declaration-of-independence/

[11]James Smylie, American Presbyterians: A Pictorial History, (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Historical Society, 1985), 39.

[12] “Presbyterians and the American Revolution” (Louisville:PresbyterianHistorical Society, 2026) accessed July 4, 2026 at https://pcusa.org/historical-society/exhibits/presbyterians-and-american-revolution#1.

[13] James Smylie, American Presbyterians, 60.

Should We Continue in Sin?

Meditation on Romans 5:8 – 6:11

Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, NY

June 21, 2026

Magellan Penguin from https://www.penguinsinternational.org/magellanic-penguins/

Tom Michell was taking a walk by the sea, on holiday at Punte Del Este in Uruguay, when he saw the penguins washed up on the sand. It was a dreadful sight, he says in his memoir, The Penguin Lessons: What I Learned from A Remarkable Bird. “Hundreds of oil-drenched penguins lay dead in the sand, from the high-water mark to the sea, and stretching far away along the shore to the north. Dead penguins, covered in thick, cloying, suffocating oil and tar….”

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. “One valiant bird was alive, a single surviving soul struggling amidst all that death.”

He hesitated. Tom was a single man of 23, an Englishman working as a teacher at a boarding school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was 1976, and the country was in chaos. “Terrorism was rife; murders and kidnappings were everyday events.”  Tom wasn’t thinking about his job or the violence and mayhem that day as he stood on the beach. He saw the penguin and had a surge of hope.

He carefully approached the large bird, maybe 14 pounds—it’s open, red-tongued beak, looking as if it were prepared to attack and jet-black eyes “sparking with anger.” He used wood and fishing net to lift “the furious creature, twisting and turning in its efforts to escape.” He managed to carry it by its feet for the mile or so walk to where he was staying. Before he could begin to clean it, the penguin clamped his beak on Tom’s finger. He yelped in pain and had to attend to the wound before he could begin to pour the dishwashing liquid down the creature’s back and work the soap into his short, stubby feathers.

As he rinsed the thick black goo from his body, the exhausted penguin suddenly lay still. Within moments, the terrified, hostile, and resentful animal became a docile and cooperative partner in the cleanup operation. The transformation occurred as Tom washed off the first of the detergent, as if the bird had suddenly understood that he was not being murdered; he was being saved. After that, he seemed to be a totally different animal, relieved of his affliction.  At the second dose of detergent, “he held his wings out helpfully, so that no part should be missed.” Tom rubbed the soap all over the penguin’s feathers and scraped off the gooey mixture. After each wash “he shook himself like a dog to dry.” When he was finished, he left the bird in the bathtub and walked to the market to buy fish. But then he had a disturbing thought. He had removed all the penguin’s natural oils. If he released him now, he might become “waterlogged, sink, and drown.”

Still determined to set the bird free and return to his normal routine, he rubbed the bird with butter and olive oil and took him to the sea near where he was staying, where there was no sign of oil spill. He took him “to the water’s edge and placed him in the sand, expecting him to rush into the sea and swim away, happy to be free. But he didn’t.” He walked straight back to Tom. Tom would find out years later from a wildlife rehabber that penguins won’t go into the water alone. After repeated attempts to set him free, Tom gave up when he followed him to the road and was nearly hit by a speeding van. Tom ran into the street, scooped him up and discovered he was soaking wet and icy cold, without any waterproofing on his feathers.

“What am I going to do with you?” Tom asked. This was the first of many penguin lessons—don’t go into the ocean alone!—that he and others would learn from the friendly, affectionate bird that had, of all things, the gift of being a good listener.

The penguin came to live on Tom’s terrace at school and took walks with him around the grounds. He named him “Juan Salvador,” which means “God is Gracious” and “Savior.”  The penguinwon the hearts of the students, who took turns feeding him his daily sprats and chose him as their rugby mascot. He won the hearts of the teachers and staff, who came to visit him and share their problems with him. Someone pointed out that he should have been named, “Juan Salvado,” Salvado meaning “Saved.” Thus, he had a new name.

Paul in Romans is trying to tell us about the transformation that has happened in us because of Christ. The love of God has been proven, he says, because while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is the God whom Jesus calls Father, who knows us intimately and sees everyone as precious. Jesus in Matthew 10 asks his disciples, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

The one whose trespass brought about humanity’s condemnation, says Paul, is Adam. Not Eve, as some have taught! Only Jesus, fully human and fully God, was able to make the sacrifice that would bring us into right relationship with the Lord and one another. He did it for love.

Paul has evolved in his theology by the time he writes Romans for Gentile and Jewish Christians toward the end of his third missionary journey, perhaps A.D. 57. Douglas Moo writes, “For almost 25 years, Paul has planted churches in the eastern Mediterranean. Now he prepares to bring to Jerusalem a practical fruit of that work, one that he hopes will heal the most serious social-theological rift in the early church–the relationship between Jew and Gentile in the people of God.”[1]

What brings these groups together for Paul in Christ? Baptism. It unites us with Christ in his death and resurrection and with one another as Christ’s Body. We have been raised in the waters of baptism to live as a new people. But here’s the thing. We still sin, even after we are baptized. The good news is that the grace of God is sufficient for all sin. We are forgiven!  Then Paul challenges us, just as we are getting comfortable at the thought of all that grace. “What then are we to say?” he asks. “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase? By no means!”

Our being united with Christ and one another in baptism means that we have the power of Christ to rise above the sins that bring us down and trip us up. He tells the Galatians, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” We can’t put on Christ until we take off the old ways of thinking and being—such as holding onto anger and unforgiveness; being cynical or selfish—none of these attitudes fit the new spiritual outfit. This transformation in Christ happens when we live and grow in Christian community, worshiping and serving God and neighbor together.

 Our Elders and Trustees came for a picnic at the manse on Tuesday night. The Deacons will be coming for their picnic in July. Looking around the group, I sensed a peace and comfort with one another that wasn’t as noticeable when I came. Relationships have been strengthened. I believe that we are in the midst of a spiritual transformation. The proof is our increasing love for one another. And we have become a people of hope.  

You know I am going to go back to the penguin—right?

Juan only lived with Tom and the children at the school for 8 short months. A colleague was caring for Juan while Tom was away when the penguin died and was buried in a garden. Tom was inconsolable, especially because he hadn’t been with him when he passed. No more would there be the “telltale patter of feet excitedly running up and down, accompanied by the occasional squawk.” These sounds had become an integral part of his school life, “just as the bells that marked the changing events of the day. Now there would be just a dreadful silence… No more would the boys knock at his door to collect fish; no more the laughter and delight that he brought to so many.”

But it had been a privilege to know and love such a remarkable bird. He knew that he would never be the same. However, no one experienced a more radical transformation through knowing Juan than a student named Diego from Bolivia, who didn’t seem to be good at anything and was often ridiculed. He was homesick, immature, limited in his English, and academically behind. He was small and uncoordinated when it came to rugby. But he loved Juan Salvado and visited him every day.

A few months after Juan came to live with Tom, he arranged for the penguin to go for his first swim in the school pool. He had molted and had new feathers with the natural oils for water protection. Diego and Tom watched the bird in awe as he navigated the pool with speed, skill, and acrobatics.

Diego asked if he could swim with the penguin. He had never seen the boy so animated.  “His eyes were sparkling and he seemed to be truly alive for the first time since (he) had known him.” Tom was worried that Diego might not be able to swim. He was surprised to learn that not only could Diego swim, but he swam magnificently, chasing after the bird, who swam circles around him.  

Over the next few weeks, Diego earned the respect of his peers. His academic skills improved. He appeared to grow three inches. Even his clothes fit him better. And,“when at last the swimming gala was held, the results were as everyone anticipated: he won every race for which he was eligible to enter and broke every (school) record that he was allowed to contest.”

“A child had gone down to the water to swim with a penguin, and shortly afterward, a young man had emerged. There had been a rebirth, a new beginning. The ugly duckling had become a swan; the caterpillar had metamorphosed into a butterfly; the fish had found its way back to the water.

 “Diego had done years of growing up in just a few short minutes, and Juan Salvado, the penguin extraordinaire, had had something to do with it.”

Let us pray.

Holy One, how can we thank you enough for your abundant grace for sinners? How can we thank you enough for your love, shown in the sacrifice of your Son? Help us, dear Lord, to grow up in the faith, live into our baptisms, and never take your grace for granted. Strengthen us to put away our old ways of thinking and being. Help us to be good listeners. Stir us to love one another as you love us and to care for the earth so that all creatures may thrive on land, in the sea, and in the air. And thank you for the animals that you have created, such as the remarkable Magellan penguin named Juan Salvado, the single survivor of an oil spill, who brought delight and transformation to the humans he met. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

[1] Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, 3.

The Harvest Is Plentiful

Meditation on Matthew 9:35–10:8

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford

June 14, 2026

A 4-year-old boy in a wheelchair handed me a thank you note last Sunday. His nana had written the words, “Thank you” and “Love, Grayson.” The boy had provided a rainbow of colors with orange, green, purple, and yellow magic markers.

I had visited him at his nana’s a few days after his surgery. It isn’t often that a child in our congregation has surgery, and I felt it was important for me to be there afterward to encourage him. To be the peace of Christ and let him know that his church is praying for him.

I couldn’t go empty handed, so I brought the boy I have known most of his life a bag of small gifts: matchbox firetrucks, dinosaur squirt gun, and some easy games to keep him busy while he wasn’t permitted to put any weight on his leg, even to stand.

During my visit, when there were pauses in conversation, I remembered when I baptized him and his cousin, Diego, Jr. together on September 18, 2022. It was a memorable day for many reasons. That day, both of Debbie’s parents—Karl and Ethel Kraft—with the help of two aides, were able to be in worship, though their health was fragile. They were able to witness their great grandchildren’s baptisms and pray for them. When I held Grayson afterward and smiled down at him, he smiled back at me. It would be the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

After my visit to Grayson, he told his nana that Pastor Karen really loves him. She assured him that Pastor Karen loves everyone. Which is true. “No, she really loves me,” he insisted.

I laughed when Debbie told me what he said. And nodded, “Yes, I really do.”

Jesus calls his 12 disciples to labor in God’s harvest in the 9th chapter of Matthew. His calling is stirred by his concern when he goes about the cities and villages, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. He sees the crowds and has “compassion” for them because they are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” “This fulfills the prophecy of Ezekiel 34, when the prophet claims that God will be the people’s shepherd. God will seek the lost, bind up the injured, and feed them with justice. (Ezek. 34:16) It also fulfills the claim that Jesus will be a ruler who shepherds Israel (Matthew 2:6) and implies the ever-present criticism, found throughout Matthew, of the religious leaders who have failed the sheep.”[1]

Jesus turns to his disciples, who have, up to now, watched and listened as he has done all the labor. And he says, “The Harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” That’s his call to them to pray and go and care for the crowds. They are the laborers the Lord of the harvest is calling! Go with compassion to do what they have seen and experienced with him. And before they can protest that they couldn’t possibly do what he is asking them to do, he gives them HIS authority, “over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.”

He calls all 12, even Judas Iscariot, the one who will betray him. For all are called, though not everyone will respond and obey. It’s a matter of the heart, isn’t it? Some people just don’t care enough.

 These 12 men are no longer merely “disciples,” who sit at the master’s feet, walk, eat, worship, and pray with him, watch and listen to him work. They are now—did you catch this new word that Matthew uses for them? “Apostles.” This is the Greek word apostolos, which means, “one being sent.” But they won’t just be his messengers. Apostolos has a deeper meaning. They have been equipped and commissioned to be his representatives, his ambassadors, as the apostle Paul explains in the Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5, beginning at verse 14, if you want to follow along,

For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for the one who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we no longer know him in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

So, Jesus sends them out and tells them they have everything they need, without taking anything with them. No money, extra clothes, or a spare pair of sandals for their feet. Don’t even bother with a staff or bag! This is affirming his Sermon on the Mount earlier in Matthew, when he tells them in chapter 6, beginning at verse 25, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?”

Who will provide for them as they labor? The Lord will provide through strangers they will meet on their journey, who will open their homes to them and feed them in exchange for hearing about the love of God and the Kingdom drawing near.

At the same time, Christ warns them to expect persecution and struggle. There will be danger and betrayal. He is sending them out “like sheep in the midst of wolves.” But they will be strengthened to navigate dangers and difficulties and avoid temptation to sin. They have been equipped to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

You might think it is strange that Jesus sends them out only to the lost sheep of Israel here in chapter 9. But there will come a time when the risen Lord sends them out as apostles to every nation at the end of chapter 28, baptizing, healing, and making more disciples to labor for the Harvest, just as they have done.

Sometimes I think we make the call to labor in the Harvest more difficult and complicated than it has to be. We don’t think we know enough about our faith or the Bible to labor for the Harvest. We don’t always have the confidence we need, when, in reality, our call starts at home in our families and with our neighbors and right here in our church family. Our call is to be faithful this day to be a witness to the people whom the Lord places in our lives. The call is for one day at a time, one person at a time.

Our labor here is to Grayson, Scarlett, Jack, Gemma, Guiliana, and Grace. To Roman and Bronx. To Brynn and Gracie. To Natalie, Craig, and Aiden. To Kiera and Joanna. Danielle and Melanie. To Gie and Ishae, Sara and Alyssa, Logan and Dylan, Ryan and Daniel, Mary and Layla. To all the children, youth and young adults who are with us now. And to those we haven’t yet met, whom the Lord has planned for our future ministry.

Our labor involves taking the time to get to know them, to greet and encourage them in their hopes and dreams. To say, “I believe in you! You can do this!” And to be the peaceful presence of Christ to them and their families when they are in need. What a wonderful work it is—caring for the children, ministering to them with compassion, making sure that they know that they are not sheep without a shepherd, preparing them to be Christ’s ambassadors wherever they may go, including their time away for university, college, or vocational school, for civilian jobs or serving in the military.

But we must also equip them to withstand persecution and struggle. Life in Christ isn’t always easy. We need to model perseverance and to expect danger and betrayal. For they will be “like sheep in the midst of wolves.” Most people they will encounter nowadays are not interested in church, Jesus, the Bible, or any of the things of God. We have to trust the Lord, who has chosen them for God’s important work, to strengthen and guide them by the Spirit to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

The important thing to remember in this work of nurturing our children, youth, and young adults is that we are not alone. We are in this together, just like the first disciples who became his first apostles. He never sent them out alone.

To our new graduates, Dylan, Ryan, and Alyssa, I say, “Your church is always with you, wherever you go. We will hold you in our hearts and prayers and we will be here for you, when you need us.”

 To our church family, I say, “You have what you need to do the labor the Lord has planned, as God’s will is revealed. We have Christ’s authority and the power of love and prayer. For we are urged, as we labor for Him, to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out more workers, as he did with his first disciples, thinking about you and me, who were not even born yet!

Listen! The Lord is speaking to us now when he says, “The Harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”

Let us pray.

Lord of the Harvest, thank you for caring for us and for your call on our lives. Thank you for your work of equipping us to do the labor of love for the sake of your Kingdom. Please continue to do that work of spiritual transformation in us so that we may have the confidence we need to equip others, including the children, youth, and young adults in our flock. Bless all who serve in our ministry to children and youth. Thank you that we are not sheep without a shepherd and that you will always be glad to use us for your labor, wherever we may go. Watch over our new graduates, dear Lord, as they embark on a new chapter of their lives. Help them to hold onto their faith, even if they are the only one in the room to be faithful. Strengthen them by your Spirit to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves, and to persevere through any dangers, difficulties, or betrayals. May they and our flock hear your Son speaking into their lives when Jesus says, “The Harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.” Amen.

[1] Sonia E. Waters, Connections, Year A, Vol. 3 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2020), 81.

The Power of Music

Meditation on Acts 16:16-34

Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

Music Ministry Appreciation Sunday

June 7, 2026

Art by Stushie, used with permission

Who here likes to sing and make music for the Lord?  Music has always been important to me—all my life. And I cannot imagine worship without singing and instrumental music! It just wouldn’t be the same.

Today, as we give thanks for our Music Ministry and show our appreciation to all who labor in this ministry for the Lord and God’s people, it is fitting to consider the importance of music for our worship and our lives of faith. The psalmist, in 96:1, proclaims that singing is for all people and Creation. “O sing to the Lord a new song!” he says. “Sing to the Lord, all the earth!” He cries out in 104:33, “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.”

Ephesians 5:18-19 lifts the singing of psalms and hymns as a means of being filled with the Spirit and a lifestyle change for new believers. “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.” Instruction on living in Christian community is found also in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus models the power of singing to strengthen and heal in difficult times when he leads his disciples in a hymn at the close of the Last Supper, just before going to the Mount of Olives where he will be betrayed.

Looking back at Church history, though, we discover that by the “late Middle Ages the biblical call to song had become muted. The worshiping congregation did very little singing – only a few responses… With the Reformation, the Church’s attitudes toward singing began to change. Congregational participation increased dramatically.

“Today Martin Luther is probably the best remembered Reformer as a writer of hymn texts and tunes… A Mighty Fortress is one of the best loved among Christians. Luther believed in the importance and power of song in the church. He taught that the praises of the faithful would drive away the devil. He also was convinced that hymns were a great device for teaching doctrine. Lutheran hymnody produced hymns that were at the same time devotional and doctrinal. Think of Ah, Holy Jesus, How Have You Offended or Jesus Priceless Treasure.”

Martin Luther

Zwingli was “probably the best musician among the major Reformers.” But he “believed that music was too powerful and too emotional to be used in Christian worship…. He argued that music would too easily move people away from focusing on the Word and its meaning for them. As a result, in Zurich singing was eliminated from worship in Zwingli’s day. No musical instruments, no choirs and no congregational singing were permitted….”

After Zwingli died on the battlefield in 1531, Heinrich Bullinger succeeded him as minister. He wasn’t set against singing in worship, although he wasn’t in favor of embracing any new musical fads. In 1561, Bullinger wrote the Second Helvetic Confession—Helvetic being Latin for “Swiss,” which is included in our Book of Confessions. In the confession, he writes, “Likewise moderation is to be exercised where singing is used in a meeting for worship. That song which they call the Gregorian Chant has many foolish things in it; hence it is rightly rejected by many of our churches. If there are churches which have a true and proper sermon but no singing, they ought not to be condemned. For all churches do not have the advantage of singing. And it is well known from testimonies of antiquity that the custom of singing is very old in the Eastern Churches whereas it was late when it was at length accepted in the West.”[1]

Zwingli

 Calvin’s views were different from Luther and Zwingli. Although he didn’t believe any musical instruments belonged in worship, he saw congregational singing as a crucial part of the praise of God and of Christian fellowship and gave it a central place in the Genevan service. He saw the songs of the church as truly pleasant and delightful fruits of the Spirit. But like Zwingli, “he feared an excess of emotion in the music of the church (would be) a distraction from the Word. He wanted only unison singing by the congregation. He did not allow choirs, seeing them as too theatrical and as usurping the praises that all God’s people together should be offering to God.” His search for the spiritual led him to the Psalms.[2] Calvin encouraged poets and composers of his time to use their talents to prepare the Psalms for the church’s worship.

John Calvin

Our passage in Acts 16 reveals another power of music—to set us free from what binds us. Paul and Silas are on a missionary journey in Europe. They are in Philippi, where they had met Lydia, a wealthy dealer of purple, gathered with her household and other women for prayer on a riverbank. Her heart is opened to believe when Paul preaches, and she and her household are baptized. She prevails upon Paul and Silas to come and stay in her home.

In the passage that immediately follows the story of Lydia, the two missionaries are going to another place of prayer when they meet a slave girl with a spirit of divination. She follows them and annoys them for many days, until Paul, exasperated, casts the demon out of her. When she is set free from the demon, her owners’ hope of making money from her fortune telling is gone. So they drag Paul and Silas before the authorities and accuse them, not of being followers of Jesus, but of being Jewish and disturbing their city, “advocating for customs that are not lawful” for them, “being Romans, to adopt and observe.” Paul and Silas are stripped, flogged, and thrown in prison, in an “innermost cell” (meaning, no windows). Their feet are fastened in stocks.

What do Paul and Silas do in this desperate situation? They pray and sing hymns to God—as the other prisoners and jailor listen. Around midnight, while they are singing and praying, a violent earthquake opens all the doors and breaks the prisoners’ chains. With the almost certainty of losing all the prisoners, the jailor moves to take his own life. But Paul and Silas don’t leave. Paul calls out to the jailor and stops him from harming himself. The man falls down before them, and, trembling, asks, “What must I do to be saved?”

“Believe,” Paul says, “in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Well, the jailor believes, and brings Paul and Silas home with him, where Paul shares more about Jesus, their wounds are washed, the jailor and his household are baptized, and they all eat together.

Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to God made all of this happen.

When we were forced to leave our sanctuary and worship in the parish hall for 7 weeks, beginning Maundy Thursday, we were all sad and anxious. We worried about what repairs would be needed, who would do them, and how to fund the project. We worried whether we were doing the right thing, leading our flock out of our beloved place of worship for God knows how long it would take while the repairs were done.

None of us expected the joy and intimacy of our worship in the parish hall. We were so close to one another! I was only a couple of feet from Pablo and the Sanctuary Choir. We could talk back and forth. And we did! The Handbell ringers were right on our level—so near to us that we could hear every note and see every expression on their faces. On Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, it was if we were being swept up by the music, readings, and prayers! We were truly immersed in the story of our Savior’s last days. And on Easter, it seemed as if an angelic choir had joined our singing.

I think the spiritual blessings that we experienced were because of the healing, strengthening, joy and faith producing power of music. The power to set us free from whatever binds us—including sadness, worry, and anxiety—and draw us nearer to the Lord.

I pray that we will continue to experience the power of music, now that we are back in our worship home. As you leave this space today, may you remember that your songs to the Lord don’t have to end when you step outside the church walls. May you remember that you have been set free in Jesus Christ. May you be filled with the Spirit, “as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.” May you sing to the Lord as long as you live! Sing praise to your God while you have being!

Let us pray.

Loving and Gracious God, thank you for your gift of music and especially the gift of our singing. Thank you for the hymns and songs that have been composed and sung to your glory that we and other congregations today still enjoy in our worship. May you truly be glorified in our songs of praise. May we be healed, strengthened and filled with your joy. Thank you for setting us free in Christ from whatever binds us—all our fears and sadness, all our worries and anxiety. May we be stirred to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to each other, making melody to you in our hearts. And may we sing to you as long as we live, sing praise to you while we have being. In your Son’s name we pray. Amen.

[1] Heinrich Bullinger, The Second Helvetic Confession, in the Book of Confessions: Part 1 of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church, USA.

[2] Robert W. Godfrey, “Reforming the Church’s Singing,” Western Seminary California, Feb. 5, 1990, at https://www.wscal.edu/resources/article/reforming-the-churchs-singing/

I Am with You Always

Meditation on Matthew 28:16–20

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford

Trinity Sunday

May 31, 2026

Any basketball fans here? Jim and I were watching the San Antonio Spurs play Oklahoma City Thunder last Sunday night. It was game 4 in the Western Conference Finals. He wanted the Spurs to win, but he would have been OK if Oklahoma City won, because they are both young, excellent teams with fabulous players.

I was rooting for the Spurs. Turns out, I wasn’t the only religious woman rooting for them. The cameras zoomed in on four Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco with Spurs jerseys pulled over their habits. They chanted from their seats, “Go, Spurs, go! Go Spurs, go!” Then we saw a video clip of the four sisters from the San Antonio convent courtside before the game, blessing Luke Kornet, who plays center for the Spurs.

He towered over the nuns, even as he leaned down so that they could touch his head and shoulder for the prayer. The video of Kornet’s blessing went viral. The sisters have earned the affectionate nickname of “The Spurs Nuns.”

Sister Celine Lomeli said, in an interview with Good Morning America this week, “It’s nice to know that we can pray for them and they can appreciate us. And that in itself is a blessing to us.” Sister Bernadette Mota added, “I wouldn’t say we’re a lucky charm, but we were happy to bring a lot of joy and faith to the game that night.”

The Spurs beat Thunder on Sunday night 103-82 to even the series at 2-2.

A CBS Evening News journalist (Tony Dokoupil) told Sister Bernadette and Sister Sydney Moss, “People think that living a religious life is a boring life, but it seems like you are disproving that.”

“Religious life is meant to be, especially for us, a life of joy and happiness,” Bernadette says.

“The support that we have for each other, the prayers,” adds Sydney, makes for a “beautiful life.”

Bernadette says they follow sports because it helps them in their mission to the next generation. “When we talk sports with kids,” says Sister Bernadette, “it opens up doors so that we can do a lot more with them… We need to know what they like. Then we can converse with them and introduce them to who we like: Jesus.”

The nuns have captured the attention of more than just their community in San Antonio’s West Side. In addition to Good Morning America, they have been interviewed by Texas Public Radio, EWTN News Nightly, and Sojourners magazine. Sports Illustrated even featured a story about them!

Their love affair with the Spurs “started about 20 years ago,” Sister Bernadette tells Sojourners’ journalist Jenna Burnett on May 15. “We had a couple elder sisters at our provincial house, our retirement house for our sisters who need assisted living. Some of them were born and raised in San Antonio, and anytime there was a game on they would watch it. And they would get very irritated when the game had to be turned off because it was bedtime. These were die-hard Spurs fans, and some of them formed a connection with (former Spurs coach) Gregg Popovich and his wife, who came and visited the convent a couple of times to show their appreciation.” Although the old die-hards have passed away, a new generation of nuns have picked up the baton.

The sisters hadn’t gone to any of San Antonio’s games this year before Sunday night because they couldn’t afford the tickets. Bernadette told Jenna that if they were given tickets, they would go and pray for the team.

 “Playing sports is a way of glorifying God with the gifts that he has given you,” she says. “But as we’re playing, just know that everything you do is a gift from him. And he wants you to find pleasure in the good things that are given to us … When we pray for the Spurs, we’re praying for them to play to the best of their ability, that nobody gets injured, that they have good sportsmanship. We pray for the other team too, but we really want our team to win. [Laughs] We’re not praying for the other team to do bad, just that we do better.”

After the Sojourners’ interview, the Spurs gave the sisters four tickets to Sunday night’s game. I can still see the jersey-clad sisters chanting, “Go, Spurs, go! Go Spurs, go!”

Today, as we baptize Antonella Ruth, it is fitting to study the passage in Matthew called “The Great Commission.” The Great Commission teaches us that baptism is a calling to ministry. But it is good for us to remember that our commission, like the first disciples’, depends on Jesus’ authority and not our own. (Mark Allan Powell, p. 320)

Did you notice that, on the mountain before the commissioning, some of them believed, while others doubted? Jesus commissioned all of them, anyway! The disciples are still people of “little faith” as they were in 6:30, when he told them not to worry; as they were in 8:26, when he calmed the storm; as they were in 14:31, when Peter tried and failed to walk on the water; as they were in 16:8, even after Jesus fed the multitude with a little bread and a couple of fish; and in 17:20, when he told them all they needed was a mustard-seed size of faith to move a mountain. Like us, “they are (and will continue to be) a community in which worship and doubt coexist.”

Other spiritual lessons may be learned from the Great Commission. First, becoming a disciple means being trained in obedience to fulfill the will of the Father and live according to the teachings of Christ. Where do we find these teachings in Matthew? Start with the Sermon on the Mount, beginning in chapter 5. Disciples will be “pure in heart,” “merciful,” and “peacemakers.” “They will be conspicuous in the good works, bringing flavor and light to a world that for some is dull and dark (5:13-16). They will be slow to anger (5:21-25) and reluctant to judge (7:1-5). They will aspire to be faithful in marriage. They will forgive their friends and love their enemies. They will be active in prayer and generous in giving. They will not be anxious (or they will try not to be anxious) (6:25-34) or greedy (6:19-24) but will be people who actively seek the good of others, striving always to treat others as they wish to be treated (7:12). All this (and so much more) is implied by the Great Commission.” (Mark Allan Powell, p. 322)

Second, living as a disciple is an active, intentional life, seeking to go and make Christ’s disciples, being led by the Spirit. There’s nothing passive about it. The first word of the Great Commission is “Go!” For Matthew, making disciples means going out, leaving the place of comfort where they live and were nurtured in faith and obedience to God’s Word. The Great Commission means taking the good news and teachings of Christ to the people, right where they are.

And third, the Great Commission carries with it a promise that is a principal theme of Matthew’s Gospel: the enduring and abiding presence of God in the world. We are not alone! God has been present with the people through the person of Jesus according to the prophesy of 1:23, “Look, the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, ‘God is with us.’” Jesus remains present in the world through the life and mission of his followers—people who baptize, teach, and make disciples. And Jesus will be with US always—even to the end of the age.

After the four Spurs Nuns went to Sunday night’s game and the blessing went viral, the team gave the Silesian Sisters double the number of tickets for Thursday night’s game. Eight tickets still wouldn’t be enough for all who wanted to go, Bernadette said. She told Good Morning America, “We do not arm wrestle, but we might have to put some names in a little bucket and pull out the names of those who get to go to the game.”

They did get to the game in San Antonio Thursday night, but they didn’t end up going to Game 7 last night—the game that would decide who would advance to face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. The game was in Oklahoma, and it wasn’t just the expense that held them back. For they were given tickets and an airline had offered to fly them there for free. They didn’t go because it wasn’t part of their ministry calling. Instead, they hosted a community watch party for the game for San Antonio’s West Side.

When I heard that they wouldn’t be going, I marveled at how the young Sister Bernadette, accustomed to the quiet, simple life of the convent, was brave enough to testify to her faith with the media in order to bring more souls to love and follow Christ. She was ready to “GO” and make disciples, as Christ has commissioned her to do.

I ask you, my friends, what the Great Commission means for you and your life? Since your baptism, where have you been led by the Spirit to GO and make disciples? When have you responded in faith? When have your fears and doubts gotten in the way?  What will you do differently today and this week?

Last night, I stayed up late to watch the game with Jim. And I found myself looking for the nuns, even though I knew they wouldn’t be there. They would be busy with God’s work, fulfilling the Great Commission by hosting a watch party in their community—so more hearts and lives may be touched by Jesus.

I looked for them in their team jerseys pulled over their habits, chanting from their seats,

“Go, Spurs, Go! Go, Spurs, Go!”

Let us pray.

Almighty God, thank you for sending your Son, who would model a righteous life and teach us what we need to know, before commissioning us to “Go” and make disciples. Thank you for those who have been faithful to that commission, willing to live intentionally, even sacrificially, to serve Christ, leaving a comfortable existence to reveal your loving, gracious presence to humanity. Thank you for the sisters who have a burden for the next generation in the West Side of San Antonio, a burden that have led them to become Spurs fans and host neighborhood watch parties. Help us to heed your Son’s Great Commission, whatever that means for each of our lives and for our church, and be obedient to Christ’s teachings. Remind us often of the promise of your abiding presence—that you are with us always, even to the end of the age. In the name of our Triune God we pray. Amen.

Podcast Episode: Easter Reflections And Unity

Art by Stushie

Pip: If you have ever wondered what it looks like when Easter refuses to stay in the past tense, you have come to the right podcast.

Mara: This episode draws on a stretch of recent sermons from Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford, covering resurrection hope and what it means to be living stones, the shepherd’s voice and the unity Christ prays for, and what the Spirit’s arrival on Pentecost still demands of ordinary people.

Pip: Let’s start with the Easter season itself, and the question of what God’s people are actually being built into.

Resurrection And Post-Easter Hope

Mara: The sermons in this stretch keep pressing the same question: what does resurrection mean for people living right now, not just for those waiting on the other side of death?

Pip: And the answer in What Can Living Stones Do? is that Christ is preparing a place not just in some future heaven but among his people, today. The passage from John 14 gets reframed entirely: “When the Lord talks about preparing a place, I think he’s talking about a place for all of us to live and love and labor together for the Kingdom, now and forever.”

Mara: So the upshot is that the community itself is the dwelling place Christ is building. Drawing on First Peter alongside John, the sermon describes believers as living stones being fitted together with Christ as cornerstone into a spiritual house.

Pip: Stones that, the sermon is quick to point out, never stop growing or being shaped. There is something quietly demanding about that image.

Mara: The personal stakes sharpen that demand. The sermon recounts a medical emergency the night before it was preached, a husband bleeding through his bandages after surgery, hours in the emergency room. The miracle named is not that the bleeding stopped, but that peace arrived anyway, carried by the prayers of the congregation.

Pip: Which is exactly what a living stone does, apparently.

Mara: Wounded Healer takes the same territory from a different angle, meditating on the risen Christ who keeps his scars. The sermon quotes Henri Nouwen: “Jesus has given this story a new fullness by making his own broken body the way to health, liberation, and new life.”

Mara: And What About Mary? rounds out the season by sitting with Ascension Sunday and asking what Mary herself witnessed and carried. Luke’s brief three-verse account becomes an opening onto the Spirit still being sent, still clothing followers with power to go and bear witness.

Pip: Three sermons, one arc: resurrection is not a conclusion. It is an ongoing address.

Mara: That ongoing address raises its own question about who hears it and how, which is where the next theme begins.

Unity, Voice, And Belonging

Mara: The sermons here turn to the mechanics of belonging: how the shepherd’s voice reaches scattered sheep, and what Christ actually prays for on the night before he dies.

Pip: My Sheep Hear My Voice opens with a visit to a cousin’s farm in Northern Ireland, watching a shy farmer call his flock in their own language. The promise carried back from that field is this: “He allows us to recognize his voice amidst the many voices and sounds that surround us in our busy lives.”

Mara: What makes that promise weighty is the context. The trip nearly unraveled. A host said the timing was wrong. Decades of family estrangement sat in the background. By the end, reconciliation had quietly happened, and the sermon reads that as the Spirit working through a plan larger than anyone had mapped.

Pip: And then That They May Be One takes Christ’s prayer in John 17 and names the three things Jesus actually asks for: protection, unity, and joy. Unity, the sermon is careful to say, is not our achievement. It is what happens when people pray together with and for one another.

Mara: Florence Nightingale threads through that sermon as an extended example of what it looks like when someone answers a calling the world says is beneath them and ends up restructuring entire institutions through humble, persistent work.

Pip: From a farm in County Down to the Crimean War. The Spirit, it turns out, does not limit its range.

Mara: That range is exactly what Pentecost names directly.

Pentecost And The Spirit’s Call

Mara: Everyone! takes its title from the one word Joel and Peter refuse to qualify. The sermon sets up the Pentecost scene and then lands the line without softening it: “EVERYONE who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Pip: No expiration dates. No exclusions. The sermon actually compares the fine print on store coupons to what is conspicuously absent from the gospel offer.

Mara: The sermon also traces Presbyterian history on Long Island from 1675 forward, including the Old School and New School split over slavery and the long road to reunion in 1983, as a way of showing that the Spirit keeps working through a church that keeps fracturing and, somehow, keeps being made one again.

Pip: Ordinary people. Extraordinary acts. The Spirit’s record, apparently, is unbothered by the institution’s.

Mara: Living stones, a shepherd’s voice, a flame that lands on everyone at once. The thread across all of it is that the Kingdom is not coming. It is already here, already at work.

Pip: Which means the only real question left is the one the sermons keep asking: what will we do with it? Same time next week.

Everyone!

Meditation on Acts 2:1-21

Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

Pentecost

May 24, 2026

Stushie Art for Pentecost

I was at our presbytery offices in West Islip this week for a General Assembly training. I am one of two ministers of Word and Sacrament commissioned by the presbytery to go to GA in Milwaukee at the end of June, along with two elders and a Young Adult Advisory Delegate. As I was preparing to leave the presbytery offices, I couldn’t help but wonder about the beginnings of Presbyterian Christianity here on Long Island. How did we come to be the people we are today, still led by the Spirit? I left the offices with two slim books—the 1963 Religious History of Long Island and the other a tiny blue presbytery manual and directory from 1931.

Smithtown is one of 13 churches to be members of what is now the Presbytery of Long Island at its organization in 1790: Newtown, Huntington, Hempstead, Jamaica, Smithtown, Brookhaven (Setauket), South Haven, Bridgehampton, West Hampton, Southampton, East Hampton, Aquebogue (Jamesport), and Mattituck. We had been reluctant to give up our Congregationalist leanings and wait until 1749 to join its predecessor—the Suffolk Presbytery, formed in 1717 by the churches of Jamaica, Newtown, Southhampton, and Setauket. Perhaps we are persuaded by our long relationship with Setauket, with whom we share our first and second ministers, Reverend Nathaniel Brewster and Reverend George Phillips. Or maybe it is because we are in a time of uncomfortable transition, in-between pastors, once again, that we decide to embrace Presbyterianism.

Within a year following our application to join the presbytery, we dismantle our old meeting house and move it from its original location, a frontier settlement at the intersection of Moriches and River roads. We reassemble the building at its present location on land given by Obadiah and Epenetus Smith. By September 1751, we are able to call our next pastor—the Rev. Napthali Dagget. But he leaves the church 4 years later for lack of financial support. It isn’t until 1763 when we are able to invite a Yale grad, the Rev. Thomas Lewis of Fairfield, CT, to serve as our minister. And then the American Revolution comes along; the British occupy the Island. Presbyterian churches are desecrated. From 1775 to 1784, the Presbytery of Suffolk is prevented from meeting.

Following the Revolution, the Presbyterian church is one of a number of denominations that organizes on a national basis. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is organized on May 21,1789, in the Second Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia as “The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.” The Rev. John Witherspoon, the only active member to sign the Declaration of Independence, is the first presiding officer and preaches the sermon at the opening service of worship. While the General Assembly meets in Philadelphia, the first United States Congress to convene under the new Constitution is also in session in the same city!

The early 1800s sees revivalism in Presbyterian churches under leaders such as abolitionist Lyman Beecher, ordained at East Hampton in 1799, with an annual salary of $300 plus firewood. Following the 1804 duel of Burr and Hamilton, Lyman gains popular recognition when he gives a sermon before the Presbytery of Long Island that is promptly published as The Remedy for Duelling in 1806. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_Beecher) Lyman’s preaching leads to the Old School/New School controversy and a split in the Long Island Presbytery, as well as splits among other Presbyterians. The separation involves “differences over theology, governance, and reform, especially slavery,” says James Smylie (A Brief History of the Presbyterians, 78-79). “The Old School (is) doctrinally more conservative than the New School and ha(s) many adherents in the South. New Schoolers (are) exploring fresh ways of expressing their Reformed theology. Many (are) located in New York, the Midwest and the border states…They (are) attempting to articulate more clearly the human response to God’s gracious love shown in Jesus Christ. Despite New School professions of faithfulness to the Reformed faith, Old School adherents, especially in Pennsylvania, suspect a lack of New School orthodoxy” (Smylie, 79).

“Some people (think) that the Old School-New School division (is) an ominous national event because of the role Presbyterians played in society. Cyrus McCormick, Presbyterian Industrialist, considered the PCUSA (Old School) as the only institution holding the country together” (Smylie, 80). William Lloyd Garrison consider(s) the division between the Old School and the New School Presbyterian churches a sign of the coming division of the nation….” (Smylie, 80)

The Old School/New School split on Long Island leads to the formation of a Second Presbytery of Long Island. The organizational meeting of the Second Presbytery is held at the Smithtown Presbyterian Church on Oct. 30, 1832, when our present sanctuary is only a few years old (Dick Mehalick, Church and Community 1675-1975, The Story of the First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, 51-52). Others who join with us are Babylon, Brookfield (later Manorville), Brookhaven, Fresh Ponds, Huntington, Middle Town (now Middle Island), Moriches, South Haven, and Sweet Hollow. The pastor of our church, the Rev. Ithamar Pillsbury, is appointed Stated Clerk of the new presbytery. Setauket and Westhampton soon join us. At the time of the split, the Presbytery of Long Island adheres to the “New School Assembly” while the Second Presbytery of Long Island is “Old School.” Donald Broad of Setauket Presbyterian describes Old School and New School in this way. “The Old School was Scots Irish, anti-revival, strict confessionalist, and pro-slavery. The New School was New England Puritan, pro-revival, liberal interpretation of the Confession, and anti-slavery” (Jane Des Grange, Long Island’s Religious History, 36).

In 1861, Southern presbyteries withdraw from the Old School Assembly. Commissioners meet in Augusta, GA, to form “The Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America.” Benjamin Palmer, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans, is elected moderator.  The body sends out the “Address of the Southern General Assembly to all the Churches of Jesus Christ,” explaining the reasons for the division of Presbyterians and making a “vigorous defense of slavery, as well as the ‘spirituality’ of the church, not preserved by former colleagues in the North” (Smylie, American Presbyterians: A Pictorial History, 106).

When we consider the history of Presbyterianism in America, we can’t help but see our imperfection and brokenness as a Church, prone to arguments and divisions—even today. And yet, we also see the work of the Spirit that has continued since the Church’s first dramatic formation on Pentecost. This must be how the Holy Spirit works in imperfect human beings, ordinary people still moved to do extraordinary acts of ministry—together.

Each year on Pentecost, we are reminded that the Church isn’t something that we can see or grasp or control. The Church isn’t merely human. The Church is empowered and guided, as it was on that long ago day, by the fire of the Holy Spirit.

All are gathered in one place when the Spirit comes to everyone, all at once. They are compelled to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gives them ability. Yes, they are divided back then, the crowds who have come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks or Pentekostos, the word for 50th, for it was celebrated on the 50th day after the presentation of the first sheaf to be reaped of the barley harvest. Pilgrims from many nations watch and listen to the gospel being shared in their own languages. Some are astonished and amazed, wondering how uneducated, unsophisticated Galileans can possibly know all these languages. Others ridicule them, accusing them of drunkenness.

But then Peter stands and preaches the sermon of his life, starting with a joke like a late night comedian. “These men are not drunk, as you suppose; for it is only 9 o’clock in the morning.” Peter would declare Joel’s prophecy fulfilled.

In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
  and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
        and they shall prophesy.

The Spirit will touch the hearts and minds and transform the lives of EVERYONE who hears the message of God’s love and grace, a message that will never change. God’s salvation is still offered to everyone. No small print here, like we see on store coupons with expiration dates. No exclusions. No manmade rules. There’s only one requirement, says Joel and Peter. EVERYONE who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The schism that led to the formation of the Second Presbytery of Long Island would be healed after the Civil War, in 1870. At the reunion, the western part of the Old School Assembly becomes the Presbytery of Nassau. The eastern part with the New School body formed is the Presbytery of Long Island until 1963, when an act of General Assembly would redraw the borders of the Presbytery to include Suffolk and Nassau counties.

Alas, Southern Presbyterians who split during the Civil War would not reunite with Northern Presbyterians until 1983, when the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is formed. The denomination would be the largest and most diverse member of the reformed family of churches on the continent. At the time of the reunion, the Church writes a new confession. The Brief Statement of Faith, included in our Book of Confessions, leads us to say what we believe about each person of the Trinity.

This is what we confess about God the Holy Spirit:

We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
and binds us together with all believers
in the one body of Christ, the Church.
The same Spirit
who inspired the prophets and apostles
rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
engages us through the Word proclaimed,
claims us in the waters of baptism,
feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.
In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in Church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit,
we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks
and to live holy and joyful lives,
even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth,
praying, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Let us pray.

Holy Spirit, thank you for coming as a rushing wind and tongues of fire on Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, alighting on and dwelling in ordinary people and leading them to do extraordinary acts of ministry. Thank you for the example of Peter, an imperfect disciple whom you empower to persevere in his witness of the Living Christ all the days of his life. Do the same with us, dear Breath of God. Forgive us, heal our Church from any brokenness. Make us one. Empower all Presbyterian Christians to love and accept everyone, to share God’s gracious love in Jesus Christ, and stir others to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Lead us to serve Christ in our daily tasks, live holy and joyful lives, as we watch and wait for the new heaven and the new earth, praying in one voice, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Amen.  

That They May Be One

Meditation on John 17:1-11

The Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

May 17, 2026

Art by Stushie, used with permission

I found out yesterday that May 6th through 12th was National Nurses Week. Maybe you knew that? It always corresponds with the birthday of Florence Nightingale—May 12, 1820. Do you know her amazing story?

She was born in Florence, Italy, to an affluent British family that moved in elite social circles. She was brought up in the family’s historic English country estates at Embley, Hampshire, and Lea Hurst, Derbyshire. She was provided with a classical education, studying math, German, French, and Italian. But she was awkward in social situations, and she and her mother didn’t get along. She said her mother was controlling! At an early age, Florence was involved in ministering to the poor and sick in the village neighboring her family’s estate. She eventually concluded that God was calling her to be a nurse, much to the horror of her family. Nursing was seen by the upper classes as lowly menial labor.

Florence further angered her mother when she turned down a gentleman’s offer of marriage and went to Germany to study nursing. She returned to London in the 1850s and began working first as a nurse in a hospital, caring for sick governesses, and then a supervisor of nurses.

 The Crimean War broke out in October 1853. “Allied British and French forces were at war against the Russian Empire for control of Ottoman territory. Thousands of British soldiers were sent to the Black Sea, where supplies quickly dwindled. By 1854, no fewer than 18,000 soldiers had been admitted into military hospitals. At the time, there were no female nurses stationed at hospitals in the Crimea. …  England was in an uproar about the neglect of sick and injured soldiers. They lacked not only sufficient medical attention due to hospitals being horribly understaffed but also languished in appallingly unsanitary conditions.”

The Secretary of War wrote Florence a letter, asking her to organize a corps of nurses to tend to the sick and fallen soldiers in the Crimea. She assembled a team of about three dozen nurses from a variety of religious orders and set sail to the Crimea. When they arrived, they discovered that the “hospital sat on top of a large cesspool, which contaminated the water and the building itself. Patients lay in their own excrement on stretchers strewn throughout the hallways. Rodents and bugs scurried past them. The most basic supplies, such as bandages and soap, grew increasingly scarce as the number of ill and wounded steadily increased. Even water needed to be rationed.”

Florence, who became noted for her statistician skills, kept careful records and observed that more soldiers were dying from infectious diseases, such as typhoid and cholera, than from injuries incurred in battle. She and her team got to work scrubbing the hospital from top to bottom, floor to ceiling. And she earned the nicknames of “the Lady with the Lamp” and the “Angel of Crimea” because she spent every waking moment caring for the patients, moving through the wards at night carrying a lamp. In 1858, she published a massive report based on her nursing experiences during the war. Her Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army would spark a total restructuring of the War Office’s administrative department, including the establishment of a Royal Commission for the Health of the Army.

(Link to her Notes… https://archive.org/details/b20387118/page/n7/mode/2up)

Her contributions to medicine are astounding for her time and gender. Radical changes came from a foundational understanding that good sanitation and cleanliness, such as the simple act of workers washing their hands, protects and promotes the health, healing, and well-being of patients.

As Christ’s followers, we have a foundational understanding of the need for prayer in our life. For without prayer, we cannot have a healthy, loving relationship with him. We cannot function as Christ’s disciples or his church without prayer. He provides an example for our prayer not just with The Lord’s Prayer but in his prayer for his disciples in this last discourse in John. Some say that that the whole of this prayer, which extends beyond our passage, is really a hymn, much like the psalms are both prayers and songs.

Of all the things for which Jesus could have been praying, he chooses three things as a final request to God. The first thing for which he prays is for our protection. The word translated “protect” is literally “keep.” He says, “O Father most holy, keep them.” This reminds me of the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6, beginning at verse 24. May “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” This “keeping” in 1 John 2:15-17 is keeping us safe “from the contamination of the world.” John will pray in 17:15-16, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them safe from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world, any more than I belong to the world.” To keep them, Jesus’s followers will be marked with and protected by the divine name that God has given to him. He prays to the Father, “keep them in your name.”

The Evil One is the same as the petition in Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. When we say in Matthew 6:13, “Deliver us from evil,” a more accurate translation is “Free us from the Evil One.” The Evil One is “the prince of this world.” As 1 John 19 says, “The whole world is under the Evil One.” As Paul says in his letter to the Philippians (3:20-21), “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.”

The second thing for which Christ prays is for our unity—that we may be one as he is one with the Father. This unity is not our doing, but it is strengthened and revealed when we pray.

Jesus prays for a final thing for us in verse 13, as we look beyond where our passage ends. He prays for his joy to be ours. He says, “But now I am coming to you. Yet, while still in the world, I say all this that they may share my joy to the full.”

I want to thank you, again, for your prayers for Jim and me after his surgery. I still remember that Saturday night, when I couldn’t compress his wound long and hard enough to stop the bleeding. We ended up in Stony Brook ER, and it took two doctors and several hours before the bleeding was brought under control, and we could go home. His healing journey continues, and we find ourselves ever grateful for the wonderful medical care that he has received. The nurses are my heroes. They took the time to teach me, step by step, how to clean and dress the wound. Now I feel like I am really getting the hang of it. This is good because we probably have a few more weeks of dressing changes to go.

These prayers for one another—and there are more prayer requests today from our church family—is what keeps us always in God’s keeping. In Christ’s care. First Peter tells us the correct attitude for our prayer is one of humility, asking for God’s will, trusting the Lord who wants us to cast all our cares and anxieties on the God who cares for us. When we pray humbly with and for one another, we are no longer individuals attempting to follow Christ on our own. We are made one in Him and each other, as Christ is one with us and the Father.

When the Crimean conflict was resolved, Florence “returned to her childhood home at Lea Hurst. To her surprise she was met with a hero’s welcome, which the humble nurse did her best to avoid. The previous year, Queen Victoria rewarded her work by presenting her with an engraved brooch that came to be known as the ‘Nightingale Jewel’ and by granting her a prize of $250,000 from the British government. She used the money to fund the establishment of St. Thomas’ Hospital in 1860, and within it, the Nightingale Training School for Nurses. She became a figure of public admiration as she tirelessly devoted her life to preventing disease and ensuring safe and compassionate treatment for the poor and the suffering. Poems, songs and plays were written and dedicated in her honor. Young women aspired to be like her. Eager to follow her example, even women from the wealthy upper classes started enrolling at the training school. Thanks to Florence, nursing was no longer frowned upon by the upper classes; it had, in fact, come to be viewed as an honorable vocation, a worthy calling from God.”

Will you pray with me?

God our Healer, we come to you humbly, seeking to cast our cares on you who cares for us. Thank you for your Son, Jesus, who prayed for our protection, unity, and joy before he gave his life for us. Thank you that he continues to intercede for us with the Holy Spirit and helps us when we pray and when we struggle to pray. Thank you for the spirit of compassion that flows through our congregation—how we pray for and care for one another so tenderly. We ask that you continue to bless and keep us. Stir us to recognize the importance of prayer in our lives and that you strengthen us to pray more confidently, fervently, and faithfully. Make us one in Christ and fill us with his joy. In the name of our Triune God we pray. Amen.

For more about Florence Nightingale, go to:

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910): The Founder of Modern Nursing at the National Library of Medicine:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11373583

The Legacy of Florence Nightingale, the First Professional Nurse:

https://www.redcross.org.uk/stories/health-and-social-care/health/how-florence-nightingale-influenced-the-red-cross

Florence Nightingale (National Women’s History Museum):

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/florence-nightingale

What About Mary?

Meditation onLuke 24:44-53

Reverend Dr. Karen Crawford

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

Ascension Sunday

May 10, 2026 (Mother’s Day)

Johann Koerbecke, artist, c. 1420 to 1491.

I wrote letters to our Irish relatives yesterday, thanking them for their hospitality while we visited a few weeks ago. As I wrote, I smiled as I remembered my conversation with cousins Margaret and Elizabeth about our children. This was something we had in common—our love and concern for them, though all are grown, and some with spouses and children of their own. You never stop worrying about your children, do you?

On this day when we both honor and give thanks for our mothers and remember and rejoice in Christ’s Ascension, I find myself thinking about Jesus’ relationship with his mother. I find myself wondering, “What about Mary?”

I was delighted to find a work of art this week that features Mary at the Ascension. The artist is Johann Koerbecke, who lived from 1420 to 1491. This particular piece is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. While there is no mention of Christ’s mother in this passage in Luke, we know that she was likely with her son in his last moments on earth and will be with the other disciples waiting and praying for the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room at the beginning of Acts. In this 15th century painting, Mary is the only woman, and she is the only one with a halo, looking up with the disciples as Jesus ascends into the sky, his hand in a gesture of blessing. A beardless young man with blond curls has his arm around Mary, offering support. He is the beloved disciple from John, the one standing with Mary near the cross when Jesus says to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

You know, there’s not much written about Mary in the Bible. That shouldn’t surprise us. There’s not much written about any woman in the Bible. They usually but not always play minor roles; they are someone’s wife, widow, or mother. But you’d think there would be more about Mary, especially considering the important role she played in the life of the One who came to be the Savior of the world.

She only appears in the four gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and Acts and only briefly.  She is mentioned most often in Luke—12 times, mostly in the first two chapters, in the infancy narratives that we read at Advent and Christmas. She hears the angel’s announcement, is startled but asks good questions (“How is this supposed to happen, again?”) and believes, because she already trusts in God. Mary courageously leaves on a long journey, alone, on foot, to visit with her older relative, Elizabeth, who is also pregnant, though she had been barren. Both women know that they are part of God’s much larger mysterious plan for the world. Mary sings a joyful song she has composed, beginning:

My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.

She is well acquainted with Hebrew scripture because her song is often compared to the song of Hannah (1 Samuel), when she learns she is pregnant with Samuel after years of carrying the shame of being barren. When Joseph learns of Mary’s pregnancy in Matthew—a gospel where Mary is only mentioned 5 times—he considers breaking off their engagement quietly. He is a good man and doesn’t want to publicly disgrace her. But an angel tells him what God is doing, and that his role is to protect and care for Mary, who will give birth to the Messiah. “And you will name him Jesus,” the angel says, “because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) Magi follow the star to Jesus in Bethlehem. They fall down and worship Mary’s son. In Luke, the shepherds come to visit Mary and Jesus in Bethlehem. They amaze everyone with their story, and Mary “treasure(s) all these things, pondering them in her heart.” She and Joseph present Jesus in the temple when he is 8 days old, and they marvel at what Simeon and Anna say about him—that he will bring redemption for Jerusalem and be a light for revelation to the Gentiles.

But after these miraculous and joyful events, Mary’s relationship with Jesus becomes increasingly complicated and, well, human. You can tell she is stressed. When he is 12, Mary and Joseph bring him to Jerusalem for the Passover, and he wanders off without telling them where he is going. They panic and look high and low. Finally, they find him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers and asking questions. They are astonished. Mary (not Joseph) is the one who speaks to him sharply, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” Jesus doesn’t appear to understand their concern. And they don’t understand when he says to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But he goes home with them to Nazareth and is obedient to them, and once again, “his mother treasure(s) all these things in her heart.”

Sadly, Mark and John hardly mention Mary. We hear nothing of Jesus’ childhood or Mary’s mothering in John, nor is Jesus’ mother called “Mary.” But when Jesus is about 30, and is at a big wedding, they run out of wine. Mary takes charge and is the one who tells her son, “They have no wine,” meaning, “Do something about it.” Jesus calls her “woman” (not mother) and tells her it isn’t his time to do these things, and you can feel the tension when she ignores him. She tells the servants to do whatever he tells them to do—and he does exactly what she expects—and this is the first of his signs, when he turns water into wine.

Mary has heard the words of angels, shepherds, magi, and prophets, and has seen the miracles her son can do; still, she doesn’t always get it right. Her instinct is to protect him and try to keep him out of trouble. One of the most touching scenes is in Mark when she and his brothers and sisters come to “restrain him for people are saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’ They are standing outside the place he is staying and calling to him. They send someone to tell him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Jesus says, dismissing the messenger. In trying to make a point about this new family of faith, he rejects the one who gave him birth. “Here are my mother and my brothers!” he says of those sitting at his feet. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

 Like Mary, sometimes we know things about our children—their gifts and talents, strengths and weaknesses—before they do. We see glimpses of what and who they will become when they are still very young. But we don’t know what God has planned. That’s why the most important thing we do is simply to love our children—just love them—and trust that God will guide and strengthen us and them for the lives they are called to lead. We can only trust the Lord, who loves our families—our children!—even more than we do, and pray.

Speaking of families, we welcome Phyllis Oakes back into the fold today. She was a member of our congregation for a long time and found joy serving the children in Sunday School. Then the Lord led her to move to a different place in another season of her life. But the Spirit has brought her home so that she may be closer to her biological family and continue to grow and be encouraged by her family of faith.

Luke ends his gospel with this brief account of the Ascension—three verses—to be continued in his second work, the Acts of the Apostles. But Luke’s story and our story—in which we still live and await the final consummation of things—is not over, yet. This Jesus who sits on the right hand of God, as we say in the Apostles’ Creed, will send and continue sending the Spirit he has promised. The Comforter will clothe his followers with power from on high. The Spirit will fill and refresh us and enable us to do the works of love the Lord leads us to do. You see, Christ still sends us out to be his witnesses—and to share the message of forgiveness with all the nations, beginning with ourselves, our families, our church, and neighborhood. He sends us out with his blessing to be a blessing to the world.

Until we see him again in glory— in his glory and in ours!

Will you pray with me?

Holy One, thank you for your Son’s Resurrection and Ascension and for the first witnesses who shared the promise of our resurrection and glorification with him. Send your Spirit to empower us to be faithful witnesses for Christ today, proclaiming repentance and forgiveness to all the nations, beginning right here in our church, our families, and in Smithtown. Send your Spirit to comfort, heal, empower, and give peace to mothers. They have so many pressures today, Lord. Bless weary young mothers with babies who don’t sleep through the night and older mothers who are lonely empty nesters, longing to see their children who live far away. Bless all mothers with joy on this day that we honor them and give you thanks for their love and patience. Bless all who are mourning their mothers, especially those for whom this is their first Mother’s Day without them. We pray through your Risen and Ascended Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

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