Grits and the Gospel - July 6, 2025

Hello friends and welcome to this week's episode of Grits in the Gospel. My name is Katie Griffiths I am so excited to be with you this week. It is July 4th week and I hope that you and your people are celebrating together and enjoying each other's time and having lots of fun and eating hot dogs or whatever um uh fourth of July fair that you um enjoy together. I'm so thankful that I get to be here with you today and share the story. If you've been following me for a long time you've heard some of this story before but I'm in a new church this year and they have not heard my grandfather's story and so um it is a good reminder every year um parts of it um I will preach and subsequent years but the main story is one that is very powerful it is very life affirming it is um shows the might and majesty and power of God and how you shaped my whole family and our lives and I'm happy to share it with you in this way with these like missionary texts this year. Let us come together now in a time of worship the Lord be with you and also with you. Today we will be in the epistle the letter to the Galatians that Paul wrote we are going to be using the first through the sixth verses of chapter six of Galatians here now the word of the Lord. My brothers and sisters if anyone is detected in a transgression you who have received the spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness take care that you yourselves are not tempted bear one another's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ for if those who are nothing think they are something they deceive themselves all must test their own work then that work rather than their neighbors work will become a cause for pride for all must carry their own loads those who are taught the word must share it in all good things with their teacher the word of God for us the people of God thanks be to God friends this week just like every week let us come together and remind ourselves of the things that we believe let us share those things together but really listen and say the words in a way that help us to remember the things that are of our faith friends what do we believe i believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried the third day he rose from the dead he ascended into heaven and siteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead i believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting come in let us pray dear Lord you sent your disciples and the people of the early church out in ministry together to help bear one another's burdens so they would not feel alone help us feel the same way as we work together in mission and ministry and your name here now the words of the prayer that your son taught us to pray our Father who art in heaven how it would be thy name by kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us deliver us not from temptation but deliver us from evil for that is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen today's scripture from the gospel is from the gospel of Luke chapter 10 verses one through 11 and then verses 16 through 20 here now the word of the Lord after this the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town in place where he himself intended to go he said to them the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest go on your way i'm sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves carry no purse no bag no sandals and greet no one on the road whatever house you enter first say peace to this house and if a person honey agrees and if a person of peace is there your peace will rest upon that person but if not it will return to you remain in the same house eating and drinking whatever they provide for the laborer deserves to be paid do not move about from house to house whether you enter a town and its people welcome you eat what is set before you cure the sick who are there and say to them the kingdom of God has come near to you but whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you go out into its streets and say even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe it off in protest against you yet know this the kingdom of God has come near whoever listens to you listens to me and whoever rejects you rejects me and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me the 72 return with joy saying Lord and your name even the demons submit to us he said to them i watched Satan fall from the heaven like a flash of lightning indeed i have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and overall the power of the enemy and nothing will hurt you nevertheless do not rejoice at this and the spirit submit to you but rejoice that your names are written in heaven the word of God for us the people of God thanks be to God this time of year i cannot help but be nostalgic you've heard a lot about my grandmother goadie her stories and her life and legacy are legendary but today i can't help but remember her husband my grandfather maris byron win jr we all called him maris none of my grandparents ever wanted to be called anything but their own names i'm not old enough to have grandchildren maris used to say so everyone including all of my friends called him that he did have an nickname in high school shadow he never would tell us where that one came from his birthday was February 13th so he nicknamed himself the comic valentine but the one thing he loved to jokingly refer to himself as the most was jailbird he did what i also tend to do which is use humor to make the hard things easier so we always used to laugh and remind him that he was not a criminal but a hero maris was a hero he was my hero he was the hero of many of his friends and all of our family but he never liked that nickname maris was not just a jailbird but he was a survivor of a not cpo w camp this is his story don't be shocked but maris was not a tall fellow there are not many tall people in my dna any height that can be found comes from marriage into the family not from our lineage because he was so short he fit in the tail of a b 52 as a tailgiver but as short as he was he still was not able to wear his parachute when he was in the tail he had to leave it at his feet maris served with the 488th bombardment squadron of the 340th air group of the United States Air Force and World War II on july 3rd 1944 he was flying a mission from allied base in corsica italy on a bombing run to the northern city of faraura italy across enemy lands the following is the out witness account of richard mcclure a second lieutenant and co-pilot of a name marine plane his account of what happened that day tells the tale of what occurred to the b 52 j airplane tale number 43 dash 27702 the carried my grandfather and six other soldiers I was flying as co-pilot of the number four aircraft of the 488th bomb squadron formation on the morning combat mission in which eight l was lost was shot down by enemy flat flat we were flying our bomb run had dropped our bombs and just as we turned off the target eight l was hit the aircraft burst into flames but did not explode apparently the left in in-board gas tanks were burning the flame set the turret on fire and continued back along the left side of the fuselage the tail gunner jumped from the escape hatch next to his guns and made a delayed jump his parachute opened the radio operator came to the bottom escape hatch and opened his parachute before clearing the ship luckily his parachute did not become involved with the aircraft and he was able to jump clear another crew member jumped from the front escape hatch and his parachute was seen open as so on as he cleared the aircraft the airplane although burning was under control at all times the wheels were down as soon as the ship was hit after the initial left turn the aircraft seemed to level out and then start into a gentle spiral at approximately which time two additional parachutes were reported seen to open I did not say the last two parachutes myself since I lost sight of the burning aircraft as it started to spiral the pilot of eight l second lieutenant James e Cooper did the best job possible under the circumstances and gave all members of the crew who were able to bail out more than an even chance to do so more as she used to tell the tail and fill in what the out witness account could not have known there was a hole in his plane that was on fire spiraling from the sky when they were hit he immediately backed out from his gun and began reaching for his parachute if like a Hollywood movie he used to say he would shimmy back toward his shoot and right when he was about to grab it it would slip just out of his grasp this happens several more times each time the shoot getting closer to the hole in the plane he caught his parachute just before it slipped out of the gaping hole left by enemy fire he quickly put it on and jumped for his life not yet sure how his fellow airman had fared he said that being under the canopy of that parachute was one of the most peaceful times in his life a still marvel at the fact that he could even think those things in the middle of a war but that memory of the calm of floating above the Italian countryside stuck with him as one of the most peaceful times in his life staff sergeant maris barren win junior was shot down jelathar in 1944 he spent the night in a field in northern Italy and was captured the next day he walked into the office of his Nazi captors and in perfect English the officer said happy and independence day it was not the welcome that he wanted but he it was the welcome that he and his fellow airman got that fourth of jelath it was the beginning of almost a year as a prisoner of war the trauma was just beginning my friends that I worked alongside at geica jokingly say that we are friends forever they can never get rid of me because we trauma bonded working in corporate america and that is true we did endure a lot of trauma and when you travel together you become a whole nother level of friend but what we endured pales and comparison to what the soldiers in war endure it pales and comparison to what soldiers in peacetime endure the bonding that happens during traumatic times in life is real and strong it's easy to read scripture and be able to separate yourself from the stories to have them become so familiar then you forget the humanity of it the disciples had endured a lot together they left their families and friends to follow Jesus and while it was a calling and a choice it still was not easy for them they left their professions they traveled together they endured ridicule and questioning by politicians and elders in the church and the people they were ministering to they were called and terrifying storms together they watched helplessly as their friend mentor rabbi and teacher was crucified and died a horrible and seemingly needless death to become their savior the trauma seemed endless at times there were also many beautiful times for them to bond over they watched miracles happen right before their eyes they were saved from storms as Jesus commanded the waters they saw beautiful landscapes of the Middle East they met the beautiful people of the world they witnessed and healed and listened to Jesus teach and love people what a life they got to live together both of today's scriptures highlight how people should be in ministry the early church and the modern church may look a little different but the idea and both of today's scripture that shan so brightly through them is that we are not supposed to do it alone life faith mission are to be done together we are bonded and bound together as we work to the trauma and the life giving moments of ministry and faith the loop text Jesus sends people out in and he does not sugarcoat what it will be like to do this life of ministry he's called them to verse one says after the lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town in place where he himself intended to go and he said to them the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are fee therefore ask the lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest go on your way he says i'm sending you out like lambs and to the midst of wolves i would have raised my hand excuse me Jesus talk more about these wolves please why are you sending me out somewhere full of wolves Jesus knew that together they would be able to endure more and experience more joy than if they were alone and the letter to the Galatians Paul reminds us that we have to be there for each other even when it is not easy my brothers and sisters he says if anyone is detected in a transgression you have received the spirit should restore such a one and a spirit of gentleness take care that you yourselves are not tempted verse two bear one another's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of christ help each other when times get tough and good times and in bad we are not supposed to be alone when the church felt like it was personally hurting you you were never alone when the joy of saying books and car seats help our community was shining in all of our abs we were not alone we looked to build and grow and be in mission together it is not to be done in a solitary vacuum we are not alone but sometimes it can feel that way even though we are a connectional in nature in the Methodist Church I am the only full-time Methodist pastor within four counties the south Georgia conference is intentionally creating spaces for pastors so we don't feel like we are alone that is not how Jesus or Paul saw the way to do missions and ministry and life it is the one thing I love best about this place and this community no one should ever feel alone everyone should feel like I do and this place with all of you they should feel loved and cared for and surrounded by people that want to do life together we are not alone this is the week normally watch masters of the air I know I know I'm a glutton for punishment when I watch it I am a weepy mess if you're not familiar with the series is the third set of the documentary series by Tom Hanks band of brothers and the pacific were wonderful and I watch them every year too but masters of the air brings to life the story of my grandfather it is not based on his squadron but the story is very similar watching it it brings to life a whole new respect for him and his fellow jailbirds I know Mara as no matter how much he said he was not was indeed a hero he would tell you that the real hero that day was the pilot and the others that pairs that day and I will agree with that but they are all heroes they were not alone in the battle and they were bonded for life even in the darkest of times they were not alone I'm sure Mara should also say that he was not alone at the camp he would tell you that he was glad that they had each other the men on his plane that survived were technical sergeant Jefferson Petty John from Fort Smith Arkansas and secondly tenet Owen Wallstrom from Lake Town Utah he would also tell you that the men that died that day were still his brothers and arms but their sacrifice was anything was greater than anything he did their names were sergeant Arnold Kraus of Brooklyn New York and Lieutenant Roy of Fairfax Alabama and the pilot second lieutenant James Cooper who in the middle of a raging storm of bullets did the best job possible under the circumstances and gave all members of the crew who were able to bail out more than in the even chance to do so he had a wife and a child at home he could have bailed out himself instead he put his men first he did not leave them to do the work alone and if he had not done the best he could to study the plane I probably would not be here Maris would have never been able to be welcomed by the Nazis or welcomed home by his sister and mother almost a year later he would have never made it home to marry my grandmother and I would not exist the darkest times and the best of times that we work through together are the way that Jesus instructed us to do ministry he sent them out not alone into the world full of wolves but together as we work to start this beautiful church this place to mission and worship in the name of God let us always remember that we are never alone we have each other we have the resources of the greater church and we have the strength of our faith and the convictions to bond us as we go as we go throughout our week let us remember the thing that we say every week God is with us he sent us out together so we are not alone thanks be to God God