Blessing of the Backpacks: Where two or three are gathered...

So today, we have come here with our backpacks, and computer bags, and special items that help us turn towards this changing of the seasons, the beginning of school and new routines. In them, we carry the practical things we may need: notebooks, pencils, water bottles. We also carry things that are harder to define or see—hope, or worry, fear or excitement.

We all carry these things in some way. Teachers and students begin new rhythms. Families get back into routines. College students arrive in town. Maybe work changes. Maybe traffic changes. Maybe church changes. Maybe we’re simply trying to figure out how to live into a new season of life.

And so today, as we bless backpacks, we’re really blessing all of us as we enter whatever comes next.

You may know that part of our blessing of the backpacks includes giving out tags that everyone can take with them. This year they say: “You and me, we’re neighbors.”

I wonder—Who is your neighbor?

We might think a neighbor is the person who lives next door. And certainly, they are. But Jesus has a much bigger idea of who our neighbors are.

Your neighbor is the person sitting next to you. Your neighbor is the person you know well. Your neighbor is the person you’ve never met before. Your neighbor is the person who is easy to like—and the person who gets on your nerves. Your neighbor is the person who sees the world differently than you do.

And, of course, you are somebody else’s neighbor, too.

In one of our readings today, we heard that all the commandments can be summed up in this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Now, sometimes we hear “love your neighbor” and imagine that it means we have to be nice to everybody all the time. But loving our neighbors doesn't mean pretending that differences and disagreements don't matter. Our reading from Matthew reminds us that being neighbors is a little more complicated than that.

Jesus talks about what to do when someone hurts you or when you have a disagreement. He doesn't say, “Well, I guess you aren't neighbors anymore.”

Instead, he says: Go talk to them. Try to work it out. Listen. Tell the truth. Give each other a chance to make things right.

Because being neighbors doesn't mean we never disagree. It means that disagreement doesn't have to be the end of the relationship.

So I wonder, What does a good neighbor do?

A good neighbor might listen. A good neighbor might help. A good neighbor might say, “I'm sorry.” A good neighbor might forgive. A good neighbor might make room for someone who feels left out.

And sometimes being a good neighbor means simply noticing that someone else is there.

That brings us to one of the most beautiful things Jesus says in this passage: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

We often hear that as a promise that Jesus is with us when we gather for worship—even if there are only two or three of us. But Jesus actually says these words when he’s talking about people trying to work through a disagreement. Jesus is telling us that God is present in the work of being neighbors.

When you say, “I'm sorry,” God is there. When you listen instead of shouting, God is there. When you make room for someone else, God is there. When two people who were angry decide to try again, God is there. When we gather together to care for one another, God is there.

So when you see that little tag on a backpack this year, I hope you remember that it isn't just talking about the person who lives next door.

“You and me, we're neighbors.” Means we're part of God's world together.

We don't have to be exactly alike or agree about everything. We don't even have to be friends. But we are neighbors. And because we are neighbors, God calls us to love one another.

So here's one last question, for all of us:

What do you want to carry with you into this new season? Maybe it's courage. Patience. Curiosity. Maybe hope. A willingness to try something new. What do you want to carry with you into this new season?

My hope for us is that we all carry one more thing with us: the knowledge that we belong to one another, and that wherever we go, we have neighbors—and we are neighbors.

Today, as we bless these backpacks, these important items, we bless the people who carry them. We bless the students and teachers, the parents and grandparents, the people beginning new jobs or new routines, and all of us beginning again in some way. And as I offer this blessing you’re welcome to close your eyes, to open your hands, to hold the item you’ve brought to receive the blessing…

 Children of God and neighbors to all humankind, as you carry your backpack along your adventures this year, you will encounter many children of God. Treat the people you meet on your path with kindness, curiosity, and compassion, because Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In the name of God, Parent, Child, and Spirit. Amen.

And may these backpacks remind us of something even more important than what we put inside them: We are neighbors. And wherever we go, God's love goes with us. Amen.