The visa form necessary to enter Egypt from Israel was so straight forward and simple it was hard to realize I was at a tense border crossing where such forms tend to be more complicated. But the American woman ahead of me evidently had difficulty filling out the form. The Egyptian army officer in the booth told to her, "You did not put in your religion. You must fill out your religion." She said, "I have no religion." He said, "But you must put in something. You are a Christian, you are a Jew, or you are a Muslim." She said, "I am nothing." He said, "Everybody is born something!" She said, with some anger in her voice, "I was born nothing!" and she walked away. She was wrong; she was born stubborn. The Egyptian was still shaking his head in frustration when I showed him my papers. But he gave me a broad smile when he saw on my visa form I had put "Christian" followed by a bold exclamation!

I left the little customs office into the hot sun to wait for the bus to Cairo. Two hours! It was hot; tempers were short; the journey to Cairo would be long. Finally the bus arrived and I scooted aboard to get a window seat. The air conditioning on the bus was working. Waiting with us a was large Arab lady, dressed in black with a white scarf. She had two young kids and a large suitcase tied with a rope. Clothing popped out, the kids were crying, and the woman seemed ready to. And then, the stubborn, "born nothing" lady put down her luggage and starting picking up clothes. I felt I was hit right between the eyes - clobbered with my own exclamation point! "Christian!" I had boldly printed on the customs form. Yes, I was born nothing but I was baptized something! I was irrigated by the waters of the font ... and I was called to work in the vineyard. I was born nothing; in baptism I was "born again." I thought about that as I watched the born nothing lady serving in the vineyard. A born nothing lady who would not know Jesus Christ if she bumped into him on the street - reacting like Jesus Christ to a lady in need.

"What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.'" Actually, it could have just as easily have been two daughters or a son and a daughter. And my vineyard that day is a dry and dusty piece of barren land between two countries who don't much like each other. And the work in the vineyard was not to plant crops in the ground but from the ground to pick clothing. The "born nothing" lady might well have said "No!" when it came time to offer the milk of human kindness. But when push came to shove and a need was made known, the lady instinctively responded. As the old saying goes, "I'd rather see a sermon than listen to one." From my seat on the bus I witnessed one of the finest sermons I ever saw - or heard.

There are people in the vineyards of this world who would never claim to be Christian, who are giving a cup of cold water to their thirsty neighbor - while Bible pounding religious leaders and people in the pew never even get around to the task of turning on the water tap!

This parable of Jesus takes place on Palm Monday - actually, there's no such thing as Palm Monday ... but it takes place the day after Jesus, on the back of a donkey, rides into Jerusalem. The people lining the roadway are throwing palms and clothing in the path of the donkey ... all the way down the Mount of Olives, it looked like a gigantic suitcase had burst its ropes. The people are shouting, "Hosanna," which means "God save us." The people were singing almost, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." The religious authorities are not amused. "Tell your followers to be quiet." Jesus responded, "If they are quiet, even the stones would shout out!"

Today Charlotte Lorelei is going to be baptized. It's a pretty name, Charlotte Lorelei. A few days ago, out of curiosity, I looked up the meaning of "Lorelei." I'm not sure if her parents have researched the meaning of Lorelei. If they haven't I can save them the trouble. It means, "murmuring rock." Today Charlotte Murmuringrock is going to become a member of the church of Jesus Christ. She is not being Baptized a Lutheran - she is being proclaimed a child of God. Her parents are not promising to raise her a Lutheran, nor any particular Christian tradition. They are going to raise her in some Christian community, somewhere. A place in which she will learn about Jesus, "the name that is above every name." Initially, her parents will teach her ... and she will murmur the name of Jesus. Eventually she will find her own voice, and like the living stones of Jerusalem shouting "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord," Charlotte Murmuringrock will sing the praises of Jesus. God willing, unlike the pastor who baptizes her, Charlotte will go beyond proclaiming Jesus ... to serving him in the vineyard.

The proof of our Sunday sincerity comes about in a weekday, workaday world. A world which tends to judge the followers of Jesus in unflattering terms, characterizing Christians as those who are more likely to move their mouths than their feet. So with all due respect to the beautiful name Lorelei, Jesus calls ut to be more than mere murmuring rocks.