Luke 19:1-27
Luke 19:28-40
A few years ago, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman starred in a film titled THE BUCKET LIST.
The story of two men who meet as patients with Cancer sharing a hospital room. As they come to know each other Nicholson's character sees Morgan Freeman's creating a list, and Freeman describes that different from the HONEY DO List on the Refrigerator, these were all the things he planned to do, that had never been done, before he kicked the Bucket, ie The Bucket List. Parachuting out of an Airplane, Walking the Great Wall of China, climbing Mount Everest, driving a car at the Indianapolis 500 Full Out. But as they work through their lists, harder than climbing the Himalayas, is TELLING YOUR SPOUSE, You Love Them; or in the case of Jack Nicholson's character asking for forgiveness/ reconciling with his daughter and meeting his grandchild. These are the things we want and need to do before we die.
The 19th Chapter of the Gospel of Luke, is JESUS' OWN BUCKET LIST. Not scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef, or betting on a horse named Fu Manchu at the Kentucky Derby, but knowing that the Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, is a Processional to his death on the Cross.
The parable contained here is confusing, because it is as if there were more than one parables told simultaneously, where it is difficult to determine where one leaves off and the other begins. This is a parable about what John Calvin described as DOUBLE PREDESTINATION.
To understand the starting parable one needs to now the Context, that in the 4th Century BC, Herod the Great, the last King of Israel died. It was the beginning of the Roman Empire's domination, and Herod's Son Archaeleus, went to Rome to be recognized as King. Archeleus was so feared and hated, that 50 leaders of Israel went to Rome to protest. Instead of being crowned King of all Israel, Archeleus was made Vassal King of Judea, and upon his return the families of the 50 who had protested were put to death. Throughout the Gospel, Pharisees and Scribes have protested against Jesus' authority, challenged the claims about his being the Messiah. We also need to know that the beginning of the writing down of the Gospels coincides with the year 70 AD, 70 of the Common Era, when the Empire of Rome destroyed Jerusalem, crucifying and persecuting hundreds of thousands, destroying temples and homes until one stone did not rest upon another. The first parable is Luke foreshadowing what is to come. Jesus goes to Jerusalem to be recognized as King, many protested his authority, all died. Are there any here present, who do not believe we will eventually all die?
That is PREDESTINATION: We protest against the way God has planned for the world, we try to control life ourselves, but ultimately, we as Mortals all die.
Yet, the parable does not leave us there, for within that context, before leaving, the Nobleman gives all he has to various specific people, to use, to trade, to share. There is a wordplay here that the word translated in Matthew as TALENTS and in Luke POUNDS representing the measure of a person, their gifts, their abilities, the weight of their authority, ALSO designates a coin equal to 30 days labor, so 10 POUNDS was the equivalent of a Year's Work. One risks everything and for every Pound makes 10 times more, so returns to the King 10 Years' Labors. A second uses their gifts and relationships and knowledge, and trading makes for every pound 5 times more. Each, who has been trusted with gifts, who use them with all their knowledge and skill and who risk for what they believe in, are rewarded. But as the Parable describes, many of us refuse to risk, refuse to try. If anything, I believe this is a parable addressed to Nations, to Churches and Families and Believers, who are worried about their own comforts, who serve themselves and their own needs. We were Baptized so do not need to be concerned with faith in God. We did grand and glorious things in the past, we have this treasure hidden away, we have kept our possession safe and not risked it. BUT we were supposed to risk, supposed to help others with what we were given. I have often wondered, what if there were a fourth, who had been given pounds and talents, who had risked everything, had tried, but had lost everything? What would have been the response of the King when he returned? In Luke's version of Jesus' telling, the one who risked nothing has everything taken away; and those who protested that they did not want him to be King all died. So having risked everything, having tried and lost, there is nothing worse that could happen than that we die, which eventually comes to all. But I believe, having risked everything, even losing it all, still having tried, the LORD would have known the attempt, the desire, and the commitment.
Yet, the parable does not leave us there, because like ripples in a pool emanating from a spot, there is a story before and one after, these parables.
Zaccheus was a rich and powerful man, The Chief Tax Collector. This was a man who operated on the basis of fear and intimidation. All the power of the Roman Empire to collect Taxes, to collect from an subjugated people to pay for the Military Legion who oppressed them, was concentrated in this solitary man. Zacceus liked to go about in long robes and to have people bow down to him, everything about this man spoke of his power. Yet, as powerful and intimidating as was Zaccheus, he was a man, a man who knew he had stolen, knew he had been rewarded for keeping others in poverty. Zaccheus had heard about this Jesus of Nazareth, had wanted to see him and hear him, no matter what the cost. SO hearing that Jesus was coming, Zaccheus left his shop to see him. But there was a crowd, and being small, Zaccheus could not see. Imagine this man whose life is consumed by his reputation of power, scurrying about with his robes flapping, as he shinnied up a Sycamore tree, scraping and bloodying his knuckles, catching and tearing his robes, he got to a place where he would be hidden by the branches while he could see Jesus coming, yet Jesus stopped at the foot of the tree and invited Zaccheus to come down and let us share a meal together. This man of Power and Intimidation, had humbled himself to catch a glimpse of Jesus. We know, that before the week is out, Jesus would be stripped of robes, and nailed to a tree lifted up. Zaccheus came down and brought Jesus into his own home, where he gave half of all he had to the poor, and pledged to return to any who had had stolen from them 4 times as much. Suggesting that the return of the Pounds does not have to be paid to the King, but could be given to those in need.
On the opposite side of the Parable, Jesus rides into the Royal City of King David, comes to the Temple of Solomon, and there weeps over the ways they have made faith in God into a commodity to be bought and sold.
Prior to Zaccheus, there was a blind beggar at Jericho, who cried out “Have Mercy on Me Son of David” known better by the phrase “Hosanna, Son of David, Hosanna!” It is an obscure little story. I believe the remnant of a piece before. Recall that there was a Rich Young Ruler, who came to Jesus asking about Eternal Life. When he said he had loved the Lord with all his heart and soul and mind and strength, Jesus had told him he must do one thing more: “Go sell all you have, give to the poor, and come follow me.” And the Rich Young Ruler went away sorrowful. While it is not recorded here, I believe, that rich young ruler came to himself, and did as he was commanded, he sold all he had and gave to those in need, but still he knew, he was blind to the truth. So he sat on the curb as one who was blind. When Jesus passed he cried out, “HOSANNA, Have Mercy Upon Me, Son of David!” And Jesus healed him.
This is not simply a complex parable in Luke, not simply a parable within a parable, but a parable within a parable, within a parable, within a parable. This is JESUS' BUCKET LIST, as he attempts to do all the things on his list before he dies. There was healing the blindness of a Rich Young Ruler, Having The Chief Tax Collector of the Capital City of Jerusalem restored as a child of Israel, finding the Lost Sheep and redeeming those in need. Are these parables of great Risk, ABSOLUTELY, risking everything, knowing that the worst that is going to happen is that we will die, so regardless of how silly we may appear, how great the cost, we must try.
In the film, The Bucket List, Morgan Freeman's Character describes to Jack Nicholson's that all of life comes down to the answer to TWO QUESTIONS:
1. HAVE YOU FOUND JOY IN YOUR LIFE? and
2. HAS YOUR LIFE BROUGHT JOY TO OTHERS?
Jack Nicholson responds to the first absolutely, and to the second “You'll have to ask them” and the voice says, “But I am asking you, What have you done that has brought Joy to the lives of others?”
In 1977, the leader of the Central African Republic declared himself Emperor and held his own Processional. He rode in a carriage encrusted in gold, led by ten pure-bred stallions. The First of his ten wives entered before him, adorned in jewels, as orchestras played selections commissioned just for the coronation, she sat on a golden footstool. Each of his children were carried in on palettes carried by soldiers. He entered the palace and sat on a solid gold throne. His coronation of himself as Emperor nearly bankrupted the Nation. How different, Jesus who rode upon a borrowed donkey, as those who had been deaf and blind beggars, fishermen and prostitutes, took off their their cloaks to make a carpet for him.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Salvation or Satisfaction, March 21, 2010
Isaiah 43:16-21
John 12:1-8
What sets Christianity apart from all other faith traditions is trust& belief in REDEMPTION. Ancient Greeks and Romans believed the Gods were cruel and manipulative, inflicting suffering upon humanity for their own amusement. Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, the Hindu faith and Tao all rely on fundamental Laws, instruction that has been given by God through a trusted Prophet. In the Old Testament, we received the Covenant of God with Abraham, to walk along beside following where God would lead, and we would be assured of a future for generations long after us, we received the Ten Commandments from Moses, but along beside the COVENANT and the LAW was description of the love of God, a God who hears our tears and enters in to save us.
We do not talk much about SALVATION anymore. In times of Invading Armies and Black Plague, humanity sought to know that there was hope beyond the grave, to have assurance that after death there was eternal life. Today, the world seems more concerned with SATISFACTION than Salvation. We have evolved to a time of having anything and everything at our disposal, and if not, that there is an electronic application for that. Do you desire to see your favorite photos? To carry a library with you of books to read? There is an APP for that. Would you like to listen to music? Would you like to read your mail? There is an APP. Did you forget to lock the front door? Did you leave the Iron plugged in, did you not turn off the lights? Did you want to be notified when your child came home from school? Do you want to transfer money at the bank to pay bills or to have bills automatically paid? Do you need directions, or to conjugate verbs in Mandarin Chinese? All these desires are available, such that we seem to have WANTS for SATISFACTION, and no need of SALVATION.
But as many devices as we can manage, as human beings: we are human. We become lonely and hurt, we carelessly harm others by our words and actions and choosing not to speak, we struggle with life and death and life and death decisions. We are surrounded by stories of infidelity, of scams and betrayal, even of trying to do the right thing for all the right reasons, having it come out wrong. The faith described in the Old Testament, demonstrated in the New, is that at great personal cost, God enters in to save us from ourselves. Imagine an Artist, painting a masterpiece, then seeing a figure in that painting whom they formed and love is in trouble, the artist cuts the canvas and steps through into that alternative reality. Far more than Alice in Wonderland, the cost of our redemption is Jesus' own life, Jesus' death on the cross.
The challenge posed by Isaiah, is: knowing God is doing a new thing, how shall we respond? God is changing the whole world by entering in, making rivers in the desert, and sanctuaries in the wilderness. Do we continue unaffected, unmoved, unchanged? Or can we respond to God, can we, and all creation fight against our own predispositions, to act differently, can we choose to be saved? Can we choose to live as if our lives are changed by our faith?
If we have been the children of divorced parents, does that mean we will divorce? If we have been divorced before, does that mean we are unable ever to love again? If we are the children of alcoholics will we be alcoholic? These are only predispositions, and we can choose to follow or to reframe and change, the question is up to us.
In the early 1960s, researchers had come out with a test to determine Sickle Cell Anemia, and every child in our elementary school in St. Louis was tested. The irony is that Sickle Cell most commonly occurs in those descended from Sub-Saharan Africa and affects life after age 42. So testing the whole population in 1st Grade, might identify a Genetic Predisposition, but unnecessarily raised the fears of all the families of all the first graders.
We know that first born children tend to be self-starters, that Middle Children tend to be peacemakers and pleasers, and younger children tend to be more artistic and creative with fewer perceived boundaries. But do these tendencies determine who we will be? There is always another way.
In John's Gospel, Judas is described as being a thief, who routinely stole from the common purse for the poor. If his history of stealing were known, why had Jesus trusted Judas with the purse? Was Jesus intentionally raising the anxiety of all the disciples, challenging us all to confront one another and care about what each person does as a community, so the betrayal of Judas was a failure of all the disciples in having allowed him to fail? I think John's reason for naming this is that all of us, like Judas have a tendency for corruption when it concerns money, but Mary chose to respond differently. Mary had sat at Jesus' feet listening as a disciple while Martha had been busy cooking and entertaining. Mary had seen her brother Lazarus raised from the dead. Mary took an expensive possession, worth a year's wages, that she had saved for herself, and instead chose to use it to serve Jesus, by washing his feet, rubbing his feet, wiping them with her own hair. It was an act of intense intimacy, it was an act of sacrifice, it was an act while they were at table together. Six days later, at the next Sabbath meal when they were at table together, Jesus knelt down to wash the feet of the disciples before serving them. Do you think the similarity would have been lost on the disciples?
Throughout time, many have struggled with what appears to be a flip remark of dismissal from Jesus, that “The Poor, you will always have with you.” Actually, this is a quote from Deuteronomy which challenges every believer that because the poor will always be with us, we each have responsibility to do more than keep a private purse for charitable gifts when we go to worship, we are challenged to open our hands completely to try to make a difference in their lives.
John 12:1-8
What sets Christianity apart from all other faith traditions is trust& belief in REDEMPTION. Ancient Greeks and Romans believed the Gods were cruel and manipulative, inflicting suffering upon humanity for their own amusement. Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, the Hindu faith and Tao all rely on fundamental Laws, instruction that has been given by God through a trusted Prophet. In the Old Testament, we received the Covenant of God with Abraham, to walk along beside following where God would lead, and we would be assured of a future for generations long after us, we received the Ten Commandments from Moses, but along beside the COVENANT and the LAW was description of the love of God, a God who hears our tears and enters in to save us.
We do not talk much about SALVATION anymore. In times of Invading Armies and Black Plague, humanity sought to know that there was hope beyond the grave, to have assurance that after death there was eternal life. Today, the world seems more concerned with SATISFACTION than Salvation. We have evolved to a time of having anything and everything at our disposal, and if not, that there is an electronic application for that. Do you desire to see your favorite photos? To carry a library with you of books to read? There is an APP for that. Would you like to listen to music? Would you like to read your mail? There is an APP. Did you forget to lock the front door? Did you leave the Iron plugged in, did you not turn off the lights? Did you want to be notified when your child came home from school? Do you want to transfer money at the bank to pay bills or to have bills automatically paid? Do you need directions, or to conjugate verbs in Mandarin Chinese? All these desires are available, such that we seem to have WANTS for SATISFACTION, and no need of SALVATION.
But as many devices as we can manage, as human beings: we are human. We become lonely and hurt, we carelessly harm others by our words and actions and choosing not to speak, we struggle with life and death and life and death decisions. We are surrounded by stories of infidelity, of scams and betrayal, even of trying to do the right thing for all the right reasons, having it come out wrong. The faith described in the Old Testament, demonstrated in the New, is that at great personal cost, God enters in to save us from ourselves. Imagine an Artist, painting a masterpiece, then seeing a figure in that painting whom they formed and love is in trouble, the artist cuts the canvas and steps through into that alternative reality. Far more than Alice in Wonderland, the cost of our redemption is Jesus' own life, Jesus' death on the cross.
The challenge posed by Isaiah, is: knowing God is doing a new thing, how shall we respond? God is changing the whole world by entering in, making rivers in the desert, and sanctuaries in the wilderness. Do we continue unaffected, unmoved, unchanged? Or can we respond to God, can we, and all creation fight against our own predispositions, to act differently, can we choose to be saved? Can we choose to live as if our lives are changed by our faith?
If we have been the children of divorced parents, does that mean we will divorce? If we have been divorced before, does that mean we are unable ever to love again? If we are the children of alcoholics will we be alcoholic? These are only predispositions, and we can choose to follow or to reframe and change, the question is up to us.
In the early 1960s, researchers had come out with a test to determine Sickle Cell Anemia, and every child in our elementary school in St. Louis was tested. The irony is that Sickle Cell most commonly occurs in those descended from Sub-Saharan Africa and affects life after age 42. So testing the whole population in 1st Grade, might identify a Genetic Predisposition, but unnecessarily raised the fears of all the families of all the first graders.
We know that first born children tend to be self-starters, that Middle Children tend to be peacemakers and pleasers, and younger children tend to be more artistic and creative with fewer perceived boundaries. But do these tendencies determine who we will be? There is always another way.
In John's Gospel, Judas is described as being a thief, who routinely stole from the common purse for the poor. If his history of stealing were known, why had Jesus trusted Judas with the purse? Was Jesus intentionally raising the anxiety of all the disciples, challenging us all to confront one another and care about what each person does as a community, so the betrayal of Judas was a failure of all the disciples in having allowed him to fail? I think John's reason for naming this is that all of us, like Judas have a tendency for corruption when it concerns money, but Mary chose to respond differently. Mary had sat at Jesus' feet listening as a disciple while Martha had been busy cooking and entertaining. Mary had seen her brother Lazarus raised from the dead. Mary took an expensive possession, worth a year's wages, that she had saved for herself, and instead chose to use it to serve Jesus, by washing his feet, rubbing his feet, wiping them with her own hair. It was an act of intense intimacy, it was an act of sacrifice, it was an act while they were at table together. Six days later, at the next Sabbath meal when they were at table together, Jesus knelt down to wash the feet of the disciples before serving them. Do you think the similarity would have been lost on the disciples?
Throughout time, many have struggled with what appears to be a flip remark of dismissal from Jesus, that “The Poor, you will always have with you.” Actually, this is a quote from Deuteronomy which challenges every believer that because the poor will always be with us, we each have responsibility to do more than keep a private purse for charitable gifts when we go to worship, we are challenged to open our hands completely to try to make a difference in their lives.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Growth in Wisdom, March 14, 2010
Joshua 5:9-12
Luke 15: 11-32
There is a miraculous event each year in Confirmation, which happens, though there is no specific lesson in the curriculum to teach it. Baptism is a presentation of the individual, as an infant or as a brand new believer, declaring their HOPES and relationships with God and the Faith Community, before they have it all figured out or understood. Confirmation Class teaches the stories of the Bible, the history of the Church and Western Culture developed in response to the Church, as well as what we believe, and the experience of this congregation in mission in this community. All that is teaching. But having the foundation, being given the building blocks of understanding and knowing, believers begin to play with the idea of faith, developing a sense of their self and their relationship to the community and to God, developing experience of Hope, and with this GROW in WISDOM.
GROWTH in WISDOM is what both our Biblical witnesses are about this morning.
The Hebrews had been slaves of Pharaoh for as long as any could recall. They had prayed and God heard their prayer, setting them free to leave slavery and enter the wilderness. For generations, for 40 years they wandered in the wilderness, totally and completely dependent upon God, yet like a two year old continually testing the limits of God's love with their wants and desires. The People of Israel cross over Jordan from the Wilderness into the Promised Land. GROWING WISDOM is not simply a matter of endurance, or of age, or experience. God leads them across, reminding them to be a HOLY PEOPLE. The Community recall being Slaves and the Passover, and they eat the Manna of the Wilderness the food of God's providing for the last time. The Community recall their ancestors being set apart, so they too are Circumcised. Then the People build a Cairn, a Miniature Stone Mountain, a marker to remember: We once were slaves; We once were Nomadic Wanderers in the Wilderness; we have entered into the land of the Canaanites to take possession. We should imagine 4 Things with our every monument, that this is a Marker of our past, this is a reminder of what we have come through, this is a gateway into what we are entering into, but also that we are a people of God.
Joshua led the people after Moses had died. Joshua knew the history from whence they had come. Joshua remembered wandering in the wilderness for generations. Joshua was circumcised to lead this army against all they would encounter. All these things he had learned and knew and understood. When suddenly he was confronted with a Warrior he did not recognize, asking the stranger, “Are you for us, or for our enemy?” At one point in the Gospels, Jesus is recorded as saying “All who are not against us, ARE for us!” And in recent years, when Our Nation was attacked, when we suffered terrorism, our leaders decried the opposite: “All who are not For us, are Against us!” And the Stranger, the Commander of the Army of the LORD , said “NO! But on the side of God!” With the assumed question: “So Joshua, whose side are you on?” GROWTH in WISDOM is not about what we have learned, not about what we have experienced and endured, but whether we have put the pieces together in order that we can HOPE for more than we know. We are the most informed populace ever to have inhabited this creation. Between all the different News Services, Broadcasters, Bloggers, Commentators, the Internet, and Cell Phone Cameras, we are witnesses to all that goes on. So it is, that the question of the STRANGER is all the more important. When we know all the different factions and enemies, when we know what we want, and how we intend to merit and fulfill our desires, we find ourselves asking “Are you for us, or against us?” “When do I get what I want?” When the question we need to hear is “Can you see God in your midst?” “Are you on the side of Hope” “Is this for Redeeming the Lost and challenging others to believe, or for some other purpose because no other matter.”
This parable from Luke, I fear saying anything at all.
First because it is a gem, so perfect, so multi-faceted and complete, it only needs to be shown, like explaining a joke, or explaining why the struggle of the Church throughout time has been how to fulfill the wants of members, while caring for the needs of those outside, the point is lost in explanation.
Second, we need to fear saying anything more about this parable, because it has been explained and interpreted so many different times, as if to make the parable defend the position of each listener.
So this morning, we would hear the parable from two other perspectives, rarely heard from.
Instead of the Parable of the Prodigal Son who wanted the world instead of valuing what he was a part of at home; instead of the Parable of the Elder who wants the world to be Merit-Driven, with reward for accomplishment and payment for what is due, who is challenged by God's GRACE, insulted by God's Compassion. Recognize that throughout time, this parable has been told and retold in the Community of Faith, and even more than the wants of the Sinning Prodigal, more than the justifications of the Righteous Pharisees, the parable is told in the witness of the Community, about the love of God.
In 21st Century America, we perceive everything through the SELF. Individually we project ourselves into the position of each player, to know how they felt. But in other cultures, in other places, and other times, the PRIMARY FOCUS was always on the Community not the individual.
When the Prodigal demands his share, and takes what he knows to be his, to spend as he desires, the Community, the neighbors, those who have been present all his life, are insulted for the Father. When word returns to the community, that the Prodigal has wasted everything and is in trouble, the community would pass the word, “See what happens!” “A fool and his money are soon parted.” One of the descriptions of Northeastern Small Villages, is that when the Great Frontier opened up for Western Expansion beyond the Hudson River let alone the California Gold Rush, our ancestors stood back saying “You go seek your fortune, we'll be waiting right here, when you come back, penniless and in need!”
The conversation that the Prodigal has with himself, when he is in need, so in trouble that he is living with and associating with Pigs, when even the pigs have not shared with him food pods that no human being would ever eat, is GROWTH IN WISDOM, Wisdom that comes from taking a step back to FACE HIMSELF. There is no expectation here, that his Father would redeem him, would take him back, would repay all that was lost, not even an expectation that his father would/could forgive. But only the confession to himself, that he would be better off, going back to being as a slave of his father's house, than being all alone and lost in this wilderness, among these people and pigs.
Realizing the importance of Community, and Community perception, in other times and other places, when word would have come to the Village, the whole town would have turned out, not to give him a ticker-tape parade, as the Native Son whom we are proud of, but that the whole town would have turned out to hiss and to boo and to throw things at him, not only for insulting his father, but for insulting their community, for having gone his way.
Now knowing what that Community was like, we can understand the desperation of the son at having to come passed that marker, back into slavery, back from the foreign land. Which makes the reaction of the Father all the more dramatic. This was not a time when Father's were known for being in touch with their Feminine-side, being in touch with their feelings, but rather the expectation was that Father's were STOIC, unmoved, even to accept this one who had embarrassed him back would be seen as a sign of weakness. And yet, so deep is the LOVE and COMPASSION of GOD as our Father, that God would run through the streets, would run the gauntlet for his son, so as to bear the shame, and receive the insults for his son, that he has come home. Yet, not only for the younger son, but with exactly the same SHAME, the elder son when all the community are gathered at their home for a party calls his father out, before the community to say “I Cannot Celebrate, I cannot have Hope.” This is not a parable like the Good Samaritan where Jesus asks “which one acted as Neighbor, which acted on the side of God?” But rather both the Prodigal and the Elder, the Sinners and the Righteous, and also the Community of Faith have been wrong, because the side of God is to accept the indignation of others for the redemption of the lost in order to bring them inside.
Whenever we hear this story, we wonder, the Father accepted the scorn of neighbors and friends in seeking the Prodigal and in going out on the Porch to redeem the Elder, did the Elder enter in to celebrate and have hope, or did he stay outside, or go his way. Are you on our side or for our enemy... And the answer is Neither, but on the side of God who is ever willing to redeem the lost.
How do we teach Growth in Wisdom?
Luke 15: 11-32
There is a miraculous event each year in Confirmation, which happens, though there is no specific lesson in the curriculum to teach it. Baptism is a presentation of the individual, as an infant or as a brand new believer, declaring their HOPES and relationships with God and the Faith Community, before they have it all figured out or understood. Confirmation Class teaches the stories of the Bible, the history of the Church and Western Culture developed in response to the Church, as well as what we believe, and the experience of this congregation in mission in this community. All that is teaching. But having the foundation, being given the building blocks of understanding and knowing, believers begin to play with the idea of faith, developing a sense of their self and their relationship to the community and to God, developing experience of Hope, and with this GROW in WISDOM.
GROWTH in WISDOM is what both our Biblical witnesses are about this morning.
The Hebrews had been slaves of Pharaoh for as long as any could recall. They had prayed and God heard their prayer, setting them free to leave slavery and enter the wilderness. For generations, for 40 years they wandered in the wilderness, totally and completely dependent upon God, yet like a two year old continually testing the limits of God's love with their wants and desires. The People of Israel cross over Jordan from the Wilderness into the Promised Land. GROWING WISDOM is not simply a matter of endurance, or of age, or experience. God leads them across, reminding them to be a HOLY PEOPLE. The Community recall being Slaves and the Passover, and they eat the Manna of the Wilderness the food of God's providing for the last time. The Community recall their ancestors being set apart, so they too are Circumcised. Then the People build a Cairn, a Miniature Stone Mountain, a marker to remember: We once were slaves; We once were Nomadic Wanderers in the Wilderness; we have entered into the land of the Canaanites to take possession. We should imagine 4 Things with our every monument, that this is a Marker of our past, this is a reminder of what we have come through, this is a gateway into what we are entering into, but also that we are a people of God.
Joshua led the people after Moses had died. Joshua knew the history from whence they had come. Joshua remembered wandering in the wilderness for generations. Joshua was circumcised to lead this army against all they would encounter. All these things he had learned and knew and understood. When suddenly he was confronted with a Warrior he did not recognize, asking the stranger, “Are you for us, or for our enemy?” At one point in the Gospels, Jesus is recorded as saying “All who are not against us, ARE for us!” And in recent years, when Our Nation was attacked, when we suffered terrorism, our leaders decried the opposite: “All who are not For us, are Against us!” And the Stranger, the Commander of the Army of the LORD , said “NO! But on the side of God!” With the assumed question: “So Joshua, whose side are you on?” GROWTH in WISDOM is not about what we have learned, not about what we have experienced and endured, but whether we have put the pieces together in order that we can HOPE for more than we know. We are the most informed populace ever to have inhabited this creation. Between all the different News Services, Broadcasters, Bloggers, Commentators, the Internet, and Cell Phone Cameras, we are witnesses to all that goes on. So it is, that the question of the STRANGER is all the more important. When we know all the different factions and enemies, when we know what we want, and how we intend to merit and fulfill our desires, we find ourselves asking “Are you for us, or against us?” “When do I get what I want?” When the question we need to hear is “Can you see God in your midst?” “Are you on the side of Hope” “Is this for Redeeming the Lost and challenging others to believe, or for some other purpose because no other matter.”
This parable from Luke, I fear saying anything at all.
First because it is a gem, so perfect, so multi-faceted and complete, it only needs to be shown, like explaining a joke, or explaining why the struggle of the Church throughout time has been how to fulfill the wants of members, while caring for the needs of those outside, the point is lost in explanation.
Second, we need to fear saying anything more about this parable, because it has been explained and interpreted so many different times, as if to make the parable defend the position of each listener.
So this morning, we would hear the parable from two other perspectives, rarely heard from.
Instead of the Parable of the Prodigal Son who wanted the world instead of valuing what he was a part of at home; instead of the Parable of the Elder who wants the world to be Merit-Driven, with reward for accomplishment and payment for what is due, who is challenged by God's GRACE, insulted by God's Compassion. Recognize that throughout time, this parable has been told and retold in the Community of Faith, and even more than the wants of the Sinning Prodigal, more than the justifications of the Righteous Pharisees, the parable is told in the witness of the Community, about the love of God.
In 21st Century America, we perceive everything through the SELF. Individually we project ourselves into the position of each player, to know how they felt. But in other cultures, in other places, and other times, the PRIMARY FOCUS was always on the Community not the individual.
When the Prodigal demands his share, and takes what he knows to be his, to spend as he desires, the Community, the neighbors, those who have been present all his life, are insulted for the Father. When word returns to the community, that the Prodigal has wasted everything and is in trouble, the community would pass the word, “See what happens!” “A fool and his money are soon parted.” One of the descriptions of Northeastern Small Villages, is that when the Great Frontier opened up for Western Expansion beyond the Hudson River let alone the California Gold Rush, our ancestors stood back saying “You go seek your fortune, we'll be waiting right here, when you come back, penniless and in need!”
The conversation that the Prodigal has with himself, when he is in need, so in trouble that he is living with and associating with Pigs, when even the pigs have not shared with him food pods that no human being would ever eat, is GROWTH IN WISDOM, Wisdom that comes from taking a step back to FACE HIMSELF. There is no expectation here, that his Father would redeem him, would take him back, would repay all that was lost, not even an expectation that his father would/could forgive. But only the confession to himself, that he would be better off, going back to being as a slave of his father's house, than being all alone and lost in this wilderness, among these people and pigs.
Realizing the importance of Community, and Community perception, in other times and other places, when word would have come to the Village, the whole town would have turned out, not to give him a ticker-tape parade, as the Native Son whom we are proud of, but that the whole town would have turned out to hiss and to boo and to throw things at him, not only for insulting his father, but for insulting their community, for having gone his way.
Now knowing what that Community was like, we can understand the desperation of the son at having to come passed that marker, back into slavery, back from the foreign land. Which makes the reaction of the Father all the more dramatic. This was not a time when Father's were known for being in touch with their Feminine-side, being in touch with their feelings, but rather the expectation was that Father's were STOIC, unmoved, even to accept this one who had embarrassed him back would be seen as a sign of weakness. And yet, so deep is the LOVE and COMPASSION of GOD as our Father, that God would run through the streets, would run the gauntlet for his son, so as to bear the shame, and receive the insults for his son, that he has come home. Yet, not only for the younger son, but with exactly the same SHAME, the elder son when all the community are gathered at their home for a party calls his father out, before the community to say “I Cannot Celebrate, I cannot have Hope.” This is not a parable like the Good Samaritan where Jesus asks “which one acted as Neighbor, which acted on the side of God?” But rather both the Prodigal and the Elder, the Sinners and the Righteous, and also the Community of Faith have been wrong, because the side of God is to accept the indignation of others for the redemption of the lost in order to bring them inside.
Whenever we hear this story, we wonder, the Father accepted the scorn of neighbors and friends in seeking the Prodigal and in going out on the Porch to redeem the Elder, did the Elder enter in to celebrate and have hope, or did he stay outside, or go his way. Are you on our side or for our enemy... And the answer is Neither, but on the side of God who is ever willing to redeem the lost.
How do we teach Growth in Wisdom?
Monday, March 1, 2010
February 28, 2010 "400 Years From Now"
Genesis 15
Luke 13: 1-9 &31-35
This has been a difficult week for the people of our village, of our church. Not like the devastation of Haiti, 6 weeks after an earthquake still searching for the bodies buried beneath the rubble. Not like Chile, still feeling the aftershocks of an earthquake several times larger than that which struck Haiti. Not like the devastation to Coastal and Island communities throughout the Pacific submerged and others waiting to see what will still happen from Tsunamis. But still, when so many wives and husbands, brothers and sisters and Mothers and Fathers pass in a week, even from natural aging regardless of their accumulated age in years, it shakes our faith. Death makes us question God, asking about fairness, consolation, eternity. The difference of death by age rather than a catastrophic death from an accident or disaster, is that “natural causes” is a thousand goodbyes of little things, then accommodating to a new sense of normal, where disaster does not allow us to say goodbye...
In moments of weakness, we wish for simplistic faiths that could blame circumstance on immoral behavior, or some other individual, on a coach who told us to get into the wrong lane. We long to be distracted by the Olympic spectacle, by the winning of Gold and Silver, or by a night's win over Villanova. We long for the questions and doubts of faith to be answered. But like Abram, we stare up at the heavens asking “How long, O Lord?” How long is life? How long must we wait for You? As the Adult Forum last week on the Changes to our Culture from a Virtual Reality brought up, we have become an instantaneous society. Where we become more anxious by waiting, having our needs unfulfilled.
In an Old Testament culture, dependent for survival on having multiple children, who would be heirs and provide for their parents and grandparents when they settled, Abram and Sarai were childless. Having known that community and people all their lives, Abram and Sarai dared to venture out and risk following where God might lead, in hopes of finding what they desired to be fulfilled. When we have a problem, when we are filled with anxiety, when we must wait, we often seek to control, to have a static relationship that enables us to fulfill our needs.
Abram had taken with them the son of his brother, his nephew Lot, but Lot had separated from them at Sodom, and Lot had been taken captive in battle. Longing for an heir, Abram had all but accepted the cultural norm that as a slave was property belonging to the master, the eldest child of a slave, Eleazar of Damascus could be made his heir and therefore become like a child to the couple. In much the same way, but even more explicit, Sarai would use Hagar, her slave-girl, her property, to conceive a child by Abram, Ishmael. According to the text, Abram was 75 years of age, when he and Sarai began this journey with God. Over ten years later, they still are childless, unfulfilled. But God speaks to Abram in a vision, saying “Fear Not!... None of these shall be your heir, your own son by Sarai shall be.” Life, and therefore Faith, because our faith is set in the context of our lives, is real and growing and changing, is not a Static thing, to be controlled or made to happen. Faith is a reciprocal symbiotic relationship of trust.
In our anxiety, we seek after control, I can determine when to turn off life-sustaining machines; I can choose what I want for my family for my life, and what I do not. If no one else is going to be in charge, I can take responsibility and I can and will lead. Except, doing so, we over-function, we over-step our identity and our relationships, taking away from the responsibility of others. They may allow us in the short-term, but afterwards will resent our invading their autonomy. Despite what the myths and movies about Greek Titans, or the self-serving televangelists might suggest, the earthquakes and tsunamis cannot be attributed to anyone and the victims are no more to be pitied than all humanity.
Most often, we are not able to choose, but can act in faith. What we cannot control, we seek to prove, so as to be certain, a different kind of control. Abram looks for proof from God, but faith is not able to be proven. God invites Abram to look at the heavens, invites Abram to have an Epiphany, about the power of God, an Epiphany to trust that God has always been here, has guided us through difficult times in the past, and in faith can be trusted. We Need Not Fear... even if it takes 400 years.
That is what Jesus was saying to Herod and the Pharisees, as well. Remember that according to Luke it was a Herod who killed all the babies, searching for him at his birth. It was a Herod who had John the Baptist Beheaded, and the same Herod who now is seeking after Jesus to kill him.
It does no good to worry or to be anxious. Faith is a relationship, much like a traveling companion, who is going to walk along beside, helping us to see what is taking place and to know what otherwise might be missed. Faith is also a security, that what others might have missed, will be gathered and cared for.
This week in the papers was a headline that The Syracuse Assessors' Office was seeking to tax abandoned church buildings. Instantly the internet lit up, how long before they tax our church, how long before they take away tax deduction for donations, how long before the government begins taxing the receipts of churches? We cannot waste time with these fears. The society is based on the FOR PROFIT sector doing what it chooses, for profit. The GOVERNMENT doing what it chooses, as Social Program, Public Schools, Courts, Services. And THE CHURCH doing what we must to do, what no one else has done.
One of the most significant and fulfilling questions for every human being, as well as for the church, is “what are we doing that no one else does?” We do not need to compete with our sisters and brothers, we do not need to compete with other churches... Our purpose in life is to do what no one else does.
The fact of the matter is that when loved ones die, we have been filled with caring for them, making decisions. The Health Care Reports describe that 90% of our Medical Costs come in the last 10% of life, I would go further to suggest that 90% of our worry about one another, of our trying to control a good life and relationship comes in death. Which is why there is such a void when they are gone. How painfully hard it is to switch from going about daily life for 80 or 90 years, to suddenly sifting through the memories. FAITH is not about reliving the past, or even worrying about the future that may or may not come. Faith is to be lived in the present, accompanying one another to the best of our abilities, not worrying about the past or the future, but living faith with one another as companions on the journey.
Luke 13: 1-9 &31-35
This has been a difficult week for the people of our village, of our church. Not like the devastation of Haiti, 6 weeks after an earthquake still searching for the bodies buried beneath the rubble. Not like Chile, still feeling the aftershocks of an earthquake several times larger than that which struck Haiti. Not like the devastation to Coastal and Island communities throughout the Pacific submerged and others waiting to see what will still happen from Tsunamis. But still, when so many wives and husbands, brothers and sisters and Mothers and Fathers pass in a week, even from natural aging regardless of their accumulated age in years, it shakes our faith. Death makes us question God, asking about fairness, consolation, eternity. The difference of death by age rather than a catastrophic death from an accident or disaster, is that “natural causes” is a thousand goodbyes of little things, then accommodating to a new sense of normal, where disaster does not allow us to say goodbye...
In moments of weakness, we wish for simplistic faiths that could blame circumstance on immoral behavior, or some other individual, on a coach who told us to get into the wrong lane. We long to be distracted by the Olympic spectacle, by the winning of Gold and Silver, or by a night's win over Villanova. We long for the questions and doubts of faith to be answered. But like Abram, we stare up at the heavens asking “How long, O Lord?” How long is life? How long must we wait for You? As the Adult Forum last week on the Changes to our Culture from a Virtual Reality brought up, we have become an instantaneous society. Where we become more anxious by waiting, having our needs unfulfilled.
In an Old Testament culture, dependent for survival on having multiple children, who would be heirs and provide for their parents and grandparents when they settled, Abram and Sarai were childless. Having known that community and people all their lives, Abram and Sarai dared to venture out and risk following where God might lead, in hopes of finding what they desired to be fulfilled. When we have a problem, when we are filled with anxiety, when we must wait, we often seek to control, to have a static relationship that enables us to fulfill our needs.
Abram had taken with them the son of his brother, his nephew Lot, but Lot had separated from them at Sodom, and Lot had been taken captive in battle. Longing for an heir, Abram had all but accepted the cultural norm that as a slave was property belonging to the master, the eldest child of a slave, Eleazar of Damascus could be made his heir and therefore become like a child to the couple. In much the same way, but even more explicit, Sarai would use Hagar, her slave-girl, her property, to conceive a child by Abram, Ishmael. According to the text, Abram was 75 years of age, when he and Sarai began this journey with God. Over ten years later, they still are childless, unfulfilled. But God speaks to Abram in a vision, saying “Fear Not!... None of these shall be your heir, your own son by Sarai shall be.” Life, and therefore Faith, because our faith is set in the context of our lives, is real and growing and changing, is not a Static thing, to be controlled or made to happen. Faith is a reciprocal symbiotic relationship of trust.
In our anxiety, we seek after control, I can determine when to turn off life-sustaining machines; I can choose what I want for my family for my life, and what I do not. If no one else is going to be in charge, I can take responsibility and I can and will lead. Except, doing so, we over-function, we over-step our identity and our relationships, taking away from the responsibility of others. They may allow us in the short-term, but afterwards will resent our invading their autonomy. Despite what the myths and movies about Greek Titans, or the self-serving televangelists might suggest, the earthquakes and tsunamis cannot be attributed to anyone and the victims are no more to be pitied than all humanity.
Most often, we are not able to choose, but can act in faith. What we cannot control, we seek to prove, so as to be certain, a different kind of control. Abram looks for proof from God, but faith is not able to be proven. God invites Abram to look at the heavens, invites Abram to have an Epiphany, about the power of God, an Epiphany to trust that God has always been here, has guided us through difficult times in the past, and in faith can be trusted. We Need Not Fear... even if it takes 400 years.
That is what Jesus was saying to Herod and the Pharisees, as well. Remember that according to Luke it was a Herod who killed all the babies, searching for him at his birth. It was a Herod who had John the Baptist Beheaded, and the same Herod who now is seeking after Jesus to kill him.
It does no good to worry or to be anxious. Faith is a relationship, much like a traveling companion, who is going to walk along beside, helping us to see what is taking place and to know what otherwise might be missed. Faith is also a security, that what others might have missed, will be gathered and cared for.
This week in the papers was a headline that The Syracuse Assessors' Office was seeking to tax abandoned church buildings. Instantly the internet lit up, how long before they tax our church, how long before they take away tax deduction for donations, how long before the government begins taxing the receipts of churches? We cannot waste time with these fears. The society is based on the FOR PROFIT sector doing what it chooses, for profit. The GOVERNMENT doing what it chooses, as Social Program, Public Schools, Courts, Services. And THE CHURCH doing what we must to do, what no one else has done.
One of the most significant and fulfilling questions for every human being, as well as for the church, is “what are we doing that no one else does?” We do not need to compete with our sisters and brothers, we do not need to compete with other churches... Our purpose in life is to do what no one else does.
The fact of the matter is that when loved ones die, we have been filled with caring for them, making decisions. The Health Care Reports describe that 90% of our Medical Costs come in the last 10% of life, I would go further to suggest that 90% of our worry about one another, of our trying to control a good life and relationship comes in death. Which is why there is such a void when they are gone. How painfully hard it is to switch from going about daily life for 80 or 90 years, to suddenly sifting through the memories. FAITH is not about reliving the past, or even worrying about the future that may or may not come. Faith is to be lived in the present, accompanying one another to the best of our abilities, not worrying about the past or the future, but living faith with one another as companions on the journey.
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