"Mastering Multi-Tasking" September 19, 2010

Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1
Luke 16: 1-13
No One can truly Multi-task!

Years ago there was a comedy Western called “City-Slickers” with Billy Crystal and Jack Palance, the point of the movie being that we often try to have divided loyalties, to do just enough of one thing, then just enough of another. Billy Crystal's character reaches a mid-life crisis, because he is not sure what he believes in anymore, what he cares about. He has tried so hard to please his parents and his employers, his spouse and friends, he has lost himself.

Growing up, I recall the variety shows before “America's Got Talent” and “American Idol” with Jugglers who were able to spin multiple plates simultaneously. The Juggler had to allow each plate to spin, ignoring interfering, trusting that they would keep going, and only when absolutely necessary touching one to add speed. But where it is possible, and entertaining to juggle 10 things simultaneously, eventually all the plates begin to crash. The point of “City Slickers” is that all you need to focus on is Doing One Thing.

How easy it would be to sit, while this morning's passages are read. Enduring the time, catching only a word, without listening, without investing in what the Bible is about. There is a difference between accepting a decision and following through. Between acknowledging a disease, a disorder, a brokenness and actually living life differently. We live in a culture that has made money on Sound-bytes, snippets of information. But faith requires our listening, and applying the whole truth to our whole lives, not simply the words that are easy, or easy to repeat out of context.

Distracted by other things, we might hear the Prophet Jeremiah recite: THE LORD IS NOT IN ZION! THE HARVEST IS OVER, THE SUMMER IS ENDED, AND MY PEOPLE ARE NOT SAVED! THERE IS NO BALM IN GILEAD! When these are phrases repeated by God, the words of the People echoed by the Lord in ironic conversation with God's Prophet, of what the people have been saying. How overly simplistic to believe that God is in God's Heaven and we are here in this God-forsaken life. There is not a three tiered universe, of God being separate and removed from all life! What this passage decries is that Almighty God, the Lord who created Heaven and Earth, weeps for God's people.

I need to consult with our Medical colleagues, whether we still use BALMS. A Balm was a cure all, an ointment that soothes and protects and heals. Decades ago, when you got a bad burn, Mom would go to the ice-box and take a pat of butter to rub upon it as a balm. Like Snake-oil treatments, most balms of human creation were 90% Kerosene and caused greater infection than ever they cured. The point of Jeremiah, is that people have sought their own Man-made Balms to be purchased in human cities, rather than trusting that which can actually heal.

We have been carefully conditioned, throughout lifetimes, that what we need to satisfy, to cure, to heal, is: something to purchase. If we can buy that thing, be it a new car, a new outfit, investing in the latest gadget, acquiring a new relationship, we can bind our anxiety, believing that with these sneakers we truly can jump higher and run faster. The word of God to Jeremiah, is that God is not far distant and removed. God hears our anxiety. God knows our pain, and God weeps for God's people. Foolishly, we like Dorothy and her companions with the Wizard of Oz only need realize that the Scarecrow is brilliant though lacking a diploma; the Lion is courageous only missing the recognition of medals; the Tin Woodsman finally knows he has a heart but only when it is breaking; and the child knows how important HOME is, only when far far away. The real cure is allowing God in, who has been a part of our lives all along.

Not so long ago, I officiated at a wedding where the couple had each been married and divorced before. They tried in rewriting the wording of the wedding, to say that this union was different because this was a Spiritual Wedding, this was not only a legal marriage, but a spiritual union of two into one. The irony was that this wedding took place not in a church sanctuary, and each had uncles in attendance who were the priests who had married them before. A marriage is not more or less spiritual because of where it takes place, or who officiates, but our commitment in being married. While Hollywood claims that there is one moment, and only the most brief of moments, when love between two persons can happen; I believe that the brokenness, the anxiety, the fears and hurts and divisions are what only last a moment, and our love, our commitment to that one other, is what can carry us through, making a marriage a lifetime union.

According to Luke, after telling the Crowds, Scribes and Pharisees, who were complaining about sins and sinners and tax-collectors the Parables of the Lost Sheep, Coin, Prodigal & Elder Sons being Found Jesus told the Disciples this Parable of the Dishonest Steward.
Again, it is not an easy commitment, of accepting the Parable, and saying I know what it means! Because at the end of the Parable the Master commends the Steward for being Shrewd & Manipulative. Jesus seems to describe: Use any unscrupulous, unrighteous means possible in order to gain favors, so that when your money runs out, others will take you in.

This is not unlike the story of Drummond's Bar in Mt.Vernon, Texas. As the story goes, Mt. Vernon was a peaceful small town, until Drummond's Bar decided to build a new Bar right across the street from the Church. The Church people were outraged and began a campaign of praying against the Bar. Everything was ready for the Grand Opening when in a freak storm, lightning struck the Bar and burned it to the ground. Soon afterward there was a courtcase, and the Judge reviewing the papers filed described what an odd circumstance, that here was a Bar owner claiming to believe in the Power of Prayer and a Whole Congregation of people who dismissed the circumstance as an accident of nature.

Jesus follows up this parable with the explanation, that undercuts being unscrupulous, saying: He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. Fred Craddock has described that few among us this week will entertain a Head of State, or Christen a Ship, Invent a Cure for Cancer, Resolve the Financial issues of our Economy. Few will be able to bring warring parties to a Peace table. But among us are those who will care for a spouse or child struggling to make sense of reality. Among us are those who will tuck a child into bed.

The final difficulty of this parable is how we understand what actually happened.
One possibility is that the Dishonest Steward actually had the creditors rewrite their bills, knowing that the Rich man would not suffer public humiliation of challenging their records.
A Second is that he cut the Interest owed to Zero.
A Third, is that he took his own fees off, and allowed those who owed, simply to pay wholesale to the owner without his commission.
The first two are still dishonest, the third requires that the Steward find a different means of survival than overcharging others.

What is difficult in life, is not choosing between right and wrong, but following through on living life differently from all we have ever known. To make a decision and hold accountability, when we do not know what is truly right and wrong, only that this is a different means than we have tried, and having tried and tried what was normal and routine we have gotten worse and worse.

What we need is simply One Thing: To believe we are not alone.