June 17, 2012 "Seeing the Heart"

I Samuel 15:34 - 16:13 Mark 4:26-34 What a marvelous word for our time! As simple and common as these stories are, I can think of nothing More Counter-Cultural! Everything in our society screams: Time is Money, Money is the Value of all things, Time is Wasting. Make a decision. Choose the fastest, smallest, most unique, sexiest, most expensive, most experienced. And Be careful not to do anything to offend the existing power structure. Yet Samuel, the last in the line of The Judges is told to go to a family with no great lineage, no power, they are not royalty, not great warriors, or heroes, not even the most faithful or devout. Jesse's great great grandmother seduced her father-in-law. His great grandmother was a Canaanite Prostitute; his grandmother was a foreigner from Moab. Now, Samuel from among this lineage, select a new King, Not the First-born, Not the most experienced, the most attractive, the strongest, the wealthiest, the most secure but instead choose the most child-like. The point is not the quality of the seed, or the skill of the planter, but to trust that God is doing what God needs do. A parable is not reasonable, a parable is not learning a different language or higher level math. If anything, hearing a parable is like looking at the world cross-eyed, perceiving everything spiritually through faith, as if all life were pointed to the cross, not as a symbol of persecution and suffering, not even as a symbol of the Church, but that Nothing not even death can separate us from the Love of God. Samuel was seeing the world through captivity to his fears. He had known it would be a mistake to ordain a King, yet God told him to do so. The people wanted Saul to be King, and Samuel warned them the cost, but he had had to anoint Saul King, and Saul was a vicious and terrible king. So now what? Saying I told you so will not change reality. Saying or doing anything may bring the wrath of Saul upon your head for treason or even blasphemy. And God instructs Samuel, “DO SOMETHING RELIGIOUS” Because No one will pay any attention! Samuel goes to anoint a King to displace Saul, and he does not simply go to pray, he takes a sacrifice, not a handful of grain, or pair of turtle doves, or a lamb, even a young calf, but a full grown heifer. And as instructed, he comes to Jesse of Bethlehem. And Samuel looks on the first born, Eliab... And God says No And the second Abinadab is prettier than the first... And God says No And the third Shammah is stronger than the two... And God says No And the fourth is more educated... the fifth more experienced... the sixth... the seventh... Then Samuel asks the question we often neglect to wonder after seeing seven sons... Are there others? And Samuel anoints David the Shepherd of the flocks to be Shepherd of Israel. We need to look with our hearts and not with our eyes! This is a table, like the dining table in each of our homes, where we gather with family and friends. The bread is only bread, the cup is only a common cup, yet gathering, this is our most precious meal. The pitcher filled with water, yet we hear the sound of Baptism, pouring out, empty, and receiving in. The couple profess their love, and kiss as they have a thousand times before, and now they are married. A child is only a child, yet as parents through a lifetime we look upon them in so many different ways. We have known they were coming, yet they arrive, we cannot stop smiling, speaking softly, rocking. I would dare to say, that in all of the Bible, there are few more profound words than this: Jesus spoke in parables, as they were able to hear; he did not speak without a parable. A parable needs to seep and soak and marinade upon you. The point of speaking in parables, is not only the wisdom of the saying, but in learning to see the world, to look beyond circumstance, as if everything were a parable of faith. As spectacular as our windows are, and as gorgeous as the refracted light, by removing these few this morning, not only do we see light differently, not only can we see with greater illumination, not only do the dynamics of this space appear to change, but instead of feeling as if in an ivory tower, a place apart where everything is sacred, we see the world outside this upper room, cognizant that there is sacred in the midst of the community. This week, I had contacted John to suggest that as we are planning for the 5th Anniversary of the Clinic, I remember the words of the Paramount Chief, a man I deeply respect and love, that if you do this thing that you vow you will be blessed, and if you lie you will die a miserable death and be forgot. I asked John if for the 5th Anniversary, the Paramount Chief might now confer his blessing upon us. And simultaneously, John reported that at the dedication of the completed clinic compound the Chief had died and been buried, but that Senators, and Governors, had affirmed what a blessing had been given, how lives had been changed, and like the baskets above the door our lives were interwoven together. Hearing these parables this morning, we need to confirm what has been said a hundred times before, yet never heard. Our economy demands that we spend money, our world decries that we make purchases and investments, and the value of a thing is only in the moment when it is new. When we replaced the administrative offices and nurseries, we rebuilt THE CENTER of the Church. When the floor joists of the Sanctuary were rotting and cracked, we lifted UP THE FOUNDATIONS. When we commissioned the creation of an Organ, we committed ourselves as a Patron of the ARTS & MUSIC for the community. Every act, is an act of faith. Often times, we plan for these, we manage every detail and worry about the outcomes. The parable from Mark is that like a farmer to sleep and wake and work, and sleep, confident that God is causing the world to go on, the Sun to shine, the rains to fall, the seeds to grow and winds to blow. The most telling piece about this passage from Mark, is that after describing three parable about planting seed, that the farmer sleeps and wakes to do the work of God, and that everything is a parable about the Kingdom of God, when evening comes the disciples get into a boat and set out to sea. In the boat at night, these fishermen are filled with fear, while Jesus sleeps. They wake him to say, do you not care we are perishing? Jesus says “PEACE, BE STILL then asks his own disciples: Have you no faith.” The parable is not only, the specific stories Jesus told, but his entire presence, our entire lives. Do we see as we have been taught? To look with prejudice? To rationalize and make excuses? To count up the abuses we have endured, to nurture our anger and resentments, Or do we look with the heart, do we look CROSS-eyed seeing every relationship as opportunity for forgiveness and compassion. This is Father's Day, which in our community means Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs. I thought having known and loved my father, and loved my children, I understood well what Father's Day was all about. But in the years since my Father's passing, I have come to recognize many in our midst, who have served as mentors, father-like figures who provide for us, care for us and occasionally offer wisdom, who want only to be proud of where we go in life as we fly our nests. I am a great lover of Systems theory, of recognizing that we tend to apply and replicate the patterns and systems we have experienced, as if this were the only way there is. Often it is a problem for couples to recognize that other families do things differently. The power of Samuel anointing the 8th son of Jesse, the power of the seeds growing, is realization that we do not have to control life, only live life taking joy that this this is God's Creation.