All Parable-y and Junk

 Luke 14: 1, 7-14

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 

When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, 'Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Well, that’s just great!  He told them a parable.  He just HAD to go and make it a parable, didn’t he!  Because if it wasn’t a parable, this whole lesson would just be about having good manners.  But no, Jesus went and made it a parable which means the lunch isn’t about lunch and the wedding banquet in the parable isn’t about chicken or fish.

Because he went and made it a parable we know he was trying to tell the people something they would find hard to hear.  His parables always started with something easy and familiar, like lunch, to draw people in but then always took a turn into something much more challenging.  Jesus starts this parable with a light, friendly, luncheon, set out in the shade of a backyard tree.  Sounds lovely!  But then Jesus turns it so the guests at this lunch aren't your comfortable friends, but people the world is often uncomfortable with... the poor, crippled, lame, and blind.

  

But that’s just Jesus getting warmed up because he isn’t asking us to find “A” person and invite them to a one-off meal, Jesus is calling us all into deeper, forever relationships with all people, starting (as he always does) with the least, the lost, and the last.  Where the world says NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) Jesus insists on LIMBY (Lunch in My Back Yard)!  Jesus is challenging us to build a deep, thriving community, right here and right now that includes ALL people.  And suddenly we find that Jesus has taken us from talking about a comfortable backyard luncheon with friends to talking about the Kingdom of God.

So lunch wasn’t just about lunch and as you might suspect, dinner isn’t just any dinner.  It’s a banquet.  But not just any banquet… it’s a wedding banquet!  And when Jesus starts talking about Wedding Banquets he’s absolutely talking about nothing less than the Kingdom of God.  And when Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, he’s not talking about the sweet by and by either.  He’s talking about this, day in day out, figure out dinner, commute to work, pick up a refill at the CVS, and do your homework world.  And as Michael Curry always says, he’s talking about changing THAT everyday world from the nightmare it is for so many into the dream God has for it. 

While the world’s way leads much too often to great disparities, with a few having much and many not having nearly enough, God’s Kingdom is the vision of our world transformed so that it works as an all inclusive banquet that never runs out.  Like the prophet Isaiah describes, it’s a feast with meats rich with marrow and well aged wines strained clear... a world where everyone has enough.

But even with all of that, Jesus still isn’t quite finished making things all parable-ly and difficult.  Because now Jesus says, “When YOU give a banquet.”  Yup, it gets harder, because this is OUR banquet to give... our world to change.  Not alone, thank God!  Not without God… but together, as God’s people we are called, as Martin Luther King said, to bend the arc of the moral universe slowly toward justice.  

Over these most recent years bending that arc toward justice has felt particularly difficult.  It’s easy in these times to get knocked down doing that work and think, “How is it that I… or even us at Christ Trinity Church is supposed to do THAT kind of impossibly heavy lift?”  But when that happens to me… and it does on a regular basis… I lean on a quote from our Jewish friends that says, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now.  Love mercy, now. Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”  

Jesus is telling US a parable.  Which means we are being called to host much more than just a jaunty backyard lunch for friends or a happy summer dinner party.  Jesus is calling us to continue to create and grow those things we’ve taken to calling Corners of Kindness… micro examples of what the Kingdom of God is all about… places that welcome ALL people into our community.  Then, together, continue to work together to grow those Corners of Kindness bigger and bigger so that each day the world around us looks just a little bit more like the Kingdom of God.  Amen.  

In Buechner's Honor

Luke 13:10-17

Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

A cross has two parts.  There’s the… sorry for the theologically technical lingo here… the uppy-downy part and there’s the crossy-crossy part.  The thing is, without BOTH parts, it’s not a cross.  Without the uppy-downy part it’s just a board.  Without the crossy-crossy part it’s just a post.  You need BOTH to make it complete.  THAT is the essence of these lessons for today.  We need BOTH… our relationship with God (the uppy-downy part) and our relationship with our neighbors (the crossy-crossy part) to make this life we’ve been given full and complete.

Today’s first lesson has Isaiah upset with the folks at the Temple.  They all thought they could get away with faking a relationship with God by just putting in an hour at the Temple and throwing some loose change in the plate.  They believed they could just go through the motions… treat God like a vending machine.  Feed God a few coins and BOOM a blessing for the week would plop out the bottom.  Isaiah told them you can’t fake a relationship with God and have a full life.  

Isaiah also let them know that you also can’t abuse your relationships with the people around you and have a full life either.  Treating God like a vending machine one day a week and taking advantage of the poor and ignoring the needs of your neighbors the other six days of the week doesn’t care for your relationships in either the uppy-downy OR the crossy-crossy parts of our lives.  Living that way leaves a person hollow, rather than full of abundant life.

It’s the same trouble Jesus confronts in the Gospel.  Jesus is told he’s doing it WRONG by healing a woman on the Sabbath.  But Jesus insists that caring for our neighbors… being faithful to the crossy-crossy part… is JUST as important as being connected to God in the uppy-downy part of our lives every single day of the week and caring for both is not at all wrong. 

It’s a good check in for all of us, even 2000 years later.  It’s still easy today to have these two parts get out of balance.  It’s easy to fall into the thinking that church on Sunday is just for us to focus solely on our own personal uppy-downy relationship with God.  But the truth is, our coming to church… our showing up in person… is also meant to be something we do for that crossy-crossy part of our lives as well.  Each Sunday, someone just a couple of pews over needs to connect with you.  And for your life to be full, you invariably need to connect… in person, in the flesh… just as much.  These lessons remind us that it is just as important that we show up here on Sunday for the people around us as it is to show up here on Sunday for God. 

In everything we do here on Sunday, and everything we do the other six days of the week we are called to care for and build our relationships with BOTH God AND our neighbor.  This past week, theologian and author Fredrick Buechner died at the age of 96.  He said and wrote so many brilliant and beautiful things throughout his life that it’s not surprising two of my favorite Buechner quotes speak to these two dimensions of our faith.  About our relationship with God the quote I like best goes like this:  The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.”  There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it.  Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.  And, about our relationships with one another he said, Our “Vocation is the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need.”

May we all strive each day to take hold of the gift of God’s grace that each of us has been given.  May we take hold of that gift using the power we have been given by the Holy Spirit.  And with those gifts of power and grace, may we each find the place in our neighbor’s lives where our deep gladness meets our neighbors' deep needs.  Amen.  

Whose Story is Your Story?

Luke 12:32-40

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 

Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 

But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Right before church last week I saw an ad from a Congress-person selling t-shirts that say “Proud Christian Nationalist.” In the picture there was the shirt, the congress-person with their fists up like a boxer, and a caption that said, “STAND AGAINST THE GODLESS LEFT” outlined in red.  But this ad isn’t primarily selling a t-shirt with a political label.  This person is selling first and foremost a story.  A very, old story.  In fact, it’s the second oldest story ever told.  Sure, it’s wearing a brand new t-shirt but it’s the same old story.  

That old story says that our world is a VERY frightening place.  Terrifying, in fact.  Because of THEM!  Because of “THEM” we need to barricade “US” inside and lock “THEM” out!  Those on the inside are the good guys, the patriots, the faithful, and the righteous.  Those on the outside are the godless left, liberal terrorists, and out to get your children.  

This old story wants you to believe that EVERYTHING of worth and value in our world is in very, very short supply and “THEY” are coming for the little bit you have!  So if you don’t have any, then you better get some!  If you’ve got some, then you better stock up more!  And that’s not greed, mind you… it’s not fear, the old story assures the listener… it’s smart.  What is it that is in such short supply you ask?  

EVERYTHING!  Safety, security, freedom, jobs, food, gas, wealth, power, health, our culture, our way of life… EVERYTHING is in desperately, horribly short supply and “THEY” are coming to get the last little bit you have… so you better get your fists out and get ready!  Anyone who questions this story is clearly part of the godless left so the story must be swallowed hook, line, and sinker… no ifs, ands, or buts.  THEY are not part of US and THEY are not fully human, so anything goes… there are no means that go too far to achieve these ends.

THAT, is the very old story now sporting a brand new t-shirt and I, for one, am thankful that the people telling that old story this time around have decided to call themselves “Proud Christian Nationalists.”  I’m thankful… because by claiming that label for themselves, they’ve made it much easier to talk about how Christianity is different than Christian Nationalism.  Because people need to know, that even though it’s wearing a new t-shirt, it’s a story first told long, long ago by a snake in a garden.  “You don’t have enough!” said the snake to the people.  “But God has given us everything we need here in abundance,” the people replied.  “But you aren’t equal with God” said the snake.  “Are you?”  “The snake’s right” the people agreed, “we’ve been short changed!  God is keeping what is ours from us!  We want it all!  We want to be gods!  It’s our right!”  Like I told you it’s a very, very old story… the second oldest story in fact.  But hear now, what the preacher is saying to God’s people:  IT… IS… NOT… OUR… STORY. 

OUR story… the Christian story… tells us and shows us over and over again exactly what the first of today’s Gospel told us…… BE NOT AFRAID, little flock, for it is your Father’s GOOD PLEASURE to GIVE you the Kingdom!  In OUR story, scarcity, fear, and violence are not commodities traded in our land!  In OUR story we trade in ABUNDANCE, LOVE and HOPE!  In our story scarcity is an illusion… a horrible, awful lie!  Because we KNOW from our story it is God’s GOOD PLEASURE to give us the Kingdom… the WHOLE, EXPANSIVE, NEVER ENDING, INEXHAUSTIBLE, ABUNDANT KINGDOM… and to give it to us all as a GIFT!

In OUR story, the Christian story, God doesn’t just give the Kingdom to those on one side of the wall.  In our story the Kingdom has no walls!  Everyone is given the Kingdom in abundance!  Saints and sinners, jews and gentiles, tax collectors and trash collectors, warriors and widows, cis and trans, campers and kings, black and white, curmudgeon and hipster, politicians and prophets and even to the likes of you and believe it or not… even me!  

  

In OUR story, love is stronger than hate, hope more powerful than fear, humility more enviable than hubris, and generosity more admired than greed.  In OUR story, the story told in Christianity, we are ALL God's little flock… where “little” is a term of endearment, not any sort of limit to who’s included, because God’s flock embraces all of humanity and all of creation without exception.  Which is why, little flock, there is no need to live in fear.  The God who loved all of it… ALL OF IT into being in the first place (which, by the way, IS the oldest story) is not just pleased, but is in fact WELL pleased, to CONTINUE to shower you and all of creation with that same unlimited, unbounded, fearless love until the day that ALL of creation opens their eyes and sees that God’s story, the Christian story… OUR story… is the WAY to LIFE… and that’s the TRUTH.   

So do NOT be afraid, little flock, for it is God’s GOOD PLEASURE to have already given you the entirety of the Kingdom, and it is God’s Good Pleasure to continue to shower you with that Kingdom in love and grace, not for anything you have done or not done, but simply because God LOVES giving it to you… it brings the Divine GOOD PLEASURE to do that, both now and forever.  Amen. 

More Toward and Away

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

I would very much like this parable to be about what happens when someone has way too much money.   I would like it even more if this parable was about how God smites the ultra rich for being selfish, greedy, and arrogant.  I would like it the very-most-bestest though, if this parable gave us all God’s blessing to launch the rich into space strapped to the top of their own personal rockets.  BUT… this parable is not about the rich.  Not about the greedy.  Not about the arrogant and not about the selfish.

The lessons today… both the one from Ecclesiastes and the parable from Luke… are here to simply contrast the directions we can choose to live our lives and remind us once again that living our lives in one direction leads to an abundant life filled with peace and joy, while living our lives in the other direction leads to despair and a soul sucking demand on our existence.  

Both lessons certainly use tremendous wealth as the foil.  The teacher in the first lesson is, after all, the King.  The kids who came to Jesus had an inheritance worth arguing about, and the guy in the parable had two, already full-to-the-rafters barns, AND could afford to pull them down to build bigger ones!  All of those are just as clear indications of tremendous wealth back then, as a personal space program is for today.  

But as tempting as it might be to launch the uber-rich into space… and it is!  The real message here is that when we choose to live our lives TOWARD the other… toward our neighbors, toward our community, and toward those who the world labels as least, the lost and the last in society…  When we live TOWARD the other, putting their needs before ours… this lesson and this parable, and honestly a giant chunk of Scripture, all make it clear that when we walk our lives in THAT direction we experience the fullness of life.  In that direction we will find ourselves truly alive.  Along that path is abundant life. 

If, on the other hand we are living our lives obsessed with the person in the mirror, or with our own accomplishments, wealth, power, prestige or image… then we are inevitably also living our lives AWAY from the other… away our neighbors, away from our community, and away from those who the world labels as least and lost and last in society.  When we live AWAY from the other, putting our needs before theirs… this lesson and this parable, and that same giant chunk of the Bible make it clear… that direction leads us into despair and drains the life we’ve been given right out of us.  

It’s the DIRECTION… not the dollars.  The first lesson catches the king in that realization.  It really isn't his money, work, or power that are his problems… It’s his vanity… his privilege… his self indulgent worry that keep him from living in the present and toward his neighbor.  His worry leaves him paralyzed and unable to move toward his neighbor and that leaves him sliding ever deeper into despair.  

Likewise in the parable, it isn’t the bumper crops that are the problem.  Rather it is his backwards notion that life is all about having the biggest barns.  But we see that worship of the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I only moves him farther and father AWAY from his neighbors, and walking this life in THAT direction drains the life from us, until that very night in the parable, the very last of his life is gone.

Real life, of course, is never as cut and dry as a parable or Biblical Wisdom.  Neither the Teacher, Jesus, nor the One who created us is expecting perfection.  Instead, all are trying to help us to live more often abundantly than in despair.  They are pulling for us to get the very most out of the life we've been given.  They are not out to get us!  That's why in Christ there is limitless grace and never ending love for us as we walk step by step through life.  

How do you do that?  Well, I've found there is no one single, universal practice that works for everyone but there are a few things I see people doing right around here that seem to work for more people than they don't.  Gathering here is one.  In person.  With others who are also walking the Way.  Going to coffee hour, believe it or not, and sharing with someone how the week went and asking them genuinely how they are doing.  Taking the flowers from worship to someone on your way home seems to work for those who do that, and anyone can do that.  And the one local practice that I've found that is actually the closest thing to a single-universal-works-for-everyone-practice... Sitting for a day in the tent on the Appalachian Trail.    

There is no best practice.  There's only a best direction.  So whatever you try, take time at the end of the day and honestly reflect and just notice the direction it moved you that day.  Was it toward the other or did it move you away.  Then just let that day go and in the morning try to do more of the TOWARD stuff.  That's it.  That is honestly the entire take home message for these lessons from today, and honestly from a whole giant chuck of Scripture as well.  Amen.  

Persistent Pestering Prayer?

 Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."  He said to them, "When you pray, say:

  Father, hallowed be your name.

    Your kingdom come.

       Give us each day our daily bread.

       And forgive us our sins,

    for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

    And do not bring us to the time of trial."

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he answers from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad… Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom.  Is this lesson saying badgering God makes God do what we want?  Can we… the created… MAKE God… the Creator… do what we want?  Is this saying that while God is all powerful, all present, and all knowing… there is this God level kryptonite that we humans can wield… called persistent pestering prayer that God is powerless to resist?  Yeah, I don’t think so either.  So if PERSISTENCE isn’t what this parable is really all about, then what is it about?  I think what’s going on here is a “lost in translation” moment where the people who translated scripture into English used “persistence” when a much better word to use here would have been SHAMELESSNESS.

This little parable is meant to remind us that NONE of us can MAKE God get out of bed to open the door and none of us can MAKE God give us what we want no matter how much badgering, annoying, or praying we do.  But what DOES work is realizing, accepting, and confessing the truth, “God, I am completely lost without you.” “God, there is literally nothing I can do apart from you.” “God, without you, I’m dying here.” 

You see, it’s only when we are finally willing to DIE to the idea that we can “make God give it to us” or “we’ve earned it” or “we deserve it” or “we can win it” ... and finally give up the delusion that we are in control… it’s only when we stop and confess, “God, without You… We are DEAD!… It’s only then, in the DEATH of the me, myself and I, that we finally find ourselves in a spot where we are able to receive the gifts from God that have always been ours.  Those gifts are a life of “enough”… Enough peace, enough food, enough shelter, safety, dignity, purpose, and joy.

I know a lot of people have come to believe that dying to me, myself, and I is only something we do right before our own funerals.  They believe that peace, purpose, joy and the rest can only happen in the sweet by and by.  But with this parable, Jesus was trying to tell the disciples… those back then and us right now… that we weren’t created to just wait around until we die so that we can finally start to really live.  We were meant to live life right now!  And the way to do that is to die right now to things like pride, hatred, greed, fear, and all the horrible things that ooze out from those things.  Then, in the shamelessness of the death of our obsession with the person in our mirror, we will find that we are free to finally look around and discover that we have been raised up to a new and abundant life filled with love, generosity, compassion, peace, kindness and courage right now!  It is in prying ourselves away from our ego in the mirror that we can really see the gift of life we’ve been given... A gift we've been given to live to the fullest in each and every moment of the here and now.

That’s why Jesus taught the disciples to pray the way Jesus did.  He told them to pray like this:  God, You are amazing!  Transform the world from the way it is, into the way you created it to be and as that is happening, turn me to see the vision of what the world is becoming in You.  

Give me what I need each day… food, shelter, love, compassion, kindness, empathy, purpose, and dignity so I don’t get distracted… get sucked back into my mirror worship where I'll lose sight of your vision for the world by something toward the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy like an empty belly. 

Help me to die to the idea that I am alone… that my life is only about me, myself and I.  Help me instead to live for my neighbors, showing them, simply with the way I live my day in, day out life, how caring for others fills me and all of creation with abundant life!  

And help me not to be pulled back down into the world’s swirling toilet of lies.  Lies that are based in fear and scarcity that spiral inevitably down into the sewer of inequality, violence, dishonesty, and scapegoating.  All of which are vain attempts to quell our fears.  

Instead, give me strength and courage to live right into the face of this world, bearing the torch of your love, compassion, forgiveness, inclusion, hope, and peace so that we might experience for ourselves and at the same time also model for the world, a way to have an abundant, meaning, and purpose-filled life, eternally surrounded by your never ending, unconditional, grace and love in each and every moment I've been given. Amen… and Amen.

Three Hikers and a Tent

Genesis 18:1-15

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”

The Lord appeared to them by the maples of West Road, as they sat at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day.  They looked up and saw three travelers standing near.  When they saw them, they hopped up from their chairs and went to the edge of the hill to greet them, motioned for them to come up and said, “My lord, if we find favor with you, do not pass by your servants.  Push that button to turn on the water pump and push it again to turn it off.  Take off your packs and your shoes and rest yourselves in the shade.  Let me show you some snacks and homemade blueberry muffins, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.”  Or something like that.  So the hikers said, “Do as you have said” And the volunteers hastened to the person grilling and said, “Make ready quickly three hot wieners, made from… well it’s best not to ask what they are made from…  grill them, and make hotdogs.”  Then they ran to the cooler and took out three hamburger patties, tender and good, and gave it to the griller, who hastened to prepare it. Then they took pickles and watermelon and the burgers that had been prepared, and set it before them; and they stood by them under the tent while they ate.

The Lord appeared to them at the park in Sheffield, as they sat at the entrance of the pavilion in the heat of the day. They looked up and saw three people standing near. When they saw them, they ran from the pavilion entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground and said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.  Let a program be brought, and let us take you to your seat, and rest yourselves under this pavilion.  Let me bring a seltzer and a snack, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Trudy hastened into the artist’s tent to Sarah, Rachel, Orlando, and Jorge and said, “Make ready quickly three movements of choice music, tune up, and make your entrance.” John-Arthur then motioned over the herd… I mean the audience… and called the pastor, tender and good, and he came to welcome the crowd and introduce the artists.  Then they took their gifts and their passion and the music they had prepared, and set it before the audience; and the others stood by them under the pavilion while they listened.

The Lord appeared to them by the Maples of Main Street, as they stood in the entrance of Berkstock in the heat of the day. They looked up and saw three folks standing near them. When they saw them, they ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground and said, “My lord, if we find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.  Grab some water from that cooler, hydrate, and rest yourselves under these trees.  Let me show you the salad bar, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.”  So they said, “Do as you have said.”  Then they hastened into the tent to Don and Peter, and said, “Make ready quickly three hot tube steaks, made from… again, probably better to not ask… grill them, and make hotdogs.”  Hanna ran to the smoker and took some pulled pork, tender and good, placed it on a bun, and hastened to add some chips and a pickle. Then they encouraged them to take their food which had been prepared, and sit for a time and listen to the band; and everyone, the hospitality team, church tour guides, cooks and servers, welcoming crew and the raffle people all stood by them smiling as they ate and enjoyed themselves.  

Here's what I want you to hear today.  God shows up... and when God shows up the impossible is made possible.  That's Good News because there’s a lot of “impossible” around us these days.  Covid, racism, fascism, sexism, Christian Nationalism, rising costs, climate change, our divided world, our divided nation, our divided town.  An unholy host of impossibilities beyond our ability to fix.  It is easy to feel powerless.  But there IS something for us to do... Continue to set up tents and welcome the One who makes all things possible and trust, that in due season, the impossible will become possible.  Please, please, please, never underestimate what we do, sitting in our various tents, inviting folks into our corners of kindness, lavishing travelers with hospitality and sharing our spirit of generosity with our neighbors.  What we do is NO SMALL THING!  What we do is nothing less than Hosting the God who makes all things possible.  All things!  Amen.

P.S. - Some of you have mentioned the desire to make the impossibility of kids in church, possible again.  Just remember that’s what Sarah wanted long after “it had ceased to be with her after the manner of women” and she ended up having a baby!  If YOU want to have a baby that's fine.  Just keep that juju away from the Rectory!  You laughed.  Oh yes, you did laugh.  Amen.

Grumpy Butt Tries Something New

Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

If you were to open up Netflix on that big TV out there in the fellowship hall you’d find yourself signed into our family account which now includes a profile for the church for movie nights and such.  The other profiles there are “Mum” not “Mom” but “Mum.”  Purinpoppu which is Japanese for Pudding Pop.  That’s Hanna.  Maggie is “Maggie I Guess” and under my profile picture, which is an angry looking cartoon chicken, my user name is … “Grumpy Butt.” 

I’m Grumpy Butt.  That’s because my family knows I’m often… well… a Grumpy Butt.  And the thing that most often makes me a Grumpy Butt is not getting an answer to WHY!  I want answers and I am forever getting only more questions.  For example, it’s not enough for me to simply be mad at the Supreme Court for taking away half the country’s freedoms instead of defending them.  I want to know how these people came to think the way they think?  What is it that has made them so afraid?  After all, no one takes freedoms away from others except out of fear.  I want answers and all I get is more questions… which is why Grumpy Butt and the lawyer in today’s Gospel have so much in common.  

People usually assume the lawyer was “testing Jesus” to try and find a loophole in the law he could slither through, but we really don’t know his true motivation.  What if he was testing Jesus to see if Jesus could give him some guidance for living in this insane world of ours?  As I sat trying to figure out this parable and what it might want to tell us this time round, it occurred to me that whether the lawyer was looking for a loophole OR was looking for genuine help to live a better life, the answer Jesus gave works for both.  “Go and do likewise".

Then I started wondering if that might be the answer to even more?  Could that be the answer for the lawyer, the disciples, for you, and maybe even for my Grumpy Butt?  Could the answer to all of it be “Go and do likewise?”  It was, after all, the answer for the lawyer either way.  If he was a nefarious actor looking to justify his place on the societal ladder… Looking for Jesus’s approval for him and the people who looked and thought like him to be on top, while the people who were different by gender, race, sexuality, nationality, religion, sub category of religion,  sinfulness, cleanliness, political party or class were all down below… Jesus’ answer for that was “Go and do likewise.”  In other words, there is no ladder.  There’s only this guy, right in front of you, left for dead in the middle of the street.  Remember the guy in the story?  Go and do likewise!  

If however this lawyer was a Grumpy Butt like me and was the type that thought they just needed to figure out what it was that caused so many people to live out of fear in this life, maybe he could help!  If this lawyer was genuinely looking to Jesus for guidance in finding a solution to help the bonkers humans who seem to run roughshod over each other and the world, then Jesus’s answer works for that one just the same. There is no figuring out why.  There’s only this guy left for dead in the middle of the street.  See what the guy in the story did?  Go and do likewise!

Is that it then?  Is it not in the creating of ladders or the wondering why people make ladders?  Is it simply in the “going” and in the “doing” that our fear… our fear that leads us to look for loopholes… our fear that makes life into a fight over our place on the ladder… our fear that has us constantly trying to figure out the inner workings of our bonkers human world.  Could it be that it is simply in the “going” and in the “doing” of showing mercy and kindness to whoever we happen upon next… could it be in the “going” to that person, and in that “doing” of kindness for them, that we finally have an ACTUAL answer to our questions and not just more questions?

To be honest, I don’t know for sure.  But I AM sure we’ve tried finding the loopholes and that’s not it.  We’ve tried justifying ourselves and that’s not it.  We’ve tried to figure out why our broken world’s gone insane and that doesn’t seem to get us anywhere so that’s not it.  If my friend Kevin Polk was here he’d ask us all at this point, "How’s all that working for you?”  Yeah, not very good really.  Then he’d ask us, “Is there something else you'd like to try instead?” And I'm beginning to wonder if what I'd like to try instead is to just go and do likewise. I don’t know if it will work, but this Grumpy Butt thinks it’s worth a try.  How about you?  Amen.