Get Up! Get Out! Get Walking!

Matthew 14:22-33

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

When people hear this story, they remember the part about Jesus walking on water.  They remember the part about Peter’s brave, arrogant, bold, stupid, whatever-you-want-to-call-it move… asking Jesus to have him come out and meet him on the water.  They remember Peter getting out of the boat and they remember Peter sinking like the Rock he’s named after!  The part I think that people DON’T remember is that just after Peter got out of the boat, but before he sank, Peter WALKED ON WATER.  

People hardly ever remember that part.  Yes, he did eventually end up with the sea in his sandals, but between his boat and his bath… there was a distance, maybe it was only a step or two… and there was a time… maybe it was only a second or two… but there was a moment… when Peter WALKED ON WATER!  Sure it wasn’t that long but how many of you have ever walked on water for even ONE step?  For even ONE second?  That’s what I thought!  

That’s why I think that when Jesus reached down and pulled Peter up out of the water, he didn’t say to Peter, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” with a disgusted, derisive, disappointment.  I think when Jesus reached down and pulled him up Jesus said “you of little faith, why did you doubt” with a chuckle that said, “Peter!  You had “Little Faith!”… and… as we all know… “Little Faith” is enough to MOVE MOUNTAINS and YOUR “Little Faith” was letting you LITERALLY WALK ON THE WATER!  That was SO cool!  You were DOING it!  The evidence of your success was right there at your feet my guy!  You were literally watching it with your own two eyes… that’s why for the life of me, I can’t imagine how you could doubt?”

You see, Peter had come by his faith, NOT through his own reason or strength, but by way of a gift from the Holy Spirit (Peter was very Lutheran in that way) AND while the faith he had been given was indeed “Little”… it was still not an amount of faith to be sneezed at!

So I think Peter deserves a lot more credit than he typically gets in this story because Peter CALLED out from the boat… He GOT out of the boat… and he WALKED out in faith from that boat to Jesus.  Yes, it’s true, he only made it one or two steps.  YES, it’s true, the next step he took was particularly moist, but Peter didn’t just sit in the boat, resting on his big, fat, faith!  He got up!  He got out!  He got walking!  

Jesus wasn’t upset with Peter.  We know that because Jesus didn’t kick Peter off the team after he sank.  He didn’t even send Peter home after having to tell him “Get behind me Satan.”  Even after Peter denied him three times, Jesus didn’t kick him to the curb.  That’s because what Jesus valued most in Peter was that He got up!  He got out!  He got walking!  And he kept doing it no matter how many times he fumbled and ended up all wet along the way.  

 

Those who have told us that Peter was a failure have done us a great disservice.  Those who have told us NOT to be like Peter have led us astray.  I think it is actually time for us as individuals to be MORE like Peter!  To fearlessly embrace the gift of “Little Faith” that we’ve been given… a faith which has the power to move mountains… and I think it is time for each of us as individuals to, like Peter… to Get up!  Get out!  Get walking! 

In fact… Peter, the Rock on whom Jesus built his WHOLE Church, should really be the WHOLE Church’s model for these stormy times!  In these days when the world looks SO dark, when we feel alone and far from land… when we’re being battered by waves and have the with the wind against us, the Church does NOT need to be spending additional time sitting inside our boats, sitting on our cushions… NO!  It is in these dark, lonely, wave battered and wind blown times that we need to, more than ever, follow Peter’s lead and as a WHOLE Church, GET UP!  GET OUT! and GET WALKING together toward doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.  And that gift of “Little Faith” that we’ve been given by the Holy Spirit has given us all we need to walk out into the chaos of this world, loving God and loving neighbor all along the way.  In fact we have been given abundantly far more than we could ever ask or imagine to do just that.  

Peter GOT UP!  GOT OUT!  and GOT WALKING!  And even in his sinking, he’s shown us that when WE choose to get up, get out, and get walking, the darkness, the storms, the waves and the winds of this world will not overpower us… because Jesus is there to make sure we don’t drown!  

It is time for us as individuals and for us as the Church to embrace the little faith we’ve been given and get up, get out, and get walking and as we get walking we might just end up surprised to look back and find that the good we have been doing along the Way is no less miraculous than walking on water.  Amen.    

Thinking, Voting, and Legislating Anti Christ

Matthew 14:13-21

Now when Jesus heard about the beheading of John the Baptist, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.  But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.  When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion on them and cured their sick.  When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”  Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”  They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”  And he said, “Bring them here to me.”  Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.  And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

It was a “James Taylor at Tanglewood” sized crowd and they were getting hungry.  JT wouldn't start playing for another 2000 years, so that wasn't going to help, and now the sun was going down.  I am certain the disciples felt the crowd getting… restless.  They came to Jesus with a proposal, “send the crowd away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”   

Their thinking was common sense... logical.  If all those people needed something essential for life… be that food, water, healthcare, housing, education, or safety, the best way to deal with that kind of need, on that kind of scale, was to “Send them away so they could get it for themselves”.

 

Scores of people in our day and age advocate, vote, and legislate for this precise way of dealing with our neighbors.  The RIGHT way to deal with people, they say, is to force them to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.”  The RIGHT way, they say, to care for our neighbors is to “tough love” them into becoming “rugged individuals” who GO out and find what they need to live ON THEIR OWN! 

There's just one problem the original disciples ran into with that kind of common sense... logical proposal.  It’s the same problem modern disciples run into when voting for and legislating that people should go out and find what they need on their own.  The problem is… Jesus rejected it.  Calmly, but clearly and completely, Jesus rejected it.  Sending people off to fend for themselves is NOT the Way Jesus wanted his disciples to care for the people.  Jesus told them, “They need NOT go away.  YOU give them something to eat.”

Jesus didn’t mumble.  If those disciples wanted to keep being disciples, then “YOU give them something to eat” was to be their Way.  Likewise, if modern day people want to claim the name “Disciple of Jesus” then “YOU give them something to eat” must be the Way they live, the Way they write policy, and the Way they vote.  Jesus’ directive for his disciples was, and is, crystal clear:  “THEY need not go away; YOU give them something to eat.” Telling your neighbor to go it alone is the OPPOSITE of what Jesus told his disciples to do… it is literally anti-Christ!  Your hungry neighbors are to be given what they need and the only thing we are to require of them is that they be hungry!  

In today's political climate many would call that Socialism!  But you know what?  I don’t care what politicians call it… because Jesus told me to do it!  In today's political climate the newest trend would be to call that Communism.  Which, I mean, come on, Joe McCarthy is calling on his black rotary phone (from a location in eternity I will not speculate about) and he wants his 1950’s era witch hunt back!  But again, I really don’t care what demagogues call it… because Jesus told his disciples... “YOU give them something to eat!”  So if you’re going to claim for yourself the badge of “Disciple of Jesus”… then giving the hungry something to eat, regardless of what some boogeyman in a $5000 suit might call it… is unambiguously what a Disciple of Jesus MUST be about!

And yet, those who claim the title “Disciple of Jesus” most loudly have dismantled USAID, resulting in humanitarian aid reaching 25 million fewer people this year.  They have cut off an estimated 14 million people from severe, acute, malnutrition treatments including 2.5 million children.  And here at home they have taken away SNAP benefits from some 4.5 million people and cut over a billion dollars from the programs that food banks and pantries use to buy food.  These are NOT the actions of a Disciple of Jesus who has been clearly told their calling is:  “YOU give them something to eat!”  This is a great evil.  This is anti-Christ.  

The numbers are soul crushing.  So what do we do?  I think we lean on what we learned from the Weeds and the Wheat.  We first point out this evil as clearly and as loudly as we can.  What they have done IS EVIL!  What they have done IS…ANTI-CHRIST!  

Then, once we’ve called it out for what it is, we need to pivot and do what those original Disciples did by the Sea.  We need to look around and gather what we have on hand.  We need to bring what we have to Jesus for a blessing, and then we need to keep on feeding anyone who is hungry.  

Now, in this place and in this time, what WE have on hand is more likely to be buns and barbecue, than loaves and fish.  But that's okay because we’re still giving people something to eat. In this place and in this time our talents lean more toward creative fundraising than direct service.  But that's okay too, because the money we raise supports those who have incredible gifts for multiplying food.  So with matching funds, bulk purchasing, and food industry partnerships, they can feed ten with the same dollars we could only feed one.  

I know, the hour feels late and our national landscape feels desolate.  I look out at our nation the way I imagine the disciples looked out at that crowd, and I say "how Jesus, how?"  But my hope for this lesson is that we can help one another remember... not only does Jesus say "you give them something to eat" but he also says "bring what you have to me" and what we've seen, over and over again in the nine years we've been together, is that when we do those two things together, Jesus takes the small amounts we gather and somehow... time and time again... he has multiplied them in unexpected ways into an overwhelming abundance.  

May we continue to do the good work we've been doing until the day comes when the leftovers have all been collected and all of our neighbors have enough.  Amen. 

Stretch

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. 

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Parables are meant to put folks at ease.  A nice farming story.  A fishing tale with an enormous catch.  A story about buried treasure or about baking bread.  Nice stories.  Easy stories.  Comfortable stories.  But then, somewhere along the way, right in the midst of the telling, parables end up challenging people to… stretch.     

Parables all start easy:  The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, sown in a farmer’s field.  The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, kneaded into three measures of flour. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure, buried and forgotten in a field, the map lost long ago.  The Kingdom of heaven is like a pearl still tucked inside it’s oyster at the bottom of the bay.  The Kingdom of Heaven is like a net, sent deep beneath the ocean depths.  

Then, from that easy start, Jesus begins to slowly reveal the unexpected… the challenging… the difficult.  The Kingdom of Heaven does start out small, just like a seed or like yeast.  It starts out hidden, like buried treasure or that pearl in the oyster or like the fish under the sea.  Then he gently leads us to understand that it is God who has been doing all the planting and all the hiding of the Kingdom.  The Sower, the Baker, the Treasure burier, the pearl-growing oyster and the creator of fish… all are God.  (As a side note, you might notice that in this set of parables, Jesus casts God as male in the role of the sower, makes God female in the role of the baker, and then makes God gender fluid in the role of the oyster. But that’s a different sermon.)  But here Jesus is stretching us to begin to understand that it has been God, and God alone, who has been tucking the Kingdom of Heaven, in, with, and under every single part of all of creation.  Into the parts we agree it should go and into places we’ve likely never thought the Kingdom of Heaven should ever go.   

Then Jesus stretches us further… not only has all this been planted and hidden by God, and God alone, but all of it also grows all on it’s own as well.  Like the treasure and the fish, the Kingdom of Heaven rises up to the surface… going from hidden to fully seen.  We didn’t put the treasure in the ground nor the fish in the sea, yet there they are!  The seed grows all on it’s own.  No human help needed.  Same with the yeast.  The yeast does the work.  We just watch the dough rise.  The oyster as well adds layer after layer to the Pearl without asking once for us to human-splain the process to them.  Slowly Jesus leads us to the realization of what this all means… The Kingdom of Heaven is completely and totally out of our control.  It is a God thing… and a God thing alone.  We neither decide where the Kingdom GOES, NOR do we control where the Kingdom GROWS.  God does it all… without consulting us. 

For many, this is where the parable becomes a real stretch.  The idea that the Kingdom of Heaven is planted everywhere… in everything... in EVERYONE!?… that’s a stretch for many.  The idea that the Kingdom grows… even THERE?  Even in THOSE PEOPLE!?  That too, for many, is a stretch.  

On the other hand, for those of us who “cannot by our own reason or strength” get all the laundry folded let alone come to believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him… this very same parable is the most welcome kind of Good News.  Neither the planting nor the growing of the Kingdom of Heaven is reliant on me!  Thanks be to God!  

But if we’re not in charge of the planting of God’s Kingdom and we’re not responsible for the growing of God’s Kingdom, then what is our part in the Kingdom of Heaven?  

Well, maybe our part in the Kingdom of Heaven is to help one another SEE the full breadth and depth of where the Kingdom has been sown.  Maybe our part in the Kingdom of Heaven is to help one another TRUST that God really does grow the Kingdom even in the most unlikely places and in the most unlikely people… people who look remarkably… like us.  Maybe our part in the Kingdom of Heaven is telling those who feel buried by life that the Kingdom of Heaven has been planted deep within us… and it is growing in us like a mustard seed which also begins it’s life buried.  Maybe our part in the Kingdom of Heaven is pointing out to those can’t seem to see the Kingdom of Heaven anywhere, the places where we can see it poking out and slowly coming the surface like a treasure chest or a net full of fish.  Maybe our part in the Kingdom of Heaven is telling those for whom life feels closed and the future seems shut, that God is at work behind the closed and inside the shut and even down in the muck, and even there, the Kingdom of Heaven is growing in us like a pearl in an oyster, and in time, God will place a treasure of great value right in the palm of our hand.   

God has planted The Kingdom of Heaven here in this place.  Here in these people!  God has planted the Kingdom of Heaven… in you… and it is growing.  

If you are anything like me The Kingdom of Heaven is something that is very hard to see in yourself.  But if you are anything like me it's easier to see the Kingdom of Heaven growing in the person sitting next to you.  So let’s stretch as Jesus is calling us to stretch… and tell one another what the Kingdom of Heaven looks like to us growing in them!  We do not plant it.  We do not make it grow.  We can however see it in one another… and once we see it, we can lift it up and turn it over and over… admire it in the light, and marvel at the gift of the Kingdom of Heaven which God has planted and God is growing… right there… in you.   Amen. 

We are Stuck on the Wrong Question

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” 

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

What are we to do about evil?  That seems to be the question.  Evil IS a thing!  Whether you choose to acknowledge it or you choose to pull your covers or cope up over your head and ignore it… Evil remains a thing either way.  So what are we supposed to do about it?  God, we are told, is only sowing good seeds, so there is clearly an “enemy”… an “evil one”… the “devil”… whatever… planting evil among God’s good.  But again, “What are we supposed to do about it?”

We see “the enemy” sows evil in the tricksiest of ways.  The weeds sown in this parable were a particular, poisonous weed that looks EXACTLY like wheat as it begins to grow in the field.  Those who sow evil in this world plant it knowing it will not spread without help.  So they sow evil in a way that tricks those of us who are inclined to fight against evil into unwittingly helping them with their dirty work.  In our zeal, we end up inadvertently doing harm along with the good… pulling up wheat along with the weeds.  

And while many get duped into helping spread evil while trying to do good, others… the ones Jesus calls “children of the evil one”… are recruited to spread evil by way of trauma, manipulation, lies, and fear.  Still the question remains… What ARE we to do about evil?  

Well, first, it seems this parable teaches us we are NOT to hide from it or ignore it.  Both farmer and slaves all saw what happened.  They recognized what it was, talked to each other about it, and they named it out loud, without fear, calling out clearly: “An enemy has done this.”  

So we too are to bravely look out the window and see it!  We are to recognize the evil and publicly bring it to the attention of others.  We are to name it in a Jack Webb, “just the facts, ma’am” sort of way, that neither sensationalizes the evil nor sweeps it under the rug.  We are not to worry about who might get angry or about institutional self-preservation when we point it out.  We are simply to shout it out!  “That is evil.”  

But calling it out?  That can’t be all… can it?  Come on!  What are we to DO about evil?  Well, this is where this particular parable becomes excruciatingly hard because this parable teaches us that once we’ve seen evil, recognized it, and publicly called it out… we are… to let it be.  You heard that right.  We are to let it be.  

Oh, I know!  I don’t like it either!  The quote* “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good folks to do nothing” pounds on the inside of my head in protest!  Yet this parable INSISTS that even those of us who set out to be as careful, diligent, and attentive as is humanly possible as we work to rip evil out of the world… we will ALL inevitably, albeit unintentionally, end up doing more harm than good!  The best thing we can do, this parable INSISTS, is… to let it be.  

Jesus’ explanation is really clear.  The work of separating evil from good is work that is well beyond our mortal pay grade.  It is work only the angels have the skills to accomplish, and it is work to be done at a time determined by, and under the direction of, the Divine.  

BUT… BUT… BUT… does that mean there is NOTHING that WE are to DO to fight against the evil overtaking our world!?!?  Jesus’ answer seems maddeningly clear. “NO”… there is nothing we are to do to fight against the evil in our world beyond seeing it, drawing others’ attention to it, and then publicly and fearlessly naming it.  Going head to head with evil, trying to overpower evil, pushing back against evil… all of it will only assist the evil in making the situation worse.

So, that’s it then!?  The answer to the question, “What should we do to fight against evil?” is just… let it be?  Really?  Really!?

Really.  But “What should we do to fight against evil?” is not the only question we can ask.  I think Jesus told this parable to get us asking a different question.  To get us to stop asking “how do we fight AGAINST evil?” and instead start asking a better question, like… “what can we do… FOR good?”

While it turns out there is nothing for us to do when it comes to fighting AGAINST evil, there is an abundance of things we can do when it comes to working FOR good!  We can love our neighbor.  We can do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly.  We can lift up the widow and care for the orphan, feed the hungry, heal the sick, and welcome the foreigner.  

Evil’s nature is to invite us into fight after fight after fight knowing that all the time we spend fighting evil, will be time we are NOT working for the good that Jesus knows can actually transform the world.  AND… every time we accept Evil’s invitation to a fight, we will also inevitably be ripping out some of the good, even while we’re trying our hardest to only get rid of evil!  

This parable is teaching us that fighting against evil head to head is not our fight.  As hard as it is to hear, we need to let that fight go.  We are neither called to that fight, nor are we equipped for that fight and when we get drawn into that fight, it always, always, always makes things worse.  

This parable tells us plainly, fighting against evil is angel-level work.  Jesus himself is asking us to let the angels take that fight!  Our work… beyond fearlessly seeing and naming and calling out the evil that we see, is NOT to work AGAINST evil, but to work FOR the good.  We are to do as John Wesley is often quoted as saying**… “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”  Let anyone with ears listen.  Amen.  

* Quote is often attributed to Edmund Burke without any evidence he really said it.

**No one can find where Wesley said this in this way all at one time.  It is probably a quotable consolidation that developed over time from things he often said. 

Like a Bony-eared Assfish

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

"But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
    we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus asked, to what should we compare this generation?  It is like a bunch of petulant, peevish, irritable, huffy, sullen, sulky, testy and touchy students hurling artless, idiotic, unimaginative, hackneyed, tedious, sluggish and moronic insults across the playground of the Remedial School for the Terminally Imbecilic.

THAT is what Jesus’ generation was like!  In Jesus’ generation the rulers probably took Cicero’s parable of the Sword of Damocles and renamed it the Sword of Dumocles thinking they were clever… oblivious to the irony!  They probably explained that they just took out the “a” and replaced it with a “u” because people who listen to Greek parables are dumb… get it?  They’re dumb!  

Fortunately for you and me… OUR generation has evolved… is wiser… more sophisticated… more mature… better educated… honorable and well mannered.  NOT!  On the contrary, our generation seems to have the smarts of the Bony-eared Assfish, a real deep-sea fish which is often listed as nature’s top contender for the least intelligent vertebrate on the planet.  

And you know what?  Living in a world where so many people and our country's leadership make the Bony-eared Assfish look like a Mensa candidate, leaves a person… WEARY.  Continuously and repeatedly working to rise above the schoolyard antics of the Remedial School for the Terminally Imbecilic is physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausting.  It is a HEAVY burden.

So how are we supposed to do this?  Our country continues to punch itself in the face… and, by the way, when you Google “punching yourself in the face” the first search result you get back is “Help is Available” with a link to a self-harm hotline!  And how I WISH calling that number would help!  

So preacher man!  What IS the answer?  For that, I’m going to need to defer to my Boss.  And I’m not talking about Kelly, or my mom.  Not a bishop either… moving diagonally, sadly won’t help any of this!  No.  For this… we need Jesus.  The way to live among THIS completely Wack-A-Doo generation… led by the very bottom of the class of students from the Remedial School for the Terminally Imbecilic, and not be drown in an American Flag Blue colored pool of despair, is to yoke ourselves to Jesus.  

The lesson tells ALL who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens to come to Jesus, and Jesus will give us rest.  The lesson today reminds us to BIND OURSELVES to Jesus who is gentle, humble, instructive and comforting rather than continuing to bind ourselves any longer to our phones, to doom-scrolling or to swimming laps in a pool which reflects only the chartreuse hues of malpractice and gross neglect.  

Okay then preacher man, what does THAT look like?  Well, binding ourselves to Jesus… yoking ourselves to Jesus… can look like a number of things but UNBINDING ourselves from the phone probably IS the best place to start.  After that, sitting outside and letting the breeze blow through your hair (or around the place your hair used to be) and remembering that the breeze IS the Holy Spirit, which Jesus himself sent to be with us always…  That’s not a bad way to yoke yourself to Jesus.  Prayer and meditation are millennial favorites of many of the most Jesus-connected folks from history.  Those who sport outfits like this would remind you that the Sacraments are also an excellent way to connect with Jesus… having the Body and Blood of Christ running around inside you is, after all, pretty connected! 

 

But, if you are looking for relief from this unhinged, unglued, unbalanced, unzipped, nutty as a fruitcake, sophomorically malignant world… the best thing I can recommend… the best thing Jesus himself recommends… is to hook yourself one notch more closely… to this bunch... to this community.  To the people gathered right here… to the folks sitting all around you today… who are together… in some mystical way… the living, breathing, loving Body of Christ.  

I know, I know… you personally don’t feel much like the Body of Christ yourself and to be honest… you're not!  None of us are by ourselves.  But somehow… TOGETHER… WE REALLY ARE the Body of Christ… and together… in some mysterious, wonder-filled way… hooking more deeply into this compassionate, genuinely loving, kindness-giving community of people will, I truly believe, give your soul the rest that all of our souls so desperately need in these most troubling times. 

Are you weary?  I am.  Are the burdens of this world too heavy?  They are for me!  Then let's go to Jesus.  Let's sit and be still in his presence.  Let's unload our worries on him in prayer.  Let's commune with him in the sacraments and scooch just a little bit closer to the loving folks sitting all around us in the place, and the Body of Christ WILL give our souls some very much needed rest.  Amen.