Say Cheese!

The Holy Gospel According to St. John, the 1st Chapter

The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

As the waters rose the man moved upstairs and then out onto the roof and as the waters continued to rise he prayed that God would save him.  Soon a man floated by on a log and offered to share his log.  The man replied, “No, I’m sure God will save me.”  Then a woman in a boat drove up to the house and offered to take him to safety.  “No” said the man, “I‘m sure God will save me.”  Then a helicopter lowered a basket to him but he shouted to them, “No, I‘m sure God will save me!”  The man drown.  When he met God, he asked, “Why didn’t you save me?” and God replied, “I sent you people with a log, a boat and a helicopter, what were you looking for?”  

He couldn't believe that God had been the source of such un-miraculous looking, “un-churchy” looking gifts like log sharing, boat driving and helicopter flying.  He was sure that if it was God saving him, it would have to be with the sky opening and the heavenly host singing.  

Four pilgrims were shipwrecked on a desert island:  a carpenter, a cook, a farmer and a seamstress.  They all were very gifted and understood that God was the source of their talents.  But when they washed up on the beach they all just sat there.  You see, they were humble and didn’t want to brag about their gifts.  So, the carpenter just sat there in spite of being able to build a shelter.  The cook just sat there in spite of seeing fruits and food she could prepare.  The farmer just sat there in spite of recognizing some native rice and the seamstress just sat there in spite of seeing fibers she could weave into fabric.  It wasn’t proper, Christian humility to put themselves forward, they thought, to volunteer without being asked and risk being seen as proud or pretentious.  So the group sat in the sand and died.

A huge earthquake hit Italy in May of 2012.  The epicenter was the town of Modena where one of the main industries is making Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Parmesan cheese, but not the shaker kind, the real, amazing, aged for years in giant wheels kind.  In the earthquake, the shelves in the warehouses with all those aging cheeses toppled over and 360,000 wheels of cheese broke open.  Each wheel was worth nearly three THOUSAND dollars!  People would lose their jobs, companies would go out of business.  The town was ready to go under.  Then there was Massimo.

Massimo Bottura is known these days as “the maestro" in this little town but this wasn’t always true.  For a long time he was a traitor… doing traditional Italian food… differently.  NOW he is “the maestro”… the chef and owner of Osteria Francescana… the third best restaurant in the world, so needless to say, he has some gifts. 

In the wake of that horrible earthquake, he saw the great need around him and creatively walked into that need with his gifts.  He created a recipe based on a classic Roman pasta dish called cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) and transformed it into risotto cacio e pepe using those broken wheels of cheese.  THEN he shared that recipe, and the story of the earthquake with the world.  Soon, 40,000 people all over the world were cooking risotto cacio e pepe and every broken wheel was sold.  God gave this man his gifts.  Not traditional “churchy” looking gifts but Divine gifts none the less, and he saw the need around him and he stepped into the need with his gifts.  The sky didn’t open and the heavenly host didn’t sing, but a miracle still happened and that recipe gave life back to this town. 

We ALL have gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit in our Baptisms.  Some, like John the Baptist, have “churchy” looking gifts.  John had the gift of preaching… drawing thousands of people out into the wilderness to hear the truth.  Others also have gifts that look pretty “churchy,” like teaching the faith, visiting the sick, playing sacred music and creating liturgy.  But God has given most of the world “non-churchy” looking gifts which are just as amazing… the gift of sharing a log, driving a boat, flying a helicopter, building a shelter, growing crops, weaving clothes or imagining a risotto in a way risotto had never been imagined before. 

Frederick Buechner is known for reminding us that the place where your great passion… your great skill… your great gift from God intersects the world’s great need… THAT is the place of your calling.  THAT can be ANYWHERE... a pulpit, at a bedside, stocking shelves, in a kitchen or spreading manure.  And, I suppose any of that COULD happen surrounded by the heavenly host, but it’s no less a miracle when it happens covered in… let’s call it the stuff of your trade.  

Embrace your gifts.  Don’t hide them with some twisted sense of piety.  John the Baptist didn’t hide his gift of knowing the Messiah.  John didn’t avoid the spotlight.  He stepped right into the spotlight, and by doing that made sure EVERYONE could hear him proclaim “This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” and when the people looked at him, he showed them Jesus.

Embrace your gifts, “churchy” and “non-churchy” alike.  Open your eyes and see the needs of the world around you and then be the one who finds never before imagined ways to meet the great needs of your neighbors with the great gifts you have been given.  Then, when everyone is looking, point to Jesus and say, “There is the Lamb of God.  The source of all gifts, the source of all passion, the source of life.”  Amen.