Coffee and Eggs

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!"

Persistence!  That’s what this lesson’s about! If we pray a LOT, we mere mortals have the power to wear God down and God will just give us whatever we want, just to shut us up! Sounds good. I’m sure you’ve tried it. I know I’ve tried it! I prayed every day in the SEMINARY CHAPEL, which should, after all, get better reception than almost any other place. I prayed VERY persistently. But my Uncle Bob did not get better.  He died in spite of all my persistene. You can’t tell me I didn’t “ask” or “seek” or “knock” enough, because I sure as hell did! I “asked” until I lost my voice,  “seeked” until my eyes burned and “knocked” until my knuckles were bleeding. So what’s all this really about? Let’s look at that parable again.

A man drove into his best friend’s driveway at midnight. They had been college roommates. He had been this guy’s best man. He knew THIS friend would do anything for him. So he sought out his friend… even though it was past midnight.  He knocked even though he knew   his friend now had little kids. He asked, “Hey, I just drove home an hour ago from the airport and my great aunt was sitting in her car in my driveway! Can you believe it!  I didn’t know she was coming! I’ve been out of town for two weeks! Can you let me borrow some coffee and eggs for the morning?”

What are best friend’s for, right? THIS… THIS is what best friends are for! They have your back when aunt Gertrude shows up without notice. If you can’t ask your best friend for help in the middle of the night, who can you ask? So, the LAST thing you expect is your “best friend” from the upstairs window to shout down, “Get outta here! I already put the alarm on, the kids are finally asleep, I’m in bed for crying out loud, I’m not getting up to get you   (expletive) coffee and eggs! Forget it!” The one person you thought you could count on! It’s not like you were asking him for a kidney! Just some (expletive) coffee and eggs!

But he wouldn’t budge and there you are, standing on the lawn in shorts and a bathrobe, looking up at the second story window. No stores open, no where else to turn and finally you just drop down on your knees in the middle of the lawn even as all the neighbors watch through their curtains and you admit your complete and absolute vulnerability. “You’re my only hope. I have no one left to turn to. Without you I am lost.” Only THEN does your best friend get up, turn off the alarm, puts some eggs and coffee in a bag and give you what you need. So if it wasn’t persistence, what was it? Now, I’m no Greek scholar, but as they say, I’ve got an app for that, and it turns out it’s less like “persistence” and more like SHAMELESSNESS.

You and I, we’re the ones outside staring up at the second story window of God’s Kingdom. We do the best we can, but even with that, we always seem to fall short, and some stuff, like the unexpected aunt Gertrudes of this life… how do you EVER prepare for that? We realize we should have done this and that, only with perfect hindsight. If we’re honest, we can’t give one good reason to MAKE God get up and open the door based on our own merits. Oh, we all try, of course. We’ll yell up to God, “I’ve been a good Christian!” “I go to church on Sunday!” “I’ve signed up to bake two, no THREE pies for the fair!” But this parable reminds us that NONE of that MAKES God get out of bed to open the door. So what does? It’s our shamelessness. It’s realizing, accepting and confessing, “God, I am completely lost without you.” “God, there is nothing I can do.” “God, I’m dying here.” 

You see, it is only when we finally are 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” ... when we finally give up that delusion and confess that without God… WE… ARE… DEAD. It’s only then, in that DEATH of me, myself and I, that God raises us up to new and eternal life. Death, I’ll grant you, seems a bit extreme. But God knows, it’s the ONE thing NONE of us will fail to do! We’ll fail in following the rules. We’ll fail in following Jesus. We’ll fail in loving God and our neighbor. BUT the one thing that God can count on each and every one of us NOT failing at… is dying. So God has made it, so that the ONE thing we all WILL most certainly do, is the ONE thing God needs from us in order to raise us to eternal life. Clever, ain’t it?

But wait, there’s more! Because while that (hopefully) long range bit of Good News covers all of creation in a beautifully tricksy sort of way, there is more to this whole death and resurrection thing than just twiddling our thumbs and waiting to pull the ultimate pin. Jesus told this parable so the disciples would understand God’s end-game, but ALSO so they would know they didn’t have to wait for ONLY our our one physical death to be raised to new life. Jesus was trying to tell the disciples… and us, that we can also take advantage of God’s death and resurrection scheme RIGHT NOW! We can die right now to things like hatred, greed, and fear and be raised RIGHT NOW to a new and abundant life filled with love, generosity and courage which will allow us experience more of the life we were created to live in the first place! That’s why Jesus taught the disciples to pray:

Father, You are amazing! I want to see the world the way you see the world and live in the world your way. Give me what I need each day so I don’t get distracted from your way by something like an empty belly. Help me to die to the idea that I am alone… that I need to look out for myself and me help instead to live for my neighbors, showing them, with the way I live, how caring for our neighbors fills us with life! And help me not get sucked back in by the world’s ideas of scarcity, fear, and power so that I might live each day, full of an abundant, meaning, and purpose-filled life, eternally surrounded by your never ending, unconditional, grace and love. Amen… and Amen.

The Jars

Luke 10:38-42

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

There once was a professor with a giant, glass jar which sat mysteriously on the demonstration table in the lecture hall. As the students filed into the hall you could hear the bewildered whispering race around the room. Along with the jar there were also three other containers. One, filled with sand, the second with pebbles and the last with large stones. The professor began without words. He first picked up the container of sand and poured it in the jar. After the sand, he began adding the pebbles but they would not all fit. The professor asked, and the class agreed… the jar was now full.

The professor poured out the jar and began again… this time beginning with the large stones. When the stones reached the top, the professor asked, and the class agreed… the jar was now full. But then the professor picked up the container of pebbles and began to pour them into the jar and they flowed in and around all the big rocks. The professor asked, and the class agreed… NOW the jar really was full. Then he picked up the container of sand and began to pour in the sand which again worked its way in and around and under the large stones and even the pebbles until the contents of all three containers were in the jar.

The lesson of the jar is that when we put the important things into our lives first, there still ends up being room for less important things and there even becomes room for us to be able to handle the crazy, sandy things that just get into our jars, whether we want them there or not. But, if we allow our lives to fill first with the sandy stuff that blows around all the time… the sand of busyness, twitter-tirades, insane schedules and the 24 hour- 7 day a week sandstorm of wack-a-doodle-land that constantly blows around us every moment these days… if we allow that sand to fill up our lives first, then there won’t be room for the large stones of relationship, community, compassion, generosity and love… or even the pebbles of laughter, relaxation, or a pointless, trashy novel!

Paul tells the Colossians that he wants to present them to the world as “mature in Christ.” What I think that means (at least in part) is having both the understanding AND the practice of placing the rock of the Body of Christ into our jars first. With Christ in us, the raging sandstorms of life simply can NEVER fill us completely with the sandy stuff, like twitter-tirades, injustice, horror and fear. With Christ in us, there is always a part of our jar that is filled with rock-solid hope, in spite of how the winds of injustice and terror blow in the sand. With Christ in us, all of the rest of what goes into our jar, both the things we add to the jar on purpose and the things the world throws in there when we’re not looking… ALL the rest of that stuff, regardless of how it gets into our jar, is touched, and transformed by Christ.

This is also what was happening with Mary and Martha in the Gospel lesson. It’s not that caring for a guest, feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty and all the rest is something we should reject in favor of just lying on the floor soaking in the wisdom of Jesus. Jesus isn’t telling Martha to abandon the tradition or our sacred calling of showing hospitality to others that goes back to Abraham! What Jesus is saying is that when Martha STARTS with the busyness parts of hospitality, there will never be room for the relationship parts… the parts of love, compassion and being present with the other. When you start with busyness, there just isn’t room for the important things like tending relationships and that inevitably leads to being grouchy like Martha.

BUT, Jesus wants Martha to understand, if she were to start with Jesus… if she was to start with the Body of Christ… the community… the relationships… THEN the necessary busy work she did to provide that hospitality would flow from that rock of the Body of Christ and she would find that there is not only ROOM for Jesus… for the body of Christ… the community and relationships BUT THERE IS ALSO then room for the wonderful tradition of hospitality as well! When we START with the Body of Christ… the community… the relationships… the hospitality that flows out of that is empowered and expanded and made alive with the Christ within us and it grows and blossoms into something greater than the sum of its parts.

By asking Martha (and us) to start everything we do first with the relationships, Jesus is not asking us to pile on one more piece to an already overwhelming life. Jesus is telling us that when we start with God, the rest of life will flow from that place with the peace that passes all understanding. Jesus does not ask us to give up family, career or even good hospitality. Instead Jesus wants you to live your life with your family, in your career and even within the twitter-storm… but to do it all in Christ, with Christ and through Christ.

Martha got mad at Jesus because she saw Jesus’ demand for total, undivided attention as an impossible additional rock to add to her already overfilled jar of a life. If that’s the way you see God’s desire to be in your life, you need to know that is not the way God intends it. The Body of Christ, the Church, Jesus… they are here to show you the path toward an abundant life, not suck what little life you have right out of you!

As you look to fill your jar, first, start with the stones of relationship, love, gratitude, sabbath, and community. Then add in the pebbles of your calling, the hospitality you show others, your passions and things like dinner plans and believe me, there will still be plenty of room for the sand that blows constantly around this wackadoodle world of ours. Amen.

Do You Mind if I Play Through

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Usually there’s a character in each bible story we read to whom we easily relate. For this story, the easy one to be is one the 70 who are sent out. But what happens when you put on the shoes of another character in the story? Maybe the shoes of a person in a town that DIDN’T welcome a pair of messengers from God. Suddenly this isn’t JUST a story about telling others about the Kingdom of God, but it ALSO becomes a parable about how WE “townsfolk” are called to welcome those who come to us. People who come with no purse or bag… not even shoes on their feet. What if “THOSE PEOPLE” have been sent to us by Jesus the Christ, to bring US something WE most desperately need… the gift of God’s peace?

When I did that this week, a particularly horrible image came crashing into my mind… the image of Óscar Ramírez, and his 23-month-old daughter, Angie. They were the father and daughter who drown in the Rio Grande river this past week. The picture of them, face-down in the river is now buried under a growing pile of other horrific pictures that have come out this week showing us in graphic detail our national sin.

But those two… they struck me because they were a PAIR of people… coming to my country… coming to me without purse or bag… without even shoes on their feet. Were these two a pair of disciples sent to me with nothing… no purse, no bag, not even sandals… with nothing to offer… NOTHING… except the Peace of God which passes all understanding?

Or maybe they were the angels the book of Hebrews talks about when it says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”  Or even worse than that, am I the ‘accursed’ that Jesus tells to depart from him into eternal fire at the end of Matthew’s Gospel because they were thirsty and I gave them nothing to drink, they were strangers and I did not welcome them, they were naked and I did not give them clothing, they were sick and held captive and I did not visit them.” Were Óscar and Angie the least of these? Were they, in some mystical way, Jesus the Christ, and was I the one who cared for them so horribly that it led to their deaths? Am I? Are WE... then… the deserving recipients of that final statement of cold, hard, truth given by the disciples in this lesson as they dusted off their feet and headed out of town? “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me, rejects the one who sent me.”

I don’t know about you, but I REALLY don’t like the idea of living in the shoes of the people who have chosen to be less than welcoming at best, and responsible for the deaths of “the least of these” at worst. I don’t like it at all! But I think the Holy Spirit works through the lectionary more often than we like to give her credit for, and I think this week the Holy Spirit is working through this lesson to show us our national selves in the mirror so that we can clearly see where we are and be called back onto the path that Jesus walks.

If the welcome that Óscar Ramírez, and his 23-month-old daughter, Angie received from our country is NOT the welcome you wanted them to receive… if THAT is not the welcome you believe we should give to those who come to us without purse or bag or shoes on their feet… If the hospitality our country has shown to those escaping deadly and horrific violence is NOT the hospitality that you want to show strangers who might just turn out to be angels in disguise… If the food and drink, shelter and medical care “the least of these” have been receiving by our country is not sort of care you would have our country offer Jesus himself… then it’s time for each of us to tell our town, our state, our nation and our world that the horrific welcome which those strangers have been receiving in our names and with our tax dollars is NOT the welcome WE want to give them! Because the welcome that Oscar and Angie and the dozens of others that have died in our custody have so far received in our names, is a welcome that leaves each of us playing with that eternal sort of fire none of us, I believe, really wants to play with.

At the end of this Gospel lesson, the 70 return excited for their success. But Jesus tells them, success isn’t what’s important. What’s really important, Jesus tells them, is not whether you succeed or fail, because we will do all the right things at times and still fail to make the change we know is needed. What is really important, is that you’ve been out there living the Jesus-Way… being active, vocal and determined. Persistently walking that Jesus-path toward the Kingdom of God. Doing what you can, in the place you find yourself, in each particular moment… THAT’S what we want Jesus to write beside our names in that book in heaven.

May we all, even though we are far away and all too often feel painfully powerless these days… may we all be as active, as vocal, as determined and persistent as we can possibly be in shaping the welcome our country gives the refugee, the foreigner, the purse-less, bagless and sandal-less... the stranger, the angel in disguise, the least of these and in all of those… we will be doing nothing less than welcoming Jesus himself. Amen.