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Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Think Again
"What do you think?"
Twice in one short conversation Jesus asked that question. To the religious leaders in the Temple. (See Matthew 21:23-32)
On one hand, he complimented them. Affirming their intelligence, their biblical literacy, their thoughtfulness.
On the other hand, he put them on the spot. Right out there for anyone to see and hear, he challenged their big question with his own questions. Just like a rabbi!
They had asked, "Who do you think you are? Who gave you authority over us?"
You see, he'd entered the Holy City and the Holy Temple with a wholly new spiritual agenda. And he'd made no bones about letting everybody know it.
Now he asked them:
1. "What do you make of John the Baptist? From God, or on an ego trip?"
2. "Two sons answer their father's request for help. No. 1: 'No way.' But he changes his mind and does the job. No. 2: 'Yes, sir!' But he never follows through. Which one did what his father wanted?"
Their answers:
1. "Um, we don't know." [Meaning: Hmmm. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. John's too popular for us to risk a wrong answer.]
2. "Duh. The one who did it."
And now Jesus makes it all about John the Baptist again.
John had called everybody to turn back to God from their careless ways (and sometimes intentional bad stuff). Thousands of people did just that -- including the lowlifes who would never feel comfortable in a worship service. They were especially grateful for another chance. Meanwhile, the righteous comfortably ignored ol' crazy John.
Put John and Jesus together, you get a double whammy attack on the status quo.
Woe to the church or the believer who says, "We never did it that way before." And double woe to those who talk the talk but never get around to walking the walk.
The Apostle Anne Lamott has said, Your main job in life is simply to Show Up And Tell The Truth. Everything else works itself out from there.
_________
P.S.
Q: How many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Change? Change?!?
[Voice from the back: My grandmother gave that bulb to this church!!!]
posted by Jack Buckley at
9:57 AM
Monday, September 19, 2005
Far Better Than Fair
"In this case, I side with the workers."
My elder, a small businessman, said that. His surprisingly pro-labor comment made perfect sense in context.
You see, I'd asked him to read Matthew 20:1-16 in our worship gathering. It's the parable about a landowner who hired day-laborers in several small groups, beginning at 6:00 a.m. all the way through 5:00 p.m., just an hour before quitting time. When pay was handed out, all the workers got the same pay -- whether they'd worked twelve hours or just the last sixty minutes!
Predictably, the 12-hour guys grumbled about fair wages for a fair day's work, even giving the boss "the evil eye" about it. If looks could kill!
But the boss answered them, "I paid you a day's wage, just as we agreed. How is that unfair? And won't you agree that I can do what I want with the rest?"
I told the elder that I would jump on their side, too, if I thought Jesus was teaching about business ethics or labor relations.
But they say a parable is "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning." In other words, the story's details aren't the important part. They can even trip you up en route to the real point. Instead, look and listen for the spiritual meaning threaded through the story or packed into its punchline.
In this story, Jesus' last sentence is: "So remember, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first."
Clear as mud? Maybe, unless you back up to Matthew 19:27.
That's where Peter asks Jesus, "We've left everything to follow you. What will we get in return?" (Read: What's in it for me?!)
Jesus' short answer there was, "Trust me that all along the way you'll share every blessing I get from God, and in the end you'll share my rewards. Meanwhile, remember that the first shall be last, etc."
Then he tells the parable to drill home the point.
Which is...?
For the disciples: Please don't assume your privilege of being my first followers means you'll outscore all those yet to come, when God's accounts are tallied and scores settled. Everybody, wherever or whenever, is equally valuable to God. (See John 3:16 for example.)
For the religious leaders: Please don't count on your Chosen People status to put you at the head of the line on Judgment Day. All you've been blessed with is totally unearned, and undeserved too, when you get down to it. If people from all over the world get in on God's grace, celebrate with them instead of grousing at God.
For you and me: Please don't miss out on the invitation to enlist in God's good work. Some of us hear the call early in life, some have the proverbial "deathbed conversion." Either way, and all in between, the payoff is a gift, pure and simple.
If you're a lifelong believer, good for you! You've had a long time to live with divine purpose, to develop spiritual gifts, to serve the Lord with gladness. You can look back with gratitude, and ahead with confident hope.
If you're getting on in years, or on death row, and wondering if God could have mercy in spite of all the wrong you've done, here's good news for you! There's room for you in the plan of God. What matters most isn't how good you've been, or how long you've messed up, but how willing you are to say "Yes" to God's call.
From any angle, then, it seems an honest soul has to be very very glad that God won't settle for being merely fair.
posted by Jack Buckley at
5:29 PM
Thursday, September 08, 2005
God and Katrina
Come hell or high water....
That tired old phrase, covering the heights and depths of life's predictable ordeals, paraphrases one of my favorite Bible passages.
Isaiah 43:1-7 puts in God's mouth the words, "When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you, and you won't drown. When you walk through fire, you won't be burned or scorched by the flames."
Jews exiled in Babylonia knew the imagery by heart. Twice, the story went, their ancestors had crossed normally raging waters in dry sandals -- the Red Sea and the Jordan River. Besides that, more times than you could count, they'd traveled across burning deserts and lived to tell about it.
As we witness Hurricane Katrina's horrible aftermath, people of faith (and of no faith) wrestle with questions about where God (or goodness) has gone while destruction rules the day. Meanwhile, we watch and wait for the body count when the waters pull back to yield up their prey. In this case, far too many souls have been drowned.
So what shall we do with Isaiah's pious promises?
1. Accept their poetic nature, complete with dramatic overstatement. They encourage confidence that life's direst threats all fall short of God's supreme power. (The story of Daniel's three pals stepping out of the king's furnace without a blister [Daniel, chapter 3] does the same thing in prose.)
2. Don't absolutize the particulars. Floods rise, houses burn down, bridges collapse. And devout people die as a result. Then again, I skidded my way unscathed through a multiple-car collision on I-980 one morning when by all rights I should have been squozen somewhere amidst the wreckage. Go figure.
3. Cling to the heart of the promise. Where is God when bad things happen? Right there with you in the middle of it all! "I will be with you." Knowing what you're suffering, caring about you, sharing your pain, keeping pace step by step the whole way through it.
Not only so, but God gives you other people who will care about, and share in, your ordeal. That's manifestly going on right now for the millions who've been hit so hard by Katrina. Relief workers and supplies are arriving day and night. Havens of refuge have opened up across the country to welcome evacuees. Partnerships are being forged for long-term assistance in the rebuilding and resettling process.
These hellish high waters will not have the last word!
P.S. For up-to-the-minute information on what's happening since Katrina did her dirty work, log on to http://www.nola.com/.
posted by Jack Buckley at
10:46 AM
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