The 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 2 And Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money." 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance." 4 Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, "I will not give you my ancestral inheritance." He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat. 5 His wife Jezebel came to him and said, "Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?" 6 He said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it'; but he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" 7 His wife Jezebel said to him, "Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." 8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. 9 She wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; 10 seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, 'You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to death." (11 The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, 12 they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the assembly. 13 The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite him; and the scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city, and stoned him to death. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.") 15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead." 16 As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. 17 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 18 Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19 You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: Have you killed, and also taken possession?" You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood." 20 Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, 21a I will bring disaster on you.  (1 Kings 21.1-21a NRSV)

 

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. 37 And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him-- that she is a sinner." 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "Speak." 41 "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." 44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." 48 Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50 And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." 8:1 Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2 as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.  (Luke 7.36-8.3 NRSV)

 

“FILLING THE ROOM”

 

            Fans of the “Star Wars” movies know about the “Clone Wars”, but before those were the “Cologne Wars”.  Yes, that’s right, the aftershave wars.  Years ago, when I lived in Iowa City, my two roommates were trading insults.  They were good friends and so it was all good natured ribbing.  Well, it crossed the line a little and one took a bottle of some cheap cologne, Brut, as I recall, and flicked some of it at the other as a joke.  The other retaliated with some Pierre Cardin aftershave he had been given and soon it was no longer drops but big splashes all over the place.  There also may have been some Irish Moss involved.  The apartment smelled like too much of two scents mixed together for a week.  Oh, it didn’t help that there was another small battle the next day.  But before long we were laughing about it.

            The Gospel reading this morning is of another scent that filled the room.  It is a familiar story.  A Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner.  While there, a woman from the city, who was some kind of notorious sinner, came and wept on Jesus’ feet and dried them with her hair and then kissed them.  She opened a jar of ointment and put it on them.  It was in an alabaster jar.  This is not a screw cap, once it was opened all of it was used.  So all this ointment perfumed the whole house.  The Pharisee is critical.  Jesus knows what he is thinking and points out that when he came to his house he was not welcomed by having his feet washed or with a kiss, the customary welcome.  The woman has given him these.  He tells a story.  Two men owed a third some money.  The first owed a lot, the second owed a little.  The third man forgave both debts.  Jesus asks which one of the men would love the third more.   Because she is a sinner, and has been forgiven, she loves much.  There is another “scent” in the room, so to speak, it is love.  It is gratitude.

The Old Testament reading is an example of people who are the complete opposite of this.  The king, Ahab, wanted a man’s land for a vegetable garden.  It would mean that he would give up his ancestral land.  He would have some cash, but when that ran out his family would have nothing with which to make a living.  He said no.  The king moped around until the queen, had false accusations brought against the landowner, Naboth, and he was stoned to death.  The king takes possession of the land.  The prophet Elijah meets him in the vineyard and tells him that God.  The conclusion is that he has sold himself for a vegetable garden.  His sin will be remembered. The woman in the Gospel gives, the king takes.  The woman in the Gospel finds forgiveness and freedom. The king and queen find judgment.  The woman loves, the king and queen hate.

            No one knows what the sins were of the woman in the Gospel.  No one knows where the alabaster jar of ointment came from.  But it remains an expression of love and gratitude for what Christ had done in her life.  Around Christmas we sometimes hear the song “The Little Drummer Boy”.  It has this theme, that all he has to give the baby Jesus is his music.  All the woman of the Gospel has to give Jesus is this ointment, this gesture of love.  Maybe Simon, the Pharisee, the host, has no welcome to give.  Maybe he is too worried about his sins, or maybe completely ignorant of them, perhaps he is too wrapped up in pointing out the sins of others, but maybe he has no welcome to give because he does not know for himself God’s welcome. It was given to us in giving us Christ and how he changes our lives.

            The difference between the host and the uninvited guest is their knowledge of who they are.  Simon most likely sees himself as an upstanding citizen.  The woman probably has no illusion about her past.  Lillian Daniel tells the story of her family.  The Southern part of the family had great pride in being descended from John C. Calhoun, a defender of slavery.  She said that her family thought that the term “Civil War” was wrong.  They said that it should be called the War Between the States or the War of Northern Aggression.  This led to Lillian rejecting her heritage and her mother trying even harder to make her appreciate it.  So they went off to Scotland to trace their roots, found their tartan and clan motto something that sounds like “conocolation” which translated to “gather up on the hill.”  After asking a local about the word, they found that their clan was known as the most cowardly clan in Scotland.  They would forge letters to start fights and come down from the hill and gather up the spoils.  It can be surprising to find out who you really are instead of who you think you are.  What the host and the woman have in common is that they both need forgiveness.

            The difference between Simon the host and the unnamed woman of the gospel is their response to hearing that story, that they are both in need of forgiveness.  The woman from the Gospel knows that Jesus cares about her life.  We don’t really know what Simon the Pharisee knows, but he seems to be more interested in judging others than in knowing forgiveness.  Or they both might know forgiveness, but only one of them shows it.

 

            When Jesus was a guest at a dinner, a strange incident occurred.  It was a woman from the town, not the host, who welcomed him.  She did it by giving an extravagant gift which filled the room.  These are signs of a heart that knew who he was, received forgiveness, and loved him.  It was not a joke or prank; it was serious.  It was not cheap perfume, it was a costly sacrifice.  It was not hidden, everyone knew it.  It filled the room.  Who are you?  What is your gift?  What fills your room?

 

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The 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 "Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you." 10 So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink." 11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12 But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." 13 Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth." 15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah. 17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 She then said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!" 19 But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. 20 He cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again." 22 The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." 24 So the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."  (1 Kings 17.8-24 NRSV)

 

Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12 As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. 13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep." 14 Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, rise!" 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen among us!" and "God has looked favorably on his people!" 17 This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.  (Luke 7.11-17 NRSV)

 

“JUST RIGHT”

 

            Many years ago I was helping at the Dubuque Rescue Mission for a summer.  Don was the director.  The goal was for me to learn about helping others in need and also so that by the end of the summer, I would know enough to replace Don so he could take a week off.  The Mission offered people a chance to have a meal each day and for some to stay off the streets.  Don’s approach wasn’t the old style of making the people wait to eat while someone preached at them.  When it was time to eat it was time to eat and everyone who showed up was welcome.  So, much of the work of the Mission revolved around that noon meal.  Food would come in from various sources and whatever was not used for the meal was given away.  Sometimes, there was too much.  One year like this one, a huge picnic in Dubuque was cancelled because of the rain and they donated 1100 lbs. of potato salad.  That is over half a ton.  The problem is with a gift like that is that potato salad, as you know, does not keep.  We made calls and gave it to other shelters and programs, we stuffed every space in every refrigerator and freezer with it.  The next day, I overheard one of the ladies on the lunch line tell another, “Push the potato salad.”

Another time they gave us a roomful of bread.  A whole roomful of loaves of bread.  Again, the freezers helped.  Yet another time, about 50 cauliflower heads.  They set them out on the table by the door.  One man took five.  I said to Don, “He must sure like cauliflower.”  He said, “Just wait and see.  By nighttime he will have traded one for a pack of cigarettes, one for coffee, one for a sandwich, one for a drink, and so on.”  If you are resourceful, you can make too much into just right.

Don, years after I was there, developed cancer.  He retired and was going to fight it.  Some folks advised him to prepare for the worst.  He wondered where their faith was.  He fought it hard, but in the end it took his life.  Sometimes the days run out and there are just not enough.  It is very hard to work with too little.

This morning the reading from the Old Testament is one of the stories from the life of the prophet Elijah.  Many more years ago, God told him to go down to Zarephath to stay and a widow would feed him.  He found her and asked for bread.  The discussion revealed that she had only enough for one meal and then it would all be gone.  It is not a hopeful situation.  Elijah tells her to go ahead and make it but give some of it to him first.  Faith means that she will give up some of it first before she sees what God can do.  There will be no storerooms or freezers full of this food.  But we simply know that it will not run out.  They will continue to eat.  God has promised.  A small amount plus God is enough.

In what seems like a second chapter, the son of the woman died and she accused Elijah of punishing her.  He prayed for him and brought him back to life.  At this, the woman knew that Elijah spoke God’s word.  In the Gospel reading we hear how, in a town called Nain, Jesus brought back to life a young man and gave him back to his mother, a widow.  This incident reminds us of the one with Elijah.  In both there is compassion for the woman.  In both, the woman who received the blessing was a widow and so the son would be crucial to her survival.  In both the miracle is described as giving the son back to the mother.  The miracle leads the people to declare that Jesus is a prophet.  He, too, has God’s power.  He too, speaks God’s word.  God’s presence in the world goes on.  After 700 years, God still cares for God’s people.  There is a blessing of abundance.

If we can make too much into just right, it is much harder to work with too little.  Perhaps that is why we fear that so much.  Perhaps that is why we tend toward excess.  Excess does not require faith, though, because we can trust in what we have on hand.  The problem with excess is that while some have more than enough, others do not have enough.  Perhaps that is the time to live more modestly so that others may have some too.  What is required is faith; that whether we have much, or just enough, or too little, we still have God’s blessing.  That can give us the kind of peace in the midst of life.  And finally, with our lives themselves, since we cannot stockpile them, we have to trust in God who can even give us back to our loved ones, on this day or on the last day.

 

            Few of us live with extraordinary abundance.  Oh, we might have a few things put away, perhaps to enjoy later, or perhaps for the rainy day, but most of us live closer to having enough or a bit more than that.  Faith in God’s goodness can help us live in that state.  Mary Lou Carney found this while a counselor at a summer camp.  They would “weigh the waste”, the food scraped from the campers’ plates.  It was to make them aware and encourage them to waste less food.  It reminded her of the other things in her life that she wasted time on resentments, not using opportunities to listen to others, or not using time to spend with God.  Perhaps by being more grateful for what we have, and having the promise of God’s continuing care of us, we can free ourselves of the habits of taking too much and wasting what we are given.  We can learn to value God’s gifts rightly.

            The oil and flour did not run out.  They are symbols of God’s care that far exceeds our expectations.  Oscar Greene learned that God’s care can at times seem miraculous.  They were away from home when Hurricane Bob hit.  The wind and rain were ferocious but the host of where they were staying saw a triangular spider web clinging to the window and an outside shutter.  After the storm they saw that it had survived Hurricane Bob, and so had they.

 

            Instead of fear, God gives us peace.  Instead of scarcity, God gives us enough.  Instead of death, God gives us life.  That is the lesson of these two stories about prophets.  It comes to us in our world.  If we have none, we are urged to cast ourselves on God’s care.  If we have enough, we are challenged to use God’s gifts fully as the miracle of God’s care.  And if we have far more than enough, we are given a vision by God’s compassion to consider the needs of others.  That will be enough.

 

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The 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

The goodness of God continues on to God’s people, even in exile.

 These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.  (Jeremiah 29.1, 4-7 NRSV)

 

God’s goodness comes to the outcast through Jesus.

 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14 When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."  (Luke 17.11-19 NRSV)

 

“GIVE AND TAKE”

 

            “Where are the nine?”  The first Presbyterian pastor I knew had a story about this phrase.  He had several long and fruitful ministries and for one of those churches, the vote to call him was some large number to nine.  So he used to joke, “Where are the nine?”  It was said with humor, but if you didn’t know him, you could think he meant it as saying, “Take that, you nine, who voted against me, where are you now, ha-ha-ha?”  That is not what the phrase means.

            In the Gospel reading Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, between Samaria and Galilee.  Ten people with leprosy approached him and called out for mercy.  He saw them and told them to go show themselves to the priests.  There, they would be declared healed and fit to return to society.  One came back, praising God, and thanked Jesus.  Jesus asked the question: “But the other nine, where are they?”  Some people think this is meant to scold ungrateful people.  “See the nine, you don’t want to be like them, do you?”  But I don’t think that is what the phrase means either.

            Shel Silverstein has written The Giving Tree.  It is a children’s book.  Well, sort of.  It is the story of a tree which loved a boy.  He made crowns from her leaves and climbed her trunk and swung from her branches and ate her apples and even rested in her shade.  As the boy grew older he did not have time to play anymore.  The boy wanted to go to the city and have fun so needed money.  The tree did not have money and gave him her apples to sell for money.  And so he left the tree.  He returned later when he wanted to build a house.  And the tree was glad to see him.  The forest was the tree’s house, but she gave the boy her branches.  He left again and returned much later, too old to play.  But he was tired of life and wanted to get away in a boat.  The tree gave him her trunk to build a boat.  The boy sailed away.  The tree was happy to give, but not really happy this time.  A long time later, the boy, now an old man, came.  All he wanted was a place to rest.  He could no longer eat her apples, but she didn’t have any more anyway.  She had no braches, but he could not swing from them.  He could not climb the trunk which she didn’t have.  All she had was a stump.  So he sat down on the stump.  And there they were together.  And the tree was happy.

The first time I heard this story I felt some sadness and a little anger because of a boy who only took.  But now, years later, I can also see now that there is another side.  There are those who are fulfilled by giving and as we go through life we are takers, whether we want to be or not.  Living requires that we get what we need.  Blessed, though, are those who know what their taking costs others.  The greatness and sadness of our lives is that childhood comes to an end.  At the end of the book, the boy is with the tree again.  It ends as it starts, and maybe there is not the joy of the beginning—maybe that is replaced by contentment—but the boy and the tree are together again.  But gratitude is missing from the story.

            I think that is what the Gospel reading is about as well.  “Where are the nine?”  They are on their way to the priests.  They have been given the same gift as this Samaritan who returned.  Jesus seems glad to grant this blessing to all ten.  He reminds us that God is generous beyond our imagining.  We can go off on our own way with what God gives us.  God gives us that freedom.  We are not obligated or forced to recognize the gifts.  We do not have to look up.  But the Samaritan, the one of out of ten, knows where the gifts come from.  This awareness leads him to praise God.  And this awareness brings him back to Jesus.  It is not that being thankful heals him and not the others.  Gratitude, we find, is a blessing in itself.  And it connects us with the giver.  The greatest gift is the relationship.  Gratitude, knowing where things come from, it turns out, is very rare.  Rare, but precious.

 

            As we go through life, we are the recipients of much blessing.  God sends us on our own ways, like children, with many gifts.  And it is good when we see where those many gifts come from.  Then we can appreciate them better.  Then we can know who we are.  And then, we see more about God who loves us more than we can possibly know.  That, is why we are truly grateful.  Amen.

The 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and the slave does it." 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.  (Luke 7:1-10 NRSV)

 

“DESTINATION HEALING”

 

            A number of years ago I had a dream.  It was that there was a pain in my head.  Well, it turned out that it was more than a dream.  I woke up and everything sounded like I was under water.  I went to the doctor.  She said, yup, your eardrum ruptured.  Just blew right out.  She prescribed an antibiotic for me.  With time it healed and my full hearing in that ear returned.  When we are sick or injured we want to go to a doctor.  It can be a world-famous medical center that wants many more people to come to it or it can be like my first doctor as an adult, Dr. Guy Carlson, who charged $8 an office visit and did his own lab tests right there in the office in front of you.

The Gospels have numerous stories of healings.  Jesus healed people and word got around.  And so they sought him out.  The Gospel reading this morning is such a story.  A centurion had a slave who was very ill and so he sent people to Jesus.  When he approached, the centurion sent word that Jesus only had to speak the word and the servant would be healed.  The reasoning is simple.  The centurion has great authority.  He commands people and they obey.  Therefore all Jesus has to do is command this illness.  This is no magic.  It is a recognition of the great power Jesus has in the world.  He relies on a greater authority.  That takes faith and so Jesus tells the crowd that it is faith such that he has not even seen in Israel.  The slave was healed.

Why would the Gospels be so concerned with healings? It is because that is where we live.  It is because most of us at some point or other in our lives have the need for it.  But it might be rather risky to do so.  Many want healing and having that as an example might have inspire their faith.  We live, though, in a world with medicine alongside of faith and sometimes that is the route we should take.  It is common sense to go to those who might be able to help us and those people who reject that and rely only on faith, such as the couple in the news whose child died recently when they did that, seem willful, naïve, and abusive, rather than faithful.  And those who reject faith, putting their trust solely in science, seem somehow to be missing something.  Medicine, as valuable as it is, does not have every answer.  We know that part of the reality we live in, whether we use medical expertise or faith, or both, is that some healings do not occur.  A friend of mine was a chaplain in Wisconsin when he met a woman in the hospital whose fiancé just had a massive heart attack.  Things were not good.  The woman, understandably, wanted a miracle.  They prayed.  He did not make it.  But while the outcome was not what she wanted, the idea is not a bad one.  Jesus helps us in the impossible situations in life.  It might just be that the impossible situation is one other than the one we were thinking of.

            The healings in the Gospels are wonders, and they certainly show us God’s power, but they do more than that.  One of the things they show us is the scope of God’s mercy.  Jesus is shown in the Gospels as responding to those who come to him for help.  There is never a time when Jesus says that he can’t be bothered, or that he can’t heal a certain type of illness, or that the people who ask for healing are not the right kind of people.  All those who have had healing, whether from the most ordinary malady or miraculous intervention, have had some of the power that God places in the universe.  The centurion was an important person and even had sent people to Jesus to get his help.  This is a man with influence and God heard him.  And yet, this story can be laid side by side with the other healings in the Bible which have people from very modest means.  Social standing does not seem important to Jesus in who is healed.  And yet for all the importance of the centurion, he has this humility.  He tells Jesus that he didn’t have to come, that he could heal with simply a command, because he is not worthy that Jesus come into his home.  We are reminded that none of us is so important that we can command life.  All of us are in some position at some time to seek some help.

            The centurion is remarkable, too, in that he is seeking this for a servant.  It is not for him.  There are others in the Gospel healing accounts who seek Jesus power on behalf of another person.  That is a wonderful and kind thing to do.  It reminds us that our service is to those around us as much as it is to us.  We become like the Jewish leaders, relaying the needs of others to God.  That is not a bad role to have in a part of life in which there is so much that we cannot do.

 

            The healing miracles demonstrate the faith of individuals.  They show that they have heard about Jesus, and based on that simple faith come to him.  Jesus often comments on that faith.  Faith can continue to direct us to God.  The healing miracles of the Gospels often have a dimension other than the physical healing.  Sometimes the mind and the soul as well as the body are involved.  Sometimes Jesus tells the person that their sins are forgiven as well as their body is healed.  God is more than a doctor.  In all the facets of life, God is present and faith can provide help.  Perhaps the healing becomes part of a greater healing.  Marilyn Morgan Helleberg tells the story of her father, a doctor who had been cheated out of a large sum of money.  Her father had a hard time putting it out of his mind.  One night, this man was brought to the hospital hemorrhaging critically.  He said to her father, “I wouldn’t blame you if you’d let me bleed to death, Doc.”  Her father asked what his blood type was and proceeded to donate the needed blood.  She says that her father felt a peace and closer to God than he had ever before.

 

            The healing stories of the Gospels point us to Jesus.  That is a good direction to go.  Every one of us makes a trip to the doctor or a journey in life to seek healing.  This morning, let us lift up those things we need for ourselves or for others.  We can trust in God’s power and goodness.  We know the One who holds all things in divine hands.  When we come to God, we might find more healing than we even imagined.  For our lives, our whole lives, are in God’s hands.

 

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The 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; 7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; 8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. 11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will bring about at the right time-- he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 17 As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. (1 Timothy 6.6-19 NRSV)

 

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. 10 "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." 14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. 15 So he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God. 16 "The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped. 18 "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. 19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 24 He called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' 27 He said, 'Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- 28 for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' 29 Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' 30 He said, 'No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"  (Luke 16.9-31 NRSV)

 

“DO YOU SEE THE GORILLA?”

 

            Some things are hard to miss.  Some of them are big things, unusual things.  The Week mentioned that it was a “bad week for going out for a relaxing beer after a National Guard jet accidentally dropped a dummy training bomb into the parking lot of a Maryland pub, barely missing cars and leaving a three-foot-deep crater.  ‘The bomb squad told us we should rename the bar the ‘Bull’s-eye,’’ said the owner of Darlene’s Tavern.”  A three-foot deep crater in a parking lot would be hard to miss and you would certainly want to do so.

            The Gospel reading has a story of something that is also hard to miss.  It is the story of a rich man.  He had much good food to eat, and daily.  He was well dressed.  At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus.  Now, you might think that it would be hard to ignore someone lying at your doorstep, but he did.  And from there, Lazarus saw the rich man eating.  The poor man died and so did the rich man.  The poor man was at the side of Abraham.  The rich man was in torment in Hades.  The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus with a drop of water for his tongue.  It is rather amazing that he ignored Lazarus in life when he needed something and now he needs something and wants to put Lazarus to work on it.  The rich man is still only conscious of his own needs.  Maybe we are starting to understand why he didn’t see Lazarus.  Even right on his doorstep.

            Well, back to the story.  Abraham tells the rich man that this is now fair.  The rich man enjoyed life and now suffers; Lazarus suffered in life but is now in a good place.  Now, this, by itself, is not the point of the story.  Because if the poor will be blessed, then it is better for them to leave them poor and suffering.  No, this is about not ignoring the poor.  Besides, Abraham says, travel between Paradise and Hades is just not possible.  So the rich man does not give up, but still has a favor he wants Lazarus to do for him.  He wants him to appear to his brothers as a warning.  Abraham’s reply is that they have Moses and the prophets and if they do not listen to those, even someone who has come back from the dead will not change their minds.  If they are ignoring Scripture, which means ignoring God, then even seeing a ghost will not matter.

            It is easy to ridicule this rich man.  We, of course, could not miss such a big thing as a man at our doorstep.  There is a now-famous psychology experiment in which people watched a videotape of a basketball game and were asked to keep track of something like the number of points one of the teams scored.  Then they were asked if they saw the man in the gorilla suit who walked right through the middle of the game.  They replayed the tape, yup, he was there.  Many did not see him.  I didn’t see the gorilla.  The reality is that if you are looking at something else, you might miss other things, even extraordinary things.

            The reading from First Timothy is one of the warnings about the danger of earthly riches.  There are many things in life that are that something else we look at and miss other things.  Wealth is one of them.  Paul, or someone writing for Paul, says that the better way is contentment with what you have.  Also, we are to spend our time, our lives if you will, in pursuing good qualities and to remember the gift of eternal life and keep that hope pure.  Lastly, the writer of the letter tells the rich to put their hope on God, not on unstable riches.

            One of the reasons that the Bible has warnings about riches is that it is so easy to fall under their spell.  What do we make of our national obsession with gaining wealth?  Do we listen to the Wall Street Journal more than the prophets?  Do we care what Warren Buffet says more than what Moses says?  Has pursuit of money replaced the spiritual life in this country?  If it has, we are in danger like the rich man and his five brothers.  With greed in our eyes, what possibly can warn us?  Money is all around us, in our daily lives.  The other is that money can blind us.  It can make us increasingly self-centered and blinded to others, or worse yet, make us so we only see others in terms our own needs.

Lillian Daniel writes about things she has heard that bother her.  One such thing was a presentation at a conference.  The presenter made statements like that it was harder for rich people to experience God’s love than the poor. And that the poor have to rely on God’s love so much more.  And that they just seem so much happier.  Her thought was, “I have heard rich people say that ‘the poor are lucky’ before.  But I have yet to hear a poor person say it.”  There are ways of treating the poor like the rich man wanted to, in self-serving ways or in ignoring who they really are.

            Perhaps what we really need to start with is to learn to see again.  And learn not just to see what we want to see or not to see what we don’t want to see.  Maybe we need to start with the world around us.  If we do that, it will not be long before we see people who we did not know were there, or people who need us.  Perhaps we need to learn to see again, not as we see but as God sees, as J. Brent Bill talks about.  He had a dinner guest, his brother-in-law, whom he found annoying.  He thought he knew everything and talked too much.  But because his wife loved her brother, he decided to see him as she did and then had the thought to see him as God does.  The evening went well, because of what the Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracián found, “When the eyes see what they have never seen before, the heart feels what it has never felt.”  God sees people with needs where we see the poor, or people in our way, or annoying people.

 

            There are things that we never thought we could miss, but we do.  We tend more to see what we want to see and disregard the rest.  But we have a warning.  We are not to go through our lives unaware of what and who is around us.  It is easy to do that.  We are not to go past those who need us and not touch their lives.  What are we not seeing?  We need to see new things, even the obvious.  Lillian Daniel ended her piece with this prayer: “Dear God, give bread to those who are hungry and thirst for justice to those who have plenty.  Amen.”

 

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The 27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

NRSV 2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I am grateful to God-- whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did-- when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. 13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

 

NRSV Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. 7 "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? 8 Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"

 

“WITH OR WITHOUT?”

 

            We eat 20 billion hot dogs a year in this country.  When you have a hot dog, you have a decision to make.  What to put on it?  Mustard is a typical possibility.  There is, of course, catsup and relish, or some may prefer sauerkraut or chili.  Mustard is a perennial favorite.  According to the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin, mustard is the most popular hot dog condiment.  They have the largest collection of mustards, the MustardPiece Theatre, a tasting bar, gift shop, and host, on the first Saturday in August, National Mustard Day festivities.  They tell us to mark our calendars—in bright yellow.  How do I know all this?  One of my sisters was once a tasting judge in the annual World-Wide Mustard Competition.

            In the Gospel reading the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith.  Now, that is not a bad request, but Jesus’ answer to them is unusual.  If you had the faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to a mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.  It is a startling picture of faith.  The disciples talk about faith like it is some kind of activity, like lifting weights.  Jesus talks about faith like a tiny seed.  Faith is very simple and very powerful.

            The reading from 2 Timothy talks about faith as well.  Paul greets Timothy and praises his sincere faith, which he learned from his mother and grandmother.  It is an essential part of his life.  That part of faith can be passed down over the generations.  And we are reminded about Paul’s faith, too.  It is trusting in God who is able to guard what has been entrusted to him.  Faith, is not only believing truths about God, it is also trust in God.  That kind of faith focuses more on God’s power than our own.

            That is true for Jesus’ reply to the disciples.  They have just been told that they need to forgive others, even seven times, a difficult, but not impossible, thing.  It is a thing requiring effort.  They ask Jesus to increase their faith.  Jesus brings them back to the simplicity of faith.  It is both more simple and more powerful than their question asks.  He tells them if they had the faith the size of a mustard seed they could do incredible things.  A seed is one of the smallest of common things.  A tiny seed can grow into a great bush or tree.  A seed is not an effort, not a project, it is a thing with the potential of life in it.  All it needs is a place to be planted and grow.  A farmer or gardener can’t make the seed grow.  There is no effort that can make it grow.  All they have to do is plant it and care for it.  Faith, while simple, requires us to respond to it.

That is the message of the rest of the Gospel reading, this parable about a slave.  The slave does not come in from work and then the master serves him or her.  He or she finishes the work in the field and comes in and then has to serve the master.  All this seems a bit, well, harsh.  But it is the picture of humility.  The servant works for someone else.  That is the reminder that we receive God’s gifts, faith and what faith make possible, not by thinking we are in charge but by receiving it.  We, like the servant, have nothing to claim our own.  We receive what we need from the Master.  It is also the reminder that faith and what we do by faith really is for someone else.  It is for God.  The kind of faith that Jesus is talking about is not self-serving control of the world, or some kind of showy magic tricks.  It is for how we can advance the mission of God in our world, so it can grow in spectacular ways, like the mustard plant.  Sometimes that requires that we do great things.

            We go back to that idea of the seed.  How do we learn about gardening or farming?  It is often like how we learn about faith, by seeing it in our families or watching or hearing about it.  Louise Stoltzfus talks about growing things in an Amish community, that she learned about it as her grandmother read the Farmers’ Almanac to them.  They loved its wisdom, but also learned that gardening, whether for pleasure, food for the table, or extra income, required hard work. 

            Many times we focus on effort—on what we can do.  In faith we follow God’s will, we do what is needed for following the direction God gives.  The lesson is that we need to plant the seed, but we need to be faithful with what God has given us. 

 

The seed, what we start with, is a gift.  It is from another plant, from another’s work.  No one can make a seed.  It is given to us and reminds us of those words from Lamentation: Great is thy faithfulness, O God.  It is for serving God even as God cares for us.  God cares for our hopes and dreams, for what we need in life.  The seed can be an invitation to dream and a sign that our dreams are God leading us into God’s care for us.

            Think of that mustard seed, it is to remind you to look forward in hope.  It is to let you know you are part of God’s plan, as it grows like the plant, as it unfolds, and blossoms and bears great fruit.  It is to remind you that your hopes are important to God, who will bless them with growth.

 

            If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, great things can be done.  Jesus reminds us of the power of faith.  The power of faith is the power of God in us.  And like the servants, it is not for our desires and whims; it is to serve God.  But we are also reminded that it is a gift and we see again the care God takes of us day by day.  The seed is possibility of things to come, like God’s mercies that are new every morning.  Great faith is possible.  Great things are possible.  Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord.

 

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