Kingdom Talk

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Five years ago this week I was flying back from Costa Rica, with twelve others, after a mission trip where we tiled a sanctuary floor and painted a parsonage in a small town. We were fortunate that our return trip was routed through Dallas, as Miami was feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which moved methodically across the Gulf towards Mississippi and New Orleans. While we were en route the pilot told us to look out the right side windows to see the storm that had been in the news. We were not of an altitude to see the eye of the storm, like the classic pictures of Katrina we all know so well, but we could see a wall of gray. We knew within 24 hours where we would send our next mission team.

Since our Senior Minister grew up in Mississippi she got contacts for our middle school youth group with FUMC of Biloxi. The youth exchanged letters and raised money for rebuilding. I began searching for places to serve with the intergenerational team, most of who had served in Costa Rica, but most of the youth were still under the age of 16 prohibiting them from most of the work sites. I then realized that the church in Biloxi had started their own rebuilding mission center. Their first mission after repairing the water damage to the church (saved from the surge by the one building in front of the church that had the first two floors wiped away) was to install six showers to be able to house volunteers. I called and talked with the coordinator and convinced them that my youth under 16 were prepared and mature enough, it helped that we were not simply a youth group and that the youth had been in contact with their youth group. So off we went in April of 2006 to help rebuild Biloxi.

We arrived in Biloxi and could see the massive destruction from the surge and a great amount from wind away from the coast. There were a lot of construction workers, but all of them were working on the hotels and casinos. At the church, there was some confusion at where we would be working which is quite normal for a volunteer effort. Some teams more skilled then others and thus work goes quicker or slower then you can plan. We decided to combine out youth with the youth from a church from North Carolina and then the adults were split among three work sites. I went with the youth along with an adult from the other church and our guide. Our job was to do landscaping. That does not seem very productive when there was important building work to be done, but if you spend the day with our team you would have understood the importance of this task. We were outside small FEMA trailers planting flowers and/or cleaning up the signs of the storm that lay around from trash to broken limbs. Yes some of the homes still needed to be rebuilding, but people were still waiting for money from insurance companies, donations, etc. We had free labor but supplies were limited to help everyone at that time. I remember one FEMA trailer that the church built a ramp from the trailer to inside the house, so the woman who was in a wheelchair could have her laundry room and some storage in the house and thus have that much more room in the trailer. A temporary fix but a thoughtful and greatly improved her standard of living, and that is what the landscaping did for many. We even went to the director of the volunteers home that was not affected by the hurricane to mow his lawn, as he spend more hours at the center then he did at his office before retirement. The youth understood how important this ministry was for the people trying to live in Biloxi that first spring after Katrina.

The adults were working on various homes two were modest homes, while the largest work site was a wonderful three-story home with a small lot. The owner was a divorced woman with 2 kids, who had started rebuilding by hiring some contractors. The first group took her money and did nothing and the second simply did shoddy work (even to us unskilled volunteers). These types of con jobs were numerous, while the high paying construction jobs went to those working on the casinos. I remember coming back in the evenings and hearing from some of the adults, how they were disappointed they were not working on building homes for the poor. There was one man that was very disappointed and I had a conversation with him about how most of the poor had left the city wither because their home was destroyed and/or their jobs were gone, or are waiting for funds for the homes from grants, donations, and insurance. He said he understood, but I could also tell he was still disappointed and upset that he was working on a home that was like his own back in New England. Every night we would gather for devotionals and reflection and on the third night I paired him with a middle school student. She shared her experience and how she was happy to serve, even if it was not to actually building a home. He shared his frustration and she made him understand that it was not about helping someone that was poorer and less fortunate; rather it was about helping as God needs you to help. The next day he shared with me how she opened his eyes, and I will confirm his attitude improved greatly (as well as all the adults).

Two years later (three years after the storm) we were back with some new missionaries as well, in New Orleans. For the first time I was able to get into the infamous 9^th ward. I was expecting to see some devastation, but I honestly did not expect it to be as bad as it still was three years later. There were a few homes being lived in and a few being worked on, but for the most part it was row after row of destroyed homes getting worse with weather and time. I could not imagine being on one of the roofs calling out for a rescue. It made me think of the buses that came to the Super Dome and how people wanted to get on those seats. Seeing the devastation still so evident, I realized that it was important for people to stand up and make known what happened to them. It was even confirmed recently in court that the army corps of engineers cut corners and knew about it. It is important that not everyone take the humble seat and simply wait for someone to raise them to a seat of higher honor.

This brings us to today's scripture. Jesus is talking specifically to these Pharisees about the Kingdom and not simply creating a new social norm. That is if someone takes this scripture to mean we are to go somewhere and act more humble to be exalted then are you not simply being humble to be exalted? Jesus was not reforming behavior but came to change it. Just look carefully at the scripture, it is clear that all the guests who were to take the lesser seats at the next party, for the host is not to invite them, but rather people that cannot repay. At first glance, my anecdotes above contradict these parables, however, it you realize that Jesus is talking specifically to these Pharisees and not simply changing the etiquette. The woman that we helped rebuild her house certainly has the ability to repay us, but she is going to pass-it-on not just help someone to repay us. When we go on missions even when we are helping the poor we must not be doing it to simply appease our guilt for that would put us in the position of being repaid for our effort. And as the Rev. Doc. Martin Luther King Jr. said in his famous "I have a dream speech" our founders wrote a promissory note to everyone. Throughout the history of this country it took people to stand up and require better seating. If that was not true, we would not have celebrated 90 years of women's suffrage this past week. Katrina brings light to the fact that it is important that people not simply wait humbly but need to speak up humbly and thus exalt the Divine. This is what Kingdom Talk is, doing what is right for God and not for ourselves; right for our fellow humans not for our own glory, for the glory of God.

 

Unfetter

Luke 13:10-21

 

We find Jesus in the synagogue on the Sabbath, as a Rabbi one should not be surprised. There are other instances in which the authorities try to trick Jesus by presenting someone to be healed, but not in this case. She happened in and Jesus saw her and had compassion for her and cured her ailment that he described as being bound by Satan. We have an understanding that disease is not caused by someone sinning or their family sinning, but in the first century that was a common belief. (Sadly there are those today that uphold that same notion). In this scene Jesus is making it clear that he has the power to cure and heal her. There is a difference between healing and cure. Jesus will always provide healing, it may not be the miracle cure we desire, but we will be made whole by the Love. Cures take away all the sickness, and as humans we have discovered many cures for ailments that plague us, but there are also cures that are simply miracles. Thus when someone asks for prayers of healing, I always ask also for the miracles, for as you can see that is not beyond Jesus' love.

What I find more interesting in this piece of scripture is the metaphor Jesus uses to demonstrate that the woman should be healed on the Sabbath and the two small parables he states because of this interaction. Jesus reminds everyone that they would not leave their donkey or ox at the manger but would untie them and bring them to water even on the Sabbath. How much more would a daughter of Abraham deserve to not be fettered by Satan? This of course wins the argument hands down and leads Jesus to respond with the two parables that compare the Kingdom of God to small things.

The first is the mustard seed which everyone knew was a small seed and Jesus describes the mustard bush as a tree larger than normal as it would be home to many birds. The second is that of the leaven, the yeast, my favorite in part because I was a baker and pastry chef for years prior to seminary. In those days, yeast was known but it was not visible, as there were no microscopes, but the bakers kept the yeast alive as a sourdough. This makes me think of what we would use today for this parable, and I believe it would be a molecule as we cannot see molecules yet we have an understanding that they exist. Well the woman took the leaven and kneaded it into three measures of flour. Now that is not like three cups, but more like what a bakery would receive as a delivery rather than have as a recipe, making this even more astonishing. Why would Jesus share these parables after healing this woman? I believe there are many answers but one of the simplest is that we too get bound and fettered by emotions such as envy, fear, jealousy, etc., even if we are trying to harvest fruits of the Spirit. The good news is that we only need a small amount of the Spirit to grow the Kingdom of God in each of us.

Reading and studying this scripture I kept being reminded of my first two days at work at the Henion Bakery. I had worked for a few months in a bakery that had a lot of machines, and I was excited to work at this artisan "by-scratch" bakery. The first day I was shown what my responsibilities were and shadowed Dave my wonderful boss, as he demonstrated how the work. Much of the work I understood why and how to do the work, until it came to the second to last thing of the day. (The last thing is always to clean-up). It was to make the apple strudel; I was not intimidated by throwing the apples, sugar, flour, and spices into the bowl without measuring correctly, but by stretching the dough. I had made small strudels using phyllo dough from the grocery store, so I understood creating the many layers of dough with butter between to create the flaky crust around the apples, but I could not understand how he stretched a piece of dough I could fit in the palm of my hand at least 3 feet by 3 feet. It seemed he could go further, but the bench was only so deep. I was frightened. The next day went well until I got to stretch the dough; I could feel my anxiety raising stopping me from even starting. I was fearful of failing. I said to myself, "I have all the physical ability to do this task, I have faith in myself." Well the anxiety still fettered me, I was fearful of failing, not of doing it. I then realized that even if I failed I could learn and my new boss would not fire me. This anxiety of fear had stopped me in the past, but this time that small speck of love I felt, unburdened me from the fear and anxiety. To this day I go back to that moment when that type of anxiety and fear surfaces, reminding me it only takes a small speck of the invisible love to unfetter me. I stretched the small piece of dough very well that day. From a small blob to a great thin sheet that created a dozen or so of large pieces of apple strudel for the next day.

We will be bound by these negative emotions and greater demons, and the Kingdom of God will unbind us from if we allow God's love to grow within us, which only takes knowledge of that love, you do not even have to see it.

Milk & Honey

Deuteronomy 26:1-9

A ship's wheel, a ship's bell, and a ship's compass, were the items in my father's home office that were from his childhood home from Washington State. The rest of the items were all work related engineer drawings, books, and office equipment. I did not know much about the boat or for that matter much about my father's childhood and rearing. I did know it was my grandfather's boat named Frances, after his brother, the name my father bears as his middle name. I believe I even knew my grandfather had built the boat at an early age, and I would ponder about the enjoyment of boating on the Puget Sound. I grew up in Connecticut and learned boating and sailing at an early age on Long Island Sound and could only imagine boating as recreation. When I visited my family the second time I was old enough to go boating on the Puget Sound. I remember the great joy of fishing, gathering oysters, seeing a submarine, and the beauty of being out on the water. I could only imagine that was the reality for my grandfather and his family when he would take Frances out.

In this scripture the writer is preparing the Hebrews for their new promised land. This is a land that God will give them, deserving or not. The writer is keen in having them remember that they were slaves in Egypt and in chapter 24 they are to leave some sheaf for orphans, widows, and aliens. Ironically the aliens will end up being populated in part by the different people the Hebrews will remove from their promised land and this is written prior to them crossing the Jordan into the Canaan. It is clear that the Promised Land is a gift from God to these people and the writer is creating a ritual to remind them that it is a underserved gift. They are to take "the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest form the land that the Lord your God is giving you…" It is written prior to the occupation of Canaan, yet it reads through the generations and today, that God is giving us this land of Milk and Honey. I thus see this scripture speaking to those of us that receive abundance currently as receiving it from our Lord God. Then it tells us when they give thanks, we must state to God, in front of the priest, "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor…" The writer is referring to Joseph, but he does not have them state, "Joseph was my ancestor," nor were they to say, "my ancestor was chosen." Aramean is the term they are to state, which is a very generic term for people in the Middle East to Mesopotamia. Like European being used for Germans, English, French, and Basque, alike, or North Americans for Okies, Mexicans, Canadians and New Yorkers. This term can apply to the aliens as well the writer makes clear must also be remembered. This reminder not only were the chosen people slaves in Egypt they were a wandering people just like some of the people that will find their way into their new God given land with Milk and Honey.

I cannot help but think of the homeless that wander the streets of our cities and the migrant field workers that go from crop to crop living of meager wages and working in today's world. The writer was trying to remind those brining back their first fruits that they are not far removed from such a situation. Thus I was compelled to look back at my own ancestors. A few years ago, did I learn much more about the boat Frances. My childhood understanding of it being a boat for recreation was not correct. I knew my grandfather build it, but I imagined he built in a garage as he raised his children. Well he built it in his father's garage prior to his marriage to my grandmother and it was their only possession with a roof. Thus their honeymoon home was that boat. This was no yacht, this was not a houseboat, this was a small boat not much bigger then a van. They searched for their land and home, and eventually found acres they could afford because the house had burned down. Yet it had a tin roof shack that would provide shelter as they build on the old slab. They could have cows for milk and a garden for "honey," and beds that did not move with the waves. They eventually constructed a log cabin on the slab when their eldest son was in his late teens and started it, as money and time was tight for someone working in a smelter factory.

Thus when I thank God for what I have I look back at my ancestors and find that some were wandering the Puget Sound without a home, searching for their "promised land." I then realize that I must say my ancestor was a wandering Aremean, a wandering homeless, a wandering alien, a wandering Mexican, for all of these people are in the same boat. God gives us milk and honey not because we deserve it, and we must remember that our families have been where many families are currently, thus we give back in solidarity with those alien, poor, and wandering.