Last Sunday the theme of our lectionary readings was the abundance of God. This week,
in light of Jesus' instructions to his disciples and Paul's encouragement to find contentment in whatever situation
we are in, it would seem we are being asked to consider in light of that, how very little we need of all the other
accouterments of life to be complete. We begin with the whole idea of "public acclaim" as we consider
David's coronation as the second King of Israel as recorded in the fifth chapter of Second Samuel.
His "acceptability" seems to accompany the people's recognition "Look, we are your bone and your
flesh." A regular guy, one of us, someone we can relate to…that's what it takes to be in. Everyone loves a
hometown hero, someone who came from our own ranks…who knows our system. At first it seemed amazing to me to think
that David accomplished all of that acclaim when he was only thirty years old. Do you remember what you thought
you knew when you were thirty? Who you thought you were at that age?
In reality it is not all that unusual in the Middle East even today. Mu'ammar Gadhafi came to power in Libya when
he was 27 years old. In 2009 he will celebrate his 40th year as the sole leader of Libya just like David. The late
King Hussein of Jordan was only 17 when he took the throne, which he kept over 46 years until his death in 1999.
Starting at an early age is not a guarantee of greatness, nor does it prohibit it.
But in verse 10 we find the true source of David's becoming greater and greater. The longevity of his reign was
not due to his political savvy, his military conquests, nor his great moral superiority but the fact that the Lord,
the God of hosts, was with him. It reiterates the concept of the promised blessing that comes with God's presence
found throughout Scripture.
That is what God wants more than anything else, to be with us. After all the recorded struggles of God's people
to attempt to find ways to be close to God throughout Biblical history, from the Tower of Babel through quests
for a true homeland and forced compliance to the Law, we discover at Advent how God picked the time and became
Emanuel…God with us. Remember that the "greatest commandment" for Jesus was not that we do this or do
that for God, but that we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he promised that if we
did this God would abide in us;…would be with us!
It seems so simple, so complete…and yet the core of all prophecy is the pronouncement that we have chosen other
resources instead in our attempts to gain power and happiness. And because prophetic words can threaten the security
of even the most devout people, prophets are seldom popular in their places of worship or in society as a whole.
At home and abroad, Jesus and all of his disciples who came after him, encountered resistance as they sought to
proclaim God's sufficiency and relieve affliction.
One of the first obstacles to overcome was always "public opinion." We have a demonstration of that in
our Gospel lesson today when Jesus comes "home." We all have a hometown - the place where we spent time
growing up, coming of age, discovering who we were meant to be. For some of us it was a wonderful experience; for
others, the memories of that time and place are difficult and painful. If you left that place, you know it is never
quite the same when you return. Sometimes welcomes are warm and wonderful, other returns are met with blank stares
or perhaps even hostility. "Jesus came to his hometown," found the people there were incredulous, even
going so far as to take offense at him, and there he invoked the old saying regarding prophets and their hometown
welcomes.
You've probably heard hundreds of sermons about how the people who think they know you best often have the hardest
time seeing through their own preconceptions and miss the opportunity to discover your true greatness? I want to
give that a slightly different spin. In truth, because of their lack of hospitality were told that Jesus was unable
to accomplish much there at all. Negativity and closed minds can be real deterrents to progress on any level, and
I think everyone has or will experience those kinds of days. Jesus' advice is what is really critical. Just shake
the dust off your feet and move on. Take nothing with you from the experience, least of all bitterness…as it will
only add to your burden and hold you back.
Sometimes "home" can be the most deadly place to go, and sometimes it can be the most damaging memory
to take with us into the future. One of the basic tenants of Twelve Step recovery programs is that a person trying
to "start over" can not go back to the same old circle of friends and relationships. That may at first
sound like a cruel judgment of former colleagues, and is often perceived as such, when in fact it holds a deeper
truth that is not judgmental at all. The reality is that it is hard for people to understand change that they don't
have a part in creating. Sometimes it is not only hard, it is impossible to go home. If you weren't there, you
weren't part of it, you didn't have that same experience, there is no way you can or should be expected to understand
it. Embracing that truth is very freeing for everyone!
So what limits our ability to experience life on a multitude of levels and thus free ourselves from this captivity?
Nothing but fear of losing our own position, which we have determined is our true source of power.
Barbara Brown Taylor writes of this gospel lesson: "The biggest truth this story tells us is that the community
of faith is one of Jesus' toughest audiences, especially when what he says offends us. We have our own channels
of power clearly marked and we are suspicious of people who operate outside of them. We believe we know what is
right and what is wrong and we do not welcome anyone who challenges our beliefs.
And yet God is dedicated to doing just that, because it is the only way to get us to believe in God more than we
believe in our own beliefs.
Jesus was not the only one God sent to shake us up. God is always sending people to disturb us--to wake us up,
to yank our chains, to set us on fire--because about the worst thing that can happen to us, religiously speaking,
is for us to hold perfectly still without changing a thing until we turn into fossils. God is not behind us, holding
us back. God is ahead of us, calling us forward. God is all around us, speaking to us through the most unlikely
of people, and God is within us seeking to help us to see those people for who they really are. The closer they
are to us, the less likely we are to hear them, but what a waste of God's resources, to ignore those who know us
best."
In the aftermath of Katherine Hepburn's death many of her films have been showing on television. In "On Golden
Pond" Jane Fonda is talking to her mother about how difficult it is for her to return to see her parents as
she and her father do not get along well. "I'm in charge in L.A.," she says, "but here I'll always
be a little fat girl on Golden Pond." Such a statement belies the fact that I am never really "in charge"
while I remain a slave to some former memory or allow others to hold me to it. One of the great gifts of therapy
is the discovery that it isn't always just in the perceptions of those around us we find our disorder, but more
often in the perceptions we have of ourselves.
This passage is about being true to myself. All the baggage and securities I wrap around myself to somehow be someone
or something I am not. To protect myself from the criticism and the pain of not being appreciated. Jesus effectively
reminds us that we are to leave them, and walk confident in the person that God knows we are.
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Paul reminds us that God's grace is sufficient even for the likes of sinners (2 Cor. 12.9). He made that confession
after pleading with God three times to remove "a thorn" of inconvenience that did not go away. He finally
found his freedom in an acceptance of his own strengths and limitations. Vulnerability is not defeat, and public
acclaim is not success. To preach the gospel is not necessarily about words. To perform miracles is not necessarily
about healing from illness.
To the world this is nonsense. Power and strength are worshipped by most people, and weakness is despised above
all things. The world teaches us to conceal our vulnerability, lest we be hurt, and it teaches us to hide our weaknesses,
lest we be taken advantage of. The world teaches us to camouflage our inadequacies with self-confidence, self reliance
and self assurance, so that we can build a heaven for ourselves here on earth. The world teaches us that we can
always help ourselves, that we can always do what we need to do on our own, and that all the answers we need we
can find right in ourselves. This is not only not true, it is also the same wisdom offered by the serpent who tempted
Adam and Eve. It is not the wisdom of God!
The Danish preacher and theologian, Soren Kierkegaard once said that the test of a good sermon is not that you
heard it, enjoyed it and went home to Sunday dinner afterwards, but that you heard it, were deeply disturbed by
it and were too sick at heart to eat anything afterwards! . . . . which makes things a little tricky if you happen
be the preacher, of course, because it is your neck that is on the line.
Each one of us knows the truth of that, both those of us who preach and those of you who hope to hear good preaching.
When it happens, and you find yourself either speaking or hearing the intrusive word the gospel can be, it has
a way of challenging everyone in the room down to the tips of their toes. It is not always comforting or comfortable
to hear good preaching. It can be a downright dis-comforting experience from both sides of the pulpit! - and, it
is what all of the readings for this week are all about.
God's sufficiency may not be our sufficiency…but in the end it is all we'll have and all we'll really need.
What does a preacher do in such times? What can he or she say that might make any difference to this impending
desolation of organized religion seems to be pretty well a foregone conclusion? What do you who keep the faith
expect of the people you call to stand in your pulpits in such extraordinary times? If ever there was a question
that was at the heart of ministry in these dark days of the church, that has got to be it.
Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet
among them.
In conclusion I would add the words of this famous prayer supposedly taken from the body of a fallen Confederate
soldier toward the end of the Civil War:
I asked for health that I might do greater things, I was given infirmity that I do might do better things... I
asked for riches that I might be happy, I was given poverty that I might be wise... I asked for power that I might
have the praise of men, I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.... I asked for all things that
I might enjoy life, I was given life that I might enjoy all things... I got nothing that I asked for but everything
that I hoped for. Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered. I am among all men most richly blessed.
May God help us to realize the same.
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