The Struggle for a Blessing

THE STRUGGLE FOR A BLESSING

Genesis 32:24-30; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Luke 18:1-8

Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go,

unless you bless me.”

Twenty years have passed since Jacob ran for his life from his brother Esau. Jacob had stolen his brother’s birthright blessing. Jacob is filled with anxiety, but before he comes face to face with his brother, Jacob must come face to face with God.

This mysterious midnight wrestling match augurs what struggling with God is like—it is a struggle for a blessing; a struggle for one’s very life. Jacob’s struggle with God is not his alone. The entire faith community of Israelites is also in an intense wrestling match with God at this time.

We, too, fiercely struggle with God at different times in our lives, and at the end of the struggle, we are, as Jacob was, forever changed.

For Jacob, his name was no longer Jacob…and he walked with a limp thereafter. Like Jacob, following our wrestling with God, we go forward, blessed—wounded perhaps, but changed forever.

I could tell you about wrestling with God; I have had my own encounters. But this week being what it was, losing Vicki, I wanted to bring to you something very different this morning…something that would be so pleasing to and so like Vicki who knew how to hear the powerful word of God not simply read, but really cracked open, spilled out, and soaked up.

The following excerpt is based taken from American Christian author, Frederick Buechner, and it is based on our Genesis reading from the Hebrew Bible. During this dramatic reading, I challenge you to put yourself at the river Jabbok’s edge; struggle, with Jacob, for a blessing, God’s blessing. I hope that you will be inspired this morning as you experience Buechner's account of Jacob's wrestle, which is taken from his book, The Son of Laughter.[1]

Out of the dark someone leaped at me with such force that it knocked me onto my back. It was a man. I could not see his face. His naked shoulder was pressed so hard against my jaw I thought he would break it. His flesh was chill and wet[,] as the river.

He was the god of the river.

·      My bulls had raped him.

·      My flocks had fouled him and

·      My children [had] pissed on him.

He would not let me cross [the river] without a battle. I got my elbow into the pit of his throat and forced him off. I threw him over onto his back.

His breath was hot in my face as I straddled him. My breath came in gasps. Quick as a serpent he twisted loose, and I was caught between his thighs. The grip was so tight I could not move.

He had both hands pressed to my cheek. He was pushing my face into the mud, grunting with the effort. Then he got me on my belly with his knee in the small of my back. He was tugging my head up toward him. He was breaking my neck.

He was not the god of the river. He was Esau.

He had slain all my sons. He had forded the river to slay me. Just as my neck was about to snap, I butted my head upward with the last of my strength and caught him square. For an instant his grip loosened and I was free. Over and over we rolled together into the reeds at the water's edge.

We struggled in each other's arms. He was on top. Then I was on top. I knew that they were not Esau's arms. It was not Esau. I did not know who it was. I did not know who I was. I knew only my terror and that it was dark as death. I knew only that what the stranger wanted was my life.

For the rest of the night we battled in the reeds with the Jabbok roaring down through the gorge above us. Each time I thought I was lost, I escaped somehow.

There were moments when we lay exhausted in each other's arms the way a man and a woman  lie exhausted from passion. There were moments when I seemed to be prevailing. It was as if he was letting me prevail. Then he was at me with new fury. But he did not prevail.

For hours it went on that way. Our bodies were slippery with mud. We were panting like beasts. We could not see each other. We spoke no words. I did not know why we were fighting. It was like fighting in a dream.

He outweighed me, he out-wrestled me, but he did not overpower me. He did not overpower me until the moment came to overpower me. When the moment came, I knew that he could have made it come whenever he wanted. I knew that all through the night he had been waiting for that moment.

He had his knee under my hip. The rest of his weight was on top of my hip. Then the moment came, and he gave a fierce downward thrust. I felt a fierce pain.

It was less a pain I felt than a pain I saw. I saw it as light. I saw the pain as a dazzling bird-shape of light.

·      The pain's beak impaled me with light.

·      It blinded me with the light of its wings.

I knew I was crippled and done for. I could do nothing but cling now. I clung for dear life. I clung for dear death. My arms trussed him. My legs locked him. For the first time he spoke.

He said, "Let me go." The words were more breath than sound. They scalded my neck where his mouth was touching.

He said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking."

Only then did I see it, the first faint shudder of light behind the farthest hills. I said, "I will not let you go."

I would not let him go for fear that the day would take him as the dark had given him. It was my life I clung to. My enemy was my life. My life was my enemy. I said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

Even if his blessing meant death, I wanted it more than life.

"Bless me," I said. "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

He said, "Who are you?"

There was mud in my eyes, my ears and nostrils, my hair. My name tasted of mud when I spoke it. "Jacob," I said. "My name is Jacob."

"It is Jacob no longer," he said. "Now you are Israel. You have wrestled with God and with men. You have prevailed. That is the meaning of the name Israel."

I was no longer Jacob. I was no longer myself. Israel was who I was. The stranger had said it.

I tried to say it the way he had said it: Yees-rah-ail. I tried to say the new name I was to the new self I was.

I could not see him. He was too close to me to see. I could see only the curve of his shoulders above me. I saw the first glimmer of dawn on his shoulders like a wound.

I said, "What is your name?" I could only whisper it.

"Why do you ask me my name?"

We were both of us whispering. He did not wait for my answer. He blessed me as I had asked him.

I do not remember the words of his blessing or even if there were words. I remember the blessing of his arms holding me and the blessing of his arms letting me go. I remember as blessing the black shape of him against the rose-colored sky.

I remember as blessing the one glimpse I had of his face. It was more terrible than the face of dark, or of pain, or of terror. It was the face of light.

No words can tell of it. Silence cannot tell of it. Sometimes I cannot believe that I saw it and lived but that I only dreamed I saw it. Sometimes I believe I saw it and that I only dream I live.

Amen.

October 20, 2013
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

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[1] Buechner, Frederick. The Son of Laughter. HarperOne. 1994.

Wrangling With Words

WRANGLING WITH WORDS

JEREMIAH 29:1, 4-7; 2 TIMOTHY 2:8-15; LUKE 17:11-19

“Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words,

which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.”

The other day we condo owners received a 10-page treatise of the new rules and regulations for living at our condo complex. The document was accompanied by a semi-legal looking form that we have to sign and return by a particular date; our signature states that I have “received, read, understand, and will abide by the Rules and Regulations,” which in my estimation seek to take away my inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Haven’t signed it, yet. However, if I don’t sign the acknowledgment form and “return it within two weeks of receipt, it will be considered a rules violation and fines will be levied accordingly.”

Some of the highlights:

·        Barbecue grills need to be neatly covered when not in use.

·        Application for flower gardens must be in writing to the Board.

·        Curtains and drapes must be of neutral color as seen from the outside of the building.

·        12 regulations regarding pets, plus 10 sub-points, including

o   Pets must be confined to the pet owners’ unit and must not be allowed to roam free, [they must be] tethered.

o   Pets may not be left unattended on patios or balconies.

o   All pets outside the unit must be restrained by a leash no longer than 6 feet long or placed in an animal carrier. (I asked about this, and the association president said people were unhappy about pet paw prints on their cars.]

o   Photographs of pets must be submitted to the property manager.

o   No pet shall be allowed to become a nuisance or create any unreasonable disturbance—

§  Unruly behavior that causes personal injury or property damage;

§  Pets in common areas who are not under the complete physical control of a human companion;

§  Pets [that] are conspicuously unclean or parasite infested—does this go for human companions too?

§  First there is a written warning then the fines start at $100 and go up from there.

What I want to know is, Are the pet police going to be patrolling all the time? Will they take my cat to the slammer and make me post bail to get her out? Do I have to pay per paw print on a car hood—and are they going to paw print our cats so they can identify which one walked on someone’s car? And how about those unruly gas grill covers—are we going to take pictures of them, too, and submit them, so that when one escapes and roams free in common areas or becomes messy they can identify the serious criminal and fine its owner.And the drapes? Do we have to apply to the board if we want something other than beige or white? Somebody stop me! Please!

I think I have a problem.

PASTOR TIMOTHY HAD A PROBLEM—well, he had many problems! But just to mention a few—

Ø  Paul, Timothy’s father in the faith, his mentor, THE expert in all things gospel, was in prison in Rome as a serious criminal;

Ø  And Timothy was stuck in Ephesus with an out-of-control church on his hands;

Ø  The church in Ephesus was in major trouble:

o   there was heresy,

o   there were false teachers,

o   there were church members—especially women—being sucked in by a pseudo-doctrines.

WHAT A MESS! Get out the 76 Trombones because there’s trouble in River City. Heresy has found a home in Ephesus. The heresy wasn’t blatant, like teachings that cut to the heart of the nature of God and of Christ—like denying Christ’s divinity.

The Ephesian heresy was much more subtle, and perhaps that was why it was such a deep threat to the church. The false teachers were actually members of the church, which makes the infiltration that much more dangerous and sinister. In a large nutshell, the church in Ephesus was being destroyed by insiders who were teaching “a form of aberrant Judaism with Greek/Gnostic tendencies that overemphasized the law [of Moses] and under-emphasized Christ and faith,”[1] In other words, they were bastardizing the gospel. And not only that:

Ø  they talked a lot about Jewish myths and genealogies as having basis in truth; 

Ø  the rituals of mosaic law were important, but folks shouldn’t “ let them get in the way of your sinful nature outside of the temple”;

Ø  they downplayed the importance and sanctity of marriage;

Ø  Greed was good (Gordon Gecko was apparently a member of this church);

Ø  (this is a big one): they taught that the resurrection had already come, which basically means that no longer need they look forward to Christ’s second coming and the resurrection of the dead!

Ø  (perhaps the biggest problem of all): “the false teachers were so immersed in speculative controversies that they neglected the very core of the Christian faith”[2]—which is laid out in full view in v 8:

“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel—”

The false teachers were spending all their time “wrangling over words!”  Instead of preaching the gospel, they pursued their own convenient agendas by engaging in semantic speculation and vague theories, now that kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore right?

The Ephesian Heresy was extremely destructive because:

Ø  the house churches scattered around the city were vulnerable;

Ø  the teachers and teachings deceived many women into being abused sexually, physically, and emotionally;

Ø  it brought ruin to the faith of new believers,

Ø  it encouraged people to walk hungrily—and happily—into temptation.

Some rules are meant to be broken; some rules are meant to be obeyed; some rules are downright asinine, but no rule is a replacement for, or better than, the truth and the truth of a Christian’s life was, is, and always will be Jesus Christ raised from the dead.  This was Paul’s gospel; it was Timothy’s gospel, and let it be our gospel, too.

Without the gospel—the same one that Paul suffered for and Timothy struggled against heretics to uphold; without Christ’s love, rightly received, understood and abided by, faith can be just a bunch of rules and regulations, points and sub-points, a “wrangling over words, which does no good but “only ruins those who are listening.” This wrangling we sometimes get involved in does nothing to lead us to “obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory” (2 Tim 2:10).

Listen to Paul, identify with Timothy, and “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). This week as we go about your inalienable rights, let’s ask ourselves, What is my gospel? I pray that our gospel will be centered on “remember[ing] Jesus Christ, raised from the dead.” Christ is the very truth of God made flesh to dwell among us. He is our Savior, and he came to teach us the way to live and love, the way to grow and give, the way to die and be raised from the dead…so that

§  If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

§  If we endure, we will also reign with him.

The living Word of Truth can never be ruled or regulated, neither can it be chained nor imprisoned. Thanks be to God for the untethered Gospel of Jesus Christ that is ours today. Amen.

October 13, 2013

First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME

The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

              

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[1] Wilson, Dr Ralph F. Introduction to 1 and 2 Timothy. JesusWalk Bible Study Series @ www.jesuswalk.com.

[2] Ibid.

Sweepings of Wheat

SWEEPINGS OF THE WHEAT

Amos 8:1-7; Luke 16:1-13

“…for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation

than are the children of light.”

In the words of Amos, “Be Silent! Hear this” (Amos 8:3b, 4a): the Parable of the Unjust Steward is probably the most mystifying parable that Jesus ever told. And considering that a parable is a story told about earthly things to explain heavenly things, this is one’s a puzzling pocket of prose, even to the biblical scholars.

Perhaps you noticed these lines as I read the scripture to you…

·        His master commended the dishonest manager—v 8;

·        The children of this age are shrewder in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light—v 8;

·        And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth—v 9.

There does not seem to be a whole lot of good news there—unless you’re looking for permission to cheat others out of their own money—

I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s more cheatin’ goin’ in this here parable than there is in a country-western song:

·        Getting something you shouldn’t get;

·        Taking something that’s not yours;

·        Fooling someone who trusts you;

·        Covering your own ___________ (fill in the blank).

Jesus’ parable has quite a twist-and-turn twang of its own:

·        Getting something for nothing;

·        Selling something goods as great goods;

·        Take advantage of the poor… and of the rich;

·        Want—always—more and more and more;

·        Seek—always—the best for yourself;

·        Gain power no matter the cost; all the while

·        Think we’re fooling God by acting the part of a faithful steward, when all the time we’ve been stealing him blind.

Talk about having a bad attitude!

Now, if we flip quickly over to Amos, who prophesied about 700 years before Jesus was born, we find the exact same attitude alive and well in the land of Israel. I’m looking particularly at verses 5 and 6.—from “When will the new moon be over” to “selling the sweepings of the wheat.”

We live in the mix of a mega-machine society that grumbles the same gripes and devises the same schemes as the one in ancient Israel:

·        “When will worship be over, so that we can get back to work?”

·        “Let’s charge higher interest rates and levy ‘membership’ fees on credit recovery offers.”

·        “We can charge double or triple if we call our product ‘new’ or ‘organic’ or ‘local.’”

·        “The poor will never see it for what it really is.”

“Be silent! Hear this:” God sees exactly what’s going on this world whether it’s the seventh century, the first century or the twenty-first century, and God is not confused, neither is God amused.

Let me retell you the parable in parallel:

God created humanity to be the managers of his creation and all that is in it. God sees that generation after generation is squandering his riches. As each person dies and stands before God, we are asked, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because your time to die is near. Then we say to ourselves, What will I do, now that God is about to take my life away from me?

My body is weak and worn, my sins and failures are visible—I cannot hide how I have lived. I know what to do! With the little time I have left before I die, I will do what I can to prove my repentance so that I God in his mercy might welcome me into heaven.

So, taking an account of our lives and failures, one by one, we look at our debt and ask, “How much do I owe God?” And we see that the answer is, “A great deal more than we could ever pay.” Still we make what amends we can according to the teachings of Jesus—that is, to lighten the burdens of the needy and poor.

We look at the next sin—“how much do I owe?” and the answer is, “More than I can pay, so I must lighten the burden of one sinned against. And God will commend us because we realized our sin and did everything we could before our lives are over…

The same way the cheaters and beaters of this world are shrewd and prudent with the ways they wheel and deal in this world, so Christians must be as prudent—committed and resourceful in obeying the laws of God. When we live our lives not for what we can get in this world but for what awaits us in heaven, we are as prudent as the dishonest manager: looking to the future and securing a loving welcoming relationship when this part of the journey’s over.

We cannot have the best of both worlds’ riches. Build up yourselves for the biggest basket of summer fruit that never rots because heaven is heaven and earth is not—the message is still, Rot not!

All of us at one time or another have been sold a bill of goods—and we all know how it feels when we find out we’ve been cheated or lied to or fooled. God feels the same way, except that God is not fooled! God is well aware when we tell him he is first in our lives yet give him only what little is left over after we’ve attended to everything else that makes us busy—God knows the difference between the finest grain and the sweepings of the wheat.

This parable asks the children of the light—Christians—to sit down and take an accounting of our lives. How much do you and I owe God? How much does this congregation owe God?

We are the benefactors of a tremendous amount of money from the Bartlett Trust each year, and the money is being spent wisely, prudently, that’s true. But are we taking the gift for granted, not thinking about the fact that someone else has provided it, that we do not have to earn the money, raise the money, provide the money out of our own pockets to repair the many parts that come with an 180 year old building.

We are so very blessed to have such wonderful gifts…yet, yet, YET, how has each of us shown our gratitude to God for the many blessings we have received…are we giving God only sweepings of the wheat, that is, the remnants of our lives, our gratitude and our attention, when we should be doing, giving, showing so much more?

The old Jewish writers tell us of a certain avaricious Rabbi who was very anxious to invest his wealth to the best advantage. A friend undertook to do this for him. One day the Rabbi asked the name of the investment from which he was assured he would receive the highest interest. His friend answered, “I have given all your money to the poor.”[1]

God makes an investment in each of us every single moment of every day, in every single note of every song we sing, in every single cent of every dollar we have. How important, how eternally important, it is for us, if we are truly children of the light, to live not for today in this world, but for tomorrow in the next.

Today is a basket of ripe summer fruit; it will not last. Tomorrow is the hope of heaven, and the owner of it all will ask for an accounting of our management. We have Jesus to teach us about being good stewards of his church and our hearts—both of which call for prudence.

“Prudence is in [man] what providence is in Almighty God. Its great characteristic is that it keeps its eye on what is coming; it looks forward to the future that really awaits us.

Be Silent; hear this: If we live our lives for God, if we practice our faith truthfully before God, God will not give us the sweepings of wheat that we rightfully deserve but will gladly bestow the riches of his heaven. Thanks be to God for the sweet wheat of salvation! Amen.

September 22, 2013

First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME

The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

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[1] HJ Wilmont Buxton, MA. Biblical Illustrator.

A Desperately Seeking God

A DESPERATELY SEEKING GOD

Exodus 32:7-14; Luke 15:1-10

“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.”

You may know that Tom Sullivan, among other things, is a world champion wrestler; he’s noted in the Wrestling Hall of Fame for 187 wins in a row. His life story so far is told in a 1982 movie called, “If You Could See What I Hear.” The film is dated, for sure, yet if you can get past the long, curly hair on the men, that is; the plaids with prints and bell-bottom jeans, you’ll find a parable of promise that is timeless.

Sullivan lost the first 16 wrestling matches of his career, with a total time in the ring of 2:43! His coach was exasperated with him. “Sullivan,” the coach said, “Go out there and do the best job possible, and try not to be dead.” In this 17th match, Sullivan’s opponent was a Russian man, big, bruising and brawny; his name was Asimov. And Sullivan was doing as everybody expected: losing--badly. Then he remembered what his coach had said, “Do the best job possible, and try not to be dead.”

What you may not know was that Tom Sullivan is blind—a fact that even he didn’t know until he was 8 years old! Half dead, Tom reached up and … popped out one of his eyeballs—a prosthetic eye, of course! He threw it down on the mat. He shouted at the Russian, “Stop! Stop!” and the Russian bellowed, “WHY?”

Tom replied, “Because I’ve dropped my eye!” The rugged Russian looked down and saw the eyeball lying on the mat, and promptly released his lunch. That was the end of the match. The record books record the event as “Sullivan over Asimov by default.”[1] Yet, Sullivan recalls it this way, “That was the day I learned to turn my disadvantage into my advantage."

Every person in the world has a disadvantage, some kind of handicap. There are all kinds of handicaps for all kinds of people:

·        some disadvantages are blatant—physical restrictions and deformities,

·        others are subtle, secret, seductive—addictions, mental illness, diminishments;

·        others are downright bizarre—and they often get turned into reality TV.

No one has to “be dead” in their handicap, no one has to be lost. Why not? Because we have in our lives, as close to us as the breath in our lungs, the Spirit of a God desperately seeking us. No one has to remain lost in some treacherous wilderness;

If you’re not sure of the way out, the first thing to do is to stop walking farther into it! Get a hold of your feet! No one has to wait until life’s big broom comes along and uncovers you embedded deep in the dirt; If you’re in a hole, stop digging! Drop your shovel! If you’re being pummeled by a Russian wrestler named Asimov, well…well…don’t throw your eyeball at him, but don’t keep fighting the battles on his terms. Stop! Stop! Admit you’re lost!

That’s one thing those frisky Pharisees in the scripture today were NOT about to do. They would not admit they were lost; they would much rather cast aspersions on the sinners, tax collectors and Jesus. Look at verse 2: tell me what you hear in there: The Pharisees and scribes—they think they’re winners, but they’re whiners! They think they’re great law-abiders, but they’re nothing more than grumblers! They may know the law inside and out, but they do not see what Jesus hears. They were lost and they did not know it.

The tax collectors, the sinners—they’re the ones who knew how to turn their disadvantage into their advantage: they heard the words of hope; they accepted the invitation from Jesus to sit down, eat together, and learn about their God from the master. Jesus could see—and hear—what was going on all around him—the whining and the wondering; the grumbling and the gazing—As he always did, he used the opportunity to teach ALL of them. “This is the nature of God,” he said to them, “in words you can understand.” Jesus talks to them about things they value, and then masterfully turns the disadvantage of being lost into the advantage of being found.

No matter what your situation is, no matter how “lost” you are; how bleak the horizon; how blinding the solution, turn to God; ask God to show you the way “to do your best job possible, and not be dead.”

Even a little sparrow knows how to turn a disadvantage into an advantage. On Friday morning, Stella managed to get in the house with a sparrow. The little bird escaped the little gray jaws of death and flew onto the top of the laundry-room doorway. Stella, meanwhile, was spinning around on the carpet below, trying to climb the walls, grumbling and whining and complaining the whole time.

I reached for the trembling bird, but she flew away, all around the room. But, she came back and landed on the doorway again. Slowly I reached up, closer, closer; she did not move. I didn’t really think I had a chance of getting her…it’s not like I am a bird whisperer, or anything like that…  Gently I took the bird in my hand—she did not fight me…

·        not a flutter,

·        not a peck,

·        not a tremble

·        and then she was free—the way God created her to be.

Better to be enfolded in the gentleness of a loving hand than gored in the mouth of a merciless cat. God has a tender, personal concern for us: we are lost sheep in the midst of wolves; but know this: the shepherd is coming for us—look at verse 5: “And when he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders.” As often as we have heard this parable, have you ever realized that we are not in the role of the searcher? That role is God’s.

We are the lost object—lost not in the sense of not knowing where we are – though that could also be the case—but in the underdog role of being the object of another’s search. That is, we are lost TO someone, who is, I can assure you, seeking us. That someone is our desperately seeking God. And God will not stop seeking you and me, until God finds us. God sent his son

·        to find us,

·        to save us;

·        to turn our disadvantage of being

o   the lost,

o   the scorned,

o   the sinful,

o   the blind

o   the grumbling

into being the found—over each one of us there is much rejoicing in heaven—and on earth—

Whatever your disadvantage…make God your advantage. Use God, include him in every part of your life, worship and praise him—yeah, you can even complain to him, throw down your eyeball before him but … but … pick it up again—those things don’t impress God very much. Get on with your life in the Lord, turn to him. God knows how to turn your disadvantage to his advantage—in the process we learn that It is God’s intention-- and indeed the reason he created each one of us— to be one of those saints whom we meet  in school, in the choir, on the street, in the store, in church, by the sea, in the house next door; whether rich or poor, advantaged or disadvantaged, God means for each one of us to be one of his saints, too!

Isn’t it amazing—the blind can see, the deaf can hear, the lame can walk, sinners can become saints—all because we have a desperately seeking God,

·        who will not stop,

·        who will not rest,

·        who will not give up on us

·        who will wrestle for our soul with any devil that appears

until all are safely home again… and our names are written forever in the win column, each of us living in God’s great hall of fame: heaven. Let’s rejoice and say, Amen.

September 15, 2013

The First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME

The Rev Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

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[1] YouTube. “Tom Sullivan”

Places of Honor

PLACES OF HONOR

Jeremiah 2:4-13; Luke 14:1, 7-14; Hebrews 13:1-2

“But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’”

Had an interview for a part-time job last Monday afternoon. One of the questions the interviewer asked me was, “How would people you know describe you?” Oh, no! I thought, “Depends on whom you ask!” What I said was, “I think they might describe me as, uh, friendly…and well-read…and usually cheerful…and that I have a pretty good sense of humor.”

The job I applied for was as hostess/seater at Robert’s Maine Grille in Kittery. I had my first shift on Friday, and as far as I know I’m still employed. I was fearful that the hardest part for me was going to be, because of my advanced age, all the walking around and up and down a significant set of stairs. I was worried about my body holding up, when I really should have been concerned with my brain!

I have to learn all the table numbers, upstairs and downstairs, and the layout has some logic to it, but I haven’t quite got it locked and loaded in my advanced-age brain.

Yet, that was not the most challenging part of my first shift; the hardest part was remembering the table number once I got to the section at which I was supposed to seat the guests! Was it 302 or 303?

Another thing I’ve learned is that if I bring folks to one table, and they spy an open table on the terrace or by a window, they inevitably want to move to the “better seats.” Very humbling experience, since I’ve been known to do that myself!

How fortuitous it us for us, then, that this week’s gospel lesson should be about where people are supposed to sit. In Jesus’ day, there was a seating chart, so to speak. Seats were not numbered like in our restaurants; and the best seats were not near the window or on the terrace. The best seats in the house were those closest to the host, and the most honored position of all was the seat on the left side of the host. Your status in society was reflected in your proximity to your host at the meal.

When Jesus noticed how the wedding guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them a parable that resonates with us today when it comes to wanting the best seat in the house.

Think of all the places in our lives where we have assigned seats: in school, at the theater or concerts, at restaurants, on airplanes, at wedding receptions, sports stadiums, and…at church. Do you know that some folks will not even visit a church because they are afraid they will sit in someone’s seat? Oh, we church people do have a reputation!

Someone once said, “People are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited…until you try to sit in their pew.” Someone else said, “People are funny. They want the front of the bus, the middle of the road, and the back of the church.” The most dreaded seat in the house at church is the front middle pew, right smack in front of the preacher.

There was a couple who never missed a Sunday at church, even in the summer, on holiday weekends, and when they were away on vacation. One time on vacation, they found a church in the area that looked nice so they decided to go there.

The woman liked to sit in the front pew—unusual, I know. So, on Sunday they entered the little community church and sat down in the front pew, where all the deacons sat every week. The usher, noticing this territorial infraction, walked down front and said to the couple, “I’m sorry; this pew is saved.” And the husband replied, “So are we.”

On the surface this parable may seem to be saying that we should not jockey for the best seat in the house. Nor is the lesson about how not to embarrass yourself at a wedding—we’ve all seen, I am sure, people who were absent from school that day! This parable is actually about living humbly so that Christ may exalt us when he calls us to join him in the heavenly feast at eternity’s table.

Are you saved? If Jesus were interviewed about us, how would Jesus describe us, the way we lived our faith?  Could he only say, “Friendly, well read, and has a good sense of humor? A good golfer or knitter? A great cook? A talented quilter? Those things are okay for this world, but to move up higher, to the better place, we need to attend to a deeper place, the place where we stand with Jesus or without Jesus. Are we saved?

Jesus humbled himself when he came down to earth to walk where we walk, to feel what we feel, and to sit where we sit. If you came to church one morning and saw that Jesus was sitting in your pew, would you want to say to him, “Excuse me, Jesus, but this pew is saved?!?”

Jesus notices us, you know. He hears what we say, and he observes how we are. He knows why we do what we do, even if we do not understand it ourselves. The Lord knows that beneath our public persona, deep down, we are like the uninvited guests to the wedding feast.

We are the poor, for we never seem to be satisfied with what we have. We are the crippled, our hearts are handicapped. We are the lame, paralyzed in place, with a faith is going nowhere. We are the blind, hidden flaws are obstacles on our faith walk. We have no means to repay Jesus for the sacrifice he made on our behalf. Yet, yet, we have his promise that if we believe in him, trust him, follow him, eat and drink him, we ARE saved.

Jesus is the Host of heaven and earth, and he invites us to live with him because he loves us. “Come to my table,” he says. “I have prepared a feast for you.”  Be glad in the good news, friends. Jesus invites us daily to move up higher, to a better place for each of us: places of honor at his feet in the throne room of heaven. Amen.

September 1, 2013

First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME

The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

Body Bend

Jeremiah 1:4-10, Luke 13:10-17

“She was bent over and quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment?

In last week’s passage from Luke, Jesus announced that he had not come to earth to bring peace but division. Our passage today gives us a taste of how bitter that divided place can be. The rigidly religious Pharisee stands up next to a “daughter of Abraham,” a woman literally bent over for so long that she could not possibly stand up straight even if she wanted to.

Between the one who was bent and the one who was unbending, Jesus stands, in the divided place: ready to teach, set to heal, and good to go—all upon the Sabbath day. He heals the body-bent woman, and the very first thing she does is rise up, and the very next thing she does is praise God for this totally unexpected and unbeckoned goodness.

The entire crowd witnessed the healing, and the very first thing they did was rejoice, and the very next thing they did was rejoice even more. “Just look at all the wonderful things Jesus is doing right before our very eyes!”

Any of you ever had back trouble? I started having back trouble at 11 years old, the result of a gym-class game of dodge ball gone awry. A few years ago I had a bout with sciatica—a crippling pain in the lower back. I had to hold perfectly still; I did not want to move an inch; if I moved, I believed I might break. No position was comfortable.

About 80 percent of the adults in the U.S. have been bothered by back pain at some point. More than half said the pain severely limited their daily routine for a week or longer, and 88% said it recurred throughout the year. Lower-back pain disrupts many of the normal activities of life: [sleep, work, weight, sex]. Although lower-back pain is the fifth most common reason people go to a doctor, many of those with more prolonged pain don't see a health-care professional because of cost concerns or because they do not think professional care can help them.[1]

After 18 years of suffering, the bent-over woman had probably given up on doctors and medicines, too. Notice, however, that she had not given up on God, for she was there in the temple on the Sabbath.

For a moment now, let’s put ourselves in her body. Bend over your knees and look down. What do you see? Turn your head to the left; to the right. How far can you see? Remain bent over; now try to look up here at the pulpit. Not easy, is it? Terribly uncomfortable, I know; almost impossible to do . . . if you cannot—or will not—bend.

Just think: here was this woman who could see only about 4 square feet of ground beneath her, and she was in the presence of the greatest healer who ever walked the face of this earth; yet, she never asked for his help. It was Jesus who called to her! [You can sit up now.]

When the woman brought her body, bent, to Jesus, when she gave herself and her condition to him completely, the Lord touched her and proclaimed, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment” (Luke 13:12b). The woman stood up straight, and she praised God for the power in Jesus’ hands that changed her life.

How many of us have come here this morning with a body, mind or spirit bent under the weight of a constant condition? Is there a problem, an edgy situation, a hurt, a heart break, an anger, an empty nest, a grudge, an illness, a spirit of pain and unrest that is crippling you? Has this “ailment” reached the point of spilling over its boundaries, disrupting the normal aspects of your life?       

Do you believe that there is nothing that can be done for you; that there’s no one who can help you? Have you forgotten all the wonderful things Jesus can do for you?

To the bent-over woman, Jesus said, “Come to me”; he calls to us as well. “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

And what is this rest? It is Sabbath, the day that God proclaimed holy. The author Alice Walker said, “Anybody can observe the Sabbath, but making it holy surely takes the rest of the week.”[2] There is healing in the presence of the holy; there is holiness in the presence of the healer.

In the Body of Christ, we are able to be in the presence of the healer at any and every moment.

So what does that mean? It means we bend but do not break; it means we live in faith and hope, not in rigidity and religion. It means Sabbath, and what better day is there than the Sabbath to heal and be healed?

Friends, Christ is the one who offers his people and his church the miracles of new beginnings, no matter what ails us. We may be bent over, struggling, feeling invisible and alone, but we are also the sons and daughters of God. Praise God! For God gave us the Son who came to set us free from whatever divides body and soul.  

Let’s fill ourselves from the fountain of God’s grace and rejoice at all the wonderful things Christ is doing for us, his beloved Body, bending before him, knees bowed in thanksgiving for Christ’s gift of new beginnings. Amen.

August 25, 2013

First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME

The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor

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[1] Consumer Health Care Report

[2] Sermon Seeds. www.UCC.org.