On a medical doctor's advice and on the advice of counsel, I try to keep as much distance as I can between me and such potential combustibility. However, one emotional accelerant to my mental state is people who manage to squander their inheritance. Drop this catalyst into conversation and you had better head for the hills before the reaction settles. Frankly, I cheer for the man who, in Jesus' story, buried his treasure. At least he did not blow it all. I am not a hard person. I can understand how not all of us are well suited to managing money, land, or the family business. Life can get us in over our heads. So, find someone who can take care of business, create an annuity, and get out of the way. Is this so much to ask? Certainly that would be my recommendation to the prodigal son -- time for career and financial counseling.
My wife knows better than to read newspaper articles to me about the latest poor, little, rich girl who has gone through her inheritance in a matter of months -- "Don't get me started." It is best not to bring up within my earshot the latest headline about how someone has gone through old money with newfangled notions -- "Don't get me started." The seething rage in me is set off when Civil War battlefields are encroached upon by housing developments. I register on the Richter scale when I see the loss of birds and bears to the inevitable results of a prolific disregard of the conditions of their divine inheritance.
As I approach the lectionary for this Sunday I am a little leery that this catalyst might end in some sort of cataclysm. Each of these texts in their own way reflect Paul's words that we are "... heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ -- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:17). Certainly, one way to blow the inheritance is not to recognize that you have one. There seems to be an endless supply of people included in the legal listings of those who have failed to claim their inheritance or who are missing in action. Much more is at stake here than how the pie will be divided or how high the lawyers' fees will be to sort things out: "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God" (Romans 8:19). The intentions of God will be stymied until we claim the inheritance that is ours. "... For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Romans 8:20-21).
If ever there was a man who has gone missing it was Jacob, after claiming his brother's inheritance and the blessing of their father. After all that has gone on, does he have a rightful claim to anything? Is he claimed by anyone? Tune in! The slaves in Jesus' parable feel they are in danger of losing their harvest/inheritance in spite of all the hard work that they have done. Surprisingly, Jesus does not recommend good council to take up their cause. As a matter of fact, Jesus recommends doing nothing and waiting. It sounds like a bad legal strategy to me. Jesus recommends against doing what any gardener knows needs to be done. The usual plan of action might not be the thing that would get one into the Garden of Eden where "the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!" (Matthew 13:43). I think I am ready for my own catalytic converter.
Genesis 28:10-19a
Scholars remind us that the Hebrew testament in large part was brought together
following the period of Babylonian exile. People found themselves in exile from their old
certainties. They believed while history had its ups and downs, the institutions of law and
religion and their faith in God would save them from falling into the same fate as other
nations. In a sense, as I look back over my life, America has gone through much of the
same experience. As a child, it was just assumed that we were number one and invincible
because of our sacred history that proceeds from glory unto glory and from Plymouth
Rock through July 4 up to now.
However, the exile was the time when it seemed that things were out of control and
beyond control. Having your most-honored institution trashed will do that to you. The
Hebrews had experienced the mocking of their most-sacred institution by foreigners and
even by their own children who tried to pass into the surrounding Babylonian culture that
certainly seemed a more solid reality than when their parents talked of the good old
days.
Much as Vietnam, Watergate, and the Clinton impeachment has put a dent in American
self-confidence, so the Hebrews were facing a crisis of faith and trust. Leslie Gelb,
formerly of The New York Times, wrote in 1991 of what had become of the
Washington DC: "Washington is largely indifferent to truth. Truth has been reduced to a
conflict of press releases and a contest of handlers. Truth is judged not by evidence, but
by theatrical performance. Truth is fear, fear of opinion polls, fear of special interests,
fear of judging others for fear of being judged, and fear of losing power and prestige.
Truth has become acceptance of untruths." Unhinged from the protective penumbra of
sacred history and like Jacob who is on the run, many in Washington DC are on the make
with little or no sense of the transcendent.
Like Jacob, many have in tough times, or in the chase of what they believe to be their
natural inheritance, engaged in behavior they would not normally have pursued. What is
it that has prompted people to engage in political and economic conduct that has lead to
Enron, the current housing crises, and to take shortcuts in public life that have led to
disastrous consequences? Like Jacob, whose name can be rendered, "he who supplants,"
many have been willing to supplant their usual loyalty to the law to gain what they
believe is their right. As with Jacob who is egged on by his mother, Rebekah, many
believe that empowered by their own cleverness they will be shielded from the
consequences of their acts. It is not to be for they bring pain and sorrow into our midst.
Jacob must be on the run and the sooner the better. One wonders if this is the end of the
story, because of Jacob's behavior the inheritance is now sacrificed to human perfidy. The
text eloquently describes the moment, "He came to a certain place and stayed there for
the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under
his head and lay down in that place" (v. 11). The reader ponders whether the sun has set
on Jacob's future as he yields to his weariness and lies down.
Imagine what a comfort this story must have been to those who have lived in exile. While
most of us cannot imagine what it is to be exiled in Babylon, we have more than a
passing acquaintance with what it is to feel like your children are mocking your
commitments as they pass into the allure of the surrounding culture. All married couples
have lived through times when the emotional distance between each other is hard to
overcome. Who has not had a knowing feeling that our nation is far from its potential of
living out its creed when acts of terror and torture are justified at the highest level? We
mourn the sense of communal commitment when pension funds disappear and insider
trading leaves most of us feeling like we are on the outside.
Jacob's story tells us this is not the final word over our lives. And the Lord stood beside
him and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the
land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be
like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to
the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in
your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will
bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have
promised you" (vv. 13-15).
It reminds me of what Martha said to Jesus when her brother Lazarus died, Martha said to
Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I
know that God will give you whatever you ask of him" (John 11:21-22). Even now God
is present and active. Times apart can be used to bring wisdom and understanding. God
has a way of intruding on our schemes to live as if we are not made in God's image.
Churches find that God has plans for them to grow in wisdom and stature. The United
Church of Christ, of which I am a member, says never put a period where God intends a
comma -- God is still speaking -- "even now."
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place -- and I did not
know it!" And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other
than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven" (vv. 16-17). Broken marriages,
parental struggles, church challenges, tough times can be the gateway to heaven. When
we remember where we are standing and who is standing with us we will not lose our
inheritance.
Romans 8:12-25
"We do not know what the future holds but we do know who holds the future." I would
expand this old saying somewhat further. While we do not know what the future holds we
do know what is being held out to us in the days to come. "I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us."
There is glory ahead, after all we are, "... children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ -- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him"
(Romans 8:17). Just don't blow it. Here Paul relies heavily on the family image of the
church as he addresses the Romans, "So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to
the flesh, to live according to the flesh" (v. 12). I often find the use of the family
metaphor for church as overdrawn and overused. The self-description of many
congregations as one big, happy family seems to hide misery as much as reveal the glory
of the church. Rather than enter into the kind of new family relationships that Jesus
advocated, we often seem stuck in the kind of relationships that seem to put our
inheritance at risk.
Like many families, we often presume too much about each other and do too little to free
each other from fixed roles that serve the interest of the community but not the
individual. We count on folks to fulfill the needs of the community more than their own.
We are not very good at fighting with each other. In order to avoid conflict we suppress
differences and minimize diversity. Unfortunately, like many families, we do not know
how to handle or confront abusive members. We have blamed victims rather than
acknowledge that when abuse arises in a congregation, we are all victims in need of
healing. Close knit, we have sometimes failed to see the face of God in those other than
the "family."
All of this tends to put at risk an inheritance that is ours by virtue of being a member of
the family of God. It is, according to Paul, to live according to the flesh. "For if you live
according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the
body, you will live" (v. 13). Elsewhere Paul describes the church as the body of Christ. In
attempting to elucidate the resurrection he writes to the Corinthians, "So it is with the
resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is
sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is
sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also
a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
In order to receive our in heritance we must be given a new heavenly body: We must
become part of a new body. This concept leaps beyond the intimate level of family
relations to direct us to consider what bodies I am a part of that might put my inheritance
at risk? Do I participate in organizations that make it easier for me to be a racist because
of their membership practices? Am I a part of a body of flesh that in its style and
ambience accepts the world as it is and mocks any alternative to things as they are -- a
political party, a corporation, a fraternal organization? Is my inheritance of a different
world at risk by getting and going along so that I can no longer imagine an alternative
world? Perhaps that is why the "whole creation is waiting with eager longing for the
revelation of the children of God" (v. 19).
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
In this parable, it is assumed that the harvest is coming. In a sense there is an inheritance
ahead. There can be no doubt about it for the sower uses good seed. It is clear that the
harvest will come. The question is what may dilute or diminish the harvest. What
happens next seems to be that nothing can be in doubt about unless one is prepared to
stay awake 24 hours a day in order to prevent the inevitable from happening. Certainly
there are those folks in life who just cannot help themselves as they are ready to pounce
on any hated imperfection that might crop up in their lives. Such hypervigilance cannot
prevent the usual crop of things that can come up.
Some churches are hypervigilant for any and all signs of conflict so they stand ready to
pounce at the very first sign of trouble. All they wind up doing is advertising that they
cannot handle conflict and they miss out on the harvest that might be garnered by
working the conflict through. Other churches stand on guard against any doctrinal
deviation from the norm. This often leaves them functioning out of head level with a
harvest of heresy trials and splinter groups rather than finding strength in listening to each
other. Others fear any sign of diversion from societal norms must be eliminated lest there
be no harvest. Yet, the story indicates that there will be a harvest.
The reality is that somebody is going to sneak in and get things out of plumb, "move your
cheese," and rearrange the day. The master has done nothing wrong here. The fact that
everyone was asleep, suggests the inevitable and natural. Quite naturally the slaves
wonder how these weeds could have cropped up after the master had sowed good seed.
The slaves have a plan to fix the "problem," though they seem to not have a clue as to
how all this has happened. I am no gardener or farmer but under most circumstances the
plan would seem to work. After all, the "problem" has been caught fairly early. They are
at a place where the problem is manageable. If things are allowed to go on who knows
where they might wind up and how far things could get out of hand?
However, this is not our problem to solve. Indeed it is less of a problem to be solved than
a reality to be lived. Indeed much of our efforts at uprooting the "weeds" actually leave us
worse off by putting the harvest at risk. "He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The
slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for
in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them' " (vv. 28-29). This
is a fact of life that is not to be overcome in this life but can only be resolved beyond this
life. "Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the
reapers, collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the
wheat into my barn" (v. 30).
The conclusion is inescapable -- the only thing left to do for the slaves is to live faithfully
with this undeniable reality. Only that will prevent them from blowing the
harvest/inheritance.
Application
There are several principles that can be deduced from a joint reading of these texts. One,
there is an inheritance and harvest that is coming that is not necessarily contingent on the
moral integrity or action of the recipient. Jacob is overtaken in flight from the
consequences of his actions. Paul's words clearly imply that there are some in the Roman
faith community that have been living more by the flesh than the Spirit. The master in
Jesus' story acts appropriately but nevertheless is confronted with weeds that have grown
up in his life. Second, there are actions that are conducive to receiving the inheritance and
actions that put the inheritance at risk. Jacob can remain on the run. The Romans can act
as if they are not heirs and fall back into a spirit of slavery to the flesh. Whatever actions
are taken there are consequences beyond the individual. The fulfillment of God's promise
is not only to Jacob but to all Israel and through them to the world. All of creation hangs
on the outcome of how Christians respond to their status as heirs. The action of the
master is performed not merely on his behalf but will shape the future of his entire
household. Any homiletical effort that leaves out any of these dimensions has left out
something that is integral to the telling of these stories.
Alternative Application
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. Many pastors find it hard to enter the pulpit
with a head full of scholarship but a heart full of trepidation at the prospect that such
scholarship might puncture the foundation of faith many of their parishioners have. The
explanation that Matthew has Jesus offer about his story in verses 37-43 gives somewhat
of an opportunity to bridge the gap between the head and the heart of the preacher.
Certainly, the explanation does not seem to entirely conform to the principles offered
above. The emphasis seems to be an elimination of the causes of sin and evildoers rather
than on how to live faithfully with such realities that do not seem to go away. Certainly
the explanation seems to be out of character for Jesus. Why is this parable explained as
opposed to such stories as the good Samaritan or the prodigal son? Are those stories so
obvious that we readily get their meaning?
This might be an opportunity for the preacher to talk about the ongoing effort to
understand the meaning of Jesus' words that goes back to the New Testament itself. In a
sense the explanation is its own alternative application of the Jesus' words in the context
of the Matthean community. Proclaiming that Jesus' words have been a source of
meaning and direction in a variety of contexts might usher in its own
inheritance/harvest.
Preaching The Psalm
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
The definition of a true friend is someone who knows all there is to know about you, and
still loves you. More than that, a true friend is always there for you. In the modern
vernacular, a true friend, knowing all there is to know about you, still "has your back."
Most people present a careful construct of themselves to the world. Most people maintain
a trove of secrets unknown, they think, to anyone but themselves. But a true friend
knows, and won't go away.
This is the kind of fealty we find in the description of God in this psalm. No matter where
this writer goes, God is there. God discerns every thought, knows every action, and is
aware of our vast capacity for self-delusion and untruth. God has a file on us that goes
way back. God knows it all and, incredibly, still loves us utterly and completely.
This is nothing short of amazing. It is, in fact, almost too much to bear. So, with Jonah
and a host of notable others, we try to flee. Like the psalmist, we choose a dizzying array
of hiding places. Careers, drugs, sex, alcohol, serial relationships; the list is long, and
through it all God is still there.
To accept a love this complete has to have ramifications. To accept a love like this means
that we ourselves must abandon our carefully constructed sense of self. We must step
back from our delusions of independence and power. We must lay down every ridiculous
assumption and face God simply, truly, as we are. Then and only then can this
unqualified and abundant love flow into our being and claim us. And most of us just don't
want to go there. It is, or at least we believe it is easier to stay put. "Better the devil you
know ..." or something like that.
This true friend, however, stays faithful. God continues to show up in the midst of our
follies and wanderings. In the storm and stress of a fractured relationship, God is there. In
the shame and disgrace of failure, God is there. No matter where we try to go, God
travels with us, continuing to pour out abundant grace and love. This grace doesn't go
away.
Perhaps it's time to stop hiding; time to stop running. Maybe the moment has arrived to
turn and accept God's incredible love and to allow the delusions to fall away. Could it be
that the moment of transformation in God's loving grace is upon us?
