Flip the Script

Noncomplementary behavior is one of the invisible forces explored on the NPR Podcast Invisibilia.

It was a warm summer evening in Washington D.C. when eight friends gathered together to raise a glass or two of French wine and share in a delicious dinner. A man named Michael, his Wife, and their 14 year-old daughter were among the guests. The group talked and toasted the night away with laughter filling up the nighttime air. Then, all of a sudden it happened.

An arm stretched out of seemingly nowhere to produce a gun with a long barrel. The hand with the gun belonged to a man. The man was well kempt, dressed in athletic gear, and of medium height and build. He pointed the gun at one of Michael’s friends, then at Michael’s wife. The intruder asked her to give him her money, first in a calm voice, then more hysterically.

Michael and his friends believed the man, but there was a slight problem, none of them had any money. The group of friends next attempted to persuade the man to pursue some alternative path. At first, they tried guilt. “What would your mother think?” they asked. He replied angrily, “I have no mother!” Michael kept thinking, this is going to end terribly, “We may end up dead.”

Then, one of the women at the table, Christina, piped up. She spoke to the man with the gun saying that this group of friends was there celebrating, and why not join them for a glass of wine. A switch went off in the man and the entire group could feel it. All of a sudden the man’s countenance shifted. He took a sip from the glass he was handed and replied, “[Man], that’s a really good glass of wine.” He reached down for some cheese on the table and put the gun in his pocket.

Then, the man uttered, “I think I’ve come to the wrong place.” The group all responded supportively, “We understand.” For a moment they all sat together in this strange bit of fellowship with the celestial lights of the night shining down and the sound of cicadas filling the space of the night air. At this moment the intruding man, now disarmed, asked, “Can I get a hug?”

One by one the party-goers gave the man a hug. Then he asked for a group hug, which the friends reluctantly gave to the once threatening man. He said he was sorry, and walked out the gate with a glass of wine in his hand. After catching their breath and calming down a bit the friends found the wine glass on the concrete in the alleyway. It was not smashed and shattered in anger or revolt. It was not haphazardly tossed aside in apathy. No, the glass was neatly placed on the ground. All of the friends went inside to cry in gratitude.

This is a story from the podcast Invisibilia, which means invisible things. The show airs on N.P.R. and explores the hidden forces—“ideas, beliefs, assumptions, and emotions”—that control our human behavior. On this particular episode, the program broached a topic called “noncomplementary behavior.” Most of the time when someone is mean to us our instinctive response is reply in the same way. When someone does us a favor we respond in turn. Noncomplementary behavior, though is something different. It is exactly how Jesus lived his life and how he teaches us to live ours as well.

Jesus said “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile” (Matthew 5:38-41). Additionally he spoke, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (6:27-28). Countless stories Jesus told—including today’s—show us how we can use noncomplementary behavior to reveal God’s Kingdom here and now.

The Good Samaritan was a story to teach his Jewish followers to see their enemies as neighbors. The Prodigal Son informed those listening that no matter how far away they thought they were or someone else was from the Father, God was always ready to embrace and celebrate a child’s coming home. And in today’s Gospel lesson Jesus again used noncomplementary behavior to show us that he was not sent to be a judge or an arbitrator, but a teacher and a friend.

A man came to get Jesus to settle the score between his brother and him. Jesus would do no such thing, but instead warned against greed telling a parable. A man had a bumper crop. To accommodate for this great yield he contemplated tearing down his barns and building up HUGE silos in their place. This was shrewd business. To build up a new barn was complementary behavior. However, the motivation this man felt was not best business practices, but rather greed. He wanted to not just build silos, but to silo himself off from the world saying, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” This too is common behavior in our world.

Even though Jesus came to teach us the way to the Father we continually think we can feed our own souls. We still can be infected by all types of greed, not just for money, but also for power, prestige, and place in this world. God says to us just like he said to that man long ago, “You fool! Right now your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” We who have been given some of God’s abundance can get tricked into thinking that it belongs to us and that the common practice is to hide it all away, but that is not what Jesus teaches us here.

Now listen, do not leave here and liquidate your 401k that is not what I am saying, but what we store up matters. We may believe that we own things in this world, but all of it — every single penny— belongs to God. Now notice the way Jesus talks about the bumper crop. He does not say the man produced it, but rather than the rich man’s land produced it. It is God who provided for the man, but he got greedy and wanted to insulate himself from the world. When we silo away ourselves, our souls, and what we believe we have produced on our own we may be doing what is prevalent in our society, but this is not how Jesus lived his life—and it’s not how teaches us to live.

Jesus used noncomplementary behavior throughout his life to live the Good News of God’s Saving Grace. When asked to be a judge in this lesson, he instead taught and befriended the brother to help him learn. When at Table with his followers Jesus did not take the best seat, but alternatively he served his disciples to teach them about real leadership. When being crucified on the cross Jesus’ last words, “Father forgive them, for they know not what to do” fly in the face of a world obsessed with vengeance. And, the ultimate noncomplimentary behavior came as God responds to our attempts to kill Jesus not with wrath, but with the loving light of the Resurrection.

We seem to be wired to respond in complementary ways. When someone rips out our eye we want to come back and take out both of theirs. If someone talks badly about us we do the same. Some believe the solution to violence is more violence. Some are turning to more and more isolation to silo themselves off from anything that is different. This is not the way of Jesus. Jesus used noncomplementary behavior to flip the script. True wealth is not in banks but in sharing with others, right leadership is not in lording over others but in serving them, and real power comes not in perpetuating violence but in the love that not even death can overcome.

“Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said. May we respond to the hate, fear, injustice, and greed of this world not in kind, but with noncomplementary behavior loving, opening, seeking reconciliation, and giving of ourselves to one another, just like Jesus taught us. I mean if a glass of wine can disarm a would be robber what can flipping the script not do?

Soul’s Food

There is a sort of joke that Evan Garner, the rector here at St. John’s, has been telling since I started working here over three years ago: Jesus gives out horrible farming advice. This seems an especially important point when serving with a congregation full of agricultural wizards. Case in point, this Sunday’s Gospel lesson in which Jesus denies a farmer with a great yield the opportunity to store more of his grains by building bigger barns. However, what Jesus lacks in real world farming techniques he makes up for in wise ways of living into the Kingdom of God.

In the Parable of the Rich Fool, a man whose land produced abundantly, contemplates ripping down his old silos to manufacture greater ones. The dilemma for Jesus does not consist in this potentially wise investment, but rather in the reasoning behind it. As the man weighs his options he says to his soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” We might be quick to latch onto this as a critique of the good life, and soon outlaw anything that involves relaxing, eating, drinking, or being merry; however, the Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina group that meets here at St. John’s on Thursday mornings found more troubling the man’s belief that he could feed his own soul.

Soul food often refers to a type of delicious home cooked cuisine that is sometimes tied to the South. This food and the fellowship that can surround any instance of preparing and sharing a meal together does in fact feed one’s soul; however, the rich fool goes a step further believing that he could in some way provide sustenance for his own spirit for many years without relying upon his servants, his community, and most notably God. This is the default sin that lies within each and every one of us: I can do this on my own!

Regardless of who we are, from where we come, or what we do we all struggle with the temptation to put ourselves ahead of God and others—to put ourselves in the place of God. We may not do this by telling ourselves we have nothing to worry about for years, but some kind of greed awaits each one of us. The silos that this rich fool could build would dangerously silo him off from the rest of the world. We might instead think, “I do not need someone who would vote for _______. The world would be better off without that person.” We might question, “How can someone support black (or blue) lives matter? The world would be better off without that person.” We could even say, “I do not need to go to church, pray, study Scripture, sit in silence, tithe, or _______, for I already did that last year.” To all of these God says, “You fool! This very [moment] your life is being demanded of you.”

I am certain that we need God and we need each other more than we have in my entire lifetime. The world feels as though it is ripping at the seams. We are at each other’s throats over very important issues. However, the more we silo ourselves off thinking, “Soul, you are set for many years,” the more our souls become malnourished like withering flowers without light or water. For our souls to be fed we must turn away from the notion that we are alright on our own without friend, family, neighbor, and God’s presence in them. We must bust open our barns to share the resources of time, talent, and treasure with one another. We must say to each other, “Will you help to feed my soul, for it is richer living a life with one another than one disconnected?” We need more soul food in our lives, and to enjoy it we must eat with one another.

Scared

Is Luke 12:13-21 proposing a theology of fear?

Huge signs are all over the Alabama highways. I think they are produced by one Christian group or another, but I have neglected actually calling the numbers or visiting the websites. Some of them have pictures of a Cross, while others possess a stark, black background with bright white letters, and still others feature a heartbeat reading on them (like the one above). These billboards generally say that each of us has a choice about what will happen when we die. Will we choose Jesus and heaven or instead choose hell? All of these signs, I believe, are meant to do only one thing: scare us.

The prevalence of these signs does in fact scare me, but not in the desired way of those who pay for them to hang over the federal interstate system. I am scared of the way that people see Christians as a result of these signs. The implied belief is that God is a being that sits up in the clouds, stroking his long white beard, and watching as our heartbeats slow to make sure that at the moment of death we do indeed choose Jesus and heaven. Fear-based theology can be traced to a thread of the Christian tradition; however, the Good News of Christ Jesus, the work of the Spirit, and the community in which I have learned about God seem so completely opposed to this way of interpreting what awaits us at death. Also, and this seems obvious, who would actually choose eternal damnation over eternal life and who would worship a God who is so petty that He (and in this view God is definitely a he) cannot love us if we do not make the right choice?

In this coming Sunday’s Gospel lesson (Luke 12:13-21) Jesus speaks with a man who was concerned that he was being cheated out of his inheritance by his brother. At first, Jesus shot down the idea that he would serve as a judge in this matter, then he went further in explaining this sibling rivalry. He told the story of a rich man who had a great year in farming. The man contemplated ripping down his current silos, so that he could store up the abundance of crops. This was and still is wise farming. I run by the Alabama Farmer’s Co-op at least once a week and I imagine if the farming partners produced more they would build even bigger storage containers than the massive ones that already exist. The dilemma with this rich man was not in his agricultural practice, but his intention behind the farming.

While thinking of building a bigger barn the man said to himself, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years: relax, eat, drink, be merry.” The response of God comes off sounding like the scary billboards along our interstates: “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.” If we stopped reading here, then we could very easily buy into the fear-mongering that is so pervasive in conservative Christianity, American politics, and the entire world at the moment. We could put that phrase up on a roadside sign and believe that we are actually doing the Lord’s work by scaring someone into believing in some perverted view of the divine. God though does not stop here, and God does not leave us scared.

Right after God said, “This very night your life is being demanded of you,” God continued, “And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The trajectory of Jesus’ parable leads us to wonder not so much about some reward, which we get at the end of life if we made the right choices, but rather to ponder what am I building up in this life, why am I storing it up, and where is my treasure? This passage, then comes off not as a way of startling us into making a choice because we are stuck in traffic and see something on the side of the road, but rather, this passage points to wondering, “Am I rich toward God?”

Rather than attempting to force people to choose God, a tactic that rarely works on a deep level and often does not actually coerce people to follow God at all but quite the opposite, I wonder what would happen if we tried to help one another build up spiritual riches. The grace—that wonderful gift of everlasting life that each of us is given freely by God—allows us not to worry about the results; however, if we dedicated our lives to serving others, sharing how we touch, taste, smell, hear, and see God within our lives, and putting ourselves in contact with diverse parts of the Body of Christ don’t you think that we would all be richer toward God? The billboards are correct about something, you do have a choice. You may choose to live in fear believing that your eternal existence boils down to saying a prayer, believing a certain way, and avoiding a list of sinful behaviors. And, actually this sounds like barricading oneself off from the world like a silo full of treasure. Or, you may choose to reach out and share the riches of grace with all those whom you meet allowing God’s abundance to make all of us rich toward God.

Don’t be scared, be rich toward God instead.

Triangles

Do Triangles scare you? They should!

“Don’t be a square” is a time-honored phrase warning against the dangers of being boring or otherwise uncool; however, I am far more concerned with triangles than squares. When I was in seminary I (mistakenly) thought that one of the most unnecessary classes was Pastoral Theology (apologies to the Rev. Dr. Kathleen Russell). “How can someone teach me to care?” I pondered. Fortunately, a summer of working as a hospital chaplain shook me of my notion that I was an expert on caring. In higher level classes on the art of caring for others as a pastor I learned the dangers of becoming part of a triangle.

When most people hear about a dangerous triangle they might think of the one in Bermuda or perhaps some torrid love triangle, but any interpersonal relationship can beget unhealthy triangulation. When a couple fights over the dishes one partner sits at one point on the triangle, the other partner sits at a second point, and those pesky dishes (and let’s face it, it’s not really about the dishes, but that’s the flash point at the moment) sit as the third point that separates the other two points. Sometimes the problem is not dishes, but a mother-in-law. Other times it’s not spouses bickering, but brothers fighting over money that creates a tempting triangle, like in this coming Sunday’s Gospel lesson (Luke 12:13-21). Now later this week, I will focus on the parable Jesus tells, but today I wanted to start with how Jesus responded to being thrown into a triangle by one of the brothers.

A man appeared from the crowd and said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Now, we might expect Jesus to spout off some compassionate response about giving all the money to the poor, but immediately the teacher broke up any triangulation that the one brother attempted to enact. Jesus said, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” Essentially, Jesus did not want to be put in the middle of the fight between these two brothers. How often in our lives do we follow Jesus’ example given here?

Life presents tempting offers to jump in the middle of one conflict after another. Jesus shows us here a simple way to respond that is as useful today as it was in those days. Instead of siding with one side of a conflict or another we would do well to say, “I am no judge. Figure this out on your own.” Often this can feel trickier when it is something that hooks us emotionally or when the issue is not the dishes, but how one treats one’s mother-in-law.

The Rev. Dr. Russell had a fantastic way of weaving pastoral themes into her sermons and weaving sermons into her classroom teachings. One lesson that she taught in both was a simple question that continues to guide me in interpersonal relationships, “Would you rather be kind or be right?” Breaking up the triangles that put issues between us and loved ones, friends, and neighbors requires a good bit of diligence. Jesus was wise enough to burst this brother’s bubble early in their conversation, “I’m not a judge,” or put alternatively I will not get between you and your brother. If we remember to respond with kindness instead of trying to figure out the right side on which to be many of the problems we take on in life will disappear. To learn the lesson of this week’s Good News first we must vanquish triangulation and respond with kindness to those who sit on different points than ourselves.

Saint Mary Magdalene: A Witness to Inspire Us Today

Being the first one to walk through a freshly fallen snow, being the first one to make footprints on the beach after an overnight high tide, or being the first one to view a sunrise from a scenic vantage point all give me goosebumps just thinking about them. There is something in me and I believe something in all of us, which appreciates experiencing the novel, the beautiful, or the transcendent. It is not that getting there second makes it a terrible experience, but rather that feeling as though we are the trailblazers on some path or another awakens in us an intimate connection to that which is beyond us, that which came before us, the source of all things. Even in more common daily activities like the first words we speak, the first taste of coffee, or the first morsel of food to break our nightly fast helps us to know the holiness of everyday life. How much more intense then must it have been to be the first one on the scene of Jesus’ Resurrection?

Today we celebrate Saint Mary Magdalene. The Gospel accounts are harmonious in their nature, but they often tell stories differently. Mary’s presence at the empty tomb when dawn broke on the Third Day stands out as one of the few things that they state in complete uniformity. Mary was more than just in the right place at the right time. Among the many people that followed Jesus, she was the most loyal, steadfast, and courageous.

Something happened to Mary that changed her existence. Luke’s Gospel account tells us that Jesus went through cities and villages preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom. In toe were the twelve disciples and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and illnesses. Jesus healed Mary, called Magdalene, of seven demons! From this point onward she followed Jesus.

She followed Jesus, she ministered to him, she stuck by him in terrible times, and she watched in horror when Jesus was crucified on a tree at Calvary. If her life were not difficult enough overcoming demons with God’s help, it became even more grief stricken watching her Lord die. In John’s Gospel account we will remember that Mary and her sister Martha had also watched their brother Lazarus die. The sisters wept along with Jesus who eventually raised their brother from the grave. Not long after calling a man out of a tomb, Jesus was the one laid within his own hewn out cavern.

Even in the face of another death to another beloved brother, Mary remained loyal and steadfast. I believe she knew no other way of being. And so, after the tragic events of Friday afternoon she marched through her grief-induced fog and made her way to where Jesus lay dead. With her she carried spices and oil to take care of his body, as was the tradition of their people.

According to John, when she arrived two angels greeted Mary, but not seeing her Lord’s body she barely noticed them. She spoke, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Spinning around she saw a man she knew so well, but her heartache camouflaged his appearance, such that she could not see him. Mary began to cry, like Jesus and she had done when Lazarus died. The man asked why she was weeping and for whom she was looking. Mary assumed this man was a gardener, but then the surprise of all surprises occurred. The gardener spoke her name. “Mary,” he said. Immediately the scales fell from her eyes and she saw her Lord, her Savior, her Jesus.

If being healed of seven demons changes one’s life, what does being the first human to meet the Risen Christ do?

If being the first witness of an enchanting snow, a powerful sea’s nightly work, or a precious sunrise connect us to that which both transcends us and lies at the core of who we are, how profound must it have been to be the first one on the scene of God’s greatest miracle?

We celebrate Saint Mary Magdalene today. Her loyalty, steadfastness, and courage inspire us, and in this time we need inspiration. In the face of grief-inducing, outrageous, and asinine events throughout our world we would do well to be like Mary. Even when things appear dire and all but damned we are called to continue on in Faith walking even to the scenes of persecution and death, not looking away even when something horrible transpires, but instead being witnesses and bearers of the Good News.
Mary was a witness both to Good Friday and Easter morning. There is not one without the other. This day and time in our world may feel like it is Good Friday, and we are called to walk with Mary through fear, doubt, and death for our Risen Lord yearns for us to tell of the Truth that life overcomes death, that brightness will make aware what is hidden, and God will raise up that which has been cast down.

Today and always, let us be as loyal, steadfast, and courageous as Mary. God help us to share the Good News even when it scares us. And may we be witnesses of your Resurrection now and forever more.

One Thing

Fridays in my line of work often end up being like Saturdays for many other peo-ple. With no events slated on my work schedule, I am free to complete all those tasks that evade me throughout the week. After a morning run, then comes the first load of laundry, next dusting the apartment, polishing some silver, time to switch the laundry, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, then another laundry switch, clean the windows, give an extra good scrubbing to the kitchen sink, more laundry, clean the bathroom, and finally fold the mountain of laundry that has amassed. If I am lucky and complete all these tasks, then I treat myself with making my way to the grocery store with my beautiful bride to pick out our menu for the week ahead. I am you see a certified Martha.

I am so much of a Martha that I had for a very long time to stop writing to-do lists. For if I wrote something down on a list I would certainly have to make sure I accomplished it. If I did not accomplish it I could not rest until I did, or I would feel a sense of dis-ease from the incomplete nature of the task. Life, as a series of tasks to accomplish, at first seems brilliant to me. There is always another some-thing on the horizon after which to chase: high school graduation, college honors, a first job, higher education, marriage, children, a house, promotion, college fund, giving back from what I have achieved, savings, and on and on. Accomplishing things has for much of my life on this earth been my primary focus. Even in the sermon delivered at Kim’s and my wedding, I was described as having the strange gift of over-functioning. And yet, when I look around and realize that all my ac-complishing has moved me no closer to true and abiding happiness, merely mo-mentary satisfaction of checking something else off the list, I realize that being a certified Martha has its drawbacks.

Some Marthas will get tired of going at it alone, like the actual Martha from the story in today’s Gospel lesson. Fed up with the lack of effort on her sister’s part, Martha protests to Jesus. “Do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?” When we are so busy by the many things going on in our lives, when we feel like Martha, then we might get flustered by everything we have put on our plate. We are no busier than people in previous generations, but on top of overloading our work schedule, we try to keep up with 1,000 friends on FaceBook, attempt to keep a home fit for the pages of Southern Living, and some of us are so bold as to raise children in the midst of all the rest of life. When we choose to make life full we get this overwhelmed sensation and eventually lash out like Mar-tha did. We blame being overwhelmed on the Joneses with whom we are trying to keep up, on a 24/7 news media to which we are unknowingly addicted, or on our sister who does not seem to lift a finger to help us. This anger though is misplaced. We are not frustrated with our neighbor, news corporations, or even our sister or brother. No! We are angry with ourselves.

There is this concept that if you work hard enough, then you will overcome any problem. If you are determined enough, then you will make it. The implied inverse of this line of thought also seems to be a given. If you are unsuccessful it is because you are not trying hard enough. To work hard is a privilege and it is an opportuni-ty, but this belief in the American Dream that hard work will inevitably lead to wealth, prosperity, and happiness is not only wrong, it is antithetical to God’s Dream. The American Dream runs counter to the Good News of Christ Jesus. Je-sus says there is one thing, and it is not elbow grease, it’s not running around com-pleting many things, it is not life as a certified Martha. In fact, it is the exact oppo-site. God’s dream for us starts with us resting at the feet of Jesus, listening for his voice speaking in the vastness of our hearts, and bucking the trend of trying to overwhelm our problems with work ethic.

I have been living this frustrated existence trying to accomplish my way into God’s good graces. When the world tells me that I have not accomplished everything I am “supposed” to have done, I actually trick myself into thinking I am bad. Maybe this is familiar to you? When we work all week, then burn through the weekend trying to catch up with our neighbor, we end up so tired on Sunday morning that it is a chore to show up here. Stop being Martha. Stop it!

Mary is the one to emulate. Mary is the one who hears the Good News and re-sponds to it. Mary spends the time ignoring the urgent things to do the important thing. Martha is not bad for doing things, she’s misguided because she gets worried and distracted by her tasks, such that she misses what is most important. A couple weeks ago we heard Jesus’ harsh words not to turn back to bury a family member or to accomplish work before following him. Following Jesus makes an immediate claim on our lives, such that nothing else should stand in the way. In a world of multitasking this not only seems counterintuitive, but also impossible. And yet, this is the focus of our lives and what will make us truly happy: focus on the One Thing. The One Thing is life in Christ. The One Thing is carving out meaningful time to be with God on a daily basis. The One Thing is loving God with every-thing we have and loving neighbor as self. We cannot do this if God is coming af-ter we have accomplished everything else on our to-do lists. For us to do the One Thing we must make it the first thing.

In my new life as a married man I am making a change. No longer am I going to spend my day off running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to ac-complish many things. Instead, I am going to put my money where my mouth is. I might fail, but I am challenging myself and anyone else to make Sabbath time a priority. Sabbath may take many different shapes and forms, but essentially it is time to be like Mary. To put down the devices. To put down the brooms and dust pans. To plan ahead so that we feel God restore us, so that we can hear that still small voice speaking, and so that we might sit at Jesus’ feet just like Mary did. For it is when we sit at Jesus’ feet that we truly realize why and for what we are to stand up, to go out into the world, and to accomplish not the many things that worry us, but the one thing that compels us. Sit at the feet of the Lord, so that you may know the One Thing.

Between Judgment and God

Judgment. The very word sends shivers down my spine. I did not even grow up Southern Baptist. No pastor ever told me that every little decision in life should be scrutinized and agonized over through the moral code laid out in the Good Book. Still judgment is the type of thing that I tend to politely and reverently avoid. I am partial to a passage like Philippians 2:12 in which the writer implores his readers to work out their own salvation in fear and trembling. Judgment in this scenario remains something very personal and private, unlike how scenes of judgment typically go.

I had a friend in seminary with whom I mopped floors for work-study hours. One day we were talking about judgment and he told me that growing up in a conservative church the Day of Judgment loomed large in his life. He even said that for a time he worried that it would be a day when the chosen would gather together and watch his life shouting things like, “Look, he’s being mean to his brother!” or “Oh my! He’s doing ‘it’ again!” My friend’s view of judgment does not feel that far off from today’s Gospel lesson.

Jesus appears to play into this dire scene of the End of Days saying, “Sheep over here and goats over here.” One group marches off to eternal life, while the other gets herded into the forever burning flames of Hell. I cannot help but find myself falling into a narrow way of reading this passage, such that there is no good news, no hope, no grace; only a very vengeful God. But, that’s not God. That is not who God is, and I believe that is not what this lesson says.

When we get into our minds a certain way of hearing a story, we may find it impossible to hear the tale in any other way. Jesus is two days from his betrayal, torture, and death. He can clearly see the urgency with which he must testify to the birthing of God’s Kingdom. He has just told the parable of the ten bridesmaids and the parable of the talents. He is desperately trying to get across to his followers that the decisions that they make impact the building up of the reality of God here and now. And yet, they will fail miserably. The disciples will betray Jesus. They will abandon him. They will sit helplessly by while he dies on the Cross.

These are the same disciples that would rather send people away empty, then figure out a way to feed them. The very same people who had no faith that Jesus would not let them perish in a storm. Even after being with Jesus from the start they could not put following him, loving others, and becoming the servant of all before their own needs and concerns.

There’s a bumper sticker I am sure you have seen. It reads: “Look busy, Jesus is coming.” The righteous ones in today’s Gospel did not follow this bumper sticker. They did not serve others because they knew that Jesus might be making a list and checking it twice. Neither did the accursed ones intentionally walk around seeking to harm others. Rather, both the sheep and the goats were unconscious of their choice. We are not so blinded. We have heard these words, and thus we are forced to wake up.

The day when Jesus comes in fullness may not ever happen in our lifetimes, but Christ is always coming into our lives. The concept of judgment is necessarily scary because regardless of how hard we try to be a sheep we will almost always find a way to at some point be a goat. God through Jesus has given to us this startling news that one day all will come together; however, I’m not so certain that it will be replaying our worst moments. Rather, I trust that as we walk this life momentarily shifting from sheep to goat we might wake up and recognize the larger Truth that we must rely not on our own times of getting it right or impressing Jesus in disguise, but living our lives completely giving over our highlights and lowlights to Jesus.

In a moment during the Offertory we will offer up not just our financial contributions, but our entire lives. Ourselves, our souls and bodies are put upon the altar and they are altered. We are broken along with Christ and we are transformed through his self-offering. Then we are sent back out into the world but in a way we are changed. We are changed by God’s love. Judgment is scary. However, nothing, not even judgment, gets between God and us. As we wake up to this truth may our lives be transformed, so that whatever we do we do it in the love of Christ. Amen.

Martha vs. Mary: Service vs. Contemplation

This coming Sunday’s Gospel lessons happens to be one of my favorites. Luke 10:38-42 allows us the readers to enter into a gathering at the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha busies herself playing the typical role of women in her day (and many ages since then). Most notably she was the dutiful host of the party. Martha took care of everyone else’s needs, so that the herd of humanity that followed in the wake of Jesus would get their needs met. Even if Martha herself was unfulfilled, her attitude of service was admirable.

Mary, on the other hand, sat eagerly at the feet of Jesus waiting to gain some new insight or understanding from his teaching. In her proximity to Jesus and her act of engaging the teacher Mary bucked the typical, given tasks of a woman. Instead of cooking, cleaning, refilling cups, and fluffing pillows, Mary did what male disciples so often did, she listened and learned. Not only was Mary’s contemplative action redefining gender roles in that time, but it was also a model for disciples of any age to follow.

However, this story almost inevitably leads the reader to make a choice: Martha or Mary? Service or contemplation? The crisis moment at which point hearers have to make a decision comes in Martha’s request for Jesus to tell her sister to get back to helping host this gathering. Jesus’ response telling Martha that her sister has chosen the better part allows the reader to rejoice in a rebuking of typical gender roles both then and now; however, at a quick glance the passage still lends itself to an either/or view of discipleship (contemplation outweighs service). John Calvin did not like this passage precisely because he believed that it could lead to putting the contemplative life over actively serving others. If we believe that Jesus chides Martha for her service, we have fallen into a pitfall that will hinder how we follow Jesus.

Jesus corrects Martha not for her service, but for her worried and distracted approach to helping others. I believe that if somehow this story were reversed and Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, but was daydreaming about or fretting over a trip to the Sea of Galilee, and all the while Martha lovingly poured her heart and soul into caring for her guests, then it would have been Martha and not Mary who chose the better part. What Jesus gives to us in this passage is not an either/or option of choosing a life sitting at Jesus feet or begrudgingly caring for others, but rather a gift of making our entire life dedicated to one thing.

Whether we are making coffee for a guest, teaching a third grade class, trying an important case, taking care of a patient, praying quietly in our bedroom, meditating in a chapel, or preparing a sermon there is need of only one thing. Life is full of the many things, the distractions that cry out from inboxes and dings on smart phones, from family and friends, from local and national news, but what Jesus gives to us in this interaction with two sisters long ago is not just a bucking of typical gender roles. Jesus frees us from the belief that we have to choose a contemplative life or a life of service. There is only one thing, only one true choice as followers of Christ. When we focus upon Christ whose Divine spark lives within each of us, and when we keep our lives truly fixed upon living in that relationship, then whatever it is we do or don’t do will be “the better part.” Both serving and sitting is the one thing. The mistake is to believe that this passage is about two divergent ways of discipleship when the truth is that Jesus frees us from an either/or way of following him. There is only one thing: following Jesus!