“It’s Like, It’s Like, It’s Like…”

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
July 27th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“It’s Like, It’s Like, It’s Like…”
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
As you might imagine, I watch my fair share of children’s television. I do it, mostly because I want to know what the girls are watching. From time to time I find myself turning to Karen to point out the logical inconsistencies of a given program. In other words, that wouldn’t happen in real-life. My condescending tone does not last long with a reminder that it is, after all, children’s television. At its best, the whole enterprise is meant to foster imagination. When I, who am so caught in the ‘realities’ of our world, watch these programs, I find it difficult to even entertain that there might actually be a different way to view the world.
Let me put it another way: There is a war going on. Well, there are actually lots of wars happening but this morning I want to talk about the war for our imaginations. In fact, I believe the war actually might actually be over and we have lost. What I mean by this is that our imaginations have been captured by the messages and the ‘givens’ of our world. That may sound a little high-minded, so let me give you some real-world examples.
Last week I listened to the debate between the two republican candidates running for Missouri Governor. It was a lesson in captured imaginations. But do not get me wrong, what I am about to say includes both major political parties, if not all. They are in the business of setting the bounds of acceptable dialogue, which is really a form of capturing people’s imagination. One of the givens in our culture, and one that was well represented in that debate is this: ‘There is not enough money to provide insurance for everyone. It might be a nice thing to do but it is just not possible.’ Now, if anyone questions this given, that person is often labeled foolish, ignorant, or worse liberal.
I find this given quite curious as I consider the events of the last week. As homeowners are becoming homeless by the hundreds of thousands we are told there is simply no money available and that this is just a market correction. And, after all, there is just not enough money to bail out all the homeowners. They are at the whim of the market and their own mistakes. That is the message of this given. However, in the same breath we can, without impunity, extend unlimited and unknown amounts of money for failing banks. When it comes to the investors and the multi-million dollar salaries, there is an endless supply of money. The given in this situation tells us that there is nothing wrong with any of this it is just the way things work.
As this has happened I am left to wonder: Isn’t this the exact sort of thing the church should speak about? I believe the deafening silence is related to the fact that our imaginations are captured by the givens. It may seem out of place, or wrong to say such things. I can almost hear the objections: ‘Preacher, the bible is about spiritual things and now you are meddling.’ Well, this is true, guilty as charged. However, my objection to this given has to do with the bible being pretty clear about systems which place profits over people.
If it sounds like I have become partisan or overtly political let me suggest that any discomfort at this teaching is rooted in our loss of collective memory. And when people lose touch with their history there is bound to be trouble. Let me center this in the scriptures. In the beginning of the Book of Exodus a King came to power who did not know Joseph. This is bad news for the people. The king does not remember Joseph. Joseph made the King very wealthy, while at the same time saving people from the great famine. Joseph had imagination, he listened to dreams, and found a way to bring about economic success and provide for the care of the least of these. But this new King did not know Joseph. As a result he put people over profit. He enslaved the people and saw them as only tools for the accumulation of wealth. God is not pleased by this and as a result the great empire of Egypt finds itself in ruins and its great military bogged down at the bottom of the Red Sea.
Some of you might be wondering if I prepared the wrong sermon for this morning since I haven’t said anything about Jesus. Do not worry, this is vital background information. After all, when Jesus comes on the scene; he does not come out of thin air but as part, as an extension of, this history. And Jesus knows that the world he is living in is a time which needs its’ imaginations set free.
The world Jesus enters is also a fixed world. Rome was in charge. It appeared that God must be on their side and that might makes right. In the face of the overwhelming evidence, the religious leadership decided to become compliant and content with their little piece of the pie. Into this fixed world, Jesus comes and teaching and heals, and works to set peoples’ imaginations free. Over the last few weeks and particularly in this passage this morning Jesus tells stories about the Kingdom of God to ignite the imagination of his followers. Jesus is trying to unbind their imaginations because there is great confusing between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms, empires, and even republics of this world.
Unfortunately, this week, what we learn about the kingdom of God is that it is not easily defined and identified. It is small, and appears insignificant. It takes time for the kingdom of God to accomplish its work. Sometimes the kingdom of God is something that we can find by searching for it, like the merchant, and other times we can stumble upon it when we least expect it. This is not very satisfying. And worse yet, this insignificant kingdom can, and does upend the world unsettling the givens, and inviting us to give them up for some of more value. But we will miss it, and so often do because our imaginations have been captured and we are blinded to the glimpses of the kingdom in front of us. Jesus’ teaching in these stories is meant to set our imaginations on fire so we might just see, and participate in the kingdom.
The key to understanding our response to these stories is found in the work of scribes. Jesus uses the tern scribes for the kingdom. This is the calling of the disciple. Jesus, using this term as a positive one, means that we must be rooted and grounded in the stories of our faith. We must know the stories of Jesus, and Joseph, and Moses. We must know the stories of our God who created us, who brought slaves out of Egypt, who brings people together for life giving community, and who says we are responsible for our neighbor, never forgetting that all people are our neighbors. We must become scribes of the kingdom so that we will not forget and so that our imaginations will not remain captured.
In his book Torture and Eucharist, William Cavanaugh, tells a story near the end of the book of a fictional character named Carlos. And while Carlos is a fictional character the book is a story of the very real experience of life in Chile under the Pinochet terror regime. Carlos realizes that he must not submit to the torture’s goal of capturing the imagination of the people. Carlos knows and understands the power of imagination when he says: “We have to believe in the power of imagination because it is all we have, ours is stronger than theirs.” Never underestimate the power of imagination and story. This is what Jesus is teaching in these stories. He is calling us to be scribes for the kingdom. Let us nurture the power of imagination so we do not forget, so that we do not becomes scribes to a story which is not given by God. Amen? Amen.

A Lesson in Gardening Part II

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
July 20th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“A Lesson in Gardening Part II”
Matthew 12:24-30, 36-43

After spending days preparing the soil, planting the seeds, and watering the ground, all in the hope that something will grow, I am always anxious to see if all that work will come to nothing. In fact, after about a week I will even get down on my hands and knees placing my face close to the ground in the hopes of catching a glimpse of some new life. At the first sign of green growth breaking above the surface, I always want to get up and do a little dance. After the long winter even the slightest hint of green can bring real joy. But that joy does not always last long. After all, I am never sure if that green plant is a sign that my labor has produced growth or if it is simply a weed. It is in that moment I realize the hard work of gardening has only begun.
Jesus takes us back again into the work of gardening. However this teaching this week is primarily about the theme of judgment. It is a teaching which places face to face with this troubling issue. Its’ difficulty lies mostly in what the followers of Jesus have done with themes of judgment. In fact, I bet it is safe to say that this judgment text has been used by others to condemn some of us, if not all of us. As a result we may feel the need to avoid such passages. Since we have heard the welcome and love of God in Jesus Christ it can seem like there is a tension between that teaching and this passages about judgment. But I believe that we should not, and cannot give up on these passages simply because others have gotten it wrong.
The greatest reason that this passage has been misused is poor interpretation. It begins when we place ourselves inside the story in the wrong location. This is even more complicated because when we hear stories about gardening or farming they are images that are just familiar enough to us that we believe they are proscriptive. But they are not. Instead, Jesus uses parables in the attempt to bring the radically unfamiliar and use what we know to make it accessible. So when we hear the story we place ourselves where we are most familiar. In other words, we place ourselves in the role of judge. So in order to avoid that mistake let us review the passage carefully.
The owner of the field has sent someone, the son of man, to send out the message into the world. After soil preparation, planting of seeds, and watering all in the hopes of growth, the hope is mixed with despair over the presence of weeds. The workers, the members of the household of God, are alarmed at what has happened. They are concerned and even begin to have some doubts about whether the owner of the field has actually sowed good seed. It is out of their anxiety that they want to get to work. They approach God and offer to form a task force on weed removal in order to bring peace, unity and purity to the fields. All their actions reflect anxiety and lack of trust. And into this anxiety God says: ‘Relax, that is not your job, I have it handled.’ It is clearly a message that needs a more prominent place in the live of Jesus’ followers.
Within this parable there are a number of important theological assertions that we need to grasp. The most prevalent are these three: 1) Evil is real in the world but that evil will come to an end. 2) God’s kingdom works alongside and even in the midst of evil. 3) And finally, it is not the responsibility of Jesus’ followers to pull weeds or even to decide what constitutes a weed. I believe understanding the three major theological assertions in this text will serve as an important corrective to any interpretation of this parable.
1) It is clear in biblical literature that evil is a reality as old as time. While it is troubling truth, it does help to remind us that just because Jesus has come, the world is still a place of corruption, sin, and death. These sorts of passages point to that truth and to the truth that evil will not have the last word, despite appearances to the contrary. The good news is that evil will come to an end. In much of literature called the Apocrypha, this sort of imagery was well known. And it was this aporacphal literature which would have been familiar in Jesus day. In fact, the images of angels, and reapers bringing judgment was not simply judgment in general but specifically directed against any oppressive power; governors, kings, and even the religious leadership. It was an expression of the pain of oppression and the belief, the sure hope, that God does hear these cries, and that oppression will be brought under God’s judgment.
2) It is assumed in this parable that the work of God’s kingdom will work alongside the presence of evil. In other words, no matter how much we try to ‘purify’ the church we can never exist apart from evil. The roots of wheat are intermingled with roots of weeds. It is an image that ought to keep us humble since it means we all have the propensity for evil. When the servants come to the owner they are highly anxious. ‘We must do something about this!’ they cry. And all the while God says: ‘Do not worry about it simply go about your work.’ It is a scene which is meant to keep us going on the days when the weeds seem to overwhelm everything we do.
3) Finally, the work of the disciples then is to; trust that evil will come to an end, remember our roots are never pure, and continue to work for the day when sin, death and evil will be no more. However, this is the hardest part of this passage. We have no role, absolutely no role in the judgment. It is not our problem. Unfortunately we keep ignoring this critical part. In every age the followers of Jesus have believed that if we could just purify the church and its congregations we will bring about the judgment. And of course it was always easy to determine who the weeds are, and they never look like the ones proclaiming judgment.
Our responsibility is to tell the story that there is an end to evil and that judgment is not the work of Christians. And, when faced with this reality, our time now is not to become fixated with the end times. Instead, we are to live joyfully and boldly, as we work for justice. Let us put the fear of failure behind us and cling to the promise that the one who comes in judgment is the one who comes to set us free. Now more than ever we live in a time when the world needs to hear that sin and death do not have the last word. We have bearers of a story that invites all to come and follow the way of life.
So let us go from here continuing to prepare the soil for growth. Let us, plant seeds of good news and watch for growth in our own lives and in this community. As we go, may we always keep in mind that unlike our own backyard gardens, we are not responsible for weed-control. Let us be bearers of this story and never forget that Christians, despite news to the contrary, have not been called to be judgmental. Amen? Amen.

A Lession in Gardening Part 1

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
July 13th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“A Lesson in Gardening Part 1”
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
As a child I remember helping my grandmother in the garden. If I am not careful I look back with rose colored glasses at the fresh vegetables, the time spent in the outdoors, and the delicious taste of food right out of the garden. The truth is that at the time I remember it as really hard work. It never seemed to end. There was always something that had to be done. If it wasn’t weeding, it was watering or even soil preparation. And, if I am really honest, I was not then much of a vegetable fan. But something must have stuck because despite the rabbits, squirrels, the Japanese beetles, the weeds, and even heat, I simply cannot imagine summer without a garden. In fact, that, ‘something’ is my belief that working in the garden is one of the best lessons in humility, patience, and hard work. On top of that, I now love vegetables strait out of the garden.
This morning’s lesson in gardening, provided by Jesus, actually begins inside the house. Our encounter with this gardening lesson is rooted in the preceding passage. In that passage Jesus invites his followers to participate in a new reality. It has many names. Some know it as the kingdom of God, or the Empire of God, and now, as Letty Russell has aptly shown; the household of God. I have come to believe that the term household best captures Jesus intent. In the previous passage he is sitting and teaching the disciples inside the house. Jesus is told that his family has come to see him. Instead of rushing out to see them Jesus says that his family, the household of God is not built on bloodlines, but in faithfulness to the ways of God.
In order to understand the radical nature of this teaching we need to look closely at the ancient household structure. The household in Jesus’ day looked little our modern western versions. Instead, it was a hierarchal system where the householder, most often a male, ruled over not only his immediate family but a group which would also include; trades people, merchants, slaves, and others who depended upon the goodness of the head of the household. This system of family was, in the words of the ancient chroniclers, the very foundation of the Roman Empire; ‘traditional Roman family values.’ Jesus’ parable about gardening then, is an exposition about the inherit risks and the abundant rewards of being part of the household of God.
This parable of farming or gardening shows the three greatest risks to the life of faith. This lesson is so important that Jesus explains what he actually meant, which happens infrequently. At the heart of the parable is the understanding that the life of faith, or life in the household of God is like soil. Each of the three risks is represented by a type of soil. While not all of us have experience in a garden, or with farming, this ancient parable is still instructive in our life of faith.
The first risk to long term growth is that the message will fall on hard, concrete-like, ground. In our life of faith, this hardened, near concrete soil, represents the places in our lives where we are captured by the messages of this age. As a result, the good news simply cannot be heard among all the other messages. Our senses have become so dulled, or numbed the message is lost. This is not meant to be deterministic, hard soil just needs extra work, but I will get to that in a few moments.
The second risk, of challenge is that the message will fall upon rocky soil. Now, this may not seem like such a big deal because grass and other weeds seem to grow quite nicely in the cracks in the sidewalk. However, how may gardens survive when there is little room for roots to grow? While they may sprout quickly there will be no long term growth. Jesus makes it clear that this risk in the life of faith has to do with developing deep roots in order to stay strong when struggles arise. Given that Jesus is talking about alternatives to the empire and to the ordering of households resistance and challenges must be expected. When we begin to turn from the ways of empire, the empire has a way of striking back. Without deep roots, the struggles and resistance of life will cause faith to wither. But the good news is that rocks can be removed from soil.
But of all the risks of faith the most insidious is the third. The thorns are the most unfortunate. They represent the cares of the world and the lure of wealth or better yet, the anxiety around financial security. A garden can have good soil, and strong plant life but thorny weeds really can choke out the growth of plants which have deep roots. While it is true that thorns can be removed, you run the risk of pulling out the plants you want to keep as well as even causing your hands to bleed.
This parable is probably not one which would recruit many folks to working in a garden. The statistics in this parable are not very encouraging. After all, three quarters of the work of the sower comes to nothing! But despite the challenges the good news is that one quarter that grows will be amazingly abundant.
As we look to this passage as instructive for our life I believe the most fruitful work can be found in soil preparation. Our work, or out calling in the life of faith is to work at preparing the soil of our life and of our community. Our job is not to identify who is the rocky soil, or who is affected by thorns, or who is growing among rocks. After all, if we are honest I believe we all have these places in our lives and in our community. Instead, the work of the disciples is soil preparation.
If you have never worked in a garden, soil preparation is the work that is not particularly exciting or glamorous. But without good soil preparation no growth will occur. That means, breaking up the soil, removing the stones, the thorns, and finally adding some compost. I really can think of no better metaphor for the life of discipleship because it takes time, there are no guarantees; it can be frustrating, and surprising. We never know exactly what will happen. All we can really do is to prepare the soil, remove the rocks, ad some compost to the soil, let the soil take a Sabbath from time to time, pray, rest, study the bible, begin to develop the ears to hear and eyes to see when it is time to act, when it is time to say no, when it is time to rest. To continue our work for justice and to continue to share, with joy, God’s welcome for all, we must attend to the garden of our lives and this community. So let us continue to work the soil of our lives. Amen.

A Sordid Reputation

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
July 6th 2008
Communion Meditation
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“A Sordid Reputation”
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

“…to what shall I compare this generation…” These are not the sort of words that one wants tossed in their direction from Jesus. They are the words of a prophet. They are words of judgment. And those to whom Jesus is speaking about are the religious and political leaders of his day.
Jesus simply compares the elite of his day to children who pretend to be adults. These leaders who make decisions for the people, and who claim to speak for God, are acting like children. The term child is not meant as a term of endearment. Unlike times when Jesus talks about becoming like children to enter into the kingdom of heaven, here the term child is meant to be an insult. These adults, the leaders are self-serving, who have neglected their high calling to care for the widows, orphans and immigrants in the land. They have grown fat and sassy on the backs of the very people they claim to serve.
Jesus, and John the Baptist before him, have invited all people to turn from the ways of empire and to embrace a new way of life. As you might imagine this invitation has not been well received from those in positions of power. Jesus and John do not play by their rules. They do not dance when so ordered and they do not mourn because these children command it. Because Jesus and John refuse to dance for those in power, the elite have chosen the road of character assassination and guilt by association.
John was a righteous man, a man above reproach. He did not partake of wine or the trappings of high society. Instead, he traveled into the wilderness and called others to do the same. His was a way of life that called into question the lives of those who had become comfortable with the ways of empire. As a result it is reported that John has a demon. After all, anyone who would challenge the ways of empire would have to be demon possessed. However, character assassination does not affect this troublesome prophet, so John is finally executed.
Jesus too, faced similar troubles, except Jesus did not follow the same way as John. Instead of living in the wilderness and subsisting on a diet of locusts and honey, Jesus had a different plan. Jesus broke down barriers around table fellowship. Instead of following the customs and traditions of the day, he would sit down to dinner with anyone. As a result Jesus would sit with the leading Pharisees as well as with tax collectors and other sinners. Jesus broke these barriers all in an attempt to share with them the love of God. But this was unacceptable to those in power. As a result, Jesus willingness to share the love of God with all people became the very thing which was meant to defame his character.
Jesus seems to take all this defamation of character in stride with an odd appeal to wisdom. In order to better understand what Jesus is talking about in his reference to wisdom, and his prayer to God about hidden knowledge, we have to go back to the book of Proverbs. In the eighth and ninth chapter of Proverbs we find woman Wisdom, or Sophia in Greek. Sophia is the embodiment of God’s Wisdom which was present at the creation of the world. And what we learn is that Sophia reveals something about God to the world and is often rejected for doing her work.
It is clear that Jesus is wrapping himself in the Wisdom, or Sophia tradition. Jesus is the revelation of God and he is rejected by many. So we learn that Jesus is not only the embodiment of the Word but also the embodiment of Sophia or Wisdom. Following the ways of Wisdom does not offer the conventional trappings of success. Instead, the fruits of a life is an integrated life of authenticity, wholeness, and salvation. It is why Jesus makes a clear contrast between the Wisdom of God and the children of this age who neglect the ways of justice.
What began as a condemnation and a word of judgment does not end that way. The final words from Jesus are an invitation. “Come to me all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens.” They are words of compassion, and an offer of a transformed life. However, this invitation is not a call which will lead to a life of leisure. Instead, the invitation is to be set free from all the other burdens in our lives. Jesus says: ‘There is another way.’ It is the way of wisdom which calls us to live a life that matters, that is of consequence and that moves us out of our self-interest and opens us up to the concerns of others.
As we are moved, to think beyond ourselves, to reach out and share the good news and to live a life of consequence, let me leave us with a reminder of where this all began. Jesus had the reputation of a drunkard and a glutton. The one we call Lord and Savior at with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus did it all so that that the simple good news of God’s love for all people would be known. As a result, this whole scene should leave us all with a nagging question: “Are we willing to risk our hard earned reputation to share the love of God? Are we willing to be known as the followers of the one who was called a drunkard and a glutton, all for the love of God?” Amen.