Same Old Story

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
June 6th 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
I Kings 17:8-24; Luke 7:11-17
Communion Meditation
“Same Old Story”

What are the stories which define our lives? Some of them we may be aware of and others may be so subtle that we do not even notice. Instead of who are you, we ask things like, what do you do? Where do you live? What high school did you graduate from? These stories also define our lives in larger ways. War is peace. Destroy the village to save the village. And I am sure you could add to the list. But let me suggest that there is a story, a message which permeates much of our culture. It is the story of Popeye the sailor.
You remember that story right? Popeye is the loveable but strange character who gets pushed around but a bully, Brutus, till he eats his spinach. Then all bets are off. Popeye is transformed into a hero who then beats the bully into a bloody pulp as we cheer at the carnage. That is not the way tell that story, but justified or not, Popeye, with his spinach, does exactly what the bully does. We tell ourselves this is necessary, this is the only way bullies can be reached. And this story is THE story of our lives. From the time of the earliest story-telling cultures to the most recent popular television show 24, a hero must do things that are beyond the scope of the law to keep us all safe because the world is a dangerous place. And, we are supposed to stand by and cheer at the carnage and death, providing a hero’s welcome.
Despite news to the contrary, this is not the story of the people of God. Attempts have been made to make it so through stories like the Chronicles of Narnia and the Left Behind series, but at the end of the day, our hero is executed by the state. At the end of the day Jesus does not eat his spinach and come back looking for revenge. Instead, the message remains the same from the moment enters the scene until the revelation of John. There is no need for Jesus to come back with the sword to cut his enemies down, instead, until the end; there is an offer of redemption.
When Jesus comes on the scene and heals the child of a woman, the crowd understands. They too have been living lives of conflicted stories. The Empire of Rome had come to dominate their lives. The Empire brings peace through strength and through the cross and sword if necessary. Might makes right and a hero must kill to be a hero. God rewards the faithful with power, money and strength, and those without are the wretched of the earth. But, for a moment, when Jesus restores this child to his mother, the crowd remembers another story.
Jesus is not the first to restore a child to his mother. Then knew of another time, a time of chaos where the powerful fed themselves and let the poor fend for themselves. They remembered how a prophet of God was sent to show another way. Elijah was a prophet who testified to otherwise. When the prophets of the powerful said might makes right, Elijah proclaimed that caring for the poor, widow, orphan and alien is right in God’s eyes. Living in a culture that only understood death, Elijah said there was enough for all. And as a widow and her son were about to die, Elijah trusted God and showed that God’s economy is based not on scarcity and limited resources, but on abundance.
If they did know or remember this story Jesus’ healing would have been just that. Jesus would have been a miracle worker – someone new come on the scene. But because the faithful knew and understand that what Jesus had done was more than the present moment they could see it for more. Into their fixed world of stories based on domination and death, the community became alive again nurtured on stories of abundance and restoration. This is our story, this is THE story which has the power to sustain us when inundated by stories of the newest and next Popeye. As we gather at this table, let us remember that the sharing of bread is our story. May we be fed here, on the stories which call us to restoration and to life. And may we find abundance in places where once we only saw death. Amen? Amen.