9/28/14
John, our substitute pianist while Jeremy is on tour in
Europe, is in the sanctuary going over the morning’s music. Deacon James is
getting things set up. A well dressed
man comes up to me and asks if I remember him. I know what his is a prelude to.
It’s a well developed strategy to ask to speak to the pastor 15 minutes before
the service. You know he doesn’t have much time
to get into a detailed
discussion. He tells me he’s got a job. Just needs money for his transportation
until his first pay check. There’s no
way I can do that, tell him, but I do wind up emptying my pockets and
giving him everything I have.
I go back to see John, to review some music, anxious about
the time, not checking to see if I’ve locked the door. A young man enters the
sanctuary. Clean. Well dressed. With a large bag.Tells me he’s from the coffees
hop across the street (the Bean) and has some food they want to get rid of well
before the expiration date. Can we help get it to the poor? I’m pressed for
time, just say Yes. Turn back to the pianist.
And then go back to my office only to discover our laptop is
gone. I can’t believe it. But yes, it’s gone. We check the bag the young man
dropped. It’s not from the Bean, It’s from the CVS garbage pile. It’s all CVS
food. I’ve been played. Sort of sets me off bad for the Sunday. Which is too
bad because Rachel has brought her niece Sandy and Anna has brought a whole
family. People anxious to hear the Good News. And I’ve just been robbed. And
it’s half my fault for not checking the door.
Theft or not, we got to have church. Our theme today is a Strong community knows who’s in charge. And
our scripture is MATTHEW 21:23-32.Where
when Jesus entered the temple, the chief
priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, By
what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?.
Jesus then says to them, I will
also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you
by what authority I do these things. 25Did the baptism of John
come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another,
If we say,‘From heaven,’ he will say
to us, Why then did you not believe him? 26But
if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are
afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, We do not know. And he said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
And as is his custom, he follows that up with a parable:
28What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and
said, Son, go and work in the vineyard today. 29He answered, I will
not; but later he changed his mind and
went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he
answered, I go, sir; but he did not
go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father? They said, The
first. Jesus said to them, Truly I
tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of
God ahead of you. 32For John came to you in the way of
righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the
prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your
minds and believe him.
I talk about how we in seminary get trained in the institutions of the church, but no the culture of
the church. In every community there sit hag person or persons who’s approval
is necessary before any major decision can be made. It’s classic community
organizing training: Find out who the authorities are. So I ask
everyone to pair up with someone they don’t know so well. And I ask the
question, Who are the authorities in your
life? This is CO 101 one on ones…
The answers are not
necessarily what I expect. I expect to hear a spiritual answer. What I hear is
this : A lot of people hear the voice of their mother, or father. Or an old
teacher. For me it’s my father. For him
it was the Rotary 4 way test:
1.Is it the TRUTH?
2.
Is it
FAIR to all concerned?
3.
Will
it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4.
Will
it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
As
opposed to other Rotarians I knew, my father took this seriously. Truly applied
it to most every decision he made. Stephen knows this. And Marsha, who was a Rotarian girl, knows it too.
And
also, Ray Swartzbach, my campus minister. I hear his voice. And my mentors
Philip Newell and Rodney Martin. I feel I owe them. And ultimately, Jesus. That cliche question, WWJD, what would Jesus do? That’s the
bottom line.
When
I look at the scriptures, here’s what I see:
*
Jesus, who’s being gamed by the authorities, flips the game back. The answer to
your question is in what you see. If you can see what I’m doing, you know by
whose authority.
* The
parable also makes it clear that what we do matters more than what we say….and
finally,
* We
might find some surprising allies along the way.
Which
for me means that everything we do as a community must have the same clear message.
If you see what we’re doing, you know who we are.
And
inspired by my friend Kristen Leigh, it's Jesus that makes it radical. That is,
the community I want to create is rooted in Jesus. Not defined by any particular
theology or beliefs. I really could care. But by what we do. A path we follow. This
is our bottom line commitment: to follow Jesus as best we can, helping each
other along the way.
We
finish by singing Pete’s Where have all the flowers gone? Which in light of the
Climate march, has added meaning…
Much
of the post worship conversation has to do with the robbery. Thanks to Stephen
W our data is backed up. And thanks to Danielle, we’ve got our serial number
info. The police report will be that much easier.
And
then the session agrees to put forth Anna as a new member next week…
Straightening this all out tomorrow will be
a drag…to say the least…
