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| Ready for Eucharist in Marcus Garvey Park |
It's officially spring now. Ona sunny mild afternoon I make my way to Marcus Garvey Park where the Sunday afternoon Ecclesia Congregation is gathering. Along with volunteers from Riverside Church and the Interfaith Center. There's anew friend from the Dominican Republic. And old friends. And new. This was my reflection:
I can't tell you how many times as a Pastor I have had someone, often from a hospital bed, say to me " I just don't know what I have done Pastor, that God would cause me to suffer like this."It's a common question. I think that behind that question is a desire to have everything make sense, even if it means having to be guilty of something you can't figure out. Somehow that idea is easier to live with than the thought that what happens is random.
People come to Jesus with a report of a political atrocity committed by Pilate, mixing the blood of some Galileans with "their sacrifices." And the other "news of the day" includes a non-political disaster of the Siloam tower falling on people. He takes the opportunity to challenge the idea that what happens in this life has anything to do with how much of a sinner you are. He's pretty clear...there's no connection. I used to have a friend that would say, "Time wounds all heels"....if only it were true.
And the reverse of that is equally true. We live in a time when there is a popular idea called the Prosperity Gospel. The idea is if you believe the right thing, God will bless you. Or worse, that if you have material wealth, it must mean that God has blessed you and you deserve it and if you don't have material wealth, it's your own fault, a sign of your own sinfulness. The whole language of the world being divided into "makers and takers" is just a variant of that idea.
Jesus is very clear about that..."NO, I tell you...."
But he uses this to go another direction, to talk about repentance. We are three weeks deep in the season of Lent, in the midst of our 40 day journey of reflection in preparation for Easter. A time when we are called upon to think about our lives, to think about what might need changing. To think about what we might need to change in order to become the person Jesus has created us to be. To repent, turn around, go a new direction.
SO he tells us a story about a fig tree that is barren. The gardener asks for one more year to tend it, care for it, fertilize it and see what might happen.
I guess there's a few ideas here...one is that not all doors are always open. Ultimately we do have to decide. But the truth is, it is never up to us to pass that judgment on another. That privilege is God's alone.
They say that in any parable, we are ALL the characters...so...we are the man who is fed up with the tree...how often do we feel that way about someone else? Or ourselves? And certainly we can be the fig tree, in need of another chance, one more opportunity to turn things around. Of course, Jesus is the gardener. But as part of the living body of the risen Christ, we too are called to participate in creating those opportunities for others, even those who people have given up on. I suspect that at the end of the year, this gardener might say again, "OK, give me just one more year..."
Maybe one more thought. It takes manure to fertilize. I'm wondering if there might be something in, well, the crap of our lives that can be used to help us grow to be fruitful, you know, even helpful to others, like I can see what you're going through, I've been there, maybe I can help...like that.
May be with you in journey to repentance and new life. May we be with one another. In the name of this gardener, this Jesus, Amen.
During prayers, many concerns are lifted up about missing friends. People continue to arrive. On foot. And in wheel chair. Eucharist is shared, one by one.
And then we share the meal prepared by Riverside. And the circle begins to disperse. As we walk out fo the park, using the portable altar, Father Clyde sees one of the missing friends and immediately goes over to her. And we share our left over sandwiches with her and her friends....
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Luke 13: 1-9
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them — do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."
6Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?' 8He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"
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