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Foundry is an historic, progressive United Methodist Church that welcomes all, worships passionately, challenges the status quo, & seeks to transform the world.
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Sunday Aug 03, 2014
Sunday Aug 03, 2014
Jazz Liturgy & Communion: featuring the Stanley Thurston Jazz Trio, with guest vocalist Loree Slye and guest saxophonist Antonio Parker
Preacher: Theresa S. Thames
Scripture: Matthew 14:13-21
Sunday Jul 27, 2014
Sunday Jul 27, 2014
A sermon preached by
Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC, July 27, 2014, the seventh Sunday
after Pentecost.
Text: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
What do you desire?
“Desire” is a word that is alive with energy. It points to a reality that dances in and among us as a powerful source of passion and motivation. And while some may instinctively imagine desire as always a temptation to something a bit naughty, that is an unfortunate slander of a God-given gift. It is true that our desires can become disordered and destructive when they are denied and banished to the “shadow” as Carl Jung suggests. But that isn’t the fault of desire itself. Desire is a good gift from God. The Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, my friend, former professor, and now president of Union Theological Seminary in New York, reminds us that desire is connected to things like delight, pleasure, vision, and beauty—all things that are positive elements of our God-given human experience. She shares that “in classical Christian language, the soul desires, in its most profound and ultimate sense, the beatific vision, which is the vision of God and God’s beauty.”[1]
In contrast, I found a Huffington Post article from last November that makes this claim: “Everybody wants what feels good. Everyone wants to live a care-free, happy and easy life, to fall in love and have amazing sex and relationships, to look perfect and make money and be popular and well-respected and admired and [for] people [to] part like the Red Sea when you walk into the room.”[2]
Perhaps the author is correct in his claim that these are things that “everybody wants.” In general, the things mentioned aren’t bad things. And the article goes on to suggest that attaining the object of our desire will only happen through hard work and sacrifice. Not bad advice, on the whole. The thing that struck me is that if it is true that this article truly describes what everybody wants, then we are a pretty self-focused bunch. Is it really true that “what everyone wants” has nothing to do with anything beyond our capacity to look perfect, make money, and be popular? The Rev. Dr. Jones would suggest that this kind of rhetoric is simply a symptom of our capitalist culture in which we are “constructed to want in a particular way.”[3] Desire becomes connected to possession and consumption instead of a life that is mutual, relational, generous, and shared. Erotic desire begins to be understood in instrumental terms instead of as a deep unfolding mystery that requires attentive care in order to build or maintain trust in relationship. In the culture in which we live, folks are trained to always look for a better object of desire. So often the desire is simply for more.
In this context, the challenge for those who follow Jesus is to want in a different way—to be motivated by desires that are less a part of the capitalist machine and more truly human. Jesus offers a guideline, teaching his disciples to “seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness.” (Mt. 6.33) Jesus teaches that when we focus on our truest and deepest desire which is the love and beauty of God then all the other things that we need will be cared for. This isn’t magic or wishful thinking. It’s the same principle as setting a priority to exercise and then realizing that so many other things get addressed as a result, things like good sleep, better mood, and having more energy. Wanting the kin-dom of God above all other things—that is, ordering our desires according to our true, God-imaged, human nature—does not insure that there won’t be challenges in our lives, and it doesn’t promise that we will have ease or wealth. Rather, the promise inherent in Jesus’ teaching is that when we seek first the kin-dom of God our lives will be drawn up into the life of God, our lives will become infused with God’s beauty, our lives will be soaked with God’s love and will become so meaningful that we wouldn’t trade that new life for anything—not even all the material things in the world.
In other words, God in Christ calls us out of our life-limiting, anxiety-producing, self-focused haze and invites us to seek something larger than ourselves, to desire participation in a vision that is not always easy but that is worth living and dying for. Richard Rohr, Franciscan priest and spiritual teacher, suggests that “the risk and the adventure—the tremendous sense of daring and gift—that comes into one’s life when one is seeking something larger than oneself” is what “romance” is all about.[4]
Ah…romance. Whether the romance we experience is in the context of our love and desire for another person or our passionate commitment to a cause or vision, romantic energy pulls us out of ourselves and places our focus on someone or something else. And this kind of romantic, passionate desire leads us to go a little crazy sometimes, to make crazy promises and to risk making a fool of ourselves or getting ourselves hurt. Romance is Atticus Finch taking the case; it is Jackie Robinson stepping on the field; romance is Juliet’s potion and Romeo’s dagger; it is hundreds of people camping on a city block for months on end to protest unjust economic realities. Romance is Lloyd Dobler standing in his trenchcoat, boombox overhead, with Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” blaring; it is Harvey Milk stepping up and speaking out. Romance is anyone who has ever been crazy enough to give themselves to another person in committed, covenant relationship. Romance is a person who joyfully sells everything she has and makes a slightly shady business deal in order to gain the treasure found in a field. Romance is a merchant who sells the whole store—giving up the security of regular income—to possess just one pearl whose value is great. Romance—the desire for deeper love, connection, justice, freedom, meaning, and purpose—causes us to do all sorts of crazy, risky things. And that desire for something beyond ourselves, for a purpose that is bigger than one life, is what is at the heart of the kin-dom of God. It is high romance.
It is what Jesus came to show us and teach us: that the freedom and courage, joy and purpose that we seek are found in and through a great love affair with God. The revelation of God’s passionate and steadfast love for us and for the whole creation is the gift we hold as the people of God, Christ’s church.
I remember Serene Jones once saying that Christians may be facing a “crisis of desire.” She noted that delight, passion, vision, beauty, joy, and justice may not be the first things that spring to mind when many people hear the word “church.” And yet, ostensibly, we as the church are those who have discovered the treasure of God’s grace, we are those among whom the invaluable love of God is made real, where kin-dom living is practiced and shared. So why is it that so many people run the other way when they hear the word “church?” Sadly, we know well enough that some communities preach a message that is judgmental and narrow and even hateful. But, perhaps an even more pervasive reality driving folks away from the church has to do with the fact that so many expressions of “church” have, in the words of The Righteous Brothers, “lost that lovin’ feeling.” That is, the communities lack passion, have become complacent about their relationship with God, and as a result, their vision gets turned in on themselves, the vision growing ever smaller as it keeps pace with their dwindling membership. If what people desire is to be part of something that is big and meaningful and passionate in which they can give themselves and become more of themselves for the sake of making a difference, then this kind of passionless community (even when it is well-meaning and sweet) just isn’t going to cut it and it certainly won’t convince anyone that they need to crawl out of bed early on a Sunday morning or give up a happy hour to participate. What kind of church is so desirable that if someone happened upon it, it would be for them such an amazing treasure that they would joyfully sacrifice everything else just to be a part of it?
I believe that the church people desire is a church that desires God, that seeks first the kin-dom of God and that does so with joy, deep commitment, and the right kind of drama. A church that is caught up in the great romance—“the risk and the adventure, the tremendous sense of daring and gift”—that is life in God will be alive with love and beauty and purpose and passion. And it is this kind of church that is attractive. This church knows and concretely shows that the source of its life is Christ and the purpose for its being is love of God and love of neighbor. This church meets and embraces people right where they are AND challenges each person to grow, becoming an ever fuller expression of who God has created them to be. This church teaches its children to desire the God who desires them—and does so in a healthy, full-bodied way. This church takes relationships seriously, makes real commitments, keeps forgiveness at the center of its life, speaks truth to power, takes seriously Jesus’ call to serve the poor, dreams big and prays without ceasing. This church knows that there are consequences for human choices and that suffering results (even, perhaps, weeping and gnashing of teeth) when the opportunity to live in right relationship among God’s diverse “catch of fish” is rejected. Every member of this church knows that she or he is a minister of the Gospel—an agent of God’s saving love—not just on Sunday but in every part of their lives. This church has the energy of a movement—like the original zeal of the Methodist movement that spread like wildfire, calling people to greater accountability and a passionate and loving relationship with God. Beauty and art and creativity are highly valued as are practices that encourage the integration and wholeness of the human person. The church people will desire does not try to make things easy, but instead tries to make things matter. Most likely, this church has many more persons attending worship than it has members, because to be a member requires a high level of accountability and responsibility within the life of the congregation. But hundreds of newcomers are drawn to this place—even if they are uncertain whether they can make the commitment and knowing they are welcome even if they never do—because the kind of commitment and joy they witness is inspiring and it is a sign that there must be something pretty compelling going on for people to do such a crazy, risky thing as to commit to and live in a Christian community in such a radical way.
What is so compelling? Well…it’s hard to describe, but you might say it’s like a mustard seed, some yeast, a treasure buried in a field, a pearl of great price… What is so compelling? Why don’t we find out together?
[1] “Desiring God: An Interview with Serene Jones,” http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/content/desiring-god-interview-serene-jones#sthash.wqdOzBlj.dpuf
[2] Mark Manson, “The Most Important Question You Can Ask Yourself Today,” posted 11/13/2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-manson/the-most-important-question_b_4269161.html
[3] Serene Jones, from lecture given at the Pastor-Theologian Conference in June 2006.
[4] Richard Rohr, Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, Franciscan Media: Cincinnati, 1995, p. 233.
Sunday Jul 20, 2014
Sunday Jul 20, 2014
A sermon preached by Rev.
Ginger Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC July 20, 2014, the sixth Sunday
after Pentecost.
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
There are always painful and challenging things happening in the world and headlines are pretty consistently depressing. But some weeks things just seem to spiral completely out of control. This, for me, has been one of those weeks. Natural disasters such as Typhoon Glenda are painful enough, but when you add to that the human disasters we are witnessing through violence and neglect and downright hatred—from the shameful conditions of the so-called “family shelter” in our city’s old DC General Hospital, to the violence against the children and families crossing our southern border seeking refuge, to the violence and loss of life happening in places both near and far—well, it’s just all too much. And I would suggest that much of the violence and neglect that rule the headlines is driven by the age-old “Us versus Them” disease. “Us vs. Them” drives war, it fuels greed and selfishness, it can make us blind to the complexities of a situation since the absolutism of “Us versus Them” often leaves little room for facts or subtlety or grace.
Unfortunately, our current political situation provides a ready example of the destructiveness of “us vs. them.” How many of us have witnessed the ways that much-needed policy conversations stall or never get started because folks are unwilling to even mingle with someone from “the other side?” These days collaboration and—God forbid!—compromise are seen as “giving in” or lacking backbone to stand up for what you believe in (and, don’t forget, anything you say can and will be used against you in a nasty political campaign in the future). At worst, we see folks both in public and private not just disagreeing with others, but identifying those in a different camp as “evil.” In this kind of partisan environment, radical polarization and demonization not only threaten the greater good but also, as is the case from generation to generation, lay the greatest burden of suffering upon the most vulnerable: the poor, the marginalized, the stranger and sojourner, the children.
Living in an “Us vs. Them” world may seem inevitable, as though it is simply the natural order. But, according to our Judeo-Christian faith (not to mention most other spiritual traditions), the idea that my life is separate from your life is an illusion. Martin Luther King, Jr. put it this way: “All…life is interrelated…somehow we're caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” In our heart of hearts, I believe we know that all people are beloved children of God, that we are interrelated, all part of God’s family. I just think it’s easier to believe that when we aren’t having to actually deal with other people. Let’s face it, people can be challenging and confounding and downright infuriating. And when so much is at stake, when we are talking about people’s LIVES, about policies and attitudes and practices that will make a difference one way or another in the realities of human life and community, no wonder lines get drawn in the sand and divisions occur.
There are times when it is not only easier, but necessary for safety and healing, to find a group of folks who share your experience and perception, a community with whom you don’t have to fight all the time, with whom you can find rest and affirmation. The challenge from within these havens is to remember that other communities—some of which may be at the polar-opposite end of our ways of thinking—are still our sisters and brothers even though they may have hurt us, even though they make us very angry. We are interrelated. We are all kin. And even though there is a time and a place for support groups of like-minded folks, the vision of God’s kin-dom breaks down every dividing wall and calls for a space in which we live together in peace even in the midst of difference. Let me be clear. I’m not suggesting that we are supposed to sacrifice our deepest values for the sake of just “making nice.” It’s not that an “I’m OK you’re OK” approach, with no critical thinking or debate, with no stand taken on anything is what is required. Far from it. That kind of attitude can be held by anyone and IS held by countless people both within and outside the church. Rather, I am saying that those who are serious about following Jesus are required to remember that there is an alternative framework within which to understand and live our lives in community with others, even with those members of the human family who challenge us most. In other words, we as Christians are called to the difficult task of showing the world that “us versus them” isn’t the only way to live.
Jesus offers us some insight into this alternative way to live through his teachings about the kin-dom of God. And in today’s parable of the kin-dom we learn some important things about how to live together as God’s family, as those intertwined so closely to one another that to try to pull out or cut off any part will do harm. But to get to that we must first admit that the parable and the allegorical explanation that follows seem to provide pretty juicy temptations to fall into “us vs. them.” After all, we’ve got good versus evil here, with the wheat representing the “children of the kingdom” and the weeds representing the “children of the evil one.” Let’s break this down a bit. While the language of “Kin-dom” might lead us to think of a place (like “The Magic Kingdom” for example), when Jesus teaches about the Kin-dom of God he is speaking about a reality not confined to any one place or time. He describes the kin-dom as that dynamic way of life-in-relationship that is characterized (ruled) by the perfect love, the unity in diversity, the mutuality, the peace and justice of God’s own Triune life. Therefore, the children of the kin-dom are those who are seeking, by God’s grace, to live in a way that reflects God’s own love and life. The opposite to that way of life, a way we see manifest in some individuals and human communities and systems, is hateful, destructive, greedy, violent, and so on. These things have no place in the kin-dom of God and could be identified as “evil.” (“Evil” in Mt.: behaviors that break the trust required for good relationship) One of my favorite liberation theologians, Jon Sobrino, talks about the Kingdom of God and the “Anti-Kingdom,” with the latter being anything that is actively working against the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom of peace and justice for the poor. All of this is to say, there IS a struggle. There IS evil in the world, forces that seek to undermine the flourishing of God’s good harvest of love, mercy, and peace. If this is the case, if it is true that there is a struggle between kin-dom and “anti-kin-dom” then isn’t “us vs. them” what we are left with after all?
Well, as tempting as it is to feel justified in calling certain others “weeds,” as tempting as it is to look forward to a perceived, promised divine weed-be-gone intervention when the roll is called up yonder and those “children of the evil one” get what’s coming to them, let’s try to keep things in perspective. First of all, Jesus is clear that the ethic of the kin-dom includes the radical notion that we are to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. (Mt. 5:43-44) In the parable an “enemy” is the one who sows the weeds among the wheat. If we desire life in the kin-dom of God, then our call is to love and pray for that enemy. As soon as we allow the enemy to become an object of hatred, as soon as we allow ourselves to treat the enemy as less than a sister or a brother, then we have crossed over into the camp of the anti-kin-dom that wants us to be at enmity. Another thing to consider: Are any of our chosen communities—are any of us—completely weed-free? Have any here today never sinned or broken the law of God’s perfect love? As soon as we begin to judge others for their “weediness” we can become like the weeds in the parable—a specific kind of plant (beaded darnel) that looks just like wheat in the beginning, but whose seeds turn dark and poisonous as the plant grows. Self-righteousness and lack of humility that leads to judging another as evil is poison—deadly.
The trickiness in all this is that there is a dialectical struggle of good versus evil, of God’s way versus all that is counter to God’s way. As those who desire to follow Jesus and to live as children of the kin-dom, how do we engage the struggle without falling into the worldly ways of “us vs. them?” The farmer in the parable implies that the weeds and the wheat are capable of growing together. The threat isn’t found in the weeds themselves, but instead from how we react to the weeds. Ripping out the weeds, trying to root out and destroy any perceived sin or act of injustice, may be our first impulse. But what Jesus teaches in the parable is that our real challenge is to resist that temptation. In verse 30 the master tells the servants just to “let” things be; the Greek word used there is the same word used in the Lord's Prayer and elsewhere for “forgiveness.” The farmer counsels patience to those who would rush in and start weeding like crazy. Patience and forgiveness are kin-dom values. They are divine attributes. And they are offered to each one of us by a patient and forgiving God. Therefore, as those who seek to live in the kin-dom of God, we are called to offer them to others. We already know that forgiveness is hard work. And the patience I’m talking about isn’t passive, isn’t “there isn’t any other option but to take a breath and wait” patience (like when you’re sitting in a doctor’s office reception or stuck in traffic, powerless to do anything else.). The patience that is suggested by this parable of Jesus is an active virtue; it is strong, allowing us to bear the challenges we face in community with love, gentleness, mercy, and compassion.
Jesus teaches elsewhere in Matthew that it is God’s will that none be lost (Mt. 18.14). This helps to temper the fire and gnashing of teeth that appear in our text today. But we would miss the point of today’s text if we failed to see that our easy tendency is to want certain people to do some gnashing of teeth. The common, “us vs. them” response is to point the finger, draw lines in the sand, judge others, cut others off, fail to listen to other points of view, to lash out at those who push our buttons, to decide who’s in and out of God’s grace. But these things are poison to our own souls and poison in our community of faith and poison in our world. Remember, friends, we are all seeds planted in God’s garden, we are all God’s beloved children. There are always wheat and weeds around. And the results of the anti-kin-dom can make us so angry and so deeply sad. But even as we go about our work of advocacy and service, one of the most powerful ways we can stand against the anti-kin-dom is to not give in to its poisonous ways. Our call is to have patience and to trust that since in the kin-dom of God grace and mercy are the primary values—what appears to us as a weed might turn out to be wheat. Who knows? The one who changed water into wine might just transform poison into honey. That is for God to sort out. For us, we can try to live the alternative to “us vs. them” by speaking our own truth in love and by listening for understanding, by humbly acknowledging that we may not always recognize wheat or weeds for what they are, by having patience with the perceived weeds within ourselves and within our church and within our communities, and by allowing that patience to make us “strong enough to hold back, to follow God’s way of grace and forgiveness instead of the world’s quick and easy solutions of vengeance, punishment, and violence”[i] even when the issues at stake are important and the debates grow heated. We might even take a breath and a pause before “sharing” that inflammatory quote or picture or article on FaceBook or Twitter. We might even choose to pray for someone who hurts us instead of making a snarky, hateful comment. The focus of what Jesus is teaching today isn’t on some point in the future, the focus is on what you do, how you respond, how you love, how you practice patience, whether you forgive TODAY even in the midst of all the devastating headlines. Why not give thanks that God’s mercy has been extended to us—and to all? Why not rejoice that we are given the opportunity to grow together, awaiting the harvest of peace that God has promised? It is a harvest with no more “us vs. them,” when lion and lamb, hawk and dove, poor and rich, straight and gay, young and old, together with every race and nation will live together in mutuality and peace. It may seem impossible. But God says it’s not. And moments of kin-dom harvest break in, you shine like the sun, whenever you not only say you trust God’s vision, but live that way too.
[i] Scott Hoezee, Center for Excellence in Preaching, http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/thisWeek/index.php
Sunday Jul 13, 2014
Sunday Jul 13, 2014
A sermon preached by
Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC July 13, 2014, the fifth Sunday
after Pentecost.
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” Perhaps you have heard (or said) that before. Words hold all sorts of power and meanings. Sometimes words become more meaningful or less—based solely on what we know (or think we know) of the person using the words. And anyone who has ever been in a human relationship of any kind (and that would be all of us) knows that two people can be using the same words but not be communicating at all. “I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." This phenomenon is interesting when applied to the task of preaching. I once discovered after four years of preaching in one community that a member of the congregation had been hearing all sorts of things from me that I had literally never said and were, in fact, the complete opposite of my theology. And why? Because I am from Oklahoma and talk about Jesus a lot. Even in cases where folks may not have such wildly skewed perspectives based on their personal baggage, and even when folks have been engaging with the same preacher for years, on any given Sunday what people hear may have little to do with what the preacher thought she was saying. This becomes particularly challenging in the time of transition between voices in the pulpit. Because it takes time for a preacher to come to know the people with whom she is communicating…and it takes time for the people to become attuned to the preacher’s idiom and style. I’m reminded of when my niece was very young and my mother (Mimi) would be trying to say or do something that was normally handled by my sister. My niece would correct Mimi, saying, “Mommy does it this way,” or, “Mommy says it like this.” Used to make Mimi crazy. But this is normal. We grow accustomed to certain ways of speaking and acting and changes can take time to fully receive.
Today we hear Jesus say, “Let anyone with ears listen!” Jesus wants to be heard. And he certainly has his work cut out for him in trying to communicate the good news of the kingdom. His is a new voice and so much of what he says and does is counter to expectations. He challenges the idea that “kingdom” means worldly power and political dominance; he cares for people others deem unworthy or unclean; he shakes the “family tree” loyalties, so strong in the primarily Jewish and Jewish-Christian context within which Matthew is writing, proclaiming instead that fidelity to God is the thing that makes us family. The message that Jesus proclaims is not the “us versus them” kind of message folks are used to, even though so many folks in his own day right up until our own try to make it so. Jesus shares a word that is not sectarian, but rather for all people, like seed scattered without being careful where it lands. And from the time he first spoke until now, the word that Jesus brings is heard and received in all sorts of ways.
That is what today’s parable is about. It is meant to describe how “the word of the kingdom” is received and the various consequences that follow. The hardened soil of a path, rocky soil, and soil overgrown with thorns are used as metaphors for folks in whom the “seed,” the word of the kingdom, fails to grow and flourish. Good soil allows the word to bear fruit beyond imagination! This seems fairly straightforward and we might all rather quickly say that we “get it.” But what do we “get”? What is the “word of the kingdom” that Jesus wants people to receive?
I would like to suggest that the “word of the kingdom” is not only the wise sayings of a rabbi who lived a long time ago, but is also the PERSON, Jesus, who embodied the word and will of God. Imagine that in our parable today Jesus freely offers himself to everyone, hoping that his love and friendship will be received, take root in “good soil” and bear fruit. If this is the case, then what we’re talking about here is not an intellectual concept to which we are asked to assent, but a kind of relationship that we are invited to cultivate. It is a familial relationship in which we acknowledge our kinship as sisters and brothers, together with Jesus, in the one family of God. This, together with the added benefit of providing a less patriarchal version of the teaching, is the reason I often use the word “kin-dom” to describe the reality of life that we are invited by Jesus to share.
Jesus shows us what life in the kin-dom looks like. He doesn’t just talk about it or tell nice little stories about it. Jesus both speaks the word of the kin-dom and IS the Word of the kin-dom. And that word is love—God’s love in flesh. Today’s parable speaks of the challenges of hearing and receiving this word of love. Why would love be challenging to fully receive? Well, Jesus speaks of three reasons.
First, Jesus says that some simply don’t understand it. Real love doesn’t make sense when you have never been loved or when you have never witnessed a healthy, loving relationship. Jean Vanier is the founder of L’Arche, communities where men and women with mental disabilities and their assistants create a home for one another. Vanier powerfully describes the state that some folks arrive—neglected and never treated with dignity, care, or love. He talks about how difficult and painful the journey is to help these angry, wounded souls trust the friendship and love that Vanier and others offer. To believe that you are worthy of love, to believe that you are capable of offering love and having it received is so difficult when all you have experienced is rejection, distrust, fear, violence or survival at all costs. It is also hard to understand the freely-offered love that Jesus gives when all you’ve known is a kind of quid pro quo that requires that love be earned before it is given. In our world where everything’s for sale and very little is free, God’s amazing grace and love often simply don’t compute. I know folks who have been in church most of their lives tell me that they struggle to truly understand what it means to say that God loves them.
Next, Jesus says that some people may understand the kind of love that is offered, but when giving and receiving that kind of love brings trouble, they aren’t able to persevere. The love that Jesus offers makes us vulnerable; it makes us aware of our own, small love and of our dependence. The love that Jesus offers invites us to learn how to receive instead of (perhaps pridefully) always being the one who gives. Jesus’ love calls forth repentance, self-sacrifice and humility. To truly receive the love that Jesus offers means that Jesus’ friends become our friends—and that means we will find ourselves standing in solidarity with the poor, the dispossessed, the oppressed. The love that Jesus offers means that we have to learn to love ourselves even as we love others and sometimes that may bring us into conflict with people close to us. None of this is easy and even those who intellectually understand the beauty and benefits of what is being offered may find themselves “falling away.”
Finally, Jesus teaches that some folks hear the word of God’s love but allow money, possessions, status and other things of the world to speak more loudly until the word of love becomes drowned out. Even when we try not to let this happen, it is so difficult not to fall back, out of fear or habit, into a reliance upon material things for our sense of security or self-worth. It’s not that we don’t need to appropriately care for our needs and the needs of our families. In another place, Jesus is clear that God knows that we need clothes, food, and shelter. (Mt. 6.32) The problem comes when we allow our anxious drive to acquire to take priority over our relationships, when we allow anxiety over material things to strangle our ability to share life and love with others; or when we are tempted to love things and use people instead of loving people and using things. Some may struggle to receive love because they have invested all of theirs in objects with whom they can have no real relationship.
While there are certainly challenges, I would suggest that, just as plants are made to receive sunlight and water so that they can grow and produce fruit, we are MADE with ears to hear and hearts to receive the word of the kin-dom which is the steadfast, merciful, prodigal love of God. Love is our native language, the language that formed us and shaped us and breathed life into us. It is only the painful, complicated, broken ways of the world that cause us to forget, that trample down the earth of our souls, that throw rocks into the garden, that sprout snares and temptations in our hearts that greedily hog the rich earth, keeping new seeds of love from taking root.
The good news is that language can be learned or re-learned and any ground can be cultivated. Even earth that has been abused or neglected can be lovingly brought back to a state in which it can receive and sustain seeds that will grow. I have good friends who are landscape architects. They have taught me a great deal about “native plants” and the wisdom of planting things in a place they are naturally designed to grow. When we worked together on a garden installation, we not only had to prepare the soil that was full of trash, old roots, rocks, and overgrowth, but we also took care to plant specimens that would thrive in that particular location. You should see the fruits of that labor!
This is what I hear Jesus teaching us today: Our hearts are created by God to be open and receptive, to give and to receive love and care, to be in relationship with God, with other people, and with the creation as one family within the kin-dom. While our hearts may need a little cultivation—digging down to remove the debris of violence or neglect in our lives—what we are offered in Christ are seeds that are native to us…the word of the kin-dom, the word of love and faith and trust, is our native language. It WANTS to take root and grow. Jesus the Christ, the very word and reality of God’s love, wants to grow and take root in our hearts, to fill us and form us and give us strength and life.
Even when it seems least likely, God is able to bring new life and transformation, deeper love and mercy, generosity and kindness, healing and peace beyond understanding. It can happen in those we might be tempted to write-off as too hardened, rocky, or thorn-riddled. It can happen in you and in me. And through the seeds of God’s love planted within your heart, a great harvest—or perhaps just one small seed full of possibility—will be shared with others, itself a word of the kin-dom looking to take root in the native soil of someone else’s heart. // What do you hear Jesus saying to you today? It might not have anything to do with what I think I’ve said, but if I’ve learned anything from my study and prayer with this parable today, then I’ll trust that God’s word will land where it needs to land and—by grace most of all—will offer new life and a harvest of love beyond the telling.
Sunday Jun 29, 2014