Today's text was "wheat and tares" as the old story goes. I heard a good sermon on parables as puzzles and Jesus as the 'box lid' and I read several good commentaries on the text this week. I've been thinking about planting and wondering just how much of growth is God's responsibility. We work so hard to maximize our potential and our possibilities, trying to do everything we can to enhance our growth. I wonder if all growth isn't the responsibility of God; the One who sends rain on the just and unjust.

John Ballenger of Baltimore (Woodbrook Baptist Church) writes in Clergy Journal the following good point:

The parable offers the opposite advice from the adventure movie line, "Kill them all, let God sort them out." Jesus in effect says, "Care for them all, let God sort them out." In forbidding the servants to root out the weeds, the householder, in effect, commands that the weeds receive the same care as the wheat until the day of harvest.

In that case the farmers are responsible for tending and God is responsible for the final result. I am struck by the willingness to let the good wheat and the weeds share the precious water and nutrients of the soil. I guess if we are thinking we're wheat, we're not so special after all, but as in so many parables, if we are the weeds, we have much for which to be grateful.

My husband always says, "a weed is just a plant or even flower, growing in the wrong place."
Looking at responsibility, and accepting that God has the ultimate responsibility, perhaps ours is to recognize the flower mistaken as a 'weed' and share this space with a different crop. Then when all is said and done, ultimately that is, God will do any necessary sorting.

No Beard, No Prayercovering

How very good and pleasant it is when 'brethren' live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes. Ps. 133

Brethren, of both genders and several denominations, have gathered together in Richmond this week. It is the first time that the Church of the Brethren and the Brethren Church have joined together for Annual Conference since the split in the late 1800's. That in itself is an amazing event. What is even better, and always amazes me, is the diversity within our denomination. Here we sit, thousands strong, and some women wear prayer coverings, others are in shorts and sleeveless tops. Some men are in plain clothes, others are in plaid shirts, shorts and sandals. Somewhere in there is my colleague in his suit and me in a skirt, along with our congregational members in a variety of styles. It is a beautiful thing to see and of which to be a part.

Even more amazing is the diversity of theologies. You hear it in the preaching and in the comments made from the floor mics to business items. We are all different; a large group of individuals. Yet, when the singing starts the unity of the brothers and sisters can be heard, loud and clear. We don't all sing the same parts. I sing a plain soprano, but all around me are the four parts sung as one beautiful hymn that resounds even stronger when the instruments stop and just the voices fill the coliseum. As is true for any symphony, the variety of complex and different parts is what makes the music so grand. We are never as beautiful when we are uniform in style and sound as we are when our differences are pronounced. It's an old saying and oft repeated concept. Yet it is when you are sitting in the midst of sisters and brothers that the reality can be felt, heard, seen and tasted. It is now, when 'brethren' worship and serve together, that the Body of Christ is most alive.

How good it is!

Wide-eyed Wonder

This week deserves an extra post; its Vacation Bible School! While some pastors and educators dread this crazy week, and I've been known to celebrate it's completion, I really enjoy the kids in this different and personal setting. For the last few years, our congregation has employed centers each with a different focus. My center has been story telling. Thanks to using Group and Cokesbury curriculum in past years, we have created a series of props, wall hangings and costumes to really create the Bible story. Taking off on the creativity of these publishers, this year we have written our own scripts for the Augsburg Rainforest curriculum. Each story has a personal angle and every day we spend hours building a new set. For instance, Monday was the story of Ruth and Boaz, we had a simple field scene and the opportunity for the kids to accompany Ruth while she gleaned from the field. Today Elisha's servant encountered the kids outside Elisha's house at a well. (Real water of course, and real sand to walk thru on the way to the well.) The servant shared Elisha's story and the real fear that the 100 people making noise (sound effects cd helps) in the house, were going to riot when they discovered 20 loaves weren't enough. After checking on the party, I, I mean Elisha's servant, came out and told the kids with great surprise that the bread fed everyone and there was even enough left over for them and gave them a loaf to tear apart. A fun day.

My favorite part is the look on the kids faces when they come into the room. Our backdrops, painted scenes, colored lighting, and key realistic props make each day an adventure. The look of total wonder and surprise when they walk into the story, is worth all the hours of set-up. They remember these stories because they have lived them. They have eaten bread with prophets, caught fish (real fish of course) with disciples, crawled thru the caves outside Rome with persecuted Christians, and been caught praying in Daniel's apartment. They have even crawled into the empty tomb and found the folded linen cloths before meeting Jesus in the garden. How could the effort be any more worthwhile? It is a privilege and a delight to be part of VBS storytelling.

Tomorrow we enter an elaborate garden (real plants lined a path surrounded with soil) and see what grew from the mustard seeds the gardener dropped last year. Then as the kids sit up in the tree house, they'll hear the words of Jesus about mustard seeds. I wish everyone had the opportunity to sit on the floor in sand with children and tell stories or come join us on Thursday and you can stomp grapes with the kids while we tell the story of Jesus, the true vine!

The Yokes We Choose

I had a unexpected stay at the hospital this week following a Sunday that felt like someone had kicked me in the gut and then hung around to squeeze my stomach with endless rhythm. The doctors, nurses and technicians cared for me with great care. They dispensed relaxing pain medicine while they looked for gall stones, kidney stones and anything else that seemed amiss on my insides. The doctor decided to treat me for stomach acid and a possible infection. Thanks to all that good care and a restful private room with a view out towards the Virginia Piedmont, I returned home feeling much better. So today I went to the office to get some things done. Within a couple hours the mysterious ghost had a grip on my stomach again and was starting to squeeze. There was nothing major going on, no crisis, just a simple writing assignment, some phone calls and organizing, a drop-by visit, some calls on my cell, a couple family questions to deal with or pass on, a call from the doctor to clarify my prescription and a few well wishers who had heard of my illness. Nothing particularly stressful; just the normal routine.

It is interesting the yokes we strap on. Others may see the extent of the weight but from the vantage point of underneath the load, I guess we just can't see it. Or maybe it's that we take a certain pride in carrying so much. Like at the gym; "I can press . . ." After all, 'no pain, no gain' right? Maybe that's why I read Jesus' words in Matthew 11:30 with two different ears of understanding. On one hand, the light burden sounds good, just like that quiet hospital room with the lovely view that removed me from the deadlines and calendar on my desk. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'm ready to let go. I mean the word for light in v. 30 can also mean insignificant or limited in extent. I don't want to be insignificant and I don't want to be forgotten while I rest away at the hospital. Ministry is too important for me to take it that lightly.

Just maybe I need a third ear to listen to Jesus; one that is willing to admit that it is not my ministry, but his and the work really can go on without me. Yet maybe, in all that insignificance I can also hear his care reaching out for me with hands like the E.R. nurse, saying, "Let me help your pain." "Let's get you settled and comfortable while we look at your problems." Maybe I can find a way to hear those words that remind me that I am significant in Christ's eyes, not for what I do, but just for who I am.

Maybe its time for the yoke to go. And seriously, won't I look much better without it?

The Binding of Issac

I have been "listening" in on lectionary discussions this week regarding the Genesis passage chapter 22:1-19; the "binding of Issac". As preachers we tend to avoid this text. As teachers, we never want to teach it to children. (and surely never show them the pictures!) Perhaps this text doesn't stand alone in scripture as much as we think. Last week's gospel pericope included the following:

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 37-39)

It is hard not to be grasped by the child binding (to use the Jewish phrasing) and to not be horrified by a father willing to kill his child. We are so accustomed to reading horror like this in the newspaper that we forget we are to read scripture in a different manner and mindset than the daily news. If we set aside the graphic details and look deeper, we see that Abraham is promising with his actions that nothing will get between him and his God. Abraham is living Jesus' words which come so many generations later. Abraham is about to give up, to lose his very life because in that day, one's life is only continued thru offspring. Abraham is willing to end even his link to 'eternal' life thru this son (given by God) because he trusts in the promise of the hesed God, the Steadfast One.

The details are not the focus of this story. We recognize it's parallel to Jesus' carrying the cross, as Issac carries the wood. We hear the appropriate response of Abraham, "Here I am." We should also note that Issac disappears and is not even mentioned coming down the mountain. Issac is a very 2-dimensional character at best in the Genesis story. He gets us from one generation to another, often thru fumbling efforts. To focus on Issac and what he is feeling or thinking is to miss the point entirely.

We admit that none of us have the level of trust Abraham shows. That none of us could raise the knife. Thank God, we are not asked to. This story shows the ultimate level of commitment a human can have. This story shows how one man, so committed to God's promise, could begin a salvation history in humanity that continues to this day. A salvation history, in which we participate. If we make a commitment, in any small beginning way, and trust in Abraham's God, the One who delivers.

The Carpenter's Apprentice

Matthew 10:24-25 "A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master."

Mr. Ryan knew how to keep a kid out of trouble so when I kept hanging around the barn he was renovating into a church, he gave me a job to do. I was 10, maybe less, and my dad had been called as the congregation's first pastor. They bought a small farm making the farm house our parsonage and the barn would soon to be a sanctuary and classrooms. I was out of school for the summer and nothing was a tempting as the nearby work site. Instead of telling me to stay clear and be safe, Mr. Ryan set me to pulling nails out of a supply of used firring strips. He gave me a hammer and showed me how to use the claw end and how to wedge my foot as a brace without putting a nail into it. Then he left me to my work. I was the apprentice for the summer.

Discipling youth should be a similar task for us a teachers and preachers. Yet we are more often found instructing and questioning; asking if our words are understood and requiring repetition of key phrases and important scripture concepts. When I think back to Mr. Ryan, I realize that he didn't ask me how I was going to pull out those nails, nor did I reply to his instructions with details such as, "I'm going to take the claw and put the tines on either side of the nail. Then I'm going to pull with appropriate force until the nail is freed from the wood. . ." No, I simply put my hammer in the right spot and pulled. If the nail didn't come out, I pulled harder. Mr. Ryan showed me how to use the hammer head as a lever and once he saw that I could get a nail out - with some effort - he left me alone to work. He was never far away and called me over from time to time to snap a chalk line (the highlight of my day) or see something new he was doing. But he didn't hover over me, or inundate me with questions. I had been shown the way, it was my turn to do it.

We hear a lot about what Christian education programs should and shouldn't do. We certainly try a variety of plans and programs. Yet there is no substitute for a master's teaching and there is no better way to learn than to be an apprentice. One willing and open learner with one patient and loving teacher. Soon there is one more accomplished disciple in the world ready to take on another apprentice. Such a simple equation; 1 + 1 = 1 more.

The Twelve

The twelve inspire me on days like today because they often seem clueless. While that seems to occur most often in Mark's gospel, even here in Matthew the Twelve are sent, but never seem to go anywhere. Perhaps that's the best I can say today, called but stationary. I'm blaming it on my ankle for the immediate future which is stiff and sore and slowly recovering from an injury. That's what I get for playing games in the dark with youth at a lock-in. If I look closely at my work for the week, I wonder how much of it qualifies with Matt. 10:7-8's list? Here's one writer's take on it.

Matthew 10:8
[8] “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

“A Disciple’s Task List”
Is your calendar a little full this morning? Have you checked it to see if it meshes with God’s agenda for your day? In between, writing letters, making phone calls and stopping at the store—did you also put in; “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons?” Source: Jerry Goebel: 2007 © http://onefamilyoutreach.com.

Perhaps I should review my job description and my life with this list in mind. It puts life in perspective, doesn't it? Proclaim the good news comes first, not teaching, nor programing, but proclaiming. I wonder where flashlight tag fits in?