April 21, 2013, "Jacob Wrestles with God"

Genesis 32.22-32; Mark 7.24-30

Great things almost always require great work … lots of things, of course, can be done hurriedly … and sometimes life requires hurry … we can’t dawdle and delay at every turn of the road … 

Fire fighters and police officers can’t sit around and twiddle their thumbs when a call comes in … no time to sit and ponder life’s weightier matters … when the call comes, they jump and run to wherever the need might be … they have to hurry!

But behind all of that hurry is great work … they hurry because they’ve trained their instincts and honed their skills … as much as anyone can know in an emergency, they know it … as much as anyone can prepare for the unexpected, first-responders are well-prepared … months and years of training.

Great things almost always require great work …

A pianist in concert at Disney Hall … a renown poet reciting her work at the Kennedy Center … a surgeon working on a child’s brain to remove a malignant growth … 

Years of work and training … lots of disappointment along the way … setbacks and closed doors … frustration at all the work, the long lonely hours, the books to read and classes to attend, and practice, practice, and practice …  and the nagging fear that it won’t work out … that dreams won’t come true … that all the ambition in the world won’t win the day, and the labors of life will end without reward.

Great things almost always require great work …

I came across a delightful poem this week, called Leisure, by W.H. Davies … first published in 1911 … 

We don’t often connect leisure and hard work … but Davies does in his poem:

WHAT is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

It takes time to learn how to look at life and see everything … never let a moment pass us by without some effort to see the people walking by on the street … folks in their cars … drinking coffee and texting - LORD have mercy! - to see children playing in a park - listen to them, their laughter and their complaints … watch their faces, and the proud faces of their parents …

Take time to smell the roses, we sometimes say … 

When my children were off to some new place in their travels, I always said to them, Pay attention … use all of your senses - smell the food, taste the food; listen to the music, watch the people and see what they wear, and how they laugh … pay attention, record all of it in your brain, so you’ll remember it later in your life, and in your memories, you can always go back for a visit. 

I guess there are times when it’s good to do nothing … to put the brain into neutral and veg-out … 

But life is precious …

Use all of our God-given senses to touch the deeps and wonders of life … life’s goodness and delight … and it’s sorrow, too … to live is to laugh; to live is to cry … 

Which is why Paul the Apostle says, Weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice … life is all of that, and then some.

Whatever it is that we do, to pay attention … to be mindful … use our abilities … bear patiently the hard times of life; love the simple things that bring us cheer; pay attention to children; forgive at the drop of a hat; let go of dark things and bad memories; live on the sunny side of the street; be of good cheer … look for the positive, and make the best of things … and if we can’t say something good and decent to someone, then choose the glory of silence … seal the lips … be quiet … why add to the hurt of world with thoughtless words?

It does take work, doesn’t it?

That’s why Jesus says, Take up your cross if you wanna follow me. It won’t be easy … folks didn’t like me, and if you say what I say and do what I do, guess what? They won’t like you either. Be prepared for hard times when it comes to faith, hope and love. I’m with you always, but I never promised you a rose garden.

Great things almost always require great work …

I love our two stories this morning …

Poor old Jacob … he was his own worst enemy … and things got so bad between Jacob and his brother, Esau, Jacob left home for faraway places … but finally God says, You have to go back; you can’t stay here with Uncle Laban; time to go home.

Jacob is scared witless … he fears what his brother, Esau, will do … Jacob gets as ready as he can, and having sent his family to a safe place, Jacob is all alone with his thoughts … and in the night of his fear, a stranger appears, and for whatever reason, they wrestle with one another … all night long … it becomes clear to Jacob, this is no ordinary man - this is something divine, something of a larger order - an angel of the LORD, God in all of God’s glory … wrestling with Jacob …

As dawn nears, the stranger makes to break away, but Jacob holds on … won’t let go until he’s got something out of the deal … all of this wrestling, all night long - it has to mean something … something here that I have to find … so Jacob holds on …

Even when the stranger hits Jacob in the hip, Jacob won’t let go … injured or not, Jacob won’t let go until he’s found the mystery, the hope, the goodness - until he’s found God.

The stranger, the angel, blesses him, gives him a new name … Israel, one who wrestles with God … and for awhile Jacob limps … it isn’t easy being touched by an angel.

The other story - the mother who pleads with Jesus for her daughter’s healing … but she’s a Greek, a foreigner, a Gentile … she’s doesn’t belong … and Jesus says to her, The food belongs to the children.

Now we have to be mindful here … Jesus isn’t being cruel … he says to her what she expected … she knows that Jesus is Jew, and that Jews are forbidden to associate with Gentiles, and a Jewish Rabbi is forbidden to talk with a woman … she knows that she has no standing with him … she has no rights … she means nothing to him … he’s a child of God; she’s a child of the devil … he belongs and she doesn’t.

She’s knows all that … but she comes to him anyhow … 

When he tells her, The children have to be fed first, I’m believe that Jesus winked at her … he said the commonplace … what she expected, and perhaps what the disciples expected.

So he winks at her … to encourage her … he knows her heart; he knows a mother’s love for a child.

So she says right back at him - Sure, I know, it’s true, but even dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from the table.

And with that, I see Jesus with a sly smile on his face - Well done … you didn’t back down … you stood firm for your child … and you didn’t accept the standard religious hoo ha of the day … how religious folk love to divide the world into who’s in and who’s out, who’s been naughty and who’s been nice … who prays right and who prays wrong … who goes to the right church, the wrong church, or no church at all … those who know the truth, and those who don’t … the children and the dogs … 

She didn’t buy any of it, because she was clear that Jesus didn’t buy any of it, either. Did his reputation proceed him? I think so. She knew that she might have chance with him.

A Rabbi with a difference … and she got what she needed … she didn’t give up, and she didn’t walk away …

Great things almost always require great work …

Today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our life … life … roses to smell, people to love, a wrestling match from time-to-time, all night long, with God … and the love we have for our children, and to God we go - Help us, please help us!

Big things require big work.

Jacob got the blessing at the end of the night … 

The Syrophoenician woman prevailed for the sake of her daughter … 

Jacob didn’t give up … nor did the woman in Tyre.

In the end, they got what they needed.

The blessing was granted … the healing was given.

Great things almost always require great work …

Amen and Amen!

January 30, 2011, "Theology 101" - the Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

The Beatitudes are well known … their assurance is heartfelt … the cadence of the promise, blessed are those who … and you can fill in the blank, because the Beatitudes cover the waterfront of the human condition … from top to bottom, across the board, it’s all here: our sorrows and hopes, our struggles to live well and to live faithfully … to count for something and be worth someone’s time, so that when the day is done, we lay our heads down with some degree of dignity and satisfaction, that we have fought the good fight, and stood with Christ, in the best of it, and in the worst it.

And the promise of God, a promise for us all … blessing!

God’s hand bending the arc of time and space toward justice and righteousness and peace … and those who follow the bend of time, who heed the call of God, who bear the cross of Christ, who seek God’s kingdom, are blessed, indeed!

And what does it mean to be blessed?

At the core of all blessedness is God …

God’s goodness … God’s love … God’s purpose … God’s kingdom …

To be blessed is to have God.

To bear the mark of God upon the soul … 

Jesus appeals to our better selves.

Here’s God’s way, says Jesus.

You can do it.

It can be done.

And for the sake of the world, it must be done!

The way of the world, as it is, is war and poverty and pain and sorrow and death … is there no other way?

Jesus says, there is another way.

Costly.

Demanding.

Dangerous, yes!

But real and good and rewarding!

Jesus invites Simon and Andrew and Peter and John and says to them, Come and follow me, and I’ll make you fish for people …

Jesus says to all the world: Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.

The word yoke is code language, the language of a rabbi, the language of a teacher – take my yoke, accept my teaching, see the way I see things, live the way I live, receive the values I hold, welcome the love I give, take it upon you, take it all … and learn from me …

And in so learning from Christ, we are blessed.

God’s character takes up residence in our soul.

We become a little bit like God.

Jesus says, Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect [Mathew 5:48].

The Greek word for perfect is telios – it means complete; all that’s needed is here … the pieces of the puzzle are all on the table … waiting for us to put it together … nothing is missing.

Be complete, as your Heavenly Father is complete.

Jesus spells out.

A part of our spirit refuses the possibility … a part of our spirit says, “It can’t be done; I can’t do it; I’m not up to it; it’s too hard; it’s impossible; things are missing; my parents are crummy; my spouse doesn’t understand me; I’ve had bad breaks; I drink because I’m Irish; I’m stubborn because I’m German; I can’t cook because I’m English!”

But not so, says Jesus.

The Kingdom of God is at hand.

Near enough to grasp.

Jesus is not talking about the kind of perfection we see on TV, where the host guru always has all the answers, and always knows just what to do.

Nor are we talking about the kind of perfection offered by fundamentalist preachers and their hollow promises of health, wealth and happiness.

Or some kind of moralistic perfection – no drinking, no cussing, no smoking …  or some kind of religious perfection - saying our prayers and going to church.

To be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect, is to practice kindness and generosity toward all, without restraint, without second thoughts.

To be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect is to never be a respecter of persons … to never be influenced by good looks or expensive cars when it comes to seeing people.

The guy on the corner with a sign for food is just as precious in God’s eyes as the man in the backseat of the limousine … 

Listen to how Jesus puts it:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Everyone one of us is given the choice, a thousand times day … here it is, the high road of Christ.

It can be as simple as keeping a promise to a child:

Michael Josephson tells of a business trip he took, and his young daughter said, “Please don’t go Daddy.”

And when he said, “I have to.”

She said, “Well, then, take me along.”

And when that wasn’t possible, she offered her final deal: she asks her Dad to wear a handmade tie she’d made for him. It was a sweet thought, but he’d feel ridiculous speaking to serious business executives, but it was his only way out, so he promised to wear it.

And he did. He told the executives why he was wearing it, and he made the point: if ya’ want to be trusted, you have to keep your promises.

When he returned the next afternoon, he went right to the office, and his wife and daughter showed up for a surprise visit.

When his five-year old daughter saw that he had the tie on, she beamed and gave him the biggest hug: “I knew you would. You’re the best Daddy ever!”

It can be done.

We’ve all done it, and we’ll do it again, and we’ll go to bed with a sense of satisfaction, because we choose to do it right.

We choose to be like God.

To be like God!

Does that sound strange to you?

In our own way, of course, when we chose the right, when we follow through, when we keep a promise, when we take the high road.

When we love and forgive and make all things new.

Then we’re like God!

It’s not always easy.

But, guess what?

It’s not easy for God either.

Have you ever thought about that?

It isn’t easy for God to be God?

It’s not easy to love.

It’s not easy to forgive.

There are times in the Bible when God would rather smack the daylights out of us … when God would like to fold God’s arms and walk away in a huff and never see us again!

After the Golden Calf incident, God says to Moses, I have seen how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them [Exodus 32:9-10].

Can’t ya’ just see God throwing a hissy fit?

Like Steve Martin in the movie, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” … one of the best hissy fits ever …

And that’s what God wanted to do.

God wanted to throw a hissy fit.

Stomp his feet and throw a few things around.

But it’s Moses who says to God, Whoa, wait a minute God. Didn’t ya’  promise to stay the course with us? Didn’t ya’ bring us out of Egypt, and now only to abandon us? What will Pharaoh think if your project fails? Remember Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. God, cool your jets!

And God cools down.

You think it’s easy being God?

I wouldn’t have the job in the all the world.

And neither would you.

Jim Carrey found that out in “Bruce Almighty.”

It’s not easy being God.

And it’s not easy being a human being.

If we’ve been wrong, we apologize.

If we blow it, we make amends.

If we fail a loved one, we work to make it up.

If we’ve been selfish, we change.

If we’re too quick to speak, we learn to listen a little more.

If we’re inclined to judge others, we learn how to be gracious.

If we carry an angry spirit within us, we learn how to manage it.

If we harbor jealousy, we let it go.

If we’re greedy, we learn to be generous.

If we’re self-centered, we learn how to be centered in Christ.

It’s done a millions times a day by millions of people who choose the light instead of the darkness.

I’ve been think a lot this week about a small pharmacy in Florida that has filed dozens of law suits against big drug companies who routinely overcharge Medicare and Medicade.

It’s called Ven-A-Care … created 23 years ago when a young Florida pharmacist named Luis Cobo and a nurse named T. Mark Jones went into the business of supplying intravenous drugs for AIDS and cancer patients.

The company conducts research, comparing the prices it paid for drugs with the prices reported by drug makers to the government for reimbursement. Ven-A-Care files suit, on behalf of the government, when it spots large discrepancies between the two sets of prices.

The spreads can be dramatic.

A 2005 California suit alleged that a 1-gram vial of the antibiotic vancomycin was sold to providers for $6.29, but billed to Medi-Cal for $58.37, while 50-milligram tablets of the blood pressure medication atenolol were billed to pharmacies at $3.04 and to Medi-Cal at $70.30.

Cabo and Jones are doing all of us favor … shining the light of truth on how the drug companies routinely defraud the state and Federal governments.

The Big Boys and Girls at the top have tried again and again to shut down Ven-A-Care, but without success.

Meanwhile, the little Florida Pharmacy has saved Medicare and Medicade hundreds of millions of dollars, and by the way, Ven-A-Care is doing just fine; they collect a portion of the recovered monies. Truth and right can be profitable!

A thousand times a day, in smaller ways, we have choices … to bring light to the darkness, to tell the truth, to keep a promise and be kind … 

We don’t always get it right.

But we do it right most of the time.

And that’s what counts.

Doing it right most of the time.

Improve the odds.

Increase the chances.

Choose the ways of God!

And blessed are they who make those choices:

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

They will be comforted.

They will inherit the earth, and they will be filled.

They will receive merc,y and they will see God.

They will be called children of God.

Amen and Amen!