(prayer)
Friday was supposed to
start out a bit more relaxed than normal.
A professional development day for Blackgold Schools means that spring break started a day early.
That meant that only the
university student in the house had to pushed out the door in time.
Ben has an 8am class, so
Patti or I (usually Patti) drive him to the Alex arena to catch the 7:05 bus
into Edmonton. It was chilly on Friday
morning, so the car was started at 6:45 to begin to defrost the windows.
At 6:55, we discovered it
had been stolen.
Yes... the keys were in the
car and the door was unlocked. Stupid -
I know.
//
//
I really do believe that
people are kind and good by nature. I do
like to assume the best about people... especially strangers.
Call me naïve, but I am
trying very hard to respond to this theft (and all of the inconveniences it has
caused) without me losing my faith in humanity.
Theologically, you might
know that I am a big fan of Genesis 1:27 - So
God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them
(NRSV).
I hold to this ancient
belief that we bear the image of our creator.
If I were to lose my faith in humanity, I may very well lose my faith in
God.
//
I will still proclaim that
assuming that people are inherently good is a good assumption to make.
And yet, I am fully aware
of the dangers of assuming. As they say,
the very spelling of the word dictates the pitfalls when we "assume"
- it can make an a** of u and me.
//
//
"Assumptions"
don't just spring up out of nowhere.
I believe that most
assumptions are born out of experience.
As we go through life - as
we encounter different people in different situations - we begin to notice
patterns.
After a bit of experience,
we begin to expect to see patterns repeat themselves.
Assumptions are the default
patterns our experience has taught us to expect.
//
At its best, this can give
us useful intuitive skills.
At its worse, it can make
us racist or sexist (or any number of other -ists).
//
//
//
Samuel had anointed Saul
as the first ever king of Israel. It
marked an evolution of the Hebrew people:
they changed from being a loose ancestral affiliation - a tribal confederacy - to being a nation (like it's neighbours).
The Hebrew kingdom began
with such hope and promise, but King Saul became corrupt... and Samuel grieved
his role in establishing the kingdom.
//
Even God had withdrawn
divine support for King Saul.
Regardless, Saul remained king and the people of Israel continued to be
impacted by his faithless and corrupt regime.
Samuel, you have grieved
over Saul long enough.
It is time to show you my next king.
Fill your flask with oil
and go to the Land of Judah.
Find Jesse of Bethlehem.
You will annoint one of his sons as
the next King of Israel.
//
Jesse had at least 10
children: eight sons and two daughters.
When Samuel saw Jesse's
sons, Eliab stood out.
Now, he
looked like a king.
Eliab has to
be one!
You cannot see a king
with your eyes.
It is not about how tall he is
or anything about his appearance.
It is what is in the heart
that matters.
Eliab... no.
Abinadad... no.
Shammah... no.
Seven sons in total... and
not one of them had the heart of a king.
Are these all of your sons?
All but the
youngest.
David is with
the flocks right now.
When David returned from the
field, he did look young. He was
good-looking in a healthy, dreamy eye sort of way. But Samuel
knew that none of that mattered.
This was the one.
Samuel's faith told him
that.
The horn of oil was brought
out and David was anointed by Samuel in a special ceremony.
The Old Testament reading
this morning said that The Spirit of God
was with David in a very strong way from that day forward.
David didn't become King of
Israel that day. Saul's reign would last
for many more years. When we read on in
the text, Saul's story continues to unfold,
but so does David's.
With the anointing of the
shepherd boy, God's choice had been made.
It would only be a matter of time.
//
Samuel's instincts of how
he would identify the next king of Israel were not quite right. His assumptions were challenged until he
looked beyond the surface and could see the depth of the true person inside.
//
//
//
"God blesses the truly
faithful; God rejects and punishes the wicked."
This theology has been
popular in every era of biblical history... from Genesis to Revelation. It has been preached a lot in the two
millennia since Jesus' resurrection.
It is expressed in writings
of prophets, psalmists; it is in the gospels and in letters of early
Christianity.
//
Every single obscenely
wealthy mega-church TV preacher uses it as a justification for the fleet of
luxury cars and mansions. See the spoils (I mean blessings) of being
truly committed to God.
This is not just a
judeo-christian concept. We sometimes
use the ancient sanskrit word, karma,
to describe this theology in action.
Hinduism teaches: As a man himself
sows, so he himself reaps ... The fruit is of the same quality as the action.
"God blesses the truly
faithful and punishes the wicked" may be a popular belief in some
circles. But it is an indefensible
theology unless you close your eyes to the realities in the world.
There are consequences to the choices we make in our lives... good and
kind and compassionate choices do often reap benefits for (not only the
recipients but also) the givers. And
those who choose less honourable ways of living often find those choices
biting them in the butt.
But, we all know the real
world truth that... devout faithfulness is not an inoculation against
suffering. And... history (past and
present) is littered with evil, wicked, greedy, violent people enjoying life
far greater than their choices and actions can justify.
Every minister (myself
included... many times) has be asked the phrase that Rabbi Harold Kushner
echoed in the title for his 1981 best-selling book: why do bad things happen to good people?
The question comes from
a theology that is engrained into our minds: God blesses the faithful and causes the wicked to suffer.
For many people, the
collision of this assertion and the
realities of their experience leads to a serious crisis of faith.
Does this sound familiar?
I go to
church. I read my bible.
I pray. I love my neighbours.
But my life
just sucks.
It is one bad
surprise after another. I can't catch a
break.
What is wrong
with me?
Why is God
doing this to me?
What am I
doing wrong?
//
As engrained as the
blessings-curse theology is in our biblical tradition, an opposite theology is
part of our story as well.
The whole book of Job is a
challenge to that belief.
As is our Gospel story from
John chapter nine today.
Rabbi Jesus, who sinned,
this man or his parents,
that he was born blind.
The disciples were taking
the karma belief system even a step
further... it is not just ourselves that will suffer for our lack of
faithfulness, but our children as well - a birth defect, a life long disability
is a direct result of the bad faith choices of a previous generations.
Is it not enough that they
have to believe that wicked people will suffer the consequences of their own
actions, but that innocent babies must justify this philosophy as well?
These kind of assumptions
really do make an ass of u and me!
//
Jesus' response to his
followers' assumption was to show them how absurd that way of thinking is.
In the wonder and mystery of
Jesus ability to heal, he made a salve of spit and dirt and rubbed it into the
blind one's eyes. It must have hurt
(suffering upon suffering).
There was a site nearby
where the waters of the Gihon Spring had been diverted into the city for easier
access.
The man found his way to
this Pool of Siloam to wash out his
eyes.
Even as the pain of the
scratches on his eyeballs lingered, he experienced a new sensation: brightness,
shapes, colours. Remember, he was born
blind.
Was this... sight?
//
The man (born blind) could
see.
A miracle!
But... notice what is
missing from the story. One chapter
earlier in John, a crowd was ready to stone a woman for the sin of adultery
(Jn8:3-11). With an interesting choice
of words, Jesus convinces the crowd to let her go. All he asks of the woman is to "go and sin no more". She had her slate whipped clean. She avoided the punishment because her sins
had been forgiven. "Your accusers are all gone, and I don't condemn you
either. Go and sin no more."
If the healing of the blind
man (in chapter nine) was a result of his sins being forgiven, Jesus never
mentions it. In fact, Jesus says it is a
sign of the Glory of God made manifest in in their midst. The healing spoke to Jesus' authority not to any new status of faithfulness of the man
who came away from the Pool of Siloam understanding (for the first time) what
the word 'blue' meant.
//
//
As I said earlier, we
create our own assumptions based on our experiences. We project that reliable, repeated patterns
will occur again in the future.
Typically, these internal
assumptions serve us well, even if we are forced to realize every once and a
while that there are exceptions to every
rule.
//
It seems to me that a
greater concern is the fact that - sometimes - we can be quick to take in the
assumptions of others, without the benefits of a critical reflection on our own
experiences.
Or worse, we accept, as
gospel fact, the assumptions of others - in contradiction to what we see around
us.
We become consumers of assumptions because
they will make life easier to understand.
We like to be told how things are and why they are that way.
I believe that theology without thought is bad theology. I don't feel that I need to take it as far as
pure rationalism, but I do understand why some people do.
I accept that not
everything can be fully explained; that there are aspects to this existence
that defy logic and reason. The churchy
words that I use to describe this are mystery
and wonder.
Faith is the bridge that
helps us connect the dots of life.
I will be the first to
admit that not everything I hold as true and authoritative in my life makes
sense. But, I do need some of it to make sense.
I exist somewhere in
between Blind Faith and Cold Rationalism.
I think this is a bit about
what Samuel learned at Jesse's estate.
Life and faith has to be able to look beyond the five physical senses.
There is more to a person
that what can be seen in a photograph.
Samuel learned... that the
Eyes of God see more deeply than we can fully imagine or understand. There is more to each of us than...
·
how
we look, or
·
what
accent we speak, or
·
what
we smell like, or
·
how
smooth our skin is, or even
·
how
salty our tears might taste.
We are body, mind, and
spirit... and more. We are the sum total
of our experiences and how those
events have made us feel ... feelings are metaphysical - beyond the physical -
beyond what other people's most faithful observations can fully understand.
//
//
Somewhere along the way,
Samuel had picked up an assumption of how a king should look.
Somewhere along the way,
Jesus' disciples had glommed on to the idea that life's sufferings (even
multi-generational sufferings) were solely the result of a lack of faith... a
consequence of sin.
Both Samuel and the
disciples were challenged to see things differently: to set aside their
propensity to be consumers of assumptions
and become consumers of the graceful presence of God.
God's love for us us
not dependent on the choices we make, or the experiences (good and bad) that
come our way in this life.
The promise - I see
throughout the scriptures and especially in the ministry of Jesus - is that the
compassion of God does not involve any test of worthiness. God loves because.. God is love.
//
In the exciting and boring
times, God is with us.
In times of joy and worry,
we are not alone.
We cannot force God to hate
us, by any action or thought... even those that are based in our own hate and
disdain for everything Jesus stood for.
None of us will avoid hard times
by saying the perfect prayer or memorizing every verse in the bible. We can not live in perfect bliss 24/7 simply
by performing selfless acts of charity.
//
We may choose to make the
world a better place because that offers a shared reward in the small
differences it makes in the hearts of ourselves and others.
We have been created to be
creatures of free will.
There are natural consequences to choices we make: some significant, some
inconsequential; some immediately impactful, some delayed.
But in our sharing of this
globe, the ebbs and flows of life are far more complex. We get swept up by the consequences of the
choices of others through not fault of our own.
The end result is that
every life has both joy and sadness.
And for most of us (all of us?), there are times when the impacts are
skewed too much toward the difficult edge of that spectrum that life becomes
almost unbearable and our beliefs are called into question.
//
The hope of our faith is
that companion always. As the Apostle
Paul wrote: Nothing can separate us from God's
love: not death, not life; no power in heaven or on earth. God's love does not change over time. It is the same in every place. There is nothing in all creation that will
ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ
Jesus our Lord.
(Rm8:38-39)
//
My hope is that no one will
try to get me to assume otherwise.
//
//
Let us pray:
O God, you call us to look in new and
fresh ways at the world around us. Open
our eyes that we may see. Amen.
#371VU “Open My Eyes”
