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Let me
begin with a couple who both appreciated the finer things in
life and were comfortably able to afford them. When it came to
travel, they went by the best means to the best places. That
is, until their plane went
down….suddenly….dramatically…..into the choppy waters of
the sea. But the emergency exits opened (as engineered) and
the inflatable slides were positioned (as instructed), meaning
that virtually all were evacuated (as scripted).
There
they were, crammed into lifeboats, with barely room to
breathe, let alone move. When the woman turned to her husband
and said: “Tell me, George, do you think we are still in
first class?”
I
suppose you can be progressing comfortably in life….knowing
how things work….knowing how things fit….knowing how you
work and how you fit….and then the wings come off the
airplane, the leader takes leave of the ship, or (for any
number of reasons) somebody shouts “Fruit basket upset.”
And you find yourself facing the demise of the old order and
figuring out what niche you are going to fill in the new
order. Which can be unsettling.
Picture
the disciples of Jesus. There they are….that night. Which is
also this night. Breaking bread. Drinking wine. Celebrating
Passover. Being Jewish. Being very Jewish. When from his lips
come troubling words. Not that he hasn’t said them before.
But never with such urgency before. Words about betrayals and
arrests. Words about suffering and dying. Words about going
away and not coming back. At least not anytime soon.
And
the first thing they want to know (as we discussed a few years
ago) is what all children want to know whenever they see
telltale signs suggesting that one or both parents are going
out for the evening. Namely: “Who’s gonna stay with us?”
And being told that their sitter is to be none other than the
Spirit….who will both comfort and advocate, as well as teach
them whatever they need to know….they are temporarily all
right with that. Until it occurs to them that even this Sitter
may not be able to guarantee their security, given all this
talk about death and danger.
Which
is fueled, somewhat strangely, by Jesus himself. Nowhere more
clearly than in this strange little passage in Luke 22:35-38.
I don’t know why things keep leaping out of the predictable
passages of the Bible, saying: “Look at me, Ritter. You’ve
never pondered or preached me before.” But they do.
Jesus
turns to the disciples and says: “Remember when I sent you
out without a purse….without a knapsack.…without sandals.
Was there anything you lacked?” Well, even Jesus didn’t
remember it perfectly. He got the words right. But he didn’t
get the audience right. He is presently talking to the twelve.
But when he first sent a group out, telling them not to worry
about money, supplies (or even shoes, for that matter), he was
talking to the apostles….the seventy rather than the twelve
(see Luke 10).
At
that time, Jesus was saying: “There’s work to be done and
you’re ready to do it.” Or, to be more precise: “The
harvest is ripe. You are ripe. Go to it. Go do it. There will
be folks to share it. So don’t sweat it. Travel light. Move
quick. Don’t pack. Whatever you need will turn up. People
will receive you, house you, feed you and clothe you. And if
some don’t, others will.”
That’s
what Jesus said then. Now he’s asking if they remember. They
do. And he’s asking if it wasn’t as he said it would be.
Which it was. The world into which they were sent was
receptive and benevolent. To which they said: “Amen.”
And
to which he now says: “Not anymore. Things are different
now. Harder now. Troubled now. O the times, they are a-changin’.”
So Jesus cancels the old instructions and gives them new ones.
“If you’ve got a purse, carry it. If you’ve got a
knapsack, pack it. And if you don’t have a sword, find
something to sell so you can get on down to Swords R Us and
buy a couple.”
The
new message is twofold. They must be on guard. And they must
provide for themselves. No more easy trekking for the friends
of Jesus….then. Nor any guarantee of easy trekking for the
friends of Jesus….now. The Christian faith is a glorious
journey. But sometimes a dangerous journey. I forget that from
time to time, having lived a rather large portion of my life
“at ease in Zion,” as they say. But there are stories
galore of Christians who have found it otherwise…. including
the young couple (well known to me) who were recently robbed
at gunpoint while doing the Lord’s work.
As
concerns the “two swords,” most scholars think that Jesus
was speaking allegorically rather than literally. Later that
same evening, when an armed disciple did a little midnight ear
surgery on the slave of the high priest, Jesus said
(concerning the sword): “Sheath it.” And as I read moments
ago, when the disciples said to Jesus (concerning the
availability of swords): “Look, we’ve got two of them,” Jesus did not say (as it may be
translated in your Bible) “It is enough.” A more accurate
translation reads: “Enough of that.”
But
the message, literal or figurative, drips with reality. “No
easy sledding from this point forward,” he says. Kiss your
free ride goodbye.
But
this is the night….and tomorrow is the day….when we
recognize that we are not the first to have it hard. Nor will
we be the last to have it hard. Because the best once had it
hard. Evidenced by this, with which I close.
Eavesdrop
with me on a great gathering in heaven, where all the people
who ever lived have assembled before the throne in order to be
judged for their lives on earth. However, they were far from a
submissive crowd. They had complaints to make. It was a lot
like a clergy meeting at Annual Conference, or sessions of
some Administrative Boards I have known.
One
group of complainers consisted of Jews who had suffered great
persecution. Many had died in gas chambers and concentration
camps. How could God judge them? What could he know of their
suffering? “Who is God, that he should be our judge?” they
cried.
They
were accompanied by several slaves who had suffered the
indignities of indentured servitude. How could God possibly
judge them?
Next
came a group of homeless people who had spent far too many
nights on far too many streets. How could God know how they
felt?
Their
chorus of complaint was joined by the voices of poor
folk….people who had sweated and toiled but had never been
able to make ends meet.
Finally
came the sick and the sufferers….each with a complaint
against God. How lucky God is to live in heaven where all is
sweetness and light….no tears….no worries….no
fears….no hungers….no inhumanities.
So
a commission was appointed to draw up the case against God. It
was simple. Their conclusion was that before God could judge
them, God must first endure what they had endured in their
troubled world. So instead of God judging them, they judged
him. Finding God guilty, they issued a verdict. And the
verdict was that they sentenced God to live on earth as a
human being and personally submit to the painful and
troublesome knocks of life. A list of particulars was read.
One after another, they shouted them out.
Let
God be born a Jew.
Let God be born poor.
Give God hard work to do.
Let God be rejected by the people.
Give God for friends those who are held in contempt.
Let God be betrayed by one of those friends.
Let God be indicted on false charges, tried before a
prejudiced jury, and convicted by a vacillating judge.
Let God be abandoned.
Let God be tortured.
Let God be lonely.
Then let God die.
As
each group announced its sentence on God, cheers of approval
went up from the throng. Then, suddenly, there was silence. A
long silence. No one moved or made a sound. There was utter
silence in heaven. As someone quietly informed the multitude
that God had already served that sentence.
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