15th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18), Year C

Jeremiah 18:1-11 and Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
Philemon 1-21
Luke 14:25-33


Is God in charge of All Of This (this world, our daily lives, etc)?

How much control do we have over All Of This?

We don't know about you, but we go back and forth about what we think and what we hope the answer is to these questions.

Because there are times when the ends of the spectrum of possibilities could be comforting. For example, if God is completely in charge of things (read here No Free Will) we would all be able to blame EVERYTHING on God....suspicious moles to hurricanes could all be put on the virtual shoulders of God.

Or

If we are able to act and control things all on our own, then we could really be living out the American (Emersonian) Dream of Self Reliance. We would ultimately get exactly out of life that which we put in to it and that which we earn by the sweat of our own brows. The good and the bad would happen, and it would all be our responsibility-no one else to blame...no one to take the credit other than ourselves.

Our life experience and our reading of scripture tell us neither of these approaches are all that accurate.

This week we see God speaking to the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah. They are communicating through the image of a potter working at a potter's wheel. The potter was creating a vessel, it does not work out right, the potter breaks down the clay, and then he makes a new vessel. Now this analogy breaks down a bit because the clay does not have a choice in how it is misshapen in the first place or if it wants to try again. BUT God says to the people that since they have strayed (become a misshapen vessel), if they choose to turn from their evil God will reshape them in to God's people. The people have a choice in turning toward or away from God AND God will then exercise a choice to welcome or turn away from the people. It turns out there must be some sort of interactive relationship present here.

Psalm 139 is one of the greatest examples of a portrait portraying this intimate relationship. This does not speak too much to who is responsible for actions or how decisions are made, but it does point to a human who is ultimately aware of his/her connection to, and dependence on, God as his/her Creator.

In Paul's letter to Philemon we see Paul attempting to model the God / Human relationship. He is reaching out to a slave master named Philemon on behalf of a slave named Onesimus that he has befriended. This letter is modeling the same relationship we see set up in Jeremiah--Paul has chosen to put his faith in Philemon to ask for his help and then it is left up to Philemon to choose how he will respond. The other thing that is significant here is that Paul is appealing to Philemon's common faith in Jesus Christ as a base upon which they can build their relationship. It seems that in most relationships all sides play an important role in how things work out.

I the passage from the gospel of Luke we find Jesus sharing what seems to be some of his 'harshest' teachings. He is encouraging folks to think about themselves and what they might have to give up or sacrifice if they want to follow him. He uses the example of a builder estimating the cost of an entire building before beginning the project so he does not get halfway through and run out of money. Jesus is illustrating that we have a choice to begin something or not....and if we are not prepared to begin it, we should not!
In every situation, from individual relationships to cosmic relationships, all sides have some influence in how things get played out. Of course there are always consequences in all directions, but every time, we make our choice of how we will behave in the situation and then others get to make their choices.

There is a magnificent realization here. We are created for relationships. And we are created by relationships. And we create in relationship.

God,
Here I am.
Thank you for hearing,
responding,
reacting,
loving...
even when I don't like
the response.
Thanks for showing up.
Use me. Hear me.
And send me out
to hear and respond
to react and to love.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Proper 17 (22) Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 2:4-13 and Psalm 81:1, 10-16 •

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 •
Luke 14:1, 7-14

Humility, in theory, is an easy concept to grasp.

It is the act or ability of a person to have a modest opinion of one's own abilities and importance. Being Humble is not synonymous with being self-deprecating. A person who is Humble is aware of her / his abilities and does not attempt to show his / herself to be something s/he is not.

But when we take it a step further and think of how the Humility of one person connects to the rest of the world it seems to be a bit more complicated. It doesn't matter if you call it evolution or nature or nurture, as humans we seem to have a drive built in to each of us where we want to prove our abilities and worth as greater than the next person. It seems we all want to show we are special and unique and often we attempt to do that by finding ways to be stronger, faster, more beautiful, smarter, funnier, more serious, more giving, more industrious, cleaner, more efficient, or more spiritual than the next person. And actually, reflecting on our own experience, we often don't even need another person to compare ourselves against.....we (We) often spend a lot of time imagining ourselves and our abilities to be more than they are....and not in a Positive Self Esteem sort of way.

Most of us have a natural tendency to develop in wonderful ways and then, unfortunately, we somehow cross a line where we lose our place. One of the favorite quotes in our house is "You have obviously forgotten that someone is in charge and it is not you."

Time to time, we all forget that someone is in charge and it is not us. We forget that we did not get to where we are only by our own devices. We forget that where we are today is a product of our families and our friends and the world and God loving us and guiding us and keeping us safe and teaching us and reprimanding us.

Again, call it nature or nurture or evolution or the human condition or sin, but the reality is that it is easy for us to lose our handle on having a Humble view of ourselves and our place in the world.

We are not sure if this is comforting or not, but we can look through scriptures and see examples of folks losing their own grip on Humility and we can see examples of teachers attempting to guide folks in the way of Humility.

In Jeremiah we read one of hundreds of Humility Reminders found given to the people of Israel. Through the mouth / pen of Jeremiah, God mourns that the people have turned their backs on Him even though it was God who brought them to the plentiful land.

It appears a lack of Humility might somehow impede our ability to love those that are important to us. In having too high an esteem of our selves and our abilities, we are actually insulting and hurting those who helped us to get where we are.

In Psalm 81 we read in the words of the Psalmist God again mourning that the the people of Israel would not give themselves over to Him. Instead, God says "I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels."

Following our own ways and not allowing ourselves to be in relationship with those that love us appears to do damage to the very ones we love.

In the passage we get from the writer of Hebrews and from the gospel of Luke we get some pretty direct advice and examples on the importance of being Humble.

Of course, the writer of Hebrews appears to simply be talking of love. It almost feels like it is this writer's interpretation of the famous section of Paul's letter to the Corinthians that gets so much play at weddings today. This passage in Hebrews is explaining that readers who follow Jesus should love. And when we look at how it is advising its readers to love, it is hard to not see (if followed) how all of these things help a person to maintain Humility....by loving everyone from the stranger to the prisoner to your leaders to Jesus Christ.

And then we get Jesus Christ himself directly telling folks how to maintain practices that help a person to develop Humility. He says, "For all who exalt themselves will be Humbled, and those who Humble themselves will be exalted." The common theme here? We are all going to be Humble either by our choice or by the actions of others.

We are so driven sometimes to be better, faster, smarter, more righteous. And Jesus' words ring true for Us as well...We've certainly found ourselves Humbled beyond our choice! And we remember that someone is in charge, and it is not Us.

God,
Help me see
the places where
I can love
rather than to see
the places where
I can win.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16), Year C

Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 71:1-6 •
Isaiah 58:9b-14 and Psalm 103:1-8 •
Hebrews 12:18-29 •
Luke 13:10-17

True confession time.

Writing these reflections each week is tough. Sometimes it is a grind. When we started almost three years ago, we were enthusiastic...we looked weeks ahead. We were often done by Sunday afternoon the week prior. We had robust conversations over the texts at dinner, on walks, before we dozed off. But slowly, life slipped in and it has gotten progressively more difficult to sit down each week and make time for really thinking about how the text speaks to us. Somewhere about Advent during this Year C, we both thought about quitting. But we'd been at it for two years and we wanted to see the three year cycle through to completion.

This summer it has been super hard. Oh, you've noticed. Sometimes you don't get a reflection until Friday! Not so much time for YOU to reflect then, is there? Sometimes you don't get a reflection at all! After our week of vacation, we couldn't muster the strength or discipline for facing the text. We called it a second week of vacation.

But if you've been watching the text over the past several weeks, you also know that we are moving into the calls experienced by the prophets. Somehow, these texts are speaking right to the struggle we're having today with this discipline of writing each week about the text. And in some ways, it is this struggle with call that brings us back each week. And probably for another full three-year lectionary cycle. You see, we feel pretty strongly called to engage these texts from different points in our life. And starting in Advent, we'll be back in Year A - and life for us has changed SIGNIFICANTLY in that time. We've both moved, at least twice. We've changed jobs. We've bought a house and a car. We've gotten married. We've vacationed with the kids as a real family. So there is a pretty good chance that we're bringing new life experience in the Kingdom to these readings for another three years.

So let's dive into the text that helps us recognize that.

The text from Jeremiah is a call story. God calls to Jeremiah and Jeremiah protests that he lacks experience and sophistication to do what he's being asked to do. Now, perhaps you have this experience. God doesn't very easily take NO for an answer once God's called you. Whatever you are called to has this way of continuing to surface. God takes a pretty active role in Jeremiah's decision. Jeremiah tells of the Lord reaching out and touching his mouth...literally putting God's words there for Jeremiah to speak. God goes on to make it very clear that Jeremiah is charged with great responsibility - "I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, and to build and to plant." In some ways, Jeremiah is being called to be part of a new creation.

The accompanying Psalm praises God for protection since birth, and pairs well with the Lord's words to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..."

Throughout Isaiah 58, the prophet calls the Israelites to authentic service to God rather than ritual. Essentially, the promise is of the Lord's guidance if only we will feed the hungry and tend to the needy. If you look at the prophecy closely, not only does the prophet promise God's protection, but also the restoration of Israel. Responding to our various calls makes the world a better place - but imagine it being even better than better. Better than what we currently envision as "good." Kingdom on earth as in heaven, perhaps.

The accompanying Psalm is a praise Psalm that includes an often quoted revelation about how the psalmist understood God...the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Now we've read a lot of Hebrew scripture this summer in which God seems pretty angry. But true to the covenant with the Israelites, the Lord keeps returning to them...and expects the people to keep returning to God. Is God patient with our failed recognition or acceptance of the things God calls us too? Given our tendency toward procrastination or cluelessness at times, we sure hope so!

The reading from Hebrews continues from reflections of the faithfulness of Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Sarah, Rahab and many other Israelite "heroes" toward an encouragement to recognize the gift that we receive in God's grace. Christians refer to Jesus' death and resurrection as a sign of a new covenant relationship with God. As in days of old, we are called to keep returning to relationship with God. Life changes. We stumble and stray and make mistakes. But we can return. If we miss a call, perhaps another will surface. God loves us. And it would seem God waits for us. But in recognition of that, this letter encourages the community to give thanks with reverence and awe.

Finally, in Luke's gospel, we read about Jesus healing in the synagogue on the Sabbath. This isn't the first time he's found himself caught up in a controversy with the religious leaders about what he should or should not be doing on the Sabbath. Do you ever find yourself in that spot where there are layers of rules, and what you feel is the right thing to do really is forbidden or not generally acceptable? It sort of reminds us of the conversation we had at KC recently about how to serve our homeless brothers and sisters. I mean, there are social workers telling us not to give the homeless person on the corner money. And sometimes, a few dollars in their pocket will really make the difference. There are all of these shades of gray. Call feels that way sometimes, too. Recently, we've felt pretty called to speak out against the anger and controversy brewing over the construction of a Muslim community center near the site of the World Trade Center attack. There are people who will tell us that by supporting our fellow Muslim citizens in their quest for a community center that we are being insensitive to the families who lost loved ones there. It seems like a personal no-win situation. And sometimes we're called into sticky spots like that. But it's hard to listen when it isn't comfortable. Ugh.

And so...on this journey for us through "Proper 16," it feels all about call. We feel called. It's not always really clear. It's not always really easy. We don't always feel well-equipped. But if we're faithful, we know that God is with us, right? That maybe in our faithful response, we shed a little light on the Kingdom, right?

God,
put your words
into my mouth
that I may speak
your Kingdom
into being...
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.