08/07/2016 ~ Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Proper 14 ~ Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23; Genesis 15:1-6; Psalm 33:12-22; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40 ~ Service in the Founder’s Room ~ Communion Sunday ~ Joe Also Preaches at North Guilford.
Worry
“But Abram said, ‘O my Sovereign, my God, what will you give me, what good are these blessings to me, so long as Sarai and I will die in disgrace? My only heir is a foreigner who lives in my household, Eliezer of Damascus.’” — Genesis 15:2.
Many of you know I am a proud graduate of Bangor Theological Seminary in Bangor, Maine. While we, here in Norwich, live in a fairly rural area, Maine is really a rural State, not simply a rural area.
Portland, the largest city in the State, is a little larger than Binghamton. Once you get beyond Bangor, which is much smaller than Binghamton, you’re better off counting moose than people.
An advantage of attending Bangor Seminary, a small seminary in a rural State, was the opportunity it offered for hands on experience, and a lot of it. Indeed, while I was still a student in Seminary I was called to be the assistant pastor at a five church cooperative in Waldo County Maine. So while I was still in school I was already working as a pastor.
After the call to those churches one visit I did to someone’s home stands out in my memory. Let me tell you about it.
The day started off as frustrating for me. I was scheduled to do some visitations. But I also knew I needed to get back up to Bangor as soon as I could because I had a paper due the next day. I was still in Seminary. So, while I needed to do these visitations I also needed to be back in Bangor.
Did you ever need to be in two places at the same time? It’s not a comfortable feeling. So that thought— the need to complete a paper— worried me all day.
As to visitations in Waldo County, in that rural context you never put in a phone call to someone in advance to ask if you can come. In some ways that’s considered an insult. You just show up. If the people you intend to visit are home and are not busy with some chore, they will welcome you.
And, if the people you intend to visit have not gone to Bangor to shop— really the only place they can shop— there is little doubt they will be there, at home. After all, there is no place for them to go, no downtown within a couple of miles.
Now, the day was frustrating not just because I had a paper due but also because I went to at least four homes and no one was in. No one was even out in the back forty with the herd.
When I reached the fifth house I was fairly confident those folks would be there. They were retired. And they were there. They greeted me graciously and invited me to sit and have tea and cookies— why, yes and thank you.
And as we sat and chatted and nibbled, yes, the paper which was due was still in the back of my mind worrying me. And as we sat and chatted and nibbled, I realized the man in this very traditional couple was quite taciturn. He let out an occasional grunt.
The woman, on the other hand, did not need prompting. She rattled on and on, telling story after story in a stream of consciousness way. I heard about everything from the weather to politics to the local High School sports teams.
Through all this chitchat, I kept thinking ‘I am sitting here listening to this small talk when I really need to be back in Bangor doing what I need to do. I need to get that paper done! That’s important!’ (Slight pause.)
Well, at one point she excused herself. A silence encircled the room as the husband and I sat staring at one another. I sipped some tea and smiled. I did not know what to say. Finally he broke the silence.
“She has cancer, you know.” (Long pause.)
“No. I did not that.”
“She never brings it up. It does not seem to worry her. She has hope. But... she does like to chat.” (Long pause.) And again he was silent. (Short pause.)
We find these words in the Hebrew Scriptures in the section known as the Torah in the work commonly called Genesis: “But Abram said, ‘O my Sovereign, my God, what will you give me, what good are these blessings to me, so long as Sarai and I will die in disgrace? My only heir is a foreigner who lives in my household, Eliezer of Damascus.’”
We get worried about all kinds of things. I was worried about that paper I needed to write. Because of that, it felt like I was wasting my time listening to small talk as I sat with that couple. Was I? I think not.
But in that moment, that’s not what I was thinking. I probably needed to be sitting there with them rather than worrying about what I had to do. (Slight pause.)
Let’s look at a different aspect of how we interact for a moment. Suppose you met someone you’ve never met before for the first time at a party. It’s quite likely not too far into the conversation one or the other of you will say, “Well, what do you do for a living? What’s your job?”
Question: does saying what you do for a living really say anything about who you are? It only says something about what you do and what you’ve done. And we often do confuse the two— what we’ve done as opposed to who we are.
That leads me to a question: Who is God? Notice, the question is not what does God do? The question is Who is God?
I think often we relegate God to a function. We offer a job description as if that was making a claim about who God is. We even have the audacity to ask God, ‘What have You done for me lately?’
Indeed, that is, effectively, the question Abram asks God (quote:) “...what will you give me, what good are these blessings to me, so long as Sarai and I will die in disgrace?” That particular question comes from how the culture of ancient times functioned. In that culture to die childless was a disgrace.
I also need to say if that question about supplying an heir is not asking God, ‘what have You done for me lately?’ I don’t know what it is. So the very question a) comes from the culture and b) says very little about Who God is.
And please notice, I am asking or at least suggesting the appropriate question here is Who is God? Now one of the things I think we fail to realize about the story Scripture relates— not just this story, the story all Scripture relates— comes down to the very simple story concept of character.
God, you see, is the main character in Scripture. Also and, indeed, there is a second main character. And the second character is Israel. Further, I would argue those two— God and Israel— are not just the main characters in Scripture. God and Israel are really the only two characters in Scripture.
All of which is to say God— to use very traditional language— God is a person. I think we forget that concept too often because instead of asking about our relationship with God we ask a question of God: “What have you done for me lately?”
We thereby turn God into a function rather than someone who lives, someone to Whom we need to relate, someone with Whom we need to be in relationship. And still, that leaves yet another question: what is the story we find in Scripture— what is the story we find in Scripture— which has these characters of God and Israel, what is this story about? (Slight pause.)
To me this is clear: Scripture is about hope. And God is a God of hope. God is about hope. Who is God? God is hope?
After all, what is it that God promises Abram about offspring? (Quote:) “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you can! As many stars as are in the sky so shall your descendants be.” And that promise is about hope.
So, when it comes to the story of God I think it is up to us, Israel, the new Israel is how some would put it— up to us, the other character in Scripture— to tell the story of God. And the story of God is not a story about being worried. The story of God is a story about hope and hopefulness.
How so? Why would I say that? The story of God is the story of this God who loves us. And since God loves us there is no better reason for hope. Love is, I think, the ultimate expression of hope. It us Who God is. Amen.
08/07/2016
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Here is an interesting thought: ships don’t sink because of the water around them. Ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Do not let what’s happening around you get inside you and weigh you down.”
BENEDICTION: Through God’s grace, by being attentive to God’s will, our deeds and our words will change our world for we will discover ways to proclaim release from the bondage of narrowness. Let us seek the God of Joy whose wisdom is our God. Let us go in peace to love and serve God. Amen.
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