Luke 19:1-10

Laterally Luke…Pentecost + 21…New 2019

Why is it Jesus & tax / toll collectors have such an affinity with each other? I wonder if it's because they are transparent to each other in a way that’s earthly & spiritual at the same time? Can Jesus see through the tough exteriors their job demands, to better possibilities beneath the surface? And, can they see through this not-so-simple Rabbi to at least a glimmer of the Truth that lies beneath His surface?

When Z climbs up into that Fig tree to get a better look at Jesus he goes up a small man & not only physically. But when Jesus calls him down, Z shins down his tree, a much bigger person than he was when he climbs up into it. The kind of person he was always meant to be, and, all of us are meant to be, too. Jesus call us all to come down from our hiding places among the branches & leaves of the various trees of life & be-come whom we were always meant to be & God is always calling us down to be? Shades of Adam & Eve? Could Z’s Fig tree join the Palm among other more familiar symbols of our Faith?

Sitting / hiding up in his tree peering down, watching what’s going on  - out on a limb, wanting to relate, but longing, lone & lost, does Z represent anyone we know? What about you & me? Now’s the time to shin down! Not just for Z, but for all of us?

No matter how often we come up to the Temple to pray, & how often or earnestly we confess our sins & receive forgiveness, we have to make the kind of break with our past Z makes. Having Jesus face us down into the open, out of our various Fig trees, confronts us with the fact we all, every one of us, needs to let God change us into the person He needs us to be.  And in calling us down, encourages us, & enables us to be.

If salvation, in any of its biblical expressions, is to come to our house today, we need to come down from our gum trees to ground level; from being lost to being found; & to making reparation, restitution (there's the rub) that is always part of the ‘deal’. 

Brian 

Afterthought: Do you remember ever singing the ‘chorus’ ‘Zaccheus was a very little man…’ in SS., or maybe at a church camp? It captures the essence of what’s going on here today. (If it doesn’t ring a bell, it may be worth going on line & joining in!) Z’s story, though, is ‘not for kids’, but very much for adults. Full of rich imagery of discipleship to explore.

LK 18: 15-30 

Laterally Luke…Pentecost +20…Revised 2019

Let’s not entangle vv.15-17 with infant baptism; that would be an anachronism. It’s about Jesus' welcoming attitude towards ‘little ones’ of all sorts & conditions.¹  And what it means for little kids, or bigger kids like you & me, to accept the Rule, the Kingdom of God. Embrace its ‘all embracing-ness’ as enthusiastically as He does  these little ones. Do we have the imagination little children (of all ages) have to  embrace God & each other, irrespective of colour, race, sexuality, politics, etc.?

‘Goodness’, as Jesus is quick to point out, is reserved for God. Whether this chap (let’s call him ‘Sam’) is simply being sincere in calling Jesus ‘good’, we can’t tell, but we can imagine a loving smile on our Lord’s face, can’t we? MT, MK, & LK all tell us the man is wealthy; LK, that the man is of the ‘ruling classes’; MT, that he's young; & MK, that Jesus looks at him lovingly. The more complete the picture, the more likely we are to find ourselves in there, & the more likely the story will move on in us today.

 Have we been brainwashed into accepting 'eternal life' as something that comes if we’ve earned it in this one? But, if we aren’t enjoying eternal life now, how will we recognize, let alone enjoy its quality later? My wife & I were sad some years back when a small boy died. His parents are devout folk, yet when sending out ‘thank-you' cards to those who took part in his funeral, they printed the date of his death as the date he ‘entered into eternal life’. Hadn’t he entered it at his Baptism & in life?

Notice how Jesus homes in on commandments relating to human relationships when He ‘puts Sam through his catechism’? Is it because we aren’t keeping the ones that centre on God that we can’t keep the person to person ones? And vice-versa?

Whatever explanations we come up with about the camel & the gate, it's a joke. I imagine those who hear Jesus rolling about in the aisles as He play-acts someone trying to squeeze a laden camel through a too-narrow gate, & His other funnies! Jesus is a gifted storyteller who, I’m sure, uses His voice, His face, His hands, His whole body to make His stories live. Even if it means lovingly caricaturing those in the stories He tells. And being able to laugh at ourselves with Him.

Peter’s ‘What's in it for us?’ shows he still doesn’t quite get it! Jesus tells him, “A whole lot of benefits, including eternal life!” If we ourselves are asking in any way, "What's in it for us?”, might we be trying to squeeze our own camel through that narrow gate all over again? And have Jesus mimicking us, not someone else?

Brian

Afterthought: ¹  The Anglican Abp. of Sydney has recently told people who don’t agree with his / that Diocese’s views on the marriage of ‘gay’ people that they should ‘leave the church’! Hardly reminiscent of Jesus’ inclusive attitude to folk? 

LK 18: 1-14 

Laterally Luke…Pentecost + 19…Revised 2019

Jesus reminds us that if our teaching is to be effective, we need to hone our skills at story telling. Here He tells two yarns portraying arrogant contempt towards fellow human beings & therefore against God. He links them - is it wistfully? -  with, “When the Son of Humanity comes, will He find faith on earth?”. With Jesus, Faith is always a matter of Now, or Never. Now, or too late! For the contemptuous judge (‘Eli’ - even characters in yarns merit a name) for the pleading woman ‘Sarah’. For the Pharisee ‘Asaph’, & the tax collector ‘Simon’. Any time later than Now is too late for you & me, whatever our names! 

The judge holds not only the plaintiff, but justice itself, & God, the Personification of justice, in contempt. This yarn isn’t about persisting in prayer, as we may have taught or been taught. It’s about persisting in living justly, doing the justice we pray for. But let’s not batter so loudly on God's door we miss God’s gentle knocking on our own!

I was startled years ago, to come across a poem by Peguy¹ in which he likens the 'Our Father’ to a line of battleships attacking God. Led by Jesus, hands joined in prayer as a battering ram! I can't come to terms with its implication that Jesus is teaching us to break God down, wear God down, as the woman wears down the unjust judge. That's not Jesus' point, & does no justice to God or anyone else. Avoid, too, the trap a S.S. teacher is reputed to have fallen into (& some preachers?) of ending a lesson / sermon - on these yarns with a prayer ‘that we may not be like that Judge or that Pharisee’!

 Arrogance is insidious! Eating away at Judge, Pharisee - & us! What about other things that ‘eat away’, though? Is the woman of the first yarn being eaten away by the denial of the justice she seeks? Is it reasonable to wonder, too, whether Jesus’ first story speaks also to the denial of justice that lies behind a lot of strife & violence in today’s world? May the lack of self-worth felt by the customs-gatherer in the 2nd story have something to say about those often spoken of today as ‘losers’ & whose sense of  worthlessness makes them prime targets for those recruiting terrorists & the like? Are there really any ‘losers’ in God’s eyes - except for those who lose Him? 

Brian

Afterthought: One of the mysteries of faith is that if, as Jesus says, God 'grants justice to His chosen ones who cry to him day & night' why isn't that happening a lot more now? Is it that we, as the Body of Christ, are not active enough? Or, is it a paradox we just have to live with? Let’s ponder that. To transfer justice to the next life, though, is a cop-out, isn’t it? Not as compelling, or converting, as justice Now would be?

¹ From ‘The Mystery of the Holy Innocents’.

LK 17: 11-19 

Laterally Luke…Pentecost+18… Revised 2019

Jesus always seems to be on the move. Today He’s moving between Samaria & Galilee. A kind of no-man’s-land; except that it’s not. Is anywhere ever really a ‘no-man’s-land? On the outskirts of this un-named village Jesus is confronted by ten un-named ‘lepers’. Even to suffer from eczema, psoriasis, or the like meant you were swept up into the ‘leper’ category & became an outcast in the Palestine of those days. Our job, though, is to relate our story to today & today’s outsiders, named or un-named, diseased or not; not simply talk about what happens back in Jesus’ day. Let’s make today & every day, ‘Jesus’s Day’.

Notice how the ten are careful to keep their distance, even from the One they believe can heal them. Look round us, & how many people, can we see keeping their distance from Jesus? For how many different reasons? Maybe they’re keeping their distance, too, from us, His followers, for whatever reason, real or imagined? How can you & reach out lovingly, & with healing, to them, as Jesus reaches out to today’s ten? 

Sizing up the ten’s predicament, Jesus mercifully tells them to show themselves to the priests. They realise this can have only one meaning: that He has healed them as they have begged Him to do.  Are we so concerned, as Jesus is, for the predicaments of others, that we do what we can for them? Or just leave it to praying? 

And, what about those who pray & pray to God as they know Him for healing of one kind or another, yet nothing ever seems to happen to them? For them? Intercession lists in so many churches go on & on, interminably, it can seem, for those for whom someone has a concern. What can we do at a practical level - Jesus is always practical - for them as well as faithfully & continuously praying for their healing?

Only one of today’s ten - let’s call him ‘Benji’ - comes back to say thank you. Jesus has now given him his life back, & a face he can show openly in public. For some odd reason, now that ‘Benji’ has a name I’ve given him, makes me think of the name badges so many of us wear in church. Are we making the most of them? Inviting others into a named relationship with them? As they, with their name badge, are inviting us? How can we then deepen that relationship beyond the badges we wear? One way we can relate more deeply to everyone is by taking a Jesus-like attitude of inclusion to one & all, badged or not. It’s the attitude we take, the Name we bear, not the badge we wear, that makes the difference!

Brian

Afterthought: Jesus’ question at the end of the passage about whether any of the other nine have come back to praise God ‘except this foreigner’ contrasts those who live, or begin to live anew, praising God, with those who don’t invite God into our lives except when we want something! Opportunists, rather than disciples? Pray not!

LK 17: 1-10 

Laterally Luke…Pentecost + 17…Revised 2019

We happen to have a Mulberry tree in our garden; & lots of Mustard Seeds in our pantry. The Indian Ocean is just a few metres up the street; &, I have great faith! But no way am I going to take what Jesus says here literally, & try to move that tree!  As if He would want me to! To do so would be to fall into one of the traps He warns us against here.

As I age I find myself being more & more careful where I place my feet lest they cause me to stumble & bring me undone. Mind you, not always as carefully as my darling wife would like! It is at least as important I watch where I put my spiritual ‘feet’! It’s only a short step from there to watching lest I become a stumbling block to someone else, too.

As churches, we have sheltered too many in our ranks who became stumbling blocks through paedophilia. More often than not, we've responded poorly, slowly, or not at all, to those who stumbled over them & became their victims. On the whole we've been painfully slow (another stumbling block), stubborn (another), unwilling (yet another), to compensate in compassionate ways those who’ve stumbled over us. Churches as institutions have become stumbling blocks to victims by guarding church property from claims; even going so far as to disbelieve (stumbling block) little ones of all ages when they tell of abuse. 

The Olympic Games will happen again next year. How would our churches fare if a Stumbling Race were to be introduced? Gold!? How would we fare as individual competitors? Should anyone have to stumble over hurdle after hurdle to get justice on any issue. God’s justice. Jesus’ justice.  God's, little ones deserve better. There may be different, less obvious stumbling blocks, where we are part of the Body of Christ. Millstones aren't something God puts round anyone’s neck. We put them round others’ necks.  Even our own. Turn ourselves into millstones.

How much unsown 'mustard seed' is lying around in our heart pockets?  Going to waste? Or in the cupboards of our souls? Because the seed is God's, even that kind of storing away, shoving out of sight, out of mind, can't make it go mouldy or render it un-productive. It's still good. So, let's get it out! Sow it. Now!

Brian

Afterthought: There’s quite some interest in the community today in creating grainy mustards, full of flavour, with a lot of bite. God has even more interest in firing us up inside; to increase our faith & discipleship to be picker-uppers of others, rather than tripper-uppers!