PARTNERSHIP

A few years ago I had the opportunity to meet Briggs & Straton. Now some of you know this as the name of a company that makes high quality, powerful engines used in lawnmowers, etc. But that's not what I mean. In this case, Briggs & Straton were a couple of water buffalo. They live in Arkansas at the Heifer Ranch, the headquarters of Heifer Project Int'l. These were huge animals; brothers, I think. We actually got to ride one of them, the calmer one. In fact, they were both amazingly powerful and calm.

We didn't get to see it, but the ranch occasionally yoked them together, and showed how people traditionally used them to pull heavy things, plow fields and stuff. The yoke for this is a large and heavy wooden bar that lay on their shoulders and is strapped across their massive chests. In fact, many people around the world still use them for this, because they're so obliging and strong. That experience gave me a whole new appreciation for the gospel text we have today.

In our gospel today we heard "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Now I'm hesitant to compare Jesus to a water buffalo, but in point of fact, it was his idea first! How much of it is in contrast, and how much of it is in similarity? When the water buffalo are yoked together, they must work as partners, and they do so well. One cannot try to pull ahead of the other, or I suppose they'd either get stuck or go in a circle. If one is more tired, the other can compensate to a certain degree. Ultimately, though, they must work as a team.

For most of us, imagining such a scene is a bit abstract. Few of us (if any) grew up on farms, at least, that used oxen with yokes. But Jesus used this image of being yoked to him because his listeners would get it right away. Beasts of burden were all around them, helping with the farming and hauling things. They could easily imagine it. It was a powerful idea, their being yoked together with one another or with him. But it also worked for them, and can for us, in a more political and abstract way.

Remember, the Jews then lived under the influence of two authorities - Jewish law and Roman rule. Both served to define much of their lives and their sense of who they were and what they could and couldn't do. These would have been a source of support and confinement, and even conflict for them. Indeed, the burden of them, and their lack of options, at times, must have often seemed overwhelming. And of course, this was on top of all of their personal troubles with jobs, illness, etc.

And so when Jesus says 'Come to me all that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest,' their response would have been - What?! Where?! When?! Please, sign me up! They can easily imagine themselves as beasts of burden and now here’s an offer for some real help with the load. Jesus is offering them a source of comfort or of challenge, depending on what they need. Do they need a companion? One who will share their load, helping them carry it and a guide along the way? Jesus can be that. Do they need inspiration? Someone with high standards who will challenge them to live for more than the literal rules that defined their lives? Jesus can be that. Either way, Jesus is offering a partnership, to them … and to us.

We are also burdened by many things: grades, peer pressure, concerns in our partnerships/marriages and families, money, health, etc. Do we have enough? Do we waste too much? Our culture today gives us a heavy and complex burdens and yokes, us to some pretty disturbing values, indeed. Jesus concern for our burdens, is as real as it was for his listeners back then. An offer for relief is a relief, as individuals and as a culture. I’d say most of us as individuals would also easily say “yes.” But culturally, it might be a bit harder.

Remember, a yoke is a heavy piece of wood that joins two oxen together. They then become partners and must work together or sit stuck going nowhere. So when Jesus invites us to take his yoke and learn from him, his is inviting us to join him in harness – partner with him and walk his same path.

* * *

I came across a famous poem a part of which I knew, but much of which I didn’t. It’s a good one to compare to this lesson of Jesus, and to share with you this Sunday after the 4^th of July, for it partners us with one another as a country.

“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

with conquering limbs astride from land to land;

here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles.

From her beacon-hand

glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she

with silent lips.

‘Give me your tired, your poor,

your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’”

Sound familiar? It lies (in part) at the feet of our Statue of Liberty. I’m sure that many of you recognized these words of Emma Lazarus from the beginning, but the whole was new for me. The brazen strides of an imperial giant leading the humble welcoming eyes of a woman inviting the tired to rest and breathe…free at last. These too are a yoke we bear as a nation, as individuals and a people, however different or divided we are, however we came to be here.

As a partner, Jesus is offering us the support we crave. And as a partner, Jesus is also giving us the opportunity to carry a different burden than much of the world offers. Is this a yoke to which you might join yourself?

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle And humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Easter 2007

Nigiri san men,

tashi san men,

tsuki san men.

As many of you know, I spent last weekend in New York taking a karate promotion exam.

It was a very challenging and ultimately rewarding process – physically, mentally, & spiritually. The 4 days of classes and testing included 2 meditations and talks by our head instructor. The above was the topic of one of them. Nigiri san men, tashi san men, tsuki san men.

It means that it takes three years to learn to make a fist, three more to learn how to stand, and three more to learn how to punch. It tells us that it takes 1,000’s of repetitions to begin to master even the most basic technique. Sound like a lot? After years of training, I’m starting to see the truth in it.

Today is Easter: a high holy day in our church. A feast day that bears with it, a message of new life, and hope, and with it the gift of possibilities. A strong, clear message to each & all that God’s love conquers all. Yet if we look at the gospel story that we just heard is that what we see?

Two women gather to go to the tomb of their beloved friend & teacher. It is the early dawn – lonely & cold. As they collect the spices they need to say their last goodbye to Jesus, they are filled with disbelief, grief, despair. The empty tomb that greets them is at first not a sign of hope but of fear: Not only have they lost their friend to death, but now someone has stolen his body, as well. What are they to do? Where are they to go now? Even when the angels greet them they are terrified.

It is only when those angels tell the women the story they already know – that they can begin to feel anything else: “Remember how he told you that he would have to die and on the third day rise again?” Remember?! They walked through it with those angels, in their own minds, & with one another! They recall what Jesus’ said; what he’d lived; what he’d promised, and only then, did they start to see the truth in it: the hope and gift of life that might come out of the tragedy.

And so when they went to see the other disciples they had a choice. What would they convey to them? Would it be the fear, and loss, or the glimpse of hope that the angels offered? What would their practice of faith be? What would they repeat & share, and, in turn, learn more deeply?

We too are each faced with a choice, about what our faith practice will be. Our Christian story gives us many basic truths that we can rehearse for a lifetime, before we may begin to see the full truth in them.

What will it be? Is ours a Christmas faith? Do we live in the awe of the incarnation of Christ coming into the world, and the ongoing gift of God among us? Or is it a Good Friday faith? Do we focus on the sin that led to the cross, and Jesus’ sacrifice, suffering and death? Or is it the Easter message, and do we polish in all that we do the potential that all things are redeemable in Christ?

God with us, san men. Jesus’ sacrifice, san men. We are redeemed, san men. Practice. Practice. Practice!

Love, generosity, forgiveness. Compassion, courage, faith, honesty . . .All of life is an opportunity to practice the basics and to learn more and more deeply. As we practice, so shall we find the truth in it.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!!!

THE RISK OF BEING KNOWN - 5 Epiphany

In 2003, had you ever heard of Barak Obama? Do you know who were Sidon? Or Chilion? or Jael?

We live in an era in which we suffer from information overload – a time in which decision-making is more likely to suffer from analysis paralysis, or an overload of data, than a lack of it, and yet there are still limits to what we know.

Not that long ago, individuals lived in a pretty small world, with limited avenues for learning about significant people…in the next town, much less the next state or country. Now, I’m not that old, and yet my family was one of the first In our neighborhood to have a color TV. (My dad actually made it from a Heathkit.) My parents grew up listening to radio programs, and my grandparents sitting around playing music and singing together. Now, I bet most of us here could go on-line and find out about any one of those obscure names I just listed at the beginning of my sermon. . .(snap!) Just like that!

Our world is changing very quickly, and our ability to know who’s who along with it. . .and yet there are still limits to what we know. Consider, then, what the world was like a couple thousand years ago. What sources for information were there? How small would your world have been?!?!

No one ever asked the fisherman, Peter, what he thought of his government, and frankly, it wasn't something he thought about much. He worked hard, did his best to care for his family, and help his neighbors when they needed it. He was just one of many fisherman working this part of the lake. Perhaps he was a leader among them, perhaps not. It doesn’t matter.

But that was about to change and very quickly. His world was about to explode and its boundaries totally redefined. His faith-practice, a relatively marginal part of his life, was about to take center stage.

Up to the morning of Peter's big fish-story, he lived on the margins. He'd heard of this Jesus, but none of the things he'd heard had really touched him yet. There'd been rumors of his being a great teacher. Cool, but that didn’t affect him much. Peter had even been around for a couple of Jesus' healings, but all those healer’s ways were mysterious to him. He was a fisherman he knew how to fish and the business of selling them.

So what made it change? What shifted his perspective on everything?

Peter and the others had just spent all night fishing. The nets had been pulled in, complete with a few half-dead crabs, an old sandal, and some snags. It had been a tiring hopeless effort, and so when Jesus asked them to cast their nets out again, it hardly felt like they were being asked to be a part of a miracle. No, they were tired and depressed. As they sat there mending the nets, this teacher and supposed healer asked them to do more fishing. So, why should they? Why should they trust this guy? Fishing was their business! What did this Jesus know?

Maybe Peter was simply too tired to argue, but for some reason, despite his better judgment, he went ahead and did it, and the others joined in. The nets went out, and before they'd even fully settled in the water, they were full of fish! Now this was a catch! This was a miracle. This Peter could relate to! Now he understood that this Jesus was something special, and this way he offered had something to offer him.

And yet...and yet, for all of the thrill of it, it came so close it scared him!

Many of us can relate to Peter because he is so much like us. This time is one of those times. In some ways, it was easier for Peter to believe that God was far away, and wanted little or nothing to do with him. Big God! Bigger plans! Small me!

And yet here God was, reaching out and touching his life - no radio, or TV or internet -right there, and in a way that Peter couldn’t miss.

In a way, every day before each of us is a version of this day of Peter’s. We have a myriad of ways to connect to people, to get information, and to tell the world about ourselves, but are we willing to risk being open to and really knowing and being known by God? Or maybe in that on regard to we prefer ignorance and anonymity?

Ever heard of Marianne Williamson? Probably not. How about Nelson Mandela? Probably, yes! Well, one of the quotes that he is most famous for was actually penned by her. It’s from her book – Return to Love. I would like to end with that today:

“Our deepest fear

is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear

is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness,

that almost frightens us.

We ask ourselves,

‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented,

and fabulous?’

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There is nothing enlightening about shrinking

so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are born to make manifest

the glory of God that is within us;

it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give people permission

to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.”