The jerk in the MAGA hat

Luke 10:25-37

      It is easy to love the ones you love. Hebrew Scriptures are mixed on who your neighbor is. The prevalent thought put forth in Jesus' time seemed to be that a neighbor could be a stranger but always someone within the fold, that is, still a real Jew. 

     I can't help but think of how we act today in our horribly polarized society.  I would probably not attempt to strike up a conversation with someone wearing a MAGA hat. The fact that they wear it seems like a boast or pride in their own stupidity. And that is the rub, the judgment I have made and my barriers going up.  

      The message this morning in Luke seems to be a reminder not to close off our minds, to remain open, however difficult it is for us to stretch or discomfort. If we wish to have our share in the imperishable inheritance of eternal life, we must see that everyone is our neighbor. From the seeming loser wearing the MAGA hat, the jackass that just made a right turn from the 3rd lane over on the left, to the bombastic preacher railing ignorantly at your sinfulness for simply being gay. Neighbors one and all.

       Will we have a tendency to flock together with those that share similar beliefs, passions and interests? Of course we will. But let us not get too comfy. Let us not cross to the other side of the road as the Priest and Levite did to avoid seeing and caring. We need to see and allow our neighbors in. Ignorance or closing ones eyes to what is going on is no excuse. I really don't believe God will accept our excuse of 'I didn't know'. We should have known, we should know and if we are accepting our calling to love we would get better glasses so we can be sure we see it all, warts and all. 

       We are not called to a particularly easy task in life if we choose to love as Christ did. Loving our neighbor, empathy, caring, concern all demand energy and openness. For our willingness to be open and love in radical abundance, we pray.

Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

Bacon on Fridays

      I love a good rule breaker. I have lamented so far as to say that I am praying for Hester to win one more "A".  Of course there are times I find it terribly amusing as well. There are strictly kosher households out there which have a shelf in their refrigerator ( lined with aluminum foil ?  ) for items that are treyf. Or people who keep a scrupulously kosher home but feel it is acceptable to eat shrimp or bacon in a restaurant. I find it equally laughable when speaking of fasting and meatless Fridays. At one time it was a 'mortal' sin to eat meat on Fridays. Now, not so much. The rules are to be strictly observed only in Lent. However, if St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday in Lent, well - can you say "dispensation" boys and girls?  I note all these minor hypocrisies not as a judgment so much as a notation about the nature of rules.  One of the things that Jesus railed about a great deal was the number of rules and strictures that the Pharisees held over the faithful making them 'twice as fit for hell, as they are themself'.

         A few years back I read an excellent book called God vs. Gay by Jay Michaelson. One of my take aways was probably not fully intended by the author, especially as it applies to rules and rubrics of which I speak.  Mr. Michaelson noted the many contradictions and questionable translations of Scripture that leads some people to be over zealous in their interpretation and judgment of others.  Mr. Michaelson argues that whenever there is a question regarding Scriptures, the final arbiter of such questions must always be love.  That is what God is and that is God's intent in creating us. Love, pure and simple.

          To the question of the Apostles plucking grain or corn on the sabbath? Clearly a sin some might say. Jesus however puts the answer to question quite simply in today's passage from Matthew. It is so easy to follow rules with scrupulosity, that is why the two great commandments are infinitely more complex and hard to follow that the Ten we all learned as kids.  Love is the arbiter for all things and if we wielded love as easily as we use passages to clobber people with we would be far, far better off.  Let us not focus on the rules so much as love.

          For good old bacon and infinite acts of love, I pray. 

           

Matthew 12:1-14

At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.’ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’

Of lepers and foreigners

      Quite a fascinating read. Jesus, with very little inducement, heals ten leper’s. To us today we would accept that without question. Jesus did this. Jesus is acting in accordance with his own character. It is a sign of how we too are to act. If not actually healing, then by accepting faults and forgiving. 

     That Brings me to another bold point. In regards to forgiveness ( healing ) Jesus had something to say about it in yet another passage of Scripture. When questioned about how many times we should forgive, “up to Seven times?”, he said ‘not seven times, but seventy times seven times’ (Mt. 18:21-22). In other words, an infinite number of times. Jesus doesn’t even say a ‘reasonable’ amount, he says 70x7 times. Jesus is equally generous in His healing in our reading today. Ten leper’s healed. 

      And as if to zing us, who is the one that comes back? The Samaritan, the one that the observant Jew or Temple elite would label as a sinner, a less-than-Jew and other unflattering names. It’s why the story of the Good Samaritan is so powerful. Yet here we are zinged again as the translation of the Samaritan is a “foreigner”. Seems very timely to us to speak of foreigners, healing and forgiving. But let’s be real, there are a lot of foreigners or immigrants. Too many? What would Jesus do?  Certainly, welcome the foreigners. After all, ‘we were foreigners and captives ourselves’ as Jews. There are numerous references admonishing us to not only welcome the foreigner but to treat them as one of our own. But shouldn’t we be reasonable about this? Remember how Jesus cured the ten lepers? What about forgiving 70x7? Is that reasonable?

      It seems that Jesus is trying to let us know that God’s love is unlimited, inclusive, boundless, infinite. Are we not called then to act the same way? It seems counter intuitive and counter cultural this mass and total embrace of foreigners, of sinners, outcasts and the marginalized. Yet that is exactly what Jesus teaches us to do.

      For Forgiving ourselves, forgiving and embracing the ‘other’ among us, in Christ’s name, we pray.

Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean.Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Impurity and boundless love

       There is a lot to unpack here in this passage from Luke. The two things that strike me most are a reaffirmation of Jesus' humanity / compassion and secondly, how that compassion drives him to do the unthinkable for his time - touch a dead body. 

       There were so many rules that the Jews were required to follow to stay holy and ritually pure. The fact is, many of those rules were meant more to prevent illness or to just make life survivable in the hostile environment of the desert. They may not have known the technical details of Trichinella spiralis but they sure as hell knew about what it meant. No wonder pork was forbidden. The concepts of refrigeration, preserving foods etc were far away into the future. Some rules made eminent sense for their time.

         I suppose touching a dead body could be a source of illness too but Jesus will have none of that. Jesus' compassion drives him to do extraordinary things and far beyond what we as mere mortals judge as good and bad, black or white. The list of times and circumstances when Jesus broke or shattered rules is legendary and legion. His behavior is such that we must use that information as a witness to how we should act and think.

         There are some other remarkable stories of people who put their own lives at risk for the sake of compassion and faith. The stories of Father Damien or Mother Theresa are real life, honest to God, legends, truthful and holy. Those are only two of the notable examples of people who challenged what would make someone untouchable or ritually impure.

         Perhaps we need to look at what really, truly makes people impure. Question everything we are told. Hold fast to that which is true and holy.  That process is often at odds with institutional religion. We are called beyond any institution and to be like the man, Jesus. Provocative? Are we called to emulate the original Provocateur, Jesus?

          In all this talk of what makes one ritually impure I cannot help but note that Jesus did not take the ritually acceptable train of thought on a variety of issues. Jesus surely did not hate anyone and his actions are a witness to his ever expanding, inclusive love.

          Question what is impure, be compassionate, loving and all embracing. That is what Jesus tried to teach us in his daily life, a life he surrendered for each and every one of us, pure and 'impure'. 

       

Luke 7:11-17

Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.