Spreading manure

Luke 6:1-11

          I got home from work yesterday and my most wonderful husband had already gotten the mail which is a little bit down the hill. The bad news is, my desk is covered with bills and solicitations. What got me to thinking from this passage was all the requests I get for donations. I feel a great deal of money is wasted sending me 'stuff' in the mail at the off chance I will send money back. Perhaps they rely on some sort of guilt. Guilt if you throw it away. Guilt if you use whatever it is without sending some kind of donation.  But it isn't just the mail, there are Internet requests galore, phone solicitations and television promotions as well. And let us not forget the pan handlers or the tables set outside store fronts.  I'm not one to believe that money solves all problems but there are legitimate needs and money certainly can help. It's just doing something good for God's children, one way or another.

           In today's passage the Pharisees were at odds because so much of what Jesus and his disciples were doing violated their laws.  Judaism may have a few thousand year leg up on those laws but I think the Roman church gives them a run for their money when it comes to rules, rubrics, canon laws etc. It's out of control, perhaps even unGodly.

         I think if you have a good heart and good intentions to love, there s virtually no way you can do something bad. What is left are opportunities to do good.  Sadly we dismiss so many opportunities. I certainly was tempted to throw every envelope away unopened today without a single review. Lord knows I am very leery of handing out any money to panhandlers. I recall a man who asked for 5 bucks as we were walking in the stairwell of a dark parking facility in old Las Vegas. We said "no thank you" and high tailed it out of there. We then laughed at us saying "no thank you"? What did that mean? We were just a wee bit frightened. 

         If some opportunities seem like they may be scams, dangerous or you feel you might be feeding a bad habit, let that not deter you. There are always opportunities to do good as far as donations are concerned.  I would not be one to give you my long list of preferred charities. I would suggest not throwing away the envelopes out of hand. I would also suggest that you budget a dedicated sum to good works, charities that speak to your heart and concerns.

         Just as I find it hard to really do something bad if your heart is in the right place, there is no reason not to do some good in this world.  As Ephraim Levy once said to Dolly Madison (Levy), "money is like manure, it doesn't do any good unless you spread it around".

One sabbath while Jesus was going through the cornfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. But some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ Jesus answered, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?’ Then he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’

On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here.’ He got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?’ After looking around at all of them, he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.