I haven't been on blogger in a while. Sorry - if you have ever wondered what happened to me. I got semi-stranded in the East Mountains and had to spend 2 weeks there. I housesat for my boyfriend and then my radiator and serpentine belt (and more!) needed to be fixed quite suddenly. I spent about 1300 dollars last week in total. I also need new brakes and possibly rotors. So there will be more money-spending going on...
I haven't had a whole lot of stuff that I have wanted to post on a blog. While I was house-sitting I have been working on my "exit interview" paperwork and a sermon, while will be preached to my ordination committee this coming weekend. So there has been a lot for me to type and reflect on but my audience is a bunch of Presbyterians with a specific thing in mind - they have to ask themselves whether they would be willing to trust me as their own pastor? That's a huge question to ask. Sometimes I am honored and humbled. Other times it is kind of scary, to know that this is the direction I am headed - the direction of a "caretaker" of people and God's "oikos."
Recently, I have had renewed appreciation of Paul's view of his work being a type of "office" - that being an apostle is like being a "caretaker" of the Gospel. The Gospel is to be served up freely to all who will hear it. And while at some point it takes root and grows in each heart, it is also necessary to be a type of "household manager" or a "treasurer of the mysteries of God" as Paul calls it in 1 Corinthians 4. My sermon this weekend will be on 1 Corinthians 9:16-23. I am thrilled to have the "I thought so!" feeling when I opened up my Oxford Bible Commentary to read, "...the content of ch. 9 appears out of place" in the section that otherwise tends to the issue of how eating food sacrificed to idols can affect your relationships to others in the group. It's because in the midst of all these discussions Paul offers the Corinthian church about how they care or not care for the needs of one another, all of a sudden, he lays out an entire chapter regarding his work as an apostle. Then he goes back to the subject of eating food sacrificed to idols. Codex Vaticanus (an Alexandrian text) includes all of ch 8-10 as a single lectionary reading in the early church, which means early Christians saw Paul's lessons on apostolic office and his "how-to-evangelize" as part and parcel of his discussion on community relationships. I am glad that even the Oxford has an initial reaction to this too.
Most certainly his point is that his "how-to-evangelize" methods are meant for application within the life of the community, not just to reach out to those who have never entered church walls. He is also pointing to a deeper point, one of integrity and devotion, because this is an "office" of being an apostle. He says in verse 17- if of my own will, I shall rceive an reward and if not of my own will, then I am entrusted with a commission..."(NRSV, sort of). What I hear here is that even when my will is weak, I can persevere knowing that I have been entrusted with a commission (Gk, "oikonomian" and related word for "treasurer" or "manager" = "oikonomos")." We are not just called when we wish to do something to spread God's good news around, we are called even into discomfort, places where we too have to be "all things to all people..." (v 22).
What does that look like for us? I was thinking of dreaming up a few different illustrations - possibly something from the phrase that has been spoken of a lot lately in the presidential race and inaugural weeks for our new President - "crossing the aisle." It seems like there has been a call to a different kind of integrity in government. I see it, where Obama has said that we have a moral responsibility to our position as the U.S. in this world. Like it or not, we are rather leaders in the world (although this might be changing!). We need to act like it by living by our own principles of government for all. So I suppose some form of that might be an illustration for persons within the church, to figure out how to "cross the aisle."
I have another "presidential" image - one from the TV series "The West Wing." I forgot what season this was from but there was one in which President Bartlett wants to hire a talented young lawyer whom he saw on TV. The problem was she was a Republican and it was a Democrat administration. The President didn't care and convinced this young woman, Ainsely Hayes, to take a job serving in the White House. She courageously accepted this honor. But she began to get harrassing messages and dead flowers in a vase, while White House aides were visibly irritated that she worked there. All of them, even Ainsley, are distracted from their service to the President, because their differences were overwhelming them.
It seems that the Corinthians were going through some distracting differences too. They had trouble sharing meals together. Some of the wealthier ones would have food that had been sacrificed to idols and those who were Jewish, or those who still believed in idols, were greivously offended if invited to the meal. The inability to share meals together was tearing at the fabric of their Christian fellowship. And it was tearing at unity. Other events had been happening - inappropriate sexual relationships hurt their fellowship. Everyone knows
that can distract fellowship grieviously too! And, the differences between rich and poor, educated highly or just a little, were hurting their abilities to share even the bread and wine of the Lord's Table, that most sacred place where we are called into reconciliation. Paul is distraught over this and seeks to help them find new ways to be brought back together under Christ the Lord. And in an odd turn of arguments, all of a sudden he turns the camera on himself, to show them in a sort of "reality show," a peep inside his own mind and heart. He decides to take the autobiographical route to convince them that they should use the same method he uses for evangelism to reconnect with one another!
Well, I think I will continue along that theme for the sermon, and challenge people to "cross the aisle." However, the question of "who's in and who's out" in our lives today is not so clear. Sometimes the person who sits next to us in church is the person we never get around to asking out for a cup of coffee. Sometimes it's the person who strongly expresses political opinions in Sunday School class who we need to ask about their family and job. Or perhaps we are the ones who need someone to talk to us - maybe we need someone to show the Gospel in getting to know us better. Perhaps it is like the story I heard from a friend of mine - about two women she knows from church. One woman was hospitalized because of a miscarriage and lost her baby. The other women, a friend from church, came to visit her. Her friend felt utterly helpless because she couldn't think of anything to say to her, knowing that words cannot heal the grief. So she simply got into her bed with her, hugged her, and they cried together. It was like the Jewish practice of "sitting Shivah," in which persons come sit with the grieving family member(s) and they don't talk at all. They sit in silence for as long as they are able and only speak if the grieving speak to them first. I still need to think through how I would present that illustration in my sermon, although I suppose my attraction to it is because doing that kind of practice is a kind of acceptance of our weaknesses to "fix" other people. That practice, rather, is a way to simply "be" with that person who just needs you to show up.
Well, that's all I am going to say right now because I just made a calzone with ricotta, sauce, mozz, olives and pepperoni. Have a great day because I am about to!
Amy
