I haven't posted anything more about the Lambeth Conference. I am waiting until they've dropped the metaphorical hanky before I say anything more. Needless to say, everything remains in flux, and conservative Global South bishops are behaving as they have before. When women first arrived as bishops in 1998, male bishops from the Global South refused to participate in the Eucharist.
When +Gene Robinson from NH was in England but not at Lambeth in 2008, they refused to go to the rail again because there were supporters of +Gene still allowed inside the Episcopate Clubhouse.
Now, because the LGBTQ+ bishops are allowed to come to Lambeth (but their spouses are specifically excluded), they're sitting in the pews at Eucharist, pouting and putting out statements demanding Lambeth be a legislative body instead of a gathering of prayerful, faithful purple-shirted people.
It's ridiculous. It's tiresome. And it's infuriating. The bishops have another week to figure out what's what.
But their refusal to receive the body and blood of Christ because of the presence of LGBTQ+ bishops made my own presiding at the table today all the more meaningful for me. And all the more sad that those who are in the position of bishop would likely hoard the wafers and wine rather than share it with the LGBTQ+ faithful out of some man-made construct called "orthodoxy."
A bit like the landowner in Luke's Gospel...
Text: Luke 12: 13-21; Hosea 11: 1-11
My drive here to Valdosta from Tallahassee takes me past lots of
farmland.
Mostly it’s dairy farms, but there are also plenty of acres of cotton
and corn.
And certainly I’ve found myself patiently following behind a
combine driving from one field to the next.
Farming is a way of life around here…and so a Gospel story
involving a farmer enjoying a year of bumper crops shouldn’t be hard for us to understand.
What might be challenging is how Jesus describes God’s response to
this prosperous man and his fantastic crops.
The man’s carrying on about how much abundance he has and God bellows
out—You fool!
A fool? Because he wants to save up for a rainy day?
A fool? Because he wants to enjoy having a bounty of plenty?
I think probably the toughest thing for many of us when we
encounter these texts week after week is trying to understand the way God
responds in any given circumstance.
And this one could easily bring us up short especially since we are
immersed in a culture which encourages acquiring and stockpiling.
I’m not an economist, but from listening to all the reporting on
what’s been happening here and globally with inflation, it seems COVID sparked
a case of “cabin fever frenzy buying.” So many people all buying things at one
time… that our spending has outpaced the supply.
Add to that the goods stuck on boats out in the Pacific… lack of
truck drivers… plants shut down for unsafe conditions… and there’s a major kink
in the supply hose.
What little I did retain from my college economics course is that
when demand is high and supply is low, the prices go up. And we’re certainly
living in a time when everything is costing more.
So why is God calling this man a fool?
According to our economy, this man’s only doing what he ought to do
to keep himself safe…stocking up.
And there’s the beginning of his foolishness.
He is a supplier. He has what others might need or want. But rather
than make it available… he’s taking it off the market.
If we pay attention to this man’s words…
“What should I do, I have no place for my
crops, I will pull down barns and build larger ones, I will store
my grain and my goods…”
“I…My…it’s all about me.”
This man is not just a fool; he’s a narcissist.
He’s placed himself at the center of his universe. He even has a
conversation with himself:
“Soul, you’ve worked so hard; let’s kick back and have a drink”
“Yes, that’s a great idea, soul! What’ll you have: wine or beer?”
“How ‘bout champagne!”
“Perfect!”
There’s nothing wrong with the man having a bumper crop.
But God’s hanging out there on the periphery saying, “Hello? How
‘bout showing me a little love for the rain and the sun and the earth that
helped you get this harvest.”
What’s more, this man apparently already has plenty, enough that
his barns are already full. So it isn’t that he needs to save anything.
Just as Jesus has told the parable of what it is to be a good
neighbor… here’s an opportunity for this man to see what has come his way as a
blessing… and then bless others because he already has enough.
God is calling out this man for disrupting God’s economy, an
economy that revolves around giving thanks to God for the abundance and then
recognizing the interconnectedness of humanity that leads us to earn and then
share.
We have a tangible sign of that here at St. Barnabas.
The basket that’s been out in our nave for the past few weeks is
overflowing with canned fruit. These will get paired with the many cans of tuna
we collected in June.
Next month…we’ll be taking up another collection…this time for pork
and beans… to provide needed legumes and protein.
Inflation hasn’t stopped us from picking up that one extra item at
the store for our feeding ministry.
This is symbolic of the heart of this community that we continue to
look for ways to meet the needs of others even when we’re in difficult
financial times.
It reminds me again of the question Jesus posed last week about the
child seeking to get a fish.
Good…loving…caring parents don’t hand such a child a snake or a
scorpion.
Even as good and loving a parent as God is to us… it seems we
humans fall into a pattern of self-centeredness, stubbornness and rebellion.
Jesus knows this well. I think that’s one of the reasons he didn’t
want to be dragged into the middle of a family dispute at the start of our
Gospel reading. He would have known the words of Hosea that we heard in our
first reading this morning… one’s that I think any person who has ever raised a
child could identify with.
Here’s God…remembering the better days when God was like a parent
to a newborn...
“I taught Ephraim to walk…I took them up in my arms… I led them
with cords of human kindness and bands of love…I bent down to them and fed
them…”
This time…the “I, the me, the mine” is God.
But the difference here is the way of God is not about selfishness
and hording.
God is about empowering and strengthening Israel…getting the people
up on their own two feet. Making them a people who others see and turn toward
to find life.
That’s the love that is the currency in God’s economy.
But in the same way that Luke’s rich man mistakes his good fortunes
as purely his own achievement and something to be horded… Hosea wants us to
know that Israel has forgotten who made the way for them to be free from
tyranny in Egypt…and allowed them to flourish…and grow.
Israel and the rich landowner show us how becoming self-absorbed, and
enamored with how much we have and how much we have done and so focused on self
not only cuts us off from God… it leaves no room for anyone else.
But there is good news.
Hurt and angry as God might be in this Hosea passage… God isn’t
like us.
When we get hurt… we might cry. We might retaliate.
God declares that even as tragedy…and in this case it’s the coming invasion
by Assyria … God isn’t going to turn away…but keeps coming toward God’s people.
Even though the rich man may be a fool… God doesn’t give up on him.
Even though Israel is running away…God remains compassionate.
God keeps calling them and us…and keeps beckoning them and us to invest
in God’s economy and reap its benefits.
An economy where the sole currency is showing love and mercy toward
one another.
An economy where we work toward building each other up… and making
our society one where all people know they are included and appreciated… and
everyone has what they need.
We are called to
make that the real reality for our community. That’s what we mean when
we pray:
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
In the name of God…F/S/HS
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