October!! The weather is finally turning cool enough in the early part of the day so that we can hold our Eucharistic service at our outside altar. Still, people have no idea how much work it is to do a service outside: clearing the space of leaves and debri, setting up the sound system, getting the electric piano outdoors, putting up chairs for those who might not have brought their own. And then attempting to record the services? Yeah... that only happens if the camera and the app on my iPad agree to talk to one another. First World problems.
And how fitting to have the lesson from Luke where the disciples say, "Increase our faith."
Text: Luke 17:5-10
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One of my all-time favorite movies is “The Wizard of Oz.” I used to
watch it every year when it was on television. If the city I was living in was showing
it on the big screen… I’d be sure to get a ticket.
Trust me: there’s nothing more fun than to hear the line, “Toto, I
don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” while sitting in a theater with my
classmates on the University of Missouri campus…the archrival of Kansas.
As I grew older with this film… it went from being a movie about a
Kansas girl getting knocked out during a tornado and having a fantastical
adventure with her beloved pet dog.
It was also a story of not looking on the outside for things that
are contained within us.
The scarecrow had a brain.
The tin man had a heart.
The lion had courage.
They just didn’t have a medal, a diploma, or a testimonial to show
for it.
And then there’s Dorothy. The Wizard was supposed to take her back
to Kansas in his hot air balloon. But that plan got foiled when Toto chases a
cat… and Dorothy chases Toto… and the wizard flies away.
Just when Dorothy thought she’d never see Kansas again, Glinda the
Good Witch appears in her floating bubble.
“Can you help me? “pleads Dorothy.
And Glinda… smiling…tells her that she’s always had the power to go
back to Kansas.
Poor Dorothy is confused. But then puts it all together. She
realizes that simply wanting to see her Uncle Henry and Auntie Em wasn’t
enough. And if she ever goes looking for her heart’s desire… she shouldn’t
“look any further than her own backyard. Because if it isn’t there” she never
lost to begin with.
Dorothy’s plea to Glinda reminds me of this exchange between the
disciples and Jesus. While they aren’t having to face wicked witches, talking
trees and flying monkeys, the disciples and all the followers of Jesus face
trials and tribulations and pitfalls which challenge our faithfulness.
In the verses immediately preceding this Gospel reading, Jesus
keeps up with the theme of warning against those things that will lead people
away from God. In fact… he’s telling them that to give up on following God is so
bad…”it would be better to drown” than to lead others astray.
Oof!
Next, he tells the disciples that if someone wrongs them but the
wrong-doer repents, they must forgive that wrong-doer… and keep forgiving them
continuously.
Wow!
So…discipleship is going to take some rearranging of the mental
furniture. It means shifting away from being self-centered to God-centered.
It means taking to heart the message to serve God and not wealth…to
park the ego… to forgive others… a lot.
It’s not hard then to imagine that the disciples are feeling a
little inadequate.
And so they shake their heads and wring their hands and look at
Jesus:
“Teacher! Increase our faith! What you’re asking… especially that
forgiveness part…whoa. Can you help us?”
If we’re truthful about ourselves… most of us aren’t very good at
forgiveness.
For some of us… even the most micro of microaggressions can get
lodged in our brains where we store up our hurts and plot revenge.
I once had a priest accuse me of being rude because he didn’t think
I’d sent a thank you card to him for a donation he’d made to my seminarian
fund.
After lecturing me on the importance of thank you notes, I informed
the man that I had sent him a card two days earlier, but mail
from Virginia to Georgia sometimes takes four or five days… and he’d like have
the card in hand at the end of the week.
How many of us think unkind thoughts about the driver who comes
racing up behind us on the highway and then passes us on the right-hand side?
About ten miles later… their lane is blocked, and we see that tailgating
no-good so-and-so is trying to get into our lane and we feel the need to close
the gap so they can’t cut in.
Maybe we realize later that this wasn’t the worst sin in the world…
and yet…
So we might have some empathy for the disciples thinking that they
need a little help with forgiveness and faithfulness in sticking to this path
with God.
And in the same way that Glinda spoke so tenderly to Dorothy in
letting her know she always had the power to go home… Jesus is equally kind to
the disciples in reminding them that it’s not a matter of increasing their
faith; it’s a matter of them recognizing the faith they already have and living
into it.
Even having a dot of faith… the size of a mustard seed… is all it
takes to pull up a mulberry tree and plant it down in the middle of the ocean.
Place faith in God… let it grow.
Keep cultivating a life of prayer and gratitude and gradually
faithfulness will become a part of our being.
This is what Jesus is driving at with his parable of the master and
slave.
Our 21st century ears might be alarmed at these terms
because of our history.
But in this case… this is a relationship of one who is in service
for a time…a servant.
The Greek term is doulas…where we get the word “Doula” like a
midwife.
We hear “worthless” and we might think these folks are to be discounted.
It’s not that they’re worthless in that way. What is meant is that
they have no need for special recognition because they’re just doing what they
do… what comes naturally to them in their role.
Some people are just naturally helpers… such as First Responders.
Do they expect to get a trophy for doing their job?
No.
What Jesus is getting at is that if we take the little bit of faith
that we have in God… and we let that be the starting point from which we live
our lives… our faith will grow.
He isn’t going to increase our faith; our faith
grows in the living and practicing of mercy, love, and gratitude.
We can hear St. Paul emphasizing this point in his letter to
Timothy… in almost a pep talk:
“God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of
power and of love and of self-discipline.” (2Tim 1:7).
Still… there are forces which are constantly pressing against us
and challenging us to walk away from our faith in such a great Love as God.
A natural disaster such as Hurricane Ian… or the epic flooding that
occurred in Pakistan… likely has pushed many otherwise faithful believers to
their limit.
So how do we deal with those times when we’re feeling that the well
of our faithfulness is running dry?
One of the requirements for my ordination was to do an internship
as a chaplain.
I chose to do mine at the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington.
It’s a large campus that included a rehab clinic for people
recovering from falls and strokes as well as long-term nursing care.
The start of my CPE course was during COVID… so I couldn’t see the
actual patients, but I would spend a good deal of my Fridays having long
extended phone conversations with their relatives.
When the vaccines came along… and we were able to get our shots, I
was finally allowed into the buildings.
Once a week…I would make rounds and visit with patients… most of
the time for about 10-15 minutes.
I visited with a woman named Mary. I’d heard from her son that his
mother had had a stroke.
Her husband had died the year before… and now Mary was at the
Hebrew Home.
She was African American… a Baptist… and when I first visited with
her… she didn’t say a word… she only nodded her head “yes” or “no.”
The second time, I thought I might try something different.
I was able to pull up YouTube on my phone and found a recording of
Mahalia Jackson singing “Precious Lord.” As I played it for Mary, she squeezed
her eyes shut and moved her head to the music. We talked… as much as talking
and nodding could be a conversation… about Mahalia Jackson… and music.
My last visit with Mary… I again pulled out my phone and played the
video of “Precious Lord.” This time I hummed and sang along.
Precious Lord take my hand
Lead me on…
Mary looked at me and quietly filled in the rest of the line: “let
me stand.”
To hear her voice… with all that I had gathered from her son and my
prior visits… and to have the connection around an old Gospel tune was a holy moment.
It felt like a gentle steady rain refilling my spiritual well.
When the video ended… we sat with each other. She took my hand in
hers. We had built trust and relationship. And the Spirit said “Amen.”
And I continued my regular rounds in the Wasserman building…more
able to be a faithful presence with others.
A simple visit with a person and sharing familiar music can make for
a deep spiritual connection.
Later today, we’ll be celebrating St. Francis of Assisi with our
Blessing of the Animals. St. Francis understood that all life is interdependent
and interconnected…and legend has it that he would preach to birds. As humorous
as that sounds… it’s the type of expansive understanding of the goodness that’s
in creation… and is all around us… which we might look to when we feel our own
faith waning.
Give thanks for birds… and animals.
Share gratitude for music that binds us together.
Know that in all of it… God is working God’s purpose out to teach
us the way of love and mercy for each other…and increase our faith.
In the name of God…F/S/HS.
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