CELEBRATING:
SERMONS
24 - Jan 2010
A sermon delivered by Rev. Gordon How
Have You Seen the Rabbit?
So I asked my granddaughter the other day, "Magda,
do you know what a hootenanny is?" After she stopped
laughing at the name, I explained that it is a 'folk
song party' and that when I was about her age, (I could
see her eyes rolling 'cause here comes another grandfather
story) it was all the rage for young people getting
together and sing music of the folk variety. Banjos,
guitars, maybe a bass, and lots of songs, with simple
lyrics… We had great fun at in "coffee house"
settings. Those hootenannies usually started with the
song made famous by the Limeliters (remember Glenn Yarborough,
and the "hungry i" in San Francisco? Ph, that
dates me!). Their opening song was "there's a meetin'
here tonight, great God, I'm glad you came along, all
of the brothers and sisters here, will help you sing
this song…"
We'll friends, there's a meetin' here today! Right
after the service - a meetin' for you to tell the JNAC
committee what you think about the future ministry for
this wonderful congregation! So, what do I say here
this morning as backdrop to the meeting to follow? I've
decided that rather than take the sociological route
and analyze the church in Vancouver in this decade,
or comment on what ministry should be and do, or think
out loud about the spiritual life or lack thereof of
those in the 35-60s, whose absence we greatly feel in
this and most other United Church, or indeed even risk
the chagrin of my colleagues in UC ministry by describing
what makes for a good one in my terms… I am going
to talk about the Gospel story about the lawyer. Nothing
like a little lawyer-talk to get me off the hook. Or
will it?
About a 150 years ago, two paddleboats left Memphis,
traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans.
As they traveled side by side, sailors on the one vessel
remarked, rather loudly, on the snail's pace of the
other vessel. Words were exchanged - sailors' words
- challenges were made, and the race was on! The competition
became intense as the two boats raced down the river.
One of the boats began to fall behind. Their fuel was
running out! They had loaded sufficient coal for the
trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped
back, however, an enterprising sailor took some of the
ship's cargo and tossed it into the boiler. Other sailors
joined in, fuelling their boat with the material they
had been paid to transport. They won the race, but burned
their cargo and probably lost their source of livelihood.
Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, one loses perspective,
and it becomes difficult to tell what is important,
and what is not important. For example, does one land
at the Minneapolis airport as scheduled? Or does one
take an extra hour or two to work on one's laptop? As
two pilots did last October - to the concern of everyone
who has been on an airline. How does one sort out the
important from the less important?
During the early days of the Salvation Army, its founder
William Booth (1829-1912) and his associates were bitterly
attacked in the press by both religious leaders and
government leaders. When his son, Bramwell, showed Booth
one of these scathing newspaper articles, Booth replied,
"Bramwell, fifty years hence it will matter very
little, how these people treated us; but it will matter
a great deal how we dealt with the work of God."
In our Gospel story Jesus meets a person who was skilled
in sorting out what matters most and what matters less.
He was a scribe, a teacher and interpreter of the law
- a lawyer, in modern terms. As such he was trained
to sift through a mountain of laws and determine the
central issue, the most important issue. Just as important
as mastering complicated legislation - and lots of it
- was the ability to figure out what matters to the
task at hand. And so it's not surprising that when this
lawyer met Jesus, he asked him a very good lawyer-ly
question: "Of all the commandments, which is the
most important?" The context of this question is
interesting. Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem and immediately
encountered strong opposition. The lawyer's question
came on the heels of a series of confrontations between
Jesus and other lawyers and religious authorities. The
tone of these exchanges is what we've come to expect
in the New Testament, the lawyer-scribes portrayed as
hard-headed, hard-hearted villains more concerned about
the letter of the law than with its spirit. They didn't
like Jesus, and they were the first to complain when
Jesus sat down to eat with people they considered bad.
"Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
they asked "What kind of example is this, cozying
up to riffraff? They assumed that if you hang out with
bad people, some the badness is going to rub off on
you. Their questions soon turned to attacks! They said,
"He is possessed by ...the prince of demons...."
Eventually they attempted to do away with him altogether!
So, in the midst of that tense polarization, the lawyer
asks Jesus to identify the most important commandment.
It would be easy to assume that this is yet another
trick question. There were 613 commandments in the Old
Testament body of law, and if Jesus picked only one
he left himself open to a barrage of criticism from
those who dealt with the law every day and favoured
one of the other 612 commandments. There is a hint in
our text, however, that this encounter is of a different
sort. The tone is different. Mark tells us that this
lawyer had overheard the other disputes - the other
questions - "and seeing that Jesus answered them
well" he asked his question. And Jesus answered
it. Some of Jesus' previous answers sound just as cagey
as the questions, but Jesus seemed to sense that this
lawyer was different, that the question was genuine,
and he gave a straightforward answer. He said, "The
first commandment is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our
God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second
is this, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The lawyer said, "You are right, Teacher; you
have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there
is no other'; and 'to love him with all (our) heart,
and with all (our) understanding, and with all (our)
strength,' and 'to love one's neighbour as oneself,'
- this is much more important than all burnt offerings
and sacrifices. The lawyer's response to Jesus' answer
is remarkable! They were standing in the courtyard of
the Temple just days before Passover, and the lawyer
agrees with Jesus and draws the inference that these
commandments are more important than what is going to
transpire here in just a few days! And notice that the
lawyer didn't just say, "more important,"
he said, "much more important".
It's a remarkable exchange, given all the other exchanges
between Jesus and lawyers in the New Testament. This
lawyer was impressed with Jesus, with his mastery of
the law as well as his ability to sift through the important
issues, and he didn't hesitate to say so. He continues
the genuine dialogue by affirming and elaborating on
Jesus' answer. After this encounter, Mark tells us,
"no one dared ask Jesus any more questions."
It's a pleasant and fruitful exchange. The conversation
between the two resembles an exchange between kindred
spirits. They seem at ease with each other. Unlike the
other lawyers, who seem cut from a nastier cloth, this
one listens to Jesus, agrees with Jesus, and is willing
to admit he agrees. He's an unlikely ally, but essentially
he was saying, "You know, Jesus, you are right."
And Jesus honours the lawyer with a word of praise!
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
The lawyer had figured out what matters, or which matters
matter. The kingdom of God is not about strategy, not
about surpluses and deficits; not about what is legal
or illegal; it's about a higher devotion, and that is
why Jesus healed people on the Sabbath despite legal
reasons against working on the Sabbath. That is why
Jesus associated with sinners, despite regulations prohibiting
such fraternization. Jesus said that what matters is
that you "love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength." It's a text which
has all the makings of a fine four-point sermon. But
I'm not going to draw it out to four points. Only two
- and now that you've had the first, here's the second…
What does this have to do with our daily lives? Isn't
"love of God" but a pious platitude to which
about 80% of British Columbians subscribe? Of course
we love God, but sometimes loving God is like loving
our old Aunt Bernice who lives three provinces away.
We may visit her every third year when we're out that
way, and call her if something urgent comes up, but
we think of her only occasionally. We love and appreciate
old Aunt Bernice, but it's not often we seek her out.
We may also love and appreciate God, but it's kind of
a long-distance and obligatory love. That's not what
Jesus had in mind. Let me tell one more story …
A thoughtful, curious young man went to the desert to
visit an elderly monk - why are the curious ones always
young? - to visit and elderly monk who had lived in
the desert for many years. Arriving at the holy man's
cave, the young man saw the monk sitting outside, enjoying
the sun, his dog lying lazily at his side. Like the
lawyer in our Gospel reading, this young man also had
a question: "Why is it, teacher," he asked,
"that some who seek God come to the desert and
are zealous in prayer, but leave after a year or so,
while others, like yourself, remain faithful to your
quest through all of life?" For me, this question
is like: Why is it that some people join the church
and are active in it for a while, maybe even years,
and then they let some single incident, or some embarrassment,
some dispute, inter-personal conflict, some change in
social status or financial wherewithal, some growing
up of the children, some sinful behavior of a churchperson
someplace else … whatever… why do they leave
the church?
The monk smiled and replied with a story (as wise old
monks in the desert are want to do!). "One day
I was sitting here quietly in the sun with my dog,"
he said, "and suddenly a large, white rabbit ran
across in front of us. My dog jumped up, barking loudly,
and took off after the rabbit. He chased that rabbit
up and down hills across fields and through thickets,
with great passion and never-ending persistence. Soon
other dogs joined him, barking loudly as they crossed
creeks, jumped across stony embankments, and ran through
brambles and thorns! Gradually, however, one by one,
the other dogs, discouraged and frustrated, dropped
out of the chase. Only my dog continued in pursuit of
the rabbit," "And that, young man," he
said, "is the answer to your question."
The young man was silent, and not a little confused.
"I don't understand, Teacher," he said. "What
is the connection between the rabbit chase and the quest
for God?"
"You fail to understand," answered the monk,
"because you failed to ask the obvious question,
which is: Why didn't the other dogs continue the chase?
And the answer to that question is that the other dogs
had not seen the rabbit. They were attracted by the
barking and the chasing of my dog. They had never seen
the rabbit. My son, once you see the rabbit, you never
give up the chase. Seeing the rabbit, and not following
the commotion, is what keeps me at my quest in the faith."
So, my friends, off you go to your Joint Needs Assessment
Committee meeting. And by all means have your say -
and listen most carefully to those who have seen the
rabbit.
Sermon Resources: Mark 12:28-34, Mark 2:16, D. Friesen,
R. Fairchild, C. G. Chappell.
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Shaughnessy Heights United Church
congregation is a Christian faith community respecting
each other in our diversity and reaching out to all
who seek God’s love.
1550
West 33rd Avenue,
Vancouver, BC V6M 1A7
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Tel:
604-261-6377
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