[Propertalk] Proper 6 b

[robertpmorrison at charter.net]

I'm still working this over for tomorrow, but this may have some 
resemblance to what will be preached 8 - )

Bob


THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY 
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
1 SAMUEL 15:34 – 16:13                   		    	                	 
PROPER 6 B - RCL
2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-17		                                                	               	 
17th JUNE, 2012
MARK 4:26-34         					 
PSALM 20

	“Did you ever grow
anything in the garden of your
mind? You can grow ideas in the
garden of your mind.” 1

These words of wisdom came from a former Presbyterian pastor. They’re 
actually very simple, but they contain a
powerful message.

	Down through history there have been religious groups which, it would 
seem, don’t put a whole lot of stock in mind or imagination. I can’t 
blame them. I like things spelled out clearly. That way it’s so much 
easier to know how to behave. We don’t have to worry about getting the 
information ourselves and having to make decisions. We don’t have to lie 
awake at night, worrying if we chose wisely, or if what we said might 
have been misinterpreted, or if we hurt someone else or ourselves.

	Most of the time, however, we don’t get a clear answer – or at least 
not one that we can interpret clearly. More often than not we have to 
listen, then think, perhaps dream and, finally, we may have to rely on 
our gut feelings and go with whatever we feel brings the best results 
for the greatest number of people.

Note that I didn’t say that this would necessarily be the safest choice, 
one that keeps us from trouble or injury to body, mind or spirit. Quite 
the opposite; such a decision may take us straight into trouble, because 
it’s not what our friends, or the congregation, or the community want to 
have happen. Sometimes, though, we have to break with tradition and 
follow what may seem like the riskiest proposition. Sometimes we have to 
go to that wonderful garden of our minds and check out what’s planted 
there, what’s growing there, what might be beginning to ripen there. Out 
of that garden of imagination we can often find the most surprisingly 
fruitful solutions to the questions and problems that we face every day.

Making decisions, making choices that can affect us for the foreseeable 
future, that can disrupt our current relationships or can build up new 
ones – this can be scary, yet it’s part of life. We have to use all the 
resources at our disposal – including our friends and families – but 
then the decision is, ultimately, ours to make.

One of the things that keeps amazing me is the way in which Jesus drew 
stories into His teaching about God, and about life, and about our 
every-day situations. Nothing about what Jesus said or did was without 
thought, not even His fiery responses when He saw something going awry. 
And the parables, those stories illustrative of deep decisions and 
truths, more often than not He built them on what the people right in 
front of them had experienced. The two in this morning’s Gospel reading 
are perfect examples. Sitting in a boat and talking to the crowd He must 
have glanced up at the hillside where someone may have been ploughing, 
or planting seed, or working the soil in one way or another. He talked 
about throwing seed into the ground. He talked about mustard seeds and 
their size. He used common analogies when trying to describe the Realm 
of God so that the people could understand how lavish is God’s love and 
how generously the invitations are scattered around.

It would have been hard to miss how personal this sort of approach to 
evangelism is. Jesus didn’t haul a copy of all Judaic law out of the 
synagogue and say, “OK, stick to every one of these and you may have a 
chance of a good life with God.” He spoke plainly about everyday 
situations, using common, down-to-earth language to get His point 
across.

There’s been a discussion among some of the deputies going to General 
Convention in a couple of weeks about how we go about fulfilling Jesus’ 
desire that we help people find peace, and acceptance, and comfort, and 
discover what God’s love can strengthen us to do. There are two 
apparently conflicting views.

One says that we wait for folk to come through the doors. Perhaps we 
take out ads in the paper, we run a good web-site, we develop a 
reputation in the community for being there when someone needs help, 
whether of a spiritual or a physical nature. If and when visitors come 
through the doors, we make them feel as welcome as we can. We don’t 
suffocate them with cloying attentiveness, but we don’t leave them to 
sink or swim through the bulletin and prayer book either. If we are 
truly welcoming and accept wherever that person is at, then she or he 
may return to become not a visitor but a newcomer, then a member of our 
congregation.

The other approach is to meet people where they are – at the Post 
Office, in Costco, at a parade for the Fourth of
July, in the unemployment or social security office parking lots. Again, 
we don’t smother; we simple are there to listen, to smile, to help if 
we’re asked – above all, we respect.

Both of these approaches work. Both of them are needed. And in both, we 
need to learn not to shoot ourselves in the foot, never mind shooting 
anyone else. They key is for us to learn about and be assured of God’s 
love for us, God’s accepting forgiveness of us, and God’s call to us to 
work this into our daily lives. Then we’re simply to trust God to do the 
rest.

Two things strike me about the Gospel parables, and they tie in to that 
scary first reading also. God expects us to participate in creation, to 
participate in building up the realm and increasing it. And God doesn’t 
want us to be overwhelmed with what we may think is the enormous 
responsibility of being Jesus’ messengers. God works through us, with 
our gifts of every shape and size. Nothing is too small to be of 
importance to our ministries. Whoever we are, whatever we do, we are 
simply to offer it to the world as lavishly as we can. So if we accept 
that God can transform all of our gifts then it’s up to us to be as 
imaginative as we possibly can be, to visit our mind’s garden and dream 
about what we might be able to do – say within a two or three square 
block area of this building, or of our home, or our work place.

The mystery isn’t just that God scatters gifts of life everywhere, 
without too close scrutiny of where they may land. The mystery is also 
that we’re to be just as lavish in the application of our gifts. Whether 
at worship in this room, at refreshments down the hall, in the parking 
lot here or wherever we may be in an hour’s time, wherever we are we’re 
to be so generous with what we conjure up to do with those skills we 
have. And if we can’t really put our fingers on what our skills may be, 
then Jesus invites to do a little dreaming. Imagine how Samuel felt 
about sneaking off while Saul was acting up. Imagine what was going on 
in Samuel‘s mind as he inspected Jesse’s sons and wondered what on earth 
he was getting into. But he was told simply to make a choice, based on 
where he felt he was being led, and then to leave the rest up to God. 
The seed had to be planted. It might take a while to mature and to 
become something that was visible, but it WOULD grow, without a doubt in 
the world. We’re to join in this mystery, then.

The second thing that strikes me about the parables is that we’re called 
to accept and to use the obvious. Looking around, Jesus, on that day, 
began to talk about what he saw being flung around on the hillside. 
Sometimes not only do we think our gifts and skills are too 
insignificant, we think that Jesus couldn’t be interested in us, 
wouldn’t want to be bothered with the struggles and questions we face on 
a daily basis. We can be fairly skilled at belittling ourselves, 
possibly unintentionally, but not accepting what others may see and 
value in us – thus we miss out on another opportunity to spread God’s 
message of love and compassion.

A member of a Christian Peacemaking Team in Hebron wrote about being 
there for school children and school staff as they have to get from one 
segregated area of town to another. Everyone going to the school has to 
pass through a dark tunnel with a metal turnstile guarded by Israeli 
soldiers.

The author wrote, “It was heart wrenching to see the same teachers 
stopped and ID’ed every day by the same soldiers. One time I watched and 
documented, feeling helpless, as soldiers held a teacher. He was 
desperate to get to school and start his students’ exam, but still they 
held him for nineteen minutes, knowing the longest they can legally hold 
him is twenty. It was as if they were trying to taunt him. Watching the 
soldiers hold the teacher for so long made me wonder, what good am I 
doing here? What am I doing here at all?

	“Upon his release the teacher answered these questions for me when he 
looked me in the eyes and said “thank you.” I was reminded then that we 
are here so that people such as this teacher who have amazing dignity 
and strength and every day have to face the forces of the occupation are 
not alone and are not ignored. And we are here so that people near and 
far may open their minds, hearts and eyes, see what is happening here, 
share it with others, and pray that one day there will no longer be a 
soldier and a checkpoint to greet every child and teacher on their way 
to school.” 2

	There is nothing too small, nothing too plain, nothing we might think 
insignificant that cannot be the means to speak of love, the love of God 
for us, and the love of one human being for another.

We have to open our imaginations to the possibility of Jesus wanting to 
be present to us and to everyone else right where we are – in our homes, 
in our offices, on our errands and visits, wherever we are.

	I came across a little writing the other day as I was thinking about 
where I might like to meet Jesus. It seemed to resonate with me 
particularly because the first sentence could talk to someone like me. 
This could be me, talking to Jesus, or it could be Jesus, talking to me. 
Either way, the writer said:

	I want to
discover your face
appearing over the
top of a pile of papers and
books threatening to
overwhelm the table and
topple on the floor; I
hope to have you offer to
help me mop the kitchen
floor; I’d like to share in
washing laundry at the
end of a long day, or put
our hands in sudsy water
where the dinner dishes call for
attention although we both
seem tired.
Although it’s nice, I
don’t expect your
clothes to be neatly pressed
every day. I won’t be alarmed to
find spinach
tucked neatly between your
teeth and gums and that you
wish to sit quietly rather than
converse when your
day has erupted in unplanned
directions. When I’m tired and
cancel anticipated small
pleasures and you smile your
understanding,
then I know you care and
will be there when those
earth-shaking events
threaten to disable my life.

	Jesus is a normal, every-day sort of a person for whom nothing will be 
beyond His interest. Nothing should ever persuade us otherwise.

	Oh, and that former Presbyterian pastor who talked of the Garden of our 
Minds? That was Fred Rogers – Mr. Rogers to most people in this room, 
I’d bet!

	As Jesus said, in good Episcopal evangelese, “Won’t you be my 
neighbor?”

NOTES:

1              Mister Rogers Remixed: Gardens of your Mind 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzXaFbxDcM

2	“AL-KHALIL REFLECTION: Dignity in the face of humiliation” CPTnet: 8 
June, 2012. 
http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2012/06/08/al-khalil-reflection-dignity-face-humiliation 
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Robert P Morrison
Interim Vicar
The Episcopal Church of St Alban
PO Box 1556
Albany OR  97321   541-921-1076 (cell)