Lent 3C + Life is short/ Life is long + 2.28.16
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
(Exodus 3:1-15; Ps.
63:1-8; 1 Cor. 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9)
Sometimes you hear words of wisdom in unexpected places. Take
for example a recent pearl of wisdom I heard in the telenovela “Jane the
Virgin.” Jane the pregnant virgin was explaining to Rafael, the unsuspecting
father of her child through artificial insemination, why they would not work
together. She said, “You think that life is short. Well, I think that life is
long.”
But in all seriousness, life sometimes seems so
short—shockingly so. This congregation has really been hit by that reality
lately. Sometimes it feels as if the long race of life has been ended
shockingly early or fast.
We have seen it in the loss of Emeterio Cabrera, a member of
this church, whose life was cut short so young by gang violence.
We have seen it in the sudden loss last week of Ruben Lopez,
a member here, who was suddenly struck by illness, leaving his wife Belen and two
little girls.
These things have hurt so much to see. We are always left
with questions. We are unmoored.
We come to Jesus, just like the folks did in the gospel
passage today. They were responding to a tragedy, albeit a different kind. More
like the San Bernardino shooting. Pilate has killed some people in an awful
manner and mingled their blood with the sacrifices they were making in the
temple. This is the same guy we will see later. A leader who thrives on
cruelty. And yet, who has a philosophical side. And the people wonder, how could
this happen? Did they sin, to be treated to this death?
They look for Jesus to console. We think of our sheltering
God: “For you have been my helper, and under the shadow of your wings I will
rejoice (Ps. 63:8). “
But sometimes Jesus doesn’t shelter us. Even though he is
like a mother hen as we heard last week, he is also like a stern mama-bear. He
confronts our bad assumptions, our faulty worldviews. It was not about them
sinning and being punished. Life happens, and sometimes bad things happen. Just
like with the fig tree, manure happens. We cannot control that.
But we can bear fruit. We can be the kind of people that live
as if life is short and as if it is long. Long in that we make decisions that
help others long-term. And we can live as if life is short in that we must live
with a kind of urgency—one that says that we are not squandering a precious
gift.
The gift that others may not all have. That we take the
chance to use our gifts to bear fruit.
This week I watched the movie called “Race” (2016)—Jesse
Owens, the famous runner who won not one but four gold medals at the 1936
Olympics—faced tremendous racism and some very difficult decisions. Was he
going to make a point about how wrong the Nazis were about race by boycotting
the Olympics or by attending them? At
one point his wife Minnie Ruth says: “Stop thinking so hard, it’s not what
you’re good at. You were born to run.” And that is what he does. And he is
portrayed with so much grace – not just reacting to racism—acknowledging it and
then doing what he was called to do. His life bore so much fruit, because he
was willing to use his gifts despite hardship.
Because he seems to know that while he may not be able to
control all of the seemingly random factors of his life, he can choose to
respond to the things that would assault and hurt the soul. This is what we as
Christians are called to confront, if not always control.
In the passage from Exodus today, Moses is famously called at
the burning bush. To aid God’s people in their time of travail. And he asks
God, “Who am I?” that you have called me. And God says, That is the wrong
question. The point is who I am – or rather- I am who I am—the Almighty God,
and no matter who you are, or of what import you think you have—with me, and
with the gifts that I give you, you are invincible. You can free God’s people.
You can run the race to the finish.
Like Moses who stood up against the Egyptians. Like Jesse
Owens running his heart out and smashing all the Nazi’s preconceptions about
white racial superiority.
But there is an additional piece to remember here. We read
these words of Paul: “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to
everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your
strength, but with the testing he will also provide a way out so that you may
be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:13). ” Now this is often interpreted as the
phrase often trotted out in times of difficulty: “You will not be given more
than you can handle.”
We tend to hear that as saying that God will not give us more than we can handle individually. But any of us who has gone through a tragic loss knows that that is just not true. Sometimes it can at least feel like something has happened in our life that is just beyond us, beyond what we can deal with. But St. Paul is speaking to a community, not to an individual. He knows that we are stronger in community than we ever are alone. Moses was called by God, but worked in community, with Aaron as his spokesman. Jesse Owens had an amazing coach who challenged and inspired him to reach his potential. So, as Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber says, “We are never given more than we can handle in community.”[1] Some things we simply cannot handle on our own, or at least it will be a whole lot harder. But if we walk together in faithfulness, we will get through it together.[2] I don’t know how. There is no logic to a broken heart. It almost feels like God’s escape hatch sometimes—a way out so that you can get through it—but in God, somehow, over time, in prayer and in community, we get through the hard times. We see the light at the end of the tunnel. We believe in resurrection again.
We tend to hear that as saying that God will not give us more than we can handle individually. But any of us who has gone through a tragic loss knows that that is just not true. Sometimes it can at least feel like something has happened in our life that is just beyond us, beyond what we can deal with. But St. Paul is speaking to a community, not to an individual. He knows that we are stronger in community than we ever are alone. Moses was called by God, but worked in community, with Aaron as his spokesman. Jesse Owens had an amazing coach who challenged and inspired him to reach his potential. So, as Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber says, “We are never given more than we can handle in community.”[1] Some things we simply cannot handle on our own, or at least it will be a whole lot harder. But if we walk together in faithfulness, we will get through it together.[2] I don’t know how. There is no logic to a broken heart. It almost feels like God’s escape hatch sometimes—a way out so that you can get through it—but in God, somehow, over time, in prayer and in community, we get through the hard times. We see the light at the end of the tunnel. We believe in resurrection again.
[1]
From Krista Tippett’s On Beng: “Transcript for Nadia Bolz-Weber,” http://www.onbeing.org/program/transcript/nadia-bolz-weber-seeing-the-underside-and-seeing-god-tattoos-tradition-and-grace.
[2]
Shively Smith, “Commentary on 1 Corinthians 10:1-13,” for February 28, 2016, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2790.
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