You Can't Be Short with Jesus

Do you ever have those moments when you wander around, overtired, restless, unsatisfied...? Do you ever have times when you head out to find something, anything, that can fill your time thinking that it will be THE thing that will really turn your life around? It is kind of amazing how so many of us have grown up being told that we don't have enough, that we need something else to make our lives "complete". And so we wander aimlessly about seeking but never finding, sometimes at the cost of friendships, other people, our environment. Sometimes what we are looking for is right in front of us but we just don't see it.

I'm thinking today about the story of Zaccheus, let's just call him Zach. If you ever went to a summer Bible school, you might even recall a song that goes: Zaccheus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he..... Well, Zach does have a problem. He's so short that when a crowd forms around Jesus, Zach cannot see anything. Can you just see him, hopping about, up and down like an impatient child trying to get a glimpse of the floats at a parade. There is something more important going on here than meets the eye.

You see, Zach is pretty wealthy, but he makes his money by collecting taxes. We could probably delve into Zach's psyche to see if his zeal for tax collecting was an overcompensation for his height, but I'll leave that alone for now. Zach is also a person whom the crowd is not going to have much regard for though...I mean who likes a tax collector, right? So, he cannot find a way to get past everyone else to see a glimpse of Jesus.

I always wondered why Zach was so interested in the first place. What had he heard about this Jesus? What did he expect from Jesus? But the story that appears in Luke (19:1-10) is about something completely different. As Zach runs ahead to climb into a tree in order to see this Jesus he has heard so much about, it is Jesus who calls to him. It turns out to be an odd invitation because Jesus basically says, "Hi Zach, what are you doing up there? Didn't you know I am staying at your house?" Doesn't that seem a bit odd to you?

That is just the way it is though with this Jesus. Everytime we run to see him, we find out that he has been looking for us. It is a key realization that we at By the Way discover everytime we sit down with someone to share a cup of coffee, or a pint. When we come together to share the stories of our own lives, God's presence in shaping and calling us together becomes ever clearer. We re-discover the presence of something holy in our every day search for meaning that is revealed when we enter into community with one another.

I think that is perhaps what Jesus came to reveal to Zach as well. Zach's response initially is to say the right things, "I'm going to give to the poor now, Jesus. And if I have been sneaky with people I will repay them four times what I took." Jesus' response is a bit interesting because he pronounces that Zach has been "found". He is no longer a slave to a directionless life. Zach has received a glimpse of equity for all that changes the way he will deal with the abundance of his life. Zach goes from coming up short to growing generous.

These encounters with Jesus are opportunities we share with one another in community. They are places where we can be reminded of our own wealth and how often we short-change our neighbors, the poor in Nashua, and others who are restless like ourselves and mask their restlessness by thinking they have little, all while consuming even more.

Consider in the coming week how you can "go long." Stop by to discover how Jesus is present in your everyday life, and reveal to me, and others, how you see the same in ours.

Leaping for Joy?

Last week, our devotion from Luke’s Gospel urged us to “pass the mustard” as the faith and gifts we’ve been given add seasoning to our lives and the lives of those we encounter. This week we are are looking at another story (also from Luke, 17: 11-19. Here Jesus heals ten people who are considered outcasts or losers by society because of their illness. In the story, only one of the ten stopped to say thank you and we are left to wonder about the other nine. They were healed as well, so were they in shock, disbelief, so shaken by their miraculous new selves that they ran away?

Jesus also wonders about them and in response to the only one who stopped to say thanks, Jesus tells him to go on his way that his faith had made him well. Faith… faith that helps make you well, now that must be some kind of mustard! Well the story got me wondering… how many people do I know who fit this category, consider themselves losers, or who don’t fit what society considers normal or successful? And given the challenges of everyday life… how can I be more like Jesus and bring healing in some way? How can I add seasoning and encourage mustard like faith in others?

In wrestling with these questions, I though about Danny who is feeling a bit like an outcast or loser by society standards this week. And while he doesn’t have a horrible illness or life threatening disease, he is feeling depressed and far removed from where his friends are at. A place so bad that he told me he just wishes he could be fixed and returned to a “normal” life. Danny lost his job two months ago and even though he qualified for unemployment, with bills and a car that crapped out last month, he had a decision to either admit “defeat” and crash with friends or “be a loser” and go back to his parents house (his terms).

Well Danny’s mom and dad have provided a place to crash, and by his own admission have not hassled him about his circumstances. But he is feeling depressed and having a hard time even hanging out with friends because of everything that’s happened. I asked about where God might be in the middle of this transition and the pain and/or embarrassment about returning to his parent’s house. Danny thought about it for a while and said he guessed it was in the home cooked meals his mom and dad were providing and access to a car while his was out of commission.

I don’t think Danny is alone in his circumstances, or how he feels. I asked him if he’s said thanks to his parents or God for the things that have been given and done for him. His response was that he wanted everything fixed, back the way it was before and that in his bitterness and feeling “like a loser” hadn’t thought there was anything to be thankful for. He paused, cracked a small smile, nodded and whispered thanks. I sensed a glimmer of faith there, perhaps as small as a mustard seed, but after my conversation with him, wondered if there were nine more Danny’s out there…

I share this because we all have burdens and pain in our lives and we’ve all been given a bit of faith, a gift we don’t fully understand or do anything to get/earn. This week I encourage you to keep on “passing the mustard” by being on the look-out for those that might like Danny, need you to add some seasoning and walk with them along the way.

+ Bill Petersen

Pass the Mustard

I have to admit to being in a more reflective mood today. It has to do with the fact that this coming Sunday, many traditional congregations will celebrate "World Communion Sunday." It's a time when all the churchy posturing and denominational theologies are to be layed aside, so to speak, to remember that at the heart of all that they do, they are all one and the same when it comes to the practice of "communion."

If you are a bit new to all this churchy language, communion (or "eucharist") is a practice which Jesus began in the Upper Room with his friends, the disciples, right before his crucifixion. He took some bread, gave thanks, then broke it and passed to those seated with him reminding them to do this when they gathered to remember him. Later he took some wine, gave thanks, and then gave it to them and asked that they continue this practice after he was gone. This breaking of bread and sharing of wine was a key component to life in the early Christian community and it is an important piece of what those who follow Jesus practice to this day.

So the idea of World Communion Sunday tries to call the existing Christian community back to this idea that we are all at the same table when we gather in our individual places to praise God.

Now, that's all well and good, but I think it misses something. To me this is a bigger reminder, a reminder that is core to how we think around bytheway. It's a reminder that all are welcome to the table. It's not that we have everything figured out, or that we know the "right" way to share in this meal, but it is about invitation to those seeking to be a part of a community that makes a difference in one another's lives and the lives of others.

I'm often reminded of this invitation when I sit down at the table in Unos. The various wonderful people who come to serve me with something to drink or an appetizer are pleasant because that is what they are paid to do. They are perhaps not quite the slave servant that Jesus mentions in Luke's Gospel (17: 5-10). There, Jesus asks a pretty simple question. He wants to know what you would do when your servant came in from the field after working hard all day. He wants to know if you would say to him/her "Go make my dinner" or "Come, sit and eat with me."

Is Jesus hinting at our own laziness? Or is it about something deeper? The conversation here begins with the disciples begging Jesus to "increase our faith." Jesus tells them that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed they could command a mulberry bush to be uprooted and jump in the sea and it would do that. So, what does having power over shrubbery have to do with living a new life?

Is it perhaps that here we are being reminded that we have a tendency to go and do something that is expected of us but then wish to to be congratulated on our good deed? Ever drove the family car and then just decided to fill it back up with gas before coming home? Did you make it clear to everyone in the household that you should be thanked for such a thing? Or, did you get a little irritated when the response was less than thankful? After all, isn't it just right to fill the car with gas when it nears empty? Where's the special offering in that?

So, as we gather at Barnes and Noble or Unos, or even at Panera, I am reminded that what we do is something that we just do because of our exceeding love for others. It is not something any of us do because of some hidden agenda, or because we are looking for a chance to prove something. It's done because we love Jesus.

That seems like such a small little thing...but it's just what we do. So this week, I think I'll be thinking a little bit about how the table is set for you all to come. Each of you with your own unique gifts and talents bring a wonderful flavor to the kingdom. This week, we'll rejoice at the amazing grace that brings such a fragrant and powerful seasoning to our lives. I'll head out trying to bring a little mustard to the table. How about you?