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Many years ago my younger brother and my mother were shopping with a bit of money he had. He was taking a very long time to make up his mind about what to buy, so finally my mother asked him what he was waiting for. He replied, “I’m waiting for the prices to change.”

It’s not too hard to believe that the rich man in the story that Jesus told might have done the same thing.

In the Gospel reading for today Jesus is teaching his disciples amid a crowd of thousands, when someone interrupts him and asks him to tell his brother to divide an inheritance with him. Jesus rejects this request to serve as a judge and instead issues a very strong warning against greed, all kinds of greed. He says, take care, beware, watch out, be on your guard against greed. Why is greed a problem? Because it focuses on the self.

Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool, whose barns are overflowing and who is concerned only with where to store his bounty. Now we might ask, what is so wrong with storing the overrun of crops? Frugal people have long stashed excess food and supplies for rainy days, and for retirement. This is stewardship of God’s bounty. True enough, but while we are storing our excess for a rainy day, we must at the same time give glory to God and care for our neighbor. The rich man in the parable does neither. He is so self-centered that he cannot see beyond himself.

This rich man is not a simple farmer with a small plot of land. Rather, he controls much of the agricultural produce over an entire region or district. His concern with storing his crops shows that he has no intention of selling or sharing his harvest.

We can still see a bit of this unfortunate attitude today. British Petroleum is of course the company whose well has been spilling enormous amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In June the chairman of BP, Carl-Henric Svanberg, assured the American people that BP cares about what he termed “the small people.” This is a pretty outrageous statement. When he said “small people,” he meant me for sure, and probably you.

Back to the story of the rich man. He is not only self-centered, but he is mistaken for two reasons. First, he was rich because his land produced abundantly. But he ignored the hand of God in his good fortune. We read in Leviticus 25 that the land belongs to the Lord and is only temporarily entrusted to those who work it. The Scripture reads, “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. God declares to Israel: You are resident aliens with me!” (Lev. 25:23). The rich man errs because he does not offer thanksgiving to God for the abundance of his land. Instead, he worships his wealth as if it were God.

And second, the man has forgotten something else. When he instructs his soul to relax, eat, drink and be merry, he is echoing the prophet Isaiah 22:13. But the prophet also adds the reason for such celebration: for tomorrow we die. The rich man ignores not only other people and God, but he ignores his own mortality; he ignores the fact that all created life is bounded by death. In the end, death will separate him from his overflowing barns.

“You fool!” says God to the man. God is not hurling an insult at the man; rather, God’s judgment describes the actual situation. The man has indeed been foolish, because he is totally unprepared to die.

Looking at our own use of money and worldly treasures is a challenge. It certainly is for me. Money is an important part of our life as Christians, though it is not the center. What is really important is being rich toward God. What this means we can find in other passages in the Gospel: things like using one’s resources for the benefit of others in need, listening to the words of Jesus, trusting God to provide for us, giving alms to establish a lasting treasure in heaven.

Christianity is a radical reversal of human selfishness. At Living Waters Christian Youth Camp, which just ended, the campers line up for meals, and are happy to be at the head of the line. Yet sometimes the Camp directors unexpectedly reverse the line, and have those at the front go to the end. It’s kind of an amazing thing to watch because the point is to remind the campers that Jesus said, “Many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Christianity is a reversal of getting to the head of the line and taking as much as we can for ourselves. Christians strive to act as Jesus did, because he valued each individual. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, suggests that when we come back to our places after taking Communion, we ought to look at our next-door neighbors with awe and amazement. The person next to me, whom I may love deeply, whom I may not know at all, whom I may dislike, whom I may even fear, is God’s special, honored guest. Just for this moment they are touched with the glory of God.

In the end, even though we might have to pinch our pennies and wait for the prices to change, we know that there are no small people in the kingdom of God. Amen.

Good morning,

This week I was at Camp living waters, Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon. There were 29 campers, plus counselors and staff, 50 folks, the Bishop, Canon Brit Olson, along with Monica Romano the youth and Young Adult director were there earlier in the week. It was a fantastic success.

When I arrived at camp, I was told about bears that had been in camp the night before, so I was expecting at least one Bear Thursday night. Sure enough one woke me up just a few feet from my tent, but then it got scared off by the assistant cook, who was a young woman.

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Charlotte calls me the most disciplined person she has ever met.

I used to think that was a nice compliment, a tribute to my hard work. Then one day, I realized, she was saying “I have an obsessive compulsive side, like Martha in our gospel today.” I like things with order; even in my clutter I have organization.

One of the many gifts of my wife Charlotte is the gift of cooking, Charlotte loves to cook food, especially when she can share with people. I think I have the gift of being married to a woman who has the gift of cooking and loves to cook.

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Good Morning!
We continue this week with our theme of becoming a Spirit Shaped Community.

Last week you may remember I introduced the idea that we have an eternal guidance system, if we will only trust it and use it. I call it our GPS or God’s positioning System, which sets us in a God ward direction. We see Jesus continuing to guide those who are students of faith, the questioning three having heard it will become life changing in every area the cost of becoming Sprit Shaped from last weeks gospel is now put in action with today’s Gospel.

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Good Morning!
Like Willie Nelsons famous song, Jesus is On the road again in Luke’s gospel this morning. Jesus is on the move, and during this road trip Jesus offers guidance for a spirit shaped life.

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Good Morning!
Anybody here not heard of Murphy’s Law? We know it by heart, don’t we? Let’s say it together: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” This week I heard several times Murphy’s Law cited, referencing British Petroleum and tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. (We are at day 62.) All over the world it seems everyone knows about Murphy’s Law.

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We love to be at the beautiful blue ocean, bordered by white sand beaches. The sea air is wonderfully refreshing. The ocean seems endless. We still use the British term “all at sea” from the era of the long ocean voyage. Once a ship steamed away from port, it was on its own. Who knew what would happen out on the great blue sea? And even though now we have jet travel and global telecommunication, the high seas remain a mystery. Even the fiercest naval battle ends with the sea’s surface quietly closing over the fiery wreckage.

But things are changing in the ocean, especially in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Many of us have been saddened and horrified by the photos of pelicans struggling to fly, struggling to clean their feathers, struggling to breathe. I can’t get out of my mind the image of some kind of a bird, perhaps a sea gull, which looks almost frightening, like a creature from the swamp, so coated with oil that its eyes are covered in blackness. Surely God, the creator of this beautiful world, is grieving too.

Our Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, is a marine biologist. Recently she has said that there is a lesson which might be learned. She says that this disaster just may show us as a nation how interconnected we really are. The oil that continues to vent from the sea floor has spread through hundreds of cubic miles of oceans, poisoning creatures of all sizes and forms. The oil has also poisoned the livelihood of the fishers of southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, who seek to feed their families with the proceeds of what they catch each day.

We are in what is called a teachable moment. This is an opportunity to learn that we are indeed interconnected with each other and with all of creation. But deep and abiding change is hard. Transformation is not easy, quick or cheap. It starts with listening for the leading of the Spirit and listening to the voices of those who are suffering. How can we do this? One suggestion is to take an image of the contamination of creation, of the suffering and dying wildlife from the Gulf, or the death of the marshes, and meditate on it. Or we can read or listen to the story of a person whose livelihood has been destroyed or who died on the oil rig. We read in 1st Corinthians that if one part of the body suffers, every part suffers with it.

As we listen and discern how the Spirit is present, we will feel deep sorrow at the suffering we see. We will perhaps then understand something of the deep sorrow felt by the woman in our gospel story.

The story tells of a meal in the house of Simon the Pharisee. During the meal a woman approached Jesus. She has heard that Jesus will be there, and so she is waiting with the others when he comes. She is standing behind him and as the meal begins she begins to weep. Her tears fall upon Jesus’ feet, each tear making a wet mark in the dust of his feet. Now she unfastens her long black hair and lets it fall free. She kneels down and begins to wipe his feet with her hair. Next she begins to kiss his feet. This might strike us as odd or even erotic, but in her culture kissing the feet was a mark of deep reverence. Finally she pours scented oil onto his feet out of an alabastron, or perfume vial, which Jewish women often wore around their neck.

Simon the Pharisee is scandalized, since the woman was known to be a sinner, probably a prostitute. And because Jesus doesn’t seem offended by her attentions, Simon assumes that Jesus must not know who she is and that Jesus must not be a prophet. But just as Simon is at his most judgmental, Jesus says to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

Simon says, OK, and so Jesus tells him a story of two men who each owed money to a moneylender. Neither one could pay him back, so he canceled their debts. Jesus asks Simon which one will love the moneylender the most? And Simon replies, the one who had the greatest debt. And then Jesus turned toward the woman and compared her hospitality with that of Simon. Simon, the wealthy Pharisee, didn’t give much of a welcome. But the sinful woman gave an extravagant welcome. Jesus tells Simon that her many sins have been forgiven and so she loves much.

I wonder if you would join me in an experiment. Imagine that you are sitting next to Jesus at a dinner, and you had been thinking some judgmental and unkind thoughts about an unkempt person whom you had just seen hitchhiking on 101. This person comes in and sits next to Jesus and begins to weep. Or imagine you are condemning BP and its employees. Just as you are getting on your high horse, Jesus turns to you and says he has something to tell you. Try it now if you would like, quietly, under your breath, using your own name. Susan, I have something to tell you.

Jesus does speak to us like this; he is in touch with our thoughts and actions, and he calls us to our best self. Not our judgmental and prejudiced and self-righteous self, but our best self, compassionate and helpful to those in need.

Let’s go back to the story for a minute. The woman came to Jesus out of gratitude; she came out of love. Can you see her face shining now? The tears are still flowing, but flowing with beauty and gratitude of having been changed and lifted and loved. This woman joins the company of all of us who want to serve Jesus.

Let us pray. Beloved Jesus, help us serve you, help us listen when you speak to us, and help us honor all the creatures God has made. Amen.

Good Morning
The Washington Post did a study to see if beauty and art could affect a normal environment, one that was common and customary; you could call it ordinary. So they asked Joshua Bell to help them. Joshua is 39 years old and one of the finest violinist in the world. He plays regularly for sold out audiences with ticket prices over 100.00. Joshua plays a 1713 Stradivarius violin valued at 3.5 million dollars.

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Good Morning!
Since the 5th Sunday of Easter we have been looking at different sections of the Farewell discourse of Jesus as our Gospel readings. And nowhere in the gospels does Jesus talk as much about the Holy Spirit as here in John 16, so it’s not surprising that this is one of the texts to help us try and understand the Doctrine of the Trinity. Today is Trinity Sunday, an important service in the yearly cycle of the 7 primary churches worship events. Christmas, Easter, the Epiphany, the Ascension, The Day of Pentecost and All Saints, all mark major turning points in the gospel story and all recall historic events.

2010 5 30, Trinity Sunday