How Can That Be?
Rob Gieselmann, Pent. 12B, 2015 July 26, 2015
Good morning,
Perhaps you’ve heard about the mother who wanted to teach her son what certain symbols and gestures mean in the Episcopal tradition.The little boy had seen people genuflect, and cross themselves. He would lean into his mom and ask, What does that mean? And she would patiently explain everything to him. So when the boy saw the priest go into the pulpit, remove his watch, and place it in front of himself on the pulpit, the boy leaned into his mom and asked, Momma, whatdoes that mean? To which she responded, Absolutely Nothing!
Desmond Tutu used to tell a similar story – of a girl, whose father was a priest. Each Sunday he would kneel in prayer before entering the pulpit. Why do you do that, she asked him one day. So God will make usbetter preachers, he replied. To which the responded, Then why doesn’t God do it?
I don’t mind telling you, a preacher might feel a lot of pressure on his first Sunday in a church, armed only with the story of David and Bathsheba. Really, God? You had to give me that Scripture? Well – of course there is Jesus and the multitude … But King David sinned, big sins that are hard to ignore. He violated at least four of the Big Ten. He coveted his neighbor’s wife, committed adultery, murdered, all while, dismissing God.
Four of ten, but we could look at it like my friend, Bruno Tapolsky. Bruno is French, and when it comes to the Ten Commandments, he quips: In France, we have only six. Perhaps King David thought he lived in France. Regardless, God became angry at David, which you would expect of God in response to leaders who take egregious advantage of their power. God remains positioned on the side of justice and kindness and mercy, always against injustice and evil. Now, maybe you’re starting to worry about your new priest-in-charge, but I’m going down this road for a reason. I hope to tell to you, on this my first day in a long time with you, one of my foundational beliefs. What is it we are doing here, anyway?
The San Francisco Bay Area is a Garden of Eden. If you have lived or visited there, you are aware of its exquisite natural beauty. I used to jog through its mountains and redwood forests; ride my bike along the coastal trails. Would stroll at night along the waterfront, watching lights glitter as twinkling stars. So when my friend John - not his real name, although what I’m going to share isn’t a confidence, as he is quite open about his life.
When John asked me to join him on the Bay for one last sail the week before I moved, I immediately said, yes. John docks his sailboat at Sausalito, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, so we sailed southward past the Golden Gate and Alcatraz, eastward along Fisherman’s Wharf, and finally back north, behind what is called Angel Island – to Sausalito. While we were sailing south toward San Francisco, I was seated facing west, watching the Pacific fog, the way it cascades like a waterfall across the ridge above Sausalito – So extraordinary …
And as I watched the fog swirl and fall, I felt my heart grow full and satisfied, at peace, but also – and this is my point – overflowing with gratitude. Not just for the beauty of the earth, but also for John, my friend, my good friend. I watched John as he turned the great wheel to adjust for wind gusts, and I thought about him, as a human being – and his journey, which-due to his own behavior – has not always been easy. In his twenties, John was a monk; he later resigned his order on good terms, married, and became a Lutheran pastor. Clearly touched by God, John nonetheless did not feel complete, or at least during a particularly difficult time in his life, he committed at least two of King David’s four sins. He had an affair – and it became public. He was forced out of the church. He then wandered through a dry wilderness, struggling deeply with his identity, all while trying desperately to hold his marriage together.
Now … when Jesus asked Philip where they could buy food, it wasn’t because Jesus was worried about food. Scripture tells us, this was a test. But here’s the thing. Most of us think God tests people like an old school marm might – ruler in hand, just itching to knuckle us. You don’t measure-up! We imagine God chiding. But God doesn’t test you to prove you how bad you are, but to teach you. Jesus didn’t test Philip to prove Philip didn’t have enough faith – Jesus already knew Philip didn’t have enough faith. Jesus tested Philip to teach Philip how to engage faith. Jesus did not expect Philip to believe Jesus could feed 5000, but to learn Jesus could feed 5000. That God still provides manna in the wilderness, in an amount that is neither too much, nor too little. No need to hoarde, and no need to beg, in God’s world. Give us today our daily bread. With God, Jesus taught Philip, there is always just enough bread to feed those spiritually hungry and physically hungry.
Which brings me back to my friend John. He struggled for years, spiritually starving in a wilderness of his own making. The same as King David, who as you’ll find out, I believe next week, suffered awfully as a result of his indiscretion. But you see, there is this thing called Grace.
So if you want to understand the spiritual principal that guides me most fundamentally, listen now: When Jesus and Scripture speak about salvation, which they do often, neither is so much referring to heaven and hell.
But this world. This life. Salvation begins today. It means nothing if not the transformation of a wilderness life into one of depth and meaning. God takes you and me where we are, with who we are, regardless of how we got there. Regardless of the life you’ve led, the good or bad – or like most of us –the somewhere in between. And transforms us. Salvation is the conversion from a meaningless, nihilistic life into one of depth, grace and hope. God loves you, after all. God is for you, after all. God has a purpose for you, after all. You aren’t alone, and you needn’t wander alone. And you needn’t die alone.
So there I was, the fog swirling above Sausalito, watching John, and it struck me. Because John now lives the most extraordinary life – he is one of the most humble, generous people I know. He lives with an integrity I only dream of, and he touches other peoples’ lives. Literally, John feeds those hungry in the wilderness, helps people with AIDS. Prays gently and kindly for all types of people who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And there is King David – After David sinned, God could have changed the plan, but God didn’t. David became Jesus’progenitor, anyway.
And you have to wonder,
how can that be?