August 17: Shocked into Reality

Shocked into Reality

Proper 15 A

Sunday, August 17, 2014

It was just before Christmas.  When we lived in De Pere, part of our custom was to hang icicle lights off our front porch as part of our decorations.  Murray was outside and noticed that one bulb had broken off---leaving exposed wires.  He decided to fix it then and there.  He didn’t, however, unplug the lights.  So when he tried to pull the broken bulb off---he was shocked.  Shocked right back into the reality that live wires are dangerous.

Getting shocked into reality might not be fun, but it is often an important part of our formation.  Let me tell you about Lyle and Maud.

Lyle and Maud have lived in their neighborhood for years, but they have really let things get out of hand and their neighbors have had enough.  Their yard is a mess; the garage door is broken and always left partially open; newspapers are piling up on the porch.  The hanging plants are all dead and the gardens are becoming a jungle.  People still see Maud come out and get the mail—she often waves and smiles at whomever is outside---but no one is brave enough to say something to Maud about the disaster Maud and Lyle’s house and yard are becoming.  It is an eyesore in the neighborhood.

The neighbors decide to bring it up at a town council meeting---asking the town council members to do something---to have a talk with Maud and Lyle, asking them to take care of their property---after all, it will have an effect on the value of all their properties, so it is only right that Maud and Lyle get their act together.  As one neighbor is describing the mess of their property and explaining that Maud and Lyle are being incredibly inconsiderate and downright “un-neighborly” to allow their property to become such a disaster zone, Maud walks into the meeting---late and out-of breath.

A hush falls.  The complaining neighbor sits down.  Uncomfortable tension rises.  Looking a bit disheveled and pushing Lyle in a wheelchair, Maud walks up to the now vacant microphone.  She clears her throat as she begins to speak:

Hello my neighbors.  I apologize for being late.  I heard that our property was on tonight’s agenda, and I wanted to be here, but the only way I could manage it was to ask my sister---who lives an hour away---to take some time off of work and help me to get here with Lyle.  I hope you’ll forgive our tardiness.

And I am hoping you will be understanding.  You see things have really changed for us.  Lyle was diagnosed with Parkinson’s three years ago, but he didn’t want anyone to know.  You may have noticed that you saw him less and less.  He retired early and began to spend more and more time in our home.  This disease has moved pretty quickly.

 About eight months ago, he became unable to get around on his own---so we got him this wheelchair.  He’s very private and did not want to burden others with his troubles.  We were doing pretty well---at first, I could still work and call him during the day.  But, for the last six months, I have been at home as well.  I don’t seem to get much done---except taking care of Lyle.  As you know, we don’t have any children, and our families do not live nearby—my sister is the closest and she has her own children still at home to take care of.  I don’t know how everything fell apart so quickly.  But it has.  I came here tonight to ask for your patience and understanding.  We do not want to be bad neighbors, and we did not mean for our property to fall in disrepair.  We have simply been overwhelmed.

Everyone in that room is shocked back into reality.  The reality that they did not know the story, the truth. The reality that they were focused completely on what wasn’t rather than on what was.  They focused first and foremost on themselves, and not for a moment on their neighbors. And in that moment of shocked recognition, they all had to re-examine and reorient their thinking and seeing and knowing.  Shocked into reality.

Jesus is shocked back into reality by this Canaanite woman—this outsider and outcast---this one who may be the only one present to truly recognize who Jesus really is and the one who expects Jesus to be her answer and her way forward.  Now, this Gospel reading might make some of us uncomfortable because it is Jesus---the Son of God after all---who seems to have it all wrong.  But, I for one, find comfort in this reading.  It shows me that Jesus is fully human.  That even Jesus, perhaps, needed a reminder from time to time.  In this story we see Jesus so focused on what the woman wasn’t---a Jew, that he seemingly forgot for a moment who she was---a beloved daughter of God.

So, she reminds him, gently and with compassion, and Jesus is shocked back into reality---God’s reality and God’s vision.  Maybe this happened because Jesus was still trying to swallow the truth of the hugeness of God’s vision ---salvation not just for a chosen people---but salvation for all people because all people are chosen and created by God.  Jesus’ words betrays that in that moment, when he is first approached by the Canaanite woman, he is still thinking in small human terms---salvation for the worthy, the chosen---as God’s plan.  But her shocking words, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table,” have the effect of a live wire and they jolt Jesus back into God’s mission.  In that split-second, Jesus clearly sees God’s truth as he witnesses the faith---the belief and dependence---of this woman in Almighty God.  This woman who is supposedly outside the circle---she is the one who understands how God is working in the world---working in the world through Jesus.

It’s always important to know what we are seeing—that we see what is, not just what isn’t. This woman persists because she knows she is seeing the Son of God, the Messiah.  She may be a Gentile, she may be an outcast and an outsider---but she sees clearly.  And her words cause Jesus to see clearly again---the live wire of her words allow Jesus to see her as the Father sees her---a beloved child.

We all have those moments—those times of judgment---even if we never speak our thoughts of judgment out loud---when we have decided we know another person’s story and we allow ourselves to critique the other person.

The parents of the baby who won’t stop crying at the restaurant,

The woman in the grocery store who is dirty and unkempt,

The person who keeps asking for help, seemingly uninterested in changing his life,

The family with the broken-down house and messy yard. The addicted, the mentally ill, the whiner, the stingy, the foreigner, the poor, the homeless, the stranger.

As disciples, we are called to put ourselves in spaces and places of worship, prayer, study, and service---so that we can be jolted back into reality---God’s reality. We are to schedule and plan---prioritize our calendar---so that we will consistently take advantage of these thin places where we encounter God and learn about God and are reminded of who we are and whose we are---so that we can be jolted awake.  Jolted awake to God’s mission for us---that we can be shocked by the live wire of the Holy Spirit and empowered to maintain justice.  That we may be granted the desire to keep Sabbath; that we are given the ability to hold fast to God’s covenant; that we become committed to being a parish that is a living, breathing house of prayer. Jolted awake to this new life of being the living members of the body of Jesus.

God invites us to come together---regularly, intentionally, and with joy---in worship, in study, in service to others—so that our system and our lives are shocked into God’s reality, and we will see with the Eyes of the Father, love with the Heart of the Son, and respond with the compassion of the Holy Spirit.  So that when we see our neighbors---whether they be known or unknown, dearly loved or uncertain stranger---that we might see what is---a beloved child of God---instead of what isn’t.  Beloved, let us be committed to putting ourselves in the position to be jolted---turned and re-turned---over and over again---to God’s mission and dream for the world.

Most powerful Holy Spirit, come down upon us and subdue us.

From heaven, where the ordinary is made glorious, and glory seems but ordinary,

bathe us with the brilliance of Your light like dew.  For we know that if we be as you, God, dream us to be….we will set the world on fire with your love.  Amen.