Reflection on Matthew 10:24-39

 

“You are of more value than many sparrows.”

This is the promise that Jesus gives to anyone who has lost a sense of who they are and has lost their sense of belonging. 

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?” Jesus reminds us.  It is like saying, “Can’t you buy a baby chick at Tractor Supply for a couple of bucks?”  Jesus continues, “Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” Even though we sell birds for so cheap, God the Father sends a wind to each one of them to keep them in the air.  If God does that for a bird, how much more valuable are you?

“And even the hairs of your head are all counted.” Jesus declares to everyone who feels lost, as if they are not included or counted in this world.  To those who have lost a sense of who they are and have lost a sense that someone cares for them, Jesus says that the Father knows how many hairs are on your head.

I tried counting, by the way.  That is right, during one of my study halls in High School, in which I rarely ever did any studying; I decided that I would try to count all my hairs.  That was the length I would go to avoid my math assignment.  Starting at my forehead and placing singular hairs to the front of my head as I counted, I got all the way to 120, and I just gave up. Patience was not one of my inherent virtues as a teen.  “This would be easier if I were bald!” I said to myself.  There is no way I would have finished the task before 6^th period since most humans have around 150,000 hairs on their head.

I did not have that kind of patience.  I never found out how many hairs were on my head, but the scriptures say that God knows.  God knows how many hairs are up there.  And, what that means to me is that even though we may not know who we are, God knows.  God knows how many hairs are upon your head, O child of the Most High.  God knows who you are.  God knows to whom you belong.  You belong to God.  Your future belongs to God.

This is such a powerful promise to those who suddenly feel lost in life.  To young adults who have not found their place in this world, and who may not feel valued by anyone Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.  You are of more value than many sparrows.”  “Follow me.” 

To caregivers who suddenly have no one who requires their care, who now feel lost in grief and without a purpose in life, Jesus reminds us that God does not let a sparrow fall to the ground; neither will God let you fall.  God will lift you up again. 

To the newly retired butcher, who has never been anything but a butcher and is now completely lost without his work, Jesus says, “It is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher.”  Jesus still has a purpose for the one who has lost their purpose.

I cannot even begin to tell you just how important this message is to people who have lost their sense of purpose and value.  This butcher was an actual butcher.  He was raised in a butcher shop.  He was homeschooled in the butcher shop.  He married a woman who was hired help in the butcher shop.  He slowly took over and inherited the butcher shop. 

Even his jokes were butcher jokes.  “Did you hear about the butcher who backed into the meat grinder? He got behind in his work.”  He had one for the kids too, “Where did the butcher go to dance? At the Meat Ball.”  Then, of course, there is this one, “Why did the butcher retire? He was cut off in his prime!”

That joke turned out not to be so funny.  When his health forced him to retire from the butcher shop, he met me in the behavioral health wing of the hospital.  The man tried to take his own life.  He did feel cut off.  He did not know who he was.  He did not know what he was supposed to do.  He was no longer a butcher.  He no longer had customers with whom he could help or with whom he could joke.  He felt cut off.  He was cut off in his prime.

And, as we sat in that room together, discussing his lostness…if that is even a word…I told him about the earliest followers of Jesus.  I described how they too felt lost. 

You see, in the ancient world, people almost never asked the question, “Who am I?”  They almost never felt as if they had no place in the world.  In fact, most ancient people had their whole lives laid out in front of them as soon as they were born.  If you were the first born, you would be raised to be the eventual head of the household, in charge of the family and its work.  And, if you were born other than the first born, you knew your place.  You listened to the father.  You listened to your eldest brother almost like he was your father.  You joked around and caused trouble with your cousins.  You would likely marry one of your cousins of the opposite sex.  And, you knew exactly what you were going to do in life.  You would be doing whatever it was that your family did, be it raising sheep or fashioning things out of wood.  In other words, the ancient person would hardly ever ask, “Who am I?  What am I to be in this life?”

Notice that I said, “hardly.”  The one time that a person was thrown into this sort of rare crisis where they asked, “Who am I,” and “To whom do I belong” is if you were thrown out of the family.

Many of Jesus’ early followers had the questions of “Who am I,” and “To whom do I belong” trust upon them because they were thrown out of their families as soon as they started following Jesus.  When they followed Jesus, they listened to someone other than their fathers, thereby upsetting their fathers and older brothers.  They did work that was outside of the family’s work, thereby finding worth elsewhere.  In other words, they were thrown out of their families and thrown into these questions of self-worth.

This type of personal crisis for his followers was not unexpected by Jesus.  Jesus taught: 

“For I have come to set a man against his father, 

and a daughter against her mother, 

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 

and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”

It is not like Jesus wants this sort of strife, but Jesus does clearly describe the very real consequences that Jesus’ earliest followers experienced as they started following the savior of the world.  They lost their fathers and mothers.  Their brothers and sisters turned against them.  Many suddenly felt lost.  They were forced to ask, “Who am I now that I am not what I used to be?” 

To these lost ones, feeling as if their world had fallen, Jesus answered, “’You are of more value than many sparrows’ who your Father keeps floating in the air.  God will keep you floating too.”

To these lost ones, who wonder who will care for them now that their family has abandoned them, Jesus answers, “even the hairs of your head are all counted.”  You now have a new family with me.

As terrible as it feels to be lost in life, and it does feel terrible, (it feels like someone has taken a sharp plow to your life and ripped everything up), it is probably the most fertile time for Jesus to plant some seeds.  There is a type of grace in having everything old plowed under so that something new and better can grow. 

And, in that fertile soil of the plowed up soul, Jesus plants little seed of himself. 

You do not know who you are?  Well, Jesus just planted himself in you and covered the seed up so that it can grow.  Jesus says, “it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher.”  It is enough to be like Jesus.  Life is enough when we follow Jesus. 

Who are you?  A follower of the one who loves the world. 

Who is your family?  Our family consists of those who take up their crosses and follow Jesus to places of love and serving the neighbor.  It is a wonderful new life, filled with love, where there is a place for each of us.  It is a place where those who have lost their old lives will find their true life following the one who loved them to the point of death on a cross. 

“Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”  Jesus says to you.  Are you feeling lost?  Are you searching for who you are?  Jesus has found you.  He actually never lost you.  Your new cross-shaped life waits.  Your new life filled with the love of God and the love of neighbor waits.

As the old song “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” goes:

Why should I feel discouraged,

Why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely,

And long for heav’n and home;

When Jesus is my portion?

My constant Friend is he;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me.

I sing because I’m happy,

I sing because I’m free;

For his eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me.

 

Reflection on Matthew 9:35-10:23

 

Jesus sees the world so differently than I.  Maybe you are like me.  When I look out at the world, I tend to see a culture that is crumbling.  I tend to see a bunch of people who, as my dad always used to say, are one fry short of a happy meal.  People are doing things that would have never been acceptable in the past.  People are praised for doing things that can only be described as reprehensible and destructive.  Things are not the way they used to be.  Basic respect for oneself and respect for others seems to be on the decline, and truth seems to have been abandoned in the trashcan of history. 

And, my instinct is to push these reprehensible people aside.  Maybe you are like me, my instinct is to disassociate with such people and push them all to the margins, into the darkness, where they seem to want to exist anyway; where they seem to thrive.

If I am honest with myself, even though I hate to admit it, I tend to look at particular people in this world and I actually see them as malformed monsters, creatures that lurk in the world and are dangerous to our children and our faithful ways of life. 

Do not get me wrong.  I am polite to all of these people, of course.  I would never let this characterization intentionally seep out of my internal thoughts.  I take a southern attitude where I look upon these people and say, “Well, bless their souls,” while having no intention of showering any blessings.

Did I let you peer into my soul a little too much?  Am I alone in all of this?  Am I alone is seeing the world in this way?

But, as I read the gospel story from this Sunday, my soul is given a metaphorical slap in the face, a wake up notice, because it is obvious that Jesus see the world differently.

Where I see the world full of deformed creatures, the Bible says that Jesus “had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).  I just want to stop right there and let that soak in, because it is so different of an outlook on the world.  When Jesus, our shepherd, looks on the world, he sees a world full of sheep.  He sees a world full of his own people, his own creation, his own flock, who need someone to guide them and heal them.  Jesus does not see monsters or deformed creatures.

And, Jesus’ actions match the way he looks at the world.  Where I just abandon the people I find reprehensible in the dark corners of the world, where I think they belong, the Bible says that Jesus can be found, “proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness” (Matthew 9:35).

The problem with the world, in Jesus’ view, is not that people have allowed themselves to become malformed monsters, rather, that they are “like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).  In other words, they are sheep who have been abandoned by those who should be caring for them.

Through the power of the Holy Scriptures, Jesus could not be clubbing me over the head more clearly.  I just said that I tend to abandon the people I dislike to the dark places of the world.  Jesus says that the problem with the world is that those who should be helping and healing have abandoned the sheep.  Jesus is talking about me, and though I would not want to be presumptuous, maybe he is even talking about us.

Jesus is not alone in this condemnation.  Jesus is merely speaking the truths spoken all over the Bible, but especially in Ezekiel: 

‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.  (Ezekiel 34:2-6)

This sort of abandonment of the shepherd’s tasks causes God to intervene directly.  Ezekiel continues with God’s speech: 

I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.  (Ezekiel 34:11-12) 

I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.  (Ezekiel 34:16)

Helping us to understand this biblical dynamic in a very real, down to earth way, a faithful herder of actual sheep, Carl Glen Henshaw, shares this:

“We found this lamb hiding under a bank of the creek that runs along the back of our property this morning. This is the near bank, which means she could not be seen from our side of the creek - we had to wade the creek or jump the bank to see her. She was not making a sound, and it took some careful counting to realize she was missing, and some careful searching to find her.

 

The scene we encountered this morning included all the sheep except four being right where they should be, in the barnyard. But the electric fence at the back of the pasture had been vandalized. It was lying on the ground and had wool all over it. The hay feeder had been flipped upside down, and the water in the waterer was all muddy. Someone had been committing some mischief.

 

And then this ewe lamb was hiding from us. She was with another, older ewe, who was standing in the brush on the far side of the creek, barely visible.

 

You would be excused if you thought that these sheep were up to no good. The evidence is all there. Something had destroyed the fence, and these two ewes had made a series of bad decisions that culminated in them leaving the flock and ending up in the creek in the rain. Clearly, these two are bad news.

 

But that’s only because you don’t know what actually happened. What actually happened is that we have a new 18-month-old sheepdog who will be a good dog someday, but today he was a very bad dog. We left him in the backyard unsupervised for two hours early this morning. Except he didn’t stay in the backyard; he went through a hole in the fence, showing our other two dogs how to follow, and they entertained themselves by running the sheep. The first we noticed was when we went to let the dogs in and discovered they were missing. Then we saw a dead ewe lying in the far corner of the pasture. They had run her to death. That’s what led to us counting the sheep in the barnyard; we had to know whether there were any more sheep missing.

 

The Christians among you should know the parable of the lost sheep. In it, Jesus tells of a shepherd who notices that he is missing one of his hundred sheep, and searches for it until it is found and returned to the flock. If we are being particularly insightful we note that sheep aren’t simply misplaced; they end up where they are by walking, so — we say — this lost sheep had wandered away from the flock, and therefore we should diligently seek out and help those who have gotten to where they are through their own poor decisions.

This is probably wrong.

 

Sheep don’t wander away from the flock. It isn’t in their nature. A sheep who has left the flock left because it was driven away. It was terrified and did not know where to look for safety, so it ran. And the reason it was terrified is usually due to poor shepherding — the shepherd has led the flock to a pasture where there are predators, or has left it out in a storm. Or the shepherd has neglected that hole in the fence and left unsupervised a young, inexperienced sheepdog, who is supposed to be a helper but has discovered that terrorizing sheep is darned fun. And then that shepherd went back to bed.

 

In other words, very often the person we are to seek out is not “lost”, and is not missing because he or she made poor decisions. They left because we drove them away. They did not look or talk or think or love like we do, and we did not create spaces they felt safe in. We looked the other way when they weren’t admitted to school because they weren’t a “good fit”, or they were given a hard time because they were a woman in a man’s job or a man in a woman’s job. We did not invite them into our neighborhoods, or our clubs, or our churches. They were being abused by other members of the flock, wolves in sheep's clothing, and we did not protect them. They were being harassed…and we told ourselves that it was their fault for being where they were, behaving how they behaved. If they would just make different choices, they could help themselves.

 

This lamb was hiding from a predator who terrified her and had killed one of her sisters, and that was not her fault. It was ours.

 

If you would seek the lost sheep, first admit that you may be part of the reason they aren’t already here.

Carl is definitely on the same page as Jesus.  So often, we hear Jesus’ words completely the wrong way.  So often we look out on the people of the world, see how they are not in church and how they are straying from the truth, and we say to ourselves, “The harvest looks like slim pickings, but I guess the laborers here will have to be enough.  Let’s go get some coffee and donuts”

Of course, you know the real teaching of the one who loved us, found us, and rescued us.  Jesus told his followers, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  And then Jesus sent his followers out into the world to love, find, and rescue.  He sent them out to find those who are lost so that they might have a taste of the kingdom.  He sent them out to “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons” (Matthew 10:8). 

He sends us out from here to tend to the sick, bring people out of death and darkness, to gather those who have been cast out and excluded, and to pour attention on those who are troubled and harassed.  After-all, there are plenty of sheep who have been pushed into dark corners who are secretly praying that someone full of mercy and love might find them.  They need Jesus.  They need Jesus’ followers to be like Jesus.

I want to make a bet with you.  I bet that if you asked ten people that you know about their struggles in life, at least eight will share some of their struggles.  At least eight of them will begin the process of healing, by having someone who actually cares. 

Where did you get those numbers, ten out of eight, Pastor Jira?  Well, I just made them up.  But, in my experience, there are more people out there who need Jesus’ healing than we realize, if only we allowed Jesus to open our eyes to the realities of people and allowed Jesus to push us out there to seek them out. 

After-all, we are here today giving thanks to Jesus because Jesus did not give up on us and abandon us to the dark.  Rather, Jesus found us, proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, and cured our deepest pains.  And, if you have not experienced that sort of finding by your Lord, look around.  There are some of the Lord’s laborers of love nearby.  Jesus would love to heal you too.

Reflection on Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 (from Sunday, June 11th, 2023)

 

Take a moment to imagine that Jesus is alive today, and has been leading and teaching the people of your church for the last few months while your pastor takes a break.  Jesus acts the same as he did in Biblical times, and is, therefore, causing just as much of a stir in the community.

For example, Jesus has been spotted walking around with an interesting crowd of people, and it is causing people to ask you, as one of his disciples, some fundamental questions about Jesus.  One day, out of earshot of Jesus, a woman from a church just up the street told you that Jesus was spotted walking into the tavern with a couple of guys whose breath reeked of whiskey and whose skin bore a sheen of cigarette smoke.  The woman exclaimed that the two had apparently gotten their fill of heavenly love constantly saying while hanging out with Jesus, “You’re great, I love you man.”  She badgered you saying, “These men haven’t spent a night with their family in weeks.  They are the type of people who corrupt good people.  And, I saw Jesus’ hands with a telltale tint of orange stuck in the creases.  That’s right, it is obvious that he sat down with them at the bar and had some buffalo wings with them.  Why does you teacher eat with sinful slobs like that?” she asked.

Immediately, a man taped you on the shoulder with a somewhat perturbed look on his face.  His lower lip quivered with barely concealed anger as he informed you that your teacher was seen on the television a couple of nights ago.  Jesus was seen with his hand on a known thief.  And, he was not grabbing the guy to haul him in to the authorities.  Instead, he was praying beside the dirt bag!  Jesus was even seen laughing with the guy as he shared a simple meal. 

“That guy hasn’t turned from his ways.  What kind of teacher do you have?” he asked with disgust.  “Do you and your teacher promote theft and crime?  Why does your teacher eat with criminals?”

The question is the same question that has been asked of Jesus’ followers since the beginning of his ministry.  “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  A careful politician Jesus is not.  Jesus does not care how things appear; he just cares, period.  Jesus is constantly seen eating with the wrong crowd. 

Because of the fierce anger on their faces, you hesitantly gave these two people the only answer that you knew to give.  It is the same answer that you have heard Jesus, himself, provide: “My teacher eats with those who are sick not those who are healthy.  Healthy people do not need a doctor, only the sick.” 

The two people just stared at you, apparently failing to comprehend.  You continued, “You are right, these people probably haven’t turned from their ways.  But, you have to understand, my teacher heals by showing mercy.  The scriptures show God’s position on this issue clearly.  ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’  Jesus doesn’t require anyone to prove anything in order to sit with him and eat with him.  He does not require money, or promises; not even repentance.  My teacher believes that being merciful is the way healing happens.  Maybe you should give it a try.”

You moved to walk away, but one of the two grabbed you by the arm, getting your attention once more.  He retorted, “If it is true that your teacher hangs out with sinners you need to know that I saw your teacher eating with your pastor the other day.”  You simply replied, “My teacher eats with sinners, with those who are sick.”

At that point you both turned to see, Jesus leave.  He went to care to little girl who had just died.  Almost to prove your point, as Jesus left, a woman with a disgusting and obviously contagious medical problem touched Jesus, and was healed.  Though she expected a rebuke for such carelessness, Jesus did not get mad.  She needed healing, and trusted that Jesus could do so.  Jesus had no problem connecting with this woman. 

Jesus would have had no problem sitting and eating with her either.  Jesus goes out of his way to sit and eat with sinners and tax collectors.  Jesus goes out of this way to spend time with everyone who our culture despises, disregards, or forgets.  Jesus eats with those who need love and healing.

I assume that Jesus eats with you too.  I assume that you welcome Jesus to your table and that Jesus joins you, eats with you, and mercifully accepts you as a welcome companion, warts, sins and all.  I assume that you also find healing and forgiveness in the one who is willing to touch you and sit with you, especially when you are at your worst.  It is the way of Jesus, and it is also the way of his church.

Too many people have the wrong impression of the church.  Too many people have the sense that the church is a gathering of the righteous.  I suppose that those of us who gather together in Jesus’ name may have contributed to that vast misconception, fancying ourselves as faithful and good, and presenting ourselves as being more holy than we are.  But, the truth is; Jesus eats with those who need him.  We come to Christ’s table, not because we are great, but because we are hurt; not because we stand tall, but because we have fallen short; not because we have figured it all out, but because we have sinned.  And, because we have been welcomed, we welcome other broken people to join us.

A number of years ago my brother-in-law, Brandon, said the weirdest thing.  Just to set this up, Brandon lost his leg when a guy smashed his van into Brandon’s body while riding his motorcycle.  The guy drove off, with part of Brandon’s foot still hanging in his grill, leaving Brandon on the street to die.  Brandon lost much of his left leg because of this hit and run accident. 

However, instead of expressing anger, Brandon said the weirdest thing to me, “I’m not mad at the guy.  I can understand how when you’ve made a huge mistake all you can think of doing is running.  He didn’t have insurance.  He probably felt trapped.”  For Brandon, there was no question that this man deserved a chance at mercy, even though the guy carelessness changed Brandon’s body and life forever. 

But, that is what eating with Jesus does, it changes us.  We feed on mercy and we cannot help but be merciful.  After-all, it is mercy that Jesus believes can save the world.  He gave his life on the cross for that idea. Jesus truly believes that mercy can save some broken people like you, and like me, and like sinners, and like tax collectors, and like the despised and forgotten.  It is mercy that Jesus uses to bandage and heal the broken, and so do we.

Reflection on Genesis 1:1-2:4 (from Sunday, June 3rd, 2023)

 

Today is the celebration of Trinity Sunday.  It is often a Sunday of complete and utter pulpit boredom as the preacher tries to explain the inexplicable; as the preacher tries to tie down a God who refuses to be bound by the chains of a human wordsmith.  So, I am not going to bore you with that sort of thing.  The only thing that I am going to say about God as the Trinity is what is already apparent to us in the Holy Scriptures: that creation is a group effort within God. 

Scriptures paint a picture of God the Father creating the heavens and the earth.  Scriptures further puts details into that painting by talking about God’s Spirit, God’s breath, God wind, blowing over the chaotic waters to make order.  And, the Gospel of John lets us know that the Word the Spirit breathes over the chaos waters to make order is indeed the one that we would later see as Jesus Christ, God’s Son.  As I said, the actions of God are a group effort by the Father, the Word, who we experience as the Son, and Holy Spirit…the holy breath of God.  When we say that God is the Trinity, we are saying that God’s work is a group effort of love.

That is just the base understanding though.  There is something fun poking through the scriptures today and it is found in Genesis 1:26.  For those of you who do not have your Bibles out, so that you can cheat, Genesis 1:26 comes after the light is made.  It comes after the dome of sky above and sea below is established.  It comes after the land and plants are called forth.  It comes after sun, moon, and stars are created to take charge of everything above.  It comes after the sea creatures and the birds are told to multiply.  And, it comes after all of the animals are given the breath of life.  The thing that woke me up as I read through these words of scripture comes from the following: 

“Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

 

So God created humankind in his image, 

in the image of God he created them;  

male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27).

 

There is so much fun stuff to be explored in just these two verses, but what specifically woke me up and caused me to pay attention were the words, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion” (Genesis 1:26). 

 

God’s group effort to create life in the world includes one more element: us.  Humankind, male to female, was created in God’s image.  We were made to be God’s extended presence on this earth, tasked to continue what God had started: creating life and reducing the chaos. 

 

I am going to stop right there, because I threw a lot of Bible at you, and I just want to make sure that we are on the same page.  You know that God has a long history in the Bible of not liking idols.  The idea that God would come and possesses a piece of pottery that has been fashioned into a bird or bull or some other animal is completely absurd to God.  It is absurd because God has already fashioned an idol in which God’s image is going to dwell: people.  It is tragic that we would create an idol in which God can dwell when God has already created one: us.

 

For years and years I was taught by some very meaningful Sunday School teachers that humans are fundamentally flawed.  There is so much wrong with us, I was taught, that we have no hope.  They also taught us not to eat crayons, which is true.

 

Though it is true that we are flawed, the Bible seems to indicate that God does have hope for us.  God created us to be like God.  God created us to continue God’s work of creating and peacemaking.  With such a negative understanding of humankind in my background, it honestly just blows me away that God chooses to imprint God’s image in humankind; male to female.  We are the image of God in which God’s Spirit dwells.  We are the ones who have been given the task to make sure that life thrives and that the chaos of this world is put into order. 

 

So, it is no surprise that when Genesis envisions humankind as joining God’s holy task we are asked to tend and expand a garden.  Currently, it is spring when everyone is finishing putting in their gardens, so this will all make a lot of sense.  God’s sermon illustration of what our creative task is all about looks like helping in God’s garden.  Fundamentally, God has given us the ability to find creative ways to plant things in gardens so that life and food can flourish even more than they could out in the wild.  We plant flowers to bring in the pollinators.  We clear weeds so that vegetable plants can grow and give food.  And, we multiply ourselves, as God commanded, so that more life, and more food, and more order in this chaotic world can expand.

 

I just want to take a second to point out why I think Jesus cared so much about the lowest people in society.  The lowest people in society, the peasants, are almost always the very people who are getting their hands dirty and doing the tasks that God created us to do.  They are the ones planting our fields.  They are the ones caring for the creatures, helping them to thrive.  They are the ones feeding and giving life to the world.  We so often forget. 

 

So often these workers of the soil are seen as grunt labor.  So often our farmers are not given an economic benefit that reflects their worth.  Our food workers are paid the lowest of wages, yet they are the ones who reflect the image of God stated in the Bible.  Of course, Jesus is going to care about them!  They are kindred spirits.  They help to give life, and so does Jesus.  They are a holy image of the divine.

 

As images of the Divine, we were made to preserve and help create life, just as God does in creating the world.  We were made to bring order out of chaos, just as God does in this world.  This partnership is the life that God desire for us.

 

Though my Sunday School teachers failed to see humanity’s potential in this positive way, they did see another truth about us: even though we are images of God, we continually choose death over life.  We choose chaos over peace.  It did not take long before God’s created images chose death rather than life.  Adam and Eve were shown two trees in the center of the garden; the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Eating of the first tree leads to life, and eating of the second leads to death.  You tell me, which one did they choose?  Just as many children choose a cookie over cauliflower, or just as a certain pastor chooses a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup over carrot sticks, Adam and Eve took and ate of the tree that led to death.

 

The serpent told them that eating of the tree would make them like God.  The irony is that they already were like God.  It was after eating that they were less so.  And, after eating, people would continue to choose death.

 

This is an extreme example, but I had a friend in college who offered to share with me a really awesome substance that would open up my world and open up my eyes.  You had to smoke it.  I refused, of course, but this friend was certain that their use of the substance was increasing their insight and wisdom.  They were certain that the substance was giving them a type of life that no one else was able to experience without the substance.  And, I am certain that they thought that was absolutely true…from their experience on the inside. 

 

But, I was not in their head.  I was not on the inside.  I was on the outside, and what I saw on the outside was their body literally losing muscle mass, and their bank account being drained so that all they had to eat was tomato soup, made with handfuls of free ketchup packets from the convenience store mixed with warm water.  They were made in God’s image, but they were tricked into choosing death instead of life.

 

We see that very thing happening as we go through the book of Genesis; images of God who look nothing like God as they choose sin and death.  We see murder and deception.  We see abuse of women and mistreatment of the stranger.  We see all of this death until we finally get to Joseph.  Finally, in the last pages of Joseph’s story we get to see someone who stands as an image of the divine.  Facing a famine in the land, Joseph oversees the gathering of food for seven years so that life can thrive for the next seven.  It is an image of someone who is finally acting as an image of God.  God has empowered Joseph to provide food.  God’s image burns within him, and Joseph creates order in a time of great famine and chaos.  Finally, we have an example of what it looks like to live as the image of God.

 

Until…yes, there is always an “until.”  I almost hate to point it out to you because you will just become depressed.  But, I think that God desperately needs us to understand what is contrary to living as an image of God.  Here it is: Joseph charges people to get the food that would save them.  These people helped build up the stockpile, yet they are charged in order to benefit from it.  Not only that, when the people run out of wealth to pay for food the Bible tells us that “Joseph bought all the land of Egypt [all of the land of the people] for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them; and the land became Pharaoh’s. As for the people, he made slaves of them from one end of Egypt to the other” (Genesis 47:20-21).

 

Did you know that it was Joseph who brought slavery to Egypt?  This once harshly enslaved individual is the one who brings slavery to Egypt.  Joseph’s own people will eventually suffer from this move, as they are enslaved by Egypt!  This image bearer of God throws dirt on God’s image. 

 

Did God enslave those who God created?  Did God charge to eat from the tree of life? 

 

Of course not!  God made humanity to be beloved partners, not slaves.  God planted a tree to give them life, not strip their life away.  We were created to be a part of God’s group effort to create life and make order out of chaos.

 

Why do I bring this up?  First, I am certain that you can point out the Josephs who are out there today.  Who has the ability to create life and make things good, but they cloud that goodness with greed or selfishness?  Maybe, those of us who are capable of being honest with ourselves can even see the reflection of Joseph within ourselves?

 

Do you want a better image?  Do you want to see an image of God that does not disappoint?  Do you want to see an image of God worth following, one that saves us instead of enslaving us; one that bleeds for us, and leads us to life?

 

I know the story of someone who was able to walk on the waters of chaos, and with a word still a furious, watery storm.  I know the story of someone who was faced with a sea of over 5,000 hungry people, who provided food…who provided the gift of life…without asking for a cent.  “And all ate and were filled” (Matthew 14:20).  I know the story of someone in whom God’s image burned so clearly that when they were touched by him people fell down and worshiped.  I know the story of Jesus Christ, who, when overcome by death on a tree, stretched out his arms and gave life to the world.  I know the story of Jesus Christ who stretched his arms out to be the tree of life.

 

I kind of want to be like that guy!  If I ever wonder exactly what it looks like to be the image of God, I look to Jesus.  Since the Adams and Eves and Josephs in my life are a mixed bag, I look to Jesus.  I look to his image.  And, I pray that when I do, his Spirit will fill me and create at least a slight glimmer of an image of someone who is invited into God’s group effort to create and preserve life; to create more peace and less chaos. 

 

A group of students in Argentina once came up to me while I was visiting and said that they hoped we Americans could teach them how to be more like Jesus.  I looked at those students who worked hard to fix up some rooms in the back of the church to house some refugee students from Peru, who grew flowers and cut them to adorn the altar and brighten the day of the poor on the streets, who cooked food from their garden and invited everyone to eat; I looked at those students and said, “I can’t teach you anything.  You are the image of Jesus.  You are the image of God.  Be more like you.”