Sunday Reflection: a little shock treatment

Today's reflection is brought to you by

Psalm 139 and Luke 14:25-33.

Well, that’s a challenging Gospel reading. Not sure I like it very much when Jesus tells me I have to hate my parents and children and give up everything I have, how about you? But hopefully we’ll make some sense of why he would do that in the next few minutes together.

First though, I invite you to think for a moment about your own life. Are there people who have been particularly supportive to you at different times? People who have been “God-with-skin-on” for you? People who have your back?

The guy who is playing guitar this morning is one of those people in my life. Chuck helped me a lot when our mutual friend, Pauline, died at the age of 21 from complications after surgery to replace a faulty heart valve. Pauline’s sister called to let me know that Pauline had survived the surgery, but was brain dead. I was 19, my family was away on vacation, and I needed someone to talk to and cry with. To this day, I’m not sure why, but I took a few deep breaths and called Chuck.

My friend, Pauline

God bless him, he drove to meet me right away, and we went for a long walk in a park, talking about our friend Pauline and praying for her and her family while she was being taken off of life support. And when the family asked me to play my guitar for Pauline’s funeral, Chuck came to play and sing too. He had my back when I couldn’t see through my tears or sing through the lump in my throat. Chuck was “God-with-skin-on” for me at that time. He had my back.

This morning, in Psalm 139, we hear about how another Someone (with a capital S) has our back, even more so than Chuck had mine. The person who wrote the Psalm is speaking directly to God about how much He loves us and wants to be with us, no matter where we are. Our Creator knows us from the moment our lives start, right to their end, and She walks with us whether we’re on the highest mountain or in the depths of hell. Creator is there for us every moment of every day and then some, and has our back in every way possible.

But what helps us to understand this invisible Presence in our lives? For me, it’s always been my relationships with flesh and blood people who mediate God’s love for me, those people who are “God-with-skin-on,” like Chuck and yes, even many of you here. And I also need the scriptures that so often tell me about God’s love.

But today is a bit confusing. On the one hand, in the Psalm, we have this God who is so in love with us, She will follow us to the ends of the earth. But then, on the other hand, in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is being kinda hardass, not the loveable, huggable God in the Psalm. 

So what’s up with that?

I’ve been puzzling over Jesus’ words about hating people all week, and the other hard words he's saying, and what I finally see is that he is giving the folks who are following him a little shock treatment. He’s telling them, “You’ve been walking with me for quite a while because you like the nice things I say about God. But what if He asks you to give up your parents, your spouse and children, and even your own life for a deeper relationship with Him? What if God wants you to put aside everything that distracts you from your relationship with Her? What if there’s a cross you have to carry?”

Jesus is asking all his followers – us included – “Are you willing to invest in our relationship from now right to the end, like someone building a tower, who needs to make sure they can finish it? Are you willing to be like a ruler who wisely sees that a certain battle is unwinnable, and humbly asks for peace? And are you willing to let go of everything you own… and maybe not just what you own, but also the ideas you have about who you are and what makes you important or special in your own mind, and accept that you are important and special just because you are God’s Beloved?

Jesus is reminding us that relationships are hard work and that if we want our relationship with God to work, we have to set aside everything that distracts us. We have to be in it for the long haul, right to the finish line. And sometimes, we have to accept and admit our limitations and rely on God instead of ourselves.

The thing about relationships is that there always comes a point where we have to decide – are we willing to risk and give more of ourselves, or not? Are we really willing to rely on the other person? To trust in them? Are we really willing to rely on God? To trust in Creator?

I invite you to take a deep breath and settle as comfortably as you can into your chair, putting your feet flat on the floor. Breathe in… and out… following your breath from your lips to the bottom of your lungs and back. What a miracle God gives us as we breathe!…  Relax any tightness in your body, allow yourself to rest quietly and come to complete stillness except for the beating of your heart. Close your eyes, or soften their focus if you can…

Picture yourself walking along your favourite path. What do you see? What do you hear? Where does the path lead?

As you walk, someone is coming toward you, and you realize that it is Jesus.

“How are you doing?” he asks, as he comes to walk beside you.

How do you reply?

“I’m here to invite you to deepen your relationship with God,” he says.

How does that make you feel?

“Is there anything distracting you from Creator’s love for you?” he asks.

Think about that, and tell Jesus anything on your heart.

“Only the ones who are willing to carry their own cross and follow me will learn my ways,” Jesus says.

Think about the challenges you face, the cross you carry. Ask yourself, “am I willing to carry it with God walking beside me?”

Spend a few quiet moments in silent conversation with Jesus now…

 

When you are ready, say goodbye to Jesus, open your eyes, and return to this space.

Let’s bow our heads and pray together:

 

Creator,

I know you want what’s best for me,

even though I don’t often know what that is.

You invite me to put you ahead of everything else in my life,

but that seems like an impossible, beautiful, scary thing.

I want to trust in your love for me,

I want to rely on you,

but I need your help.

Be with me in all the ups and downs of life,

as I carry my cross with you, right to the finish line,

and bring all your people home to you.

We ask this in the name of your son, our brother, Jesus.

+Amen.

The beauty of three sisters

I'm one of three sisters, and I absolutely love the other two. So when I look at the three sisters in my garden, I often wonder which of the three represents my dearest sisters and which is me. The easy answer would be that the squash plant has yellow flowers that my youngest sister would like (she loves yellow), and the corn is the tallest, which could represent the middle child in our family as she's tallest. So that leaves me as a scarlet runner bean? Well, I do like to wear red, but I guess I might be reading too much into this!

My three sisters garden box has done beautifully this year -- I've never had such tall and productive corn, the beans are blooming beautifully, and there are a few little squash that might amount to something yet if I'm lucky frost-wise. Other years I made the mistake of planting all the sisters at once, but this year I planted the corn first, and when it was five inches tall (two weeks later) I hilled the corn a little and planted the beans. A week after that, I planted the squash. Of course, the idea is that the oldest sister, the corn, supports the climbing beans and squash plants as they grow, the beans give nitrogen to the soil and hold all three sisters close together against the wind by winding through the corn stalks and squash vines, and the squash leaves shade, mulch and protect the trio's feet from weed infestations.

When I look at these sisters' interdependence, I realize that my sisters and I share aspects of all three at different times. We've all been each others' supports, we've all huddled together in tougher times, and we've all sheltered each other through different storms -- though I admit that due to my commitments to husband and kids, I probably haven't been as present to them as they have been to me a lot of the time. L and J, I am so grateful for your presence in my life, your deep friendship, and our sisterhood!

My sisters are patient and loving, and they put up with me when I get a little corny!