Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
The musical Godspell was being presented in my hometown of Memphis years ago, and for some reason, the lobby doors to the theatre were locked as ticket holders showed up so we all waited patiently in a queue on the sidewalk for the doors to open.
A bedraggled homeless man in tattered clothes, staggering around those of us in line, panhandling and trying desperately to engage us looked very out of place weaving through the well-dressed theatre crowd, while most of us pretended that he didn’t exist.
Eventually the lobby doors were unlocked and we were able to finally get away from him and take our seats. Imagine our surprise when, just as the lights went down, the curtains opened and the play began with a song and dance number… here he comes! – stumbling down the aisle, and headed straight for the stage! And then he jumped up on the stage! I, along with the entire audience, was shocked and speechless! Especially when he joined in on the dance number in perfect choreography and it became obvious to all of us that this homeless man was an actor and the actor was Jesus! Almost every one of us slumped down in our seats in utter shame.
I was reminded of that when I read Matthew’s account of Jesus admonishing the crowds in the marketplace.
The crowds in the marketplace cannot recognize the truth that is right in front of them: John comes as the forerunner to the Messiah, loudly proclaiming a radical message of repentance, but he came looking like a madman and that’s how he was judged. Jesus comes speaking about peace and love and is judged, not for what he was proclaiming but for hanging out with ne’er do wells.
Then Jesus says, “Wisdom will be vindicated by her deeds.” I leaned into this part of the gospel reading, and I wanted to understand more about the meaning of what Jesus said and in what way I might relate this to a story.
In case you haven’t noticed it, I am a storyteller. It helps me if I am able to relate what I read in scripture to stories I know or stories I’ve heard.
That happened couple of weeks ago, when Danny was preaching. He gave such a good example of wisdom being vindicated by her deeds. Danny commented on his bewilderment of the Jews chastising Jesus for healing someone on the sabbath. Why, Danny asked, incredulous, would anyone not be joyous for the healing of this man?
What gets born out of the facts and the law is nothing new. Things remain Just the “way things have always been.” The man who has been crippled for 38 years remains crippled and ill because it is the Sabbath and the rules are the rules. But the healing of the man when and where Jesus finds him proves that what is born out of the wisdom of seeing beyond ourselves …is the possibility of miraculous healing.
Later in the text, Jesus affirms those of us who doubt with a measure of encouragement. To all those laboring under harsh religious and political systems at the time, Jesus said, “come unto me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens.”
Jesus likens our weariness, worries and responsibilities to the weight of a heavy yoke and he offers to remove it. He offers to replace it with a yoke that is easy and light. A yoke that transforms the world around us with acceptance, peace, love, gratification, rest, satisfaction, and serenity.
But first, he tells us, we have to come to him. That means dragging our heavy yoke to Jesus weighed down with all our stuff: going to our jobs, struggling with sadness or anxiety, cleaning the house, feeling depressed, caring for our families, the list goes on.
Years ago, I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life. My very intuitive daughter, Corina, knowing that I was miserable and sad and stuck on the couch in my grief, showed up with five cans of cherry red spray paint and said, “Come on, we’re going outside to refinish those ladderback chairs you didn’t know you wanted to paint.”
It felt like we had only been outside scrapping, sanding, and painting chairs for about an hour, so I was quite surprised to discover we’d been at it for over 4 hours! I also realized that I had become so involved in refinishing those chairs that I had not once thought about my troubles. I was happy and at perfect peace.
A noted Hungarian psychologist, Dr. Csikszentmihaly describes in his study of happiness and creativity that what I experienced that day was the concept of “flow.” Flow, he says, is the psychology of optimal human experience. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement and thought flows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost. Flow, he says, is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake.
Theologian Frederich Buechner puts a Holy Spirit spin on Dr. Csikszentmihaly’s concept of flow: He says “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
So here’s maybe a better example of that “flow” theory than painting chairs:
In our March 2nd newsletter, Evan Garner wrote this about the Sunday evening Eucharist service at the women’s correction center. He said:
More times than not, when I get to that part of Sunday afternoon when I must get up, put back on my clerical outfit, and climb into my car to drive to the church to pack up for the service, I would rather relax, watch television, cook dinner for my family, go for a walk, finish a nap, or do just about anything besides go. It is inconvenient in almost every way. But, every time I go, without exception, I encounter with those women and the volunteers the power of Jesus Christ breaking into this world. I am always glad that I got off the couch and went.
I’ve heard this same sentiment from the folks who volunteer for our outreach and service ministries here.
We have built a bridge here at St. Paul’s that connects our church to the world and the world to our church. Those of us who choose to cross that bridge with our gifts and talents, become part of that flow that brings us to Jesus.
Wendell Berry writes in his novel Jayber Crow: “Jesus must forebear to reveal His power and glory by presenting himself as himself, and must be present only in the ordinary miracle of the existence of His creatures. Those who wish to see Him must see Him in the poor, the hungry, the hurt, the wordless creatures, the groaning and travailing beautiful world.”
If we are looking for relief and a place of rest, if we want to lighten our load, if we want to come to Jesus, we do so by extending God’s radical love to those whom God presents to us each day.
I have watched the people in the church do just that from the day I first walked in here eleven years ago. And I have loved every one of you for it and I have cherished what I have learned from you. Thank you for taking my hand and walking with me on that bridge to experience the outreach you built between this church and the world, and for encouraging me and for journeying with me as your deacon.
At the end of Sunday services during my time here as deacon, you have heard me dismiss you all with exuberance and hope that you will go out into the world in peace to love and serve the Lord. Remember that, and continue to find your place in the flow of God’s love crossing that bridge that was built long before I arrived and will continue to be crossed long after I’ve gone. I love you all and I know that you will continue to God’s holy work of service. Amen.
© 2023 The Rev. Kathy McGregor
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church – Fayetteville, Arkansas