Head Games -- A Reflection on Luke 6 (with audio)

Head Games  

Sunday, February 5th, 2017

Luke 6:17

An audio version can be found here:      http://subsplash.com/unionchurch/v/fqd6yqs/

Stephanie Templin Ashford

My friend Susan who is a pastor and college chaplain and also comes from an Armenian immigrant family challenged her friends this week saying:

“PASTORS…if you are afraid of preaching the inspired word of God because you might upset people… you  might need to search for another call.  Be who God has called you to be.  It has never been easy. But it is always and I mean always, a blessing to preach the Gospel.”

I loved what she said and I felt really challenged.  

Because she’s right.  The gospel is hard.  It’s not candy for the soul or a soothing bed time story.  It’s often been said that if people spent time really digging into the Bible they might not even let their children read it.  

But the challenge as a preacher feels more difficult for me. 

You see, I’m not a fighter.  When one of my dear friends was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer she had head bands and bracelets made and invited all of her people to join her in kicking cancer’s butt.  I wore the bracelet and prayed for her fervently, but when it came to my own cancer treatment, I resisted those same metaphors.  I can’t imagine myself every saying — I’m going to kick anyone or anything.  When people would say to me — you’re a fighter, I would smile politely because I’m really not.  

All of my Myer’s Briggs and Enneagrams and psychological analysis required to enter the clergy pointed again and again to peacemaking, rescue, and compassion.  I’ve always had this very reformed world view that God is sovereign  and powerful and in charge, that God would fight on my behalf. 

And so, over the last year and especially the last few weeks, I have watched as the country we live in has been turned upside down.  I have watched children and grandmas, millennials and baby boomers alike praise and condemn, cheer and jeer.  Some people saying this leader is a true man of god, while others rail that there can be nothing godly found in his persona.  

And I, like many of you, have been shocked and surprised and worried and I have continued to read every news article I could from 5 different websites every 10 minutes.  I’ve read opinions and personal stories and I’ve learned more about Russia and Reagan and NATO than I ever knew before.    I spend much of my time with my husband and friends comparing facts and highlights from the rapid changes in policies… the conversations beginning with “did you hear?”  Guess what I just heard? I read that… all of this has been turning into a sensationalist competition of half informed political science.  

As I overindulge in real news and fake news and data and sound bytes, I find that more than anything my heart is breaking.  It is breaking for my friends who are college students brought here as children from abroad for a better life, for a Mexican family we know who lives here, documented, but without citizenship, for a same gender family that is terrified every single day that their health care and marriage rights will be revoked.  I can feel the fear and the sadness and the grief of so many.  It is palpable.  Heavy.  

I hear the despair from so many of you… feeling overwhelmed by rapid policy changes that seem to be designed to hurt and hinder so many that are vulnerable.  

I believe that the heart of a Christian should feel compelled to protect the vulnerable.  

Years ago, In a display of old school chivalry, and what could be construed as chauvinism I’m sure, I had a male friend who insisted on walking between the street and I, never allowing me to be directly next to traffic.  He was taught that as a man he was supposed to protect a woman from any danger of the cars and traffic.  I had never heard of this custom and at first I was annoyed until I realized that he was truly walking this way in earnest and with good will.  I bantered with him, accusing him of believing that I was inferior as a woman, and I insisted that I could very well walk anywhere on the sidewalk I wanted to.  I would intentionally walk on the street side every time to prove to him that I was quite capable. 

Now, in the same way, my husband walks on my left side because I have vision loss in my left eye.  I have slipped off of many curbs on my left that I couldn’t see clearly and I am always so grateful for his protection, even if I do put up a little fight of indignation.  

But the concept speaks loud and clear.  If  someone is in danger, or someone might not be able to defend themselves, it seems not chivalrous, but just,  to create a space around the vulnerable to protect them.  It seems right to walk between danger and those without defense, even at the risk of personal loss or injury. 

I believe that the despair and the anger that I see comes from a fear that these safe spaces for the vulnerable are in jeopardy.  

And I do believe they are. 

But there can be no mistake.  In the book of Matthew Jesus is clear — the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your mind.  And if I could do a diagram of where my thoughts and energy have gone over the last two weeks, I will confess they have gone completely to information overload  and  that my whole mind has not been anywhere near fully devoted to listening to God’s voice.  And while my framework for reading and analyzing is couched in my faith, I have rationalized spending a great deal of my energy separating family and friends, the president,  judges and lawyers into categories that I have labeled neatly — the right side and the wrong side.  

I believe the gospel in all of its power and might and conviction comes in today to take us where we are, feet firmly planted, and pull the rug out from under us and smile. Because Jesus didn’t come to tell us how wonderful we are and that, my friends, is good news.  

Let us pray. 

The very first mission trip I ever led was to Almost Heaven, West Virginia (the town was named after John Denver’s song because it was truly that beautiful) to work on a poverty stricken area with no jobs that had suffered severe storms and lost many homes the year before.  I sat with 22 teens and 7 adults before our trip and discussed cultural sensitivity.  I sternly advised the teens that there would be no cultural jokes, no trace of the words  “redneck” or “hillbilly” and that we would treat the members of this community with utmost dignity and respect. After the long trip we arrived at our destination to see a valley of despair between breathtaking mountains. Most of the houses were little more than shacks, many with destroyed roofs or missing windows.  Our site leader, Bob, a large man, well over 6 feet tall greeted us warmly, welcoming us to such a beautiful place with a cheerful smile and a hearty personality.  He stood before the group of nervous teens and introduced himself to the kids by saying “Welcome to Almost Heaven… we are a close knit community of rednecks and hillbillies.”  The mission team looked at me and laughed hysterically.  They explained to Bob that they weren’t supposed to say those words and he looked confused and said “why not? that’s who we are and we are proud of it!”

The entire week we worked side by side with Bob and his crew, as well as the families that would eventually inhabit the homes we were building.  We hammered together, planted together, ate together and played frisbee together.  For one week, there were no divisions.  

At night we sat, just as most people do on mission trips, and had a time of devotions.  We read through the story of the Good Samaritan and talked about what each of us would do if we saw a man hurt on the side of the road.  I made a bold, youth leader proclamation, that as Christians, we are called to be the ones who stop and serve, no matter what the cost.  One of the chaperones, Phil,a father of a teen girl, shook his head no…  No, I wouldn’t want my daughter to stop.  It wouldn’t be safe for her.  If I stopped, I could put my wife and children in jeopardy.  It is not a wise decision to stop.  

What I was looking for was the Sunday School answer.  I wanted all of these people who had traveled so far, worked with people in a different economic class and a different culture to claim their religious text and shout that they were transformed and ready to do the dirty work.  

But Phil gave me an honest answer.  One that I still remember 15 years later.  

Jesus offers a blessing today to a specific segment of people:

Blessed are you who are poor.

Blessed are you who are hungry

Blessed are you who weep.

Blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you, revile you and defame you.

Leap for joy, he says, for your reward in heaven will be great.

If this is our morning devotional pow - wow, I could ask you right now…

Do you want to be on the list of those included in Jesus blessing?

The Sunday School answer would have you raise your arm fast and straight saying yes! 

I want to be poor

i want to be hungry

I want to weep

I want people to hate me, exclude me, revile me and defame me.

I am not sure how many of us are included in those whom Jesus blesses in this text.  Or how many want to be included. 

I spent this week imagining the text and the world wrapped together as an endless slideshow beginning with an  M.C. Esher drawing where you don’t know which way is in and which way is out…you don’t know what is up and what is down because everything has been turned on its head.  

So I have this MC Esher drawing and then as I imagine it myself lost in the maze where up is no longer up, I keep hearing the refrain to Foreigner’s song
“Head Games”  in the background….

perhaps throw a little of the wicked witch cackling while Dorothy is in tornado…

And than as if that isn’t weird enough, I keep hearing the wicked witch from the wizard of Oz cackling in the background… you know the scene during the tornado…

Let me explain.

We value wealth.  We save money if we can.  We believe it is a good thing to pay your bills.  We rejoice in a promotion and we celebrate donations and donors.  

But Jesus says — blessed are you who are poor.

We work hard to put food on the table.  We spend endless hours on determining the right foods to eat.  organic, local, sustainable, paleo, vegan.  One of our greatest forms of hospitality is to invite others to share a meal.  

But Jesus says — blessed are you who are hungry.

This text.. this version of the Beatitudes that Luke gives us is so hard to swallow, because it is hard to say honestly that we desire to lead this life that Jesus chooses to bless.

I kept thinking over in my head… could I say “I want to be poor? Even saying I want to take a vow of poverty is a choice that I would make and still gives me power over the situation.  

You may recall that the Beatitudes in Matthew’s gospel read a little differently…. he says blessed are the poor in spirit…  

But Luke’s gospel is more direct and a little more harsh.  

And  maybe if you are asked directly — Do you want to receive this blessing,” you might not be willing to stand and give the Sunday school answer today.  I find myself saying:
“Or course I do lord, but…”

…and then Foreigner song plays and I get lost in the maze and the witch cackles. 

This might help —  know that the Greek here for poor ptocho means “one who looks to and depends on God for absolutely  everything”  — a emptiness that depends on God for everything.

And the greek for weep is klaio — one who weeps knowing they are in exile —  a deep sadness that recognizes this is not your home. 

Luke is telling us that we receive God’s blessing when we are aware that we are utterly dependent on God for EVERYTHING and when we are utterly aware that our lives can not be made of the same fabric as the world.  

So the confusion and the fear and the terror are all mixed up together as we hear these incredibly difficult words, because we want to protect and guide and nurture our families and communities, but we also want to truly truly depend on God.  

It’s an age old question…  Does god want me to be poor? does god want me to throw away my belongings and walk naked and starve?  Does God want me to be unhappy? God can’t possibly want that for me. 

In all seriousness, I do believe that God is playing head games with us.  Not in a way to trick us or confuse us or to point out our shortcomings, but in a manner that opens our eyes to the ways in which we are too comfortable in this world because the more comfortable we are, the harder it is to be empty and in exile.  

And so, we cannot now and we cannot ever depend on any human leader to determine how we live our lives. 

In one of my classes on interpersonal dialogue we had to keep a sheet of paper in front of us and mark each time we participated in a discussion.  For those who participated rarely, the sheet was a challenge to engage more in a dialogue instead of allowing other voices to dominate.  For those who spoke too much, the exercise was to pay attention to how much your voice can dominate or flood a conversation.  

As we enter another week undoubtedly full of bold news stories, make note of how many times you check for more information, how many articles you click on, how many times you listen to the news cycle.  Compare it to the number of times you have asked God to intercede in the lives of the vulnerable in our world.  And to the times you have asked God to use you in the middle of this chaos. 

It might be painfully obvious that we are giving our allegiance to the wrong master.

Just as my friend walked between the traffic and me, just as Paul walks between the left curb and my blind spot, when we hear where Jesus offer this blessing, we must hear both a personal call to return to God to empty ourselves of easy living, but also a call to step between the danger and those who are vulnerable. We need to put our lives in line with the blessing of Jesus.

Make a list, write it down, discuss it at lunch…. First — What am I going to do realign my personal life with the way of the poor and those who weep? Where can I focus my heart and my day on seeking this blessing of being emptied. What sin do I need to eliminate? What practice do I need to add?

And second —  how am I going to align my life to protect those whom Jesus has named as blessed.   

Where can I sacrifice in my life to protect the vulnerable? Just as a parent throws their arm against a child  when a car is coming, it is our duty to put ourselves in the way of danger for the vulnerable, even if it may cause us personal harm.  And a sacrifice is something that stretches you… something that requires more of you than you are currently offering.  

Be particularly vigilant this week of what you inhale, because that will determine what you exhale.  

Let what you consume this week be Godly and let what you speak be free of gossip and slander.

If we hold ideals of what we believe a president should be, we certainly hold ideals even greater of what a Christian should be.  

Perhaps my friend Susan’s words weren’t just to pastors….

People of God…do not be afraid of preaching the inspired word of God.  Be who God has called you to be.  It has never been easy. But it is always and I mean always, a blessing to preach the Gospel.

Amen.