I was hurting for money once, and didn't have a job. Not to mention, I was spending every penny I had on alcohol and saving the bills and rent for last. It wasn't working very well, so I got the logical idea of taking out a $3,000 loan from my credit union. Being a member of this financial institution for fifteen years, I'm guaranteed instant cash. So, I got the loan. The second part of my plan was to purchase two pressure washers for a little over $2,000. I went to the store, and there was a sign in the window that read something like, "No interest, zero money down for twelve months!!" Of course, I had to get the credit card that came with this guarantee. So, I filled out the paperwork and walked out with two brand new pressure washers that were surely going start making me some income. Now, I had total assets of $5,000, and all I had to do was fill out some paperwork and put my signature on it. I was rich.
About three months into hustling up business, it started slowing down and I started getting lazy again. I wasn't getting phone calls anymore, and I was too afraid to go door to door. Also, after checking my credit line with the store, I noticed that interest was backing up. They had guaranteed me the opposite. For that whole year, even though the advertisement guaranteed no interest, I had accumulated $1,000 in interest. I was in trouble, so the best thing I could do at the time was ignore the repeated phone calls coming in from both my banking institution and the credit card company. It would be two years before I finally got the nerves to reach both institutions and figure out a payment plan. It would be about ten years before I got out of the debt I had accumulated.
People like me have to be real careful about guarantees. Another time, I used my mom's credit card to pay the startup for "working at home." I was looking for another easy way out. This time, however, my parents caught me in time and cancelled the transaction. Needless to say, I was in deep doo-doo.
What is it about guarantees that cause us to gravitate toward them like we're under a magic spell? They're all around us, and in today's passage for Lent, Jesus warns us against guarantees. In this scene, the Pharisees have showed up and they're really pushing Jesus against the wall. They're trying to get him to prove himself, to guarantee himself. They can't stand not knowing the proof of everything he's been saying.
After Jesus and the disciples get back into the boat (they had just finished feeding four thousand people), it was no sooner than they had left the bickering Pharisees that the disciples started bickering themselves. This time, it wasn't about Jesus but about the fact that someone had left lunch behind. Someone committed a major party foul. So, as we humans do often, they started blaming each other and digging up old bones about the petty offense.
Jesus overhears them and says, "Be very careful. Do not let the contaminated yeast of the Pharisees and followers of Herod incorporate itself into what you're doing."
The two people that Jesus warns the disciples about are the Pharisees and the followers of Herod. These two groups would probably translate today as strict, rule-driven religious leaders and followers of the President. "Keep a sharp eye out for rule-driven religious leaders and followers of the President. Do not let their contaminated yeast work its way into batch of dough."
In the State of the Union Address, we hear many guarantees. No matter who's the one giving the speech, the guarantees flow. In this year's we had the following promises: universal pre-school for four-year olds, renewing the assault weapon's ban, extending the American Opportunity Tax Credit, ensuring New Orleans locals can get recovery jobs, and many, many more.
In the religious sphere, we may hear guarantees of heaven, hell, prosperity, abundant life, and health if we do what the pastor tells us to do, which is usually to pray the Sinner's Prayer with a sincere heart.
Guarantees give us a sense of security and certainty. However, Jesus is tells the Pharisees, "Your generation clamors for miraculous guarantees, and if I have anything to say about it, I'm not gonna give you so much as a hint of a guarantee." Could this possibly apply to our lives today?
Jesus seems to be throwing us right in the middle of the tension between truth and belief. We're not given truth, and we're invited to believe with no guarantees. Isn't that the beautiful part about faith though? Jesus has this habit of keeping the audience on their feet, not unveiling the details that for sure would cause them not only to believe, but to accept the truth. But he keeps them hanging on with doubt and shaky faith.
We have to be careful with the contaminated guarantees of rule-driven religious leaders and followers of the President. The yeast can very well incorporate itself into our belief systems, turning articles of our personal faith into personal guarantees. Jesus invites us to take a look for ourselves to find out if it's even possible that things like peace, love, and grace can show up when we believe in him and test what he says. I don't believe in spiritual handouts anymore. I used to think that because I believe a certain way, that peace and contentment were guaranteed. What would happen was, I would enter into deep bouts of depression with that thought process, and blame God for not handing me those assets. I would suffer through my own self-pity until my depression got better, and continue waiting for those handouts. It doesn't work like that.
Essentially, we are believing in a God who provides no guarantees. But, isn't that what belief is? Paul says that faith is the evidence of things not seen. Isn't believing in Jesus, or Buddha, or Muhammed, a beautiful process of working out what life means and seeking truth? Are there really any guarantees in any of it?
When we let go of the expectations that we are entitled to spiritual handouts, it actually deepens our faith. We stop "clamoring about for miraculous guarantees," and begin letting our faith shape the way we live. I'm not convinced that the faiths that were laid out by spiritual giants like Buddha, Ghandi, and Muhammed are wrong in any sense. I am convinced by what I have experienced in the faith of Jesus. I am trying on and testing what is recorded in the Scriptures, and am finding more and more that I don't have to spend this life worrying about guarantees - that I find enough sustenance in putting what he says into action. I find lasting life. I find contentment. I find everything I've ever wanted, with no guarantees.
Today's action: Today we will think of a time we tried to control things, when we had the timing all wrong. Then we will think of a time when everything went well, and the timing was perfect. What are we learning about rhythm and trust?
Today we will think of a time we tried to control things, when we had the timing all wrong.
ReplyDeleteTying in the last post and this one, I once tried to convince a friend not to move from Houston. Actually, it was more of a reaction. I wasn't convincing. The timing was bad because his decision had already been made. He wasn't asking. Time had nothing to do with it. But then there was the long time where I tried to make up for it. That was a waste of time... time trying to make something happen.
Passion is a two edged sword. Sometimes the sledge hammer hits the wedge dead on. Other times the hammer strikes and the wedge flies off and breaks your shin. Sometimes a fire is warm. Sometimes it causes fist fights. Sometimes friendships are made. Sometimes broken.
Patience, kindness and tenderness are the things I need for better timing... however... sometimes shooting from the hip works too. It's good to have friends that'll let you shoot from the hip and don't mind the bullets flying.