Lectionary Challenge: Matthew 21:28-32

Matthew 21:28-32

"What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' He answered, 'I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, 'I go, sir'; but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Earlier in the week I asked us to examine which character in the Exodus story best fit who each of us is. That is a question we could ask ourselves as we read this passage, too. Are we the son who said he would do the will of the father and then didn't? Or are we the son who refused to do the father's will, and then did?

The deeper question is this: are we willing to see God in the world around us? Are we willing to believe? We say that we do. We go to worship, we recite the words of our faith. We say we are Christians? But are we atheistic in our actions? Do we act as if we believe in God?

A few weeks ago, the preacher in our church said that agape love is a choice. We decide to love. This isn't the emotion of love; it is a love of action.

In the same way, do we chose to follow Christ? Do our actions demonstrate the words of our faith? If a person couldn't hear what we say, but could only see what we do, would that person call us a Christian, or an atheist?

Listen

Have you thought about how important it is to listen?  I had an experience today with a doctor who did not listen.  He was trying to take a history, but he didn't listen to the answers to any of the questions he asked, he didn't listen to any thoughts that were volunteered.  He just didn't listen.  He acted as if he did not have the time.

Listening is a form of agape love.  When we listen -- really listen to someone, we say to that person that their words are important enough to matter -- to make a difference.  We say to them, though our active listening, that they themselves matter. 

We matter to God.  We should matter to each other.  We should matter enough to each other that we will listen to each other.  Who knows what we might discover.

Agape of Cards

My mother-in-law, who passed away a couple of weeks ago, used to send cards. I may have mentioned that before. If you knew Judy, and if she knew your birthday, she sent you a card.

She would send thank you cards that mentioned everything about a gift you had given her, and why it was special. She would even thank you for the card that came with the gift.

She may have never called it a ministry, but it was.

I was reading the United Methodist Reporter today. Sue Banker, a member of First United Methodist Church in Ankeny, Iowa, recently wrote a book called "Mailbox Ministry." She talks about how a church can start a card ministry.

Recently, a United Methodist in Charleston donated a piece of framed art to the Conference's office suite. It is a Celtic knot design, made of strips of get well cards she received when she was ill. The cards are cut into strips and woven, and then trimmed to make the design. She has left pieces of verses visible in the art work, and she can point out which card is from our bishop.

She has taken the agape of cards she received, and, using her gifts, has woven and cut them into a beautiful piece of art. Beautiful agape made into beautiful art.

We may not always display the cards we receive, but they are agape, and they are beautiful to behold.

The Way I was Made

I was listening to the radio today, and heard the song "I want to be the way I was made" by Chris Tomlin. I've heard that song before, but today I really listened the chorus.

I want to live like there's no tomorrow:
Do we live that way? Do we live our lives as if we have all the time in the world? Or do we make the most of the time we have been given, not expecting an unlimited future?

I want to dance like no one's around
I want to sing like nobody's listening
Before I lay my body down
We were in a circle during a church retreat a few weekends ago. Our outgoing pastor and our incoming pastor were serving communion, working their way around the circle. It just felt like the worship needed music, so I started singing (and happily people joined in). I don't sing; I can't sing. Singing like nobody's listening, to me, means that we sing with joy. We dance with joy. We play joy in God ahead of whether someone listening thinks we are any good or not. I have a feeling that as I have gotten older, I care less and less about other people's opinions of me.

I want to give like I have plenty
I think giving like we have plenty and loving like we are not afraid are related to each other. Do you think that sometimes we are less than generous because we worry that we won't have enough for ourselves? Do we live in a world of scarcity or of abundance? Do we act like it?

I want to love like I'm not afraid
I love that line. Loving family and loving friends places us in a position of vulnerability. We can be hurt. We can be rejected. Loving like we are not afraid is to ignore those possiblities, and to make ourselves vulnerable to the hurt of loving someone else. Why do it? Why take that risk? Because, to me, the joy of loving friends or family is so very much worth the risk. Read that carefully. There is certainly joy in being loved, but there is joy in the freedom to love someone else -- to give "agape" to other people, and I thank God I have that opportunity.

I want to be the man I was meant to be
I want to be the way I was made
God has created us in his image, and that means that we are to live life and love others as he would do -- as Jesus did. I want to be the person I was created to be; to live into my God-given potential. I hope that I am reaching toward that in some small way, at least.

To hug or not to hug

We were at breakfast the other morning, waiting for a table at the Sea Captain's House. In front of us was a mother and grown daughter -- let's call the daughter "Alice." Later, in came another grown daughter, "Betty" and her boyfriend "Bob." Alice introduced Bob to the mom, Betty hugged mom, and then Alice said of Bob, "He's not a hugger."

Bob echoed, "That's right. I don't do that."

This morning, standing at the ocean, I started thinking about that. What is a "hugger?" I think a hugger is a person who is comfortable hugging those who are not a part of his/her family, and does it (hugging, that is) with abandon -- hug hug hug. What is a "non-hugger?" I think that there are those people who are uncomfortable being hugged, like Bob at the Sea Captain's House.

Are you a hugger? Or or do you not "do that?" Think about your church. Can you think of huggers in your church? I imagine that all churches have them.

Hang with me; I do have a point.

I don't think that I am a hugger or a non-hugger. Unlike Bob, I'm perfectly comfortable being hugged. I'm not always comfortable initiating a hug, unless I know that I am dealing with a hugger. I am more comfortable now with the whole "hugging" thing than I ever have been, and I think that I have been changed by the huggers in my church. There are some people I know who can't help it; they must hug. I think it is in their DNA, and I am glad for it.

And then there are those times when non-huggers break down and hug. Those times are even more special because you know the effort that went into the hug.

I asked Steve about this on the beach today. I was surprised when he told me he was a hugger. I mean, he hugs me all the time, but I'm surprised he's a hugger. When I think about it though, it's true. I asked him to list the huggers in our church. It surprised me that our lists are different. He listed people I wouldn't consider to be huggers. His list also didn't include the people I thought of being at the top of the hugger list.

What's the point of all this rambling? I wonder if agape love isn't like hugging. There are people who are comfortable with it -- who show love to other people without even thinking about it. There are those people in a church who just "don't do that." And then there are those opportunities to change people -- to touch them with love and transform them into people who know what love is, and how to do it.

We learn to hug by being hugged. We learn to love by being loved. When we show love, we are more likely to find it, because we are freeing people to be loving.

Go hug somebody. Go love somebody. Go be Christ to someone today.

Images: Purple flower from Tanger Outlet mall (same place as the yellow flowers with bees from the other day). Shoreline at sunset.