Spirit of the living God: meld me.
Proper 18, Year C
God sent Jeremiah to a potter's workshop. Once there, Jeremiah watched the potter molding various vessels: cups, bowels, lamps for oil lights, jugs and jars for liquid, and pots for cooking. In the process of melding and molding, one of the vessels was spoiled. Because that vessel could not be used for any purpose, the potter pushed and squished the clay into a mound and began reshaping it. Jeremiah’s outing to the potter’s workshop, was a revelation. In this revelation God showed Jeremiah both God’s nature and human purpose. God, like a potter, melds and molds individuals, communities and nations so they are useful. God melds and molds us to love and serve. God warned Jeremiah that the people of Israel, if they refused to fulfill their purpose to love and serve, they would be pushed and squished, in the same manner as the spoiled vessel. God promised to reshape them in order to equip them to love and serve. Long before that divine revelation was given to Jeremiah, king David and the court composers extolled the virtues of God. God who melded, molded, filled and used people. Psalm 139 says,
God, created my inmost parts; God knit me together in my mother's womb. I will thank you, God, because I am marvelously made; your works are wonderful, and I know it well. My body was not hidden from you, while I was being made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb; all of them were written in your book… Psalm 139:12-15a
Psalm 139 declares that God knows us before we are conceived and, like a skilled artisan, melds, molds, fills and uses us to create, sustain, and mend the world. In verses 1 and 4 of Psalm 139 we read, God
…searches for us and knows us; God knows when we sit down and rising up; God discerns our thoughts from afar. And God (sic) presses upon us behind and before and lays hands upon us. Psalm 139:1 & 4
God lays hands on us and presses us so that we can fulfill our purpose. Our purpose is to serve and love God, ourselves and others. We serve in partnership as God creates, sustains and mends us, our neighbors, strangers, and, yes, even enemies.
The second lesson for today is the shortest of Paul’s letters; just one chapter long. This letter was addressed to Philemon. In it Paul commanded him to emancipate his slave, Onesimus. Philemon with Apphia and her male relative, Archippus, were leaders of a church.
Philemon, like affluent people of the day, owned slaves. Paul justified his demand for Onesimus’ emancipation on grounds of his shared faith and service with Philemon. His demand could not be supported by civil or religious laws, social norms or religious customs of the day. Paul told Philemon to free Onesimus because God had changed things. God had pushed and squished things. Onesimus who had once been “useless” to Philemon, had been made useful by God. Onesimus escaped, became a fugitive, and sought refuge with Paul. The protection and concern Paul showed Onesimus moved him to tend to Paul while Paul was in prison. Onesimus brought Paul food, clothing, and transported letters to and from Paul. God melded and molded Onesimus into usefulness. Paul made more demands on Philemon. Philemon was not to ask Onesimus to purchase his freedom or compensate Philemon for lost revenue. If Philemon wanted compensation or reimbursement, he had to ask Pau for money. For centuries, Christians extracted phrased from Paul’s writings to justify slavery: ignoring this letter and Paul’s oft repeated declaration that in ‘Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.’ Paul experienced what Jeremiah learned through divine revelation. Paul acted on what king David’s composers extolled. God melds, molds, fills and uses people so that we can love and serve. Onesimus was pushed and squished into usefulness. Paul, partnering with God, pushed and squished Philemon to reshape. God melds and molds to equip people for partnership with God. God fills and uses us so we can help God create, sustain and mend.
Jesus, in the Gospel lesson from Luke, warned the people coming to him to get their priorities right.
Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
We cannot align ourselves with the laws and customs of our times that conflict with who God is and our divinely appointed purpose. Loving and serving must take precedence. Jesus told this parable to underscore the need for prioritizing loving and serving in partnership with God.
…which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."
When Dana and Cecil were young, I had all sorts of illusions. I thought my love, attention, and guidance could keep them safe and happy. Adolescence showed my illusions for what they were, delusion of grander. When they became teenagers, I could not control how they dress, let alone whether teachers would see their potential or keep police from assuming they were miscreants. I could neither ensure their happiness nor guarantee their safety. Their adolescence forced me to perform a cost/benefit analysis of my parenting techniques. With God’s help, I came to see that my role as their parent was to partner with God as God melded and molded them. I can and do fill Cecil’s dinner plate with steak and french fries; his favorite meal. I can motivate Dana to get out of bed with volunteer hours at ARF petting kitties and doggies. As God’s partner I can do those things, but God alone has the power to meld, mold and deploy them. Taking up my cross as parent and priest, is not about the uncritical adherence to laws and customs or directing and controlling outcomes. Taking up our cross and following Jesus it is about partnering with God. Allowing God to meld, mold, fill and use us. Allowing God to deploy us as God’s partners in creating, sustaining and mending the world.
