Building Up Our Trust Funds

Do you have the luxury of being a trust fund baby?  Or do you worry about your trust fund for your children's or grandchildren's college education being eroded by the economy or by the KS Regents recent decision to raise KS colleges tuition?  Or perhaps you're one of the cynics who say that Social Security as a trust fund won't be solvent when you need it?  It's easy to fall into the role of "I'm the little guy up against greater forces than my assets - my talents - my abilities are able to confront and conquer.
David and Goliath is often viewed as a children's story about the little guy who took on a giant and conquered him with a slingshot and a smooth stone right to the "unprotected-by-armor" spot on Goliath's forehead.  Like David's Hebrew compatriots, we want to cheer whenever the little guy wins.  We love to identify with the come-from behind hero.  Although the story is lengthy (1 Samuel 17: 1-49), it's full of irony and little details that enhance the drama of the climax when Goliath falls down dead in one stroke of a slingshot.
So what were David's assets that he should come from behind and win fame and fortune in the eyes of Israel?  David became a hero, a household name, winning King Saul's daughter for his wife, and the next king of Israel after more exciting adventures.  But at the beginning David was a runt - the 8th son of Jesse - a rural remote family from nowheres-ville.  David was a shepherd (considered a lowly, menial job) and David carried food and supplies to his older brothers in Israel's army.  David was DEFINITELY NOT a trust fund baby!
David's major asset and his source of his power was his trust in God.  David referred to God as the God of the LIVING armies.  David's power was his faith.  Where and how David's faith was honed and strengthened, we have no details.  Did his mother teach him biblical stories of how God moved and breathed in his ancestors' lives?  While out on the hillsides shepherding his sheep, did David gaze at the stars twinkling overhead and see God's glory?  As he held a newborn sheep in his arms, did he marvel at the miracle of what God creates?  Did he call on God when he had to kill a lion or bear attacking his sheep and learn to trust in God through these experiences?  However David's faith was kindled and strengthened, David's trust was placed in the "armies of the living God."  There David found the courage and trust to take on Goliath as the armies of Israel cowered, paralyzed with fear in the face of Goliath the giant.
Where do we place our trust when we need courage?  Do we depend on our material trust funds that we have accumulated or have we built up our spiritual trust funds?  How do we trust that God will be with us as we take a step into something new?  What kind of bear and lions stand in our way of seeing God's beckoning?  Is our faith in a passive God or in the living God who calls us out of our fearful shortsightedness into bold new ventures?                          
                                                                                                    Grace and Peace,
                                                                                                    Pastor Shelley

A Little Bit Seedy

Cinderella, King David, and Jesus walk into a bar, each carrying a bag of mustard seeds…sorry, I don’t actually have a punchline for this made-up joke. But the Scriptures this week speak to all elements in that joke – unlikely selections, surprises of grace, seeds - and the Scriptures themselves are full of humor this week.

Read 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 and Mark 4:26-34.

Cinderella, a servant, becomes a princess and finds her true love. David, the runt of the litter, is chosen over all his brothers to be anointed as the next King of Israel. A tiny mustard seed, a bushy garden herb, is declared to be the greatest tree of all, representing the kingdom of God – instead of a majestic, noble cedar or a long-living oak tree. Growing up, I always wondered: what made Cinderella so special that she gets a fairy godmother? Where’s my fairy godmother? Likewise, I bet David’s brothers wondered if Samuel had finally gotten too old, if he had finally lost his marbles – what was he thinking, picking the youngest, the smelly one who worked with the animals? And I can only imagine the disciples’ faces as Jesus explained to them the common mustard seed shrub was actually really great, in fact the best of them all.

Listen to the laughter in the stories, and think about in your own life: where have you had surprises? Where have you been unexpectedly lifted up? Or unexpectedly passed over, after you had worked so hard for that promotion? Where have you seen a passing comment, something tiny, change someone’s life? Where have you felt that you have received undeserved blessings – or jealous that someone else seemed to get all the good luck?

This is what Jesus tried and tried to explain to his disciples – he even took them aside in private to unpack the parables. Grace – overwhelming grace – abundant grace – overflowing grace. Grace – it really is that simple. And this message comes from Jesus, a commoner born in a smelly stable, overcomes sin and death as the Messiah and King of us all. We don’t deserve Jesus as our Savior – and yet we, like the mustard seed, like the runt of the litter, are transformed into sisters and brothers of the living Christ. And if the church is a mustard shrub instead of a great tree, then we can more easily embrace our sisters and brothers who are in need of grace, our sisters and brothers who are on the outskirts of society, who have been rejected and excluded.

Maybe that is the punchline – Cinderella, King David, and Jesus walk into a bar, each carrying a bag of mustard seeds. The bouncer kicks them all out, declaring that they are just too seedy for the establishment. And all three gained their happily ever after on the margins of society.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate

Proclaiming the Word of God

When was the last time you heard something that made your ears tingle? Something that made your ears perk up? Was it someone calling your name, shouting the score of the latest bowl game, or whispering a funny joke?

Our Scripture this week comes from John 1:43-51 and 1 Samuel 3:1-11.

I wonder how Eli must have felt at the beginning of this passage, since he certainly wasn't hearing anything that made his ears tingle. Did he feel like a failure? He had failed as a parent - his sons (the leaders of Israel) were corrupt, using sacrifices for their own personal gain and exploiting women. He had failed as a priest - the word of God was rare, a complete communications shutdown between the people and God. Even his own body was failing him – he was pretty much blind, dependent on others to help him do his work and his mundane tasks. I imagine him crying out, “Lord, speak to me! Speak to me that I may speak! Lead me so I can lead! Teach me so I can teach! Use me, use even frail, broken, old me!” And he heard nothing in return.

It’s in the middle of this despair that he is called to care for a young boy, Samuel. In the middle of this hopelessness, he is called to care for the hope of a new life. In the middle of feeling like a failure, he is called to help a new young boy succeed. In the middle of the night, God calls by name, and calls Samuel to proclaim the Word of God.

Have you ever felt broken, like a failure, completely useless? Have you ever felt that nothing was going your way, that there was nothing left for you? The Good News is that it is not the end. The Good News, as we see in the Gospel reading as well, is that God uses us and knows us, despite our skepticism, despite our own feelings. The Good News is that we are all called to proclaim the Word of God, whether we are old or young or somewhere in between.

Samuel could not have responded and grown in his faith without Eli. Nathanael could not have known Jesus without the invitation of Philip. The kingdom of God calls for collaboration, the kingdom of God begins with an invitation, begins with an epiphany as God reaches into our hearts and begins a transformation.

It is never too late to embrace your call as a proclaimer of the Word of God. The Lord calls you by name – how will you respond? Are your ears open, ready to tingle?

Grace and peace, Pastor Kate