In the previous century a bumper sticker appeared in our culture. It became quite popular. It captured a complex truth about life in only two words. The second of those words is, “happens.” The first word doesn’t need to be said. If you’re not sure what that first word is, please lean over to the person next to you and let them whisper it into your ear.
The elegant truth of this bumper sticker was stated in a much more palatable way by Scott Peck in his book, The Road Less Traveled. The first sentence of that famous book was three words long: “Life is difficult.” Put Peck’s words with the bumper sticker and we have a valid truism: “Life is difficult because #%& happens.”
Each one of us could come up with a list of things that reflect our personal experience with that bumper sticker’s sentiments. Some of those things are simply annoying and evoke a laugh. But other things are tragic and heartbreaking; they have the power to shape, or misshape, our lives. It is safe to say that the character of our lives is a direct result of how you and I respond when that bumper sticker happens to us.
Joseph’s story is a bumper sticker story. A great deal of that first word happened to him in a short period of time. Joseph was one of twelve brothers, the favored son of their father Israel (better known as Jacob). At age seventeen Jacob told one of his dreams to his brothers and father, a dream in which his brothers bowed before him. His father reproved him. His brothers plotted to kill him, but at the last minute, sold him to passing slave traders.
They told their father, that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. All that was left, was a bloody coat of many colors. The slave traders sold Joseph to a powerful Egyptian named Potiphar, whose wife makes sexual advances on Joseph. Joseph refuses and flees, leaving behind his outer tunic, which becomes the evidence by which Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph of rape. Enraged, Potiphar throws Joseph into jail. SH!
As the story goes, Joseph, is not down for long. He becomes the chief jailer’s right-hand man, put in charge of the prisoners. He interprets correctly the dreams of two prisoners, the Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker. The cupbearer was restored to Pharaoh’s court, and, two years later, when Pharaoh couldn’t find someone to interpret his dreams, the cupbearer remembered Joseph. Joseph’s interpretations of Pharaoh’s dreams of feast followed by famine, land Joseph a job as Pharaoh’s right-hand man.
Thirteen years after being sold into slavery, Joseph, at the age of 30, is second in command in Egypt. He oversees seven years of abundant crops, and as the drought begins to take hold in the land, he comes face to face with his brothers seeking food for his father’s family. Joseph tells his brothers, “I am your brother whom you sold into slavery, but it was not you who sent me here, it was God. God sent me here to preserve you.” The bumper sticker applied to Joseph’s life, has been transformed into another bumper sticker that came out in response to the first one: Grace Happens. Happy ending. Yeah.
But it is easy to say God’s hand guided your life, when speaking after-the-fact, when everything has turned out alright, when you’re on top of the world. But what did Joseph think when he was first sold into slavery? What did he tell his fellow prisoners when he was thrown in jail? Did he say that God had sent him there? The Bible gives no hint.
What do you and I say, in the very moment, when the bumper sticker reality strikes? What do we think? What do we do? What do you and I think and do, right now?
The 1st possible response when the bumper sticker affects us, is the karmic payback response, otherwise known as, “You deserved it.” There is just enough hint in the Joseph story that Joseph brought this on himself: he was arrogant, saw himself as the favorite son, he had special gifts, so he saw himself better than others. As he sat in prison, did he wonder if his arrogance and self-centeredness led to his downfall? When the bumper sticker happens to us, we often think we brought it upon ourselves. We’re eating our just desserts. God is teaching us a lesson.
Looking in the mirror is always a wise thing to do. Reaping what we sow is a reality; our behaviors have consequences. But being sold into slavery and landing in jail is not a commensurate karmic payback for Joseph’s haughtiness. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime. It’s overkill. One of the qualities I’ve noticed in many people, and myself, is a willingness to think that the difficult circumstances of our lives are a deserved punishment for something we’ve done wrong – a wrong that is barely deserving of a mild talking to. Taking the full blame for some of the tragic things that happen to us is rarely the truth of the situation. It may be part of the truth, but not the full truth.
The 2nd possible response when the bumper sticker happens to us is the, “It’s God’s will” response. In other words, whatever happens is God’s will and nothing can be done about it. On one hand this can be very comforting, particularly if you feel very close to God. We may not understand it, it may be horrible, but somehow trusting that God is in control helps us deal with it. The downside is that this response can lead to passive resignation that whatever happens has already been foreordained. To think that everything is predetermined leads to apathy on our part. Our hopes and efforts mean nothing if things are predetermined. We lose our response-ability, our ability to respond to life.
The 3rd response, open to us, is to embrace those bumper sticker events. Rather than say “It’s my fault,” or “It’s God’s will,” we simply say, “It just is; this is my reality right now, how will I respond to it?” As I read back through the Joseph story, I see Joseph taking this approach. Whatever happens to Joseph, he accepts it as his new reality. He does not become passive or play the victim; he may have taken stock of his own failings but doesn’t dwell there. He continues to respond to his new situation with grace, effort, kindness, fairness, and hard work. It’s a horrible cliché, but I will use it anyway: when life threw Joseph lots of lemons, he put up a lemonade stand.
This can be our response, too, when we realize that God’s actions in the world are less about manipulating things behind the scenes, and more about inspiring and encouraging us to be the main actor in our life’s story. We invest our talents, instead of burying them in the ground.
Which leads us to the 4th possible bumper sticker response – the fear response. The fear response, at first, looks like you simply don’t do a thing. It’s the freeze response. But as we see in Jesus’ parable of the talents, the servant with one talent does do something. He hides it, he buries it, he represses it if you will. The servant might feel that it’s not fair that other people got 2 or 5 talents, but what he does is bury his one talent. He has no responsibility, he abdicates his ability to respond.
One of the most troubling things I came upon in my studies as a grad student at PTS, as a Doctor of Ministry candidate at SFTS, as a pastor and spiritual director, is the harsh judgment and anger leveled against those who are in despair and experience ennui. They become hopeless and apathetic. The abbots of monastery’s were always on the lookout for despair and ennui, because it meant the ones who felt despair and ennui were close to giving up completely on life, and often they took their own lives. The anger was not so much focused on the despair or the apathy itself, as it was at the person for giving up.
The master’s response to the servant with one talent, who buried it in the ground out of fear, is harsh, because he gave up. The master calls this servant “wicked and lazy.” The one talent he has, is given to the one who now has 11 talents. Then we hear this: “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This is the bumper sticker on steroids.
I fear that many who have five talents, who are wealthy, find it easy to equate those who have little, with the one who buried his talent in the ground. It’s easy to label them “wicked and lazy”, they deserve to be thrown into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But there is a huge difference between those who have one talent and are investing it in some way, and those who give up out of fear. We can become so afraid, that we give up and do nothing, or do the one thing that is even worse – we bury, hide, repress what we have, and quit. I fear we might be tempted to do this now in ou culture, our world. But what if we allow it to just be. It just is. Trusting in God, we choose not to quit or give up. We must not abdicate our ability to respond. If you feel like quitting please reach out to me, to any of the staff, to the person you feel closest to here, and ask them to listen to you.
It was not until Tuesday February 11th at 10:07am, did this thought hit me. This parable of the talents, is the prelude to the heart of Matthew 25, which – for those of you who are visiting today, or are not Presbyterian – has become a guideline for our Presbytery, and the PCUSA. In this parable, The master vehemently upbraids the servant who buried his one talent with these words: “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.”
Only a few verses later, Jesus says, “Come, you that are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “When did we see you in all these ways??” Jesus answers, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.” These small acts of love are the very acts of investing our talents, for the One who reaps where he does not sow, and gathers where he does not scatter!!!
As the second in command to Pharaoh and a hero to the Jewish and Christian faiths, Joseph got all the press. But you and me, normal people, we don’t get that kind of press. But the bumper sticker moments and seasons happen to us just as well. In the middle of those times, that’s when we are called to embrace what is in our life. That doesn’t mean to passively accept it, or to simply say it’s God’s will.
To embrace what is, means that this is the reality I must respond to with all my faculties, gifts, and intentions. And it’s only after the fact, can we look back with any sense of certainty and see how God’s hand has worked. In the moment, however, in the middle of our bumper sticker life, the greater truth is that Grace Happens. And that Grace happens in us, to inspire and to encourage us to act faithfully, creatively, with love and justice in our world.
In our 4-5 minutes of silent Reflection and Meditation, here are some prompts for you to consider. But most important, listen to the Spirit in the silence. ”What am I burying out of fear? How am I giving up? What inner strength is being created in me, by the difficulties I face? What is the Spirit creating in me now?”
Silent Meditation
Welcome:
Good morning! Welcome to Central Presbyterian Church. It’s not just a beautiful building, it is a community of beautiful souls – here, online, on the phone – who seek to listen deeply to the author of the universe, to see the beauty and goodness in each person, to call it forth, to learn to love ourselves as our neighbor, and be ambassadors of the Spirit of Christ, being salt and light. Sometimes we are too salty, and sometimes as dim as 30-watt bulbs, but we are forgiven, we forgive each other, and ourselves, and best of all – we are loved unconditionally. We are all about that love, for everyone, for all of life. We are glad you are here.
Next Sunday is a big day. A BIG day. I humbly ask that all members of Central, active or not, and all friends of Central, be here in worship next Sunday. A candidate, vetted by the PNC, will be here to lead in worship and preach. Immediately following worship, we will have a congregational meeting, and you will vote on this candidate to become your new Pastor and Head of Staff.
More information on what’s happening here at Central is available in your bulletin, and if you have more question, please approach someone in the Narthex after worship.
Let us now begin our time of worship as we sing our gathering song.
Prayers:
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
God of compassion. We offer our prayers to you.
Holy One, quiet our minds, our souls. So much is changing, so quickly, not only every day on our social media feeds, but in our current administration and its approach to governance. We are bombarded with chaos, and it pushes us to react rather than respond. So slow us down, remind us of the deep truths and values of our faith, return us again to faith, hope, and love, and may we practice these with our hands, our feet, our money, our time. And we pray that you not only do this for us, but you inspire those in positions of power and influence to do the same. God of compassion…
We give thanks for the ways you have guided this church for over 130 years. From the sublime, who will be our pastor, to the oh-so-ordinary what kind of coffee will we have after church? We have We ask again that you guide us on February 23rd. We are your people, we want to remain and be your faithful people into the future. Things change, and in those changes, help us be true to your unchanging love. God of compassion…
We bring to heart our world. The bombed out neighborhoods of Gaza, the baren lands once filled with crops in Africa, the burned homes and businesses in LA. Bestow hope where there is little, provide provisions through our giving, rebuild what the wanton destruction of warfare has broken. God of compassion…
We pray for those who have lost their careers, those who fear they are next to be eliminated, for those in need who relied on our AID. We pray for our family and friends who have lost loved ones, are suffering physical and mental illness, and for caregivers everywhere. Prayer requests: – God of compassion…
Lord’s prayer.
