"The Unjust Judge"

Readings: Psalm 119:97-104, Jeremiah 31:27-34, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, Luke 18:1-8
 Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, October 16, 2022

There are some verses of Scripture that men probably relate to better than their spouses. Indeed, I hesitate to mention these particular passages. They seem rather politically incorrect to today's ears.  But they do kind of fit in with today’s bible story. I’m thinking of a couple of verses in the Book of Proverbs. I’ll give you them as they appear in the Good News Bible, a Bible that when it was first released had the title “Good News for Modern Man.”

Proverbs 19:13 “A nagging wife is like a tap that goes drip, drip, drip.”
Proverbs 25:24 “Better to live in a corner, out on the roof, then share the house with a nagging wife”

Hey, it’s the inspired, infallible, unchanging, Word of God, don’t get mad at me!  Just telling it like written.

According to tradition and 1 Kings 11:3, King Solomon, the compositor of Proverbs words of wisdom, had seven hundred wives, princesses and three hundred concubines.  You could say he was pretty experienced in the wife department.

In fact, it was some of his wives, wives who had come from foreign lands and wanted temples set up to their favorite deities, who eventually led Solomon away from the path of the Lord his father David had hoped he would follow and weakened his reign.

“Go on Solomon give me a temple to my god. You’ve got a great big temple for your God. How about a little one for mine. I mean you gave whatshername a temple for her god. That’s not fair. I want one. I need one. And I’ll never ask you for anything ever, ever, ever again. Please Solly baby, please, pretty please, it’s just a little god, just a little temple, that’s all I’m asking”

Words. Endless torrents of words. Waterfall like, gushing, crushing floods of words have a habit of breaking a person down. “Allright, Allright, Allright, I’ll do it. Please just BE QUIET!”

Of course, you ladies know that we guys don’t give up so easily. Oh no. We give it the silent treatment. If you say “Well why don’t you say something?” we know that what ever we say it’s going to be exactly the thing we shouldn’t have said.  As comedian Jeff Foxworthy says, “I have learnt that when my wife says, “We need to talk” I’m not going to be saying a whole lot”.

Jesus gives us a parable, not about a man and a wife, but an indifferent Judge and a poor widow.  The woman has very little, in terms of wealth or social position or prestige. But she has one thing that wears the corrupt judge down. She is what in Liverpool they’d call a “Motor-Mouth”. “Ag-Ag-Ag Ag-Ag-Ag- Ag-Ag-Ag”

We are told at the start of the parable that it is a parable about our need to ‘pray and not to lose heart.’ (Luke 18:1). As is often the case with parables, the characters involved are greatly exaggerated. The man is not simply a judge, but a judge whose characteristics question his ability to do the job.

In a society where the two most important commandments were about loving God and loving your neighbor, this guy’s saying, “God? Whatever! Who cares what God thinks, I’m the main man around here. You’ve got a problem? Get over it. I have better things to do.”  Just the sort of judge you want on your case. Right?

Then there’s the widow. As the parable unfolds the widow represents the chosen ones, ‘the elect’ of God. The widow stands for all those who, though chosen by God to enjoy God’s blessings, live outside of those blessings and feel powerless to bring about any change.

The parable focuses on a relationship that has gone wrong because one of the parties, the judge, is failing to fulfill his duties. It challenges us to consider how we see God. Do we see God as this “I answer to nobody” –Distant – barely movable force out there – who really isn’t concerned about us – because He has more important – God-focused things to do in the world?

Do we, building upon such an image, concede that the only way to ever get an answer to our prayers is to keep going on and on and on and on and on until God gets tired of hearing us and caves into our demands?

On the contrary Jesus is quite clear that God is the total opposite of the Judge pictured in the parable. God is the one who does step in and who honors justice and lifts up those who have fallen. God does not drag God’s feet when it comes to things that concern God’s people. Verse 7 poses the question, “Will not God grant justice to His chosen ones?”
 
As is often the case with the parables of Jesus, there is a sting in the tale. It’s as though we are set up for a fall! Follow the argument through to the last sentence. There are layers to this story.

God (the God who is not like a bad judge who ignores a needy widows prayer) hears us and will meet us in our needs when we pray to Him. The initial verdict is given, that we should therefore be persistent in prayer, and everything will work out right. Sounds simple! Until you get to the last line. The last sentence offers a whole new layer of perspective. Verses 18. “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

What a set up! Here we are being told that prayer and asking are as straightforward as dialing 1-800-GOD LOVES U. That it’s not complicated. That we ask and we receive. But then comes this disturbing rhetorical question. “When the Son of man comes will He find faith on the earth?”

The implication is “No, He won’t.” That if a faith evaluation had taken place on the earth back in Jesus day, or were to take place in the midst of our busy days, or anywhere in between, the last thing to be found would be found was faith. That in spite of this business of persistently asking and graciously receiving from a good and great God, we still miss the mark.

What I’m thinking, where this parable is pushing me, is to consider that faith, real faith, has very little to do with getting God to do anything or even God getting us to do certain things. That faith is really about allowing God to be God and allowing ourselves to ‘live and move and have our being' in God's love.

That persistence in prayer has little to do with asking and asking and asking but has a whole lot to do with trusting in and resting in God’s love and accepting ourselves and the situations of our lives as only finding meaning through their relationship to God.

In the parable, what creates the situation that causes the woman to ask, ask, ask, ask, and ask again, is the character of the unjust Judge. So, Jesus explains, God is completely the opposite of such a judge. God is ready to help, always does the right thing, and is way above such a tawdry character as the unjust judge.

The implication is that if God is not like this bad judge, then we don’t have to be like the widow, who can only get things done though incessant talking. That we have a God who elsewhere is pictured as having every hair on our head accounted for and knows intimately what is going on in His Creation to such an extent that even if a little sparrow falls to the ground, it does not go unnoticed.

By picturing for us a bad relationship, the parable attempts to push us to consider what a right relationship may look like. We laugh about nagging wives and retreating husbands, because there is part of us that realizes that although that’s not the way relationships should be, that’s the way they sometimes go.

Putting it in that way, opens the door then for us to go beyond the kind of relationships built upon asking and receiving, towards relationships that are built upon accepting and believing.

Often in long-term relationships it starts to be, that less is said, and a whole lot more is understood. Communication becomes not a matter of words, but a matter of understanding. The one partner doesn’t have to tell the other what’s going on, because the other has come to a point where they recognize the problem even before it can be framed into words.

My wife Yvonne and I have been together for over four decades.  And we recognize that nonverbal communication has become part of the way we are. On an almost daily basis we'll say something and the other will respond “I was just thinking exactly the same thing.”

Scripture talks about how in marriage the two become one. Only further down the line have I realized the deep truth in that statement. And to have that sort of relationship where we know, and are being known, is a beautiful thing.

By asking “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith in earth?” Jesus is seeking for people who have in their lives the depth of relationship that Jesus had with His Father in heaven. He is asking, “Will people be at the point Jesus prayed for in His High Priestly prayer in John 17:11; “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one, as We are one.”

This parable tells us that faith should not function after the manner of a nagging widow badgering an unjust Judge, but rather within a framework of mutual respect and understanding. We are called to be persistent in prayer.  Persistence in the light of a God who knows our every need, is not about asking and asking and asking till we get what we want, but trusting and trusting and trusting in God in such a way as we become quietly confident that God is working out God’s purposes in the situations of our lives.

Nagging wives and idle husbands, persistent widows and unjust judges, these situations do not offer us role models to be copied. They show us the reverse side so we can flip things around and discover how to approach troubling situations in a positive way.

To summarize, God is not like the unjust judge, but is a loving parent. Though we may feel that it is by our words that we can line up God with our agenda, true spirituality comes as we recognize God already has everything in hand and is inviting us to a relationship of  faith.

There is no more positive approach to life than placing our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, than believing that God is in control, and seeking to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us through the varied situations that come to our lives. 

For there is no greater name than that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and no greater endeavor than to be involved with others in the work of His kingdom.   To God’s name be the glory. AMEN.


The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

"Attitude of Gratitude"

Readings: Psalm 26:8-12, Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, 2 Timothy 2:8-15, Luke 17:11-19, 2
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church on October 9, 2022

I'd like to share with you an adaptation of a meditation originally written by the late Rev. Richard J. Fairchild.  His instructions are; "Relax - allow the story to speak to you as it must have spoken to those who were there at the first, those like you - those who were following Jesus Christ to learn from him the way of life."

 Attitude of Gratitude

 "We were heading with Jesus to Jerusalem. We had taken the old border road that ran between Samaria and Galilee, and it was a hot day. It was the kind of day when the dust of the road lies thick on the bushes and puffs up around your feet with every step you take. The kind of day when the sweat runs down into your eyes and turns the grime on your face into streaks of mud.

For a while - the only sound that any of us heard, was the low drone and buzz of the insects as we walked, but then through the still of that day, at first in the distance, then closer and closer - we heard them "Unclean, unclean, unclean".

There were ten of them, and even if we had not heard their cry, we would have had  no problem knowing what they were. Some of them had rags wrapped around their hands,  others had their feet bundled up in strips of old cloth, all of them were dressed in the tattered and torn clothing that people in their condition were required to wear, and all of them had, as they were supposed to, long unkempt hair.

There was no mistaking what they were - they were lepers and at the sight of them standing just off the path staring at us like hungry and wounded animals we stopped. None of us wanted to get any closer to those wretched creatures - and who could blame us for that.

I mean everyone knows about leprosy, don't they?  It is simply awful. No one can recover from it, it slowly rots and destroys the body, and worse yet, it is so easy to catch. That’s why the priests insist that everyone who has a skin blemish report to them for an examination.

The priest looks at them, and if they have raw patches of flesh or white bumps or red marks on their skin, or if their hair is discolored, he pronounces them unclean, and the person must go into isolation for seven days so no one else is put in danger.

 It must be very difficult for those people, wondering for all those days if they have leprosy, wondering if they are ever going to be able to live with their families again, but it is fair, fair for the rest of us, and fair for their families, because leprosy is not good, not good at all.

Most times the person does not have leprosy they go back to the priest after seven days, their blemish is healed over, and they are pronounced clean and allowed to return to their homes. But for others, for those like the ten we saw that day, their blemish has worsened, the color of their sores is brighter or more of their flesh is infected, and they are banished.

They are declared forever unclean. forever unable to have normal human contact, unable to bounce their children on their knees, unable to hug their wives or husbands, unable to do anything that might cause someone else to catch what they have. Imagine, if you can, living out the rest of your life in a hovel, having to live in a camp and spend all your time with those who are suffering and diseased like you.

It just so hard to think about, of not being able to see anyone you love except at a distance, of only being able to talk to them by yelling from far off. Imagine too, waiting to see what will happen to you,  waiting to see if your disease will spread as it has in others, taking from you your fingers, your toes,  destroying your mouth and nose, till at last you starve to death, or die from some infection...but not until you have lingered for several years.

Imagine it - waiting - and hoping - trying to hope, trying to hope for that one in a million chance- hoping that your sores will clear up and that you will be able to go to the priest and hear him say the word CLEAN over you. That is what leprosy is all about. No one in their right mind would want to come near it.

That is why we stopped on the road when we saw the lepers that day. We were being cautious, as cautious as any right-thinking person would be. We stopped and we wondered what Jesus would do, because Jesus, in defiance of all common sense, did not seem afraid of lepers.

We had seen him once touch a leper who had come to him and begged to be healed. And Jesus reached out and touched him and said to him "be clean" and the man had been healed. It was quite the event, and I figure that the ten lepers we met that day must have heard about it because as we started again to work our way down to the village. they spotted the teacher and began to call out to Him,  'JESUS, MASTER, HAVE PITY ON US'.

When Jesus heard this, He stopped, and as the sun beat down on our heads He turned towards them and holding out His hands He said, “GO, SHOW YOURSELVES TO THE PRIESTS.” As we watched them go, the dust rising from their tracks as they hurried ahead of us we began to realize that Jesus had healed them. And, as we found out just a few minutes later, indeed that was the case!

We were told that as they went down the hill towards the village that their sores began to dry up, and their blemishes disappear. With every step they took towards their old home, they felt stronger, younger, more energetic, till, when they had rounded the final turn on the way to the village, they were completely healed.

It must have been an incredible walk for them, to think of it - after all their suffering and then, all of sudden, at the word of a stranger, their loneliness, their pain, their banishment began to evaporate.

We saw one of the lepers again. It must have been about fifteen minutes after he and the others had disappeared down the road to the village that he came back up the road to us. We could tell something had happened to him while he was still far off.

The shuffling cautious walk of the leper was gone, he was striding rapidly up the hill towards us, and he was singing and laughing and saying over and over again, 'Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.' When he got close to us, he singled out Jesus, and still singing and saying 'Alleluia, Alleluia' ran over to Jesus and threw himself down at His feet and thanked him over and over again till finally Jesus touched him on his head and looking at us said,

 "Were not all ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" At first, we did not understand what Jesus was talking about, but then we noticed that the man at Jesus' feet had the accent of a Samaritan. He looked down at the man and said, “Rise and go, your faith has made you well. “And the man got up and went his way still singing and praising God.

We stood there a minute and thought about what Jesus had said.

We wondered if Jesus was angry at the other lepers for not coming back and thanking Him and God for giving them their lives back. One thing was certain, all ten men had been cured of leprosy, Jesus had said so, but also it seemed to me that the one man the one who came back to us and thanked Jesus, had something even more special happen to him.

He was not only cured.  
He was made whole.

The others with me that day also thought the same thing, and as we talked about it among ourselves, we asked each other if Jesus was trying to tell us that there is something special about giving thanks. And we all got to wondering about how we might have behaved if we had been given what the ten lepers received that day?

Would we have been like the one who came back to thank Jesus? Or would we have been so happy about what we had received that we, like the nine, would rush through the formalities with the priests, and hurry back to our homes and our normal lives.

We asked ourselves and each other if we had ever really thanked God for what we have, or if we had done all our lives what so many do, if we had simply gone to the priests and the temple at the times prescribed by the law, and made the offerings and said the prayers that our religion asks us to say, and then returned to our homes to carry on as before.

We wondered -- were we like the nine lepers who were cleansed? Or were we like the one who was not only cleansed, but, because of his faith, because of his giving thanks was made whole."

Closing thoughts

A lack of gratitude can paralyze Christian life.

A lack of gratitude takes the blessings of God and walks away, hiding them in the heart.

A lack of gratitude never turns healing into wholeness, never turns salvation to sanctification, never gets beyond childish response to become spiritual maturity.

An attitude of gratitude paints everyday with thanksgiving to God, releases God's presence in our hearts in such a way that it joyfully escapes from us and positively affects others.

An attitude of gratitude is the response of people who are aware of the greatness and thoroughness of God's love in Christ.

An attitude of gratitude reveals people whose hearts are being renewed by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Don't be a grouch,
With a slouch in your walk
And a grumble in your talk;
Walk by faith in God's Kingdom latitude,
Live every day with an attitude of gratitude.

   The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

"Lessons from Lazarus"

Readings: Psalm 91:1-6,14-16, Jeremiah 32:1-15,1 Timothy 6:6-19,  Luke 16:19-31
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, on September 25, 2022

"Lazarus and the Rich man" is a drama of three acts. In act one the Rich man feasts whilst Lazarus festers. In act two the Rich man fries whilst Lazarus feasts. In act three the Rich man pleads for mercy whilst Lazarus enjoys Paradise.

Act One: The Rich man feasts whilst Lazarus festers

Picture the scene. "A rich man habitually living in splendor".  A man who thinks he has it all. Dresses like royalty. Fine Linen and purple.  Attire reserved for the cream of society, Emperors, Governors, Princes and Ceasers. Rolex watch. Ferrari in the garage, parked next to the Rolls Royce. Thick pile carpets. Chandeliers. Paintings by Rembrandt and Cezanne hanging on the wall. Gold medallion the size of a saucer hanging round his neck.  Silverware on the table that shone like... well... silver.

He clicks his fingers.  The string quartet playing Mozart in the corner bring their immaculate performance to a close. In comes the butler and the attendant maids with dinner. "Would sir like the Lamb or the Beef?"  He points at one and it is served onto his plate whilst the maid pours an ample quantity of sparkling wine into the sparkling crystal glass. "Give the other to the dogs" he says.

He rises from his table and strolls across to the window where he stifles a yawn as he surveys his ornamental garden, the fountain he had specially imported from Italy, the rare Japanese trees lining the mosaic path that led to the summerhouse. His yawn dissolves into a smile.  "Ahh" he sighs contentedly "It's all soo perfect."He sits at the table. With a click of his fingers, the Mozart resumes and dinner is consumed.

Outside, beyond the security fence, beyond the barbed wire and video surveillance cameras, beyond the high, broken glass rimmed wall that kept the views and smells of the squalor of the city from invading the rich man’s castle, lies the poor man, Lazarus, at the gate.

Those gates. So impressive. So impassable. What went on behind those walls was anybody's guess.  But Lazarus was beyond guessing. He had been laid at the gate by some well-meaning passerby in the hope that somebody might take pity on him. His filthy clothes barely concealed the rotting sores that covered his body. Bent over in pain, it is difficult to say if that is a human being or a pile of rags. His face contorted by pain.

He drifts in and out of consciousness. His lips bloated and blistered. His eyes glazed. He can't remember when he last had food. Times were good when he worked up at the rich man’s house. Times long gone by. "Sleep, sleep, let me rest for there is no pain in my dreams."

A passing dog sniffs at the wreckage of this once proud man. It idly paws at him, but seeing no reaction moves along the alley to investigate the more profitable trash cans.

Act Two: The Rich man fries whilst Lazarus feasts

As he bites into the succulent beef steak, the rich man is aware of a numbness in his left arm, that rapidly spread up his arm, across his chest and felt uncomfortably like a severe attack of indigestion. He tried to catch his breath, but the pain became stronger, more intense, like an elephant sitting on his chest.

Then the pain was gone, and he found himself in an unfamiliar environment. It was dark and cold. At the same time, he was burning up. A place of dark shadows and deep sighs. A place of longing and loneliness; desperate loneliness characterized by a total absence of light or love.

He was aware of others around him, wrapping their darkness around themselves like fearful animals caught in a trap.  There was weeping. There was pain. And there were haunting memories of tasks left unfinished, words of love that were never spoken, constant compromise and failure, never forgiven, never atoned for. Now it was too late.

He remembered this place from his nightmares. When you sleep in life you wake to a new day. In this sleep of death, he felt he would never escape his most fearful dreams. Sheol. The waiting room for Judgment.  Hades. Hell. The place of the dead.

For a moment the darkness cleared. He glimpsed, through what looked like the perimeter wall of his estate, there, on the other side, through the impassable gates; green fields, clear cool springs and flowing water, warmth, light and... who was that?

Father Abraham! Laughing, talking, with someone at table. Who was that close by his side? It looked like that servant ... What was his name, "I remember, Lazarus, that was him, Lazarus. Oh, things will be all right now.  Lazarus will be sent to help me"

Act Three: The Rich man pleads for mercy whilst Lazarus enjoys Paradise

The Rich man called out "Father Abraham... Send Lazarus over here with some of that clear cool spring water. I'm burning up here. Send Lazarus." “He heard a voice in the darkness, "Your wasting your time rich man.  Lazarus is not going to be taking care of your errands anymore.”

Then Abraham spoke. "Child, you had your share of good things. Lazarus had nothing.  Now he has his reward, and you have yours. Remember that wall you built around yourself? Your security, your protection from having to care or share? Death has closed the gate.  You can no more share in this table than Lazarus could share yours. Those things you welcomed in past days have determined your welcome in eternity. Your actions have fixed a great chasm between us, "

A great sadness descended on the Rich Man. He hung his head and choked back tears. He thought of his family. "Abraham... one thing... just send Lazarus to my Father’s house, I have five brothers, warn them, tell them of this dreadful place".

Again, a voice from the darkness; "You are not listening. Rich man... Lazarus is not going to be taking care of your errands anymore.” Abraham said, "Why send Lazarus? God's already sent them the message of Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. They have a synagogue to learn in, teachers to help them, scriptures to reveal God's way, God has provided for them the Word they need to hear, they're hardly likely to listen to Lazarus".

The rich man pleaded. "Don't you see! If you send Lazarus, a man who was dead, but has come back to life, it will work. They'll turn their lives around; they'll start living right." Again, a voice from the darkness. " Lazarus is not going to be taking care of your errands anymore.” Sadly, Abraham replied, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead!"

Lessons from Lazarus

In Scripture the measure of how welcome eternity will be to us appears to be measured by the neighborliness we show to each other on earth. Those who in their pretensions enthrone themselves as Kings and see others as mere pawns to be used for their personal face a harsh awakening.

God has sent to us the words of Moses and the prophets. We furthermore have the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ, a grace event that was only emerging as Jesus told this tale.

That grace was powerfully revealed to the disciples when they witnessed another man, this time not the Lazarus of this parable, but Lazarus, a brother of Mary and Martha, a great friend of Jesus, brought back to life from the tomb. (John 11)

The Sting in the Tale

Yet the sting in the tale is the very last verse. People hear the parable and think, "Now who do I identify with, the rich man or with Lazarus?"

But at the end of the parable, we are called to identify with the ones who had been sent the message of Scripture, the ones to whom the testimony of Christ died and Risen would be told:- the Father and five brothers of the Rich man.  (Verse 31) "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead".

The Resurrection of Jesus makes all the difference. The conclusion of the parable is to point us to personal repentance and to embrace the message of the Living Christ for ourselves.  It is more than just a story about humanitarian aid or a picture of judgment on the self-centered.  As we declare every Easter, "Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!"

These final words suggest that the hope of the world lies in me and you accepting the gospel message of the Good News of the risen Christ. Accepting it in a way in that causes us to embrace in love those who stand at the gates of our lives in need of help and prayer.

God has done everything God can do to persuade us to accept His love. God has given us the Word of Truth in the Scriptures.

He raised His Son, Jesus Christ from the dead.  God sends the Holy Spirit to be our Helper and Guide.

It is for us to respond; through loving actions towards our fellow human beings, through faithful stewardship and worship, through living our lives in a way that brings glory to the name of Jesus Christ.

There are indeed many lessons we can learn from Lazarus. 

To God be all glory!

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

"Tony Malonely“

 

Readings: Psalm 7:1-9, Jeremiah 8:18:9:1,  1 Timothy 2:1-7, Luke 16:1-13
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, September 18, 2022

Tony Malonely enjoyed the high life. Classy suits. Expensive wines. Fine cigars. As associate manager of a mid-size commercial trading outlet he was doing well. In fact, he had just got back from a trip to Vegas. And the best thing about it was that it hadn’t cost him a dime. With his talent for creative accounting and his abilty to be more than a little economic with the truth the company had covered the bill for the whole trip, and as everybody knows “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” But not always.

There he was. Sitting in his air-conditioned office, leaning back in the leather office chair with his feet up on the oak desktop when the telephone rang. It was the boss’s line. He leant over and pressed the button for speakerphone. A distorted voice that was indicative of anger barked out “My office. Now!”

Tony quickly made his way to the only office that was bigger and brassier than his own. One of the two enormous doors was already half open and Tina the secretary, who as usual had one hand raised drying her nail polish, waved him straight past her desk… without the usual inane smile on her face. “Shut the door Tony” boomed the boss “We need to talk.”

Tony made his way across the expanse of office to the desk and sat down. The boss threw some photographs across the desk to him. “Explain these” he said.  Tony looked in horror. There he was at a blackjack table. There he was coming out of a show that certainly wasn’t family entertainment. And that was him dissapearing into a limo with the redhead.

The boss snarled sarcastically and sneered… “So… how was the convention in Ohio, Mr Malonely?” “I… ermm.. that is..” For once Tony Malonely had ran out of baloney. “Tony” said the Boss, “Do you want to know something?” ‘Sure boss’ said Tony gulping hard. “You’re fired.  You got a couple of hours to clear out your desk… and Tony? Don’t ever ask any one even remotely associatted with this company for a reference!”

Tony realized it was useless to plead his case. He made his way back across the thick carpet, out of the door, past Tina (who was still drying her nails, smiling inanely, and didn’t even look up), back to his own office, back to his own desk, shut the door, leant back in his chair and his mind started to process. What should he do now? Stay calm. Think it through. What are the options?

He could try a different company or start over at something else. No… he was to old. And who’s going to take me on after this! He could get out there and beg for forgiveness and hope that mindless compassion might sprinkle good fortune down upon him. That wasn’t going to work. What he needed were some friends! And he only had two hours to find them.

“Now wait a minute”. He pulled up the main accounting window on the computer screen and began to analyze who owed the company the most money right now. In the current economic climate there were a number of creditors that were really having a hard time meeting their payments. And the boss wasn’t one to let such things go.

“There” he said. “The Olive Oil contract.” Payment was well overdue on a shipment of a hundred barrels of olive oil.  And he knew the company well enough to know they couldn’t pay. He calls them up. ‘Hey, Joe… it’s Tony… over at Traders… yeah that’s why I’m calling… you owe us for a hundred barrels… right. What if I said that if you can get it by the end of the week we’ll let you pay for fifty and we’ll call it quits! You like that! Hey anytime. Just trying to do the right thing. You have a good one too, my friend!”

He looked again at the screen. What about the wheat shipment? Gives them a call. “Mr Kellog… yeah that’s right Tony Malonely… yeah I know you are having trouble paying… that’s why I’m calling… look…you owe for a hundred… how about I charge you for eighty and we forget about the other twenty? Yeah? You like that. That’s me… Tony Malonely, anything to help an old friend.” And so the calls continued. One by one he called every debtor and gave them the sort of breaks that they only dreamed of!  

Meanwhile back in the Bosses office, in the last hour he had received a number of unexpected calls. The first, from Joe, manager of the the Olive Oil company had taken him by surprise. Joe had been gushing with thankfulness. “Thank you so much… for giving us this break. We’re never going to work through anybody else. Customer loyalty, man you just redefined it! That Tony Malonely… good guy you got there!”

Of course, the Boss couldn’t lose face by telling Joe at the Olive Oil company that he didn’t know what he was talking about. And so, the hour went on… call after call, promising loyalty and praising Tony!

After the twentieth call the Boss couldn’t help reflecting that, despicable, dishonest, total crook though he may be, Tony Malonely was one shrewd dude who didn’t know the meaning of the word loser! Always ready to find a new angle, always on the look out for a way to turn somebodies’ misfortune to his  personal advantage, you had to hand it to him, Tony Malonely was the man!

And I’m hoping you noticed that Tony Malonely was very similar to the man that Jesus told a story about in our reading from the Gospel of Luke today. After telling the story, Jesus added that if the Tony’s of this world were able to look after their self-interested lives by their own street-smart ways, then shouldn’t the people of God be able to harness their creative energies, not for doing wrong, but for doing good? I love the way that Eugene Petersens ‘The Message Bible’, transliterates verses 8 and 9 of Luke 16.

 "Now here's a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you'll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior."

There are some phrases in there that could really revolutionize the way we live our lives both as individuals and as churches. “Use every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival”. That’s deep! That’s what God did through the cross of Jesus Christ. There cannot be a more adverse set of conditions than a death by crucifixion. Yet it was followed by the miracle of resurrection.

In our lives we reach those dead ends where we feel like its ‘Game Over’. We just want to roll over and die. But Jesus in our story from Luke is saying that there’s people out there in the world who have a better attitude to survival than those of us who are seeking to follow Him! That we could benefit from some street-smart, surviving by our wits alone, rock bottom experiences.

Again, from ‘The Message’; “Concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you'll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior." I fear that as churches and good decent people we play that game of ‘trying just to get by on good behavior’ day after day, year after year, rather than truly exercising our hearts and minds in the risky business of faith without a safety net.

‘Concentrating our attention on the bare essentials’ means redefining what is necessary and what we could let go.  That doesn’t mean that we have to let everything non-essential go, just that we come to understand the difference between what is important and vital and life giving, and the rest of the stuff that we fill our lives with.

How do we do that? We begin with the small things. Everything begins with the little actions, the consistent practices, the everyday virtues. A crook begins his crooked ways one crooked act at a time. Likewise with faith. A faithful person is one who is consistently faithful!  It starts with the small things. Fred Craddok in his ‘Interpretation’ commentary on Luke writes,

“Most if us will not this week christen a ship, write a book, end a war, appoint a cabinet, dine with a queen, convert a nation or be burned at the stake. More likely this week will present no more than a chance to give a cup of water, write a note, visit a nursing home, vote for a county commissioner, teach a Sunday School class, share a meal, tell a child a story, go to choir practice, or feed the neighbors cat. Luke 16:10 ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much’.”

We also need to be clear about who and what we are being faithful to. The closing line of our passage couldn’t put it much clearer. “No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Luke 16:13)

We are either building a Kingdom on this earth, (a Kingdom which will be ultimately be taken away from us) or we are building our lives with the Kingdom of God in mind.  ‘Wealth’ it has been said, “Is a great servant, but a terrible master”.  It is not about how much we have, but what we do with what have, that defines who we are serving!

There are many Tony Malonely’s in this world who are quite clear on whom they are serving. They are out for number one and will do everything they can to keep it that way. But there are lessons we can learn, even from them. If they can give their all for aims that ultimately will leave them lonely, how much more should we be committed to values that can change our world for the better. And it is the little things that make the big difference in the long run.

Let us pray that we can go into this next week committed to doing what we can with what we have in order to bring glory to God. When the problems come, as they may, let us not wallow in them but be as street smart as Tony Malonley and use the ‘situation of adversity to stimulate us towards creative survival’.

Above all let us seek to be servants of God, faithful stewards of the Kingdom who seek to solve the problems of our world by not becoming one of them. May we be people of God with the ability to harness their creative energies to doing the right thing! And to God’s name the glory. Amen.

The Reverend  Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

"The Potter”

Readings: Psalms 139:1-18, Philemon 1-21, Jeremiah 18:1-6, Luke 14:25-33
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, on September 4th, 2022

Ever thrown a pot? I don’t mean thrown a pot at somebody, but had a chance at working on a potters wheel?  You watch a professional doing it and it looks like the easiest thing in the world. But, if you are as creatively challenged in the pottery field as I am, and you get to take your turn, then you pretty soon realize that it is not that easy.

Clay just does not behave itself. You squeeze it one way, and it all squirts out the other way. Bits fly off and won’t go back on again. You get covered in the stuff and end up with a, “Well I’m not quite sure what it is, but, man, I’m proud of it. Fire up that kiln Mr. Potter and let’s bake this creation to be preserved for eternity”.

You can imagine archeologists 2000 years from now, digging up your weird object and having long debates.
 “Well I think it’s a holder for flexible pencils”
“No, No, No, it’s part of a musical instrument and you blow it like this”
“You guys, it’s not a musical instrument, it’s a medical tool for removing ear-wax.
Oops. I think it’s stuck. Can anybody give me a hand?”

The job of the Potter is not such an easy one. Unless, that is you have the skill for it. Maybe it’s something you are born with. Yet even if you are born with it, you still have to work at it. That’s a lesson another potter had to learn. I’m sure if you asked some kids to think of a potter, they would probably come up with the name of Harry Potter.

Maybe some of you are familiar with the Harry Potter series. The very first volume “The Sorcerers Stone” gives the account of Harry’s earliest days.  Harry is the son of two good magic workers, who are killed when he is a baby by a wicked wizard and Harry is ‘adopted’, rather unwillingly, by the Dursley family, who treat him terribly.

The Dursley family has a spoiled brat of a son called Dudley Dursley, who gets all he wants and more. He has two or three of everything, including bedrooms, whilst poor Harry sleeps in a spider infested cupboard under the stairs at No 4, Privet Drive. Even though Harry “Not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous” is kept firmly in his place, he keeps turning the tables on his adopted parents and becomes vaguely aware of powers in himself that he can’t explain.

Later, things change, and Harry has to go away to a special school 'Hogwarts' where he learns how to use and be in control of the gifts and talents that he has inherited from those who went before him.

There is something special about Harry - but there is nothing particularly special about a lump of clay. There is nothing particularly beautiful about a lump of earth out of the ground. Yet in the hands of a skilled craftsman that lump of unsightly, no good, mess can be made into something wonderful, something priceless, some thing totally unique.

At the time of our Old Testament bible reading the people of Israel were in a bad situation. Their lives were being formed by a whole lot of things other than God. They were trusting in things that couldn’t satisfy, believing in idols made by their own hands to get them through their lives.

 God, who had chosen these people to be to be the nation who would show the world what astonishing things could happen when people opened up their lives to God’s influence, was not pleased to see what a mess they had become.

Through the prophet Jeremiah God chooses to speak to the people. Jeremiah is sent to watch a potter at work. But the Potter is having a bad day. The clay won’t act as it should. It’s almost as though the clay is fighting back against him. He pushes it this way and it won’t go that way. He makes it into one shape and it chooses to take another shape.

To use Harry Potter’s imagery, this is Dudley Dursley clay. Out of shape. Spoilt. In spite of everything that is being done for it, this clay is not going to shape up. This clay is exasperating the potter’s skill. What the potter has to do is start over again. Maybe pound it a little bit, shake it up, and put a bit more water on it to make it more malleable.

This time Mr. Potter gets it right! As the scripture says, “He remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make” (verse 4).  You can almost picture the Potter holding it up and saying, “Allright. Now that’s more like it.  Beautiful”.

Then comes a wonderful promise that Jeremiah takes to the people of God. For sure there is a message of judgment on them for being a stiff necked and rebellious people, but there is also a great dawn on the horizon.

“"Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD." Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand”.” (verse 6)

This is a tremendous picture and a hope filled promise that Jeremiah is laying before us.
Everyone of us is born into life, a little like Harry Potter, full of the special things, some inherited, some unique, that make us who we are. We are all astonishing creations and demonstrations of God’s creative work.

It’s fantastic when new mums bring their little ones to church. You look at those babies and you can’t help but go “Coo” and “Aah”. Of course at three in the morning when they want feeding and changing is another story – but there is just something so wonderful about a new creation. All the potential. All the trust. The helplessness and innocence.

Doesn’t last for long though does it? Doesn’t take long before the hands of different potters start to shape our lives and our minds. It can be a hard knock life that deals us a rotten set of cards and we can spend a lot of time in our own equivalent of a spider-infested cupboard under the stairs.

It doesn’t take long until something of the spirit of Dudley Dursley starts getting to us. We become self centered and arrogant and “I want it now” and “Give me more” types of people.  Particularly in regard to God.

“Lord, I know what you say about following You, but You just don’t understand what I’m going through right now!” Really? The God by whose power we were knitted together in our mother’s womb, doesn’t know what a hard time we are having? Jesus who died upon the cross in heart wrenching agony, doesn’t understand what a tough time is?

In every church I have served there are always those who are down on their church. “It’s not like the old days. What are we going to do? How are we going to get through?’ 

And the question that forms in my mind is always the same, “Where is our faith? Who are we trusting? What Scriptures are we believing in?” See, if we are trusting in what we ourselves can do, if we think that if we just try a little harder and do just a little more, then I agree with you, we haven’t got a hope.  That is not going to cut it.

Jesus has laid down the terms for being faithful so plainly that it’s almost frightening. “If anybody wants to be my disciple, then let them take up a cross and follow me”. The Dudley Dursley in us responds (sarcastically), “Yeh. Right. I’m going to do that!”

“What come to Sunday School? I’ll have to get up earlier! I’ll learn enough about God in my own way.” Oh yes?

“What, increase my offering! Don’t you realize how much I give already? I have more important things to waste my money on.” Oh yes?

“What, spend more time in prayer and getting to know God’s word and worshiping and serving, what do you think I am some kind of religious maniac. I have a life to live in the real world, you know. It’s a question of priorities’ Oh yes! How true.

I keep getting that picture of the clay in the potter’s hands that is kicking back saying, “No, I won’t go your way I do it my way or we don’t do it at all”. And it all keeps drowning out the promise, the promise that Jeremiah wants to offer, but the clay is so busy trying not be molded, that it can’t hear.

“Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD." Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand”

“Can I not, O people of God in Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord, “Can I not still take broken lives and wounded hearts and compromised promises and make something beautiful out of them? Behold, like the clay in the Potter’s hand, so are you in My hand”.

Of course, if we are allowing our lives to be formed by a whole lot of things other than God, if we are trusting in the things money can buy to satisfy, if we have fallen into that idolatrous trap of believing that we can get by without so much commitment, (without going to extremes like taking up crosses) then for sure we will reap the fruits of what we are sowing. And it will be rotten fruit!

It doesn’t have to be that way. God is good. God’s love is a rock, a solid foundation. Christ wants our commitment, not so He can add our name to a list of those who are on the Lord’s side, but so we can enjoy the intimacy of a heart relationship with God through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Will we stand on the promises of God this day? Do we not have the light of God’s Word to uphold us and carry us through?  Then let it shine, let it shine, let it shine! Be a Harry Potter – claim your inheritance as children of an awesome God, children whom God has gifted with as many different graces as we are different people.

And grow in that Grace! Make use of the opportunities you have for study and worship. Get to Sunday School. Be regular in worship. Give as though God actually counts for something astonishing in your life. Fan that flickering spark until your heart is aflame for Christ.

Today we gather around a table that clearly illustrates both God’s commitment to us and the commitment God asks of us. “If anybody wants to be my disciple, then let them take up a cross and follow me.” God hasn’t promised us an easy way. But God has promised that God’s Spirit can work on the hard, misshapen clay of our lives and create something beautiful.

May such be an experience that we all get to see happening in our lives.

AMEN!

The Reverend Adrian J Pratt B.D.

"Humility and Service"

Readings: Psalm 81:1, 10-16, Jeremiah 2:4-13,Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 , Luke 14:1, 7-14
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church on August 28,2022

One year, while living in West Virginia, I went up to Bluestone camp, near Hinton, WV during the summer. I was helping lead a creative arts camp. I had to drive the kids in my group to an open-air theatre at a park called Pipestem. I had to transport them in the camp van.  Now, Bluestone to Pipestem is a twisty, turny, mountain road, in some places only one vehicle wide. Not really designed for passenger vans. But it wasn't the road that was concerning the kids. It was the seating.

"I want the front seat."
 "I want to be next to him'
"Don't put me next to her!"
"I'll get sick if I'm not by the window"

I'm sure you've witnessed the same thing on numerous different occasions. Jostling for position. Everybody out to get the seat that in their eyes is the best. People do it all the time, in relation to numerous different things.

Our account from Luke this morning gave us a story about a party going on at which everybody wants to be on the head table. Jesus appears to be looking on in wry amusement as they hustle for places.

When everybody is settled, He offers the gathering some advice. He warns them of the danger of struggling for position all the time.  That you may make a serious misjudgment and find yourself embarrassed by being asked to move down the table to a lowlier place because you've sat yourself down in a place of importance.

If you are playing the importance game, He suggests that it would be better to occupy a low position on the table, and then be seen by the host, who would recognize you as a friend and invite you to a higher place on table.

At first glance it seems to be one of those "Sometimes by doing the wrong thing, you end up doing the right thing” type of stories. Sometimes you must think things through in a way that isn't, at first, the obvious way. For example, let’s see what you make of these questions;

1. Do they have a 4th of July in England? (Yes. It comes right after the third!)
2. A butcher in the market is 5' 10'' tall. What does he weigh? (Meat)
3. What was the Presidents name in 1960? (Joe Biden. He has not changed it)

Sometimes the way things appear are not the way they really are. The man who takes the high place at the table may not be all that he thinks he's cracked up to be.  The person way down at the end may turn out to be more important than anybody else there.

When my family and I lived in Wales, UK, on the Island of Angelsey, we were quite near a stately home, known as Plas Menai. It was occupied by The Marquis of Angelsey and situated in a beautiful spot on the banks of the Menai Straits in North Wales.

His family inherited the place from one of his ancestors that lost a limb in the battle of Waterloo. Legend has it that his ancestor and another officer were observing the battle of Waterloo from horseback when a stray cannonball hit the ancestor in the leg.

The officer on the horse next to him said, "By God, sir, you've lost a leg!" The gentleman looked down and replied, "By God, sir, so I have". So, they rode back to camp. Anyway, to cut a long story short, for his stiff-upper-lip bravery he was given a country estate (and a wooden leg) and he and his ancestors (who still have the wooden leg in a display cabinet) have lived quite comfortably ever since.

Much of the home and its magnificent grounds are now open to the public. However, the estate and its owner the current Marquis of Angelsey are still considered to be the gentry of the area.

The story goes that on a visit there somebody was seeking an audience with the Marquis, with the intention of relieving him of some of his wealth by fair means or foul. The man came across a Gardner who was digging the flowerbeds.

"What sort of person is the Marquis?" this no-gooder asked the gardener.
"Oh, I've heard this and that,” replied the gardener.
"Has he got as much money as they say?'
"Depends on who the 'they' are" replied the gardener.
"Is he a generous man? I mean would he help somebody out if they said they were in need?"
"I dare say he might,” said the Gardner.

"I've heard he's a bit eccentric, like a lot of these gentry folk" said the man, "I mean if somebody, like me, got their hands on his money, by fair means or foul, he probably wouldn’t miss it!"
"Hmm." said the gardener, "Sounds like you'd like to meet him."
"You could arrange that for me?" said the man; "I'd make it worth your while!"
"No problem" said the gardener. He brushed the sweat from his brow and removed a dirty garden glove to shake the man’s hand.
"Pleased to meet you!" said the Gardner, "I am the Marquis of Angelsey!  Now get off my property before I call security."

As the old saying goes, "You can't always judge a book by its cover." It is the same with people. Everybody has a tale to tell. Those who are at the bottom of the pile may not have always been so. Those who make it to the top can turn out to be the victims of good luck and whilst having around them all the trappings of success can be quite empty within themselves.

Joy in life does not come through occupying the high places or knowing the people of most influence.  Lasting happiness cannot be found in the multitude of possessions that people accumulate around themselves. Life is about more than position and possession.

Living in this beautiful part of the world, where for some money is no object, it would be tempting to think that power, prestige, and position are what really counts in life. Yet I think those local lads from my homelands, the Beatles, put it rather well when they sang, “Can’t buy me love.” Since being in this area, I have had some heart-breaking conversations with some folk about the way money has not helped their families, but caused division, over-indulgence and regrets.

I am reminded of Mark 8:36, in the King James version, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Or as it reads in the Contemporary English Version “What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourselves?”

The message within the message of this passage we are considering, is that true fulfillment comes to us through making a realistic assessment of our lives before God. We think of ourselves in one way. Sometimes we may overestimate our importance. Other times we may put ourselves down and make ourselves out to be less than we are. Both are a denial of who God made us to be.

Sometimes other people may make a more realistic assessment of our lives than we make of our selves. Sometimes they will be wrong about us.  Sometimes we may have made a favorable or unfavorable impression on a person without even realizing it! Everybody we meet and spend time with forms an impression of the person that we are.

Remember how Jesus was accused of not being important because He chose to hang out with people with no earthly status? He was a friend to tax collectors, no-hopers and sinners. Therefore, He must be just the same as them. A person of little significance and dubious moral character.

I’ve noticed every time there is a Hollywood Premiere or awards ceremony, the TV commentators go to great lengths to figure out for us 'who's who' and 'who's with who', who are the 'up and coming', whose 'on the way out'. Do not be seen hanging out with a loser. Could be the end of your career.

The Kingdom of God, Jesus keeps telling us through the gospels, is nothing like the kingdoms of this world. In the Kingdom of God, everything is turned around. Verse 11 of our reading; "For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted."

To reinforce that message Jesus tells the dinner guests that if they really want to put on a party that, in Kingdom of God terms, would be considered the showiest, ritziest, most glamorous party of them all, then give a reception and invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. Ask everybody to come who has not got a hope of ever repaying you.

According to this teaching, Kingdom greatness is not measured by what you own, whom you know or whom you hang out with, but by what you have done for those least able to reward you. The Kingdom principle appears to be… that to those to whom much has been given, much is expected.

That explains why Jesus is so critical of those who are at the party jostling for the best places. It is a lesson in humility.  C.S Lewis once wrote. “Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of your ‘self’ less.” From the Kingdom perspective even if you are at the head of the table, you are still a nobody unless you have love.

As Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians chapter thirteen remind us, "I may have all the faith needed to move mountains, but if I have no love, I am nothing!” It is love of that nature which brings security, lifts up the fallen, and heals the broken hearted. 'Love of God' and 'love of neighbor' are the two great principles upon which the Christian faith is built.

It is in the light of God's love that we can make a realistic assessment of our lives. We love because Christ first loved us and gave His life for us. It is His love that is the motivation, and it is God's love that sustains us through the action of God's Holy Spirit upon our hearts.

So, friends, don’t worry about where you are in the pecking order. Don’t be like those kids I had transport down a mountain in West Virginia in a big van, jostling for position and wanting the preferred place, oblivious to the fact that they were on a treacherous road and there was a British guy at the wheel who was still figuring out which side of the road to drive on.

Don’t be like that no-good fool who encountered the Marquis of Angelsey in the garden of his palatial stately home, and presumed, because the Marquis was doing humble work, that he was of no importance and was a person who could be used to further his unlawful aspirations. Never consider anybody on the basis of what ‘use’ they can be to you. Jesus suggests we are acting like a Kingdom person only when we consider what use we can be to them. Whoever they are!

Paul writes to church people of all time and all places (as it reads in the Amplified Bible), Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit [through factional motives, or strife], but with [an attitude of] humility [being neither arrogant nor self-righteous], regard others as more important than yourselves.”

Doesn’t that cut across the spirit of our age! “Regard others as more important than yourselves.” But is not that exactly what Jesus exemplified throughout His ministry? Is it not His example we are called to follow? A life of humility and service is part of our call as disciples. Both individually and as a church community.

May God help us, through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, to embrace the teachings of our Savior in both word and deed, with both humility and service Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

"Woman, You Are Free!"

Readings: Psalm 71:1-6, Jeremiah 1:4-10, Hebrews 12:18-29,  Luke13:10-17
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, August 21, 2022

To reach into today’s Bible Story, let us consider it from three perspectives. Firstly, how would the story seem from the perspective of the woman who was healed? Secondly, how did things appear from the leader of the synagogues point of view? Thirdly, how might an onlooker consider the scene?

Firstly, let us imagine that we have discovered the woman’s diary. What might she have written into her journal that day?

1. Excerpts from Diary

"Dear Diary,

What a day. Has there ever been such an unexpected, liberating, breath of fresh air day as this? You know diary how I have shared everything with you since the first day I could write. Now, I am scribbling away with an urgency never experienced before. Diary, I have a smile on my face and my head is held high!

You know it has not always been so. It has been twenty years since mother died. Being the only woman in a house full of men, life has not been easy. As Father grew older somebody had to care for him and my brothers being younger than I needed somebody looking out for them.

I never asked to be the mother they never had.  If I had been, they may have treated me with some respect. As the years have rolled by it seems as though all I've heard is ..."It is a woman's duty".

A woman’s duty? What to be treated worse than a paid servant? To be at the beck and call of a whole household, just because they are men? Do not I have a voice? Do not I have a life to live? Did not I have hopes and dreams and needs to be met? "It is God's way" they would tell me. "Remember ... It was Eve who took the fruit. Do not our Scriptures teach that woman is to obey?"

I thought after Father had died things would be different. Yet increasingly my brothers took advantage. They knew I relied on them for my food and my lodging. A woman on her own had little hope of a decent life. And marriage was out of the question. What man would look to me? Particularly after the problems started in my back.

It was just a nagging pain at first.  Maybe it was lifting Father or fetching the water. I always had something weighing down on me. Over these last eighteen years things have grown worse. I guess I've just spent too much time bending over washing clothes, bending over making meals, over the well, over the fire, making the beds, cleaning the floor.

I had never really thought until today how I had become accustomed to looking down. It meant I could avoid making eye contact with anybody. I knew what they were thinking when they looked at me. Old Maid. Poor thing. What a shame. But now they can keep their pity.

It came around to the Sabbath and, dutifully I went to synagogue. Diary, you know how much I hate that place. Of all the things that drag me down, that has got to be the worst. As soon as I walk through the door it is as though a cloud of disapproval settles upon me.

So, there I sat. Grinding my teeth. Looking at my shoes. Going through the motions like I always do. Suddenly the preacher calls me over. "Woman" he said. I almost answered, "I have a name you know!" but held my self in check.

As I drew near, he reached and took both of my hands. I tilted my head back and looked him in the eye. Those eyes of his! Looked right into me. They were so full of love and acceptance. He smiled as he held my hands, and it was as though he was drawing into himself all the hurt and the pain and the rejection I had felt for so long. I have never felt so totally known by another person in all my life.

I was aware of joints in my back clicking away. I felt as though I was having a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. Then, as though it were something I had done everyday of my life, I straightened up and stared back into those healing eyes. Tears beginning to flow in mine. "Woman" he said, "You are free."

As he let go of my hands and returned to the podium an involuntary, over loud "Praise God" slipped from my lips. By then the atmosphere in the place was electric. People were coming up out of their seats, looking me in the eye, giving hugs, and a murmur of astonished awe and wonder was flowing through the room.

Well, diary, you know what happened next. Some of those religious stuffed shirts took offense. The head man took over and started telling everybody to calm down.  They started accusing the preacher of doing bad things on the Sabbath. But - diary - that preacher tore a strip off them. "Daughter of Abraham" he called me.

Daughter of Abraham! Inheritor of God's promises. Child of God. Oh yes diary things are going to be different from now on. This lady is taking control. This lady is walking with her head held high. I am free. I am free. Praise God. "

The woman’s perspective. But what of the head of the synagogue?

2. Minutes of Closed Session Meeting : Regarding events on the previous Sabbath.

"A report was given on the problems that had arisen. Last Sabbath's service was plainly lacking in decency and order. We will not tolerate such laxity in the House of God. Nor will we tolerate those who excite congregations to emotionalism and dissent.

We wish to make the following statements.

i) On upholding the Sabbath.

Religion is a matter of loving God with heart, mind, and soul. That love is expressed through our obedience to God's commandments. One of those commandments is "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy." We have a great heritage to uphold.

ii) On healing

We acknowledge the work of healing as an important part of God's covenant with His people. However, guided by our traditions, we recognize there are times when works of healing are either appropriate or inappropriate. We are particularly skeptical regarding alleged healing that appears to be performed purely to garnish support for a particular speaker’s viewpoint or message.  

This appears to have been the situation the previous Sabbath. Our speaker put forward views, which were plainly in contradiction to the traditions of our Fathers. He then used a member of our faith community to make a point by alleging to have healed her. The genuine motives of this man are questionable as:-

a) This was not an instance, such as the rescuing of an animal, that required an immediate response. This act could have taken place at a time when Torah law would not have been broken. We suggest this was a deliberate and calculated act of disobedience.

b) The use of godly actions, (such as healing), to promote an ungodly view, (namely that breaking Sabbath law is permitable), proves this man to be fraudulent in his claims to be a servant of God.  We furthermore suggest that his whole presentation was an attempt to discredit the synagogue and defame the true people of our most Holy and Righteous God.

The Session therefore makes the following resolutions:

1: To be more careful whom we invite to exegete the Scriptures during Worship. We have appointed a task force to consider background checks upon those we allow to speak. Had such a check been accomplished we would have discovered this was not the first time the speaker had deliberately promoted dissent in the house of God.

2: To send a copy of this report to our central Council in Jerusalem, as well as to local religious leaders that they may be aware of this man’s blasphemous ways.

Meeting ended after much discussion later that evening."

We've had a woman's view and a Pharisees view. But had a reporter from the local newspaper been present that day, how would the headlines appear? Maybe something along these lines;

3."VISITING PREACHER CREATES DISSENT”

"He's been described as controversial and charismatic. Some say he's a charlatan, others that he could be the Christ. (For you Gentile readers that is a Jewish term meaning ‘God’s chosen One’). They call him by the name of Jesus, he hails from Nazareth, and he surely brewed up a storm during morning services down at the local synagogue.

Things went along their usual predictable way, until during sermon time he invited forward a woman. He said a few words about setting her free, then healed her of an illness that had crippled her for eighteen years.  A number of folks in attendance knew of her past suffering and there followed a period of exuberant rejoicing such as never before witnessed in any synagogue around here!

The Chief Pharisee attempted to restore calm by suggesting that healing and disorder in the sanctuary were not appropriate on the Sabbath.  That is when the sparks really started to fly! Jesus, to the approval of many in the crowd, accused the Pharisees of hypocrisy, suggested they cared more for their animals than their women, and warned them to watch out, because the Kingdom of God was near.

I have the impression, dear readers, that the sparks will continue to fly for many a year. Charlatan or Man of God... I do not believe we have heard the last of the preacher from Galilee…. that some call a fraud and others call “The Lord.”"

CONCLUSIONS

This passage of Scripture calls us to embrace the freedom that knowing Jesus Christ can bring within our own our lives. The extent to which we taste and see that freedom is dependant on the faith we have in who He said He was, what He is able to do and how He works in our world today.

This passage also calls us to examine our prejudices and traditions. Is there a balance between freedom and order in our lives? How radically has the gospel captured our hearts? Are we prepared to have our lives challenged and renewed by the Spirit of Jesus Christ?

My response is simply to affirm that the Jesus whom people eventually crucified for breaking the laws, rose from the dead, and His Holy Spirit is still about the business of straightening people up and bringing the freedom of God's love alive in their hearts.

My prayer is that God's freedom will work in our lives in as equally powerful ways as we have heard in this morning’s gospel lesson.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D