July 30, 2022 – Words of Wisdom, Thomas Merton
“Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can say no more.” Thomas Merton
“Who is wise and knowledgeable among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” James 3:13, 17
Reason
The wisdom from above is open to reason. It is hard anymore to find someone in this world who will listen to reason. It just seems people are more apt to hide in their comfortable camps of “knowledge” instead of having an interest in listening to another angle, another point of view, or another way. What has happened to reason?
Thomas Merton says that “Faith takes over when reason can say no more.” As people of faith we know this to be true. When you try to explain to a non-Christian something difficult like the doctrine of the Trinity, they most likely will look at you and say “It just does not make any sense to me.” Even trying to explain this doctrine to many Christians may get you the same confused response. But you should feel comfortable with agreeing with them because truly understanding the Trinity takes faith, not reason. You cannot reason out the doctrine of the Trinity. To argue the point with someone who does not have faith is pointless – because it takes faith to accept our belief in the One G-d we know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
When people come to you complaining there are no reasonable people any more, I suggest you ask them to point you to the wisest person they know. The Apostle Paul writes: “Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become ‘fools’ so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)
When we pine for reason, we can first turn to the wisdom found in G-d’s words of scripture – for G-d’s words are the wisest I have found in my life.
Let us pray,
Lord Jesus, your ways and your thoughts are higher and wiser than any of the wisdom of this world. Give me the words and the wisdom I need today to make sense of this senseless world. Amen.
Pastor Dave
July 31, 2022 – Pentecost +8C, Luke 12:13-21
“Someone in the crowd said to [Jesus,] “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly.And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” Luke 12:13-21
In his book titled “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the art of Battling Giants”, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the story of painters from the middle 19th century called the Impressionists….painters like Monet, Manet, and Pissaro. When they were part of the painting scene in Paris, they were the outcasts — the misfits. They were doing something unconventional, completely different, and for that they were mocked and ridiculed. So they had a choice to make — either do what the other painters were doing, do what all of the others thought they should do, or keep to their passions and paint like they wanted to paint. These painters, who would bring about a renaissance in the painting world, spent their days sitting in a cafe in Paris thinking their passions we’re pointless — that all was in vain. They did not want to paint just to be accepted — they did not want to change their style just so their works would hang in the prestigious salons. Instead they wanted to change how people viewed and appreciated the art of painting. They wanted to paint scenes from everyday life, but in the manner they viewed life — not just to soothe the sensibilities of others.
Of course, we know the rest of the story. No, they never were rich in their own lives, but they left a legacy of paintings that literally brought riches to the world of art — but not riches to their wallets. In the gospel lesson today, Jesus is asked by someone in the crowd “Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”. Jesus does not answer the man telling him he was not sent to handle these kinds of arguments. Instead, he warns the man to be careful about the issue of greed. And to make his point, he tells the parable of the “rich fool”. Now that sounds like a harsh name, the rich fool, but he gets the name for a good reason. As Jesus tells the story: the man has an abundance of produce, and he wants to build himself bigger barns. He is rich and he is thinking only of himself and how he can hoard his goods, and not share them. But he soon learns that he will lose his life and will not be able to enjoy his success.
So we have contrasting stories — the Impressionist painters of the late 19th century who are poor most of their lives, and die with little money to their names; but they have left paintings that today sell for between $41 and $76 million dollars each. And we have a rich man who looks to hoard his goods, but he dies leaving a legacy of greed. What we leave the people who come after us, whether it is financial, ethical, or tangible may matter more to those who come after us than we may ever know. It truly matters how we live–and it truly matters what kind of a legacy we leave for those who come after us.
If you died tonight, what would you leave behind? If you died tonight, would people notice your absence? If you died tonight would people cheer the news that you are no longer breathing air, like Ebenezer Scrooge? Will people remember your vanity, your selfishness, and your greed? Or will people remember your works of kindness, love, mercy, etc? I often say in my funeral homilies that it matters how we live in this life, it truly matters how we live. How we live will be remembered by those we leave behind.
People will remember our crankiness — if we are cranky.
People will remember our kindness — if we are kind.
People will remember our love — if we are loving.
People will remember our greediness — if we are greedy.
People will remember our meanness — if we are mean.
People will remember our generosity — if we are generous.
We, too, have a choice–either live as everyone else thinks we should, as advertisers and society tries to tell us–you know, hoarding, grasping, keeping, storing up, building bigger barns for ourselves. And that is fine as long as greed and hoarding and coveting is not at the heart of our actions. Otherwise, Jesus has a warning: Jesus says “Take heed” and “Take care”– and “Be on your guard against greed”–for, like the rich man in his story, Jesus warns us that we may end up dealing foolishly with all of the gifts and resources G-d gifts us–and he may also call us a fool–which yes is a harsh pronouncement, but we see it played out time and time again in this world.
What are you doing now with your possessions–with your gifts? What will you leave behind for those who come after you? This is a serious consideration for all of us, as Christians. My friends, as I said before, how we live our lives matters. For we will always have opportunities to be generous, and, truth be told, a lot of people are watching how we live–our children, our families, our neighbors, and others–including G-d. No, we cannot buy our way into heaven, Jesus has won that for us. But we are called to live by the commands of G-d, which Jesus simplified into two: Love G-d with all your heart, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Pastor Dave
