July 11, 2010

Good morning. I want to start this morning by telling you how excited I am to be here this morning. Hopefully you’ve caught a glimpse of that excitement from the Search Committee or maybe just their letter announcing me. But it’s hard for them to convey to you that when I received the phone call saying I would be your candidate, I was quite literally speechless. Speechless because I had a smile plastered from ear to ear which has yet to go away.

While I was not born in Maine, I do have a Maine heritage. My mother and her parents were all born in Maine. When I was small my parents moved to Maine for three years and I attended elementary school in Kennebunk. When I was in high school, I spent the summer with my grandparents in Searsport. For me, this call is something of a homecoming after spending the last five years of my life on the West Coast – except this time it’s not just me coming home. I will be joined by my partner, Nora and our twin sons and I find myself feeling like our lives together will finally be complete because I can share my culture, my favorite places, my family and friends with them in a way I couldn’t do before.

One of the things, however, that makes this such a special moment for me is the length of the process. Coming to Yarmouth will represent the next step in what has been a 18 year long journey so far. When I was 15 years old I began feeling called by God to ordained ministry. Over the years I have slowly worked into fully living into this call, but with many compromises along the way. For example I went to a Christian college but studied engineering. I moved to Boston and started seminary, but worked as an elevator maintenance salesperson. And most recently, I served ½ time as a campus chaplain, but held onto an elevator sales position ½ time – just in case this whole ministry thing didn’t work out.

Along the way, I’ve had many unbelievable mentors and friends. In an effort to affirm my gifts they would say, just do it. Jump in. Let go. Pursue your calling. But I couldn’t. The timing wasn’t right and I was afraid. And so I continued waiting and discerning until the time was right – until I could feel the call in my gut. For me, this position at First Parish is that call.

Webster’s Dictionary defines call as a divine vocation or strong inner prompting to a particular course of action.

In this morning’s scripture we hear the story that has given rise to the term Good Samaritan. How many people here have ever heard that term? I suspect it’s very familiar to many of you. Likewise, I suspect this parable is very familiar to many of you. In a situation like this, our son Russell, would say, I already know that. That is often Russell’s response to us when we are either correcting him or telling him to do something. And is often followed by him simply ignoring whatever we just said. This morning, I want to encourage you to be open and listen to this parable again, even if you already know it.

A lawyer comes up to Jesus and says what do I need to inherit eternal life. Now remember, lawyer in this context refers to someone who is scholar of the religious law, of the Torah. A person who would know what the law said about this issue. So some scholars surmise that this was not necessarily a friendly interaction. He might have been trying to make Jesus look foolish in public. After all, Jesus had just had great success. Earlier in Luke 10 we are told that he sent out 72 disciples who return elated. They say, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

So Jesus is starting to become a threatening person. Right, is not only saying things that are challenging to the established government and religious zealots, but now he is getting results. People are seeing his rhetoric in action and the reports are good. The lawyer doesn’t like that – hence the public questioning.

And so, how does Jesus respond. With a question. The lawyer is setting Jesus up. Jesus is not going to fall for it. He responds in a way that makes the lawyer answer his own question. Not satisfied with the fact that Jesus has effectively avoided answering for himself, the lawyer asks another question and this time Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Often, however, the problem with this parable is that people hear it and give themselves a pat on the back. They think, I/we already know that. I already do that. I give away clothes to good will. I volunteer at the food pantry. I make meals for the homeless shelter. Check that box off.

The problem with checking the box off is that we are approaching the Good Samaritan as a hard and fast rule or law. And yet, that’s exactly what this parable is guarding us against. The two people who pass by the man on the side of the road are a priest and a Levite. Both would be concerned with observing Jewish purity laws. The idea being that if they stopped to help the man on the side of the road, they might be touching someone who is unclean. They might have to erase a check off of their checklist. And so, to preserve themselves – they do not stop to help the man.
But then the Samaritan comes along. Samaritans and Jews have different beliefs about where worship should occur. They do not get along! But the Samaritan comes along and stops and helps the man on who is laying badly injured on the side of the road.

So what is it that causes the Samaritan to stop? I want to suggest to you this morning that he is called to stop. I believe he had a strong inner prompting to that particular course of action. I believe it was so strong that he could not ignore it. I believe that we all have these strong inner promptings and as we listen to them and discern them we live more fully into who God created us to be.

This is not about check boxes. It’s not about good deeds for the week. It’s about listening for God. It’s about discerning. It’s about turning towards God. And it’s hard. So hard that the priest and the Levite could not do it. The people who probably had all of their boxes checked. The people who were righteous and “clean”. They could not do it. Why?

Our family currently lives in Alameda, CA, which we affectionately refer to as an Island off the coast of Oakland. And so to get onto our Island we often get off the highway in Oakland and drive for a mile or so before we come to the Webster tube, a tunnel that takes you underwater and up onto the Island. But as you are driving that mile or so in Oakland, there are stoplights at every one to two blocks. And often people stand at the stoplights with signs saying they need money or food or a ride. They are homeless or down on their luck. They need some help. And usually when I’m stopped at the stoplights, the first thing I do is to make sure that my doors are locked and then I try hard not to make eye contact with them. I don’t want them to come over. I don’t want to interact with them. I have plenty of resources, but I don’t really want to help them. Why!

I’ve considered this question many times and have come to realize that quite simply I am afraid. My fear comes from money. What would happen if I gave every person who asked me some money? I wouldn’t have any left! So I just clutch on to my money and don’t give it to anyone!

Other people’s fears might be different. I’ve heard many times that you shouldn’t give someone who is homeless money because you don’t know what they’ll spend it on. You might be feeding their addiction.

Call is a strong inner prompting to a course of action. This morning’s scripture story is a reminder that Jesus teaches us to walk away from checklists, to walk away from sets of rules and to live into our call as faithful people of God. I believe that one of the things we accept when we choose to be Christian is that we are all called by God, not just ordained clergy.

And this is one of the reasons we gather to worship. To help each other listen. To hold each other’s hands. To strengthen each other so that we can go out into the world and follow those promptings from God. Notice Jesus did not teach about inheriting eternal life in the Temple. Jesus taught about how to inherit eternal life out on the streets. Out in the world.

And so my hope for all of us this morning as we begin our journey together is that we keep bringing each other back to call. What is it that God is asking us to do in the world today? What are our inner promptings? What are the obstacles keeping us from living into them? How do we move forward to become the people that God created us to be? Amen.