14th Sunday after Pentecost-The Rev Melanie Lemburg

 14th Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 17B

August 29, 2021

 

        When I worked at Stewpot, an inner city non-profit, between college and seminary, I came across many unusual characters on a daily basis.  One of these was a man named Mr. Long.  Mr. Long probably had the mental capacity of a young child, and he would leave his personal care home to wander the streets of Jackson until he found his way to Stewpot and joined the morning enrichment program I was running to give folks like a him a safe and entertaining place to be every day.  Mr. Long, never really called many of us by name, but instead, he liked to greet everyone by saying, “You so choot!”  (translated “you are so cute!”)  Well, my 25 year old self was mortified by this salutation, and so I set out to teach Mr. Long my name.  My project spread out over weeks, and every day, it went something like this.

Mr.  Long:  “You so choot!”

Me:  “What’s my name, Mr. Long?”

Him:  “I don’t know.”

Me:  “Melanie.”

Him:  “Merlin”

Me:  “Close enough.” 

        Day after day, I taught my lesson until one day, it happened.  I entered the dining area where Mr. Long sat, and he greeted me saying, “Hey, Merlin!  You so choot!”

        Mr. Long also had another regular saying that he would share as the Spirit moved him.  He would often say, “You can’t fool God.”  You can’t fool God.

        This is at the heart of what Jesus is teaching in our gospel reading for today.  The Pharisees have come to Jesus and asked why his disciples aren’t following the law around washing things.  Jesus aligns himself with the prophetic tradition by quoting Isaiah and saying that the Pharisees are so worried about the law that they have lost sight of the spirit of what God has intended for each of us.  In the part left out for today, Jesus talks about a loophole that some religious leaders of the day have discovered that allows them to give money to the temple and not have to use their money to care for their elderly family members as the law also instructs.  And then Jesus goes on to teach the crowds that we should be more worried about what evil intentions are coming out of us into the world as opposed to what evil we might be taking in from the world around us.

        The Pray as You Go podcast for today says it this way:  “Jesus takes the Pharisees’ notion of ‘defilement’ and turns it inside out.  Instead of it being a word you might use self-righteously to mean being ‘sullied’ by unholy people and unholy things around me, it becomes a check on myself, a warning not to defile yourself by allowing evil to enter the world through you.  How do you react to that warning?”[i]

        In this polarized world that we live in, it is so easy to try to fool myself and fool God by thinking that my cause (and here you can name any number of current event items of the day) is the one that is righteous and the other is bringing evil into the world.  This week, I’ve been pondering what it would mean to examine more frequently the things that come out of me that add evil to this world and how to hold that alongside not judging others who believe differently than me.  And let me tell you, it is hard for me to even imagine what that might look like.

        But then I read and opinion piece from an E.R. nurse in Kansas City that she wrote for the local paper.  It is titled: “I work in a Kansas City emergency room. I know who’s to blame for COVID frustration.”  Here is what she writes,

        “COVID-19 is something we are still learning about. We health care workers are trying to perfect how we respond to it and make people as safe as possible.

        I’m not angry at those who aren’t yet vaccinated, and I’m not angry at those who have put so much faith into the vaccine.

Who and what bothers me …  Is the person in the hospital lobby coughing, trying to refuse wearing a mask because “I don’t have COVID. I was tested thre months ago.” (And new test results come back in 30 minutes revealing that the patient is, indeed, positive.)

        And the person who says, “If they aren’t vaccinated, they might as well just die. They’re stupid.”

        There is so much attitude of superiority on both extremist sides.

        I’m not innocent. I’ve caught myself being quite judgmental as well on certain days when traffic in the emergency room is heavy. Then, I sometimes find myself speaking more negativity into the environment than is even close to being helpful.

        The enemy isn’t those who are pro-vaccine. The enemy isn’t those who haven’t yet gotten it. The enemy is COVID-19, and those who don’t care or just don’t understand are to be pitied. Not hated or despised.

        I understand the frustration of those who are anti-vaccine and those who are pro-vaccine. Both sides’ anger and exasperation come from fear and exhaustion. And maybe even from PTSD.

        The important thing is to keep an open mind, to continue to do research and maintain a humble attitude that acknowledges there are things we are still learning about COVID-19, and, I hope, will continue to learn. Maintain a hunger for more understanding, for new information.

        Maintain compassion for the fact that so many people are utterly terrified and have suffered loss.

        Maintain sympathy for those who are around COVID 24/7 and may be a wee bit grumpy at times.

        Maintain humility that says, “I’m not sure I have all the answers, but I will try not to spread the virus personally. And I will do my best to help in this season.”

        I do feel blessed to still be alive, breathing without effort and walking around outside in the sunshine.

        My disorganized self left my apartment so spick-and-span for the whole first part of the pandemic, just in case I died and my family had to come get my stuff. (I can’t say the same for its current state. I’m not that dedicated long- term, although I should be.)

        I’m not saying I couldn’t still suffer a tragedy because of COVID-19 — anything is possible. And I realize that, and appreciate every day every moment that I do have. Every day is a gift, a gift that isn’t really even deserved, to be honest.

        I’m not a “hero” for working with COVID patients. I’m lucky to have a job, grateful to have enough masks to wear a new one daily, and thankful to be close to equipment that could possibly help me should I ever become sick and need it.

        I’m going to work on checking my attitude more often. Because, as I said, I am very guilty of being crotchety about all of this. I’m pointing the finger at myself, first.

        That is all.”[ii]

Your invitation this week is to join me in examining the thoughts that come out of my heart for evil, self-righteousness, or hardness of heart and to ask God to help me from letting more evil escape from me into the world.  Because, like Mr. Long says, “You can’t fool God.” 

 

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