"Tight lines" is a blessing fishermen offer each other, a wish for lines taut with the weight of good fish. May God grant that the lines written here be taut with His blessings.
Thursday, 10 June 2010 | |||
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Get What You Want | |||
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In Garrison Keillor's
column that appeared in our newspaper last Sunday, he reflects on the
fact that he recently found himself looking at pictures taken by
underwater cameras of the inky plumes of oil leaking out of the sea floor
in the Gulf. The irony was that at the time he was viewing those images
he was 37,000 feet in the air in a jet that demanded hundreds of gallons
of fuel derived from oil. He felt his own complicity in the Gulf disaster
by virtue of his own desire to travel quickly and far. Our text for this week from I Kings 21 calls us all to reflect on our own desire, greed and covetousness and how it may lead to disastrous consequences, not merely for our own lives, but for people around us. King Ahab's petty wish for a particular piece of ground, which he is unable to obtain, is a pretty apt metaphor for the many petty desires which drive so much of what we do. We come by coveting naturally and it is constantly fueled by advertising. I "know" I need a better, faster laptop, the latest book by my favorite fantasy author, and a newer car with less miles on it. We might congratulate ourselves on having avoided Ahab's particular depth of covetousness, for we commit no unscrupulous acts to get what we want. Yet we might want to worry if we are not headed in the bad king's direction when we find our happiness marred by the lack of things we desire. Ahab's childish sulk is not too a far cry from the place I find myself in occasionally when I begin to dwell too much on what I wish I had. It may not be a very large step past such a sulk to obtaining what I want by some compromise of honesty or integrity. It's helpful then to consider the unplanned pairing of the story of Naboth's vineyard with the Gospel lesson from Luke 7:36-50. The woman who anoints Jesus' feet is not motivated by covetousness at all. As parallel readings tell us, she gives up an enormously expensive jar of perfume for a single act of worship. She is motivated by thankfulness, especially, Jesus points out, thankfulness for forgiveness. It's good strategy to combat a vice with a virtue. Our lessons this week invite us to combat covetousness with thankfulness. When we begin to sink into the dark place created by wishes that cannot possibly all be fulfilled without the darkness entering our own beings, we may be redeemed by simple thanksgiving for God's grace to us in our wretchedness. Now that I think about it, I'm reminded of seeing the opera "Faust," early this year with my opera-loving wife. The old man Faust is ruined by his unrepentant coveting of youth and his lust for a young woman named Marguerite. Though she gives into his seduction and even ends up murdering her own illegitimate child, in the end angels proclaim Marguerite's salvation because she turns away from her desire for Faust and is humbly repentant. May such repentance and turning from our own rampant desires deliver us from fates like Ahab's and Faust's and lead us deeper into our Lord's grace and salvation. | |||
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I am the pastor of Valley Covenant Church in Eugene, Oregon. I love to flyfish and hike along the beautiful rivers in our area. I welcome your comments as I share sermon work in progress and occasional other thoughts.
Thank you for visiting this blog. I invite you also to visit my web page.
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Beth Take a look at my blog, entry "Can You Do This With Your Tap Water?" Talk about Naboth's vineyard! The natural gas companies offer people money for their land; if they are refused, they offer more; but the third time they say, "Fine. You'll get nothing, and we'll get your land anyway." It's still happening. (06/10/10)