Call Out; Pay Attention

Call Out; Pay Attention
Luke:18:35-19:10

I recognize that this Sunday’s gospel reading is a bit unusual because we essentially have two independent stories told. But these stories deserve to be told together because they represent two models for getting our needs meet. One is the model of self-advocacy. (That is the calling out part). And the other is the model of noticing, (That is the Pay Attention part). Both are very important elements in our efforts to be Christian community (church) together.

It’s worth noting that these two stories come within the context of Jesus and the disciples journeying toward Jerusalem. As they are walking toward Jerusalem we can easily imagine a growing crowd from the countryside taking interest and walking along in this journey sensing something big about to happen. (I imagine Martin Luther King leading the march to Selma, or Ghandi’s march to the sea. Something maybe like that.)

Passover, the great celebration of Jewish liberation, is soon to be celebrated. And politically speaking this has great potential to bring about political unrest in this Roman occupied neck of the woods.

So here’s Jesus leading this parade of followers along the road to Jerusalem, and along the way is a blind beggar. Now what makes this guy so interesting is his persistence. (right). Here is this insignificant “nobody” who, upon learning that this notorious, compelling, radical, rabbi is passing by, yells out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The followers of Jesus rebuke the man and basically tell him to “shut up.” This just makes the man more determined…. “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (What’s he got to lose, right?)

Jesus hears the man and orders him to be brought to him. Then Jesus asks this great question, (The same question, as I pointed out last Sunday, that he asked the disciple Andrew earlier). He asks, “What do you want from me?” Again….what a simple, powerful question. “What do you want?”

The man knows exactly what he wants. “I want to see.” And just like that….boom! Jesus pronounces, “Receive your sight.”

So here’s what I get out of this. The blind beggar (he’s not given a name…just “the man born blind”) is the perfect example for self-advocacy, and he is an important model for those of us living in congregational life together. He models in several ways:

# 1) He’s not shy. Notice he’s doesn’t give in to the external voices telling him he’s not important. In fact he has a strong inner voice that tells him that he does matter. His situation is worthy of attention. Lesson #1 : You Are Worthy. Advocate for yourself! (story)

#2) He’s willing to be vulnerable. Whenever we speak out publicly (or even privately) regarding our needs, we are making ourselves vulnerable. We are saying “I need help… I can’t do this by myself.” “I am weak. I have limitations. I have needs that I can’t meet alone.” And that’s hard for us to do. We live in a highly individualized, suck-it-up, society. Suffer in silence! Or, as sometimes happens in the church, we put everyone else’s needs first and forget about our own self-care. Lesson #2 : Community can’t really happen if we are not willing to admit our limitations and express our needs, we make ourselves vulnerable. And as Berne Browne says, “There cannot be authentic community without the willingness to be vulnerable.” True community comes when we stop worrying so much about other’s judgments or opinions and allow ourselves to be open about our needs, and our limitations.

#3) The blind man is clear about what he wants. Simple and straight… “I want to see.” Lesson #3 : Know yourself. Spend some time and examine your heart and mind. Image, if you will, Jesus come to you and asking, “What do you want?” How would you respond?

Now let’s move into our next story…the famous story of Zacchaeus (“the wee little man”).

Now here is a story of another way we ought to try and be in congregational life. This story tells us we ought to “pay attention.” Here is a man, Zacchaeus, who we might image to be a bit shy. Also he is a tax collector for the Roman occupiers, so he is seen by his fellow Israelites as a collaborator/traitor. So, right there, he’s already someone who is an outsider with presumably few friends. (We don’t know for sure). We do know, by his actions that he is intrigued by this regional celebrity rabbi. Zacchaeus is a “seeker” we might say. Something is missing from his life. And so, he climbs the tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus.

Something worth noting here….it is Jesus who notices Zacchaeus. So again, let’s look at this as a model for us in the church….

#1) Jesus pays attention. Jesus could have easy simply noticed this man and walked on….or not even noticed at all. But he didn’t. He noticed. Lesson #1: Pay attention to those on the margins or shy or just plain not speaking for themselves.

Being mindful is important in the church and it’s everyone’s job to do that. Some are naturals at this. Those are the people the pastor relies upon because no one person, not even the pastor, can know everything or everyone who is needing some attention. And believe me, it is very helpful when someone comes up and informs me about someone who might appreciate some pastoral attention.
With that being said, I will also tell you that the vast majority of care goes on informally and naturally amongst the gathered saints…i.e. you all.

So between the pastor, the congregational care team, and most importantly, the broad, caring sensitivity of everyone….real needs and support happen.

#2) Jesus interjects himself into Zacchaeus’ life. Jesus is pro-active, not passive. Without waiting to be invited Jesus simply says, “I’m coming over. Let’s do coffee.” (or some ancient Middle Eastern equivalent). We in the church can do that. We can notice those in our midst, pay attention to your mind and heart (the location of the Spirit’s voice within) and act accordingly.

Now I don’t want you to think, just because I’m inviting you out for coffee that I’m thinking there is an urgent need in your life. Sometimes that might be the case, but not always. Sometimes it’s just what we do. We “check in” and we “share” (we “talk-story” as my howli Hawaiian wife Jan might phrase it) because that just a basic element of friendship and community.

Now if we are reaching out to someone because we think there is some kind of struggle or crisis, we have to be a little careful. We maybe should ask ourselves, “Am I making assumptions about this person?” or “Am I perhaps pushing into someone’s space where I am not welcome?”

As to the first question… “Am I making some assumptions?”… we just need to carry those “hunches” lightly. We don’t assume what is going on in someone’s life, but rather we interject ourselves toward someone with a very open mind. In other words, we knock on the door, but we allow the other to invite us in.

As to the second question… “Am I invading someone’s privacy?” …. We need to trust that that person will let us know. They may not say it outright, but they will instead communicate by declining our overture, or postponing. I find that in most cases, even if the person declines the overture of caring, just the gesture of noticing…. that is enough.

Now just as a side note, because it doesn’t relate exactly to this morning’s theme, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point to the last part of the Zacchaeus story. We don’t know what the conversation was between these two men, Jesus and Zacchaeus, but something significant took place. Transformation happened. In this instance, Zacchaeus repents. He demonstrates this by pledging publicly to make restitution for any harms he has caused. (We might call Zacchaeus the patron saint of restitution, or reparations. Reparations might be a whole other sermon topic for another time).

But here’s the thing that does relate to our theme this morning. When you make a caring gesture….you never know what kind of effect it has. What small miracle or blessing you may have given birth to. What if Jesus hadn’t responded to the blind beggar, we might ask? What if Jesus hadn’t noticed the wee man Zacchaeus? We’ll never know that because Jesus did respond and Jesus did notice.

Do you have stories of some small seemingly insignificant act you did that only later you discovered had made an important impact on someone’s life? I bet you do! And I know there are a lot of gestures you have made that you will never know the positive impact it had for someone. (And that’s o.k.). (But now and then we hear about the impact we might have made. Story of Kathy C.)

And conversely, we’ve all had moments when we didn’t act, and wished we had….or at least wondered if we should have. Let’s be honest… None of us bat a thousand. And just because we missed an opportunity, opportunities come through other “angels” besides you and me…. all the time. God is sending us opportunities and new chances every day. The gospel is being worked out through many, many, many, many actions by many, many, many, many people. God works through people despite themselves….unaware oftentimes that they are even acting on behalf of God. That’s the mystery of God at work in the world. And we don’t even see it. We don’t see how our thoughts, words, and actions affect the world….but we know they do. Praise be to God for that! Believing that enough!

So let me conclude……

May the one prayer we pray as we rise from our beds in the morning be, “God, make me an instrument of you peace ….even in the ways that I am totally unaware of. But keep me alert by your Spirit. Speak to my heart and mind as I interact with my world today.”

And may our prayer at the end of the day be, “God of Mystery, I trust and pray that whatever I did with my words and actions today, that there may have been some seeds of hope, redemption, and joy planted. Thank you that you work through me, despite myself. It is an honor! And as I rely upon your forgiveness and love for what I haven’t done, help me to let it go now, and to sleep well.

Oh, and if it be your will, I look forward to having another crack at it tomorrow. Amen.”