We Don't Know Everything

It was the birthday of the parish priest and the children had come with their birthday greetings and gifts.

The priest took the gift-wrapped parcel from little Mary and said, “Ah! I see you have brought me a book.” (Mary’s father ran a bookstore in town.)

“Yes, how did you know?”

I”I always know,” replied the priest.

And you, Tommy, have brought me a jumper,” said the priest, picking up the parcel Tommy held out to him. (Tommy’s father was a dealer in woolen goods.)

“That’s right. How did you know?” “Ah, I always know,” replied the priest.

And so it went, until the priest lifted Bobby’s box. The wrapping paper was wet (Bobby’s father owned a bottle shop), so the preist said, “I see you have brought me a bottle of scotch and spilled some of it!”

“Wrong,” said Bobby, “it isn’t scotch.”

“Well, a bottle of rum then,” said the priest.

“Wrong again,” said Bobby.

The priest’s fingers were wet. He put one of them in his mouth but that gave him no clue. “Is it gin?” he asked.

“No,” said Bobby. “I’ve brought you a puppy!”

[Anthony de Mello]

When I finished my first degree, I thought I knew some stuff. Then I did an Honours degree, and I thought I even knew more stuff. Then I did a PhD and realized I knew virtually nothing! There is just so much to know! So much. And there is so much that is mystery, and I will never know or understand. That is the danger with a great education: we think we know all we need to know, or that we can work it out ourselves, whether that be as individuals or a human race. Not quite so. At some point we come to the realization that there is always more to know and more that we will not understand. Humbling really.

Buy the Ticket, Stupid!

A devout religious man fell on hard times. So he took to praying in the following fashion: "Lord, remember all the years I served you as best I could, asking for nothing in return. Now that I am old and bankrupt I am going to ask you for a favour for the first time in my life and I am sure you will not say No: allow me to win the lottery."

Days passed. Then weeks and months. But nothing happened. Finally, almost driven to despair, he cried out one night, "Why don't you give me a break, God?"

He suddenly heard the voice of God replying: "Give me a break yourself! Why don't you buy a lottery ticket first?"

(Anthony de Mello)

Paradoxically, we receive everything as gift, yet we have to make it work. Disciplined and costly grace.

A Prayer for Disciplined Grace:

God of life, today we give you thanks that you shower upon us so many gifts, skills and aspirations. Give us the hearts and discipline to use them for your kingdom and the good of all people. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who gave his all for us. Amen.

Selling Seeds

A woman dreamt she walked into a brand new shop in the marketplace and, to her surprise, found God behind the counter.

“What do you sell here?” she asked.

“Everything your heart desires,” said God.

Hardly daring to believe what she was hearing, the woman decided to ask for the best things a human being could wish for. “I want peace of mind and love and happiness and wisdom and freedom from fear,” she said. Than as an after thought, she added, “Not just for me. For everyone on earth.”

God smiled, “I think you’ve got me wrong, my dear. I don’t sell fruits here. Only seeds.” (Anthony de Mello)

Last assembly I talked about how much we don’t know. Which is very important: we are humble in the face of our deficit in knowledge. But let us not denigrate and dishonor what we do know! Because we don’t know everything doesn’t mean we know nothing! In comparison to what there is to know I know very little. But I do know some things.

In comparison to the work there is to do for the good of the world, what I can do seems very little. But I can do some things, and some things well. I might plant a seed only, so small, but someone else will water it. Who knows, when I have long past that little seed might be a great tree.

Finish with Matt 13:31-32

Jesus told them this parable: ‘God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; ³²it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’

Missing God's Graciousness

A man was lost in a desert. Later, when describing his ordeal to his friends, he told how, in sheer despair, he had knelt down and cried out to God to help him.

"And did God answer your prayer?" he was asked.

"Oh, no! Before God could, an explorer appeared and showed me the way."

(Anthony de Mello)

It is one of the great spiritual attributes to be able to see God's graciousness in life. It is easy to miss. When things are going well, we take the goodness of life for granted, and forget the giver. When things are going badly, our attention moves (often obsessively so) to the bad, and the good, which remains, is forgotten. To see God's graciousness in the everyday is a real gift, a gift to be nurtured. And to see God's graciousness when life is going well or not, consistently that is, brings true happiness. It means that we have to see everything as gift, of course. And that is humbling, and it makes us slow down a bit.

[Above is a picture of the late Anthony de Mello.]

The Ten Commandments

There are (at least) two ways of looking at the 'rules' of Christianity, which include those we inherited direct from the Old Testament. Despite all the dangers of legalism, the first is to see them as rules to be obeyed. Now, there is something in this of course. But I am more interested in the alternative. This is to see the 'rules' like the ten commandments as the expressions, very practical expressions at that, of our life together, and of the kind of (Christian) community we wish to be. In the case of the ten commandments, lying and stealing will not lead us into the kind of mutuality that the gospel calls us to. This line of thinking makes context important and does not ignore the place of personal character and virtue. This kind of thinking is compatible with the idea of revelation, but not the kind of theology that thinks the 'rules' just dropped out of heaven.

I am persuaded that this is exactly how the 'rules' function in the church. However, I am a little suspicious all the same. Following this line of thought, it could be a little too easy to dismiss the 'rules' and start again. That is, it would be possible for someone to say that they understand the kind of community we are independent of the existing 'rules'. Under the pretext of changing contexts, they could then rewrite the 'rules' to suit their particular understanding of the Christian community. We should remember, however, that the 'rules' are an expression of the community, so therefore a good way of understanding what it means to be Christian community is to start with the 'rules' and follow them back to the kind of community that produced them in the first place. I think there is a great deal to be said for the latter methodology in becoming Christian, despite my utter abhorrence of legalism.

However, I still think the 'rules' are an expression of the community, and therefore, once members have lived in that community from the inside, and followed the rules backwards (so to speak) to that community, it is possible for the 'rules' to be modified by the community.

The good life is not simply one in which certain rules are kept - this is always at best a shorthand for the results of life together in the Body. The good life is one in which we have learned how to be for each other, and in so being to live fully as ourselves. If lying, killing, adultery, greed and so on are sinful, it is because we couldn't imagine a community , such as the Body of Christ is meant to be, in which things like this went unchallenged. (Rowan Williams, Tokens of Trust, p. 110)

[Pentecost 21(A), Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20]