(texts: Hosea 1:2-10; Colossians 2:6-15, Luke 11:1-13)
Scorpions. Really? I had
to get the text about scorpions?
I hate scorpions.
Whenever they happen to
show up on TV, I switch channels. If I see them online, I close my
computer. My daughter delights in showing images of them for me, and
I shudder each time. I really, really don't like scorpions.
A couple of years ago, my
husband and I went to Morocco. It was an amazing trip, and the
highlight of it was a journey out in the Saharan desert. We climbed
up a sand dune (well, I tried and got a third of the way. Those
things are high! He made it.), we rode camels and we slept under the
stars. On thin mattresses, with thin blankets. And right as I lay
down I sat up again and asked one of our bedouin guides ”Are there
scorpions here?”. He looked at me and said with as much sincerety
as he could muster ”Noooo, no scorpions”. Liar. I didn't sleep
much that night, because every time a hand or foot strayed from that
mattress onto the sand, I woke up, thinking ”Scorpions!”.
I have a really hard time
thinking God would hand us scorpions.
So, here we have this
image of a man knocking on his friend's door at night, being really
obnoxious and waking him up, just for bread, and the guy inside is
probably looking for a suitable scorpion to hand him. It would have
been one thing if his friend needed a ride to the hospital or was
almost murdered or something that makes this whole knocking in the
middle of the night-business less annoying. But no, he wants some
bread. And our sympathies are of course clearly with the poor man
who's been driven out of his bed by this inconsiderate friend of his.
Makes us think this friend might have been drunk, doesn't it? The
kind that texts you in the middle of the night. But no. Jesus paints
this picture to a crowd that knows nothing about drunk texting. For
them, that man who refuses to get out of bed is the villain of this
story.
Yes. He really is a
distributer of scorpions, that one.
The laws of hospitality in
Jesus' time were so strong that his listeners probably groaned with
embarassment when they heard his sorry excuses. That kind of behavior
was simply unacceptable, shameful, like giving your poor kid a
scorpion. And Jesus says here, loud and clear:
God does not give you
scorpions.
God is not like the
selfish friend who refuses to help.
And God will not surprise
you with nasty things.
There are many people who
would like to tell you that bad stuff that happens is a result of
God's wrath. Many so-called Christians will blame violence and hate
and natural disasters on people who, in different ways, according to
these Christians, deserve punishment. But in this text, Jesus puts it
unusually clearly:
God will not send you a
scorpion instead of an egg. God sends good.
Now, you might not get
that egg. You might get Holy Spirit.
When we pray for God's
name to be hallowed, we pray that it will be a name that gives life
to all.
When we pray for God's
kingdom to come, we pray for a world in which justice and peace and
mercy reigns.
When we pray for our daily
bread, we pray for that which will sustain us, body and soul. It
might not be a lavish feast or that ever so desirable new Apple
computer.
When we pray for
forgiveness of our sins, we do so knowing they might be too many to
remember, and we do so knowing it takes some soul-searching and some
generosity to even dare to ask.
And when we pray for not
being tried, we do so remembering all of those brothers and sisters
who are tried and convicted each day, by themselves, by society, by
our courts.
It's difficult to see any
easy message here. Bad stuff happens. Accidents and sicknesses and
disasters, they happen, but they are NOT, and let me repeat that
again, NOT sent by God.
God is our loving parent,
dedicated to nourishing us, to making us grow, to lift us up. God is
longing for our love and our willingness to be all that we could be.
That kind of love will not
keep us away from all evil. It will not protect us from everything.
But it will be there when we cry. God will cry with us. God will
comfort us, walk with us, stay closer than anyone else dares.
There is so much horror in
this world. There always has been, as the text from Hosea shows us.
But we are carried by our parent, we are the children of a living
God.
We are the ones who
foolishly claim life in the face of death,
hope in the face of
despair,
joy in the face of sorrow.
Do not let anyone condemn
you,
do not let anyone
disqualify you.
Because our God is a
living god,
the God of fish instead of
snakes,
and eggs instead of
scorpions,
and death has no power
over you.
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