“Carry no
purse, no bag, no sandals, and speak to no one on the road.” I’ve always
thought that was pretty strange advice from Jesus. What is this? Jesus the
minimalist? Jesus the barefoot guy? Jesus so rude he won’t even talk to people?
And then, courtesy of a friend, I heard this Zen Buddhist koan; “Knowledge is
learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day.”
If you don’t know about koans, a “koan”
is a puzzling short story or paradox. Its purpose is to take us out of our
normal thought patterns and open us to sudden intuitive enlightenment.[1]
Sound familiar? Koans are pretty close to the parables of Jesus, and a
Christian can choose to ponder a saying or a parable of Jesus in a similar way
that a Buddhist may ponder a koan. Doing so may lead to a new understanding of
how God is calling us to act.
In today’s scripture, Jesus invited
us to ponder, “carry no purse, no bag” as a parable designed to transform our
normal thought patterns and instill in us a new heart. He is inviting us to be
light in luggage and steady in love.
Our rational
minds tell us we need to pack well when we go on our Christian journey. We want
to take along all our knowledge. But just like the Zen koan that tells us about
wisdom rather than knowledge, Jesus asks us to seek wisdom rather than
knowledge. Seeking wisdom in what is necessary is what Jesus had in mind for
the apostles on their journey, and what Jesus has in mind for us. If we want to
be steady, to keep on in our life in Christ, we need to be light in luggage. We
need to think about what we want to carry.
Let me show you why. (Pause while I
retrieve a purse, and a bag.)
Perhaps we could examine how our
luggage affects our journey with Jesus. And by the way, if you’re wondering
where I picked up what’s in this luggage, these all things from the various
churches I’ve served. Dates or other identifying characteristics have been
changed to protect the innocent.
Let’s see what is inside this bag. It
seems to be a bit overstuffed. “I remember the time no one listened to me in
the Vestry meeting 6 years ago. I showed up to volunteer three years ago and
they were so disorganized.’ The Rector didn’t show enough compassion when my
mother died 20 years ago. My article didn’t get in the newsletter 15 years ago.
I ran for Vestry in 1989 and no one voted for me. The Bishop didn’t help us in
2002. The choir didn’t sing my favorite hymn on Christmas Eve 2003, 04, 07, or 11.”
There’s plenty more in here too and
it weighs a lot. See how heavy the bag is. It’s going to be difficult to drag
along. Maybe we could decide not to carry this bag on our journey. If we find
later we need something from it, we can always go back to it.
What about the purse? Let’s see
what’s in here. “I didn’t get a thank-you note for my pledge in 1985. No one
greeted me the first time I came to church in 1999. My name wasn’t in the last
parish directory, in 1994 or 2000, or 2005, or 2007, or 2010 or 2011 or 2013. The
Priest ignored me at coffee hour in 2012. I wanted to start an outreach project
in 1986 and no one wanted to do it with me.” There’s plenty more in here and it
weighs a lot. And, some of these are pretty tattered too, from being dragged
out of the bag a lot. Maybe we could stop carrying this purse and toss it
instead. We can, of course, go back to it if we find we need something.
But I think what’s in the bag and the
purse is like those things we shove to the back of our closets. We don’t really
need those things, we don’t wear them, but they cost a lot and we a reluctant
to let them go.
Jesus doesn’t say a lot about what –
if anything – we might carry on our journey with him. But perhaps wisdom would
tell us what we could carry that lets us travel lightly. How about these things
instead? (I pulled out a long chain of very lightweight paper rings, held
together like the ones kindergarteners make at Christmas time to decorate a
tree.)
“I remember the beautiful liturgy on
Christmas Eve last year. My mother’s funeral service was so comforting. I love
talking to new people at coffee hour. It’s so fascinating to hear about their
faith journeys and what brought them here. I had such a good time on Vestry
when we really got going on our mission. I love the Sunday service because I
connect with people whose lives are different from mine. When my spouse was in
hospital I could feel the love oozing out of the church and into our lives. I
was feeling really depressed about my doctor’s diagnosis, when up popped a text
from the priest. I got a phone call out of the blue thanking me for a little
thing I’d done around the church recently”
There’s a lot on this chain. There
are far too many to read today. Did you notice how much lighter this is? All
these loving things hardly weigh anything at all? It’s very different from that
heavy purse and bag. I think this chain of love would be really light to carry
on our journey with Jesus.
This might be what Jesus has said in
so many ways and so many places in scripture when he tells the disciples how to
live and how to follow him. “A new creation is everything,” Jesus says in this
morning’s Gospel. I invite you to leave your purse, and your bag behind and become
a new creation in Christ. Be light in luggage and steady in love. AMEN.
The Rev Nicolette
Papanek
©2016
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