Thus Says the Lord, interrupted by a Garbage Truck

Gathered into one, in an alcove of a shady backyard, a group of people worship. The sun shimmers through the trees, lighting on faces, as the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. Birds add their cheeps to the voices singing hymns. A gentle breeze cools, as a prayer is offered.  The reading from Ezekiel is read as listeners relax in lawn chairs, ending, thus says the Lord. As the Bible is passed and 2 Corinthians is heard, there arose such a racket… the reading comes to a stop with a raise of the hand and a loud voice, “Wait. Stop.  We can’t hear you!” The group patiently waits as a rumbling garbage truck moves through the neigbouring property.

Thus says the Lord. Interrupted by a garbage truck.

This occurred on Thursday in the backyard of the parsonage. Lutheran clergy met for worship, mutual support, learning, and fellowship. After the hearing, or lack of hearing, the Word, the group entered into holy conversation based on the readings. The interruption of the garbage truck was a hot topic.

Was the interruption simply that, an interruption?  Was the interruption a forced pause so we could hear God in the noise, or in the silence that followed? Was the interruption to draw our attention beyond our boundaries?  Was the interruption a thus says the Lord or an inconvenient annoyance?

Thus says the Lord. Jesus finds himself in his hometown on the sabbath.  As was the custom he went to the synagogue. As Jesus was teaching, a garbage truck rumbled through, in the queries of his neighbours:

Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him.

Interrupted.  A prophetic Word, the chance for a miracle and profound healings, all rendered impossible as the peoples’ garbage outweighed and pushed away a power that is beyond human capability. Jesus blatantly points out, that his neighbours are missing it: Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house. And he could do no deed of power there. I wonder what the power of God was about to do in that place and time, what might have emerged, until it was interrupted with human garbage?

Thus says the Lord. Interrupting the market place was Paul speaking of a grand vision of paradise, a third heaven, an experience he can not share with his listeners. The crowd comes to a standstill, to listen and dissect this peculiar speech; unlike the arrogance seen in other missionaries.  Paul has just built a case of opposition with the cynics of his time and set the stage for a boasting contest.  

Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul, loudly, rumbles through the crowd in a garbage truck.  They come to a full stop!

What was this?  Whenever I am weak, then I am strong. Paul boasts in his coming undone which is an unfathomable idea.  The Greek word for weakness, includes a root word that means “cohesion, a holding together.” It means to be strong and self-contained even as the outside world is falling apart.

Paul turns conventional reason completely upside down, as the Word of the Lord is wont to do.

Paul boasts in coming undone: a thorn was given me in the flesh. And he continues by emphasizing that God’s grace is sufficient, for power is made perfect in weakness. Because of this Paul says, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

And herein is the second part of the reversal: Paul is coming undone, and in this undoing, the world around him can be put back together.  This cohesion in the world comes about through the power of Christ being freed in the world, and it comes at a loss of self-containment, sacrificing of the single-personhood, risking to open oneself to what may or may not be; relinquishing control of self.

The commentary that presented some of this argument, continued by pondering that this reversal is most visible in human actions and feelings involved in the realms of relationship.

Weakness – the places we come undone—might be witnessed: in the spoiling of a child, falling head-over-heals in love, a desire for a return to a lost intimacy, using biting words with those closest to us; weakness might be grudges remaining hard in our hearts, the slowness of forgiveness, showing compassion, suffering with another/for another; worrying over the health and welfare of others, getting caught up in another’s emotional drama.  Perhaps there is weakness in the fear of losing a relationship or tears as loved ones die.  ‘Weakness” is the place where our hearts melt, dissolving into the world beyond our self-contained unit.

Living in relationship, being human, is full of interruptions --- a rumbling garbage truck. Being human includes weakness and brokenness. The hope is that grace is sufficient; there is strength in falling apart…

It is in a human’s falling apart wherein power emerges, made perfect in loving.

One can grow up in a family and feel loved; supported by a church community, connected to God in prayer, encouraged by neighbours, and have amazing friendships.  One can fall in love, get married, and grow in intimacy through the years.  ---convinced that all this is the fullness of love. This was me. This was my understanding of love.

That is until children came into our home. All of a sudden what I thought was love – notice I said thought—changed to a deeper heart experience.  And it was during the troubled times, the times I felt like I was drowning, the moments of high emotion, the being-beside-myself…that I didn’t just understand love, I experienced (eventually) a visceral understanding of unconditional love.  There was strength to be found in falling apart, in my weakness, power (not my own) emerged.  Power made perfect in loving.

Perhaps you have had a similar experience of strength and power, emerging from working at being in relationship?

Thus says the Lord. Interrupted by a rumbling garbage truck.

The theme for this year’s Synod Assembly, and the focus theme for the next biennium, is: Liberated by God’s grace, to be neighbour. At times throughout the event, meeting time was ‘interrupted’ with sessions exploring being neighbour.  The sessions were relational and had participants examine their relationship with neighbour. We confronted bias, prejudice, reconciliation-reconciliaction, and privilege.

In doing so there was an exploration of human weakness and the brokenness of human relations.

Assembly delegates were invited into an interfaith dialogue, acknowledged ancestral territory, prayed and sang in various tongues, experienced an exercise in discovering privilege, heard from Chinese, Indian, and Guyanese colleagues -their struggles, their growing communities. We were witness to stories of congregations working on relationships – on being neighbour; relationship often starting because regular operating procedure was interrupted by a garbage truck.  Thus says the Lord.

You may have heard of ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

This law says that people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, anger, and disappointment. As their garbage piles up, people need a place to dump it! ---bias, prejudice, unneighbourliness Sometimes they'll dump it on others.

The law describes what actions to take when encountering ‘the garbage truck:’ don’t take it personally.

Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. Do not let garbage trucks take over the world.

This brings us back to the reading from Ezekiel. Ezekiel is warned that interrupting the lives of the people, being outward focused, will not make him any friends, in fact it could bring all sorts of calamities.  The people are stubborn, self-absorbed, living as self-contained units.  Ezekiel, as Paul, throws this up in the air, as God’s Word is wont to do.  The people are referred to not as individuals but as “a people.”

The hope is that grace is sufficient; there is strength in falling apart…

It is in a human’s falling apart wherein power emerges, made perfect in loving.

Thus says the Lord: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. --- have people stand

Mortal, I am sending you in your weakness to the people, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me, into a world of broken relationships; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, to throw out the garbage,to be neighbour, to love,  and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord God." Whether they hear or refuse to hear this is not your concern, mend the broken, heal relationship, and they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.