Better Than Biscuits

A pastor was attending a men’s breakfast in Farm Country. He asked one of the senior farmers to say grace before the meal.  The farmer began: “Lord, I hate buttermilk.” The pastor opened one eye and wondered where this was going. The farmer continued loudly proclaiming, “Lord, I hate lard.” Now the pastor was worried. However, without missing a beat the farmer prayed on, “And Lord, you know I don’t much care for raw white flour.” Just as the pastor thought to stand up and stop the prayer, the farmer said, “But, Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them up, I do love fresh biscuits. So, Lord, when things come up we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we just don’t understand what you are saying, we just need to relax and wait until you are done mixing, and probably it will be something even better than biscuits. Amen.”
A little levity on a Sunday when the readings are anything but funny. In Jeremiah God compares God’s self to a potter, who in the making a vessel reworks the clay many times over.  The prophet tells the people God’s work as potter includes shaping evil against the people and devising a plan against them; unless they turn around; turn and amend their ways and their doings. In Luke Jesus continues the conversation in a similar vein, teaching what amended ways look like, and graphically explaining what ‘doings’ are expected of followers.  Jesus is blunt; you did hear the Gospel read correctly, “whoever comes to me and does not HATE father and mother, wife, children...even life itself cannot be my follower.”
It is one thing to hate buttermilk, to hate lard, but, to hate father and mother and all those familial relationships where one hopes for relationships that are right and good and healthy. To hate, Jesus, are you being serious?
Yes, this passage is Jesus being very serious. Although perhaps with too much hyperbole, Jesus is stressing that being a disciple could lead to losing relationships with loved ones ... because you will be different. You will be set free to live, not for oneself, but, rather, for the health and wellbeing of the world. It might mean altering beliefs, affiliating with a different political party, changing one’s lifestyle, befriending a new group or groups of people, advocating for  ideals that contradict others in one’s own family circle. It means choosing beliefs, morals, ethics, attitudes, and actions for oneself; sometimes this is a drastic turn----and it can cause irritation, fights, and broken relationships. It will also create and build new relationships.
Jesus isn’t mincing his words. After the potential loss of relationship he comments that one needs to carry the cross, and this is not hyperbole to the hearers.  Rome was very adept at killing rabble-rousers, advocates, and social change makers.  The land was littered with people dead or dying on crosses along roadsides; the idea was to deter uprising; to deter people thinking for themselves; to deter people from giving hope and power to those who were hopeless, helpless, and powerless.
 Years after Jesus’ strong words, workers in the church were carrying the cross; literally dying for sharing the Gospel, for living a different way, for challenging the powers of the time to address social injustices, for giving hope to the forgotten, for lifting the poor out of poverty, for loving their neighbours, for opposing the Empire, for advocating for rights, for redistributing resources.  Paul writes his letter to Philemon, while in prison for preaching the Gospel. Others at the time had been killed -crucified on crosses- and more deaths followed. Paul writes Philemon with a very big, life altering ask. He asks that Philemon put his faith into action – to live the Gospel- by giving his slave Onesimus his freedom.  This is a big ask! Slavery was the norm in Roman households of Philemon’s time.  Colossae, the city, where Philemon, lived had many merchants, land owners, and magistrates who had slaves. To make ‘the ask’ more difficult Onesimus was a run away slave, this explains why Paul had met him while in prison.  Onesimus has been changed by the Gospel and wants to be an emissary for the Gospel – to do this he needs to be free, so he has the ability to go and teach, preach, and serve.
 Philemon is a Christian.  He has resources such that the church in Colossae meets in his house. He is seen as a patron of the church.  Paul fills his letter with accolades, and pressures Philemon to make the ‘right’ decision for the Gospel – to free Onesimus.  To do this was to carry a cross.  Philemon’s fellow social and class group would be upset at this revolutionary move, and it would ostracize him from colleagues. For goodness sake, such actions might give slaves ideas; it set people free, it changed the balance of power, it changed society values, it was not the perceived best practice, it would disrupt the comfort of the status quo, it could start a rebellion. This is exactly what Jesus meant in the Gospel – warning of hating father and mother, and that being a disciple was costly.
I had a Christian history professor in seminary who over and over again, preached, that if the church is not being persecuted, it is not living the Gospel. He came out of a seminary experience that included participating in the labour union movement, the Pittsburgh steel riots of the 1970s, and various marches for this or that. He fought hard for the rights of workers...this came out of his understanding of the Gospel, that all should be free from slavery, whatever its form.  He carried this cross - losing relationships, building others, to follow Jesus’ revolutionary ideals – for the healing of the world.
Today’s scriptures tell us, in blunt and shocking words, exactly what being a follower – a Christian is about. We are told exactly how much it will cost us.  I wonder, how much has being a Christian cost you? Have you carried a cross?
Peter Claver was born in 1581 into a devout Catholic family.  His parents were prosperous farmers and land owners. As a young adult he attended the University of Barcelona and was known for his intelligence and piety; this led him to more study within the Society of Jesus. At the time, there was a lay brother, Alphonsus Rodriguez, at the college; he was known for having a gift of prophecy. Alphonsus believed that God had called Peter Claver to spend his life in service in the colonies in the new world – in New Spain.
In 1610, Claver arrived in New Spain, in the city of Cartagena, in what is now Columbia. He spent six years in study and living with the Jesuits before being ordained a priest. In these years, Claver was deeply bothered by the harsh treatment and living conditions of slaves being brought in from Africa. Slaves arrived on ships that were overcrowded and despicable in condition, with an estimated third dying on the voyage across the ocean. Cartagena was the hub of the slave trade, with 10,000 slaves coming into port each year; despite papal decrees having denounced slavery, it continued because it was a lucrative trade.
  The Jesuits had been ministering with the slaves for many years before Claver arrived to carry on the work of Fr. Alonso de Sandoval. Claver set up shop on the docks and met the ships -met the slaves- with medicine, food, clothing, and brandy, in hand.  In the off-season of shipping, Claver visited plantations taking along items in short supply. Claver took time to learn the language of the people, and taught Christianity in a vast number of African dialects. It is estimated that in his 40 years of ministry he personally taught and baptized 300,000 slaves.
But the Jesus work – the work talked about in today’s Gospel was his work that shock the powers that be.
He fought for Christian slaves to ensure they received their Christian and civil rights. Claver would return to plantations to continue to keep owners accountable. On such trips, he would accept the hospitality of slaves and lodge in these homes, refusing the hospitality of owners, overseers, and traders. His persistent advocacy for the rights of slaves annoyed city officials and magistrates.
His unrelenting work, determination, outspokenness, and actions saw the change, as slave situations improved. In time Claver was considered a moral force – and called the Apostle of Cartagena. Claver up to his death in 1654 from a prolonged sickness, referred to himself as “the slave of the slaves forever.”
Peter carried a cross;  a cross that set others free.  Because of the Gospel, whom have you free?
Jeremiah ends with the words of the Lord, Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings. We are invited to live big picture thinking.  Philemon has the choice to free his slave Onesimus, Paul saying it is the ethical, the Christian thing to do, even though in his world this would have been a revolutionary act. We are told that carrying the cross is the expectation, the Christian best practice.
We might hate buttermilk. We might hate lard. We might not like raw white flour very much. BUT, we do like biscuits.  God is mixing the dough, mixing us up, cooking up a batch of Christians that are not afraid to live Christian lives... lives that through the Gospel set people free. Please God, when things come up that we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we just don’t understand what you are saying, help us relax, and let you mix....so that we have the power to act and to live into freedom...to participate in creating something way better than biscuits. Amen.

note that the joke was sent to me via social media