Nov 15, 2009 - Small Talk on Big Topics

Luke 18: 9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ¹⁰‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector.¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. ¹²I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” ¹³But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

 Sue says, “War had broken out between my roommate and me. We dealt with our anger by not communicating with each other. I came in one night and found a note from my roommate with just four words on it: "I wish you Jesus." I cried. Then I wrote a note asking her for forgiveness. I placed it on her pillow and went to sleep.

 Later that night, my roommate came home and called to me from the hallway that she had left a note on my desk-- your sister had called and wants you to send her the music for the song entitled "I Wish You Jesus"!

Sue concludes, we both had a good laugh--and we made up.

Sue Martinuk, Saskatoon, Sask. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare."

 In Eugene Peterson’s book, Tell It Slant, he expresses that he’s “interested in the out-of-the-way, unstudied, and everyday conversations that take place in kitchens and family rooms, having coffee with a friend, making small talk in a parking lot… (he continues) I want to attend to the words we listen to and speak as we go about the ordinary (activities) of work and family, friends and neighbors, and provide them with an equivalent dignity alongside the language that we commonly associate with the so-called ‘things of God’” In prayer and worship. (pg. 3)

 Small talk on big topics can be as influential and meaningful as well-prepared legislation, speeches, or even worship settings. “It is a huge irony that Jesus, whose words create and form our lives, never wrote a word, at least not a word that was ever preserved… and he is the Word made flesh.  He didn’t write, he spoke… we find him speaking informally in conversational give-and-take while eating meals at someone’s home or with friends, strolling in fields or along a lakeshore, or responding to various interruptions and questions while going somewhere or other.” (Pg. 10-11)

Certainly Jesus impacted life and people through teaching and through preaching. And he also used a third kind of language: the informal conversations…he talked with the men and women with whom he lived in terms of what was going on at the moment… using circumstances of their lives as his text.

 Small talk on big topics take place in the normal course of going about our lives in hallways, workplaces, grocery stores.  You know, the kind of conversations that happen between Sundays. (pg. 13-14)

 And instead of just speaking the naked truth, which people wouldn’t understand or would turn defensive and not listen, Jesus often used story to make small talk on big topics in ways that the truth would set them free.

 Here’s an example from a Hasidic parable:

Peterson writes, “Jesus does not tell stories in order to illustrate large `truths’,… he doesn’t seem to care much about telling us an abstract truth (either). Jesus intends to get us involved, our feet in the mud and our hands in the bread dough, with the living God who is at work in this world…. To get us actively in on the ways and will of God in the homes and neighborhoods and workplaces where we spend our time.” (pg. 134)

 Just as today’s bible text tells the story of two sinners. Jesus sets this story in the place of prayer. You know, the universal conversation with God: so basic and easy to begin but so difficult to sustain.  Peterson writes that “the two contrasting characters, a Pharisee and a tax collector, provide the action of the story. But what catches my attention at the outset is what they have in common: they both go to the same church (the temple), they both pray when they get there, and they are both sinners.” (pg. 136)

 A tax man was well known in that society as an unscrupulous crook. Collecting taxes for the Roman government was probably the most exploitative and lucrative job available to a first-century Jew.

And the Pharisee? Pharisees in that society were on the whole well respected. They took God and God’s law seriously… But this particular Pharisee was a fake.”

 Jesus’ story raises the awareness of how easy it is to use the setting of church and the forms and words of prayer to avoid the demanding work of dealing with God and God’s people.” Both people are sinners, yet both do not know it. The tax collector knows and prays honestly, humbly and earnestly that God would have mercy upon him; True and raw confession that transcends social class, racial ethnicity, or political party – rising like incense to a righteous God who hears the prayer and forgives.

 The Pharisee uses prayer to express superficial gratitude “God, I thank you that I am not like other people, thieves” etc.  It is a surface prayer that is not honest, it avoids his own sin, a prayer rising like a rock – with a resounding “thud”.

 The story illustrates God’s view of humility. It brings together language through story and prayer to heighten our awareness, to teach a lesson, to encourage self reflection of our own prayer life and our need for honest humility.

 As we read the story of Jesus, and the stories that Jesus told, we let ourselves be formed by these transforming stories – applying the truths of Jesus Christ to our own Christ-like behaviors – the way he talks, the way he treats people, the Jesus way.” (pg. 154)

 Now for many people, talkin’ about the weather is a way of making small talk. And it’s also good for story and metaphor.  Small talk of weather can turn to big topics of life lessons and truth telling.

For example, “keep looking for the silver lining”

Well Parker Palmer tells a parable entitled The Blizzard of the World. Let’s see what life lessons and truth telling can be learned from it.

Dale Durie shares that one fall afternoon, my grandfather was at home with my grandmother and heard a knock on the door. The visitor was a neighbor lady who said to my grandfather, "I was out feeding the horses, and I felt like God was prompting me to come and say thank you for the difference you've made in my life."

She sat down and began to tell stories about times when my grandfather had been merciful to her as a widow and cared for the cows and horses and done all of kinds of practical things. She thanked him for being so real. She went through this litany of good deeds, including bringing peace in relationships with some of her children. She finished with, "I just felt like God wanted me to tell you that."

My grandfather paused and looked at her and said, "It was the Lord Jesus Christ who did it."

There was another pause, and my grandmother struck up a conversation with this lady. A few seconds later they heard a cough and saw my grandfather slumped over. He was with Jesus.

My grandfather's last words were, "It was the Lord Jesus Christ who did it."

Dale Durie, from the sermon Mission Possible (6-1-03

 John’s gospel story begins with “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” (1:1, 14)

 In our conversations between Sundays, may we be aware of the Word living in us that longs to be made flesh in our ordinary situations to express the extraordinary language, stories, and teachings of God. And between now and next Sunday, “I wish you Jesus”.