Rev. Dr. Mark Allen Doty, Senior Pastor
Hammond Street Congregational Church
Bangor, Maine
March 7, 2010
OPEN INVITATION
ISAIAH 55:1-9
ON MONDAY OF THIS PAST WEEK, TIM FURROW CAME THROUGH THE DOOR REMINISCING ABOUT NANCY SAVAGE. SHE WAS ON TIM'S MIND, BECAUSE HER DEATH NOTICE HAD BEEN POSTED IN THE MORNING PAPER. IF YOU ARE A LONG-TIME RESIDENT OF BANGOR, CHANCES ARE YOU KNEW NANCY SAVAGE--A LADY AS THE PAPER SAID WITH A "BOOMING VOICE AND BRIGHT SPIRIT" WHO WORKED FOR MANY YEARS OUT OF THE BANGOR YWCA. ACCORDING TO THE OBITUARY, MS. SAVAGE DIED ON DECEMBER 14TH AT THE AGE OF 86 IN THE CARE OF RELATIVES IN BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.
ACCORDING TO TIM, NANCY SAVAGE WAS EXTREMELY ASSERTIVE, BUT SHE WAS A PERSON YOU COULD COUNT ON "TO GET THINGS DONE." MANY OF YOU KNEW HER, OF COURSE. I DID NOT, BUT I HAD THE IDEA FROM THE WAY TIM DESCRIBED HER THAT THIS WOMAN COULD BE VERY INTIMIDATING AND NOT EASILY FACED UP TO.
HE WAS REMINDED OF A STORY THAT WAS STILL VIVID IN HIS MIND AFTER 40 YEARS. TIM SAID THAT ONE DAY IN 1970 HE AND A FRIEND WANTED TO BORROW ONE OF NANCY'S CANOES FOR THE BANGOR CANOE RACE. AND SO IN PREPARATION FOR THE RACE THE NEXT DAY, THE TWO FRIENDS TRUDGED THROUGH THE MUD AND THE POURING RAIN TO THE YWCA CAMP.
IF GETTING THE CANOE WAS DIFFICULT, THEN THE DAY OF THE RACE WAS A DISASTER. TIM AND HIS FRIEND FELL OUT OF NANCY SAVAGE'S CANOE, WHICH WAS THEN COMPLETELY DESTROYED. THE TWO YOUNG MEN RECOVERED, BUT THE BIG QUESTION WAS, HOW TO TELL NANCY?
CERTAINLY THAT WAS A TALL ORDER, NOT AN EASY TASK. THE YOUNG MEN TRIED TO DEVISE A PLAN TO REPLACE IT, BUT BEING POOR COLLEGE STUDENTS, THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY. SO TIM SCREWED UP HIS COURAGE AND BROKE THE BAD NEWS TO HIS BENEFACTOR. AMAZINGLY, NANCY ONLY RESPONDED WITH THAT BIG LAUGH OF HERS AND SAID, "WELL, I HOPE YOU HAD FUN!"
AS TIM FURROW REFLECTED ON THE EXPERIENCE, HE THOUGHT TO HIMSELF, "WELL, ASIDE FROM ALMOST GETTING KILLED, WE DID HAVE FUN!" AS SHOCKING AS THAT EXPERIENCE WAS OF BEING DUMPED IN THE COLD WATER, WHAT WAS EVEN MORE SURPRISING WAS THE REACTION OF THE FORMIDABLE NANCY SAVAGE! SHE HAD LET TIM AND HIS FRIEND OFF THE HOOK WITH HUMOR AND GRACE.
LONNI COLLINS PRATT WRITES OF A VERY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE WITH ANOTHER WOMAN. IT'S THE KIND OF SITUATION THAT HAS HAPPENED TO ALL OF US--NOT A HUGE DEAL BUT SOMETHING WE WOULD REMEMBER. FOR LONNI, IT HAPPENED ONE MORNING IN THE GROCERY STORE:
I WAS ATTEMPTING TO MOVE DOWN AN AISLE SO I COULD GET SOMETHING ON MY LIST. STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE WAS A WELL-DRESSED WOMAN WITH TWO SMALL CHILDREN, PROBABLY HER GRANDCHILDREN. SHE LOOKED ABOUT SEVENTY. SHE WAS SELECTING A PRODUCT FROM THE SHELVES NEAR THE BREAD I WAS AFTER. THE CHILDREN WENT TO MOVE AND LET ME THROUGH. SHE SHOT THEM A PARALYZING LOOK AND SAID, "STAY PUT. I AM NOT FINISHED YET" (Father Daniel Homan and Lonni Collins Pratt, Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way of Love, 2002).
LONNI PRATT SAID SHE FELT CERTAIN THE WOMAN MEANT THE WORDS FOR HER, NOT FOR THE CHILDREN. UNFORTUNATELY, YOU AND I HAVE ALL KNOWN PEOPLE LIKE THAT WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO LET OTHERS SHARE HER SPACE. FORTUNATELY, HOWEVER, YOU AND I HAVE ALSO KNOWN PEOPLE LIKE NANCY SAVAGE--FOLKS WITH BIG HEARTS WHO MANAGE TO LOVE US EVEN WHEN WE FAIL AND DISAPPOINT. WHEN PEOPLE LIKE NANCY RESPOND WITH THAT KIND OF BOUNDLESS GENEROSITY, THEY MODEL THE QUALITIES OF GOD FOR US. AND THAT BRINGS US TO OUR BIBLICAL WORD, NINE SHORT VERSES FROM ISAIAH THAT TALK ABOUT THE CHARACTER OF GOD. IN SUMMARIZING OUR PASSAGE OF THE MORNING, ONE COMMENTATOR HAS SPOKEN OF OUR GOD THIS WAY:
GOD LOVES US, NO MATTER WHAT, AND REACHES OUT TO US EVEN (OR ESPECIALLY) IN THE WORST OF TIMES, MAKING PROMISES THAT ARE NOT JUST PIE-IN-THE SKY, NOT JUST THEORETICAL. GOD PROMISES THE THINGS THAT WE MOST YEARN FOR, DEEP DOWN IN OUR HEARTS, THE VERY BASICS OF LIFE: HOMECOMING WHEN WE'RE LOST OR FAR AWAY, A RICH FEAST WHEN WE'RE HUNGRY, FLOWING FRESH WATER TO SATISFY OUR THIRST, AND A COMMUNITY OF HOPE WHEN WE LONG FOR MEANING IN OUR LIVES--SOMETHING GREATER THAN OURSELVES, IN WHICH AND THROUGH WHICH WE MIGHT BE A BLESSING TO THE WHOLE WORLD. OH, AND ANOTHER THING: THERE WILL BE NO COST AFFIXED TO THIS WONDERFUL FEAST, NO PRICE OF ADMISSION, AND EVERYONE (EVEN PEOPLE YOU WOULD NEVER EXPECT) WILL BE INVITED TO THE PARTY (Kate Huey, "Open Invitation," Sermon Seeds. ucc.org).
THE FIRST LINE OF OUR SCRIPTURE, WHICH IS TITLED "AN INVITATION TO ABUNDANT LIFE" BEGINS THIS WAY: "HO, EVERYONE WHO THIRSTS, COME TO THE WATERS; AND YOU THAT HAVE NO MONEY, COME BUY WINE AND MILK WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT PRICE." TRULY THIS IS THE PROPHET'S CALL TO EXPERIENCE THE SWEETEST LIFE IMAGINABLE--GIVEN FREELY AT NO COST.
PERHAPS YOU REMEMBER THE STORY TOLD TO ME BY A FRIEND OF MINE WHO WAS BOARDING A SHIP BEFORE GOING THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL. HE HAD DONE HIS TOURIST THING AND HAD DONE HIS SHARE OF HAGGLING WITH STREET VENDORS. MY FRIEND WAS OUT OF TIME AND MONEY. AS HE APPROACHED THE SHIP'S GANGPLANK, THERE WAS ONE MORE VENDOR TO GET BY. THE MAN WAS SELLING WOODEN CAMELS. "HERE," THE VENDOR SHOUTED TO MY FRIEND, "JUST FOR YOU! THREE DOLLAR." MY FRIEND SHOOK HIS HEAD AND WAVED HIS HAND. "HOW ABOUT TWO DOLLAR? BEAUTIFUL CAMEL JUST FOR YOU." "NO, SORRY," MY FRIEND SAID. "I HAVE ALL THE CAMELS I NEED." "MISTER, HOW ABOUT ONE DOLLAR?" SAID THE PERSISTENT VENDOR. THEN CAME A BLAST OF THE SHIP'S HORN. "GOTTA GO!" SAID MY FRIEND. AND WITH THAT THE STREET VENDOR THRUST THE CAMEL INTO HIS HANDS. "HERE," HE SAID, "TAKE IT! GIFT FROM ME TO YOU." THAT'S THE WAY OUR GOD OPERATES, BUT WITHOUT THE BARGAINING, THE BACK-AND-FORTH. WINE AND MILK--AND WOODEN CAMELS--ARE ALL FREE IN GOD'S REALM!
WE ARE TOLD THE BEAUTIFUL LINES FROM ISAIAH 55 COME FROM THE BOOK OF COMFORT ADDRESSED TO THE HEBREW PEOPLE IN EXILE IN BABYLON--ALMOST SIX HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE JESUS (Kate Huey). SO ISAIAH IS WRITING TO A PEOPLE IN CAPTIVITY. THEY ARE ANXIOUS FOR A WORD OF HOPE, A MESSAGE THAT WILL REASSURE THEM IN THE PRESENT AND PROMISE THEM A DIFFERENT WAY OF LIFE ONCE THEY ARE BACK HOME.
I AM REMINDED IN THIS CONTEXT OF LETTERS I HAVE WRITTEN TO INMATES IN PRISON. WHAT I FIGURE THESE MEN DON'T NEED TO HEAR ABOUT IS THE PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES I AM EXPERIENCING WITH DAILY LIFE. THEY WANT TO HEAR SOMETHING LIGHTER, SOMETHING WITH A NOTE OF PROMISE IN IT, SOMETHING THAT WILL TAKE THEIR MINDS OFF PRISON LIFE.
IN THIS LETTER TO THE BABYLONIAN EXILES, ISAIAH HAS CHOSEN A SIMILAR TACK. HE CALLS UP THE MEMORY OF ISRAEL'S GREATEST KING. HE KNOWS THAT WILL STIR THEIR NATIONAL PRIDE. FURTHER ISAIAH SAYS THE BOND THAT GOD MAKES WITH THE JEWISH PEOPLE WILL BE FOREVER: "I WILL MAKE WITH YOU AN EVERLASTING COVENANT, MY STEADFAST, SURE LOVE FOR DAVID. SEE, I MADE HIM A WITNESS TO THE PEOPLES, A LEADER AND COMMANDER FOR THE PEOPLES."
BUT EVEN AS THE PROPHET REKINDLES ISRAEL'S GLORIOUS PAST, SO HE ALSO CHALLENGES THEM TO LIVE THEIR LIVES WITH PURPOSE AND MEANING; IT IS A WORD THAT COULD JUST AS DIRECTLY BE APPLIED TO A 21ST CENTURY AUDIENCE AS ONE THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO: "WHY DO YOU SPEND YOUR MONEY FOR THAT WHICH IS NOT BREAD, AND YOUR LABOR FOR THAT WHICH DOES NOT SATISFY?" WHY ARE WE DOING THE THINGS WE ARE DOING, ISAIAH WANTS TO KNOW, WHEN IT DOESN'T MAKE US ANY HAPPIER OR MORE FULFILLED? INDEED, A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS LIVING TODAY ARE SAID TO HATE THEIR JOBS. AND SO THE PROPHET IS ASKING--THEN AND NOW--WHY DO YOU ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN?
ON THE OTHER HAND, "…MAYBE WE NEED TO BE A LITTLE HUNGRY, A LITTLE HOMESICK, NOT FOR 'WHAT DOES NOT SATISFY,' BUT FOR GOD AND FOR THE GIFTS OF GOD. TIMOTHY SHAPIRO CLAIMS THAT 'HOPE IS PRECEDED BY LONGING,' AND REASSURES THAT ONLY ONE THING IS REQUIRED: THIRST" (Kate Huey).
AND THAT WORD BRINGS YOU AND ME TO THE HERE AND NOW. IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS, I WILL BE EXTENDING AN OPEN INVITATION TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY TO EXPERIENCE THE ELEMENTS OF A LIFE THAT DOES SATISFY. LET THE WORDS OF ISAIAH BE OUR CALL TO THIS GREAT FEAST:
"SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND, CALL UPON HIM WHILE HE IS NEAR; LET THE WICKED FORSAKE THEIR WAY, AND THE UNRIGHTEOUS THEIR THOUGHTS; LET THEM RETURN TO THE LORD, THAT HE MAY HAVE MERCY ON THEM, AND TO OUR GOD, FOR HE WILL ABUNDANTLY PARDON."
Copyright 2010 by the Rev. Dr. Mark Allen Doty