IMAGINATION – A SPIRITUAL TREASURE

Text: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

In this Gospel reading we have six parables of the kingdom. These aren’t the only parables of the kingdom: Jesus has already told the parable of the sower and the parable of the wheat and the weeds. When the disciples ask him “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” (Matthew 13:10), Jesus answers, “The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ (Matthew 13:13) Is he just trying to confuse people? Not the people who want to know. He’s speaking in a way that those who want to understand will be able to figure it out, and those who want to give him trouble will be confused. The truth that Jesus communicates can be comprehended by people of faith, but to people of no faith it makes no sense.

The first parable is the parable of the mustard seed. The smallest seed grows into a great bush which is a refuge for birds who make nests in its branches. What’s the point here? The point is that God’s kingdom may be hard to see, but its effects can be very large. And besides that, the kingdom offers hospitality to many who need a place of safety.

The second parable is the parable of the yeast. When a small amount of yeast is mixed with flour and liquid, it may be hidden, but it has a significant effect on the quality of the mixture. A flat puddle becomes an expanding, bubbly mass. The texture and the flavour and the size are enhanced. The yeast is a catalyst. Likewise the Christian community is a catalyst in the larger society – to enhance the quality of the whole. What is invisible has a surprising effect.

The third parable is about the treasure hidden in a field. When the person finds it, he hides it until he can sell all his possessions in order to buy the field containing the treasure. Again, the item of value is hidden, and the implication is that it is not valued by everyone. But to this one who finds it, it is worth everything he owns, and he gives up all his possessions in order to have the treasure. Jesus is saying that those who give their whole lives to follow him will receive a treasure worth all their loyalty.

The fourth parable is about the merchant searching for fine pearls to buy. When he finds one pearl of great value, he sells everything he has in order to buy it. This merchant is a step ahead of the person in the third parable who seems to have discovered the treasure by accident. The pearl merchant is looking for excellence and when he sees it, he knows it and gives up everything to have it. Is the point of these two parables the priceless value of the treasure and the pearl, or the behaviour of those who give everything to have the item of great value? Since Jesus is telling the story, the value of the treasure and the pearl, images for the kingdom, is a given. The behaviour of the seekers is Jesus’ point, particularly since Jesus says that the person finding the treasure is overjoyed to find it, and has no problem sacrificing all he owns in order to get it.

The fifth parable is about the dragnet. It is thrown into the sea and catches every kind of fish. At the shore, the fishermen keep the good fish and throw out the bad. This is a teaching about the end of time when angels will separate the righteous from the evil ones. The evil ones will be thrown into the furnace of fire where they will suffer greatly. This is the same teaching as the one about wheat and weeds. The sorting is not done by human beings, so we must hold our judgment; judgment belongs to God and the angels, who are God’s agents.

The sixth parable is about the master of the household who has in his treasury that which is new and that which is old. This parable concludes the chapter of parables, and it is a parable about making parables. Jesus says this applies to scribes who are trained for the kingdom of heaven: they must understand the way of communicating in parables. It’s an invitation to create new parables. This applies to all of Jesus’ disciples who are called to teach: they are directed to use parables as their way of teaching.

What can we conclude from this collection of parables? One thing that is clear is that the kingdom of God always contains an element of surprise. It produces something unexpected. I would say that is my experience of God over the years: a series of small surprises and a few big ones – and I’m talking about pleasant surprises. I don’t think God is out to get us with nasty surprises. Are we surprised because we just don’t know God very well? Maybe. But even more - perhaps God just likes to surprise us, like a parent who likes to offer nice surprises to the children, simply to enjoy their pleasure and delight.

Another thing that’s clear is the absolute value of the kingdom – it is simply the most important thing in life – and in death. Do you ever ask yourself what is most important to you? We spend a lot of our time in this society – in North America and the western world – focusing on things that we eventually find out are not all that important. Have you noticed that you very quickly get tired of having new things, and that buying more new things doesn’t make you any more satisfied? In fact, do you notice that you get tired of looking after all the things you own, and there comes a time when you think about getting rid of a lot of them – and nobody wants them? I thought about that frequently when I was in Peru this spring: it’s amazing how little people really need. I saw many people in the countryside who have no more than our livestock have: a shelter, some water and food. Oh, I guess human beings need a few clothes, but they certainly don’t need elaborate furnishings and rooms and laundries in which to store and care for those clothes, as we do. A couple of hooks on the wall will do, to hang up a poncho or a hat, and a change of clothes. Do you ever think what a burden it is to own so much stuff, and do you wish life were more simple? But what would we do all day, if we didn’t have to produce so much income to buy all these things and spend so much time looking after them all? Well, in a northern climate, a certain number of material possessions are necessary. In Peru, you can live outside for the most part, but not in Canada. But nevertheless, Jesus is challenging us to think about what is most important to us. How would we live if our treasure and our pearl of great price was God’s kingdom? Would we be walking a different path in life?

What are the values of the kingdom? Smallness is good. Hospitality is good. That which is really valuable – treasures and precious things – often needs to be searched for. It’s necessary to look beneath the surface to find the real things of value. The truth is profound and not always obvious. There will be a time of reckoning when God will make clear what is of value and what is not. Meanwhile we must use our faith in the Word of God to guide us.

And the kingdom also seems to value imagination. Anybody who tells stories to explain things is using imagination. It was a primary method of teaching among the Jewish people, and one of Jesus’ main tools for instructing his disciples. Using images – like the mustard seed, the yeast, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price, the dragnet – requires awareness, listening and careful thought. Why not simply state what’s true and what’s false? Why not simply make a list of rules of behaviour and insist that everyone stick to them? Because human beings don’t function that way. And, I suspect, neither does God. So the Jews distinguished between the Law (“halakah”) and the commentary on the Law (“haggadah”). The Jewish scholars reasoned, “Yes, the Law says this….” “But perhaps it means this? Or this?” And they would imagine and tell stories and expand their understanding. Their approach to the Law and the scriptures became a body of teaching that was very thoughtful, very deep and, I would say, very human. But because it was done with great respect and seriousness – a search for hidden treasure – it was also very godly.

That kind of reasoning drives literalists crazy. People who take the scriptures literally want them to mean only one thing. But considering how Jesus taught with parables like the ones we read in today’s Gospel, how the Jewish scholars thought, they could mean more than one thing. We are challenged to find deeper meanings.

God is not one-dimensional, and God’s Word is rich and profound and many-faceted. We need imagination to read it and understand it and speak of it to others. Don’t be afraid of imagination.

THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE LIKE THE SUN

Text: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Jesus has just told the parable of the sower – that was the Gospel for last Sunday. We know what that’s about: that it’s important to cultivate good soil for the seed of the Word of God, so it germinates and grows well. The good soil is an image for receptive hearts which receive the Gospel message and allow it to flourish in their lives. And now Jesus tells another parable: the story of the wheat and the weeds. It seems pretty straightforward: the weeds are sown by the devil, and at the end of the age angels will come from heaven, collect the weeds and throw them into a fiery furnace. Weeds are an image for those who follow the devil – those who refuse to hear the Gospel and allow it to enter their hearts. They will end up weeping and gnashing their teeth, while the wheat plants will have big smiles on their faces.

Well, that seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? The good get rewarded and the bad get punished. End of story. But not so fast….Why does God wait until the end of the age to see that the weeds are destroyed? Could it be that it’s not so clear which plants are wheat and which are weeds? That’s possible. Could it be that God shows a lot of patience toward those who act like weeds but have the potential to become wheat? Maybe so. If so, why does Jesus tell such threatening stories – where we wonder whether we’re good plants or bad weeds? I think it could be that Jesus told these stories but not in such “either-or” terms, but human beings report the stories in ways that suit themselves. That’s like the “fire and brimstone” kind of preaching that threatens everybody who doesn’t line up with conventional religious behaviour. Isn’t that the way it is: the good get rewarded and the bad get punished? Well, if we have any experience at all in life, we know that none of us is completely good or completely bad, so how do we make the distinction between wheat and weeds? The truth is that when all is said and done, we don’t make that distinction - God does. Our responsibility is to make the distinction between good behaviour and bad behaviour for ourselves. We don’t get to judge whether others, or even ourselves, are good or bad people. Our concern is our own behaviour, not judgment.

Our other readings this morning provide examples of people who might have been considered weeds, but by the grace of God became useful plants in the kingdom of God. The Old Testament lesson tells a story of Jacob, and a dream of a ladder to heaven. Is Jacob on that ladder? It seems that he is: God makes a promise to Jacob….”all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and your offspring….I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” But we know that Jacob was a cheat and a liar and a scoundrel, definitely a weed at many points in his life. And yet God saw fit to call Jacob as one of the patriarchs of the Jewish nation, a man who inspired others to daring acts of faithfulness to God. How did he get from weed to wheat in one lifetime? The same way that all of us do: through God’s forgiving grace. And that comes through God’s vision of our future: that we can be wheat even though we feel and look like weeds. In that case, it would be too bad if we wrote ourselves and others off before we arrive at the point in God’s future where we are productive and useful members of the kingdom.

Another example is in the reading from Romans. It’s Paul the Apostle writing these words. And what does he say? “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Paul is writing with confidence, believing that he and others are not only children of God, but heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, standing to inherit all the riches of God in heaven, even though - and this is a big exception – even though Paul had been a persecutor of Christians, one who brought about the death of Stephen and probably other martyrs as well. So Paul too got from weed to wheat in one lifetime. At least that’s how it looks to us. To God I think it looked different; God could see the vision of Paul the Apostle even while Paul was still the persecutor of Christians, violently opposed to God’s kingdom.

My Bible commentary suggests that the main point of the parable is this: “the kingdom is a mixed body of saints and sinners on earth, until the final sifting by God’s agents [probably the angels]. Therefore patience, tolerance and forbearance are necessary. No one should usurp divine judgment.” It is also pointed out that the word “gather” or “collect” is used four times in the first paragraph [and twice in the second paragraph] of the reading, which suggests that the parable is concerned with the Christian community. The commentary goes on to say “Puritanical groups who try to exclude all sinners end up with small or short-lived communities.” Jesus is telling us in this parable that we are not to be judging each other, for at least two good reasons: first, we don’t know God’s future for each person, and second, we must not destroy the Christian community by excluding those we perceive to be sinners. On both counts, we might be very wrong.

I’ve told the story before of my friend Colleen. I should update you on her story. She was a drug addict and dealer and armed robber in Edmonton and Vancouver. On her 40th birthday she was in the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario, and decided she wanted to go straight and become a “citizen” as she called it. To her that meant she would do something legal and productive and get her three children back, even if it meant she spent the rest of her life in poverty. That was in 1994. I met her in 1995. She was working, she had an apartment, she was off drugs and reasonably sober. She had health problems as a result of her lifestyle, and very little support from her family of several sisters and brothers. Her husband, who had been violently abusive, managed to avoid paying her any maintenance. But Colleen had plenty of guts. She knew she had been a criminal in the eyes of the justice system and a sinner in the eyes of her church – a fundamentalist group that made sure she knew how bad she was. But somehow she believed in a merciful God. Her father was Norwegian and had been a Lutheran, and he was the only person who was kind to her when she was a child. So she latched onto the idea that maybe a Lutheran pastor could put her on a good footing with God.

It wasn’t my doing; it was the mercy of God that moved her onto the path into God’s future. She confessed her sins, accepted forgiveness and started living like a “citizen”. She began working at one of the inner-city agencies and was able to relate well to people struggling with addictions and poverty and the stigma of having done time in prison. She badgered Child Welfare constantly and eventually got her oldest son, then her middle son, then her youngest son, back in her home. She struggled to support them – and if you know anything about living in poverty in Canada or anywhere else, you know that it often requires rather marginal activities – it’s hard to hold up your head in polite society when you have to cut corners and beg and cajole and juggle and borrow to make ends meet – and then something unexpected happens and the ends don’t meet after all. Colleen was clever and sharp and imaginative; somehow she made it work. But meanwhile her health was deteriorating. From childhood asthma to full-blown Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder, she gradually was unable to breathe. She had to have oxygen full-time. She still went to work, even though she could hardly make it up the stairs to the office, and at home she had to move her bedroom to the living room. Then, by some miracle, in Colleen’s mind, she got put on the list for a lung transplant. She didn’t think someone like her – who had to some extent brought her disease upon herself with her street lifestyle and addictions – would have the right to a new set of lungs. I was there the day she asked the transplant surgeon if she would have the same chance as anybody else at getting a set of lungs. Yes, he said – and he added that most of their transplant patients had lifestyle issues one way or another, from smoking or some other habit that destroyed their health. And sure enough, within a year she had a set of new lungs. That was in November of 2001 – almost seven years ago.

The last time I saw Colleen was in June of 2005 when I went to Edmonton to baptize her three sons and her granddaughter. It was a joyful occasion. We went to her house afterwards and had a party to celebrate the occasion. I stayed at her house that night and she gave me her bedroom. She was going to sleep on the couch in the living room. Her youngest son was the only one who still lived at home and she didn’t want to take his room because he was writing a Grade 12 diploma exam the next day. Sometime during the night a woman and her son arrived on Colleen’s doorstep needing a place to stay. She gave the woman the couch and she slept on the floor. That was what Colleen did – in fact she had been that generous all of her life, and it was often what got her into trouble.

She was already struggling a lot with her health – even though she said she was relieved she could take a full breath, she had other issues with her heart and with diabetes brought on by the anti-rejection medications she had to take. But she kept going – it was what she did. She had tremendous courage and determination.

I got a message one day this spring telling me Colleen had passed away. She was 54 years old. I wished very much that I’d known how sick she was – the last time I tried to call her the telephone was disconnected. I wasn’t able to go to the funeral because of the short notice but I did send a message to be read at the service. People who were there told me it was read. So I was able to tell everyone that I believe Colleen went straight to heaven, and that her life was no doubt very pleasing to God. By believing in the mercy of God, she lived straight into God’s future. I am sure she is one of the “righteous [who] will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father….Let anyone with ears listen!”

An Invitation to Abundance

Genesis 25: 19-34

Psalm 119:105-112

Romans 8:1-11

Matthew 13: 1-9 & 18-23

From ought...or...from naught...to everything...from “no” thing...from nothing ...to something...or...would it be better to say...sum thing...SUM -thing...sum of all things...or perhaps...it would even be better to say...SON-thing...God thing...from ought...or...naught...to God...

From barren to birthing...from sown seed to full fruit...the great I AM...God... doing...always...doing what God does best...creating...making all things new... birthing God...into God’s world...in the midst of the chaos of darkness...God said...let there be light...and...indeed...there was...and God said that the Light was good...truly...God always is...starting in chaos...ending with creation... from ought...or...naught...with God...

Strange are these contrast...don’t you think...nothing to everything...chaos to creation...darkness to light...barren to birthing...seed to fruit...yet...strange as these contrasts may seem to be...it truly is...these contrasts...that point the way for us...point the way for us toward...both...the never ending...work of God creating...of God indwelling in God’s world...of God making all things new ...of God healing...and...the abundance of God with us...in...with...and through Christ...

It begins...as it always does...for us...well...at least liturgically speaking...every Advent...the world...dark cold and barren...and...God promising to birth a new way of living and being into that world...and...then it is...what a day...into the darkness...comes the light...and that darkness is over come...and...then...the light goes on out into the darkness of the night...that new light start shining bright...and...then follows the day of Ashes...Lent and Holy Week...and death and much darkness...yet...death is overcome...Resurrection abounds...the God Light shines bright... and...then...finally...the light of God’s Spirit ...dances into our own darkness...

Well...enough said...that point being made...contrasts...but...hang onto the thought...for indeed...we live...yes we do...you...and...you...and me...in such contrast ...God coming...always...into God’s world...and...here we are...then... in our Pentecost Season...looking about...at the darkness that abounds...your darkness...our darkness...everyone here knows how dark the darkness can be...yet and still...God invites us...just like God invites Sarah...Rebekah...and Mary...to...be not afraid...exclaims the Angel Gabriel...God invites us to see the abundance of God...to see the Light...to be washed clean...made whole... set free...to be healed...and...to become living vessels of the birthing of God into the world...to be come like a seed of Gospel News...that blossoms...into fruit in God’s world...

You see...the birthing stories...that you find throughout our texts...and like we read this morning with Rebekah...Esau and Jacob...are never...just birthing stories...like the local newspaper birth announcements...look dear...she had twins...rather...each of these stories...are stories about the birthing of God into the world...God doing what God does best...we need to be alert...to God’s birthing in the world...to God alive...to God at work...to God in our world...in the darkness of our world...Rebekah saw just such a reality coming into her world...and to her invitation from God toward God abundance...she responded...by saying...“I will go...” ...and...so...how is that with you...

In this Season of Pentecost...this Season of our faith greening...this Season of our faith growing...of course...growing in response to what God has done... in...with...and through Christ...do you hear...do you want to hear...can you see...do you even want to see...the light in the darkness...the abundance that God is birthing into the world...that hymn...remember...I once was lost...but now...but now...I see...

Well...if truth enough be told...none of us...really...do a very good job of either hearing or seeing...or...even wanting to hear or see...in the midst of God’s abundance...are we not more inclined to see scarcity...sure we are...are we not more inclined to dwell in our very own darkness of self...over and against the light of God...sure we are...Sin being defined as...remember...curved in on self...remember...too...if you will...our Romans reading from last Sunday... Paul exclaiming...For I do not do...what I want...but...I do the very thing I hate ...Paul...finding himself...caught...amidst the everyday choices of life...caught between the darkness and the light...between self and other...between flesh and spirit...the choices of life...out there...are always tough...the darkness or the Light...

Perhaps...the psalmist says it best...saying...begging...O God...I am sorely afflicted...give me life...O Lord...according to thy word...yet...that very same word...exclaimed to be...a lamp to my feet...a light to my path...

Yet...amidst the tough everyday choices of living...there is good news...for us the Gospel News...news that we can read from Romans this morning...there is therefore...now...no condemnation for those who are in Christ...Jesus...or ...as the writer of the Gospel of John...put it...so many years later...for God so loved the world...that He gave his only Son...(for them)...that’s you...

The point of all of this is to say that life can be a tough thing...you know that... but...in the midst of much darkness...always...always...is Resurrection...new life...the Hope...Hope with the capital H...Hope that we name Christ...

One could say that the imperative here...is... to choose life...to be positive... but...that’s hardly anymore than the consequence of it all...the good news... the Gospel News...is not what we do at all...but...rather...what God did...does ...and will do...the good news...the Gospel News is that God chooses us... you...and me...a lamp...onto our feet...Light in our darkness...

Lutheran Theology...our understanding of God speak...if you will...always is dialectical...there are no easy answers...to the many tough questions...of the day...yet...we live boldly...sin boldly...knowing that we are washed clean...that we live wet...that we are set free...that we are made whole...healed up...with Christ...Paul writes...for the law of the Spirit...of life in Christ Jesus...has set me free from the law of sin and death...

In Christ...there is no condemnation...there only is life...full life...abundant life ...eternal life...washed clean life...for God so loved the world...you...that He sent His Son...to love you...love us...into relationship with God...

So it is...then...that Jesus invites us...to take up the abundance we call life... Jesus comes as Light in our darkness...Come to me...all who labour...and are heavy laden...and...I will give you rest...To God be the glory...

Thanks be to God...
Amen

Pastor Glen

13 July 2008

THE VALUE OF IMPERFECTION

Text: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Jesus is teaching some hard truths here. He begins with a commentary on the role of John the Baptist who is at present being held in prison. Jesus pays tribute to John: John is extremely tough, a fearless prophet who speaks out regardless of the danger to himself, a harsh critic of political rulers and religious leaders. More than that, John is the forerunner and the foil to Jesus himself. John’s preaching is on the law. Jesus says that with John the kingdom of heaven comes violently, just as the prophet Elijah in his day preached condemnation to all who fail to keep the law. John commands complete obedience and threatens with condemnation all who fail to live up to its demands.

And then Jesus tells a little parable. Here’s an interpretation of the parable. There are two children playing in the marketplace; one is John, the other is Jesus. They call out to their friends to come and dance with them. The suggestion is that this is a wedding - an image for love and joy and new beginnings. There is music, but no one will join the festivities. Likewise, when the two children express sorrow, as in the event of a funeral at the time of a death - no one will join them either. John and Jesus express the joy and the sorrow in the heart of God for his people, but the people refuse to respond. People give excuses: they don’t like John’s message because it is too grim and demanding; they object to Jesus’ message because it’s too free and open. Jesus ends the parable with the statement: “Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds” - meaning the proof of both men is in the results of their actions. Both John and Jesus prove to be accurate and trustworthy. Those who refuse to listen to them are fools.

Jesus continues with the image of the wisdom of children. I don’t think he is referring specifically to little children here; rather, I think he means those whose hearts, like children, are open and obedient. According to Jesus, all of us must be like children in the simplicity of our hearts and our willingness to learn.

Jesus is drawing a comparison between his message and that of John the Baptist. John represents the traditional Jewish way: strict obedience to the Law. Jesus represents the new way of the kingdom of God: fulfillment of the Law through the sacrifice of God’s Son. To put it bluntly: God finds that human beings cannot live up to the requirements of the Law so God provides another way of salvation. Human beings have failed, but God chooses to save us. What is an appropriate response on our part to this offer from God? Something like the response of a child, I guess - a child knows it is not able to be fully obedient to its parents, so it must depend on the parents’ love to continue to live peaceably in their home. And what effect does that have on the child? The experience of forgiveness and acceptance for the sake of love creates humility and gratitude.

The coming of Jesus marks the coming of a new age and a new relationship with God. Unlike John, Jesus does not come thundering threats of hellfire and damnation. He’s not saying “Get ready or God will get you!”; he’s saying “Allow yourself to trust me and rest.” Jesus offers ministry and support to those who despair of living up to the Law. The image he uses in the last section of the Gospel passage today is that of the yoke, which is a traditional Jewish image for the Law. The Law is laid on the shoulders of the faithful Jew - it’s meant to guide and to control, but it also becomes a heavy burden to the one who labours under it. Jesus describes the “yoke” he imposes as “easy” and “light”. The implication is that Jesus shares the weight of the yoke and helps us carry it.

Two thousand years later, the church still struggles with these two responses to God. Do we focus on keeping the Law or do we trust in God’s offer of salvation through Jesus Christ? Well, of course, we say, we trust in God’s offer of salvation. We know we can’t keep the Law. But we keep trying. And we must keep trying, because God’s offer of salvation was not meant to be misused by kicking up our heels and doing whatever we like, good or bad. Neither was God’s offer of salvation meant to be misused by beating ourselves over the head constantly because we can’t measure up without God’s help. Nor was it meant to beat others over the head constantly because they can’t measure up. So we have this children’s game going on throughout the church, where some refuse to rejoice in God’s lovingkindness and some refuse to share in God’s sorrow at the state of the world. Some won’t grieve with John the Baptist and some won’t dance with Jesus the Saviour.
In this Synod we just got through the Synod Convention which happens every two years. And in the alternate years, there is a National Convention. What is one sign that these conventions are about to happen? The flurry of messages on the Synod list-server. The most fervent members of our church - many of them pastors - use a lot of energy arguing about which way is right. Do we require certain kinds of behaviour of ourselves and our people, or do we reassure them that in spite of their failures, they are safe with Jesus? Or is it a combination of the two - just enough Law to avoid hell and just enough salvation to boost us into heaven?

Here’s a story I read online in the last couple of weeks:
There were two friends, and both were accused of a crime before the king. Since the king loved them, he wanted to show them mercy. He could not acquit them because even the king’s word cannot prevail over a law. So he gave them his verdict:

A rope was to be stretched across a deep chasm, and the two accused were to walk it, one after the other. Whosoever reached the other side was to be granted his life.

It was done as the king ordered, and the first of the friends got safely across.

The other, still standing in the same spot, cried to him, “Tell me, my friend, how did you manage to cross this terrible chasm on that thin and swaying rope?”

The first of the two prisoners called back: “I don’t know anything but this: whenever I felt myself toppling over to one side, I leaned to the other.”


Well, we could say that the moral of this story is aim for a happy medium, that moderation is everything. Or we could say that the story teaches trust in the one who cannot set aside the law for us, but who guarantees our safety when we walk across the chasm. The person who told this story used it as an illustration of the spirituality of balance. She talks about the “value of imperfection”. She recognizes that as human beings we have a tendency to insist on our ability to make it on our own and to do it all. In other words, we believe that the king insists on the tightrope and offers no assistance or support. We must walk the tightrope alone and we must walk it perfectly. Loosely, that’s the approach of John the Baptist. But an understanding of the value of imperfection says that it‘s not this way. Jesus puts it in his way: “take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart“; in other words, “I will share the challenges and dangers of life with you by walking beside you, carrying the burden.” Which is another way of saying cultivate a child’s heart: the awareness that we will always stumble and fall, but that there is someone who loves us enough to watch out for us and help us to keep walking. And we need not fear the chasm below, because with Jesus at our side, we will not fall.