Peace and Carrots

Our pastor asked us to reflect on when we realized we were Lutheran, so here’s my way of explaining. 

Religion, it seemed to me, was like chasing a carrot at the end of a stick.  You could run as hard as you wanted, but you would never reach that carrot.  It was an elaborate and confusing point system that never quite allowed you to accumulate enough credit to reach your goal. 

What do you do when you realize you’re playing a game you can’t possibly win?  You quit and that’s pretty much what I did.  Oh, I would still pretend from time to time like I was still a part of the game, but I knew when it was all over, I was going to end up the loser, just like everyone else, except they didn’t know it yet. 

I played along so well that I was given a Sunday School class to teach.  We decided to do a skit, so I looked online for one with the right number of parts that wasn’t too long.  The format was a game show in which the contestants competed with one another by taking turns naming all the good things they had done.  This made perfect sense to me, until the game came to an end.  The winner wasn’t the obviously better competitor.  Something wasn’t right.

I re-read the script.  It referenced Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”

The “carrot” was already mine.  It had been mine all along. And what a wonderful, life-changing, precious carrot it is.  

Eventually, I realized that there was a limitless supply of carrots.  In fact, I started finding carrots in a lot more places than I ever would have guessed, even in some strange places. Sometimes they snuck up and surprised me, in places like a cowboy movie or an Andy Griffith episode. 

When you have all the carrots you could ever want or need, you can afford to be exorbitantly generous.  There is no more reason to be stingy with or protective of carrots. You no longer have to worry about whether the other person has more carrots than you do.  You don’t have to try to figure out whether they deserve any carrots because there are more than enough for everyone. 

The carrots are free, but they don’t belong to us.  We can’t hoard the carrots for ourselves and dole them out to only the people we think should have them.  The carrots are for everyone, no exceptions.

But what about the good works?  What about going to church?  What happens when there is no longer an obligation to perform a list of items on an endless checklist? 

Freedom happens.  And out of that freedom comes a joyful desire to respond in whatever way the Spirit leads.  Worship still happens, but instead of something we have to do it becomes something we can’t not  do.  Service to others happens, too, but instead of doing it in order to gain something, we do it because we are already filled and can’t help but share from that abundance.

Peace and carrots be with you all. 

Come On Down!

Who hasn’t seen “The Price is Right?” Do they not have THE most exuberant contestants of all game shows ever? From the moment their name is called to “Come on down!” they cannot contain their excitement. It bursts out in shouts of joy, in waving arms, in feet that run and legs that can’t stop jumping. And that’s just in response to being chosen as a contestant, before they’ve had a chance to see all the marvelous prizes in store for the winner.

I’ve often wondered why we don’t see this kind of response to the invitation to our Lord’s Table. Isn’t the promise of the presence of Christ, forgiveness of sin and everlasting life at least as compelling as a new washer and dryer? Shouldn’t it generate an even greater response than a fabulous Caribbean cruise? We’re talking about Jesus, the real thing here. At least as Lutherans, we say we believe He is truly present in, with and under the bread and wine.

But you would never be able to tell that by watching us. Eyes downcast, feet shuffling, we look more like kids who’ve been sent to the principal’s office. Maybe we are too focused on our sinfulness and don’t feel we deserve Christ’s gift. Even so, you can’t tell any difference after we’ve received it. I guess then it must be because we’re showing our awe and reverence.

I know that in my own case, the instruction received as a 7-yr-old Catholic kid made me fearful of the whole ordeal. First, we stood in a line against the wall outside the confessional, a scary little room where the priest waited for us, one by one. As we waited in anxiety for our turn, we had to go over each of the Ten Commandments in our minds so we could be prepared to tell how many times we had broken each one. We were warned that in order to receive communion, it was important to have a clean soul, lest you further compound the sin by taking communion with unconfessed stuff still tarnishing your record. I never did ask what we were supposed to do about sins that snuck their way in between the confession and communion.

Once absolved and on our way our way up the aisle with our hands tightly folded, we had to be careful not to let our eyes stray in case some other kid made a face at us, breaking our focus and causing us to smile or snicker. Sister made it clear that this was serious business and we had better do it right, because God is always watching.

Thanks be to God, the pain and the negativity of our past can be overcome and transformed. What was once a dreaded part of church is now a much-anticipated event for me. I look forward to it and feel a kind of emptiness if I miss the opportunity for some reason. To me, it is the highlight of the worship service, so if someday you see someone skipping down the aisle, I hope you’ll forgive my irreverence and see that I couldn’t contain my joy any longer.

Do you have doubts that are preventing you from experiencing the unconditional love of Christ through communion? I invite you to trust in God’s words from Isaiah, chapter 43, verse 1

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

“Come on down” and join me at the table, where the Body and Blood of Christ is given for YOU!