Plumbing

Epiphany 3C

January 27, 2019

Luke 4:14-21

St. Matthias

I recently made the mistake of claiming to know something about plumbing - to a plumber.  We are having some work done at the house and one of the faucets was leaking and I had an opinion as to what I thought the problem was.  I did what I typically do and Googled “leaking faucets” and found a YouTube video that showed exactly how to fix it.  Clearly, this was a problem with the faucet stem. I took the entire thing apart according to the video and went to Home Depot.  Guess what, they don’t make faucet stems for that faucet anymore.  So, I priced a whole new faucet for about $87.95.  That would fix the problem, so I thought.  I was wrong.  I knew it the moment the words came out of my mouth.  I could tell just by looking at our plumber.  He did a good job of not laughing.  I appreciated it.  Now the key thing was that my plumber did 2 things.  First, he promised to fix it – thank goodness.  Second, he showed me how to fix it the next time.  He even left me the parts which by the way were a washer and a spring - costing around 25 cents or about $87.70 less than my solution.  I have now decided that I don’t know much about plumbing.

I have the tendency to overthink these kinds of things and make them harder than they really are.  It’s human nature.  Plumbing is a mystery and even with Google and YouTube - I can see what to do that might fix ONE particular problem, but I still don’t understand how the whole thing works.  I can no more tell you how the water gets up the pipes and out that faucet than I can explain how our HVAC unit works.  Then there is that blue box on the wall of our attic and I have no idea why it is there or what it is doing.  I suspect it may have something to do with the government.

It’s all sort of like the mystery of Faith.  In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus is in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  Now if you have ever been to a Quaker worship service – that is how a worship service in a synagogue in Jesus’s day works.  The men sat in a circle.  Anyone could get up and read from one of the biblical scrolls and interpret what he had just read.  This is what Jesus did.  He read from the prophet Isaiah.  Nothing Jesus reads that day is controversial – it is the calling of Isaiah and sounds pretty much like what we are supposed to do every day.  Recognize that God is with us.  In God’s name – care for the poor, those in prison, the blind, and those in need.  We are to spread the Good News.  And all of this we do because God first loved us.  It sounds like Good News and you would have thought that everyone would have said Thanks be to God and started packing food boxes.  But they didn’t.  The religious leaders wanted to know if Jesus was claiming to be a prophet.  Some of the people thought Jesus was getting just a little too preachy and should mind his own business.  After all the poor and oppressed will always be with us – so WHY try.

But I think the real question is WHY do we sometimes make this so hard.  I think it is because we THINK too much about it.  We’ve got to figure IT out - and how IT ALL works.  How is God upon me?  What good is feeding the hungry if there will always be more?  Do we even know anyone oppressed?  What will people think if we proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor?  Sounds like something the Diocese should do.  So, we don’t, and the scripture is not fulfilled.  BUT Jesus says to us – MAYBE we need to stop thinking and start believing.

This week I was visiting patients at UAB Hospital with a group of volunteers from Red Mountain Grace – one of the nonprofit groups I work with.  Red Mountain Grace provides housing for families of seriously ill patients coming from out of town for medical care in Birmingham.  Libby and I had just been to visit a young woman and her family who have been in the hospital for over 2 years.  She has a brain stem injury and cannot walk, or speak, or see.  The rest of her brain works just fine her mother told me.  They had just returned from the swimming pool.  Hopefully, they will go home soon.  It is always tempting to try and say just the right thing – think of some religious sounding words of comfort that will somehow make everything all right – or at least better.  But you know what – IT DOESN’T.  The only thing that does is to BELIEVE.  Believe in God and that God is there, and that God loves us.  Sharing God’s love in the hospital or at Beans and Rice or in Walmart is how we care for the sick, the hungry and the lonely.  And I am amazed time and time again that when I stop trying and believe that God will work through us – what comes out of my mouth is amazing.  Libby and I both agreed that God can do some pretty amazing things through us when we BELIEVE.  AND then is the scripture fulfilled.  THEN is the year or day or moment of the Lord’s favor proclaimed.  You don’t have to be a plumber.  Don’t worry about saying the right thing.  Share God’s love and BELIEVE.  The Spirit of the Lord will be upon you and me and we will be anointed to bring good news.   AMEN.