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Pastor's Column July/August 2005
Ah! The saw dust is beginning to settle; my "to do" list is getting shorter; the pile of boxes is dwindling. I've moved. Into the first floor of the parsonage, my first post-seminary apartment. I have a friend who is a Presbyterian pastor's wife; they also live in a great parsonage. Whenever folks compliment her on her home, she smiles and says, "Well, it's not ours; we're really just squatters." Living in New York City for the past few years has taught me many things, one of which is that we're all really just squatters. I listen to stories of awful landlords and inattentive supers. I see countless homeless folks. I know some people have rent stabilized apartments that they wouldn't dream of leaving and others move every year, or even every few months from sublet to sublet. The thing is, even those who own their own homes or apartments really are just squatters. I'm not the only one who calls home "my apartment" when it's not mine at all. The Gospel of Matthew tells us not to worry. I used to read the passage from chapter 6 about how God will provide for us because we are more valuable than birds of the air and lilies of field while scoffing, "Tell that to the homeless people living under our scaffolding!" And I don't mean to be glib about a real and growing problem. But maybe there's more of a lesson in Matthew 6 than what first meets the eye - typical of a parable of Jesus, actually. If we all consider ourselves squatters in this place, what worries could we let go of? What room would I have left in my heart if I could let go of that pile of boxes that is dwindling but not yet gone? Jesus tells us to strive first for the kingdom of God and not worry about our lives. We're really just squatters here anyway; our permanence is in the permanence of God. We are only temporary tenants of this place and while we are here are there important things we can be worrying about while letting go of the unimportant things? When I think of striving for the kingdom of God being my main concern, I immediately think of the beatitudes. This is such a wonderful description, poetic really, of the kingdom of God. Where the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted are all present and filled, laughing, receiving mercy, and in the blessed permanent presence of God. No one is a squatter anymore! No scaffolding, no bad landlords! |
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