First Lesson: Jeremiah 8: 18 - 9:1 Responsive Reading: Psalm 79: 1-9 Second Lesson: 1 Timothy 2: 1-7 Gospel Lesson: Luke 16: 1-13 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Carmine Gallo tells the following story[1]: Mami (Mommy) Sato (Sat-o) was your normal 19 year old college student at Waseda University in Tokyo. One day though Mami’s life would change forever. Mami began to feel an unexplained pain in her right ankle. The pain turned out to be cancer, within a matter of weeks Mami Sato would be forced to amputate her leg to save her life[2]. Mami had no idea what her life might ever look like going forward with one functioning leg. Mami Sato was depressed at the thought of the “future”. Sato’s ailment though changed how she viewed the world. With her previous goals seemingly unreachable, she began setting “small goals” instead. Once she met a number of small goals, her life started changing. Mami Sato becomes a Paralympian in Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, and was preparing for London in 2012. Sato’s life though was about to take another dramatic turn. March 11, 2011. A 9.0 earthquake hit 230 miles northeast of Tokyo[3]. Waves got as high as thirty feet on the Pacific Coast. 15,000 people were killed. Sato’s hometown of Kesennuma (K-Sen-New-Ma) was covered in water. Sato had no idea of her family’s fate for the next six days. They had survived but her hometown lie in ruin. Mami Sato along with 200 other athletes start visiting Kesennuma (K-Sen-New-Ma) to bring not only supplies, but also hope. These visits to her hometown helped Mami Sato realize the power of sport[4]. September 2013[5], Mami Sato stood at a podium standing before the International Olympic Committee detailing while her home nation should be chosen to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Sato’s speech was thought to face hopeless odds against the other finalists of Istanbul and Madrid. It was in Mami’s Sato tragedy that her path to triumph began to unfold. Sato’s speech on “The Power of Sport” by many is considered to be the deciding factor that will bring the 2020 Summer Olympics to Tokyo. Here’s what makes Mami Sato’s story so interesting, two disasters beyond what she would ever wish for herself ended up charting the course for her to become a national hero in Japan[6]. I want to tell you another similar story today that comes from our Gospel lesson. I want to tell you the story of another guy that faced a seemingly hopeless situation and managed to triumph from it. Jesus tells a story about a rich man who had appointed a manager to take care of his affairs[7]. The manager was accused of malfeasance. The manager was going to be fired. The manager really didn’t want to pursue another job as he “was too weak to dig[8]” and “too proud to beg[9].” The manager would certainly never get another job as good as his management gig. The manager though remains “unfazed.” The manager hatches a plan. The manager’s boss man had a number of debtors. The manager was going to be “shrewd” or “desperate” though if it meant keeping his job. He gathers all his master’s debtors one by one and starts cutting their debts in half. You owe 100 measures of oil, you now owe 50[10]. Such a scenario would seem to be inviting disaster. The manager was already going to lose his job, if this plan didn’t work he’s probably going to end up behind bars for a long, long time. The plan seemed a longshot to work since why would his boss not like having more money? The manager after his debt collection finally faces a moment of truth facing his boss. What does the boss do in the presence of such a scheme? The boss praises the manager’s shrewdness[11]. The manager used his darkest hour to seemingly advance in his career. This is a really tricky story to try to sort out but what stands out to me is this. The manager’s outcome seemed certain he was about to be fired, just like Mami Sato’s outcome seemed certain as she lost her leg. Yet here’s a funny thing about the Christian Gospel the verdict is never certain. It is often only at the moment of potential death from one’s way of life, does one’s resurrection story begin to unfold. Let me tell you a story as told by Phillip McLarty[12]. A man was working the night shift at a small hotel in New York City. Most of the patrons were ones that you would expect to show up from fresh out of the bar in the middle of the night. One night a desperate elderly couple comes in requesting a room. They had been traveling all over New York City receiving nothing but “no rooms available” for an answer. The couple finally arrives at this sad looking hotel off the beaten path. The clerk working the front desk proclaims his hotel also full. The couple was trying to make sense of the hopeless situation. The clerk then proposes a solution. “Why don’t you take my room for the night. I’m going to be down here all night.” The couple was overjoyed, they offered to pay him double or even triple the going rate[13]. The clerk refused their money and helped bring their bags up to his room. The clerk had forgotten about this encounter two years later until his life was about to change forever. The same elderly gentleman shows up at the end of the clerk’s shift. The sun was starting to rise above Manhattan. The elderly gentleman asks the clerk to let him show him something[14]. The clerk was confused but reluctantly went along. The elderly gentleman escorts him into a stretch limousine. He orders the driver to journey into the heart of Manhattan. The driver stops in front of a hotel more stunning than anything the clerk had ever seen in his life. The elderly gentleman introduces himself as “William Waldorf Astor”. He presents the clerk with an offer to manage his new hotel called “The Waldorf-Astoria.” A simple act that the hotel clerk thought meant nothing ended up meaning everything. Yet it is in this story that at one of the lowest points in this clerk’s career, does the path to redemption begin to reveal itself. Later tonight, my beloved Minnesota Vikings play. What you might not know is their Head Coach Mike Zimmer’s story. Mike Zimmer’s dream was to become a NFL Football Coach. He dreamed of his wife Vikki enjoying this dream with him. Zimmer’s becomes a defensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys, only to see the team want to move in a different direction. Zimmer takes the same job with the Atlanta Falcons only to see his one year there end in disaster with his boss quitting in the middle of the year. Zimmer takes a similar job with the Cincinnati Bengals who were considered “laughing stocks of the league.” The owner was considered to be the cheapest owner around. At least Mike Zimmer still had Vikki Zimmer through all these ups and downs. October 8th, 2009. Mike Zimmer gets a phone call that his wife isn’t answering her cell phone[15]. This was out of character. Mike Zimmer walks into his apartment to find his fifty year old wife dead of natural causes. The time ahead was just spent trying to grieve Vikki’s loss while focusing on the more mundane tasks of football. Zimmer would sit in church time after time, lighting candles hoping to see a sign that God could possibly be at work in the hour of his darkness. The next few years see Zimmer’s coaching star keeps rising, teams are interested in hiring him as a Head Coach, but he keeps receiving “No, thanks” for answers. Zimmer was too old, he wasn’t charismatic, teams continually wanted a different fit. Mike Zimmer kept seeing a plan at work though regardless of any evidence around him. On January 15, 2014, Mike Zimmer is hired as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. As Vikings coach all sorts of things don’t go according to Zimmer’s plan, yet it is often during these times of our lives where God’s movement is the greatest. I came across a really interesting insight about prayer this week from Andy Stanley[16]. “Prayer doesn’t force God’s hand. But it keeps us on the lookout for his intervention. Prayer sensitizes us to the subtle changes in the landscape of our circumstances. When he begins to move, we are apt to recognize it.”. I want to close this morning with the story of the Biblical character Nehemiah[17]. Where as Mike Zimmer had lost his wife and all sorts of job opportunities. Nehemiah had lost a nation. The people of Israel had been driven from their homeland by the Babylonians, who were driven off the land by the Persians. Nehemiah was now living and working in Persia over 1000 miles east of Jerusalem. Nehemiah didn’t have the type of job that one would think could change a nation as he merely worked as a servant of the king. God began pulling on Nehemiah though. God wanted Nehemiah to return to his homeland to ultimately rebuild his homeland’s walls. Nehemiah’s task was thought to be impossible. Nehemiah was surrounded by more powerful nations who would delight in his failure. Nehemiah’s countrymen had grown cynical and despondent over God’s lack of presence in their affairs. Nehemiah lacked a great leadership background as he was merely a cupbearer to the king. Nehemiah saw though what no one could see and that was the possibly of resurrection in the midst of death. Nehemiah saw how one day Jerusalem would be guided by a hope from above. Nehemiah becomes Jerusalem’s governor and begins to bring forth light out of the greatest of darkness. Nehemiah’s presence begins to rebuild not only a nation but its faith from the most devastating of rubble. Just like in the case of the shrewd manager, in the darkest hours could God’s greatest plans begin. Mami Sato probably couldn’t see anything good come from the moment where she lost her leg, the manager from our Gospel never wanted to lose his job, the clerk probably saw life turning out differently then working the night shift at a rinky-dink motel, Mike Zimmer probably wondered whether all the pain of getting to the top would ever pay off and Nehemiah was putting his life into God’s hands when he dared attempt to rebuild a broken nation in the presence of its enemies. You might be at a fork in your life no different then the shrewd manager this morning. You might be worried about your health. You might be searching for answers regarding your relationships. You might be worried about your finances. You might have all sorts of other questions about the future. What our parable today reminds us is that no matter what your situation may be that our God can make the best of it. Our Gospel lesson for today is a crazy story. A seemingly crooked manager being redeemed in the end[18]. Yet it is in the presence of the manager’s career death being seemingly certain that paves the way for his resurrection. It was by the manager’s death that he raises others unto new life. I know of another story like this that involves a cross. Amen [1] Gallo, Carmine. The Storyteller’s Secret. Saint Martin’s Press. New York. 2016. P.87-90 [2] Gallo, Carmine. The Storyteller’s Secret. Saint Martin’s Press. New York. 2016. P.87 [3] Gallo, Carmine. The Storyteller’s Secret. Saint Martin’s Press. New York. 2016. P.87 [4] Gallo, Carmine. The Storyteller’s Secret. Saint Martin’s Press. New York. 2016. P.88 [5] Gallo, Carmine. The Storyteller’s Secret. Saint Martin’s Press. New York. 2016. P.88 [6] Gallo, Carmine. The Storyteller’s Secret. Saint Martin’s Press. New York. 2016. P.88 [7] Luke 16:1-13 [8] Luke 16:3 [9] Luke 16:3 [10] Luke 16:6 [11] Luke 16:8 [12] McLarty, Phillip. “The Parable of the Dishonest Manager.” Lectionary.org. 2011. Web. Sept.6.2016. [13] McLarty, Phillip. “The Parable of the Dishonest Manager.” [14] McLarty, Phillip. “The Parable of the Dishonest Manager.” [15] Merrill, Elizabeth. “Mike Zimmer finds solace in coaching.” ESPN Online. 2. Aug.2010. Web. Sept.14.2016. [16] Stanley, Andy. Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision. Multnomah Publishing. 1999. Print. P.30. [17] Nehemiah’s story is the focus of Stanley’s book. [18] Capon, Robert Farrar. Kingdom, Grace, and Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus. Eerdman’s Publishing. Grand Rapids, MI. 2002. P.302-309. Comments are closed.
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