“Bueller,…. Bueller….Luke?

Advent II: Luke’s story begins

It’s one of my favorite movie scenes of all time. The scene that made the actor Ben Stein famous for two generations, the tired old history teacher in “Ferris Bueller’s Day off.” Ferris has decided to take the day off, and so, of course, his desk is obviously empty. But in a scene that captures (from a student’s point of view) the essence of High School bureaucratic absurdity, the teacher continues to call his name, over and over and over….”Bueller, Beuller, Beuller.

Unlike those history teachers that we know who are dynamic and interesting, this character is the epitome of How Not to Tell the Story of history. You can see the glaze over the kids’ eyes.

Well, I think that in our Gospel lesson today, which is really Luke’s beginning of his history, I have a theory that Luke the master story teller is actually trying to play a trick on us. I think he’s beginning the story like a Ben Stein history teacher, and lulling us to sleep for the first moment or two.

Just listen: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Chiaphas”—now here, our eyes start to get kind of heavy, and blink.

“…and Lysanias, ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Chiaphas”—but then, BOOM. “The word of God came to John.” Folks, John is a lunatic in the desert. He wears dead animal skins and eats bugs. John the Baptist is like one of those present day street people in a big city who should not have been released from the mental institution, who go around and eat out of garbage cans and yell crazy things up at the sky. And yet, here Luke the storyteller puts it right out there—the word of God came to this very unexpected person.

2.

What’s going on here? Tom Long thinks that this is Luke the story teller putting us on notice, right here in the very beginning of his history of Jesus. He’s putting on notice that this is exactly how God works in our world. God comes to us in ways that we never expect. And God tends to work from the bottom up, not the top down, where the power seems to be.

You’d think it would be the other way around. Doesn’t it make sense for Luke to have reported, “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, the Word of God came to the emperor, who made a decree over all the land. Or maybe even the governor of Judea, or for gosh sakes, even the high priests—somebody with some chances for some good P.R.

But no. During the reign of this important person, and that important person, and this one and that one and this one and that one, the word of God came in a way we didn’t expect.

And sure enough, all through this history, this story of Jesus and the church, the word of God comes from Lepers, from disgraced Women at the well, from Samaritans, from tax collectors, even from a poor mother’s song she sings to her baby named Jesus: You, O God, will pull the mighty from their thrones; the hungry will be fed, the prisoners set free.

For you and I, as God comes into our lives to guide us or alternately to heal us, our theme of this Advent season is to ‘watch,” to be alert for it. Because God is at work all around us, and we are called to be intentional about expecting to see it, and being alert to it, in all times and all places, especially the unexpected places.

Several years ago, as many of you know, my father-in-law suffered a severe stroke, that rendered him unable to walk. And at times, his thinking was confused as well. But he was an incredible fighter, and he worked and worked at his physical therapy, and one of the things he wanted to do was to go see the ocean—to put his feet in the waves.

So we all became determined to do just that. My wife and her Mom drove down separately, and I drove him down on that long drive to Hilton Head South Carolina.

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He sat in the passenger side, and we talked of one thing then another, as the hours went by. He was not able to turn his head to the side, so he could not look behind him into the back seat. And soon, it became clear that he got confused for a few moments and for some reason thought that my son, his grandson Conner was in the back seat. He turned his eyes to the side and said, “Conner, you’re mighty quiet back there.” And I (helpfully) explained that, no, remember the good news, the boy’s got a job, and he’s working today.

But somehow, that message just didn’t connect. Because when we got to Hilton Head, we went through the drive through at Wendy’s, got our food, and I said, “Why don’t we just put it all in the back and eat it when we get in the condo?”

And he said, “Ok.” I put the food in the back seat; he glanced over to the side and called to the back, “Don’t eat my fries.” That whole trip, you see, he believed that Conner was in that car with him. Right in the back seat.

I think that’s called Grace. I think that’s God word coming into our lives in unexpected ways. I mean, think about it. Imagine the uncertainty, the fear, the confusion that must go through your mind when you know you’ve had a stroke.

And here you are, in some car, someone else driving for about the first time in your life; will you be able to walk into that water? Or even get to the beach?

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.

I believe that the presence of that beloved grandson on that day made that rough place in his life a little bit smoother. And how unexpected! What and incredible alchemy of mind, the spirit, Holy Spirit that resulted in this grandfather’s believing that his beloved grandson was right there with him. What an incredible thing.

4.

Was Conner there? Well, now, of course, it could be proven in a court of law that Conner was working on his job, miles and miles away. Yet, I ask you again. Was Conner there?

And so, in the sixth year of the reign of George Bush, President of the United States, when his brother, Jeb, was governor of Florida, and Sonny Purdue the governor of Georgia, during the High Priesthood of Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Neil Alexander, Bishop of Atlanta, the word of God came to Charlie Sample, on Interstate 75 south, headed to the blue waters and sandy beaches of the ocean.

Yes, he put his bare feet into the ocean. We pulled that wheel chair through the white sand, took off his shoes and socks, rolled down into the wet, flat part of that beach, and stood him up. And the waves rushed over his feet.

It was to be the last time in his life, but he put his feet in the ocean. And his beloved grandson, Conner, by the Grace of God, was “there” on that trip to help give him the courage and support and love in a way that none of us could have imagined.

Folks, God is all around, guiding and healing. You and I, all of us, have things to be healed in our lives. You know what they are. This Church, this world, has healing to be done. It is God’s intention to heal God’s creation. Our charge is to watch for it, and know, that all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Amen.