Jesus and Tractors (A Steve Orr scripture reflection)

I'm pretty sure where it went wrong was when they had the 11-year-old drive the tractor. 

We were at the farm of some family friends, helping with spring planting. The idea, in theory, was a simple one: Use the tractor to pull a disking sledge through the field to make furrows. Once it was done, we could walk down each row, pressing one seed into the soil about every eight inches. 

So there we were, townies and farm folk, children and adults, working together to get a crop into the ground. Two of us were age 11 that spring, the oldest of the bunch. My friend was the farm boy. I was the townie. 

The first pass of the tractor and sledge made some progress, but the ground was still hard from winter. For those of you who know farming, it was harrowed, but not furrowed. Another pass was needed. That’s when the father asked his son to drive the tractor. 

A big smile on his face, my friend climbed up onto the seat, placed one hand on the steering wheel and one on the large gearshift knob. Wrestling it into reverse, he backed that tractor away from the fence line like a pro. He stopped, planning to turn and pull forward. 

That's when it got stuck in reverse. 

No matter what he did, he could not get the thing into any forward gear. To be fair, it was an old tractor. It might have happened to anyone. It was just my friend's bad luck it happened as he was about to plow his first set of furrows. His turn was over before he had even gone 10 feet. 

Farms run on hard work, good tools, and windows of opportunity. It wasn't like they could just quit for the day. Neither the good weather nor the presence of additional farm hands (even townies like us) could be relied upon. A solution had to be found.

That's when the farmer had his idea: He would drive the tractor backwards. The sledge would now be in front, so to speak, but the principle was the same. The disks would be pressed into the soil and the field would be tilled. All he had to do was look back over his shoulder as he drove the tractor backward through the field. 

It worked pretty well … for the first row. 

But while backing through the second row, something caused the tractor to swerve. The sledge backed over part of the row he had just finished plowing. He managed to straighten out the tractor, but not before doing more damage to the already completed row. 

After the same thing happened twice more, he gave up. 

That was the end of plowing, at least for that day. A mechanic was called, and we were told, ”You kids go play.” Which we did. 

I recalled this incident when I read the words of Jesus in this week’s passage from Luke. His said a person was unfit for the Kingdom of God if they put their hand to the plow and then looked back. It sounded like Jesus was condemning any potential followers who wished to tell their families goodbye. But did Jesus really say we can't follow him unless we disconnect from our families?  

No. A little sleuthing finds that what Jesus is warning against is someone continually focusing on their previous life while also trying to be His disciple. It just won't work. It would be like trying to plow a field while looking back. You might be able to keep your furrows straight for a short time, but eventually it would all end up crooked. 

Not unlike trying to plow with a tractor stuck in reverse. 

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PHOTO: Steve Orr

We’re taking a summer break. There is no Lectionary Breakfast this Friday. The next DaySpring Lectionary Breakfast will be July 29, 2022. Enjoy your summer!

Blessings,

Steve

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Read them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=268

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Cx_Proper8.pdf

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21

Psalm 16

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Luke 9:51-62

Proper 8 (13) (June 26, 2022)

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BONUS MATERIAL:

When I was 11 years old, it was common for children of all ages to work on family farms. Second, it was common for friends to drive out from town to help on farms. Third, it was common (and perfectly legal) for 10-year-old children to operate farm machinery, including tractors and pickup trucks. 

AXIOM OF THE DAY:

In theory, theory and reality are the same. In reality, they're not.

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So, I Woke Up in the Seventh Grade (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

When I tell the story of my life, I often start with, “I woke up in the seventh grade.” 

I say that because that’s when I realized I had no guide in my life. I didn’t know if this was a common awakening among middle schoolers. I just knew that I had concluded I would need to take charge of my day-to-day, orient myself to the landscape, and devise the plans for my future. It was up to me to figure out how. 

So, as a start, I created some rules to help me get where I needed to go. Here’s two  examples:

🔸I will always do my homework. 

Rarely had anyone even asked if I had homework, much less had I completed it. It was time someone did that; and that someone was going to have to be me. 

🔸I will never skip class. 

I figured I would learn more by being there.   

Over the years, I created many such rules, and they became the way I did life. In time, using my rules, I completed public school, then junior college, and eventually, a Bachelor of Science. That collection of rules was essential to shaping me into an adult. 

Once I reached adulthood, though, I no longer needed those rules. I needed an entirely different approach to life, one that was far more flexible than the structures I had used to become an adult. Malcolm Goldsmith shared a similar conclusion in his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. And he is right. My adult life works on a totally different level and in a totally different way. 

This is not to say that rules are unimportant or that they are no longer useful. This is about subtlety and nuance. When I entered the working world, I sometimes had “homework” to complete before returning to work the next day. I did that work. But I didn’t do it because I had a rule to follow about doing it. I did it because I had chosen to follow a certain path in my work life, and doing that work was a reflection of my commitment. 

This mirrors what we find in this week’s selection from Galatians. The Apostle Paul makes the point that the Law of Moses served as our “disciplinarian“ until Jesus came to justify us through faith. My early “life rules” restricted me, but they also guarded me until such time as I could learn an entirely new way to live. This is the role served by the Law of Moses. It set stringent restrictions on God’s chosen, shaping them into people who could receive Jesus when He finally walked among them. They became a people who could embrace His radical, more adult approach to living. 

Alternately, if we continue trying to live our lives by subjecting ourselves to the Law of Moses, then basing everything on love might seem impractical, unworkable, even impossible. Living a life made up of love rather than rules—that would seem radical to a Law-follower. In fact, it only works properly if we start with faith. We cannot hope and we cannot love—we cannot even make sense of Jesus’ teachings—without first believing in Jesus. 

The Apostle Paul teaches us that we can’t actually follow those rules, that we will always fail in the attempt no matter how hard we try. That’s why he calls on us to move on, grow up, and do the right things for the right reason—our faith in Jesus and his radical call to do all out of love. 

We need to accept the truth about those rules. Yes, they got us to Jesus. But they can’t take us any further. 

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PHOTO (and a humorous take on rules and laws in Paul Dickson’s The Official Rules). Here’s his author page on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Dickson/e/B000APU1P4%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

And, if you don’t mind a little 80s Christian rock music, here’s PETRA singing Beyond Belief (with lyrics on the screen): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lepstB6N_Bw

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When DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets Friday mornings, we enjoy good food, read challenging scriptures, and enjoy fellowship while sharing our thoughts. We meet both on Zoom** and in the function room at Our Breakfast Place restaurant from 8:00 to 9:00. 

It’s nice. Join us. 

Blessings,

Steve

**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Read them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=267

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Cx_Proper7.pdf

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a

Psalm 42 and 43

Isaiah 65:1-9

Psalm 22:19-28

Galatians 3:23-29

Luke 8:26-39

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No James Bond?! (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

 

When Ian Fleming delivered his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, to the publisher, they were reluctant to publish it. It was so different from existing spy novels. Plus, it seemed so ... well, unbelievable. In fact, if not for the intervention of Fleming’s brother, who had been published by those folks, we might never have had James Bond. 

Let that sink in. 

Today, with James Bond books and movies all about us, it seems strange to think someone balked at launching Agent 007. He is the template for modern spies, certainly for Cold War spies. Without Bond, would we even have Jason Bourne? The whole genre of spy fiction might not exist. 

So, what was the problem?

It lay in the genius of the thing. Fleming, a former British Naval Intelligence Officer (i.e., spy), created a fictional character as an amalgam of actual spies. Bond was a mashup of Fleming and other clandestine operatives he knew and had worked with. The tales of 007 reflected actual spy missions. 

There had never been anything quite like it. 

Today, we have a special appreciation for that kind of fact-based fiction. Today, when a former “operative” writes a book about spy stuff, publishers are all over it. And it’s all because of that original publisher’s experience with that first James Bond novel. The initial print run of that hardback sold out in less than a month. A second printing that same month also sold out that same month! Next, a third printing of 8,000 hardback copies quickly sold out. By then, they understood what they had: a gold mine. 

This—valuing the words of those with experience—is the mindset we need to bring to Wisdom.  

Wisdom calls to anyone who will hear her. She offers to share her benefits with anyone and everyone. They are open to all. We need only seek her. 

That’s the central message from this week’s selection from Proverbs chapter 8. But it’s not the only message we find there. After making her appeal, she does something we lovers of modern spy novels can appreciate: she shares her bona fides. Wisdom tells us she is the real deal, that she’s not some hack offering the philosophy du jour or just telling us what we want to hear. 

So, what’s in her resume?

•The first of God’s creation, before the beginning of the earth.

•When God established the heavens, she was there.

•During creation, she was next to God, serving as a master craftsman and director of the work.

•God delighted in her.

•She delighted in God’s inhabited world and the human race.

Why seek Wisdom? Why trust in her to be our guide? God’s wisdom is so different from the existing experience of the world. At first it seems … well, unbelievable. But God’s wisdom call to anyone who will hear her. 

 And remember, she was there when it all began. She had a role in creation. She knows, first hand, what was intended, and knows the purpose within the design. 

Even a Cold War spy could trust a resume like that.

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PHOTO (Agent 007 playing golf with bad guy Goldfinger. Read this brief article to find out why golf mattered to Bond and his creator): 

https://golf.com/news/features/james-bond-writer-ian-fleming-love-affair-golf/?amp=1

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Once again, DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast is meeting Friday morning at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom.** We start at 8:00, enjoying an hour of great fellowship, good food, Bible study, and a “robust exchange of ideas.” Join us!

Blessings,

Steve

**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Read them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=262

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Cx_TrinitySunday.pdf

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Psalm 8

Romans 5:1-5

John 16:12-15

Trinity Sunday (June 12, 2022)

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Who Let These Hobbits In Here? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

 

Um … Hobbits? Really?!

That pretty much sums up the response of … well, just about everyone when they learned the Hobbits would be the bearers of The One Ring. 

If you don’t know the basic story of the Lord of the Rings (LOTR), here’s the short version: a powerful ring must be taken to Mordor to be unmade in the volcanic fires of Mount Doom. Specially selected representatives of various groups have been assembled to accomplish this task. These are leaders, warriors, the bold and the brave. They are all stunned to learn that the ring will be placed in the care of Hobbits for the journey. 

In LOTR (and J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel The Hobbit), the central characters are hairy-footed little Hobbits from a pleasant backwater of Middle Earth called The Shire. Outside of the adventures recounted by Tolkien, these little beings live low-key, unsophisticated lives; taking joy from eating and drinking and other homely activities. They are small, humble, ordinary people. They live the kinds of lives where Second Breakfast may well be the high point of the day.

And yet, Tolkien has the Wizard Gandalf choose Hobbits to bear the corrupting "Ring of Power" to its unmaking. Even when it’s not asked aloud in some form, a question hangs in the air for much of the journey: Why are Hobbits entrusted with such a crucial task?

It reminds me of the reaction of the crowd at Pentecost to those chosen by Jesus as the bearers of his Good News: "Utterly amazed, they asked: 'Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?'" Now, I know the Bible is not a movie script, but I think the translators of Acts chapter two have really undersold the crowd's reaction. Shouldn't there be an exclamation point in there somewhere?!

Um, Galileans? Really?!  

That pretty much sums up the general response of ... well, just about everyone who encountered this band of Jesus-followers. Everyone considered them unsophisticated and ill-suited to the tasks they had been given. Nathan was not the first (nor likely the last!) to ask, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” And yet, these rough people are the ones Jesus chose.

In LOTR, Gandalf chose the Hobbits to take the ring to its doom because they could bear it. Every other candidate would likely succumb to the corruption that comes from possessing such great power.  

I don't think we know why Jesus chose the Galileans for His inner circle. But maybe it was for a similar reason. As it turned out, none of the seemingly obvious choices were really appropriate.

Sometimes, the very person you need is the one that the powerful and sophisticated would walk right by without a first glance.

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A little bonus content. It’s not in this week’s Lectionary, but it definitely applies:

“Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.”

‭‭—1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:26-29‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

PHOTO (and a little about why Hobbits bore the ring): 

https://screenrant.com/lord-rings-hobbits-not-corrupted-sauron/amp/

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Join us at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast this Friday morning? As usual, we'll gather both online via Zoom** and in person at Our Breakfast Place. We meet at 8:00 for some good food and great discussion.

No sophistication required. 😎

Blessings,

Steve

**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Read them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=141

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Cx_DayofPentecost.pdf

Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

Romans 8:14-17 or Acts 2:1-21

John 14:8-17, (25-27)

Day of Pentecost (June 5, 2022)