Fast and Cool

What really matters... You gotta be cool... 

Three years ago (3/31/2015 -- "Up and Down the Dial"), I posted about the #SiriusXM satellite "highway"—taken each night; sometimes holding my sanity together on the parking lot known as Houston traffic, descending like a femoral artery into downtown.

The alchemy of memories and music transports me back on a tightrope time-machine to a place when we were all pretty "kewl", if I can say so myself. “Fast and Cool” as in the club, or Fast Times at Ridgemont High, for movie buffs.

Maybe a long time ago, but I remember when we were buff and the feathered haircuts fell just right on starched oxford button-downs. The girls all dressed for each other, and the wild night was calling. There was a time, back in my prime, when your old-man could really lay it down; but we didn’t rely on Instagram or Facebook to show everybody. It was sealed in our memories.

The music, tasting the rum, giving or getting all the jokes; ok, crank up the car stereo, and take off. The feel of a slow-dance with that girl you like… in the end, there's only the dance. How did the years go by so fast but the memories play back so slow? The smell of a ski boat's exhaust, a bonfire; I can hear the roar of the crowd, or the whisper in the ear. Youthful discovery is like electricity, but the assurance of wisdom is comforting. Life’s a balance in every decade. Maybe my pendulum needs to swing back to happiness; time flies whether you’re having fun or not.

It could be the passing of an old friend recently, or the end of a long week sending me on this journey, but my “trigger” is often just the right song, which takes me to the file cabinet in my head: pulling out the right disk from the right decade. We manually take it out of the sleeve and place it on the record player, crackling and hissing with expectation. Easter is the season of passage from death to life. The memories linger tonight in the “bardo” or in-between: I don't try to reconcile the past, but I do go back.

Without a physical photographic record on social media, how do I prove our youth? We were from all over the state, and the world was much more laid back. Somehow we had enough money to pool our resources as a group; supporting a large social structure consistently together to have a good time, and act “big”. I went to high school and college with the fast and cool crowd, always looking for adventure, maybe we were like the Club Gryffindor before we knew about Harry Potter. Or it might have been a middle-child syndrome, seeking to fit-in?

I would like to think of those foolish, happy days not as my last fling, despite the age and the miles. I believe that there are new beginnings in every springtime; I’d like to be happy again. Maybe we can get together and shake off the worldly blues and stride out tomorrow with the same arrogant confidence we had in our twenties, when everything was possible?

Probably not, but at least give the same swagger. I have more money and less hair. My car is not as hot, but more reliable. I’m more educated, but hopefully wiser. The songs seem more poignant now; the friendships deeper and more valuable. At least we can commiserate rather than compete—like we did back in those heady days. I don’t want to impress anyone like we used to, I’d rather show humility and kindness than competence and success. My heart yearns to express connection, admit defeat, listen with an attentive ear, be slow to speak, quick to squelch my opinion, easy to talk to, or ask for a favor.

“Grief” and its verb “grieve” come from the Latin gravis, “heavy, weighty” and its verbal form, gravare, “to burden or cause to grieve.” Grieving is like being weighed down with sorrow and a sense of loss. “Mourn” has its origins in the Old English murnan, “to mourn, to be anxious”. Jung says that mourners are fortunate because they are involved in a growth process, that “even though it cost me a great deal to regain my footing; now, I am free to become who I truly am.” (end quote) This is God’s truth, because the more I’ve cried and felt wretched and worthless, the more often I've felt on-a-passage (journey), and that I could have occasional moments of utter joy.

I think we know now how elusive confidence really is; the escalator has made some unexpected stops. Values now drawing respect are affinity, realism, collaboration, servant-leadership, empathy, kindness, faith, relationship, and humility. Money, beauty and power are not only elusive but ephemeral. Age tends to level the playing field even for those who woke up on third-base. (you know who you are).

Character is formed in the crucible, but everyone yearns for a second-chance; like the magical saying under the pyramid, on the back of a one-dollar bill: novus ordo seclorum (“a new order for the ages”). That’s what's astonishing about Easter; with Christ there is always the opportunity to brush yourself off and start again. His work on the cross gives us new life, forgiveness in exchange for our brokenness. This year I will relish in free grace, give thanks for true friends: “put that one on His tab, please…” 

I need to write off a few things, people, and losses, starting again with a clean ledger; don’t we all? Happy Easter.

©Mark H. Pillsbury

The last will be first, and the first will be last

RE: Parables in the Bible (Matthew 20):

It has been said a parable is “an extended simile or a metaphor that explains aspects of spiritual truth in everyday terms.” The word parable describes the act of placing two objects or ideas side by side for comparison. They allow us to see ourselves in contrast to other people.

Christ’s use of parables is often commended to preachers and teachers today as an alternate way to reveal a truth; however, Jesus used parables primarily to conceal or hide His message from casual, indifferent, or unbelieving hearers. “It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given,” Christ declared (Matt. 13:11 KJV).

The Parable of the Generous Landowner and the Laborers in the Vineyard:

The parable is part of Jesus’ reply to Peter, which begins in Matthew chapter 19, verse 28. The message of the parable can be summarized in this statement: The operative principle in the kingdom of heaven is not merit but grace. 

The Apostle Paul’s words reiterate: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. …not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9); however, many assume that we earn God’s blessings by our works — apart from God’s grace.

The parable of the laborers in the vineyard teaches that not only our salvation, but also our entire Christian lives are to be lived on the basis of God’s grace. Also the parable teaches about two amazing qualities of grace: the abundant generosity of God’s grace, and His sovereignty in dispensing it. But its that tricky verse, what does it mean?

“The last will be first, and the first will be last”

What does that verse mean to you?

Examples:

Modern Advertising: tells us that it’s all about me and that attitude is everything.

Could it imply that some people connect right away with new information that may take others longer, depending on their relative experience? No, the slow are not to become first. The last are to become first.

Does it enforce the concept that God is the one before whom all accounts will be settled?

The workers who came later were not hired because they were lazy. They were ready to work but none would hire them. These workers were economically and socially disadvantaged. Is this parable a lesson on social/political status?

Mary said, “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.” (Luke 1). Many see the socio-economic ramifications of the parable. Those with low rank in the present, rise to the top in heaven.

The "day" in the parable can be seen as a typical “lifetime” of the person, if we read it chronologically. Each can be called to work for the Kingdom at any time. God is in charge of the timing of our Kingdom work.

Many believe the vineyard was an analogy for the people of Israel (see Isaiah 5 or Psalm 80). The vineyard was a symbol of Israel and its promised prosperity.  With this knowledge the message of the parable seems clearer.  The workers who come late still get to take part in the reward of the vineyard and its owner. Is Jesus communicating a radical message to the leaders and the people of Israel that says, “The Kingdom of God has been opened up to the Gentiles (called) too.”  Further, “the nation of Israel may have been first (chosen), but that doesn’t mean that others cannot receive the blessing.” Does Jesus suggest that the ones who show up later, the Gentiles, have just as prominent a place in the kingdom of God as the Jews? That would have been culturally outrageous to the Jews at the time! Jews thought dirty dogs were better than Gentiles.

Argued another way, the context implies the 12 disciples correspond to the workers hired at the beginning of the day, akin to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Those hired later correspond to other people who became Jesus’ disciples later in His ministry. The timing there is in question for the earliest and heartiest of the disciples.

What a great reversal was what Christ did on the cross:

Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. (Paul quoted in Philippians). Jesus was the god-man who had to become last, so that we would be first. That is why it is called a great reversal.

Some questions for my readers:

1. Where do you see yourself in this parable of the laborers in the vineyard? What does it mean, “the last will be first, and the first will be last.” 

2. Isn’t it like an egotistical human to question who serves best? who serves most? who then gets the greatest reward?

3. What is your attitude toward the owner of the vineyard? Do you expect the Lord to do what’s right? Is this a story that makes you uncomfortable?

What two attitudes are shown here?:

Generosity—by the landowner in how he pays the laborers, and 

Jealousy—people who worked there all day and got paid the same; there is no room in the kingdom of heaven for those with either "a mercenary spirit" or "an envious spirit."

The system of law is easy to figure out: you get what you deserve!

The system of grace is foreign to us: God deals with us according to who He is, not according to who we are.

Isn’t this parable about servants. And how a servant/leader views the “day’s wage” we get for our service? Could it be all about who gets the credit?

• All our service is already due to God; it belongs to Him anyway.
• The ability to serve God is the gift of His grace.
• The call to serve God is the gift of His grace.
• Every opportunity to serve is a gift of His grace.
• Being in the right state of mind to do the Lord’s work is a gift of grace.
• Success in serving God is the gift of His grace.

©Mark H. Pillsbury

Listen to this sermon at www.christtheking.com (Aug. 7, 2011)

Christ The King Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas
Click on the hyperlink above to the front page of CTK website: you can listen to the most recent sermon:

Rev. Eric Priest's sermon on Psalm 10 this Sunday August 7, 2011 talks about the idea that we tend to judge life by success: the point of life is to get ahead and then stay ahead! Eric discusses Psalm 10 in light of 3 types of atheism, which was a fascinating way to see modern worldviews. It made me think of a couple of things I read recently:

“In a world where success is the measure and justification of all things, the figure of Him who was sentenced and crucified remains a stranger and is at best the object of pity. The world will allow itself to be subdued only by success. It is not the ideas or opinions which decide, but deeds. Success alone justifies wrongs done… with a frankness and offhandedness which no other earthly power could permit itself, history appeals in its own cause to the dictum that the end justifies the means… The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which takes success as a standard.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Ethics (published 1955)

“In direct contradiction to the American Dream, God actually delights in exalting our inability. He intentionally puts his people in situations where they come face-to-face with their need for Him. In the process he powerfully demonstrates his ability to provide everything his people need in ways they could never have mustered up or imagined. And in the end, He makes much of his own name.” David Platt's Radical (Random House 2010). (thoughts on 2 Cor. 12: 9-10)

How do you feel about your weakness, and what is your Achilles heel? On his blog, Rick Warren recently talked about what Adam and Eve did to hide from God and said additionally, "what is your fig leaf?"