Keep on Keeping On
Jesus had a very busy day the day before we meet him here in the Gospel. He had shaken hands with a single woman and God had healed her. This kind of stuff gets around. Now there was a line of people around the block who expected Jesus to heal them. So he did. Now Jesus has gotten up early and gone outside to pray. When he finished praying, he kept on going, moving down the road. Why? Because that is what he thought he was supposed to do. As he said in another place “don’t hold on to me. I must be about my Father’s business.”
The bible does not tell us what Jesus’ prayed nor does it tell us in this passage what his message was either. It just says he proclaimed the message and cast out demons. We suspect it leaves this stuff out because the early church which wrote this story knew what he proclaimed. Basically he said over and over “God’s Kingdom is here. You are free. You are healed. Spread the good news.” Jesus didn’t bring the kingdom. He announced what was already true. The hegemony of God is going on right now.
You never know when the kingdom of God is going to break through. God’s kingdom breaks through, it doesn’t arrive. It is going on all the time.
A fellow was trying to coax a kitten out of a tree. You all know how well that works. The tree was too spindly to climb so the guy figured out a guy thing to do. He tied a rope to his car and used it like a John Deere to bent the tree down so he could reach up and get the kitten. It was so cool and it woulda worked if he hadn’t gone just a little too far. Suddenly the rope broke. You guessed it. The tree turned into a home-made catapult. “Boing” went the kitty as it sailed out of sight.
The fellow felt terrible and canvassed the entire neighborhood asking if anyone had seen a little kitten. No one had. So he did the next right thing and prayed, “Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,” and went back to business as usual.
A few days later at the grocery store and he met one of his neighbors. As he visited with her he noticed cat food in her shopping cart. He knew that this woman was not fond of cats, so he asked her, “What’s with the cat food?”
She told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. She got so tired of the begging she finally said “Well, if God gives you a cat, I’ll let you keep it.”
“I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And, this is going to sound crazy, but a kitten suddenly came flying out of the clear blue sky, with its paws outspread and landed right in front of her!”
Baal Shem Tov was a founder of the Hasidic sect of Jews. When the Baal Shem Tov realized that he was dying, he called his followers together. “During my lifetime I have acted as intermediary for you. Now you must do this for yourselves. You know the place in the forest where I call to God. Go there to the same place and light a fire as I have instructed you. Then say the prayer I have taught you. If you do all this, God will come.”
The first generation did exactly as he had said, and God came. But the next forgot exactly how they were to light the fire. Nevertheless, they faithfully, went to the special place in the forest and said the same prayer as their parents had. Sure enough, God appeared.
The third generation came along. They not only did not know how to light the fire, they had forgotten exactly where they were supposed to go in the forest. But they said the same prayer and God answered. Several generations more came and went. Now no one remembered how to light the fire or where the special place was. Nor could anyone remember the words to the prayer. But one person remembered the story. And God still came.