In our Confirmation Deep Dive gathering last week, we had the opportunity to go to Camp St Croix and be led by the YMCA staff there in a variety of group-building, trust-building activities. We had to practice passing on messages non-verbally to build a little structure out of objects together. We had the opportunity to climb a tall, tall rock wall & support each other from the ground as belayers. Check out the Christ Facebook page for a few of those photos!
But the activity that I immediately knew I would tell you about in detail was the maze. Our small group was invited to put on blindfolds & then stand in a line, putting their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them (and just to be clear, this was a mix of kids from eight congregations, not just our Christ kids). The YMCA counselor told them all to follow carefully as we moved into the woodsy area into a maze. There was no talking allowed in the maze but at any time, if anyone needed help, they should just raise their hand and ask for help.
Now, maybe it’s helpful to know something the students did not know yet… the nickname for this maze is the “help maze.” It’s a maze you can’t get out of until you ask for help. The chaperones knew this, the counselor knew this, but the students didn’t know this… we watched as the youth moved through the maze. The counselor announced several times. “This is a really challenging maze to get through. Don’t talk but at any time, if you want help, just raise your hand.” This announcement was made periodically at first but with increasing frequency as the minutes ticked on… and no one, I mean no one, raised their hands.
The chaperones watched… and it was kind of amusing at first but as the students began to get frustrated, one foot in front of the other, around and around and around the maze… I began to wonder how long it would take before someone, anyone would ask for help. The counselor whispered to us… I’ve seen a group of adults go at this for 45 minutes. And then, it got meaningful for me.
How much of life is like this? We think the game is one thing – make it through the maze. Figure it out. It’s all on you (or me). We know the rules - you’re definitely NOT supposed to ask for help, even if someone is repeatedly offering that instruction, we’re pretty sure we’re not supposed to follow it. So, they walked and walked even though the whole maze was about 12 square feet.
The counselor invited the youth to ask for help maybe 45 times, and I started getting worried. The helper in me was just going crazy. I piped in, “If you’re getting tired of this, don’t worry, just raise your hand and ask for help.” When finally one student raised a hand, we lifted the rope with relief and whispered, “That’s the whole point, to ask for help.” But that student looked so surprised, I asked, “Did you mean to raise your hand?” And she said, “Actually, I was just trying to reach for the rope.” “Oh well,” I said, “We mistakenly thought you were asking for help.”
But the activity that I immediately knew I would tell you about in detail was the maze. Our small group was invited to put on blindfolds & then stand in a line, putting their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them (and just to be clear, this was a mix of kids from eight congregations, not just our Christ kids). The YMCA counselor told them all to follow carefully as we moved into the woodsy area into a maze. There was no talking allowed in the maze but at any time, if anyone needed help, they should just raise their hand and ask for help.
Now, maybe it’s helpful to know something the students did not know yet… the nickname for this maze is the “help maze.” It’s a maze you can’t get out of until you ask for help. The chaperones knew this, the counselor knew this, but the students didn’t know this… we watched as the youth moved through the maze. The counselor announced several times. “This is a really challenging maze to get through. Don’t talk but at any time, if you want help, just raise your hand.” This announcement was made periodically at first but with increasing frequency as the minutes ticked on… and no one, I mean no one, raised their hands.
The chaperones watched… and it was kind of amusing at first but as the students began to get frustrated, one foot in front of the other, around and around and around the maze… I began to wonder how long it would take before someone, anyone would ask for help. The counselor whispered to us… I’ve seen a group of adults go at this for 45 minutes. And then, it got meaningful for me.
How much of life is like this? We think the game is one thing – make it through the maze. Figure it out. It’s all on you (or me). We know the rules - you’re definitely NOT supposed to ask for help, even if someone is repeatedly offering that instruction, we’re pretty sure we’re not supposed to follow it. So, they walked and walked even though the whole maze was about 12 square feet.
The counselor invited the youth to ask for help maybe 45 times, and I started getting worried. The helper in me was just going crazy. I piped in, “If you’re getting tired of this, don’t worry, just raise your hand and ask for help.” When finally one student raised a hand, we lifted the rope with relief and whispered, “That’s the whole point, to ask for help.” But that student looked so surprised, I asked, “Did you mean to raise your hand?” And she said, “Actually, I was just trying to reach for the rope.” “Oh well,” I said, “We mistakenly thought you were asking for help.”
Finally, finally, one by one, all but two of our group were out of the maze. The YMCA counsellor decided to call it so we could move on to the next activity. I told the last two students the real goal… and they said, “We were just too stubborn!” During this whole time, I was thinking… and these are church kids! We think that we’re communicating loud & clear – this is church – this is a place where you can ask for help! But really, maybe all our talk about helping is heard this way… we are the helpers, and it makes it harder than ever to receive the gift of help from God, from each other.
When we hear this story of the rich man and Lazarus, there are things that are noticeable right away and then there are things that I notice more because of the experience with the Camp St Croix “help maze.” The thing Luke wants to make sure that we know about life with Jesus is that the categories of rich and poor are not going to stand, the categories of oppressed and oppressor will be eliminated, if you have been laying in the street with hardship and some rich guy with an important name has been feasting while pretending that you don’t exist… just to say, in heaven, we will know your name. But there’s more, even though the rich who have always been served will think you should still be serving them… that’s not going to be allowed anymore. You aren’t going to have to rescue and serve the people who have been brutal to you or who have simply pretended you don’t exist. In God’s reign, injustice ceases, the pecking order is over… and Luke invites us to imagine, that new order has already begun… because after all, like the rich man’s siblings, we have the words of the prophets, don’t we? We have the witness of those who saw Christ, risen from the dead, don’t we?
This week, several of my friends shared widely these words, part of the speech Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old climate activist, offered to the UN Climate Action Summit leaders (and the world) in New York:
"You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe."[1]
This is actually a statement of great faith in spite of the evidence—a refusal to believe that people cannot or will not act, a refusal to believe that people really know and understand, a refusal to believe that others are evil. And yet, Greta calls world leaders and each of us to action in a way that is not that different from Luke’s teaching tale of the rich man and Lazarus.
Our world is suffering. People are hungry, they need a place to sleep and shower and charge their phones. They need to be seen. Black and brown and tan and white neighbors need this church to see them, but especially we need to see those who we are best at ignoring, those who have experienced devaluing for generations, who have continually been subject to violence to their bodies and communities.
Our world is suffering. Birds, even common birds like sparrows, are vanishing from North America."The sheer scale of the bird decline meant that stopping it would require immense effort, said Dr. Young, of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Habitats must be defended, chemicals restricted, buildings redesigned. 'We’re overusing the world, so it’s affecting everything,' she said."[2]And the quality of our water, how we use & abuse it, needs our attention from ground water to rivers to oceans that we depend on for life.
Our world is suffering. Birds, even common birds like sparrows, are vanishing from North America."The sheer scale of the bird decline meant that stopping it would require immense effort, said Dr. Young, of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Habitats must be defended, chemicals restricted, buildings redesigned. 'We’re overusing the world, so it’s affecting everything,' she said."[2]And the quality of our water, how we use & abuse it, needs our attention from ground water to rivers to oceans that we depend on for life.
There are plenty of reasons for us, if we have been like the rich man - ignoring the needs of Lazarus - to wake up to the needs of Lazarus in our midst… to turn to one another, keep learning each others’ names and enter into deep community with one another across human-made chasms for the good of each person and the good of the whole creation.
And if we have been Lazarus, laid out in deep suffering, then can we be open to the ways that God is holding us in the bosom of Abraham, ready to help and protect in time of need? The God who knows our name, who even in our deepest sorrow has laid out a table for us, who is ready at the slightest raise of the hand to pull us out of the unwinnable games of life and give us help—through helpers who are right there, just waiting to offer love and compassion and comfort.
And if we have been Lazarus, laid out in deep suffering, then can we be open to the ways that God is holding us in the bosom of Abraham, ready to help and protect in time of need? The God who knows our name, who even in our deepest sorrow has laid out a table for us, who is ready at the slightest raise of the hand to pull us out of the unwinnable games of life and give us help—through helpers who are right there, just waiting to offer love and compassion and comfort.
Here is what we are called to do with what God has first given us—our names, our resources, each day of life that we have left, no matter the number of days… we are to set our hopes not “onthe uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment… to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share… storing up… the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that [all] may take hold of the life that really is life.” – 1 Timothy
Don’t those words from Timothy sound so much like Christ’s mission statement?—We are a diverse community brought together by the grace of God to share with others what we ourselves have received—this is how we become not only those who help but because of God’s grace, those who can receive what we need for today at this generous table, nourished for tomorrow so that we can live generous lives so that all people, the whole creation can take hold of life… together.
