LUKE 20:27-38

27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,

28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children.

30 And the second

31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.

32 Afterward the woman also died.

33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,

35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,

36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”

            Have you ever noticed how easy it is to waste time?  Apparently for some people, it is quite easy, as each year we seem to be fine tuning this particular skill. As of August 2010, Americans are now spending 41.1 million minutes each month socializing on Facebook.  That works out to an average of 30 hours a month or 55 minutes a day with some people spending many more hours. We are spending so much time socializing on Facebook that there are now self help guides to aid us in curbing our addiction. One guide entitled 15 Ways to Stop Wasting Time on Facebook gives the following tips:

 # 1.) Clean up your Friends list – meaning start defriending some of your friends! 

# 2). Keep your Facebook chat status to “Offline”

# 3.) Don’t get involved with friend exploiting games such as “Mafia Wars” and “Farmville”. 

Hmm, Interesting “Mafia Ways” and “Farmville” Have any of you ever played these games? There’s been a lot of scuttlebutt about them recently. From what I understand they can become addicting for some people.  I would argue they probably contribute to our tendency to waste time. And, it is wasting time that comes into focus in today’s Gospel reading.

The scene opens in Jerusalem, just before Passover, a few days away from Jesus’ arrest and trial. Time is short and very precious. Some Sadducees, priestly aristocrats and members of the branch of Judaism that does not believe in a resurrection after life, come to see Him. By this time most people in Judah know who Jesus is. They have probably heard he is a miracle worker, a great healer, a teacher of wisdom, the one who raised a girl from the dead, the one who threw out the money changers from temple and the one who rode on a colt into Jerusalem to shouts of joy. Some are saying he’s the next Moses, some say Elijah and some say he is the Messiah.

So this group of Sadducees walks over to Jesus and says: Teacher, if seven brothers die in succession and each marries the same woman, one after another, to whom is she married in heaven?

You can almost hear them chuckling to each other, feeling rather proud thinking they have asked the perfect question. Thinking, now we’ve got Him.

You see the Sadducees really aren’t interested in changing their lives. In their minds they already know the truth. They ask Jesus a question about something in which they didn’t believe and aren’t about to. Their question is calculated to keep Jesus and the truth at arms length. They are playing a game, they are simply wasting time.

Do we ever play that game to avoid Jesus and His truth?  Do we too, avoid the questions that really matter? And, do we do this because we don’t really want to change our lives?

The Sadducees’ question reminds me of some of those that emerged during this past midterm political season where opponents used questions to confuse, to trick, to play games and to waste time instead of dealing with real issues. It also reminds me of another political tradition of wasting time, the great American Filibuster.

The word filibuster comes from a Dutch word meaning pirate. It is a form of obstruction in a legislature where one member can delay or entirely prevent a vote on a bill. One of the most famous performances of a filibuster was that of the Democratic senator, Huey P. Long, of Louisiana. Trying to stop a bill that would give his political enemies at home profitable New Deal jobs, he took the floor on   June 12, 1935. He read the U.S. Constitution and the plays of Shakespeare. He gave a recipe for fried oysters and Roquefort dressing. He even asked his exhausted colleagues to suggest topics for his monologue. When they wouldn’t help, he invited reporters in the press gallery to give him suggestions. Finally, after talking for 15 hours, he stopped, ending at 4 a.m. when he left the Senate floor to use the men’s room.

As remarkable as it may seem this performance is not a record. That honor goes to Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who held up the 1957 civil rights bill for 24 hours and 18 minutes.

Talk about playing games to avoid issues that really matter!

In the gospels we learn that Jesus never had time to play games especially with those who tried to trick him or use him to show how righteous they were. In his reply to the Sadducees you can almost hear the exasperation in His voice. He tells them although marriage is important in this world; it will not be so in the next. Those included in the resurrection of the dead will no longer be concerned with marriage, or death, for they are like angels and are sons of God and have better things to think about. In the age to come, all focus will be on what really matters, serving God.

When it comes to focusing on what really matters I’m reminded of a passage I read in Anne Lamott’s book, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. In the book she writes about her long process of deciding to turn her wildly bushy hair into dreadlocks. She writes, “Now, you may need a little background on this to help you see why this means such a big deal to me: you’ve got to realize I grew up with men and boys asking me if I’d stuck my finger in a light socket.”   

So, after many years of spending time focusing on her hair she reflects on a conversation she had with her friend Pammy:

“I couldn’t stop thinking of something Pammy said right before she died, when she was in a wheelchair, wearing a wig to cover her baldness. We were at Macy’s. I was modeling a short dress for her that I thought my boyfriend would like. But then I asked her whether it made me look big in the hips, and Pammy said, as clear and kind as a woman can be, “Annie? You really don’t have that kind of time.” And slide trombone, bells, rim shot – I got it, deep in my being…Pammy’s words suddenly rang true through the chambers of my mind. So, I kept thinking, how much longer am I going to think about my hair more often than about things in the world that matter?

Things in the world that matter….

Throughout the gospels, Jesus is always depicted as having time for questions in the world that mattered such as:

Can you heal my child?

I am demon possessed and I can not rest. Can you help me?

I have lost my way. Can you help me find my way home?

I have sinned. I am unclean. Do you love someone like me?

Is there life after death?

As children of the resurrection, we are people of the angels, messengers of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Maybe what we need is a few angelic filibusters to help us stop ourselves from spending our time on things that don’t matter in order to listen and answer the questions that really do matter in the world.

Sisters and Brother let us listen for and answer questions such as:

Mommy can you read me a book?

Can we make cookies now?

Hey Dad, can you take me to the mall.

Can we go out and play ball?

Dear, can you help me with my grocery shopping? I get so nervous in crowds?

 Would you be able to drive me to my Doctor’s appointment tomorrow?

Can you come in for a cup of coffee? I’m scared and all a lone.

I am hungry; can you give me something to eat?

I am thirsty; can you give me something to drink?

I am lost; can you help me find my way home to God?

My prayer for all of us today is that we be given the grace to be like angels, messengers of God’s Good News to all creation. And, may we all find ways to spend our precious time, here on earth, being the hands and heart of Jesus Christ.    Amen.

November 7, 2010