Tuesday, February 9, 2016

On The Other Side

Luke 9:28-43a

One of my favorite commercials is the one with two neighbors, one cleaning his lawn mower and the other looking over a short hedge at that neighbor’s lawn. He says something like, “I wish my lawn looked as good as that.” To which the reply is, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the.” And as he realizes what he’s saying he stops and says, “Oops, sorry.”

His neighbor simply bows his head and walks away, perhaps in the realization that things just might be better on the other side. Really, though, haven’t most of us thought the same thing at least once in our lives. We take a look at our situations and see others who are doing better than us and wonder if we’ve made the right choices, with our next thoughts sometimes being, “I’m going to be more like others so I can have as good a life as them.”

The truth is, and I speak from experience here, the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. What I learned is that the grass is as green as you make it on your side of the fence.

I’m not sure if I’ve shared that I used to sell cars. My first job in the automotive business was that of a used car salesman and I’m not sure if I should admit this, but I did pretty good. I remember that first month in car sales. I was closing 2 or 3 deals a week, out-performing all but one other sales person. I worked smart, learning everything I possibly could about the business. I learned exactly what it takes to make “the deal” and vowed to be the best salesperson at our little used car lot the following month.

The following month came and I literally sold absolutely no cars for 4 weeks straight. Nothing. Nada. ‘Ole.

I should mention here that in the automotive sales business we were paid by commission. 100% commission. No car sales meant no paycheck. It also meant the threat of losing my job because the company still had to pay my medical benefits and payroll taxes. I was a liability to the company and even worse I was a liability to my livelihood.

Let me back up a little. Before beginning a career in the automotive business I was in the restaurant business. I began working at the age of 16 as a dishwasher/bus boy/janitor and worked my way through the ranks until I found myself in management around the age of 23 or 24.  I stayed in the restaurant business for close to 14 years, and one day I simply said, “There has to be something better than this.”

A restaurant manager will work at least 60 hours a week, with no less than 6 days dedicated to the job. I found myself with no time for anything, or anyone, else. In retrospect, the problems of my first marriage had a lot to do with my never being home. It wasn’t the only factor, but it played a large roll.

One day I was looking through the newspaper, not really looking for another job, and saw an ad for an automotive salesperson. “Good money”, it said. “Lots of free time”, it said. “No experience necessary”, it said. That ad wasn’t the deciding factor for me to get into the car business, but after a period in my life where my life choices were making life a lot more difficult than it needed to be, automotive sales seemed a lot better than staying in the one business I knew better than anything.

I hopped the fence, looking for greener pastures.

Moving forward, to my 4 weeks without a sale. I was called into the sales manager’s office where he told me what I was expecting to hear; I had to start performing or I would lose my job. I told him I understood and went outside to the car lot, found a nice quiet place between a couple of cars, and contemplated my next move.

A voice called out, “hey.” It was that salesperson who I had vowed to be better than, and he came and sat next to me. “Get fired yet?” he asked me. “No, not yet, but soon.” I replied.

He then told me something I took with me through the rest of my automotive career, and through the rest of my journey in life. He said, “I’ve seen it happen to the best of us, heck, it even happened to me. We recognize our talent, we know we’re good at what we do, and we bask in that knowledge for too long. We think that because we were the best at what we do we can’t possibly ever lose. Then we lose and we have to figure out what to do next.”

He continued, “My advice to you is this: quit before they fire you because you don’t have what it takes to use your knowledge and talents to better the lives of those around you. You, my friend, want to rest in your greatness and simply be the best.”

He walked away, and I was mad at him for suggesting I quit because I didn’t have what it took. Then I thought about all of his words, and you know, he was right. When I first started selling cars I wanted to help people. I wanted to help them find a reliable car that fit into their budget. I had no other motive. It wasn’t until I started to be a “winner” that it became more about me and less about them.

I picked myself up from my place of solitude, or should I say solo-tude, and sat by my new friend’s side and told him I wasn’t going to quit. He looked at me and smiled and said, “Good, and just in time, go help that couple who just walked on the lot.”

I did just that. I put no thought about what I was going to make in this deal and only thought about what I could do to best assist this couple in finding a car. I made the sale that night, but more than that I realized that the grass really is only as green as you make it.

It wasn’t easy hearing the truth that I was stuck in my own glory. Most people really don’t like to hear that they only care about one thing, especially when that one thing comes at the expense of doing good for others. Today’s story is a reminder of just that, of getting stuck in the wonder of God’s light that we forget to share that light with others.

The story of the Transfiguration is one of my favorite stories in the bible. I really get caught up in the imagery of it all. Clothes flashing as white as lightning, a descending cloud with the voice of God coming from it, the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and even the sleepy disciples really bring to life how Jesus was filled with the light of God and became spiritually changed on that mountaintop.

During the years I’ve also noted how Peter was all but admonished for making an incoherent request to make a dwelling place for the three men, reminding us that nothing can hold the power of God’s light. What I’ve not seen as much as I’ve seen it this time around is what happens when the disciples and Jesus get down from the mountain; when they get to the other side.

I believe that Peter’s intentions were good, that he saw an opportunity for them to dwell in the greenest grass possible, but neither Jesus nor God nor the other two men would have anything to do with those plans. Instead, Jesus takes them all down the mountain and, in response to a request from the crowd, removes an evil spirit from someone’s son.

Jesus shows us all that we cannot do God’s work by staying on the mountaintop to bask in God’s light, instead we must go among the people to find ways to share that light with those who most need it – the angry, the downtrodden, the sick, the abused, the lonely.

This coming Wednesday is the beginning of Lent. Lent is when we take the opportunity to honestly look at our relationships. How are we in our relationship with each other? Do we do our best to bring others into the light of Christ? How about our relationship with ourselves? Can we take an honest look at the person we really are and say we’re ok with whoever that person might be?

What about our relationship with Jesus Christ? Are we doing everything we can to continue to grow into his message of unconditional love and acceptance? Are we doing everything we can to follow his commandment to love God with everything we are, to love our neighbor, and to love ourselves?

We have a lot to think about going into Lent, but mostly we should be thinking about how we can best accept, grow, and share the light, the life-force of God, into our lives and out to the lives of those around us.

According to the Christian calendar, today is the last Sunday in the Epiphany, the time when God’s light is revealed to us. I find it fitting that the story of Jesus’ transfiguration, of his change into a more spiritual presence, comes just before Lent. The story helps us to see God’s light come to completeness in Jesus while at the same time look beyond that, to the other side of this moment, and into what we are being asked to do.

No two of our journeys will be the same. Maybe some of us need to work on our relationship with our self, while others might need to work on our relationships with others. Either way, we all need to see how we can make better our relationship with, and through, Jesus Christ.

Often during Lent I am asked, “What will you be giving up?” This year, instead of thinking of it in those terms, I’m going to think, “What do I want to improve?” I may fine tune my diet or start walking to improve my health. I may make more phone calls to friends and family and church members to improve relationships with others. I might even take on the task of reading the Book of Acts once again to improve my knowledge of the struggles of the early church.

Whatever I decide to do I do know one thing: I won’t be doing any of those things for myself. I’ll be sure to plant some good grass, water it often, make sure it gets a lot of light, and when I have a nice, soft turf I’ll invite everyone to come and share it with me.

God is with us always.  Amen.

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