Early on in our marriage, Sue and I were visiting her parents. On one occasion, her father gave me a man’s tour of the kitchen, explaining that at their house, family was on their own for breakfast. So, cereal was to be found on the lazy Susan (?). Bread was in another cabinet. The toaster was in the corner cabinet to the right of the jar of Oreos. For some things, he would say, ‘I don’t know why that’s kept there. It just is and we’re used to it being there.’ Bananas were a regular breakfast food, kept in a bowl at the far end of the counter. It was discovered that I like mine really ripe (lots of dark spots) so the running joke became, ‘We need to eat these bananas before Don gets to them.’ And that’s how it was, breakfast at the Potters. Ah, such memories!
Closer to home, I remember a big to-do in our kitchen. My mother was away for the day helping a lady from our church who had just had surgery. My father, recently retired and thoroughly unacquainted with all things ‘kitchen,’ was looking for something to do, so he decided to clean the insides of the cupboards. He emptied everything onto every surface he could find, scrubbed all the shelves vigorously, then proceeded to put things back. I’m sure his efforts were appreciated, but to say my mother was speechless at what she found (or more accurately couldn’t find) is only the initial part of the story. Her domain had been invaded.
When Joseph and Mary’s young son began to speak and teach in his hometown of Nazareth, he made everybody proud. He was one of theirs. Hadn’t they all helped raise him with all the other village children? He spoke so well! That is, until he spoke out of turn, got too confident, made declarations which deeply offended them. He was treading on thin ice with talk of being the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy! He was trampling on tradition (re-arranging the status quo, which says, this is how we’ve always done it, what we’ve always believed!)
Jesus’ teachings succeeded in upsetting some, regaling others, and infuriating the powers-that-be in Jerusalem. He gained Judea-wide notoriety in a very short time while attracting vast crowds of enraptured common folk hanging on his every liberating word. He spoke of God’s Kingdom, Heaven, his Father, driving the Pharisees mad, sealing his fate. He had tampered with the untouchable. He became public enemy #1 with the religious elite putting a contract on his head. Tradition is sacrosanct, you know.
It’s so good to be meeting with you, God’s regaled ones, those whose lives have been turned upside down by news of this Kingdom Jesus taught, this Kingdom Now! Looking forward to seeing y’all tomorrow 10 AM, 3 PM UK. PD