Plumb Crazy...

 

Amos 7:7-8
7:7 This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.

7:8 And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;

 

Luke 10:25-28
10:25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

10:26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?"

10:27 He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

10:28 And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

 

 

My late father-in-law was a union carpenter. He once told me, “Give me a plumb line, and I can build you a perfectly straight house, hanger, or hospital with no problem!” One “true” plumb line is all it takes. Why is that?

 

A line weighted with a plumb bob will point directly toward the center of the earth. Use it to “square out” out from when building something, and all of your walls and corners will be “plumb,” meaning they will technically extend straight up between the center of the earth and heaven. Now, please note here, that because the earth is a sphere (sorry, you flat-earth people, but it IS), all vertical elements set “plumb” will actually fall along a radius from the earth’s center, meaning that they will radiate along the surface of the sphere, but since the earth is immense, this minor deviation due to its curvature, is all but immeasurable. To us, our levels, and our plumb line, your building will be “square and plumb.” So, the plumb line is a standard, against which all else is measured.

 

The Amos text is famous for the “God’s plumb line” declaration. Israel will be measured against GOD’S standard, not her own, or that of any other earthly authority. On one hand, it is a promise—that God’ will make God’s standards (commands and guidance) clear and ever-present. On the other hand, it is a statement of accountability for Israel, namely that God will hold its behavior up to God’s “plumb line” to see how “true” they are building their lives, their society, and by association, the Kingdom or Realm of God on earth. “Building” by God’s plumb line standard makes for less stressful, more abundant living. Building a society by God’s plumb line means less conflict, greater collaboration, and that society prosper as a people. On the third matter—cooperation in building the Realm of God on earth—God will demand, not request, the builders meet God’s “true” standards, and that the building be square at every corner.

 

Incidentally, I live in a really nice townhouse built by the Ryan Homes company. While it isn’t evident that they cut too many corners, it is clear that a plumb line must have been absent, or those who knew how to use one were, on the build team. I can’t testify that all of our corners are out-of-square, but at least two where I wanted to hang corner shelves are. I did successfully hang the shelves, but a 90 degree shelf unit fit into a 90 degree corner should not leave a wedge-shaped gap large enough to lose a key fob through. Apparently, the “art” of building off of a plumb line is becoming a lost one, or if some “new” technology of squaring walls and corners has eclipsed the simple plumb line, it was in its beta release in the townhouses of Adams Ridge!

 

So, God is going to put a plumb line in the midst of the people—a promise of reliable standards for them to follow, as well as a measure of accountability for how the “builders” are doing. Obviously, when we read Israel’s history as recorded by the Hebrew Bible, or fast-forward to our time, when we can see first-hand how modern Israel is doing, it becomes clear that both have often been the “Ryan Homes” of Godly nations. Their religious leaders have made lots of rules, but many of the ones they have propagated and enforced seem not to have been guided by God’s plumb line. This is why Jesus goes postal on them so often—their rules are oppressive and alienating, not helpful and useful to the gathered community. And they pretty much either ignore or oppress marginalized folk. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, the Christian church hasn’t always yielded to the lessons Jesus taught, either, even as he sought to reestablish God’s “plumb line” in the midst of the people—US.

 

The Lukan passage this week reveals what Jesus sees as God’s universal “plumb line” standard. The lawyer, who has not formulated his question out of integrity but instigation, asks about “inheriting eternal life.” From his perspective, this would be the “gold standard” of peace with God. And why not? If one believes in the whole medieval “heaven vs. hell” scenario, “eternal life” is a code phrase for receiving God’s blessing at death to continue life in the eternal realm of God we call “heaven.” If one misses the mark, then it’s “no soup for you”—hell. From a more liberal theological perspective, we might rather ruminate on “life after death,” or better yet, the QUALITY of our life after death. If we believe in the transforming, saving power of Jesus Christ, then we may eschew the dualistic “heaven vs. hell” understanding for one where pretty much anyone who WANTS to be present with God in death, can be. (I had a wise preacher suggest to me once that “No one is going to be in heaven who doesn’t WANT to be there,” and human free will causes me to believe that.) Life in the Realm of God after death is a gift of God’s grace, made possible by the life, ministry, and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and has little to do with human agency. However, the QUALITY of that life does. If we follow the teachings of Jesus, squaring ourselves against God’s “plumb line,” the life we live now AND then will be so much richer and far less self-centered. It will mirror  the perfect line and squareness of the plumb line—Jesus, the LIVING plumb line! In this model, evangelism is heralding the grace of God available to all people, and then guiding and aiding them in “plumbing” their lives to Christ’s standards. It is an abundant and peaceful life, both here, now and there, later. 

 

I understand that this interpretation will not square with my more conservative friends who see “eternal life” as a much more exclusive club requiring a “secret word” to get in (saying the right “sinner’s prayer; knowing WHEN you were “saved,” etc.). And some go as far as to judge some behaviors so taboo that they negate access to the restricted “club” of the redeemed. But let’s look at what Jesus set as the standard.

 

Lawyer: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

 

Jesus: “What do you think?”

 

Lawyer: “Love God with everything you’ve got, and your neighbor as yourself.” 

 

Jesus: CORRECT! Now go do that!

There’s our plumb line, from the Living Plumb Line, himself. It is my conviction that when Jesus made the statement, “Narrow is the way that leads to eternal life…and broad is the way that leads to destruction,” he was saying that the “narrow way” is the simple way—love God and neighbor.” The “broad way” is one littered by excess rules, human-derived standards, and riddled with potholes created by selfishness and exclusivity. It is a false plumb line. Jesus said “few” find the ”easy” or “narrow way,” probably because we want to believe we are more special than others, especially the others we consider inferior or “more sinful.” We may be easily seduced by the rules-based faith and the “secret passwords” that filter out the “riff-raff.” The church often does a decent job of OFFERING the grace of God, but then weigh it down with a plethora of rules, or create a whole slew of “private plumb lines” against which to measure new disciples. The newly discipled are chased off by these. I pray they find the “narrow way” of Jesus—loving God and neighbor—wherever they go, for if not, we are the source of the “millstone” that sinks them.

 

Another important question in interpreting these “plumb line” texts is: What is it that we are building? It’s one thing to have a plumb line against which to measure what we build, but quite another to know what we’re building in the first place! No one builds a building without plans, or in other words, just starts putting up studs and walls, figuring “we’ll just see what develops.” That would be just plumb crazy! It sure looks to me, however, that this is what is happening in the United Methodist Church, as it faces schism, and both “sides” may fall prey to this mistake. As we look back into Christian history, it seems that the church has done this any time it allows rules and dogmas to take precedence over the “love God and love neighbor” standard of Jesus. Deciding that we will follow the “narrow way” of loving God and neighbor allows a ”bigger picture” theology that would lead to a clearer set of plans to enhance each generation’s love of God, and to better deduce what the needs of our neighbors are, that we may organize to meet them. The “building” we build by this methodology will more likely be both a community center AND a worship space, and one that is adaptable to the time and need of the people it serves. It is a place of grace with an “open door” policy. If we instead continue to build on the rules and dogmas of “orthodoxy,” we will just keep putting up studs and walls, never developing a plan that amounts to anything that has the power to change lives. Right doctrine begins to usurp right living. When that happens, we may become preoccupied with policing the ranks of the “saved” and less focused on the teachings of Jesus—the plumb line.

 

Friends, I’m playing with a few images here to get us thinking about how different and diverse the community of faith could be if it were to build on the “love God and neighbor” standard. How many people have seen through the historically popular “rule and control” form, and have “voted with their feet” to leave the organizations it created. Again, it is my conviction that the “narrow way” is also the easy way—build a place where people can learn how to love God passionately, and a storehouse of resources and tools to help them love their neighbors better, and I’ll bet they’ll beat a path to its open doors.

 

Those of you savvy with the Common Lectionary know that I left off the second part of the “Lawyer and Jesus” story from Luke. It’s the part about when the lawyer—who came to trick Jesus, remember—asks “Who is my neighbor?” The answer Jesus gives is one of the most beloved and quoted stories in the whole Bible, the one we have dubbed “The Good Samaritan.” In this story, a hated stranger makes a great sacrifice to help an injured person who hates him enough to wish him dead (which was a real-life scenario in that day between Jews and Samaritans). Does THAT sound familiar? Yes, the lawyer, who is trying to trip up Jesus so they can snuff him for breaking their rules and dogmas, is ultimately saved by a great sacrifice made by the one he hates. 

 

We now have the Living Plumb Line in our midst. We are called to build a place that teaches people about loving God passionately, and resource them as they go home to love their neighbor. It’s that simple. To again quote Winston Zeddemore from the film, “Ghostbusters,” “We have the TOOLS, we have the TALENT!” And we have the plumb line. Had the Christian church “kept it simple, stupid” down through the ages, we might not have a thousand divergent denominations, a gaggle of “independent” churches, and may not be facing a split in yet another major Christian Communion. However, it is never too late to “revisit” our personal relationship with the “love God, love neighbor” standard, “true up our corners,” and remodel the church to be the “community life center” those plans call for. Amen? Amen!