An Apple a Day

Proper21C, September 29, 2013, Sullivan Park Care Center by Sr. Annette Fricke, OP

            I was aware at a very early age that Washington State is the apple capital of the world.  It produces more apples than any other geographical entity. Such knowledge made me very proud to be a native Washingtonian.  At a later age, when I was in my thirties, I attended a meeting at the Bethel Bible Series where a tune was played and we were to name the tune as quickly as we knew it.  The tune associated with Washington State was, “Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me.”  Apple trees are common in this state, not only as a commercial enterprise, but as backyard favorites.  I once suggested planting an apple tree to help stabilize our ever-sliding backyard in Astoria, Oregon because I read that it had a deep tap root.  But, for one, the actual production of good fruit requires regular treatment to prevent the infestation of worms, a common apple pest.

My mother would at times, give me words of advice in the form of a saying that as a child, I often times found difficult to understand. One such phrase was, “Don’t upset the applecart.” Looking it up in the dictionary, which was frequent advice from my parents, was of no help because it was a phrase, not a single word. In addition to that, I didn’t know then that applecart is one word, not two. After knowing that, the dictionary would only give me one definition and that would be “applecart [ˈæpəlˌkɑːt] noun, A cart or barrow from which apples and other fruit are sold in the street.  But what she meant would be the meaning rendered as “to spoil plans or arrangements.”  Although I knew what a wheel barrow was, I would more likely be confused by the word ‘barrow’ and would be thinking about a male castrated pig.  It seems quite clear that my interactions with Mom and Dad were about equally split. In other words, be careful what you say and how you say it.

          Today we will talk about apples and upsetting applecarts, sustenance and the balance between needs and wants.  In the summer of 2008, I decided that I wanted the experience of being a camp counselor, something I had never done.  I was already fifty years old and experiencing the arthritis in my knees and had been in physical therapy the previous spring.  As in my camp days as a camper, we sang the old grace song for meals, “Oh, the Lord is good to me and so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need: the sun and the rain and the apple seed the Lord is good to me. Amen.”  All worm infestation prevention aside, if you are to ask apple orchard growers from Green Bluff how to grow apples, they would tell you that growing apples from seed is not the way to do it.  In addition to that, the production of a crop is more likely to occur by making cross pollination something that is planned.  You need more than one tree or at least a neighbor’s tree just a few feet away. Otherwise, you are relying on the wind and bees to pollinate by randomness.  Randomness does not create apples, except by accident. Growing apples in this manner would label you as a foolish farmer or an accidental arborist.

          Here, in the gospel text, we have another story about a rich man, probably also aimed at the practices of the Pharisees.  If you recall from last Sunday, the Pharisees were lovers of money who ridiculed Jesus.  They justified themselves.  They claimed to follow the Law of Moses and the prophets.  They didn’t like Jesus’ teaching, because it meant that they were wrong about how they followed the teachings of Torah, handed down from their ancestors. The pure teaching of God had become clouded by interpretations and explanations to the point that God’s Word had been perverted.

          The same thing happens today.  People use phrases from the Bible out of context to justify their way of thinking or their own agenda.  A Bible verse used most recently to justify not funding the food stamp program known as SNAP is this one taken from II Thessalonians 3:10, “He who does not work shall not eat.” The context of this statement is that of a preaching party of early Christian disciples.  In the early days of Christianity, it was common to go out with at least one other person to preach in order to convert others to Christianity.  Many of them also worked for a living, rather than simply begging or the staying in one place scenario presented earlier in Luke.  We know that Paul worked as a tent maker.  They didn’t have the formal church structures of today with professional clergy.  I surmise that they did similar to what I do.

          The food stamp program in this country is designed to help those who are unable to work.  Lazarus is unable to work.  He is not the Lazarus of the other gospels, for example, the brother of Mary and Martha.  This is a different Lazarus.  Lazarus, to the rich man, is an eyesore who lies at the rich man’s gate, hoping for just a few crumbs from the rich man’s table.  He is in poor shape, near death, with sores that ooze all over his body, a truly homeless man who lives without shelter in all kinds of inclement weather. His needs are multiple, but he gets no response from the rich man. As stated in Proverbs 29:7, “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.”

          Compared to last Sunday’s gospel text, the contrast between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless is even greater.  Now, at death, because of the extreme differences in life in which each of them lived, there is a chasm. The chasm is so great that no one is able to cross it.  This is a story that upsets the applecart. There has been so much stalemate in our federal government over the past year that this is now what I think of when I picture the proposed cuts in our nation’s budget---especially to the poorest of our nation.  But I think we misinterpret the chasm when we think of it as a space between heaven and hell.  I propose rather that we think of it as a challenge to fill the ever widening gap between people of different economic statuses.

          One such organization here in town is called Second Harvest.  I just happen to know the director there because she was in my class in school.  She is perfect for the job because I know that she grew up in poverty.  Who could be better?  She knew what it was like to be poor and without much to eat or proper clothing.  It is an organization that takes some of their donations from the apple orchards of Green Bluff.  I was part of a team once that went to pick the leftover apples and place them into several bins, one of a number of teams from Lutheran congregations in the Spokane Valley area. I know that Second Harvest makes a difference in the lives of the homeless of Spokane and I take comfort that my friend was chosen at some point, to be its director.  They are helping to fill the chasm between the poor and the rich, those who have and those who have not.

          The next time you eat an apple or take your medicine with applesauce, remember that there are some simple ways in which people can help to bridge the gap between the wealthy and the poverty-stricken.  I am sure there are other community service projects available that are similar, ones in which even children can be taught to care for the poor. And certainly, it is a way in which children can benefit the welfare of other children. Be thankful for them and encourage these sorts of activities in your children and grandchildren.  That’s the best time to learn, before one’s heart is hardened.  Continue to be a source of inspiration and a moral compass to your children, nieces, and nephews.  Encourage what you know in your heart to be the right path of mercy. They still need your input.  They still need to hear you.  It’s up to you to plant the seed. It’s up to you to give that seed nourishment to grow. Amen.