Isaiah 65:21-25
21 They
shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree
shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for sudden terror;
for they shall be offspring
blessed by the Holy God—
and their descendants as well.
24 Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the HOLY
God.
Let
us pray. May the imperfect words of my
mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Holy One,
our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
A
story sermon. The Gospel according to
John Steinbeck.
Wasn’t no use gettin’
upset about 1936, and the way they had lost their farm. It was almost 1937, and things had to be
gettin’ better. When they lost their
farm in Heber Springs, Oklahoma, Jim Carpenter heard about pea picking in
California, the promised land. So he and
Minnie set off, thinking that even though Minnie was pregnant, he was young
enough to work for the both of them. As
they pulled away from what used to be their farm, Jim saw one of those new
tractors plowing up what amounted to hard dust.
Off to pea picking. Off to more
opportunities than anyone might find in Heber Springs.
Now as he traced the
scratches on his hand from a day of picking cotton, Jim heard Minnie beginning
to scream even louder. This kid was
coming. Even the cops who had thrown them
out of the government camp couldn’t stop this kid from coming. Most people in California hated Okies, so
they walked off the campgrounds and found a place all to themselves. Jim found a small tent to pitch and built a
roaring fire. Even around Bakersfield,
the nights could get right cold. As
little as he knew about bringing a kid into the world, this kid was coming and
so Jim walked back into the tent to be with Minnie.
“I’m still so cold, Jim,
can you make the fire any warmer?”
“Minnie, that fire is just
about as big as I can get it. I don’t
know that a fella can make it any higher or warmer.”
But Minnie did not need to
argue with Jim as much as she just looked at him hard, sweat pouring off her
face, and Jim turned back around.
He called back. “I’ll see if I can find some extra
wood.”
The fire was blazing when
Jim returned. “The baby’s wants out,
Jim, but I don’t think I can do this, Jim.
It hurts, Jim. What will we feed
him, Jim? Where will we live, Jim?”
“Shhhh, Min, let’s just
bring this little one into the world.
We’ll figure all this stuff out.”
He dabbed at Minnie’s forehead with his shirt and ran his scarred hands
through her hair.
At the government camp,
Tom Joad wanted to know about the couple.
“Where’d they go after the
cops shooed them off?”
“I reckon they headed off
to the west, just beyond that shed. You
can see that big fire burnin’ over there.
I’d say that’s them.”
“And you think the girl
was close?”
“I reckon.”
“Ok, here’s what I want
you to do. Go around the camp and
scratch up whatever food you can. Ask
everybody for just a little. If you ask
them for too much, they won’t give you any.”
The man nodded and walked out with a blanket Tom had given him.
“Ma!” Tom Joad shouted. “Ma!”
“What is it?”
“Does Rose of Sharon still
have her milk?”
“She does. It’s right painful for her.”
“Wake her up. This young girl is going to need the sleep
after this baby is born. She’s had way
too much trouble the last two days.”
“Alright then.”
Tom collected the extra
blankets. And when the man returned with
three days worth of food, the three of them:
Tom with his blankets and a bucket of water, Rose of Sharon with her
breasts full of milk, and the man with three days worth of food followed the
light of the fire to the west, outside of the camp.
Outside the camp, at a
small tent, Jim Carpenter held the small child in his arms, both he and the
small child crying. Minnie was fast
asleep, exhausted, and the child was clearly hungry. Jim had no idea what to do but hold the child
tighter. Tears streamed from his
face. He had sung all the songs he
knew. He had walked round and round the
tent until his legs just could not walk anymore. Life in Heber Springs was better than
anything they had found in California.
Just outside the camp, the
cops pulled the three aside to ask where they were headed. Tom Joad said he had family members outside
the camp who were having a baby.
One of the cops locked eyes
with Tom Joad and directly asked him, “You wouldn’t be trying to help that Okie
couple we threw out of the camp today, would ya?”
Tom Joad kept the guy’s
gaze and said, “Nope!”
Another cop jumped
in. “Well then let us know where they
are when you get back and we’ll make sure we take care of them in the
morning. Maybe even run some fresh water
out to the mother.”
Tom knew the cop didn’t
split the difference with intent between the three of them going to see family
members or going to see the young couple the cops threw out of the camp. He remained expressionless. Tweren’t best to correct, defend, or
deny.
Outside the camp, and just
outside a small tent, Jim Carpenter thought his eyes must have been playing
tricks on him. He thought he saw three
people walking toward him on the other side of the fire. Jim knew they might be cops come to shoo them
off further, but he was so tired that he slowly put the child on the ground,
and began moving out of the tent--as if he was packing up to leave. He was relieved to see the three were not
cops.
Rose of Sharon immediately
took the baby and fed her. Tom Joad
wrapped blankets around Minnie and threw two extra on the ground for when the
father would get some sleep. And the man
offered the father food. Jim ate,
almost without swallowing.
Tom Joad led the young man
outside of the tent and said to him, “The cops will be after you in the
morning. They know we came out this
way. You’ll need to leave this
place. God blesses you in the dark, son. I know you’re Okies. So are we.
Weren’t seem there is much place for us.
God blesses you in the dark, son.”
Jim Carpenter heard the
voice of Tom Joad or someone else’s voice in his head as daybreak approached. He thought he heard the voice say, “I’ll be
all around in the dark. I’ll be everywhere. Wherever you can look, wherever
there’s a fight, so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a
cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be there in the ways guys yell when
they’re mad. I’ll be there in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry and they
know supper’s ready, and when people are eatin’ the stuff they raise and livin’
in the houses they built, I’ll be there too.”[1]
No comments:
Post a Comment