Wise, Kind, Swift & Brave

Readings: Luke 10:25-37, Secrets of Heaven #133 & #9874[3] (see below)
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Photo by Tony Stoddard on Unsplash

Today I want to introduce you to one of my favorite Easter children’s stories: The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes. I cannot tell you how many times I read this book as a child. It is a sweet, whimsical, and moving story, that is surprisingly feminist for being written in 1939.

It begins with a little country bunny who is wishing she could grow up to be one of the Easter Bunnies. One of - yes - in this story, there are five special bunnies to deliver all the easter eggs to all the children of the world, and they are the wisest, kindest, and swiftest of all the bunnies. 

Most of the fancy bunnies made fun of the country bunny’s aspirations, and while she didn’t lose hope, over time she did grow up and have a family. Suddenly one day though, it is announced that it is time for one of the Easter bunnies to retire. All the hopeful bunnies assembled at the house of old, wise, kind Grandfather Bunny to audition, and Mother Cottontail showed up with her 21 children to see the festivities. The fancy bunnies did their best to convince Grandfather bunny they were right for the job, but while they were able to prove they were pretty and fast, they had not proven they were wise and kind. 

At last, Grandfather bunny’s gaze landed on Mother Cottontail, and he invited her to come forward. As she spoke of her family, and they way all the children helped her and each other, Grandfather bunny was convinced that she was wise and kind, and when she ordered her children to scatter, and she chased after them and returned them quickly, she also proved she was swift. Grandfather Bunny appointed her to be the newest Easter bunny.

Mother Cottontail spent the next night delivering Easter eggs all over the world, with her fellow Easter Bunnies. Towards the end of the night, Grandfather Bunny gave her a very special task: to deliver an Easter egg to a sick child who lived on top of a high mountain. Mother Cottontail was surprised and a little intimidated but couldn’t bear for a such brave child to be forgotten, so she set out. She made it almost to the top of the mountain but at the last minute lost her footing, and fell all the way to the bottom. When she tried to stand, she found that she had sprained her ankle. To her dismay, the sun was starting to rise, and she would not be able to make it. 

Suddenly, Grandfather Bunny appeared and told her that in addition to being wise, kind and swift, that she was also very brave. He gave her a pair of little golden shoes, and once she put them on, she could bound up the mountain in just two jumps. She slipped inside the house to deliver the egg to the child, and then bounded home to her own children. They were safe and sound; all of them had taken care of the house and each other. And from that day forward, the little gold shoes would hang on a hook in Mother Cottontail’s house, to be used again each Easter to bring joy to the children of the world.

Now, apart from the obvious Easter theme, why would I choose to preach on this story today? Certainly because I love this story and always will, but also because of the way it grounds us in the same kinds of virtues that we see time and time again in the Bible, and in particular, from Jesus. 

Grandfather Bunny was looking for bunnies who were wise, kind, and swift, and for the most important tasks, bunnies who were brave. What else are *we* doing here at church, other than trying to learn how to be wise, kind, brave, and swift to help? For Swedenborgians, this trio of being wise, kind and swift, immediately echoes the trinity of aspects that we see in God, and that we try to cultivate within ourselves - Wisdom, Love, and Usefulness, and of course, the courage that it takes to steadfastedly live them out in life.

I chose the story of the Good Samaritan today because it is one where we can see someone being wise, kind, swift and brave in service to others. We heard in our reading that a traveler was beset by bandits and left for dead in the road. A priest and a Levite both went by without helping him. But finally, a Samaritan (meaning someone of a tribe of people to the north of Judea and the south of Galilee) stopped and rendered aid.

This Samaritan was wise in that he saw what was needed and he did that. He took care of the most urgent things first - disinfected and bandaged the man’s wounds. Then he placed the man on his donkey and took him to the nearest inn, in order to keep them both out of further danger and continue his immediate care throughout the night. Then, when he needed to leave, he provided provision for the man’s further care. Wisdom assessed the situation, and continued assessing it as needed, showing flexibility according to context. 

How was the Samaritan kind? It seems obvious of course, in that he stopped where others had not. As we dig a little deeper though, we have to recognize the context that might have prevented him from acting. Jews and Samaritans shared a deep mutual contempt going back many hundreds of years. They were in fact, the same people, and worshiped the same God, but had diverged on what where they should worship, and some other disagreements. Over time, these differences grew into an intractable hatred. Perhaps this sounds familiar - for it is a very human occurance. This was at the heart of the question to Jesus: And who is my neighbor? We get the sense that it was asked with the hidden question: who am I allowed to ignore? who am I allowed to say is NOT my neighbor? Jesus’ answer was essentially: no one. 

And the Greek word used in v.33 illuminates things even further. It is splanchnizomai (v.33), which means means a compassion felt viscerally, in the gut. It invokes the deep empathy that can drive us to care for our fellow human beings, and acknowledgment of how in herently connected, regardless of context. Jesus is making clear that this intuitive connective empathy should guide our actions. Kindness to people to look like us, sound like us, believe like us, is not sufficient. We don’t actually get to decide who is an isn’t our neighbor.

Did the Samaritan move swiftly? Was he swift to act? Yes, indeed he was. The Samaritan was swift in his initial response. He was moved, and then he acted with wisdom. Yet, he wasn’t swift to depart, and when he did, he made provision. We see a swiftness in the beginning, when it was warranted, and a steadiness that continued the injured man’s care. Sometimes quickness, being first, being fast, can be lauded in our culture in a way that makes no space for accountability. Move fast and break things has been considered a desirable business strategy by prominent CEOs. But it is an immature one. We see in the story a deft demonstration of the power of both being swift and being steadfast, according to need.

And was the Samaritan brave? I think so. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notoriously dangerous, which was why Jesus used it as an illustration. Stopping to help put the Samaritan in danger as well, for there was no guarantee the robbers were no longer nearby. This took physical courage. Yet, even futher, there was the social danger that comes from crossing lines in the sand that everyone seemingly agrees with. What would the Samaritan’s family and peers have thought of this actions? What would the inn keeper have thought? Would he experience repercussions? Would he need to explain himself? This is a quieter kind of courage but no less important. For who knows what benefit his example might bring, as it quietly loosens one small strand of habitual prejudice. 

So in this familiar Bible story, we see the virtues of being wise, kind, swift, and brave, just as in the story of the Country Bunny. And after the week we have had, a week in which the President of our own United States threatened another civilization with destruction, perhaps this all talk of these virtues seems too much like a fairytale? Why focus on a children’s story today? Because I believe that the stories we tell shape us deeply. Whether they are bible stories, or other stories, our stories have the power to create meaning, communicate values, and suggest action. When we are being told stories about how we, or our country, or our religion, must dominate, must “win”, must control, must care only about ourselves, when we are told that this what we deserve, this is what we are owed, this is the only way, then we will become we will become people embody those ideas.

But if our stories tell of people caring for one other, tell of people being wise, kind, swift and brave, tell of one person taking a rish to help another, then we have a chance of embodying those virtues instead. We’ll still do it imperfectly. But it matters what we aspire to.

In our tradition, when encountered in the Bible, gold always represents the goodness of love, the inherent way that love creates goodness, simply the essence, the purpose of love. How appropriate then, that the County Bunny was given shoes of gold, and these shoes gave her the power to do her work of bringing joy to others. They provided her with the power to literally jump towards others, to cross the distance between people. With whatever constitues our own golden shoes in this world, Jesus tells us “Go and do likewise.”

Amen.

Readings:

Luke 10:25-37
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “ ‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Secrets of Heaven #133
Nothing is more common in the Word than for the good that belongs to wisdom or else to love to be meant and represented by 'gold'. All the gold of the Ark, the Temple, the golden table, the lampstands, the vessels, and on Aaron's vestments, meant and represented good that belongs to wisdom or else to love.

Secrets of Heaven 9874[3]
The truth that this good is the good of love that is received from the Lord and shown to the Lord may be recognized from the consideration that all good belongs to love, for what a person loves they call good and also feel to be such. From this it is evident that heavenly good is the good of love to the Lord, for this love is what joins angel and people to the Lord; through this love they are brought to God and enjoy all the good of heaven.