Lenten Ponderings—NUNYA!?
Remember back in the day hearing “Nunya!” when someone thinks someone else is getting into their “business” (YOU were probably too polite to say something like this…). Or the more clear version, “None of your business!,” or as my sister in her ever loving and sweet way would sometimes put it, “None of your bees wax!” (no idea where she got that one!). Maybe it was just a Florida thing, but behind this button that was too often pushed, is the sense that it’s a terrible sin for somebody else to get into my “bidness.”
But does what might make some sense in a secular kind of way really make sense for Jesus kind of people? We often recognize how the Jesus way is countercultural in our offertory prayer with the ancient words, “All that we have and all that we are, are gifts from You, O Lord.” We sometimes use the term “surrendering” ourselves and all we have to Jesus when we come to faith—think of the classic hymn words “I surrender all… all to Jesus I surrender, I surrender ALL.” Are they just nice, sentimental words, or do we really mean it?
So while it MIGHT be appropriate for a Jesus person to exclaim “Nunya!” to the nosey neighbor, the overstepping boss, the “friend” who’s trying to be too helpful (though it might be a little crass and childish!), would it ever be appropriate to tell Jesus “Nunya!”—if even in a more reverent and spiritual way– perhaps to the tune of “I Surrender All”—“Not your business, not your business, I just give my soul…”
I don’t think so. At least not how I read the Gospels.
To put it in more religious terms, you might say that when I first decide to try to trust Jesus is when I find salvation, a point sometimes called justification. But the life-long process of growing in faith, of discipleship, of entrusting more and more of my life to Jesus, is what’s called sanctification, or sometimes in Methodist language, “moving on to perfection.”
Which is why we are offering Financial Peace University—starting this Sunday in fact! Financial Peace is certainly about helping people better manage money, so is a great resource for our community, and can be offered to your friends and neighbors regardless of church affiliation. But is it really about how we’re managing “our” money–because what I do with MY money is “none of your bees wax!”? Or, if as a Jesus person, “I surrender all,” does that mean I finally realize that MY money is not really mine at all, but resources God has entrusted into my hands to see how I can use them to bless my little corner of the world?
Hope to see you Sunday—starting about noon with lunch provided! Pastor Jim