Tickets

I don’t remember the first time I ever got a ticket for anything, but considering where I grew up, it doesn’t surprise me that the first-ever ticket that I can remember was a bus ticket.

I remember how the bus ticket looked like. The bus system which used to issue those tickets has since gone out of business, but I remember those bus tickets. Like any passenger, once I got my ticket, I could get on the bus from Sekondi to Takoradi where I attended school. It sometimes amazes me that I had to travel that distance with my younger siblings to school.

The other ticket that I remember was to Gyandu Park. It is a soccer park, and as a huge soccer fan, it was a joy to walk with my father’s paralegal and my little brother to watch soccer. There too, at the gate, we were handed a ticket after we paid a fee.

Those were my early memories of receiving a ticket for anything. Since then, I have had the chance to be given tickets for a whole number of things. If I fly, I need to get a ticket. If I ride the train, I need to get a ticket. If I ride the bus, I need to get a ticket. If I go to the movie theater, I need to get a ticket. If I go to the ballpark, I need to get a ticket. If I go to a football game, I need to get a ticket. If the police pull me over, they give me a ticket.

Tickets grant access, offer permission, and guarantee that the individual holding them is authorized to be at a particular place at a particular time and shouldn’t be hindered at all.

During Slavery, the enslaved had to possess a Slave Pass. The enslaved were mandated to carry the Slave Pass at all times. The Slave Pass stated the name of the enslaver and the enslaved, the destination of the enslaved, and the duration of time that the enslaved had been released from the plantation.

The Slave Pass was like a ticket; it guaranteed access for the enslaved and permitted the enslaved to not only move around freely outside the plantation, but to ensure that the enslaved has his or her master’s permission.

A couple of days ago, millions of Americans including myself joined long lines in casting their votes for the candidates of their choice without any fear or favor. There is no democratic exercise more liberating than the ability to vote for our own leaders. For some, the results were a repudiation of the present administration. For others, the results aren’t a ringing endorsement of the victorious party. Whichever way you look at it depends on where you stand or who you voted for.

I have two offerings for your consideration. First, elections are a cycle. Something similar happened not quite long ago. There is an old joke, politicians are like diapers, you change them for the same reason.

Second, it is like a ticket. The ticket, in a sense, grants the victor permission to the halls of power. The reason it is like a ticket is that it provides the victor the unique responsibility of shaping the lives of millions of ordinary men and women. The victor holds on to that gift because we do not want to lose that ticket.

The idea of a ticket was inspired by my breakfast buddy, who helped me to reframe how I see what we do each year on our pledge Sunday, when we prayerfully walk to the front of the sanctuary and place our pledge cards in the offering basket.

The beautiful thing is that this is our ticket, and it is a blessing to possess it. I offer grateful thanks to God for you and for your faithfulness. Unlike any other ticket that grants us permission or guarantees us access, this ticket helps us serve others. Through teaching, preaching and fellowship, this ticket helps us remind ourselves and others of the good news of God in Christ, and the salvation that God offers to every single soul. This ticket helps us to open our hearts and lives to receive the indwelling spirit of God. This ticket helps us to announce to the world that we have chosen the path of God that honors the dignity of every human being. This ticket builds within us the capacity to seek renewal, forgiveness, and reconciliation, and it requires us to always turn the other cheek.

Interestingly, possessing a ticket doesn’t give us any more rights, nor does it open any more doors, nor grant us any more favors than those who do not hold a ticket. We are asked this question: how can we share the blessings of possessing a ticket?

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote this “The only thing that can grow is the thing you give energy to.” We give energy to the life of faith that abounds here at Christ Church, and we can testify to both the quantitative and qualitative value of the faith that drives everything good in us and within this congregation.

Last Sunday wasn’t any different. The process of walking to place your pledge card in the offering basket was as holy and humble a sight to behold as ever. It felt like we were laying our burdens at God’s feet. That holy act doesn’t only show the trust we have in God and our belief in the life-transforming work we all do here at Christ Church, but it also demonstrates our inner delight in the joy of the other.

There is a Jewish word, Lefargen - לפרגן. It is a verb that means to take joy or unselfish delight or pride in the accomplishment of another. Our joy has always been about the joy of the other. Our joy has always been about the delight the other finds in a transformed life. Our pride has always been in the meaning others find in their once-shattered lives and hopes. Our deepest joy is doing this life-redeeming work for others, not because of the ticket we hold in our hands, but because the other has found great value in our work of love.

We all know that the tickets at the ballpark, bus tickets, plane tickets, or train tickets do not multiply by themselves. You only get the number you purchase.

What I have found in God is a God who multiplies our tickets because we are willing to place them, all of them, at God’s feet.

Thank you for your faithfulness.

Happy Fall,

Manny.