SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 2013 LUKE 9:51-62 I really wanted a rug. A nice sandy-colored, modestly patterned, home-spun rug, the kind that adorned the camel I had ridden the previous day. But as I stood in the Tunisian marketplace my heart sank. There were so many to choose from, and so many vendors, each with pound signs in their eyes. They saw this out-of-his-depth British tourist nervously surveying their stalls, and assumed I was overwhelmed by the prospect of haggling over a rug. And they were absolutely right. I knew it was the done thing. They start absurdly high and I shake my head, make a face like I'm outraged, and begin to walk away. Then they call me back and make a new offer; I still play hard to get, so they keep coming down. I fake boredom and eventually they ask me what I want to pay. Then, when I tell them, they pretend to be deeply offended, and relate the story of their aged mother who made this rug by hand despite her failing eyesight and astronomical medical bills. And we end up meeting somewhere in between. So, I did my bit. I very self-consciously haggled, hoping I was putting up a good fight, but not wanting to rob him and deprive his sickly mother of her medical care. And it struck me that this bizarre transaction was the exact opposite of the shopping experience in the West. Here the seller tries to look happy, and so does the shopper. The shopping experience should be a pleasurable one for all concerned. But in the Tunisian market the seller pretended he didn't want to part with his rug and grudgingly took my money, and I pretended I didn't want to buy it and was doing him a favor taking it off his hands. So we closed the deal each trying to kid the other that we were unhappy. The truth, of course, was that he was delighted to shift another rug, and I was excited to take my holiday souvenir home to lovingly lay on the floor of my London apartment.

So when it comes to closing the deal, who is Jesus like – the Western shopkeeper talking up his product, extolling its unrivalled magnificence, promising unrealistic pleasures, and persuading you that you'll never regret this? Or is he the Eastern market trader, almost daring you to walk away?

In today's Gospel lesson Jesus is approached by.... (read the full Sermon here: Sermon - 06-26-2016 - Straight Talk )