28 May 2006
Gospel Reading: John 17:6-19
Please be seated.
Jesus prayed – That is how this week’s gospel begins – with these two words. Earlier this week, as I was reading these lessons, I found myself stopping there. Each time I tried to read on I kept going back to these words: Jesus prayed. I was astonished. I was surprised. I was – awed.
He prayed. Prayer. Prayer implies asking and thanking, and hope. I find one of the better ways to describe it is with the somewhat archaic verb “beseeching,” which means asking with humility.
In an earlier part of John’s gospel he makes it clear to us that Jesus is God incarnate – God in flesh. So- in this week’s lesson God in the world is –praying- to God outside the world. Jesus actually makes this clear in today’s gospel. He refers not only to being sent by the heavenly Father, but also, among other things, he prays for his desire for the Christian community to be one, using his and the Father’s oneness as the example.
Mhm.
Prayer. We have spent the morning praying. We will soon continue to do so. Every night before I go to sleep I pray, usually asking God to help sick or troubled friends, ask that my boss stop being psychotic (or that she at least aim at someone else), pray for sustainable and just peace in the world, and thank God for “everything.” I try to remember or find time to say morning devotions out of the Prayer Book, it occasionally happens, and I pray with friends when they ask. Usually, however, I end up feeling like an idiot when at people’s homes who say grace after I’ve started eating. So I guess I have a pretty laid back but I’d say typical prayer life. The Gospels of Matthew and ??? give us the Lord’s prayer. A basic outline of how to pray. Some of us sing, some meditate, some dance, some run, regardless of whether a prayer of petition, thanksgiving, desire, meditation, whatever, its all prayer. We pray.
Jesus prayed, Jesus’ prayer is interesting. It’s very different from his familiar Lord’s prayer. The focus of this prayer appears to be on his Christian community – most prominently his hope that they are protected – and that they can remain safely in this world while remaining not of the world. He asks for their protection from the evil one, who lives distinctly in our solid material world.
As I mentioned earlier, Jesus also prays for the Christian community to experience the same oneness that Jesus and the Father feel. In the gospel Jesus referred to one glorifying the other – God the Father glorifying God the Son. In this way the church glorifying the church
Jesus’ next request is an interesting one – that by hearing his teaching his joy may be made complete in the Christian community. Living in a world that did not approve or believe in the early Christians’ words, teachings or lifestyle – though today we believe them as the truth – must have been painful. As Christians – as a resurrection people we know God’s joy is imperative to the “Christian message.” The realization of the importance of Jesus’ joy as well as its necessity for a long-term Christian experience is remarkable.
Jesus’ final plea is that the church be sanctified. He states that – those in the church belong no more to this world than he does – and asks that the church be made holy, that the holy presence will protect and spread throughout the Christian community.
This is what Jesus prayed.
I think back to my prayers – that friends be made well, here, for peace, here, and thank God for things, here. Jesus’ prayer asks instead that WE be protected, that WE remain joyful, that WE remain in this world and yet not of this world. That we focus not on here, but on there – on God.
By the time Jesus prayed this, he knew his time in this world was drawing to a close. In today’s gospel he again makes that clear, stating that his time here is short and that he did what was expected of him. And yet he prays. While my prayers did at first seem rather trite and superficial next to his, the more I thought about it, I wasn’t so sure. Both prayed for the wellbeing of those we care about as well as for some version of peace. But more than that, we were both praying.
All of us are taking part in an action that was done by God incarnate. Yes, when we participate in the Eucharist we are enacting the events of the last supper, remembering them and thanking God for his sacrifice.
But through prayer we are doing an action, the action that Jesus did.
We have the opportunity to take part in an activity that we can do just as fully as Jesus did it. Jesus is God incarnate – he didn’t need to talk to God the father this way. But he did. Jesus was fully God and fully human – he embraced his humanity and he prayed. Jesus prayed. Allie prayed. Albert prayed. Edie prayed. We pray. Jesus prayed. How amazing is that. We have the opportunity to take connect to God in the way Jesus did. John didn’t write “Jesus talked” or “Jesus asked.” No, John said Jesus prayed – Jesus prayed, we can pray, so let’s go do it.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
8 January 2006
8 January 2006
Epiphany Sunday
Well, today we celebrate Epiphany, the feast day which recognizes the visit of the wise men to young Jesus. Epiphany is surrounded by far away majesty, mystery, and myth. Indeed, a crèche of poor shepherds and animals are joined today by colorful men in rich robes.
What we read in today’s gospel is almost all that is biblically said about these wise men. So clearly, much of what we “know” and “love” about Epiphany indeed has no biblical reference.
Superficially, I question the term “wise men.” The gospel mentions that these men went to King Herod to ask for direction. What, were they nuts? I’ve yet to meet a man who will ask for directions.
That aside, they asked a power hungry king where they could find a new born king of the Jews. Is there any way that could have been a good idea? As many of you know, a few days after Christmas we observe a feast day called “Holy Innocents.” This day recognizes the babies who were killed by Herod after these so called wise men mentioned Jesus’ birth.
There are still many other aspects of Epiphany which we are ‘sure of’ which do not hold biblical reference. Let me start with the hymn “We three kings.” In all honesty, I’m not really a fan of this hymn. Though the dirge-like tune does have a bit to do with my dislike, I tend to be even more perturbed at the phrases in this hymn which have become common beliefs about this day. Now mind you, this hymn did not begin any of these myths, however it has served to perpetuate them.
From the beginning, this hymn begins “We three kings of Orient -are.” Three… kings. The gospel says nothing about three nor about kings. Three. In the gospel these men knelt down and paid Jesus homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Three gifts. Three gifts, then three kings.
Maybe.
But - my godmother gave me a pair of black socks, a pair of maroon socks, and a gift card for Christmas. Three gifts, one person. Likewise, from a family of three, I received a nice perfume scent. Three people, one gift.
In all reality, these gifts could have been from any number of people. The Venerable Bede (the historical person, not the vicar’s cat) is the first finding of the use of the names Balthazar, Casper, and Melchior, that I could find though I couldn’t exactly where he pulled them from. According to the song, these men were from the Orient. Why? Because the Orient is to the East. And the gospel says they were men from the east. Now as we all know, there is other stuff to the east of Bethlehem. Russia, India, Persia, and other parts of the Middle East. No, they didn’t have those names then, but they still were not called Orient.
Next, kings. Yeah, that’s just weird. Three wise men, who spent their time staring at stars wandered west to Bethlehem. That’s a long walk – ride, whatever. Traveling from the east to the west takes a while. Historically, this isn’t the sort of trip kings made – visiting poor children born in a manger. If they would even respond to such a rumor as the birth of the new king of the Jews, they would have most likely sent lackies.
Similarly, the bible tends to be really good at mentioning kings. Today’s gospel clearly refers to Herod as a King and the gift-bearers as men. Yeah, no title here. These men are actually believed to be astrologers – as they were reading the stars – they “observed Jesus’ star rising”.
If these kings, nay, wise men, nay astrologers were sent to find the one born king of the Jews, and were later saved Herod’s wrath by a warning in the form of a dream, then the celebration of the Epiphany is no longer a sign of glamorous adoration by wealthy kings, but a sign of mercy and promise to sinners.
Through looking for meaning in the stars these astrologers, these heretics, were led to the young Son of God. Now, when we think of astrologers we think of those people who write for the local newspapers or people like Miss Cleo with strange infomercials. It wasn’t much different then. The Magi were quite possibly Zoroastrian astrologers. If you don’t know, Zoroastrianism was an early semi-monotheistic tradition.
Even at Jesus’s time Jews were warned not to consult astrologers. Jewish leaders said that they were idolatrous and deceiving, much as we as Christians are told today.
Yet somehow, these idolatrous deceivers, these quacks and whack jobs were certain enough of what they saw to follow the stars, and were led to the young son of God. God led these astrologers – these men who were blatantly working in direct contrast to God’s will – to Jesus. This really is rather odd.
God welcomed, indeed God brought these men to stand beside the Messiah. These men, along with the shepherds. Not Sadducees or Pharisees, though clearly as a Jew, eight days after Jesus was born he was in the presence of Jewish religious leaders. Not kings. But regular people who just happened to bring clearly odd though awesome gifts.
So where does this leave us? Does the deconstruction of much of the myth and mystery surrounding Epiphany leave it meaningless? Or do we become sad because it’s another beautiful faerie tale gone. Or does the humanization of these so called wise men leave us, relieved?
God chose foreign sinful men to be with Jesus during this holy time. Not the rich or high in statue or moral value, but those who needed it most. Indeed, this trend continues through out the gospels in such cases as Jesus eating with tax collectors and cripples, yet seems to have been most forgotten in the form of a few men who traveled a long distance to find this new born king of the Jews.
PAUSE
We all know on some level – whomever or wherever we are, that God calls to us and that God wants us to follow him and be his. Sometimes, however, this is hard to remember. It is hard to remember that even when we do something that appears to be in contrast to what it seems God would want, he still calls to us. God wants us. We can repent and we can go to the Lord. When ever we fall short, we have to remember God wants us and loves us,
And like the wise men, still desires us to adore and be close to Jesus.
Epiphany Sunday
Well, today we celebrate Epiphany, the feast day which recognizes the visit of the wise men to young Jesus. Epiphany is surrounded by far away majesty, mystery, and myth. Indeed, a crèche of poor shepherds and animals are joined today by colorful men in rich robes.
What we read in today’s gospel is almost all that is biblically said about these wise men. So clearly, much of what we “know” and “love” about Epiphany indeed has no biblical reference.
Superficially, I question the term “wise men.” The gospel mentions that these men went to King Herod to ask for direction. What, were they nuts? I’ve yet to meet a man who will ask for directions.
That aside, they asked a power hungry king where they could find a new born king of the Jews. Is there any way that could have been a good idea? As many of you know, a few days after Christmas we observe a feast day called “Holy Innocents.” This day recognizes the babies who were killed by Herod after these so called wise men mentioned Jesus’ birth.
There are still many other aspects of Epiphany which we are ‘sure of’ which do not hold biblical reference. Let me start with the hymn “We three kings.” In all honesty, I’m not really a fan of this hymn. Though the dirge-like tune does have a bit to do with my dislike, I tend to be even more perturbed at the phrases in this hymn which have become common beliefs about this day. Now mind you, this hymn did not begin any of these myths, however it has served to perpetuate them.
From the beginning, this hymn begins “We three kings of Orient -are.” Three… kings. The gospel says nothing about three nor about kings. Three. In the gospel these men knelt down and paid Jesus homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Three gifts. Three gifts, then three kings.
Maybe.
But - my godmother gave me a pair of black socks, a pair of maroon socks, and a gift card for Christmas. Three gifts, one person. Likewise, from a family of three, I received a nice perfume scent. Three people, one gift.
In all reality, these gifts could have been from any number of people. The Venerable Bede (the historical person, not the vicar’s cat) is the first finding of the use of the names Balthazar, Casper, and Melchior, that I could find though I couldn’t exactly where he pulled them from. According to the song, these men were from the Orient. Why? Because the Orient is to the East. And the gospel says they were men from the east. Now as we all know, there is other stuff to the east of Bethlehem. Russia, India, Persia, and other parts of the Middle East. No, they didn’t have those names then, but they still were not called Orient.
Next, kings. Yeah, that’s just weird. Three wise men, who spent their time staring at stars wandered west to Bethlehem. That’s a long walk – ride, whatever. Traveling from the east to the west takes a while. Historically, this isn’t the sort of trip kings made – visiting poor children born in a manger. If they would even respond to such a rumor as the birth of the new king of the Jews, they would have most likely sent lackies.
Similarly, the bible tends to be really good at mentioning kings. Today’s gospel clearly refers to Herod as a King and the gift-bearers as men. Yeah, no title here. These men are actually believed to be astrologers – as they were reading the stars – they “observed Jesus’ star rising”.
If these kings, nay, wise men, nay astrologers were sent to find the one born king of the Jews, and were later saved Herod’s wrath by a warning in the form of a dream, then the celebration of the Epiphany is no longer a sign of glamorous adoration by wealthy kings, but a sign of mercy and promise to sinners.
Through looking for meaning in the stars these astrologers, these heretics, were led to the young Son of God. Now, when we think of astrologers we think of those people who write for the local newspapers or people like Miss Cleo with strange infomercials. It wasn’t much different then. The Magi were quite possibly Zoroastrian astrologers. If you don’t know, Zoroastrianism was an early semi-monotheistic tradition.
Even at Jesus’s time Jews were warned not to consult astrologers. Jewish leaders said that they were idolatrous and deceiving, much as we as Christians are told today.
Yet somehow, these idolatrous deceivers, these quacks and whack jobs were certain enough of what they saw to follow the stars, and were led to the young son of God. God led these astrologers – these men who were blatantly working in direct contrast to God’s will – to Jesus. This really is rather odd.
God welcomed, indeed God brought these men to stand beside the Messiah. These men, along with the shepherds. Not Sadducees or Pharisees, though clearly as a Jew, eight days after Jesus was born he was in the presence of Jewish religious leaders. Not kings. But regular people who just happened to bring clearly odd though awesome gifts.
So where does this leave us? Does the deconstruction of much of the myth and mystery surrounding Epiphany leave it meaningless? Or do we become sad because it’s another beautiful faerie tale gone. Or does the humanization of these so called wise men leave us, relieved?
God chose foreign sinful men to be with Jesus during this holy time. Not the rich or high in statue or moral value, but those who needed it most. Indeed, this trend continues through out the gospels in such cases as Jesus eating with tax collectors and cripples, yet seems to have been most forgotten in the form of a few men who traveled a long distance to find this new born king of the Jews.
PAUSE
We all know on some level – whomever or wherever we are, that God calls to us and that God wants us to follow him and be his. Sometimes, however, this is hard to remember. It is hard to remember that even when we do something that appears to be in contrast to what it seems God would want, he still calls to us. God wants us. We can repent and we can go to the Lord. When ever we fall short, we have to remember God wants us and loves us,
And like the wise men, still desires us to adore and be close to Jesus.
July 10, 2005
July 10, 2005
Romans 8: 9-17 (NRSV)
In nomine…
There are many misconception people have about various words in the bible. Some of these misconceptions stem from bad translations, some from church legend, and others simply lose part of their meaning as the culture of the word fades away. Somewhere in the middle today’s reading from Paul, Paul speaks of us crying “Abba! Father!” to God. To most of us this may be dismissed as normal, typical, church speak, however, it’s not quite that simple. First, by Paul, who was writing in Greek, specifically using the term Abba followed by the term Father he was making a definite statement. In using these two terms he was using two languages, Abba-Father, was Hebrew followed by Greek. In doing this Paul is making it clear that all people are capable of being heirs to God- not just Jews as many people of his time assumed.
Also, however, the use of the term selected is interesting and important. Abba, is NOT as many people seem to think, exactly the Hebrew word for Father. Its connotation is not FATHER, but is more of, DADDY!! Abba is the word Jewish and Israeli children scream when they want their dad and is who they say goodnight to. Likewise, while many of the words we use for God – like Lord, and master, often referred to as Dominus in Latin, were the same words slaves used to address their masters, the word Abba was forbidden to be used by slaves in this way.
So according to this reading, when we are crying out to Abba, we are crying out to our dad… we are not, in this case, slaves to God, but we are truly God’s children. What it means to be God’s child however, can mean many things. This section of Paul’s letter emphasizes our position as joint heirs in God’s kingdom. This is an interesting idea… I mean, as a child of my parents I’m their heir, well, if we are God’s children – children of God in such a position that we find ourselves being told to refer to God as Daddy, then this heir thing becomes interesting… So, what do we inherit… I mean, what exactly does a child of God, inherit from a Father who is the creator and sanctifier –who is Lord of all?
If, Paul says, we share in Christ’s suffering, then we have the opportunity to, as joint heirs with Christ, be glorified with God. How vague. “We can be joint heirs with him if we suffer that we might be glorified with him? What does that even mean? What was Paul thinking? It sounds good – well, not the suffering part, but the being glorified with God part – I mean, usually its just God who is glorified… this seems kinda cool.
The dictionary defines being glorified as honor, praise or admiration being bestowed, or to elevate to a celestial placement. Hmm, this could sound good –being glorified – but, the passage also says that we have to suffer with Christ. Suffering with Christ doesn’t sound very inviting, but we all know its necessary… in so many places in the bible we are told we have to pick up our cross and follow, that we must turn the other cheek and do all sorts of things which we do not want to do. However, as Paul points out, we have to suffer to be with our Father – to be with Daddy.
God, often seems very far away – being told that we have to suffer to be glorified with him almost seems like it’s not worth it sometimes. But then I have to stop, and think. When I was younger I would do anything for my Daddy. I thought Dad was the coolest and best person in the world – actually, I still do, but that’s beside the point. I would try my hardest to please him and really liked to spend time with him. Sometimes spending time with him would require me to do things that weren’t my favorite – like sitting still in the car- and visiting my mentally ill grandmother, but I didn’t care.
Well, here our other dad- the father who created our fathers – apparently has this opportunity. We can be glorified with him. Cool, I mean, I thought my dad was awesome, but this dad, our dad can create things out of nothing, can cause massive floods, can raise people from the dead - can grant everlasting life and loves us mercifully and eternally. Wow… sounds good to me –and we can be glorified with That.
In an odd sort of way though, thinking of God as Dad seems kinda wrong. It seems almost disrespectful. We use all this flowery language in our prayers and in our thoughts about God, and now, all of the sudden, we are hit with this reality that God is Dad. God really is the grownup to all of us children. The ever watchful parent, rolling their eyes at the children’s misadventures- God is the creator, raising us as his children. Caring about us, wanting us to grow, learn, and love. Like a parent he must watch his children, as we learn to trust and love through receiving love and as we learn strength, perseverance and value through both love and through suffering. Then, it requires our suffering, our learning to live and continue and to not waver in our faith to achieve this – glorification that Paul speaks of.
Abba wants us to cry to him and rejoice in him. To praise him and turn to him – and if it takes us doing some things that aren’t exactly inviting to achieve this, then, well, so be it. If the great feeling I got from spending time with my dad when I was younger is any indication, then this is so worth it. In nomine…
Romans 8: 9-17 (NRSV)
In nomine…
There are many misconception people have about various words in the bible. Some of these misconceptions stem from bad translations, some from church legend, and others simply lose part of their meaning as the culture of the word fades away. Somewhere in the middle today’s reading from Paul, Paul speaks of us crying “Abba! Father!” to God. To most of us this may be dismissed as normal, typical, church speak, however, it’s not quite that simple. First, by Paul, who was writing in Greek, specifically using the term Abba followed by the term Father he was making a definite statement. In using these two terms he was using two languages, Abba-Father, was Hebrew followed by Greek. In doing this Paul is making it clear that all people are capable of being heirs to God- not just Jews as many people of his time assumed.
Also, however, the use of the term selected is interesting and important. Abba, is NOT as many people seem to think, exactly the Hebrew word for Father. Its connotation is not FATHER, but is more of, DADDY!! Abba is the word Jewish and Israeli children scream when they want their dad and is who they say goodnight to. Likewise, while many of the words we use for God – like Lord, and master, often referred to as Dominus in Latin, were the same words slaves used to address their masters, the word Abba was forbidden to be used by slaves in this way.
So according to this reading, when we are crying out to Abba, we are crying out to our dad… we are not, in this case, slaves to God, but we are truly God’s children. What it means to be God’s child however, can mean many things. This section of Paul’s letter emphasizes our position as joint heirs in God’s kingdom. This is an interesting idea… I mean, as a child of my parents I’m their heir, well, if we are God’s children – children of God in such a position that we find ourselves being told to refer to God as Daddy, then this heir thing becomes interesting… So, what do we inherit… I mean, what exactly does a child of God, inherit from a Father who is the creator and sanctifier –who is Lord of all?
If, Paul says, we share in Christ’s suffering, then we have the opportunity to, as joint heirs with Christ, be glorified with God. How vague. “We can be joint heirs with him if we suffer that we might be glorified with him? What does that even mean? What was Paul thinking? It sounds good – well, not the suffering part, but the being glorified with God part – I mean, usually its just God who is glorified… this seems kinda cool.
The dictionary defines being glorified as honor, praise or admiration being bestowed, or to elevate to a celestial placement. Hmm, this could sound good –being glorified – but, the passage also says that we have to suffer with Christ. Suffering with Christ doesn’t sound very inviting, but we all know its necessary… in so many places in the bible we are told we have to pick up our cross and follow, that we must turn the other cheek and do all sorts of things which we do not want to do. However, as Paul points out, we have to suffer to be with our Father – to be with Daddy.
God, often seems very far away – being told that we have to suffer to be glorified with him almost seems like it’s not worth it sometimes. But then I have to stop, and think. When I was younger I would do anything for my Daddy. I thought Dad was the coolest and best person in the world – actually, I still do, but that’s beside the point. I would try my hardest to please him and really liked to spend time with him. Sometimes spending time with him would require me to do things that weren’t my favorite – like sitting still in the car- and visiting my mentally ill grandmother, but I didn’t care.
Well, here our other dad- the father who created our fathers – apparently has this opportunity. We can be glorified with him. Cool, I mean, I thought my dad was awesome, but this dad, our dad can create things out of nothing, can cause massive floods, can raise people from the dead - can grant everlasting life and loves us mercifully and eternally. Wow… sounds good to me –and we can be glorified with That.
In an odd sort of way though, thinking of God as Dad seems kinda wrong. It seems almost disrespectful. We use all this flowery language in our prayers and in our thoughts about God, and now, all of the sudden, we are hit with this reality that God is Dad. God really is the grownup to all of us children. The ever watchful parent, rolling their eyes at the children’s misadventures- God is the creator, raising us as his children. Caring about us, wanting us to grow, learn, and love. Like a parent he must watch his children, as we learn to trust and love through receiving love and as we learn strength, perseverance and value through both love and through suffering. Then, it requires our suffering, our learning to live and continue and to not waver in our faith to achieve this – glorification that Paul speaks of.
Abba wants us to cry to him and rejoice in him. To praise him and turn to him – and if it takes us doing some things that aren’t exactly inviting to achieve this, then, well, so be it. If the great feeling I got from spending time with my dad when I was younger is any indication, then this is so worth it. In nomine…
June 26, 2005
June 26, 2005
Romans 6:3-11
Matthew 10:34-42
In nomine…
Today’s gospel seems to have some really strong language – “I have come not to bring peace but a sword.” I mean, this isn’t exactly what we are used to hearing from Jesus. “I’ve come to set son against father, daughter against her mother, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (like we needed Jesus for that last one). Anyhow, normally, we think bible, parents, honor thy father and mother – but this reading seems to be changing that – now don’t get excited - its still honor thy father and mother, but only this now seems to be saying only honor thy father and mother insofar as doing so doesn’t get in the way of honoring God – and Jesus -- God, is asking a lot. God demands that the love we feel, hold for him - God, must be stronger than the love we have for our family. This reading says that if we love our family – our children or our parents more than God, then we are not worthy of God. Indeed, it goes on to say that if we do not take up our cross and follow we are not worthy. Those are some lofty and seemingly controversial things.
Yet looking at today’s second reading from Romans, the theme is rather similar. Those who believe in what God has done through Christ, those who obey, will die and be resurrected with Christ and be freed from death. Obedience then, like love, must be first and foremost to God, and then to everything - everyone else.
As I continued reading the second lesson for today, I started to realize just how it easily it all came together with the gospel, and how well both the reading and gospel pieced together.
The lesson from Romans first starts with the words “do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death,” and later talks about the necessity of being buried in baptism with Christ to rise with Christ. As most of us have experienced, baptism is an important step in the journey of an Episcopalian. It is something in which ones family is usually involved. The Baptismal Covenant which is on page 304 of the Prayer Book, as I’m sure most of you are familiar, poses questions which are asked of the candidate, of the candidate’s family and friends, as well as of the congregation. These questions ask such things of the congregation as resistance from evil, the proclamation of the gospel, and serving Christ in all persons.
As I started to look over these questions, I realized that these questions are really telling us of ways to love God and of ways to take up our cross. Indeed, if we are not loving God more than anything else, more than our family, more than our desires other than God, then we cannot strive fully to resist evil, we cannot truly proclaim the gospel, we cannot fully serve Christ in others, indeed, without God at the top of our list not only do we not have the strength to fulfill the Baptismal Covenant, but we are unable to love our parents, our siblings, our children in the way that we really want to. Indeed, unless we love God first, and in loving God do all those thing which are asked of us in the Baptismal Covenant only then are we able to love our families as fully and truthfully as we so desire.
But how? I mean, there are just so many ways to make this idea not work. I mean, for starters, our families are right here. That makes it easy to love them, well, for the most part. Our parents, children, siblings are close y making demands that upon us, making tangible requests of our love and tangibly reciprocating. God, however, to many of us, is far away and intangible. God’s love for us and God’s demand of our love is less sure. Yes we know God loves us… like in that horrid children’s song “Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so.” But, sometimes, that seems like the only reason we know God loves us if even that. We love God, but sometimes that love is in the back of our minds.
Our families being visibly present is also another key base for Christ “bringing not peace but a sword.” Our families tend to influence our religious belief system and background. I’m sure many of you are “cradle Episcopalians” and that your families have been Anglican for generations. One of my good friends, for example is from an Orthodox Jewish household. His family has always been Jewish, and I mean JEWISH. My friend’s older brother never goes out without a keepah, he wears long pants and shirts made of only one material, sports a full beard and even wears the traditional four corners of fringe. At twenty-two he and his not girl-friend because they don’t date except they are also always wears long skirts and the two go to great lengths to ensure they don’t touch each other as these laws that God gave the Jews, also forbids them to touch members of the opposite sex outside their household. These laws have existed for thousands of years. Not only does the Jewish law influence the way they dress but also what they eat, how they spend their money, and even when they can drive their cars. My friend’s brother and the rest of his family are very sincere in their following of God’s law to the Jews. My friend however, doesn’t particularly buy it all the way. He tends to keep a keepah in his pocket for when his mother is around, but in all honestly, he just doesn’t find that this will lead him to spiritual fulfillment.
When I first read today’s gospel, he was one of the first things that I thought of. My friend is clearly moving away from a religion that just isn’t doing it for him, and it is in this case that I believe we can most clearly see Jesus handing someone the sword. My friend clearly wants to take part in religious exploration, but he feels that he can’t. He would go against his family and his culture and he isn’t willing to do that, but according to the gospel, that means that he isn’t worthy of God. He has a choice between hurting his parents or possibly finding Christ, or spiritual fulfillment, he’s making his now. If my friend, or anyone, is stagnating in their spiritual fulfillment, in their faith, in our love of God, then how they grow internally. And if we don’t grow spiritually, if we don’t love God, if we don’t love Love in the forefront with all our hearts, minds, and souls, how can we expect ourselves to be able to love our family with the truth and blatantness and fullness that they deserve.
So by Christ bringing a sword, he seems to really be bringing the opportunity for peace – the opportunity for love, so only by love God more and first can we love our families in a manner that is stronger, more present, more full and tru
Romans 6:3-11
Matthew 10:34-42
In nomine…
Today’s gospel seems to have some really strong language – “I have come not to bring peace but a sword.” I mean, this isn’t exactly what we are used to hearing from Jesus. “I’ve come to set son against father, daughter against her mother, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (like we needed Jesus for that last one). Anyhow, normally, we think bible, parents, honor thy father and mother – but this reading seems to be changing that – now don’t get excited - its still honor thy father and mother, but only this now seems to be saying only honor thy father and mother insofar as doing so doesn’t get in the way of honoring God – and Jesus -- God, is asking a lot. God demands that the love we feel, hold for him - God, must be stronger than the love we have for our family. This reading says that if we love our family – our children or our parents more than God, then we are not worthy of God. Indeed, it goes on to say that if we do not take up our cross and follow we are not worthy. Those are some lofty and seemingly controversial things.
Yet looking at today’s second reading from Romans, the theme is rather similar. Those who believe in what God has done through Christ, those who obey, will die and be resurrected with Christ and be freed from death. Obedience then, like love, must be first and foremost to God, and then to everything - everyone else.
As I continued reading the second lesson for today, I started to realize just how it easily it all came together with the gospel, and how well both the reading and gospel pieced together.
The lesson from Romans first starts with the words “do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death,” and later talks about the necessity of being buried in baptism with Christ to rise with Christ. As most of us have experienced, baptism is an important step in the journey of an Episcopalian. It is something in which ones family is usually involved. The Baptismal Covenant which is on page 304 of the Prayer Book, as I’m sure most of you are familiar, poses questions which are asked of the candidate, of the candidate’s family and friends, as well as of the congregation. These questions ask such things of the congregation as resistance from evil, the proclamation of the gospel, and serving Christ in all persons.
As I started to look over these questions, I realized that these questions are really telling us of ways to love God and of ways to take up our cross. Indeed, if we are not loving God more than anything else, more than our family, more than our desires other than God, then we cannot strive fully to resist evil, we cannot truly proclaim the gospel, we cannot fully serve Christ in others, indeed, without God at the top of our list not only do we not have the strength to fulfill the Baptismal Covenant, but we are unable to love our parents, our siblings, our children in the way that we really want to. Indeed, unless we love God first, and in loving God do all those thing which are asked of us in the Baptismal Covenant only then are we able to love our families as fully and truthfully as we so desire.
But how? I mean, there are just so many ways to make this idea not work. I mean, for starters, our families are right here. That makes it easy to love them, well, for the most part. Our parents, children, siblings are close y making demands that upon us, making tangible requests of our love and tangibly reciprocating. God, however, to many of us, is far away and intangible. God’s love for us and God’s demand of our love is less sure. Yes we know God loves us… like in that horrid children’s song “Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so.” But, sometimes, that seems like the only reason we know God loves us if even that. We love God, but sometimes that love is in the back of our minds.
Our families being visibly present is also another key base for Christ “bringing not peace but a sword.” Our families tend to influence our religious belief system and background. I’m sure many of you are “cradle Episcopalians” and that your families have been Anglican for generations. One of my good friends, for example is from an Orthodox Jewish household. His family has always been Jewish, and I mean JEWISH. My friend’s older brother never goes out without a keepah, he wears long pants and shirts made of only one material, sports a full beard and even wears the traditional four corners of fringe. At twenty-two he and his not girl-friend because they don’t date except they are also always wears long skirts and the two go to great lengths to ensure they don’t touch each other as these laws that God gave the Jews, also forbids them to touch members of the opposite sex outside their household. These laws have existed for thousands of years. Not only does the Jewish law influence the way they dress but also what they eat, how they spend their money, and even when they can drive their cars. My friend’s brother and the rest of his family are very sincere in their following of God’s law to the Jews. My friend however, doesn’t particularly buy it all the way. He tends to keep a keepah in his pocket for when his mother is around, but in all honestly, he just doesn’t find that this will lead him to spiritual fulfillment.
When I first read today’s gospel, he was one of the first things that I thought of. My friend is clearly moving away from a religion that just isn’t doing it for him, and it is in this case that I believe we can most clearly see Jesus handing someone the sword. My friend clearly wants to take part in religious exploration, but he feels that he can’t. He would go against his family and his culture and he isn’t willing to do that, but according to the gospel, that means that he isn’t worthy of God. He has a choice between hurting his parents or possibly finding Christ, or spiritual fulfillment, he’s making his now. If my friend, or anyone, is stagnating in their spiritual fulfillment, in their faith, in our love of God, then how they grow internally. And if we don’t grow spiritually, if we don’t love God, if we don’t love Love in the forefront with all our hearts, minds, and souls, how can we expect ourselves to be able to love our family with the truth and blatantness and fullness that they deserve.
So by Christ bringing a sword, he seems to really be bringing the opportunity for peace – the opportunity for love, so only by love God more and first can we love our families in a manner that is stronger, more present, more full and tru
29 May 2005
29 May 2005
Proper 4
Based on Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28
Matthew 7:21-29
When we were (are) children, we always had our parents telling us what to do – and when it wasn’t our parents, then it was our teachers – and with our teachers, not only did we have to do what the teacher told us to do, but we had to do it her way. Whether it was forming our alphabet letters properly or solving a math problem, it didn’t matter if we thought we understood it, or we thought we had the correct answer, if we didn’t do it Mrs. Whoever’s way, it was still wrong.
Based on today’s second lesson and gospel, God, likewise has given us specific instructions. Today’s gospel comes at the tail end of the well-known Sermon on the Mount. As a quick refresher, the Sermon on the Mount starts in Matthew chapter 5 with the beatitudes. It then goes into such ideals as keeping promises, loving your enemy, letting your light shine, fulfilling God’s law, not murdering, not committing adultery, and turning the other cheek. In this section Jesus also gives the Lord’s Prayer and discuses giving to people who are needy and fasting among other things. These ideals are known as the “new kingdom ethics.” The ethics is a radically new interpretation of law- of God’s will. God’s law had been something very different for Jews, such as his disciples, before this new interpretation through Christ. These new ideals give a high reaching but direct explanation of what is expected of Christians. Indeed, in today’s gospel Jesus points out that it is not those who did extra ordinary things – not those who healed and prophesied in Christ’s name who gained entrance into the Kingdom of God, but those who did the quieter, but much more difficult tasks – those tasks assigned – dictated by God - who were given that blessing – it was given to those who lived the steady and constant life of God’s will – those who continued the law, not the same literal, day by day instructional law that the Jews followed to obtain righteousness, but God’s will as observed through this new lens of Christ.
Like with students in a school classroom, like the school teacher, it is not a matter of getting the answer to a math problem correct once or twice, but of understanding the formula – of understanding what the teacher wants – of understanding what will always give you the correct and sure answer.
Paul’s letter to the Romans, however, brings in a new element: human frailty. Indeed, the ethics – the ideals set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, such as those I mentioned earlier were, and quite frankly are – well, at least for me, for the most part completely unattainable. Indeed, as Paul points out, simply by being human we fall short of the glory of God. And, there isn’t really fully anything we can do about this – I mean, God’s glory is quite high, but God understands this. Indeed, as we cannot reach God’s glory ourselves, it is through God’s merciful gift of grace that we can be made righteous.
Paul speaks of God’s grace being offered to all, both Jews and Gentiles alike. He also speaks of the law of the Jews remaining a law for the Jews. This does not, however, get us off the hook. Paul’s concept of grace becomes alive through faith. Indeed, for Paul, the law by itself doesn’t even cut it anymore; it takes faith in what God has done through Christ to be able to utilize that grace. This grace lets us turn to God; it makes us want to turn to God and makes us want do those things set forth in the Sermon on the Mount. Grace as a response makes us want to do these more difficult things – it makes us want to have that house that Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel the one on the rock and not on the sand. True faith turns us to God, and turns us away from ourselves, and allows us to become righteous. Thus, according to Paul, faith, by grace to become righteous.
In both the gospel and the lesson from Paul, we hear of people boasting – in Paul’s letter, those that boasted, boasted that they did some part of the Jewish law and in the gospel those boasting were boasting that they healed and prophesied in Christ’s name. These people, these people are trying to do the right thing, but missing the mark – they have heard the law – indeed, many of those mentioned in the gospel surely heard the law many times, but they did not do the law. Indeed when one truly has faith, we can finally turn past ourselves and turn to God, we can manage to both hear the law, and truly desire to do the law – to do God’s will . Yes, we can never manage to keep God’s will perfectly, but that’s the point of grace. God knows us, and our desires, and makes us righteous ???
You have to realize, I mean, God wants the world redeemed. It isn’t God’s goal to have his creation condemned. Creation has fallen short of God’s glory, and now, through God’s gift of grace, creation is being given a great opportunity. God is offering us the opportunity to become righteous, it is through faith that we can aspire to this righteousness, and through faith that we can desire to do all the things that God told us that he wants us to do. This kind of faith seems hard though… doing all that stuff that Jesus said we should do in the Sermon on the Mount is difficult. I mean, forget about being difficult to execute, quite often, I just don’t want to do some of that stuff, yeah, turning the other cheek sounds like a great thing, but when someone does something mean to me, sometimes, just sometimes, you just want to get them back. Or when you’re fasting, or doing something difficult, say, in Lent, and you see someone, oh I don’t know, eating a big piece of chocolate cake, and they offer you some, or even if they don’t, its like, what you want to say, or at least what I want is say, is “Well, no I can’t have some of your chocolate cake, because I’m fasting.” But, Jesus has clearly told us not to do that. So yeah, while those ideals that he has set forth for us are great and desirable things to do, sometimes, you just don’t want to do them. So where does this leave us?
It leaves us well, in great need of said merciful grace. Like the gospel said, do we want to build our houses on a rock or on sand? Do we want to trust in ourselves, or in God? Do we want personal glory – the glory we get from telling of our accomplishments and loudly proclaiming what we have done, whether asked of us or not, or to quietly do that which we are told? Do we want to get the answer to our school teacher’s question correct one time, or do we want to understand the formula? Don’t we want to know what the teacher expects of us for the long haul – regardless of whether it’s the easier way, the most popular way, or the way we want to live our lives? We have to have faith – faith in what God has done through Christ, and in God and his merciful grace that we can desire to fully turn to him and live God’s way throughout the day.
Proper 4
Based on Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28
Matthew 7:21-29
When we were (are) children, we always had our parents telling us what to do – and when it wasn’t our parents, then it was our teachers – and with our teachers, not only did we have to do what the teacher told us to do, but we had to do it her way. Whether it was forming our alphabet letters properly or solving a math problem, it didn’t matter if we thought we understood it, or we thought we had the correct answer, if we didn’t do it Mrs. Whoever’s way, it was still wrong.
Based on today’s second lesson and gospel, God, likewise has given us specific instructions. Today’s gospel comes at the tail end of the well-known Sermon on the Mount. As a quick refresher, the Sermon on the Mount starts in Matthew chapter 5 with the beatitudes. It then goes into such ideals as keeping promises, loving your enemy, letting your light shine, fulfilling God’s law, not murdering, not committing adultery, and turning the other cheek. In this section Jesus also gives the Lord’s Prayer and discuses giving to people who are needy and fasting among other things. These ideals are known as the “new kingdom ethics.” The ethics is a radically new interpretation of law- of God’s will. God’s law had been something very different for Jews, such as his disciples, before this new interpretation through Christ. These new ideals give a high reaching but direct explanation of what is expected of Christians. Indeed, in today’s gospel Jesus points out that it is not those who did extra ordinary things – not those who healed and prophesied in Christ’s name who gained entrance into the Kingdom of God, but those who did the quieter, but much more difficult tasks – those tasks assigned – dictated by God - who were given that blessing – it was given to those who lived the steady and constant life of God’s will – those who continued the law, not the same literal, day by day instructional law that the Jews followed to obtain righteousness, but God’s will as observed through this new lens of Christ.
Like with students in a school classroom, like the school teacher, it is not a matter of getting the answer to a math problem correct once or twice, but of understanding the formula – of understanding what the teacher wants – of understanding what will always give you the correct and sure answer.
Paul’s letter to the Romans, however, brings in a new element: human frailty. Indeed, the ethics – the ideals set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, such as those I mentioned earlier were, and quite frankly are – well, at least for me, for the most part completely unattainable. Indeed, as Paul points out, simply by being human we fall short of the glory of God. And, there isn’t really fully anything we can do about this – I mean, God’s glory is quite high, but God understands this. Indeed, as we cannot reach God’s glory ourselves, it is through God’s merciful gift of grace that we can be made righteous.
Paul speaks of God’s grace being offered to all, both Jews and Gentiles alike. He also speaks of the law of the Jews remaining a law for the Jews. This does not, however, get us off the hook. Paul’s concept of grace becomes alive through faith. Indeed, for Paul, the law by itself doesn’t even cut it anymore; it takes faith in what God has done through Christ to be able to utilize that grace. This grace lets us turn to God; it makes us want to turn to God and makes us want do those things set forth in the Sermon on the Mount. Grace as a response makes us want to do these more difficult things – it makes us want to have that house that Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel the one on the rock and not on the sand. True faith turns us to God, and turns us away from ourselves, and allows us to become righteous. Thus, according to Paul, faith, by grace to become righteous.
In both the gospel and the lesson from Paul, we hear of people boasting – in Paul’s letter, those that boasted, boasted that they did some part of the Jewish law and in the gospel those boasting were boasting that they healed and prophesied in Christ’s name. These people, these people are trying to do the right thing, but missing the mark – they have heard the law – indeed, many of those mentioned in the gospel surely heard the law many times, but they did not do the law. Indeed when one truly has faith, we can finally turn past ourselves and turn to God, we can manage to both hear the law, and truly desire to do the law – to do God’s will . Yes, we can never manage to keep God’s will perfectly, but that’s the point of grace. God knows us, and our desires, and makes us righteous ???
You have to realize, I mean, God wants the world redeemed. It isn’t God’s goal to have his creation condemned. Creation has fallen short of God’s glory, and now, through God’s gift of grace, creation is being given a great opportunity. God is offering us the opportunity to become righteous, it is through faith that we can aspire to this righteousness, and through faith that we can desire to do all the things that God told us that he wants us to do. This kind of faith seems hard though… doing all that stuff that Jesus said we should do in the Sermon on the Mount is difficult. I mean, forget about being difficult to execute, quite often, I just don’t want to do some of that stuff, yeah, turning the other cheek sounds like a great thing, but when someone does something mean to me, sometimes, just sometimes, you just want to get them back. Or when you’re fasting, or doing something difficult, say, in Lent, and you see someone, oh I don’t know, eating a big piece of chocolate cake, and they offer you some, or even if they don’t, its like, what you want to say, or at least what I want is say, is “Well, no I can’t have some of your chocolate cake, because I’m fasting.” But, Jesus has clearly told us not to do that. So yeah, while those ideals that he has set forth for us are great and desirable things to do, sometimes, you just don’t want to do them. So where does this leave us?
It leaves us well, in great need of said merciful grace. Like the gospel said, do we want to build our houses on a rock or on sand? Do we want to trust in ourselves, or in God? Do we want personal glory – the glory we get from telling of our accomplishments and loudly proclaiming what we have done, whether asked of us or not, or to quietly do that which we are told? Do we want to get the answer to our school teacher’s question correct one time, or do we want to understand the formula? Don’t we want to know what the teacher expects of us for the long haul – regardless of whether it’s the easier way, the most popular way, or the way we want to live our lives? We have to have faith – faith in what God has done through Christ, and in God and his merciful grace that we can desire to fully turn to him and live God’s way throughout the day.
22 August 2004
August 22, 2004
Proper 16 Year
In nomine…
The Hebrew leaders scoffed at the Lord. They outright rejected him and his prophet Isaiah. The Hebrew leaders turned instead to
Death (with a capitol D), and to Sheol, the underworld, making a pact with them. The Hebrew leaders claimed this pact would make them safe- that they would be protected from the soon coming “overwhelming scourge.”
There is no basis for this trust in Death however. The Lord offers a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone. He offers justice and righteousness, and promises that those who believe will not panic.
God is clearly stronger than Death as well- God speaks of hail sweeping away the refuge of lies the followers of Death have sought, and says waters will overwhelm their shelter. Their agreement with Death will be annulled and their pact with Sheol will not stand. And, as the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews puts it: God is a consuming fire… and I want the consuming fire on my side.
However, Death and Sheol do make protection seem easier… cheap ideas and promises still seem like a better deal to them than aligning themselves with God by following God’s laws. You see, for Jews, like those who rejected God in the first reading, or well, actually, not like those Jews, the way to become closer to God is by doing mitzvot- completing commands, or laws put forth by God in various texts, including Torah, Talmud and Mishnah. Indeed, though not all laws apply to everyone, these laws, which number somewhere around 613, discuss everything from the behavior between boys and girls, to the studying of religious texts, to even going to the bathroom in the morning. Orthodox Jews of today still live by these rules.
But Christians believe that the Messiah has come in the form of Christ Jesus- now we have a new covenant- NOW all-we-need-to-do-is believe! Yet, in today’s gospel, when this question is posed to Jesus: Will only a few be saved? the answer is NOT a resounding no! The rules have been ridiculously simplified – Jesus says that all we have to do is love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength --yet we hear of people who are like us, sitting and listening to Jesus’ teachings, and who are still stuck at the doorway.
Because the Hebrew leaders were not aligning themselves with God, they were aligning themselves with “NotGod” or Death. Specifically, in this case they were aligning themselves with the Egyptians in a war against the Assyrians. You see, Isaiah had prophesied earlier that their only safety was in the Lord. BUT, the Hebrew leaders knew better in aligning with Egypt – this seemed like a safer idea – they could rest more easily, rest much more easily than they could only hoping that this faraway god was paying attention.
They were hiding behind their fear, and fear gives bad judgments, as it did in those times, in Jesus’ time, and it does now.
We are taught that all we need to do to be saved is believe, yet, quite often when we are afraid, or insecure, that doesn’t help us. The Jews have their laws to hold onto, physical actions they can know they are doing properly to be close to God – we too want something tangible – so we turn our trust away from God and barricade ourselves in huge houses, expensive gimmicks and attractive cars. We ally ourselves with those whom we feel will help us get where we want to be the most, as we hide in our neatly sided, bricked, stoned homes.
Deep inside, we know that when the scourge, whatever it is, comes, these barricades, whether physical or interpersonal, will seem feeble at best, but somehow, they let us sleep better –, they let us sleep much better then we would if we really trusted in the ultimate protector!
All we have to do is believe, we have to focus on what’s beyond the narrow door.
If we are carrying all these barricades, how can we even dream of fitting through the narrow door?
We also have to wonder, if it’s not God we are following with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul, what are we following with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul? It MUST be something… are we following insecurity, or our desire to “look big,” or does it all really melt down to following our own fear- with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul?
God is our protector, our shepherd, and our leader. He is guiding us to the narrow door- but we have to be willing, ready - trusting enough to feel open, exposed, willing to bes totally naked to the world- dropping our barricade to just squeeze through the narrow door- remembering always to keep God in focus.
I mean, we live in a hard world. These barricades, are, in various forms being thrown at us all the time, and quite often, we don’t even realize we are turning away from God when we embrace these, things.
But, God is there for us. Like I said, we have to keep him in focus- never let ourselves fall too far back—when we think something we want is making us turn away from God, we really have ask ourselves if we are still loving God with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our soul— or if our heart, or mind, or soul is on something else- on “NotGod.”
It’s not easy, well-meaning friends, neighbors, and all sorts of media advertisements try to overload with these unintentional barricades, but if we are so weighed down with burdens, how can we see over our load to see God- to follow God?
So, we have to keep questioning ourselves, remembering that God is always the protector we should turn to, that if we stumble, he will not forsake us, and lift us up, and that it is he who is leading us through the narrow door, and we mustn’t lose sight of that.
We’ll soon be singing hymn 488 “Be Thou my Vision,” which is truly a prayer to God, expressing our need and desire to have God remain our guide, and asking him to help us to keep him as our vision.
High King of heaven, when victory is won – victory over the Assyrians, over our own fear, the victory of salvation, may I reach heaven’s joys bright heaven’s Sun! Heart of my heart, whatever befall- May we know God is our trust, that God is the ONLY WAY, however exposed we may feel, Lord, Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
Amen
Proper 16 Year
In nomine…
The Hebrew leaders scoffed at the Lord. They outright rejected him and his prophet Isaiah. The Hebrew leaders turned instead to
Death (with a capitol D), and to Sheol, the underworld, making a pact with them. The Hebrew leaders claimed this pact would make them safe- that they would be protected from the soon coming “overwhelming scourge.”
There is no basis for this trust in Death however. The Lord offers a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone. He offers justice and righteousness, and promises that those who believe will not panic.
God is clearly stronger than Death as well- God speaks of hail sweeping away the refuge of lies the followers of Death have sought, and says waters will overwhelm their shelter. Their agreement with Death will be annulled and their pact with Sheol will not stand. And, as the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews puts it: God is a consuming fire… and I want the consuming fire on my side.
However, Death and Sheol do make protection seem easier… cheap ideas and promises still seem like a better deal to them than aligning themselves with God by following God’s laws. You see, for Jews, like those who rejected God in the first reading, or well, actually, not like those Jews, the way to become closer to God is by doing mitzvot- completing commands, or laws put forth by God in various texts, including Torah, Talmud and Mishnah. Indeed, though not all laws apply to everyone, these laws, which number somewhere around 613, discuss everything from the behavior between boys and girls, to the studying of religious texts, to even going to the bathroom in the morning. Orthodox Jews of today still live by these rules.
But Christians believe that the Messiah has come in the form of Christ Jesus- now we have a new covenant- NOW all-we-need-to-do-is believe! Yet, in today’s gospel, when this question is posed to Jesus: Will only a few be saved? the answer is NOT a resounding no! The rules have been ridiculously simplified – Jesus says that all we have to do is love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength --yet we hear of people who are like us, sitting and listening to Jesus’ teachings, and who are still stuck at the doorway.
Because the Hebrew leaders were not aligning themselves with God, they were aligning themselves with “NotGod” or Death. Specifically, in this case they were aligning themselves with the Egyptians in a war against the Assyrians. You see, Isaiah had prophesied earlier that their only safety was in the Lord. BUT, the Hebrew leaders knew better in aligning with Egypt – this seemed like a safer idea – they could rest more easily, rest much more easily than they could only hoping that this faraway god was paying attention.
They were hiding behind their fear, and fear gives bad judgments, as it did in those times, in Jesus’ time, and it does now.
We are taught that all we need to do to be saved is believe, yet, quite often when we are afraid, or insecure, that doesn’t help us. The Jews have their laws to hold onto, physical actions they can know they are doing properly to be close to God – we too want something tangible – so we turn our trust away from God and barricade ourselves in huge houses, expensive gimmicks and attractive cars. We ally ourselves with those whom we feel will help us get where we want to be the most, as we hide in our neatly sided, bricked, stoned homes.
Deep inside, we know that when the scourge, whatever it is, comes, these barricades, whether physical or interpersonal, will seem feeble at best, but somehow, they let us sleep better –, they let us sleep much better then we would if we really trusted in the ultimate protector!
All we have to do is believe, we have to focus on what’s beyond the narrow door.
If we are carrying all these barricades, how can we even dream of fitting through the narrow door?
We also have to wonder, if it’s not God we are following with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul, what are we following with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul? It MUST be something… are we following insecurity, or our desire to “look big,” or does it all really melt down to following our own fear- with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul?
God is our protector, our shepherd, and our leader. He is guiding us to the narrow door- but we have to be willing, ready - trusting enough to feel open, exposed, willing to bes totally naked to the world- dropping our barricade to just squeeze through the narrow door- remembering always to keep God in focus.
I mean, we live in a hard world. These barricades, are, in various forms being thrown at us all the time, and quite often, we don’t even realize we are turning away from God when we embrace these, things.
But, God is there for us. Like I said, we have to keep him in focus- never let ourselves fall too far back—when we think something we want is making us turn away from God, we really have ask ourselves if we are still loving God with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our soul— or if our heart, or mind, or soul is on something else- on “NotGod.”
It’s not easy, well-meaning friends, neighbors, and all sorts of media advertisements try to overload with these unintentional barricades, but if we are so weighed down with burdens, how can we see over our load to see God- to follow God?
So, we have to keep questioning ourselves, remembering that God is always the protector we should turn to, that if we stumble, he will not forsake us, and lift us up, and that it is he who is leading us through the narrow door, and we mustn’t lose sight of that.
We’ll soon be singing hymn 488 “Be Thou my Vision,” which is truly a prayer to God, expressing our need and desire to have God remain our guide, and asking him to help us to keep him as our vision.
High King of heaven, when victory is won – victory over the Assyrians, over our own fear, the victory of salvation, may I reach heaven’s joys bright heaven’s Sun! Heart of my heart, whatever befall- May we know God is our trust, that God is the ONLY WAY, however exposed we may feel, Lord, Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
Amen
Sunday, April 8, 2007
18 July 2004
Sunday July 18, 2004
Proper 11, Year C
Preached at Trinity Church, Swedesboro
The joys of being an Episcopalian. We are busy fixing the flowers, polishing the brass, muttering of candle styles, bleaching the linens, getting babies baptized ASAP, ordering the procession, and deciding when really is the proper time to stand, sit and kneel, (and making sure one is not the first to do any of the above). The robes are clean, acolytes and LEM’s in attendance, the organ, and organist sound wonderful- yes we are good Episcopalians.
We feel we need to meet THESE expectations, and when we don’t –or when someone else doesn’t, there’s a tendency even amongst the most laid back to get a tad annoyed.
Martha would have made a good Episcopalian. Mary on the other hand, wasn’t checking all the details, finishing the food, puttering about to make these visitors stay as “pretty” as it could be.
No, while Martha was in the kitchen, removed from these important, knowledgeable people, and the amazing teacher, Jesus, Mary instead showed up.
Yes, she showed up to hear Jesus. Jesus was a teacher, and Mary understood that, and was there to learn. She didn’t clutter her head with details and distractions, and she wasn’t satisfied simply knowing that Jesus existed, simply knowing,
and being proud of the fact that he was in her home.
No, she knew she had to experience it, she had to BE there. She was given the opportunity to learn directly from God, and was not about to miss that opportunity or satisfy herself with making sure all the details were in order, missing out on this event, with the reassurance that the teaching was going on.
It’s easy to make excuses for Martha, I know- I make those excuses all the time.
The work had to get done…it was Mary’s responsibility… when things go wrong, people notice… it’s a busy world- there’s so much work and we can’t get it done on time by ourselves.
We try to come to church as much as we can- and we come when we or our children have to acolyte, LEM, or read, the babies got baptized, we know the words to the creed, the flower memorials are in-
but what if we just don’t show up?
We all know showing up doesn’t just mean getting our bodies in a pew every Sunday- showing up is also about being fully present – especially about being fully present when its so much easier not to be.
I’m sure you all know what I mean about not being fully present- like, those times during the readings, or the Eucharistic prayer, or possibly VERY OCCASIONALLY the sermon, when you just stop paying attention- you don’t mean to, it just happens.
You start thinking about-
oh- DISTRACTIONS—whether they be about work, school, sports, the church or nothing in particular, those times when we are physically here, but still not present.
WE are given the same opportunity as Mary and Martha—we are given the opportunity to learn from Jesus- Jesus, whom Paul described earlier today as the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation, him in whom all things on earth were created.
WE are given the opportunity to learn from him—cool, ain’t it?
And to think we could lose this opportunity just by not showing up? This knowledge is freely being given to us- Paul spoke later about Christ in you. This, when read in the Greek, is the plural YOU—us… Christ in community-- in the church…
This is getting pretty cool, isn’t it- so what makes us turn it down? Well, Martha was surrounded by distractions. She wanted everything to be perfect, and expected Mary both to want the same thing, and to assist in achieving Martha’s goal. Mary, however, wanted not to worry about details, but she wanted to grasp the main point…to show up, she wanted to be there, to hear what the Lord had to say to HER- I mean, this absolutely amazing guy-, who I just described, was coming to her house, and she was going to show up. Indeed, what’s the point of having God offered to you if you are too busy, making everything ELSE work if you are too busy making the details surrounding the offer, to have the offer happen properly, if your too busy with the distractions, to accept him?
So Mary, with the disciples and other followers wanted to hear what Jesus had to say—besides if Martha wasn’t working so hard, they all would have coped, it was a bunch of young guys. And Mary understood that- she knew that Christ was being offered to her, and she couldn’t blow this.
Christ is being offered to us on a regular basis all of us, newborn straight on up, - every Sunday, we come together and hear Christ’s word- and we worship God, and thank God for it all. And remembering what Paul said,
how Jesus is the image of God, and created all things, and that he’s the head of the church- don’t you think he should be praised?
Who are we, created by him, not to praise him, or not to let others, whom he as also freely offered himself, praise him. Jesus has also offered himself to the young and others who can’t drive, they too should worship God. It might be difficult, but you really can put them in your car and drive them to church with you. It does work, really... no one will mind.
But really, this reminds me of a line from the 1999 movie Dogma, the character Serendipity, a muse, is talking with the main character.
She says: "I have issues with anyone who treats God like a burden instead of a blessing …You people don't celebrate your faith, you mourn it."
Church shouldn’t be a chore, it’s a celebration… we should want to praise God. Martha was panicking, clearly upset that this important person, that her Lord was here, and everything wasn’t perfect- instead of celebrating the joy that she should have in the Lord visiting her, she mourned she was not making a proper impression, and she quite clearly felt that that the Lord visiting her created too much extra work, the Lord was a burden- and her sister was doing nothing to make anything easier.
Mary didn’t let that bother her; she was joyous at the Lord visiting their home, and recognized how blessed she was that she could be taught by Jesus.
Once a week, for one hour, we come together, robes and flowers, procession and pew aerobics, and praise this amazing creator, redeemer, and sanctifier who has offered himself to us- who loves us, and teaches us, and is omnipresent and omnibenevolent.
Upon Martha asking Jesus to tell Mary to help her, The Lord told Martha that there is need of only one thing, and Mary chosen that. Should we not chose it as well, when all we have to do, is show up?
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