10th Sunday After Pentecost Proper 11A
Genesis 28:10-19a
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
In the name of God, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. Amen
Last Thursday I was reminded about how panic stricken we all were over Y2K. You all remember that? The world was going to come to an end, the computers would all fail. Armageddon would be upon us. People were building Y2K shelters. The future looked bleak. What happened? Nothing life went on and you know what we still are running around like Chicken Little – it’s almost as if we want something to happen.
On Fri. my financial advisor echoed much the same thoughts with regard to the economy. We hear doomsday scenarios about our economy sub prime mortgages, defaults, sagging stocks, but…we have problems yes, there are weeds in our economy.
What about our environment- we had record snowfall last winter on top of record rainfall last fall and have topped it off with a rash of severe storms and the resultant floods. Weeds are flourishing there.
What about our church – threats of schism – there is a cloud hanging over Lambeth as the Bishops meet together. There are some bishops who chosen not to attend, the Anglican Church of Uganda sent no one. We know about the grief and the suffering in the Diocese of San Joaquin and no that there are others ready to leave the Episcopal Church. Everywhere you turn you find folks dismal about the future. Things appear to be getting worse not better. Maybe it’s a function of life – Paul said that the whole creation was groaning. There were plenty of weeds in the fields in the first century as well. It seems that the weeds are once again crowding out the wheat.
Those of us who believe in God have a hard time explaining to ourselves or anyone else why. If God is in charge, if God is a loving caring God then why doesn’t God DO something? Why isn’t the world a beautiful sea of waving grain? Or at least the church – couldn’t the church, at least, be a neat field of super good wheat – no weeds aloud.
Our Gospel started with the phrase: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field.” Then guess what Jesus tells us - NOT even the kingdom of heaven is pure—free from weeds. Oh it was but sometime, somehow, when everyone else was sleeping, an enemy snuck in and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then split the scene. And this was not just ANY old weed, but Lolium tremulentum, to be exact. Common name is darnel – Biblical term used is tares. Darnel is so insidious because it looks just like wheat until it is fruited out with poisonous seeds and roots that entangle themselves with the roots of the wheat. You get that mixed in your bread along with the good wheat and you’re gonna be sick.
Some
folks dismiss the enemy business; they say that weeds don’t need any
“Tare-er-ist” to spread them about. Hmmm
Remember last week and the tenaciousness of all kinds of seeds that are
scattered – you gardeners tell me – weeds just appear all by themselves – look
at
No matter how the weeds get where they are, most of us have ‘em (I wouldn’t have a green yard were it not for the weeds) and not only in our yards, but in our lives. Thorny people, who are not part of the plan, not welcome, sucking up sunlight and water meant for good plants, not weeds. Some are just plain irritating, like poison ivy, but some are as deadly as hemlock or nightshade. So what are we to do about them? WWJD? Look back at the story? What happened?
The
slaves of the householder came and asked if they should go weed them out –
seems logical enough to me. Pull ‘em up
– get ‘em out of there, cleanse the fields. Go after them with a
vengeance. I fear that’s what we tend to
do – holocaust was to get rid of “weeds”? Ethnic cleansing?
That’s right the Head Honcho said that “in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at the harvest I will tell the reapers, collect the weeds first and find them into bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” Whoa, what a statement. Just wait? Do nothing? It almost seems to be advocating passivity in the face of evil! It also suggests that we can do more harm when we think we are doing good than when we are doing nothing at all.
Basically seems to me to be at least 3 reasons we’re told not to go charging into that field and rid it of all the darnel.
One is that darnel and wheat look just alike right up until the point of harvest – are you going to be wise enough to know which is weed and which is wheat? Ever done that – mistaken the plants for the weeds? I’m guilty of pulling up plants by mistake – how quick we are to judge.
There are any number of examples in Jesus’ teachings that we don’t really know just what good and bad looked like – remember that great judgment parable in Matt 25, the sheep and the goats – the sheep did NOT know they were sheep, NEITHER did the goats know they were goats until the Lord told them so
Another difficulty with separating the good from the bad is that often their lives are intertwined. That’s how darnel survives in fact – it wraps its roots around the wheat so you can’t pull up one without the other. Better to let them all grow together until it is time to harvest. We, all are intertwined with one another. What is it John Donne said so eloquently?: “No man is an island, entire of itself every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main,…any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind…never send to know for whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee.
A
second reason is that the weeds might yet turn out to be useful. In first-century
So how will the wheat survive? By attacking the weeds or by being wheat? This is the third reason we’re told no to yanking the weeds is that the wheat run the risk of turning into weeds themselves. It’s a sly trick of those pernicious weeds to do to get the wheat so riled up and defensive that they start acting like weeds themselves – full of prickles, full of poison—good guys who turn into bad guys trying to put the bad guys out of business.
God allows a mixed field and whether we like it or not approve of it or not, understand it or not, God asks us to do the same – to tolerate a mixed field as well. This is not a call to back off and be passive!! It is a call to strenuous activity!
In his opening words to the Lambeth Conference the Archbishop of Canterbury called the fact that some stayed away a grief “because we need their voice and they need ours in learning Christ together”. Let us remember that “the Lord of the church commands that we must love one another.” And all of this that we might work together although we disagree, it sounds “simple”, but we must seek to meet Jesus Christ in each other…be open to receive the work of God the Holy Spirit in our work.”
It’s not easy to be wheat, to not judge and above all to be patient and to have hope, and if that hope is for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. While we are waiting we are then being about the business of reconciling the world to God through the practice of unshielded love. We are letting God take care of all the rest – the harvest, the reapers, the fire, for only God knows for sure the final value of what is in God’s wheat field. Our job is to go on bearing witness to the one who planted us among those who seem to have been planted by someone else, and doing so with love and compassion. Not an easy task, to love our enemies, no does it mean doing nothing in the face of evil. Witness the martyrs through the centuries, right up until today.
Another
Bishop of
If I ever ask for them anything
Which is outside your perfect rule of love,
Whether through weakness, ignorance or malice,
Good Lord, do not give it to them
And do not give it back to me.
Amen.
9th Sunday After Pentecost Proper 10 A
Genesis
Psalm
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
July 13, 2008
In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, AMEN.
Good morning fellow farmer wanna-bees! (I beg the forgiveness of any real farmers!) It’s time for Introductory Planting 101. Last Sunday for those of you who weren’t here we did a bit of Animal Husbandry 101 – check out the pictures in the lounge, in case you missed them coming in.
So rule number one for planting a field (or a garden, my apologies to the Penningtons). Plan carefully what you want to grow there (hey, isn’t that what February and March are for) sketch out your field or plot. Then mark off the rows, the shorter plants go to the South, what I might call the “front” of the garden. Then the taller all the way back to say the corn. Mark what will go where. Then when it finally gets warm enough dig up the soil, prepare it carefully and then begin to plant your garden. Very carefully in very straight rows, so you can be sure and hoe between them, what ever else you do or don’t do you will want to KEEP OUT the weeds, but more about that NEXT week, we’re not into weeding, just planting, sowing seeds.
So the ground is warm, you plant the seeds, just like it says on the package – every so many inches apart in a straight furrow, oh some veggie’s are sown in hills, spaced every so many inches apart. (Hey, I’ve been known to use a ruler when planting). Carefully label each row; taking great care to be sure you have the right soil mix for the plants. Then water regularly and wha’d’ya know, by this time it should all be up in neat rows, some has been harvested already. Bet you might even have to thin the plants, pluck up those plants growing too close together. Very sadly too many large fields have been way over watered this year, and that is not good either.
Or at least that’s the way I learned to garden. Now I was basically into veggies not flowers, so that explains something. But I was never a real precise “farmer” type – confession, I wasn’t too good at weeding, and next to never thinned plants – except onions, when I figured I could eat the green onions, of course then I rarely got big onions! Oh well, stuff grew.
Now for big fields and farmers, I understand you can get attachments for your tractor that plants the seeds at specific intervals predetermined by a computer in parallel rows, ever so straight and even. Technology will help you all the way. Hey we want the biggest yield with the least amount of waste possible. That seed costs money. So we proceed with much precision and reserve.
Not so with God, God plants like the birds outside my patio door. They both just keep scattering, dropping seeds, and blowing seeds, with great abandon. Stuff like sunflowers, and corn, mulberries and cherries, even goldenrod, and those ubiquitous puffy cotton wood seeds and dandelion heads (that we work so hard to keep out of our pristine yards) are just spread about at random. I fear that some of us don’t share the same appreciation for these hardy sorts, especially the latter two, but for me there is nothing more beautiful in the early spring than the bright yellow of that sunny dandelion – often one of the first flowers to bloom (hardy souls they are). The greens aren’t bad either – try the young tender leaves in a salad some time! It makes them a tad bit easier to cope with. Mayhaps there’s a touch of grace in us all! Weedy as we may sometimes be.
God isn’t stingy in anyway, God doesn’t assess our worthiness before God scatters God’s seeds of love, grace, and mercy all about! Remember what Paul told us in Romans – “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.” And as we read on in Romans we will find that God sows the seeds of the victory of the Cross to the ends of all the earth and for the liberation of all the whole cosmos. Indiscriminately, lavishly, foolishly, and with great love and abandonment God throws out the seed of Word, grace, mercy, love, everywhere!!
Miraculously, the results God gets, the harvest God produces is awesome. In Jesus’ day a farmer’s return, in a good year, is only a four or five fold return, yet Jesus tells us that the return from God’s method is thirty, sixty, one hundred fold. Amazing, and God doesn’t even test the soil.
So as we are implanted with the Spirit at our Baptism might we also be as sowers of God’s message, the Victory of the cross so that it will continue to spread and to grow to affect all of human society, government, and law as well as the hearts and lives of individuals. (By the way, despite the attempts to “weed” faith from government, that will never happen as long as we remember the ethical demands that our Christian faith places on us and work for justice, mercy, and peace, not to establish one church or faith as “better” vis a vis another. For the seeds of justice, mercy, peace, and love are in the center of every faith tradition. The ethical imperatives placed on us are placed by the phrase "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Hearing then involves some type of response that shows that we have not only HEARD but understood. It is in the hearing that we bear the fruit, or that we bloom where we are planted.
We can scatter and disperse those seeds of justice, mercy, peace and love as we go through our lives, right here in the Dells/Delton area--a paradigm of how seeds CAN grow despite the rocky soil, the hard ground – by treating ALL of our guests with dignity and respect, welcoming them into our lives for however long they be with us. That includes the foreign students who come and work in our parks, hotels, and restaurants in order to learn English better, and to get to know America. I have been encountering of late some students who have been placed in inadequate, filthy, and only marginally maintained living units. They are forming a very negative image of the United States and of the Dells in particular. These are University students who will go home to be leaders in their countries, spreading noxious weeds about the United States. These are also the cadre of hard workers who help us maintain and grow our image of hospitality and welcome as the Water Park Capital of the World. What kinds of seeds are we spreading? Let them be seeds of hospitality and dignity; of mercy and justice. Need not be extravagant, merely habitable.
Remember that flowers, grains and wildflowers, yes, the “weeds” and trees, and flowers spread about. They rise up and produce more seeds and these are spread about. Oh, yeah, the birds eat some, other weeds choke out others, large trees shade the growth, but that’s not our concern. God keeps on scattering seeds regardless of conditions and they grow. Look at Lake Delton – we just might have to mow it before the summer ends. The green is growing. Two weeks ago on Washington Island I stood on an area of land, a bloom with wild flowers and lots of prairie grasses and was told that two or three years ago that land was the bottom of Lake Michigan (lake levels are very low). Yet with no real effort from anyone in particular it has been growing up into a place of beauty. Kayaking on the Wisconsin River, I see TREES growing out of rocks all through the Dells. The seeds fell there on rocky soil, on sandy soil, and have been able to take root and to grow.
There is no explaining why seed grows in this place and not that place, on this ground or over on that path, in that lake bed or on that sandstone cliff. The miracle is God’s power to bring out of the seed the fruit that is mercy justice, compassion and forgiveness and love. Thanks be to God who sows with such abandon, so lavishly, and who opens the hearts, the soil, receiving it and will continue to do so until the whole world blooms a hundredfold. AMEN.
7th Sunday After Pentecost Proper 8 A
Genesis 22:1-14
Psalm 13
Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10: 40-42
June 29, 2008
In the name of God, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, AMEN.
Good Morning!! It is so good to be back home. It was a great week, but it is always good to return home, and because you all have made me feel so welcomed here, I can say that, having only been here a year – just about to the day in fact – this is home.
You have heard from me and from others about the significance and importance of hospitality. It was kind of buzz word and idea that those of us who went to Convention last fall came back with. Intentional hospitality. Being open and welcoming to all. It was one of the key rules of St Benedict some 1600 years ago. Hospitality to whom ever came to the door of the monastery seeking shelter, food, rest, or what ever need, was to be greeted and welcomed, invited to dine and to stay if needed.
A long time ago, I went to a retreat at the Episcopal House of Prayer in Collegeville, MN where one of the largest Benedictine Communities in the United States is located at St John’s University. Every evening we shared the evening hours, evening prayer, with the monks. They were exceedingly hospitable to us, helped us, and talked with us as we desired. (It wasn’t until almost the end of the week that I discovered that as long as they were being hospitable to strangers, they did not need to return to the monastery for the night, resuming the rule of silence.) In all seriousness they were open and generous. I have visited the Julian House in Waukesha, an Episcopal Benedictine Contemplative order name for Julian of Norwich, a great contemplative. There they also observe a rule of silence, yet will always welcome whoever appears in their midst and share of their food, their gifts and their lodging for those who seek their counsel.
Last week, I learned a whole lot more about hospitality, and not just about hospitality but about vital Christianity and vital churches. I was at the Washington Island Forum with Diana Butler Bass, who was the spark that lit us up about hospitality, as a Christian practice of vital Congregations. Now I know, and need to say, that his morning’s text is not so much about our welcoming others as it is about our being welcomed, of our being worthy of hospitality ourselves.
The gospel is short, but it says a lot! It lets us know that hospitality is a two-way activity. Not only are we to be hospitable to ALL who come into our midst, BUT we are also to allow others to be hospitable to us! It’s kind of like giving and receiving gifts.
The gospel also is quite pointed in what it says about our sometimes penchant for welcoming only those who seem the most like us. It puts us on notice that to extend hospitality ONLY to a prophet, BECAUSE he is a prophet or ONLY to a good person, BECAUSE she is good is to do no more than any one would do. That’s fine, but no big deal. BUT whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple –truly I tell you, none of them will lose their reward. A word about “little ones” this does not mean children only, this means the disciples, or as Matthew puts it in the 25th chapter, any of the least of these who are members of my family. In fact that entire chapter of Matthew, the Great Judgment, tells us not only that, but also that the righteous are those who respond to God’s Great Commandment to love God, and to love neighbor. Those who respond and who share the Gospel through deeds of mercy that imitate Jesus’ ministry and manifest God’s empire in a sinful world. Following in the teachings of the prophets speaking for God demanding justice over religiosity – Isaiah puts it – is this not the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to let the oppressed go free, to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house. (58:6, 7, ff) Remember that today’s Gospel is still Jesus’ “training for discipleship” 101 Class. We’re in that class as well, after all we are disciples
Hospitality, is not just a simple polite greeting, it is a radical opening of oneself to the spirit of God found in each person, and responding in love with dignity. You know that cup of water that Jesus asks us to give can be a dangerous thing. It might just lead to us opening our hearts and being changed---forever.
As I was writing this a friend who is a chaplain at a large hospital in the large city called me to debrief an experience she had just had. She had encountered a gentleman in his mid to late 50’s in the hall. He asked her if she would go and visit with his mother. He needed to leave and she was not doing real well and would appreciate the visit. My friend went to find her room and found his 95 year old mother liking in weakness in the bed crying – “water” “water” “I need water”. The nurse was there, my friend asked can’t she have some water, the nurse said no, she was at risk of choking, my friend then asked about swabbing her mouth, nurse seemed bothered and preoccupied, mumbled something about getting a thickened liquid and left. After about 5 or 10 minutes the lady was still crying for some water, so my friend went to check on the nurse. She was just talking with other nurses, and my friend pushed the issue. Finally the nurse showed up with the thickened liquid which my friend gave to the lady. It was a great relief for her to have the drink! Something that seems as simple as a drink of water can at times be the most important thing we can do for another. It definitely was here and my friend was changed by the experience as well.
I experienced in my years as a chaplain, and most especially as a hospice chaplain that sometimes just being with someone was all the hospitality that was needed. Not so much about doing anything, just being a presence, a companion while someone slept or sat. Amazingly enough that can be all that is needed to help someone.
Last week I spent the week learning about Christian practices and about what it is that makes for vital congregations. And I learned a whole lot more about tradition. You will hear more about what I learned as I sift through the material and begin to process its meaning. But one thing that Diana Butler Bass was completely clear about was that in her studies those churches which shared in common a sense of vitality and health also had a balanced and healthy mix of practice, tradition and wisdom. Hospitality is a practice.
A practice is distinct from a program. Practices are things that Christian people do that meet fundamental human needs and serve God’s kingdom in the world. A practice may involve programs, but they run deeper with a greater sense of coherence, authenticity and transformative power. There are a number of Christian practices, such as prayer, Bible study, discernment, theological reflection, embracing diversity, worship. As practiced in a congregation if they contribute to church development and vitality they are all transformative. They are based in a milieu of tradition (not just the way we’ve always done this before, but as “wisdom of the past”. Drawn from knowledge of history, where we have been, where are we going and how do they intersect. This is NOT the tradition of traditionalism – traditionalism leaves us stuck, tradition is fluid and always for change. It is about remembering who’s we are, and Why we’re here. We see so much when we learn what came before us, centuries even, and see that with a clarity and respect for what has happened that it transforms the simple. And while it is collectively remembering some great time, era, what ever, and it most definitely is NOT a bucket-load of nostalgia, the oversentamentalized feelings that we all hold for: “The good old days, the good old days, ah! Would that they were the good ol’ days back then”) Hope for the future and hope in general is dependent upon a realistic and authentic view of history, tradition. As Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan once said “Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalISM is the dead faith of the living”. And it is in the living, and the being of our selves that we are able to face the history and to move forward rather than to be mired in nostalgia – nostalgia dictates that we once did it right, and now we have to go back – not true for a dynamic, living out of various practices, but rather, this word Wisdom is the actionable knowledge, the doing of justice, the being of the Gospel.
For Diana vibrant congregations are the places where (in real geographical sense) god’s people gather in the Spirit to intentionally become: a Community of practice (doing) while at the same time a community of Memory or tradition (remembering whose they are and how they were formed) and a community of mission or justice that stems from knowing what they are about. The three form God’s people (BEING who they are the best they can) as they pull from all three areas. All are necessary in order to BE the church, not to just DO the church.
This practice of hospitality, along with theological reflection and the embracing of diversity were the three strongest practices that she found amongst the vibrant churches. By the way that is her term “vibrant” she made the point that what she is looking for is Church Depth, not Church growth. A deepening of our understanding of who we are, and how we came to be and what we are to be about. Not to worry about growth; that comes when we are excited about why we are here and we allow the Spirit to work in and through us.
She left us with 5 things that she saw in each of these churches, much of this is described in Christianity for the Rest of Us. These are all doable in a Spirit led community of God’s people and they are: to practice hospitality; to tell the stories of the Gospel; to be open to ALL God’s people; to pray to invite the Spirit in and to listen to what God is calling us to; and a willingness to have fun, to laugh at themselves, to lighten up. Sounds good to me – what about you all!
5Th Sunday After Pentecost Proper 6 A
Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
Romans 5:1-8
Matthew 9:35-10:23
June 15, 2008
In the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer. Amen.
Wow! Has this been a week?! It really started last weekend with two days of incredible rain, or maybe last August with a lot of rain, followed by 100 or so inches of snow, and then some strong storms. Monday one of the more unbelievable things happened. I was helping to sandbag a house on Lake Delton as the waters were rising. There were people worried about the dam failing, also about the Mirror Lake dam failing. Even heard a couple of people say that if the dam goes so goes Lake Delton. It will be gone.
Yea, right! I thought – there is no way all this water will just go away. Yet about 10:30 it became abundantly clear that the water was receding at an incredible rate! Far faster than it had been rising. I was totally astounded! By noon it was for all intents and purposes gone. We learned it wasn’t the dam but road had washed out. So we walked down to County A and watched as huge chunks of the road way tumbled like pebbles into a raging river. I did not see the houses go by, but did see huge trees, like little sticks go through what had been Highway A. Then I walked back to the lake bed and it was a totally surreal image.
The power of that water was nothing short of awesome! That, I understand is how the Dells were formed and in a relatively short time as well. An ice dam broke and torrents of water that we now know and love as the Wisconsin River cut through the sandstone to form the high hills and the rock formations.
Sadly, however, as the week has gone on, we have seen the devastation that all that water can bring. Not so much here, other than the new river through County A, but all around us in Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana. I know that many of you spent a good part of the past week dealing with flooding issues, travel problems with closed interstates and side roads, or helping those in need. There is a community, Gays Mills that is seriously considering moving itself to a new and higher location. Despite our difficulties we have much to be thankful for here, not the least of which is that no one has been seriously injured and there has been no loss of life.
Neighboring communities, just 10 to 15 miles from here have large sections underwater, or inaccessible – except maybe by ducks? And I don’t mean quacks, but motorized ducks. Understand they have been sent to Baraboo, and elsewhere (?). I imagine they would be overjoyed to see them in Des Moines where the levee broke.
The other thing I have noticed this week is all the posturing and moaning and finger pointing. I don’t want to go there. It is normal as we grieve the loss of Lake Delton. And it’s scary for those whose livelihood depended upon the lake. It is a major loss we need someone, something to blame or to hold responsible.
My heart goes out to those who lost their homes, and to those who will suffer losses due to this, but at the same time I think we can learn some things. Hopefully as we begin to restore a lake which we created in the first place we will proceed with caution not haste, and attend to what might have been done differently. There might also be some things learned with respect to overbuilding too close to the water’s edge whether it be natural or man-made. That Lake was important to me, although I neither live on it, nor derive my livelihood from it. I love the water and love being near it, some of you might have noticed the “I’d rather be sailing” on my license plate. And many of you are aware I have started kayaking – never got in Lake Delton with it.
But you know what, Lake Delton will be back, I will kayak in Lake Delton, probably not this year, but it will be back. Life has changed, it will be a different summer, but we will make it.
There is much to be done and it will take all of us together with our neighbors working together to clean up and restore Lake Delton. There was a spirit of hope and community amongst the folk who cleaned up the church yard and gardens yesterday morning. Remember how this place looked last Sunday after the severe storm on Sat.?
And I’m sure you are all aware that our neighbors are going to continue to need our help and our support as well. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army are out and need our help. You can look on the Sauk County Web page for volunteer opportunities in that county, and I’m sure other places as well. The clean up from these storms will be a long process and we will no doubt encounter even higher food costs because of the damage to so much of the nation’s corn crop.
Oh, things looked pretty bleak here this week, and the prospects are still bleak in many places, but we need to remember God’s faithfulness to us and God’s grace that gives us hope. God did not pour out his wrath on us. God is not a being out there, up there, off somewhere, who sometimes intervenes and sometimes doesn’t. God is not punishing us. God promised after Noah that he would never flood the world again.
God did not change anything about God’s creation with the people on the ark. God allowed them to be free to make choices. To do good or to do evil. God knew our tendencies to make mistakes, to choose poorly, but God loved what God had made. The rainbow following the Great Flood was the sign of the first of God’s covenants. The next of God’s covenants comes with the story of Abraham and Sarah. God showed that despite all odds (and in spite of Sarah’s laugh) that Abraham would indeed be the father of a great nation or people. You want to talk about no longer having hope, yet… There are 3 faiths that claim Abraham as their father – the Jews, the Moslems, and us, the Christians.
And we as Christians know that God ultimately loved us so much that God humbled himself to become incarnate in Jesus. To become as one of us, to feel our pain, to share our joy, to suffer, to die and then to be raised from the dead. To overcome death once for all.
Paul tells us that while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Hey folks, that’s us) That’s even with the understanding that rarely will anyone die for even a righteous person—how many of us are willing to volunteer that? But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. This then justifies us, saves us, and brings us hope, for hope, true hope comes from God. For Paul, God is the source of all hope. And for Paul hope is neither shallow optimism nor an acceptance of fate. It takes more than that type of hope to overcome the destruction and the floods we are faced with right now, especially as it seems to continue raining.
The 3rd 4th & 5th verses of Romans 5 help us to understand the power and scope of hope: “…suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, AND HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT US, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts.” It is not something sweet and syrupy. Hope gets its hands dirty, feels pain, yet is able to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow.
My son and the crew he was working with in Mississippi, cleaning up a full year after Katrina and Rita, were searching for some sign of hope. The toilet from the house they were working on was still out in the yard where the water had put it. He walked over and looked in the tank and saw that there was a cracked flower pot. Picking it up he noticed that there was the beginning of a green shoot of one of those bamboo plants beginning to grow there. It became their symbol of hope, their reminder that out of death comes life, that hope never disappoints.
2nd Sunday After Pentecost Proper 3
Isaiah 49:8-16
Psalm 131
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34
May 25, 2008
In the name of the Creator, the Redeemer and the Sustainer. Amen
Worry, fear, stress, they seem to dominate our lives. Life seems out of control. We have ever escalating gas prices. I swear I saw some gas for $4.10 a gallon in Portage Fri. Every time you pick up the paper, turn on the radio or the TV we hear “Record prices for gas” when will it end, why is it happening, what do you mean by next month it could be $4.50 or even $5.00 a gallon. How will we be able to keep our cars running – it was a jolt yesterday to realize it cost me $40.00 to fill my little Toyota Corolla. Egad!
But then, what about food! This is becoming an even greater worry and concern. Much as I hate to say it, we don’t NEED gas to live – but we do NEED food. Gas certainly helps and it would call for a total restructure of our lives, how we do business, and where we go if we didn’t have gas, but…it wasn’t much over a 125-150 years ago that we got along perfectly fine without it. Heard a rap song yesterday proclaiming all the things that didn’t exist when John McCain was born. It is amazing, and how dependent we have become on all this stuff. Heck I did this sermon on my computer, interrupted by a couple of cell phone calls…but I deviate.
There are any number of powerful cultural forces that feed our anxieties and fears. We’ve seen in recent years how manipulative and powerful a politics of fear can be. We have sacrificed certain liberties for the sake of “national security”. We are subtly employing torture in the name of that same security. We trust fewer and fewer folks. For a number of years I have been a volunteer at WPR, mostly answering phones during their pledge drives. A couple years ago I had to go through a background check in order to do this, now I can no longer volunteer. Why? Because a volunteer might just steal someone’s identity, or credit card number and the radio can’t take that risk. I felt suddenly “shady” or unclean, rejected, and devalued.
Our economy has been built on unfettered consumerism and we are now beginning to see what happens when our economy legitimizes greed, creates artificial wants and needs, and then, also for the sake of the common good borrows money to give us money so that we can spend more money. Some how, something strikes me as a bit out of whack, since excessive debt has caused some of our economic woes, and we are to correct it by continuing to spend money that was borrowed, on things we don’t really need or want, that will breakdown in record time. Much of which is obsolete when we buy it so that we continue to buy, buy, buy!
It seems that no matter how much or how little money is our number one worry. And the most interesting part of this is that the greatest fears and anxieties seem to fall on those who succeed rather than those who don’t. It becomes like an insatiable hunger – how much is ever enough. And it is then the winners who set the laws, the policies, and the structures of the society up in such a way that the people of privilege remain there and the others don’t. The gap is ever widening between those of us who “have” and those who don’t. There now being some 854 million people who suffer from hunger every day. This is hardly the same pangs we feel three times a day, as we sit down to too much to eat, yet proclaiming “I’m famished, I’m starved” How many of us REALLY know what it is to be hungry?
Ouch! Don’t we come to church for comfort and solace after a busy week, running, working, worrying about how to pay the mortgage, how to afford gas for the cars we can only marginally afford, where will our kids go to school, and any number of things?
“But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Oh, okay I get it, Maybe we can earn this stuff cheap, God’ll provide as long as we keep our end of the bargain. God likes us to worship and sing all these hymns and praises, give a bit, support activities and programs when we have time – we do all this, and God will give us all we need. Kind of like a Prosperity Gospel, or the ancient sense that you can tell who’s in God’s favor by their affluence and good health. VERY DANGEROUS TERRITORY!
That’s not exactly what Jesus is getting at. God doesn’t cut deals with us; God doesn’t participate in collective or individual bargaining. Remember what he said at the beginning of this passage: “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth”
Slavery was a reality in first-century life. Jesus is not condoning slavery, but rather is using the fact that a slave belonged to an owner and was forced to serve that owner exclusively. You can’t root for the Packers and the Bears at the same time. (Many of us are enslaved to our sports as well). Also remember that what Jesus calls “wealth” can be a wealth of troubles to which we cling, those competing anxieties and ends that define us and the way we life. Mammon which is the word we know the best for this text, refers not just to money, but to possessions. What we have here is a question of what possess us, whose are we?
There is an old Anglican collect that says it is when we serve God that we discover our freedom. Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. Stress, compulsive worry, bitterness and resentment can take over our lives so easily, and not just individually, but whole communities, parishes, and even larger Christian groupings become enslaved to anxiety, to fear of loss, and to dysfunction These destroying demons become our owners when we give them that power. They can be mammon.
Now there are some things we should worry about things like how to help Myanmar where a cyclone killed tens of thousands, or the Chinese where a massive earth quake killed even more and the governments are reluctant to let aid and workers come in – how best to we share to help them experience the assurance that God will provide. (You know that is not a cop-out from work and responsibility – it is through us that God will provide many times. That is the good news of the Incarnation – God uses us as God’s hands, hearts, and minds) or even how we are going to fed our children, care for the sick, the lonely and the shut-ins, provide affordable medical care. See that all of God’s children are fed and clothed just as the lilies of the fields and the sparrows of the air.
In the Gospel Jesus offers us two words of advice. – He repeats himself 5 times, just so we get the message: “Don’t worry”. Don’t worry about your life, for your heavenly Father knows what you need. Listen to the birds and consider how God cares for them. Look at the flowers. Don’t worry about wealth like the pagans do, for despite what ever you hear from Madison Ave, the TV, or the media – your life DOES NOT consist of your possessions. Don’t fret about the past or obsess about the future – ya can’t change the past, it’s done and gone – and you can neither know nor control the future. All we can control and enjoy is the present moment. Or as Jesus ends this portion of the Sermon on the Mount: “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” That’s right no one will ever be entirely free of worry. That’s not a part of the bargain. Life will continue to be tough, tragedies will happen, suffering is real. St. Makarios of Egypt was brutally realistic in a comforting sort of way: “I am convinced that not even the apostles, although filled with the Holy Sprit, were therefore completely free from anxiety…Contrary to the stupid view expressed by some, the advent of grace does not mean the immediate deliverance from anxiety” Look at the contrast with “God does not give us any more than we can handle.” A statement that is NOT in the Bible. God does not GIVE us trouble, he gives us food and clothing and love freely and in abundance. God gives us what we need to pass through that difficult place, that tragedy, that valley of the shadow of death, and on to life abundant in this life and the next.
The English mystic and Benedictine nun Juliana of Norwich had reasons enough to worry. She lived during the Black Death that killed 75million people in medieval Europe. Many people claimed that the Bubonic plague was divine punishment, not unlike those charlatans who today say that 9/11 or Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were God’s retribution for man’s sinful life style, BUT not Juliana. She believed that God loved every person and would redeem every tear. In her book of visions she wrote these well-known sentences, this antidote to excessive worry when taken as a whole:
In her thirteenth vision Juliana concluded that she was wrong to worry about the sins and sorrows of life. Jesus told her that these trials and tribulations were, in fact, “behovely” (now we'd say behoove) even our sins and anxieties are somehow incumbent upon us. They’re part of our human story. Despite “all the pains that ever were, or ever shall be,” God longs to “comforteth readily and sweetly”…by assuring us that because of the certainty of his boundless love, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” Amen.
Trinity Sunday
Genesis 1:1-2:4a;
Psalm 8
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20
May 18, 2008
In the name of the Three, in the name of the One. Amen.
Jesus said, “Who do folks say that I am?”
And his disciples answered and said, “Some say you are John the Baptist returned from the dead; others say Elijah, or some other of the old prophets.”
Jesus responded, “Okay, but more important – who do YOU all say that I am?”
Peter, good ole impetuous Peter, jumped up and said, “You are the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact the Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, with only an economic subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple.”
And Jesus said, “What the heck is that supposed to mean!?”
Welcome to Trinity Sunday! This is the one Sunday out of the year that is focused on a doctrine rather than an action or story. This doctrine is focused on the very basis of God’s being. It is in fact very theological. On this day we focus on God’s being rather than on God’s doing; on whom God IS rather than on what God has done. In other words we turn from the “sacred story” to the sacred itself. What is it that we discover about who God is? That God is pure, but not so simple, that God is one, yet many. That God is like community – common unity. That God and therefore our faith is based more on relationship than it is on believing. You’ve heard me say this before. By that I mean it is based on relationships with one another, but even more upon relationship with a living God who is both transcendent –out there somewhere, maybe like the creator and immanent—up close and personal—like the Holy Spirit, and all of this was present in the Incarnation. The Word that become flesh that dwelt among us, Jesus the Christ.
The concept of the Trinity has been a stumbling block throughout the ages, primarily because it is impossible to define concretely. It is in fact a mystery. I talk about mystery in relationship to what we believe a lot, especially true these past 57 days—the whole of Easter, the Ascension and last Sunday the Gift of the holy spirit. There is no way to explain the Resurrection, there is no way to prove the Ascension; they are things that we experience.
There have been volumes of some of the most abstruse and mind-boggling writings in all of Christian theology produced in order to explain how we can have “one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity…the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all one, the Glory equal. Any one here who thinks they would like to try and explain it? Maybe, with it being a mystery and a sacrament of the sacred we’re better off not trying to explain it, just marvel in it, but….you got it, I’m going to fumble around in an attempt to concretize this incredibly abstract mystery, and then hopefully to suggest what this might mean for he, here, at Holy Cross in the 21st Century.
So this is my attempt to visualize this whole idea that one thing can be made up of three things which are both the same and different. And that all of them remain distinctive within the unity they form. Its unity and strength is dependent on all three being intertwined with each other equally and completely.
So I have here three ribbons. One hot pink, magenta (whatever) one blue and one green. In every other way they are the same – the same material, the same width and the same length. I have clipped the ends together and am in process of braiding them. Hopefully you can see how they are joining together to form one “rope”. Braiding or intertwining ropes is a way of make a stronger rope out of three. Hopefully you can also see that the hot pink is remaining hot pink, yet it appears in all parts of the braid, the blue remains blue, and the green, green. Yet they do not always appear in the same place. They move in and about one another. They are in a certain rhythmic, complEmentary relationship. Each one in equal measure. We could knot both ends or in someway fuse them together and they would be one rope, yet still three. It would be a community of ropes formed in to one mutual rope. Is it necessary for this rope to have all three parts? What will happen if I would decide not to have, say, the hot pink? We could call it the Holy Spirit the sanctifier if we were looking at the Trinity. Well, let’s try it. I’m going to pull the hot pink ribbon out – no Holy Spirit in the Trinity, the One God. Whoa! What happened to our braid, our unit our being one, our strong healthy rope? It just collapsed.
Now, there are limitations to this, as there always are when we attempt to explain the unexplainable. The concept of the Trinity grew out of the experience of the being of God. God as the Creator, that which was before all things and from which all things come; Jesus as God incarnate – God made like one of us to live amongst us and to redeem us; and the Holy Spirit given to us that we might be sanctified and sustained in our faith. The Trinity, after all, is less about solving a logic problem and more about an experience of God’s transcendence (Creator) and God’s immanence (Holy Spirit) as particularly revealed in Christ.
Or as Kathleen Norris put it “for Christians, the Trinity is the primary symbol of a community that holds together by containing diversity within itself”. Think back on that braid – how those diverse strands of ribbon were held together as unity right up until the point at which one of those strands left, or were removed, or for some reason ceased to be in “community” with the others. Also remember that these ribbons, while all important and all carrying equal amounts of weight in the whole are NOT identical and the NEVER lose their individual identity in the whole. What is it that the Three Musketeers said – “All for one and one for all!”?
Kathleen Norris also points out that another symbol of a unity that is not cookie cutter identity is the Bible itself …”with its two creation accounts (the first one of which we read this morning)in the Book of Genesis, (aside they don’t agree, they couldn’t both be exclusively true – they each add to the strength of the story), and four gospels, each with it’s own distinctive approach to telling the story of Jesus.(same aside here – they contradict one another, yet they complete the story of Jesus”
To go beyond the Bible, look around at where we worship. This building is a place of worship for us, Holy Cross Episcopal Church, and yet at the same time it is a place of worship for Dells/Delton United Methodist Church. Diversity of worship styles and traditions that combine in unity here in this one place, adding to the strength of the witness of this space. Each of us able to maintain our traditions, yet we all join to maintain the strength and the integrity of this place as we worship the One God, creator, redeemer, and sustainer.
In a few weeks we are going to celebrate the sacrament of Baptism. This does not mean that she will be baptized Episcopalian. Baptism is the rite of initiation into Christ’s Holy Church. NOT Holy Cross Episcopal church. And it will be done in accordance with the instructions we were given in that great Commission of Jesus to baptize all in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So whether we are baptized in one denomination or another, as long as it is in the name of Trinity we are sealed and marked as Christ’s own forever. That’s behind the invitation I give for all to come and share in the Eucharistic Feast: No matter where you were baptized…..no matter how you found your way here, if you are moved by the integrity of this service you are welcome to join with us.”
This morning we are celebrating another way of experiencing unity within diversity of peoples and gifts. We have a special endowment program here at Holy Cross it which we as individuals may create an endowment, which is folded into and made one with other endowments, YET will remain distinctively ours. This morning we are honoring and celebrating those who have chosen to “endow their pledge” so that their gift is made greater with the unity of the fund, yet remains their gift. We track each of the agreements separately, yet they are pooled together for the good of the whole. This is a way that you can gift the church both financially and spiritually in perpetuity. This is what relationship and interdependence and community is all about. Braiding ourselves together, bringing in new and diverse people and incorporating them in our braid, yet respecting each one’s dignity and guarding each one’s pride.
At the root of the relationship of the Trinity, that community that is God, is love, a love that knows no bounds and that knows no limits. In the words of St. Augustine: “it is really by the experience of love that we arrive at knowledge of the Trinity; and love implies three things: ‘love is of someone who loves, and with love something is loved. So here are three things—the one who loves, and that which is loved, and Love’”… Amen.
Seventh Sunday of Easter B
Acts 1:6-14
Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
John 17:1-11
May 4, 2008
In the name of the Risen Christ who has Ascended in Great Triumph! Alleluia
Good morning. Anybody wonder why the Paschal candle was put out in the middle of the first reading? Anybody have any idea what it might mean? (Those that were here Wed. should know). I have a couple of Lectionary blogs that I read each week as I study the lessons, and in one of them the writer said that they always put the Paschal Candle out on Ascension Day during the reading of Acts to co-inside with Jesus’ lifted up into a cloud which took him out of their sight.
Ascension, which we basically celebrated last Wed (technically it was Thurs, but…), is one of the major Holy Days that we only partially observe because it is sooooo difficult for our 21st century rational brains to wrap themselves around. Which probably also explains why it is so often the butt of so many jokes. Look at the pictures we have – One is a large fresco behind the Altar in a church in New York City where all you see are some feet dangling at the top of the picture. Another person on that blog suggested that she was considering hanging her Birkenstocks up near the ceiling in their historic church. It is one of the images that we find just too crazy! Especially if we think we have to take it literally.
We don’t know what happened, but we do know that the disciples found it easier to believe some 40 days out from the Resurrection, than the Resurrection. We can also take a pretty good guess that those folk 2000 years ago would find the idea of helicopters going straight up, rockets to the moon far more difficult to believe than for us to accept the ascension – all except you Trekkies out there beam me up Scotty and all, then it works doesn’t. Amazing what a suspension of literal reality can do.
Well, anyway, here we are, left behind, but not abandoned! This has nothing to do with the so-called “Rapture” or those books. The word “rapture” appears NO WHERE in the Bible it is a 19 Century misunderstanding of a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible. Remember what Jesus said “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Not surprising that those two guys come out and see us gawking up this air – like little children that just lost their helium balloons—and turned to us and said: “What are you doing looking up toward heaven? He’ll come back—same way.”
They were left in a state of Limbo. So liturgically there we are as well. Jesus appeared for 40 days following the Resurrection and it would be another 10 days before the Holy Spirit would arrive – that’s next Sunday.
So they returned to their upper room in Jerusalem and devoted themselves to prayer. And it wasn’t just the disciples; there were “certain women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and others”. They all prayed together as one.
Our Gospel this morning is the start of a prayer, a very special prayer, prayed by none other than Jesus himself. I believe that all of that gang (including the women and brothers) and maybe more were present at that dinner party Jesus had on the night before he was killed. It’s that party where Jesus delivered his farewell address, parts of which we have heard for the past two weeks. This prayer picks up at the end of the farewell address. We note that by the start of the Gospel: After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.”
This prayer shows us a very tender and intimate moment with Jesus and God. It is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer – because Jesus is the Priest, the intercessor on our behalf. It is absolutely essential that we recognize this as Jesus’ prayer to God. It is addressed exclusively to God, not to the disciples. It is no longer instruction. The only function the disciples have in this entire chapter is as those for whom Jesus prays. Thus they have the same role and function we have – participation in the prayer is only by virtue of the privilege of being allowed to “eavesdrop” We can best experience John 17 as a parishioner not only listening to the prayers of the people but also by being involved in and represented in the prayer, but never addressed by it. We pray for each other NOT to each other.
So what exactly is it that Jesus is praying for? In this first third he begins by praying for himself and his own return to glory, a review of his work and then begins his intercessions for the future life of his followers. This comprises the bulk of the rest of the prayer. On this eve of his death Jesus speaks to God on behalf of the faith community, entrusting them to God. The future of the church ultimately does not belong to the disciples-hey, they had enough troubles getting along and being persecuted, nor does it belong to us – we’re not in a whole lot better shape—but it belongs to God. We are here to do God’s work – remember what Jesus said just before he ascended, something about his witnesses, doing his work, everywhere, and those two guys had to ask: Why are ya just standing here staring off into space?! And what did they do? They went off to pray!! The first essential in church development is to pray for God’s guidance and that means to listen as well as speak. And remember guidance is not just outlining our plans and saying to God this is it, rubber stamp it, okay?
In this prayer we come face to face with the absolutely amazing grace of God. A grace so wonderful and a love so all encompassing that we CAN KNOW and DEPEND on God’s care. Jesus in this prayer hands those whom he loves back to God and holds God to God’s promises for this community. Jesus’ prayer is to God to protect all of the faithful, to enable them to share in his joy, not by taking them OUT of the world (no sudden rapture) but to sanctify them IN the world. To so envelop them with love, to so support them with Grace, that they, and we in turn, will make their/our way as resident aliens—IN the world not OF the world – not belonging to the world but to God and so that “they may be one, as we are one.” Remember that we are a community for whom Jesus prays! Think what that really means for us. Jesus knew that we would be hated and rejected by the world, just as world had rejected him.
I Peter lets us know that it doesn’t mean we will never suffer, in fact that epistle was written to Christians suffering from harassment and persecution; witness the “fiery ordeal” that is taking place. He lets us know that to suffer as a Christian glorifies God. And that as we remain humble and willing servants steadfast in faith for you know that others in ALL the world are also suffering. But then I Peter also lets us know what it means to be a community for whom Jesus prays: After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.” He ends his epistle by saying that he wrote this letter to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it”
We, just as those early disciples have been called to be followers of Jesus in the world – remember those last words: “You are to be my witnesses through enemy territory (Samaria) and to the ends of the earth.” In that High Priestly Prayer Christ prays to his father that he has made his name known. Name in that passage means far more than just a title, or Ken, or Jean. It goes much deeper. It means God’s character, God’s compassion and passion for justice, God’s wisdom and grace.
To witness for Jesus means to be out in the world, getting our hands dirty in the world, sharing of our bounty with those in need, blessings to you who have given to Haiti or who plan to use some of their “windfall” to help in world where basic food stuffs such as rice and corn have been manipulated by the elites, so that the peasants are hungry. To use what powers and influence we have and can to work to change the root causes of the injustices in the world. It also means to be stewards of this earth, to protect the environment, to maintain the natural beauty we have been so generously given.
Yes, Jesus calls us to follow him, the two guys remind us of that as they say “Why are you just standing here staring up in the sky?” And as we go out remember that Peter enjoins us never “to lord over others, but clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings so that God may exalt you in due time”. We are not called to be powerful or effective as the world defines it but to be faithful to speak out against injustice and to work for the coming of God’s kingdom here on earth. Just as Jesus prays let us also pray for God to unite us in God’s love, and to guide the people of this land and of all nations, in the ways of justice and peace; that we may honor one another and serve the common good. That we all may be one as Jesus and God are one.
AMEN
Sixth Sunday of Easter A
Acts 17:22-31
Psalm 66:8-20
I Peter 3:13-22
John 14:(12-14) 15-21 (22-24)
April 27, 2008
In the name of the Risen Lord! Alleluia, Alleluia!
This morning’s Gospel lesson picks right up with the very next lines from last Sunday’s Gospel. In fact I had Dcn Ken read more than was stated in the lectionary, in part by backing up a bit into last Sunday’s reading. Also added a bit more on the end, but that was just to complete the passage. Sometimes I’m not so sure about those lectionary experts, but…
The use of the expression “very, truly, I tell you” generally introduces a new teaching. This new teaching builds on the theme of faith in Jesus that we read last week, and that Ken so aptly discussed, BUT it goes on to focus address the shape of the community’s life after the events of Jesus’ hour.
The Disciples obviously are upset and scared, this is not the kind of table talk they were hoping for.—Remember all this, last week and on for another 3 plus chapters are all delivered at that dinner after Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. That dinner when he sent Judas Iscariot out to do when he was to do. That dinner when he tells them he will be with them only a short time, they can’t come with him and tells them what they should do. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
What are they to do? Will they be able to love Jesus after he is gone? I’m pretty sure they are feeling a bit like bird about to be pushed out of the nest for the first time, like children being separating from their parents for the first time. What is going to happen to me? Who will take care of me?
That’s what Jesus is doing here – telling them that even though he will be gone from them physically, he will still be with them. In fact in this Gospel Jesus promises that he will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever” You can’t hang on to me, but you will be sent a helper. Foreshadow of Pentecost in two weeks. Just because he won’t be there in person doesn’t mean he won’t be with them. And it certainly doesn’t mean they can’t still love him. But it would not be by merely clinging to a cherished memory of him nor would it be by retreating into their own private experience of him – Never did Jesus tell his followers to just sit around and think or talk about how good Jesus had been to them or for them. He didn’t tell them to just hang on to his picture and remember one of the impromptu picnics out in the wilderness. He would have shuddered to see that bumper sticker that says: “If you love Jesus, honk” What does that do or prove or show except for a lot of needless noise pollution. He might rather that bumper sticker say: “if you love Jesus, obey”. Isn’t that what he continually said to Peter: “If you love me, feed my sheep.”
“Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also DO the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these…” and “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” That is, when they move outside of their own private experience of Jesus (and they each had them and so do we), when they live what Jesus has taught them and demonstrated in his own life, THEN they will find themselves once again in his love. And listen to that again: “The one who believes in me will also DO the works that I do and in fact will do greater works than these! How can that be? The Disciples, and don’t ever forget, that since Jesus is speaking to the time after his glorification, we are present, listening to this speech every bit as much as those original disciples. The works done AFTER the crucifixion will be greater because they will reveal the completed story of the Word made flesh and thereby the fullness of God’s love. They will be greater because they continue the glorification of God through Jesus.
When Jesus’ disciples follow Jesus’ own model of love, then, it is possible for relationship with Jesus to extend beyond the first generation of believers. Relationship with Jesus does not depend on the physical presence of Jesus. The disciples had very real experiences of and relationship with the risen Christ, even though they often had to be hit over the head to recognize him. Relationship with Jesus depends on the presence of the love for God IN THE LIFE OF THE COMMUNITY. This is after all what this Gospel is all about – our love for God. We talk a lot about God’s love for us, but do we really understand and appreciate what OUR LOVE for God looks like.
Our love for God means loving God and ALL that God has made. Oh that’s easy enough to say a beautiful spring day, in garden or going up the river a marveling at the beauty that is God’s handiwork. But how easy is it for us to show that love for God’s creation? Look at the price of gas, the cost of energy, of pollution of many of our lakes and streams. We have taken the beauty around us here and exploited it for gain – now that’s not all bad, in fact it brings many people into contact with natural awesomeness who might not ever see it, but is it possible that we might over exploit, over build or over use what we have had given to us in such abundance. There is a group called the Stewards of the River working to preserve the natural habitats and maintain ecological balance, to protect the integrity of the river from our thirst for money and gain. Do we want our river to be wall to wall housing? What is it that makes the Dells the Dells? Man-made water slides (available winter & summer) or unique rock formations in the river? Or both?
Or what about the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the sick, and suffering. You know that our relationship with God is not just a private personal thing. In this Gospel Jesus’ words point to the communal nature of union and relationship with him. That’s why we spend some moments in worship sharing a prayer of peace with one another – that’s not a 7th inning stretch it is a liturgical moment which speaks of our connectedness in God’s love. The promises made in this passage of the gift of the Holy Spirit and of Christ’s coming are promises made to the community, not to the individual. Each time we read “you” in this passage it is the second-person plural, NOT singular.
If we are to the works that Jesus does we need to be aware that while we enjoy so much, oh we worry and complain about the rising price of gas and of food, but it doesn’t stop us from spending. Our economy is faltering, people are hurting, they are loosing their homes, and so what is one of the solutions? We’re going to all start receiving checks back from the government. With those checks there is a choice compassion or consumption. It seems the government is borrowing money to stimulate an economy based on over-consumption. Look at the “stuff” most of us, not only have, but consider indispensable.
You know what the fastest growing sector in economic growth in this country? Self-storage units. We on the average have some of the largest houses in the world and we still can’t manage to pare down the amount of “stuff” we have. I have a garage about ½ full of “stuff” I still haven’t unpacked since last summer when I moved (some boxes go back more than one move!) I don’t know what’s in them. It’s a good thing I only have one car and it’s small, or course I also have a motor scooter, 2 bicycles, and soon a kayak. And I’m only one person!
So when that check comes starting Fri, we’ll be told to spend even more!! Buy buy buy! But what about the more than a billion people in the world that live on less that $1. a day. Maybe it is time to choose compassion. Remember the people of Haiti are hungry for peanut butter sandwiches. What if we took some or all of that bonus check, we weren’t counting on it, and gave it to Haiti, the Heifer Project, Church World Service, Crop, Food for the Poor, or other agency working to meet the millennium development goals? All they really ask for is 0.7%. -- $4.20, one or two cups of Starbucks? Hmmm.
I have recently joined Rotary; their spring fund raiser for community projects was last Fri. night. Amazing generosity—I basically find this area to be very generous—there were any number of door prizes donated and then some cash prizes award several $100. Some $200. a $500. a $1,000 and a $2,000. I heard after the drawings word was around that one of the bigger winners was giving $500 of it back to Rotary. Hmmmm
The love for God is present whenever those who love Jesus don’t just honk, but obey, in other words keep Jesus’ commandments, when they continue to live out the love that Jesus showed for ALL people in a through and by his own life and death. This passage begins talking about love, talks about love in the middle, and once again at the end of this passage. This love is not just a feeling. It’s much more than liking someone, or the more romantic notions, it is to be FOR another person, to ACT FOR Another’s GOOD, to DO THAT which benefits the OTHER. To love obediently is to submit to God’s precedence, in John 3:16 and God’s call, no matter the cost. Just as God’s love for us is without condition! AMEN
Fourth Sunday of Easter – A
Acts 2: 41-47
Psalm 23
1 Peter 2: 19-25
John 10: 1-10
April 13, 2008
In the name of the Risen Lord, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Have you noticed that for the past 3 weeks or so we have been praying for the Diocese of San Joaquin in our Prayers of the People? Do you know why? (Other than that someone put it on the prayer concerns?) The Diocese of San Joaquin is in Central California (based in Fresno). About 3 weeks ago there was a special Convention of a group called Remain Episcopal held in Fresno, convened by the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jeferts-Schori to meet with and to confirm a provisional Bishop to oversee the Diocese that remains. They are in need of our prayers for discernment, strength, and support.
Do you know why that convention was needed? Last Dec. at the 48th Diocesan Convention the clergy and the laity voted overwhelmingly to remove all references to the Episcopal Church from their Constitution and Canons. In effect, seceding from the national church under Bishop Schofield. Later in that same Convention they voted to align themselves with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone. The South American piece of the Anglican Communion. I don’t want to take the time to explain it all now, questions, please ask, but that is not the point this morning.
Between the two Conventions there was a special service conducted by Canon Bob Moore to celebrate moving ahead, moving forward, being the continuing Episcopal presence in the San Joaquin Diocese. So what, you ask, does this have to do with us, this morning, isn’t this “Good Shepherd Sunday”? what about the Gospel? The 23rd Psalm.
Let me offer some thoughts. Number one: this is truly an Easter story! Last Dec we saw what to all intents and purposes appeared to be the death of the San Joaquin Diocese. On March 29th the second Sunday of Easter, we saw the Resurrection of that Diocese. This is not a resuscitation of the old diocese. Those who voted to leave left. What we have here is new life in and for the on-going San Joaquin Diocese made up of those members of the Diocese that found the Episcopal church to be for them the place to study, to worship, to break bread together and to share in common their love for God and for all God’s people, despite differences in appearance, gender, theology, orientations or opinions. They chose to let God sort the wheat from the chaff, not themselves.
These folk, much like the Apostles, following the crucifixion, were left, as it were, leaderless, sad, and confused. At least 17 Congregations officially participated in this “Easter Convention”. Another 20 churches had members present – this was a diocese of 43 churches, about the same size we are. This was far more than anyone expected. Like the Apostles they too gathered together for prayer, discernment, study, and were filled with a spirit and a calling to join together and to continue as God’s people in this place and time. Think about what ___________ read from the book of Acts. That passage is a sketch of life within the newly formed messianic community – the Church. And like that early Christian community, this newly resurrected diocese is growing! They are forming 3 new congregations and welcoming clergy who had never been admitted to ministry there before – basically just because they were female.
Since it is Good Shepherd Sunday, I need to point out that the new provisional Bishop there is the Rt. Rev. Jerry Lamb, Retired Bishop of Northern California and most recently the interim Bishop of Nevada. One of his goals is on relationship building; on bringing people together for ALL of those things that Luke points out were a part of the Apostle’s teaching and work in establishing that early community for which relationship was central.
In 1 Peter we heard about enduring pain for the sake of God and God’s people. Last night I listened to the sermon, a sermon filled with great hope and expectation, delivered to the Remain Episcopal group on that January 26th. In that sermon Canon Moore stated: "I fully expect that this Diocese will emerge from these trials and tribulations stronger and more clearly focused on the mission of Christ which we share." That was the hope which grew the baby church through the gift of Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The Apostles were energized, they had had a very real experience of the Risen Christ, they had been totally transformed, born again and continued to move forward from there, despite setbacks, persecutions, and open opposition to their message of justice and peace. They grew in numbers, but even more they grew in faithfulness and in relationship with one another and with God as revealed to them in the person of Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord.
However, let us not forget that this idyllic picture of the baby church painted by Luke in Acts had been written some 40 or 50 years after Pentecost. By that time our human proclivities, pride, and what all had had time to work reality into the church, else why would Paul have had to write to the church in Corinth to quit squabbling, or to get really angry at the folks in Galatia. This time allowed the past to be sanitized and euphemized – hey, no different than how us older folks look back on the good ol’ days when things were done right. Aaaah that those good ol’days had been so good back then. Let this be a warning to you younger folks – you’ll do the same thing. It’s a required piece of aging.
This may not have been as one person put it a membership brochure, but it surely was a broad stroke sketch of the church, at it’s very best. It sets forth principles for the church (which of course is the people, that’s all of us, a family, a community of faithful believers) which are important for us today – 2000 years later! It shows what it means to be Church. What is to be faithful in teaching and learning; to share in fellowship with one another, and in generosity with one another; devoted to eating, praying, and worshiping together; fearful, or awe – filled before God; and praising God for all that God has done. It shows definitely a community, an open sharing caring community, based on positives. It would be my prayer that the diocese in San Joaquin will read this and continue in the fellowship, breaking bread, sharing the good news with one another and with those around them. It would also be my prayer that Holy Cross will also follow on this path, sharing hospitality, welcome, worship, and witness. Continuing to pool things together, to work together, to share together and to do all things for the common good.
For me this is the heart of the passage from Acts and that passage from Acts goes a long way in showing us the true meaning of abundant life. That was the last sentence in the Gospel lesson – Jesus tells us that he has come that we might have life and to have it abundantly. Sorry, folks, that doesn’t mean that we will have unlimited money, stuff, ipods, more food than we can ever consume. I experienced communities in Bolivia and in Honduras that lacked for many material things, yet they were living an abundant life, sharing with one another and helping one another. Jesus never came to preach a prosperity Gospel – he came to preach a gospel of abundant life. In fact he promised us abundant life and it is in that passage of Acts that we are able to glimpse a bit at what abundant life meant to them – and I don’t think it had anything to do with amassing great fortunes, for feeling that because we have much in prosperity, that we are then blessed by God and leading an abundant life.
Quite the opposite. Jesus had a passion for justice, for the poor, for the earth. He never appeared to have anything, yet never went without a meal, didn’t own a house, but never lacked a bed, oh, maybe that manger was a stretch, but it worked. Jesus was never into collecting! It’s us, our society, our peoples who think abundant life is about collecting – the early Christians were very clear that abundant life was really about distributing! Jesus’ promise for abundant life was not just for some but for ALL. The early church recognized this and made sure that individual ownership and consumption weren’t at the expense of another’s ability to enjoy abundance themselves. Jesus and the early church did not intend for anyone to suffer, rather all to be comfortable.
The diocese of San Joaquin is aware and is thankful for the prayers and the support, by gifts of vestments, money, places to worship, and on going support and good wishes. In short they are thankful for the gifts being shared in common with one another to further the kingdom. These gifts are not just about “stuff” or money, either. We are called to pool together ALL that we have – ideas, time talents, energy, creativity for the good of the body of Christ, and for the good of the world. Part of the communal support is in sharing, in worship and in prayer, something we can all do and should all do regularly. Some times time can be our most valuable gift.
Sometime this spring we are getting a bonus back from the government – it’s crazy; the govt. is borrowing the money to give us back money so we can spend it to acquire more stuff. I don’t want the money back, I’d rather they not borrow to give to me. Oh, I can use it all right, but I don’t need it. I’d venture to say not many of you here really NEED the money. So why not take a stand along with those early Christians that pooled together for everyone’s benefit. Maybe it’s time to put our treasure where our heart is – to choose compassion over consumption. Time to affirm that abundant life is not just meant for some but for all. Read that letter in your bulletin from the Bishop surely we could space some dimes for peanut butter sandwiches, use that “stimulus check” to give an economic stimulus or boost to the more than 1 billion people living on less than $1 a day.
Let us always remember that the abundant life that Jesus and the early Christians was all about sharing, distributing, and making sure that everyone’s basic needs were met NOT about collecting or amassing the greatest abundance of stuff. And remember that this passage from Acts is about more than things or stuff being held in common. A big chunk of the communal support is in the sharing of worship and prayer as well. Which is really why we are praying for the diocese of San Joaquin and for other churches and dioceses (there are many in the Episcopal Church) that are struggling, that are experiencing a lot of grief and pain. AMEN.
Third Sunday of Easter Year A
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
I Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35
April 6, 2008
In the name of the Risen Lord, Alleluia, Alleluia.
In our end is our beginning. Easter wakes us up to know that death and defeat are never the end of the story, not even the rest of it, but the beginning of our journey with God. This morning in Acts we hear Peter preaching boldly to a mocking crowd, proclaiming the truth of the resurrection of Christ, and writing in his epistle that Christians are those who have been born again, anew, who have died to an old way of being and raised up in a living hope of the resurrection. Our gospel is a journey that originates in fear and grief, yet finds itself transformed by the experience of the Risen Christ.
So let’s walk along on this journey. I remember back in my childhood watching a television show narrated by Walter Cronkite, I believe. It was a history lesson, a dramatization of some major event in history only “You were there”. Well, I can’t think of a more significant event than this. Let us imagine we are out on a dusty, sandy, road, heading out of Jerusalem towards Emmaus some 7 or 8 miles out of the city, away from all the tragedy, the confusion the hub-bub, and the other disciples of this Jesus who had been so brutally killed by the Romans were gathering together.
Like that TV program, which took some liberties with history, I, too, take some liberties. But despite all the detail in Luke (and that’s our ONLY source) there are some things missing. What all was said, what all was done.
Cleopas and I are walking out of town, away from all the crowds, the confusion the shock. It had certainly been a wild week in Jerusalem and we just wanted to try and get our heads together. To see if we could make any sense out of what just happened.
It was only a week ago when Jesus came riding in on a donkey, in a grand entrance parade. We were all out there cheering and waving palms, throwing flower petals and coats. This guy was just like a king (Herod was coming in on the other side of town, I’d heard that from a servant girl) He was supposed to be bringing in a new kingdom. At least we figured he was the one to redeem Israel. Overthrow the Romans.
He hadn’t been in town four days when we heard he was arrested out in the garden, without a fight. He went willingly. One of his own followers turned him in. I heard that Jesus had sent this guy, Judas I think, out to do this deed. No one came to his defense, not even his followers; I saw ‘em lurking in the shadows. That servant girl thought she spotted one, but he kept denying it.
Then whoa! The beating, the cross, the death, the earthquake, the temple curtain being torn and the strange darkness at noon.
That was three days ago and this morning got even stranger. Two women found Jesus’ tomb empty, the stone gone. Mary, I think, said that angels told her he was alive! How could that be? Things like that don’t just happen! But there was no body.
There was a lot of fear in the air, no one knew what to do so that’s why Cleopas and I took off towards Emmaus. We had to talk, to try and make sense out of all this. Why? What?
We were so heavy into conversation, so focused on our concerns, that we didn’t notice right away, but there was a stranger who had kind of fallen into step with us.
He wanted to know what we were talking about, like where had this guy been all week? Everyone in town knew what was going on, didn’t they? They must have.
Oh, he listened to us okay, but just didn’t seem to get it. How could he not get all agitated? How could he be so calm? I mean, Jesus was supposed to be our promised Messiah! He was just getting started.
Then, of all things, this guy calls us “foolish”. Man, then says to us that we’re making not understanding all that prophets have declared – that basically they all say that the Messiah should or would suffer all kinds of things before entering into his glory.
Well, yeah, that did sound familiar, had heard that. The stranger then proceeded to talk about how Isaiah had written about a Suffering Servant, willingly giving his life for the world. hmmmmmmh, yeah, I ‘spect so.
Cleopas thought a bit, and mentioned Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement – the sacrificial lamb given as a sin offering to God, was that the idea? Was Jesus that sacrificial lamb? Or may the other lamb we sacrifice, the one where all of Israel’s sins are taken on by that scapegoat; and we cleared – home free. Then we drive that scapegoat out into the wilderness for it to die.”
Hmmmmh the silence continued while we walk until the stranger asked if that helped us any with the question about the crucifixion? Did it help us make any sense out of it? Well, it was getting dark, and yeah, we might be helped a little, but no, not really.
The stranger said that he could see that Jesus was innocent and killed, and like the scapegoat, Jesus was driven out of the city to his death so yeah, it might make sense. But he went on to remind us of something else the High Priest does at Yom Kippur. Might put a different light on things”
“You remember”, he went on, that in that liturgy BEFORE any sacrifices, BEFORE any confessing, the High Priest comes out from behind the temple’s curtain, dressed in white, representing God and approaches the PEOPLE. Acting as the Creator coming to us, offering acceptance and forgiveness to us. The Creator comes into creation to defrag the people—to save creation – no killing, no sacrificing, not even any confessing yet. Ya think maybe Jesus was that Creator debugging us?”
Whoa, I really had to think about that. The more I thought the more I remembered that at that last supper I remember being told that Jesus gave a new commandment, a new mandate, when he was washing everyone’s feet – “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another”. (John 13:34, 35). The stranger added that’s a rule from Leviticus that God gave to Moses. And remember that he offered a peace that would pass all understanding – the peace of knowing you are loved by God and that we are all equal in that love, that’s what connects us. This is a new covenant of love and non violence”
This stranger seemed to speak with authority – who the heck is he? He didn’t know what happened last week, but he sure knows the prophets and some other things. Cleopas reminded us that Jesus had read from Isaiah – The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind to free the oppressed” (Luke 4: 18-21) and then had the audacity to say – today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. I also remembered him getting run out of town – they were aiming to kill him then! Stuff was coming about concern for the poor, for justice for mercy, for love and compassion.
The stranger said remember the words of Micah? “With what shall I come before the Lord…?...with burnt offering, calves a year old…thousands of rams…? Shall I give my first born for my transgressions? (No) He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” The stranger mentioned other things from the prophets like to cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan plead for the widow (Isa 1:13-15)
You remember he said how Jesus felt that the needs of people, hospitality, love, and companionship always seemed to trump the letter of the law, kind of like when Amos said that God told him “I take no delight in your solemn assemblies,…I will not accept your burnt offerings. BUT let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an overflowing stream. (Amos 5:21-24)
“I’d say,” the stranger continued, “Jesus lived and died to show us this, the only thing the lord requires is that we love one another AS HE LOVED US –to the absolute max! Recognize God in all persons, walk in humility”.
Somehow what the stranger had said did cast a new light on Jesus death. He had been killed by people, people intend upon power, prestige, and jealousy guarding that power. But his love was somehow outside that – it was stronger than that hatred, that jealousy, that struggle for power. We kept on walking approaching Emmaus.
I thought some more about the report of this morning’s empty tomb. What was that about? Was there hope in that miracle? Maybe there was some sense to what had happened – I mean, humankind kills, but God raises to life. God’s love is life to us…life right here, in the midst of earthly problems, as well as life beyond death.
Well, we approached Emmaus and the stranger started off on his own, but Cleopas and I did not want him to leave, we had felt comforted and wanted to share more with this man. This man who knew the scriptures, lived the scriptures, walked humbly with God. So we invited him to supper with us, he picked up the bread, broke it and our eyes were suddenly opened, and we recognized him just before he “vanished from our sight”.
Jesus!! We had be walking and talking with Jesus!! This was the Jesus who had forgiven those who killed him, saying they didn’t know what they were doing. This was the Jesus whose body was no longer in the tomb but there, here…We had experienced his unconditional love and forgiveness, his patience with us, and his presence.
We knew we couldn’t stay there, we had to return and to share the Good News that Jesus’ love trumped death and despair. We were ablaze with passion to share with the entire house of Israel that yes, God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and messiah! And so we turned had hurried back to Jerusalem, headed east, through the dark to what we knew would become the light of dawn.
Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20: 19-31
March 30, 2008
In the Name of the Risen Lord, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Well, so good to see you all. Hope that you had a good week, it was a wonderful week. I do believe that spring and New Life are coming back into the area. I experienced some traffic snarls downtown, saw people on the streets, and even saw Ducks “waddling” there way around the trails of the lower dells. Little cold for me, but…and despite the ‘mini-blizzard’ I experienced in Madison on Thurs. (understand Janesville had 2-3 inches on Thurs – good for them) do believe there is hope and promise, you can feel the warmth (okay so it’s grey and rainy and I still have 2 inches of ice on my well shaded sidewalk). Like Thomas, I might need a bit more convincing, or proof, but…
This Sunday is often called “low” Sunday – not sure why that is, probably because we’re all so wiped out from all of the preparations and services for that most Holy Time of year, culminating in Easter and all that goes with that!! Suppose it also is descriptive of most attendance rosters on this Sunday in church.
In some, particularly the Eastern Church tradition this is called “light” Sunday and is greeted and celebrated by joke telling and frivolity. Did that last year, and have for the past 7 years, but somehow this year I feel called to look at the Scriptures.
But, just so no one is disappointed – I’ll share a joke or two. I heard this one at brunch a few weeks back, some of you were there, but it is such an appropriate joke for today.
There was this family and their daughter was really struggling in school with math – just couldn’t seem to get it. Got good grades in everything else. So Mom and Dad decided to take her out of the public schools and see if in a parochial school she would do better. So off she went to St. Thomas Catholic School (no doubt about it!).
End of the first quarter report cards were sent home. With great fear and trembling the parents gingerly opened the report card to see how she did in Math. They were astounded – not sure they believed what they saw – it was an A in Math. They needed to know if it was true – needed proof so to speak.
So they called little Jenny into the room, and said “Hey is this real? What happened?”
Jenny looked up proudly and said “yes –I figgered that I’d best get the math when I walked into that school and saw that guy hanging on the plus sign.”
Well, I might be guilty of pushing a point a bit hard, but hmmm when I walk in here each day and see that guy on the plus sign it reminds me of all the joy, the love, the compassion, the forgiveness and the suffering that that guy went through to be raised again from the dead. That then reminds me, not of math, but that I am sent out as well to share in the joy, the love, the compassion, the forgiveness, and yes, even the suffering and persecution. And I need all the help I can get. Let that be for us a motivator as well. Not because we are afraid of being hung on the plus sign, but because we want to share all that joy, love, compassion and forgiveness – that mighty transformation that came after the guy was hung on the plus sign. It is after all a plus sign!
Easter isn’t over!! This is the 2nd Sunday OF Easter, NOT AFTER Easter. Ignore the 50% off sales of Easter goodies in the store, that has nothing to do with EASTER. Think about the smile on Kate’s face on the front page of yesterday’s paper and think of the smiles that were echoed on the faces of residents of Golden Care and the kids that came AFTER EASTER to the Food Pantry. That is the on going joy of EASTER. It was not a discounted left over AFTER the fact, it was in deed OF EASTER. And that goes on today.
In our Gospel today, all takes place after the empty tomb Mary came to last Sunday. Not only is Jesus raised from the dead, but he also is returning to his disciples. He comes not just once, but a multiple of times. Easter, as a liturgical season, goes on for 50 GREAT days! Seven full weeks! Folded in there is the Ascension of Jesus to the Father, followed by what is really the Eighth Sunday OF Easter, he will again send down his Spirit on Pentecost – the birthday of the church. And in reality Easter goes on and on! This is not the end; it is the beginning!! No wonder it is a PLUS Sign.
So many of our symbols of Easter show how new life rises up from old life, from death. The butterfly breaks forth out of the cocoon it entered as a caterpillar. In this there is not only new life coming forth from what appeared to be dead, but it is a grand transformation. See these lilies? They were dry dead looking bulbs or tubers that were planted in the fall transformed into beautiful flowers. And on and on! It is a season of transformation, of mystery, of wonder and of awe.
The resurrection was not something anyone has been able to prove – it’s not a simple fact –it is so amazing and so wonderful and so transformative that we could never boil it down and prove it! All we know for certain is that the Apostles had very real and vibrant and life changing experiences of Jesus after his death! And these experiences continue in peoples lives to this day – that’s why 2,000 years later we still gather in that room and Jesus continues to come into our lives, even through locked doors.
Look at Peters transformation – he’s preaching in Acts, he was denying in Luke. (Acts is the 2nd half of Luke) The experience so transformed Peter that he did in fact become that “Rock” on which the church was formed.
Considering all in all is it any wonder that Tomas had doubts – We’ve been far to hard on him. Faith is the acceptance of doubt, not the repression of doubt! What we believe in, and what I believe in, is so magnificent, it is so extraordinarily wonderful, it is beyond any finite comprehension. It can only be viewed with awe and through metaphor, and metaphor can be very real.
A couple of years ago my son went for his second time to Mississippi to help rebuild, this time a year after Katrina. When he got back he shared with me a powerful, proof, if we need proof, of Resurrection. He said they’d been working about 3 days on a house that was still in total disarray – the yard was still cluttered with “stuff” mostly broken and destroyed fixtures, furnishings, still there from the floods, still where the power of that hurricane had torn them loose and the water had washed them out of the house. They were beginning to look for signs of hope, for signs of promise, it was pretty discouraging, when one of the workers happened to look down in the broken tank from the toilet, there in the mud and rubble were shards of pottery, no doubt a broken pot, and coming up out of that muck was one of those bamboo friendship plants, it’s green leaved reaching out for light. That was for them, Jesus entering into the locked room of discouragement and hoplessness they had built around themselves and saying, “Peace be with you. Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe!”
Out of that rubble was coming new life – resurrection – Easter! Easter is the promise that God will never leave us to our own devices, will not be defeated by us.
I’m now looking forward to our reawakening our transformation, our moving forward, from the depths of this winter’s doldrums and I have a vision that I want to share with you this morning, yeah before the Vestry, that’s a bit of a risk, but... I’ve been thinking and praying about this since the Vestry retreat and follow-up. I was a little discouraged by what appeared to be such scattered thoughts and overwhelming suggestions. Until I turned that over to God, with the hope that something would blossom forth. When I woke the next morning I had a grand vision of becoming a place for spiritual healing, and beauty here in the Dells, with the one thing we have, that no one else has. – Our prayer garden and labyrinth. The two came up a number of times in our discussions, but I, like Thomas, was having trouble focusing on the reality.
It is my hope that we can continue to expand on our garden, study and put together information on walking prayer, on the healing powers of a labyrinth, the peace and the comfort that comes from sitting in the midst of beauty. Build a walk way to the labyrinth from the parking lot, and label plants and set out information and welcomes. Maybe put in a fountain, a statue, this is all up to you folks and how we might provide this source of renewal. Plan some times for the carillons to play, and to make it known in the area that we have this place of peace and quiet, even in the midst of all else that goes on here. A reprieve from crowds and noise, nothing scary, just peaceful. Let some of the alternative healing places know of this, make brochures. We will add a healing component to our Wednesday night service, and build it up some more. And there are so many more possibilities for becoming an Easter Place.
A place open and inviting to all, sharing the joy the love, the compassion, and the peace that we have been so graciously given by that guy hanging on the plus sign.
“Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
Palm/Passion Sunday –A
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:14-27:66
March 16, 2008
The Servant Girl
Get up – run out into congregation.
Wander around to different people.
Wow! Did you see it?, Were you there? Entrance parades are big deals, and this was clearly a big deal. Hey, you’ve got a Palm like mine! Who was that guy on the donkeys? I saw there were two of ‘em. He was dressed a lot like my brothers. Sure didn’t look like a king to me! Looked kind and gentle. All the people I know and hang with were there. He was comin’ in on the East side of town. Didn’t I see you? What did you think was going on? All that shouting and palm waving. Cloaks and blankets bein’ strewn at his feet. Why was he coming into town? I heard some one say that he was Jesus the prophet from Nazareth. That’s hard to believe a prophet from a small town in Galilee. I don’t know about that. Kind of like nowhere’sville from what I’ve heard.
Go to center aisle, turn & face the people.
Say, by the way, did you know there’d been another grand entrance parade into town today. Yea, only this one was different, I think I remember someone telling me about it. This is a big time of year around here – ya know that, dontcha? Yeah, passover. I’ve already been put to work in preparation. I’m just a simple servant girl. Don’t get much time off. I get worked pretty hard, I work for one of the elite families in town. My whole family and every one I know is in the service of the big guns.
Oh, which reminds me I forgot to tell about the other parade. This one takes place every year at this time, it’s a big deal. That’s why that other parade so took me by surprise. I told ya it’s getting mighty close to Passover, lot’s of people coming here – they always do, from all over the place, Passover is about as big a deal as you can get and it’s important to be here. Jerusalem is the Temple and the main focus for us Jews. But ya get all those out a towners here and you gotta be ready for trouble. So, the other parade, you know who it was don’t ya? It was big parade, lots of soldiers, a whole mounted cavalry, not just two donkeys. There were swords and chariots, maces and armor (Roman’s they were – we don’t really like the Romans, but…) Gov. Pontius Pilate was comin’ to town – doesn’t even like it here. Lives most of the time in this seashore village of Caesarea on the Sea. Pretty classy place, the Roman’s really like there.
But like I said Passover’s a big deal, and ya never know what’s gonna be coming down. So here’s this ordinary looking guy on two donkey’s proclaiming the kingdom of God, and peace, and love and all that kind of stuff. Freedom and release from captivity No more war! Nations would be in peace. Well, he’s coming down from the East on Mt Olive Blvd. People lookin’ happy! Seems like I heard some talk that one of the prophet’s Zechariah talked about this knew king would be coming into town riding on a donkey. I think they believe it’s coming, but man, watch out for that other parade with all that military power and might comin’ in from the West. Man, if they run into each other, I don’t want to be around. Pilate’s people could make fodder out of this Jesus and Co.
So, what do I think? I think I like this Jesus guy. I think I like what he ways about peace and loving everybody. You know what, he’s even attacking the Temple for selling out to wealth and power. The priests and scribes and stuff really lick the boots of the Romans. They’re anxious to maintain their power. He’s not against Judaism, nah, he practices – heck he’s no doubt here for the Passover, it’s what they done to God’s people. People like me that they dominate and exploit. I Think it might bring an end to my servitude, give me a chance to do somethin’ more than clean up after all these rich guys and their banquets, and stuff – the only good part of that is there’s some pretty tasty leftovers, but man are they messy – they don’t care for what happens to us, just so long as we work. I think it would restore a bit of dignity.
I’m pulling for him. I don’t know what this week will bring, but it sure got off to a pretty exciting start today.
Wonder what’s gonna happen. Think I’ll hang around a watch this Jesus guy. See what he’s up to. But I don’t know, things can get pretty ugly around here, ‘specially when Pilate and his crowd are in town. You guys wanted stay with me, just mill around, it’s okay. Remember you were there shouting and cheering. C’mon let’s let things happen. I’ll see you later.
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 130
Romans 8: 6-11
John 11:1-45
March 9, 2008
In the name of the Spirit which brings us life, and hope, and peace. AMEN.
I don’t know about you folks, but it’s well nigh impossible for me to read, hear, or even think about this morning’s Old Testament reading from Ezekiel—that vivid and rich vision of the dry bones coming together and giving new life where there appeared to be none—without instantly having this song come into my head – how about you, _______ At least you didn’t sing it! Come on now, you all know it, help me out here.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones
Don't you hear the word of the Lord?
Toe bone connected foot bone
Foot bone connected leg bone
Leg bone connected knee bone
Don't you hear the word of the Lord?
Leg bone connected knee bone
Knee bone connected thighbone
Thighbone connected hipbone
Don't you hear the word of the Lord?
Hipbone connected backbone
Backbone connected shoulder bone
Shoulder bone connected neck bone
Don't you hear the word of the Lord?
Oh, we may all have learned different words to it, but they all appear to be an instant lesson in basic anatomy, yet attributing it all to the word of the Lord. Another source I looked at suggested the following were the opening words of the song:
God called Ezekiel one morning,
"Go down and prophesy."
Ezekiel taught Zion the powers of God,
and the bones begin to rise.
We're going to walk around with-dry bones.
Why don't you rise and hear the word of the Lord?
What a wonderful song of hope! That whole vision is a vision filled with hope. This song is one of a number of spirituals that came out the experience of the African Americans in the southern part of the US, back when slavery still prevailed. These were a people in a forced exile from their homeland. Where their dignity, their pride, their self-worth and their labor was stolen from them. Yet these captive Africans embraced the Christian religion of their masters. This is a statement of the hope and dignity that our faith can give to those in the points of greatest despair.
It’s pretty easy to understand why those who had been brought to this land against their wills, found in the stirring words of Ezekiel great cause for hope. Not hard to see how they were able to take such vivid imagery and create a song that could help them walk as human beings through the cotton fields of oppression. They understood in a way that very few others in this nation did or could, the experience of the people to whom Ezekiel spoke. They were able to hear those notes of promise and hope given to a people in captivity.
Those Israelites of Ezekiel’s day were also a people enslaved by foreign masters. They hadn’t asked to go to Babylon, in fact it was the last thing they wanted to do. But there they were, and forced into working in the service of a conquering nation. Though alive, the felt like they were dead. They were a people without hope. A nation of dry bones – bones symbolic of the rotted bodies of a conquered and beaten down people. Their cry was “Our bones are dried up. And our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” They spoke and lived as though they were already dead and their bodies reduced to desiccated bones.
“Desiccated”, according to the dictionary means to dry up, to preserve by drying (as a food), to dehydrate. It can also mean to drain of emotional or intellectual vitality or to become dried up. Fits the bill pretty well.
Well, did you catch the prophets amazement when he prophesied to the bones and he “heard a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone” and not only that but they were covered with muscle and flesh and once more encased in skin. Ezekiel then prophesied to the breath, the spirit, to come into the bodies so that they might live. And come alive they did—standing on their feet. Those dry bones were alive again!!
Ezekiel then told the people of Israel, enslaved in exile, that this vision was God’s way of saying that their lives, totally desiccated in the emotional sense, would have breath put back in it. They would be a nation reborn. For those Israelites separated from home and in bondage Ezekiel’s vision gave to them new hope as they dreamed of a time when they would once again be free and return to Jerusalem..
It’s no wonder the American slaves embraced this story as their own. Despite their misery and even as they suffered cruel injustice, they gained the same hope as the ancient Israelites. Their hope for new life, even amidst the suffering, the feeling that they were already dead. It was their faith in this God of love and life that gave them the hope of hopes, empowering them to sing with joy and happiness and trust. That they would rise just like the dry bones of Ezekiel’s forsaken valley.
What about us, does this Valley of Dry Bones say anything to us? You betcha. We too can feel great despair, look around what do you hear, recession, war, mortgage crisis, shootings, personal crisis, and don’t forget all that snow and the despair and desolation of this winter, especially for those who can’t get out, or those who have to place to go into. We all experience exile and bondage at one time or another. And all have times when we feel spiritually dead, mere skeletons that have lost our religious muscle and skin of faith.
What hope is there? The hope is that which Ezekiel envisioned and the American slaves sang about. In our own barren valleys of the soul, we can follow them; gaining strength by realizing that there is renewal. That we can be born again from death into life. We can find new life for these dry bones of ours. We can find the will to move beyond spiritual despair and to embrace the hope that lies in a loving and forgiving God – a God who takes our spiritual skeletons and gives them flesh and muscle, who takes the spiritually dried-out bones of our faith and gives them life in all abundance.
Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has observed that Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dried bones bears no date because EVERY GENERATION needs to hear IN ITS OWN TIME that these bones can live again. Like the exiles of old, we too can at times feel as good (rather, bad) as dead. We are null and void inside. But if we look through God’s eyes, we can see broader realities, bases for hope. God CAN sustain us and fill our barren experiences with lively hope. Is it possible?
Fourth Sunday in Lent A
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
In the name of the Light of the World, Amen.
Good Morning!
So Ken, “Here’s mud in your eye!” (lift water glass). That was some Gospel! (Maybe a sermon on its own, eh?) That’s a great toast you know. And you all know that a toast is and is for, I trust? They began in ancient
And so to the blind man in that Gospel drama, I also say – “here’s mud in your eye!” and he knows just what I mean. Mud in his eye was the opening up of a whole new world for him. It was a whole new beginning of a whole new life. He truly died to his old way of being and was born into a new way of life. His wash in the pool of Siloam (which means Sent) was in a very real sense his Baptism.
But wait, this Gospel is not JUST about that man and what appears to be a chance encounter with this man Jesus who was out roaming around with his disciples, after having been pretty severely chastised in the preceding chapters of John. Yeah, this chance encounter resulted in his being able to see for the first time in his entire life! That was certainly a big deal for him!
If it were just that we could have gotten by with only 7 to 13 verses, mayyyyybe taking on the result of the healing. Not all so great, he was expelled from the Synagogue (excommunicated), but he does affirm that Jesus is the Son of Man and worships him. That all amounts to probably a little less than half of what was read. I will say, that in the Prayer Book Lectionary, that was all that was required to be read, so if we wanted the Reader’s Digest version we could have it. (You know the dangers of condensing stories, books, whatever – you might just leave out something important.) That Lectionary even excluded the last 3 verses which are probably the most important message in the whole Gospel.
So why did we read all that? Or better yet why was all the rest of the stuff even included in the first place? There must have been a reason. The Gospel writers didn’t have tons of paper nor did they have word processors and printers. They didn’t write it down if it wasn’t important. That’s why we read all of that – it is the most important message for us. (Remember the Gospel of John was written around 70 or 80 BC, some 50 years AFTER the happening.
Could it be that all of that is important because this is NOT just another miraculous healing that took place some 2000 years ago, and while it might have been just another sign, it was still just a one time event. That one time even benefited the man born blind, but what about us? Oh, it’s amazing and Jesus was definitely a healer, a first class healer. He did hundreds of healings, only a few of which we hear in detail. The Bible talks about all his many healings and miracles, but never details them all. There were faith “healers” in abundance – the practice of medicine just wasn’t what it is today. Interesting aside, however, a lot of modern medicine is beginning to turn once again to what they now call “alternative medicine”. It works, healings happen, miracles occur, but healings happen in many ways, not just curing – that’s a whole other sermon.
This morning is the first Sunday of the Month – we have a healing service immediately following this service. That service of prayer and anointing is done following instructions written in James “Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them prayer over them anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.” That service of prayer and anointing brings healing of body mind and spirit. Don’t know how it works, any more than the blind man knew how his sight was restored, but like that blind man, I know it works. Prayer changes those who pray and also those for whom they pray.
Which is precisely why this story needs to be told in it’s entirety. All that other “stuff” help us to see and understand this story – not as a piece of factual history, a one time healing, all over, all done. That took place a long time before even those of us here who claim their senior discounts were born – that’s right kids, we taint been here since before time began, even if I did have a pet dinosaur! Just ask my kids. It has a lot more to do with the power and the expansiveness of God’s love. That God would send his Son into the world so that all who believed on him might have eternal life.
Oh, if it were just a retelling of something that happened in the past it would be pretty spectacular, especially for the guy who gets his sight restored. We can be impressed, awed even, but is that what changes us, heals us, transforms us today? I don’t think so. We need to see ALL of the SCENES in this great drama and to realize that it is a metaphor and a dramatic representation of John 3:16-21. Go home and check out that entire reading! It is what this story enacts. To question it’s historic authenticity is to take away the power this story has for healing us. Transforming us. Opening our eyes that we might see!! That is the power of this story.
So we got the picture on the healing. What else is there? There are 5 more scenes. This is John’s way of combining a story with the explanation in a dramatic form. One of the great things about his gospel
Just a moment longer on scene one. This is the scene that sets the stage for all that is to come. It lays the groundwork in the discussion over the cause of the man’s blindness. There is that attempt to blame the man’s blindness on the account of someone’s sin, either his or his parents. That was the folk wisdom of the time. (actually I think we still pretty much believe that because of the way we try to fix blame or explain away illness and tragedies as though they were someone’s fault – even going so far as to blame God, and then ask how could a good and loving God ALLOW that to happen.) Well, trust me God doesn’t allow bad things to happen to good people, or any people for that matter. and Jesus wasn’t about to go there either! He said “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him” And then what did he do? He spat on the ground, picked up the mud and spittle and needed it together and stuck it in this man’s eyes. This guy probably didn’t know what was going on, he hadn’t ask for ANYthing, and definitely didn’t expect what happened to happen. So we have our AED machine and folks trained to be God’s hands in this place as well! Modern mud!!
Let’s take a quick look at all the rest of the story-
Scene two: The healed man returns to his hold neighborhood and to what? Friends and neighbors who are disturbed that his is no longer blind and they begin to bombard him with questions. Others questioned whether he had ever been blind, or this was a different guy. He tells that what he knows: the man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes and said go wash. I did as I was told and received my sight. They’re not satisfied nor are they happy or thanking God, no encouragement, just fussing.
Scene three the tension mounts. They take the man who had been blind to the Pharisees – big problem, it’s a Sabbath day. Healing was bad enough, but kneading was one of the 39 categories of work explicitly forbidden on the Sabbath. The Pharisees are squabbling as well, proclaim Jesus a sinner. The man calls Jesus a prophet of God; he is growing in his awareness.
Scene 4: It’s the parents turn. They duck the question and just say go ask him, he is of age. They don’t want to be expelled from the synagogue and ostracized.
Scene 5: The plot is really roiling now – pressure is building, tempers are raw and when questioned again and challenged to say that Jesus, the healer was a sinner, the man who was blind gives a testimony to the Pharisees, that the one thing he knows for certain is that his eyes were opened and if this man was from God, he could do nothing. And so the Pharisees expel the man from synagogue -- excommunicated – out.
Scene 6: Jesus returns. The healed man meets him and confesses faith in him. The oppressors come under the judgment because they deny the Incarnation. They are blind even though they see; they are blind to the experience of God incarnate in Jesus.
As I said before this story is a dramatization of John 3:16-21 “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.…this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light…”
It is also a story that gains is power through the Incarnation, the sending of the Son into the world, which then means that sin is NOT so much a moral act or deed, as it IS a respo