Gospel Text for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning 24 December 2021

Luke 2:1-20        In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

Reflection        Glory and Peace. Peace and Glory.  What is this peace of which we and the angels sing? It is the calm contentment of a newborn, carefully swaddled and tenderly tucked in his homeless mothers arms. What is this glory we proclaim? It is the awe and wonder experienced by new parents, aunts, uncles, friends even shepherds in the presence of the least among us, an utterly dependent newborn.  Peace and glory, glory and peace, these two handmaidens tend the birth of peasants and nobility.  Peace and glory, glory and peace, this holy couple is the right response of humanity to the birth of a child because peace and glory acknowledge the arrival of hope writ large on the stage of despair.

And that, dear people of God, is the reason ‘this day’ more than two billion Christians around the world are telling the humdrum tale of an impoverished couple and their newborn “child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” Have you ever wondered why there are more reruns and reproductions of this epic saga than any other other drama in history?  I believe it is because this is a story for all people and all time. It delivers the message our hearts pine for, that even in our dreary dark nights the promise of new life is born, full of peace and glory, glory and peace.

This day many of us are exhausted. Much like Mary and Joseph we have been plodding through the wilderness of uncertainty; wandering and wondering when we will arrive at a safe and happy place where something good, beautiful and true is born?  We are tired of evading surging storms, a shape shifting virus, and heated partisan voices stoking ill will, anxiety and unrest.  But the Way of Faith is not about waiting for a utopian happily ever after life. Cinderella is not the rising star at the heart of the Christian story. 

Ours is a story that bows before the inevitable anguish and adversity of being human and insists, in the depths of our desolation the seed of consolation is born. Our humdrum tale of an impoverished couple and their newborn “child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger”  reminds us that even in dark nights of distress the promise of new life is born, full of peace and glory, glory and peace.

Perhaps you are pushing back and asking, “Have you not heard the news? A global plague is surging. The economy is slowing. Tides, temperatures and inflation are rising. Differing opinions have divided our families, friends, colleagues and country. Suspicion and violence have become the coins of the realm. How can we possibly say, this day is full of peace and glory?”

My point precisely. Right here, right now, this day, in the midst of social and political upheaval, in the throes of a plague and the shifting tides of fortune and misfortune, right here, right now, the angel of God breaks through the dark night and speaks to us in words that are as fitting for this day as they were two thousand years ago.

“Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people.” New light pierces the heart of darkness, and it is here, this day. We do not have to wait for someone to discover a magic elixir and wipe out all disease. We do not have to wait until our debts are paid and retirement secure. We do not have to wait until the perfect assembly of government officials justly rules the land because even in the midst of the most troubled times peace and glory, glory and peace is born. This, my friends, is the gift of Christmas; a newborn wrapped in rags, born on a dark and dreary night, manifestation of hope writ large on the stage of despair.

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                      Merry Christmas

Gospel text for Sunday 19 December 2021

Luke 1:39-55         In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Reflection        For the first half of my life my image of Mary, Mother of God was the tall, slender, blond girl in my Sunday School class wrapped in a pale blue sheet, co-star of the Christmas Eve pageant. She was the chosen one. I was a goat. Fortunately I didn’t have to spend too many therapy hours on Mary, after all in my Presbyterian church Mary’s meteoric cameo came but once a year. The other three hundred sixty four days Hallmark Mary was wrapped in tissue paper and tucked in the church closet.

But there is something about Mary’s song. It echoes in my heart. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour.” Yes, yes, that is what I want. I want my soul to magnify the Lord and I want my spirit to rejoice in God... or anything else for that matter! If God “looked with favor on his lowly servant” Mary, might God also look with favor on me? Probably not. Remember, I was the pageant goat, not Mary. 

Who is this Mary chanting a love song to God? Who is this Mary singing a subversive  verse for social justice? I believe this is not the twelve year old Hallmark Mary, wrapped in tissue and stored in a church closet. This Mary is not fragile or ineffectual, neither is she submissive nor impotent. No, this Mary is competent, courageous and fruitful, without being arrogant, conceited or full of herself. 

I like to imagine this Mary made mistakes, even got herself in trouble like me. Nonetheless, when she experiences Divine Presence described as the Angel Gabriel, she does not become speechless or run away. When the angel addresses her as “Favored one,” and affirms, “The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1.28) and her cousin Elizabeth repeats the message, Mary puts her head in her heart and ponders these things. Mary’s quiet acceptance of the angel’s and Elizabeth's blessing suggests she has a sense of worthiness.  

When the Angel proclaims the inconceivable, unmarried Mary will become pregnant and give birth to a son who will assume the throne of King David and his kingdom will reign forever,” Mary responds, “Bring it on!” “Here I am... let it be with me according to your word.” Bold, courageous and vulnerable, Mary consents to her “with God life.” Dare we do likewise?

It is time to take Hallmark Mary out of the closet, remove the tissue paper and reimagine Mary, Mother of God, as a sound and sane woman who is courageous enough to be vulnerable and vulnerable enough to put her head in her heart. It is time to reimagine Mary as a woman willing to stand in her own authority, disrupt the status quo and claim her “with God life.”  It is time to reimagine Mary as a mother who gave her life to bring to life the promise God made to “our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever,” the promise that God is with and for all people all the time. It is time for us to recognize Mary as a venerable model for our “with God lives.”

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Gospel text for Sunday 12 December 2021

 

Luke 3:7-18          John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Reflection        John is cajoling crowds of people who have left their homes to come to the wilderness, listen to an itinerant prophet and be baptized. Several questions loom largely.  Who are these people? What are they looking for? What compels them to leave their familiar places and go into the wilderness? Why do they listen to a grizzly wanderer calling them “a brood of vipers?” Then, instead of leaving when insulted, why do the people ask, “What then should we do?”

Well, I cannot answer any of those questions but they make me wonder about the crowd of folks who show up every Sunday on Facebook Live to “attend” worship at Church of the Apostles. The fact is, most Sunday’s the number of folks worshipping on Facebook Live exceeds the number actually sitting in the sanctuary. 

Again, several questions loom largely. Who are these people? What are they looking for? What compels them to get out of bed, stop searching the web and virtually visit Church of the Apostles? Why do they listen to me calling people to “Repent, turn around, put their heads in the wilderness of their hearts?”

Why do they return week after week to hear me prod them to let their lives look like the life of the itinerant preacher, teacher, healer Jesus who challenges the status quo keepers of institution and empire while treating every stranger, foreigner, leper, sinner and thief with dignity and kindness?

I cannot answer any of these questions but I will speculate. Although it is unlikely the Facebook Live worshippers are looking to be baptized I believe there is every chance they are showing up because they are long for a new way of live, a way that is loving and liberating, a way that affirms the dignity and worth of all human beings. I believe the unidentified folks showing up for virtual worship are looking for a beloved community in which everyone has a place at the table and everyone is interested in the well being of all. 

So Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! This is the Way of Jesus, the way that welcomes every color of the rainbow, refugees and asylum seekers, wealthy and impoverished, conservative and progressive, partisan and independent because the Way of Jesus is deeper than any difference. The Way of Jesus strives for “justice and peace among all people and respects the dignity of every human being.” This is the baptism by “the Holy Spirit and fire,” about which John is speaking because it demands nothing less than transforming ourselves into One Loving Community in which we really do respect and dignify ALL people, and that is radical change.  So Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!

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 Luke 3:1-6        In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Reflection        Political and religious power pyramids have plagued humanity since long before the “ fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius” when God’s word did not come to Tiberius, one of Rome’s greatest generals. God’s word did not come to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea who served under Tiberius. God’s word did not come Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee. God’s word did not come to Herod’s brother Philip.  God’s word did not come to Lysanias, ruler of the slopes of Mount Hermon.  Neither did God’s word come to the high priests Annas and Caiaphas nor to anyone else with power and privilege in government or the temple. 

As we read in Luke’s text, the word of God comes to John, the son of Zechariah, an itinerant prophet who lives in the wilderness; a sticky bearded eccentric calling for apocalyptic change. The word of God comes to John who pretty much has nothing at all… except bad breath, an empty belly and the word of God. How can this be?

Skipping ahead three chapters in Luke’s text we meet John's cousin Jesus who just spent the night praying on a mountaintop and choosing his twelve disciples. He is coming down to a flat place, a plain, where he heals the crowds of their afflictions and launches into his famous sermon of blessings and woes;

 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,

   for you will be filled.

‘Blessed are you who weep now,

   for you will laugh.

 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.…

‘But woe to you who are rich,

   for you have received your consolation. 

‘Woe to you who are full now,

   for you will be hungry.

‘Woe to you who are laughing now,

   for you will mourn and weep.

 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did

   to the false prophets.” (Luke 6.21-26)

According to Jesus being blessed, which is to say,  experiencing our “with God life,” does not depend on position, power and privilege. When it comes to life with God, apparently less is more. Perhaps this is why the word of God comes to John in the wilderness. The wilderness is a place of unadorned wandering and perplexing wondering, a place where we set aside our stature and distinction to eat bugs, listen to trees, talk to birds and grasp our rootedness in creation. Once disentangled from religious and political power pyramids we begin to be informed by wisdom, the living word of God with us.

John, the son of Zachariah whom we also know as John the Baptist, consents to his place in the mystery of the wilderness rather than turning toward the Roman baths or columned temple halls. Is it not interesting, people from all over the region around the Jordan river  clamor to hear this crusty bearded holy hippie “Crying out in the wilderness. Repent! Prepare the way of the Lord…” Don’t you want to shout right back, “Tell me how?”

I believe if John was here he would answer, “Take your heads out of the temple walls and government halls and put them in the wilderness of your hearts.” Do not be daunted by the mantle of power. Do not put your faith in emperors and presidents, governors and majority leaders, rulers and minority leaders, bishops, priests or anyone else. None of them can and none of them will mediate your relationship with God. 

So, repent! Turn around. Put your head in the wilderness of your heart. Stop looking for truth in the mouths of political and religious authorities. The wisdom word of God arises in the mysterious wilderness of our hearts, so, put your heads in the wilderness of your hearts. Listen to trees, talk to birds, smell the air and walk in the night forrest confident that God is with you. 

Since long before the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius the word of God has challenged humanity to stretch beyond our hierarchical apprehension of the world, experience our rootedness in creation and taste the words of wisdom rising in the  wilderness of our hearts.

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paint  image of garden with head planted in the middle

Gospel text for Sunday 27 November 2021

 Luke 21:25-36        Jesus said, "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

"Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

     

Reflection        While attending a meeting last week a man I will call Harold described a situation that deeply disturbed him. When Harold mentioned a good thing that former president Trump had accomplished a switch was flipped in his previously peaceful friend whose face turned red as Maude yelled, “The man is evil,” provoking a painful rift between them.   Here is the thing. Harold and Maude are operating from entirely different levels of consciousness; nondualistic and dualistic respectively.  

Maude insists that people or reality fit into one of two mutually exclusive categories. Right or wrong. Good or evil. No grey zone.  Harold is operating from a nondualistic perspective that tolerates ambiguity. For him life appears in fifty shades of grey. I believe much of the conflict we experience in our families, country and world is a consequence of people operating from different levels of consciousness much as Harold and Maude.

Luke's text reads like a graphic novel version of nondualistic consciousness. Jesus insists that when we are “faint(ing) from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world,…” we are supposed to “stand up and raise (our) heads, because (our) redemption is drawing near!” In other words, news of covid variants circling the globe, holiday parade horrors, essential supplies and Christmas gifts afloat in a traffic jam of cargo ships, sexual violence, misinformation, banning of books and backsliding of democracy not to mention rising tides and temperatures…… all this tells us that grace is near? Jesus, really? How do we hold this paradox together?

This is Jesus’ counsel. Despite rampant troubles in our families, country and the world Jesus is concerned with the condition of our hearts. “Be on guard… protect your hearts.” Regardless of the whims and wiles of the world our hearts must remain open and alert. But how?

Have you ever wondered how Jesus seems to know exactly what to say to resist temptation, diffuse an attacking attorney,  humble an arrogant seeker,  forgive a sinner, preach great sermons, tell amazing wisdom tales and not complain?  With not an ounce of arrogance Jesus admits, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father… “ (Luke10.22)  “All that I say and all that I do is given to me.”  Every morning and evening when Jesus steps away from the disciples to pray I believe he is “putting his head in his heart”**  by aligning his will in the will of God. 

Observing Jesus we witness the evolution of consciousness from which wisdom is born because wisdom is the child of intimate relationship between humble humanity, as exemplified by Jesus, and benevolent divinity, the Father. Wisdom is born when our heads are seated in our hearts.  

When we are absorbed in dualistic, this or that thinking it is as if we are wearing blinders and cannot see a full spectrum of possibilities. We are locked in a two chambered box with a narrow door between sides and forced go this way or that. Feeling stuck and stifled by the forced choice naturally our hearts are ‘weighed down.” We become anxious, angry or fearful.

Jesus shows us a way of living beyond the two chambered box. By never straying from his relationship with God, Jesus “puts his head in his heart” which is to say, he chooses to align his will with something greater than himself. As a result, wisdom, the child of nondualistic consciousness, is born. 

Knowing with our heads is necessary and good because reason is required to bring language and context to our hearts. But knowing with our heads alone does not engender wisdom. By putting our heads in our hearts we experience subtleties, nuance and mystery not available to our heads alone. This frees us from the prison of the two-chambered box. No longer forced to choose between this or that, good or evil, human or divine,  we begin to see all things are possible because nothing is impossible from the nondualistic "with God" perspective.

The way, the truth and the life revealed to us in Jesus insists that we rise above our dualistic thinking minds by putting our heads in our hearts and allowing wisdom to be born through us so that like Jesus  we will be free to resist temptation, diffuse  attacks,  be kind, forgiving, humble, speak wise words and not complain. 

** language I have borrowed from Cynthia Bourgeault’s The Heart of Centering Prayer

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Gospel text for Sunday 21 November 2022

 John 18:33-37        Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Reflection       Pilate works as a procurate (advocate or mouth-piece) for King Herod. If Jesus claims to be a king this poses a threat to the sovereignty of Herod which is intolerable. But there is a peculiar twist, it is not the King’s Roman subjects who bring Jesus to Pilate. It is the punctilious religious Jews who are convicting Jesus. Surely Pilate is scratching his head and wondering, “Am I facing a volatile political situation, or not?” Can you feel his frustration, “Just tell me, are you or are are you not a King?” 

Meanwhile Jesus must be thinking, “This issue about being a king is of no interest to me. What I care about is truth. People who are interested in truth listen to my voice, believe what I say. It has nothing to do with being a king.” And so, as do all wisdom teachers operating from an entirely different level of consciousness than Pilate, Jesus offers a confounding response, “My kingdom is not of this world” which of course crosses Pilate’s eyes and flies right above his head.

Here is the thing. When people truly listen to Jesus they recognize something deeply true within themselves, something that eludes their intellect as well as their social and political posturing for security, safety, esteem, power and control. When people listen to the words of Jesus they recognize something true, something that resonates deep inside them.

No doubt you have had this experience. That time you knew that you knew that you knew something was true even though you could not say why or make a rational argument for it. You knew you were in love? You knew it was time to change jobs or careers? You knew you  had to call a friend? You knew something was going on? You read a sentence in a book or scripture and knew that it was true? This is knowing that exceeds our intellect. It is the kind of knowing experienced when we put our heads in our hearts. 

We hear Jesus’ voice when we plant our intellect in our hearts because rather than issuing kingly policies and employing procurates like Pilate to insure their edicts are followed,  Jesus speaks the mysterious language of wisdom rendered from the heart. Jesus’ humble presence and peaceful actions do not demand attention nor wield threats to any who fail to follow. Jesus lives truth, reveals truth and is available to any who are attracted to truth. 

Which brings us to what is arguably the most famous of Pilate’s questions, “So, what is truth?” (18.38)  I believe truth is Divine Presence dwelling as our core, available in every breath when we put our heads in or hearts. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 14 November 2021

 Mark 13.1-8         As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”

Reflection       “Not one stone will be left here upon another….” Immediately my mind leaps to images  seared to my heart twenty years ago of the one hundred and ten stories of the Twin Towers in New York City turning into dust and again January 2021 watching the U.S. Capitol building, battered, trashed and dishonored. Peeking through the eyes of the disciples at these icons of civilization we see a glorious way of life that is too big to fall. But Jesus’ vision penetrates external appearances. He sees beyond the impressive edifice and the elaborate rituals practiced therein. Jesus shines light on the shadow-side of our institutions. 

Just one day before we meet Jesus sitting opposite the temple on the Mount of Olives, we find him standing inside the temple quoting the prophet Jeremiah,  “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den for robbers.”  (Jer 11.17) Gasping we watch as Jesus chases the money changers away and curses the temple. Peter, James, John and Andrew are with us so they should not be shocked when the very next day we hear Jesus say, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another…”  There is no reading  between the stones. Jesus sits in opposition to the religious and economic life of temple culture and predicts its demise.

Thirty years later Jesus’ prediction is fulfilled. The temple that has been the center of Jewish life for hundreds of years is destroyed by the Romans. But this is not the end of the story.  As Jesus insists, “It is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” In fact, it was after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem that Rabbinic Judaism arose with its emphasis on a disciplined life as practiced by reformed Jews to this day. New life.

Returning our attention to birth pangs, in most cases they are not impotent anguish and sterile suffering. Birth pangs are productive labor. Something new is being born. I believe this is what the German poet Marie Rainer Rilke meant when he wrote, “what batters you becomes your strength.” Birth pangs.

Considering the present moment I believe  birth pangs bear down on us from every corner. We hold our breaths as hurricanes swoop across the nation in the wake of rampant wildfires and melting glaciers. Images of war and rumors of war break into our living rooms and vibrating pockets. Birth pangs.

Mass marketing aims to delude, distract and tempt us. Social media blows wind on words meant to coax and craze us. Pundits of every persuasion smugly warn us, “If you listen to the other guy, you and the whole world are going straight to hell in a hand basket.” Is that what Jesus is talking about when he warns the disciples and us, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray?” Who are we to believe?

My vote is, Jesus whose words ring with the wisdom of the prophets. “Not one stone will be left here upon another”  because the way of life governed by gross abuses of power and failure to care for the human community must come to an end. Birth pangs. We are meant to live in humble relationship with the One sovereign and merciful God and extend that mercy to all people. Birth pangs. Thousands of years ago and today our religious and political institutions are intended to support and sustain the embodiment of the people in communion with God and each other.

But woe to us when our institutions aim is to sustain them selves and  serve those in power. Woe to us when we lose sight of right relationship with God and human community. “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom” until false gods are tumbled,  the arrogant humbled and the fear mongering are tamed. Birth pangs. 

Jesus continues, “Do not be alarmed; this must take place…” for in Rilke’s words, “What batters you becomes your strength.”

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Gospel text for Sunday 7 November 2021

John 11:32-44        When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Reflection        How can we not join Martha and Mary, the grieving Jews and Jesus weeping, weeping because we are “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved” by the deaths of so many of our loved ones, friends, neighbors and strangers throughout the world? We weep as we recount the deaths of much loved members of our community, family, luminaries in public life, neighbors  as well as the 482 children and adults murdered in mass shootings this year and the gruesome deaths caused by COVID-19 of more than five million folks worldwide. Today we feel compelled to join Martha and Mary chastising Jesus “Lord if you had been here these people would not have died!”  

And Jesus replies, “Take away the stone, the stone that covers your heart and darkens your eyes such that you fail to see your with God life is already right here. Resurrection life is now.”  Here is the thing. In the remarkable story of Lazarus walking out of a tomb Jesus shows us that we do not have to wait until after bodily death for resurrection because resurrection is for now. Resurrection affirms the value of life right now. Lazarus returns to life for now… even though as with all of us… ultimately his body will die. 

This story, God’s story, is about life right now, resurrection life. When we choose to follow the Way of Jesus we pick up the cross to which our particular life is nailed and affirm; dying we are restored to life because resurrection is the way to live freed of whatever binds us.

Consider the times you have died in your lifetime. While in the womb most of us experienced near perfect symbiosis until the muscles that cradled us contract so savagely that we nearly smother while being squeezed through a canal smaller than our tiny fist until we are expelled into an explosion of light and sound. Dying to our celestial womb-life we are resurrected in the roar of terrestrial life. Loosed from the womb that bound us we are let go into new life.  Death and resurrection, our story continues. 

Presuming our care givers are fairly competent and we learn to trust and depend on them, we fast forward to another series of deaths having to do with Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Images of God and our selves. The strongly felt and unexamined beliefs to which our youthful selves cling must die as our minds take flight and we are resurrected as something more than the roles, relationships and statements of faith prescribed for us by authoritative family, friends and religious leaders who are quick to tell us, “You ask too many questions. This is what we believe. Who do you think you are? Where do you get your authority? How dare you rock the boat? You must be crazy.” 

Rolling the stone away from our hearts we unwind the conditional threads that bind us, which is to say, we die to claim our own convictions and values.  The cost is everything. No more Santa Claus. No more Easter Bunny. No more up there and out there all powerful God with a hand extended to specially chosen people just like me or you. With Mary, Martha, the Jews and Jesus we are “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved” as our naively innocent self dies (along with its sticky support staff clinging to “the way we do things here”) and we are resurrected in self-authenticating life. Here is an example of one of my many deaths and resurrections.

Having completed my dissertation, winning a fully funded NIH grant, working with colleagues at the top of our field and a baby on her way, I was ‘living the dream’ until the final in a series of three deceitful events shattered my images of myself  and academia. My fierce feelings of disappointment, anguish and grief refused to be restrained in a culturally endorsed container. I could no longer identify myself with colleague friends and an academy that tacitly condoned cheating, which meant I had to die as the rising star in the institution to be resurrected as a woman whose own convictions and values preside from the inside out. 

When I told my colleague friends that I could no longer continue in an environment that winked and looked away from breaches of integrity and that I intended to return my grant to NIH their response was heart breaking. “You must be crazy. You have it all. How could you possibly give this up?” From that moment on the people with whom I had so closely identified treated me as if I was dead.  

And I was dead. Dead to a life defined by authorities mostly outside my self. By the grace of God the stone was rolled away from my heart so I could see and be free of the grave dictates that bound me. Dying to my old way of life I was let go to find my with God life already right here, resurrection life.  Living from the inside out.

Weeping with Martha, Mary, the grieving Jews and Jesus we are “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved” by the deaths of so many of our partners, friends, neighbors and strangers throughout the world whom we love and see no more. And  following the Way of Jesus we welcome the many deaths we endure, including our attachments to the ones we love and see no more. With fear and trembling and unswerving faith we pick up the cross to which our particular life is nailed and affirm; dying we are restored to life because resurrection is the way to live right now.

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Hebrew & Gospel Texts for Sunday 31 October 2021

Deuteronomy 6:1-9       Moses said: Now this is the commandment--the statutes and the ordinances--that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children's children, may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Mark 12:28-34        One of the scribes came near and heard the Saducees disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.

Reflection     Both Moses and Jesus preach about the dance of grace in the covenant relationship between God and humankind. First Moses summarizes the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments that the people of God received “On the mountain out of fire” just one chapter earlier in the Hebrew text. (Deut 5.6-18) Between thirteen and sixteen hundred years later Jesus quotes Moses, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength,” again summarizing the first five commandments then recaps the last five adding,”You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The commandments and their summary constitute a bilateral covenant describing how humanity is meant to order life in relationship with God and one another.  Rather than legalistic imperatives, the commandments are actually descriptions of how we are to respond with grace to grace.  Our relationships with God and one another are meant to be articulated in the intimate mutuality of receiving and extending the movement of grace.

So what is grace?  In the Christian tradition grace has meaning beyond the secular understanding of good manners, elegant movements and poise. It means more than a deferment of time as in ‘grace period’ or the address of nobility, “Your Grace.”  In religious parlance grace refers to Divine favor in relationship with humankind. We understand grace as God giving God’s self to us so that we will embody that grace and extend it to others.  Which means, grace is not a thing, not a particular gift, “I thank God for the grace of giving me brown hair and making me short and providing a good medical plan.” No.

Grace is the movement, emergence, becoming of Divinity in and of, with and through each one of us. We are meant to participate in this dance of humanity with divinity and, as with every dance, graceful partners co-operate. The Divine spark at the core of each of us moves as grace inviting us to dance.  It is up to us to choose whether or not we accept the invitation. When we do say “yes,” grace flows to us and through us. We dance.

Although we can do nothing to earn or deserve grace it is our obligation to respond to grace. The eternally generative outpouring of Divine grace summons our unrestrained continuing of its flow through us to others.  Think of it as a dance between the effusion of God’s grace and our grace-filled response, grace upon grace upon grace flowing for the good of all. The  Decalogue as well as the summary of the law are meant to order our lives, essentially give us the dance steps to advance a mutuality of affection and exchange of grace for grace. 

How do we deliberately participate in the flow of grace to us and through us? We begin by recognizing the presence of grace. Acknowledging the kindness, comfort, help, assistance, advantage, aid, profit or goodness of grace flowing to us opens the way for grace to continue to flow through us. Consider it this way. You are a beautifully formed vessel filled with living water but  being preoccupied with the shape of your vessel you fail to notice the water and never open the spout that allows the water to flow. Not only will your neighbors’ thirst not be quenched, soon the living water will be stagnant and evaporate. Grace, like water, intends to flow to us and through us and it does so by our deliberate choice to allow the flow.

Describing the covenant relationship between God and humankind both Moses and Jesus are preaching good news because being in covenant with God and our neighbors elevates our relationships from sparring grounds for grumbling, if not outright war about entitlement, rights and responsibility to jointly generative collaboration where fulfilling our obligations to one another is not a burden but rather the outward and visible expression of the unearned grace poured to us and through us. Shall we dance?

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Gospel text for Sunday 24 October 2021

Mark 10:46-52        Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Reflection        “What do you want me to do for you?”

I will never forget the first time I heard those words spoken to me through human lips. An Episcopal priest whom I had been pestering for months to be my spiritual director kept saying “No, absolutely not. I am not a spiritual director.”  Several months slipped by and I decided to call one last time. He answered the phone and after a bit of small talk he asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” I felt passed through to my core. 

“How can I admit the deepest desire of my heart? I don’t deserve such a generous invitation. I am not good enough. I am not holy enough. How dare I say what I really want?” This one question, “What do you want me to do for you?”  pulled back the curtain veiling a malevolent chorus of authoritarian voices bent on keeping me cloistered and divorced from God.

I stuttered and stammered until I finally squeaked out “I want you to help me see how God is working in my life and help me discover what I am to do about it.” The twisting in my stomach and the knot in my throat waved a crimson flag, “Oh Debra, what have you done? Life will never be the same.”

Which brings us to the curbside, outside Jericho.  Jesus and the disciples are coming and going to and from Jericho. Contrast that to Bartimaeus whose blindness sandbags him on the curb outside city limits, not only because he cannot see but also because the authoritarian voices of his culture insist that being afflicted with blindness is evidence he or his family have done something terrible which renders him unworthy. He has no voice, no place.

But a flare of faith deep inside Bartimaeus rebells against the chorus of afflicting voices, “You are not good enough, not holy enough. How dare you speak up and admit the deepest desire of your heart?” because when he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is nearby somehow Bartimaeus musters his mettle and shouts above those sternly ordering him to be quiet, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”

His spirited shout stops Jesus in his tracks where he stands still and watches blind Bartimaeus spring to his feet and throw off his cloak. Without a hint of hesitation Bartimaeus cast off what was likely his only worldly possession as well as every limiting social proscription about who he was, a blind beggar with no place nor value in society who had no business calling out to the prophet, the Son of David. How dare he?

From our twenty-first century perspective blindness is a biomedical problem resulting in the sightless person’s inability to function. Healing involves restoring the person’s ability to function. Two thousand years ago in Palestine blindness is a social rather than biomedical problem, therefore healing involves being restored to a place in society. Throughout the Gospel according to Mark we meet Jesus as he heals people which restores them to a place in society. 

Jesus heals a man with a dreaded skin disease, sends him to a priest to be ritually cleansed and return to community. (Mk 1.40-45)

Seeing the faith of folks who carry a paralyzed man to him, Jesus heals the man and sends him home.  (Mk 2.1-12)

When a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years touches Jesus and is healed, it is her breaking the taboo about touching that heals her and Jesus affirms, “Your faith has made you well.” (Mk 5:25–34)

When townsfolk come to tell Jesus that Jairus’ daughter is dead he says, “Do not fear, only believe” and the child is healed. (Mk 5:21–42)

After touching and healing the blind man at Bethsaida Jesus sends him away to his home. (Mk 8:22–25)

The overarching message is, faith makes us well by restoring us to right relationship with God and community. When we choose to live by faith we are able to break through the physical, social, emotional and religious taboos that curb and constrain us, prohibiting us from participating in the fullness of life. 

Belief or faith is kin to hope in the possibility of what can be. Belief or faith foster a kind of fearlessness that enables us to get off the curb at the side of the road, and boldly answer the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Do you dare to pause and admit the deepest desire of your heart? Are you willing to cast off all constraints that limit your idea of who and whose you are? Are you ready to live by faith and be restored to right relationship with your neighbors, the world and God? What do you want me to do for you?

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