Gospel text for Sunday 30 August 2020

 Matthew 16:21-28

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Reflection        “Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? God forbid it! You are moving to Arizona to do what? You will be sorry if you give up your home and studio, your consulting work and friends, your ski pass!” Much like Peter rebuking Jesus my well meaning friends and neighbors parrot the panicked voice of the status quo. “Why rock the boat and take unnecessary risks? You have a sweet life here. You do not have to do this.” 

To tell you the truth, their high pitched voices echord in my mind. “Am I crazy? What if this does not work out? I really do hate summer and that is all there is in Arizona.” It is tempting to capitulate and cling to the things about my life that I love and will miss. So like Jesus I have to shout for my own benefit as much as my friends’, “Get behind me Satan. I will not second guess my call to be an Episcopal priest.” There, I said it. Now if I could just swallow my heart.  Still my hot tears  flow as I drive away from my beloved New Mexico, heading into the deadly heat of Arizona, my Jerusalem. 

In this Sunday’s gospel text Peter understands that Jesus has a choice. He does not have to go to Jerusalem. He does not have to play into the hands of the religious and political officials who are plotting to kill him. Nothing stands between Jesus and the Judean hills in which he can hide. So what is going on here? Let us listen in on the passion play that must be occupying Jesus’ mind.

Voice of Temptation (also known as small self)  “You better stay safe, beat a quick retreat and stay far away from enemy lines. For heaven’s sake do not go near Jerusalem.”

Voice of Jesus (also known as true self)  “Life is risky business, you must take your life to the front line, aligned in the will of God. Turn your face to Jerusalem.”

Voice of Temptation (also known as small self) “There is no point marching straight into the fray. Surely you can find a work around, perhaps a cave in the Judean hills? You can hide there with your disciples. Save your life.”

Voice of Jesus (also known as true self) “Whatever arises you must face it head on. Consent to the present moment. There are no detours on the way to Jerusalem.”

Voice of Temptation (also known as small self)  “What is the point in suffering if you can avoid it?”

Voice of Jesus (also known as true self)  “No one can get through life without suffering. So I will pick up my cross and follow the One true voice that calls me to Jerusalem.”

Voice of Temptation (also known as small self)  “Then surely you will die.”

Voice of Jesus (also known as true self)  “I will die if I shrink in fear and run away to save my life. I choose to take the risk and live in faith, not fear.”

I choose. We all choose. The question is, do we choose to live by faith or fear? 

Fear urges us to forego the fullness of life in favor of a false sense of safety. The thing is when we are driven by fear of death (whether it is death of our physical bodies, death of a familiar lifestyle or death of the way things have always been), when we live in fear we actually lose our life. Think of it this way. If we wrap ourselves in cotton, lock ourselves into a closet and avoid all possible threats, would we not be as good as dead? mummies wrapped in our shrouds?

As did Jesus so do we have a choice. We can spend our lives saving our lives and end up with no life at all. Or we can give our lives away, allowing the spring of eternal life to flow through us, living in faith that God is with us. Jesus chose the latter and instructs us to do likewise. “Pick up your cross and follow me.”

Picking up the cross we give our life away meaning we stop clinging to ideas about what we and life are supposed to be and have and do. We pour out the cup of suffering and it is transformed into the spring of eternal life. This is the grand mystery of the cross. When we pour out whatever we cling to the peace of eternal life rises and fills our empty cup.  This is a profound and important truth. This is the very heart of our faith. When we pour out whatever we cling to the peace of eternal life rises and fills our empty cup.

Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? My answer is, “Yes, yes, I am crazy.. I have lost the mind that minds the voice that would make me cling to small things. And by the grace of God with me I cross the line from fear into faith and dare to drive away from my home, studio, work, friends and ski pass headed for the deadly heat of Arizona. Now let me ask you, “Will you be crazy too?”

To learn more about being a Crazy Christian please listen to Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's 10 minute story by clicking on image at upper right corner of this post.   Enjoy!!

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Hebrew Testament Text for 2nd Sunday in Lent 8 March 2020

Genesis 12:1-4a       The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.

Reflection   This wisdom tale, probably written about six hundred years before the current era, is the story of the first Jew, Abram, the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Abram was part of a culture that found their identity in relation to the land on which they lived and the fathers and grandfathers and great-grand fathers from whom they were descended.

For Abram to leave his land and his father’s house was unimaginable. People of the ancient middle east did not immigrate from place to place. Not only were people tied to their land they depended on the local deities or gods for protection. Every aspect of their lives, food, fertility, culture and family welfare was linked to particular idols or gods which they took great pains never to offend. 

So how was Abram able to take the risk to go where he did not know and never be the same?

The oldest Torah, or Hebrew Testament commentary in existence, the Midrash Rabbah, written some two thousand years ago, has this to to say about Abram.

Abram’s family business was the making of idols. Having observed his father, grandfather and other relatives carve these local deities, even as a child Abram knew they could not speak and they were powerless.  So to walk away from the family business and risk offending gods or idols whom he knew had no power was really not earth shattering. But, to leave his place of origin to follow the voice of an invisible God and be a source of universal blessing, “blessings to all the families of the earth,” was unheard of.

Something inexplicable, something deep within Abram, enabled him to recognize the invisible voice of the One true God, the God of love on whom we can depend to bless us and make us a source of blessing. Abram’s is a story of faith. Which begs the question, What is faith? Faith is trusting or having confidence in someone or something without having concrete evidence. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11: 1). Faith is what connects us to the unborn, undying something more that we call God, HaShem, Allah.  Faith is what allows us to take risks because we put our faith in God with us.

When we hear the Divine invitation, “Go from your country your kindred and father’s house to a land that I will show you… and  I will bless you so that you will be a blessing to all the families of the earth,” we understand this is an invitation to evolve our faith, to move from a literal and mythic understanding of our relationship with God, take full possession of God’s blessing  and responsibility for delivering God’s blessing “to all the families of the earth.”

Abram’s story is a succinct synthesis of the journey of faith development, from the literal faith of a child to the all inclusive faith of a mature practitioner of Judaism, Christianity or Islam. As the father of all three great religious traditions Abram is a blessing to “all the families of the earth.” As children of Abram we are meant to continue the all inclusive journey of faith by opening our minds, and hearts and lives to be blessed and to pass on the blessing.  

Abram put his entire life on the line to follow God’s great calling. I believe he was able to take the risk because he trusted the voice of the invisible One that stirred something deep within his breast. Abram received God’s blessing which was sufficient for him to take the risk of ruin and ridicule by his neighbors who no doubt saw him as a crazy heathen.

Perhaps this is why the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Curry calls us to be Crazy Christians, people who refuse to be conformed to the world, instead people who choose to take the risk to step out of our comfortable ruts, allow our lives to be transformed so that we become the source of blessings for all the people on earth. 

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