Gospel text for Sunday 2 January 2022

 Matthew 2:13-15,19-23        After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean.”

Reflection        One of the great founding fathers of our nation and champion of the United States Constitution, Alexander Hamilton languished in obscurity until Lin-Manual Miranda’s award winning musical opened our eyes and pierced our hearts with lyrics set to tap and rap. Prior to the fevered success of the Broadway musical Hamilton, the figure on our ten dollar bill, was unrecognizable to many of us.

I believe what the world needs now is a Broadway musical meant to raise another founding father out of obscurity. Joseph. All that we know about Joseph is captured in a few sentences in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke  written 55 to 65 years after Jesus’ death. We learn that Joseph not only taught Jesus the skills of a carpenter but also the tenants of Jewish tradition and practice. 

Luke’s text paints Joseph as a faithful man and observant Jew who brings the infant Jesus to the Temple to be Dedicated and travels every year to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Matthews’s text sings a different tune. "When (Jesus’) mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose Mary to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.” (Matthew 1.18-19) Even though Joseph has every right to publicly reject her,  he chooses to protect Mary,  to quietly  divorce her until he has the first in a series of dreams that radically change the course of his life and religious tradition.

“…an angel of the Lord appeared to (Joseph)  in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus…’” (Matt 1.20-21) Moved by his dream Joseph chooses compassion. Rather than quietly divorcing Mary Joseph takes her as his wife. 

Months pass until once again we find Joseph dreaming, listening to the angel of God that warns him to take the newborn and Mary and flee to Egypt to avoid King Herod’s edict that all male children under the age of two years be murdered. Again, moved with compassion to protect Mary and the child, Joseph  hurries them to Egypt under the cover of night. 

We know nothing about their life as refugees for the next six years until King Herod dies and Joseph has another dream. “An angel of the Lord suddenly appears instructing, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” (Matt 2.19-20) For a third time Joseph chooses to believe and follow the angel of God’s instruction. He immediately sets out for Israel until the news of Herod’s son taking the throne and a fourth dream warn Joseph to change plans in order to protect Mary and the child. Turning away from Israel, Joseph makes his home in Nazareth. 

Joseph was a dreamer. He found meaning in his dreams so much so that four times he altered his behavior in response to their direction.  I believe Joseph was obedient to his dreams’ counsel because they comported with his pre-existing belief in God’s benevolent compassion.  Full of faith Joseph chooses to align his will in the will of God.  

Embodying God’s compassion and benevolent good will Joseph distinguishes himself as the inscrutable founding father of what would become a reformed branch of the family tree rooted in King David, propagated through Joseph and announced in Jesus.

Although Joseph is nominally recognized as the legal father of Jesus, I believe we have failed to appreciate the significance of Joseph’s influence on young Jesus. Surely the fact that Jesus describes God as a loving father suggests the propitious effect Joseph had with him. 

Throughout this narrative Joseph chooses to step out of his limited personal perspective and step into the vulnerable worlds of Mary and the newborn Jesus. This is compassion. The moment we slip out of our own skin into the skin of others we transcend dualistic thinking that sorts everything into me or you, friend or enemy, good or bad, right or wrong, conservative or progressive. 

Dualistic thinking is the root of much of the suffering and divisiveness we are experiencing today in our families, communities and country because dualistic thinking emphasizes otherness and focusing on otherness fosters fear and division. 

Joseph was justified if he said, “Mary’s pregnancy is not my problem. Let her deal with the consequences.” Or,  “I don’t want to be a refugee in Egypt. I want to return to my home. Herod’s massacre of male infants has nothing to do with me. I am going home.” But Joseph had compassion, he reached beyond his self interest to feel with others. As a champion of compassion Joseph protected Mary and fathered Jesus which I believe deserves a Broadway style shout out. Joseph is a righteous man who puts his head in his heart, so let us remember him as an unsung founding father of the reformed Jewish tradition that we call Christianity.

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Gospel text for Christmas Eve 24 December 2019

Luke 2:1-14        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,

Have you ever seen a newborn or very young infant? There is something unspeakably fragile about them, something that breaks through the accumulated layers of our composure, lifts our eyebrows and the pitch of our voice and renders us rather ditzy dolts. Even three hundred pound men in grey flannel suits cannot resist a quick “koo chee koo chee koo.” And then, there is that other moment, when the weight of responsibility for this utterly vulnerable being dawns upon us. 

I will never forget that experience with my daughter Leela. She was ten days old and it was the first time I was alone in the house with her. I put her on her change table and then remembered I needed something on the other side of the room. As I turned to walk away I was overwhelmed with the realization, “If I walk away she could fall and die. Her very life depends on me. Oh no. What have I done?”

Before the nativity of Jesus we expect God to arrive with an army and break the ranks of our oppressors. We expect God to burst onto the scene and execute an apocalyptic event that destroys all that is evil and rescues all that is good. But God enters our human story as a vulnerable infant born into seriously compromised circumstances, evoking our wonder, compassion and love. 

Is that not apocalyptic? Awakening the wonder, compassion and love of humanity?  It certainly was for me. As a grievously self absorbed grad student, bent on completing my dissertation and playing hard ball with the boys in academia, Leela was born into seriously compromised circumstances. The realization that I was directly responsible for the life of this vulnerable being was like ten years worth of forth of July fireworks going off in my mind at one time. I was awestruck. I wept. I picked her up and looked at the light in her eyes and finally saw beyond my own self interest. I held her close to feel her breathing on my cheek, a breath I cherish more than my own. In hindsight I believe this is how compassion and love were born in me, and it was apocalyptic. It changed everything. This weak and dependent newborn broke through the accumulated layers of my composure, uprooted my evil (self absorption) and rescued my good.

I am not saying that Leela is God, not any more or any less than any other child. I am saying, the nativity of Jesus changes our minds and our hearts about every single child that is born, which of course comes to be every living being. Every one of the more than seven and a half billion people on our planet today enters our human story as a vulnerable infant born into seriously compromised circumstances. Our lives depend on one another. Make no mistake, we are meant to respond to each and every human being with wonder, compassion and love. Thanks to the nativity of Jesus, God enters our human story and makes this possible. Emmanuel. God is with us! Merry Christmas!!

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Gospel text for Sunday 25 August 2019

Asylum Seeking Families 

Welcomed to freedom and rest in Tuscon's new Casa Alitas Welcome Center

Luke 13:10-17        Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Reflection         “Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)

Keeping the Sabbath holy means extending freedom and compassion to all people and all creatures; ox, donkeys, livestock, resident aliens and slaves. No one is to be denied rest, peace, dignity and freedom, even if it is only temporary. Apparently Jesus felt an urgency to fulfill this God given mandate. Offering healing to the long suffering woman could not wait until Saturday night. Jesus is living according to the spirit of God’s law.

I suspect Jesus calls the leader of the synagogue a hypocrite because in the leader’s dogged adherence to the letter of the law he has lost sight of the spirit of the law. If the root of the law is affirmation of the holiness of life and that everyone deserves to be set free, then what possible justification could there be to allow anyone or anything to suffer by being bound, or tied, to the letter of the law? Sometimes we simply cannot wait to do what is right.

This week I received a letter from the Rev. Delle McCormick, retired UCC minister, describing her experience meeting one mother and her daughter at the Casa Alitas Welcome Center, the Tucson site for hosting the newest asylum seeking guests to our country. Rev. McCormick writes,  “The single mom from Guatemala had a college degree, a "good job" with the Ministry of Education. One day after work she was met getting off the bus by a person who ordered her to deliver two "packages." She declined, knowing the packages most likely contained drugs or weapons. The next day when she got off the bus, the same man handed her a picture of her 4 year-old daughter, and said the child would be dead the next day if she didn't deliver the packages. That night, the mom left her job, her bank account, her home, her family, her culture - her whole life, she said - and fled, taking three weeks to make her way with her daughter to the US border. Sitting before me was a person who, without notice, left her whole life behind for the sake of her daughter. Imagine.” *

Sometimes we simply cannot wait to do what is right.

This Guatemalan mother broke who knows how many laws, laws constructed with good intentions to support and protect people and nations.  Nonetheless, can you see Jesus reaching out to help this woman? Can you hear him saying to officials who are swift to remind him of all the laws she has broken and that he too is breaking the law by helping her, "You hypocrites! Would not each of you leave your career, your home, your bank account, your country, everything you know to save the life of your child? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound with threats to the life of her child, be set free from this bondage, on the sabbath or any other day of the week?”

Luke’s text invites us into a complicated conversation. A conversation with which we cannot cease to wrestle. How do we live between the letter and the spirit of the law? Which laws assist us in leading a Christian life? If we believe the root of the law is affirmation of the holiness of life and that everyone deserves to be set free, what actions shall we choose to put flesh on the bones of God’s law today? Compassion cannot wait. 

• Visit ccs-soaz.org. for more information about Casa Alitas Shelter Programs

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Gospel text for Sunday 23 June 2019

Luke 8:26-39        Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me" -- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

Reflection        Who do you consider possessed by demons? Who, for you, looks and thinks, speaks and behaves in ways that confront the way you look and think, speak and behave? Whom do you find as unnerving or disturbing as the unclean Gerasene?  What do you think about the fact that Jesus goes out of his way, “crossing over to the other side,” just to let us know that no one, not even an out of control, irrationally raging man is out of reach of Jesus’ transforming compassion?

It is actually quite significant that Jesus goes into Gentile (foreign) territory. In so doing he violates all manner of religious prohibitions intended to protect his purity. But Jesus is willing to lose his 'clean' status if it means he has the opportunity to offer freedom and healing to a suffering stranger. 

So, Jesus dignifies the possessed Gerasene by asking him his name. And the strangest thing is, the demons that possess the man answer, “Legion.” Legion is a military term. In this context it refers to 5000 Roman soldiers who are occupying the Ancient Middle East where this teaching tale takes place. The demons are the Roman Empire’s occupying forces that oppress the people, undermine their culture, push them into poverty and drive them crazy with the overbearing threat of violence. 

Two thousand years ago and today Jesus stands in dramatic counterpoint to the misuse of power and militarism by governments that rule by stoking fear and degrading the value of human beings. Standing on the ground of  peace and compassion Jesus demonstrates how embodying these values elevates, liberates and heals humankind. But when we capitulate to the misuse of power and the execution of violence we are driven crazy, like the possessed Gerasene.

Which begs us to ask ourselves a few questions. How are we possessed by the demons that underwrite war and fail to feed and shelter the homeless, the helpless, the refugee? How are we possessed by demons that put military weapons into the hands of haters? How are we denying our complicity? When will be break the chains that bind us to the military industrial complex and truly follow Jesus? What will it take for us to act decisively for peace and extend compassionate care for all people, even when it means giving up life as we know it? 

Is it not interesting that the Legion of occupying political/military authorities of his time experience Jesus as a threat, so much so that they execute him as a criminal? I believe the compassionate, nonviolent, peace offered by Jesus was considered a threat because the militaristic powers that be somehow understood that love is stronger than hate and compassion more powerful than violence. Can you imagine the power to heal and transform our world that would be released if all of us who claim to follow Jesus cast out the Legion of demons and stood firmly on Jesus’ ground extending compassion and peace to all people?

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Gospel for Sunday 24 September, 2017

2017 09 24 Matthew 20.1-16        Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Reflection    The kingdom of heaven includes participants with specific endowments and explicit needs, with vastly differing competencies and disparate resources; laborers and landowners, employed and unemployed. The fact of the matter is, we are not all equal. Life is not fair. Though we may have equal rights, we do not have equal opportunity. Some people are born with superior intellects, others with mental challenges. Some inherit strong bodies or extensive wealth, others are born addicted to drugs and a legacy of poverty. Depending on when and where and to whom we are born we may be undereducated or over privileged, we may be shunned or exalted. Life is not equal. Life is not fair.

Which is why the kingdom of heaven depends on us. The kingdom of heaven depends on us to emulate the landowner in Jesus’ teaching tale and, to look with eyes of compassion and act with generosity toward the full brush of humankind, the ones who show up and work for their living and the ones who can barely shuffle to the outpatient hospital for their meds. As Ken Wilbur succinctly states, “It takes more than simply saying, “We are all one! We make room for everybody! Everybody is welcome…” It takes the interior growth, evolution, and development of each and every person…” *

Most people reading this post can identify with the landowner, endowed with more blessings than we require to provide for ourselves and our family. This means we are free to generously give at least a living wage to those in need of material and physical support, and to urge others to do likewise. This is not purely selfless. As we extend generosity we are cultivating our interior growth, accumulating our spiritual wealth, being more caring, more loving, more generous even when it means breaking the rules and caring for people we don’t think have earned it, even when it means valuing people who do not think or feel or act like us. This is living from the depths of our being, being compassionate. This is spiritual wealth.

The question before each of us is, “Are we willing to grow and evolve to insure that the only lens through which we look and judge each other is compassion?” 

 *Wilbur, Ken Trump and a Post-Truth World.  (2017: Shambala Publications, Boulder, CO) p109.

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Gospel text for Sunday 21 August 2016

Luke 13:10-17        Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Reflection    Twenty five years ago I swung my bruised body on my all too familiar crutches into my acupuncturist’s office. Being a whole person healer Dr. D began by listening attentively to my tale of woe; my head dive over a patch of ice, my frozen ski binding that provided the opportunity for my femur to release out the side of my leg, the head first toboggan ride down the ski mountain, the sea of faces in the chair lift line all silently praying, “Thank God that’s not me,” the medic gone rogue yanking my leg across the equator, the single minded orthopedic surgeon whose only answer was the knife, my stubborn refusal to submit to his plan, now, 10 days later, my crippled leg lay motionless on Dr. D’ acupuncture table.” Throughout my monologue Dr. D drivers spiked points of pain into my ankles, wrists, top of my head. When finally my words run dry Dr. D pauses, needle in midair and avers, “One day you will be grateful for all of the traumas and pain you have experienced,” which stung more grievously than the needle she promptly planted into my swollen knee. 

Suffering happens. The weight of suffering is integral to the constitution of life. In the words of the old Rolling Stones song, “No, you can't always get what you want. You can't always get what you want. You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime you find. You get what you need.” 

Thich Nhat Hanh refers to this attitude of consenting and welcoming the present moment as mindfulness. In an interview with Krista Tippett the Vietnamese monk explains. “Mindfulness is assent to life as it is. Look at a flower and see that it is on its way to be garbage. Look at garbage and see it is on its way to be a flower.”+ In the same way we may experience suffering as being on the way to compassion. And of course, when we experience compassion we are on the way to experience suffering with others.

What does all of this have to do with the woman who was “bent over and quiet unable to stand up straight?” Everything. We have no idea what ails her but we do know this. Two thousand years ago if she had scoliosis, not only would she suffer the physical pain associated with the condition, but her neighbors would see her as a sinner who must have done something wrong to bring this grievous state upon herself, the religious leaders would consider her doubly unclean (woman and diseased) which  would foster oppressive feelings of guilt and unworthiness and eject this woman into exile.

Then Jesus arrives and turns the proverbial temple tables upside down. In direct violation of social norms and temple law, Jesus looks at the woman and calls her to him, he calls her to return from exile. Then he speaks directly to her, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." and lays his hands on her. Jesus sees the woman exactly as she is. He not only acknowledges her existence he affirms her dignity and worth by touching her. And the healing is this. The woman is set free from the social, emotional and religious conditions that have oppressed her for eighteen years and her relationship with God is restored. “Immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.”

We are all bent beneath the weight of something. And, if we are not now, just wait a minute. Jesus shows us the way of living freely; refusing to be oppressed by physical, social, emotional or religious conditions; look into the face of suffering, consent to the present moment and discover God with you, no matter what.

+To hear Thich Nhat Hanh’s entire interview, click on this link       http://www.onbeing.org/program/thich-nhat-hanh-cheri-maples-and-larry-ward-being-peace-in-a-world-of-trauma/74 accessed August 20, 2016.
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Gospel text for Sunday 14 August 2016

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Gospel text for Sunday 12 June 2016

Luke 7:36-8:3        One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him-- that she is a sinner." Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "Speak." "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

Reflection       I, the penitent said, “I confess to Almighty God, to God’s Church, and to you, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed, in things done and left undone; especially __________ “ at which point I began to read my magnum opus of transgressions. Hot tears delivered rivers of mascara to my chin. The priest to whom I spoke never flinched. Choking out the final words I handed the two damnable pages to him and continued. “For these and all other sins which I cannot now remember, I am truly sorry.  I pray God to have mercy on me.  I firmly intend amendment of life, and I humbly beg forgiveness of God and the Church, and ask you for counsel, direction, and absolution.” 

What have I done? Raised in a strict puritanical household where just about anything thought, said or done could be construed as sinful and grist for the mill of the Divine Judge, when I learned that the Episcopal Church I was joining offered a Rite of Reconciliation, a pastoral rite offered to anyone who desires to be set free from the oppressive power of sin I thought, “This is my chance to get rid of my lifetime of baggage.” So I sat down with my IBM computer and hammered out two painfully honest single spaced pages of my offenses. For a month I reviewed my narrative, everything from leaving the Presbyterian Church when I was thirteen to look for truth in philosophy and Eastern traditions, to being a single mom, divorced with a full compliment of 70s experiences hidden in my heart. This was going to be my once and for all time confession so I was determined to leave nothing out!

The priest was silent. “However will I be able to walk into this church again?” Finally I heard, “The way I see it Debra, you never stopped looking for God, arguing with God.  Sure, some of your adolescent behavior was well, adolescent. And your judgment has not always been the best. But Debra, that is not sin. It appears that your sin is scrupulosity.” The look on my face must have betrayed my stupor.

He continued. “You have been obsessively concerned with sin and compulsively driven to be perfect. You have not loved yourself as God loves you. Instead, you have put yourself in God’s place, acting like judge, jury and sentencer. This distorts your relationship with God and your self.” He handed me the self prejudicial pages and said, “Destroy these  pages and pray for the grace to be kind and gentle with your self. Sin is failure to see yourself as God sees you which means you are not able to see others as God sees them. This leads to a false sense of separation or alienation. When you leave my office go to the chapel and pray for the grace to love yourself as God loves you.” We concluded the Rite. (BCP447-8)

Embodying the way of Jesus the priest looked to my inherent goodness, not to my offenses. He saw me in the light of Christ, with the compassionate eyes of Jesus whereas I could only see myself with the critical eyes of the Pharisee whom we meet in Luke’s parable of Jesus, the Pharisee and the woman kneeling at Jesus' feet.

The Pharisee sees the weeping woman kissing Jesus’ feet and anointing them with ointment and immediately he leaps to the judgment that the woman is a sinner and Jesus cannot possibly be a prophet because if he was he would know what kind of woman was daring to touch him. By contrast, Jesus looks at the woman and sees the deeper truth of her fundamental goodness. He treats her with compassion and dignity and she experiences God’s love. The woman’s natural response is the outpouring of extravagant love; love that is welling up from within her in gratitude for the love she is receiving.

This is reconciliation, the restoration of relationship with God, with self and with all of creation. In the overabundant grace of restored relationship the natural response is extravagant love. Love poured out without measure.

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Gospel text for Sunday 5 June 2016

Luke 1.11-17     Soon after healing the centurion's slave, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, rise!" The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen among us!" and "God has looked favorably on his people!" This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. 

Reflection        Jesus sees beyond the widow’s tears and external appearance of loss. He sees beyond the social condition that defines her as invisible. (A woman with neither husband nor son has no place in society) Jesus sees a deeper truth that rejects the social political narrative of his time in favor of a pastoral relationship with the widow. Jesus looks at the widow, truly sees her, allows himself to be touched by her situation (even makes himself ritually unclean by touching the dead man’s coffin), and Jesus loves her.  In the ineffable light of his love the widow is miraculously transformed, she receives new life.

Of course this raises difficult questions for us. Who in our world needs to be seen? Are we willing to look straight into the face of suffering and allow ourselves to be touched by it? How do we look with compassion at the widows and widowers, the lost , the lonely, the bereaved and the least among us? How shall we allow the transforming light of Christ to shine through us into the darkest moments of the sick, the elderly, the foreigners, the handicapped, the prisoners, and the strangers? How could we do better?

It is easy to stay hidden in the crowd, paying our respect, shuffling our feet, muttering platitudes; “Isn’t it awful. How could such a thing happen. The world has gone to hell in a hand-basket. Let me know if there is something I can do.” All the while our eyes are diverted and our hearts are sealed. 

The compassionate way of Jesus expects more. The compassionate way of Jesus expects us to look directly into the face and fullness of our neighbors' suffering. The compassionate way of Jesus expects us to be touched and affected by our neighbors’ suffering and loss. The compassionate way of Jesus expects us to see a deeper truth that rejects the social political narrative of our time in favor of loving relationships with anyone in our world who suffers. The compassionate way of Jesus expects us to reach out and touch our neighbors and make a difference in their lives.

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Hebrew Testament Text for Sunday 28 February 2016

Exodus 3:1-15        Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I am who I am." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I am has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.”

Reflection        What does the tale of Moses talking to a burning bush have to do with us today? That depends entirely on how we choose to engage it. If we read these lines of scripture briskly noting, ‘I’ve heard this story a million times,” we can walk right past the burning bush. It will have little effect. There is every reason to believe that Moses could have done just that. In fact, there is a bush that grows is Northern Africa and Southern Asia named Dictamnus. It is commonly called ‘the Burning Bush.’ The Dictamnus plant produces volatile oils that cover the entire plant. In very hot weather the bush sometimes spontaneously combusts and burns in a flash. 

Being a shepherd on the desert it is likely Moses had some knowledge if not experience of ‘the burning bush’ and could easily have decided to stay focused on his business of shepherding and continue on his way. No story. But when Moses saw the burning bush he paused to ponder, to inquire. “I must turn aside and look at this great sight…”  He was receptive to the cloud of unknowing, the incomprehensible mystery before him. Moses’ heart and mind were open to look with wonder. He was willing to set aside what he knew (what he was doing) in order to engage what he did not know.

As we pass by this mythic tale, shall we pause? Might there be an invitation to look at whatever is before us and wonder how the eternal flame of God might be speaking to us? Are we willing to “turn aside” from the ordinary course of our life and “see” something extraordinary? Are we willing to engage something we can neither understand nor control? Are we willing to step out of our comfortable ruts and admit God’s Presence? Are we willing to let the course of  our life be changed? Are we willing to do what is humanly impossible, make a difference in peoples lives, perhaps even leading a whole nation of oppressed people to freedom? 

Before he knew what God would ask him to do Moses responded to God’s call saying, “Here I am Lord.” Moses stepped onto holy ground, into holy relationship. And by the grace of God with him the simple shepherd did what was impossible, led the oppressed Hebrews to freedom.  

Are we willing to listen to the cries of people suffering in our midst? The aged, disabled, infirm, addicted, imprisoned, homeless? The impoverished, the foreigner, the refugee? African Americans, Native Americans, South Americans? Are we willing to answer God’s call to deliver all of God’s people to a “land of milk and honey?” If there is a burning bush standing in our way, perhaps it is time to pause and ponder it. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictamnus accessed 25 Feb 2016.

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