Gospel text for Sunday 8 October 2017

Matthew 21:33-46        Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is amazing in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Reflection        The vineyard is a metaphor for the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God on earth. The landowner, think - stand in for God, plants the vineyard, secures it with a fence and watchtower and provides all that is needed to produce wine. All that remains to be done by the tenants is harvest the grapes and make the wine.  But when it is time for the landowner to collect his share of the harvest the tenants are greedy. Clearly they forget their original agreement with the landowner; they will work the vineyard and return a portion of the harvest to the landowner. They forget that if it was not for the original blessing of the landowner there would not even be a vineyard, no opportunity to do good work. It never occurs to them to wonder how it was that they were fortunate enough to be among those who could work at the vineyard. Why were they not left unemployed or disabled and begging on the streets like so many others? 

As people of God we are blessed with this kingdom, this beautiful earth, in which to live and work and flourish. In the First Book of Chronicles we meet the Israelites bringing their gold, silver and precious stones to be used to build the temple. Receiving these gifts King David prays to God, “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to make this freewill-offering? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.(1 Chron. 29:14, 16) King David 

Like the Israelites who did not create their offerings of gold, silver and precious stones, like the tenants who did not plant and prepare the vineyard to make wine, we did not create our lives nor our opportunities to live and work and thrive.  All that we are and all that we have is pure gift and the appropriate response is gratitude and generosity perfectly expressed by King David, “All things come of you, O God, and of your own have we given you.” 

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Gospel text for Sunday 12 February 2017

Matthew 5:21-37        Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, `You shall not murder'; and `whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, `You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

"You have heard that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

"It was also said, `Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. "Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, `You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be `Yes, Yes' or `No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Reflection  

You have heard that it is said, “Be polite and do not offend others,” but I say, “It is not enough to be politically correct and say, “I pray for the poor, the disenfranchised, the elderly, the disabled, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people, I pray for immigrants and refugees, the specially abled and all those experiencing violence and oppression.” We must set down all of the categories and groups that pigeonhole people in pejorative boxes and see the inherent good and godly nature of every single person. Jesus said to the religious leaders, "You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy--full of greed and wickedness!” (Lk 11.39) It is what is inside that matters.

You have heard that it is said,  “Be good citizens,” but I say, “Voting and paying your taxes is not enough. Look beyond your personal obligation and see your obligation to dignify and care for every human being. As members of God’s community we owe our allegiance to God and are intended to care for all of God’s people.” In Jesus’ words, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” (Mark 12.17) Which of course begs the question, “What exactly belongs to God?”  Only everything.

You have heard that it is said, “Take responsibility for yourself,” but I say, “ life is not about asserting your personal rights and gratifying your personal needs. Life is about fostering community in which all people have access to security, safety, esteem and empowerment.” Again, Jesus said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Lk 6.31) Take responsibility for humanity.

Yes I have taken liberties with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount,  but here is the thing. It is all too easy for us to bow to prevailing social norms; to be polite, be good citizens and assume responsibility for our personal welfare. In doing these good things it is easy for us to injure, neglect or discriminate against members of our community. By paying inordinate attention to the outside of our cups,  we fail to remember the blessing we are intended to be for others.

This section of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount invites us to look beyond external appearances, to set down categories and groups that divide and denigrate people, and behold the root that lies within each of us. What is the root that lies within us? It is our God given good and godly nature. It is God with us, given that we may be a blessing for all. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 15 January 2017

John 1:29-42        John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Reflection        Some of the most heartbreaking moments for me as a priest are when people come to me, head down and eyes diverted explaining, “I was raised Roman Catholic (or Protestant or _______) and no matter what I tell myself I cannot get past the feeling that I am a sinner. Fundamentally something feels wrong with me. I hear you speak of Original Blessing and that each one of us is a unique revelation of Divine presence and want to believe it but I cannot get past the feeling of my unworthiness.”

The delectable film “Chocolat” portrays this dilemma beautifully. The church folks in a rural French town are steeped in moral judgments and repressed desires whereas Vianne, a new woman in town who opens her  Chocolateria at the same time the season of Lent is beginning and invites people to enjoy the sights and smells and tastes of creation is deemed a vulgar sinner to be shunned. It is no wonder so many people leave the institutional church. Who wants to give up chocolate! Who wants to be a sinner!

Historically, well intentioned theologians were faced with trying to explain why Jesus, the Son of God, exemplar of faith and revelation of Divine Presence on earth had to die, particularly, why this utterly innocent man had to suffer and die such a horrific death. Some explanations include; Jesus was the ransom paired to free humanity or satisfy humanity’s debt to God, to Jesus was the perfect substitutionary sacrifice to God for all of humanity’s sins, to Jesus was a scapegoat onto which the sins of humanity was piled and then he alone needed to be sacrificed.

But I say, Jesus is neither a scapegoat nor was he born so that he could die as payment for the sin of humanity. Jesus is the lamb of God come to reveal that God is always with us, even when we turn away or imagine we are separated. To the question, “Should not someone as pure and innocent as Jesus be exempt from the human conditions of suffering and death?” the answer is a resounding, “No.” 

The wise men from the East knew it when they recognized the infant Jesus as human, divine and utterly fragile destined to die and thus offered their revelatory gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. If we adopt the spiritual vision of the wise we too will see that every infant, every person is human, divine and utterly fragile destined to die. Divinity is not separate from humanity. Divinity does not portend absence of suffering and death. Jesus is the lamb of God revealing God is with us regardless of our circumstance. Neither bloody sacrifice nor rigid abstinence from the delights of life is required to be in right relationship with God. In fact, Jesus shows us the way of enjoying good wine with friends and breaking bread with strangers. This is right relationship. 

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