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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Gospel text for The Transfiguration, Sunday 23 February 2020

Matthew 17:1-9        Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

                  God's Grandeur 

        by Gerard Manley Hopkins

      Suggestion - please read Hopkins poem aloud.

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

    And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;

    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Reflection    What is it you sense when you hear these words? Do you have eyes to see and ears to hear the shining of shook foil? Are you attuned to Divine Presence saturating and streaming through you and all that is? Do you allow yourself to be agog in silence when the grandeur of God like a cumulus cloud cloaks the mountaintop? Or do you join our friend Peter staking a tent to procure perpetuity? Perhaps pull out your cell phone camera to suspend the moment?

Pondering the story of Jesus and his three companions, Peter, James and John climbing to his sacred place and enveloped in the grandeur of God, something new occurs to me. Anglicanism, the Anglican Episcopal tradition, has everything to do with transfiguration because it has everything to do with experiencing the grandeur of God.

Let’s back up a little. What is Anglicanism? Much may be said about the history of the Anglican Tradition rising from the 16th century Protestant Reformation. We can talk about its unique posture simultaneously holding the Roman Catholic liturgical and Protestant evangelical customs and practices while  insisting that reason and experience also be brought to the theological table.  We can dive into the complicated nuances of Anglican Episcopal polity and politics, not today. But at the heart of all of that information I believe the Anglican Episcopal Tradition is aimed at one thing. Transfiguration. 

What do we mean by transfiguration? Returning to Hopkin’s poem, I believe transfiguration is seeing beyond the “smudge and smell of our bleared and smeared bodies.” It is feeling our bare toes dig into the sand, unearthing the “dearest freshness (of) deep down things.” 

What is the “dearest freshness of deep down things?” I believe it is the grandeur of God, the light of Christ flickering within us, our deepest true unconditioned selves longing to shine out like shook foil. The “dearest freshness of deep down things” is nothing less than our transfigured selves flaming out the grandeur of God.  

This Sunday marks the end of the season of Epiphany and the grand Epiphany is this. Jesus is glowing with the grandeur of God and we are meant likewise to flame out like shook foil because the light of the risen Christ promises to radiate the grandeur of God and transfigure each one of us. This is very good news. Here is the thing, the promise of the risen Christ demands our response. Grace is not cheap. It is up to us to moisten our seared skin and wash away the smudges that overshadow our true transfigured selves. This is the work of Lent which we will begin on Ash Wednesday and continue for forty day and forty nights.  

For today it is enough to bask in the grandeur of God “Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings” and we are “charged with the grandeur of God.” 

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Gospel text for the Third Sunday of Advent 16 December 2018

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        In theory the prophet’s counsel sounds good… ”Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” But when it comes to actually putting his words into action, we look into our closets and cringe. Like Paul we must confess, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.” (Ro 7.19)  But this is not all bad news. 

As soon as we stumble over some block within us that prevents us from being and doing the greater good, as soon as we bump into a wall that bars us from being in right relationship with one another and God, that cringing, unsettling sense within tells us, we have stumbled onto something important. 

What is it that we have stumbled onto? The very obstacles that keep us from being and doing the greater good. In my case the mountain of bumps is mostly made of thoughts; “But I wear most of my coats. Why should I have to do this? I have always taken care of myself.  What if I don’t have enough? What if my family has a disaster? What if the economy goes south? Doesn’t God help those who help themselves? Compared to other people I don’t have that much. I have already given at the office. Oh, what should I do?” Please feel free to add your own.  

Hearing the prophet's answer to our question, “What then should we do?” our hearts sink into our stomachs, our shoulders hug our ears and we can barely swallow. In this vexing moment we are toe to toe with our stumbling blocks.  “What if we come upon hard times? Should we really give away the resources our loved ones should inherit? How do we know what is enough? Why should I give to someone who has not worked like I have? What will people think if I stop striving to acquire more money, power or position?”  But alas, these questions miss the mark. 

We do not begin with a question of what we do outside. We begin with a question of who we are inside. You see, John the Baptizer is calling our ancestors and us to repent. It is no less than a moral change to turn around and live our lives from the inside out, in accord with who we really are. This is what John is pointing to when he says, “the one who is to come (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”Here is the thing, the Holy Spirit is already breathed like fire into every one of us. We are already the beneficiaries of God’s Spirit with us.

The Holy Spirit of God with us is like the refiner’s fire; it burns away the impurities, the obstacles, whatever prevents us from being our true selves. It is the fiery Spirit of God with us that transforms our stumbling blocks into courage to live beyond the box of our self-centered concerns. It is the fiery Spirit of God with us that ignites our desire to be and to do all that we do for the Greater Glory of God.

The question is not, “How many coats do you have in your closet and how many should you give away?” The question is,  “How will you live from the inside out for the greater glory of God? 

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Gospel text for Sunday 23 July 2017

2017 07 23 Matthew 13:24-30,36-43         Jesus put before the crowd another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” 

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”

Reflection      On this journey we call life there are moments when our true self emerges and we are the seeds of grace and truth in the world. In those moments, like Jesus we engage our life situation exactly as it is. We do not leap ahead into conjectures, “Oh, this does not bode well for the future. I can see the handwriting on the wall.” Nor do we revert to rehearsals of the past, “I have been down this road before, I have met people just like him, I remember the time…  and it was terrible.” Living in imitation of Jesus we are like seeds, full of grace and truth that we bring to every situation we encounter.

How do we know when we are experiencing our true self? We feel peaceful, secure or accepted. When operating out of our true self we have access to wisdom and real power, living becomes effortless, even living in the midst of weeds. By contrast, when we feel stressed, insecure or unvalued, our true self sinks into hiding behind our everyday self that executes our programs for happiness; with our inordinate desire for security, safety, esteem, power and control. The thing is, these programs are never satisfied because they cannot fulfill the deepest desire of our heart, to be our true self, seeds of grace and truth in the world.

Deepak Chopra, an alternative medicine doctor, offers what I think is an instructive list to help us discern if we are operating out of our true self or our everyday self.  “The true self is certain and clear about things. The everyday self gets influenced by countless outside influences, leading to confusion. The true self is stable. The everyday self shifts constantly.  The true self is driven by a deep sense of truth. The everyday self is driven by the ego, the unending demands of "I, me, mine." The true self is at peace. The everyday self is easily agitated and disturbed. The true self is love. The everyday self, lacking love, seeks it from outside sources.”*

Much as a farmer cannot avoid weeds infesting her wheat, we cannot escape the incursion of our conditioned emotional reactions nor the inclination of our everyday self to enforce our programs for happiness. What we can do is cultivate disciplines of stillness such as Centering Prayer or Mindfulness Meditation that help us be clear minded and consistent, recognize when weeds are infiltrating our thoughts, words and actions and enable us to choose to act with grace and truth instead.  

As people of God we are  intended to live in imitation of Jesus,  to be a seeds of grace and truth in our thoughts, words and actions. If we want to strengthen and tone our bodies we must have a discipline of physical training and practice. If we want to strengthen and tone our true self we must have a discipline of spiritual training and practice. 

August 9, 16, 23 and 30th from 2-3:15  Episcopal Church of the Apostles offers a free four week program for beginners and long time practitioners of Centering Prayer using Fr. Carl Arico’s dvd series and discussion, instruction, and a twenty minute sit. Email admin@ovapostles.org for more info. 

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* http://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/deepak-chopra-the-difference-between-the-true-self-and-everyday-self

Text from the Acts of the Apostles 29 January 2017

Acts 26:9-21 Paul said to King Agrippa, "Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

"With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, `Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.' I asked, `Who are you, Lord?' The Lord answered, `I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles-- to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

"After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me."

Reflection     When I hear the story of Saul’s conversion I believe the Spirit of God must have been working overtime within Saul to transform his consciousness until for some incomprehensible reason he reached the tipping point, the asymptote, and the tumblers of the lock fell open as did the eyes of his heart.

Because I believe the Spirit of God is with all people at all times, I believe that even in the midst of Saul’s murderous campaign the Spirit of God must have been winding him up, must have been goading and prodding and stirring him to wonder, “What is it with these Jesus people? Why are they willing to die rather than renounce their dead and disappeared leader? Why do they risk their lives to get together to remember him and tell his stories? Why do they share everything they have? How is it they are so peaceful even when we terrorize, entrap and kill them? What is it about this Jesus that has such a hold on them?”

Here is the thing. Saul did not become someone else that day on the road to Damascus. The clue is in the voice Saul hears speaking in the language of his true self saying, ”Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.” Saul’s inherent trues self, the Spirit of God with him, was goading him, pricking him, encouraging him to pay attention to what he saw and heard and felt in the presence of the disciples. The Spirit of God with Saul was goading him to stop denying his true self by persecuting the followers of Jesus. 

The irony is,  Saul’s inherent capacity for conviction, passion and action, the qualities that made him an exemplary Roman soldier are the same qualities that when channeled through a different understanding of reality made him one of the most effective early apostles spreading Jesus’ message of peace and dignity for all people throughout Asia Minor and Europe.  By channeling the same conviction, passion and action that sought to exterminate the Jesus movement through a different understanding of reality, Saul forever transformed the human experience, founding the first churches and writing letters we still read to counsel and encourage Jesus’ revolutionary first century peace and justice movement.

As we wake up at the dawning of the twenty-first century and realize there are more than a few versions of reality, can we feel the Spirit of God winding us up, goading and prodding, provoking and inciting tears, fears, anger and exasperation? Can we hear the Spirit of God calling us by name, “Debra, Jon, Linda, George, Carol, Frank, Henry, Morgan, (fill in your name), why are you persecuting me? Why are you hurting yourself by refusing to acknowledge my goading and prodding to stand on your feet and embody the version of reality that claims all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social or financial status, political or religious affiliation or lack thereof, all people are welcome and deserve dignity and justice?"  

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Gospel text for Sunday 30 September 2012

Mark 9:38-50      John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

 "For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

 

Reflection

I spent twenty three years living in Northern New Mexico, some of that time in horse and cattle country. As a transplanted city girl there was something I never quite figured out. Why did some of the landowners surround their acreas with electric fences while others did not? Was the land and the livestock inside the electric fences more precious? Were the people inside the electric fences more vulnerable? Were they keeping things in or were they keeping things out?

 When John and the disciples saw a stranger casting our demons in Jesus’ name apparently they wanted to stretch an electric fence around themselves and Jesus. Can you imagine a sign flapping on their buzzing barbed wire? “Warning, keep out, you are treading on holy ground. If you are not one of us you have no right to call upon Jesus’ name and cast out demons.” And if we read the text hidden in John and the other disciples’ hearts it might be, “Hay, who’s the guy stealing our thunder? Who does he think he is? Jesus gave us the power to heal and cast out demons and he is not one of us. We are the authorized exorcists. We have to stop him.”

 But Jesus would have none of that. Can you imagine Jesus shrugging and saying, “Tear down your electric fences. This stranger is casting out demons and freeing God’s people. He is doing God’s work of tearing down fences and removing stumbling blocks. Truly, he is no threat, he is not against us.”

 Somehow John and the disciples have lost track. They are possessed with preserving and protecting their special relationship with Jesus and their unique access to power. (Can you hear echoes of them bickering over who is greatest? Who will be on Jesus’ right and left side?) Their concern about themselves has blinded them to the good the stranger is doing. Their concern about their priority has become a stumbling block, which Jesus says is problematic and must be removed.

“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.” Jesus is serious. There is no equivocation. “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off.” John and the disciples must tear down their electric fences, let go of their claims to special power and privilege or the consequences will be dire. If they continue to see strangers as adversaries, competitors, or threats they will not only be separating themselves from their neighbors they will also be separating themselves from God. And the suffering they will bring upon themselves will be endless.  

So where is the good news in all of that? From the beginning and for all time the land and all that is therein (people, trees, horses) is valuable. There is no need to build fences and stake claim, no need to hide or to keep others out. All we need to do is claim our inheritance and be our true self.