The Psalm for Easter in Diaspora, Sunday 12 April 2020

Psalm 130                                                                                              

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
   Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
   to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
   Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
   so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
   and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
   more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
   For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
   from all its iniquities.

Reflection        There is something ‘not yet’ about this coming Sunday morning. Although the calendar reads “Easter Sunday,” our “Alleluias” are stuck in our throat. How can we sing Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia while we and all the peoples of the earth are under attack by hidden cells scheming to make us their slave? to kill us? How can we sing Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia when we are ordered not to touch or breath or be within six feet of one another for fear of our deadly potential? Although the calendar reads, “Easter Sunday” it seems ill timed and tasteless to celebrate Easter Sunday in the tradition with which we have been accustomed. This is the “not yet” part of Easter.

I believe if we were to celebrate this day with gleaming gold threaded vestments, the appointed readings and expected prayers we would be clinging to tradition and sentiment rather than abiding in the living, breathing Word of God. These extraordinary times invite extraordinary responses to express our selves as God’s people. This Easter calls for spaciousness within which we can wait, held in abeyance between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, which is where I believe we hover as we witness death by a virus that has enslaved our bodies much as our distorted ways of living have enslaved our culture and economy. 

What then is the good new this  Easter?  Even though we wait in the uncertain space of social distancing and quarantine that does not mean all is lost. We still have cause to celebrate because our God is faithful. On this promise we lay our lives and wait with confidence. We the people of God have known tireless times of waiting from the beginning. This is what our psalmists and prophets sing about.

“Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and God shall strengthen your heart, wait, I say, on the Lord.  Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”  From Psalm 27.14

From Psalm 130 “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in God’s word I hope… for with God there is steadfast love.. and great power to redeem.”

The prophet Isaiah puts it this way, ”but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 This is God’s promise to us as we wait for liberation from the constraints of Covid-19;  as we wait to be together again, to put on our gold threaded vestments, light the new fire and with our whole hearts sing, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. 

Everything is not alright this Sunday morning, in fact we have no idea how things will be forever changed.  But with God in God’s already not yet Kingdom, we wait. We wait in confidence and hope for even the ravages of Covid-19 will be redeemed. So, rejoice! God is with us now and always. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 30 November 2014

Mark 13:24-37        Jesus said to his disciples, "In those days, after that suffering,the sun will be darkened,and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven,and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see `the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

"But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake-- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

Reflection      To wait and watch and work, that is the way of God’s kingdom, already not yet. The kingdom of God is here, now present in every moment. The thing is it is a radical perspective that turns our ideas about heaven and earth unside down and inside out…. stars falling, heavens shaking. 

What we are waiting for is already here but we do not see, so Jesus instructs us, “Keep alert. Keep awake.”  But what does that mean? Open the eyes of our hearts, the place from which we “see” with unconditioned consciousness. WIth the eyes of our hearts we “see” the impermanance of all created things (yes, even stars like our sun fall). As Jesus says, “The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light…” THEN we will “see” the Son of Man, God with us. We must see beyond the impermanant things to perceive the unborn, undying eternal Presence of God with us. 

For as long as our eyes are afixed to the conditions of life; the turning of seasons, the rise and fall of fortune, the ebb and flow of suffering, our vision is obscured. But, our unconditioned consciousness cuts to the core like a knife piercing flesh or a lightening bolt penetrating the earth. Our unconditioned consciousness is the unborn, undying participation in Divine Presence that resides at the depth of our own being. It is the state of our being within which our waiting and watching and working converge. In us, with us and of us, God’s kingdom is come, already not yet. Keep awake! 

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Gospel text for Sunday 21 July 2013

Luke 10:38-42        As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

Reflection           The story of Martha and Mary is so familiar that when I began to reflect on it I heard echoes of hundreds of sermons bouncing off the walls of my mind. I could imagine the cover of a book on my office bookshelf, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. But it was my Sabbath day and I was not at my office. I wracked my brain to remember the author which led me down a few twisted dead ends before I googled trusty Amazon and ‘remembered,’ the author is Joanna Weaver. All of this led me far from my engagement with the story. Feeling a bit anxious I wondered, “However will I sort through all of this to discover how the Spirit is speaking through the text to me today? How will I get this reflection written and everything else I have planned to do on my Sabbath day today done?” 

And there it was. I was thinking, feeling and acting like my sister Martha who was distracted by all the things she had done and the things she thought she knew or had to do. Even though it is the day the Lord visits Martha and her sister, both Martha and I are still trying to take charge and run our agendas. Oops! I decided to sit, meditate and wait for the storm to pass and the dust to settle. I set my “Insight Timer,” relaxed my body and followed my breath. A train of disconnected thoughts burbled to the surface of my consciousness. The good news is, I cannot recall any of them now. 

Three Kangsé chimes called me to conclude my time of waiting and listening. Having ‘heard’ nothing to write about Martha and Mary I recalled what Jesus said to the disciples while instructing them about prayer a bit later in Luke’s text. “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” (Luke 11.9) I decided to persist in my prayer. This time I didn’t set the timer. I just joined Mary at Jesus’ feet and offered this prayer. “OK, here I am Lord. If there is anything for me to write and share with your people, please let me know. I’ll just wait here.” 

I have no idea how much time passed before Zachariah the cat decided to check on my status. I do know that I felt incredibly good resting in God’s presence. As I realized that my time of waiting was over (Zachariah relentlessly insisted that I get up and open the door to let him go outside) I cast around my mind for words to write and realized all I had to tell was my story. So there it is. The story of a distracted woman, persistent prayer and an insistant cat.