Gospel text for Sunday 30 June 2013

Luke 9:51-62        When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Reflection        Jesus seems so completely human in this text. I can almost hear him draw in a deep breath and sigh a faltering exhale as he sures himself up to do the next hard thing - return to Jerusalem. No doubt he feels that sick sense in his gut and gropping fingers on his throat. Soon we will hear him lament, “Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! (Luke 13,33-34)

Jesus knows where he is headed. No wonder he seems a bit irritable, not cutting his disciples much slack when he rebukes them, maybe even feeling a bit lonely and isolated when he compares himself negatively with foxes and birds. Jesus knows there is only one thing to do and it is not easy. “Proclaim the kingdom of God.” Let nothing be a distraction. Set your direction and don’t look back. 

This text encourages me because it gives me a clue that I am not the only one who struggles to “set my face to go to Jerusalem,” which is to say, to proclaim the kingdom of God in all that I say and all that I do. Even Jesus, who as far as I know never stopped praising the name of God, never turned away from his relationship in God, struggled. Even Jesus had to reach through the trenches of his own humanity, had to suffer the indignity (and discomfort) of having no place to rest his head or call his earthly home. Even Jesus had to stubbornly set his face to persevere, fix his gaze on the horizon and not look back. “Proclaiming the kingdom of God” in all that he said and all that he did cost Jesus everything. I believe he experienced it with every sense and every cell of his humanity. That is what encourages me.

When I hear Jesus say, “Follow me,” I get a sinking feeling in my gut and watery tightness in my throat and know that when I say, “Here I am Lord,” Jesus is with me in my aching humanity because he has been here. 

Gospel text for Sunday 23 June 2013

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    Inside my generally poised and quiet exterior I’ve borne a few storms along the way; whirlwinds of uninvited thoughts and indubitable tornadoes of emotion. Inside it felt no less perilous than the raging wind and waves that provoked Jesus’ disciples to shout, “Master we are perishing.” (Luke 8. 24) And although I have never been physically bound “with chains and shackles” I do recall feeling the weight of the world hammering my chest while wirey fingers cuffed my throat. Fear - this will never end. Fear - this will end. I suspect most people have had a taste or two of such extremis, where circumstances (inside or out) seem so grave, so isolating, so out of control, that there is nothing to do except fall down on our face before Holy God and surrender. And then...

We know the story. Something unexpected happens. Jesus calmed the storm his disciples believed would kill them, and then they were “afraid and amazed...(and asked) who is this who commands even the winds and the water...?” (Luke 8.25) Jesus moved on to approach the tormented man of Gersasene, and instead of turning away disgusted by his vulgar behavior, Jesus asked the deranged man whose “chains and shackles” were insufficient to contain the powerhouse of his emotions, Jesus asked, “What is your name?” In other words, Jesus ‘saw’ beyond the circumstance. Jesus ‘saw’ the real man. By asking the man his name Jesus affirmed his very essence. And the tormented man was restored to his right mind. The people who had persecuted him were “seized with fear.” But not the tortured man. His heart was filled with desire. He begged to stay with Jesus, the one by whom he felt seen and loved.  

Exposed and naked the tormented man fell down before Jesus. In an act of utter surrender he prostrated himself before the “Son of the Most High God.” And he was transformed.  In his Letters to a Young Poet Rainer Marie Rilke wrote, “Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are really princesses who are waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”

Gospel for Sunday 16 June 2013

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      All that we possess (talents, intellect, property, privilege, expensive perfume or ointment) is gift given to our trust by God. As trustees we are both beneficiaries and guardians of the gift. We are expected to be good stewards and give account to the One from whom “no secrets are hid”  of how we have used our gifts. Which brings us to  the question, how will we, like the woman who many theologians believe is Mary Magdalene, how will we pour out our most precious talents and possessions as outward and visible signs of our courageous and humble relationship with God? 

As I examine the nooks and crannies of my life everywhere I look I see room to be more extravagent, generous, kind and loving of my neighbor (and that includes the one with the annoying dogs and irksome music as well as the ones whose politics  grate on me like fingernails on a chalkboard!) There is no shortage of opportunity for me to set aside my pride and self-interest, kneel at the feet of a brother or sister and care for them with no expectation of repayment, personal gain or changing them. 

Once we examine our own lives to determine where we personally can be better trustees, then we must also examine our collective life, the Church, the body of Christ. Where might we be more extravagant in fulfilling our mission to feed the hungry, heal the sick, welcome the marginalized and comfort the afflicted? Please hear this. I am not suggesting that you and I and most people do not give generously of our time and treasure. We do. AND as we look around our community and our world there is no denying, God’s kingdom is far from fulfilled.

Too many people do not experience themselves as God’s beloved. Too many people have never experienced the extravagant love exchanged between Mary Magdalen and Jesus when she courageously broke the rules, crossed social boundaries and challenged cultural norms to bless Jesus. It is our job to change that.

Every day we have the oppportunity to go boldly into places where we may not be invited, to cross invisible barriers and with courage and humility share the good news of our faith - even at work. Every one of us has in our possession an alabaster jar. It is our faith, faith which when shared is like expensive perfume that sanctifies the air and  blesses the people around us. In biblical language this is called annointing. 

It is time for us trustees, individually and as the Church, to uncork the alabaster jar and pour out the fragrant Spirit of Truth - Spirit of Wisdom - the Light of Christ. We are the trustees of God’s blessing. Let us rejoice in the privilege of extending the fragrant blessing of God’s extravagant love to all people, especially the most difficult ones.

Gospel text for Sunday 2 June 2013

                                         Luke 7:11-17        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      If ever I wondered what Jesus’ position was regarding women this story about the widow and her dead son clinches it for me. When Jesus looked at the woman walking next to her son’s body in a funeral procession what he saw was a person with no status, no home, and no way to survive. In an instant Jesus  assessed the situation, decided the widow’s presumptive fate was not good enough and he was roused to action. Nothing would prevent him, not even death, from subverting the assumptions that would seal the woman’s fate. If it meant doing a miracle, raising her son from the dead, so be it. Nothing could seperate the widow ( every woman, every person) from the love of God through Jesus. Not even first century cultural assumptions that an unmarried woman with no son was essentially worthless and had no place in society could steal life from her.

Which brings us to the subject of miracles.  Miracle stories are problemmatic no matter how I sit with them. But the more I hung out with Jesus and the widow the more I realized the real problem is - we don’t expect miracles. We are willing to capitulate to circumstances. We accept social conventions as if they were inevitable (ie. a woman has no place in the world without a man). We allow our lives to be guided by probabilities and jaundiced assumptions. We are willing to succumb to a reasoned or likely outcome. We don’t expect miracles!

But reasonable or likely outcomes were not good enough for Jesus and should not be good enough for us. Jesus intervened to right a fundamental socio-cultural flaw of his time. Jesus acted without restraint to excavate the assumption that women have no worth or rights without men.  Jesus intervened to reverse the widow’s status. 

Now just in case you imagine Jesus’ miraculous intervention with the widow of Nain set the world of believers straight regarding the worth of single women, not so fast. On two occasions in the 21st century I personally have been told by a person set in authority over me that I was less credible (and presumably of less value) because I am a single woman. I refuse to accept the assumption. And therein lies the miracle. As soon as we ally ourselves with Jesus, unveil oppressive social conventions and refuse to accept ‘inevitable’ outcomes, the game is changed. The world is turned upside down and life is restored to the dead. It is a miracle!

Gospel text for Sunday 2 June 2013

Luke 7:1-10        After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes, and to another, `Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this,' and the slave does it." When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Reflection        “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” It is unthinkable that a centurion could say those words to Jesus. Roman soldiers were chosen from the wealthiest and most privileged citizens. When a man swore the ‘sacramentum,’ an oath of allegiance to the Roman Empire, his status changed from citizen to soldier. From then on he was no longer a citizen guided by his own conscience and he bore no personal responsibity for his actions.  All of his actions were subject to the will of his commander.  He would have been trained to feel neither cruelty nor compassion and to unequivocally execute orders. Likewise he expected those under his command to obey orders. As he said to Jesus, “I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me.” He knew his place in the chain of authority and in that chain there was no room for conscience or compassion. In other words, once he had sworn the oath and received his armor the centurion’s will was no longer his own. So, what happened?  

Apparently training to be a Roman soldier had not wiped all compassion out of the centurion. He was a man known for loving the Jewish people and for building their synagogue. But, he was also a man under the authority of the Roman empire.  He was commissioned to keep peace and eliminate revolutionaries. There must have been an all out war inside the centurion the day Jesus showed up in Capernaum. “To whom shall I attribute greater authority? The Roman empire or this pecular Jewish preacher?” I wonder if the centurion surprised himself when he sent some Jewish elders to ask Jesus to “come and heal his highly valued slave who was close to death.” After all, even Jesus was amazed!

Not only did the centurion recognize Jesus’ power and ask for his help he did what was unheard of - he humbled himself. Rather than relying on his power and privilege and peacock plumes to get what he wanted, he said to Jesus, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you.” By every standard the centurion would have been considered dignified and worthy of respect. Yet in spite of his title, power and peacock plumes, he decided in favor of the poor, the hungry and the reviled. The centurion decided in favor of his slave and in so doing he allied himself with Jesus. And Jesus was amazed.

Violating every convention and putting himself at personal risk, the centurion chose the way of blessing the least among us. In two thousand years the need to do likewise has not diminished. Much as  the centurion we are people “set under authority” and sent to do the business of God, sent to decide in favor of the poor, the hungry and the reviled.  Let’s stop limping along.  Let's stop the social, political and religious wars and get on with the business of God deciding "for" the invisible people.

Gospel text for Sunday 26 May 2013 Trinity Sunday

John 16:12-15        Jesus said to the disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

Reflection        What is this truth of which Jesus speaks, sent to guide us “into all truth?” Is it the proverbial truth that sets us free?  Is it the inconvenient truth that shakes us up, turns our world upside down, and ejects us from our comfortable ruts? from our places of privilege? I wonder if that was what Pilate was thinking when he asked Jesus, "What is truth?" (John 17.38)

I believe Jesus gives us an unequivocal (albeit round about) answer to the question, “What is truth?” Truth is born into the world by a God centered person. Truth is given by God the Father through the Spirit to a human being who is in faithful relationship with God. In other words, truth comes from God and is expressed by people who live (abide) in relationship with God. Truth is absolute as it originates in God. Truth is subjective as it is represented by unique individuals. 

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14.6) He is the message and the messenger, which is to say, Jesus lives in accord with truth as it is conveyed to him by his relationship in God. And the disciples and you and I are supposed to do likewise. The Spirit of truth is with us and will guide us. But here’s the thing. Truth has consequences.

Remember Pilate? The very fact that Pilate interrupted Jesus’ trial with the question, “What is truth?” suggests that he did hear Jesus’ voice and therefore must have been one "who (was) of the truth;"which I find a bit unnerving.  It appears that even though Pilate recognized truth he did not choose to act bearing "witness to the truth." Although he attempted to persuade the crowd, Pilate fumbled and failed to take a firm stand in accord with truth, with Jesus. Although Pilate did not find a case against Jesus he did not ally himself with Jesus and unequivocally declare the truth;  “Jesus is a man of God, of truth. I will not hand him over to you. I will not sever my relationship with truth.” Truth has consequences. Pilate handed Jesus (truth) over to the people. The people killed truth, killed God. 

Speaking to Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, Jesus said, “... he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3.21) A person of God is one who lives in accord with the God of truth, unequivocally speaking what she hears from the Spirit of truth, because truth has consequences. Truth is born again, God is resurrected. 

Gospel text for Sunday 19 May, 2013 Petecost

John 14:8-17      Philip said to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

Reflection     We have walked with Jesus’ disciples through Lent, Holy Week and Easter season. We remember that long evening meal in the upper room; the disciples reclining around a low wooden table, sharing bread and wine and olives, listening to their friend, their teacher Jesus go on and on about how he was going to leave, they were going to stay and he and the Father would send “another Advocate to be with them forever.” I imagine that if the disciples were anything like me they must have been baffled and fairly intimidated when they heard Jesus say, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these...” Really? How is this possible?

Now we arrive at the moment when Jesus’ promise is fulfilled and the revelation of the Holy Trinity is complete. On this Sunday we see tongues of fire settle on the disciples as they are filled with the Holy Spirit and “begin to speak in other languages,” in languages the astonished crowds  understand.  On this day we celebrate the satisfaction of Jesus’ promise made during that final meal with his friends, the promise that he would go to the Father and ask the Father to give them another Advocate...the Spirit of truth...to abide with them and be in them. 

Unlike the unsuspecting disciples we have the benefit of hindsight. We ‘hear’ Jesus’ words to his friends, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me”  and we begin to understand that just as Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him, so is the Spirit of the Father and the Son in us, which means we also are in them. Well, maybe not really understand but something amazing is happening.

It is astonishing. By the presence of the Holy Spirit in us we participate in the Holy Trinity. By our participation in the Trinity we too come not to speak on our own, but  (by) the Spirit who lives in us and does God's works. We must believe that we are in the Father and the Spirit of the Father is in us. And when we believe, we also will do the works that Jesus did. Not because we are great or special. But because we give ourselves to be used up for the greater good. And the way to give ourselves up for the greater good is to ask in the name of Jesus our Christ and believe his words, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these...”

For a “Neuroscientific look at speaking in tongues” go to                                        http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/health/07brain.html?_r=0