Gospel text for Sunday 8 March 2015

John 2:13-22        The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Reflection        Because of the required pilgrimages to the Temple,  Jerusalem was rather like a tourist destination site. Boatloads of enterprising money changers and merchants competing for the pilgrims’ coins. One fee bought a ritual bath to be purified. For a few more coins you could exchange your foreign currency for the shekel tribute required by the Temple. For the right price you could buy a perfect lamb, goat or a pigeon. The fact is, Jerusalem’s economy depended upon the Temple’s thriving market exchange.

No wonder Jesus was ill-tempered when he stepped into the Temple. Instead of finding a house of worship, Jesus walked into the equivalent of the New York Stock Exchange crossed with a farmer’s market! 

Can you almost hear Jesus thinking, “What is going on here? Is God the supreme butcher of a slaughterhouse? Is God the chief executive of a livestock exchange? Do you really think you can trade a couple of goats for security and redemption? Can God’s grace be bought for a pair of doves? Don’t you know that you should bow down before the Lord, not beg and barter to be blessed in exchange for pigeon blood?” 

What could Jesus do but bellow, “No. No. No. You have no idea what you are doing. You  have no idea who God is. Don’t you see, God does not demand your bloody sacrifices. God does not demand you pay a temple tax. God does not even demand you walk halfway across the Judean countryside three times each year in order to prove your devotion to God.”

God is not locked inside temple walls nor constrained by our goodness or ability to sit still and pray or travel to holy places. God is always and everywhere present. That is what Jesus meant when he said, “Destroy this bricks and mortar Temple; it is not where you meet God. All who believe this will know God present in the meat and potatoes of humanity.” 

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Gospel text for Sunday 1 March 2015

Mark 8:31-38        Then Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "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, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Reflection        In spite of Peter’s (and our) great hope to the contrary, Jesus did not come to put an end to suffering in the world. Jesus came to assure us that God is with each and every one of us as we navigate the inevitable suffering of our human condition. In fact, Jesus came and revealed to us the foolish wisdom that there is blessing to be found in suffering, which of course flies in the face of conventional wisdom that blessing is found in power, control and accumulated success (in the shiny purple robes of a warrior king messiah). Which brings us back to Peter whose conventional idea of a messiah put him cross-ways with Jesus. 

Do you remember Jesus’ sermon on the mountain in Matthew’s gospel? “Blessed are…  the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, those who are persecuted…(Matt 5.3-6, 10). These words are nonsense to the conventional wisdom of the world. And, they are the wisdom of the foolish in God’s upside down kingdom.

It is not God’s will that we suffer, nor do I believe it was God’s will that Jesus be tortured and hung on a cross. I believe, it is God’s will that we know God’s presence with us in the midst of the suffering that is inevitable to our mortal human condition. The death-dealing blow of the ruthless words from our Ash Wednesday liturgy leap to mind, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Frankly, the process of returning to dust is not for the faint of heart. Whether it comes by disease, accident or the brutality of others who will stop at nothing to extinguish unvarnished truth, there is no escaping the fatal consequence of life. Returning to dust entails suffering. As Christians this does not give us cause to be angry, afraid or despair. As Christians we understand that suffering opens the way for us to encounter God and experience blessedness. This is the way of setting our minds on divine things rather than on human things.

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Gospel text for Sunday 22 February 2015

Mark 1:9-15        In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Reflection    Baptism is the beginning,  the beginning of a new covenant relationship between God and us.  Baptism is the beginning of a new way of being and participating in life. Baptism is all about we, the living body of Christ on earth, the community of beloveds recognized by the way we live for the good of one another.

Being a Christian does not necessarily mean we believe certain things; Jesus‘ birth from a virgin, every word of the Nicene Creed. Being a Christian does not necessarily mean we do certain things; go to church on Sunday, give money to charities, read the Bible every day. 

Being a Christian means following Jesus,  walking the way of the cross, the way of giving our lives to suffer with and for all of humanity. For some of us that means listening when a friend describes their pain for the seven hundredth time. For others it means bringing meals to the homebound, or speaking out against customs, rules or laws that marginalize or oppress groups of people identified as “other;” the disabled, the aged or infirm, people of lesser or more education, resource or intellect, people of a different race or religion or no religion at all. 

For as long as we submit to labeling anyone as ‘other’ we are forgetting our commission and Jesus’ poignant prayer; “Not my will, but your will be done.”

Jesus dove full into life, revealing God’s love for lepers, maniacs reprobates, and “others.” He built no walls. He stretched no fences. By our baptism we are commissioned to likewise, to live and die for one another.

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Gospel text for Sunday, 15 February 2015

Mark 9:2-9        Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Reflection        “Listen to him!” That’s what the voice from heaven, presumably the voice of God, had to say to the thunderstruck disciples while they were still dazzled by a knock down, wake up, religious experience. “Listen to him!” Surely James, John and Peter’s only thought must have been, “OK, sure, whatever you say. We will listen to him.” 

Can you imagine the three disciples hovering close to Jesus as the were coming down the mountian wanting to catch his every word? Can you imagine them screwing up their eyes and scratching their heads when the first thing Jesus says is, “Tell no one about what (you) have seen, until after the Son of Man (has) risen from the dead.” What are you talking about? Tell no one about the most stupefying religious experience ever? Tell no one that we actually saw you, Jesus, glow and talk with Moses and Elijah who have been dead for a long time?  Tell no one that in an instant the entire mountain was wrapped in a talking cloud? 

Maybe that is what is supposed to happen when we have a rendevouz with God; we are supposed to stop talking and just be there, in the experience. What if a glimpse of God in the face of a stranger or a full on, turn your world upside down religious experience is an invitation to get out of our heads and stop using our words to grasp the ungraspable, to comprehend the incomprehensible?  Aren’t we just like Peter, wanting to make containers, or “dwellings,” to hold onto our precious moments? If only we could capture the truth and beauty and glory of those moments in exqisitely carved wood boxes we could take them with us wherever we go, have a peek in the box whenever we need a dose of truth, beauty or glory. 

But, what if capturing our experiences is like putting lightening bugs into a jar… it kills them? What if that is why Jesus ordered the disciples to stop talking “until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead?” What if Jesus intentionally confounded their (and our) minds so that they would stop talking and just be with him? What if God is in the silence instead of our tidy boxes?

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Gospel text for Sunday 8 February 2015

Mark 1:29-39        Jesus left the synagogue at Capernaum, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Reflection           Punctuating our lives with prayer is not unique to the Episcopal Church (Check out the Daily Offices in the Book of Common Prayer!). Our Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and monastic sisters and brothers all teach the value of ordering our lives around regular periods of prayer. Still, many of us are more comfortable with one mega dose of prayer each week. But is it enough to sustain us? Is one whopping Sunday of prayer enough to give us the courage to wholeheartedly pray with Jesus saying, “Not my will but your will be done?” 

This is hard and I believe this is the heart of Mark’s gospel text. “In the morning, while it was still very dark, (Jesus) got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” From the fervid frenzy of the night before, everything is quiet. Jesus goes to a deserted place to confirm his direction, strength and healing power in relationship with God who, little more than forty days earlier annointed him  “My son, the beloved.” All that Jesus says and all that Jesus does is a realization of his relationship in God. That is why Jesus goes off to pray alone, to keep conscious his connection to the source of all that flows through him. I believe Jesus understood that his healings and exorcisms, his parables and preaching were outward and visible signs of the power and presence of God with him. And so Jesus never stopped returning to God, the source and sustainance of his life and ministry. Right down to the wire Jesus submitted, “Not my will but your will be done.”

As daughters and sons of God I believe we too must acknowledge our complete and utter dependence on God, God who is closer to us than our own breath, God who is the source and sustainance of all that we say and all that we do God whose will is not other than our own true will.

It takes courage and faith that God really is with us to drop the arms that keep other people and God at a safe distance. It takes courage and faith that God really is with us to take church outside these doors, connect with strangers, lift them up and invite them into the spiritual consciousness of our interconnected, interdependent relationships with one another and God.  It takes courage and faith that God really is with us to lay down our personal preferences and pray, “Not my will but your will be done.”

One mega dose of praying “Your will be done,” is not  sufficient for me to sustain my courage and faith in the One, Holy and Living God with me as I navigate the moment to moment aches and agony, drama and disappointment, intrigue and injustice that constantly accost me. And so I find myself slipping away from the crowd, sometimes early in the morning when it is still dark, to pray. I find my self closing my office door and taking a few minutes to pray. I find myself sitting in my car praying before the next meeting because one mega dose of prayer on Sunday is not enough to sustain me.

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Gospel text of Sunday 1 February 2015

Mark 1:21-28        Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching-- with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Reflection     The contemporary philosopher Ken Wilber suggests a way to understand the stages of of I, We and All of Us moral develpopment as  evolving states of body, mind or  spiritual consciousness. In the body centered state of consciousness we identify with our physical needs and desires. Hunger, lust, emotions drive our behavior. We experience other people as objects to satisfy our desires. There is every chance you might hear us saying, “This is mine,” or “I can’t help it. It is just the way I am.”

In the next state of consciousness, the mind,  we begin to develop our cognitive capacity to make connections with others. People are no longer simply objects to satisfy our desires. We are able to step into the other person’s shoes and begin to establish relationships based on shared interests, values, traditions or ideals. At the same time that we acquire the capacity to make meaningful connections and experience “we,” we also develop a shadow side as we decide who is part of we and who is not.  This is the state of consciousness that drives 70% of our world’s behavior today. Hope to grow beyond this state lies in the invitation to become self aware and ask ourselves, “Who are we leaving out? Who are we marginalizing?”

When we begin to ask such questions, the evolution of our consciousness continues to expand into the spiritual “all of us” perspective. Here we affirm the interconnected web of creation. In Wilber’s words, we discover “the commonwealth of all beings…(this is) the move from ethnocentric to worldcentric, and is ‘spiritual’ in the sense of (being concerned with) things common to all sentient beings.”   (http://www.dailyevolver.com/a-primer-on-integral-theory/#sthash.YYxKq3wG.dpuf)  

I believe the ‘new teaching’ in the synagogue two thousand years ago is still new for many of us as we stretch into world centric spiritual consciousness that tolerates ambiguity, holds opposites together, and endures the tension between diversity and unity.

The ‘new teaching’ calls us into an “all of us” state of spiritual consciousness wherein we are compelled by truth, beauty and goodness. You see truth, beauty and goodness are qualities of God. They are also qualities of all sentient beings. Which is to say, in worldcentric all of us state of consciousness we no longer experience ourselves as isolated, independent individuals or groups of individuals. We experience ourselves in union and unity with one another and God and the qualities of truth, beauty and goodness naturally flow through us.

Let this be our hope and our prayer, to grow beyond the loud shouts and convulsions of I or we, body or mind consciousness into the spiritual state wherein all of us are free to be. 

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Gospel for Sunday 25 January 2015

Mark 1:14-20        Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Reflection       We have to admit, this gospel story is not very convincing. No time is wasted with details to set the stage and satisfy our curiosity. Jesus is going to change the world for the better (which of course is the euanggelion - the good news)  and he needs help now.  So Jesus casts his net. Apparently without hesitation Simon and his brother Andrew put down their nets (their lives)  and follow Jesus. I wonder if either of them asked, “What do you mean, fish for people?” If not, the way the plot raced forward they did not have long to wait before they witnessed Jesus cast his net again and catch  another pair of brothers, James and John, who immediately stood up, left their father in the boat and followed Jesus. which makes me think the writer was using words to point to something more than an historical event.

There seems to be a pattern emerging. Jesus goes looking for helpers and casts his proverbial net. Was it charm, charisma, an unspeable presence that compelled some to stop whatever they were doing and follow Jesus? I wonder how many others Jesus called; Charles, Don, Marilyn, Howard, folks who kept mending their nets, shaping their clay pots, fashioning sandles or collecting taxes? I wonder how many people averted their eyes and waited for this strange man shouting something about the “Kingdom of God being here” to pass by before looking at one another, shrugging their shoulders and rolling their eyes? I wonder how many times Jesus cast his net before he caught Simon and Andrew, James and John?

Getting back to the pattern. Jesus looks for helpers, calls them and without hesitation they stop what they are doing and follow him. It reminds me of something John Lewis said. You may recall Lewis is a congressman from Georgia and legendary leader of the nonviolent march over the Edmund Petis bridge on the way from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965 hoping to make the world a better place, particularly for people of color. Lewis said and I quote, “When you pray, move your feet.” He continues to teach those who will listen that good is already here (even in our enemies).  The question is, how do we make the euanggelion, the good news for everyone, real. Lewis’ answer is, “When you pray, move your feet.”

How many times must Jesus cast his net before everyone one of us catches the euanggelion, the earth shattering, world changing good news of the grace of God, the peace of God, the efficacy of God, the kingdom of God available to all with  a will to change our minds and put feet on our prayers? 

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