Gospel text for Sunday 12 June 2016

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       I, the penitent said, “I confess to Almighty God, to God’s Church, and to you, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed, in things done and left undone; especially __________ “ at which point I began to read my magnum opus of transgressions. Hot tears delivered rivers of mascara to my chin. The priest to whom I spoke never flinched. Choking out the final words I handed the two damnable pages to him and continued. “For these and all other sins which I cannot now remember, I am truly sorry.  I pray God to have mercy on me.  I firmly intend amendment of life, and I humbly beg forgiveness of God and the Church, and ask you for counsel, direction, and absolution.” 

What have I done? Raised in a strict puritanical household where just about anything thought, said or done could be construed as sinful and grist for the mill of the Divine Judge, when I learned that the Episcopal Church I was joining offered a Rite of Reconciliation, a pastoral rite offered to anyone who desires to be set free from the oppressive power of sin I thought, “This is my chance to get rid of my lifetime of baggage.” So I sat down with my IBM computer and hammered out two painfully honest single spaced pages of my offenses. For a month I reviewed my narrative, everything from leaving the Presbyterian Church when I was thirteen to look for truth in philosophy and Eastern traditions, to being a single mom, divorced with a full compliment of 70s experiences hidden in my heart. This was going to be my once and for all time confession so I was determined to leave nothing out!

The priest was silent. “However will I be able to walk into this church again?” Finally I heard, “The way I see it Debra, you never stopped looking for God, arguing with God.  Sure, some of your adolescent behavior was well, adolescent. And your judgment has not always been the best. But Debra, that is not sin. It appears that your sin is scrupulosity.” The look on my face must have betrayed my stupor.

He continued. “You have been obsessively concerned with sin and compulsively driven to be perfect. You have not loved yourself as God loves you. Instead, you have put yourself in God’s place, acting like judge, jury and sentencer. This distorts your relationship with God and your self.” He handed me the self prejudicial pages and said, “Destroy these  pages and pray for the grace to be kind and gentle with your self. Sin is failure to see yourself as God sees you which means you are not able to see others as God sees them. This leads to a false sense of separation or alienation. When you leave my office go to the chapel and pray for the grace to love yourself as God loves you.” We concluded the Rite. (BCP447-8)

Embodying the way of Jesus the priest looked to my inherent goodness, not to my offenses. He saw me in the light of Christ, with the compassionate eyes of Jesus whereas I could only see myself with the critical eyes of the Pharisee whom we meet in Luke’s parable of Jesus, the Pharisee and the woman kneeling at Jesus' feet.

The Pharisee sees the weeping woman kissing Jesus’ feet and anointing them with ointment and immediately he leaps to the judgment that the woman is a sinner and Jesus cannot possibly be a prophet because if he was he would know what kind of woman was daring to touch him. By contrast, Jesus looks at the woman and sees the deeper truth of her fundamental goodness. He treats her with compassion and dignity and she experiences God’s love. The woman’s natural response is the outpouring of extravagant love; love that is welling up from within her in gratitude for the love she is receiving.

This is reconciliation, the restoration of relationship with God, with self and with all of creation. In the overabundant grace of restored relationship the natural response is extravagant love. Love poured out without measure.

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Gospel text for Sunday 5 June 2016

Luke 1.11-17     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        Jesus sees beyond the widow’s tears and external appearance of loss. He sees beyond the social condition that defines her as invisible. (A woman with neither husband nor son has no place in society) Jesus sees a deeper truth that rejects the social political narrative of his time in favor of a pastoral relationship with the widow. Jesus looks at the widow, truly sees her, allows himself to be touched by her situation (even makes himself ritually unclean by touching the dead man’s coffin), and Jesus loves her.  In the ineffable light of his love the widow is miraculously transformed, she receives new life.

Of course this raises difficult questions for us. Who in our world needs to be seen? Are we willing to look straight into the face of suffering and allow ourselves to be touched by it? How do we look with compassion at the widows and widowers, the lost , the lonely, the bereaved and the least among us? How shall we allow the transforming light of Christ to shine through us into the darkest moments of the sick, the elderly, the foreigners, the handicapped, the prisoners, and the strangers? How could we do better?

It is easy to stay hidden in the crowd, paying our respect, shuffling our feet, muttering platitudes; “Isn’t it awful. How could such a thing happen. The world has gone to hell in a hand-basket. Let me know if there is something I can do.” All the while our eyes are diverted and our hearts are sealed. 

The compassionate way of Jesus expects more. The compassionate way of Jesus expects us to look directly into the face and fullness of our neighbors' suffering. The compassionate way of Jesus expects us to be touched and affected by our neighbors’ suffering and loss. The compassionate way of Jesus expects us to see a deeper truth that rejects the social political narrative of our time in favor of loving relationships with anyone in our world who suffers. The compassionate way of Jesus expects us to reach out and touch our neighbors and make a difference in their lives.

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Gospel text for Sunday 29 May 2016

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        At first glance it seems we have encountered another Jesus healing parable, then something niggles when we see Jesus turning to the crowd and saying of the slave’s owner, “Not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Jesus finds the Roman soldier, a Gentile, to be more faithful than the Jews? How could this be?

I believe a clue to this mystery is in the endorsement the Jewish elders offered to Jesus on behalf of the centurion, “(This Gentile soldier) is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people (the Jews.)” Could it be? The elders of the Jews who are the radical “others,” if not the outright enemies of the occupying Romans whose centurions lead battalions of hundreds of soldiers to insure Roman power over them,  the Jewish elders are declaring their oppressor legate loves them?

To appreciate the magnitude of this moment we must remember what Jesus was teaching his newly chosen apostles and a “great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon… (Luke 6.17) who had come to him to be healed and cured of their unclean spirits just before the centurion sent a delegation of elders asking Jesus to heal his slave. Jesus taught, “But I say to you that listen, love your enemies… (Luke 6.27) 

From the Roman centurion’s perspective the Jews were the enemy, the rapidly growing population of people who posed a threat to the rule and power of the Roman empire. Nonetheless, the centurion loved the Jewish people and one of the ways they knew this was he provided support for them to rebuild their synagogue. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he told the parable, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. (Luke 6.43-44)  

Because the centurion conducted himself as a good tree producing good fruit the Jewish elders could unequivocally endorse the enemy centurion as worthy of Jesus’ healing. Isn't it ironic, the person who lives out Jesus instruction to love our enemies is known as an enemy of the Jewish people. Which makes me wonder, am I producing good fruit sufficient that even my presumed enemies would deem me worthy of blessing?

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Gospel text for Trinity Sunday, 22 May 2016

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       During the course of most of our lifetimes we stumble across varied images of God. God the old man, the heavenly boss, the judge, the cop or cosmic bell-hop. God the distant, absent, present. God the killjoy, God the puppeteer. God the friend, God the forgotten, God the healer, God the hope. God the unreliable or impersonal director. God just waiting to drop the other shoe or waiting to scoop us out of disaster. With time and experience we may come to know God as teacher or guide only to discover that even those images are not sufficient to convey our experience of God. What then? What are we to make of God that refuses to be constrained by a singular image to the exclusion of all others?

The theological  response to our quandary is this, God the Trinity, the Three in One. Since the fourth century C.E.  the image of Trinity is generally accepted as a way to understand the presence and action of God in the world.  The image of One God in Three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; or, Transcendent, Immanent and Spiritual Presence,  is the central image of God in Christianity.  However, for many, the concept of Trinity stirs up confusion rather than understanding. It did for me until one November evening when witnessing the return of the sandhill cranes to El Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. 

A kind of hush susshes the crowd as the first trilled ‘r’ of the trumpeting cranes echoes in the distant skies. All eyes are turned in the same direction to catch the premiere glimpse of the wintering cranes returning to the Rio Grande wetlands. Much as an approaching train a screaming grey cloud of thousands of corpulent cranes glaze the sunset then settle a mere stone’s throw from our feet. It takes a few minutes to realize that every single one of the pointed billed, red headed creatures is  standing wing to wing and facing the same direction. After feeding all day in nearby fields this mass of ten thousand exquisite creatures whose wings span five to seven feet  have pulled themselves in and reunited for the night. In the dimming light they stand as one body, calling the night out from heaven.

In this glorious spectacle I experienced of God not bound by images; the One as many and the many as One, the Trinity. Each of the ten thousand cranes a unique and significant individual standing in its place amidst the other cranes and at the same the single body of cranes, united and turned in the same direction. 

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Gospel text for Pentecost 15 May 2016

John 14:8-17, 25-27        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.

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you."

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

 Reflection       “We and God are bound in the task of giving birth to the Word.” These words of the 13th century German theologian, philosopher and mystic Meister Eckhardt raise important questions as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

What are the implications of me, of us, being bound to God and God being bound to us? To be bound is to be joined, united and connected. Rather like being partnered or married being bound implies responsibility and accountability to one another. Alright. Though I frequently fail I intend to be faithful to God and God is faithful to me. I can get with being bound with God. 

What about being bound with God in a task? That suggests there is a mutuality or  exchange in which the relationship between God and us contributes to achieving a shared goal. This premise is a bit more wobbly. There is no doubt that I or we rely on God to achieve, well, everything. But Eckhardt’s words aver a mutuality of dependence. God also depends on us? Our mutual efforts are required to give birth to the Word? This suggest partnership, reciprocity and unity.   

Which brings us to Jesus explaining to Philip, who is still seeking external evidence of Jesus’ relationship with God the Father, “The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” Jesus is speaking of mutual indwelling, God in humanity, humanity in God; intrinsic, dynamic, interpenetration, being bound together to accomplish a task. Jesus is of course the first and perfect revelation of the interdependent interrelationship of humanity and divinity. And, Jesus passes on the essence of his beingness, the Word made flesh, by sending the Spirit to fill all of us with grace and with truth.

Returning to Meister Eckhardt’s words, “We are bound with God in the task of giving birth to the Word.” Which begs the question, “How are we doing?” My experience suggests, many of us are reticent when it comes to engaging in conversations about our faith. Here are a few conversation starters, and remember, as Jesus did always begin with prayer. Mine goes something like this. “OK God, you want me to do this you better show up because there is no way I can do this without you. Thank you. Amen.  Then we might ask a friend, “Do you  have any kind of spiritual beliefs or practices? How was spirituality or religion part of your upbringing? What gives meaning and purpose to your life? If you died today, what do you believe would happen?”  Once you have asked someone these or similar questions there is every chance they may say, “What about you? What do you believe?”

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Gospel text for Mother's Day, 8 May 2016

John 19.25-27       Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Reflection   Although this text is not cited among today's lections it seems particularly relevant for Mother’s Day. Whether or not we are parents, we are faced with the inevitable experience of standing helplessly nearby and watching people in need; young or old, our child or others, people stumble, fall, end up in the ER, are victims of bullies, lose their soccer match, are not chosen for gymnastics team, cry all night in pain, fail the bar exam, are left by their lover, are diagnosed with a chronic disease, do the utterly unthinkable and dare to die in front of us. 

The thing we learn from Jesus’ mother and the other Mary's is, no matter what, we stay. We stay when we see someone carrying the cross of whatever challenge, disability or hardship life hands them. We stay, whether they are our own children or others, because we are sisters and brothers of Jesus, all one in the family of God. We stay because whether we are female or male, whether we have parented a child or not, we stay because we are all children of One God which makes us all mothers of each other.

It may take a moment for some of us to wrap our minds around the notion of being mothers. Perhaps a few Biblical references to God as mother will help. God is known as a mother eagle, “Like the eagle that stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young, God spreads wings to catch you, and carries you on pinions.” God is compared to a nursing mother, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” (Isaiah 49:15). Lastly, Jesus tells a parable of God as a woman looking for her lost coin, “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ " (Luke 15:8-10)

The role of mother is not exclusive to female persons given to childbearing. Anyone who expresses compassion, kindness, guidance, protection, comfort, and unrelenting loyalty to another is mothering in the best sense of the word. From his cross Jesus called upon Mary to mother his beloved disciple even as he called upon his disciple to care for Mary as mother. That same charge echoes through the years, calling each of us, who are Jesus’ beloved disciples today, to search relentlessly for every lost or hurting child of God and comfort, care for, teach and encourage, protect and dignify them. 

When we look to the massive problems in our world it is easy to feel paralyzed thinking, “What can I possibly do to make this situation better.” But Jesus does not ask his disciple to change the world of violence in which they were steeped. He asked his disciple to take care of the one person standing next to him. That’s all. What if today we decided to do just that. Like the woman searching for her lost coin, search our community or neighborhoods to find the one person who needs our help and then, like the Mary’s standing at the foot of Jesus cross, stay with them no matter what.

A gift for all of us.... Brahms: German Requiem

While the death of his dear friend Robert Schumann provided an initial impetus for Brahms's German Requiem, the composer dedicated it to his mother, who died nine years later. The memory of Johanna Brahms is particularly apparent in the work’s fifth movement which takes Isaiah 66:13 for its text: “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.”  Click on the image in the upper right area of this post to hear the full Requiem. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 1 May 2016

John 5:1-9

After Jesus healed the son of the official in Capernaum, there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids-- blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.

Reflection          At first glance I wonder, why in the world the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years did not leap at Jesus question, “Do you want to be made well?” with an unequivocal, “Of course I do?” But when I pause and ponder more deeply I have to ask myself, “What may the man have to give up to be made well? What does he stand to lose?”

What if Jesus appeared and asked me, “Do you want to be made well?” Would I be able to respond with a resounding, “Of course I do,” or, would I pause to consider how my life might be changed? Honestly, the possibility stirs a tidal wave of questions in my belly.  “What might be the unintended consequences of giving up the way I have lived for the past thirty-eight years? Who would I be if I no longer identified with the countless reasons why I have not or cannot or will not be all that I am created to be, healed in the image and likeness of God? What would my family think if I was as concerned about strangers as I am about them?  What would my friends think if suddenly I stood up and really loved my neighbors and my enemies as God loves me? Who would I offend with my all inclusive love? What if being healed meant I had to break some rules or traditions as did the paralyzed man at the pool who violated Temple law by carrying his mat on the Sabbath?”  No wonder the paralyzed man evaded Jesus’ question. 

The good news is, God is always inviting us into healed or reconciled relationship with God, our selves and others. So it is not surprising that Jesus took the initiative to cut through the years of entropy, the thirty-eight years the paralyzed man was stuck in an unhealthy system of thoughts and feelings, projections and defenses that prevented him from being well.  It is not surprising that Jesus cut to the core of the situation and told the man, “Stand up. Don’t just lie there.” 

I wonder how many of us feel rather like the man by the side of the pool? In what ways are we paralyzed by the ceaseless blasts of bad news?  Do we feel like victims of social, economic, political and religious circumstances created by everyone else “who steps ahead of us?”  Who have we blamed?  How have we remained passive? How has fear supplanted our faith and left us like deer paralyzed in the headlights of a speeding car? Thank goodness God never gives up and never stops inviting us to stand up, be healed and carry on. 

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