Gospel Text for Sunday 3 July 2022

Luke 16.10-13          “The woman or man who is faithful with little is faithful also with much; and the woman or man who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you all have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will trust you with [what is] true? And if you all have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Reflection         

Continuing in the tradition of our Israelite ancestors, from its founding the United States has recognized her dependence on God, which means our mission as “We the people” depends on moral considerations established in our relationship with God. 

Principles guide our actions and our actions establish our identity. As the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes in The Politics of Responsibility, “You are free to do what you choose but actions have consequences. You cannot overeat and take no exercise, and at the same time stay healthy. You cannot act selfishly and win the respect of other people. You cannot allow injustices to prevail and sustain a cohesive society. You cannot let rulers use power for their own ends without destroying the basis of a free and gracious social order. There is nothing mystical about these ideas. They are eminently intelligible. But they are also, and inescapably, moral.”

“We the people” are meant to be righteous, respectable and trustworthy.  Moral. “We the people” cannot be “We the people” when our primary concern is me and my advantage. A wealth serving union governed by folks obsessed with the acquisition of personal property and power forgets its moral obligation to the common good. As our gospel text from Luke declares, we “cannot serve God and wealth.” To rectify this situation we must hold ourselves and our institutions accountable, responsible. However this should not and must not mean indulging in limitless litigation. 

Rather than looking for liability we will be better served requiring responsibility. Responsibility means satisfying or fulfilling our moral role as part of “We the people.” How are we doing?   fulfilling our moral role as “We the people” of God?

On this the eve of the celebration of the Independence of the United States, according to our Constitution, the responsibility of “We the people” is to be “a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity…”  It is the responsibility of “We the people” to serve something more than wealth, something more than our immediate individual interests and assets.  How else can we establish justice? How else can we insure domestic tranquility? How else can we promote the general welfare that we claim in our Constitution?  Or are we hypocrites?

The United States Constitution with its twenty seven amendments is not intended to be an axe we employ to divide and destroy. The United States Constitution recognizes all people as “We the people” meant to live with moral responsibility for the well being of one another and a commitment to be “a more perfect (moral) union.”

This is a wildly audacious idea. It is nothing less than our forbearers’ call for all generations to persist in being the Kingdom of God on earth, “A more perfect (moral) union.”    

“A more perfect union” is much more than a list of civil rights. It is a pattern and purpose fashioned in the tradition of our Israelite ancestors.  The United States Constitution insists our body politic is not about individual preferences or even individual survival.  It is about leading a righteous, respectable and trustworthy life together. Government is meant to be the context within which “We the people” cooperate to cultivate the good life of a “more perfect union.” Government is meant to serve “We the people.” Not the other way around.

The heart of the Constitution is community in relationship with God. At our best “We the people” stand with our feet planted in high moral ground. Our interest is not in assigning liability for particular events but rather in taking responsibility to establish a context that sustains the common good. 

Dear people of God, the Bible tells us we cannot serve both wealth and God but I say, if we hope to cultivate the good life together we must move beyond this dualistic way of framing our lives. Our individuality and self care are essential aspects of being a person. Likewise our participation in community aimed for the common good is a condition of our humanity.  I believe we must expand our narrative and grow beyond the false dichotomy of me versus them, conservative versus liberal. We must make our story big enough to be “We the people,” a more perfect union revealing the Kingdom of God on earth. 

How are we to do this? I believe the invitation is threefold. 

First, move beyond selfishness while sustaining self care by seeking moderation and balance in all things. (Especially suitable to us Episcopalians and our via media, the messy middle way!)

Second, inoculate ourselves against polarizing political ploys by avoiding extreme rhetoric meant to confound reason and inflame emotion,. Just turn that off and listen carefully to find common ground with folks of differing opinions. (For God’s Sake, Listen!)

Third, put our trust in something more that we call God and do whatever it takes to be righteous, respectable and trustworthy in our God given relationships as “We the People” of God. 

Fourth, remember "We are free to do what we choose but actions have consequences." 

**https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/bechukotai/the-politics-of-responsibility/ 

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Hebrew Text for Sunday 26 June 2022

 1 Samuel 12.18-21          Now Samuel was ministering in the presence of the HOLY ONE OF OLD, a boy dressed in a linen ephod. A little robe would his mother make for him and bring up to him year by year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the HOLY ONE repay you (Elkanah) with seed from this woman in place of the bequest she made to the FOUNT OF LIFE”; and then they would return to their home. 

And the FAITHFUL ONE attended Hannah and she conceived and gave birth to two daughters and three sons. And the boy Samuel grew up there in the presence of the LIVING GOD. 

Now the boy Samuel went on and grew in goodness with the MOST HIGH and with humanity. 

                        As translated in Gafney, Wilda C.  A Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church. (NY: Church Publishing, 2021) 

Reflection       We humans are creatures who pray; praying when we believe and praying when we doubt, praying to fill our empty wombs or bellies or bank accounts, praying praise and thanksgiving for unexpected blessing, praying fury and lament and praying our questions. Prayers are a means by which we move our heads into our hearts, becoming more human as we reach beyond our selves in conversation with the mysterious “something more.”

We remember Hannah’s prayer for a son, “Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you.” (1 Samuel 1.10-11)  Reaching out to “something more” than herself Hannah experiences LIVING GOD as faithful. Hannah blooms with child and matures in faith as she fulfills her vow to give her son Samuel back to God. Samuel grows in goodness in relationship with God and humanity and Hannah's blessing is multiplied as “she conceived and gave birth to two daughters and three sons.”  

What does this story that takes place more than three thousand years ago and was written about five hundred and fifty years later have to say to us today? I believe it is about being in relationship with LIVING GOD which is the source and sustenance of our being. Hannah turns to God with her anguish, then, when her prayer for a son is answered, she sings, “ My heart rejoices in the Lord…. there is no one holy like the Lord… those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry hunger no more. ” (1 Sam 2.1,2, 5) 

Praying is an act of humility (hunger). By definition it affirms “something more” than the individual who is praying which means praying is also about relationship.  Whether prayer is offered as an act of worship, thanksgiving, intercession, supplication or confession it is a human being humbling her self to engage with “something more” than her self. The “something more” is not an object therefore it is known by faith. Hence, prayer is a human’s act of faith that there is “something more” than she can reasonably grasp yet,  “something more” with which she is in relationship.  Religious folks call this LIVING GOD.

Apparently we humans also pray instinctively. A poll taken in the UK in January of 2018 found “one in five adults pray despite saying they are non-religious…  Among the non-religious, personal crisis or tragedy is the most common reason for praying, with one in four saying they pray to gain comfort or feel less lonely.”   Read the article by clicking on the below link.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/14/half-of-non-believers-pray-says-poll

Prayers reach from our depths to the mysterious beyond as we are inclined either consciously or unconsciously to find our place in relationship with “something more.” This seems to be true even for  those of us who assert we are non-religious. I wonder if a difference between religious and non-religious folks is revealed in the way Hannah fulfills her vow to the “something more,” singing God’s praises and returning her son to the One from whom her blessings flow? Hannah sustains her relationship with  “something more” as she continues her prayers and righteous actions long after her anguish is eased.

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Psalm for Sunday 19 June 2022

 Psalm 69.10-20, 30-33     

Now I humbled my soul with fasting,

         and they reviled me. 

And I wore sackcloth as my clothing,

         and I became to them a byword. 

They speak against me, they who sit in the city gates, 

       while the drunkards make songs about me. 

Yet I make my prayer to you, the Wisdom of the Ages.

         At a favorable time, 

       God, in the wealth of your faithful love, answer me, 

       With your certain salvation. 

Rescue me from the mire, 

       and let me not sink;

       let me be delivered from my enemies 

       and from the deep waters. 

Let not the flood waters overwhelm me, 

Let not the Deep swallow me up;

         let not the Pit close its mouth over me. 

Answer me, Gracious God, for your faithful love is good;

       according to the wealth of your maternal love, turn to me. 

Do not hide your face from your slave, for I am in distress; 

hurry to answer me. 

Draw near to my soul and redeem her, 

       on account of my enemies, deliver me. 

Indeed, you know of my reviling, and my shame and my disgrace;

         all my adversaries are before you.

Reviling has broken my heart, and I am despair.

 I looked for consolation, but there was none;

       And for comforters and I found none. 

I will praise the name of God with song;

       I will magnify her with thanksgiving. 

This will please the Creator of All more than an ox

       or a bull with horns and hooves.

Let the oppressed see it and be glad;

       you who seek God, let your hearts flourish.

For the Faithful God hears the needy, 

and those who belong to her and are imprisoned,

       she does not despise. 

Let the heavens and earth praise her, 

       the seas and everything that moves in them. 

                As translated in Gafney, Wilda C.  A Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church.

                                          (NY: Church Publishing, 2021)  228-229.

Today’s take on Psalm 69.10-21, 30-33

I make my prayer to the One Who Hears, rescue your middle masses

let us not sink to oblivion while

rich leftists and their rightist doppelgängers

egomaniacal politicians red and blue

covertly consort in greed, entitlement, power mongering

demand loyalty, forsake accountability and fail

in conscience and consciousness.  No one is disposable.

 

I make my prayer to the One Who Hears, recover your middle masses 

shield our ears from

outsized shouts of egregious excess

magnified by media moguls breaking whatever news

titillates and pads their pockets

drowning in the deep

middle masses cries.             No one is disposable.

I make my prayer to the One Who Hears, unify your middle masses

escaping schemes from left and right

quench the flares they launch among us 

spark our distaste for red herring suits

          abortion, immigration, education   .…   all

hatched to mislead and distract 

middle masses cries. No one is disposable.

I make my prayer to the One Who Hears, raise your middle masses

10,000 feet above the 2 face world

unleash our tongues to sing a tale

big enough for all to breath and be

in and of, with and through 

the One Who hears and consecrates

your middle masses lives. No one is disposable.

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Have a listen to Walter Brueggemann's "Prophetic Imagination.... great stuff! 

Gospel Text for Trinity Sunday 12 June 2022

Matthew 28.16-20         Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus sent them. And when they saw him, they bowed down worshipping him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came and said to them saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. Now look, I am with you always, to the end of the age. “

Reflection        One plus One plus One equals One. You may accuse me of being a terrible mathematician but instead you might ask, “One what? What three ones add up to One?”   

The Ones are names for God, words we use to describe the experience of our “with God” life. Since God is more than a transcendent philosophical concept, more than a teacher, guide and friend,  and more than the generative breath of creation no one word  makes whole the holiness of One God. Which I believe is why in the mid second century the Christian writer Tertulllian offered the first argument for the Trinity of God; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit even though it does not appear anywhere in the Hebrew or Christian Testaments.

Imagine three persons sitting at a table. The figure on the right represents God, known as Father in relationship with the figure in the center, Son. Father and Son are known by their relationship. Theirs is a dance of mutual indwelling. Jesus explains, “The father is in me as I am in the father.”(John 14.11)  “For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak.” (John 12.49) The Father and the Son are intimately interconnected; the Father pouring himself out to the Son, the Son emptying himself to receive the Father. Theirs is a mutual in-dwelling, an interpenetration.

The third person at the table represents the Spirit, meant to arouse relationship among the Father, the Son and Humanity.  The gospel of John explains,  “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.” (John 14.26)  The Spirit, the Advocate, the Third Person of the Trinity comes to indwell humanity and thereby fulfill Jesus’ inconceivable promise that concludes Matthew’s text, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28.20)

The self, love is poured out and received. This is the dance, the eternal movement or aliveness among the Three Persons of the Trinity. God pours God’s self out to be incarnate in the Son revealing to us that God is both transcendent and immanent, which is to say, God is both beyond all things and within all things.  By this same interpenetrating love, Jesus gives himself away to everyone he encounters. Then, to insure the succession of the dance, the Holy Spirit breathes in each of us so that we too participate in receiving and giving ourselves away for the love of others. Taking our place in the dance of the Trinity we too have a place at the table.

For those of us drawn to the philosophical, transcendent, all powerful image of God as father our desire for safety and security in the care of a protector is satisfied and we may enter the Trinity through the doorway marked Father. For others God as father evokes fear of judgement or misused authority. For us, the doorway into the Trinity marked Father is odious.

For those of us grounded in the visible and persuaded by matter the incarnate image of God as son satisfies our desire for a teacher, guide  or friend and we may enter the Trinity through the doorway marked Son. For others the image of God as Son may be exclusionary and un-relatable and the doorway into the Trinity marked Son is impassable.

For those of us compelled by the unborn, undying breath of creation the mysterious image of God as spirit informs and inspires us and we may enter the Trinity through the doorway marked Spirit. For others the image of God as Spirit is frivolous and frustrating. And for us the doorway marked Spirit is beyond all reason.

Thanks be to the One plus One plus One equals One God, not only are there more than one doorway through which we may enter and dance in our “with God” life but the Community of God, the Trinity, refuses to be limited by the names ascribed to it more than eighteen hundred years ago.

Intending to invite everyone into the Community of the Trinity, The Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church  offers even more doorways through which we may enter and dance our “with God” life.

Sovereign, Savior, Shelter

Author, Word, Translator

Parent, Partner, Friend

Majesty, Mercy, Mystery

Creator, Christ, Compassion

Potter, Vessel, Holy Fire

Life, Liberation, Love* 

One plus One plus One equals One with room for us, One more.

How we see and what we say about God matters for how we live our lives.

If we see God as Father, a towering figure judging and demanding sacrifice, we may live in fear. If we see God as the only Son living an idealized life we may justify excluding others and deny accountability whining, “We are only human.” If we see God as fickle Spirit, by turns breathing blessing and demanding death we may withhold our breath and refuse to speak of God.  

If there are words that keep you from dancing with the One plus One plus One equals One God, replace them. If there are words that invite you to dance, keep them because relationship is the essence and substance of God. It is the dance in which we are meant to participate. One plus One plus One equals One God, unbound by names and abundant with doorways through which we may enter. Shall we dance?

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* Gafney, WIlda C.  A Woman’s Lectionary for the Whole Church (New York: Church Publishing, 2021) 205.

Acts & Gospel Text for Pentecost 5 June 2022

 Acts 2.1-21        When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. And there came suddenly from heaven a sound like the sweeping of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Then there appeared among them divided tongues, as of fire, and one rested on each of them. And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in other tongues just as the Spirit gave them to speak. 

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem devout Jews from every nation under heaven. Now at this sound the crowd gathered and was confused because each heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astounded, they asked “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how do we hear, each in our own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those who live in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjacent to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and questioning to one another saying, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

 

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Judeans and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you all, and attend to my speech. For these persons are not drunk as you suppose, it is only the third hour in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your daughters and sons shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your elders shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both women and men, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 

John 4.7-26        A Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” Now his disciples had gone to the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How are you, a Judean, asking a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”(Judeans do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is the one telling to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir you have no bucket, and the well is deep. From where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, the one who gave us the well and with his daughters and sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But the one who drinks of the water that I will give will never thirst. The water that I will give will become in them a fount of water springing up into eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may never thirst or keep coming here to draw water.” 

 

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back to this place.” The woman answered and said to him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said rightly, ‘I have no husband.’ For five husbands have you had, and now the one you have is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our mothers and fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you say in Jerusalem is the place where people must worship.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Sovereign God. You all worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Judeans. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Sovereign God in spirit and truth, for these are the worshippers the Sovereign God seeks. God is spirit, and those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Jesus, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am, the one who is speaking to you.”

Reflection    Jesus instructs the Samaritan  woman who is  much concerned about worshipping rightly, “God is Spirit, and those who worship God must worship in Spirit and Truth.” Sixteen-hundred years later Ann Hutchison, a well-educated midwife and daughter of an Anglican priest apparently takes Jesus’ words to heart as she boldly claims an “...unmediated experience of God’s Presence.”*  Hutchison dauntlessly declares that by grace her religious experience gives her wisdom, discernment and peace. In other words, Hutchison consents to receive and express the Spirit of Truth. Regardless of what other people say to or about her, Hutchison consents to the Spirit of Truth’s presence and action with her.

But it was the seventeenth century and, like the Samaritan woman Hutchison is supposed to be silently sequestered in shadows. There is no room in the Anglican Church’s story for her to think for herself, speak her mind, and certainly not claim direct access to the Spirit of Truth. Silenced by her mother church, Hutchison and her family join a Puritan community, cross the pond  to the New World where immediately she teaches that faith, rather than rigid adherence to Puritan rules, is the ticket to heaven and that individuals can and should read and interpret the Bible for themselves.

Hutchison’s teaching does not stop there.  Using her midwifery services as a pretext for gathering people around her, Hutchison encourages the people to “receive the Holy Spirit, claim the Spirit of Truth for yourself.”  I can almost hear her saying, “It is right here in John’s gospel. Read it for yourself. Jesus promises, ^“When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…  he will take what is mine and declare it to you,” (John 16. 13,14) Friends, we do not need officials telling us what to believe. The Spirit of Truth is with us.”

Oh dear!  Hutchison’s  message violates all that the keepers of the status quo protect. Outraged, the Church and government officials in the new Massachusetts Bay Colony bring Hutchison to trial and when she publicly claims direct experience with God, whom she assures them is not pleased with their behavior,  she is charged with contempt and sedition and banished from the colony. 

Has no one in the Church  heard and heeded God’s words spoken through the prophet Joel? and repeated by Peter?  “… I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh… upon slaves, women and men I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy.”

The windy Spirit of Truth lands on each of us. Apostles, Galileans, Parthians, Jews, Arabs, Mesopotamians, Mexicans, South Americans, Sudanese, migrants, asylum seekers, single, married, old, young, gay, straight, people of every skin and stripe, all filled with the Spirit of Truth and meant to speak Truth out loud. 

So, how does the Spirit of Truth get silenced on the way to Church?  

Maybe it is this. We humans are stuck on the question “What is truth?” the question Pilate raises when Jesus asserts, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” (John 18.37,38) Rather than believe what Jesus testifies is true, we choose sides and fight for what we think is right? 

 

Here is the good news. The key to answering the question, “What is truth?” is hiding in plain sight and has nothing to do with answering (or worshipping) rightly.

When possessed by pride or the compulsion to win our bodies are as leaves tossed on writhing seas and like wind whipped flames our minds leap to judge, deface and destroy. By contrast, when we are steered by the Spirit of Truth our bodies like oak trees on good ground take root and like a pond’s mirror surface on a windless day our minds are clear. The trademark of pride and compulsion to win is insolence and dissension. The signature of the Spirit of Truth is humility and peace. The way to discern Truth in any situation is by asking ourselves and each other, “Does this thought, position, decision or action lead to greater peace within and among us?  Or does it lead to agitation, fear and dissension?” The key to discerning, “What is Truth?” is peace.

Remember Jesus’ words just one chapter before John’s text? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you… You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” (John 14:27-28) Although the person of Jesus goes away, the Spirit of Truth comes to us. This is what the Feast of Pentecost is about, remembering and celebrating the Spirit of Truth that fills all people. 

We know the presence of the Spirit of Truth by the peace it imparts within and among us. We know when the Spirit of Truth is upon us because it replaces fear, judgment, anger and troubled hearts with peace, peace that is nailed to the cross of every moment regardless of the circumstance. 

Even though we call the season after Pentecost Ordinary Time I believe it is rather extraordinary because this is our collective opportunity to consent to the Spirit of Truth and give birth to peace.

While trapped in arguments over “what is truth?” our world is imploding. On the way to church we fight over abortion, gun rights, health care, education and the climate and who to blame.  As long as we are bent on winning we are guaranteed to miss the mark, because on the way to church we lose the key that Jesus leaves us. Peace. 

So let your car key or house key or church key be a reminder to consent to the Spirit of Truth and ask yourself, “Does this thought, position, decision or action lead to greater peace within and around me?  Or does it lead to agitation, fear and dissension?” And then, choose peace.

*The Reader’s Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Houghton Mifflin Haracout Publishing Co., 1991.

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Christian Testament text for Sunday 29 May 2022

 Acts 16:16-34        With Paul and Silas, we came to Philippi in Macedonia, a Roman colony, and, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Reflection       Shhhhh. Be quiet. Do not bother me with your prophecy. Slaves and children are to be seen and not heard. Don’t ask, don’t tell. Do not rock the boat. Who do you think you are, speaking of such things?

We have all been silenced and, perhaps in some situations, appropriately. Still, there are so many occasions  when shooshing imprisons, rejects, excludes, overrides, devalues, bullies or denies us. And when shooshing reaches a tipping point we may even start shooshing ourselves; shrinking to invisibility, disowning our inherent goodness and worth. I believe shooshing is the almost perfect crime.

There is much irony in the Acts text.  Full of  himself the Apostle Paul fails to recognize the  veracity of the slave girl’s assertion that he and Silas are men of God offering freedom to the people. The girl recognizes and affirms the Spirit of God at work in the lives of Paul and his friend Silas but rather than welcome her astute perception, Paul misuses his power to bully and silence her. 

The slave girl’s owners are equally nearsighted as they fail to recognize the veracity of Paul and Silas’ liberating message. With a failure of perception and foregoing deliberation the slave owners act swiftly to silence Silas and Paul. As it turns out, it is only the slave girl (the least valued among them) who recognizes and proclaims the Spirit of God at work in the world.  

Being pathetically oblivious Paul shooshes the slave girl. “Stop talking. Stop following us.” Likewise, the myopic slave owners violently shoosh Paul and Silas by beating them and locking them in prison. And there we have it. Silenced people are imprisoned. Whether silenced by custom, threat or shackles, silenced people are not free to tell their stories. When we are not free to tell our stories we cannot claim our place as valued members of the community. The almost perfect crime is committed when we are not free to share the story of how the Spirit of God is at work in our lives.

The sixteenth century Spanish nun Teresa of Avila dares to challenge the Church by sharing  stories of her direct experience with God in seven books, more than five hundred letters and reams of poetry. Alarmed by Teresa’s bold assertions of intimacy with God the bishops and priests who position themselves as essential mediators between God and humankind destroy hundreds of Teresa’s letters and poems as well as many of her books.

In the early 2000s the Roman Catholic Pope Benedict issued the Jesuit School of Theology  an extensive list of books banned from Catholic seminaries as well as accompanying orders for their writers to be sent to obscure posts where they can have little or no influence.  Benedict aims to silence voices  that recognize an essential attribute of God is to affect and be affected in and of, with and through all people and the world. Benedict’s  interest is in securing God on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, well out of reach of unworthy folks such as me, you or a slave girl.

Five hundred years ago or today, keepers of the status quo are masters of the almost perfect crime, shooshing. But to remain silent when shooshed is to be complicit and frankly, the Spirit of God refuses to be imprisoned by custom, threat or shackles. 

So, St. Teresa kept putting her quill to cotton and became quite crafty disguising her experiences of God by minimizing herself and writing in the third person. In spite of the fact that the Church and men in power vehemently opposed her, Teresa founded seventeen Carmelite convents and monasteries, fostering the work of God's Spirit for all time.

Fast forward to my  twenty first century seminary classroom. After conspicuously pointing to the book titles listed on the whiteboard and audibly asserting that they are banned, my Jesuit Systematic Theology professor walks to the classroom door, closes it, nods toward the list of banned books and says, “We will read them.”

Finding courage in the Spirit of God with her, St. Teresa refuses to be shooshed. Relying on his experience of finding God in all things, my theology professor refuses to be shooshed. Singing and praying in prison, Paul and Silas refuse to be whooshed. The Spirit of God with us refuses to be shooshed by custom, threat or shackles. 

l believe the almost perfect crime in the Christian (or any) tradition is allowing our stories of how God is real for us to be shooshed and replaced with institutional dictates prescribing what we should believe.  When we bend before dogma and doctrine rather than defend our experience of God with us, we are complicit in securing God on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, well out of reach of folks such as me, you or a slave girl, complicit in the almost perfect crime.

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Gospel text for Sunday 22 May 2022

John 14:23-29        Jesus said to Judas (not Iscariot), "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

"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. You heard me say to you, `I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.”

Reflection        Can you picture Jesus dictating his Last Will and Testament?  I, Jesus, residing in the city of Nazareth in the state of Israel, being of sound mind and memory do make, publish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. I give and bequeath all that I have, tangible and intangible to my friends, now and for all time.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives,” no baskets, bowls or blankets, no mud bricks nor oil lamps. Only “my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”  

This is good news, right? Peace is precisely what we need today. Healing our ailing body. Resolution of conflicts with family and friends. Cessation of shootings, riots and insurgencies. Conclusion of political brawling. Termination of war and threats of war. A conflict free happily ever after life. So Jesus, where is the peace that you leave with the disciples and us today? Not really feeling it!

Peace that the world gives is dependent on circumstances. We experience worldly peace when we and our loved ones are healthy, our friends are trustworthy and the stock market is stable. We enjoy worldly peace when the neighbor’s dog is quiet, our computers are working and no one or nothing is causing us disturbance or inconvenience. Of course, all of these circumstances are subject to change in a heartbeat. Then what happens to our peace?

Peace that Jesus gives is "not as the world gives." Jesus’ peace does not depend on the fickle tides of time nor does it remove us from trouble or tragedy. Jesus’ peace accompanies us as we sail life’s surly seas, from the heights of success to the depths of distress. Regardless of our shifting situation Jesus’ peace guards us as a durable stillness of our hearts and quiet equanimity of our minds. This peacefulness of heart and mind persists in spite of our temperamental status or erratic circumstance. 

And, Jesus’ peace comes with a cost. To receive our inheritance of peace we must put a leash on our leaping minds and harness our devouring emotions. How do we do that? By refusing the three enemies of divine consciousness; discontent, covetousness and envy. The price of peace is consent. Like it or not, Jesus’ peace demands we consent to our situation exactly as it is. Discontent, covetousness and envy are the enemies of peace.

“Peace comes of its own accord when we no longer covet.” (Tao Teh Ching) This bit of Taoist wisdom has served me well. To covet is to crave or begrudge, to strive for something that is not. Coveting is the opposite of what we watch Jesus do as he faces persecution, suffering  and death. “If I do not have to drink this cup it is alright with me. Still, “not my will, your will be done.”” Peace is the consort of consent. Consent dismisses the enemies of divine consciousness.

Writing from prison to the first church he established in Europe, the apostle Paul is at peace when he pens his letter to the Philippians. Paul wants the people of Philippi who have supported him from the beginning of his ministry to know that even if he is put to death, they should not be concerned. (Phil 2.17-18)  Paul implores them, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds.“(Phil 4.6-7)

Here is the bad news. If our peace depends upon our good health,  the resolution of conflicts with our family and friends,  the cessation of shootings, riots and insurgencies, the conclusion of political brawling and the termination of war and threats of war, our hearts and minds will always be troubled. We will always be afraid.

Here is the good news. Paul gives us the key to receiving our full inheritance from Jesus, “Be anxious for nothing.” When we consent to reality exactly as it is  the peace that is beyond our understanding, will of its own accord guard the stillness of our hearts and the presence of our minds.  So breath deeply and  "be anxious for nothing." Receive your inheritance.“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

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