Gospel text for Sunday 22 December 2013

Matthew 1:18-25        Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet

"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,"

which means, "God is with us." When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Reflection             Joseph had two pair of glasses. When he looked at the world  and his situation through one pair of glasses he confronted the complex structure of social custom and law. Through this lens Joseph saw Mary, the woman to whom he was betrothed and with whom he had not had sexual relations as pregnant, in breach of their personal and social contract. Whether she had been raped or had consented to sex with another man, Joseph was not the father of Mary’s child and Joseph was justified by law and custom to divorce Mary which would incite shame and shuning for Mary and her family.  Let’s call these the glasses of justification. Joseph was wearing this pair of glasses when he decided to quietly dismiss Mary, then turned in for the night and went to sleep.

Joseph must have changed his glasses as he fell asleep that night because he had a dream in which he recognized that there was another lens through which to look at his situation. It was the spiritual lens, the lens that enabled him to recognize God present in his dream, and “know” in a deep, personal and unequivocal way “God is with us, (with me)” Emmanuel. Through his second pair of glasses Joseph saw beyond the personal, social and legal perspectives of his situation to the spiritual. The ill-bred child in Mary’s womb was not a blasphemy or degradation. The child in Mary’s womb was a gift of Divine Presence; it was godly, to be honored and praised.

Then Joseph “awoke from sleep,” which is bible-speak for becoming conscious of the divine perspective and acting on it.  Joseph took Mary to be his wife and followed the instructions he received in his dream.You see, recognizing “God is with us” without changing our behavior to receive Divine Presence and allow it to come to life within us is like dying of thrist while looking at a spring of cool fresh water but refusing to kneel, cup our hands and be refreshed. 

Often I am tempted to action while wearing the glasses of justification; tempted to dismiss a person or situation that has complicated my life and quietly move on. But true life in the Spirit comes  for me when I put on the glasses of the spiritual perspective and allow myself to "see" and be changed by the nuances of Divine Presence, even and perhaps especially in the messy moments of ordinary life.

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The Song of Mary, Canticle for Sunday 15 December 2013

The Song of Mary, The Magnificat                                                                                                                    **

Luke 1:46-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
    for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
    the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
    in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
    he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
    and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
    for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
    to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Reflection     When you hear the words, Mary, Mother of God, what image comes to mind? For the first part of my life my image of Mary, Mother of God was the tall, slender, blond girl in my Sunday School class wrapped like a holy present in a pale blue sheet. She was the chosen one. I was not. Fortunately I didn’t have to spend too many therapy hours on Mary. After all she made only a cameo appearance once a year on Christmas Eve. I supposed the rest of the year Mary was safely wrapped in tissue paper and stowed away in the church closet. Somehow that image doesn’t quite fit the woman singing The Magnificat.

Who is this Mary chanting a love canticle to God? Who is this Mary singing a subversive  verse for social justice? I believe this is not the twelve year old blond Mary, wrapped in tissue and stored in a closet. This Mary is not fragile or ineffectual, neither is she submissive or impotent. No, this Mary is competent and vulnerable, courageous and fruitful...  without being arrogant, conceited or full of herself. 

When Mary encountered the Angel Gabriel, she didn’t run away, she didn’t become speechless and she didn’t get inflated. When the angel addressed Mary as “Favored one,” and affirmed, “The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1.28) Mary paused and pondered the angel’s words. Her quiet acceptance of the angel’s blessing suggests that Mary had a sense of worthiness.  When the Angel proclaimed that even though she was unmarried Mary would become pregnant and give birth to a son who would receive the throne of King David and his kingdom would reign forever,” Mary was not paralyzed by the paradox. Instead she stood her ground and engaged the angel asking, “How can this be?”(Luke 1.38) When the angel explained that she would give birth to the Son of God,” Mary was both bold and vulnerable saying, “Here I am... let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1.38) 

I much prefer the stand up, engage God and let her life be changed Mary to the passive adolescent wrapped in a blue sheet. If it was up to me I would keep hail and hearty Mary front and center as a paragon of how to be in relationship with God, of how to show up in our lives, how to live in the tension of paradox, how to be vulnerable and take risks. That’s what it means to be courageous; to show up, be vulnerable and take the risk with no guarantees.  And that’s what it means to be fully alive, blessed, transformed and fruitful.

** Image of Manal al-Sharif, a seventeen year old activist in Saudi Arabia today

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Hebrew Testament text for 8 December 2013

Isaiah 11:1-10

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide by what his ears hear;

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,

and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

They will not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain;

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD

as the waters cover the sea.

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Reflection     Is Isaiah talking about utopia? He speaks of wolves and asps, the poor and meek. If it truly was utopia wouldn’t everyone have everything... and surely there would be no insects and no predators? I don’t believe for a minute that the tale of Jesse has anyting to do with Orwellian utopia. Oddly enough I do believe the tale of Jesse is about the absence of fear. 

I suspect those of you who are careful readers are leaping out of your seats protesting... “What about “the fear of the Lord? His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord?”

Let me be crystal clear, I am not talking about the ‘fear of the Lord,” which may be more aptly interpreted “the knowledge and awe of the Lord.” That kind of fear or awe is a direct and appropriate response to the experience of God’s wisdom, understanding, counsel and might. “Fear of the Lord” is the incomprehensible (hence indescribable) heart pounding, experience of the magnitude of God present.

The kind of fear that is absent in Isaiah’s text is the gut wrenching, breath taking, paralyzing angst and trepidation that stops us in our tracks, prods us to build cement walls around our countries, stockpile weapons inside razon wire fences, put gates on our neighborhoods and alarms on our hearts. The kind of fear that is absent in Isaiah’s tale of Jesse’s offspring is the kind of fear that steals our freedom and forgets who and whose we really are.

You see, when we remember that we are the children of God, the offspring of the Lord God who strikes awe in our hearts and wonder in our minds; when we remember that we are the revelation of God whose will and whose way is held back by no things; then we too can be as innocent as lambs lying with wolves, as curious as toddlers chasing havolina. When we remember that we are descendants of the lineage of Jesse and heirs to the kingdom of God (which, by the way is right here) there is no thing on earth to fear because we live and breath and find our being in the awe and wonder, the wisdom and understanding, the counsel and might and knowledge of Lord God.....present.

Remember the extreme sports marketing movement in the 1970s - bumper stickers, coffee mugs and tee shirts displayed the moniker, “No Fear?” The words called us out.. don’t be lazy, don’t be  paralyzed by the fear of death, don’t be locked into the status quo. I suspect the cranky prophet Isaiah would have worn one of those tee shirts, and Jesus too.

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Gospel text for Sunday 24 November 2013

Luke 23:33-43        When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. The people stood by, watching Jesus on the cross; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you impunity

not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Reflection   Three times we hear the words, “Save yourself” spoken by the leaders, the soldiers and one of the criminals. I hear them as pretentious, scornful and insolent words which ring in stark contrast to the gentle, humble and unpretentious words uttered by Jesus,”Father forgive them,” and the second criminal, “Do you not fear God...?”

And there we have it in a nutshell, the heart of Jesus’ ministry, the dualing threads that are woven throughout the clouded tapestry of God’ people from the beginning to this day. In what do we put our faith? In God the Father who is largesse sufficient to forgive the unforgivable, even the unjust murder of Jesus? Or, are we like the swaggering cock crowing our insolence while serving up gall with impunity? "You can do it... come on!"

By whose will do we live? Personally I quake when I kneel with Jesus in Gethesame and hear his unassuming words, “Not my will but Thy will be done.” The other heart wrenching words that epitomize Jesus’ peaceful and unpretentious manners are his request that God forgive all those responsible for his murder. In a very few words Jesus fulfilled the ministy he came to teach. “But I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who abuse you... be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6.27-28, 36) By truly practicing what he preached Jesus conclusively revealed his identity as the son of God the Father, being “merciful as (his) Father is merciful.” 

Which gets me to the really hard part. If I presume to be one of God’ people, dare to call myself a child of God, then I too must be merciful - loving my enemies, doing good to those who hate me. This I know. I cannot do it. I cannot save myself. And so I pray with Jesus; Holy God please hear my prayer. It is my desire to do Your will, but I cannot do it. I do not really love my enemies and I find it really hard to do good for those who hate me. I cannot save myself but you can. Please give me the will and the way to do Your will. Forgive them for me. Love them through me. In the name of Your risen Chirst I pray. Amen.

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Luke 21:5-19     When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."

They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!' and, `The time is near!' Do not go after them.

"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."

Reflection    The refrain in Carly Simon’s song “Coming Around Again” speaks to the edge and the depth of our human experience of impermanence. “I know nothing stays the same but if you're willing to play the game it's coming around again. So don't mind if I fall apart. There's more room in a broken heart.” Indeed, “not one stone will be left upon another.” There will be “wars and insurrections,”  not to mention “earthquakes, famines, plagues” and typhoons that kill more than three thousand island people. 

The writer of Luke’s gospel minces no words, we cannot hold onto the things of this world. We cannot “prepare our defense in advance” against the ebb and flow, the jig and jag of all that is created (and that includes natural disasters and even our “parents and brothers, relatives and friends” who will disappoint and betray us). The question that pushes on me is, if nothing that I see stays the same, how then am I to play the game?

Jesus answers the question with unequivocal clarity, “make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” In other words, put all (not some) all of our trust in Jesus, the risen Christ who is with us and for us. Rather than rely on things that we see, rely on the wisdom and grace of Divine Presence with us. 

It is inevitable that every stone of the temple will fall, which is to say, everything that is seen and has been humanly constructed including, social, political and religious instutions, will break down and cause much upheaval. In stark contrast to all that is seen and  thus impermanent, unseen God is eternal, always and everywhere Present, with and for all of us. 

In this world of ours there is no escaping change and yes even suffering. Still, in the darkest days when all seems lost, the unborn, undying Divine Reality we call God rises to fill the empty room in our broken hearts. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 10 November 2013

Luke 20:27-38       Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."

Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."

Reflection        Could it be that two thousand years ago Jesus was saying to the Sadduces and whoever else was listening that there would come a time when women would not be considered property to be transferred between the hands of brothers? Could it be that Jesus was looking square into the face of the patriarchy and saying, “Your question about the sexual rights of brothers with regard to their widowed sister-in-law misses the mark? You are blind to the ways of God of the living because God of the living does not rely on humanly contrived institutions to protect humanity. God of the living gives life eternally to all people; women, men, Jews, nonJews, married, unmarried.” Could it be that Jesus was declaring, “God gives life that does not depend on human understanding or human institutions?”

The Sadduces conspired to entrap Jesus. Their motive was the same when they asked Jesus the question about paying taxes to Rome. But Jesus rises to a ten thousand foot above the ground persective. Jesus claims dignity for all people and righteousness in all relationships... right here, right now, on earth among the living. He  makes the point that this really is a matter of choosing life or death.

Jesus exposes the Sadduces‘ debauched protestations (alleging to protect widows) for what they really were, heartless attempts to rule and exert power over others., including Jesus. But Jesus would have none of it.   He cuts to the heart of the matter, “God is God not of the dead but of the living.” The people of God are with God, “for all of them are alive in God” because God wills life,  but the way of the rule mongering Sadduces depends on death. The question is, which will you choose, the way of life or the way of death?

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Luke 18:9-14

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

Reflection      It is interesting that both the Pharisee and the tax collector stood before God and prayed about themselves. But the similarity between them ends there. The Pharisee issued a self-aggrandizing monologue, trumpeting his adherance to a series of laws, essentially grand-standing himself before God. In contrast, the tax collector stood to the side not even daring to lift his eyes to heaven, took responsibility for his blameworthy behavior and asked for God’s mercy. The contrast could not be more distinctive and Jesus’ opinion is crystal clear.

Living a righteous life, which is to say, living a life in relationship with God, self and others, means putting our trust in God rather than in ourselves. The behaviors of the Pharisee and the tax collector shine a spotlight on the gap between being self-righteous and finding righteousness in God. 

Still we may well wonder, what’s wrong with thinking well of ourselves? Is it not important to have a sense of self worth? Of course it is appropriate to love ourselves, indeed it is one of God’s commandments, “Love your neighbors as yourself.” And therein lies the caveat. Remember how the Pharisee began his conversation with God? “I thank you that I am not like other people....” Other people, The Pharisee holds other people in contempt as a way of elevating his own status. The result of his attitude is severing relationships with himself, others and God.

Where the Pharisee lists his virtues and exalts himself the tax collector confesses his imperfect human condition and lays himself bare before God, asking for mercy. Humility is his stance and it is what Jesus applauds. Jesus is telllng a story about two men who are praying and only one of them assumes the proper posture in relationship with God. In the words of C. S. Lewis,  “ Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” A simple take away from this lession might be, “God is great, we are not.”

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