Gospel text for Sunday of the Resurrection, 20 April 2014

John 20:1-18        Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Reflection   “I have seen the Lord!” What more world changing words could ever be spoken than Mary Magdalene’s?       “I have seen the Lord!” 

When we walk with Mary Magdalene through the gospel’s collective story of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection one thing is obvious; her faith and devotion were unshakable. Mary did not run away when the soldiers captured Jesus, although the other eleven disciples did. Mary did not deny her relationship with Jesus, although Peter, who vowed to follow Jesus even to death, denied knowing him three times. Mary stayed and watched and waited as Jesus was crucified, taken down from the cross and was buried. 

I believe Mary stayed because her faith was audacious and as a result the eyes of her heart were open;  she could see beyond the blood and gore of Jesus’ suffering and death. The eyes of her heart were open and Mary could see beyond Jesus’ limp body being taken down from the cross, wrapped in linen and laid in a cold stone cave. Because the eyes of her heart were open, in the morning of the first day of the week Mary could see beyond the empty tomb, she could look into the face of death and ‘see’ life.

Mary Magdalene was the first to see with the eyes of her heart, which is to say, Mary was the first disciple to embody and articulate spiritual consciousness.  And so the risen Christ sent her to be his first messenger. Mary Magdalene was the first apostle, the first one sent to be the revelation of the wisdom that, “all is not lost in death.” In Mary’s words, “I have seen the Lord.”

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Gospel text for Sunday of the Passion 13 May 2014

Matthew 26:14- 27:66        One of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, `The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'" So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me." And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, "Surely not I, Lord?" He answered, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born." Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" He replied, "You have said so."

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, "You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written, `I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee." Peter said to him, "Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you." Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, "Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you." And so said all the disciples.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me." And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want." Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again he went away for the second time and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand."

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him." At once he came up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him. Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you are here to do." Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?" At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered. But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, "This fellow said, `I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'" The high priest stood up and said, "Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?" But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, "I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?" They answered, "He deserves death." Then they spat in his face and struck him; and some slapped him, saying, "Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who is it that struck you?"

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it before all of them, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about." When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." Again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man." After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, "I do not know the man!" At that moment the cock crowed. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." But they said, "What is that to us? See to it yourself." Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money." After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter's field as a place to bury foreigners. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."

Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?" But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him." Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!" Then he asked, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!"

So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." Then the people as a whole answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; then they sat down there and kept watch over him. Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews."

Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, `I am God's Son.'" The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "This man is calling for Elijah." At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him." Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, "Truly this man was God's Son!

Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, `After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, `He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Reflection       Here we are, approaching the Sunday of the Passion, painfully reminded of how often we enter situations or relationships with hope and joyful expectation that all too soon turn to anger and betrayal. We open our wallets to support a person or cause then find our generosity replaced by selfishness. We open our homes to care for our aging parents or friend, then find our good will replaced by resentment. We open our hearts to love another then find our tenderness replaced by enmity. The truth of our human condition is, we are like Peter. Full of good intentions and repeated failings. Jesus knew this and loved Peter, and loves us, anyway.

At his last meal with his friends Jesus said to them and us, “You will all become deserters.” When we are painfully honest with ourselves we must admit, this is true. We have heard the cock crow. Over and over again we turn away from God and from one another. Still, the good news is, always there is a way for us to move on because Jesus will never abandon us. He goes ahead of us to Galilee He invites us to meet him there, by the sea because ours is a God of second chances.

Something is required of us. Not that we never fall or fail or even turn away from God. But that we believe Jesus and remember that he has gone before us and waits for our return. The thing is, we are all deserters, but, Jesus will never desert us. He has prepared a place for us. He awaits our coming to him, again, and again and again. Amen

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Gospel text for Sunday 6 April 2014

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John 11:1-45   Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them." After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right." Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Reflection 
                                                                                                                                                                                   
Set me as a seal upon your heart,
   as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death,
   passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
   a raging flame.
 Many waters cannot quench love,
   neither can floods drown it.
If one offered for love
   all the wealth of one’s house,
   it would be utterly scorned.   Song of Solomon 8.6-7

Those are the words that sang through my soul as I read the Jesus’ response to seeing Mary and the Jews weeping over the death of Lazarus; “Jesus began to weep.” Love expressed as joy among the living is expressed with tears when the one we love dies. This gives me hope and this gives me comfort.

Even God who loves  weeps at the loss of physical earthbound relationship. God as revealed through Jesus weeps and this loving response reaches across the abyss of death. Tears of joy turned to tears of sorrow slide the stone away from death’s separating tomb to connect us in Spirit and in Truth with the ones we love and see no more. 

We grieve because we love. The very love at the root of our grief is what comforts and consoles us because “love is strong as death, passion strong as the grave.”Although our bodies are fragile temples of the Spirit love is our eternal sanctuary. That is why Jesus, the one who weeps at the death of the friend he loves, says, "I am the resurrection and the life." Divine tears touch beyond death's separating tomb.

**9/11 Grieving Dad Robert Peraza

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Gospel text for Sunday 30th of March 2014

John 9:1-41        As he walked along, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, `Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet."

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, `We see,' your sin remains.”

Reflection     Humanity is blind from birth. This is our human condition. We don’t know who and whose we are. It is no wonder we do not know who God is until God spits onto dirt and smears mud on our well scrubbed faces. For a few of us one turn with mud on our jowls opens our eyes. For most of us, we need more than one slap of mud in the face before we recognize, we are blind.

I believe this is the point of John’s story about the man born blind. Gaining or regaining sight takes place over time in a series of steps or stages that are rather like having mud in the face. Even if we are one of the few who have a mind shattering religious or healing experience (like the man born blind who was made to see) it takes time for us to understand and integrate the consequences of that experience.

The man born blind encountered Jesus, followed his instructions and for the first time in his life he could see. All he knew was a series of facts; “A man called Jesus made mud, spread it on (his) eyes…” and told him to,  “Go to Siloam and wash.” Which he did and “received (his) sight.” The man had no idea where Jesus came from or how this happened. 

From physical blindness the once blind man moved by stages to a well reasoned and compelling explanation of who Jesus is concluding, “If this man were not from God he could do nothing.” But Jesus wants more than physical healing or even clever argument for the once blind man. Jesus wants the man to experience spiritual transformation and that will require the once blind man to experience Jesus as the revelation of God’s presence on earth. So Jesus asks him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 

Again the once blind man admits he doesn’t understand. (More mud on the face.) “Who is the Son of Man?” Then, just as Jesus did with the Samarian woman at the well in last Sunday’s gospel text, Jesus admits his identity, “ “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.” The once blind man immediately believed and worshipped Jesus. His physical sight, his cognitive insight and his  spiritual eyes were all opened. Not only could he see the physical presence of Jesus, because of his personal experience with Jesus he could grasp the truth of divinity revealed in humanity. 

At every step along the way the man admitted his “not knowing,” rather like having mud in the face. It was into his “not knowing” that Jesus reached and invited the once blind man to deeper and more expansive sightedness. Like the blind man, each of us has our own blind spots. But this is not bad news. It is in fact the upside down kind of good news that Jesus offers. Jesus turns our way of seeing upside down by showing us the places where we are most likely to encounter God;  our weakness, our blemishes, our flaws and our “not knowing.” We encounter God in our inabilities, our disabilities and our vulnerabilities because this is precisely where God does God’s work. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 16th of March, 2014

John 3:1-17        There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Reflection     I feel a kind of kinship with Nicodemus as Jesus responded to him in much the same way a Zen teacher did with me some thirty years ago. I had been instructed that the protocol for approaching a Zen teacher was to sit in their presence until they acknowledge you. There being no other instructions, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity I decided surely I was supposed to say something. So when it appeared the teacher noticed me I said, “I want to know the truth.” He replied, “Have a cup of tea.” Then he stood up and left the room. I felt utterly stupid, completely confused, embarrassed and departed. 

A couple of years later I read a Zen story.  “A master who lived as a hermit on a mountain was asked by a monk,  "What is the Way?” "What a fine mountain this is," the master said in reply. The monk continued, ”I am not asking you about the mountain, but about the Way.” "So long as you cannot go beyond the mountain, my son, you cannot reach the Way," replied the master.”

Today it occurs to me, the Zen teacher could just as well have said to the monk, “As long as you are born only of the flesh you cannot see the kingdom of God.” Like wise, I can imagine Jesus saying to Nicodemus, “If you cannot go beyond the mountain, you cannot reach the Way.” 

The thing about wisdom is, it seems like utter nonsense to the casual listener. In the tradition of Zen the purpose of koans (basically nonsense statements such as the master’s response to my declaration that I wanted to know the truth….”have a cup of tea,” or Jesus’ strange response to Nicodemus, “You must be born from above,”  the purpose of koans and illogical commentaries is to dumbfound the reasonable mind; to stun it, bewilder it and move beyond it.

I believe Jesus and the Zen masters are not looking for their students to understand, which is to say, to grasp the meaning of things with their minds. I believe what Jesus and the Zen masters are seeking is to break open the minds of their students (disciples), to free us from the limits of reason and intellect so that we can participate in the eternal, spiritual dimension of Being, right here, right now, on earth. Jesus and the masters teach for transformation, not information. 

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Hebrew Testament reading for Sunday 9 March 2014

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7        The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, `You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Reflection        Here is the biggest, boldest, most outrageous lie ever told to humanity. “You will not die…” That’s what the serpent said to the woman in the garden when tempting her to eat the forbidden fruit. It is a lie that set humanity on the course of denying, resisting and refusing death. It has not served us well.

Slightly more than half of Medicare dollars are spent on patients who die within two months. 22 million ‘hits’ came up in 35 seconds when I typed anti-aging into my computer’s browser. At the bottom of the recession in 2009, Americans spent $10 billion on cosmetic procedures.  Models’ careers end at “28 if they are lucky, 21 if they don’t age well.”  Every form of media markets youth, vitality, agility and would have us deny the inevitable degeneration of our bodies and our minds. Culture would have us buy the serpent’s lie… “You will not die if you buy my stuff.”

But, for at least one day each year we Christians refuse to be bamboozled. Across the globe on Ash Wednesday priests dip their thumbs in ashes, smear crosses on our foreheads while saying, “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return.” In other words, you are going to die. It doesn’t matter what fruit you juice, what supplements you take, what extreme medical procedures you undergo, you are going to die.

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, a time for calling our the serpent and admitting the lies we tell ourselves. “I cannot help if when I lose my temper, when I judge and speak ill of others, when I take the extra drink, eat when I am not hungry or shop compulsively. I am not good enough to deserve your love, to deserve God’s love. I don’t need help. I can handle this myself. I am not going to change. I am not going to allow things to change around me. I am in control.” These are lies that we tell ourselves. Lies that we tell ourselves to boost our sense of safety and security, to enhance our self image and self esteem, to amplify our feelings of power and control. 

But instead of saving our lives, the lies cause us to fall out of relationship with God, but only until we expose the serpent and purge our lies. This is the hard work of Lent; admitting the lies we tell ourselves and dying a thousand humiliations as we walk through Lent in the hope of the resurrection life of Easter. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 2 March 2014

Matthew 17:1-9        Six days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Reflection        There is something about mountains. They have an uncanny allure. Throughout history humans have been drawn to mountains seeking wisdom and inspiration, hoping against hope to draw closer to God. That was the case for Moses and Elijah, both mountain men of the first order. 

Moses climbed Mount Sinai hoping to defend the people of Israel who had sinned against God by making a golden calf while waiting for the forty days that Moses was on top of the mountain receiving God’s commandments to govern the life of the Israelites whom he led out of slavery from Egypt. Unlike Moses,  after forty days of traveling through the wilderness, when he finally ascended Mount Horeb the prophet Elijah complained bitterly to God about the unfaithfulness of God’s people. At the top of the mountain both Moses and Elijah experienced the presence of God with them and were sent to continue God’s work in the world. 

Centuries later Jesus takes his three closest friends to have their mountaintop experience of God present with them. On the mountain they have the insight that humanity and divinity are revealed in the person of Jesus. Although it appears that Jesus is transfigured, it is the vision and the understanding of Peter, James and John that is illuminated and transformed. They “see” the unity of humanity and divinity in Jesus. They “hear” the transcendent voice of God instructing them "listen to" (and presumably be guided by) Jesus. I believe this is the key to understanding this enigmatic text. Listen to Jesus, the one who instructs his friends and us in incomprehensible ways; the one who told his friends he must suffer, die and be resurrected in Jerusalem. 

Like Peter,  when we have our mountaintop experiences we want to “build tents,” we want to cling to them or go back to them. But Jesus leads us down the mountain and heads straight for Jerusalem. If we listen to Jesus we take our experience of God with us into our world which is full of suffering and death. If we listen and follow Jesus, we touch the people who are afraid and suffering and say, “Get up. Do not be afraid.” Life does not end with death. God is with us, always. 

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** image is Mt. Lemmon, Arizona