Gospel Text for Sunday 11 September 2022

 

 Matthew 6.9-13 

(Jesus said) Pray then in this way: 

Our Parent and Provider in heaven,

holy is your Name. 

May your majestic rule come.  

May your will be done,

on earth as in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our debts, 

as we also forgive our debtors. 

And do not bring us to the time of trial, 

but rescue us from that which is evil.

 

Reflection       Seated in a wheelchair at a pleasant assisted-living dining room table, Veronica’s gnarled fingers fumbled with wilted playing cards. With mulish determination she labored, counting to seven then starting over, again and again and again. Remembering that Veronica had been an avid bridge player, not to mention black jack and craps aficionado, I queried, “Playing bridge Veronica?” For the first time since I sat down next to her Veronica turned toward me and from a place deep behind her empty eyes she threatened to smile then promptly resumed dealing cards. 

Various care-givers came by, initiating small talk or sharing their comments about Veronica’s declining condition. She remained nonplussed. When twenty five minutes had passed I leaned my head in front of Veronica’s and said, “Let’s pray. Our Father, who …” and with that her hazy grey eyes met mine and through a veil of tears she joined me praying the words aloud with precise lucidity. In the background I heard two care-givers adding their voices to our imprecation.  “Amen.”  A moment or a lifetime elapsed until with unfettered sincerity, the full force of her voice and unblinking eye contact Veronica announced, “I have never been so lost.” Swallowing tears I replied, “And now you are found by Our Father.” 

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (John 1.1) From the beginning words matter. They can harm us or heal us. Ravage us or rescue us because words matter.

The very first word of the prayer found in two of the synoptic gospels, Matthew and Luke, is “Our.” We use the word ‘our’ when we want to communicate belonging to us and one or more other persons. The implication is that we share something in common, and if we share something in common we cannot possibly be alone. 

So, when we are praying we are never praying alone. We are praying in communion with all that belongs to the interconnected web of being, which means, we are praying in communion with all that is. Our father. Our mother. Our parent and protector. Our truth. Our light. Our holiness. Our God.

Whatever name we ascribe to the all encompassing holiness that refuses a singular name, when we pray we are in deliberate communication with the holiness that permeates everyone and every thing.  Our father. Our mother. Our parent and provider. Our truth. Our light. Our holiness. Our God, manifest in all of creation guarantees the infinite variety of holiness.

I believe this is why there are multiple versions of the Our Father prayer.  Because words matter. They can point us toward holiness, or away. Words can open doors and extend invitations or seal passages and set out stumbling blocks. 

Even though we are all included in ‘our,’ not all of us have the same experience of the next word ‘father.’ For some the word father evinces protection and benevolence. For others injury or abandonment. Likewise, for some the word mother conjures care or comfort while for others coldness or antagonism loom. The words ‘parent and provider’ may evoke grace and gratitude or fear and emptiness. Still, we all belong in ‘our’ and thankfully there are many versions of the prayer that Jesus teaches the disciples and us, versions that hopefully provide open doors and invitations so that all feel welcome to participate in the holiness to which we belong.

We use the word ‘our’ to communicate belonging. The implication is this. If God is holiness and God is all and we are part of all, then we are holy and we can never really be lost.

As we face the twenty-first anniversary of the 9/11 carnage, it would be remiss if we failed to note that even though we are all holy we cannot escape evil. 

Not children in classrooms or trafficked for sex.

Not elders preyed on by mail and phone predators.

Not workers exploited by swinish bosses.

Not people caught in the combat of twenty seven ongoing wars and conflicts that vandalize the globe.  

Not housekeepers, clerks, diners or traders in the New York City 

Twin Towers.

All of these holy people cannot escape evil nor can any one of us stop it. So we pray. Our father. Our mother. Our parent and provider. Our truth. Our light. Our holiness. Our God. We pray because in our prayer we all belong and in our prayer we are restored to common holiness.

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Gospel text for Sunday 14 November 2021

 Mark 13.1-8         As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”

Reflection       “Not one stone will be left here upon another….” Immediately my mind leaps to images  seared to my heart twenty years ago of the one hundred and ten stories of the Twin Towers in New York City turning into dust and again January 2021 watching the U.S. Capitol building, battered, trashed and dishonored. Peeking through the eyes of the disciples at these icons of civilization we see a glorious way of life that is too big to fall. But Jesus’ vision penetrates external appearances. He sees beyond the impressive edifice and the elaborate rituals practiced therein. Jesus shines light on the shadow-side of our institutions. 

Just one day before we meet Jesus sitting opposite the temple on the Mount of Olives, we find him standing inside the temple quoting the prophet Jeremiah,  “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den for robbers.”  (Jer 11.17) Gasping we watch as Jesus chases the money changers away and curses the temple. Peter, James, John and Andrew are with us so they should not be shocked when the very next day we hear Jesus say, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another…”  There is no reading  between the stones. Jesus sits in opposition to the religious and economic life of temple culture and predicts its demise.

Thirty years later Jesus’ prediction is fulfilled. The temple that has been the center of Jewish life for hundreds of years is destroyed by the Romans. But this is not the end of the story.  As Jesus insists, “It is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” In fact, it was after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem that Rabbinic Judaism arose with its emphasis on a disciplined life as practiced by reformed Jews to this day. New life.

Returning our attention to birth pangs, in most cases they are not impotent anguish and sterile suffering. Birth pangs are productive labor. Something new is being born. I believe this is what the German poet Marie Rainer Rilke meant when he wrote, “what batters you becomes your strength.” Birth pangs.

Considering the present moment I believe  birth pangs bear down on us from every corner. We hold our breaths as hurricanes swoop across the nation in the wake of rampant wildfires and melting glaciers. Images of war and rumors of war break into our living rooms and vibrating pockets. Birth pangs.

Mass marketing aims to delude, distract and tempt us. Social media blows wind on words meant to coax and craze us. Pundits of every persuasion smugly warn us, “If you listen to the other guy, you and the whole world are going straight to hell in a hand basket.” Is that what Jesus is talking about when he warns the disciples and us, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray?” Who are we to believe?

My vote is, Jesus whose words ring with the wisdom of the prophets. “Not one stone will be left here upon another”  because the way of life governed by gross abuses of power and failure to care for the human community must come to an end. Birth pangs. We are meant to live in humble relationship with the One sovereign and merciful God and extend that mercy to all people. Birth pangs. Thousands of years ago and today our religious and political institutions are intended to support and sustain the embodiment of the people in communion with God and each other.

But woe to us when our institutions aim is to sustain them selves and  serve those in power. Woe to us when we lose sight of right relationship with God and human community. “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom” until false gods are tumbled,  the arrogant humbled and the fear mongering are tamed. Birth pangs. 

Jesus continues, “Do not be alarmed; this must take place…” for in Rilke’s words, “What batters you becomes your strength.”

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Gospel text for Sunday 12 September 2021

  

Mark 8:27-38        Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

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

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Reflection       No Lord, how can this be? People conspiring to commit federal hate crimes. Unprovoked stabbing of a black man. Countless people losing their homes to fire, flood and plague. Memories of the 9/11 debacle and twenty years under the authority of fear, war, politic, hatred and tragedy.  No Lord. How can this be? And there we stand right next to Peter with our minds closed to reality as it is, which sets us crosswise with all that is Divine because Divinity is a choice for the present moment. 

Reading the sentence, “Then he (Jesus)  began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again,” it is easy to be seized by emotion and shout, “No Lord, how can this be?”  And we miss a very important point.  The writer of the Markan text refers to Jesus as the Son of Man, which is to say, the Son of Humanity. I believe this not only annunciates Jesus as one who lives in accord with God and humanity but also every one of us who claim to follow Jesus and live in accord with God and humanity.  

We are Daughters and Sons of Humanity. When we choose to follow the law of the Lord, “Love one another (no exceptions, no conditions) and do to others as you would have them do to you,”  we set ourselves apart from the social, political and religious elite who set their minds on human things;  fostering fear rather than love to promote their positions, using their power for personal gain regardless of the cost to others, stopping at nothing to be first, great, pad their purses and save their own lives. This is the way of setting our minds on human things.

By contrast, when we choose to get behind Jesus we decidedly set our minds on divine things. This is the way of being divinely human; living with courage by faith, humbly using our power for the good of others, serving rather than being served, sacrificing our personal gain for the common good. This is not only difficult, it is dangerous because it puts us crosswise with the keepers of the status quo who persecute and try to annihilate anyone who challenges their authority. In fact, even some of our friends will call us crazy!

Still, “Wisdom cries out from the street,” “Love one another. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  Are we listening? Are we scoffers? Do we hate knowledge and ignore Divine counsel? Do we lose faith and capitulate to fear? Do we succumb to the poison pen of the keepers of the status quo? Or, do we consent to be the Daughters and Sons of Divine Humanity even when it means laying down our lives for others? 

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Ephaphata - be opened. What if we were open to the Law of Lord? the statutes of the Lord? What if we were open to the wisdom of the Lord crying out in the streets. Can you hear it?

how long will you mutter scathing words and scorn the stranger?

how long will you hate knowledge and refuse God’s call? 

Love one another. Do to others what you would have them do to you.

When calamity strikes and we are drenched in anguish, then we reach out to our neighbors and call upon God.

Oh God, this cannot be….

7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and revives the soul; *

the testimony of the Lord is sure

and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8 The statutes of the Lord are just

and rejoice the heart; *

the commandment of the Lord is clear

and gives light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is clean

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

Gary Norman Beeler

24 August 1941 - 10 September 2021

 there is no better way to flood life with meaning than to have lifted others and helped them to a greatness they never knew they had; to have together with others righted some of the wrongs of this injured earth and its creatures; to have acted rather than waited for others to act, and to have brought others with you, for the greatest leader on earth or in heaven cannot lead alone.

Frankly I only stumbled across the new liturgical Season of Creation this week so turned to TEC website and read, “The Season of Creation, September 1st through October 43rd, is celebrated by Christians around the world as a time for renewing, repairing and restoring our relationship to God, one another, and all of creation. The Episcopal Church joins this international effort for prayer and action for climate justice and an end to environmental racism and ecological destruction. This year’s theme is A home for all? Renewing the Oikos of God. In celebrating the Season, we are invited to consider anew our ecological, economic, and political ways of living.” 

I have no idea how we will go about this but I trust we will figure it out together. 

I completed the circle of my sabbatical where it began, in my back yard. 

Morning’s dove sits vigil on my heart hatches me to see

the glories of purple petals and sunflower paint

How infinite the consciousness of woman, of man

flocking falling stars and pinecones.

Surely we are meant to be and be held 

in the grandeur of God flaming out like shook foil

in every distant chink and present chip with palatial praise. 

William O Douglas, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan and Potter Stewart.

I don’t remember the cases I argued. They were insignificant. I was a rookie in the justice department who was given either sure winners or sure losers to argue. But I especially recall Douglas, who had recently suffered a stroke and was in obvious discomfort, looking sharply at me as I made my arguments.

I was awed. Here was the justice who wrote the 1965 decision in Griswold v Connecticut, finding that a constitutional right to privacy forbids states from banning contraception. The man who argued the Vietnam war was illegal and issued an order that temporarily blocked sending Army reservists to Vietnam. The justice who wrote in the 1972 case Sierra Club v Morton that any part of nature feeling the destructive pressure of modern technology should have standing to sue in court – including rivers, lakes, trees and even the air – because if corporations (which are legal fictions) have standing, shouldn’t the natural world?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/02/us-supreme-court-texas-abortion-law-cruel-partisan