Gospel text for Sunday 27 October 2019

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        Here Jesus goes again, picking on us righteous religious folk. Like the Pharisee in Jesus’ teaching tale, we feel pretty good about ourselves. We go to church (the synagogue) for all of the appointed prayers (special services), we read blogs about scripture, we steer clear of contact with undesirable people and fulfill our biblical obligation to give ten percent of our income to the temple or church (well, maybe not quite). Surely we deserve God’s good graces. But Jesus turns our presumption upside down when he commends our unassuming neighbor, the sinful tax collector, for humbling himself  and then stealthily puts us in our place, quite a few pegs down the ladder. Oh dear. 

This teaching tale requires we find our face in the nearest mirror. “Yes, there I am.  No, I am not a thief, a scoundrel, two-faced or a rat. I have a respected job (or have retired from one) and give sensibly to my church (in truth I could do better). Just look at me Lord. Unlike all of those reprehensible people, I am law abiding and above reproach.”  But our flourishes holds no sway with Jesus who exalts our neighbor who does not even presume to “look up to heaven.” And we are humbled.

In the parable that immediately precedes the tale of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus uses the story of a widow and an unjust judge to underscore his point about where we stand in relationship with God, “praying always.” Our proper place is humbly turning toward God and persistently asking for justice because, “will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?”(Luke 18.1-8) We are meant to humbly depend on God.

Which brings us to Jesus’ third admonition, given as he blesses the little children. “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18.17) Jesus’ commends the unaffected sincerity of children. Unspoiled and unembellished we  turn toward the One from whom we receive all blessings and respond spontaneously as does a child, naturally delighted, knowing our place is safe in the heart of God. We are meant to humbly depend on God rather than ourselves. Now, that is spiritual freedom. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 12 June 2016

Luke 7:36-8:3        One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him-- that she is a sinner." Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "Speak." "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Gospel text for Sunday 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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