Gospel text for Sunday 13 November 2022

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 illuminating words of the theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli describe “a colorful and amazing world where universes explode, space collapses into bottomless holes, time sags and slows near a planet and the unbounded extensions of interstellar space ripple and sway like the surface of the sea….all of this..is not a tale told by an idiot in a fit of lunacy or a hallucination… (Rovelli asserts) it is a glimpse of reality.” (Seven Brief Lessons in Physics, p11)  In Jesus' words, " The days will come when not one stone (of the temple) will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." All created things change, change, even dramatically.

When we take Rovelli’s description and apply it to the planet on which we plant our feet, we step smack into Jesus’ apocalyptic assertions; “there will be wars and insurrections,  earthquakes, famines and plagues… you will be arrested and persecuted and betrayed even by your relatives and friends." Yes, all created things change and change dramatically.  But do not worry or look for a fortuneteller.  "Do not bother preparing a defense in advance," counsels Jesus,  “I will give you your words and your wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to contradict. “  

Please consider this apocalyptic moment during which I felt as if I was being brought to trial before a king and his governors. The 24 governors were actually 23 white collared Episcopal priests, one lay person (the only other female present) and the singular stand in for a king, a purple shirted Episcopal bishop. This illustrious body was the Commission on Ministry, fondly referred to as the COM. The meeting with the COM followed a year of discernment with members of my parish before they recommended to the rector (chief priest of my parish) that I be an aspirant for Holy Orders. After the rector interviewed me he sent me to the bishop for an initial screening and to declare my intent. Discernment continued with the parish as I was nominated and applied for postulancy, which hinged not only on the results of continued discernment, completing mountains of forms and composing countless essays but also on an executive medical evaluation, financial review, criminal background check and the most extensive psychiatric evaluation known to humankind. Having navigated this sea of shifting hoops I finally landed in an upstairs conference room to be interviewed by the bishop and 24 COM members.

And so I prayed. “OK God, remember, this is your idea and you promised to give me words and wisdom because I have none. If I am really called to the priesthood, which is probably a very bad idea, then give me the words because I am terrified and I cannot do this.” 

Following the briefest of introductions and no small talk, the river of questions flowed. I listened to each COM question, paused, closed my eyes, waited for a response, then spoke. It seemed to be going alright until Rev. Daniel, who was sitting three seats to my right, leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and said, “Debra, tell us, what is your vision for the Church?” I think my gulp was audible as I choked out, “Church. Do you mean capital C Church?” “Yes.” 

Again I paused, closed my eyes, and there was nothing. Not a single thought or word. I wondered how long I could sit there with my eyes closed before someone asked me to leave. And when I figured my time expired and my heart like a volcano threatened  to erupt, I opened my eyes and words came pouring from my mouth. There were boatloads of words. I can recall none. When the words stopped, the room was so silent I was afraid to breath. I had no idea what was happening. Thankfully the bishop broke the pall saying, “Thank you Debra, you may leave.” As quickly as possible I exited.  Before I got to the stairs to descend into what I assumed was my grand failure the bishop called to me from behind. “Debra, wait.  You knocked the ball out of the park. Congratulations.” I was stunned and speechless. 

“I will give you your words and your wisdom … for nothing will be impossible with God.” 

All that to say, when challenge and change, even seemingly apocalyptic change is upon us, do not panic. When unwelcome events are exacerbated by wars and rumors of war, insurrections and betrayals, do not panic. Because, when we choose to put our faith in the one and only thing that is unchanging; the unborn, undying, eternally all that is that we call God , “Not a hair on (our) heads will perish. By (our) endurance we will gain (our) souls.”

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Gospel text for Sunday 20 August 2017

Matthew 15. 10-28        Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and  understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Reflection     Bishop Eugene Sutton of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland writes, “Racism, anti-Semitism and violence rear their ugly head once again, this time in Charlottesville, Virginia… and another example of the collective failure of our nation to expend the moral and political capital needed to stop our spiral into racial and violent madness.”

“Now more than ever, we need people of good will to speak out clearly and courageously against the disturbing tide of white supremacist rhetoric that wants to divide and prevent us from coming together.”

And there it is. An invitation to people of good will - hopefully that is us - to speak out because, words are powerful. Words are windows into our hearts. And those of us with hearts tempered by compassion must open our mouths and speak out. I believe Jesus might well have said, “What goes into our mouths does not make us holy, but what comes out of our mouths makes us holy.”  

If you are, as I am, appalled by the degrading, debasing, dishonoring words you hear echoing across our nation please take seriously your covenant with God and remember the ageless wisdom that underlies the Holiness Code in Leviticus, “For I am the LORD your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves…” (Lev 11.44)

To consecrate ourselves, to make ourselves holy, we must dedicate ourselves to  divine purpose. One way to do that is to consider and measure our words as they betray the state of our hearts.  When our words (or texts or twitters) are drenched in enmity, antagonism and disgust they are like flaming swords inciting hostility and hatred. This will do nothing more than continue and exacerbate the tragic violence and hostility that besieged Charlottesville. 

Returning to Bishop Sutton’s reflection, “Too often in our nation’s history people of goodwill have chosen to remain silent in the face of bigotry, refusing to risk having unpleasant conversations that might disturb colleagues, friends and the ones we love.” It is time for us to initiate those difficult conversations. Remember, even Jesus had his mind changed by the persistent Caananite woman who broke every social, political and religious boundary to plead for mercy for her daughter. Had the woman remained silent the demons would have continued to torment her daughter.

Imagine how Charlottesville might have looked if a group of us people of good will approached those protesting the removal of the Robert E. Lee stature and respectfully asked, “Would you join us for a meal? Tell us about your concern? How does this stature affirm who you are? How would removing it harm you? Does your claim to white supremacy stem from your experience of seeing how minorities have historically been mistreated? If so, it is no wonder you feel vulnerable and want to protect yourselves. What can we do together to insure this will never happen to you or anyone else?” And there is every chance we would have to keep asking, and asking and asking, persistent as the Canaanite woman.

This is hard, in fact, we cannot accomplish it by sheer will. Like the Canaanite woman we must depend on our relationship with God. We must ask to be fed with the spiritual food of compassion to enable us to live in holiness of life.

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Gospel text for Sunday 13 July 2014

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23        Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."  

Reflection     Awhile ago a man came to my office and told me his story. He said I could share it. Cal began, “I have been far from a perfect man and certainly not the perfect brother. My relationship with one of my brothers has been troubled  for a long time. The other day it went over the edge. My brother sent me a scathing email message. It was filled with obscenities and vicious lies. It roundly assasinated my character and made me feel physically sick. The first thing I wanted to do was lash out - forward his message to everyone. I wanted to expose my brother’s loathsome words. Let others see just what kind of person he is. But I was so shaken up I knew I should do nothing.”

Cal paused. Became pensive. “For me, words matter. I realized if I passed on my brothers vicious words I would be spreading his bad seed among other people. The last thing in the world I want to do is sow my bother’s hateful seeds. So I deleted his email. I want to spread seeds of kindness and forgiveness but it is not easy. I can’t think of anything kind to say about him but I am beginning to think he must be suffering to say such hateful and untrue things about me.”

Cal is talking about the power of words; the power of words to kill and the power of words to give life. He understands that words are like seeds, they are cast out extravagantly and some will land on fertile soil and multiply. Others on falllow land and die.

Not only are we Christians  invited to be fertile soil within which the Word of God may grow and multiply, we are also invited to be mindful of the words we sow. If we choose to speak lies, spout obscenities, stir up anger or spark dissent, some of our words will fall on fallow ground and die and others of them will land on fertile soil and multiply. An emotional moment in which we lose control of our words can lead to thirty, sixty one hundred times the anger or fear or bitterness being spread among people. 

The power of words is astonishing. A single word may blossom and multiply God’s loving presence a hundredfold. Likewise, a single word may harbor the killing power of a bullet.

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