Epistle text for Sunday 29 September 2019

1 Timothy 6.6-19        There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time-- he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

Reflection        A few months ago a friend asked me, “Are you happy or are you content?” Although it was not meant to be a trick question, it gave me pause. So I spent about a week wondering, “What does it mean to be happy? What does it mean to be content?” Here is what occurs to me. 

Happy describes a transient emotional state associated with a particular moment or event; being pleased, delighted or feeling lucky because of something or someone. Content is an overall or generally pervasive condition of life, conveying a sense of sufficiency. Like the deep ocean currents that are stable and predictable, contentment is more of a constant or reliable undercurrent whereas happiness arises as a surface wave that ebbs and swells in response to the changing winds and tides of circumstance. The dependability of contentment engenders balance and a sense of freedom to be and enjoy life as it is. But, contentment is discouraged by our consumerist culture that insists there is always something more we need in order to be happy. 

When we kow-tow to the voice of consumerist culture, there is no way we can be content because we are bent on acquiring more happiness. And there is the dig. Consumerism sells happiness, a transient emotion that cannot be sustained no matter how much stuff or how many exotic adventures we acquire. Socrates writes, “Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.” 

The trouble with luxury is it does not satisfy. It inevitably ebbs (or rusts, or breaks or the adventure simply ends) dissolving into a sense of loss or emptiness. Contentment, on the other hand, sustains. By focusing on the good things about our lives rather than on the next shiny thing, or what the neighbors have, or what we are told we are lacking, we can choose to be grateful. 

And there we arrive at the denouement. Choosing to be grateful for our life as it is, we are free, free to be and express our selves, free to enjoy life this moment.  Choosing to be grateful for our life regardless of how much stuff we do or do not have. Which brings us to the pastoral letter to Timothy, “There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.” Being content we are free to affirm, we have just enough. 

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Gospel Text for Sunday, August 28th, 2011

Matthew 16. 21-28 Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

Then Jesus told his disciples, "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 will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

"For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

Luke 24:1-12 Reflection on Easter Sunday text

Alleluia Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia! Throughout the world this day people have sung and said these words. And I wonder – is this what was on the lips and in the hearts of Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women when “they did not find the body” of their beloved Jesus lying on the limestone shelf in the cool dark cave early that first Easter morning? Things certainly were not as they expected.

When things don’t turn out the way we expect, when we look into the darkness of an uncertain future, when emptiness and confusion fill us – how do we respond? I don’t know about you, but when things don’t work out in accord with the picture in my mind I don’t shout alleluia! When I am perplexed, disappointed, distressed or afraid it is hard for me to see any light never mind shout for joy.

So how is it the women who went to Jesus’ cave prepared to anoint his body with spices were able to find light in the darkness of his empty tomb? The two men (angels) in “dazzling clothes reminded the women that their friend Jesus did not expect his life to be a bed of roses. Jesus expected to be “handed over to sinners and be crucified,” to suffer and die, “and on the third day rise again” in new life. And the women remembered what Jesus had told them.

What if we shared Jesus’ expectation? What if instead of imagining that life is meant to be a steady state of ease and comfort we expected life to be an ceaselessly changing journey of possibilities and surprises? What if instead of imagining that difficulty, disease and suffering where signs of God’s absence we embraced our afflictions as occasions for relying on God’s grace? What if we allowed ourselves to relax into the experience of our lives – just the way they are? What if in the darkest moments – looking into the empty tomb – we remembered that life is endlessly emerging and that the spark of light arises from the heart of darkness? What if we walked The Way of Jesus, consenting to our lives as given and being raised into new life?

Neither consolation nor desolation is constant. Life is not a steady state. Day resolves into night; night is the dawning of day. It is the light found in the remembering of what is not present that is the light of hope. It is this light the women realized in the empty tomb.

Alleluia Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Please engage the "Weekly Bible Reading" for next Sunday and post your reflections.

We look forward to hearing from you. Debra