Gospel text for Sunday 18 December 2022

 Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Reflection        Of what are you afraid? Being censured for living in accord with your conscience? Being convicted for challenging the status quo? Being condemned for speaking the unspeakable? loving the unlovable?

The angel said to Joseph, “Do not be afraid…”  Do not be afraid to do what is right even though it puts you crosswise with social, cultural and religious laws and order. Do not be afraid to protect and cherish a pregnant teenager and raise her son as a Holy gift of God. “Do not be afraid.” The angel’s counsel rings through the years to awaken our ears.

Of what are you afraid? Being censured for living in accord with your conscience? Being convicted for challenging the status quo? Being condemned for speaking the unspeakable? loving the unlovable?

Fear is formidable. When bound by trembling, trepidation or timidity  there is no possibility for light, life and love to enter and take root in us. But, when we choose to live without fear we are the fertile ground in which the seed of Holiness is planted, gestates, is born and raised. This I believe is the heart of the story of the ill conceived birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph. 

What will it take for us to awaken from the dream that by refusing risk or responsibility we can escape the rough and tumble stumbles of life? What will it take for us to consent to Holiness born in and of, with and through us? The answer is simple. Living without fear.

Living without fear; new light penetrates even our darkest darkness, love replaces faint heartedness and Holiness is born of us. And yes, the birth of Holiness costs our whole lives.

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Gospel text for Feast of the Epiphany 9 January 2022

 Matthew 2:1-12        In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

`And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

who is to shepherd my people Israel.’"

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road

Reflection        On fire with passion Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, preached for the Feast of Epiphany in Washington D.C. on Thursday morning, January 6th. Here are a few of Curry’s words I have paraphrased. “ It never occurred to me… that it would be necessary to stand up before the people of God and insist we must reclaim epiphany.  What we saw a year ago on January 6th at the United States Capitol was not about light. This day, Epiphany, is about light, the light shining in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it. …. because we are better than that.  We who claim to be followers of Jesus must reclaim Epiphany and bear witness to the light.” 

Twenty five hundred years ago the prophets wrote in the present tense. “Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”        “Your light has come….”  The light, life and love of God lives at the core of our being and this light, life and  love of God is meant to flow out of us,  to be given away extravagantly for the benefit of others. We are meant to be epiphanies.

Epiphany is about allowing the light, life and love of God already present in the heart of each of us to shine into the world.  As people of God we are imbued with these precious gifts. But we are not meant to hoard or hold onto them. We are meant to be epiphanies shining these gifts into world. I believe this is how we respond to Curry’s call to reclaim epiphany; emulate the wise men by consciously choosing to go out of our way (even when it means encountering strangers) to offer the gifts of God’s light, life and love to the world.

Each one of us must decide how we will engage the darkness. Do we choose to adopt the mindset of the wise men, go out of our way and deliver our gifts of light, life and love to the world or do we defer to the dark ways of King Herod, living in fear and scheming to secure our wealth and power even when it means the killing of innocents?  What do you choose?

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Hebrew and Gospel Texts for Sunday 9 February 2020

Isaiah 58.6-7  

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly

Matthew 5:13-20

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Reflection        It was the day I moved to Arizona to begin my first job as an Episcopal priest. Wandering through labyrinthine miles of mall I lamented, “Maybe today God can help me find my way through this confounding maze. How can I possibly be a priest if I cannot even find Sears?” Resisting the urge to exit stage right, I glumly scuffed along until I noticed a strange collection of objects stacked at the front door of a store. Curiosity drew me to the cache of craggy pinkish things.

They  turned out to be rock salt harvested from the Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan. Some of the salt crystals were made into lamps, other stood on their own. As I picked them up and inspected their rough angularity I wondered, “Why am I so attracted to these crystalline lumps?”  Remembering my mission I interrupted the clerk who was regaling me with the details of this salty find, ”Where in the world is the Sears store?” Smiling he apprized me, “You are on the wrong side of the mall.”

Eventually I found my way to Sears. While waiting for a second clerk to schedule delivery of my washer, dryer and vacuum cleaner I found my mind inspecting the eccentric pillars of pink salt and wondering, “Why am I so attracted to these craggy crystals of sodium chloride? Why can’t I get them out of my mind?” 

With delivery set for my Sears essentials I retraced my steps to the Salt Store and without hesitation paid for the first pink pillar I picked up, walk out of the store and ‘heard’ Jesus’ words in the depths of my being, “You are the salt of the earth.” I sat down and wept.

Right there in the midst of the unhallowed mall the God who promises to ‘strengthen my limp hands and steady my feeble knees” gave me exactly what I needed, assurance of God’s presence. Believers such as my enthusiatic sales person claim this jagged pink pillar cleans the air, soothes allergies, boosts your mood and helps you sleep. But my zealous clerk did not overhear this fanciful pink pillar speaking to my anxious heart,“You are the salt of the earth.”

What does it mean to be salt of the earth? I believe it means we are meant to enhance the flavor of God’s Presence on earth by telling the stories of the ways in which we have been surprised by God. By a salt pillar or an orange offered by a homeless man, in the death of a loved one or the birth of a new one, in an unexpected benefit or an anonymous thank you, in a dream, a poem or book that falls off the shelf into your hands at exactly the right moment, in an “ah-hah” realization or a flash of forgiveness.

Which brings us to Jesus’ second proclamation,“You are the light of the world.” If we are indeed the light of the world, (and who is going to argue with Jesus?) then we are meant to “let our light shine before others.” “What is this light that we are meant to shine before others?”  First let us consider what this light is not. It is not a spot light directing focus onto our performance. This light is not intended to  announce how important, powerful, exceptional, smart, enviable, rich, secure, influential, lovable, competent, impressive or even acceptable we are. 

The light we are meant to “shine before others” is the Light of Christ risen within us, the light that makes God’s Presence known in ordinary, unexceptional, even undesirable circumstances. The light that makes God’s Presence known in our impotence, incompetence and innocence. The light of Christ within us glows like the soft pink light from the heart of a pillar of salt, enhancing the flavor of God’s Presence on earth by telling the stories of the ways in which we have been surprised by God. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 29 December 2019

John 1:1-18        In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

Reflection        Having just enjoyed Christmas with my family, including loquacious 11 year old Alec and 18 month old Wesley, I cannot count the number of times I heard Wesley invited to, “Use your Words.” Each time he complied, expressions of glee and encouragement resounded. The evocative power of words is compelling. 

Perhaps that is why the writer of the Gospel according to John begins, “In the beginning was the Word” and “all things come into being” with the Word. The Greek for “Word” is “logos.” It refers to the wisdom, reason and order of God incarnate through Jesus, the human revelation of creative Divine Presence. Jesus reveals the expressive capacity for taking all things into account, considering them and using his words to instruct the physical and ethical grounds for right relationships, human with human and human with Divinity. 

The “Word” may be said to represent the convergence of Divine and human genius. It conveys the gift of intellect present through the receptivity of humanity to Divinity. And here is the astonishing news. The “Word” is not the exclusive purview of Jesus. The ‘Word” represents “the true light, which enlightens everyone…” With the exception of those born silent, the spoken “Word” reveals the capacity of each of us to receive and express the wisdom, reason and order of God right here, right now, on earth.

It used to be that we heard the “Word” of God breaking through to us from some distant and surreal region beyond the beyond. It was the Word of remote God spoken through angels or a motley crew of snarky and sometimes cranky prophets. But today we have the feet on the ground revelation that ever since the very “beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And this Word that has come into being... is life itself ..life that is the light of all people.” This changes everything.

The “Word” of God is not distant or remote. The “Word” of God is the light and life at the very center of each one of us. The “Word” of God is with us... with all people. We have never been separated from God, not for an instant, not since the beginning because the creating Word of God is our very light... the radiance of our life. And with it we are meant to represent God’s wisdom, reason and order on earth. 

Here is the invitation for 2020. Use all your words to express the compelling power of God’s wisdom, reason and order on earth and every thing will be changed for the good. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 11 March 2018

John 3:14-21            Jesus said to Nicodemus, "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. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Reflection          If God is God, in and of, with and for all things, that means God is not other than us. Though we are not God, we are not, not God either. Nothing separates us from God. Nothing separates God from us which means our image of ourself is not other than our image of God. Conversely, our image of God is not other than our image of ourself. Humanity and God are intimately interwoven. We cannot be torn apart.

Which brings us to face the questions, “What is my image of myself? What is my image of God?” It really does not matter which question we begin with because we cannot tease the two apart. Let’s begin with our image of our selves. When we see ourselves as a disappointment, not measuring up or fundamentally not good enough by implication we are seeing God as displeased,  demanding and disengaged; God the judge. By contrast, when we see ourselves as dependable, devoted and desiring God by implication we see God as trustworthy, loving and true, God the benevolent. The thing is, just like our image of our selves, our image of God is not etched in stone. It is up to us to choose the image with which we want to live. 

When we choose to believe in a harsh and judgmental God we have every reason to remain in the shadows, hoping against hope that miraculously we will be transformed into something acceptable, unless of course we reject God entirely. But if we chose in favor of a sympathetic, life-giving God then we can dare to reveal ourselves, step out of the shadows into the light. The moment we do this we are set free, free from the shackles of a shameful self image, free to claim the truth of our identity with God. 

At the same time every one of us has some skeleton in the closet, some secret or foible we fear to expose about ourselves. For as long as we keep this hidden we remain prisoners of the darkness. But when we choose to bring our deepest truth into the light we are seen in the light of God’s love, love that does not condemn us but counsels us to choose life in the light of God.

Who we are is defined by our choices. In John’s gospel text Jesus counsels Nicodemus and us to choose, choose to believe. The thing is, belief is not a commodity that we mine like copper or grow like corn. Belief is not something we can find or buy or bargain for. Belief is a state of mind in which we choose to accept something as being true or existing without any empirical evidence to prove it with factual certainty.*

What we believe really matters because what we believe guides our action and determines whether we live in the darkness or in the light. For as long as we believe that we are fundamentally flawed,  not good enough or cannot measure up, we will hate the light and avoid the light because we do not want our shameful self to be exposed. But when we choose to believe that we are essentially good, we will seek and love the light and let our selves be exposed in the light “so that it may be clearly seen that (our) deeds have been done in God.”

The light and life and love of God is in and of, with and for all of us. Do you choose to believe? 

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* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief/accessed March 9, 2018.

Ladder of Divine Ascent - icon representing monks climbing toward and falling away from Jesus

John 17:6-19        Looking up to heaven, Jesus prayed, "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

Reflection        We have listened to the Word, God, and allowed the Word, God, to inform and transform us into a community of people who believe, Christians. And so Jesus says to the disciples and us, “Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you…” 

But believing the Word, God, is not enough. Jesus continues his prayer, “… they have kept your word.” Which is to say, it is not enough to study, to believe and even to be changed by the Word, God. We must also keep the Word, we must claim the Word, God, as our own and grow into our full Christian stature as apostles, the ones who are sent into the world to embody the Word, God. 

in response to our knowledge of God we are meant to carry the Word, God, into the world and make a difference in peoples’ lives. This would be a daunting proposition except Jesus is with us all the way. He understands how difficult, how counter cultural it is to live the Word, God, in the world, and so he  prays asking God to protect the disciples and us, “I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they do not belong in the world.” Jesus is not asking for us to be taken out of the world, rather to be protected in the world because we are needed in the world to embody the Word, God, and make a difference in peoples’ lives. 

Jesus continues his prayer. “(Father) you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them (that would be us) into the world.” By the way we live and the choices we make, we are the light that exposes the world’s darkness. As keepers of the Word,  God, we bring life in abundance to all people.  As conduits of the Word, God, we dignify all people. We are meant to be the light and life and love of the Word, God, in the world. We are the apostles, the ones sent to continue and fulfill the revelation Jesus began.

We are the flesh and bones intended to animate the Word, God, throughout creation. Jesus revealed the way. Let us pray for the will to do likewise. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 15 March 2015

John 3:14-21        Jesus said to Nicodemus, "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. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Reflection Ignorance is bliss… or is it? I recall as a thirteen year old a civic’s lesson my father extolled in the midst of my attempt to weasel out of some misdemeanor. Debra, “But I did not know the rule.” Father, “Ignorance is no excuse, it would not stand up in court. Make it your business to know the rules.” No doubt I responded with one of those grand adolescent eye-rolls because I was one of the people Jesus was talking about in his conversation with Nicodemus who “love darkness rather than light because…(they do not want) their deeds to be exposed.” 

As a child of a strict German father I was thoroughly convinced that I could not measure up, so there was every reason for me to linger in the shadows. If the truth of me was exposed it would not be a pretty sight. Surely I would be one of those people who God’s serpent would bite and I would die. A couple of decades would pass before the egregious lie was exposed to the light and I realized it was up to me to make a choice.

Either I could choose to believe in a God of light and life and love or I could choose to believe in a God who sat in judgment waiting for my next infraction. Jesus’ story of the woman caught in adultery comes to mind. (John 8.1-11) When a group of religious officials approach Jesus with a woman caught in adultery averring that according to Moses’ law the woman should be stoned, Jesus paused, scribbled something in the dirt and basically said, “Whoever among you has never sinned be the first to cast a stone at this woman.” That singular sentence exposed the sin of everyone there present. No stone was cast. Neither did Jesus condemn the woman. He merely counseled her to choose to sin no more. 

Honest self examination, exposing the countless times we turn away from God and fail to love ourselves and our neighbors, is the sure and certain way of living in the light and life and love of Christ. Jesus did not come into the world to “condemn the world” but as an act of unspeakable love, love divine revealed in the person of Jesus for the blessing of all of humanity. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 26 January 2014

Matthew 4.12-23       When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

"Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--
the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Reflection       Eight hundred years  before Jesus , twenty eight hundred years before us First Isaiah explained, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-- on them light has shined.” (Isaiah 9.2-3)  Which begs two questions? What is deep darkness? What is a great light?

I believe deep darkness is failure to recognize God with us and for us, right here and right now,. I believe deep darkness is weaving the net of our lives by our efforts alone while striving for security, esteem and power. I believe deep darkness is the reason so many of us experience isolation, alienation, anger, depression and fear. I believe deep darkness is the reason our world is under the siege of violence. 

Since World War II there have been over 250 mahor wars in the world in whcih 23 million people have been killed, tens of millions made homeless and countless millions injured and grieving. Our current global military spending is approximately $800 billion per year, more that the total annual income of the poorest 45% of our global population. Worldwide, a quarter of all women are raped during their lifetime.Three billion of the worlds people live in poverty. Still, there is good news.

Although we have lived in a land of deep darkness a great light has shined on us. And the great light is this. It is the light in the eyes of our hearts that recognizes the spiritual dimension as real and present, right here and right now. 

When we live in the darkness we are preoccupied with the comings and goings of all things visible. When we live in the light we recognize things visible as revelations of things invisible. The visible and invisible are not seperate and competing categories. The visible and invisible are two sides of one coin. They are the material and the immaterial, the human and the divine, each perspective essential to the apperhension of creation. . 

We are the people upon whom the great light has shined. The question is, will we allow our hearts (and behavior) to be transformed even before our minds catch up? Will we put down our nets, leave our old ways behind even when it means stepping beyond the box of the way we have always done things? Will we demand the end of war, the end of violence against all people? Do we dare to step beyond the status quo and redirect military spending to care for 43% of God’s people on earth who are living on less than $2. each day?

When Jesus called the first four disciples he called them to a heart stopping, mind boggeling, world changing life beyond the box of anything they could imagine. Jesus’ call upon our lives is no less radical. Shall we join the old prophet Isaiah and respond, “Here am I. Send me?” 

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Gospel Text for Sunday, April 3, 2011

John 9:35-41

Jesus heard that they (the Pharisees) had driven him (the man born blind whose sight Jesus had restored) 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 worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement 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.