Christian Testament Text for Sunday 23rd January 2022

 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a        Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts.

Reflection      What part of your body would you chop off declaring it is inferior, unattractive or not as valuable as other parts? Your crooked first toe? Your cauliflower ears? Your bulbous nose? Your achy knees? Your dim eyes? Your bent back? My guess is you would protest, “I will not chop off any part!” 

Were I to boldly pen the words I imagine God speaking on the subject of chopping off parts I imagine they would be, “No one and nothing can be chopped off, cut out or left behind.” Indeed! Although we are an assembly of many parts, we are one body, one body individually and one body in community. As Paul writes, “there are many members, yet one body.”

Why does this matter? Because the least the lost and lonely among us are as valuable to the one body as the most adored,  beheld and beloved. Every part matters, in fact, in God’s economy “the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this.” 

In God’s upside down economy, even though the first is last and the last is first the first and the last are equally essential because nothing and no one is left out. So put away the axe. Nothing needs to be chopped off, cut out or left behind. And at the same time bury your pride and pleasure in your accomplishments. Every part is just that, a mere morsel of the One that is incomplete without it. The rich need the poor as much as the poor need the rich. 

And there we have it. We the people of God are both infinitely important and as insignificant as as a grain of sand in the Saharan desert. Everything counts when in relationship with all that is. Nothing counts apart from the integral community of all that is. At the end of assembling a jigsaw puzzle, how does it feel to discover you are missing a piece?

Have a 9 minute listen to Richard Rohr's reflection on the paradox of living One and Many by clicking on image above to the right. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 27 November 2021

 Luke 21:25-36        Jesus said, "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

"Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

     

Reflection        While attending a meeting last week a man I will call Harold described a situation that deeply disturbed him. When Harold mentioned a good thing that former president Trump had accomplished a switch was flipped in his previously peaceful friend whose face turned red as Maude yelled, “The man is evil,” provoking a painful rift between them.   Here is the thing. Harold and Maude are operating from entirely different levels of consciousness; nondualistic and dualistic respectively.  

Maude insists that people or reality fit into one of two mutually exclusive categories. Right or wrong. Good or evil. No grey zone.  Harold is operating from a nondualistic perspective that tolerates ambiguity. For him life appears in fifty shades of grey. I believe much of the conflict we experience in our families, country and world is a consequence of people operating from different levels of consciousness much as Harold and Maude.

Luke's text reads like a graphic novel version of nondualistic consciousness. Jesus insists that when we are “faint(ing) from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world,…” we are supposed to “stand up and raise (our) heads, because (our) redemption is drawing near!” In other words, news of covid variants circling the globe, holiday parade horrors, essential supplies and Christmas gifts afloat in a traffic jam of cargo ships, sexual violence, misinformation, banning of books and backsliding of democracy not to mention rising tides and temperatures…… all this tells us that grace is near? Jesus, really? How do we hold this paradox together?

This is Jesus’ counsel. Despite rampant troubles in our families, country and the world Jesus is concerned with the condition of our hearts. “Be on guard… protect your hearts.” Regardless of the whims and wiles of the world our hearts must remain open and alert. But how?

Have you ever wondered how Jesus seems to know exactly what to say to resist temptation, diffuse an attacking attorney,  humble an arrogant seeker,  forgive a sinner, preach great sermons, tell amazing wisdom tales and not complain?  With not an ounce of arrogance Jesus admits, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father… “ (Luke10.22)  “All that I say and all that I do is given to me.”  Every morning and evening when Jesus steps away from the disciples to pray I believe he is “putting his head in his heart”**  by aligning his will in the will of God. 

Observing Jesus we witness the evolution of consciousness from which wisdom is born because wisdom is the child of intimate relationship between humble humanity, as exemplified by Jesus, and benevolent divinity, the Father. Wisdom is born when our heads are seated in our hearts.  

When we are absorbed in dualistic, this or that thinking it is as if we are wearing blinders and cannot see a full spectrum of possibilities. We are locked in a two chambered box with a narrow door between sides and forced go this way or that. Feeling stuck and stifled by the forced choice naturally our hearts are ‘weighed down.” We become anxious, angry or fearful.

Jesus shows us a way of living beyond the two chambered box. By never straying from his relationship with God, Jesus “puts his head in his heart” which is to say, he chooses to align his will with something greater than himself. As a result, wisdom, the child of nondualistic consciousness, is born. 

Knowing with our heads is necessary and good because reason is required to bring language and context to our hearts. But knowing with our heads alone does not engender wisdom. By putting our heads in our hearts we experience subtleties, nuance and mystery not available to our heads alone. This frees us from the prison of the two-chambered box. No longer forced to choose between this or that, good or evil, human or divine,  we begin to see all things are possible because nothing is impossible from the nondualistic "with God" perspective.

The way, the truth and the life revealed to us in Jesus insists that we rise above our dualistic thinking minds by putting our heads in our hearts and allowing wisdom to be born through us so that like Jesus  we will be free to resist temptation, diffuse  attacks,  be kind, forgiving, humble, speak wise words and not complain. 

** language I have borrowed from Cynthia Bourgeault’s The Heart of Centering Prayer

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Epistle for the 5th Sunday of Easter 10 May 2020

1 Peter 2:2-10

Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the very head of the corner”,and

“A stone that makes them stumble,

and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people,

but now you are God’s people;

once you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

Reflection       Acknowledging God as the rock, the foundation of our lives requires a reordering of everything else.

By choosing God we commit ourselves to turn away from competing loyalties.  In Biblical times these competing loyalties or false gods were named Baal, Molech, Ashtoreth, Chemosh, Artemis, and others. Our ancient ancestors carved these gods in wood and molded them in gold. These were the pagan gods in competition with YHWH, the One God of Israel.

Today our false gods have names like  money, religion, politics, rights and freedom, sex, sports, celebrity, drugs, add your own to the list. I believe the idol in position number one is, self.  How do we know these are false gods? Because false gods are things that occupy an inordinate amount of our attention, action and resources. Please underline the word ‘inordinate.’ 

None of these interests; money, youth, religion, politics, rights and freedom, sex, sports, celebrity, drugs or self are false gods in and of themselves. In fact, they can be worthy assets.  Idolatry comes into play when we devote an unwarranted or wasteful amount of our attention, action or resources to them.  It is when we ascribe a surplus of meaning and value to theses interests that they become false gods or idols.

Here is the glitch. By claiming to revere the One, Holy and Living God at the same time we make great offerings of our attention, action and resources to false gods or idols we are effectively condemning ourselves to life in the middle of a combat zone. At best we are restless, at worst worried sick, as our false idols compete with the One, Holy and Living God for our attention, our action and our resources. No peace will be found on this battleground.

What then shall we do? Let me suggest that in an unforeseeable twist of events, the onslaught of Covid-19 addresses our dilemma.  The insidious intrusion of the grim virion shut down historic institutions, power brokering agencies and brought the world to its knees. Recently someone put it this way, “It is as if God sent us all to our rooms!” That image strikes home for me. Too many times I heard, “Young lady, go to your room and write five hundred times, “I will be kind to my little brother.” But I digress.

Here is the startling paradox. The cost of the pandemic is unfathomable to victims, their families, those who lost their livelihood, their homes and their hope. And at the same time, the shutting down of public institutions has created the spaciousness for us to go to our rooms, examine and reorder our lives while the earth is healing her waters, air and atmosphere.

The question is, will we consent to this challenging moment and devote our attention, actions and resources to fostering right relationship with God, our neighbors and the earth? Or, will we join the chorus complaining, looking for someone to blame, demanding things go back to the way they used to be?

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Gospel text for Sunday, 22 September 2019

Luke 16:1-13        Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' Then the manager said to himself, `What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.

 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?' He answered, `A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' Then he asked another, `And how much do you owe?' He replied, `A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill and make it eighty.' And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

"Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Reflection        As children of this age, when focused on things of this world, (reviewing our bank statement or portfolios, church finances, considering our basic survival needs), we generally switch gears and leap into action when we see the need to take care of business. But, as children of light is this also true when we assess the state of our spiritual life? When  we notice things that can turn us away from God and the love of God’s people, (an inordinate concern for our portfolios and bank statements, our power and privilege), are we as swift to take action to preserve the light?

What do we mean, preserve the light? I believe it is the light of consciousness open to receive and radiate Jesus’ Good News; “God is with and for all people and we are all meant to experience fullness of life.” But everywhere we turn we are assaulted with contrary messages; “You better protect yourself, take care of number one, sure up your resources because life is a zero sum game. There is only so much money to go around, there are limits to the amount of power and privilege available, so grab what you can and protect it.”  Fearing we will be left out or left behind, we leap into action, accumulate as much as possible and then worry about protecting our earthly assets with smart houses and corporate veils, electric fences, umbrella insurance and off shore accounts. 

Then in a twist we don’t see coming, Jesus commends the manager who rips off his rich master,  when the manager “acts shrewdly” to insure his own survival. What is going on here? Even though the unjust manager is reducing the debtors’ debt for his personal gain, he is using money to benefit his neighbors and establish friendships so they will “welcome him into their homes.“Ironically, this secures the unjust manager’s spiritual life because our spiritual life is all about relationships, not about protecting number one.

There is nothing inherently wrong with money or power or privilege. And yes, to some extent they do provide us with physical and social security. But, no amount of money, power or privilege puts us in right relationship with God. No superfund of resources can protect us from travail and ultimately, death. So, the question is, how are we using our resources? 

Are we fools who use our resources in an ill-fated effort to secure our physical and social security and consequently crash into a wall of our own making, an edifice of ‘stuff’ separating us from God and God’s people? Or, are we using our money, power and privilege to establish good will and cultivate community for the glory of God? Are we only children of the age or are we also children of the light?

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The Song of Mary, Canticle for Sunday 15 December 2013

The Song of Mary, The Magnificat                                                                                                                    **

Luke 1:46-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
    for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
    the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
    in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
    he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
    and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
    for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
    to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Reflection     When you hear the words, Mary, Mother of God, what image comes to mind? For the first part of my life my image of Mary, Mother of God was the tall, slender, blond girl in my Sunday School class wrapped like a holy present in a pale blue sheet. She was the chosen one. I was not. Fortunately I didn’t have to spend too many therapy hours on Mary. After all she made only a cameo appearance once a year on Christmas Eve. I supposed the rest of the year Mary was safely wrapped in tissue paper and stowed away in the church closet. Somehow that image doesn’t quite fit the woman singing The Magnificat.

Who is this Mary chanting a love canticle to God? Who is this Mary singing a subversive  verse for social justice? I believe this is not the twelve year old blond Mary, wrapped in tissue and stored in a closet. This Mary is not fragile or ineffectual, neither is she submissive or impotent. No, this Mary is competent and vulnerable, courageous and fruitful...  without being arrogant, conceited or full of herself. 

When Mary encountered the Angel Gabriel, she didn’t run away, she didn’t become speechless and she didn’t get inflated. When the angel addressed Mary as “Favored one,” and affirmed, “The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1.28) Mary paused and pondered the angel’s words. Her quiet acceptance of the angel’s blessing suggests that Mary had a sense of worthiness.  When the Angel proclaimed that even though she was unmarried Mary would become pregnant and give birth to a son who would receive the throne of King David and his kingdom would reign forever,” Mary was not paralyzed by the paradox. Instead she stood her ground and engaged the angel asking, “How can this be?”(Luke 1.38) When the angel explained that she would give birth to the Son of God,” Mary was both bold and vulnerable saying, “Here I am... let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1.38) 

I much prefer the stand up, engage God and let her life be changed Mary to the passive adolescent wrapped in a blue sheet. If it was up to me I would keep hail and hearty Mary front and center as a paragon of how to be in relationship with God, of how to show up in our lives, how to live in the tension of paradox, how to be vulnerable and take risks. That’s what it means to be courageous; to show up, be vulnerable and take the risk with no guarantees.  And that’s what it means to be fully alive, blessed, transformed and fruitful.

** Image of Manal al-Sharif, a seventeen year old activist in Saudi Arabia today

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