Gospel text for Sunday 4 December 2022

Matthew 3.1-12        In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

                     "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Reflection        Finding his place in the mystery of the wilderness rather than in Roman baths or columned temple halls, grizzly John the Baptist is an anomalous character. Even though John's scraggly beard is crusty with legs of locust glued to globs of honey and he looks more like a hippie than a holy man, crowds listen to him. What is he saying?  “I am nothing. What I have to offer you is merely a bath in water that is nothing compared to the baptism by fire that the one who follows me will bring to you.” 

John consistently directs attention away from himself toward Jesus. “He who is coming after me is more powerful than me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.” (Matt 3.11) Yet, even as John is a paragon of humility, he is an intrepid prophet fearlessly speaking truth to power. He not only calls for the people’s radical change, “repent and be baptized,” daring to criticize King Herod for marrying his brother’s wife, John also demands social justice. This does not end well for John who ultimately loses his head for it. But I am leaping ahead.

Even though he is a descendant of the priesthood of Aaron, as a comment against common corruption John renounces his rights to a position in the Temple. As a critic of injustice and exploitation the humble prophet John chooses to stand outside of Roman culture and condemn the status quo.  But, in keeping with his culture, John expects a Messiah to come and in a singular sweeping apocalyptic act set the world right. He declares, “(the Messiah) will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

John expects an all powerful Messiah King will bring an end to the corrupt status quo and institute a happily ever after life. This is where he and Jesus part ways.

Somewhere I read the contemporary Christian Testament scholar John Dominic Crossan’s description of a fundamental difference between John the Baptist and Jesus. According to Crossan both of them are interested in how the world will be transformed into the Kingdom of God. John believes the solution to the insoluble social situation depends on a deus ex machina, Divine apocalyptic intervention.  This means the kingdom of God is contingent on a God engineered catastrophic event that happens to the people and instantaneously results in peace and righteousness. 

By contrast, Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God depends on actions through the people, socially conscious action taken to transform the misuse of power, position and privilege in the world. Rather than waiting for a distant god to provoke an apocalyptic event and instantaneously revolutionize the world, Crossan argues that Jesus assigns the responsibility for restoring peace and righteousness and remodeling the world to the slow work of the people. This represents an enormous advance in the development of human consciousness; from apocalyptic magical thinking to taking personal responsibility for the quality of life and care of all humanity.

What does this mean for us today? I believe it means taking a stand with Jesus and exercising the right use of position, power and privilege in response to human suffering; mass shootings, seditious conspiracy, hunger, obfuscation of truth, homelessness, hopelessness and every form of oppression and inhumanity. 

What does this mean for us today?  It means we, the people, must take responsibility to care for the roughly ten percent of the eight billion people in the world who are suffering from extreme poverty; beginning in our own country where nearly thirteen percent endure impoverishment. 

What does this mean for us today? It means we, the people, must speak truth to power, calling for responsibility, accountability and factuality. It means, with all humility we must use our hands and feet and voices to end hate, harm and hopelessness by living, acting and voting to insure dignity and care for all people, beginning where we stand.

No singular apocalyptic event, no messianic savior king or president, will bring to light the Kingdom of God on earth. But a million, a billion, countless trillion decisions made by each of us every single day will. We are meant to be humble prophets, standing shoulder to shoulder with John and Jesus, willing to renounce positions of power and privilege in the interest of claiming our shared responsibility for calling out corruption and being the kingdom of peace and righteousness on earth.

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Gospel text for Sunday 26 September 2021

 

Mark 9:38-50        John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Reflection        The problem with this Markan text is that it is not one of Shakespeare’s plays,  not James Joyce’s  Ulysses nor Chris Ware’s graphic novel, Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Boy on Earth. The problem with this text is that it is scripture, sacred writing intended to form, and reform the community of the people of God. That would be us. 

So how are we to find good news in Jesus’ disconcerting dictum;  rather than stumble, chop off our parts in order to avoid being ”thrown into hell where the worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched?” This is a question with which I have wrestled for years. Generally my solution has been, leap over the chopping off of parts and land in the saltiness section because it is not hard to preach about the healing, preserving and enhancing qualities of salt. As professed followers of the way of Jesus we venerate these qualities and have no problem ascribing them to Jesus.

But recognizing, respecting even revering these life sustaining qualities is like pouring salt into a silver plated salt cellar, placing it on a glass shelf, stepping back and staring at it. What good can it do? Unless we swallow the salt, there is no saltiness. Unless we use our  hands to heal, our feet to preserve and our eyes to see the best for our lives, our communities and our planet we may as well chop off our hands, cut off our feet and pluck out our eyes because we are the stumbling blocks creating our own hell.  

In the context of this Season of Creation, the questions before us today are, “To whom have we given a cup of water to drink? From whom have we withheld it? How have we used our hands to preserve and purify that water so that it is a source of life rather than disease or death? How have we used our eyes to see beyond the standards of the way things are to the way things could be; farmers able to water their crops? no one dying of thirst?  adequate sanitation to avoid water borne disease?”

Water is essential for survival. We all know this. We also know the way to heal, preserve and enhance the life giving qualities of water for all. So the real question is, do we have the will to use our hands to heal, our feet to preserve and our eyes to see beyond current standards to enhance the quality of life for all? Here is the thing, if our answer is "no, not on my watch, not at my expense, not if it means I have to change my habits," we will find ourselves “thrown into hell, where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.” 

So where is the good news? We can choose to swallow the salt and be transformed into the healing, preserving, life enhancing people of God.  We can click on the link above and choose to act on "3 Thoughtful Ways to Conserve Water."

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Preamble to the US Constitution text for Sunday 10 January 2020

PREAMBLE

to the United States Constitution

Signed in convention September 17, 1787. 

Ratified June 21, 1788

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Reflection        Every week from the pulpit I issue a call to action aimed at what is right. Last week it was, “From time to time throughout each day pause and say, ‘How awesome is this place. How awesome this moment,’ then experience how that feels in your body.” Ever since my early career days as a clinical researcher I have lived and worked according to the ethic, “Never ask people to do something that I have not done or am not willing to do.”

My daily practice declaring “How awesome is this place. How awesome this moment,” proved rather satisfying until Wednesday around noon when I left my office to walk through the sanctuary heading to the kitchen to heat some wild mushroom soup for lunch. Rapt in a clamor of chaos and confusion I discover two of our Christ Ship Enterprise team members, Paul and Dale, with eyes glued to their new AV computer screen, ladders abandoned and wires for the cameras they were installing dangling from the ceiling. 

Like a moth drawn to a flame I move to see what is so captivating. The first image that assaults me is of someone with a long pole like object smashing a window and people pushing others through it, the image cuts to a man in black hanging by one hand from the side of a wall, then cut to an interior scene of men in suits crouching with guns aimed through a decorative window. “What is this?” I ask. Wide eyed and incredulous Paul replies, “It is the Capitol, the Capitol building. Rioters have invaded it. The Vice President and congress are being evacuated under armed guard.” Along with my eyes the camera lens widens to encompass a storming sea of people ramming their way into the building. Hot tears cut a river across my cheek. 

“How awesome is this place? How awesome this moment?” Looking toward the altar I shake my heart at God. “How can this be? How can this be happening? How can I say, “How awesome is this place? How awesome this moment?” Where are You God?” Heartsick and nauseated I retreat to my office. But work as usual eludes me. Even my trusted antidote to whatever ails me, walking four-legged Mojo along the Way of the Cross, fails me. 

Although I can mutter the words, “How awesome is this place. How awesome this moment,” like stale bread I have been exposed to too much heat and have become hardened. Steeped in images of smashed windows, fear and furious faces, I have no feel for the awesome; beautiful, magnificent or grand. 

Hours later listening to the radio I hear someone say, “We are better than this.” But I say, “No. What we see are the consequences of our hardened hearts and brutish behaviors. We, the people of these relatively young United States have not yet grown into our dream of “establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” In our races to win, our grabs for power, our adulation of celebrity we have  forgotten our responsibility for the commonwealth and common good. We have lost sight of the audacious dream defined in the Preamble to our Constitution, a dream that we as Christians understand to be aligned in the will of God. 

It is time for every single one of us to look into the mirror and admit we are responsible for the anger, alienation and atrocities provoked by our actions and inaction. We, the people of God, are meant to live for something greater than our personal rights and well being. We are meant to live with and for each other in a just and orderly nation aligned in the will of God.

Now, looking at footage of the Wednesday siege of the United States Capitol building we can say, “How awesome is this place. How awesome this moment,” because we remember that awesome also means alarming, dreadful and horrifying.  And we, the people of God, the people of this young country, must stand up and face the alarming, dreadful and horrifying consequences of forgetting to care for our commonwealth and common good.  Yes God, there you are clamoring up the steps of the US Capitol building, hiding behind a chair on the US Senate floor, shouting obscenities and whispering prayer. Yes God, there you are exposing all the peoples fear.

It is time to take responsibility for our missteps as well as the unintended consequences of our triumphs. It is time to move beyond blame and shame and aspire to our country’s audacious dream of “establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” 

Perhaps you will join me living according to the premise“Never ask people to do something that you have not done or are not willing to do. Never ask people to live in a way you have not lived or are not willing to live.”

      Be sure to listen to "The Prayer"  - a bit of medicine for our souls - click on upper right link. 

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Gospel text for 4th Sunday of Easter 22 April 2018

John 10:11-18        Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”  

Reflection       When we listen carefully to Jesus’ words, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the father knows me and I know the father. I lay down my life for the sheep,” we hear him making a three part declaration. The first part of his declaration is; I am the good shepherd. Jesus knows who he is. Second part; Jesus acknowledges the mutual connection of his relationship with those whom he knows and who know him as well as the mutuality of his relationship with God. So the second part of Jesus’ declaration is about connection and belonging. The third part of Jesus’ declaration is about personal responsibility, “I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus’ life is not only for him self, it is also for others. He holds his individual life lightly, he does not cling to it.

When we know who we are and claim the mutuality of our relationships in community and in God, we naturally take responsibility for the care of one another,  even though this is risky business, even though it may cost us our life as we know it.

If life is all about me then every one else and everything else is a potential obstacle or problem and it is no wonder we live in a chronic state of anxiety and defensiveness. Viewing the world from this perspective, connection, belonging and community fail. Rather than stand in the way of an active shooter we stand in fear and fail to enter a school to protect endangered children. We spend $16.8 trillion dollars to bail out big banks insuring their CEOs receive their bonuses and fail to feed the 49 million Americans who lack the means to get enough nutritious food each day.* When we view the world exclusively from the ‘its all about me” perspective we fail to show up, connect and take responsibility for our community.The result of doing this, God’s kingdom is not come because God’s kingdom requires all of us in our conjoined humanity.

What then is the solution? We must join Jesus in making our own three part declaration; claiming who we are, acknowledging our connection and belonging, and taking personal responsibility for the good of one another. Here is my declaration. 

I am here. I am wholly present. The actions you can count on me for are creating opportunities for you to be here too. I will notice and affirm God’s presence in and of, with and for you. The difference I now see I can make is making God’s Presence known, making God’s kingdom come. Will you join me in my possibility? Will you join me in taking the risk to stand up for connection, belonging and community? Will you join me in making God’s kingdom come? 

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*https://mashable.com/2016/07/14/child-hunger-united-states/#pp4gMW3PIaqM

Gospel text for the 2nd Sunday of Advent 6 December 2015

Luke 3:1-6        In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’"

Reflection       John stood outside of Roman culture as a critic of injustice and exploitation. Though he was a descendant of the priesthood of Aaron, John foreswore his rights to the temple as a comment against corruption. Aligned with his time John expected the Messiah to come in one sweeping apocalyptic event and set the world right, which is why he quotes Isaiah saying, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low...." in other words, the Messiah will come, it will be the end of ordinary reality and the beginning of happily ever after life in the reign of the all powerful Messiah King. I wonder if it was because of this belief that John had to die? You see, this is where he and Jesus part ways. 

Somewhere I read the contemporary Christian Testament scholar John Dominic Crossan’s description of a fundamental difference between John the Baptist and Jesus. According to Crossan both of them are interested in how the world would be transformed into the Kingdom of God. John believed the solution depended on divine intervention which means the role of the people is to wait for a God engineered catastrophic event that will result in instantaneous peace and righteousness provoked from the outside. By contrast, Jesus came to reveal that God depends on faithful people to deal with the misuse of power, position and privilege in the world. Following the way of Jesus the role of people is to take responsibility for restoring peace and righteousness from the inside out. 

I believe it is up to us to stand with the boldness of John and speak truth to power calling for dignity for all people so that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” And, I believe we must act humbly as the hands and feet and heart of Jesus to end evil in the world by living and acting and voting to insure dignity and care for all people, beginning right where we are. This is the Kingdom of God on earth. No singular catastrophic event will bring it about. But a million, a billion, countless trillion decisions made by each of us every moment of our lives to turn toward God rather than capitulate to position, power and privilege will make a difference in peoples’ lives. The Kingdom of God is here. It is up to us to choose it.

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