Gospel text for Sunday 14 July 2019

Luke 10,25-37        Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 

Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise.”

Reflection        A lawyer who is interested in protecting the conventions of  Hebrew law, not to mention his personal elite status,  stands up to test Jesus asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus, being a wise rabbi, responds to the lawyer with another question, “Well, you are a lawyer, what does the law say?” 

Without missing a beat the lawyer quotes two texts from the Torah. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus replies, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." Ten points for the lawyer. He knows the letter of the law. 

But Jesus does not reply, “Congratulations you have rightly quoted the summary of the law and the prophets as written in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Jesus says, “DO this and you will live.” It seems the pharisaic lawyer is deaf to Jesus’ message and decides to argue a fine point, “Who is my neighbor?” No one would blame Jesus for shaking his head and walking away muttering, “What’s the use?” But, Jesus is merciful, does not give up on the self-satisfied lawyer and offers  him a teaching tale.

A man is destitute, on the verge of death, desperately in need of help on a lonely stretch of desert. The situation seems utterly hopeless until a priest comes by and for a moment we breath a sigh of hope. But wait. The priest, who protects the orthodoxy of the Hebrew scripture crosses to the other side of the road and shows no mercy. At this very moment we take a collective breath and proclaim, “Isn’t that awful? Surely we would never do that.” Let us not be so quick to judge. There are Hebrew prohibitions against touching a corpse, the priest was merely being cautious. If  the destitute man dies and the priest touches his corpse, the priest would be unclean.

Once again our hope for the destitute man rises when a Levite whose job is to assist the priests in worship in the temple but alas and alack, this presumptive holy Levite also crosses to the other side of the road and shows no mercy to the destitute man. Now our ire is really piqued. “How heartless? No doubt this pious Levite considers himself a righteous man. How could he be so callous?”

Are we beginning to sound a bit smug and sanctimonious? Is it time for us to pause and be honest with ourselves lest we don the mantle of self righteousness displayed by the lawyer, the priest and the Levite? How often do we cross the road, look the other way, drive by, change the channel, turn the page, silence the radio or ignore the opportunity to DO mercy?  Let’s be honest. The way to live rightly is to "do mercy" which puts us in right relationship with God and with our neighbors. Whom have we passed by?

Here is the thing. Jesus does not commend us to go, study the law and the prophets like the lawyer. He does not charge us to enforce the orthodoxy of the faith like the priest nor does he direct us to master the traditions of worship like the Levite. No. Jesus commands us to “do mercy” by caring for whomever shows up along our way. “Do mercy” here and now because the Kingdom of Heaven is here, now, and we are intended to be the purveyors of God’s mercy.

Jesus teaches that it is more important to pay attention to this life than be concerned about an afterlife. When Jesus says to the lawyer, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live,” he does not say, do this and you will have a happily ever afterlife. Jesus says, “Do this, and you will live…”  in right relationship with God, right here, right now, on earth.

If you found this post to be meaningful please share by clicking on icons below. Thank you.

Gospel text for Sunday 12 June 2016

Luke 7:36-8:3        One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him-- that she is a sinner." Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "Speak." "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

Reflection       I, the penitent said, “I confess to Almighty God, to God’s Church, and to you, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed, in things done and left undone; especially __________ “ at which point I began to read my magnum opus of transgressions. Hot tears delivered rivers of mascara to my chin. The priest to whom I spoke never flinched. Choking out the final words I handed the two damnable pages to him and continued. “For these and all other sins which I cannot now remember, I am truly sorry.  I pray God to have mercy on me.  I firmly intend amendment of life, and I humbly beg forgiveness of God and the Church, and ask you for counsel, direction, and absolution.” 

What have I done? Raised in a strict puritanical household where just about anything thought, said or done could be construed as sinful and grist for the mill of the Divine Judge, when I learned that the Episcopal Church I was joining offered a Rite of Reconciliation, a pastoral rite offered to anyone who desires to be set free from the oppressive power of sin I thought, “This is my chance to get rid of my lifetime of baggage.” So I sat down with my IBM computer and hammered out two painfully honest single spaced pages of my offenses. For a month I reviewed my narrative, everything from leaving the Presbyterian Church when I was thirteen to look for truth in philosophy and Eastern traditions, to being a single mom, divorced with a full compliment of 70s experiences hidden in my heart. This was going to be my once and for all time confession so I was determined to leave nothing out!

The priest was silent. “However will I be able to walk into this church again?” Finally I heard, “The way I see it Debra, you never stopped looking for God, arguing with God.  Sure, some of your adolescent behavior was well, adolescent. And your judgment has not always been the best. But Debra, that is not sin. It appears that your sin is scrupulosity.” The look on my face must have betrayed my stupor.

He continued. “You have been obsessively concerned with sin and compulsively driven to be perfect. You have not loved yourself as God loves you. Instead, you have put yourself in God’s place, acting like judge, jury and sentencer. This distorts your relationship with God and your self.” He handed me the self prejudicial pages and said, “Destroy these  pages and pray for the grace to be kind and gentle with your self. Sin is failure to see yourself as God sees you which means you are not able to see others as God sees them. This leads to a false sense of separation or alienation. When you leave my office go to the chapel and pray for the grace to love yourself as God loves you.” We concluded the Rite. (BCP447-8)

Embodying the way of Jesus the priest looked to my inherent goodness, not to my offenses. He saw me in the light of Christ, with the compassionate eyes of Jesus whereas I could only see myself with the critical eyes of the Pharisee whom we meet in Luke’s parable of Jesus, the Pharisee and the woman kneeling at Jesus' feet.

The Pharisee sees the weeping woman kissing Jesus’ feet and anointing them with ointment and immediately he leaps to the judgment that the woman is a sinner and Jesus cannot possibly be a prophet because if he was he would know what kind of woman was daring to touch him. By contrast, Jesus looks at the woman and sees the deeper truth of her fundamental goodness. He treats her with compassion and dignity and she experiences God’s love. The woman’s natural response is the outpouring of extravagant love; love that is welling up from within her in gratitude for the love she is receiving.

This is reconciliation, the restoration of relationship with God, with self and with all of creation. In the overabundant grace of restored relationship the natural response is extravagant love. Love poured out without measure.

If you found this post to be meaningful please share by clicking on icons below. Thank you.

Gospel text for Sunday 24 January 2016

Luke 4:14-21        Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Reflection        This is the “year of the Lord’s favor.” From birth to death in every breath the sacred, God, is present.   

What if we really believed that? And what if we let that deeper knowledge about ourselves and our lives influence our choices and actions? I wonder if our choices and behavior would look more like Jesus who lived and breathed and found his being in relation to God and the goodness of creation? 

When we consider the broad sweep of Jesus birth, ministry, suffering and death we cannot help but notice how consistently Jesus respected the value and uniqueness of each person he encountered. In all that he said and all that he did Jesus intended to actually fulfill the commands of the Hebrew tradition; the commands to give priority to loving God and all God’s people which is another way of saying, to see every aspect of life in relation with God and the goodness of creation. 

How was Jesus able to do this? First and foremost, Jesus embraced his identity as the Son of God which means he found his deepest truth and direction in relation with God. Second, Jesus also identified with the troubles and the delight of friends and strangers as he said in Matthews gospel, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matt 25.40)

Which begs the question. How do we measure up? Are we living in imitation of Jesus? Are our words and actions motivated by our recognition of the sacred, God, in every aspect of life or are they motivated by fear or desire for  security, safety, attention, esteem, power or control? Are we making  choices and living our lives in faith that the sacred, God, suffuses every aspect of life or are we acting as if the sacred, God, is distant, disengaged and we are left to muddle through tragedies and every kind of suffering relying on our wit alone? When we come to church are we skipping through ritual motions to check the box, been there, done that? Or, do we experience our coming together as One body, the Church, an outward and visible experience of the deeper interior knowledge that we are bound and committed to the care and well-being of one another? 

The brutality, greed and misuse of power that confronted Jesus continues with us today. What are we to do? Live in imitation of Jesus who lived and breathed and found his being in relation with God and compassion with suffering humanity. Jesus put his faith in God rather than himself. He understood that only when we are in conscious and conscientious relationship with the sacred mystery we call God do we know what to say and how to live.

If you found this post meaningful please share by clicking on icons below. Thank you. 

Gospel text for The Annunciation of Mary 22 March 2015

Luke 1:26-38        In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Reflection      I wonder what would happen if God came to our front door? How would we feel? What would we do? Would we fall face to the ground as did the old prophet Ezekiel? More than once! (Ezel 1.28, 3.23, 43.4, 44.4) Might we be more like Daniel who describes his encounter with God this way,  “The men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them so they fled. No strength remained in me; for my vigor turned to frailty in me and I retained no strength. … While (God) was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling?” (Dan 10. 7-11) Perhaps we would be more like  Elizabeth’s husband the priest Zachariah, terrified, overwhelmed with fear and left speechless for ten months following his encounter with the angel of God. (Luke 1.13,22)

Or, might we be more like Mary? I wonder if we would accept God’s favor in coming to us and in so doing consent to our inherent goodness? “Greetings favored one, the Lord is with you.” I wonder if we would stay conscious as Mary and engage the Angel of God with questions? “How can this be?” I wonder if we would believe the counsel that “Nothing will be impossible for God?” I wonder if we would look at our lives, the problems we are facing, addictions, depression, our estranged child, our rocky relationship and remember, “Nothing will be impossible for God.” Can we see the relevance of this passage for our every day living? Can we accept its gift when we believe we are in an impossible situation?

Cancer, infertility, death of a loved one? An unplanned pregnancy, student loans, old hurts too deep to leave behind? The cost of child care? The cost of elder care? The millions of people throughout the world who are being displaced and persecuted? The thing is, when we focus on what is impossible for us rather than on what is possible with God, we throw up our hands and bury our heads in the sand. 

But, when we listen with Mary and choose to believe the words, “Nothing will be impossible with God,” we can boldly say, ”Here I am, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.”

If you found this post to be meaningful please share by clicking on the  icons below. Thank you. 

Gospel text for 4th Sunday in Advent, 21 December 2015

Luke 1:26-38        In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Reflection       “For nothing will be imposssible with God.” I believe the most important word in this sentence is “with.” With God. I know from time to time I “hear” this sentence as, “Nothing will be impossible FOR God.” In so doing I neatly cut myself out of the equation. Shirk any personal responsibility. It (whatever “it” is) is up to God. I play no part in “it.” But that is not what the writer of Luke’s text wrote. 

In concert with, in dwelling with, imbued with, sitting with, endowed with, acquainted with, impregnated with, this mere preposition makes all the difference because it locates us in relationshiip “with” God. “With” may also be a statement that characterizes humanity; for people with God all things are possible. I believe it is to all of the above that Mary consented when she proclaimed, “Here I am… let it be with me according to your word.” 

And there “it” is again. What is “it?” It is a simple pronoun referring to a non-gender specific person or concept previously mentioned, about to be mentioned or present in the immediate context.* With her few words in response to the Angel of God Mary consents to every manner of being in relationship with God; Mary claims her relationship by God and with God and in God from before beginningless time, eternally in the present moment. 

Oh how I long to do the same. To put down my fears and unequivocally proclaim, “Here I am God… Let it be with me according to your word.” And I gulp knowing that giving myself unequivocally to God is giving myself over to the cloud of unknowing yet,  it is giving myself to a grandeur so incomprehensible it can only be called God. 

If you found this post meaningful please share with friends by clicking on the icons below. Thank you! 

*http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/it?s=t

Matthew 18:15-20        Jesus said, "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

Reflection      Borrowing an analogy from one of my favoirte preachers, Barbara Brown Taylor, we are “like pebbles put in a tumbling jar - smoothing out our rough edges by rubbing up against one another.” Can you imagine one unpolished pebble saying to the other pebbles in the jar, “This is just the way I am. I have always had these points and sharp edges. I have always been like this? Just look at my Meyers/Briggs or my MMPI!” Or, “This point is really special to me?” Or, “You just rub me the wrong way?” 

The thing is, in family life, community life, Church life and global life it is is not all about me. It is all about we. That’s what Jesus wants the disciples and us to understand when he says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” When we come together, work together or worship together, we inevitably rub up against one another. We become as the abrasive grit in the tumbler of life used to smooth the rough edges of gemstones. That is how we grow together, how we become more divinely human and more humanly divine. Like gems hidden in rough unpolished agates the Word of God is secreted within each one of us. The hidden jewel, God’s Word, is love.

For most of us loving our neighbors does not come without a rub, especially if our neighbors do not think, feel, look and behave just the way we do. It is through the rough and tumble of life that we learn to love those, “other people.” Love is cultivated and refined in the give and take of relationships. Anyone who is in a committed relationship or long time friendship knows this. Love means rubbing up against one another. Love is not all about me. Love is about we.

And “Jesus said, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.”” I believe the operant word in Jesus’ sentence is, “Listen.” In fact, Jesus uses the word “listen” four times in three sentences. It must be important.

Listen. Open the ears of your hearts to your sisters’ and brothers’ points of view. Listen beyond superficial differences; traditional, comtemporary; red, blue; global, local; chocolate, vanilla; listen for the place of our shared humanity wherein we care deeply about our children, families, community, Church and world. Listen beyond our superficial differences; Oriental, Asian, Hispanic or Caucasian; Jewish, Islamist, Buddhist, Atheisit, Hindu, Christian, unaffiliated; listen beneath all that for the place of shared divinity wherein we truly love our neighbor.

Loving our neighbor does not require uniformity of thought nor conformity of behavior. Loving our neighbor means we allow enough spaciousness in our relationship to make room for our differences. Loving our neighbor means the jewel hidden within each person is revealed. Listen.

If you found this post to be meaningful, please share with friends by clicking on the icons below. Thank you!

Gospel text for Sunday 11 May 2014

John 10:1-10        Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

Reflection        What is life? That was the first question that came to mind when I read Jesus’ words to the disciples and us, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  I typed my question, “What is life”  into google search and guess what popped up? You are not connected! Oops? So I waited twenty-seven seconds and then received 9 billion, 600 million hits.  Now that’s connection! 

In the 1960s Lynn Margulis, the biologist who is credited with one of the great achievements of twentieth-century evolutionary biology, explained how eukaryotic cells - cells that have a nucleus and a cellular membrane and are the basis of all life - Margulis explained how these cells evolved over millions of years as a result of interdependent and cooperative relationships between once-distinct bacteria. (Which of course means our true ancestors are bacterium.) Margulis also suggested that rather than evolution being driven by competition it is determined by symbiotic or cooperative relationships between organisms of different phyla and kingdoms. In other words, at the cellular level, life is relationships between things that are not the same and that change over time.

What does that have to do with our gospel text? Well, sheep and shepherds are of different orders. Much as Margulis’ distinctively different bacterium interact and cooperate to impel evolution,  so too do the shepherd and the sheep collaborate for the common good. I believe that is Jesus’ point when he says, “I came that they may have life and have it in abundance.” I believe Jesus is saying, "I came to be in relationship with them. I came to be in interdependent and cooperative relationship with each and every one of them, like a shepherd with his sheep. See, I even know them by name and they recognize my voice. I came to pour myself out to them (and to us) so that they could pour themselves out to me. Like the ancient bacterium that engulfed one another such that both survived and evolved over millions of years and became the basic cells of life, I, Jesus came to be in intimate, deeply personal relationship with you; loving, leading and caring for you. I came like a shepherd to the sheep; reaching across the chasm of order, genus, family and species. " Jesus came to show us the way of reaching across whatever divides us, the way of bridging our differences and cooperating for the common good. 

If you found this post meaningful, please share it with your friends by clicking on the icons below. Thank you.

Gospel text for Sunday, 27 April 2014

John 20:19-31        When it was evening on the day of Resurrection, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Reflection       Don't you want to ‘see’ Jesus as did Mary Magdalene in the garden? Don’t you want Jesus to find you when you are locked into your own fear (as were the disciples in the upper room)? Don’t you want to feel Jesus breathe on you and receive his peace? Don’t you want to have your own experience of the risen Christ? Like Peter, don’t you want to put your fingers in Jesus’ wounds but wonder if perhaps you have shown up too late? 

For most of us, seeing is believing. So the question is, what are we looking for? If we insist on ‘seeing’ the physical body of Jesus and demand to put our fingers into his bloody wounds there is every chance we will be disappointed. But if we open the eyes of our hearts to see beyond the veil of flesh we will confess resurrection life abounds around us. 

You see, Easter services are not mere memorials of a singular resurrection event that happened two thousand years ago. Easter celebrates our whole new reality; we are Easter people. We live resurrection life now.   What does it mean to live out of this new reality? I believe Thomas puts his finger on it when he responds to the risen Jesus saying, “My Lord and my God!” The pivotal word  in that sentence is “my.”  Thomas is claiming his relationship, his very personal relationship with the risen Jesus. He takes possession of Jesus. Jesus is his Lord, his God. It is all about relationship and relationship is here and now, embodied in the life of people who claim God as their own. 

Every time we experience healing or forgiveness, peace in the midst of fear or uncertainty, hope in the face of grave news, restored relationships, revived churches, a glimmer of light in the midst of a dark, dark night, we experience resurrection life. Resurrection life is now. Every time we reach out and put our fingers into our own wounds, our loved ones wounds, the wounds of our communities and our world and offer peace, comfort or hope we are embodying resurrection life. Alleluia, Christ is risen, in every generation. Resurrection life is eternally now.

If you found this post to be meaningful, please share it with your friends by clicking on the icon below. Thank you.

Gospel text for Sunday 10 November 2013

Luke 20:27-38       Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."

Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."

Reflection        Could it be that two thousand years ago Jesus was saying to the Sadduces and whoever else was listening that there would come a time when women would not be considered property to be transferred between the hands of brothers? Could it be that Jesus was looking square into the face of the patriarchy and saying, “Your question about the sexual rights of brothers with regard to their widowed sister-in-law misses the mark? You are blind to the ways of God of the living because God of the living does not rely on humanly contrived institutions to protect humanity. God of the living gives life eternally to all people; women, men, Jews, nonJews, married, unmarried.” Could it be that Jesus was declaring, “God gives life that does not depend on human understanding or human institutions?”

The Sadduces conspired to entrap Jesus. Their motive was the same when they asked Jesus the question about paying taxes to Rome. But Jesus rises to a ten thousand foot above the ground persective. Jesus claims dignity for all people and righteousness in all relationships... right here, right now, on earth among the living. He  makes the point that this really is a matter of choosing life or death.

Jesus exposes the Sadduces‘ debauched protestations (alleging to protect widows) for what they really were, heartless attempts to rule and exert power over others., including Jesus. But Jesus would have none of it.   He cuts to the heart of the matter, “God is God not of the dead but of the living.” The people of God are with God, “for all of them are alive in God” because God wills life,  but the way of the rule mongering Sadduces depends on death. The question is, which will you choose, the way of life or the way of death?

Please share with friends by clicking on the icons below. 

Gospel text for Sunday 4 August 2013

Luke 12.13-21     Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, `What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

Reflection    Realizing that there are far too many people with urgent needs for food, shelter and safety, I don’t believe they are the people to whom Jesus directed this parable. But perhaps not for the obvious reason. People with great need tend to recognize their relationship and dependence on something more than their self, on God, and as we read in Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” (6.20) 

Back to this text. Can you see the indignant man from the crowd scowling, clenching his teeth and grunting sighs, “It’s not fair? “Clearly his priority was executing justice for personal gain. Unfortunately he lost sight of God’s priority - relationship; relationship with his brother and relationship with God.

Desiring and acquiring goods, riches and power is not of itself problemmatic. God created all things and called all things good, very good. But when desire for and acquisition of goods, riches and power override God’s priority for relationship, it is not good, not very good. It is greed. So Jesus tells the parable of the greedy farmer in which God minces no words. God speaks directly to the man and says, “You fool!” What good are all your riches when you have not been rich toward me... God? 

By clinging to our God given riches rather than to God we lose everything because the very act of clinging exposes the seperation of our self from God. Cinging is failure to recognize self in God and God in self. Clinging is blind to the One Being, the real human, complete and lacking nothing. When the greedy farmer built larger barns to store his excess grain and goods rather than praise and thank God Present for the glorious abundance, the man decisively ended his own life. By depending on his wit and wherewithall rather than on God he set himself apart from God. In other words, the greedy farmer’s will was not aligned with God’s will (remember last week's prayer..."Thy kingdom come.... thy will be done?). It is God's will to be known and expressed in all things. The greedy farmer’s priority was to “relax, eat, drink and be merry.” God’s priority was and always is - relationship. And it is good, very good.

Gospel text for Sunday 21 April 2013

John 10:22-30       At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

Reflection        To what shall I dedicate my life? This is a question that has poked and prodded me for decades. This is a question that whispers to me in my dreams and pulls me in and out of relationships. In my most acquisitive phase I must confess that I gave my life in exchange for tokens of security, promises of affection and badges of success. I lived Western culture’s dream, I won and I came out empty handed. Like the stones of the Jews’ first temple, the altars I constructed to my self fell to ruin. Then, like the Jews, I too lived in exile. With a heart full of useless tokens, broken promises and tarnished badges I wandered and wondered, what does it mean to have a dedicated life?

When we dedicate something we set it apart, we consecrate it and make it holy. That’s what the religious Jews did when they rebuilt the destroyed altar to God and then celebrated the festival of the Dedication every year near the winter solstice in Jerusalem. I believe these faithful religious folk quit working too soon.  They thought they were finished when the external work of building the temple was complete, when the outward signs of success were assembled. They failed to do the interior work, the work of the world within, the work that happens in the hidden spaciousness of the holiest of holies.

Jesus alone proceeded from the outward and visible signs that pointed to God to being in dedicated relationship with God whom he called Father. Jesus found his source, his origin in relationship with God who is hidden in the holiest of holy interior spaces. I suspect this is the reason he referred to God as Father. Jesus saw that all the outward signs of authority, success or power manifest through him were gifts that were born of his relationship with God. Jesus did not claim the signs of power, authority or success for himself. He attributed all that he did to his unwavering relationship with God whom he called Father.

And this I believe is the secret of a dedicated life. It is a life lived in committed relationship in both the visible and invisible worlds. It is a life understood as finding meaning and purpose in more than itself. It is a life given to do the work of another for another. It is a life in which each is dedicated to the other because all that is good and righteous is born of relationship. It is a life in which the two are one and the one is two. 

Paul’s words to the Corinthians come to mind.  “Do you know that you are God’s temple and ....God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (3.16-17)

Gospel Text for Sunday, August 21st, 2011

Matthew 16:13-20

When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.