Gospel Text for Sunday 2 June 2019

John 17:20-26        Jesus prayed for his disciples, and then he said. "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

"Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Reflection        Given the bitterly divided state of our current social, political and religious worlds how can we possibly aspire to becoming ‘completely one’ as Jesus prays? Jesus is not praying for uniformity of custom, singularity of theology, nor homogeneity of political perspectives. Jesus prays for unity, not uniformity. Jesus prays that we experience that which draws us together and is greater than anything can divide. 

When we claim our place in the intimate relationship of humanity with divinity we are participating in something deeper than any possible divisions, we are affirming something wider than the myriad ways we disagree. You see, when we claim our place in the intimate relationship of humanity with divinity we are raised up  with Jesus and experience the glorious unity that is evinced in the love of Jesus with the Father. 

This interpenetrating love, this oneness in relationship with God, is the heart of unity. It is this love, this oneness,  that enables us to bury our hatchets and listen to those with whom we disagree. It is this love, this oneness, that gives us the courage to tare down walls that separate us from those whom we call other. Don’t you see, Jesus is not praying for uniformity of social, political or religious opinion. Jesus is inviting us to claim our place in the life of the Trinity.

What does that mean, life in the Trinity? For help explaining I turn to one of my favorite German theologians, who if still living is nearing one hundred years old. Jürgen Moltmann understands the Trinity as fundamentally social. The three persons of the the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are defined by their relationships. Although there are three distinctive individual expressions of being they are understood by their relationships with one another. Relationship is the defining quality.  Trinity is the unparalleled model for our human relationships.

As humans created in the image and likeness of God, we are distinctive individual expressions of being and we are defined by our relationships. We live and breath and find our meaning in our interconnected, interpenetrating relationships. Because the Spirt of God lives and breathes and moves within us, all of us, we participate in what Moltmann calls, the Social Trinity. 

How does that translate to life among us humans? I believe it looks like each one of us and all of us together bringing our core values to bear on the institutions and culture around us. It means questioning our purity codes (who is in and who is out) and stretching the borders of our hearts and minds to make room for everyone. Where ever hatred, hostility or sorrow thrive we are meant to deliver kindness, good will and joyfulness. Where bitterness and resentment abound we are meant to tender friendship and affection.

Through our selfless expressions of love people will be drawn to the source of our love, the love that we experience in the love of God and Jesus the Christ, the love that we share with confidence because we know we are loved and we desire nothing less than to draw all people into the intimate relationship we share with God, into the life of the Social Trinity. 

Listen to Fr. Thomas Keating speak on "Living Ordinary Life with Extraordinary Love," by clicking on top right image.

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Hebrew Testament Text for Trinity Sunday 27 May 2018

Isaiah 6:1-8        In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; 

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

Reflection     “The whole earth is full of God’s glory” in spite of the shameful state of affairs erupting throughout the nation twenty-six hundred years ago and today.  And, God needs someone to speak to the people and remind them that God is present and active no matter how terrible things appear. No doubt caught by a knot twisting in his belly, Isaiah pleads that he is not fit for the task of speaking on behalf of God, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips…” Whereupon a seraph, a Spirit of God,”holds a live coal that had been taken from the altar” to Isaiah’s lips, a ritual act to illustrate the inner cleansing of Isaiah’s heart and mind. Herewith Isaiah experiences God’s invitation, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” He responds, “Here am I; send me!” and proceeds through the course of his life to preach and counsel three different kings and die a martyr’s death.

Isaiah puts his faith in his experience of Divine Presence that invites his incarnate response inspired by the Spirit. Benevolent Father calls to faithful Son through the effectual action of the Spirit.  God is made known in the relationships of the transcendent, incarnate and demonstrative.

Leaping forward six hundred years, might Jesus have heard rumors of the prophet John the Baptizer shouting in the wilderness? “People, listen up. Your world is in a shameful state. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. If you keep doing the same thing you can expect the same response. So repent, turn around, change your minds your hearts and the way you live. Now, as an outward and visible sign of your intention to do just that, come down to the river and I will baptize you with water.”

And did Jesus go to the river, saying “Here I am,” and allow John to immerse him in the cool river waters? Was it in that act of faithful acquiescence that Jesus consciously experienced the Spirit of God with him and came to claim his identity with God? Of course, this is all speculation, but when it comes to God what else can we do? 

For me the Trinity is nothing if not the community of God. Putting our faith in the benevolence of Divine Presence,  responding by imitating Jesus’ life and ministry, empowered by the effectual Holy Spirit, we live and breath and find the courage to say, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

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2017 06 11 Gospel Text for Trinity Sunday, 11 June 2017

Matthew 28:16-20        The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Reflection      A Gift of  Love poured out, love received. This is the dance, perichoresis, the eternal movement or aliveness of the Three Persons of the Trinity. God pours God’s self out to be incarnate in the Son revealing to us that God is both transcendent and immanent, which is to say, God is both beyond all things and within all things.  By this same interpenetrating love, Jesus pours himself out, gives himself away to everyone he encounters. And then, to insure the continuation of the dance, the Holy Spirit breathes in each of us so that we too can pour ourselves out for the good of others and take our place in the divine dance of the Trinity.

Last week eleven members of Church of the Apostles accepted an invitation to join our Muslim sisters and brothers breaking their Ramadan fast with an iftar meal. I believe our Muslim sisters' and brothers' hospitality and our apostles' experiences exemplify what it means to pour ourselves out and take our place in the divine dance of the Trinity.

Our Muslim sisters and brothers warmly welcomed us to a carefully planned and lovingly prepared meal, shared their call to prayer and explained the blessings of the Ramadan fast. In other words, they poured out love to us. Each one of us was moved by our new friends' grace and generosity. Later one of the apostles meekly admitted, “I have been afraid of Muslims and never would have attended an iftar in the past. It has taken a lot of work to see my way clear of it,  so I told myself I should accept this invitation and face my fear. And then I sat at a table and met Muslim people who have the same cares, interests and desires as me. This has changed me. It has made me see everyone differently.” This is perichoresis, participating in the divine dance. 

Another wrote to me following the iftar meal,  “Now when I pray for my Muslim neighbors, they are more than a group; they are individuals with faces and stories and dreams.” And another, “ I got to know a family of five. We exchanged phone numbers and they are going to come to my home. I have to admit I had a fleeting thought “is this safe”?  The news has been so horrible lately.  The thought seems ridiculous when I remember the evening and the kind people.”” This is perichoresis, participating in the divine dance.

In the words of Jürgen Moltmann, “True human fellowship is to correspond to the triune God and be (God’s) image on earth…” (Holy Spirit, 60). We are meant to be the outward and visible sign of life shared in mutuality of love as exemplified by the Trinity. As we accepted the invitation to taste and see and be part of the iftar meal with our Muslim sisters and brothers, we participated in the aliveness and abundance of the Trinity.  A Gift of Love poured out. Love received. This is the norm for human relationships and beautifully revealed in the mystery of the Trinity. As God is so are we fundamentally relational. We are meant to taste and see and be in loving relationship with all people - no exceptions. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 19 May, 2013 Petecost

John 14:8-17      Philip said to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

Reflection     We have walked with Jesus’ disciples through Lent, Holy Week and Easter season. We remember that long evening meal in the upper room; the disciples reclining around a low wooden table, sharing bread and wine and olives, listening to their friend, their teacher Jesus go on and on about how he was going to leave, they were going to stay and he and the Father would send “another Advocate to be with them forever.” I imagine that if the disciples were anything like me they must have been baffled and fairly intimidated when they heard Jesus say, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these...” Really? How is this possible?

Now we arrive at the moment when Jesus’ promise is fulfilled and the revelation of the Holy Trinity is complete. On this Sunday we see tongues of fire settle on the disciples as they are filled with the Holy Spirit and “begin to speak in other languages,” in languages the astonished crowds  understand.  On this day we celebrate the satisfaction of Jesus’ promise made during that final meal with his friends, the promise that he would go to the Father and ask the Father to give them another Advocate...the Spirit of truth...to abide with them and be in them. 

Unlike the unsuspecting disciples we have the benefit of hindsight. We ‘hear’ Jesus’ words to his friends, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me”  and we begin to understand that just as Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him, so is the Spirit of the Father and the Son in us, which means we also are in them. Well, maybe not really understand but something amazing is happening.

It is astonishing. By the presence of the Holy Spirit in us we participate in the Holy Trinity. By our participation in the Trinity we too come not to speak on our own, but  (by) the Spirit who lives in us and does God's works. We must believe that we are in the Father and the Spirit of the Father is in us. And when we believe, we also will do the works that Jesus did. Not because we are great or special. But because we give ourselves to be used up for the greater good. And the way to give ourselves up for the greater good is to ask in the name of Jesus our Christ and believe his words, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these...”

For a “Neuroscientific look at speaking in tongues” go to                                        http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/health/07brain.html?_r=0 

Gospel text for Sunday 12 August 2012

John 6:35, 41-51

Jesus said to the people, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, `I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, `And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Reflection

The people with whom Jesus is speaking were among those Jews who received the loaves of bread that fed five thousand. Apparently the next day they were hungry for more so went looking for Jesus. When they found and began to question him, Jesus said to them, ”Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life… (6.27) …my Father gives you the bread from heaven.” (6.32) With just a few words Jesus switched hands from the literal to the metaphorical, “I am the bread of life.” The writer of John’s text wants us to move from seeking the physical (manna, loaves of bread and signs of Jesus’ identity) to seeking the divine (life in the Trinity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). Which raises the question for me, “Am I willing to find my life sustaining “bread” in relationship with Jesus and God the Father?"

If I chose to respond to this invitation literally (physically) I would react as did the Jews who “disputed among themselves saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”” (6.52) As the disciples noted, “This teaching is difficult.” (6.60) And that is precisely what faith is about, things that we cannot wrap our minds around. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11.1) Holding a loaf of bread in my hands I have no need for faith. I can touch and see the weight and substance of the loaf, and it will temporarily relieve my physical hunger. But to experience the life giving qualities of abundance, satisfaction, fulfillment, even joy I must look beyond the physical and find my life in Jesus, that I might live in him and he in me.   

We are all moved by hunger for something more and have oh so creatively contrived means to sate our desires; acquisition of food, wealth, property, power, status, partners, perpetual youth.  This is nothing new to the human condition. You can read about it in the Old Testament in stories of King David, in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times or People Magazine.  The thing is, the deepest desire of our hearts cannot be satisfied by anything physical. The deepest desire of our hearts invites us to discover that which is beyond the physical in the physical, to find divinity in the flesh.

I believe we all have glimpses of divinity in the flesh, moments when the veil between the physical and spiritual realms is pulled aside. For a chef it might happen while holding a sheaf of parsley in his hand, reverently inspecting the curl of the leaves and twists of the stems while rubbing a bit between his tongue and palate. A new parent might get a glimpse sniffing the scent of their fresh bathed infant or a music lover following the decrescendo of a plaintiff melody. It could be the smell of rain on the desert or the look in your dying friend’s eyes. I believe we all have had glimpses of the divine in the flesh.

It is this to which Jesus invites us to find our life, our true and eternal life.  It is the very flesh of this life that draws us  to reach (and taste) something more.