Epistle for Holy Cross Sunday 6 September 2020

 Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death—

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Reflection       Jesus’ decision to enter Jerusalem, host a farewell supper with his closest friends, and allow one of them to betray his whereabouts to his persecutors is not a personal decision. He does not act to insure his security, safety, esteem, power or control. Jesus’ action is not personal. It is transpersonal.

An individual who operates with a transpersonal mindset is one "in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind…..”*  The transpersonal perspective is integral and undivided, it recognizes and honors all of humankind as interconnected and interdependent.

Jesus is operating from a transpersonal perspective. Standing surely in this inclusive view Jesus is faithful to truth as he knows it. He claims his nondual birthright as the son of humanity and the son of God. Political and religious officials call this treason and blasphemy. Jesus calls it truth. He is willing to  give up his life rather than give up his truth. 

Right about now you may be thinking, “That is great for Jesus but what does it have to do with me? Jesus’ capacity to seek justice and love unconditionally is unparalleled. I cannot compare to that.”

Wait a minute. Can you hear Jesus’ words to the disciples challenging our smallness? “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…” (John 14.12) 

I believe we humans have set the bar too low. As it is with every generation, we are meant to exceed the good done by those who have gone before us. “How,” you ask? Fortunately St. Paul has a succinct instruction for the Philippians and us, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” 

What is the mind of Christ? It is the transpersonal point of view that sees every person and all of creation as sacred, interconnected  and interdependent. Furthermore, the mind of Christ compels action aimed at what is right.

When Paul counsels us to put on the mind of Christ, he is imploring us to grow beyond our small self’s demands that we strive to insure our personal needs for security, safety, attention, affection, power and control. He is admonishing us to live as Christ lived; engaging life from a transpersonal perspective, patiently and practically taking care of other peoples’ needs, even to the point of sacrifice. 

Which brings us to a perplexing paradox. When we sacrifice for the good of others, we lose nothing. We are not debased or shamed. Rather, we are stretched beyond the ordinary bounds of human understanding, we are raised into the transpersonal experience of glory, honor and triumph. 

This is the mystifying paradox of the cross. When Jesus allows himself to be bound, nailed and raised up on the cross he is not raised to shame and humiliation. He is raised to glory, honor and triumph; he ascends to victory and proceeds to breed hope in our hearts.

We have set the bar too low, made ourselves too small. What if we stood in our place with Jesus and claimed our birthright as children of humanity and children of God? What if we raised our sights to transpersonal heights and  doubled down on our commitment to action aimed at what is right, even when it means personal sacrifice? What might our world look like then?

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¹ Walsh, R. and F. Vaughan. "On transpersonal definitions". Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. Vol. 25, No2, pp. 199-207, 1993.

Gospel text for Sunday 13 September 2015

Mark 8:27-38        Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Reflection        This is one of those times when Malina and Rohrbaugh’s “Social Science Commentary” leaps to mind with its apt explanation of the difference between ancient Middle Eastern and 18-20th century Western civilization’s response to Jesus’ question, “Who do people say that I am?” In his honor/shame society Jesus is asking this question to locate his position of power and status in the collective, which is the source of his identity because his was a group-oriented society. A person knew themselves via their connections, relationships and responsibilities to their socio/cultural/religious group. (eg The Christian Testament speaks of Paul of Tarsus, Mary of Magdela). The value is for the collective good.

The Age of Enlightenment gave birth to  a different perspective, individualism, that understood human persons to have individual God given liberties and rights. This view arose in the late 17th-early 18th through 20th century and underlies the psychological perspective that individual persons live primarily of themselves and for themselves.  Identity is singular, derived from the individual’s particular needs, desires and ambitions.  The value is for independence over against the collective good. 

When Jesus asks, “Who do you or who do the people say that I am?” he is asking “How am I located in the complex web of relationships that constitutes humanity?” Jesus is not testing the disciples and Peter to find out if they recognize his particular psychological constitution. He is asking the people, the source of his identity, to tell him what his position of honor or shame (power) is among the people. How then can we relate to Jesus’ question of identity today?

In his Integral Theory the contemporary philosopher Ken Wilber suggests a four part model for understanding who a person is. It includes the interior subjective world of the individual, the individual’s cultural/collective background, the objective situation exterior to the individual and how the individual fits in the collective.* Wilber offers a way to move beyond a preference for either the collective or the individual and embrace a 21st century nondual perspective that integrates the values of both. The lens through which we 21st century Westerners look back at Mark’s gospel cannot escape projecting our psychological perspective on it. In fact, that is what keeps the Word alive and relevant for us. However, we must also bring forward the context and wisdom of the collective seeking the survival of the group.

I wonder if the current great divide between Republicans and Democrats may in some way be explained by a preference for either Ancient Middle Eastern or Eighteenth Century Enlightenment perspectives? I wonder if it is time for us to set down the pundits’ rusty swords and bridge the gap between the rights of the individual (insulated and unconnected to others) and the priority for group survival (at the expense of personal privilege)?** I wonder if it is time to adopt a perspective that ascribes value to both the individual and the collective and stretches toward the transpersonal to exceed the limits of both?

Copy and paste either citation in your browser to read more.

*Wilber, Ken. "AQAL Glossary," "Introduction to Integral Theory and Practice: IOS Basic and the AQAL Map," Vol. 1, No. 3. Retrieved on September 7, 2015.

**Steve Paulson. "You are the river: An interview with Ken Wilber". salon.com.

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Epistle Holy Cross Day, 14 September, 2014

Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death--

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Reflection        When Jesus entered Jerusalem he knew he was headed for death. Not just death, tortuous death; excruciating, humiliating death nailed to a cross and lifted high so all could watch him gasp for breath. Jesus knew what was waiting for him and he chose not to wipe Jerusalem’s dust from his heels and walk north to Samaria or Cana. He could have headed for the proverbial hills, gone underground and out of sight and saved himself. Who would blame him?

But Jesus was not listening to the voice of fear shouting, “By all and any means, save yourself. The most important thing is to be safe and secure, to surround yourself with people who care for and esteem you. Be sure to maintain a modicum of power and control.” That was not the voice that he was listening to. Jesus was listening to the deeply interior voice of his Father God.

Jesus’ decision to walk into Jerusalem, to host a farewell supper with his closest friends, and to allow one of them to betray his whereabouts to his persecutors was not a personal decision. Jesus’ decision to allow himself to be handed over to suffer and die on a cross went beyond his desire to take care of his basic needs for safety and security,  affection, attention and esteem. It bypassed his personal need for power and control. Jesus’ decision and action was not personal, it was transpersonal.

Transpersonal experiences have been defined as experiences "in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind.....”  Jesus was operating from a transpersonal perspective.  And so he chose to stay the course, to remain faithful to truth as he knew it. Jesus chose to stand in his place and claim his birthright as the Son of Man and the Son of God. The officials called this treason. Jesus called it truth. He was willing to  give up his life rather than give up his Truth. 

What does this have to do with us, mere humans, not Jesus? Everything. We are made in the image of God which means “we are free to make choices : to love, to create, to reason, and to live in harmony with creation and with God.” (BCP 845) In other words, we participate with God in bringing about good in creation. That is why we are here.  Remember Jesus words to the disciples“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…?” (John 14.12) 

I believe we have set our sights too low. Rather than claim our birthright as daughters and sons in the family of God we have let ourselves off the hook by claiming we are mere humans. What if we stood in our place and claimed our birthright as children of humanity and children of God, would we be moved to give ourselves away to care for and dignify all people? 

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