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 28 July 2013

Luke 11:1-13     Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

And do not bring us to the time of trial."                                                                                                                                                       

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Reflection    Can you imagine the disciples, a motley crew kicking up a cloud of dust, as they return from wherever they were while Jesus visited Martha and Mary and find Jesus “in a certain place” praying? Can you see them, some lying some sitting in the shade of a drooping tree, waiting for Jesus? Can you hear their grovelly conversation? “You never know where you are going to find him. He just wanders off and prays.” “He prays a lot.” “I wonder if he prays the formal prayers and psalms the Levites pray in the Temple?” “I don’t know. He seems spontaneous. Prays whenever he wants, where ever he is.“ “Do you suppose he prays the way John does?” “Why don’t you ask him?” 

We’ll never know which one of the disciples said to Jesus, “Lord teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” We do know several things. Jesus taught the disciples to pray a formal prayer and to directly address God. He understood the relationship between the disciples and God whom they addressed in prayer was profoundly personal, like that of a child and it’s father; a child completely dependent on her father to keep her “from times of trial,” to forgive her missteps and mistakes, to provide for her need in the present moment. There is no more need for the disciple to go on and on telling God what to do and how to do it than there is for a child to tell her father how to provide for her. 

Still, there is more than the external form and repetition of the words (which I have to admit for me sometimes can fly out of my mouth much like my eye blinks in a puff of wind).  Rather than outlining a strict regimen for saying their prayers (such as at the three times each day of Temple sacrifice) or instructing the disciples to pray in designated holy places, Jesus used two allegories or stories to describe the interior state of consciousness the disciples (and we) are to bring to our prayers; bold persistance and innocent receptivity.

We are to be bold in directly addressing God, no less so than calling on a friend at midnight and demanding help. (How would you respond if I called and asked you to bring me a loaf of bread and bottle of wine in the middle of the night?) We are to be persistent in expecting a response, and unshakable in believing that it will be good. (I would only call you if I knew I could count on your goodness and patience). At the same time we are to be innocent as children, honest and guileless, neither offending nor taking offense. (I call and ask without having an expectation for a particular outcome). Because into this state of open-hearted receptivity we receive the greatest gift, God’s own Holy Spirit, and God’s kingdom is come. 

Gospel text for Sunday 21 July 2013

Luke 10:38-42        As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

Reflection           The story of Martha and Mary is so familiar that when I began to reflect on it I heard echoes of hundreds of sermons bouncing off the walls of my mind. I could imagine the cover of a book on my office bookshelf, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. But it was my Sabbath day and I was not at my office. I wracked my brain to remember the author which led me down a few twisted dead ends before I googled trusty Amazon and ‘remembered,’ the author is Joanna Weaver. All of this led me far from my engagement with the story. Feeling a bit anxious I wondered, “However will I sort through all of this to discover how the Spirit is speaking through the text to me today? How will I get this reflection written and everything else I have planned to do on my Sabbath day today done?” 

And there it was. I was thinking, feeling and acting like my sister Martha who was distracted by all the things she had done and the things she thought she knew or had to do. Even though it is the day the Lord visits Martha and her sister, both Martha and I are still trying to take charge and run our agendas. Oops! I decided to sit, meditate and wait for the storm to pass and the dust to settle. I set my “Insight Timer,” relaxed my body and followed my breath. A train of disconnected thoughts burbled to the surface of my consciousness. The good news is, I cannot recall any of them now. 

Three Kangsé chimes called me to conclude my time of waiting and listening. Having ‘heard’ nothing to write about Martha and Mary I recalled what Jesus said to the disciples while instructing them about prayer a bit later in Luke’s text. “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” (Luke 11.9) I decided to persist in my prayer. This time I didn’t set the timer. I just joined Mary at Jesus’ feet and offered this prayer. “OK, here I am Lord. If there is anything for me to write and share with your people, please let me know. I’ll just wait here.” 

I have no idea how much time passed before Zachariah the cat decided to check on my status. I do know that I felt incredibly good resting in God’s presence. As I realized that my time of waiting was over (Zachariah relentlessly insisted that I get up and open the door to let him go outside) I cast around my mind for words to write and realized all I had to tell was my story. So there it is. The story of a distracted woman, persistent prayer and an insistant cat. 

Gospel text for Sunday, 14 July 2013

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      There goes Jesus again, answering the lawyers question with a thickly padded response, a response that seriously stretched the tent of common understanding.  You see the astute and crafty lawyer understood the meaning of the word ‘plēsion,’ neighbor. It’s likely that most Jews understood that ‘neighbor’ referred to anyone who belonged to the Hebrew nation.  In other words, the Jewish lawyer was justified in thinking that ‘neighbor’ referred to people who are ‘like me (him).' 

Apparently Jesus had a different understanding. In light of his story about the Samaritan who went significantly out of his way to help a dying foreigner, Jesus understood ‘neigbor’ to be any person with whom we live or even happen to meet regardless of the nation or religion to which they belong. But Jesus was no more interested in playing word games with the lawyer than in having abstract arguments about faith. Jesus was interested in action, action rooted in the love of God.

This is where I am implicated. I like to go to my Greek dictionary and look up ‘plēsion,’ I like to study the word and think about nuances of interpretation and the development of meaning from the Hebrew to the Christian testament. In other words, I like to master the important questions of faith in my head. But as soon as I ally myself with the lawyer in Luke’s text and confess my understanding that a neighbor is a person who “shows God’s mercy,” everyting gets turned around. I am challenged to get out of my head and act. Jesus said it to the lawyer, and me, “Go and do likewise.” Go and show God’s mercy. In so doing, “you will live.”

It is not good enough for us to memorize the words about love of God and neighbor.  We are sent to live them. Understanding the abstract generalities of faith (the law) may be the first step. But understanding is only worthwhile when fulfilled in action. The lawyer asked the question, “Who is my neighbor?” His question points the finger and directs attention toward someone else. Jesus turned the question around and points the finger at us. How are we showing God’s mercy to all people? How are we being neighbors to all God’s people.... right now?

Gospel text for Sunday 7 July 2013

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20        After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, `Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'

"Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Reflection        Living, as I do, on the Sonoran desert in Arizona the “authority to tread on snakes and scorpions” could be helpful, although I must admit the very words evoke a tug-o-war inside me. My prudent voice counsels, “Just give the critters a wide bearth. If you don’t bother them they won’t bother you.” The other side of my tongue wags, “Ah, yes, to tread on those trespassers in my garden and “not be hurt.” Wipe out the problem and prevail.” I suspect neither response is what Jesus had in mind when equipping his disciples to continue the work that he intended to do.

I believe the “snakes and scorpions” to which Jesus is referring are those ills and evils in our society that destroy humanity and undermine God’s purpose for humankind. An eighteen-month investigation begun in 2007 and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) reported on the root causes of 21st Century social evils in the UK. Julia Unwin, director of JRF, suggested  four things that underlie today’s social ills – “our growing affluence, avarice, alienation and anger.” Unwin understands these four attitudes or inclinations to account for such social ills as human trafficking, inhumane treatment of refugees and migrant workers, fear of strangers, alienation from one another, domestic abuse, violence and drug abuse. (Please see the full review online  http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=3868 )

Jesus does not want us to skirt these issues, keep them at arm’s length... you know... divert our eyes and give the critters a wide bearth.  Likewise Jesus is not instructing us to exercise power over others, to wage war and secure our way. Jesus sends us to be in relationship with one another, to offer peace and be life-transforming revelations of “the kingdom of God come near.” If you imagine you are hearing overtones of the Holy Eucharist in these words, you are. We exchange the Peace, we give Thanks, we share the Bread and Wine made Holy. Altogether we realize, “we are what we eat;”  (Thomas Cranmer) the revelation of “the kingdom of God come near.” 

Gospel text for Sunday 30 June 2013

Luke 9:51-62        When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Reflection        Jesus seems so completely human in this text. I can almost hear him draw in a deep breath and sigh a faltering exhale as he sures himself up to do the next hard thing - return to Jerusalem. No doubt he feels that sick sense in his gut and gropping fingers on his throat. Soon we will hear him lament, “Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! (Luke 13,33-34)

Jesus knows where he is headed. No wonder he seems a bit irritable, not cutting his disciples much slack when he rebukes them, maybe even feeling a bit lonely and isolated when he compares himself negatively with foxes and birds. Jesus knows there is only one thing to do and it is not easy. “Proclaim the kingdom of God.” Let nothing be a distraction. Set your direction and don’t look back. 

This text encourages me because it gives me a clue that I am not the only one who struggles to “set my face to go to Jerusalem,” which is to say, to proclaim the kingdom of God in all that I say and all that I do. Even Jesus, who as far as I know never stopped praising the name of God, never turned away from his relationship in God, struggled. Even Jesus had to reach through the trenches of his own humanity, had to suffer the indignity (and discomfort) of having no place to rest his head or call his earthly home. Even Jesus had to stubbornly set his face to persevere, fix his gaze on the horizon and not look back. “Proclaiming the kingdom of God” in all that he said and all that he did cost Jesus everything. I believe he experienced it with every sense and every cell of his humanity. That is what encourages me.

When I hear Jesus say, “Follow me,” I get a sinking feeling in my gut and watery tightness in my throat and know that when I say, “Here I am Lord,” Jesus is with me in my aching humanity because he has been here. 

Gospel text for Sunday 23 June 2013

Luke 8:26-39     Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me" -- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

Reflection    Inside my generally poised and quiet exterior I’ve borne a few storms along the way; whirlwinds of uninvited thoughts and indubitable tornadoes of emotion. Inside it felt no less perilous than the raging wind and waves that provoked Jesus’ disciples to shout, “Master we are perishing.” (Luke 8. 24) And although I have never been physically bound “with chains and shackles” I do recall feeling the weight of the world hammering my chest while wirey fingers cuffed my throat. Fear - this will never end. Fear - this will end. I suspect most people have had a taste or two of such extremis, where circumstances (inside or out) seem so grave, so isolating, so out of control, that there is nothing to do except fall down on our face before Holy God and surrender. And then...

We know the story. Something unexpected happens. Jesus calmed the storm his disciples believed would kill them, and then they were “afraid and amazed...(and asked) who is this who commands even the winds and the water...?” (Luke 8.25) Jesus moved on to approach the tormented man of Gersasene, and instead of turning away disgusted by his vulgar behavior, Jesus asked the deranged man whose “chains and shackles” were insufficient to contain the powerhouse of his emotions, Jesus asked, “What is your name?” In other words, Jesus ‘saw’ beyond the circumstance. Jesus ‘saw’ the real man. By asking the man his name Jesus affirmed his very essence. And the tormented man was restored to his right mind. The people who had persecuted him were “seized with fear.” But not the tortured man. His heart was filled with desire. He begged to stay with Jesus, the one by whom he felt seen and loved.  

Exposed and naked the tormented man fell down before Jesus. In an act of utter surrender he prostrated himself before the “Son of the Most High God.” And he was transformed.  In his Letters to a Young Poet Rainer Marie Rilke wrote, “Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are really princesses who are waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”