Gospel text for Sunday 23 November 2014

Matthew 25:31-46         Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, `Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, `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.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, `You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Reflection       From the beginning Matthew’s gospel proclaims, God is with us, among us. Which begs the question, “How do we experience God with us?” Jesus minces no words in his parable. We experience God with us when we recognize our neighbors need and respond. 

Two things are required to experience God, recognition and response. We recognize hunger and we feed, we recognize thirst and we give drink, we recognize the stranger and welcome them, we recognize the naked and give them clothes, we recognize the sick and give them comfort, we recognize the imprisioned and give them companionship. As we offer blessing to our neighbors in need we experience God’s blessing, God with us. 

Here is the twist. We need the people who need us more than they need us. We need the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisioned because without them we do not have the opportunity to recognize their need and respond with blessing. Without people who need us we miss our opportunity to be counted among the God's sheep. Without the opportunity to serve the least among us we miss out on God’s blessing, we lose our place in the kingdom of God, we do not experience God with us. 

It is interesting, nowhere in Jesus’ teaching do we hear, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you…” for you crossed all your tees, dotted all your eyes, followed all the rules. Nowhere do we hear Jesus say, Blessed are you who are wildly successful, have prepared a royal festival, rich with gold and incense and elaborate prayers to welcome kings and priests and holy people. Instead we hear, blessed are you who are moved to extend God’s Spirit of compassion to those in need. For in tending to your relationship with those in need you are indeed tending to your relationship with God.

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Gospel text for Sunday 16 November 2014

Matthew 25:14-30        Jesus said, "For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, `Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.' His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, `Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.' His master said to him, `Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, `Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master replied, `You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' “

Reflection       The slave who received five talents, went off, invested all of them and received five more. What an enormous leap of faith. What if he lost the five talents?  What would his master do to him? Still, he risked everything, acted in faith and put all that he was given to work for his Master. And the Master was pleased. By contrast, the slave who received one talent was afraid, by clinging to the little he had he ended up with nothing. There it is, the bottom line. fear is the opposite of faith. Fear contracts, cuts us off from joy, from God’s kingdom on earth. Fear clearly is not the response desired by the master. (God)

Living as we do in God’s economy, like the slaves we are stewards of all that is given to us and we are expected to respond to God’s generosity with faith, not fear. As God’s stewards we are invited to take the risk and deepen our faith by  giving more than is comfortable in faithful response to God’s generosity. Whether it is a little or a lot, every penny that we have is gift. And so we turn to God and pray, “Lord, how are you inviting me to respond to your generosity in my life?” 

The slave in Matthew’s parable who invested everything he was given ended up with more than twice as much as he started. This is the economy of gift. This is the economy of the Church. This is God’s economy. It’s bottom line is not balance sheets and budgets. The mechanism of exchange is not quid pro quo, it is faith. Our faith is that God who has given us the capacity to live and breathe and experience our being will continue to gift us with all that we have, all that we are, and all that we need. So let's leap - in faith. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 9 November 2014

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Matthew 25:1-13      Jesus said, "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, `Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, `No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, `Lord, lord, open to us.' But he replied, `Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Reflection     I believe we have been lured into settling for way to little. We are not ‘only human.’ We are creatures made in the image of God intended to reveal God’s presence on earth. In Jesus’ parable about the kingdom of heaven, all of us are the bridesmaids. Being created in the image of God we are intended to be in loving relationship with God, the bridegroom. The question is, do we desire and expect to experience God with us? Are we wise or foolish bridesmaids?

The minds of the foolish bridesmaids were dark. Their lack of oil for their lamps represents their lack of awareness that God is with them even when they cannot see or experience God present. In other words, the foolish bridesmaids failed to develop their spiritual awareness or interior light. Consequently they were living in a state of interior darkness or lack of awareness that God, the bridegroom, is with them from the beginning and for all time.

By contrast, the minds of the wise bridesmaids are illumined, like lamps with ample oil. They have done the work to develop their consciousness. They desire and expect to experience the bridegroom, God with them. Consequently, they experience interior light, which is to say, even when they cannot see or viscereally experience God’s presence they know God is with them from the beginning for all time. As such they live in the kingdom of heaven on earth.

What is the kingdom of heaven? The kingdom of heaven is hiding in plain sight. It is not something outside ourselves that we can find or purchase. It is not delayed payment for a life of obedience. The kingdom of heaven is the light that shines from the center of each one of us. As we turn around and direct our attention inward the light of our self awareness and our God awareness grow. The apostle Paul described it this way,  “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” Gal 2.20) The bridegroom comes and takes us into the wedding banquet. This is the mystical union or marriage; the realization that our interior light, the essence of our true self, is not other than God’s light. We experience the light of new relationship with God given by Jesus to all of us who choose to believe. 

** Alexander Grey image  Praying

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Gospel text for Sunday 2 November 2014

Matthew 5:1-12       When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Reflection       Jesus begins his first sermon with “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” It has taken me years to arrive at what I believe Jesus means when he refers to the poor in spirit. I believe the poor in spirit are those of us who know that we are in need of blessing. Who among us does not need blessing? Yet, who among us wants to leap up, wave our arms and shout, “Here is am, poor in spirit?” Frankly, I have never heard anyone say those words, including myself. However, there are other ways to say it.

A week ago Saturday at Riverfront park during our Community Blessing of the Animals I heard teenages say, “We need blessing”  Please picture this. A bevy of apostles with sunglasses, visors, a wheelchair, floppy hats milling about with Joshua the donkey and Hooligan the horse weaving in and out among unsuspecting neighbors enjoying a Saturday morning stroll, some with and some without four legged friends. Also in this picture are three collared clerics hawking  blessings, waving wands of rosemary and sprinkling water on anything that moved. The extra holy water and bowls were home on a picnic table under the Bighorn Ramada. All the while an interesting thing was happening at the next door table. During the course of an hour a bevy of ten or twelve high school students gradually collected; watching and listening from a near distance. We could almost touch their curiosity.

When I asked them if it would be alright if Deacon Jon blessed them, their assent was immediate and unanimous, “Ah yes, we need blessings. He needs lots of them.  She does. So does he. I sure do….” a delightful repartee.  Every single one of them bowed their head to receive their blessing. A few even moved around for seconds.  “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” for they know that they need blessing. 

What is the take away from that experience? We are people of blessing and it is time for us to get our of our church building and deliver blessings to all the people. Who among us does not need blessing? And, who among us is not called to live in imitation of Jesus, seeing with the eyes of our hearts and being purveryors of blessing for all of humanity?

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Matthew 22:34-46       When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "`You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: "What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,  `The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”' If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Reflection   Let me just say this, “I do not know how to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul and mind, and, I don’t know how to love my neighbor as myself.” Furthermore, I am not even sure how to know if I Iove God… how can I be sure? The good news is some nine hundred years ago St. Bernard of Clairveaux wrestled with the same questions.

In his treatise “On Loving God” Bernard advises that love is one of four basic instincts; love, joy, fear and sorrow, with love being primary. These instincts compel our action and are intended to move us toward God. An important way we individuals are drawn toward God is in our shared experience of humanity with our neighbors… our neighbor is as our self which leads us to the part about loving our neighbor as ourself. Bernard would argue that when there is conflict between our preferences and the needs of our neighbor, we are called to provide first for our neighbor… “love your neighbor as yourself.” 

By the very act of loving our neighbor we are loving ourselves and in so doing we experience God’s love kindled within us which is actually the original instinct for love that gives us the capacity to love and care for our neighbors and ourselves. This revolution of love is an effusion of affection, respect and care that bands together what once appeared to be separate. Loving the many is loving the One. Loving the One is loving the many.

The original spark or instinct to love is seeded in our heart and our soul and our mind by God’s love of us, each one and all of us. This is love intended to return to its source through the agency of loving one another.  The only way I can be sure I am loving God with all my heart, soul and mind is when I am putting the needs of my neighbor ahead of my preferences. Help me Jesus!  Please show me the way to help my neighbors in South Sudan. (Please double click on the image in upper right corner to learn more)

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Gospel text for Sunday 19 October 2014

Matthew 22:15-22       The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Reflection       We live in a world with two economies, the world’s economy of exchange and God’s economy of gift.  In the economy of exchange we work for money that we trade for things we prefer not to work for; we exchange money for roads we do not build or maintain, money for food someone else grew, caught or butchered. The exchange economy is  real,  it is important, and it is not God’s economy. It is not the economy of the Church.

God’s economy, the Church’s economy, is a gift economy. In the gift economy we understand that all that we have is gift, which includes the skills, talents, intellect and physical capacity to trade our work for money in the exchange economy. All that we have and all that we are is gift, unearned, undeserved gift. As we wrap our minds and hearts around the biggness of our gifts we begin to see that in every area of our lives, including our money, we are stewards, stewards of the gifts given to us by God. 

This makes me think of Matthew’s parable of the vineyard owner who paid everyone a full day’s wage, even those workers who did not show up until 5pm. You may recall what happened. Those who had labored a full day grumbled when those who had labored not at all received the same full days wage. The grumblers were living according to the world’s economy of exchange and the vineyard owner was living in accord with God’s ecomomy of gift; he replied, “Are you envious because I am generous?” (Matt 20.15)

How are we to respond to such unspeakable generosity? By being envious that some receive more? Or, by being grateful for the life and the breathe and the being we are given in God’s economy? Do we live as if it is all about the economy of exchange and cling to everything we have? Or do we live by faith in God’s economy, freely giving back to God all that we are given? I believe the question Matthew’s gospel invites each of us to ask is this; “Lord, how are you inviting me to respond to your generosity in my life?” 

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Gospel text for Sunday 12 October 2014

Matthew 22:1-14        Once more Jesus spoke to the people in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, `Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.' But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, `The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, `Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, `Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

Reflection    “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet  for his son.” I must confess, the first thing I think of when I imagine attending a wedding is, “What am I going to wear?” Must everything match? is bling OK? What about shorts and flip flops? “

Frankly, I don’t believe Christ, King of the Banquet, cares. Violating the dress code was not the issue when the king confronted the wedding guest, “ How did you get in here without wearing a wedding robe?” Remember, the parable is about the “kingdom of heaven,” so the question is, what do we need to wear to enjoy our place at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven? 

Writing to the Colossians Paul elaborates, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  (Col 3:12-17 ) Which is to say, “…clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. “(Eph 4.24-32)

Just showing up at the banquet, at church on Sunday, is not enough. Something is required of us. It is about the way we show up, the way we live our lives. Do we wear the robes of righteousness, which is biblespeak for asking, do we allow God’s Spirit to be revealed in the way we live our lives?  Are we revelations of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, generosity, faithfulness and self-control? Do we clothe ourselves in righteousness?

Or do we do what Matthew suggests at the end of this parable, cast out the people who are different from us, who don’t believe the way we do; “Bind (them) hand and foot, and throw (them) into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth?” 

In the year 1513 when Martin Luther came to Matthew’s parable of the wedding banquet he called it “the terrible gospel on which I hate to preach.” Indeed, it is hard to swallow. Matthew was a Jew preaching to Jews, not all of whom believed that Jesus was the Messiah, particularly not the religious officials. Matthew and his community of believers were frustrated and deeply distressed that some of their Jewish family members did not believe as they did and flatly refused their invitation to the wedding banquet. Unfortunately, resorting to violence was Matthew’s response to the religious leaders who did not see what he believed was the truth; Jesus is the Messiah. Disasterously, Matthew’s angry words have been used by Christians to justify the mistreatment of Jews throughout the ensuing centuries. I have to believe this is a case of unintended consequences. 

The question before us today is, what do we do when members of our own family, both biological family and our extended family of humankind, when they do not believe as we do? Do we choose to respond as did Matthew? Or do we remember that everyone is invited to the wedding banquet…”both good and bad?” In the context of this parable I believe we are the servants of God, sent “into the streets (to) gather all whom (we) find, both good and bad, so the wedding hall (will) be filled with guests.”

We are the beloved servants of God which means, we are meant to be the revelation of God’s righteousness, God’s love on earth. We are intended to reveal the good news that the kingdom of heaven is right here, right now.  Far too many people have not experienced Christians  revealing God’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, generosity, faithfulness and self control. It is time for us to go into the main streets, let people see who we really are, wearing the robes of righteousness rather than the armor of religious fanaticism.

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