Hebrew Testament Text for 2nd Sunday in Lent 8 March 2020

Genesis 12:1-4a       The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.

Reflection   This wisdom tale, probably written about six hundred years before the current era, is the story of the first Jew, Abram, the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Abram was part of a culture that found their identity in relation to the land on which they lived and the fathers and grandfathers and great-grand fathers from whom they were descended.

For Abram to leave his land and his father’s house was unimaginable. People of the ancient middle east did not immigrate from place to place. Not only were people tied to their land they depended on the local deities or gods for protection. Every aspect of their lives, food, fertility, culture and family welfare was linked to particular idols or gods which they took great pains never to offend. 

So how was Abram able to take the risk to go where he did not know and never be the same?

The oldest Torah, or Hebrew Testament commentary in existence, the Midrash Rabbah, written some two thousand years ago, has this to to say about Abram.

Abram’s family business was the making of idols. Having observed his father, grandfather and other relatives carve these local deities, even as a child Abram knew they could not speak and they were powerless.  So to walk away from the family business and risk offending gods or idols whom he knew had no power was really not earth shattering. But, to leave his place of origin to follow the voice of an invisible God and be a source of universal blessing, “blessings to all the families of the earth,” was unheard of.

Something inexplicable, something deep within Abram, enabled him to recognize the invisible voice of the One true God, the God of love on whom we can depend to bless us and make us a source of blessing. Abram’s is a story of faith. Which begs the question, What is faith? Faith is trusting or having confidence in someone or something without having concrete evidence. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11: 1). Faith is what connects us to the unborn, undying something more that we call God, HaShem, Allah.  Faith is what allows us to take risks because we put our faith in God with us.

When we hear the Divine invitation, “Go from your country your kindred and father’s house to a land that I will show you… and  I will bless you so that you will be a blessing to all the families of the earth,” we understand this is an invitation to evolve our faith, to move from a literal and mythic understanding of our relationship with God, take full possession of God’s blessing  and responsibility for delivering God’s blessing “to all the families of the earth.”

Abram’s story is a succinct synthesis of the journey of faith development, from the literal faith of a child to the all inclusive faith of a mature practitioner of Judaism, Christianity or Islam. As the father of all three great religious traditions Abram is a blessing to “all the families of the earth.” As children of Abram we are meant to continue the all inclusive journey of faith by opening our minds, and hearts and lives to be blessed and to pass on the blessing.  

Abram put his entire life on the line to follow God’s great calling. I believe he was able to take the risk because he trusted the voice of the invisible One that stirred something deep within his breast. Abram received God’s blessing which was sufficient for him to take the risk of ruin and ridicule by his neighbors who no doubt saw him as a crazy heathen.

Perhaps this is why the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Curry calls us to be Crazy Christians, people who refuse to be conformed to the world, instead people who choose to take the risk to step out of our comfortable ruts, allow our lives to be transformed so that we become the source of blessings for all the people on earth. 

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Gospel Text for The First Sunday in Lent 1 March 2020

Matthew 4:1-11        Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ 

and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God, 

and serve only him.’”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Reflection      It is important to remember what was going on with Jesus just before he “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan river to be baptized by John. “And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ “ (Matt 3.16-17)

One moment the Spirit of God descends on Jesus like a dove and the next thing we know the Spirit leads him into the wilderness. A voice from heaven declares Jesus is beloved and the next voice he hears is that of temptation. Is this not precisely the way it works in our lives? One moment we delight in the glory of God and the next we are tempted to appropriate God’s glory as our own. We witness an extravagant sunrise, take a picture and assure ourselves we are great photographers.  We enjoy a sumptuous meal then assume our culinary artistry. We move across the country, switch careers, decide to marry, divorce or buy a house then give ourselves badges for our bravery. We take stock of our treasure and measure our stock then award ourselves a ribbon for wisdom, wit and hard work. 

The question before us is, to which voice will we listen? Will we listen to the voice of the hungry and homeless and take our place among the angels as messengers from God offering food and shelter? Or will we succumb to the voice of power and privilege seducing us with insurance for safety and security?  Will we listen to the cries of the meek and modest and take our place among the angels to wipe away their tears? Or will we place our pride with the self-possessed, assured of our superiority? Will we listen to the voice of God and put our faith in the One who promises to be with us every step of the way? Or will we be preoccupied with the matter of objects and comforts, assigning our faith to that which we can accumulate? 

Lent invites us to act decisively in response to the promise of God’s presence with us and decide to which voice we will listen.  I can think of no better way to respond  than to open our minds and hearts, our whole beings to God, to act deliberately to make room for God’s presence to grow and to glow through us so that we may act effectively as messengers from God. Please consider these questions. 

Do you think your time is precious? 

Are you careful how you spend it?

Do you think it is worth three minutes of your time each day to make room for God with you?

Are you willing to take your place in the company of angels?

If you said, “Yes, yes, yes, yes” then I invite you to join me making room for God in our minds and hearts and whole beings by praying together for one minute three times every day using three brief prayers for morning, midday and evening from John McQuiston II’s book “Always We Being Again.”

A Morning Prayer 

Grace to us and peace. We are given this day, and awareness of its colors and sounds; these and other gifts, too numerous to name and infinitely rare, are received. For these gifts we are thankful. 

We do not know what this day wiII bring - life is the great enigma; life is the great good; we expect good from this day. At all times and at this time we participate in the great Mystery. We acknowledge our contingent nature. We humble ourselves before that which we do not understand. When we consider the vast reaches of the cosmos, the incomprehensible forces at work in each moment, the numberless stories of each life, the millions of forgotten ancestors who preceded us, the untold acts of kindness which occur each day, we humble ourselves. We keep silence. 

Help us to save ourselves by forgetting ourselves. In every experience and thought bring us into the certain knowledge that we are children of the infinite. Assist us to envision life as an opportunity to share in the creation of a caring environment open our mind's eye to the knowledge that if we give love, nothing in life nor in death, nor things to come, nor things past can separate us from the state of grace. Help us this day both to receive grace and to give it. 

We believe that we are children of the unlimited and that we are enveloped in an unbounded network of friendships, affiliations, and relationships which are in time and beyond time. We believe in the ancient message that adopting an attitude of faith and hope toward this life and all that it brings will profoundly alter our lives and our universe. 

In our activities this day we ask for the power to be continuously thankful, not only in our words, but in our hearts; to give up concern for ourselves and thus to walk in perfect freedom. May the vast mystery beyond comprehension fill us with the joy and peace and hope this day and always. We lift up our hearts. 

In Christ we pray. Amen 

A Mid Day Prayer

We give thanks for our existence; we recognize that we rely on forces beyond our understanding. We trust what this life brings: we trust ourselves, we trust our friends, we trust our families, we trust life, and we trust the universe. 

We release our past to the past, we release our future to the future, and we accept our present. We give up our cares and fears. 

We abandon our illusions of control. We acknowledge our complete dependence on providence. We relinquish our apprehension. We rely on that which we do not understand. We have faith. We have courage. 

Keep us from fear today. Open our hearts to the gifts of this moment and bind us to the great unknown through complete trust. Assist us in forming a loving image of the ultimate mystery, to have faith, and the courage to give ourselves hope. 

In Christ we pray. Amen

An Evening Prayer 

Incomprehensible, unrevealed spirit of all that exists, the means of all relationships we confess that we have closed ourselves off from the full joy of existence. We confess that we have failed to open ourselves to a relationship of radical and complete trust with every person and experience of this life. We confess that we have failed to love our experience of the Infinite in this life by loving our neighbors as ourselves, and thus, in thought, word and deed we have lost the way to the only true security and peace. 

Therefore we renew our effort to have a sympathetic relationship with every person, to live in faith that an unfathomable, magnificent nature expresses itself in every moment and in every experience of our fleeting passage here. 

We Confess that we have been afraid we have been restless, we have been unhappy, we have been wanderers, lost in a garden we could not see. We regret our weaknesses, and we seek a new beginning, so that we may truly live this life in the full promise of our time. 

We know that there is an enormous power inherent in each of us, at every moment in time, to experience the unbounded love and deep joy which is potentially our inheritance. We remind ourselves that our experience of the infinite, the hidden and hallowed power, is through our experience of this creation, and in our relationship with our fellow beings, and that we have been granted the faculty to change our universe by changing our relationship with it. 

This is the great gift we have been granted· the potential to experience all that comes to us in this life in complete confidence, love and joy; to have the courage and strength to put aside fear and despair, and to live each day in unquestioning trust in the divine providence which has brought us into being. 

We humbly acknowledge that despite the magnitude of our fault, and the number of our failings, the inexplicable drive of creation, the sacred spirit manifest in all that is, continuously sustains us, and allows us to begin again at any time, infused with the might from which we can never be separated. 

In Christ we pray. Amen 

Blessings for a Holy Lent.

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Gospel text for The Transfiguration, Sunday 23 February 2020

Matthew 17:1-9        Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

                  God's Grandeur 

        by Gerard Manley Hopkins

      Suggestion - please read Hopkins poem aloud.

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

    And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;

    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Reflection    What is it you sense when you hear these words? Do you have eyes to see and ears to hear the shining of shook foil? Are you attuned to Divine Presence saturating and streaming through you and all that is? Do you allow yourself to be agog in silence when the grandeur of God like a cumulus cloud cloaks the mountaintop? Or do you join our friend Peter staking a tent to procure perpetuity? Perhaps pull out your cell phone camera to suspend the moment?

Pondering the story of Jesus and his three companions, Peter, James and John climbing to his sacred place and enveloped in the grandeur of God, something new occurs to me. Anglicanism, the Anglican Episcopal tradition, has everything to do with transfiguration because it has everything to do with experiencing the grandeur of God.

Let’s back up a little. What is Anglicanism? Much may be said about the history of the Anglican Tradition rising from the 16th century Protestant Reformation. We can talk about its unique posture simultaneously holding the Roman Catholic liturgical and Protestant evangelical customs and practices while  insisting that reason and experience also be brought to the theological table.  We can dive into the complicated nuances of Anglican Episcopal polity and politics, not today. But at the heart of all of that information I believe the Anglican Episcopal Tradition is aimed at one thing. Transfiguration. 

What do we mean by transfiguration? Returning to Hopkin’s poem, I believe transfiguration is seeing beyond the “smudge and smell of our bleared and smeared bodies.” It is feeling our bare toes dig into the sand, unearthing the “dearest freshness (of) deep down things.” 

What is the “dearest freshness of deep down things?” I believe it is the grandeur of God, the light of Christ flickering within us, our deepest true unconditioned selves longing to shine out like shook foil. The “dearest freshness of deep down things” is nothing less than our transfigured selves flaming out the grandeur of God.  

This Sunday marks the end of the season of Epiphany and the grand Epiphany is this. Jesus is glowing with the grandeur of God and we are meant likewise to flame out like shook foil because the light of the risen Christ promises to radiate the grandeur of God and transfigure each one of us. This is very good news. Here is the thing, the promise of the risen Christ demands our response. Grace is not cheap. It is up to us to moisten our seared skin and wash away the smudges that overshadow our true transfigured selves. This is the work of Lent which we will begin on Ash Wednesday and continue for forty day and forty nights.  

For today it is enough to bask in the grandeur of God “Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings” and we are “charged with the grandeur of God.” 

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Hebrew and Gospel Texts for Sunday 9 February 2020

Isaiah 58.6-7  

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly

Matthew 5:13-20

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Reflection        It was the day I moved to Arizona to begin my first job as an Episcopal priest. Wandering through labyrinthine miles of mall I lamented, “Maybe today God can help me find my way through this confounding maze. How can I possibly be a priest if I cannot even find Sears?” Resisting the urge to exit stage right, I glumly scuffed along until I noticed a strange collection of objects stacked at the front door of a store. Curiosity drew me to the cache of craggy pinkish things.

They  turned out to be rock salt harvested from the Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan. Some of the salt crystals were made into lamps, other stood on their own. As I picked them up and inspected their rough angularity I wondered, “Why am I so attracted to these crystalline lumps?”  Remembering my mission I interrupted the clerk who was regaling me with the details of this salty find, ”Where in the world is the Sears store?” Smiling he apprized me, “You are on the wrong side of the mall.”

Eventually I found my way to Sears. While waiting for a second clerk to schedule delivery of my washer, dryer and vacuum cleaner I found my mind inspecting the eccentric pillars of pink salt and wondering, “Why am I so attracted to these craggy crystals of sodium chloride? Why can’t I get them out of my mind?” 

With delivery set for my Sears essentials I retraced my steps to the Salt Store and without hesitation paid for the first pink pillar I picked up, walk out of the store and ‘heard’ Jesus’ words in the depths of my being, “You are the salt of the earth.” I sat down and wept.

Right there in the midst of the unhallowed mall the God who promises to ‘strengthen my limp hands and steady my feeble knees” gave me exactly what I needed, assurance of God’s presence. Believers such as my enthusiatic sales person claim this jagged pink pillar cleans the air, soothes allergies, boosts your mood and helps you sleep. But my zealous clerk did not overhear this fanciful pink pillar speaking to my anxious heart,“You are the salt of the earth.”

What does it mean to be salt of the earth? I believe it means we are meant to enhance the flavor of God’s Presence on earth by telling the stories of the ways in which we have been surprised by God. By a salt pillar or an orange offered by a homeless man, in the death of a loved one or the birth of a new one, in an unexpected benefit or an anonymous thank you, in a dream, a poem or book that falls off the shelf into your hands at exactly the right moment, in an “ah-hah” realization or a flash of forgiveness.

Which brings us to Jesus’ second proclamation,“You are the light of the world.” If we are indeed the light of the world, (and who is going to argue with Jesus?) then we are meant to “let our light shine before others.” “What is this light that we are meant to shine before others?”  First let us consider what this light is not. It is not a spot light directing focus onto our performance. This light is not intended to  announce how important, powerful, exceptional, smart, enviable, rich, secure, influential, lovable, competent, impressive or even acceptable we are. 

The light we are meant to “shine before others” is the Light of Christ risen within us, the light that makes God’s Presence known in ordinary, unexceptional, even undesirable circumstances. The light that makes God’s Presence known in our impotence, incompetence and innocence. The light of Christ within us glows like the soft pink light from the heart of a pillar of salt, enhancing the flavor of God’s Presence on earth by telling the stories of the ways in which we have been surprised by God. 

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Gospel text for The Presentation of Our Lord, Sunday 2 February 2020

Luke 2:22-40        When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,

according to your word;

for my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles

and for glory to your people Israel.”

And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed-- and a sword will pierce your own soul too."

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Reflection      This past week I attended the Annual Arizona Diocesan Clergy Conference where the topic was Dementia From the Inside Out. The speakers were The Very Rev. Tracey Lind, former dean of an Episcopal Cathedral and active with the the Episcopal Church Pension Fund and her wife Emily who worked in commercial real estate and management. In 2016 at the age of sixty-two Tracey was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). The diagnosis comes with the expectation of loss of memory, language, motor skills, ability to care for yourself and ultimately a dramatically shortened life expectancy.  While grappling with how to live with this diagnosis rather than succumb to focusing on what she was losing, Tracey confronted the roomful of clergy with a question she and others living with dementia grapple. “When I cannot remember God, will God remember me?” *

I have no idea what she said next because along with everyone else in the room my heart nearly stopped as I choked back tears. I suspect every priest in this diocese is preaching Tracey’s question today. “When I cannot remember God, will God remember me?”

Tracey’s question invites us to ask, How do we present ourselves to God? Exactly as we are. As unblemished babes brought to the waters of the baptismal font. As fidgity five year olds, stopping, dropping and rolling. As awkward preteens preoccupied by appearance and longing to fit in. As rapidly changing teenagers developing values and obcessed with body image. As young adults reaching our peak in health, strength and performance. As middle age adults re-examining our life as many physical changes signal aging. As older adults experiencing decline in strength, energy, vision, hearing and balance.

How do we present ourselves to God? As people of God who at any age or any stage may be fit and formidable or may be frail and ailing because our wholeness and our holiness does not depend on us alone. Our wholeness and holiness depend on God with us. Furthermore, our wholeness and holiness does not depend upon us being able to recognize and assert it our selves.

Jesus parents name him Joshua, which means "God saves." At the appointed time in his development Jesus’ parents bring him to the temple and present him to God. Neither action depends on Jesus. Additionally, it is the perspicuity of the two prophets Simeon and Anna who affirm Jesus’ holy stature. First Simeon proclaiming, “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Then Anna who proceeds “to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Returning to Tracey’ heart wrenching question, “When I cannot remember God, will God remember me?” my answer is an unequivocal “Yes.”  “Yes, those of us who surround you and know you will hold you up and present you to God even when you have no memory of God.” And yes, there will come a time in every one of our lives when we cannot remember God due to crushing challenges, loss of faith, impaired cognition, a broken heart or a broken body. That is why we need one another. That is why we are church, the living body meant to surround and present us to God and affirm, “When we can no longer remember God, God will remember us.”

• Learn more at traceylind.com

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Gospel text for Sunday 26 January 2020

Matthew 4:12-23         When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,

on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

the people who sat in darkness 

have seen a great light,

and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death 

light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Reflection       John is imprisoned but his ministry of repentance is not arrested. Jesus picks up his cousin’s torch and turns it toward the land of darkness. Galilee is the land of which the prophet First Isaiah spoke seven hundred years before Jesus was born saying, “In the former time (God) brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali (when they were invaded by the Assyrians), but in the latter time (God) will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. (God) is bringing light into the darkness.” 

Jesus is part of something greater than himself. Rather than acting for his own self interest and preservation, Jesus is acting to fulfill Isaiah’s words. Jesus is participating in the transformation of human consciousness.  The theological term for this is metanoia and refers to a change in the way we think that leads to a change in the way we live our lives.

Jesus is bringing the God of the Torah, God who invites the Jews to a fundamental change of mind and heart, to admit the Gentiles. Jesus leaves the safety of his home in Nazareth, crosses borders and travels into a hostile foreign land that has been the seat of darkness for hundreds of years. Here darkness refers to the condition of the peoples’ minds. Sitting in the dark people are overshadowed by their preoccupation with death. In contemporary terms this translates; life is all about me; my safety, security, esteem, power and control. 

Jesus appropriates John’s message proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Returning to the Greek word for repent, metanoéō means to think differently, reconsider, to change our mind for the better. And what is the change of mind to which Jesus invites us?  With God life is not deferred to some happily ever after life. With God life is here and is now.

Soon we will see Jesus open the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, read and then assert, “The scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, in Jesus we encounter Divine Presence on earth. But then and now most people sit in darkness, in the shadow of death because we are preoccupied by our inordinate concerns for our personal security, safety, esteem, power and control. Let me be clear. The message is not that we should forgo all concern for our personal security, safety, esteem, power and control. The message is, life does not depend on us alone. Life depends on God with us. 

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Remembering The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 19 January 2020

John 1:29-42        John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Reflection        Rather than reflect on the gospel I want to join our entire country recognizing an ordinary Holy man.  In his now famous and final Sunday sermon preached at the National Cathedral on March 31, 1968 I believe The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words are as relevant today as they were fifty two years ago. “Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God.”

As it is with prophets throughout the ages, King’s words pierce the veneer of culture and call all citizens to right action. King confronts us, “On some positions, cowardice asks the question: Is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question: Is it politic? Vanity asks the question: Is it popular? Conscience asks the question: Is it right?” Now hear King’s call to action, “There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right.” King was an ordinary Holy man calling on each and every one of us to be ordinary Holy men and Holy women (and forgive King his lack of gender neutral language) living for what is right. 

Prophets are ordinary people who dare to speak when others are silent. Prophets are people like you and me who choose to stand on the ground of our relationship with God even when it is not expedient, politic or popular because prophets are ordinary people who live by our conscience and choose to reveal God’s love every hour of every day, even, and perhaps especially, when it makes us uncomfortable.

Are prophets perfect? No. History has a scathing way of slicing and dicing a prophet’s character. And, that is actually good news because, prophets are ordinary people like you and me, imperfect people who have taken to heart and fashioned their lives as best they are able on the words of that Jewish prophet Jesus whom we hear praying, “Not my will, your will be done.” Somehow prophets know, and have always known, that God is present and active in the world today, something that we affirm at the beginning of our worship every single Sunday.

The presider acclaims, “God is with you.”   The people respond, “And also with you.”

Are these empty words? Do we mean them? It we do that means each one of us stands with God, derives our blessings from God, finds our courage in God, and acts deliberately to be a co-worker with God. 

It takes humility, courage and audacity to claim our identity as ordinary Holy people. Humility to admit that all that we are and all that we have is pure gift. Courage to put our faith in God with us, enabling us to be more than we can imagine. Audacity to not only hope but to act deliberately to call out the evils we witness and extend the blessings we enjoy. 

The world is crying out for us to  be co-workers with God and claim our place with ordinary Holy women and men like Martin Luther King, Jr. Shall we choose to live by our conscience?