Are you there God? It's me, Jane Margaret.
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Thoughts and reflections of a pastor......
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11/26/2024 Christ the King Sunday. November 24, 2024Beloved: today is Christ the King Sunday; it is always celebrated on this, the last Sunday of the
Church’s calendar year. It serves as the last Sunday before we begin the season of Advent, which is a season of hopeful expectation, a season of preparing room within us for Love to find its way home in our hearts, minds, and spirits. Emmanuel, God with us. Let me share the history of this holy day called Christ the King Sunday with you because, you see, ELCA Lutherans only added this holy day to their calendar in the 1990s, the Episcopalians added it in the 1970s; it is a fairly “new” holy day. But it all began back in 1925 with Pope Pius XI. You see in the 1920s fascism was on the rise in Europe. According to Merriam Webster dictionary, fascism “refers to a way of organizing society with an emphasis of autocratic government, dictatorial leadership, and the suppression of opposition.” In the 1920s in Italy it was Benito Mussolini. Growing in power at the same time in Germany was Adolph Hitler, and in Japan it was the Imperial Way Faction with Hirohito as the Emperor. In response to these nationalistic, oppressive regimes, in 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted Christ the King Sunday—-reminding Christians to whom their allegiance belonged. Not primarily to a nation or a ruler, but to God. To a Way of Love, to a Life that is grounded in Love, to the Truth that Love is who we are. That’s how Christ the King Sunday started—as a pushback against Nationalism and oppressive regimes corrupted by power and greed. And, Beloved, like it or not, we are living in a time—the world is living in a time—when fear is showing up as nationalistic yearnings and tendencies once again. A time when we have forgotten that, as theologian Barbara Holmes puts it, “everything is enfolded into everything.” But this holy day, this Christ the King Sunday, reminds us of our global and Creation-centered obligations, relationships and identity. It reminds us of who we are and whom we follow; that our origin and citizenship comes from God’s Kingdom, not any worldly or earthly identity. “King” and “Kingdom” are kind of wonky words for Christians because they have too often come wrapped up in oppressive regimes that we have often fought to separate ourselves from, especially as Americans, right? We fought to be freed from the tyranny and oppression of a King. And, if we remember our story from the Bible, there was a time when God tried to tell us that earthly Kings are not meant for us who are followers of the Way of Love. Our story tells us that after God’s people reached the Promised Land and had settled down, the people realized that they were “different” from other nations. When they looked at other nations, the people thought the other nation’s power came from the fact that they had a King, so the people cried out to God: give us a King! God’s response was pretty much: Hmmmm, that’s not a good idea. But the people wanted their nation to be like all the other nations, so they continued to cry out: Give us a King! And Free Will, a trait of Love, means God lets us have our way when we demand it; God is not a tyrannical authority. And here’s the thing Beloved—the Truth within this ancient story and the Truth in our own contemporary story for us who claim Christ is this: When we follow in God’s ways, when we walk in the footsteps of the Christ—--we will no longer look, act, respond or choose like other nations. The desire to look and function like the way of the world that prizes money, power, possessions and luxury—this desire leads us to “miss the mark”--in other words, to sin. To forget who we are and whose we are. In chapter 8 of the Gospel of John, Jesus says: I am not of this world. (Which: hint, hint Christians, means neither are we to be) In Greek that word “world” can also be translated as “system.” Jesus is not of these worldly systems that enrich the powerful and oppress the poor, these systems that are built to make the rich richer and the poor poorer, any system that gives tax breaks to the rich while requiring the poor and the middle class to carry the weight on their backs. These are the systems that Christ takes no part in; these are the tables of injustice that Jesus flips and demands to be changed. Beloved: that is who our King is. God’s Kingdom, God’s Kingship is “otherworldly” to those who work within the world’s systems. Because Love, as the Magnificat proclaims, turns this upside-down world rightside up. And this holy day, this Christ the King Sunday, comes along each year to remind us that when we follow the Way, the Truth and the Life of the Christ—-we actually live and move from a completely different country, a different landscape, moving from an altogether different citizenship, led and obedient to an authority whose primary concern is communal—worldwide communal—whose primary objective is the wholeness and wellness of each and every speck and being of Creation. Beloved, our baptism is a radical act. It is the claim that our life is not our own. It is God’s. God–specifically Christ—is our authority—--our “King” to use this world’s term. And to follow this King is to leave this world’s systems and objectives behind. Literally, to die to one way of life and to be raised up, restored and renewed to another way of Life. And when we live this new life, casting aside how we once were for who God made us to be, when we do this—-God is glorified. Most of us, for most (if not all) of our lives, keep trying to have it both ways. To live as this world does, and then sometimes—whenever it’s not too costly—to let God’s ways take a turn. One question I have started to ask myself is this: Am I trying to have a seat at the table that Jesus has flipped? And what if, Beloved, what if we were to take our baptismal promises seriously? What if we were to take our Biblical narrative seriously—what if we were to understand our citizenship not from any worldly nation, but from God’s Kingdom come? Beloved, what would change in your life, in our life together, if we lived as if Jesus is our King? 11/18/2024 God's Enemies..... November 17, 2024Since then, Christ is waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for his feet,
—Letter to the Hebrews 10:13 Beloved, there is a form of Christianity that has been lying to Christians for years. Or maybe I should say that there is a form of Christianity that has been deeply mistaken for years. And it has infected many folx. Maybe you. I know that for a time of my life — me. This mistaken form of Christianity would hear this verse from the Letter to the Hebrews and understand those enemies the Christ is waiting to have as a footstool for his feet – to be people. Maybe even particular persons. But, Beloved: God—neither in the Creator aspect of the Divine nor in the Jesus aspect of the divine—-God does not have any people nor persons as God’s enemy. In fact, that is antithetical to whom and what God is. God is Love, and Love does not see any person or people as an enemy. Oh yes, there are enemies to God, enemies to Love, but never—let me say this clearly and rather loudly—NEVER–is God’s enemy a person. God’s enemies are not people. Not even the people you are most disgusted with. God’s enemies are the thoughts, the beliefs, the ways of being that oppose Love. I am not talking about rom-com/hallmark-card love. I am speaking of Love which is the active intercession in order to gain another’s wholeness and wellness. And Love has no limits or exclusions for whom the “another” is. All others are the “another.” Each and every one. Because, Beloved, all are God’s. God’s created. God’s people. God’s Beloved. In this creation, in this universe, it is impossible for any person to be God’s enemy. But God—that which is Love—does have enemies. Greed is God’s enemy. Thirst for power over other people is God’s enemy. Self-centeredness is God’s enemy. Apathy is God’s enemy. Nationalism is God’s enemy. Prejudice and bigotry is God’s enemy. Religious certainty is God’s enemy. Hoarding wealth and considering that wealth to be our own—solely Microsoft Word - Preparing to Become the Beloved Community - Year A.docxfor our purpose, comfort and enjoyment—is God’s enemy. And Beloved, what if all of these enemies: greed, corrupt power, apathy, self-centeredness, nationalism, hoarding wealth, bigotry—what if these are the demons of Legion? The demons Jesus kicked out of people’s bodies and spirits when Love showed up and called them out? Of course, it is easier just to go on hating people as enemies. It is easier to simply dismiss half of our siblings as folx we no longer have to stay connected to; that is certainly easier than finding the enemies within ourselves and using Love to root the enemies out of our neighbors. In today’s Gospel Jesus is describing an apocalypse—the end of one era and the start of another. And in apocalyptic times, there is always death; there is destruction. But from the ashes of that death, new life arises. Beloved, we find ourselves in such apocalyptic times. The world as we knew it is changing, has been changing. No longer is it so clearly tribal—-we are becoming more and more of a mixed ecology. And for some people—that is scary. They want what has been; they either cannot understand or do not want what is becoming. And so, they fight—tooth and nail—to try to keep us in the past, to keep Creation in their comfort circle: the way of being where their own status and comfort is afforded. Even at the cost of their siblings’ status and comfort, life and being. Their fear is God’s enemy. But, we Beloved, we followers of the Way of Love, we know that we are a creation that is always becoming. While the new can be scary and uncomfortable, it is necessary for deconstruction to happen so that re-construction can take place and something new can be born. The Message translation of today’s Gospel story tells it this way: Jesus began, “Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, ‘I’m the One.’ They will deceive a lot of people. When you hear of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history, and no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. What we, as followers of the Christ, must remember is our own story. Jesus was born into a time of the Empire, the Roman Empire. He did not understand his mission and ministry to be one of toppling the Empire—at least not through warfare and Institutional means. No, what the Christ does is topple the Empire from the ground up. He reminds people of who they are and whose they are. He lives out Love—simply by tending with Love to whomever is right in front of him. When injustice gets in his face, he turns the tables. He takes the time to rest and recover. But then gets back up and keeps moving forward—-all while the Empire looms over him, over society, over the land. The movement of Love begins, exists, and continues right there in the middle of Empire. The Empire cannot stop it nor put an end to it. Even though it surely tries. So, let us remember who we are and whose we are. Let us have a pattern of Love as our rule of life such that Love shapes us: our reactions, our responses, our sense of justice. Let Love remove God’s enemies from within. When we recognize that we are holding on too tightly to our wealth mainly to serve our own purposes and not for the purpose of ensuring that all God’s people have enough, let us open our hearts, our minds, and our spirits, and let the apocalypse of Love have its way with us. When we begin to fear because we are too uncomfortable with all that is not what we have known, let us open our hearts, minds and spirit and let the apocalypse of Love have its way with us. When we begin to see our neighbor—any neighbor—all neighbors—as the enemy, oh Beloved—let us then open our hearts, minds, and spirits and let the apocalypse of Love have its way with us. And when the enemies of Greed, fear, power and corruption begin to reshape our culture and society into the antithesis of Love, let us create sanctuary together. Let us collectively care for one another, feed one another, quench one another’s thirst, lighting candles of hope and persistence, creating havens of resistance and revolution so that the apocalypse of Love can take root here—in our hearts and homes, in our community, our state, our nation, this world we love that is our fragile island home. This weekend, Murray and I saw the movie Conclave—about an election of a pope, which is an apocalypse of its own kind with the ending of one era and the beginning of a new one. A cardinal from Afghanistan interrupted another cardinal who was speaking from fear—a fearful cardinal who called out those from other religions as monsters because he saw those others as the ones destroying his church. This quiet cardinal from Afghanistan–who had been eyewitness to humanity’s cruelty in times of war –he reminded his siblings, his fellow Cardinals: The Church is not tradition. The Church is not the past. The Church is what we do next. Beloved: our story tells us that there is no force, no enemy, no system, no form of government that can stop us from being who we are: the Beloved, followers of the Way of Love. And as history shows us over and over: Nothing can stop the apocalypse of Love from having its way. Love is the greatest power and force that there is; so, Beloved, let us choose to commit to being part of the Revolution, this Apocalypse of Love. We were born and baptized, shaped and formed for times such as this. 11/12/2024 This is Who we Are.......November 10, 2024Beloved: Maybe like me, you are struggling right now. Maybe not. While I am not surprised by what has unfolded this past week in our country, I am deeply saddened that so many of our sibling citizens see and understand our nation so differently than how I interpret and understand the Gospel, and therefore, how I understand who we are meant to be as a nation. I think we have very difficult times ahead of us because the division is deep and wide.
An election is an apocalypse of sorts—an unveiling of the state of a nation. I have heard many citizens say that: “this is not who we are.” Beloved, as a collective, this is who we are. It will not help us to turn away from this truth. Yes, we can lament the truth; lamenting is part of the grief process, but let us not stay in lament for too long. What do we do now? Leave? Maybe. Some may do that very thing—hopefully finding safety and creating sanctuaries beyond our borders—but most of us do not have that as an option. Most of us have been called to remain and resist. Resist the division. Resist the movement toward dehumanizing and subordinating groups of people. Groups of people that include women—particularly women of color. And all people of color. Our siblings in the LGBTQ community. The Disabled. Many of us are called to remain so that our presence – our words, choices, actions and investments – will act as subversive resistance. Disrupting and turning the tables that seek to exploit the vulnerable in order to make the weak look strong. Like these women in today’s Word. They gave all that they had for the sake of others. Literally. Probably like most of her neighbors in the story from 1st Kings, this woman, this widow, and her son have been devastated by the country’s drought. Using her last measure of flour to make bread, this woman, this widow had been preparing their last supper. But God’s prophet comes along, this foreigner from another land, and asked her to share. To share from her paucity, not her abundance. And she did. She made bread for another - a stranger, an alien, in fact. She didn’t offer her leftovers; she gave her only. Her very last resources. And today’s Word tells us that because she trusted the word of God that she was hearing (even though she wasn’t an Israelite, a believer, herself), because she was grounded in hospitality as an absolute for her life, she did the unthinkable, the unreasonable, an act that may have been seen as foolhardy by those who think only of themselves: she gave the last of what she had, all that she had—and this generosity, this selflessness, changed everything. This act of love, of compassion, hospitality and radical generosity literally brought prosperity to her and her son. Their lives changed from near death to full life. And then there’s this other radical woman in the Gospel, too “woke” for her own good. Even though it seemed to make no sense for her own wellness, she followed the communal regulations and gave her last pennies—all that she had—trusting that this communal act of giving alms would also provide for her sustenance. We do not know what happened in her life next, but we do know that the Christ holds up her action to us as the ideal of how we should all live: giving all that we have for the communal good. Trusting that this way of collective giving, living and loving is what restores us all to wholeness. Here is the Gospel, the Holy Truths, we hear in today’s stories:
And Beloved, right now in this perilous time, we are called to live these truths out deliberately and intentionally. Let’s talk specifics:
Being a Christian isn’t about wearing crosses around our neck, showing up on Sunday, singing praise songs or parading around in red hats. Those are too often only costumes, put on to present a facade to the world. What truly reveals who we are is what we do, how we live, how we give, how we love. This is nothing new. It is what we have always been called to do and be. Our job description hasn’t changed, but it has been intensified. Beloved—let us commit to who we are and whose we are. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride; there’s no getting around that, but living into our truest identity—as the Beloved Community—is what I believe is the only way forward now. From the words of the prophet Isaiah, let us have ears to hear Love speaking: Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! 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; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of Love shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call, and Love will answer; you shall cry for help, and Love will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. Love will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in. |
AuthorJane Johnson is the pastor and priest of the Beloved Community of Intercession Episcopal and Redeemer Lutheran. Archives
November 2024
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