Wonderings and Reflections:
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12/3/2018 0 Comments Advent 1: The Beginning is Near“When we feel certain that the human soul is no longer at work in the world, it’s time to make sure that ours is visible to someone, somewhere.” ---Parker Palmer
Beloved, we are living in an age when some of our siblings in the world are fleeing their homes and homelands in order to find a better life---a life where violence is not persistently nipping at their heels, a life where their children can flourish, a life where hunger and thirst are not constant companions. This may be hard for us to truly wrap our heads around, for most of us, if not all of us, have not experienced such desperation, such fear. I, myself, have lived on welfare, have had times of great financial struggle, but never have I felt that I needed to walk thousands of miles, leaving all I know behind, simply to seek a safer life for my children and myself. This reality I do not know. And Beloved, we live in an age when these neighbors of ours, as they take these desperate and risky steps toward a more abundant life, they are met with tear gas, with their children being taken from them and kept in cages. They are met with threats and racist depictions of who they are. I know I am not alone in my heartbreak and anger about the harm being done to our siblings. These ones who are most vulnerable. But what really breaks my heart is the lack of movement within our nation to stop this from happening; what devastates me is how many brothers and sisters of mine, of ours, are okay with this taking place. And I don’t think these siblings of ours are villains. I think, that just like us and like all humans are capable of doing, they are simply believing a narrative that benefits them. We all want to believe narratives that do not challenge or disrupt our comfort, our status, our assumptions and expectations. These narratives that allow us to remain inward-centered, protecting self at all costs. The narrative being told in this age is that these beloved ones who are fleeing their homeland are people we should fear. We are told to be afraid of this portion of our family because: 1. They are illegal 2. They are most likely going to hurt us or others 3. They are going to take something that is rightfully ours Beloved, we can choose to believe this narrative. We can choose to rationalize and justify actions that deny our neighbors healing, that deny them assistance and help. We can let fear rule our hearts. But, Beloved, this is not God’s narrative. The Psalmist today reminds us that “All the paths of the LORD are love and faithfulness.” Not just love and faithfulness from God to us, or love and faithfulness of us to God. But love and faithfulness of God to all people, and love and faithfulness of neighbor to neighbor. For loving our neighbor is how we love God. The Way of Love. This current age’s narrative of building walls, denying our neighbor, letting fear determine how we live with those who are not like us---this narrative is not our narrative. And we cannot succumb to it. Because we are God’s people, and God’s narrative tells us that people, Beloved, people are never illegal. And even in this current age, the truth is that our migrant neighbors are not even taking illegal action. Seeking asylum is legal---here and throughout the world. While it may be unwanted by some or it may be threatening to some, it is a legal right of humanity. Even in this current age. And Beloved, God’s narrative tells us to be not afraid. We are not to shun our neighbor out of fear, but we are called to love our neighbor. In Scripture, specifically in the Parable of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke, we learn that our neighbor is whoever is in need. And, we are shown that how we love our neighbor is to show mercy and compassion, to take the risk of crossing boundaries and borders in order to assist our neighbor. This is the way of love. This is our narrative. God’s narrative is about an abundant life, not scarcity. An abundant life that rises from acts of generosity, of sharing and not hoarding, of distributing justly what God has provided instead of allowing ourselves to be possessed by what we think of as our possessions. As Americans, we may be worried about not having enough resources---that we don’t have enough jobs or our economy cannot sustain so many folks in need. But the Gospel truth of helping our neighbors instead of denying them only seems foolish or financially impossible when we isolate ourselves. As Americans we may or may not have all the resources needed to deal with the health, safety, shelter and employment needs of our neighbors at the border, but as global siblings we most certainly do. Here’s the thing, Beloved: as a follower of the Way of Love, our true identity as the people of God, there’s simply no room to be okay with what is happening in this age at our nation’s border. Maybe the answer is not as simple as “just let everyone in,” but our response, according to God’s narrative, should be an act of mercy, of compassion, of healing, of uniting and not dividing. Acts that say: we see you; we know you; we are bound to you; your wholeness is my wholeness. For together, we are the Beloved. “Whatever you do to the least of these,” Jesus tells us, “you do to me.” Love God; love neighbor. So first and foremost, let us---as Christians---let us know our own narrative, God’s narrative, so deeply and so profoundly that we are not duped by another narrative, the narrative of this age. Let us not be captured by fear or sideswiped into self-centered protection at all costs---leaving our brothers and sisters bleeding and crying at the side of the road. Let us look for where God is at work and then join in that redemptive and healing work. Let us stand up and raise our heads, because our redemption is drawing near. Justice and righteousness are signs of God’s Kingdom---a new age dawning. At this start of a new church year, today’s readings on this first Sunday of Advent speak of an apocalypse---that’s right---again with the apocalypse. There will be “signs in the sun, the moon and the stars and our earth…” (and friends, let’s not forget who created and who is in control of the sun, moon, and stars…). The “powers of heaven will be shaken….” “The days are surely coming…” Jeremiah prophesies. The end to one age and the beginning of another; the world is about to turn, echoes the Mother Mary who is preparing to give birth to Love in the world. A revolution. Social Justice advocate and follower of the Way Dorothy Day once wrote: “The greatest challenge of the day is how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us.” Beloved, the world is about to turn, from one age to the next. Turning with the revolution of one heart at a time. Each heart marinated in the narrative of God’s love, each heart trusting in the call of Jesus to Come. Follow. Come and see. Come and break bread; take and eat. This is God’s love for you. This is God’s love for our neighbors. Know who you are. Know whose you are. Come, beloved, and “cast away the works of darkness; put on the armor of light.” The Kingdom of God is near.
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In most profiles that churches put out when they are looking for a new pastor or priest, there is often a statement that says the church would like a preacher who connects the Scriptures to their daily lives---a preacher who makes sense of the Gospel and declares how it is relevant to our world today.
Well, buckle up: here goes….. We are faced with many issues today---some of these issues have been going on since the beginning of time, I am sure---but most of these issues feel as if they have escalated in recent months and years. I am talking about: Climate change gun violence immigration and border security homelessness and poverty healthcare for all people should we raise or lower our taxes (in other words, why do I have to pay for other folks?) racism, white supremacy, and nationalism Beloved, the Good News of Jesus Christ has something to say about all of these things, and today’s readings speak God’s Truth if we have ears to listen: “The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein.” This one verse from today’s Psalm, speaks to all of these issues in one way or another. Let’s start with Creation. This verse reminds us that everything is God’s and everything was made by God. Our part in Creation, going back to Genesis, chapter 2, is to care for all of creation. To be good stewards of that which God has made---including humanity which is made in the image of God. When God puts human in charge of the Garden of Eden---of the Creation---God asks human to do two things: to serve Creation and to guard Creation. Obed and shamar: these are the two Hebrew verbs. To serve and to guard. Four weeks ago, the UN put out a statement reporting that the status of carbon dioxide pollution here on earth is a life or death situation. Time is running out; if we are not willing to live differently in order to limit and decrease the carbon dioxide pollution in our atmosphere within these next 12 years, we will cause damage that cannot be walked back---damage that will lead to unprecedented changes to our world. People, we are talking about the status of this fragile earth, our island home, becoming more inhospitable and drastically different in the lifetimes of the children who sit in this room right now---in the lifetime of Gus and Roman whom we baptized two weeks ago. As we celebrate All Saints Sunday---when we recognize that we are all in one communion---bound together: past, present and future---we hear this wonderful reading from the 21st chapter of the Book of Revelation. Now, this book of the Bible has been used as a weapon in our lifetime. Some have taken it and spun a tale about a great rapture, a clear distinction of who is in and who is out. This Great Rapture that has captured many folks’ imagination and has sold thousands of books for the writers of the Left Behind Series---this Great Rapture is made up. It was concocted in the 19th century; and while elements of Scripture and the Book of Revelation were woven into the fantasy---it is not Biblical. It is not the Good News. But there is plenty of Good News in the Book of Revelation (in fact, we will be studying it in the New Year, so stay posted). The Book of Revelation is an apocalypse—an end time prophetic epiphany---but not about the end of the earth. This book describes an end of an age, the end of one age—the age of the Empire---and the start of a new age---the age of God’s reign on earth—the new Jerusalem. Where God and humanity are one another’s, where chaos has ended, and death, pain and sorrow do not have the ultimate power. For God makes all things new---all things. Beloved---do you hear this Good News today: God loves and includes all---all people, all created things, all of humanity, all kinds. God does not divvy up the worthiness of humanity into races, genders, sexual orientations, colors, economic status, or even nations. God does not look down upon created earth and see borders. God does not favor one nation over another, one race over another, one gender over another, one social status over another. Those are sinful, human divisions. God works for all things; God makes all things new. Today’s Gospel has Jesus standing at the mouth of the tomb, with the stench of death and decay hanging in the air, and Jesus calls the dead back into life. Because the Good News is Resurrection---that death does not have the ultimate power, that love wins, that darkness does not overcome the light and that life is stronger than death. This is the central message of our faith: Resurrection. But, beloved, do we believe in Resurrection? Do we let it be our primary call? Or, Beloved, do we allow death to have more power than resurrection? What if we considered all these burning issues of the day through the lens of Resurrection? Climate change gun violence immigration and border security homelessness and poverty healthcare for all people the purpose and need for taxes racism, white supremacy, and nationalism What if, as we ask and consider how we should vote or choose or what we should believe about these issues, what if we used resurrection as our litmus test? Think about it; we believe in the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Another way to name the Trinity is Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. That is who God is: the One who Creates, the One who Redeems and the One who Sustains life. If we are to name ourselves as Christian, then this means our allegiance is to God first, not nation. This means that Jesus is our Lord, not our wallet or our status quo. If we are Christian, this means we have vowed to live the life of Trinity: creating, redeeming, and sustaining life. This is our litmus test---this is how we know how to choose, how to vote, how to live and how to give. But, here’s the kicker. We are not called to create, redeem, and sustain life only for ourselves or only for our family or only for our nation or only for our race or only for those who profess the same creed or speak the same language or who celebrate the same holidays……..God makes all things new. All things. As Christians, we are called to live our lives in ways that create, redeem, and sustain life for all things---for all of Creation----for all belong to God, so we are each other’s business. So let’s get back to how the Good News speaks to these burning issues of the day; you know, apply the Bible to our everyday lives: The thousands of our siblings who are seeking a better life so they walk thousands of miles in hope of tasting that abundance which God provides for all---we already know what God-the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of life-- desires for these ones. On which side of the tomb will we stand? Or in Pittsburgh where our Jewish siblings are gunned down while attending worship or in the high school hallways of Parkland, Florida or in weekend celebrations at Pulse nightclub in Orlando or the concert in Las Vegas or the elementary classrooms in Newtown, Connecticut…..are we prepared to unbind our nation from the death shroud of gun violence? Can we share our abundance in the form of taxes in order to provide healthcare for all folks, making certain all people have shelter, food and drink, providing a living wage for all those who work, practicing resurrection through our systems and structures? Building a society that is enabled and empowered to care for one another---especially our most vulnerable (in Scripture they are named as the widowed and orphaned). Raising folks from death to life? And if we are unwilling to have taxes that provide for this, if we don’t think it is the government’s role to do this, then we must come up with another way, for Gospel makes it clear that it is our work to do. Not somebody else’s. As Christians, as Jesus followers, as People of the Way of Love---this is our business. And it is the business we call all people to take up with us. This is resurrection. This is how we, like Jesus, stand at the mouth of the tomb, with the stench of death and decay all around us, and raise people from death to life. This is how we unbind them and let them go----free them and us from the death shroud that strangles us from the abundant life God desires for all things to know and have. This beautiful vision described in the book of Revelation is not about a heaven that we can go to when we die. This apocalyptic dream is not about the end of the world; it is about the end of an age. This is an apocalypse of Hope---and oh, how we need to hear it today; how we need to believe it today; how we need to lean into this vision and participate in what God is already doing today---creating, redeeming, and sustaining life. Because, Beloved, we are the agents of resurrection whose participation in God’s vision creates the apocalyptic turn---moving us from one age to the next. As Republican President Abraham Lincoln preached at his first inauguration in 1861, standing at the cusp of the Civil War: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” Then Jesus took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me, but the one who sent me.”
Let’s picture this in our minds, this embrace by Jesus of a child. And let us remember that a child, in this Mediterranean society of Jesus, was one without status, power, or value. This is the one Jesus brings into the center of the gathering; this is the one Jesus embraces, welcomes, and by doing so, welcomes the Divine. Friends: the only way I know how to be a priest and pastor is to be myself. With vulnerability and authenticity. So with vulnerability I come before you today and share that I have discovered a ball of anger burning within me. An anger that I had not recognized was within me all these 52 years I have been trodding this fragile earth, our island home. But I cannot hold it in any longer. I cannot ignore it. It burns. And right now, it is being fed daily. I have found myself needing to find more and more ways to seek the light, to go to the silence and enter that holy space where God waits for me so that the anger can at least be siphoned off a bit and weakened, so that I can be reminded of our bigger Truth, this stronger love that wins….. Then Jesus took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me, but the one who sent me.” Beloved, as the Body of Christ, we are called to follow Jesus’ action, and we need the little child we bring into our embrace to be female…..all females. Because Beloved we have not valued the female among us. Probably since time began; I don’t know. But, I do know, certainly for my whole life. And this assault of the female is so embedded in who we are, how we live, what we find to be normal, that we don’t even recognize it when it is happening. We all participate in it---male and female. We just allow it. If we are female, we swallow it. We normalize it: Boys will be boys…….telling our girls to watch how they dress but not asking our boys to respect girls enough to learn control. Oh, Beloved, there are just so many ways and so many things that lead to this diminishment of women…..that is why this ball of anger within me is burning……I knew when this began, this metoo movement, with women standing up and refusing to be silenced and demanding a change, demanding justice for the violence that is so often just accepted as this is how it is…..I knew this would be a reckoning. I knew once the thread was pulled, it would be unraveling and unraveling and unraveling for a long time ……. Because you see, sexual assault isn’t just physical…….if you are a male, you probably cannot even imagine……it begins when we who are female are put in precious clothes that are supposed to stay clean; dresses that limit our movements; clothes that define our expectations. It begins when people assume that our highest goals are found in the home with only a limited pool of influence. When we are told that there are positions and roles that we cannot do….and then when we refuse to relent and we achieve those roles, we are told we are not as valuable because we are paid less for the same work….When we are told to not raise our hands so often or to speak more quietly, to be more feminine…..when we show leadership skills and are seen as bossy or aggressive instead of promising and effective…. But, Beloved, even for all of these truths to be true, so many other things had to be accepted as truth first. Humanity has built a structure that inherently lessens the influence, the voice, and the value of women. This goes beyond patriarchial society. It is found even at the heart of our faith story and how we, as the Church, have chosen to tell it. We have focused the great miracle of the Mother of Jesus, the love and life of Mary whose greatest gift is that she gave birth to the Divine into the world, and we have wrapped it in the word “virgin” as if that is the most important aspect because that aspect then defines her…..and it defines her as men would have her be: pure, chaste, submissive. And then we hold that version of the Mother Mary up and ask every female to fall in line. Be like this Mary---not focusing on her trust in God, not focusing on her ability to give birth to Jesus who is Love into the world, but focusing on her purity, with every image we see of Mary showing her to be beautiful, calm, quiet, and submissive. And also, that somehow, she is incomplete without the child. And as this cherished picture is held up for all females to hold as our highest possible achievement, with this expectation for women, came the right to shame anyone and everyone who falls short of it (which is almost every female at some point in her life), even when the falling short of it is caused by someone else’s actions and aggression against her, even though men are held to no such standard. In fact, the standard for men has actually been the opposite. Virility is the highest virtue, not purity. The damage began so long ago. And has been built and nourished and fed and expanded…….touching everyone who identifies as female………in some way……often (if not always) in many ways: Words that shame or judge; expectations that limit and diminish; glass ceilings that hold us down. And this week as I prepare for today’s reflection, Christine Blasey Ford has been doubted and questioned and belittled by men over and over and over again (I mean, really, is it any wonder that victims do not tell when this is what they can expect? When so often there is no proof but only their word). And as she has come forward, like so many women before her, including the women who first arrived at Jesus’ empty tomb that first Easter morning, it has been assumed that Professor Ford is telling an idle tale, assumed by legislators who are elected to protect the civil rights of all citizens, legislators who are supposed to see beyond party to the common good of our nation that so desperately wants to be the greatest, the first----this week I hear the Good News: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then Jesus took a little child and put her among them; and taking her in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Oh Beloved, let us be this servant, let us as the people of God, and then I hope and pray us as the United States, let us learn how to be the greatest by becoming the servant. And let us finally and fully recognize that we must serve all children, yes, but let us pay special heed to the female among us---the One who has been granted the lower status. And let us tend her wounds. Let us make changes and choices that help her to believe that this reckoning will lead to a new day. A new day when half of God’s beloved people, those who identify with the pronouns she, her and hers, will no longer be limited by words, expectations, and lower salaries. When the She among us will have no ceiling to push her down. When the Female portion of the image of God within this tapestry of humanity will be loved, valued, and cherished for who she is and what she brings to the table. There is much healing that needs to happen; anger that needs to dissipate; redemption and reconciliation in which we must all participate. No one is exempt because this is systemic and woven into all of our DNA. Beloved, this isn’t a political statement. This is a Biblical Statement. And beloved, Jesus is here. Waiting to embrace. To receive, to heal, and to rebuild. If we truly tend to Mary, then Christ will be born anew….within us, around us, and through us. Richard Rohr reminds us: “Christianity is a lifestyle – a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. However, we made it into an established “religion” (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, [sexist], selfish, and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is one’s ‘personal Lord and Savior’….The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great.” Beloved, let us be the Jesus who, in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, takes the hand of the little girl who is lying dead and says: Talitha Cumi! Rise Up, little girl, rise up! 8/13/2018 0 Comments August 12: Joy is the ResistanceIt’s that time of year again……primary season. That means commercial after commercial after commercial. And unfortunately, beloved, we are not talking about commercials that share a candidate’s dream or vision of what can be. We are talking about commercials that simply hammer down on the opponent or opponents; commercials that are filled, as St. Paul would say, with “evil talk” In many ways, sound pollution filling the air.
In some ways, I think these political commercials are a barometer of our society, taking the pulse of our American culture and mindset, and beloved, it ain’t pretty. It seems there is plenty to be angry about……plenty of reasons to remain divided…..smaller and smaller patches of common ground on which we as a people can stand together. St. Paul tells us to “put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, if the world in which St. Paul lived in was anything like the times we find ourselves living in. But, beloved, while the times were vastly different, the reality of conflict and division, polarization and danger were very much a part of Paul’s life and culture. So, how then, can Paul simply say: Put away all bitterness? Leave anger and wrath alone…..Set aside your malicious and evil talk and be tenderhearted; choose kindness; forgive. All too often it feels like that old joke: Well, now come to think of it, you can’t get there from here……..How? How can we possibly get there from here? Well, if you’ve known me for a while, you know that I often say (somewhat jokingly even though it is no joke) there is always one correct response to any question, and that right answer is:………(Jesus!) I’m not being a Pollyanna, pie-in-the-sky, some kind of hippy-loving Jesus freak when I say that. I really believe Jesus is the answer. Let’s look at Today’s Good News: Jesus says (again….he said it last week, and it will come up a few more times this month): I am the bread of life. The bread. The food. The thing that feeds our hunger…… Jesus is the answer because Jesus is the food. Gandhi once said: “There are so many hungry people in the world that God could only come in the world in the form of food.” Hunger is emptiness…..hunger, beloved, often shows up as anger, malice, wrath, polarization……revealing an emptiness that goes beyond our stomachs……an emptiness that resides in our gut---in the Old Testament, the gut was the seat of our compassion and our mercy. Oh Beloved, we are hungry. But there’s an antidote to hunger, and that antidote is food…..bread…..Jesus. As we feast on Jesus, as we walk this way of Love that is Jesus, as we come to this communion and remember that we bring our lives before God in the offering, asking God to bless our lives, to break our lives open so that, like Jesus, our lives can be shared with others…..as we consume the bread, the food, the sustenance that is Jesus, we are being reshaped and reformed. Beloved, the beliefs we repeat weekly in the prayers and the texts of this worship, the actions we undertake Sunday after Sunday, the music that swims in our bloodstream and the words that remind us what this is all about----take, bless, break, share---these repetitions are like water dripping on the stones of our humanity, smoothing the rough edges, reshaping the jagged corners, refocusing our sight and sharpening our hearing so we can see God at work in us, in one another and in the world, so that we can know and be known by Jesus, this eternal bread, this essence of what it means to live abundantly (Give us this day our daily bread). And as we become what we receive, God lives more and more within us---this is the truth we come to know in Jesus: God with us; God dwelling within humanity. A few months back I shared with you that St. Columba once said: “Joy is the echo of God’s life within us.” So, now I want to circle back to my opening question: How do we get there (tenderhearted; choosing kindness; setting aside malicious and evil talk) from where we are? How do we go from tearing others down to building one another up? How do we become imitators of God and live in love as a fragrant offering? We resist. We become resisters. And beloved, the resistance to evil and malice, the opposition of anger and wrath is joy. Joy is the resistance. For joy comes from God’s presence within us, within our lives. Now, you may be thinking, there she goes again with that Pollyanna, idealistic, JesusFreak talk again. But, bear with me, beloved. Maybe you know some folks like the folks I know. Folks who have every reason to be anger, disgruntled, and full of fear. Some of these folks have had a lot of hard luck; some of these folks have made their own hard luck. A few of these beloved folks I know have been handed a life-ending diagnosis. And as we all know, these kind of diagnoses also come with painful and scary roads. And yet, beloved, these folks I know, they exude a warmth, a love, a joy---there’s really no other word for it---they talk about their blessings. And yes, they talk about their fear or their worries; their wonderings and questions, but the shadows do not define them or limit their capacity for love, for grace, for joy. These folks I know, and again, you probably know or have known some folks like this----they have something not everyone has. They have Jesus, that second person of God who is also called the Word and has been known by other names and known by names we have probably never even heard since the Word has always been; they have that indwelling of the divine. These folks I know, they believe the promise. The promise that there is more than this life we can see and know in these very mortal bodies. The promise that God is working toward their wholeness---a wholeness that goes beyond this life we now know---a wholeness that isn’t dependent on the breath we take, but comes from the Spirit that we receive. And because they have Jesus, they have joy. “Joy is the echo of God’s life within us.” Oh Beloved, this isn’t easy. But it is. But it isn’t. We who demand our independence must first become dependent. On God. On one another, recognizing we are each other’s business. And we who pride ourselves on self-reliance must come, come to the table, come and join the community of the diverse, the broken, the faithful, the faithless, the sinner, and the saint, and lift up our hands so that we can receive. Receive what we don’t have the capacity to give or provide for ourselves. Jesus is the bread, the food, the stuff of life abundant. Take; eat; let joy resound within you as your truest self---as one made in the image of the divine----takes shape and form and dwells within you. As Civil Rights leader and organizer Bayard Rustin said: “Let us be enraged about injustice, but let us not be destroyed by it.” Beloved, instead: Let us be the resistance---the echo of God leaking out in the form of joy---resisting the wrath, the malice, the division, and instead speak and live the Way of love, members of one another, God’s beloved community. 7/29/2018 1 Comment July 29: Meaning of MiracleSo during the Sabbath today, I've been thinking about our Gospel reading: John 6:1-22. There is the feeding of the 5,000 and then Jesus walking on water. So, miracles, right? But what are we supposed to do with miracles? Especially when they are not repeated in our current time in this same way....
One possible purpose of a miracle is to show us a Truth of who God is and what God can do.... Let's take the feeding of the thousands first: A Truth we can clearly get out of this story is that God provides an abundance---such an abundance that there are leftovers after everyone has taken one's fill. Of course, this Truth is predicated on a few things: sharing, those without power, communal efforts, and God's blessing. Jesus asks the disciples (Us, then...) Where are we to buy enough food.....? Right away, Jesus doesn't just make it happen; Jesus turns to the disciples and declares that this is a communal effort. And of course, they are still not quite sure what to do. In fact, it takes someone with the least amount of power among them, a youth, who simply shares what he has on him. So sharing is essential. Here's the pattern we see: Share; God's blessing is requested; the offering is broken up; and then there is enough. A Truth we need to hear. Share. Ask God's blessing. Let our offering be broken open.......there will be enough. For all....and then some. And let's not forget, this is a communal solution and we are to look to those outside of power to find answers...... And then there's the walking on the water. Last night at our Dinner Church, we Dwelled in the Word with this Gospel. And one of the folks shared that she thought of walking on water like those folks who are struggling with a really difficult, challenging, or impossible situation: like a devastating disease, or dealing with poverty, or addiction, or even losing one's job and not knowing the way forward. All of these situations require that one must trust in something unseen---trust in a promise that one is held through the storms----so that one doesn't drown. That's walking on water, isn't it? (thanks, Sue!) The Word has touched my heart this Sabbath and made me think and stretch and wonder....I pray the Word has touched you too. The Sabbath is almost over now. I give thanks, much thanks. In particular for this Beloved Community......Blessings, Jane 7/23/2018 0 Comments July 22: Be the Good NewsRemember….Scripture tells us…..Remember….
Remember that you were once the outsiders. Remember that God’s love is never forced because being included in God’s Kingdom is always a choice. True love is never coerced or forced, but is always entered by one’s choosing, one’s acceptance. God does not put up borders or barriers or walls between humanity and God. God does not fence off God’s love from any part or particle of Creation. Division is the work of humanity. At the center of the Good News of Jesus is that the barriers, walls and obstacles we place between ourselves and God, between ourselves and living into the reign where pain and sorrow and death cannot defeat us---the Good News of Jesus is that these walls can be obliterated. But this requires our choosing, our choosing a Way of Life. God does not invite or call us to live the American way or the Republican or Democrat way; God does not point us to the consumeristic capitalist Way or a way of suffering. God invites and calls us to the Way of love, the Way and Path we see in the life of Jesus. Does pain, suffering, questioning, and discomfort still exist in this Way? Yes, Beloved, yes it does. All we have to do is look at the life of Jesus to know this to be true. But in Jesus we see a human who isn’t controlled by pain or suffering, a human who isn’t moved by fear or anxiety, but a human grounded in sacrificial love whose plumb line is mercy, compassion and justice for all others. Beloved, God does not put up barriers, walls, or obstacles. As followers of the Way of Love, as People of God, not only are we not to put up barriers, walls and obstacles, but Beloved, part of our work, the same work we see in Jesus’ ministry, is to tear down the walls, barriers and obstacles that already exist and that are continuously being built. St. Paul tells us that Christ “…is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us….[so] that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace….” Peace, then, is not necessarily merely the absence of violence or the end to chaos. Peace is the rejoining, the reconciliation, of humanity. Peace is the re-binding together with one another through our love and allegiance to Jesus, to this Way of Love. Now, Beloved, this means when our brothers and sisters are treated as if they are separate from us, as if we do not belong to one another, we are to proclaim the Good News of Jesus and shout out-- with our actions, our choices, words, and votes -- we are to shout out: We are One! We are One Body! We are One Creation. We are not simply this nation or this people of a certain language or folks of the same origin and skin color. But we are HA ADAM---humanity. God’s beloved community. The world’s way is to separate the Beloved into nations, into denominations, into categories and labels. God’s way is to proclaim to humanity: You are all One—the Created—My beloved Creation. God’s way is to knit together, not unravel. And when we deny a sibling, we weaken all. When we shut out or cast aside a brother or sister, we threaten the security and wholeness of the entirety. Each week, we come to Eucharist to remember: Remember who we are. Remember whose we are. Remember that at one time we chose to be outside of God’s reign. Remember that we were welcomed in, that we were sheltered. Remember that we are chaplains of hospitality, not the police officer between God and our neighbor's belonging. Each Sabbath, each week (and hopefully more often), we come away to rest in God’s love and presence in order to remember. We come away to return to the Way, this Way of Love---where borders, boundaries and walls are obliterated, where we are One because we are citizens of God’s reign first and foremost. Because our allegiance is to Jesus. So, Beloved, let us now pause. Take a deep breath. Settle in and open our hearts, ears and minds. Let us come and rest in these words spoken to us and to every people of every nation: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people. 7/17/2018 2 Comments July 15: In Our HandsI have a confession to make: I love Jesus
Another confession: If it is not already your truth, I hope to inspire you to love Jesus too And Beloved, as your pastor and priest, I am calling Us all to live even more deeply and more intentionally into this Way of love that Jesus has shown us. This life of love that demands God’s justice for all of Creation. This life that we declare in our baptismal promises. For in baptism, beloved, we are washed clean of the other allegiances that lay claim upon us so that we can live wholeheartedly into this way of love. This way that calls us to be continually shaped and formed by the Word, by meeting Jesus face-to-face in the sacraments, by rubbing elbows with God as we come to know our neighbor in relationship and mutual service. And as we lean into and live out our love for Jesus, let us become bold enough and brave enough to be the prophets God dreams us to be Prophets are not fortune-tellers. Instead they are the ones who point to God’s work and presence in the world. A prophet is a witness and a witness is one who sees and one who then proclaims what has been seen. It has been said that to pray is to live with God; to pray is to have life with God. I believe this to be true, but often issues and concerns in our world require more than our thoughts and prayers. The world needs prophets right now; oh how we need prophets. Prophets who demand we not be restricted and limited in our love by nationalism or legalism or prejudice, but prophets who point to God’s justice and demand the abundance of God’s love to be spread through out the world. Prophets who speak, act, vote and work to make certain there is clean water for all people; that families seeking safety and refuge, just as the holy family did so long ago, that these families are not separated; that children do not find themselves in cages; that women are no longer abused or harassed and that we earn an equal wage for equal work. That all people have the opportunity to earn a living wage and not just be imprisoned by poverty for the sake of corporate profit. Let me share two moments with you from my time away as I worked for the Church at convention. Last Sunday, around 1000 of us stood outside a detention center where women separated from their children are kept; we stood in the same blazing hot temperatures that families spend days in as they cross barren land toward a better life. These Families, these women, who came for asylum; asylum that is a legal right for all people. We were located a bit away from the building and had a permit for that selected location. The windows seemed to be slits. We were not sure if we were seen or heard. But after we left, a woman from inside the detention center called the organizers who helped to make the prayer service happen, and she told us that the women were glued to those slits of windows until they go no longer see our buses as we left. The women were crying, so moved to know they are not alone. Earlier on Sunday, we gathered in a park to listen to the parents of Carmen Schentrup who was shot at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida. These parents who are now prophets were joinged by a freshman girl from Texas who has become an activist prophet because at the age of 14 she has never known a time without school shootings. She has never known a time without lock-down trainings at school---a time when schools are a safe place to go. These prophets implored us to do more than pray. They asked us to demand action on gun legislation. They asked us to seek an end to the sale of assault rifles in our country. Brave,bold prophets changed forever by violence that could have and should have been prevented. Violence that could have and should have changed the heart of our nation. Beloved, our society does not live into the Way of love. But we can. We can choose it, day by day, moment by moment. Beloved, for the love of God, we must. We must intentionally and with great commitment choose this Way of love, supporting and encouraging one another as we stumble, which we will—-again and again. As John the Baptist experienced, this way of love is often risky business. Sometimes being a prophet puts our lives on the line. If we love Jesus, then we cannot remain silent or uninvolved any longer. We can not hesitate or wait for a time when we will be ready. We must dive into this way of love with all that we are and invite others to join us. Now is the time. Now is the day of salvation. After Nelson Mandela was released and people asked him how reconciliation and repair could ever happen after such violence and division had taken place through the sin of apartheid in South Africa, Mandela looked up and out at the Beloved and said: It is in our hands. Good morning Beloved: I write this on my 12th day---Convention ended yesterday and today I am looking forward to returning home. Tomorrow I will be with the Beloved Community again as we gather to give thanks and praise God for all our blessings.......there are so many.
These past 12 days my life has been intertwined with the lives of many; some of whom I will probably never see again, some of whom I remain connected via technology; some of whom remain in my physical presence and daily life. Odd, isn't it? How we are connected in so many ways. One of the blessings of these past 12 days is that vivid reminder that we are connected----to folks we love and folks who make our back teeth hurt; to folks who speak our language and folks who speak a foreign tongue; to folks who share a common heritage and folks who bring a new and unknown one to the table. Connected, connected, connected. The Convention passed resolutions which recognizes, protects, and meets the needs of many many folks: immigrants, Palestinians, transgender, gay, straight, women, refugees, children, the impoverished, the abused, the clergy and the lay. There is a movement of love and sacredness at foot among us, and we know this movement to be Jesus. We know this movement to be the sacrificial giving and sharing we see in Jesus. We know this movement because it is the movement to which we have been bound before we knew it, and the movement we claim to be ours in the waters of baptism. It is the Way of Love. I pray that as we participate in this Way, this movement, our paths cross again and again. And each time I am certain we will be enriched for having been intertwined. I pray for safe travel for all and uneventful flights. I give thanks that tonight I return to my husband and best friend. I cherish what has been, knowing it will empower and equip me for what will be. Peace and blessings, y'all. God is good and Love is the Way. 7/13/2018 1 Comment Day 10: God's hands......Today was a day filled with legislation.....literally. Two long sessions with lots of conversation.
In the Episcopal Church, a resolution can only move forward if it is approved by both houses: the Deputies (clergy and lay) and the Bishops. The two houses are not always of the same mind, but in most cases, the needs and insights of each House balance one another in a helpful way. This very democratic system of being can be "messy," but it is a system which allows for the voices of many to be heard. This Convention has been filled with many resolutions about taking a public witness. On Sunday we acted as a public witness at the Hutto Detention Center and the Bishop's Stand against Gun Violence, but we have also written, discussed, and have taken action on many issues for which we as Christians cannot remain silent. We have engaged with becoming better stewards of Creation Care, taking steps to end sexual harassment within the Church, dealing with our need for racial reconciliation, taking a hard look at how our country plays a part in the continued oppression of Palestinian people, and becoming a Sanctuary Church for immigrants and refugees who are seeking to make better lives for themselves and their families. We have spent a lot of time talking about language and how to retain the beauty and tradition of our Prayer Book (as well as the formative theology that shapes us as we pray) while also opening up our liturgies with more expansive and inclusive language so that our imagery of God matches what we believe and can say about God. Have no fear, what you have known and loved is not going away, but we are going to gently enter a time of "trial usage." To quote John Henry Newman: "To live is to change; to be perfect is to have changed often." Beloved, I am grateful that it is nearing our time to return home. While I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to take part and be here at Convention, it is a long time to be away. I miss all of you and my family. I am very grateful for having the opportunity to be here with the good folks of our Diocese. We are blessed by our Bishop and by those who have been elected to be Deputies along with me. Tomorrow is our last day and then I travel on Saturday. Two more long legislative sessions tomorrow, and then our work is done at Convention. But then the important work of taking up what God is continually calling us to----the work of love----always lies ahead. Let us keep our eyes on the prize (Jesus) and our hand to the Gospel plow. Peace and night blessings..... 7/12/2018 1 Comment Day 9: the Face of GodWednesday was a long day (hence why this post is coming to you on Thursday morning). We had an evening session, which was long and tedious because it was hard to stay focused on the work before us. Life is like that sometimes.....
Today I was able to spend some time with folks I came to know and love in seminary; we shared a meal. It brought so much joy to my heart to gather again around a table and share stories, laughter, joy and good food. What a blessing. And as I ended today, I thought: God is here---in this place. Not just in my friends at the table, not just in the deputies who rise to speak to an issue and with whom I am in full agreement. But also in the deputies with whom I deeply disagree. Also in the deputies and visitors whom I haven't officially met, but with whom my path has crossed as we walk down the hallways of the convention center or sit next to one another in worship. Those folks to whom I gave the blessed bread at Eucharist on Tuesday. Those beloved who speak another language and who live thousands of miles away. God is in the pigeons who have come to take residence in the House of Deputies (much to folks' delight---the pigeons have their own Twitter account and hundreds of followers!), and God is in the folks in this hotel who are going about their business and probably wondering: "Who are all these strange people with nametags around their necks, wearing all manner of pins and slogans?" The trick, Beloved, in the midst of the moment--whether it be a moment of joy or despair, a moment of frustration or peace, a moment of tiredness or energy---the trick is to deeply breathe in and recognize that you are in a holy space because you are surrounded by the love of God, the wisdom of God, and the people of God. A prayer from St. Patrick Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. We set our hope on Christ...... Peace and the day's blessings to you all....... |
AuthorJane Johnson is the pastor and priest of the Beloved Community of Intercession Episcopal and Redeemer Lutheran. Archives
December 2018
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