Friday of the Fifth Week in Lent: Keeping Our Faith Alive as Evil Plots Thicken

Today's Scripture Readings

Ezekiel 37: 21-28 (NRSV)

then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes. They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children’s children shall live there for ever; and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them for evermore. My dwelling-place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations shall know that I the Lord sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them for evermore. 

John 11: 45-53 (NRSV)

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.’ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’ He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to put him to death.  

Blog Reflection

The scene in today's Gospel is incomplete without a look at what happened before the meeting of the chief priests and Pharisees.  Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead.  For many who were questioning the legitimacy of Jesus up to that point, were now confronted with an inescapable event in front of their eyes, and now believed in Jesus.  As for those who did not, who felt that this Jesus was too much of a trouble maker, the time had come to form a political action committee to plot to take him out.

This picture here is not unlike what has been happening around President Obama.  A man dedicated to doing what he can for the middle class. Obama worked hard to pass health care reform.  He has also been an advocate for the rights of women over the issue of contraception. He crafted a policy that benefits both religious institutions who do not wish to pay for contraception, and those individuals who would still like to obtain it.  Yet, in the eyes of many who hate the President, not so much for being a liberal, but because they just cannot accept that a black man holds the office of Chief and Commander, something must be done to take him out.  Even threaten his life. Those campaigning against him, will do or say anything, even things that are not even relevant to the facts, to be sure they can take him out.

As information about the Trayvon Martin case continues to become available, it becomes ever more clear of how much racism is a part of the debate.  The defense of the so called "stand your ground law" is the cover for what is really the reason why this young man was murdered.  The hatred for one black seventeen year old, walking down the street, wearing a hoodie, who was stalked and gunned down, by a man who can claim self defense, without any facts to back him up.  Just because Trayvon's picture appears on some web site, with his middle finger in the air, the very middle finger many so called Christianists have used towards President Obama and other minorities, or wears a tattoo, is no excuse for justifying the killing of this incredible young man.

Maggie Gallagher, the founder and former President of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is "unapologetic" for trying to divide minority groups and the LGBT communities, in the effort to suppress our right to marry.   As long as they can prevent LGBT people from marrying the person they love, because of their own heterosexism, if they invoke racism as a means of doing so, it really doesn't matter, right?  The ends, justifies the means in this instance?   Or is this an example of "moral relativism" working for those willing to "break the law" to be sure what "belongs to God is not taken over by Ceasar" we can even violate simple Christian Charity to do so?   In other words, it is okay to sell Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver again.

As we stop on this Friday of the Fifth Week in Lent, before we begin Holy Week, we would do well to remember the words that Jesus actually said: "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (Matthew 25: 40).   When we can use religious zeal, no matter how good we think our intentions might be, to scapegoat one person, to target them, we can use it for just about any one person after.   There are days when I think that Christianists and others who support what they do, have learned from the example of the wrong characters in the Gospels.   Rather than look to the model of generosity, hospitality, inclusion and reconciliation of Jesus, they have looked to those who targeted one who loved and lived differently to stamp them out of existence.  

Among the ways we can keep our faith alive in these days when politically and socially evil plots thicken, is to let faith be our guide to understanding and doing what is good and holy.  We can see African Americans as good and holy people, as well as Native Americans, Immigrants, LGBT people, and women, as those whom Christ came to seek out, to welcome them into the company of God's holy people.  We can refuse to allow the prejudices of Christianists to influence how we worship God, what we believe about people different than ourselves, and how we act on their behalf.  We can see through the plot of the political corruption that wishes to take health care away from our senior citizens, retired, and disabled individuals.   We can agree that we should remind those in our government that they have a role to play in protecting the civil rights, and work towards the equality of the dignity of all human beings.  We can do these things, because this is what our Baptismal Covenant has called us to do, as our way of living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"Our peace and integrity is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection.  By whom we are saved and delivered." (By Gregory Norbert, Oregon Catholic Press - www.ocp.org, also found on the album: Listen: Song of Presence, by the Monks of Weston Priory, 1973, 1994).    


Prayers

O Lord, you relieve our necessity out of the abundance of your great riches:  Grant that we may accept with joy the salvation you bestow, and manifest it to all the world by the quality of our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives avd reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for Friday of the Fifth Week in Lent. Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, p. 64).

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, p. 99).


Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen.  (Prayer attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, p. 833).

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent: By What Truth Are We Seeking Freedom?

Today's Scripture Readings

Numbers 21: 4-9 (NRSV)

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.’ Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’ So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live. 

John 8: 21-39 (NRSV)

Again he said to them, ‘I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.’ Then the Jews said, ‘Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, “Where I am going, you cannot come”?’ He said to them, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.’ They said to him, ‘Who are you?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Why do I speak to you at all? I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.’ They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.’ As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’

Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there for ever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.’

They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did,

Blog Reflection

My blog readers will notice the reading from Hebrew Scriptures today, is the same one I wrote about on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. 

To understand what the issue with the serpent was, you have to go back to while the Israelites were in Egypt.  In Exodus 7: 8-13 is the story of how Aaron through down his staff and it became a snake.  When Pharaoh's sorcerers through down their staffs, they also became snakes.  But, Aaron's snake swallowed theirs.  Thus the serpent of God was more powerful than the that of Pharaoh. 

The serpents were a reminder of how much injustice they experienced in Egypt.  To turn back would return them to disaster.  Only by looking at the bronze serpent could they see that moving forward on God's terms was the way they would in due time, see the promised land that God promised to their ancestors.

In our Gospel for today, Jesus is also looking forward.  He continues to foretell about his coming death on the Cross.  He is being confronted by those who do not believe in him.  Jesus realizes that he in many ways is on the losing side of the debate.  Yet, Jesus still claims for himself the promise of God as his refuge, who sent him to do the work he does.  Jesus again alludes to being lifted up, and that it is only then that the words he had been speaking would make sense.

To those who are believing in what Jesus has to say, and remain in his words, he says: "you will known the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

How are we seeking the truth about Jesus as progressive Christians?  As Christians who are looking forward to Holy Week, how do we understand truth in 2012?

These past two weeks have revealed the awful reality of how much racism is still a very living issue.   Trayvon Martin's murder and the horrible remarks coming from certain racist pundits, show that we are not as far along in routing out racial prejudice as we might have wanted to believe.  The importance of the Trayvon Martin matter, is to recognize that as long as one innocent and unarmed individual can be followed, shot and killed, while his shooter claims 'self  defense" is protected by the law, no one of us is actually safe.  Terrance Heath in an excellent set of articles in The Bilerico Project, asks the question: "Whose Son Will Be the Next Trayvon Martin?"

Racism has raised it's ugly head over the issue of marriage equality for LGBT people.  Yesterday the news was released in court documents shows that the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has been working to divide communities of diverse races and the LGBT communities, as they work to deny same-sex couples the right and opportunity to marry.  

I believe that the truth that we are learning from these and other examples, is that once discrimination becomes acceptable towards any group of people, it can be used again and again to stigmatize and marginalize anyone and every one.  When prejudice and violence is justified, using the Christian Faith and it's principles as it's basis, the most extreme spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse can kill a lot more than the body.  It destroys whole communities, and creates atmospheres of hostility, oppression and injustice.  It is certainly not what being a true follower of Jesus Christ means.

Dr. Kent R. Hill, former President of Eastern Nazarene College, who held that office when I graduated in 1994 often said and/or wrote: "All truth is God's truth."  Many in the conservative side of theological and social morality debates would say that if truth can be redefined then we run into the dangers of "moral relativism" as Pope Benedict XVI said.  As we examine many of the actions of the Bishop of Rome with regards to the issue of child pedophilia that have been raised, we can easily see how moral relativism can be condemned in one instance, and then defended as an appropriate action in another.   How then can this sort of thing be "truth"?

The truth that Jesus is speaking about can be found within human Reason as much as it can be found in the Scriptures and Church Tradition.  Among the other truths we have been learning is that what is written or spoken in one of those, does not have to completely backed up word for word, by the other.  The experiences of science, technology, archeology and cultural anthropology hold as much truth as can be found in any theological masterpiece.   More importantly, the truth of God is found in how we experience the Gospel in our every day life.  As we live the meaning of the Cross and Resurrection in our daily life, the truth of God's love for every human person in Jesus Christ, becomes an actual living and participating part of the Gospel story of our lives.

What truth are we seeking to set us free?


Prayers

Almighty God, through the incarnate Word you have caused us to be born anew of an imperishable and eternal seed: Look with compassion upon those who are being prepared for Holy Baptism, and grant that they may be built as living stones into a spiritual temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.  (Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent.  Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, p. 61).

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).


O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, p. 815).

The Annunciation of our Lord Jesus Christ: The First Female Priest Says YES!

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 7:10-14 (NRSV)

Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test. Then Isaiah said: "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

Hebrews 10:4-10 (NRSV)

It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

"Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

but a body you have prepared for me;

in burnt offerings and sin offerings

you have taken no pleasure.

Then I said, 'See, God, I have come to do your will, O God'

(in the scroll of the book it is written of me)."

When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added, "See, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Luke 1:26-38  (NRSV)

 

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Blog Reflection

Who was the first Christian disciple to exercise the roll of a Priest?  It was Mary.

Mary was chosen by a random act of God's grace to be the mother of the Incarnate Word.  She was a simple woman, probably 16 years old. Yet, Mary experienced the fullness of God's favor, for this once in a life time opportunity that would change not only her life, but the history of the entire world.  By her surrendering herself to God's will, offering herself completely to God's purpose, she became the bearer of God, through whom God gained a human form.

Among the many duties of a Priest, is to give oneself up to the will of God.  Also, a Priest serves the common good of others, and gives birth to Faith through not only their duties, but by their life example.  Even when faced with the greatest of personal suffering, a Priest still surrenders her/himself to what is best in God's eyes, totally trusting that all will be well.   Mary did all of this, in her acceptance of God's call on her life.

Mary sang her Magnificat in Luke 1: 46-55 of how God changed the dynamics of those who were thought to be powerful, now giving way to the lowly, the servant and the hungry.   Through Mary's acceptance of God's plan for her life, God came to us as one like us, to show us that God relates to us where we are.  As we face our Lenten practices of self-denial, fasting and prayer, God comes to us through the yes of Mary, to identify with our human experience.  "The Lord is with you" is said by Gabriel to Mary, but is said to all of us too.  God does not abandon us, but is in the midst of our sufferings and tribulations.

Mary doesn't wait around for some Church council to decide the doctrine of the Incarnation. She accepts God's will, even though she has her own fears and uncertainty about what all of this might mean.  Through the humility of Mary, God shows humility as Jesus becomes the greatest example of what it means to be earthed, by serving the marginalized and releasing those oppressed by social, religious and political suppression.  

As we see the injustices of racism, sexism, heterosexism, class discrimination and a total disregard for the dignity of every human being in our politics and even in our churches, we are reminded that our God has been there in the Person of God's Son.   Just because Jesus was different in so many ways, he was "despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." (Isaiah 53: 3).  Jesus shows us how to trust in God in the midst of the most horrific of circumstances and still comes out the victor of life over the imminent powers of death.  

All of this happened, because the first female Priest, said "Yes."

In what ways are we being called to say our yes to God's will?

How might we answer God's call in our lives?

What are some places where we are clinging to our own will, because of fear and uncertainty?

Each one of us, must answer these questions between ourselves and God, as we discern where and how God might be calling us.  Among the things we can be very sure about, is that if God is calling us, it is because God loves us, and sees in us something wonderful that God wants to use.  God wants to use us to make a positive impact in our world where as long as you have all the money, you can get by.  In a time when as long as you are well known and prestigious you can do anything you want, God calls those of us who remain hidden in prayer and solitude, to be a positive influence on changing the world for all of God's people.


Prayers

Pour your grace into our hearts, O Lord, that we who have
known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, announced
by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by his cross and passion
be brought to the glory of his resurrection; who lives and
reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever. Amen.  (Collect for the Annunciation, Book of Common Prayer, p. 240).

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn
but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the
strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that
all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of
Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and
glory, now and for ever. Amen.  (Collect for Peace, Book of Common Prayer, p. 815).  

 

Fifth Sunday in Lent: Following Jesus to Good Friday

Today's Scripture Readings

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NRSV)

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-- a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Hebrews 5:5-10  (NRSV)

Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,

"You are my Son,

today I have begotten you";

as he says also in another place,

"You are a priest forever,

according to the order of Melchizedek."

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

John 12:20-33 (NRSV)

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

"Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Blog Reflection

All of the readings for this Sunday, give me some shivers.   All of the readings become useful by those who want to suggest Christianity as a religion of anti-Semitism and/or supercessionism.  Even the reading from Jeremiah is often thought to be referring to Jesus as the "new covenant."   After all, Jesus said that the Cup of Salvation is "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood" (see Luke 22:20) while instituting the Eucharist.

The people that Jeremiah was writing to and/or about were in exile.  They were believed to be in Babylon because they had broken the God's covenant.  Their land of origin had been plundered, and they were taken away to live in a land where they were captives.  The Prophet is delivering God's message that God wants to write a new covenant into their hearts.  God wants there to be a marriage with God's people, so that God's law is not just a matter of being observed because it is required.  God is wanting there to be this relationship of love, where by God's people respond because of a love they have received as God's holy people.  "They shall be my people and I will be their God."  A relationship with God, that is kept because God is their Savior.

Do we understand that our relationships with each other are reflective of our relationship with God?

This is something that St. Benedict knew about.  In writing the Rule of St. Benedict, he lays out a way of life to be lived by those who pray and work together as a community.  To be concerned about the others with whom we share our lives.   Benedict sees the relationship between time spent alone in the desert and with others in the market place.  The time we spend with God in silence and solitude, must reflect our attitudes towards others, especially those who are different from ourselves.  As God receives us in mercy and love, so should we accept others.

Jesus was born and lived in a culture that observed the Law of Moses, and, he sought to take that relationship to a new level.  It was more than about following the rules and/or dictating rituals and the like.  It now needed to be taken to those who were marginalized and stereotyped as unacceptable or unlovable.  Jesus assumed the role of a Priest when he offered himself in obedience to his Father's will, by dying on the Cross for the sins of all.  As Christians move towards Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter Day, we celebrate Christ as our Paschal Sacrifice. 

Jesus is aware that his time has come in the reading from John.  It appears at least from this reading that the time has not yet come when the message of Jesus reaches out to the Gentiles.  Could that be why they are left out of the rest of the story?   Jesus explains that it is by his death that he will be lifted up and will draw all people to himself.  Unless he undergoes his passion and death, the message that he proclaims will remain such for only a selected group of people.  The story of Jesus indeed has gone far because of his death and resurrection, proclaimed by the Apostles and their successors down through the ages.  There is a reason why the Gospel continues to be heard in every generation.

The act of Jesus giving up his life is an example for all who would follow him, of what being a Christian means. The Christian life is not one of being in love with wealth or power.  It is a life lived from the point of self-giving in service to others in hospitality and reconciliation.

St. Benedict recognizes this in Chapter 53 of the Rule, with regards to The Reception of Guests.   Guests are to be received as Christ himself.  They are to receive the kiss of peace and prayed with.  The abbot with the entire community are to wash their feet.  After which, they recite the verse: "God, we have received your mercy in the midst of your temple" (Psalm 48: 7).  They are to be told what the Rule is, where they are allowed to go, and places where they are not allowed.  Only one of the Monks is assigned to care for the needs of the guests. All of the other brothers are to speak only for a few moments, and then explain to a talkative guest that they are not allowed to talk to the guests, because the care for the guests needs are to be handled only by the Guest Master.

Among the many things a disciple of Jesus Christ must do as part of "giving up your life" is to see in those who are different than ourselves the very image of God.  When we allow our hearts and behaviors to be ruled by prejudice and negatively stereotyping of others, we participate in the love of our life in this world.  In other words, we become participants in a world that seeks to divide rather than unite.  A world that justifies a 17 year old Trayvon Martin being shot because "he was wearing a hoodie", as an excuse for racism.   A society that wants to excuse Christianists, who beat LGBT people while they recite Leviticus 20: 13.   When we hold on to and feed bias, we might be tempted to join others in targeting Muslims and Jewish people, Native Americans, Immigrants and those without medical insurance as political play chips in elections.   Facilities like Planned Parenthood and other facilities that offer reproductive health care to women, become the focus of gun violence and lose funding because of suspicions that are most likely false.

If our Church and society are to be healed of the attitudes of discrimination and glorified brutality, then Christians must lead the way, by calling for justice, inclusion and equality for all people.  Christians must seek to welcome individuals of diverse groups of people, and provide ways of reconciliation through education and taking opportunities to learn about those who live in our communities, churches and schools.  We need to speak up on behalf of the poor, the disenfranchised and those who are oppressed because of injustice.   We must be willing to give of ourselves for the benefit of others.

During these last days of Lent, leading into Holy Week, let us take some time during this upcoming week to be quiet before our God.  The readings throughout the week will get darker and will have a lot more tension.  But, we will also see that Jesus will face them, by loving them, while at the same time, not letting them get him off track.  Jesus knows is death is pending.  He is willing to face it all on our behalf. His words and his life will call on us to follow his example in the Gospel stories of our own lives.


Prayers

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly
wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to
love what you command and desire what you promise; that,
among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts
may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Fifth Sunday in Lent, Book of Common Prayer, p. 219).


Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).


Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so
move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the
people of this land], that barriers which divide us may
crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our
divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, p. 823).

Saturday of the Fourth Week in Lent: Let Anyone Who is Thirsty, Come and Drink

Today's Scripture Readings

Jeremiah 11: 18-20 (NRSV)

It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew;
   then you showed me their evil deeds.
But I was like a gentle lamb
   led to the slaughter.
And I did not know it was against me
   that they devised schemes, saying,
‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
   let us cut him off from the land of the living,
   so that his name will no longer be remembered!’
But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously,
   who try the heart and the mind,
let me see your retribution upon them,
   for to you I have committed my cause.

John 7: 37-52 (NRSV)

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, ‘This is really the prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’ But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not arrest him?’ The police answered, ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’ Then the Pharisees replied, ‘Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’ They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.’ 

Blog Reflection

"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water."

I get the feeling that Jesus' call for anyone who is thirsty to come to him, is a message for all of us who get tired and thirsty in the culture of debates and disagreements.  As controversies grow over the response to the Trayvon Martin murder and the racism that continues to be a part of our American story, people are thirsty for truth and peace.  The poor and disenfranchised, those without health insurance and the means to support themselves and their families, continue to be at the bottom of the priority list.  Our politicians and Presidential candidates are more concerned about votes and PAC money than they are with actually doing things to help the most vulnerable among us.   There is a thirst for justice, equality, inclusion and hope.

The Prophet Jeremiah was being pursued by those who wanted him dead.  He had been warning the people to not neglect God's commandments to love God, neighbor and self.  The people would just assume to get rid of the messenger than pay attention to the message.  When people's comfort zones become no longer cozy, they want to get rid of that new thing that threatens their sense of "everything is alright" in the midst of what is pure injustice and oppression of others in their communities.   Jeremiah is praying for God to show God's power by helping him with his enemies.

Jesus is confronting those who do not believe in him or the one who sent him.  Their comfort zones have been interrupted.  Things that are not familiar have come into their communities and disrupted things as they had always been.  When Jesus calls those who are thirsty to come to him, and those who believe to drink of the Goodness of God, he is calling on those who are looking for the Cup of Salvation by which they can approach God and receive God's grace and mercy.   Jesus wants the living waters of God that have flowed into the hearts of those who believe in him, to flow out in the form of social justice, works of mercy and hope for those who feel that all hope is lost.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people, along with the marginalized in the Church and society, are among those who are thirsting for God.  They are wandering in the desert of uncertainty without a sense of direction, wondering what tomorrow or next year might bring.  The lives of the marginalized are not important to those seeking public office.  They are playing cards to see who can get ahead of who, with the most money and power to back up their work.  How many delegates a Candidate can get by promising to inflict more pain upon women, LGBT people, immigrants and those who can barely afford a one room apartment, is what really matters in the scheme of things.   Meanwhile, the marginalized and those affected by negative stereotyping and false information remain with parched mouths longing for the living waters of justice, compassion, inclusion and equality.

As Christians who are moving towards Good Friday, we know that sometimes evil wins.  It seemed on that terrible day that death and hell had won over even God incarnate, as Jesus bowed his head and died.  The mockery of the crowds, the screams of pain from the nails and the loss of blood overwhelmed us with sorrow and shame.  It appeared that all hope was gone. The one who was thirsty was given vinegar to drink.

Good Friday, however, was not the end of the story.  Death was not the victor.  It was through death that the new life of the resurrection in Jesus Christ was able to happen.  Evil and death did not have the last word.  New life and the justice of God's extravagant love triumphed over the powers of darkness and the gates of hell.  Christ had learned obedience through what he suffered, and by his becoming a slave and servant of all, God gave him the Name above all Names.  The humble had been exalted.  The one who was thirsty became the well spring from which new and life giving water would flow for all eternity.  The scapegoating found an ending to it's purpose.  Injustice and oppression had a renewed hope for the day when justice and freedom would be realized.  The day when truth became the end for all lies.  Sorrow and despair gave way to endless joy and celebration. 

In these last days of Lent, let our longing for Easter be what helps us keep going in our prayers, self-denial and acts of penance.  The thirst we experience during these days in the desert of uncertainty leading into the unknown, are opportunities for us to trust in God, who is our Cup of Salvation.  But, it is also the chance to allow the living waters of faith, hope and love to pour out from our hearts and lives, to give hope and possibility to others who thirst.


Prayers

Mercifully hear our prayers, O Lord, and spare all those who confess their sins to you; that those whose consciences are accused by sin may by your merciful pardon be absolved; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Saturday of the Fourth Week in Lent.  Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, p. 59).

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).


Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you
all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us
to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick,
and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those
who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow
into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for
our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Poor and Neglected, Book of Common Prayer, p. 826).


Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this
land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as
their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to
eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those
who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law
and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of
us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, p. 826).

Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent: Good Friday is Still Two Weeks Away

Today's Scripture Readings

Wisdom 2: 1-24 (NRSV)

For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
‘Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,
and no one has been known to return from Hades.
For we were born by mere chance,
and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been,
for the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts;
when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,
and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.
Our name will be forgotten in time,
and no one will remember our works;
our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,
and be scattered like mist
that is chased by the rays of the sun
and overcome by its heat.
For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,
and there is no return from our death,
because it is sealed up and no one turns back.

‘Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist,
and make use of the creation to the full as in youth.
Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes,
and let no flower of spring pass us by.
Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
Let none of us fail to share in our revelry;
everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment,
because this is our portion, and this our lot.
Let us oppress the righteous poor man;
let us not spare the widow
or regard the grey hairs of the aged.
But let our might be our law of right,
for what is weak proves itself to be useless.

‘Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law,
and accuses us of sins against our training.
He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child of the Lord.
He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
the very sight of him is a burden to us,
because his manner of life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange.
We are considered by him as something base,
and he avoids our ways as unclean;
he calls the last end of the righteous happy,
and boasts that God is his father.
Let us see if his words are true,
and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;
for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him,
and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
Let us test him with insult and torture,
so that we may find out how gentle he is,
and make trial of his forbearance.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
for, according to what he says, he will be protected.’


Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,
for their wickedness blinded them,
and they did not know the secret purposes of God,
nor hoped for the wages of holiness,
nor discerned the prize for blameless souls;
for God created us for incorruption,
and made us in the image of his own eternity,
but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his company experience it.

John 7: 1-30 (NRSV)

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. So his brothers said to him,

‘Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ (For not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.’ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, ‘He is a good man’, others were saying, ‘No, he is deceiving the crowd.’ Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.

About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The Jews were astonished at it, saying, ‘How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?’ Then Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.

‘Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?’ The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?’ Jesus answered them, ‘I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement.’

Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.’ Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, ‘You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.’ Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. 

Blog Reflection

As we begin to draw closer to Holy Week, we will notice that the Scripture readings get quite severe in their stories of Jesus' clash with the people of his time.  We will read of how the tensions between Jesus and his enemies grows more intense.  Jesus' Passion is drawing closer with each passing day.

It is very important not to get side tracked into anti-Semitism.  It was the sins of all of us that crucified Jesus.  Not the Jewish people or their religion.  They are characters in the story.  They are part of the narrative.  What the people do in these Gospel accounts are things that so many of us do to one another at some point in our lives.  How many of us have held in our systems a grudge against someone so severe, that we would do just about anything we could to get them out of our way?  I think all of us can be pretty good at passive aggression, by simply sending a message to someone via any means other than our saying it directly.

This account of Jesus' conversation takes place during the Festival of Booths.  This Festival was very similar to our Thanksgiving Day in the United States.  A day when we gather our harvest and give thanks to God for the abundance we have received.  We are not sure if the "brothers" written about are in fact his related brothers or brothers in the Jewish Faith with which he was associating.   Jesus teaches in the Temple and that his words are not his own but those of God.  There are Jews (again those who were not accepting Jesus, not the Jews themselves), who are accusing him of healing and working on the Sabbath day.  Jesus confronts them, because they can circumcise on the Sabbath, yet, they are hounding Jesus for healing on the same occasion.   Jesus challenges his hearers, by insisting that if they are not listening to him, then they probably do not know who sent him.   Just as with many other texts in John, it ends with "his hour had not yet come."

In Wisdom 2: 12-24, there is an obvious plot to take down someone who is "righteous".   The entire reading appears to be a group of people who are seeing someone very different, who is confusing things for them.  The point of their discussion is to do something about it.  This is from the part of Wisdom by which the wicked hold a just person before the throne of God.  It is not until later in 5:5 that they will realize what a mistake they have made.  The just one will be called a child of God for having done what is right in the eyes of God.  Yet, the Lectionary for today also includes verses 15-22 of Psalm 34 in which the Psalmist proclaims that God is with those who are righteous, near to the brokenhearted and ransoms the lives of those who serve God.

These last days of Lent are difficult.  We find ourselves longing for Easter. That is what Lent is suppose to do. We are doing something right.  But, we are not there yet. Like it or not, we still have to go through Holy Week and be brought up to Good Friday.  We still have to face the ugly that has yet to happen in this season.  May be for some of us, it is right in front of us, and we are wanting to pay it no attention.

As difficult as the Scripture readings are, I do believe they speak to us about our work as progressive Christians who are working for the dignity, inclusion and equality of marginalized persons including LGBT in the Church and society.

When we are doing the work of hospitality and reconciliation, we are going to face the zealousness of those who disagree with us.  We will be and are being accused of "preaching perverted doctrines."   Why?  Because they are different than what people have been taught before.  People like having things comfortable.  They don't like to be told that they have been getting it wrong.  They will seek to discredit us, demean us and attempt to get us off track.   Many of us are called "homosexual activists who are trying to corrupt the minds of children and others."  As we see in Jesus' time, they called him a blasphemer.  Yet, Jesus continues speaking the word of God and doing what God sent him to do.  Jesus gives credit to God as the one who sent him, and it is God's work that he does and speaks.  So, we must do the same.

The work of hospitality and reconciliation, seeking to uphold the dignity of every human person is God's work given to us through our common Baptism.  Our acts of penance and self-denial are opportunities to bring us closer to God through Jesus, to pray not only for the redemption of our sins, but those of others.  We can use them as occasions to pray against the violence of racism that is at the heart of the Trayvon Martin murder.  To pray for the conversion of those working to take marriage equality away from LGBT people all across the country, and to justify spiritual and religious based violence and bigotry.   Even if they all work against us, we still have the obligation to speak the truth about God's unconditional and all-inclusive love for all people.  We must not allow those with evil in their minds and hearts to persuade us away from doing what is right by God and the Holy Spirit. 

If our readings point us to anything, they remind us that as Jesus draws closer to his Passion and death, and so do we.  All of us will one day face the reality of our mortality.  "Remember, from dust you came, and to dust you shall return" we all heard on Ash Wednesday.  The fact of our own death approaching, and the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, needs to inspire us to seeking justice, peace and defending the dignity of all human beings.   Even though Jesus knew that what he was doing would result in his death, he kept on going, doing God's will.  We too, knowing full well that what we are doing is difficult and will bring us results that are less than pleasant in some cases, must still keep on doing what God empowers us to do.  Lent and the Cross are about giving up ourselves in service of God and our neighbor, as we seek to prepare our hearts to experience the resurrection of Easter Day.


Prayers

O God, you have given us the Good News of your abounding love in your Son Jesus Christ: So fill our hearts with thankfulness that we may rejoice to proclaim the good tidings we have received; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent. Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints,. p. 58).

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.  (Collect for Friday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 56).

Thursday of the Fourth Week in Lent: Finding God in the Midst of Injustice

Today's Scripture Readings

Exodus 32: 7-14 (NRSV)

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.’

But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, ‘O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth”? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever.” ’ And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people. 

John 5: 30-47 (NRSV)

‘I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgement is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

‘You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?’ 

Blog Reflection

The news today is bursting at the seams over the murder of Trayvon Martin.  A 17 year old, African American who was doing nothing more than walking home, when George Zimmerman shot him.  His community, family and folks all across the nation are outraged by the failure of the Sanford City Police Department to appropriately apprehend the suspect.   Martin's parents are calling for justice for their son.  Rightly so, this issue has brought to light the issue of racism, and the dangers that exist for African American's in our country.  Clearly, something has gone terribly wrong.

It appears from Exodus that something had gone wrong.  The Israelites who had been brought out of the land of Egypt by God's strong arm, created for themselves a golden calf and began to worship it.  All of this is happening as Moses is up on Mount Sinai receiving from God the Commandments by which the people are to live.  God is enraged that God's people would forget God's mighty acts and make for themselves a graven image to worship and sacrifice to, in the place of the Almighty Yahweh.  Moses pleads to God on behalf of the people, to not destroy them, suggesting that God's reputation is on the line if God does something so evil.  I love what happens here.  God changes God's mind.  

We must remember that the accounts of God in the Hebrew Scriptures as well as in the New Testament are written from a human perspective. The events were written down only after they had been passed on orally for thousands of years.  Our perspective is very limited.  And, we are so far removed from that generation of people. 

The message that is here for us, is that when we take our minds and hearts off of the God who loves and provides for us, we can give ourselves over to evils and ways that infect us. They blind our sense of God and we stop paying attention to the needs of those around us. Our behavior becomes destructive and we lose sight of what is really important. Our God has given so much for us to love and enjoy. When our physical and spiritual vision no longer sees that, we are no longer worshiping God through our daily lives.  Instead, we worship things, problems and everything becomes too big for us.

I do believe in many ways that is what is wrong with the Trayvon Martin matter.  When we take our eyes off of recognizing God's creation that gives dignity to every human person, suddenly someone's race, sexual orientation and/or gender expression, etc becomes our god.   We have to take control of it.  We have to make an "other" out of it.  Whatever, we do, we must take a stand and even wipe it out. 

So many of us who are white have gotten so use to thinking things that are completely inappropriate about people of different races.   The language we hear through the 911 recording of George Zimmerman calling in this incident should wake all of us up.  He was labeling Trayvon as a possible drug user, dangerous, but most importantly, he was black.  Too many times, we take another person's race and from there, we make presumptions about their activities, their behaviors and make them a target without any thought what so ever to what we are doing.  We may not shoot someone down in cold blood, but how many of us have had a conversation about another person's character, and made certain judgments about that person based on race, sexual orientation etc?  

In our Gospel today, Jesus is in a conflict with people around him, who are unbelievers.  They are people who see things happening in front of them, but they are not convinced.   Jesus has just finished telling them about the coming resurrection.  Now he is telling his audience about how he cannot do anything on his own and about his testimony.  Jesus claims oneness with God, yet he is not the Father.  God testifies on behalf of the Son.

In the last part of this Gospel, Jesus says something that I think many who read the Bible literally should pay very close attention to. 

"‘You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.'"

It is not by the Scriptures alone that we will find salvation in Jesus Christ.  It is through hope in God through Jesus Christ that we can believe in the promise of eternal life.  

It is very important to be careful with John's Gospel here.  The point is not anti-Semitism.  There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the Gospel of John was not written by the Apostle and Evangelist himself.  But, was written by the Johannine's.   There is even the possibility that it was a combination of things the Johannine's wrote about the same stories, and then they were all put together in one book.   "The expression "the Jews" (which should not be understood as a condemnation of Jews in particular or in general) virtually becomes a technical term for those who reject Jesus." (New Oxford Annotated, New Revised Standard Version, New Testament, p. 124).

Jesus challenges us to see God's presence in the work that he is doing.  Jesus has been drawing criticism, because he dared to associate with a Samaritan woman (See John 4).   He has crossed the lines of cultures and gender associations to bring those outcast by society closer to the heart of God.  God is in the midst of injustice and division, bringing inclusion and unity to welcome through hospitality and reconcile through healing and mercy.

As we are all kind of consumed by the injustice of what happened to Trayvon Martin, we are asked to find God working through the injustice of the situation.  God never endorses violence as a way to solve anything.  God is in the middle of it, communicating to us if we will listen.  

People are coming together to express concern about what happened.  We are seeing people of many different races and backgrounds raising their voices in outrage and calling for justice for not only Trayvon, but also anyone who has to fear what might happen to them, the next time they are walking peacefully down a sidewalk.   People are recognizing that what happened to Trayvon is about what can happen to any of our children.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people know all too well about youth being bullied in our schools, communities and even their own families.  To ignore these things and allow them to go unacknowledged, only lets them to get out of hand.  It is our business to speak up in the face of injustice and oppression and be the voice of reason, when people irrationally invoke violence as a means for dealing with prejudice in our communities.  Christians have the message of hope and salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  All scapegoating and stereotyping stops there.   Any prejudice that becomes violence done, using the Cross as it's excuse, is a counterfeit Christianity.

As we have only two weeks left before Holy Week, let us ask God to help us to see and hear God working in the midst of injustice.  May we seek to be God's peace makers in the times we live in.  May we be part of the solution, by choosing love and inclusion as our way and purpose for what we do.


Prayers

Almighty and most merciful God, drive from us all weakness of body, mind and spirit; that, being restored to wholeness, we may with free hearts become what you intend us to be and accomplish what you want us to do; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Thursday of the Fourth Week in Lent.  Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, p. 57)

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, p. 815).  

St. Joseph: Father 2 in a very Non-Traditional Family

Today's Scripture Readings

2 Samuel 7:4,8-16 (NRSV)

The word of the LORD came to Nathan:

Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

Romans 4:13-18 (NRSV)

The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") -- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what was said, "So numerous shall your descendants be."

Luke 2:41-52 (NRSV)

Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety." He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

Blog Reflection

All this talk about the meaning of love, marriage and family these days, seems to forget that Jesus was born into a non-traditional family.  At least according to their version. 

In Matthew 1:18-25 from today's Morning Prayer, we read of how Joseph was planning to dismiss Mary, because she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.  Mary could have been exposed in shame, or even stoned to death for conceiving another child out of wedlock.  Joseph would have been complying with the laws of the day.  He was in his right to do so.  God, however, has a really good sense of humor.  Just when ya think following the rule book is the best thing to do, an angel shows up to tell Joseph to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife.  The child that Mary would bear, would be Jesus who would be the Savior of the world.  Once Joseph is aware of God's plan, he accepts God's call and takes Mary to Bethlehem.  And, we know the rest of the story.

The Gospel narrative from Luke about Jesus being found in the temple, ends with him saying something very peculiar.  "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"   It seems that the young boy Jesus is aware that there is more than one Father in his life.  Very interesting, no?

Joseph may have been born of the noble line of David, but Jesus who was conceived by the Holy Spirit in Mary, was born in the City of David, yet was the Son of God. 

It appears that Joseph was father number 2 in a very non-traditional family.  One in which things were not so logical, as in, made sense.  It was by God's will that what came to pass happened.  If God was so concerned about the rules, God would have chosen to act on them, right?  Not necessarily.

God is not bound by time or laws, nor is God limited by how humankind thinks or writes about God.  Therein lies the real problem with the Bible.  It is a book written about God's acts, by imperfect human beings, though inspired by the Holy Spirit, yes.  But, the views written are still accounts from a human perspective. Words, accounts and meanings are rightly met with a little bit of skepticism.  So are the things we interpret from them.   The messages contained within, do inspire us as the Holy Spirit seeks to move us with her grace.

Whether our family is one of a man and a woman, with or with out children.  Or a family of two women, with or without children.  Or a family of two men, with or without children.  Each family is one that has been brought together by God's grace and design.   Family, however it is defined, is built around individuals loving each other, caring about one another and seeking to create a community of compassion and companionship in a world that is all too scary and lonely for way too many people.  

The negative atmosphere that Christianists and other arch-conservative groups are casting around LGBT families, couples and individuals is based on false information, biased opinions and facts that simply do not exist, only in their minds.  Yet, they are willing to go State by State, to destroy marriage equality laws in States that have passed them, or wage campaigns for ballot initiatives against marriage equality to pass them.  The Roman Catholic church and their hierarchy of authoritarianism disguised as religious zeal for the House of God, insists on arguing for religious freedom, while violating it for others who do not share their opinions.   Whether the issue be abortion, contraception or marriage equality, there is no stopping their political maneuvering to make their ways, the "American way." 

It seems to me that Jesus came into the world, because a man who was dedicated to following the rules, was suddenly open to God's will, once it was made clear to him.  And because he acted on God's will and not his own, the Savior of the world was born, and through him, the Church.  The Christian religion is not one of a list of major rules or one way moral codes.  Our Faith exists not because of some thing, but because of some One.  His Name is Jesus Christ. 

Jesus came as one who brought with him, God's love for all people.  Including those, who were thought to be unlovable and unwanted.  Even the eunuchs, the gay men.  Even women.  Including the sick, the lonely, and the discouraged.  Those considered unclean or non-traditional.  Jesus even put a human face on the dead, by giving of his own life, and raising them up in the resurrection. 

In what ways are we open this Lent to God shattering our expectations?

How does God meet us in the midst of made plans, and changes our hearts so to better follow God's will?

How do we see others who are different from ourselves in light of God's salvation?

As we remember St. Joseph and his willingness to be open to God, let us all pray for one another to be open to the call of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives.   If God did such amazing things through Joseph's openness, imagine what God could do through our own openness?


Prayers

O God, who from the family of your servant David raised
up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the
spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his
uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 239).


Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).


O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, p. 815).

Fourth Sunday in Lent: Moving Forward with Love and Light as Our New Direction

Today's Scripture Readings

Numbers 21: 4-9 (NRSV)

From Mount Hor the Israelites set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Ephesians 2: 1-10 (NRSV)

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

John 3: 14-21 (NRSV)

Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." 

Blog Reflection

Most of us know what it is to move forward reluctantly, but still clinging to what we left behind.  Even in the 21st Century, we love nostalgia. We long for the return of the days of sitcoms that were actually funny on TV, perhaps an economy that was working better for all of us, or an age that did not know what September 11th means.  As much as we need to live our life in the here and now, taking care of ourselves in the present to move along, we just can't seem to leave the past behind us.

I think this is what was happening to the Israelites in today's reading from Numbers.  Most of us just cannot imagine what they might have loved about being slaves in Egypt.  They were forced into slave labor.  Their first born sons were thrown in to the Nile.  Why would they want to go back to that?  In Egypt they had their food supply.  They had their variety.  Now, here they were.  Wandering about in the desert for some forty years.  Most of their ancestors had died.  Years before, they grumbled against Yahweh that they had not food or water.  God provided them manna from heaven and water from the rock.  But, for them, that wasn't enough.

It appears from the narrative told that Yahweh had just had it with these people.  They found themselves facing serpents that were biting the people, causing illness and death.  When they cried out to Yahweh, realizing that they had messed up, again. God through Moses' staff gave them the bronze serpent.  Those who looked upon the bronze serpent were healed.

Now, wait just a minute.  Didn't God punish the people of Israel for worshiping the golden calf in Exodus 32?   Didn't God say in Exodus 20: 4 and 5a "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything is in heaven or above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them..."?

Minnesota United Methodist Bishop Sally Dyck preached on this very idea in her sermon at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral today.   To understand what the issue with the serpent was, you have to go back to while the Israelites were in Egypt.  In Exodus 7: 8-13 is the story of how Aaron through down his staff and it became a snake.  When Pharaoh's sorcerers through down their staffs, they also became snakes.  But, Aaron's snake swallowed theirs.  Thus the serpent of God was more powerful than the that of Pharaoh.  

The serpents were a reminder of how much injustice they experienced in Egypt.  To turn back would return them to disaster.  Only by looking at the bronze serpent could they see that moving forward on God's terms was the way they would in due time, see the promised land that God promised to their ancestors.

When I think about what all of this might mean for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people, Christians and other wise, is that we must continue moving forward.  As I read the story of Moses and the serpents, I am reminded of how serpent like ex-gay and/or reparative therapy groups are.  They literally want to take LGBTQ people back to seeing our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression as something awful.   Ex-gay groups want us to go back to the days when we had a secure future, so long as we did not dare to love another person physically, without a healthy attitude towards who we really are.  They want us to go back to those closets of death.  Where we lived according to the opinions of others, especially Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics/Anglicans/Orthodox etc.  A time when our parents were proud of us, so long as they thought we were straight or single gender minded.

If we go back to those days, as ex-gay groups suggest, we shall only be hurting ourselves and others around us all the more.  We may have the better promise of owning the family business someday, or getting family money to go to college, or our inheritance back.  But, we will have sacrificed our true dignity and handed over ourselves in to the enslaved world of dishonesty and self rejection. 

It is no accident that the Gospel for this weekend picks up on the theme of Moses and the serpent.  Jesus starts there, and then leads us to who he really is.  God's Son, whom God sent so that everyone who believes in him, regardless of our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression or any other name that is among the marginalized, can have eternal life.  Jesus came into the world not to condemn it, or any one of us in particular, but that we might be saved through the Son of God. 

The verses that follow scare me a bit, because they might imply some anti-Semitism, and/or against any other religion.  These verses need to be understood from the point of what this means for Christians.  There are many Christians who claim to believe in Jesus Christ, who live as though they had never known him, especially with regards to how we live in relationship with those who are different from ourselves.  I believe this is the "light" vs the "darkness" that Jesus is referring to here.

To live in the love and light of Jesus Christ is to recognize our own frail humanity.  To see ourselves as in need of God's saving grace through faith as is mentioned in Paul's letter to the Ephesians.  What has come to us, in Jesus, was not something we did by ourselves.  It was because of God's unconditional and all-inclusive love, that the Light of Jesus Christ came into the world, to save us from our sins and to lead us to heal those broken relationships that are in the darkest places of our lives.

For those people who insist that the Christian Faith is about fear of hell only, and being sure that we remain a religion that rejects all others, shames women who have abortions and use contraception, LGBT people, and other races and cultures etc, they are already in a darkness.  The light of Faith was lit, and then extinguished through the darkness hate speech, encouraging violence through bullying and scare tactics born out of ignorance and stereotyping.  All in the name of making Christianity a religion of exclusion and a set of litmus tests, that almost all of us would fail.

The authentic Christianity that Jesus founded, was one that sought out the marginalized and those who lived with injustice and oppression, to find in God the compassionate and merciful Savior. One who would call all of us by name (see Isaiah 43: 1-2) and invite them with generous hospitality and the opportunity for healing and reconciliation.  The Christian Faith that Jesus began welcomed diversity of opinions with the opportunity to find peace amidst conflict born out of necessity.  The idea of one group of people dominating another, was constantly and consistently rejected and avoided. 

As we move forward in the remaining two weeks of Lent, we go towards Jerusalem where we will walk the way of the Cross with Jesus.  At the Cross we will be embraced by the loving outstretched arms of Jesus, as God and humankind are united in a holy and self sacrificing bond. The willingness to lay down our lives for the one's we love. Without exception. Even those who often place us on the Cross. Even those who reject us, call us names. Those who won't listen to us try to explain to them, why LGBT people are good Christian people. In spite of all, we are called to love them.  And lay down our lives,  Even forgive them, for they know not what they do.

All of this requires a certain death to self.  A willingness to let go of what was before, embracing the Cross in the here and now, and moving forward with love and light as our new direction.  With God's grace we will arrive with Jesus at the empty tomb on Easter Day, having experienced the resurrection. 

Amen.


Prayers

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down
from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world:
Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in
him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Collect for Fourth Sunday in Lent, Book of Common Prayer, p. 219).


Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).


Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen. (Book of  Common Prayer, p. 101).