First Sunday after Christmas: In the Word We Are All Children of God

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 61:10-62:3 (NRSV)

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

to spring up before all the nations.

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,

until her vindication shines out like the dawn,

and her salvation like a burning torch.

The nations shall see your vindication,

and all the kings your glory;

and you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the LORD will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

Psalm 148 (BCP., p.804)


Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 (NRSV)

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

John 1:1-18 (NRSV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

Blog Reflection

A great and wonderful thing has occurred.  Through the events that took place in Bethlehem, God came to us in Christ.   Our celebration of Christmas which continues on this sixth day, the First Sunday after, is to rejoice in all that God has done.   In spite of all of the horrible events going on in the various parts of the world, God did not stop loving us.  God who made all things through the Word, the Breath of God, knowing that we are enduring so much suffering, came to us, so that all who believe in the Name of Jesus are children of God.

The reading from Isaiah is a song of celebration.  Jerusalem has been crowned as the City that has been saved, because of God's inclusive love and power.  The Prophet just cannot be silent, because the vindication of the City shines all over the world.  The greatness of God's power on behalf of God's people just cannot be kept, the ground is yielding forth a harvest that is full of promise and opportunity.

Paul is telling us that Christ came in a point of time to save us from our certainty that all we must do is follow the rules.  In Christ we have all been adopted and God is our "Abba" meaning "Father or Mother".   A Parent who has become the One for whom our obedience is a matter of love, not fear.  We cannot be obedient to God out of love if we do not accept the reality of who we are.  Regardless of our race, religion, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, marital status, health, wealth, culture, etc, we are all adopted by Christ as daughters and sons of God.  Our "Abba" is someone who represents Christ, because she/he guides us to our fullest potential as God's children.

In case I have never written it, the text from the Prologue of St. John's Gospel is my very favorite of all Christmas Scriptures.   Reflecting on this Gospel along side the narratives in Luke, we can see how what happened when the Word became flesh. God did a lot more than be born as a vulnerable child.  God who created all things by God's Wisdom and Breathe, also came to us and walks with us through our deepest valleys, and shines on our greatest mountain tops.  Whether we recognize God in our world or life, the Word came to us so that all who believe in His Name, are empowered as Children of God.  So, the reason for the birth of Christ through the womb of a virgin mother, is about us being reborn of God. Not by flesh and blood, but by the will of God.  Whatever "isms" we might want to apply to each other, in Christ, we are born of God and are children of God.

All of this wonderful news, should motivate us to do all we can to end injustice, suffering and oppression due to prejudice.   If Christ is God's perfect revelation of Self, by which we are all God's children through the Son of God, then no person is worthless.   There is no such thing as an individual person who is dispensable for any reason.  No amount of bias that results in violence or suppression can be justified or supported.   Because in Christ, all of us are here by God's will and have a divine destiny to fulfill.

Every Christmas we sing the famous hymn with the words:

Joy to the world!  The Lord is come; let earth receive her King;
let every heart, prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

Every heart is called upon to prepare room for the newborn King.  The Word made flesh in Jesus Christ as he comes in the African American, the Native American, the Muslim, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, the sick, the lonely, the dying, the poorly dressed and those who also have no room at the inns of society and the Church.

As we continue through the Christmas Season, preparing to bid goodbye to 2012, let every heart prepare room for Jesus Christ by loving God, our neighbor and ourselves in whatever way we can.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of
your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our
hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday after Christmas, Book of Common Prayer, p. 213).

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).


Gracious Father, we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it
with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt,
purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is
amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in
want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake
of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, p.816)

Fifth Day of Christmas: Love is of the Light. Hate is of the Darkness

Today's Scripture Reading

1 John 2: 7-11 (NRSV)

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says, ‘I am in the light’, while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness. 

Blog Reflection

There are some theologians who think that we should set aside the language of darkness vs. light.   They suggest that both are terms that are much too outdated.

I tend to both agree and disagree.  I think many things like this are not a matter of either/or, but, both/and. 

To suggest that God is not able to deal with darkness because it is the evil one's "territory" so to speak, is much too limiting of who God is.   There are also those wonderful verses in Psalm 139:10,11 that read:  "If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light around me turn to night," darkness is not dark to you, O Lord; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to you are both alike."

Whatever our opinion of darkness vs light might be, I think there is room to agree that hate is the product of some kind of darkness.  A darkness that can be compared to the inability to see clearly what our attitudes are producing when hate is at work in and through us. 

Just recently I had a conversation about the words people use when discussing minorities.  An individual who has her/his prejudices towards a non-white person, but does not want to be exposed for such, will say something like: "I am not a racist, but I just think black people want too much from us".   Someone who has issues with sexism will say: "I really love women, but, they belong in the kitchen or at home with the children."  I heard someone say of a transgender woman once: "I am not against someone having gender reassignment surgery, but she still looks like a man."   It is so common to hear someone say of lesbian and gay people: "I have nothing against lesbian or gay people, but, I just do not think they should be allowed to get married."

When Jesus was born of Mary, he was not born of a couple who conceived him in wedlock.  He was not born in the middle of Canterbury Cathedral in England, or St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.  He was not Caucasian.   He was born in a middle eastern country of Jewish origin, and definitely was not white.  He and his parents were refugees in Egypt during the slaughter of the Holy Innocents.  He was welcomed by shepherds and given gifts by wise men from the east.   He was baptized by a man who was dressed in camels hair, and ate locusts and honey.  He loved people that were so often unloved.  This is how Jesus brought the light of God into the world, in the midst of the darkness. 

As Christians celebrating the arrival of Christ, we are called to do nothing less than to welcome the stranger.  We should look to the example of Christ to receive the refugee and love the unlovable. Whether someone is black, copper skinned, brown or white, female or male, LGBT or straight and/or cisgender, sick or healthy, poor or wealthy, Christian or some other religion, it doesn't matter.  What matters is that we are all created, redeemed and sanctified by God's work of salvation in Christ.   That is why we must love one another and live in the light of Christ.


Prayers

O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth
of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully
receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence
behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Nativity, Book of Common Prayer, p. 212).

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 Day of Christmas: The Holy Innocents

Today's Scripture Readings

Jeremiah 31:15-17 (NRSV)

Thus says the LORD:

A voice is heard in Ramah,

lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

because they are no more.

Thus says the LORD:

Keep your voice from weeping,

and your eyes from tears;

for there is a reward for your work,

says the LORD:

they shall come back from the land of the enemy;

there is hope for your future,

says the LORD:

your children shall come back to their own country.

Psalm 124 (BCP., p.781)


Revelation 21:1-7 (NRSV)

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

"See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them as their God;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away."

And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Matthew 2:13-18 (NRSV)

When the wise men had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

"A voice was heard in Ramah,

wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

Blog Reflection

I really do not think it is a coincidence that we commemorate the Holy Innocents exactly two weeks to the day since the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.   Indeed, two weeks ago, America witnessed a massacre of innocence.   Or, should we say that we were made aware of the mass murder of twenty innocent children along with 8 adults?   How many other such incidents happen that we just do not know about?

In the past on this Holy Day in our Church calendar I have written about the dangers of political maneuvering.  The slaughter of all of the male children in and around Bethlehem was an act of political maneuvering on the part of Herod.   He was so fearful of being supplanted, that the idea of an infant who was a new born king, was something he just could not leave alone. 

I have also written about the fact that this date of December 28th also falls one day before the anniversary of another massacre that many of us hear very little about.  One hundred and twenty seven years ago, a horrific number of Native Americans were slaughtered in the Wounded Knee Massacre.  A Nation said to be about with liberty and justice for all, turned out to be another set of words that meant everything to some, and nothing to others.  A Nation of liberty so long as one was white, male, of European origin and Christian.  A Nation of oppression and injustice if you were so unfortunate to be a Native American. 

We still live in a time of political maneuvering.  At present we have a looming date for going over the fiscal cliff with the middle class and the poorest among us who have the most to lose.  Every political maneuvering imaginable is being done to be sure that one political party or individual is the one(s) to blame.  But, even if we do go over the fiscal cliff, they have very little to lose.  They will still  have their enormous salaries.  Their homes.  Businesses.  Their high priced places to stay in Washington, D.C.  Those who will really feel the impact of losing their unemployment benefits, and experience the greatest loses, well, they would just be out of luck.  Yet, in an effort to arrive some where, who's benefits are placed as a bargaining chip?  The elderly, retired and disabled.   Is this not another political maneuvering by which innocent people remain at risk?

We were horrified beyond belief two weeks ago.  What we read about in our Gospel today, terrifies us, and for good reason.  But, why are we not so terrified about the thousands of children who are dying every day by drone missiles being fired in Pakistan?   Why are we so apathetic about the many immigrant children who face deportation or being put in prison along with their parents over their "papers"?   Why are we turning a deaf ear to the number of suicides every year of LGBT youth due to bullying?    Why are we not equally concerned about a woman who gives birth to a child, because of all the laws made to make abortion services harder to get, but we have no charity to provide her with funding for housing, child care, education, job training and health care services?

Our Gospel today gives us a glimpse into how much Jesus shares in our human nature.  The child Jesus, his mother and father, were refugees in Egypt.  The Son of God identifies with those who must flee from their homeland to escape oppression and death.  How much are we concerned with the LGBT citizens in a place like Uganda who may have to flee their homes to escape the looming death if the "Kill the gays" bill is passed?

As we continue to celebrate the coming of Christ among us on Christmas, I think we would do well to pray about what role we might play in the ending of injustice and oppression.  It is quite obvious that Jesus did not come to end those things.  Even if the words of O Holy Night says: "in his Name all oppression shall cease."  It is apparent, that oppression is still with us.  Jesus comes to let us know that God suffers right along with us when it comes to injustice and oppression.  God hurts as humans hurt through so much suffering and death. 

God also promises to be with us when we are ready to become proactive in doing something about it.  God knows that there is the Cross involved with doing something about the injustices in this world.  We could very well lose our popularity, prestige or even our lives for doing so.   Whether losing our lives means giving of our time, talent and treasure away from those things we want most, or literally our lives.  God promises to walk with us through those things and to suffer along with us, but also help us to achieve things that only we can do.  But, it all begins when we say yes to God.

Amen.


Prayers

We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy
innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray,
into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your
great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish
your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ
our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the
Holy Spirit,, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Holy Innocents, Book of Common Prayer, p. 238).

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).

Third Day of Christmas: St. John the Evangelist

Today's Scripture Readings

Exodus 33:18-23 (NRSV)

Moses said to God, "Show me your glory, I pray." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, `The LORD'; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live." And the LORD continued, "See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen."

Psalm 92 (BCP., 720)


1 John 1:1-9 (NRSV)

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John 21:19b-24 (NRSV)

Jesus said to Peter, "Follow me."

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"

This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.

Blog Reflection

From the tractates  on the first letter of John by Saint Augustine.

Now this Word, whose flesh was so real that he could be touched by human hands, began to be flesh in the Virgin Mary's womb; but he did not begin to exist at that moment.  We know this from what John says: What existed from the beginning.  Notice how John's letter bears witness to his Gospel, which you just heard a moment ago: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.

Someone might interpret the phrase the Word of life to mean a word about Christ, rather than Christ's body itself which was touched by human hands.  But consider what comes next: and life was revealed. Christ therefore is himself the Word of life. (Liturgy of the Hours, Volume I, Advent Season, Christmas Season, p. 1267).

John and Augustine give us a very special picture of Jesus.  Jesus is not just someone who existed in history.  Jesus is so much more than a story told.  Jesus is God made visible and tangible to humankind in the Word made Flesh.  That tangibility requires faith to be guided to seeing and touching Christ in the various ways by which Jesus is made known.

John knows that what he proclaims about Christ is and was from the beginning, and even now exists, and will forever be.  This much we pray every time we pray Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.   It is more than a prayer of Faith as in what we believe, it is by this prayer that the Psalms and Canticles become the prayers of Christ himself. 

All of this may seem like theological stuff, but it is in fact more than that.  St. John the Evangelist wrote in both the Gospel attributed to him, and the three letters also said to be from him, the important place of love within the Christian life.  The Love for Christ, from Christ to us, and from us to Christ in others.   St. John makes it very clear that the worship of God in Christ finds it's meaning and tangibility when love is the reason and purpose of all we do, in the Name of Christ.

We can spend all of our time talking about restoring the world to a place of justice, equality with freedom from oppression and prejudice.  But, until we see that it is for the love of Christ that Christians must take their place and work towards these, the work of the Gospel will remain unfinished.  The Nativity of Christ of which we are still celebrating is just a really fancy bed time story.  It really is only meant for one time of the year.  As for the rest of the year, we are all on our own.  We left Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds etc at the manger in Bethlehem, but forgot to join Jesus as he walked with the Cross weighing him down and draining him of all life, because it just made us too uncomfortable.

St. John the Evangelist wrote about how real God was to him.   Today, Jesus invites all of us to make God real in our lives.   We are given the opportunity to make God tangible through Christ by our prayers and work to help the marginalized of society and the Church, including and not limited to LGBT people.   We include ending racism, sexism, the constant ignorance of the poor, the disenfranchised, the sick and so on.   As Christ was born amidst the mess of humankind, so God finds all of us and walks with us through our confusion and disarray.  God reaches out to touch us, so that we too can proclaim what we have seen and heard.

What ways might God be calling us to make the presence of Christ tangible?

If there were one thing you could do that shows God being authentic in your life, what would that be?

How might we respond to that tangible presence of Christ in those places and people where God is not so simple to find?

Let's take one idea from St. John the Evangelist.   Let love be one of those ways.

Amen


Prayers

Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light,
that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and
evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that
at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect for St. John the Evangelist, Book of Common Prayer, p. 238).


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).

Second Day of Christmas: St. Stephen: Religious Intolerance is A Matter of Life and Death

Scripture Readings

Acts 6:8-7:2a,51c-60 (NRSV)

Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. They set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us." And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Then the high priest asked him, "Are these things so?"

And Stephen replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. You are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it."

When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

Matthew 23:34-39 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Blog Reflection

The commemoration of St. Stephen the day after the Christmas Season begins seems like we turned from one chapter of the story to another.  In a sense we have.  In a sense we have not.

Yesterday we celebrated God coming to us in Jesus Christ.  As one so fragile and helpless.  Jesus came to help heal our wounded relationships.

Today, we commemorate the first Martyr of the Christian Church; St. Stephen. One of those relationships God came to heal us from is religious exceptionalism and intolerance.  What we need to understand to heal those broken relationships from this Holy Day in our Church calender is that religious exceptionalism and intolerance kills a lot more than a body.  It kills community.

Christians were the new group in town.  Jesus had ascended.  The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost.  The newly forming Church was gaining popularity.  Those who wanted to protect the exceptionalism of their own religion were challenged to be more inclusive of new ideas and the ways in which people understood their relationship with their God.  As Stephen makes the case for this new religion full of this zeal he has for being Christian, the existing religious establishment just would not tolerate it.

Sadly, what has happened to the Christian religion over these many centuries is that we have forgotten the lessons of how much religious exceptionalism and intolerance kills.  The Christ Child came to heal broken relationships, by helping us understand what is so broken and wounded about them.  The Church in the 21st Century is still learning how broken our relationships are.

What we have seen over the 20th Century with the rise of fundamentalism that makes use of the modern invention of Biblical literalism, is one form of religious exceptionalism and intolerance taken over by another sad example. The American Family Association. The Family Research Council(s) all over the country.  Focus on the Family.  The Trinity Broadcasting Network. These are a few examples of fundamentalist organizations that promote religious exceptionalism and intolerance. 

At the same time, in the Catholic Church, we have seen religious exceptionalism and intolerance rise through the use of a authoritarian model in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  It's pages are full of very great insights. However, the intent appears to be to create a faithful following that does nothing more than recite the teachings only for the purpose of ending all conversations that would contradict them. The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and Relevant Radio have done a good job of supporting and creating more individuals to promote this form of religious exceptionalism and intolerance. Here in Minneapolis and St. Paul we have a follower of the great "cold-hearted orthodox Catholic" networks. The person I speak of writes comments in any newspaper piece where Catholicism is written or spoken about. His comments are written for one purpose. To make sure that the teachings of the church are explained in their entirety.  Anyone who does not agree with what he writes, whether Catholic or not is immediately and violently torn apart by the commenter.

In our Anglican/Episcopal tradition we have seen many incredible strides.  Women are allowed to be ordained in all forms of Church ministry.  In most recent years and not without difficulties LGBT people can be ordained to all forms of Church ministries too.  Reconciliation has been sought with Native Americans, with a commitment to honor the cultural traditions they come from. Opposing the religious intolerance that continues to vilify Jewish people and Muslims is something we are talking openly about.  Yet, within our own progressive bodies, there remain those who would prefer to encourage religious exceptionalism and intolerance.

St. Stephens' example of being forgiving and praying for the mercy on his persecutors is outstanding. In the midst of his terrible death by stoning, he is more concerned with keeping his own salvation and praying for those who are killing him.  Among the people in attendance of his stoning is Saul who would later become Paul.  Stephens' witness to the transforming power of God's saving love becomes a vehicle through which Saul would one day be where Stephen is.  One day, Saul when he is known as Paul will be the victim of religious exceptionalism and intolerance.

The coming of Christ at Bethlehem is a reminder that as Christians we are not always going to get it right.  As a human being from birth until death we never stop learning and growing in our understanding.  So the Church needs to continue to learn and grow because of those who lead it until Christ comes again.  That learning and growing happens as we are open to the transforming power of God's unconditional and all inclusive love and grace.

The Church has it's history of burning heretics at the stake. Whipping those who do not share their views. Burning individuals who are thought to be witches. Many who supported discrimination towards Native Americans, African Americans, Irish people, Jewish people, Muslims, Atheists, Wiccans, Pagans and so forth. Christians at one point supported the idea that women should live in subordination. There are Christians who even today support such thinking. While there have been many strides towards greater acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, there are many who still prefer to reject us because of religious exceptionalism and intolerance.

A compelling case can also be made about religious exceptionalism and intolerance on the part of LGBT people and others.  As painful as being rejected because of our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression is, returning that rejection by suggesting that all Christians are gay haters is not helpful.  I know of way too many openly LGBT ministers and priests who receive uncalled for violence from the oppressed who become oppressors.  The wounds to our communities will not be healed if we continue to take part in further wounding broken relationships.

As we celebrate this Second Day of Christmas with the Holy Day of St. Stephen let us speak the truth in love, but always with a respect for diversity and a tolerance for perspectives that are not the same as ours.  This is something I need to pray about and work for too.

The Christ Child has come to heal our broken relationships.  He does that by helping us to understand where and how they are broken.  Are we paying attention?


Prayers

We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the
first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed
for his persecutors to your Son Jesus Christ, who stands at
your right hand; where he lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (St. Stephen, Book of Common Prayer, page 237).

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of
your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our
hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (First Sunday after Christmas, Book of Common Prayer, page 213).

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, page 833).

The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ: God Came to Us In Christ

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 9: 2-7 (NRSV)

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness--

on them light has shined.

You have multiplied the nation,

you have increased its joy;

they rejoice before you

as with joy at the harvest,

as people exult when dividing plunder.

For the yoke of their burden,

and the bar across their shoulders,

the rod of their oppressor,

you have broken as on the day of Midian.

For all the boots of the tramping warriors

and all the garments rolled in blood

shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child has been born for us,

a son given to us;

authority rests upon his shoulders;

and he is named

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually,

and there shall be endless peace

for the throne of David and his kingdom.

He will establish and uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

from this time onward and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Psalm 96 (BCP. p.725)


Titus 2: 11-14 (NRSV)

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

Luke 2: 1-20 (NRSV)

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

John 1: 1-14 (NRSV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

Blog Reflection

What is the difference between an acquaintance and a friend?

An acquaintance will show up for dinner or afternoon tea.  We will meet our acquaintance(s) for the occasional drink at the soda pop case or coffee shop.  An acquaintance is often present to us in our great moments, and will often give you compliment after compliment.

A friend knows and accepts who you are on  the inside and outside. A friend shows up for the moments of your most cherished of celebrations.  But, a friend will also tell you not only what you might want to hear, but also things you probably do not want to hear.  Nevertheless, you trust what your friend has to say.  Your friend shows up when you are most vulnerable and feeling at your lowest.  Your friend arrives and lends the greatest help in the midst of your messes and makes herself/himself vulnerable to you when they know you need them the most.

On this Christmas Night/Day God came to us in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son.  In the Word made flesh, God does better than to be the best friend to humankind, God shows God's friendship with humankind by becoming human and kind at the same time.  Despite our continued refusal to try to get along with each other, and even though we cannot seem to make up our minds as to whether we want to mature in grace or not, God does not wait around for us to decide without giving us that sign of how much God loves each and every one of us.  God comes to us, in the midst of our mess.  God comes to make God's Self vulnerable and helpless.  "Take care of me" God says as the Christ Child lays there in the midst of a cave full of animal mess, without even a bed to sleep on.  Only a manger is able to be a resting place for Jesus.  But, God is no the least bit concerned about that. God only knows that in Jesus, he is helpless and must rely on Mary and Joseph to provide him with a place to sleep and safety from a cold winter's night.  Jesus does not have a royal bed chamber to sleep in, with servants waiting to bring him the best of the best.  Jesus has shepherds come and pay homage to him, with a chorus of angels singing "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God's people on earth."  Jesus has come to us as the friendship of God, to bring with him God's unconditional love made vulnerable and available in our own helplessness.  God comes in Christ, to share with us the news that by God's friendship, approaching God through Christ is not only possible, it is real, it is life-saving and redeeming.

Here on this holy night/day, we can stop here for a while to rejoice and celebrate this amazing event.  God came just when we needed Jesus to arrive.  We are invited to come and adore Jesus to welcome him into our hearts, families and communities.  It is okay if you are not properly dressed.  It is okay if you are not white, wealthy, employed, straight, a man, a powerful person or some person who is most privileged in society or the Church.  You are welcome into God's presence as Christ becomes one with all humanity, in all of our circumstances with the opportunity to find healing and wholeness, in the power of God's peace.

In a recent article about the horrible shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Bishop Ian T. Douglas wrote:

And this God who is with us, the Christ-child, is not a God insulated from the hurt and pain of the world. No, Emmanuel is a God who knows suffering; who was born to a homeless teenage mom and whose birth was attended by barn animals and marginalized sheep tenders. This God-with-us and his parents would then become refugees in Egypt to escape the slaughter of other innocent children at the hand of King Herod. And the same God-with-us, Jesus, would die a torturous death upon the cross as a religious and political revolutionary. We Christians, however, hold onto the truth that three days later Jesus rose from the dead. When confronted with the question "How could God let this happen?" we can proclaim that God is a God who is with us, who suffers with us, and who embodies the promise and reality of new life in the face of death.

The Christ event at Christmas is not going to change our world from violence to complete peace.  Injustice, oppression, inequality and bias will still be here with us, as long as we think Christ is our free pass for doing nothing.  God came to us in Christ, to help us know that doing world changing things in the Name of God for the benefit of all humankind is possible, with God's help.  What can change is our own personal sense of peace with God and asking God to help us to discern what role we should play in renewing the face of the earth by the power of the Holy Spirit.   Each person will do some thing that God has kept hidden from the world, only to be carried out by each one of us, individually and in community with others. 

In his Christmas message to the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, Rt. Rev. Brian Prior IX Bishop of Minnesota wrote:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it . . ."

So proclaims the Gospel of John.

Those searchers, who undoubtedly traveled through challenging landscapes and situations, pressed forward — because of the promise of a star in the sky.

Amidst cold dark days or deep personal tragedies, we are reminded by these sacred words that the light of Christ will shine through. As such, we must press forth toward the light.

But this light is not out in some distant galaxy — it is within each one of us. As John of the Cross writes in the "Living Flame Of Love:"

How gently and lovingly
You wake in my heart,
Where in secret you dwell alone;
And in your sweet breathing,
Filled with good and glory,
How tenderly You swell my heart with love.

As we celebrate Christmas with friends, family, Church communities and ourselves, may the Light of Jesus Christ shine through us to renew God's friendship with all people.   May our spending time with the Christ Child, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the angels, give us the joy to sing Gloria in excelsis Deo. 

Amen


Prayers

O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth
of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully
receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence
behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.  (Collect for Christmas, Book of Common Prayer, p. 212).


O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the
brightness of the true Light: Grant that we, who have known
the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him
perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he
lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.  (Collect for Christmas, Book of Common Prayer, p.212).


Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to
take our nature upon him, and to be born [this day] of a pure
virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made
your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed
by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom
with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and
for ever. Amen. (Collect for Christmas, Book of Common Prayer, p. 213).

Fourth Sunday of Advent: God's Evolution and Revolution In Christ

Today's Scripture Readings

Micah 5: 2-5a (NRSV)

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,

who are one of the little clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to rule in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in labor has brought forth;

then the rest of his kindred shall return

to the people of Israel.

And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD,

in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great

to the ends of the earth;

and he shall be the one of peace.

Magnificat (Canticle 15 BCP. p. 91)


Hebrews10: 5-10 (NRSV)

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: 39-55 (NRSV)

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Blog Reflection

If there were ever a Being in all the universe who can turn a world settled unto itself upside down, God would be the One.  It is a fact of life, that God does not leave us to our comfort zones without some way of moving us to become more faithful followers of Christ. 

In the coming of Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, God turned a world where the powerful were to dominate the weak with no recourse, into a world redeemed by the sacrifice of God's Son.  That sacrifice did not begin with the Cross, it began when God left the throne of heaven and came to us in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.  In 2 Corinthians 8: 9  Paul wrote: "For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich."   This is the very song of Mary in the Magnificat.

William Barclay in : The New Daily Study Bible The Gospel of Luke wrote: "When Joan of Arc knew that her time was short, she prayed, 'I shall only last a year; use me as  you can" (Page 17).

In the Magificat, Mary sings of how she is God's "lowly servant" yet, God used her to do mighty things, and therefore she proclaimed God's Name to be holy.   When we accept that God uses our prayers, though they may seem insignificant to us, great and mighty things happen.  Even if what happens is something we do not see for ourselves.  Mary received God's random act of grace, by being chosen as to give birth to God's Son, yet she recognizes God's great power in her life, and how it brings about an evolution of God revealed to human kind to begin what Barclay calls a "moral revolution," a "social revolution" and "an economic revolution" (Pages 19, 20).

A "moral revolution" that is the end of a pride that considers ourselves greater that God.  This idea fits very well into the first step of humility in the Rule of St. Benedict.   That first step being that we keep the consciousness of God always before our eyes.  This is a recognition that God is God and we are not.  It is a giving over of control and our own wills to that of God with a trust in God, even when our personal securities become unstable in an effort to help us to find our stability in God, through obedience and conversion of life.

A "social revolution" by which through Christ the helpless and vulnerable are those who inspire us to a radical conversion.   A reorganizing of our lives that recognizes Christ in those who are sick without health care, and the lesbian girl coming out to her parents.   The young gay man being harassed by the high school football team.  The LGBT people of Uganda fearful of a law passed that would put them in prison just for their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression, or very possibly executed.  The social revolution of Christ born through Mary is our invitation to be the voice for the retired and disabled who could lose Social Security benefits to satisfy tax breaks for the wealthiest people, in a fiscal cliff resolution.  To care about the constant placing of the welfare of the poorest and most vulnerable of society as a chip, while giving the wealthy more power to own more and to exercise even more power.

A "social revolution" can be the beginning of an "economic revolution." 

Barclay writes: "A Christian society is a society where no one dares to have too much while others have too little , where everyone gets only to give away.

There is loveliness in the Magnificat but in that loveliness there is dynamite.  Christianity brings about a revolution in individuals and revolution in the world" (Page 20).

As we leave the Season of Advent and enter into the Christmas Season, we are all called to sing the Magnificat with Mary.   We sing that Christ will once again be born in us and in our world, to infuse our society and the Church with an environment of justice, equality and freedom from oppression and violence.  In Christ, our human nature is restored with God's grace by which God is randomly choosing and empowering us to be the change that we want to see in the world.

Amen.


Prayers

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation,
that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a
mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen. (Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, p. 212).

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).

St. Thomas the Apostle: The Saint Who Dared to Confirm Faith

Today's Scripture Readings

Habakkuk 2: 1-4 (NRSV)

I will stand at my watchpost,

and station myself on the rampart;

I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,

and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

Then the LORD answered me and said:

Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so that a runner may read it.

For there is still a vision for the appointed time;

it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

it will surely come, it will not delay.

Look at the proud!

Their spirit is not right in them,

but the righteous live by their faith.

Psalm 126 (BCP, p. 782)


Hebrews 10:35-11:1 (NRSV)

Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

For yet "in a very little while,

the one who is coming will come and will not delay;

but my righteous one will live by faith.

My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back."

But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

John 20: 24-29 (NRSV)

Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with the other disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Blog Reflection

Mother Prioress Delores Hart, OSB once said: "If you can have hope, you just may find faith."  

St. Thomas was the Apostle who dared to confirm faith.  He was not satisfied with the words of others.  Thomas wanted faith on a realistic level, not a superficial level.  He wanted to know for certain that what he was to believe had the sustainability that the world around him did not have.  

It takes a great act of faith to not settle for the superficial and ask for confirmation.  In questioning, we open ourselves to God's answer.   Then faith is much more a matter of trust.   By faith, I not only mean what is written and proclaimed in the Creeds or the articles of religion.  When I write of the faith that I believe Thomas was seeking, I mean he really wanted a reason to let go of his certainty.  I think a better word for faith is the word trust.

As I was doing my Lectio Divina on this Gospel reading this morning, I used the recently approved Common English Bible.  When I got to Chapter 20: verse 27 the very last sentences in the NRSV reads: "Do not doubt but believe." I found myself disturbed a bit by the wording in the Common English Bible that reads: "No more disbelief. Believe!"

What might it mean for us to hear the words "No more disbelief.  Believe!"? 

I think we are all in a state of disbelief that one week ago today, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT with the intention to shoot and killed 26 individuals, 20 of them 6 or 7 year olds.   How could this have happened?   I think we are all in disbelief that there are still individuals who think that the solution to these things not happening again is more guns.  What is more to disbelieve than the fact that our public schools as early as the elementary grades are no longer completely safe from the most heinous of violence?

What happens when we find ourselves in a place where we disbelieve?

I think the word disbelieve is a word that disturbs us.  We want to believe in something. We want to have that trust that God really does have our best interests in God's heart.  We desire to believe that God really does love all of humankind with an inclusive love.  That God wants justice and equality for all people.   However, we, like Thomas have to be willing to step up and ask God to help us to confirm our faith and trust that what God wants is true and real.    Because, when we do that, God will answer: "I have sent you."

The Common English Bible's translation of Hebrews 11:1 is: "Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don't see."  Faith looks for God to continually reveal God's Self in new and awesome ways.  To help us to not surmise God, but to see that God is continuously evolving.

The evolutionary God is not the omnipotent God who is every where, to prevent every evil from happening.   In many ways, God has not ended all oppression, violence and cruelty.   God does not intervene where humans exercise their free will.   However, when humankind is willing to answer "Here I am, send me" with the Prophet Isaiah in Chapter 6:8, God will so work with us to do so much. 

When it comes to ending the discrimination and oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people in the Church and society, God has called us to be about the work of doing that.  

Who else, but us have the power to stop drone missiles from killing innocent civilians, women, men and children in Pakistan?  

We do have the opportunity to speak up about the injustice of putting Social Security on the table in negotiations over the fiscal cliff crisis. That putting the stability and sustainability of retired, disabled and poor people in the playing cards for asking the wealthiest to pay a bit more to help fund education, infrastructure and homeland security is an injustice.  Now is the time to be speaking up and acting with regards to this kind of evil in our Nation.

The time to demand that more be done in terms of helping those suffering from mental illness so that they have access to affordable health care, psychiatric medicine and an opportunity to be functioning individuals in our society, is now. 

We all have an opportunity today, to do some thing that helps reduce gun violence on our streets, in our schools, in our houses of worship and local communities. 

When we go before Jesus in prayer, and ask as Thomas did to show us his wounded hands and side, Jesus will tell us: "No more disbelief.  Believe!"   In other words, don't just sit staring at the television with all the horrible reports and do nothing.  Spend some time in prayer.  Write a letter.  Join a local organization and begin helping in efforts to make your local community a better place for all people.   See the wounds of Christ as those in all of our sisters and brothers, and believe that the Risen Christ can impact those who have not seen him, to believe through what God does through us.

No more disbelief.  Believe!

Amen.


Prayers

Everliving God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with
firm and certain faith in your Son's resurrection: Grant us so
perfectly and without doubt to believe in Jesus Christ, our
Lord and our God, that our faith may never be found wanting
in your sight; through him who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for St. Thomas, Book of Common Prayer, p. 237).

O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know
you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend
us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that
we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of
any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. (Collect for Peace, Book of Common Prayer, p. 99).

Third Sunday of Advent: Rejoice! The Lord is Near?

Today's Scripture Readings

Zephaniah  3: 14-20 (NRSV)

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away the judgments against you,

he has turned away your enemies.

The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;

you shall fear disaster no more.

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands grow weak.

The LORD, your God, is in your midst,

a warrior who gives victory;

he will rejoice over you with gladness,

he will renew you in his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing

as on a day of festival.

I will remove disaster from you,

so that you will not bear reproach for it.

I will deal with all your oppressors

at that time.

And I will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

and renown in all the earth.

At that time I will bring you home,

at the time when I gather you;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes, says the LORD.

First Song of Isaiah: Isaiah 12: 2-6 (BCP., p.86)


Philippians 4:4-7 (NRSV)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 
Luke 3: 7-18 (NRSV)

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Blog Reflection

Exactly what is there for us to rejoice on this Third Sunday of Advent?   Our nation is living a nightmare this weekend with the horrible shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.  Children between the ages of 5-7 shot to death with multiple gunshot wounds by a madman of a gunman. It hardly feels as if the Lord is anywhere near to that small town, with weeping parents, relatives and a whole community where faith has been shaken to the core.

Our human limitations cannot put this puzzle together.  Nothing makes sense.  Every attempt to try to reason this within our minds, just comes back with a terrible feeling of grief and despair.  How are we to rejoice and feel that the Lord is near?

The communities written about in our Scripture Readings this weekend were also facing unspeakable violence, oppression and questions of how the reality of what is around them become moments of faith i moving forward together.  

Zephaniah is confronting a corrupt king who has ignored the prescriptions of Deuteronomy to care for the poor and disenfranchised in his care.   The Prophet has been condemning the practices of the king, and is calling for a new order by which a remnant shall come and rebuild the city and nation to be one that takes seriously their God given call to seek justice and equality for all people.   The exalted ones who are ignoring their responsibility to the least among them will be replaced by one who shall put off the judgement of God by God coming among them as a warrior who gives victory to his people.  It will be a great day of rejoicing.
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We are all sharing in the unspeakable grief and horror of what has happened in the elementary school in Connecticut.  Out of the bitterness of our emotions is coming together a human community who is weeping with the parents and families, who have had their whole lives shattered by violence.   People are raising our voices in concern for how accessible automatic weapons of mass destruction are in the hands of those who should not have  them.  People are looking to be proactive with their anger and sorrow, rather than just passing it off as another mass murder.  This is something to rejoice in, and see that the Lord is indeed near.   In Psalm 147 we pray that "God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."   God weeps with all of us and especially those who are so grieving in ways that we cannot know.  But, we know that God shares in our sorrow and concern for those who are wounded and weeping.   Rejoice, the Lord is near.  And acting on our behalf.  In faith we have to believe that, even though our human sight and emotions are not feeling it at this moment.

No one knew sorrow than Paul.  Paul was the great Apostle to the Gentiles who went into areas, only to be rejected, sometimes put in prison, scourged and had his life threatened.  In this letter to the Church at Philippi, Paul is writing from prison.  Yet, he tells us to rejoice always, to worry about nothing, pray with thanksgiving and petition to God.  As we continue to ask all of our questions that lead to very few answers with the tragedy we saw yesterday, this Season of Advent reminds us of what it is we await.  We wait for the promise of God, a reign where there is peace, justice and mercy for all.   It came to us in the birth of Christ in Bethlehem on that Christmas Night, and through the Holy Spirit continues to teach us and call us to renew our faith and trust in God, and even though we live in a world full of violence, none of it has the last word.  God goes through our life experiences with us, and consoles us in our moments of sorrow and hopelessness. We can always rejoice that God does hear our prayers and is never so far away from us, that we have reason to believe that God is present and walking with us.  Only in faith and trust can we believe that.  If we ask God for such a grace, God will grant it.

John the Baptist continues to call upon the people of his day to prepare the way for the Lord, by working to establish a kingdom of justice, freedom from oppression and a desire to love others.  John the Baptist does not claim himself as the Messiah, but calls those who are listening to him to prepare for the One who is coming.  That preparation comes by way of our taking care of what is right in front of us.  We can rejoice because we all have time given to us in this moment to do something about things as they are.  At times all we can do is pray.   Prayer by itself is most often the greatest and best thing we can do.   In prayer we draw closer to the heart of God and find in God our Source of love, acceptance and compassion.   The one thing that amazes me about the experience of the shooting this weekend, is that it takes something like that to make us realize how important it is for us to pray for and embrace one another.  If we will only take some time to be quiet before God as our Source of love, acceptance and compassion, there just may be more peace and an ending to violence and oppression.  If we really want these to be possible, we will do these with the same urgency by which we do many other things that are far less important.

If we want to see a Church and society where we are effective in working for justice, peace and equality for LGBT people and all others, we must recognize our human limitations, but be open to what God can accomplish through us, if we will only make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit.   We have to do it in prayer and then allow what we pray to become transparent in our lives.   That which becomes transparent by way of God's grace can become instruments by which God transforms the human community in ways that only the Divine Love can know and bring about.

Amen

Prayers

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come
among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins,
let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver
us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and
the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, p. 212).


Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right
judgements, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that
peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be
fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered
from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness;
through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (A Collect for Peace, Book of Common Prayer, p. 123).

O merciful Father, who hast taught us in thy holy Word that
thou dost not willingly afflict or grieve thy children:
Look with pity upon the sorrows of thy servants for whom
our prayers are offered. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy,
nourish their soul with patience, comfort them with a sense of
thy goodness, lift up thy countenance upon them, and give
them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Those in Trouble or Bereavment, Book of Common Prayer, p. 831).

Second Sunday of Advent: What God Are We Preparing the Way For?

Today's Scripture Readings

Malachi 3: 1-4 (NRSV)

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight-- indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.

Canticle 16 (BCP., p. 92)


Philippians 1: 3-11 (NRSV)

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how

I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Luke 3: 1-6 (NRSV)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Blog Reflection

This weekend I attended the Trinity Wall Street's 42nd National Theological Conference with speaker Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB.   During this conference the question was raised: What is the Radical Christian Life?   In her answer to this question, Sr. Joan referred to the evolutionary God.  The God that is forever changing our understanding of who God is, and what God is doing as one age dies and another is coming to life.

There were two statements Sr. Joan made that struck me among many, that I think are relevant to today's mediation on this Second Sunday of Advent as we read about St. John the Baptist preparing the way for God to come.  

1. We have to be careful about how we summarize God.

2. What we believe about God is how we relate to God.

Now to break them down a bit.

1. We have to be careful about how we summarize God.  If we believe that God is the One who has no beginning or ending, then all of what we write or say that tries to define God will always fall short.  Many languages, cultures and religious traditions have made many attempts to define a Being who is beyond ourselves and yet very close to us.  Whether we define God in Christ as Christians do, or as Allah as the Muslims might do, our definition is our own.  What may be true for one, may not be for another.  

Does this mean there is no God to believe in?   Or a God who came to us in the Person of Jesus Christ?   No, it does not mean that there is no God, or that God did not come to us in Christ..  As Christians we do believe in a God who is real, tangible, and who became God's perfect revelation in a Man of Nazareth, born of Mary and Joseph and changed the world forever more. 

What we have to be careful about is how we define (or prepare the way for) a God by our own definition.   The God who is the vending machine who we pray to, to give us what we want, will always disappoint us.   The God who is defined by Biblical literalists who want to continue to subordinate women, oppress LGBT people, people of different cultural or religious practices, because "that's the known law of God" will always leave them, disappointed and feeling that they must martyr themselves, when things do not go their way.

2. What we believe about God is how we relate to God.    If all we believe about God is that God is a vending machine or the mighty law giver, the writer and author of the Bible as God's sexual penal code, etc, then that is how we will relate to God.   It is also how we will relate to others who do not see things our way.   We will never be satisfied with newer understandings of who God is, because God fits into a nice Pandora's Box, and so does everyone else.   We form a sense of self-righteousness and arrogance.

But if we believe that God is calling upon us to be the John the Baptist's of the second decade of this the 21st Century, who are preparing the way for the evolutionary God, we will be open to the movement of God's Holy Spirit.   We can read the Bible, celebrate our traditions and look forward to new developments as opportunities to encounter and become re-acquainted with God who comes to us in Christ, anew and ready to welcome all who want to come to him.  We will be the one's who speak out about the abuse of the environment through global warming and the neglect of the sick and the poor.    We will look for ways of working towards a greater equality fo LGBT people, women, people of different races, religions, economic statuses etc.  Because God is always evolving upon us to prepare new places for God.

As we prepare to welcome the Christ child at Christmas this year, we would do well to pray for ourselves to be open to receiving Christ in however he shall come to us.  That we will never let go of Emmanuel "God with us" and realize that whatever new and evolutionary means by which God makes God's Self known to us, that our hearts, our minds, our prayers and our lives are ready to embrace, receive and make her/him find at home in us.

What God are we preparing the way for?

Amen.


Prayers

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to
preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation:
Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins,
that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our
Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, p. 211).


Gracious Father, we pray for they holy Catholic Church. Fill it
with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt,
purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is
amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in
want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake
of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, p. 816).