Today's Scripture Readings
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 (NRSV)
Psalm 19 (BCP., p. 606)
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a (NRSV)
Luke 4: 14-21 (Common English Bible)
Blog Reflection
One of my favorite parts of a high Eucharistic Liturgy in an Episcopal church is when during the Gradual Hymn the book of the Gospels moves from the Altar to the middle of the naive to be read among the worshiping community. It is the written word, growing some legs, moving with a body to be given a voice among common people. There, Jesus proclaims his work of salvation and redemption among the people of God. It is such a beautiful moment.
The reading from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospel have a lot to say about the word being proclaimed among and for the people of God. The main point here, is not just that the word is proclaimed in a place so that our ears can hear. The word is meant to transform our individual lives and overflow into the hurting world around us.
The Priest Ezra in the reading from Nehemiah is reading the Torah at the square by the Water Gate. He is not reading it from a place of honor, he is reading it among the people who have gathered to hear it. This is a very special moment in the life of the community. Their past is behind them, but the work of God, lies before them. Everyone who has come to hear, have the opportunity to respond with a wholeness of heart and life. The mission of God for God's people is being presented, now they must respond. Their response was in humility and a collective ascent to what God has redeemed them to do.
As we wrestle with what our response should be to the violence and oppression that is all around us, what will it take for us to give our personal and collective response? Is God calling us to give of ourselves in a way that will transform a redeemed culture?
St. Paul speaks of the Body of Christ as an organic element. One by which there are "many parts, but one body." Not every part does the same work as another. Yet, each part doing it's own particular task contributes to the good of the whole.
This sounds a lot like the classic "unity among diversity" kind of thing. Each person brings something unique and special so that the Body which is the Church continues to build a sense of unity within. Therefore, to insist that all people who desire to be part of the Church must exist according to a set of criteria organized by a group of people with their own prejudices ceases to be the community of the Spirit that Christians are called to be. By insisting that individuals who are lesbian and/or gay can be Bishops, so long as they are celibate such as what the laity in the Church of England would like, is to fragment the Body of Christ. It suggests that only when lesbian and gay people are having sex, is when we are homosexuals. With all due respect, so now only when a straight man and woman have sex and actually conceive a baby, is when they are actually heterosexual? I think any one who really thinks about this, will see it as some thing as unwise, let alone impractical.
The reality is, that Christ Himself never stipulated that the Church is only a house of prayer for Caucasian, straight, rich, healthy, employed and English speaking people. Nor is it a place where LGBT people are require to surrender the essence of who they are and who they love in order to be received before they can participate in the life and ministry within the Church. The gender of who a person loves, an individuals skin color, or any other what ever, does not classify anyone as a second class citizen in the eyes and mind of God. Therefore, the Church is failing to be faithful to Christ if we create second classes of citizens.
In our Gospel today, is Jesus' inaugural address. As Bishop Gene Robinson wrote so eloquently in his book In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God, the words Jesus reads from Isaiah is also the inaugural address of every Baptized Christian. Each one of us who are Baptized into Christ Jesus, were captives to the oppression of our immaturity. All of us have had those things we have done which have blinded us to the reality of how much we need to grow beyond our limited views of others around us. Yet, God did not hold those against us. In Jesus Christ, God came to redeem us out of God's love, so that as God's very own, we can claim our place as adopted daughters and sons of God. Once again, our response here is very important. We are being asked by God, do you also accept this call? How serious are you about what being a follower of Jesus Christ will mean?
I have written a lot about LGBT people, women, racism and many others. It remains a focus for me in this blog. The recent event that took place in Newtown, Connecticut with the shooting and killing of 28 people, 20 of them children, has brought very close to my heart a matter no one is really talking enough about.
We as a society and the Church are not doing enough to help people who suffer from some kind of mental illness to obtain the services and help they need to lead productive lives. The number of people who are affected by some kind of mental illness is not negligible. Depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, multiple personalities, post-traumatic stress disorder and those who live with any number of these, often suffer in silence. I just read this week an article in Think Progress of how so many people who live with mental illness do not and/or cannot seek the professional help they need because they cannot afford the services. As people talk about doing something about dangerous weapon regulation, it is alarming to me how little the issue of helping the countless people who live with mental illness is being addressed. The silence on this issue by our civil government is an injustice for sure. However, the deafening silence of Christians and the Church on this important issue, is to be terribly disobedient to the Gospel. As Christians who are called to serve those who need liberation from the prison of oppression, it is a real scandal that we are not doing more to help people who struggle with mental illness. The people who do live with mental illness need a better response than: "we will pray for you." They need compassionate ministers who will listen to them, walk with them through their conditions and guide them spiritually, without fear of exploitation and/or denigration. Today's Gospel and the events of our time are calling for Christians to become concerned and active on behalf of people who live with mental illnesses.
There is a real spiritual blindness in the Church towards individuals who experience mental illness. We would prefer to not notice them, or in fear, we turn away from them and further marginalize them by our negligence. Now it is true, that there is only so much one person or organization can do, but, as people who are called by a radical Gospel message such as today's reading, leaving those living with mental illness to completely fend for themselves, when they are so imprisoned by conditions they have through no fault of their own, is turning the blind eye to a serious issue in our time.
As we are in the middle of a heated debate about addressing the out of control violence brought about by dangerous weapons that remain unregulated, we must commit ourselves to speaking up about the need for better health care for people who live with mental illness. We must also ask the Holy Spirit to guide us toward a solution that has the Gospel as our guide towards repentance and conversion.
When I think of people who live with mental illness, I think of Jesus when they placed the crown of thorns on his head. The excruciating pain that his head must have felt, and the emotional humiliation of people laughing at him while he suffers. When we ignore the needs of people who are affected by mental illness, it is as if we are standing around laughing at Jesus while he sits there with a crown of thorns on his head. Many individuals who live with mental illness can tell you that the pain they live with, sometimes both physically and emotionally is excruciating. Combined with the isolation and negligence, becomes too much for many to bear. Again, this is something Christians cannot just sit by and ignore.
As we gather to hear the word of God proclaimed in our midst, let us ask ourselves what role we can play in having our sight restored to people who live with mental illness in the Church and society. How can we influence the Church to sit up and take notice, and become active in helping people to find the freedom and compassion of Jesus Christ in their lives?
The same Holy Spirit that was in Jesus, is also with us as we discern God's call in our lives. In this, and any other issue of our time.
Amen.
Prayers
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 (NRSV)
All the people of Israel gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had given to Israel. Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
Psalm 19 (BCP., p. 606)
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a (NRSV)
Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts.
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the Prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news
to the poor,
to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to liberate the oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. He began to explain to them, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it."
Blog Reflection
One of my favorite parts of a high Eucharistic Liturgy in an Episcopal church is when during the Gradual Hymn the book of the Gospels moves from the Altar to the middle of the naive to be read among the worshiping community. It is the written word, growing some legs, moving with a body to be given a voice among common people. There, Jesus proclaims his work of salvation and redemption among the people of God. It is such a beautiful moment.
The reading from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospel have a lot to say about the word being proclaimed among and for the people of God. The main point here, is not just that the word is proclaimed in a place so that our ears can hear. The word is meant to transform our individual lives and overflow into the hurting world around us.
The Priest Ezra in the reading from Nehemiah is reading the Torah at the square by the Water Gate. He is not reading it from a place of honor, he is reading it among the people who have gathered to hear it. This is a very special moment in the life of the community. Their past is behind them, but the work of God, lies before them. Everyone who has come to hear, have the opportunity to respond with a wholeness of heart and life. The mission of God for God's people is being presented, now they must respond. Their response was in humility and a collective ascent to what God has redeemed them to do.
As we wrestle with what our response should be to the violence and oppression that is all around us, what will it take for us to give our personal and collective response? Is God calling us to give of ourselves in a way that will transform a redeemed culture?
St. Paul speaks of the Body of Christ as an organic element. One by which there are "many parts, but one body." Not every part does the same work as another. Yet, each part doing it's own particular task contributes to the good of the whole.
This sounds a lot like the classic "unity among diversity" kind of thing. Each person brings something unique and special so that the Body which is the Church continues to build a sense of unity within. Therefore, to insist that all people who desire to be part of the Church must exist according to a set of criteria organized by a group of people with their own prejudices ceases to be the community of the Spirit that Christians are called to be. By insisting that individuals who are lesbian and/or gay can be Bishops, so long as they are celibate such as what the laity in the Church of England would like, is to fragment the Body of Christ. It suggests that only when lesbian and gay people are having sex, is when we are homosexuals. With all due respect, so now only when a straight man and woman have sex and actually conceive a baby, is when they are actually heterosexual? I think any one who really thinks about this, will see it as some thing as unwise, let alone impractical.
The reality is, that Christ Himself never stipulated that the Church is only a house of prayer for Caucasian, straight, rich, healthy, employed and English speaking people. Nor is it a place where LGBT people are require to surrender the essence of who they are and who they love in order to be received before they can participate in the life and ministry within the Church. The gender of who a person loves, an individuals skin color, or any other what ever, does not classify anyone as a second class citizen in the eyes and mind of God. Therefore, the Church is failing to be faithful to Christ if we create second classes of citizens.
In our Gospel today, is Jesus' inaugural address. As Bishop Gene Robinson wrote so eloquently in his book In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God, the words Jesus reads from Isaiah is also the inaugural address of every Baptized Christian. Each one of us who are Baptized into Christ Jesus, were captives to the oppression of our immaturity. All of us have had those things we have done which have blinded us to the reality of how much we need to grow beyond our limited views of others around us. Yet, God did not hold those against us. In Jesus Christ, God came to redeem us out of God's love, so that as God's very own, we can claim our place as adopted daughters and sons of God. Once again, our response here is very important. We are being asked by God, do you also accept this call? How serious are you about what being a follower of Jesus Christ will mean?
I have written a lot about LGBT people, women, racism and many others. It remains a focus for me in this blog. The recent event that took place in Newtown, Connecticut with the shooting and killing of 28 people, 20 of them children, has brought very close to my heart a matter no one is really talking enough about.
We as a society and the Church are not doing enough to help people who suffer from some kind of mental illness to obtain the services and help they need to lead productive lives. The number of people who are affected by some kind of mental illness is not negligible. Depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, multiple personalities, post-traumatic stress disorder and those who live with any number of these, often suffer in silence. I just read this week an article in Think Progress of how so many people who live with mental illness do not and/or cannot seek the professional help they need because they cannot afford the services. As people talk about doing something about dangerous weapon regulation, it is alarming to me how little the issue of helping the countless people who live with mental illness is being addressed. The silence on this issue by our civil government is an injustice for sure. However, the deafening silence of Christians and the Church on this important issue, is to be terribly disobedient to the Gospel. As Christians who are called to serve those who need liberation from the prison of oppression, it is a real scandal that we are not doing more to help people who struggle with mental illness. The people who do live with mental illness need a better response than: "we will pray for you." They need compassionate ministers who will listen to them, walk with them through their conditions and guide them spiritually, without fear of exploitation and/or denigration. Today's Gospel and the events of our time are calling for Christians to become concerned and active on behalf of people who live with mental illnesses.
There is a real spiritual blindness in the Church towards individuals who experience mental illness. We would prefer to not notice them, or in fear, we turn away from them and further marginalize them by our negligence. Now it is true, that there is only so much one person or organization can do, but, as people who are called by a radical Gospel message such as today's reading, leaving those living with mental illness to completely fend for themselves, when they are so imprisoned by conditions they have through no fault of their own, is turning the blind eye to a serious issue in our time.
As we are in the middle of a heated debate about addressing the out of control violence brought about by dangerous weapons that remain unregulated, we must commit ourselves to speaking up about the need for better health care for people who live with mental illness. We must also ask the Holy Spirit to guide us toward a solution that has the Gospel as our guide towards repentance and conversion.
When I think of people who live with mental illness, I think of Jesus when they placed the crown of thorns on his head. The excruciating pain that his head must have felt, and the emotional humiliation of people laughing at him while he suffers. When we ignore the needs of people who are affected by mental illness, it is as if we are standing around laughing at Jesus while he sits there with a crown of thorns on his head. Many individuals who live with mental illness can tell you that the pain they live with, sometimes both physically and emotionally is excruciating. Combined with the isolation and negligence, becomes too much for many to bear. Again, this is something Christians cannot just sit by and ignore.
As we gather to hear the word of God proclaimed in our midst, let us ask ourselves what role we can play in having our sight restored to people who live with mental illness in the Church and society. How can we influence the Church to sit up and take notice, and become active in helping people to find the freedom and compassion of Jesus Christ in their lives?
The same Holy Spirit that was in Jesus, is also with us as we discern God's call in our lives. In this, and any other issue of our time.
Amen.
Prayers
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our
Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News
of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive
the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, p. 215).
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).
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).
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