Today's Scripture Readings
Malachi 4:1-2a (NRSV)
Psalm 98 (BCP., p. 727-728)
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (NRSV)
Luke 21:5-19 (NRSV)
Blog Reflection
If you go to church this weekend, or came to read this blog looking for a warm fuzzy feeling, you are undoubtedly disappointed at this point. What a set of depressing readings!
I bet the people in the Philippines feel like all the stones of their civilization no longer stand together. The terrible typhoon with it's winds, water and destruction have completely toppled any sense of hope for their future. The photographs of the dead being buried are scary.
In just a few weeks we will already be at the first anniversary of the horrific shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The parents and whole community that have lived through this past year, have seen the old world slip away and a whole new one begin. They can no longer take the peace they once enjoyed in their town for granted. Or just assume their children going to school will safely return home.
A woman in Indiana who's life long partner lies in the hospital with a serious illness, has been denied her place next to her, because it is a Catholic hospital that will not recognize their relationship. Their world is turned completely upside down. And Christians are playing a role in it. Where is the good news in that?
To appreciate what Jesus is telling everyone in today's Gospel, we might want to read a few verses before it. Jesus was questioned about the resurrection, paying taxes to the Emperor, and saw a widow offer her last savings in the temple treasury. Jesus is also aware of the relationship between the Roman Empire and the Jewish people. The times were not exactly full of stability and promises for a brighter future.
What we must consider is that Luke's Gospel was written well after these events including the destruction of Jerusalem and Herod's Temple in 70 A.D. The contributors to Luke would have known about what happened years earlier and were telling the story by way of the oral tradition. Having said that, these stories are being told in the after thought. In many ways Marcus Borg is correct, we really do not know the historical Jesus before the Resurrection. Yet, these readings from Sacred Scripture are not without their message for us in 2013.
Almighty God does not promise us a Christian life without endings and new beginnings. God also does not commit to a life for Christians without the pains of life and death, before we experience the Resurrection. In Christ, God tells us the most important message we need to hear. There is no suffering that we are experiencing now and will experience in which God is absent from us in the Person of Jesus Christ, God's perfect revelation of Self. Though we will experience great evils in our lives, many of them catastrophic beyond description, God walks with us through it, weeping with us, hoping for us and meeting us at the point of our need. Christianity is a relationship with God, by which the old order of things slip away and a new one that brings about the Reign of Christ in our world begins. Each day as we begin again, is a new opportunity to face our many life's challenges in the company of Jesus receiving God's compassion and loving guidance.
I continue to believe that many of the things that happen like the Typhoon in the Philippines, the horrific gun violence, the religious based discrimination towards women, LGBTQ and others are not God's will. I do believe, however, that God does work God's will in our lives through them, Through them God challenges us to put our faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit to help us to mature in God's grace and commit to the common good of others around us. When the worst happens to us, God gives us the choice to stay in a place of misery and false guilt, or follow Christ and give the Spirit the opportunity to sanctify us through healing and reconciliation. We are also given the opportunity to use our pain and anguish to benefit others who experience injustice, oppression and hopelessness.
Think of the many people who rose up after HIV/AIDS became a living reality and took the lives of so many people. The sadness and grief of loss got many loving people to work to establish agencies to work on advocacy, prevention and research that led to medicines so that those who live with HIV/AIDS might live healthier and longer lives.
How many women have worked for a greater awareness of the horrible affects of breast cancer? More than we can name or number. That many more continue to work for research and development of treatments for women affected by the disease.
Look at the work of Harvey Milk and how he changed the direction of people becoming involved in the equal rights for LGBTQ people. We have seen other heroic activists religious and civil who have changed the laws in now sixteen states to grant the legal freedom to marry. There are now that many more people who read a story like the couple in Indiana with grave concern for both partners. An old age of settling for such discrimination on the grounds of "religious belief" has been giving way to a new world, where we condemn the outrageous violence in Russia and else where with deep concern.
Next week is already the Feast of Christ the King. The Liturgical Year is coming to a close. This is not the time to just sit down to our big feasts and pretend our work is finished. Our work for equality, justice and peace is only taking on additional tasks and priorities. Our work that includes prayer, silence, and work on behalf of others must be given some new vitality and purpose over these next weeks. The advancement of the true Reign of Christ of inclusion, justice and equality must continue through the devotion and vocation of Christians committed no matter what end they may face.
How is God calling us to be part of an old world order ending and a new one beginning?
Amen.
Prayers
Malachi 4:1-2a (NRSV)
See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.
Psalm 98 (BCP., p. 727-728)
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (NRSV)
Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.
Luke 21:5-19 (NRSV)
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!' and, `The time is near!' Do not go after them.
"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."
Blog Reflection
If you go to church this weekend, or came to read this blog looking for a warm fuzzy feeling, you are undoubtedly disappointed at this point. What a set of depressing readings!
I bet the people in the Philippines feel like all the stones of their civilization no longer stand together. The terrible typhoon with it's winds, water and destruction have completely toppled any sense of hope for their future. The photographs of the dead being buried are scary.
In just a few weeks we will already be at the first anniversary of the horrific shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The parents and whole community that have lived through this past year, have seen the old world slip away and a whole new one begin. They can no longer take the peace they once enjoyed in their town for granted. Or just assume their children going to school will safely return home.
A woman in Indiana who's life long partner lies in the hospital with a serious illness, has been denied her place next to her, because it is a Catholic hospital that will not recognize their relationship. Their world is turned completely upside down. And Christians are playing a role in it. Where is the good news in that?
To appreciate what Jesus is telling everyone in today's Gospel, we might want to read a few verses before it. Jesus was questioned about the resurrection, paying taxes to the Emperor, and saw a widow offer her last savings in the temple treasury. Jesus is also aware of the relationship between the Roman Empire and the Jewish people. The times were not exactly full of stability and promises for a brighter future.
What we must consider is that Luke's Gospel was written well after these events including the destruction of Jerusalem and Herod's Temple in 70 A.D. The contributors to Luke would have known about what happened years earlier and were telling the story by way of the oral tradition. Having said that, these stories are being told in the after thought. In many ways Marcus Borg is correct, we really do not know the historical Jesus before the Resurrection. Yet, these readings from Sacred Scripture are not without their message for us in 2013.
Almighty God does not promise us a Christian life without endings and new beginnings. God also does not commit to a life for Christians without the pains of life and death, before we experience the Resurrection. In Christ, God tells us the most important message we need to hear. There is no suffering that we are experiencing now and will experience in which God is absent from us in the Person of Jesus Christ, God's perfect revelation of Self. Though we will experience great evils in our lives, many of them catastrophic beyond description, God walks with us through it, weeping with us, hoping for us and meeting us at the point of our need. Christianity is a relationship with God, by which the old order of things slip away and a new one that brings about the Reign of Christ in our world begins. Each day as we begin again, is a new opportunity to face our many life's challenges in the company of Jesus receiving God's compassion and loving guidance.
I continue to believe that many of the things that happen like the Typhoon in the Philippines, the horrific gun violence, the religious based discrimination towards women, LGBTQ and others are not God's will. I do believe, however, that God does work God's will in our lives through them, Through them God challenges us to put our faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit to help us to mature in God's grace and commit to the common good of others around us. When the worst happens to us, God gives us the choice to stay in a place of misery and false guilt, or follow Christ and give the Spirit the opportunity to sanctify us through healing and reconciliation. We are also given the opportunity to use our pain and anguish to benefit others who experience injustice, oppression and hopelessness.
Think of the many people who rose up after HIV/AIDS became a living reality and took the lives of so many people. The sadness and grief of loss got many loving people to work to establish agencies to work on advocacy, prevention and research that led to medicines so that those who live with HIV/AIDS might live healthier and longer lives.
How many women have worked for a greater awareness of the horrible affects of breast cancer? More than we can name or number. That many more continue to work for research and development of treatments for women affected by the disease.
Look at the work of Harvey Milk and how he changed the direction of people becoming involved in the equal rights for LGBTQ people. We have seen other heroic activists religious and civil who have changed the laws in now sixteen states to grant the legal freedom to marry. There are now that many more people who read a story like the couple in Indiana with grave concern for both partners. An old age of settling for such discrimination on the grounds of "religious belief" has been giving way to a new world, where we condemn the outrageous violence in Russia and else where with deep concern.
Next week is already the Feast of Christ the King. The Liturgical Year is coming to a close. This is not the time to just sit down to our big feasts and pretend our work is finished. Our work for equality, justice and peace is only taking on additional tasks and priorities. Our work that includes prayer, silence, and work on behalf of others must be given some new vitality and purpose over these next weeks. The advancement of the true Reign of Christ of inclusion, justice and equality must continue through the devotion and vocation of Christians committed no matter what end they may face.
How is God calling us to be part of an old world order ending and a new one beginning?
Amen.
Prayers
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for
our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn,
and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever
hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have
given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 28, Book of Common Prayer, p.236).
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).
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).
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