First After Pentecost: Trinity Sunday. The Mystery of God Revealed Through Us

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 6:1-6 (NRSV)

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory."

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!"

Psalm 29 (BCP., p.620)


Romans 8:12-17 (NRSV)

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

John 3:1-17 (NRSV)

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

Blog Reflection

So many things have been written and said about the Trinity.  It has many meanings for various people.  It is something believed in or rejected as an impossibility.  Christians have debated this central mystery and enshrined its possibilities in the Nicene and Apostles Creed.

God still patiently waits for the mystery of the Trinity to become a living reality that goes beyond debate or creed.  God calls Christians to discern and reveal the Trinity in our relationships within communities of people who are real and desiring what cannot be seen.  The Trinity is revealed as diverse people receive one another as Christ, as we listen to what the Holy Spirit tells us through them.

As same-gender couples continue to work and hope for more than just the right to marry the person they love; but to be able to live into who they are beyond labels and prejudice.  There the fullness of God is revealed with beauty and holiness, just as it is in the marriage of straight women and men.  When we wake up and realize we all have a responsibility to be good stewards of creation, by preserving and sharing the worlds resources; the Trinity is integrated and living among us.  We must respond to God's call to eradicate the attitudes that feed racism, gun violence, and income inequality; because where ever love is, God's presence is there.

As we meditate today on what the Trinity means for each of us, may we also recommit ourselves to that love of Jesus for all the world that heals divisions and oppression.  May we ask God to help us to respond to the Presence of the Holy Trinity that makes us the Icon into the greatness of God in the world.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us
your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to
acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the
power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep
us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to
see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with
the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Trinity Sunday.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.226)

Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday. The Languages of The Spirit Guiding Us

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 2:1-21 (NRSV)

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

`In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

and they shall prophesy.

And I will show portents in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

The sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' 

Psalm 104:25-35, 37 (BCP., p.736)


Romans 8:22-27 (NRSV)

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

John 15: 26-27, 16:4b-15 (NRSV)

Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But, now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

Blog Reflection

This past January a professor from Luther Seminary in St. Paul by the name of Eric D. Barreto gave a very informative lecture.  It was part of a series on racism and our response to it as Christians.  Professor Barreto spoke about those languages that the first Apostles were speaking on Pentecost.  As we read the account in Acts, The Holy Spirit impacted the Church so that the message of the Gospel was heard in the languages of everyone within hearing distance.  Professor Barreto then asked his audience this question.  Is the Church of today speaking the various languages of those who are listening to what Christians have to say?

As Christians who are Caucasian, well educated, wealthy, living without much persecution, straight and male dominated; we have become so comfortable with thinking we know it all.  Many of the English settlers who came to the shores of the United States felt that they had the answers to improve the lives of the Native Americans who were already settled.  Long before that, there was the assumption that those who lived in Africa just couldn't make anything of their lives because of the color of their skin, their living conditions and their religious practices.  What contribution did white Christian men make to improve such societies?   Slavery, the demolition of those cultures and documents such as the Doctrine of Discovery.   Others included offering "inspiring" Christian worship that left many illiterate and without the means of communication and/or interpreting in a language they understood.  Much of this came about, because Christians assumed they had the whole truth about Christ and the Church based on what they understood to be truth.

On this Pentecost Sunday, Jesus invites us to the experience of those first Apostles to open ourselves to being led into a fuller understanding of truth.  A truth that is never complete and always evolving and open to being led into all truth by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus knew that those first Disciples were limited by their culture and surrounding environment that they could not possibly understand the fullness of truth.  He knows how limited we are now as we learn to confront the racism, sexism, heterosexism and the neglect of the poor and immigrants we are facing today.  Jesus does not leave us in our present state of mind to just "take it as it is" and leave it.  Jesus sends the Holy Spirit here and now to lead us into a deeper truth of God and one another, so that the Church may grow and evolve.  The Church needs to let go of the dark and horrible images of God that continue to tell our children to be afraid for their lives.  If they were to wake up one day and realize that they are questioning their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression, or political position on climate change or health care; Lord only knows what their parents or grandparents might say. 

The Holy Spirit prays for the Church now more than ever.  We face a time in which the Church continues to be divided by the languages of prejudice, elitism, and legislating things like "religious freedom" to allow discrimination on the sole basis of religion.  Not just any religion, but only the conservative branch of Christianity that breeds fear, hate and misunderstanding in the Name of Christ.  The kind that labels marriage equality as a threat to the family; even as thousands of LGBT families and couples nurture homes for adopted children that are happy and healthy.  The type of Christianity that calls immigration reform "amnesty" as if everyone who is Latino or Eurpean, etc. only seeks a better life for crime.  The same Christianity that blames women for being raped yet opposes abortion, health care, and job training for all women.

The Holy Spirit prays that the Church will be guided into the truth that Jesus is about compassion, love, inclusion, justice and hope for all people.  The Holy Spirit longs for a Church that is about all of us being Baptized into a covenant relationship with God and one another that seeks peace and justice for all persons, and works to respect the dignity of every human person.  If Christians will only listen for the Holy Spirit's call within their hearts individually and collectively, the Church will truly be a house of prayer for all people.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life
to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy
Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the
preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the
earth; 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 Pentecost.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 227).

O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior,
the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the
great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away
all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us
from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body
and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith,
one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all
of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth
and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and
one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.  (Prayer for the Unity of the Church.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 818).  

Seventh Sunday of Easter: Jesus Prays for Us

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 (NRSV)

In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, "Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus-- for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us-- one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection." So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

Psalm 1 (BCP., p.585)


1 John 5:9-13 (NRSV)

If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

John 17:6-19 (NRSV)

Looking up to heaven, Jesus prayed, "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth."

Blog Reflection

Those who will be attending the 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church might be feeling what those first Apostles did.  We have four very viable candidates to be elected as the next Presiding Bishop.  Whoever is elected to the task is the Primate for Episcopalians throughout this branch of the World Wide Anglican Communion.  There is a lot more on the plate for The Episcopal Church than just the election of the next Presiding Bishop.  Whoever is elected will be TEC's leader of the House of Bishops who helps guide us into the joys and struggles of what the General Convention decides with regards to any number of issues.  Let us all be in prayer for the Bishops and Delegates to the General Convention as they prepare for this important Convention.

As Christians, the other readings present us with some troubling words.  As Christians we profess our belief in Jesus as God's Son and the one who brings salvation to the world.  However, these many words present us with proclaiming the love of God through Jesus in a climate that still marginalizes other religions with their diverse beliefs and practices.  What we must take into account is that the writings of 1 John and this section of John's Gospel are written by Johannine communities.  The Gospel of John in particular represents a very highly intellectual view of Jesus as opposed to the narratives of the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.   It is strongly believed that there were three contributors to John's Gospel; one of whom could have been St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of St. John the Evangelist.  Having written that, it is important to be careful about reading too much into what Jesus says during what we call The Last Supper Discourse with a literal, face value interpretation.  We must be very careful of what we call the "Jesus only" references, especially John 14:1-5.

We can interpret 1 John and the reading from John's Gospel today from a similar view point of last weeks readings.  Jesus is praying that Christians will go beyond what we see the world is about; and respond with a reverence and respect for the dignity of every human person.  Throughout the Gospels, Jesus gives to the Disciples and to all of us the means of how we can follow Jesus in word and example.  Jesus showed us how to welcome the stranger.  He was the example of how God values every human person so that no one is left on the fringes of society and/or the Church as if they do not matter.  Jesus loved those whom others considered unlovable and received them with radical hospitality with the intention of reconciliation.  Jesus not only told the Pharisees how to purge themselves of hypocrisy and relying on visible religious piety for the sake of being seen and celebrated; He taught all of us in our own hardness of heart.  In the reading from John, Jesus is praying with earnest desire that those He has shared the Goodness of God with, will be the outstanding example of what He taught them.   I truly believe that Jesus continues to pray that prayer for all of us.

I need this prayer as a Benedictine Novice as much as anyone else who follows Jesus.  I continue to be inspired by The Rule of St. Benedict, in particular Chapter 53 about receiving guests.  However, I have to confront within myself every day those attitudes and behaviors by which I am not open to welcoming Christ in others.  I can get so wound up in what is on the outside that I forget what real Benedictine hospitality is truly about.

Ultimately, hospitality is not about the table you set, or the driveway you plow. Hospitality is about the holiest of holies. It is about the heart you make ready. Yours. (Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way of Love. Lonnie Collins Pratt and Fr. Daniel Homan, OSB p.169).

Whether our particular practice of hospitality is a ministry of receiving the countless individuals affected by racism, sexism, heterosexism, gender bias, the poor, the sick, the lonely, the Muslim, Jewish person or Atheist.  Jesus is praying for us to be protected from the blindness that keeps us from opening our hearts to His presence with reverence and respect for every human person.  Jesus did not leave us without God's help.  Jesus sent us the gift of the Holy Spirit which we will celebrate next Sunday on Pentecost.   When we allow the Holy Spirit to help us surrender ourselves to God's will, all of us can be an answer to the prayers of Jesus in our world.  God knows how much our world needs us to be the answer to those prayers.

Amen.


Prayers

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son
Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to
strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior
Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.  (Collect for the Seventh Sunday of Easter.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.226).

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. The Book of Common Prayer, p.823).

Sixth Sunday of Easter: Say Those Words Again Jesus! Christians! Listen Up!

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 10:44-48 (NRSV)

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.

Psalm 98 (BCP., p.727)

1 John 5:1-6 (NRSV)

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

John 15:9-17 (NRSV)

Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."

Blog Reflection

In all of the Gospel readings we could have, is there one that is more profound and more direct than this one?  Jesus is calling those who follow Him to do more than lip service.  Jesus is telling us in this Gospel passage to do more than gather councils and proclaim doctrines, creeds and legislate morality.  Jesus is telling us that all that He has spoken and done will only do wonders for the world if we love one another as He has loved us.

The love that Jesus calls us to this Sunday, is a love that is ready to give up all of our self interest for the sake of the other.  Jesus is calling us to purity of heart.  To seek to love God through loving one another to give evidence of who Jesus is and what Jesus did.  All the preaching, story telling, labors for social justice and equality for the sake of themselves will lead us to mission accomplished; but for the sake of what?  Even that (whatever it is) is limited so long as we do not heed these words of Jesus.  "Love one another as I have loved you."

Our problem is that we think that because we walk around and call ourselves Christians, it means we are exceptional human beings. We have no accountability to anyone for what we do, say, think and how we respond to others as if we are the only ones who matter.  In these words spoken by Jesus who gave up everything out of love for us all, and taught us how to love our neighbor as ourselves in and through the Paschal Mystery; we have our assignment.  As Christians, we need to not only think, but pray in earnest that all of us will regard each other and those who are not Christians with dignity and respect.  No amount of racism, sexism, heterosexism, transphobia, Islamophobia, etc. has any place to be protected and encouraged.  The love that Jesus commands of us, has no exceptions.  It is about helping Jesus to maintain His good Name as the One who came to serve and not be served. 

Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB wrote the following,

Among the ancients there is a story told that confirms this insight to this day:
"What action shall I perform to attain God?"  the disciple asked the elder.
"If you wish to attain God, " the elder said, "there are two things you must know.  The first is that all efforts to attain God are of no avail."
"And the second?" the disciple insisted.
"The second is that you must act as if you did not know the first," the elder said.
(The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century, p.21-22).

The spiritual life of the Christian is not attained by spiritual athletics.  It is lived into as we embrace one another, care about each other and respond to the Presence of Christ in each other.  In our individualistic society that rewards those who continue to threaten our environment with dangerous chemicals with wealth and security, or leaves the poor without the basic necessities of life while those who have double their amount; the message of love one another is only a myth.  Jesus commands us in this Gospel, to make the myth into a living reality.  It is about our relationship to Jesus and each other.  This is a commandment that is worth every effort and spiritual grace to keep on trying to do.  The reputation of the Name of Jesus Christ and the Church needs this now, more than ever before.

Help us, Lord Jesus to love one another as you have loved us.

Amen.


Prayers

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good
things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such
love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above
all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we
can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The Book of Common Prayer, p. 225).

Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed
for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one:
Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and
obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit,
that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your
Son 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 Unity of the Church.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 255).

Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us
grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace
with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom,
help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our
communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy
Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Collect for Social Justice.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 260).

Fifth Sunday of Easter: Jesus. Help Us Bear Good Fruit

Acts 8:24-30 (NRSV)

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,

and like a lamb silent before its shearer,

so he does not open his mouth.

In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth."

The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Psalm 22:24-30 (BCP, p.612)


1 John 4:7-21 (NRSV)

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

John 15:1-8 (NRSV)

Jesus said to his disciples, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

Blog Reflection

Our Gospel reading for today is a real gem.  It speaks of Jesus and the community of those who are grafted onto Him to serve the presence of Christ in others.

Our society is so individualistic.  "It is all about me."  As Christians, we too have been part of being religious for the sake of itself in statements such as "The authority of the Word of God" to arm twist non-Christians to our way of thinking out of fear.  We too have the "our way or the highway" expressions and ideas.  So long as Christians preach an exclusive Gospel, we might as well be the branches of a philosophy or political position and not to Jesus Christ.

Jesus invites us today to remember that without Him, we can do nothing.  

We as Christians cannot speak up about the institutional racism in schools, police departments, churches and public places if we do not remain in the love of God in the Risen Christ.   It is so easy to say that we are not racist just because we have non-Caucasian friends and still not understand what Black America has been feeling this past week.   Julia Blount wrote a great article about how they are feeling as we struggle to understand the riots in Baltimore.  You can read that article here.   While the news media focuses on the violent side of the riots, Christians are being called to cling to our Vine who is Christ, and to listen to the stories of what black Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans experience every day.  The experiences they are having, are often done while so many of us white Christians pat ourselves on the back, believing the famous "things are so improved, they don't need any more" lies.  

As Christians, we are baptized to proclaim what 1 John 4:7-11 says that God is love to every human person.  The Holy Spirit wants so much to empower us to live those words by letting go of our self-centered prejudices and stereotypes that keep us from reaching out to the marginalized of the Church and society.  If Christians cannot live into our vocation that God is love by loving our neighbor as ourselves, why should people believe in the Jesus that we celebrate?  We are the Body of Christ.  If we do not do our part, the Body becomes an abstract image.

The arguments about the freedom to marry heard by the Supreme Court this past Tuesday, tell us that there is much more work to be done.  States all over the country continue to be lobbied to pass license to discriminate bills on the basis of "religious freedom."   It is wonderful that LGBTQ people can marry in our Civil governments and many of our church communities.  However, we still have the tragedy of transgender individuals being denigrated by so called "bathroom bills' when it is about recognizing (or failing to acknowledge) their dignity as individuals.  When we can create and pass legislation to "allow" discrimination against one group of people, it means that no person is truly safe from religious based prejudice.  The Vine gets a bad reputation while the branches become fruitless. 

Let each of us pray for each other that Jesus will help us to bear good fruit, because we become dependent on the Vine, and cooperate with the other branches.  May we recognize the diversity of the branches around us, and respect their dignity so that everyone has the chance to bear fruit that will nourish the hungry souls of this world.  When and where there is violence and oppression in the Name of the Risen Christ, our task as His branches is to represent the truth of the Vine.  Each of us are welcomed and empowered with opportunities to bring healing and reconciliation, so that the fruit of the Vine is the love of God that has no exceptions or limitations.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant
us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way,
the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his
steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ
your Son 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 Fifth Sunday of Easter.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.225).

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.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.815).