Sixth Sunday of Easter: The Love and Peace of The Risen Christ

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 16: 9-15 (NRSV)

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

Psalm 67 (BCP, p.675)


Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 (NRSV)

In the spirit the angel carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day-- and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

John 14:23-29 (NRSV)

Jesus said to Judas (not Iscariot), "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, `I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe."

Blog Reflection

I think all of us can pray Psalm 67 with some sincere pleading.  We need God to bless us with saving health for all nations.  The election campaigns, the anti-transgender bathroom bills, the racism, the experiences of those who rely on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid hearing politicians and business executives wanting to privatize them; tell us a lot about what is a priority these days.

Jesus is telling us to not let our hearts be troubled.  He also tells us to love Him and keep His word so that God can make a home in us.  Jesus promises the Holy Spirit who will remind us of what Jesus told us, and He offers us peace to be left with us.  So many tidbits, but a lot to meditate on.

Philip Heinze in Living the Lectionary wrote,

the peace that precedes the “do not let…” is not put on a happy face and the whole world smiles with you because the sun will come up tomorrow bet your bottom dollar solution to real life strife. In the same way, “believe in me” does not mean just get over it. Nor does it minimize trouble because it could be worse even if it clearly could be. That would be worldly peace. The peace of the world is temporary and illusionary as it denies sorrow, medicates pain with costly pleasure, or seeks solace by seeing to it that other hearts are equally troubled. The peace that Jesus gives embraces suffering and dies to destroy the power of death. Called to cling to the cross by which Jesus overcomes the world, and all the trouble in it, the people of Jesus’ peace believe that trouble is temporary while peace is eternal. 

It is difficult not to notice that at the very top of the Medal of Saint Benedict is the word Pax.  In case I have readers who have never read or heard that word, it is Latin for peace.  At the entrances of many Benedictine Monasteries in Europe are the words "Pax intrantibus", meaning "Peace be with all who enter here."  It is the same peace that Jesus offers.  A peace that embraces us in any and all situations of our lives, and draws us closer to God and each other.  It is that "peace which is beyond all understanding" that we can only lose if we give it over to something or someone willingly that brings us temporary pleasure in our false-sense of self; but deprives us of the Holy Spirit who longs to united us with our true selves.

Keeping the word of Jesus is not limited to Jesus alone.  It is the love of God that is not limited to human labels, our brokenness we inflict on each other and ourselves.  It is a love and a peace that invite us to listen to what Jesus is saying to us as we receive Him in the guest, and allow the Holy Spirit to bring us healing and reconciliation with those who are different from ourselves.    

I am having a very difficult year with many losses.  More than I can write about in greater detail.  I am experiencing emotions that are all over the place.  My Asperger's and many of my other personal challenges can make things pretty intense.  In the middle of all this, God has placed in my life two amazing individuals who understand me, and are helping me to just feel everything with no judgments or expectations.  They are loving me as I am, and making room for me be very kind and gentle with myself and provide a safe place for me in my grief.  They are determined to help me love God as others love me with that same love, and to search for peace at a time when it can be very difficult to feel let alone find.

I believe that what I have just described above is a great example of the love and peace the Risen Christ gives us through our Advocate, the Holy Spirit.  It is the love and peace we share with each other when life is cruel and harsh on ourselves and others beyond us.  Our Baptismal Vows call us to strive for this peace with justice and to uphold the dignity of every human person; regardless of who they are or what condition their lives are in.  In so doing God makes a home with us, and our home is made with God in this life and in the life to come.

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.  (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 225).

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.  (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 123).

  

 

Fifth Sunday of Easter: The Kainos Commandment

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 11:1-18 (NRSV)

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, `Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' But I replied, `By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' But a second time the voice answered from heaven, `What God has made clean, you must not call profane.' This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, `Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.' And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, `John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."

Psalm 148 (BCP, p.805).


Revelation  21:1-6 (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."

John 13:31-35 (NRSV)

At the last supper, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Blog Reflection

I have recently begun to read Walking In Valleys of Darkness: A Benedictine Journey Through Troubled Times, by Fr. Albert Holtz, OSB.  In the book, Holtz writes about two Greek words for the English word new.  One word is neos.  This word refers to "recent, young."  The other Greek word for new is kainos which means "unheard of, unknown."

The "new" commandment referred to in Saint John's Gospel today is the word kainos, not the word neos.  It is suggested that it is a commandment that is unheard of or unknown.  If that is the case, what should be the response of Christians to this kainos commandment?

All of our readings today speak to us of what is new or kainos.  That which is unknown is becoming clearer as the kainos Jerusalem comes down out of heaven in the Book of Revelation.  All things such as the tears we cry, the pain we feel and what we know will be changed into the kainos Kingdom.  While we do not read the word new or kainos in Peter's experience in the Acts of the Apostles, it is quite clear that Peter had a kainos experience on that roof top.  It changed his outlook to the people God was calling him to go to.

If there is one thing that we all find difficult to cope with is change.  We all say we want a kainos Church and society in which injustice and oppression are no longer the status quo.  However, when faced with the minute kainos changes towards making that happen, even the most open minded of persons can become quite reluctant.

I once had a conversation with a very progressive minded individual about the issue of housing for minorities.  The subject was about how the individuals and families of certain races are often left with the worst choices in terms of housing with no one to assist them with knowing their rights.  When the occasion comes to talking with their landlords to take care of maintenance requests and pest control, their requests seem to fall on deaf ears.  As the conversation continued, the person I was talking with said, "Whenever you have Latinos or Hispanics living in apartment buildings, there will always be that kind of problem."

The debate over equal protections for LGBT people, in particular transgender people and what gender uses what bathroom has really been getting more intense.  These issues are the result of people not being open to kainos understandings of gender roles and what they mean.  Yet, the problem of "classes" of people being denied basic human rights protection is not so kainos.  It happened in Nazi Germany and in the United States of America during the Civil Rights movement influenced by individuals such as Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Jesus tells His disciples and us today that He is giving us a new (kainos) commandment.  That we are to love one another as He has loved us.  The love that Jesus speaks of sees past gender, race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, religion and every label we can come up with; to love the human person totally and completely without distinction.  The kainos commandment is the love of God for all humankind by which Jesus gave His life for all of us on the Cross and rose from the dead.  He is calling each of us to break kainos ground and to see beyond what is on the surface, to live into our Baptismal Vows of respecting the dignity of every human being; to love with the same love.  This is why our Book of Common Prayer, invites us to answer the questions in our Baptismal Covenant with "We will, with God's help."  Jesus invites us to face our human limitations honestly and be open to the Holy Spirit leading us into the kainos way in which Jesus showed us of loving others as God loves all of us.

In the Incarnate Word, God showed humankind that all of us can be loved, and all of us can love if we only put our faith and trust in God's love in the Person of Jesus Christ.  God knows what we are capable of when we love openly and totally, looking towards Jesus as that "way, truth and life" by which God brings healing and reconciliation to our broken and wounded world.  When we are open to receiving and sharing that love, we show forth the Risen Jesus who says "Peace be with you" even to those who have abandoned Him at his most desperate of moments.  The Risen Christ welcomes the stranger, gives sight to the blind and gives a voice to those who are unable to speak for themselves.  We are empowered to live into Saint Benedict's admonition to "receive all guests as Christ Himself." (The Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 53).

I think it is past time for Christians to make the kainos commandment of Jesus to love others as He has loved us better known than to leave it as unknown.   What do you think?

How is God calling you to live into the kainos commandment to love others as Jesus has loved you?

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.  (The Book of Common Prayer, p.225).


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. (The Book of Common Prayer, p.818).

19th Sunday After Pentecost: Find Hope in God When All Goes Wrong

The timing of the Revised Common Lectionary could not have been better for this weekend.  After the number of LGBTQ related suicides among youth due to anti-gay bullying our community is experiencing a sense of lamentation.  The Old Testament Readings this weekend offers two options from the Book of Lamentations. One option is a reading from Lamentations 1:1-6 and the other is a response to it from Lamentations 3:19-26.

The readings from Lamentations reflect a period when all of Israel was captive to the Babylonians.  Their land had been ravaged, their temple destroyed and they had been removed from their homeland.  Israel felt a sense of hopelessness.  All they could do was weep and lament about what they had lost.   It appeared as if nothing could ever be right again.

How can the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning and queer (LGBTQ) communities along with our many allies respond to the latest reports about Youths as  young as 13 years old feeling as if they had no other way out, than the irreversible decision of suicide?  What is worse?  Religious communities bear some responsibility for what has been happening.  Cody J. Sanders wrote an excellent blog article in Religion Dispatch about why Anti-Gay Bullying Is A Theological issue.

Anti-gay bullying is a theological issue because it has a theological base. I find it difficult to believe that even those among us with a vibrant imagination can muster the creative energy to picture a reality in which anti-gay violence and bullying exist without the anti-gay religious messages that support them.

These messages come in many forms, degrees of virulence, and volumes of expression. The most insidious forms, however, are not those from groups like Westboro Baptist Church. Most people quickly dismiss this fanaticism as the red-faced ranting of a fringe religious leader and his small band of followers.

More difficult to address are the myriad ways in which everyday churches that do a lot of good in the world also perpetuate theologies that undergird and legitimate instrumental violence. The simplistic, black and white lines that are drawn between conceptions of good and evil make it all-too-easy to apply these dualisms to groups of people. When theologies leave no room for ambiguity, mystery and uncertainty, it becomes very easy to identify an “us” (good, heterosexual) versus a “them” (evil, gay).

Additionally, hierarchical conceptions of value and worth are implicit in many of our theological notions. Needless to say, value and worth are not distributed equally in these hierarchies. God is at the top, (white, heterosexual) men come soon after and all those less valued by the culture (women, children, LGBT people, the poor, racial minorities, etc.) fall somewhere down below. And it all makes perfect sense if you support it with a few appropriately (mis)quoted verses from the Bible.

With dualistic conceptions of good and evil and hierarchical notions of value and worth, it becomes easy to know who it is okay to hate or to bully or, seemingly more benignly, to ignore. And no institutions have done more to create and perpetuate the public disapproval of gay and lesbian people than churches.

If anti-gay bullying has, at any level, an embodied undercurrent of tacit theological legitimation, then we simply cannot circumvent our responsibility to provide a clear, decisive, theological response. Aside from its theological base, anti-gay bullying is a theological issue because it calls for acts of solidarity on behalf of the vulnerable and justice on behalf of the oppressed.

But this imperative to respond reminds us that the most dangerous form of theological message comes in the subtlest of forms: silence.


The Longer We Wait, the more young people die.

The optional response from Lamentations talks of the greatness of God's faithfulness.  The hymn: "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" is based on Lamentations 3:19-26. I ask my readers to please excuse for a moment the lack of inclusive language.  The text is so beautiful.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not: Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou has been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy Faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

The tragedy of the recent youth suicides is not just the loss of life as horrific as it is, but the fact that they may have felt that there is no place for them and God in their struggle.  As other school students heap horrible name calling and spread rumors, creating at atmosphere where an LGBTQ youth cannot breath free air, nor seek help from those whom they most need, they can find no other air to supply them with comfort. God the Holy Spirit is the ultimate comforter, the God of all consolation. (See 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7).  But because of the hostile environment of conservative Christians on sexual and gender diversity, and in many mainline churches a sense of apathy for being welcoming while not talking about LGBTQ related issues, many youth just cannot find a place where they and who they are can be safe.  

We cannot bring back the lives of those who have died, but we can console each other and work through out our own lives to help other LGBTQ youth know that God loves them as they are, and they can live holy lives and find peace and freedom in God.  We can work in our local communities and churches to help create safe, welcoming and healthy environments for LGBTQ youth to come out.  We can show up at School Board meetings, participate in School Board elections to encourage schools to address anti-LGBTQ bullying.

Out in Scripture suggests a good commentary for the New Testament Reading 2 Timothy 1: 1-14.

The reading from 2 Timothy likewise encourages us to wait on God, to be patient through hard times and sorrows. We really have no reason to despair, even when life gets tough, for God has given us power, love and a sound mind. God calls us to holiness, according to God's purposes and grace. Is it possible to name our sexual orientation as part of God's plan and as grace for our lives? We are not to be ashamed, especially those of us who are LGBT and same-gender-loving people, for we only need to know and love the one who gives us power and love and place our trust in the Holy One. This is Good News we may share with the world, as Paul was compelled to do.

In our Gospel of Luke 17: 5-10 Jesus encourages us all to have faith in God so that great things may happen among us.  Even as we are facing the tragedies of the LGBTQ youth suicides there is great faith coming from the many places that are holding candle or glow stick vigils for the youth and the LGBTQ communities to come together to pledge ourselves to work against anti-LGBTQ bigotry and bullying.  The faith that is bringing people together to protest, pray and remember will help move the mountains of hatred and violence from our communities.  Through the faith that exists with in LGBTQ people and those who support us, we will recommit ourselves to rising up in our communities to not let up in our work towards full equality in the Church and society for the good of every woman, man and child.  Recalling in our Baptismal Covenant that we promise to "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being." (BCP, page 294).   We fulfill such promises as part of our faith when we recommit ourselves over and over again to seek the good of all people.  Making no exceptions to who should be protected, valued and respected.  


May our grief and lamentation for the events of these past weeks and the inspiration of the Gospel of Jesus lead us all to have the faith necessary to become missionaries of change in these troubled times.

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 22, Book of Common Prayer, page 234).

Awesome God, may we know you as the one who loves us,
        the one who is good to us,
        the one whose mercy never ends,
        and the one who offers us hope.
    Even amidst the devastation and desolation today,
        you call us to holiness, grace and trust.
    In our distress and affliction,
        fill our lives with power and strength —
        the kind which only you can provide. Let us not be ashamed
        to call upon you
        and may you empower us to share the Good News
        of how you positively affirm our lives and
        how you greatly love us with all those we encounter.
     Amen.  (Prayerfully Out in Scripture).