Fifth Day of Christmas: The Sheep Among the Wolves Replaces Five Golden Rings

Today's Scripture Reading

Matthew 10:16-22 (NRSV)

 

Jesus told the twelve disciples, "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. "

Blog Reflection

Among the many things I appreciate about Jesus is that he does not side step the reality of life.  Here Jesus is being very honest with his followers that there are dangers in this world.  Those dangers are linked to the need many people have of maintaining their false sense of security in the things and relationships in this world.  Because humankind is full of broken relationships.  Those broken relationships exist within the Church as much as anywhere else.

The Episcopal Church today commemorates Thomas Becket who was Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of King Henry II.  Originally Thomas who was thought to be more of a politician was very friendly with King Henry II.  After Becket became Archbishop of Canterbury, King Henry II became so infuriated with him that after a temporary successful banishment; when Becket returned not long after; Henry II had him murdered in his Cathedral. See Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 144 for the rest of the story.

Thomas A. Becket was the 40th Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170.  King Henry VIII did not rise to the throne until the year 1509.  During King Henry VIII's lifetime there were four different Archbishop's of Canterbury.  So the whole episode of Henry VIII's declaring himself the head of the Church of England did not happen for another 360+ years. As we can see from the short biography about Archbishop Becket in Holy Women, Holy Men the strains between Church and State were lively to say the very least.

Today is also the 5th day of Christmas.  In the famous Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas said that my true love gave to me five golden rings. So much for golden riches.

Why though might we pause on this 5th day of Christmas to think on Archbishop Becket, and the sheep among wolves?  

I have been staying with the issue of broken relationships as a central theme of Christmas, because our good Presiding Bishop said as much in her Christmas message.  But, I have another reason.  Inequality in relationships in this human world are always broken due to sin.  Before other progressives like myself start clocking to look at other pages as soon as I say the word sin, let us be realistic about what sin does to relationships.

Relationships in our world are broken.  They are unequal.

In the year 2011 we saw more relationships that are broken because of inequality, cruelty and degradation than we can count.  

In 2011 we saw an unprecedented attack on workers beginning in Wisconsin and Ohio and spreading to New Jersey, Maine, Michigan and so on.  

During this past year we witnessed a huge assault on a woman's reproductive health care.  

The middle class lost more battles during 2011 because of a do-nothing Congress. 

In other States like North Carolina, Minnesota and Pennsylvania we have constitutional amendments banning marriage equality on the ballots for 2012. 

Christianist organizations made relentlessly violent comments towards LGBT people, Muslims and other minority groups during 2011.

When New York passed marriage equality in 2011, the Liberty Council, the National Organization for Marriage and other anti-equality groups became the voice of mockery and denigration.

The inequality between the wealthy and the middle class became so great in 2011 that we saw the birth of the Occupy movement here and all over the world. Before the rise of the Occupy movement, we saw major demonstrations against dictatorial powers in Egypt, Libya, Syria and in many other places.

Between the Church and society there remains the income inequality between the have's and the have not's. 

Many are paying attention and are concerned.  Others remain part of the problem.

The world that the Christ-Child was born and raised in was a time of severe economic and social oppression. The Roman Empire controlled Palestine and did so with the iron fist.  There was King Herod who kept that distance between his wealthy self and the poor so great. He could not even let a poor, helpless child who was the Messiah come into the world peacefully.  Jesus Christ was born in the midst of our relationships broken by sin and social illness.  Jesus can tell his twelve that he is sending them out as sheep among wolves.  Jesus is both the Shepherd and one who came as a sheep just like you and me.  Jesus faces the wolves just like we all do.

Our lives and our work for equality, justice and inclusion of marginalized persons; including, but not limited to LGBT people is a work of sheep among wolves. 

In humility we are faced with having to accept where we are and make the best of it.  We are continually denigrated by Christianist groups and radical right wing groups that want nothing to do with helping us gain equality.  Yet, in that same humility we serve them by continuing to be a voice and a body that works for equality and faces the religious and spiritual violence of the wolves that would tear us to pieces with their sharp teeth. Many of us find those wolves in our own families.  We experience the betrayal of friends who say: "Yes, I accept you as a good gay or lesbian person, but I have to vote in favor of an anti-equality marriage amendment, because our pastor told us to."  Whether it's legal for them to say it or not.  Even if we know in our hearts that what they are doing is abusive and wrong. But, we should never give up.  We have to keep talking and showing people that LGBT people are good people right in front of their faces.

Our transgender members continue to face the wolves in the Church and society and in some cases within our own LGB communities.  Comments made by LGB people about a transgender person and how bad they think they look after their gender reassignment surgery.  How is that different from someone who is both anti-gay, lesbian and/or bisexual who says to someone in secret: "She still looks like a man"?  Is that really any better than a fundamentalist accusing a transgender person of "body mutilation?"

Jesus achieves greatness because of his coming as God's perfect revelation to serve all humanity in the utmost humility. 

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
   and gave him the name
   that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
   every knee should bend,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
   that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.(Philippians 2: 5-11).

May 2012 be the year that with the help of God's Incarnation that relationships be healed.


Prayers

O God, our strength and our salvation, you called your servant Thomas Becket to be a shepherd of your people and a defender of your Church: Keep your household from all evil and raise up among us faithful pastors and leaders who are wise in the ways of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ the shepherd of our souls, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (HWHM page 145).

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

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. (Book of Common Prayer, page 826).

Thursday in the Fourth Week of Advent: The Hungry Filled, The Rich Empty

Scripture Reading

Luke 1:46-55 (Book of Common Prayer)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
    for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
    the Almighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
    in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
    he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
    and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
    for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
    to Abraham and his children for ever.

Blog Reflection

The recitation of the Magnificat (Song of Mary) is among my favorite parts of Evening Prayer.  The beauty of the words and the many chant and musical melodies are reminders of how wonderful Mary's song really is.

The Magnificat mirrors the Canticle of Hannah from 1 Samuel 2: 1-8 which you will find below.

Hannah prayed and said,
‘My heart exults in the Lord;
   my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies,
   because I rejoice in my victory.

‘There is no Holy One like the Lord,
   no one besides you;
   there is no Rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly,
   let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
   and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
   but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
   but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
   but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord kills and brings to life;
   he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
   he brings low, he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
   he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
   and inherit a seat of honour.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
   and on them he has set the world.

Mary's powerful hymn as well as Hannah's praises God for upsetting the imbalance of power in the world. Mary's reflection on the powerful being brought down from their thrones and the lowly being lifted up.   Hannah's song declares that the weapons of those who are mighty are rendered powerless, while the strength of the "feeble" gain strength.

We in America know all about how out of balance the powers of the rich vs the poor have been at work this year.  We have seen the rich and wealthy work harder and harder to take away more and more from middle class and low income people.

Gov. Walker's bill that stripped Union Workers of their collective bargaining rights.

The situation with Crystal Sugar tossing their Union Workers out over the executives needs to protect their billion dollar profits, while keeping their organized employees from fair health care benefits. 

The funds that protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for retired and disabled Americans are under constant attack in a need to satisfy those who have abundant wealth and just want more power to go with the money.

The announcement that Mary was chosen by God's random act of grace to conceive and bear Jesus so that humankind could have forgiveness of our sins and the hope of everlasting life, greets the ears of all of us in different ways.  Yet, there is one resounding theme that does not go anywhere.  God wants to feed those who are hungry.  Lift up those who are low.   God wants to show the strength of God's arm, while scattering the proud in their conceit.

I think in many ways that is what the Occupy Movement has done.  The Occupy Movement is calling out to those who are consistently losing to the careless abuses of bad financial investments and loaded mortgages.  The movement calls to people who have been soaking up all the money in profits, while those who need help to own a home, fund their education, keep their retirement savings and hope for the future just keeps disappearing with every passing moment.

God came to us in the Incarnate Word in the midst of a dirty cave where animals fed on hey and messed their business.  Jesus was born not with royalty and splendor given first by humankind.  Jesus arrived so that we would know Emmanuel. "God with us" (see Matthew 1: 23).  In Jesus is God's perfect revelation of Self, who is with all of us in our lowly, poor and hungry state.   The rich, the powerful and the mighty are on a different tier as God comes to the marginalized, sick, lonely and discouraged among us.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer who share in the sufferings of Christ in a Church and world, by being "despised and rejected" have a very special place with the Incarnate Word.  As Jesus came and loved differently, so do LGBTQ people.  As Jesus was rejected for his revolutionary way of loving and being, so are LGBTQ people.  Just as the death of Jesus was not the end of a new chapter in human history, there is resurrection for LGBTQ people along with the risen and ascended Christ.

Mary's Song and Hannah's are the hope that God's establishment of a new world.   In the words of the hymns, that new world already exists.  We in the 21st Century know that the new world where the poor are lifted up and the rich go away hungry is not yet.

In the perfect revelation of God in Christ, the world by which God brings justice and inclusion for all who are stigmatized and experience discrimination is already here.  Throughout the Gospel Jesus meets those separated due to political, economic and social bias are given a place of honor and dignity in the house of God.   Here and now, we see great progress in the wider acceptance of LGBTQ people in both the Church and society.  But, we have not yet achieved full equality and inclusion.

Just as Jesus being born in Bethlehem changed the world, but not yet.  So the work of justice, equality and inclusion has already happened for LGBT people and many others who are on the margins, but it is not yet accomplished.  There is more work to be done.

Hannah's Hymn and Mary's Canticle give us hope that God who came into human history is here with us now in the Holy Spirit working in hearts, minds, lives and actions for a better future for all people.

May our Christmas celebrations this year help us to remember that God is with us in Christ.  All of us have and continue to receive the fullness of God's grace and truth.


Prayers

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

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen.  (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, page 101).

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, page 826). 

Fourth Sunday of Advent: Full of Grace The Inclusive House of God

Today's Scripture Readings

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 (NRSV)

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent." Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you."

But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

Romans 16: 26-38 (NRSV)

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-- to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

Luke 1:26-38 (NRSV)

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Blog Reflection

Every human heart has one thing in common.  Everyone wants to know where home is.  Pumba in The Lion King said: 'Home is where your rump rests."  Bugs Bunny often said: "The sanctity of the American home must be preserved."  The song artist Michael Bublé sings a song called "Home."  Of all the places he's been, he wants to go home.


The reading from the Hebrew Scriptures tells the story of a conversation between God and the prophet Nathan. God wants Nathan to deliver the message to David that God wants a house built where God can dwell.  God calls upon David to recognize God's works among the People of Israel, but God is the one that has no house.   The ark of the Covenant had been buried in a ground so that it would not be desecrated.  God wants Nathan to tell David that it is time for God to have a place where all the people of Israel can come and worship God.  God promises to make David's descendents a place in God's House by which God would bring salvation to God's people.

Christians over the centuries have understood from the Geneology leading up to the birth of Jesus in the very beginning of Matthew's Gospel, that Jesus was born of the line of David.  Thought the intention of such is not meant to be anti-Semitic, it is very easy for this to be understood that somehow Christianity came along and replaced Judaism.  I reiterate here that any religious or spiritual violence towards Judaism by Christians is offensive and non-conforming to the message of the Gospel.  Our Christian Faith is as important to us, as Judaism is to those who practice the Jewish Faith or any other for that matter.

Christians believe that Jesus came as from among David's lineage to be the salvation of those who would come to God through God's beloved Son.  So it is very interesting to find that it is Mary, a young, poor girl betrothed to a man named Joseph who was of the line of David.    But, something mysterious and wonderful happens.

There has been the misleading and inaccurate understanding over the centuries to confuse the virginal conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary to be the act that shames all forms of sexuality.  In particular any sexuality that does not produce children by the conjugal act of a man and woman.  This misconception has been literally beaten to death past the death of the horse by Roman Catholic theologians and saints throughout the ages.  However, such an interpretation and application misses entirely the purpose of Jesus being born through a virgin.

"What the first and third Gospels want us to know is that Jesus--and eventually his movement--represent the destabilization of that gender construction--because at the very level of his very tissues, Jesus has no part in it.  And to the extent that we allow Jesus' life to be our own paradigm, you and I in our spiritual rebirths are ourselves virginally conceived.  The Prologue to the Gospel of John says as much:

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13).

The notion of the virgin birth is not countersexual.  It is the beginning of God's healing the world's sexuality in Christ.  It is a revolutionary, radical notion; reclaim it from reactionaries."  (Gay Unions in Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason, by Gray Temple, pages 92-93).

When Mary sings her beautiful Magnificat in Luke 1: 46-55 she sings: "He has shown the strength of his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty."  Mary's song is one that knows that God's grace has indeed touched her life.  God's grace has filled Mary with such an amazing experience of God's transforming love. The Rev. Dr. Titus Presler said this morning at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, God randomly chose Mary for this fullness of Grace at this most precious moment in time.

The exciting news that we find here, is that God wants to build a home to dwell in each of us.  God's house of prayer in the Church and within all of us, has something that God loves so very much that God has made us all full of God's grace.  In us is an opportunity to commune with God and be given that grace to experience God's transforming power.  The transforming random fullness of grace from God calls us to participate in the establishment of justice, equality and inclusion for all people. "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28).

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people and many others due to race, color, gender, religion, religious points of view, wealth status, immigration status etc have all been challenged by church communities who tell a nice tale of being inclusive and/or welcoming until it comes to them and/or their particular situation.   Individuals with emotional and behavioral challenges also find themselves among the "exceptions" to the "opportunities for inclusion." 

The message of the Angel Gabriel to Mary and all of us, is the God is with all of us.  Each of us can be made to be a house for the indwelling of the almighty and graceful God of love.  Our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression and all the other "isms" or challenges are not obstacles for God to find a place with them.  In the case of LGBTQ people, changing the essence of who we are and who we sleep with are not required to be a "more acceptable" home for God's fullness of grace.  Just as God was able to randomly use a young woman who's heart was open to be used for a transformation so big that it changed human history, so God can use any one of us at random.  

When people who were once opposed to including LGBT people and other marginalized persons into the Church and all of society, God is randomly using us to "give birth" to the Son of God once again through the fullness of God's grace through us.  When prejudice that has been fed by ignorance and fear, suddenly gives way to being open to being educated about those who are different than ourselves and how we might make friends among those we once stigmatized, God's fullness of grace is at work in us, making history that changes our communities and ourselves.

The Occupy movement is just such a movement that is filled with God's fullness of grace as they are calling on the rich to give just a little more so that the middle class and low income people can have an opportunity to live better.  Fr. Paul has a great blog post about how Mary's Magnificat can challenge the rich to pay a few more taxes.  You can read that blog here.

We are all challenged to take these final days of Advent to prepare for the transition of God making a place for God's Self disclosure in Christ.  What better way to prepare than to know that  by making ourselves more inclusive and the world around us more inclusive, that Christ can be born and reborn through all of us.  We can say together with Mary: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38).


Prayers

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


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.  (Book of Common Prayer, page 818).


Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 833).

Advent: The Coming of the Lord in the Middle of Melancholy and Excessive Joy

Today's Scripture Readings

Matthew 11: 16-19 (NRSV)

‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,

“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
   we wailed, and you did not mourn.”

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’

Blog Reflection

The Gospel for today's Advent reflection seems a bit harsh.  It is no way near as harsh as the Gospel from the Daily Office taken from Matthew 23: 27-39 where Jesus is constantly saying "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisess, hypocrites!" 

The Pharisees in Matthew 11: 16-19 are more or less being told that they are party poopers.  John the Baptist was calling for repentance and the Pharisees suggested he was of the devil.  Jesus accepts and invitation to sup with the Pharisees which he gladly accepts, and Jesus is negatively labeled for enjoying himself at dinner.

There is a lot going on in our nation, church and world.  The constant arguing between the Congress and the President about extending unemployment benefits and extending the payroll tax cut.   The Christian Anti-Defamation League suggesting that President Obama is not a Christian because he is so supportive of LGBT equality, and his Pastor.  The Republican Presidential nomination process being so dehumanizing towards women, children and the poor. The contention between the conservative and liberal sides of the Church over the ordination of women, LGBT people, same-sex marriage rites, and whether we are more Catholic or Protestant.  All of these are examples of the extremes that are going on.

Anglicanism is understood as the via media.  The middle way between Catholic Worship & Prayer on one side, and dynamic Christian spirituality and our progressive approach to social justice on the other.  The via media is suppose to help us avoid extremes of one kind or another. It allows individuals of varying beliefs and theological opinions to find a home. You can take your place in the Anglican and Episcopal tradition and find Anglo-Catholic thinkers and others who can rival any Baptist or Pentecostal church in the southern States.  Some where in the broad spectrum of what it means to be Anglican and/or Episcopalian is a place for you.

Even still there are dangers in the via media that can be overlooked.   The middle way can become a place of apathy.   A middle place from which we will not go in one direction or another can cause us to become much too comfortable with not moving to care for the poor, the marginalized or raise our concerns about laws and practices that protect and "make friends with oppression."  For Christians the middle way can become an excuse to avoid prayer and worship with God by ourselves or in the company of others so as to help us grow in the knowledge and love of God beyond where we currently are. 

Jesus finds himself in that middle way in our Gospel.  He is sitting and supping with those who really do not have his best interests at heart. Jesus is fully aware of their motives.  Yet, Jesus is choosing to remain there in constant communion with God and others around him.  Jesus finds himself between melancholy and excessive joy.  In that middle space, those with whom Jesus is sharing his time with are never happy.  Unless of course, they can succeed in destroying Jesus' reputation that helps them maintain their prestige and place among other people.

Whether we find ourselves in places of sadness, gloom and depression or we find ourselves celebrating and enjoying ourselves by eating, drinking and being merry, Jesus sups among us.  

As we go through this Season of Advent to prepare for the coming of Christ at the end of time, while preparing to celebrate his coming at Christmas, we are preparing in that sense of all ready, but not yet.  God has already revealed God's Self in Christ in Salvation History.  Yet the future of Christ's return in Glory is not yet fully realized.  When we receive Christ by faith in the Eucharist as Christ's Body the Church, we are celebrating that Jesus is among us in and through each other in the mystery of the Sacrament.

The presence of Jesus that we remember, wait for and receive in the Sacrament of Holy Communion is present and calling us to reach out to him in prayer and worship.   Jesus is also calling us to do more than sit in that via media and become too comfortable with not doing our part to "not make peace with oppression."

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer (LGBTQ) people, along with individuals of different skin colors, cultural heritages, races, emotional/psychological/physical challenges, genders, languages, economic statuses, employment statuses, educational backgrounds, immigration statuses and many others, are those who face constant oppression socially, religiously and politically. 

We continue to live in a time when the rich and powerful are calling all the shots, while those who can only dream of keeping a studio apartment for themselves and their families hopes and prays for local assistance to be able to keep their home. 

As followers of Jesus Christ we must never take the position of further hurting the message of the Gospel to care for those less fortunate than ourselves by saying things like: "Well, they got themselves in the situation they are in, just let them suffer, if they are not going to work".   If we read the Gospel accounts of Jesus' encounter with those who were marginalized and stigmatized by society, we will find that Jesus' harshest words were for those who felt like they should do nothing.   How then can we sit in the "middle way" and justify ourselves for doing nothing?

Regardless of what we chose to do, God is with us in Christ.  That is what Emmanuel (see Matthew 1: 23) was all about.  Despite the messes we find ourselves in, and no matter how challenging it can be for us to follow and/or understand the Gospel, Jesus promises to be with us "always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28: 20). 

Let us be very careful however, that we remember that the Jesus who is with us no matter what, is also present in the hungry, the thirsty, the LGBTQ person, the prisoner,  the naked and those without medical care or the income to provide the basic necessities of life.  Jesus reminds us that whenever we do something for the "least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Matthew 25: 40).


Prayers

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

Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies' sake. Amen.  (Evening Prayer Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, page 123).

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, page 100).

Poetry Saturday: Advent, LGBT and Religion and Occupy

Advent by Patrick Kavanagh

We have tested and tasted too much, lover-
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.
But here in the Advent-darkened room
Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea
Of penance will charm back the luxury
Of a child's soul, we'll return to Doom
The knowledge we stole but could not use.

And the newness that was in every stale thing
When we looked at it as children: the spirit-shocking
Wonder in a black slanting Ulster hill
Or the prophetic astonishment in the tedious talking
Of an old fool will awake for us and bring
You and me to the yard gate to watch the whins
And the bog-holes, cart-tracks, old stables where Time begins.

O after Christmas we'll have no need to go searching
For the difference that sets an old phrase burning-
We'll hear it in the whispered argument of a churning
Or in the streets where the village boys are lurching.
And we'll hear it among decent men too
Who barrow dung in gardens under trees,
Wherever life pours ordinary plenty.
Won't we be rich, my love and I, and
God we shall not ask for reason's payment,
The why of heart-breaking strangeness in dreeping hedges
Nor analyse God's breath in common statement.
We have thrown into the dust-bin the clay-minted wages
Of pleasure, knowledge and the conscious hour-
And Christ comes with a January flower.


Submitted by Andrew Mayers 


LGBT and Religion

Poem from: Being Gay and Christian

A Poem - Save Me From Heaven, Lord

Yes, I’m a bit depressed. I’ve been surfing the gay news media again – that’s never good. Which led me to the AFA (BTW thanks to Ford for finally rejecting the manipulative AFA bigots). This is poetry not necessarily all experience folks.

So here’s the message I am hearing.

God hates me.
I am a pervert
A deviant
Queer
Fag – said with spit.
I am unnatural – violating the laws of nature.

But Jesus can fix me.
Yet he hasn’t.
Despite my prayers & faith.

We can make you straight,
they say.
Embrace celibacy
Find women sexy.
Or at least pretend to.
Perhaps they can make me like beets as well.
And plaid pants.

I can be like them.
They promise with Kum-ba-ya
Even if I despise them.
Can’t I see how God has blessed them.
It’s enough if I just act like them.
Blessed saint of conformity.

My parents don’t understand.
I do not fit their plan for their life.
Their plan for MY life
Do not play the part they assumed I would.

People tell me all I have to do is choose.
They who made no choice.
I am belittled.
Mocked
By these experts about my life.
They seem to know better than I what it's about.
When did I choose – I don’t remember?
Do they think that because I chose the red toy truck
I damned my soul for eternity?

It’s so clear to them who speak with the voice of authority.
They know me so well – better than I must know myself.
I must be a vile creature.
Unfit to interact
Unfit to parent
My gayness may rub off.
Unfit to teach or preach or lead or fight.
Unfit to love.

Imprisoning me is justified.
Killing me is justified.
Tying me to a Wyoming fence post
As a sign to others.
Dismembering me and tossing me in the river
Is understandable
Merely because I think you are a nice handsome man
and ask you on a date.

I mock their weddings,
they shriek
With my desire to express my love.
They frown at my joy
and disapprove that I dare hold my lover’s hand.
They deny me ways to express my love,
to share my life.
They deny me the right to ease my partner's pain
And care for him.
To raise our children.
To decide on his behalf.
All in the name
Of what is just and right.

I will destroy what marriage is all about.
Do they mean the male domination of women?
I look for role models.
People to show me the way
Not Exodus
But freedom and love.
How can I love myself if I am so unlovable?
How can I live with such a vile person as myself?
I’m clearly going to hell.
Everyone tells me.
Often.
And loudly.

Yet can hell be worse than the eternal damnation of life?
Can hell be worse than scanning the dark shadows of the street
Wary of good Christian men.
Heaven as portrayed to me looks like hell to me.

Since the dawn of time.
God has hated me.
So the Bible says.
As a child I was told that Jesus loves me.
Now I hear in the bullhorn that
God hates fags.
AIDS is God’s curse, they say.
I bring AIDS to the innocents they say.
I am not a victim – I volunteered they say.
Even though he waited thousands of years to inflict this so called curse.
Perhaps Hitler was God’s curse too.
For killing countless gays.

At least
drugs
alcohol
sex
food
priesthood
masochism
violence.
masks the pain.

Come sweet damnation and eternal oblivion.
Save me Lord, from those who would save my soul.

From: OccuPoetry

First Responders
by Howard J Kogan

Oh how we love to love our fire fighters and EMT’s –
counting on them to save us in the worst of times.
Waving the red white and blue, applauding,
standing at attention, saluting as they parade past.
We praise their courage and respectfully, mournfully,
attend their funerals where bagpipes wheeze their dirges.
Our beloved First Responders who go where we
never would, who face the danger and the horror
as we wait and witness from a safe distance.
They’re our angels in uniform.
Until their labor contract needs renewing,
and property taxes climb and we piously decide
they must sacrifice, accept benefits cuts, lay-offs.
Asking of them only what we ask of other angels –
to live on our occasional prayers and inconstant love.

Seeing Faith in LGBT People While Christianists Create Dens of Thieves

Today's Scripture Reading


Matthew 21: 12-22 (NRSV)

Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written,

“My house shall be called a house of prayer”;
   but you are making it a den of robbers.’

The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’, they became angry and said to him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read,

“Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies
   you have prepared praise for yourself”?’

He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea”, it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.’ 

Blog Reflection

One day while I was looking up blogs to find ideas to help me write my own blog, I came across one with a photograph that struck me.

The photograph to my left was found on Heaven and Earth along with the title: "Guess Who's Coming to Wall Street".  The blog author Fr. Paul Bresnahan writes exceptional blog posts about the Church being a house of prayer for all people.  He has written passionate posts about why the Church needs to include LGBT people in our houses of worship.

The sign that this individual dressed as Jesus is holding reads: "I Threw Out the Money Lenders for A Reason."  The sign makes a reference to the Gospel used in today's Daily Office.  The figure and words are there as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

One explanation of this Gospel is that Jesus chased out the money lenders because he was angry that money had become more important than worshiping God in the temple. Jesus was making a statement that God's House was a place of prayer, not a place where thieves get away with stealing. 

The Occupy protestors are calling on those who make quarterly profits higher than 3 family units make in a year, to allow those families who don't make quite that much money to have a shot at a better life for themselves and those they love.

What Jesus is saying in the first part of this Gospel is let the House of God be a place of prayer where all people can come and worship.  Let everyone who wants to come pray, sing and rejoice in the presence of God without taking the dignity  away from the people who come there.  When people from all walks of life come to pray in God's Holy Place, they come with burdens all ready too heavy to carry alone.  The Church is challenged in this 21st Century to allow individual people to come to God as they are, with their own unique ways of thinking, believing and even behaving without high expectations.

Included in today's Gospel is the story of Jesus interacting with children and praying with faith so that we may receive what God wants for us.   In each situation, we see and hear Jesus telling us to let children come and offer their praise to God, and pray to God with the willingness to accept God's will so that good things can happen.

It is a very difficult experience for a young woman or man to grow up in a world and be taught in local church communities about God and their faith, and then discover in their youth years that she is a lesbian and/or he is gay.  When a woman or man knows that she is attracted to both women and men, or a man is attracted to both proves to be bisexual, their greatest fear is their attraction to a person of the same sex.  As youth wonder what is going on in their minds and bodies as they react very differently compared to their peers, they risk harassment the possibility of violence that is so self destructive.  And if that is not enough, to hear sermons about how God condemns all homosexual acts, while many pastors ignore their own crimes of misappropriation of Parish funds, etc, is so confusing to an LGBT youth who just wants to better understand who they are, and who they love.  Many are told to pray with faith so that God may change them from gay to straight, or go to an ex-gay group.  Parents of LGBTQ youth are told to attend PFOX or Encourage (The Catholic churches' companion ex-gay group for parents of LGBTQ people) to change.

LGBTQ youth can give praise to God, because God gives all children a heart to sing and rejoice in God's gifts.   The Church can play a vital active role in helping all children learn to accept and embrace different kinds of people.  When the Church embraces all children including LGBTQ youth, the lessons of inclusion can help them through life's toughest challenges.

What LGBTQ people often grow up to understand that their prayers for God to change them are answered.  Their faith has not mislead them.  The theology of their Parish Priests have been misleading them.

In today's Forward Day by Day there is a great meditation on the ending for today's Gospel.

Here’s a promise from the mouth of Jesus that has perplexed people. I’m probably not the only one who, having heard these words as a youngster, thought to myself: If I just pray and believe hard enough, I’ll get whatever I ask for. Some adults may have thought the same way. To do so is to ask to be disappointed or disillusioned. Just what did Jesus mean when he said those words?

The key word is faith. Faith isn’t just believing something (or, as Mark Twain said, “believing what you know ain’t so”). It’s not about what you believe, but a relationship based on trust and surrender. Sometimes people of faith believe things that are mistaken, including things about God and the ways of God. But their prayers are acts of trust and surrender to a God whom they may understand only slightly. A faithful prayer is one that accords with God’s will and aligns the will of the pray-er to the will of God. When such a prayer includes a request (and it is appropriate to ask God for things), it is a request that God bring his purposes to fruition and that nothing in us will stand in the way.

The reason God does not change LGBTQ people is because God has created, redeemed and continues to sanctify us for God's purposes.  God performs God's work of salvation in and through LGBTQ people to love ourselves and others around us as God joyfully and wonderfully made us to do.  (See Psalm 139: 14).

Even though Christianist organizations such as NOM, FRC, AFA and others continue to turn churches and our government into a den of thieves through billions of dollars in lobbying money and breaks the commandment to not "bear false witness against thy neighbor", God continues to bless this world with loving and holy LGBT people, relationships and families. 

Among the many challenges for the Church in 2011 is to understand that God works with and through people regardless of whether we like how they live, worship, love and think.  The Christian Faith through it's various expressions is not a religion of one group has it totally right, while others are completely off center.  The Christian Faith also "does not hold a monopoly on truth" for those who do not share what Christians believe.  All of the preaching and targeting of other people and religions that do not participate in ultra-conservative Christianist ways, do not help the Christian religion maintain our greatness.  If anything, it is taking the name of Jesus Christ in vein to mean something Jesus never conveyed in his words and/or actions. 

Prayers

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (First Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, page 211).

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, page 815). 

First Sunday of Advent: Keep Alert: God is Seeking Us in the Work of Equality for All

Today's Scripture Readings

Mark 13:24-37 (NRSV)

Jesus said to his disciples, "In those days, after that suffering,

the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will be falling from heaven,

and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

Then they will see `the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake-- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

Blog Reflection

This past Thanksgiving Day I read a terrific reflection on Mark 6:6.  It is the story of Jesus preaching in the synagogue in his own home town of Nazareth.  Upon hearing Jesus' words the people standing around remark: "Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses?"  In the reflection I read this past Thursday was the following:

"Exploring God's wisdom in whatever sort of clothing it comes to you requires faith and humility.  Pray for both of these virtues."  (Bible Day by Day, Catholic Publishing Company, page 173).

As we begin the new Liturgical Year with this First Sunday of Advent, we are told by Jesus to beware and keep alert.   What is it we are keeping alert for? 

The Rev. Dr. Joseph S. Pagano suggests that Jesus is telling us to be watching for God, because God is the only real something or someone that can truly give us fulfillment.

We are all searching for something or someone. Not just the small things, like our house keys or a parking space, but also bigger things, deeper things, people, places, and relationships that we hope will fulfill us, bring us joy, grant us peace. Many people are searching for a job, but also more than a job, for the sense of purpose and value and security the hoped-for job will bring. Many people are searching for wisdom, but also more than just an education, for the sense of truth and goodness and direction that we hope real wisdom will bring. Many people are searching for relationships, but also more than Mr. or Mrs. Right, for the sense of fulfillment and flourishing we hope loving and being loved will bring. We are all searching for something or someone.

But experience teaches us that that something or someone is elusive. We photograph the perfect sunset, but when we look at the pictures later, it looks rather ordinary. The excitement of a new career settles into the humdrum of a job. The first flush of a new relationship turns into coordinating schedules and dates. Even when we find what we think we are looking for, we may find the experience quite exquisite but also leaving us unsatisfied.

That is why spiritual writers tell us that what we are all searching for, whether we realize it or not, is God. The longed-for thing or person who will ultimately fulfill us, bring us joy, and grant us peace is God. Everything else, even the exquisitely true and good and beautiful things of this life, will leave us unsatisfied at some level. Life is transient, and we continue our search for true fulfillment and flourishing and love.

The New American Bible uses the words: "Be watchful. Be alert" in place of "Beware keep alert."


Living Liturgy: Spirituality, Celebration and Catechesis for 2012 provides the following reflection.

Jesus' admonition "Be watchful! Be alert!" was spoken to hearers holding heightened expectation that the Messiah was about to come to restore Israel to its former power, wealth and glory.  However, in this case, rather than opening them to new possibilities, the expectation Jesus' hearers narrowed their vision.  Their limited expectations prevented them from recognizing Jesus as the Messiah already among them.  Jesus was just not the one they were expecting.  After all, none of us looks to a carpenter if we are expecting a Messiah.  Or do we?


If we expect Christ's presence, we will find it because God is always present to us. "God is faithful" (second reading: 1 Corinthians 1: 3 -9).  From the beginning of time God has wrought "awesome deeds we could not hope for" (First Reading: Isaiah 64: 1-9, in this reflection, Isaiah 63: 16b-17, 19b are included).  God has "enriched [us] in every way" and assured us that we "are not lacking in any spiritual gift" (second reading).  One challenge of being watchful and alert is that we open our eyes to the simple, everyday ways God is present to us with gifts we cannot even imagine.  An attitude of watchfulness and alertness increases our expectation so that we are far more able to recognize God's presence in the goodness people and events reveal. (Living Liturgy is published by Liturgical Press, this quote is found on page 2).

Our Advent season is a time to be on the lookout for God.  Advent is about remembering that Christ who came once in history, and comes to use spiritually and in the Sacraments, will also come in glory. 


The Rev. Dr. Pegano again gives us some valuable insight.

The story of Advent is not a story of a God waiting to see if we human beings will finally figure it out and find God. The story of Advent is that God comes to us, and better yet, that God has already found us. We may feel like we are always looking for something or someone, but the Good News of Advent is that God has already come to us, is coming to us, and will keep coming to us.

Our problem even in this 21st Century is that Christians continue to look for God is to be ready to receive God as God actually is.

As we are seeing in the Occupy movement, God is not all in all among those who are considered as part of the 1%.  Wealth, political power and prestige are not a sign of superiority when it comes to finding God.  God seeks us out so that we will seek God in those people and places where humankind least expects to encounter God.

God is among the poor and the economically oppressed.

God is present and weeping as the students at UC Davis were being pepper sprayed.

Somehow God is speaking to all of us through the stories of individuals who are deliberately violated such as the 19 year old woman in Seattle who while pregnant, was beaten in the stomach and pepper sprayed to the point that she miscarried.  Yet, while God is there, the so called "pro-life" movement remains silent.  

An Evangelical Mom who held the belief that one could not be gay and Christian at the same time, suddenly changed her heart and mind because she became close friends of a lesbian fellow hiker.  The lesbian friend told her stories to the Bible believing mother.  This incredible woman named Kathy Baldock is now a witness to the Gospel of how the Holy Spirit can change our hearts to be a faithful apostle in the work of healing the wounds between Christians and LGBT people.  

God is searching for us in the work of equality for all of God's people.  This Advent is an opportunity for all of us to be open to encountering the living God who revealed God's Self in Jesus Christ on that first Christmas morning.   We can meet God not only on Christmas Day, but every day and every moment. 

Fr. Albert Holtz, OSB wrote in his book From Holidays to Holy Days; A Benedictine Walk through Advent:

For a Christian, life is made up of unique moments, each one a kairos (time or season), an opportunity that will never come again.  Every task we start, every decision we make, whether trivial or great, is a special time, a chance to build up the kingdom.  Every encounter with another person is a unique kairos, a season for loving. 9Pages 5 & 6).

The questions that might want to ask ourselves includes, are we prepared to accept Christ coming to us as he actually is, or do we have expectations as to who and how Christ will be when he appears to us?  

When Jesus comes to us in that someone who is different than how we think a person or people should be, do we welcome Jesus or are we just a little bit suspicious by how Christ present in someone who dresses, behaves, reasons and loves in a unique way? 

Are we prepared to do something for Jesus who seeks us out to feed him and welcome him in the stranger, the homosexual, the lesbian, bisexual and transgender without expecting Jesus to be any different or to become something or someone that Jesus is not?

Advent is a great time to explore these and other questions as God searches for us, while we are aware and watching for God to reveal God's Self to us.


Prayers

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, page 211).


Gracious Father, we pray for your 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 your Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, page 816)

Almighty God, who created us in your own 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 forever. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, page 260).

The Reign of Christ: God's Presence in All Persons

Scriptural Basis

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 (NRSV)

Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

Matthew 25:31-46 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, `Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, `You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Blog Reflection

As Professor Dumbledore said at the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: "Another year gone." 

Today, we mark the end of another Liturgical Year in the Church.  

Next weekend begins a new Liturgical Year and the Year of the Gospel of Mark.

This Sunday is traditionally known as Christ the King.  More modernly called The Reign of Christ Sunday.

The celebration of the last Sunday before Advent as Christ the King was determined by Pope Pius XI in 1925 "as a way of affirming the sovereignty of Christ in the midst of a troubled world.  As we know from human history, the image of king or sovereign is a "mixed bag": for some it conveys positive attributes of the ability to bring about justice and to encourage the well-being of those under the king's authority.  For others, the image of king is spoiled by dictators throughout the ages, and the patriarchal tyranny of male domination.  For this image of Christ as king to be helpful, therefore, it is important for us to understand the nature of Christ's kingship." (Welcome to the Church Year: An Introduction to the Seasons of the Episcopal Church, by Vicki K. Black, page 123).

The image of "domination" is particularly painful for us in 2011.  The presidential campaign of Rick Perry began with a prayer service led by a new brand of Christianists called the Dominionists.  These individuals want to see American politics and all world governments to be shaped into the idea that the Christian Religion is to be dominated by ultra-conservative Christianist ideals.  Abortion must be made illegal.  Homosexuality must become illegal and punishable under the law.  Any other religion including Judaism or Islam must be converted to Christianist thinking, or be suppressed or oppressed.  Serving the poor and the disenfranchised is not even on their radars. 

Reading into the Scriptures for today's feast of the Reign of Christ a little more closely, we see that Jesus is not a king or dominant figure that wishes to be known as condemning or judgmental.  Jesus Christ the King as conveyed in the readings is understood as a gentle shepherd who desires justice and equality for all of God's people.

In the reading from Ezekiel, God has some words for the shepherds who have not led God's people very well. God searches out all who have been scattered and lost because of oppression to be found and led to places where they can feed on the goodness that God has prepared for them.

Today is also the Day of Remembrance for Transgender People.  The transgender members of our society and the Church remain scattered, broken and often left to fend for themselves.  Even among the lesbian, gay and bisexual communities, the transgender communities are often marginalized and scandalized as they struggle through medical issues, extreme violence and brutality for their gender identity/expression.   Jesus Christ the King and our Shepherd seeks out transgender people and many others who are oppressed and victimized to bring healing and wholeness.  Jesus calls on all who worship and believe in the Christian expression of Faith, to embrace Jesus in the transgender women and men both young and old, by recognizing God's presence in them.  

The Gospel reading is probably my favorite.  It's words are both relieving and challenging to me and my faith life.  I understand from this awesome reading that I am among those whom Jesus challenges the Church to recognize himself in.  Yet, this reading challenges me to see Jesus in people that challenge my own sense of being comfortable in my own box.  God the Holy Spirit challenges me to open wide my Pandoras Box and see Jesus in every person who is different from me.  Jesus reminds all of us in this parable that Christ's reign is present in all people.  To fail to see another person as being the presence of Christ the King and Shepherd, is to neglect Jesus himself.

The Occupy movements that have swept the nation and the world are calling on our financial institutions to do much more than change their practices.   The Gospel message of  Jesus and the Occupy movements are about the need for a fundamental system change.  The economic hardships by which so many people are suffering as a result of financial investments that have gone bad can no longer be overlooked as if there is no need for a transformation in our markets and political institutions.  The extreme pain that people all over the world are enduring, can no longer be just a matter of the haves vs the have nots.  People are losing their homes, jobs, retirement savings, health care and equal rights protections. These and many other hardships requires that everyone from the 99% and the 1% need to come together and have the conversation about what we can all do different to make the world a more equitable place for every person.  The 1% can no longer just collect billion dollar profits at the expense of the 99% losing everything.   The 99% can  no longer site politely by and just watch everything they have worked for go down the drain, while the 1% get richer by gaining more political and financial power.

Bishop Mark S. Sisk of New York wrote in an Episcopal News Service Commentary:

But the fundamental issue is not that the laws of capitalism are flawed; the fundamental issue is that we are flawed in our attitude to them.

There can be little doubt that capitalism is a productive way to order economic life. But we need to remember, as the protestors have reminded us, that that is all that it is -- an economic system based on the entirely reasonable propositions that capital has value, and that supply and demand are the most efficient way to set prices. Capitalism is of no help at all in determining what is morally good -- that is something that must instead be determined by the community's wider values.

And there should be no question that when an economic system fails to reflect those communal values, it should be modified and governed until it does. To say, as some do, that any attempt to control or guide our economic system is neither wise nor possible is to admit that an economic system has decisive control of our lives. For a Christian, such an admission would be nothing less than to yield to idolatry. (Though I do not claim deep knowledge of other religious traditions, I suspect that this is true for them as well.) God alone is the One, and the only One, to whom we can concede such ultimate authority. For the non-theist to make the argument that the laws of economics are immutable is to concede that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves. That is the same argument that those in the grip of various kinds of addiction make: "I am not in control, my addiction made me do it."

 The Archbishop of Canterbury also wrote an exceptional commentary about the Occupy movements.  You can read that commentary here.  

Likewise for lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people, there can be no doubt that those who are attempting to keep us from equal rights feel that they are doing a faithful and noble thing.  However, because LGBTQ people are among God's people whom God shepherds, it is not prudent nor a faithful matter to deprive us of the opportunity to marry the person we love, seek job security or protect LGBT youth from bullying in our schools.

States like Arizona and Alabama seriously threaten our national security when they write and pass immigration laws that are designed to racially discriminate against individuals just for seeking a new and peaceful home.  When an American political institution passes such laws we also fail to welcome Jesus Christ in the stranger who has come to live in our land.

As we close this Church Year that has taken us on this long and difficult journey through Matthew's Gospel, we are invited on this feast of Christ the King to know and understand Jesus as the loving and intimate revelation of God.   In Psalm 100 today we sang the words: "For the Lord is good:  God's mercy is everlasting; and God's faithfulness endures from age to age."   Jesus has communicated to all that God's goodness and mercy is present with all whom God has created and redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus.   Sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, gender, race, religion, class status, wealth status, language, employment, culture, education level etc are not there for Christians to make exceptions for who can be marginalized or oppressed.   When we truly understand that Jesus is present in all persons, then perhaps we will be more faithful in serving Christ in all people, rather than trying to convert God into our own image of how we think God should be in others who are not like ourselves. 

In the Name of God who is + Creator, Servant and Life-Giver.  Amen.


Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well¯beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 29, Book of Common Prayer, page 236).

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.    (Book of Common Prayer, page 101).


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 you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Unity of the Church, page 818).

God of justice,
    Thank you for reaching through unjust leaders and systems
        to remind us that justice is still a possibility in our lives.
    Guide us as we follow your lead to build communities
        of peace, equality and justice for all. Amen (Prayerfully, Out in Scripture).

A Good Reminder for the Church

I read this outstanding commentary on Episcopal News Service and felt that I have to post it.  Some good thoughts expressed here.

The Church at Occupy Providence

By Edmund Harris, November 02, 2011

 

Since Occupy Wall Street began, Episcopalians have wondered what the church's role should be in the movement. Where would Jesus be? Some, such as the "Protest Chaplains" in New York and Boston, have embraced the chance to get involved. Others have watched the protests unfold with curiosity, while attending to church business as usual: trying to grow the church by getting people to come inside the doors.

There is an ironic sign floating around the Internet that blesses this time-tested way of being church: "Occupy the Pews of Your Episcopal Church," it proclaims. I can't deny, this is clever marketing. But it isn't Christian. Not only does it contradict the message of the Occupy movement, but the Gospels as well.

When did the Son of Man, who sent his disciples out in pairs with nothing but the clothes on their backs, tell his followers to "occupy the courts of the Temple?" The church is distracted these days by dwindling numbers, aging buildings, and strategies to get people to come inside to encounter Jesus rather than recognizing that Jesus is already present with the people on the streets. What if, instead, the church came out of the buildings and occupied the streets?

On a recent Sunday at 4 p.m. a group of laypeople and clergy from the Diocese of Rhode Island took church out the doors to hold "The Church at Occupy Providence." With less than 24 hours notice, we gathered with the people occupying Burnside Park, preached the Gospel, shared in Christ's body and blood, and experienced Christ's presence in one another. It was a powerful witness, and there were different reactions to us.

Most expressed gratitude for church outside the walls. Some were surprised to see us there. "Is that a costume?" one woman asked me, pointing to my clerical collar. "I didn't know churches supported things like this," another person said. Others expressed righteous anger. "Where've you been?" one organizer asked me. "You're the first group of Christians to set foot in this place. Meanwhile, we've been feeding hungry people and demanding justice for everyone. Aren't these the things churches are supposed to care about?"

In the Gospel proclaimed during the service, Jesus spoke about the commandments to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus especially calls us to love our most vulnerable neighbors, the ones those of us with privilege easily overlook: those who suffer at the hands of the powerful, our sisters and brothers who have lost their homes to foreclosure, those who live and die without access to adequate health care, those who are "undocumented."

I believe that the church desperately needs the Occupy movement at this tender moment in its life, and that the Holy Spirit may be working through it to call the church to something new. Like the prophets, the Occupy movement may draw the church out of its complacency, and remind us that the church too is a movement, not only an institution. We are a body, not only a building with pews. If we listen to voices of Occupy, we may indeed hear Jesus speaking to us, reminding us of the work he calls us to prioritize, and to love him in the people he called us to serve first.

-- The Rev. Edmund Harris is assistant to the rector at Church of the Epiphany in Rumford, Rhode Island.