Maundy Thursday: Who Would Jesus Refuse to Serve?

Today's Scripture Readings

Exodus 12:1-14 (NRSV)

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the LORD. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm 116:1, 10-17  (BCP., p.759)



1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV)

I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

John 13:1-17, 31b-35 (NRSV)

Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

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

There has been a lot of news these days about "religious liberty" and who business owners should be able to serve or refuse to serve.  Legislative bills are being introduced, fast tracked, passed and signed into law to give individuals the "right of their religious beliefs" to service those whom they believe most conform to their ideology.  While we can speculate about what is and what is not the best approach to these bills, they do give Christians a lot to think about.

The words Maundy Thursday get their meaning from the Latin word mandatum, which contains the English root word, mandate or commandment.  The focus of Maundy Thursday in addition to the institution of the Holy Eucharist is the new commandment of Jesus to love others as He has loved all of us.  Jesus, in His Paschal Mystery loved all of us without distinction or exception.  As John records for us, Jesus took the form of a servant and washed the feet of His Disciples.  Jesus gave us an example of what it means to love and serve others in total self sacrifice.  Jesus held nothing back.   Jesus gave Himself to us in His Body and Blood, and stooped down in humility to wash our feet and commanded us to love one another in His Name.

What Jesus did seems to be a stark contrast to what those license to discriminate on the basis of "religious liberty" bills are about.  I have a hard time believing that Jesus would put up a sign to the window of the upper room that says "We do not serve gays" or "Muslims" or "Jews"  or "Athiests" or "only Baptized Christians".  While the sexism given to us in the Scriptures suggests that the only Disciples of Jesus were men, I tend to believe that women must have been present in that upper room moment, and that Jesus washed their feet too.  In the very act of serving by the washing of feet, Jesus assumes a very feminine role.  Jesus really does lay down His life, by giving over even the appearance of what His gender stereotypes would be, to serve the least among us with the greatest of humility.

In The Rule of St. Benedict Chapter 53 On the Reception of Guests, he instructs the community to wash the feet of His guests.  St. Benedict wanted his monks to remember what he wrote in Chapter 7 On Humility.  Humility means "being earthed".  St. Benedict wanted those who observe his Rule to live into the Christian life with authenticity and transparency.

On this Maundy Thursday, Jesus commands us to love one another as we are loved by Him.  Jesus gave us this commandment while living into what it means.  As Jesus lived into the greatest acts of love, humility and service of everyone without distinction, so He commands each of us to do for others.  Including and especially those who are different from us.   Lord, have mercy on us all.

Who would Jesus refuse to serve?

Who will we serve or refuse to serve in the Name of Jesus today?


Prayers

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he
suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood:
Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in
remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy
mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Maundy Thursday.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 221).

God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a
wonderful Sacrament has left us a memorial of his passion:
Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and
Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit
of his redemption; who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect on the Holy Eucharist.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.252).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Human Family.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.815).

Fifth Sunday in Lent: Christ Lifted Up for All

Today's Scripture Readings

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NRSV)

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-- a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Psalm 51:1-13 (BCP., p.656)


Hebrews 5:5-10 (NRSV)

Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,

"You are my Son,

today I have begotten you";

as he says also in another place,

"You are a priest forever,

according to the order of Melchizedek."

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

John 12:20-33 (NRSV)

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

"Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Blog Reflection

This past Thursday I was in the supermarket check out lane.  I was a bit late that day, and had finished my grocery shopping for the week.  I was really looking forward to checking out quickly and getting home.  Things seemed to be moving quite a bit slower than usual.  As I looked more closely at the cashier, I realized that things were moving a lot slower because she was moving very slowly.  It seemed to take her a longer time to count the change from the register, tear off a receipt and fold it.  I saw her eyes and they did look a bit dreary.  Perhaps she was not feeling particularly well that day.  It was difficult for me not to become a bit irritated by the slow pace of things, until I meditated just a bit on St. Benedict's admonition to regard the earth and all it's goods, including all people as the "sacred vessels of the altar." (RB 1980: Chapter 33). Once I began to remember that, I found myself admiring how carefully she was doing her job, irregardless of the attitudes of others around her.  I also found it a bit easier to be aware of the presence of God in the situation.  Whatever the reason the cashier was moving so slowly was really not important.  What is important is that whether it is easy or difficult, God's presence really is every where.  God's law of love is always being rewritten in our hearts as God makes God's presence known to us in those situations, people and places where it just seems that things just are not quite what we think they should be.  All God asks of us, is to take the time to seek union with God, with the God who has already found us.

Here we are on the fifth Sunday and Week of Lent.  Next weekend we start Holy Week and the journey towards Easter Day.  How has Lent been for you?   How have you drawn closer to God through prayer, alms-giving and self-denial?   Well, we still have at least two more weeks to go.  Make the best of it.

The overriding message of the readings for this Weekend's Eucharist is that God wants to enter our hearts renewed by Christ's redemption.  The renewal is ongoing and ever working.  Our biggest obstacle is ourselves.  Our Christian Faith teaches us that not only is it okay to step out of the way and let God help and guide us, it is necessary if we are to search for that union with God in the here and now to find our way forward.

As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ was lifted up on the Cross to draw all people to himself.   Once again, our Gospel Reading presents us with a bit of a "Jesus only" picture.  As a Christian believer myself, I agree that Jesus is my only Savior and Lord.  I can sing those great evangelical Gospel like hymns that "Jesus saves" and believe it in my heart all I like.  However, the moment that I make it my business to judge the journeys of others by my own beliefs (and I know I have done plenty of this), I am as guilty of making Jesus into a business proposition to benefit my own ego as anyone else.  This is not evangelism.  This is religious zeal by coercion and self concern only.  Instead of keeping me sensitive to others, it makes me blind to the presence of God in the other.  Oh, Lord, have mercy on me.

As has become the tradition of this blog that I have been writing for the past six years, I must at this point in Lent condemn all forms of antisemitism.  There is so much prejudice and violence going on these days over religion.  Christianity by itself does not hold the monopoly on all religious and/or spiritual truth.  The awesomeness of our Faith is that we are one of many great Faiths around us, which includes our Jewish Sisters and Brothers.  No amount of justification for condemning Judaism and those who continue to worship Yahweh on the part of Christians is appropriate or to be condoned.  The Jews are not responsible for the death of Jesus.  Please, let's not continue with this insult to God and to other religions by promoting disrespect or violence towards other religious faiths, including those who chose to practice no religion at all.

Jesus in our Gospel today, welcomes those who came to Him, because He was about to do God's will in what must have been a very frightening time for Him.  Yet, He also knew that if He was going to over throw the powers of sin and death, and be the source of God's love in the world for those who believed in Him, that preparing for the reality of the Cross was going to be God's way of doing it.  Jesus would be lifted up to draw all people to Himself.  No amount of exclusion on any basis including but not limited to sexual orientation and/or gender expression/identity comes close to honoring what Jesus did for all of us.  Jesus who is the fulfillment for Christians of what it means to live with the law of God written in the heart with a renewed faith, was about to be the visible reality of the love of God that has no end.

As Christians who profess a Baptismal Covenant, we Episcopalians along with others are committed to recognizing and loving Christ in our neighbor, seeking justice and peace, and upholding their dignity.  It is a work we must recommit ourselves to not only at the Great Vigil of Easter now less than two weeks away, but every day of our lives.  Each encounter with that person that drives us crazy is the presence of God made as real as the Eucharist, and is to be cared for as such.

May we continue through our Lenten Journey to pray and work together to be the living example of Jesus being lifted up and drawing all people to Him through those of us who love Him so much.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly
wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to
love what you command and desire what you promise; that,
among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts
may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Collect for the Fifth Sunday in Lent.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.219).

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this
land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as
their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to
eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those
who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law
and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of
us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Oppressed.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.826).

Fifth Sunday of Easter: Way, Truth and Life for Everyone

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 7:55-60 (NRSV)

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

Psalm 31 (BCP., p.622)


1 Peter 2:2-10 (NRSV)

Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:

"See, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

"The stone that the builders rejected

has become the very head of the corner,"

and

"A stone that makes them stumble,

and a rock that makes them fall."

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people,

but now you are God's people;

once you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

John 14:1-14 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it."

Blog Reflection

There was a time in my life when every time I read these amazing words from St. John's Gospel, I agreed with them without conflict.   Jesus' words "I am the way, the truth and the life" seem so absolute.  How could I or anyone else misunderstand Jesus?

While these same words carry with them a great affirmation of faith, they also contain a few problems.

John's Gospel beginning with the fourteenth chapter, starts what we call the Last Supper Discourse.   In this discourse are many proclamations that Jesus makes about Himself as well as the coming of the Holy Spirit.   It appears from the beginning, that the Disciples still have many unanswered questions about who Jesus is and what He is doing.  It is highly believed that the Apostle John himself is not the author of this Gospel, but a disciple of the Apostle was.    It is also very possible that the Gospel was put together by not only one, but a few different Johannine communities linked to the work of the Apostle and Evangelist.  Those communities were in great conflict with the authorities of the Jewish Faith of the time. The Oxford Annotated Bible suggests that we not interpret Jesus' arguments as being with the Jews, but with those who did not believe in Him.  The subject of using the Jews as Jesus' adversaries is responsible for unspeakable acts of antisemitism.  This text within John's Gospel is not a license to discriminate against Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, Wiccans or Atheists.   It is also not a Gospel reading granting us the green light to say that lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender people must go through so called "ex-gay" or "reparative therapy" because sexual "preference" is not morally neutral.

Of all Gospel texts that gets used without restraint to suggest that Christianity is a religion of supersessionism, this reading is the worst.   If there was a text that has the greatest power to unite Christians with compassion and acceptance of diversity, this is the text.  However, there is also no text in all of Christendom that gives our Christian Faith as bad of a name as this one does.

The words of this Gospel reading suggest that Jesus is responding to a lack of faith that does not perceive a reality beyond appearances and mere logic.  The Apostles Thomas and Philip want answers to the questions they ask.  Their questions are very much like our own.  Full of a quest for a certainty that is not temporary.  Or they suggest a certainty based on what is on the surface.   Jesus answers their questions that opens their eyes of faith to see past who Jesus is to what His life is about.

The "way" of Jesus is to seek out the marginalized and to set free those oppressed by bias, violence and being swept to the sides by the cracks in the system.   The "truth" of Jesus is that God's love in unconditional and all-inclusive.  The "life" that comes from Jesus is one that embraces all people and loves them without distinction or exception.   Jesus' way, truth and life that draws people to His Father by God's initiative, because every person is created in the image and likeness of God, and redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Not even a religion that does not believe in Jesus as Christians do, can keep God from loving every person.   Not even our disobedience to God to love God, our neighbor and ourselves keeps Christ from redeeming us through His death and resurrection.   The Jesus' way, truth and life no one who comes to God will be rejected because of who they are, what they believe, what color her/his skin is, or immigration status, or sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression.  

The Easter Mystery is about how Jesus Christ by God's power broke through the chains of death, despair and doubt and found victory over those things that separate us from God and one another.   Our celebration of the Easter event challenges all of us to seek union with God in prayer to find healing and reconciliation among all God's people.  

By the grace of God, let us all love one another as Jesus Christ loves each one of us.

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

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.815).

Gracious Father, we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it
with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt,
purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is
amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in
want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake
of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.816).

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday: With Whom Are You Entering Holy Week?

Today's Scripture Readings

Liturgy of the Palms

Matthew 21:1-11 (NRSV)

When Jesus and his disciples had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, `The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 

"Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, 

"Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."

Psalm 118 (BCP., p.760)


Liturgy of the Word

Isaiah 50:4-9a (NRSV)

The Lord GOD has given me

the tongue of a teacher,

that I may know how to sustain

the weary with a word.

Morning by morning he wakens--

wakens my ear

to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord GOD has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious,

I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me,

and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

I did not hide my face

from insult and spitting.

The Lord GOD helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

he who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who are my adversaries?

Let them confront me.

It is the Lord GOD who helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Psalm 31 (BCP., p.623)


Philippians 2:5-11 (NRSV)

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.

Passion Reading: Matthew 26:14-27:66 (NRSV) 


Blog Reflection

Marcus Borg in a blog post about Holy Week: Palm Sunday writes the following...

What most Christians know about Holy Week centers on Good Friday and Easter, Jesus’s death and resurrection. The former is commonly understood as payment for our sins. The latter is most often understood as the proclamation of life beyond death – that God not only raised Jesus from the dead, but will someday also raise us, or at least those who believe.

But there is so much more to the story of Holy Week. Not only is there more, but the more challenges and indeed negates the common understanding of Good Friday and Easter.

In this blog, I focus on what Christians call “Palm Sunday.” The story is familiar: as the week of Passover begins, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and people cheer him, shouting “Hosanna – blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Less well-known is the historical fact that a Roman imperial procession was also entering Jerusalem for Passover from the other side of the city. It happened every year: the Roman governor of Judea, whose residence was in Caesarea on the coast, rode up to Jerusalem in order to be present in the city in case there were riots at Passover, the most politically volatile of the annual Jewish festivals. With him came soldiers and cavalry to reinforce the imperial garrison in Jerusalem.

It is clear what Pilate’s procession was about. By proclaiming the pomp and power of empire, its purpose was to intimidate. But what about Jesus’s procession, his entry into the city?

Thus for Passover that year, two very different processions entered Jerusalem. They proclaimed two very different and contrasting visions of how this world can and should be: the kingdom of God versus the kingdoms, the powers, of this world
The former is about justice and the end of violence. The latter are about domination and exploitation.

On Friday, the rulers of this world kill Jesus. On Easter, God says “yes” to Jesus and “no” to the powers that executed him.

Thus Palm Sunday announces the central conflict of Holy Week. The conflict persists. In words from St. Paul, the rulers of this world crucified the Lord of glory. That conflict continues wherever injustice and violence abound. Holy Week is not about less than that. 

Are we beginning Holy Week by entering Jerusalem with Pilate in a search for domination, power and exploitation?

Christians would like to believe that all of our yearly rituals of getting our Palms today, kneeling at the words that Jesus breathed His last during the reading of the Passion and shaking our heads at how fickle the human heart is.  Yet, if that is all we do, then Holy Week is a fable.  In so doing, we do not give God the opportunity to bestow on us the wonderful graces during Holy Week that make a difference in our lives.  The story of Holy Week might as well be put on the library shelves with the other religious based myths, to fade away with the coming of the electronic/digital age and quick fix self-help programs.

As long as Christians remain silent and apathetic about how much wealth and power have taken over not only the world's politics, but also in the Church, Holy Week looks like a fiction still in someone's imagination.

When Christians turn our heads and pretend that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth are not being bullied in our schools, neighborhoods, homes and churches; and pour money into campaigns to stop anti-bullying measures; we are entering Holy Week with Pilate, not Jesus. 

If we continue to use the events of this week to promote antisemitism saying that the Jews killed Jesus, and/or support prejudice towards Muslims and other religions; we might as well be judging Jesus with Pilate.  Or we probably do not realize that we too are among those shouting "Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!"

If we enter Holy Week with Pilate, we might be tempted to think of ourselves as our own god.  It is our way or the highway.  All the world and it's many resources are ours for the plundering.  We excuse the polluting of the waters of the world with oil, or cause earth quakes because of the Keystone Pipeline all with the dishonest thinking that it is creating jobs.   

On the other hand, if we enter Holy Week with Jesus, we will discover that the path to holiness comes through humility.  The same humility that Paul writes about in the ancient hymn in Philippians 2:5-11.   The humility that is prepared to set aside all thoughts of being God, to become a servant of others even to the point of the death of self.   God's love in Jesus Christ is not about seeking self-honor or indulging in the self that is false.  Full of the "what I think...." and refuses to "walk according to the judgement and commands of another...." (Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 5:12).

Jesus enters Jerusalem today knowing full well what is coming later in the week.  Yet, He will face immense hate, injustice and the losing of His life on the Cross.  He is willing to go through it all out of loving obedience to His Father and for all of us.  He will not stop loving those who falsely accuse and refuse to believe in Him.   He will chose to love even Judas who will betray Him with a kiss.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus will become the sin that God cannot look at, and take it all unto Himself and go so far as the Cross to redeem us all.   He will love the outcast, the woman, the LGBT person, the immigrant, the mother who weeps for her son lost to gun violence.  Jesus will love and redeem the one who chose no religion at all, because organized religion just hurts that person(s) so much.  There will be an outpouring of God's mercy that none of us can understand, explain or put into words that make sense.   One thing we will definitely know, is that God's love for us is unstoppable.   To make scapegoats of anyone for any reason, would be to look at what Jesus did for all of us and our Baptismal Covenant and would be the equivalent of Peter denying Jesus three times, or Judas selling Him for thirty pieces of silver.

In Christ, God tells all of us during this Holy Week, that God is with us, hurts with us, and is there to help us know that there is Easter Day after Good Friday.   That is why Jesus enters Jerusalem today.

Hosanna!  Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord.

With whom are you entering Holy Week?


Prayers

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the
human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to
take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross,
giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant
that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share
in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.219).

Almighty God, whose beloved Son willingly endured the agony
and shame of the cross for our redemption: Give us courage to
take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.252).

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

Second Day of Christmas: St. Stephen, Deacon and Marytr

Today's Scripture Readings

Jeremiah 26:1-9,12-15

At the beginning of the reign of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came from the LORD: Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD; speak to them all the words that I command you; do not hold back a word. It may be that they will listen, all of them, and will turn from their evil way, that I may change my mind about the disaster that I intend to bring on them because of their evil doings. You shall say to them: Thus says the LORD: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, and to heed the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently-- though you have not heeded-- then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.

The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, "You shall die! Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, `This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant'?" And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, "It is the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, and the LORD will change his mind about the disaster that he has pronounced against you. But as for me, here I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will be bringing innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."

Psalm 31 (BCP., p.622)


Acts 6:8-7:2a,51c-60

Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. They set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us." And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Then the high priest asked him, "Are these things so?"

And Stephen replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. You are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it."

When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

Matthew 23:34-39

Jesus said, "Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Blog Reflection

This Holy Day dedicated to the commemoration of St. Stephen, that follows the Nativity seems so out of place.  We just celebrated the arrival of the Christ Child yesterday.  It was a joyous and festive occasion.  It seems so gruesome today to remember with a special feast, the first Deacon who was stoned to death.
This past Christmas Eve, the Rt. Rev. Brian Prior, IX Bishop of The Episcopal Church in Minnesota, said something quite profound in his sermon.  He quoted a moment in which a young person had stumped the Bishop with the question: "Why did Jesus have to be born in a manger, surrounded by shepherds?"  Bishop Prior answered that question on Christmas Eve by saying that Jesus was born in that stable to show us that the Word can come to us in the most ordinary and unusual places.   God with Us in Christ, can come among us in our messiest moments, our moments of being rejected, or disappointments, and even at our death.  Even on this day after Christmas, when returning to work can feel like a penance in and of itself.

Stephen had been chosen by those twelve Apostles to carry out the service of ministering to others on behalf of the Church.  He was also a preacher, who spoke of the Word and taught it to others.   The Christians of the early Church were shaking things up in their communities.  They were telling the story of the Jesus who had come, lived, was crucified, rose from the dead, ascended to the right hand of God, and has now sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.   They were engaged in the work of ministry.    Stephen was an important part of that ministry.

Two things come to mind for me as I think about St. Stephen today.

1.  It is very important to take from this story a certain caution.  That caution is with the age old idea that Christianity is a religion that supercedes all others.   The idea that Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans and many others must come to Christianity for salvation, is a very unfortunate interpretation of Acts.  The twelve Apostles received the Holy Spirit, but they were all still fallible men.  As were those who handed these stories down to us.  The Christian Faith for those who have chosen it is a beautiful and awesome experience.  Those in the time of the Apostles who were converted, were indeed blessed with a zeal for Christ and His ministry.   That ministry is one that we should pass on and invite others to share in, and that is everyone.   However, each person can and will find their path to God through whatever religious tradition they chose or may have had chosen for them.  If we Christians want to be part of changing the world for the better, let us begin with an authentic appreciation and acceptance of other religious traditions without the negative stereotyping.

2.  What actually got Stephen stoned?   That answer, I believe is in the first point I just made.  Religious diversity intolerance.   The religious and political authorities of the time had created an intolerance for other points of view.  As this new guy named Jesus came on the scene and called them to repentance for their sins, and to a new way of living, they chose to kill the messenger rather than listen to the message.   Here in the stoning of Stephen, they did it again.  

How do we respond to those messengers of our time?

How do we respond as the Church, to those who are calling us to a renewed understanding of our faith, without prejudice towards women, LGBT, people of different races, immigration statuses, health status, economic status, religion, etc?

Are we listening to the Holy Spirit who is calling us to change?  Or, are we blocking them out with our own prejudices and stubbornness?   

Why do we have this feast in honor of St. Stephen the day after Christmas?

The Christ Child came to heal our broken relationships.  He came as one so vulnerable, yet, he welcomed shepherds and the poor to attend and serve Him.  He changed the world around Him, as one would normally have been ignored or forgotten.  Jesus reminds us today, to serve others in His Name, but to respect each other in our diversity and responsibility to who we ourselves are. 

How interesting that on St. Stephen's Commemoration, we hear him ask the Lord to forgive those stoning him.   Jesus was born to ask God to forgive us our sins, and of course, that is what God did.

Amen.


Prayers

We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the
first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed
for his persecutors to your Son Jesus Christ, who stands at
your right hand; where he lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p. 237).

Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to
take our nature upon him, and to be born [this day] of a pure
virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made
your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed
by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom
with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and
for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 213).