Ash Wednesday: The Spiritual Journey of Lent Begins

Today's Scripture Readings

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 (NRSV)

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near--
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
in ages to come.
Yet even now, says the LORD,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the LORD, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the LORD, your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy.
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep.
Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
`Where is their God?'"

Psalm 103 (BCP., p.733)


2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (NRSV)

We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,

"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you."

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

"So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Blog Reflection

Today, we begin preparing for the "interior resurrection" as Thomas Keating puts it, that will be ours at Easter.  The impact of Easter on our spiritual lives, will have a greater meaning if we begin the Season of Lent by paying a bit more attention to what Keating calls our "emotional programs" (See The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience, p.36).

All of us, beginning with our birth and into adulthood, become aware of those emotional programs that we use to identify ourselves in our false sense of ourselves.  Those systems are survival/security, affection/esteem, and power/control.  They can be characterized as food/sleep/work/the basics, being the center of attention/popular/notable/famous, and rich/in control/determining our own destiny/self-salvation.   This Season of Lent is when the Church goes on a retreat for forty days to pray, listen, fast, give alms, deny ourselves, and prepare to welcome the Risen Christ at Easter with our whole selves renewed in the unconditional love and mercy of God.

Lent is a time for looking at our own Spiritual activity.  The words of Jesus in this Gospel we hear year after year, invites us to examine our motives in our Spiritual practices.   Are they driven by a sincere desire to grow closer to God, by letting go of our false sense of self which is pride?  Or, do we do them hoping to fulfill our emotional systems of survival/security, affection/esteem, or power/control to feed our false sense of self with things that cannot give us any lasting satisfaction?

Another way to ask these questions is, are we doing them for the sake of themselves?  Or are we doing them to draw us closer to God?

Our Lenten journey that we begin today, is our opportunity to walk with Jesus into the desert for forty days, so that we may grow closer to Him in our relationship to God, our neighbor and ourselves in genuine self-sacrificing love.  The love that is not shady, because it is self-seeking.  But, a love that is seeking union with God as the only thing really worth while.

Paul begins our Lent every year with this reading from 2 Corinthians.  Paul writes about the kairos which in Greek means "the appointed time."  Paul writes that the appointed time for our salvation in Christ is now.  When Paul writes in Galatians 4:4: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son born of a woman,,,," he uses the same word kairos for time.  The time to seek union with God by letting go of what is false, self-seeking, and not life-giving is now.  Lent is that special time of grace in our Liturgical year to know of the merciful love and forgiveness of God that we sing about in Psalm 103.

This period of Lent is good for our personal souls, but it is also extra good for the repentance of our social sins.   The sins that fuel prejudice towards LGBT people, women, people of different races, religions, cultures, abilities, health status, employment status, language and more.   The sins of omission by which we neglect the poor, the stranger, the hungry, the naked, the lonely and the disenfranchised.  Lent is an opportunity for the Church and society to examine ourselves from the inside out, to see if we can follow Christ more closely by becoming one diverse people of a greater hospitality, with healing and reconciliation for all of God's people.  Not just some, but for all people.   What an amazing Easter Day we would celebrate if that is where the Church and society landed at the empty tomb.

Let us all put our feet firmly on the labyrinth of Lent, and walk humbly and prayerfully with our God.   May we all grow just a little closer to God, with love for one another so that what we sing and do on Easter Day will equal the joy of our renewed sense of self.  May we discover during this Lent, that God alone is all we really need.  And that, serving others in God's Name is truly good news by which the Holy Spirit will renew the face of the earth.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; 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. 217).

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, p.101).

Second Sunday of Advent: Prepare the Way for the Real Jesus

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 11:1-10  (NRSV)

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide by what his ears hear;

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,

and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

They will not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain;

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD

as the waters cover the sea.

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Psalm 72 (BCP., p.685)


Romans 15: 4-13 (NRSV)

Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

"Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,
and sing praises to your name";
and again he says,

"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people";
and again,

"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him";

and again Isaiah says,

"The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope."

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:1-12 (NRSV)

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
`Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.'"

Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Blog Reflection

There are many problems with the readings and the meaning of the 2nd Sunday of Advent. 

The problems come from interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures in such a way, that their meaning within the context of the Jewish Faith is to be dismissed because of Antisemitism on the one hand.  On the other hand, Jesus Himself throughout the Gospels identifies Himself with the prophesies in the Hebrew Scriptures. 

The other problem that cannot be too easily dismissed is that the figure of St. John the Baptist is all too often used to prepare for the coming of the judgmental and superficial Jesus who supposedly condemns abortion, same-gender marriages, wipes out entire areas by tsunami's and tornadoes because of a change from super conservative to progressive liberalism.

Another image that is also quite troubling as these Scriptures are interpreted comes from those of us who are progressive Christians, that might lead many of us to dismiss what Advent and Christmas are really about.   During Advent we recall the events that led up to that first coming of Christ at Christmas to help us remember and celebrate that Christ will come again, and in fact, is already here.  But, not yet.   Rev. Susan Russell likes to remind us this time of the year, that these seasons are a matter of both/and as opposed to either/or.  

The real Jesus who came as God's perfect revelation of Self, came to bring real change.   It was the difference that gave hope where all hope seemed lost.  He came at a time when God's people were in need of a revelation of God in a way that was not just written in the tablets of the Law, but became an imprint of God's footprints on the human soul.  Those who were considered as lost, would at last be shown the Way to friendship with God.  Where religious authority had become an excuse for excluding people, Jesus was God's reason why every person was already counted as God's own.   Where oppression and injustice caused people to question what God was really doing, Jesus came and told us to deny ourselves, pick up our Cross and follow Him to give our lives for the sake of the Gospel.  To live in humility, through being a servant to one another.

St. John the Baptist, the prophet that prepared the way for Christ is placed in each of the Gospels after Jesus had already been born.   St. John the Baptist lays out the path to the real Jesus.  The Jesus who changes the real lives of real people, by affirming God's unconditional love for all of us, without distinction.   If God can use a simple prophet who lived in the wilderness, ate locusts and drank honey, dressed in camel's hair to prepare the way for Jesus to change the history of the world as the Word made flesh; imagine how God can change the world through us.  Imagine how God can use us to prepare the way for the real Jesus here and now.

Yesterday, December 7th, 2013 was seventy two years since the disastrous attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.  It changed the United States at a profound moment in our Nation's history.  Many of the things that were taken for granted were shaken to their foundations.  Lives were lost, a sense of the security of the nation was completely devastated.  Yet, out of that tragedy, a new one began.  Instead of just responding with military action which was bad enough, the US began internment camps for Japanese Americans.   An entire race of people were targeted for discrimination and the worst kind of social and political violence.  How dare anyone celebrate the horrific attack and our nation's response by way of internment camps as being "heroic" or even "necessary." When racism is the response after a horrific act, the horror continues and we become part of the continuation of the horrific action.

This past week, we heard about the death of former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa.  A man who was already in the thick of apartheid, of prejudice and violence of horrific proportion.  Yet, he was willing to go to jail, and he did to speak and act against the discrimination.  At that time, Nelson Mandela was perceived by many here in the U.S. with amazing hate and denounced as a terrorist.   Yet, this amazing man in peaceful protest worked for a new order in South Africa, not only ending apartheid, but also the affects of homophobia so that marriage equality has been the law there for many years.   Nelson Mandela was a prophetic witness that prepared the way for the real Jesus in his corner of the world.

William Stringfellow in his writing entitled The Penitential Seasons in the book Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas wrote best what will be the conclusion of this blog post.

The depletion of a contemporary recognition of the radically and political character of Advent is in large a measure occasioned by the illiteracy of Church folk about the Second Advent and, in the mainline churches, the persistent quietism of pastors, preachers, and teachers about the Second Coming.  That topic has been allowed to be preempted and usurped by astrologers, sectarian quacks and multifarious hucksters   Yet it is impossible to apprehend either Advent except through the relationship of both Advents.  The pioneer Christians, beleaguered as they were because of their insight, knew that the message of both Advents is political.  The message is that in the coming of Jesus Christ, the nations and the principalities and the rulers of the world are judged in the Word of God.  In the lordship of Christ they are rendered accountable to human life and, indeed, to all created life.  Hence, the response of John the Baptist when he is pressed to show the meaning of repentance he preaches is, "Bear fruits that befit repentance" (p.105).

Amen.

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. (Book of Common Prayer, p.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, p.815).

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn
but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the
strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that
all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of
Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and
glory, now and for ever. Amen.  (Prayer for Peace, Book of Common Prayer, p.815).

Ash Wednesday: Lent 2013: Personal and Communal Time with Christ in the Desert

Today's Scripture Readings

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 (NRSV)

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near--
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
in ages to come.
Yet even now, says the LORD,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the LORD, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the LORD, your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy.
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep.
Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
`Where is their God?'"

Psalm 103 (BCP., p.733)




2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (NRSV)

We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,

"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you."

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21(NRSV)

Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

"So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Blog Reflection

When Lent begins every year I often feel like expressing the sentiments that Rizzo does at the beginning of the movie Grease.  "Well, here we are again."   If most of us are honest with ourselves and God, we won't be able to say with Marty: "But, this year we are Seniors."    That is exactly why the Church brings us through this time with Jesus, we call Lent.   None of us have learned it all.   In fact, the reason we are here is because of God's mercy and love to help us to learn and grow in our journey as Christian people.

Lent is that period in the Church year that gives us the time to take a look at where our journey with Christ has been going.   In what ways are we growing closer to God?  Are there ways in which we can make more space for God?   Is there some place of growth that we have been putting off?  How serious are we about this life of being a Baptized Christian?

In the reading from Hebrew Scriptures, the Prophet Joel is talking to the people not as individuals, but as a whole community.   Joel knows of the ritual worship of the community he is speaking to.  However, it is not the ritual he is most concerned with.   He is deeply concerned about what is within their hearts.  Even as they participate in the ritual of covering themselves with ashes, are they really aware of how their attitudes towards others affects their relationship with God?    They may tear their garments to shreds over having offended God, but do they rend their hearts so as to experience real contrition?

In our times, do we care more about doing rituals than using them to unite our hearts and minds to God?  Do we receive the ashes on our foreheads with a sense of penance and reverence for the reality that we are on this earth a short time, and accept our Baptismal Vow to love God, neighbor and ourselves with everything we have during our lifetime?  

Paul tells us that now is the day of salvation.  When I read these words, I am reminded of the new version of Psalm 95:7 in the Common English Bible.  "If only you would listen to his voice right now!"  God is calling us to salvation here and now.  There is a sense of urgency in Paul and the words of the Psalmist.   The time to be paying attention to what God is calling us to, is now.    What ever our situation might be.  If we are facing our best or worst moments.   If we are celebrating a new relationship or grieving the loss of one.   If we are being energized in a good way by what is going on around  us, or totally losing it.  The point is God is communicating with us.   Through our emotions.  Our process of thinking of what it is we want to do.  God is calling us like a mother, to keep on trying and working.  Do not give up.  There is much more that God wants us to do.   Are we paying attention right now?

Jesus in our Gospel is instructing us to do what we do for the sake of our relationship with God.  Not for our stature within our communities.   Not for public respect or prestige.   The point is to seek God with what is in our hearts and let that relationship speak for itself.    Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not a matter of winning a popularity contest.   It is about making space for God so that God can work in and through us.  Our prayers, penances and alms giving, whatever practices we do this Lent, are to draw us closer to God and through that closeness with God in others. 

Lent is all about addressing our comfort zones.  Those spaces in our hearts where there is fear of someone we know very little about, that keep us locked up inside.  Such crowded spaces do not allow us to grow.  They do not allow us to mature in grace.  The Psalmist said in Psalm 118:5 Common English Bible wrote: "In tight circumstances, I cried to the LORD.  The LORD answered me with wide-open spaces.  The LORD is for me--I won't be afraid.  What can anyone do to me?"   Do we trust God enough to let God answer our prayers with "wide-open spaces?"   That is what Lent is about.

Those "wide-open spaces" include accepting others who are different than ourselves.   Such as passing marriage equality for LGBT people.  Ending racism, sexism and the constant attacks on low income individuals, those who are sick, retired and disabled.  Learning to accept people of different religions, cultures and philosophical persuasions, and be open to learning from them.  

As we journey with Jesus through the desert we call Lent, we have time to spend looking at those spaces in our lives.   How can we open more of them for God?   How can we trust in God to answer our prayers to open them?    I think some of the answers may be in the Collect for Ash Wednesday, as well as many of the other activities we do and do not do during Lent.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p.217).


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, p.826).

Third Sunday after Epiphany: Repent, Follow, Welcome, Reconcile.

Today's Scriptures

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 (NRSV)
 

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Psalm 62: 1:  "For God alone my soul in silence waits; truly, my hope is in him"  BCP p. 669

Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV)

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Blog Reflection

In a nutshell, what the Benedictine Vow of Stability is about, is that we take off the masks that prevent us from being exactly who we are before God and the world. God wants everything that is good and not so good about us to grounded in God.  Even if one is not trying to become a Monk, the call of God on our lives to walk humbly with God as we are and to do justice is the call of all Christians.

The readings for this Sunday call us to repent, follow, welcome and reconcile.  This is what Jesus invites us to to help us heal those broken relationships.

Repentance means more than admitting we are wrong.  It means changing directions.  To repent means to seek another alternative.  If we find ourselves yelling at someone who does not appear to be listening, it is not enough to say we are sorry while we keep yelling.  At some point we need to stop and think that perhaps our yelling is what is keeping us from making progress.  Instead of yelling, try a quiet dialogue with some coffee and danish between you. We all need to try to listen to one another better. We all need to prefer non-violence and clean conversation as opposed to constant verbal attacks and name calling.  Imagine what Presidential debates would look like if candidates stopped bashing the people of different races and income levels who need food stamps, and talk about how to change the system that keeps racism and poverty happening in our nation.  Imagine a Church and society that not only apologized to women, LGBT people and immigrants for despicable rhetoric and constant rejection, but found ways to receive them and provide opportunities to be treated as equal human beings.  Does it sound like I am wishing for too much?  In a Church (and by this I mean the whole Church, not just one particular body or denomination) that insists on using the Bible and their teachings to keep diversity out and uphold wealth and power, yes that is wishing too much.  But, hope for repentance so that one day the Church will look better than it does even now, that is something that can be accomplished. To get there we must repent of our prejudices and stop making peace with oppression.

Who or what are we challenged to follow?  In today's Gospel Jesus calls the first of his disciples to follow him and become fishers of people.  It is easy to immediately say: "We follow Jesus Christ according the Infallible Word of God."   Oh really? 

"The Bible is the best and most trustworthy witness," writes Bishop Gene Robinson in his book In the Eye of the Storm, "but it neither replaces Jesus as the Word nor does it take precedences over Christ's continuing action in the world through the Holy Spirit.  To elevate the words of scripture to a place higher than the revealed Word of God in Jesus Christ is an act of idolatry"  (Page 22).

People suggesting that we must elect more radical right wing people into our government so that the United States can continue to target Muslims, immigrants and LGBT people to be put in prison or executed, does not reflect a heart and life that wants to follow Jesus Christ.  The reality that Bishop Gene Robinson still has to wear a bullet proof vest beneath his vestments wherever he goes, tells me that many Christians are conflicted about what following Jesus Christ means. 

It is not enough to say "yes" when Jesus calls us to follow him.  We have to be willing to follow Jesus as God the Holy Spirit literally rips open the Pandoras Box we put God, others and ourselves in.  We have to be ready to look beyond our own opinions and ideals.  Even our own ways of talking about God has to change if we are to talk to a world of people who have been turned off by the prejudice and violence that Christians have submitted themselves to in the name of the Bible.  

If Christians are to be a part of making the Church and the world a better place, we have to do more than say "yes."  We have to become a welcoming to all of God's people.  Christian or not.  Straight or lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual or metro-sexual.  Male, female or transgender.  White or black, copper skinned or what ever skin color.  Caucasian or Native American, Asian, Latino, Somali.  Whether we speak and write in English or another language. Completely healthy and able to do just about anything and those who have challenges on all levels of their being.  The point is, the Church and the Christians who worship and work within our faith communities need to reach beyond ourselves and welcome those who are different than ourselves.   We must reverence the presence of Christ in everyone.  Every person is the very image of God and has been redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Even those who do not see our faith or theirs the way we do.  She/he is a person of great value because of the stamp of God's unconditional and all inclusive love imprinted and made alive in every human person.  Even those who do not act the way we want them to.  Even in that someone that I just cannot get along with.  Sometimes we do have to reverence the presence of Christ in someone, by welcoming her/him and then leaving them alone with God for a while.

We must also be willing to seek reconciliation.  In short the word reconciliation means to make things right. 

"It is not enough, for instance, to refuse to slander others; we must rebuild their reputations.  It is not enough to disapprove of toxic waste: we must do something to save the globe.  It is not enough to care for the poor; we must do something to stop poverty.  We must be people who bring creation to life." (Sr. Joan Chittister, O.S.B  The Rule of Benedict: Spirituality for the 21st Century, p. 12).

Reconciliation means not only playing a role in healing what hurts, but changing the system that causes the hurts in the first place.  The prejudice and violence that causes so much hurt in LGBT people who are victims of "spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse" must be stopped.  It is not enough to just get angry listening to audiences in South Carolina rise to their feet in thundering applause as Newt Gingrich speaks blatant racism.  We have to be willing to do something about the racism that allows that kind of violence to continue.  We can complain about the harmful affects of Citizens United on our politics all we want. Unless we get involved with doing something about the system that puts Supreme Court justices in place to make such rulings, things will never change.   We can get angry about all the so-called "pro-lifers" protesting Roe v. Wade today all we want.  Unless we are willing to work to change the male privilege that legislates the access of women to affordable and safe reproductive health care, and change the laws that protect those who sexually assault and rape women, nothing will change.

If Christians want to be an example of repentant people who follow Jesus Christ, then we must be willing to welcome every child of God and work to make the Church and the world a better place for everyone.


Prayers

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our
Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News
of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive
the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, p. 215).


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

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.  (Prayer Attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, p. 833).