Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Whose Is It Anyway?

Today's Scripture Readings

Exodus 33:12-23 (NRSV)

Moses said to the LORD, "See, you have said to me, `Bring up this people'; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, `I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.' Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people." He said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." And he said to him, "If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth."

The LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name." Moses said, "Show me your glory, I pray." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, `The LORD'; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live." And the LORD continued, "See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen."

Psalm 99 (BCP., p.728)


1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 (NRSV)

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-- Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

Matthew 22:15-22 (NRSV)

The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Blog Reflection

Another week has passed us with some amazing history being made before our eyes.   Alaska, Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming have been added to the number of States where the freedom to marry for same-gender couples is legalized.   The news that came to our attention this week about the remarkable, albeit small progress in the Extraordinary Synod on the Family in Rome, concerning language about LGBT people, divorced Catholics, couples cohabitation and birth control; was no small pill for the more conservative Bishops to take.  The continuing developments at General Theological Seminary.   Last, but certainly not least the Ebola crisis.  For all of these intentions and many more let us pray, Lord, in your mercy.  Hear our prayer.  Amen.

Here we are, with these Bible passages to challenge us in our relationship with God and one another.  

Among the many things to be learned from those who are contemplative, is that God is closer to us through what is going on in our daily lives than we think.  Contemplative prayer is not about seeing things as if there is some great mystery to be solved.  It isn't based on whether or not the mechanical details of how to do it can be understood let alone learned.  Contemplative prayer happens because of God's movement in the human heart, through the every day things that happen in our lives.  In contemplative prayer we are given a vision of the things of this world from God's perspective.  As we listen more and more for the Holy Spirit speaking and moving through those things and places that seem far removed from anything having do to anything about God; we discover God speaking to us in a way that the heart can receive only through faith.

Jesus was being challenged by those who are curious and looking for a way to stump Him.   They saw things going on around Him, and they had an issue with His popularity.   Their case for where Jesus' authority came from was met with a parable about who really is obedient?  The one's who say no, but follows through with doing what is right, or the one who said yes, but did nothing.  Some might interpret the parable of the wedding feast as Jesus trying to get His opponents to think a bit more carefully about what their motives are.  In the challenge to Jesus in this Gospel Reading, Jesus' opponents are trying to make Him trip up using something that could make those who are following Him closely, reject Him as someone who threw them under the bus when the chips were down.  Jesus' answer winds up disappointing everyone.   The issue isn't what you should do, but whose is it in the first place?

This Gospel Reading has a special meaning in the arena of social justice politics.   A few years ago, a group of social and theological conservatives penned the Manhattan Declaration.   Those who wrote it and signed it said that they would go so far as to break the law to make abortion illegal and/or marriage equality from becoming legal.  They cited this Gospel passage saying that marriage and the life of the unborn are "God's" and not "Caesar's" as in the governments to affect by their civil authority.    Since that time, we now have 32 States with legalized marriage equality.  One couple of two lesbians have been together 72 years, and they were finally able to be legally married in their home state.   There are countless stories of couples who are weeping with joy, because they can finally marry the person they love with rights, privileges and responsibilities that protect and provide for their future.  While those who want to take those newly legalized rights away in the name of their understanding of what the Bible "says" about homosexuality; those things that are God's to give to these women and men are healing wounds.   They are opening many eyes that could not see the beauty of God's love expressed through a life of commitment and self-sacrifice between two people of the same gender in a life-long marriage.

In Psalm 115 we can sing "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your Name give glory; because of your love and because of your faithfulness."

Christians have the invaluable opportunity to use all the good things God has given us to do immeasurably more good in this world.   We can make an impact that can make the Gospel a transparent and authentic reality through the radical work of hospitality, healing and reconciliation.   The grace of God has placed so much into our hands that we can use to honor and glorify God in all things.  Perhaps this came through a new relationship, a new job or a different place to live.  Our perspective may be limited because of what we cannot see.  Yet, through those things that elude our senses, faith can become the light that shows us a new path, through which we can know God more completely in new and fresh ways.   Our response to the call of God on our life to give back what is God's is the first step we can take that will help those who are looking for evidence of the presence of God in our lives, find God there.

Let us all pray for one another.  May all of us be thankful for what God has given to us, and respond with the desire to give it back to God.   May an important part of our response to God's graciousness be to give those who have no voice, a voice in which to speak up for justice, equality and peace for all people.   May we all give God the glory for all that God does in and through what belongs to God in the first place.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed
your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your
mercy, that your Church throughout the world may
persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your
Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.  (Proper 24: The Book of Common Prayer. p. 235).

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.  The Book of Common Prayer. p.826).  

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost: The Seed, The Word, Our Prayer, Our Response

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 13:10-13 (NRSV).

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy,

and be led back in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you

shall burst into song,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial,

for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Psalm 119: 105-112 (BCP., p. 772).


Romans 8:1-11 (NRSV)

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,  so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law-- indeed it cannot,  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.   

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Matthew 23:1-9, 18-23 (NRSV).

Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Blog Reflection

This Sunday and next, the Revised Common Lectionary will present us with two texts from Matthew's Gospel that are about the word of God.  How the word is planted like a seed, and  how the followers of Christ respond to the word.  Jesus tells two parables to make his point.  Parables by which Jesus uses imagery common to the people of His time, to take them further into the meaning of what He is saying.

This week's Gospel and the corresponding Readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, cause me some nervousness.  The Bible has been used, abused and misused again and again to support many positions on behalf of Christians that are contrary to the message of Jesus Christ, who is Himself the Word of God.  There is a huge difference between what is written in the Scriptures themselves being the word of God, and Jesus Christ who is the Incarnate Word of God.  In addition, there is also a very real difference between using the Scriptures to edify believers, support theological positions and move people to an experience of conversion vs. using them as weapons of mass destruction to score points in a debate.   It is often my opinion, that both the conservative and more progressive Christians get into this trap.  In the end, all that is accomplished is Bible verse slinging.   The actual issue(s) are lost in the disagreement.

Among my many reasons I love The Episcopal Church and it's three legged stool approach to Scripture, is that we don't leave our brains at the door.   We also do not leave our faith open to the abuses of those who use the Bible recklessly just to defend a Church teaching or "just because it's in the Bible" mentality.   The God given gift of human reason and an honesty about what Church Tradition has brought us, are points made by many Biblical scholars and Priests within our Church.  Thanks be to God.

Today's parable is about reading the word and it becoming a life altering experience.  Jesus challenges us to allow the message of the word to reach into our hearts, and to call forth in us a response in our prayer and way of existing.   A true listener of the word of God, hears the word and allows her/his heart to be moved into a deeper relationship with God.  A relationship that responds to God's call in our lives, through our relationships with others.  A relationship through which prayer is the expressed direction of our lives, because it is a continuing conversation with God in thought, word and action.

Michael Casey in his book Toward God: The Ancient Wisdom of Western Prayer wrote: "To live in accord with the Gospel, we must bear its message in mind and heart--that is, live in mindfulness (page 79)."

St. Benedict admonished his monks in The Rule to devote a measure of time each day to the prayerful reading of Scripture referred to as Lectio Divina.   In the quote above by Michael Casey, he was writing about how our response to our prayerful reading of Scripture should be such that it's message becomes a way of life.  Because through the prayerful reading of the scriptures, the seed of the word goes deeper into our being, and calls in us a conversion of heart and life towards a greater holiness of living and serving others around us.

I often wonder if the issues that Christians tend to have with accepting diversity, and living out the full meaning of our Baptismal Covenant, comes from not letting the word go deeper into our hearts and souls. 

 If Christians did let the word go deeper, might we all speak more boldly concerning children who are deported back to their countries where more oppression and poverty keep them from their loving families?   

Might a deeper sense of the word in our hearts and lives move us to end the ongoing discrimination towards women in terms of contraception and reproductive health care options?    

If we listened more attentively to the Holy Spirit in the word of God, might we become more serious about doing something about the horrific violence by the means of guns that are becoming common place, every day occasions?

If the word really did make a difference in the lives of Christians, might the hateful rhetoric towards Native Americans, LGBT, Muslims and Atheists end, and a greater urgency for justice, inclusion and peace finally prevail?

The last point I want to write about is the necessity of allowing the word to become our prayer.   As human beings, we face moments of disappointment, grief, anger, resentment and even revenge.  It happens to us more often than we care to admit, that we don't bring these to our prayer because we are embarrassed, or think that God might zap us one if we pray to God in anger.   This kind of thinking is a real danger to the spiritual life.   It keeps things all bottled up, and does not allow us to grow through the experiences that happen to us.

Among the wonderful things about the Scriptures is that they can become our prayer.   In chapter 8 Models of Prayer, Michael Casey in the book I wrote about earlier, encourages using the Psalms and many of the Canticles from the Hebrew Scriptures to let all that is within us become part of our prayer to God.  The few examples Casey uses include the Old Testament Prophets who just let their anger and grief out are Jeremiah 20:7-18, the Canticle of Hezekiah in Isaiah 38 and of course the cry of Jesus on the Cross in Mark 15:34.   Only by letting God know what is in the depths of our being can we truly allow our Heavenly Father to heal us and bring us wholeness and mercy. 

Our God speaks to us in many ways.  God has planted the seed of faith within our hearts and souls, to respond to God's loving kindness with thanksgiving and holiness.   In Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, God has redeemed and empowered us to respond to God's invitation to prayer with a firm amendment of life and gifts for the ministry of hospitality, healing and reconciliation.    All of this is possible by the inspiration of the Scriptures, the Tradition of the Church and human reason that give growth to our spiritual selves.   All God wants from us is to "incline the ears of our hearts" so that God's love can be shared with us and others around us.

Amen.


Prayers

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who
call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand
what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and
power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ
our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Proper 10, Book of Common Prayer, p.231).

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for
our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn,
and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever
hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have
given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 28, Book of Common Prayer, p.236).

Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of
peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel
for the nations of the earth, that in tranquillity your dominion
may increase until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your
love; 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. (Collect for Peace, Book of Common Prayer, p.258).