3rd Day of Christmas: St. John the Apostle and Evangelist of The Word

Today's Scripture Readings

Exodus 33:18-23 (NRSV)

Moses said to God, "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 92 (BCP., p. 720)


1 John 1:1-9 (NRSV)

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John 21:19b-24 (NRSV)

Jesus said to Peter, "Follow me."

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"

This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.

Blog Reflection

St. John is my favorite of the Apostles and Evangelists.  I have a special affection for St. John.  Christmas just would not be what it is for me personally, without the words of the Prologue of St. John's Gospel chapter 1:1-14.  The first letter of John later in the New Testament is not only eloquent in its form and content, but it's message about the importance of loving God and our neighbor is so very clear. 

St. John's message of The Word and love, while they hold that special attraction for me; they are also the most challenging.  I love to write the words "Love one another as I have loved you", but, when it comes to doing what they mean I am as much a hypocrite as anyone else is.  If I am a hypocrite in any way with these words, it is because of my greatest personal and spiritual challenge.  I often have very high expectations of myself.  When I am not able to meet those high expectations, I become even more self-centered.  Instead of loving another as Christ has loved me, I end up staying even more focused on myself than as I was before .  Thomas Merton in his book The Rule of St. Benedict: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition 4 tells me that in so doing I indulge my "false-sense of self."

In the Prologue to The Rule of St. Benedict, he writes, "the Lord waits for us daily to translate into action, as we should, his holy teachings.  Therefore our life span has been lengthened by way of a truce, that we may amend our misdeeds.  As the Apostle says: do you not know that the patience of God is leading you to repent (Rom 2:4)?  And indeed the Lord assures us in his love: I do not wish the death of the sinner, but that he turn back to me and live (Ezek 33:11).  (RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English, p.18).

How can I or anyone for that matter "translate into action, his holy teaching"?  

On this Feast of St. John the Apostle and the Evangelist, St. Augustine of Hippo gives to me (and may be you too) some kind of answer.

"Now this Word, whose flesh was so real that he could be touched by human hands, began to be flesh in the Virgin Mary's womb; but he did not begin to exist at that moment.  We know this from what John says: What existed from the beginning.  Notice how John's letter bears witness to his Gospel, which you just heard a moment ago: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.

Someone might interpret the phrase the Word of life to mean a word about Christ, rather than Christ's body itself which was touched by human hands.  But consider what comes next: and life itself was revealed.  Christ therefore is himself the Word of life" (The Liturgy of the Hours, Volume 1, Advent and Christmas Seasons, p. 1267).

In this Christmas Season as we begin returning to the real world, we are confronted with the reality of life.  There is darkness, discrimination, oppression, violence, neglect of the sick, poor and more.  We are equally confronted with our own human limitations that help us to rely more on God and less on ourselves.  We are once again brought to the reality that we are all social beings, and therefore being part of a community that embraces us as we are is essential for our salvation.

Jesus, The Word made Flesh and the call to love others by St. John is our alarming wake up call and purpose for "beginning again."

Amen.


Prayers

Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light,
that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and
evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that
at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect for St. John.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.238).

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully
restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may
share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our
humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect for the Incarnation.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.252)

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost: Sorting the Seeds and the Weeds

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 44:6-8 (NRSV)

Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel,

and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:

I am the first and I am the last;

besides me there is no god.

Who is like me? Let them proclaim it,

let them declare and set it forth before me.

Who has announced from of old the things to come?

Let them tell us what is yet to be.

Do not fear, or be afraid;

have I not told you from of old and declared it?

You are my witnesses!

Is there any god besides me ?

There is no other rock; I know not one.

Psalm 86 (BCP., p.710)


Romans 8:12-25 (NRSV)

Brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (NRSV)

Jesus put before the crowd another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, `Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' He answered, `An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, `No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"

Blog Reflection

I am writing this blog reflection after a week of incredible news throughout the world.   The terrible news of the Malaysian flight that was shot down and the AIDS researchers that were killed saddened us all.   The violence in Gaza and the Middle East disturbs us to our bones.  We still have a congress that is pretty much powerless to operate because of billionaire corporate money that keeps the wealthy safe, while the poor, the sick and the weak are kept on the lowest level of our priorities.  

At the same time, we have received some wonderful news this week.   The Bishop's Synod in the Church of England has passed a measure for women Bishops.   As we approach the 40th anniversary of women being ordained in The Episcopal Church, the news of women Bishops adds to the celebration.  

President Obama announced this past week that he would be signing an executive order that would protect LGBT people from federal job discrimination on Monday.   

Judges in the State of Florida and Oklahoma have ruled that constitutional amendments banning the freedom to marry for same-gender couples are unconstitutional.

In the middle of all of these things going on, the voice of the Holy Spirit is calling on Christians to listen with the ears of their hearts, for God's initiative for us to have a relationship with God and one another.   In that relationship, God wants us to see God's genuine love by which no one is rejected or labeled an outcast by our own standards.   The relationship of God with all of us is one that saves us from our false sense of certainty.   To search for union with God as our only source of certainty.

The message for Christians in our Lectionary readings this weekend, is for us to see that Jesus has planted the seed of God's Spirit within all of us.  In obedience to the will of God, the seed grows and the love of God should inspire within us "truly thankful hearts we may show forth" the praise of God.  "Not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving ourselves up to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness of life all our days" (General Thanksgiving, The Book of Common Prayer, p. 125).   When we harbor prejudices towards others because of their race, gender, religion, economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, etc. our Spiritual garden of life begins to grow weeds that hide the true beauty of the plant that grows from the seed.

We do not really need to worry about whether we believe "the devil and his angels" planted the weeds or not.  The weeds that shows from the cruel rhetoric we use towards "illegal" immigrants, including the children that are deported because of the "law", comes from an evil source by it's own nature.   That source is political popularity and a sense of belonging to some party just to be one of the crowd.   While the real Gospel seed that was planted by Jesus, becomes bitter and tasteless.  It might as well be burned.

As Christians we have been blessed beyond measure that God chose us to answer the call to receive God's grace through the message of the Cross and the Resurrection.   By our Baptismal Covenant, we have responded to Christ's invitation to come to Him, and honor Him in all persons, striving for peace and justice and respecting the dignity of every human being.   If our answer is, "we will with God's help" but make an exception because of a bias, then we profane the Name of Jesus Christ in our words and actions.  

Our Readings today, call us to be attentive to the Holy Spirit's call on each of our lives as those for whom there is no longer any condemnation. (See Romans 8:1).   Jesus through His life showed us the way to love God, our neighbor and ourselves.   In so doing, the weeds have no where to grow, and the seed remains pure and full of flavor.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our
necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have
compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those
things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our
blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Proper 11, Book of Common Prayer, p. 231).

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).

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.  (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, p. 816).

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).