Saturday, May 28, 2016

Memorial Day Weekend (proper 4, year C)


What does it matter that we believe in God? I was at a clergy conference this week with Alan Roxburgh – who authored the book that many of us are reading. He reminded us of the distinction between growing the church and being a people who follow Jesus. Growing an institution is actually pretty easy – just give people what they want. But is that really what we are here for?

He also began to explore what he calls the crisis of the euro-tribal church. We live in a culture that is formed by a relatively new narrative. He calls it the wager of modernity. We live with the idea that we can have all the good things in life without reference to God. We have replaced God with three ideas or constructs. We believe in the state. We believe in capitalism. We believe in the self. All three of these, if properly constructed will give all the good things we can expect in life. In our world, God is seen as useful, but not necessary.

Much of what we have done in the church in general follows this cultural myth. We become obsessed with technology, or management theories, or advertising, or strategic plans. None of these actions require any faith in God. What if we started at a different place? What if we started with faith in God and sought to discover what God is doing around us – and sought to discover how we could join God’s work?

I love the story of the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. He has great showmanship! The prophets of Baal look foolish, limping around, cutting themselves. Elijah trash-talks. Where’s your God? Is he napping? Then Elijah makes a great show of preparing his sacrifice. He drenches it with water. God answers his simple prayer by burning it all up in an instant.

If only we could do that! I bet we could pack the place if only we could offer miracles on demand! This is our problem. We think we can do it all without God. Just show us how God, so we don’t need you! Or if that fails, we expect the diocese to offer us wonder-workers to lead our parishes. Miracles aren’t even necessary as long as the priest is well spoken, and understanding, and dynamic, and doesn’t need much money. I’m sure we could keep this thing going forever without any need of God at all.

Our choice is how we choose to live a life of faith. Will we say we believe and continue to act as if we don’t? And will we keep trusting in our cleverness and our experience and our wealth (or at least the wealth others have given us)? Will we instead admit that we are loved and accepted despite what we bring and who we are? Will we give up the notion that well-dressed, spiritually deep, emotionally healed selves are not what God desires?

Jesus is in Capernaum. There is a centurion who lives there. He is well regarded for he contributes to the synagogue, even though he cannot be a member. He has a slave who is ill, and he sends for Jesus to heal him. As Jesus is about to go, he gets word from the centurion. Capernaum is a small place – smaller than the graveyard beside our church. Someone could have shouted down the street. “I’m not worthy to have you under my roof. I’m used to sending and receiving orders – just say the word and it will be done.” And so it was.

Jesus commends his faith. He hasn’t seen faith like this in all of Israel. What kind of faith do we have? Notice that the centurion didn’t say, “Don’t trouble yourself Jesus, I can handle it.” He believed Jesus would heal. He didn’t expect God to do anything different. He trusted in the God he knew.

There is freedom in this. It is not our job to think up a way to keep this institution going. Our job is to follow Jesus. Don’t we believe that God will give us everything we need to follow Jesus? Don’t we believe that God’s Spirit will guide us and correct us along the way? Don’t we believe that it is God who saves and transforms us? Maybe we don’t have to work so hard.

At the clergy conference, we spent an afternoon going out into the world to see where we could find God at work. You can imagine the resistance. You want us to talk to people – strangers – about spiritual things? It’s not so complicated. People are people. We’re all trying to make our way in the world. We’re all trying to find meaning and purpose. There is a desire for the love of God everywhere.

We don’t need to convince anyone. We don’t need to be any different to follow Jesus. We need to trust. If we try to see with the eyes of the Holy Spirit in us, we can see pain and loss in others. We can see deep desire for God’s presence. We can see love. God is always and already at work. Don’t we believe that? Let’s go and see what God is up to.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

May 22, 2016, Trinity Sunday


There are many ways that people have tried to explain the trinity. It is difficult because the trinity has simply been revealed to us, but not explained to us. Scripture hints at it. It took the church hundreds of years before we could agree on what we believe, and even then we aren’t of one mind. We recite the Nicene Creed and we only half believe it, and we certainly don’t understand.

Many explanations include various persons of the trinity. Water is one thing, yet it can be steam or liquid or solid. An ancient image from the early church fathers was to consider a burning coal – it creates heat and light and the coal itself is on fire. There is also the analogy of a human person who can have many roles: parent, spouse, sister or brother. All of these images fail to describe God. Any picture or analogy we use will only capture an aspect of God, and miss much of the truth. Our words fail us.

An ancient way to understand the trinity is to consider the relationships of the persons of the trinity. The Father creates the Son out of love and the Son loves the Father. The love between them is the Holy Spirit. The image of God reveals the nature of God as a being in relationship. It even goes on to describe God’s motivation in creating and saving the world. God creates to have an object of love. God saves us because of love for us.

Whether or not this picture is helpful, it does remind us that God seeks to be in a relationship of love with us. How important is this to us personally? I suspect that we are uncomfortable with a too familiar connection with God.  We are grateful to be forgiven. We seek to have God intervene in our lives. A relationship of love seems difficult or even impossible. What could we bring that God could need? How do we maintain our end of the relationship?

This is the difficulty of our sanctification. We know that God desires our perfection. We know we are far from perfect. I think most of us are willing to settle for trusting that God will continue to love us and all will work out in the end. There is always a part of us that is like the Israelites in the wilderness, afraid to approach God, urging Moses to go on ahead on their behalf.

We forget how much and how deeply God loves us. We forget that God’s love reaches out to us no matter what we’ve done or what we think we deserve. If only we can set aside our pride, our shame, our worries – or whatever it is that keeps us from God – perhaps we can connect and live into this love that God desires for us.

The most intimate connection with God is prayer. We open our hearts and minds to God. If we are willing, we can open everything to God. If we are willing, we can let God open all the locked and hidden places in our heart.

But this is not the beginning. It is not where we need to start. We only need to begin at the beginning. St. Benedict, and many other wise saint’s remind us that we are not seeking perfection in prayer, only the act in all its imperfection. There are many techniques and many paths to prayer. The most important thing is to do it.

I am a core member to a group in the diocese called “Pray First.” We came together with only an intention to help people to enter into relationship with God in everyday life. We want to encourage the ongoing life of prayer in every moment, and also the sense of the presence of God in every moment. At some level, we are seeking the impossible. Who can know God? Who could possibly sense the presence of God in each moment?

We are only seeking to help people to become aware. We hope to help people at least begin every task – every meeting, every chore, every conversation, with the sense of the presence of God. Two simple words – Pray First.

If we can begin with prayer, we open ourselves to the opportunity of joining God in whatever we are beginning. We are inviting God to join us in our work, in our planning, in our tasks, in our relationships. Instead of the mad rush to get through our list of things to do, we can walk with God. Instead of anxiety about what we have to get right, we can invite God to help us discern what is right. Instead of trying to convince other people to think like us, we can invite God to help us understand one another.

There are difficulties with this. We cannot assume every other person we encounter will share our faith. We might have to pray silently. Most of the time we may have no idea what we need or what to seek. We may only be able to invite God into our presence (which is really acknowledging that God is already present.) Sometimes, we will have no words and we will seek God in the silence.

The difference will be that we will know God is with us. We will begin to live as if God is part of what we are doing. Not that we arrogantly believe that God will simply bless all our plans. In fact, this opens us to the possibility of more complication and difficulty as we become aware of different possibilities and commitments. God seeks to be in relationship with us. That same love will make us seek relationships of love with our neighbor.

This will change us. We will not understand more. We may be aware of more. We may sense more of what we need and what we can let go of. We may sense more of what feeds our soul. Perhaps God is not as interested in our understanding as in our response. God wants to know us through love – and not through our head. God wants our love, and that is enough.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

May 15, 2016

Pentecost


I have had the opportunity of worshipping with other people in other languages. A big difference is that in many cultures, there is not so much stress on praying together. When the congregation says the Lord’s Prayer, for example, they don’t all recite it at the same pace. Some people pray quickly and others at a more majestic pace. There are many ways to communicate, and we often only rely on a narrow range of possibilities. Consider our difficulty in speaking any language other than the one we grew up with. We are a little afraid. We don’t want to look foolish. How much we miss because of our fear or our pride!

God does not care about pronunciation. We can fumble and mumble and God will still hear us. At the same time, God has news to share. God desires to touch the center of our souls and speak words that can comfort and inspire and transform us. Today we remember how God can overcome all our limitations of language. There is no barrier of word or culture or time or distance that God cannot overcome.

The Feast of Pentecost has ancient connections. It is the fifty days after Passover (and the resurrection.) It is a festival of early harvest. There is a connection to Moses and the giving of the Law. There is a connection to David – this traditionally is the birthday and death-day of King David. It is a festival of blessing and a festival of gratitude. It is the day when God descends as the people come up to worship and rejoice.

This explains why so many people are in Jerusalem to hear the disciples. This explains why so many come from so far away. It is a festival of identity and joy. At the same time, we know what happens to all our celebrations. We become burdened by the weight of expectations. There are customs to be followed. There are cultural demands. The cost of food, travel, and housing are at a premium at holiday-time. We do what we must and hope we get something out of it.

God breaks through al our expectations and does something else. It’s not the same old thing (even if the same old thing was cherished and lovely.) God uses odd people to participate in a new work. God inspires the uneducated Galileans to speak in many languages so that people from around the world can hear God’s good news.

This is just a beginning. Even the disciples do not yet anticipate the worldwide spread of this new message. God uses them anyway. God also inspires Peter to make meaning of this. God’s Spirit is being poured out on everyone. The same old story is being re-told. We’re going to hear a new message – God’s promises are going to be made real in our time.

There’s a shift. Where now is God’s Spirit? In the past, we might have said, “up there, with God.” Over time, God offered a little of God’s Spirit to a few people – to Moses, to David, to the prophets. Then people recognized God’s Spirit in Jesus. Now what? God’s Spirit is everywhere.

I think we have forgotten this. For too long we have taken for granted that everyone around us is Christian, and everyone around us has all that they need from God. We tamed God. God was part of the landscape of America. How limiting and small! God is not under our control or our understanding. God is always working. God’s creative Spirit is always transforming people and the world towards a perfection we have yet to see.

This is the Spirit that God has given to us. This is the same Spirit that God gives each of us at baptism. God is always sending us out to share good news in words we hardly know. God sends us out to encourage and to recreate. God uses each of us to transform the world where we find ourselves.

Certainly, God’s Spirit is sent to encourage us and to instruct us. This is just the beginning. It is not enough for us to build a comfortable nest for ourselves here – so that we who choose to gather can feel good about ourselves and nothing more. God is saving the world. God is reconciling all people to God and to each other. God’s Spirit is active and is always creating new things. This is the Holy Spirit that is now in us.

Jesus promises extraordinary things. He proclaims his unity with God and that he is going to God (do we find this easy to believe?) Jesus promises an advocate. The Holy Spirit speaks on our behalf – but do we only limit this to our judgment? For what else does the Holy Spirit advocate? How about the saving work of God and the reconciliation of all people? Do you know that we have this Spirit in us now?

We cannot control the reactions of others. Some people will make fun of us (they are drunk! They are crazy!) Others will marvel at the goodness of God. We share this message with words and with other paths of communication. We share our gestures, our acts of kindness, our welcome, our respect for others. We share our hopes and we share our listening ears for the hopes of others. We show our love of God in how we love others. We act as if we were children of God so that we might encourage others to join us.

It is like a new language for us. How do we learn a new language? We practice. We make mistakes. We sound foolish. Some of us are fools anyway, so we may as well look the part. God’s Spirit directs us for God’s purpose. God chooses to use us to share good news. We have to risk discomfort beyond the walls of this church to share good news wherever we find ourselves.
 

Saturday, May 7, 2016

May 8, 2016, the Seventh Sunday after Easter


There is always a difference between what we want to happen and what actually happens. Sometimes we get something close to what we want, and we are satisfied. Sometimes we are surprised with an unexpected blessing – and that’s always nice. Sometimes we get far less than we hoped. I suspect in this time of economic change that there are a lot of people who feel that they have not got what they expected.

Most of us would look beyond material aspirations and have hopes for happy relationships and families. And we also know that almost as soon as children are born, they begin to choose their own paths and nothing is really certain. We may not be able to control what happens, but what do we teach our children so that they can make good choices? We try to teach them fairness and hard work and perseverance. We try to teach them to love.

Jesus prays for the disciples that they would remain in love. That love is grounded in unity. This is a difficult concept for our day. We live isolated lives in isolated houses. We surround ourselves with people who are most like us. We listen to people who agree with us. We look on those who are different, particularly those who think differently, as if they are crazy or weird (and not just during an election season!) Jesus does not pray to God that they agree. He prays that they might be one.

As Episcopalians, we are used to thinking of ourselves as good citizens, as part of the cultural center. We are the denomination of presidents. The national cathedral is our cathedral. We may have noticed that we are less and less in the center of things. We get lumped in with any other sort of Christians. I am often expected to explain the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church. I’m made to feel a part of fundamentalist Christianity, “you Christians are all so judgmental…” I want to say, “I’m not with them. We’re so much more reasonable.” Did Jesus really pray for our unity?

Maybe Jesus is seeking something deeper than friendly relationships. Maybe he is proclaiming something more important than our egos.

Paul is beginning his work in Phillipi. Last week, we heard about his beginning there. Phillipi did not have enough Jews to build a synagogue, so they met outside the city walls to pray beside the river. (Last week someone wondered what they would preach about. I suggested, “When in doubt, go where the women are praying.) Paul met Lydia. She was converted and the church began in Phillipi.

Paul is returning to work, and he and his companions are being followed by a slave girl who has visions and prophecies (being possessed by some sort of spirit.) Paul is irritated by her attention (no surprise there) and he commands the spirit to leave her. The slave owners are angry that they have lost their source of income. They bring Paul and his companions before the authorities because they are “practicing a religion that is harmful to the empire.”

While in prison, there is an earthquake, and all the doors pop open. The jailer is about to kill himself because he thinks all his prisoners are free. Paul and Silas call out to him. He takes them to his home. With preaching and singing, the jailer and his household are converted and he keeps them in his house as friends.

What is this story really about? The cast of characters includes apostles, slaves, slave owners, town officials, a roman prison guard, a roman household, and anyone else who happened to see these extraordinary goings-on. What do they have in common? Nothing. Until the intervention of the good news, nothing changes. The poor are exploited. The guard is part of a ruthless system of oppression. The officials are concerned with order instead of people. In the end, there is some change. A slave girl is freed from the oppression of a possessive spirit. A jailer becomes part of a new community. He joins an illegal religion and welcomes a foreign stranger into his home. Some who hear the good news become one in a new way.

Today we also celebrate Mother’s day. Some of us may look at our families and wonder if they might be such a good example to describe oneness. Many families are broken, or at least a little difficult. When we can live at our best, there is a sort of bond that keeps us together, even when we drive each other crazy. I think that might be what we really celebrate on Mother’s day. Someone who loves us even when it’s not so easy.

When our mothers held us for the first time, they believed such promise. Anything was possible. Then life happens. Then a different kind of love develops. We are loved with all our flaws and with all the burdens and uncertainty of life. Love becomes a kind of choice, a determination to stick with it no matter what – and with a growing realization of what it might cost. If we pay attention, we realize that love is a gift.

Imagine a family that is rich in things but lacks connections between its members. The parents work hard and they are never home. The house is full of nice things that no one ever uses. The children retreat into their own world of games or school friends and never talk to or listen to their parents because no one wants to argue. Now imagine a different family. Maybe they don’t have as much and even if the parents work, they make time to be together and with their children. They gather around the table together as often as they can even when it is difficult. They share their days and listen to each other. Which family holds together? Which family teaches and practices love? Who will be there when times get tough?

When Jesus prays for our unity, Jesus wants us to accept that gift. In our fear or through force of habit we let ourselves be defined by our expectations. We expect to get what we get. Jesus wants so much more for us. Jesus has given us to each other. I think that the more we drive each other crazy, the closer we are to that gift. Jesus shows us that we are different. We have different ideas. We have different dreams. Our job is not to force each other into some sort of agreement. Our blessing is to accept the gift that difference brings. Maybe the world is much bigger than I thought. Maybe the people around me are more essential to my life than I thought. Maybe I need to look beyond what will merely make me comfortable, and dream about what God’s love can really do.

April 24, 2016, The fifth Sunday after Easter


We are always glad to be reminded of the call to love, and we may be a bit uneasy if we wonder how well we are fulfilling the great commandment. Another way to say this is that it is easy to talk about love, and it’s an entirely different thing to do it.

We are afraid. We are unsure. We get trapped in certain patterns and habits. We often don’t know what we’ve said or done and how it might offend or divide. In some ways, it is easier to define ourselves in opposition – “we are not that” or “we are not them.” The lines we draw to define ourselves often become barriers that keep the stranger at arms length.

Peter has his eyes opened. He discovers the wide arms of Gods embrace. Peter doesn’t even notice how narrow and particular he had imagined his faith. Peter only knew Jewish traditions. He assumed that what he knew was part of what it meant to be Christian. Peter has faith in Jesus and he unconsciously holds onto laws and diet and patterns he already knows. He needs to have his vision enlarged to see how God also calls the rest of the world to saving love.

There are two different visions. Peter has a corrective vision. Peter sees a sheet let down from heaven – three times. It is full of all sorts of animals. “Get up Peter. Kill and eat.” Three times Peter says, “No Lord, I have never eaten anything unclean.” (Doesn’t that sound like the Peter we know?) God answers, “What God has made clean you must not call profane.”

Just then, three men come from Cornelius. He has had a dream too. His is a brand new vision. God has told him to send for Peter, for he has a message that will save your whole household. Peter goes with them and takes some witnesses. Peter begins to preach the message of salvation through Jesus. Immediately, all the non-Jewish men start speaking in tounges just like the disciples at Pentecost. So Peter baptizes them.

When he defends himself at a council in Jerusalem, he says, “Who was I that I could hinder God?” They respond with surprise, “Than God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life.” Even in this early church there are assumptions. Even those who walked with Jesus are limited by their own narrow vision about how Gad will work and about what is possible.

This is a reminder that most of what limits us is us. God wants to love everyone and to have them return that love. God wants us to love the same way: generously, completely, without any barriers whatsoever.

The Good news of God’s love doesn’t need our protection. We don’t have to preserve or save the proper understanding of the true faith. We are called to merely share it and trust that God will do the rest. The way that this looks in practice is to trust the work of love.

When Jesus is with his disciples and after Judas has gone out to betray him – this is when Jesus declares, “Now the Son of Man is glorified.” I would think this is a low point. Instead, Jesus trusts that what God has started will move on to perfection. He also chooses this time to remind the disciples how important it is that they should love one another.

Maybe this is a reminder that they should love when they are in fear – that they should love when they are betrayed, and when they themselves betray. Maybe this is a reminder that love will save them from despair and from failure. Jesus is also showing them how he loves. Even when he is betrayed, even when he knows he will lose everything – he chooses to love. He offers love when we most need it, and in a way that most helps us.

This is true service. This is the way we are called to give of ourselves. This is not some sort of weird self-punishment or a way of bragging about how holy we are. God asks us to love the way Jesus loves. He loves us just the way we need him to love – and that how we should love.

We all know strident people who shame us that we are not treating the earth well. No one could keep up with their low-footprint vegan diets. No one could keep up with all the tasks and lifestyle choices. Who could afford it? Who has the time? Instead we are called to care for the earth. We will make better choices if we honor the world around us – but not by living in some sort of competition where we try to outdo others in their zeal.

Today we baptize Teagan. We commit to helping her grow in her faith. If we only see her as a nice addition to our community that makes us more attractive, or is we are kind to her only because she is a cute baby – we will not fulfill the law of love. Instead, if we care for her, if we listen to her even when she grows older and asks awkward questions – or even if she tries our strange fashion accessories – if we love her with her best interest in mind – then we will have loved her as Jesus asks.

It is hard to hear, but we know that this is not about us. What we are about is God’s love. All God’s people are welcome here – not because it will help us, but because God has plans for them, and we’re invited to help them along.