Transformed Advent 2 December 6, 2009

Epistle: Philippians 1:1-11
Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

Our Gospel today is about power: the power of God to transform the even the landscape under our feet; power with the strength of an earthquake. The words from Isaiah are like old friends - Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” Familiar and poetic words spoken by John the Baptist as he proclaims the coming of the salvation of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. We have heard them every Advent season and they are our old friends. What we don’t often hear when we listen to these words is the extreme radical transformation that they contain – a reordering of the Way of World and our hearts in earthquake-scale language. Think of what the landscape would look like if all the valleys of the bay area were filled in – Mill Valley, Grass Valley, Scotts Valley, Portola Valley, Castro Valley, The Valley of the Sun, the Valley of the Moon – What kind of power would it take to make that happen? Isaiah also says when Salvation comes the mountains and hills will be made low – picture Mount Diablo, Mount Tamalpais, Mission Peak, Mount Hamilton, the Berkeley Hills and San Leandro Hills – all made low by the kind of strength our savior brings: the force of a very powerful earthquake, indeed. That is the scale of transformation that John is announcing to the world to prepare the people for Jesus’ coming. A power so strong that everything in the landscape of our lives changes.

In this reading Luke has also gone to some lengths to describe the political and historical context of John’s proclamations. Tiberius, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip and Lysanias were rulers in the region, one of whom later had John executed and another who later presided over Jesus’ crucifixion. Annas and Caiaphas were important religious figures. By contrast, John’s own father, Zechariah, was a small town priest and John himself was living in the wilderness in a rather rough state. Though it seems counterintuitive for such a world-changing event, this is the perfect setting for the prophecy – a cry out of the empty wilderness where something completely new is discovered and proclaimed – a cry is heard in the wilderness where the Word of God has come to John and he must leave his hermit’s home and come into the civilized world to advise the people to Repent of their sins and be baptized – to prepare themselves for something greater that their lives are becoming. The Word of God comes to someone like John who is outside, way outside, the political and religious hierarchy, someone not quite socially acceptable, a fellow who might in our day be labeled as crazy or psychotic, delusional. The Jewish people, hungry for change and hope, flock to John, as their lives are intolerably bound to the hated Roman oppressors. They are looking for a Savior to change the political landscape. But John preaches about a transformation to the interior landscape: prepare, repent and your faith will save you. The kind of repentance John advises is not like being sorry for having said something to hurt someone else’s’ feelings. The Repentance John is talking about is a complete turning away from an old way of being to a new way of looking at life – and he points to Jesus as the one who will help us make this transformation.

John stands in a pivotal moment in history – he is the last of the prophets in the style of the Old Testament. John’s story ends the religious chapter of the rule of law and proclamations of the prophets and ushers in the Age of Redemption and Salvation through Christ Jesus: the rule of love and compassion. Today we are looking back at that moment in time knowing that in our own lives we must prepare for the radical transformation that the coming of Christ represents to us as well. We, too, live in a world structured around political, economic and social systems that create mountains and valleys of justice and injustice. Like the world Jesus was born into we live in a time when some people have a lot more money and power than others – some have more food than they can eat and others literally starve. We have not seen the complete fulfillment of John’s prophecy about Jesus here on earth yet, have we?
Or have we?
Let’s look back to the first chapter of Luke, where he describes Mary’s reaction to the news that she would have a very special baby, where we hear more very familiar and beautiful words which we know as the Magnificat:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; * for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: * the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him * in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, * he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, * and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, * and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel, * for he has remembered his promise of mercy, The promise he made to our forebears, * to Abraham and Sarah and their children for ever.

What strikes me powerfully about these words is that they are in the present tense. Mary does not say Jesus will cast down the mighty, or will fill the hungry, or will come to the help of Israel as Isaiah says– but that he HAS. In Jesus God has remembered his promise of mercy; he has come to Israel’s help; he has cast down the mighty from their thrones. All that was promised by the prophets is already accomplished by the embryonic presence of Christ in the world. And what I feel and know when I read Mary’s words are that we are also to be SURE that all God’s promises have been fulfilled for us, just because Jesus IS. We live in a world where God’s promises are fulfilled, even though the evidence is often to the contrary. What can this all mean? How are we to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Christ Child? What kind of transformation are we preparing for?
If we believe what John the Baptist and Isaiah say, it is nothing less than a mighty earthquake in power, something to change the landscape of our souls. How hard is that when all around we see poverty, corruption, injustice and violence? How can it be that the fulfillment of the promises of prophets are here today? John the Baptist says that if you can’t imagine a future different than the life you have now you are a prisoner of the present. John says that repentance, that is Repentance with a capital R, meaning a change of paradigm or a transformation in the way we see the world around us; this repentance will release the power to transform – even mountains, hills and valley. The change comes from within – knowing Jesus IS makes us different today. Knowing Jesus IS IN THE WORLD TODAY transforms us, makes the playing field level.
So what is that earthquake strength transformative power? It is the power of love. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment he said, “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One. You should love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.” As simple as that and as powerful: Love your neighbor as yourself.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about being to the mountaintop he was imagining and living into a world different from the racist world he lived in – and his vision transformed the world. Seeing the world through the heart of Jesus is to live in a transformed state of love and compassion where all differences are between people are made level. Instead of being mired in the darkness of fear and frustration at the state of the world, we can be in the mind of Christ now and own in our hearts the power transformation. We can be Christ for the world just as John proclaimed his coming and Mary knew that because Jesus lived in her the transformation of the world had already taken place. Because Jesus lives in us, the world IS transformed. Our preparation for the coming of Christ is to allow the transformation to happen.
When I was at the School for Deacons, I read a book that transformed my idea of the love of Jesus, called Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. It is a book that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., carried with him on his travels and was an influence in his spiritual life. Thurman says it takes dedication and discipline to overcome – make level – the prejudices and fears that create injustice in our world. Jesus was able to look beyond the outside of a person – whatever they might have done or become in their lives. Jesus looked into the heart of the individual and found someone to love. We remember the Syrophoenician woman who Jesus called a dog – and his own heart was changed by her faith and love – and in compassion he healed her child. We remember the Roman soldier who, although he was of the ruling class, came humbly to Jesus when all his other resources were exhausted, and begged Jesus to heal his dying servant. Jesus saw past the uniform of the oppressor, was impressed by the faith of the soldier, and had mercy on him. Jesus ate with hated tax collectors who survived the oppressors by selling out their own people. Jesus saw past the exterior and loved them all.
That radical and transformative love is what I believe we are called to this Advent. We are called to Repent, that is turn from misunderstanding and fear, and love our neighbors as ourselves. We are called to the deep compassion and love of Christ to look beyond the ethic, social, political, religious and physical differences of the people in the next house, or in on our block, or in Antioch or California or the United States or the world. We are to love one person at a time. This is the discipline and dedication of a life in Christ – to see the other as ourselves and love them. Now that Christ is with us we are called to prepare for our own transformation at the birth of his love in our hearts. Amen.

Lord, we pray for our brother, Justin, who will soon be deployed to Afghanistan in service of our country. We ask you to keep him safe from harm and warm in your love. Be with him in the scary times and help him be there for others in his strength. Remind him daily of the love that surrounds him. Thank you, Lord, for all those who work to keep us safe in our daily lives, and for the freedom of living in a country like ours. Bless all who serve in the military, and bring them home safe to their families. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Lord, today I pray for the families of Bob and Harvey, who have died in the past weeks. Be with them as they mourn and help them through the days without the ones they loved. We know that you are with us always and that you promise the hope that we will see them again. Bless all those who mourn today and give us the courage and love to continue our work in the world until you call us home. Amen.

St. Francis Day Blessings

When Jesus reflected on the sins of the powerful people in his world he prayed these words from Matthew: I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you haven hidden knowledge of the kingdom from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed this to infants; for such was your gracious will. I paraphrased it a little, but this is a prayer from the Gospel lesson for the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, which we are celebrating today, October 4th. The Kingdom of our God of Heaven and earth is revealed to infants: shorthand for the suffering, the poor, the humble, the innocent and those who serve them, and that was Francis of Assisi. He was a deacon in the Catholic Church and the founder of the Order of the Friars Minor commonly called “The Franciscans”. In 1776, the Spanish explorers established a fort at the Golden Gate of California and a founded a mission named for Francis of Assisi. And that is how San Francisco was named. St. Francis was born of wealthy parents, but rebelled against a life of luxury after experiences in the military and of illness himself. He had great compassion for the poor and suffering and so left his wealthy family just as Jesus sent out the disciples without cloak or sandals or money. Francis devoted his life to “Lady Poverty”, as he called his mission, and his followers grew in number all over Europe. He lived a life of strict and absolute poverty to remain close to those whom he served. Francis and his brother friars were notably cheerful and full of song. There are many apocryphal stories about Francis’ relationship with animals – particularly wild animals, and how they loved him, and would willingly come to him. There is even a story about him baptizing a wolf. Francis followed his call from God to a life lived in Christ’s image in solidarity with the forgotten and disadvantaged people in his world. Last week we read the Gospel from Mark where Jesus tells us that it is better to lose a foot or an eye than to cause harm to one of the “little ones”. Which is, in my way of thinking, the least we could do in our call to further God’s Kingdom on earth by serving the marginalized! Then we move on to today’s reading which at first seems to hold two unrelated stories. In the first part the Pharisees seek to know Jesus’ view on divorce, trying to trap him into saying something they view as “illegal” under Mosaic law. In the second part Jesus stops the disciples from shooing the children away from him and blesses them as examples of the rightful inhabitants of the Kingdom of God. If we dig a little deeper under the surface of this reading, we find Jesus addressing the plight of two vulnerable, marginalized groups in the society of his time – women and children. Neither of these social groups had any inherent power or status in the world Jesus lived in. A woman’s sexuality belonged first to her father and then to her husband. Children, a great percentage of whom died before their first birthday, were powerless and at the mercy of their father or other guardians.
Let’s first consider Jesus’ view on divorce in this reading. He dismisses Moses’ certificate of divorce as Moses giving in to the pressures of male society to be rid of an unwanted wife. His concern is for the peril in which this places the woman, who may be, with or without the certificate, left without a place in society – for no woman had a place without a husband, father, or adult son. Unless she can find a new place in her world she will be left with few avenues for support for herself and her minor children. It often meant prostitution, slavery, death, or loss of her children. By standing up for marriage as a life-long commitment, Jesus stands up for the only hope a woman of his day has for a decent life, even if there is no love between her and her husband. In fact, this is not about a love relationship; it is about the life and death of a woman in a male dominated society. The marriage is a social and financial commitment that protects her from the harsher realities of the world. It is not a pretty picture, but Jesus is standing up for women in the reality of the world they lived in. This was the only way to prevent gross exploitation of women at the whim of their husbands.
Over the past 4 or 5 decades in our time, our attitudes toward divorce have altered greatly. When I was growing up I didn’t know anyone who had been divorced and only heard whispered conversations between my mother and grandmother about a cousin who was divorced. It was all shameful and hush hush. Then we had the great sexual revolution of the 1960’s when women started to take their destinies into their own hands, demanded equal pay for equal work (which we still haven’t achieved) and decent childcare, and adequate birth control to free them from the slavery of yearly pregnancies and in some cases their total financial dependence on abusive marital situations. It is still true that women die trying to escape abusive marriages, some women can’t find employment that would allow them to support their children after they have divorced, and that some women around the world still lack any of these rights at all. We have a long way to go – and yet. There is hope. I am very grateful that I was able to escape a financially and emotionally abusive marriage through the avenue of divorce, and grateful that I live in a society where I had a chance to make another life for myself, even if it has been hard at times. I know other women have not had that chance or the opportunities that I have had due to education and social status. Would Jesus have wanted me to stay in a marriage that hurt me and my children? I don’t know what Jesus would say to me today, but I believe that Jesus wanted to save women from exploitation and let’s include exploited men and children in that salvation as well. Marriage as a social institution that supports each person as an individual and protects their rights in their relationship is good, and as a Christian community we must support married people in their desire to remain married, as we promise when we witness marriages in this church.
Now let’s look at Jesus’ attitude toward children. “Let the little ones come to me. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Normally when we hear this admonition from Jesus we think of sweet, open, loving children gathered up in Jesus arms, children of all colors, representing the innocent world at its best. But in light of the section of the gospel on divorce, perhaps this isn’t exactly what Jesus has in mind when he talks about children and the Kingdom. In this reading from Mark, Jesus says, ‘Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it. Maybe in this reading, Jesus doesn’t mean sweetness, or openness, or even innocence. We all love our children, but we also know that they are not all sweetness and light! Perhaps, instead, he is talking about the vulnerability of children, their innocence exposing them to all kinds of exploitation at the hands of those with less than wholesome motives. We need look no farther than our local newspaper for examples in our time of the horrific exploitation of children. As parents we work for years to protect the children growing up in our lives from potential harm, and sometimes, no matter what extreme precautions we take, they still get harmed by strangers or even by someone they know very well. Are we to come into the Kingdom only in the state of this kind of vulnerability? Why? Why would Jesus require such open vulnerability as a condition for entrance into the Kingdom of God?
One of the themes of our reading from Hebrews and a matching theme from the Gospel of Mark is that of suffering for the sake of love – taking up the cross of Jesus as a requirement for discipleship. Jesus became lower than an angel temporarily to join us in the human condition. Not the human condition of kingly power to rule over peoples’ lives, nor even the condition of power of a husband to force an unwanted wife into the streets, but the human and vulnerable condition of a child. This is how Jesus entered the world – a child vulnerable and poor, born to a poor woman of low social status, whose husband stood by her faithfully though he could have legally sent her away because the baby was not his. She might have been stoned to death for that. This is the vulnerability into which we are invited as disciples of Christ. We are invited to share Jesus’ life if we can enter the kingdom as vulnerable and at risk of exploitation as he was. And this is how St. Francis entered service to God – as poor and vulnerable, without money or shoes, like a beggar. He was just as vulnerable as the weakest members of our society today. We are invited to stand with them as Joseph stood with Mary, as Francis stood with the poor and marginalized people and creatures of his day, as Jesus stood with the women, children, sick and other marginalized people of his time. This is a gift from God, our invitation to compassion as we join Jesus as vulnerable as a child and enter into God’s great Kingdom of mercy and love. Let’s pray together the Prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I 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.
Hebrews 1:1 - 2:12
Mark 10:2-16
Matthew 11:25-30

Food for the Dogs

Mark 7:24-37 Food for the Dogs
Our Gospel reading for Sunday falls into the category of things we wish Jesus’ never said. It seems very counterintuitive to our understanding of Jesus to hear him call the Syrophoenician woman a dog and refuse to heal her daughter. It is almost shocking to our ears to hear our compassionate champion of the poor and outcast say these things. Why then, is this story included in both Matthew and Mark? The writers of the Gospels must have a reason for including such an unflattering picture of Jesus in their writings, or so it seems from our point of view. So let’s take a closer look.
There are several ways to read the gospels: the first way is to read behind the text to discover and reconstruct the world of Jesus’ day. This would include learning about the customs and taboos of how people from different regions of the time related to one another, and what was acceptable social interaction between men and women of different ranks in society. Another method of reading the Gospels is to read in front of the text. This means we examine how we each subjectively interact with the words and try to discover the personal meaning the Gospel has for us. And then there is the method of reading on the text; trying to discern the message the author was conveying by his editorial work. Each of these methodologies has its place and merit. The third method of reading on the gospel is the methodology recommended by Dr. Scott Sinclair in this gospel reading and might help us understand the story of the Syrophoenician woman and her daughter who was possessed by a demon. Jesus’ insulting reply to her and general lack of pastoral care for this twosome is difficult to explain if we take a historical or personal approach as his actions are really counter to our general understanding of the compassion Jesus had for the marginalized people in his life. So today we are going to see if we can understand this story by reading on the text to discover what the author of the Gospel of Mark was trying to tell us. In order to do this we need to read back a couple of passages to the story that came just before today’s story. In Mark chapter 7 verses 15-16 Jesus says to a gathering of Pharisees, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person which by going into him can defile him; but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” Now the Pharisees often get a bad rap because they were so rigid in their insistence on following the rules for living set down by Moses. And essentially, these are good rules which lead to a healthy and wholesome life and can lead to a deeper spirituality. But when the emphasis on obeying the rules becomes more important than compassion for human suffering, then the rules lose their meaning and people can get hurt. So here is a tricky topic for Christians of all ages, following the “rules” versus caring for those who suffer and whose lives are not always virtuous or acceptable to our way of being.
In our story at first Jesus embodies the traditions of his Jewish heritage of that time and views the Syrophoenician woman as a “dog”, someone not fit to sit and eat at his table. She represents a person who is outwardly defiled by background and lifestyle according to Jewish thought of the day. When Jesus says that the food for the children (children of God, the chosen ones) should not be given to the dogs, she comes back at him with “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” She passes his test with her trust and determination. Jesus has tested her faith and finding her faith undefiled he is then willing to make a miracle in her life by removing the demon from her daughter. He says, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” Once again we find Jesus turning the rules upside down. Defilement, according to the Pharisees, comes from eating that which is impure. But according to Jesus, only what exists inside a person can defile him or her. The Syrophoenician woman did not look, or act, or speak in a socially acceptable way to the social group Jesus lived in, but on the inside she had faith and purity of heart. That is what made her acceptable to Jesus in a way that no adherence to rules or family ties could have done. That is the story of Jesus. It is not what is on our backs or which family we were born into, or the strict rules we doggedly adhere to, but it is the intention of our hearts that pleases Jesus and creates the Kingdom where he invites us to live.
Last summer I had the privilege of doing my Clinical Pastoral Education at Napa State Hospital. There are two parts to the hospital – one building houses the most mentally ill people who are without means to support themselves in any way. Family has been understandably unable to care for them, and they are dependant on the state to create the best quality of life that is possible, given their unimaginable mental and physical conditions. The other part of the hospital is a state prison where folks wait for court dates and rulings on their mental health, and are striving desperately for health and physical freedom. To say that it is a daunting place is a gross understatement and yet…the Kingdom of God is present at Napa State Hospital. My own personal understanding of the Holy Reign of God changed forever during my CPE experience. I went there bound by my own rules of what it means to be a good deacon and a caring Christian. I knew what I expected of myself in this circumstance –I had and still have a deep compassion and desire to be a healing force in the midst of desperate suffering. It is a romantic and mystical vision that I have been able to live into through other experiences in hospice and hospital work. But at the state prison hospital all bets were off. None of the usual “stuff” works there – it’s hard to get the attention of someone lost in their own schizophrenic world. It’s hard to talk with someone who is being assaulted by demons as you speak. It’s hard to be fully present when you are afraid for your own safety from moment to moment. But the Kingdom of God is present there. Because of the depth of the suffering and the Spartan condition of the prison hospital, I had to keep asking myself, where is God present in this place? And slowly I began to see the hidden corners and pockets of love and compassion dotting the landscape. And I realized that because I couldn’t use my usual props and words – that I was free in a way that I had not ever been free before. No one expected anything particular of me except that I try to be present to the suffering. I didn’t have to fix anything, or come up with a program, or even make myself heard while I preached over the murmur of voices. I couldn’t carry my prayer book because it would be stolen. I had to wear an alarm at all times in case something happened, and yet I was free to be myself more in Napa State Hospital than anywhere before or since. Without a plan for the day, or words to read from a paper, I had to make it up as I went along. With a deep sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit in me; and with the incredible guidance of Nick Ristad, the Lutheran Chaplain at Napa, I found the freedom to proclaim the love of Jesus in a place that was full of the most defiled characters in our society. The healing love of Jesus is present even there, particularly there.
How does this understanding of the gospel reading affect us here today? Which of us feels really totally acceptable deep in our most secret heart? In our teenaged heart that still wonders if we are good enough, acceptable to the crowd? In our struggle with the economy, in our worries about family and health and job stability? In our conflicts with others at home and work, do we ever feel really acceptable? Jesus sees into our secret hearts, into the dark corners of our lives, and looks past the defilement that we fear and loves us for our purity of faith and dogged determination to know and love him more. To Jesus we are all worthy of mercy, compassion and healing. That is the story of Jesus. When the Syrophoenician woman went home she found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Amen.

The Blessing of a Birthday

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of another year. Thank you for my friends, family, work, ministry, children, Dr. M, Sr. S, and dear pets. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit, my good buddy, always right on time. Thank you for challenges and hope and keeping me going. Thank you for using broken vessels. Bless those who suffer and are sad or lonely or scared or hungry or lost. Give us, me in particular, grace to know you in the faces of strangers and in the breaking of the bread. Help us, me in particular, to be Christ for those I meet. I pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Perishable Food and Soul Food

I have spoken several times now about my New Testament teacher at School for Deacons, his name is Scott Sinclair. He is a wonderful teacher with a depth of knowledge that is impressive at least. You will hear me refer to him often. And I like to give credit where credit is due.
In Scott’s class we learned that he and other scholars believe that the Gospel Acc to John was written as a manual on how to live the Christian Life. The other three Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke, are more historical than John. It is thought that the author of John was portraying Jesus’ life from God’s point of view – an instruction book rather than a history book. I find it an interesting and helpful way to approach reading the Gospel of John. Keeping all this in mind, then, Chapter 6, where we are now is about the Eucharist and is preceded by a section on Baptism.
Last week’s Gospel from the beginning of Chapter 6 is set at Passover time. For the author of the Gospel, Passover equals the Eucharist. The crowds of people were following Jesus around because of the signs or miracles that he had performed - healing those who had diseases. Jesus had gathered the people on the side of the mountain and the familiar story of the Feeding of the 5 thousand follows. This part ends with Jesus escaping the crowd when he senses that they want to make him king. At night the disciples start across the Sea of Galilee in a boat without Jesus which isn’t explained, and they row three or four miles when Jesus comes walking across the water to the boat that holds the disciples. When he got into the boat it was immediately on the far shore of the Sea of Galilee. The crowds who were still searching for him were flummoxed because they couldn’t figure out how Jesus got there and they were continuing to be amazed at what had happened on the other side of the sea with the miracles of the feeding and healing. The crowd focuses on the spectacular nature of the signs and miracles. And they had rowed across the sea to find him. Jesus says they are still “hungry” and have worked hard to find him because they want the magic food from him again. As a rebuttal and perhaps defense, the people in the crowd talk about Moses and the manna from heaven because the Messiah, who they now think Jesus is, was expected to produce the miracle of that manna again. The crowd are looking for earthly signs of the coming of a new king and a new reign on earth. They are looking for earthly solutions to earthly problems. Jesus says to the crowd, don’t work for the food that perishes, but for the bread of life which is the true bread from heaven. This is what he has to share with them and with us. Jesus is talking about Food for the Soul versus Food that Perishes. Soul food and Perishable food. Being a nutritionist in my day job I immediately picked up on the “perishable food” idea. We think and talk a lot about the perishable nature of food at my work, because we first and foremost don’t want to make anyone more sick than they already are when in the hospital. Food borne illness is bad for people and it’s bad for business, too. If we eat something and it makes us sick we lose your trust in the food and in the person who gave it to us. Trust is implicit when one takes and eats food from another person whether at home or in a restaurant or a church. This is especially important in a hospital as patients are dependant on the Nutrition staff for their food and drink. The metaphor of hunger and thirst implies wholesomeness, trust, healing and renewal.
Jesus uses this metaphor of hunger and thirst throughout the book of John. We remember another scene from the Gospel of John when Jesus meets the woman at the well in Samaria. He offers her a drink of water that will keep her from ever being thirsty again and she is amazed and amused at his suggestion. She is the first person he tells about his true identity, as one who can provide a permanent solution to the hunger and thirst of the soul. She begins to trust and understand him when he tells her facts about her life that no stranger could have known. He uses a sign or miracle to get her attention and make her hunger for more and she begins to understand who he is. She tells others to “come and see” because she believes she has met the Messiah. Now here in this passage in John, Jesus is telling the crowd about his true identity as well – “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” It is the opinion of the author of the Gospel acc to John that we are saved by believing that Jesus is God infleshed; what we call the Incarnation; by believing that the Spirit of God can exist in our material world and satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst.
So what it is about this perishable food, the potentially hazardous food (as we say in the hospital) that we are to look beyond? In John’s Gospel the miracles and signs are done to get one’s attention but are insufficient in themselves for really understanding who Jesus is. The miracles are food but perishable. When my daughter Sarah was in junior high she had a girl friend who invited her to church. The kids were rewarded for inviting other children to church by the promise of a limousine ride to the child who brought the most friends each week. I don’t know if Sarah’s friend won the limo ride for bringing her to church that week but I know Sarah liked going there. There was also a rock-climbing wall and a big-screen TV to watch bible videos on. Now far be it for me to criticize any other church’s evangelism program, but I always wondered what theology these tempting activities taught Sarah. I wondered how she understood Jesus’ presence in her life. I wondered if the fun and games did more than pull her in. She also attended the confirmation program led by Michael Carney, who was the previous vicar here at St. George’s. Both my daughters and my son were in that program. When it came time to be confirmed Sarah didn’t want to go to the Cathedral and stand up in front of all the other confirmands and their families. She asked me why I wanted her to do that. I was taken aback by her question but I said that by being confirmed she was showing her personal commitment to the baptismal promise that I had made for her many years before. She looked confused so I added that it showed that she believed in Jesus. She answered, well, that’s silly. EVERYONE already knows that I believe in Jesus, I don’t have to go to the Cathedral to prove it. So I said, honey, just do it for Mommy. It was a great moment for me, as you can imagine. She had partaken of the soul food that Jesus offers – the one that doesn’t leave us hungry for more but satisfies deep in our hearts. And she didn’t feel like she had to prove it to anyone, her love of Jesus had become part of her being.
Today, when we take the bread and wine, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are acknowledging our belief that Jesus is God in the flesh. We believe that Jesus died and rose from the grave and lives in the world with us by the power of the Holy Spirit and is alive with us here today in this room, in this Eucharist, when Amber breaks the bread. The miracles point us to this life that we live now together with Jesus – the hope of the resurrection and giving of the Spirit, the love that we have for each other, and in the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine.
God loved the world so much that he gave us his Son in human form, knowing that he would suffer as human beings do. Jesus says to us, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” It is the deep compassion of Christ for the suffering in the world that lets us trust, hope and love enough to be Christ for the world. And in the breaking of the bread when we see Jesus again we renew our trust, hope and love. Let us pray.
Dearest Lord Jesus – we ask you to send your Holy Spirit to be present in our gathering today. We thank you for the gift of your human life which inspires us to be Christ for the world. Bless our work as a parish and send us out to love and serve our neighbors as we follow in your Way. Amen.

Ephesians 4:1-16 • John 6:24-35

Prayers for the Godsquad Mission Trip

Heavenly Father,
We ask you to be with the Godsquad missioners as they go to make a difference in the lives of folks in Texas who are in need. Keep them safe and give them comfort in the challenges they will face. Let them feel your loving care for them and for those who they serve. We ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Steadfast

Dear God - I thank you for my best friend, Freckles, whose steadfast presence in my life for 12 1/2 years has been a gift of joy. I am steadfast for her, too, especially now that she is blind. (But no less full of life!) Bless our life together as doggie and human being, as a sign of your steadfastness, too, for us in joy. Amen

"Since patience or tolerance comes from a certain ability to remain firm and steadfast, to not be overwhelmed by the adverse situations or conditions that one faces, one should not see tolerance or patience as a sign of weakness, but rather as a sign of strength coming from a deep ability to remain steadfast and firm."
—The Dalai Lama

Time to hit the dusty trail...

God says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
In February of 2001 when I had received my call to ordained ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit I met with my rector, Thomas, several times. In one of those meetings he asked me what I would like to do for discernment. Now being quite new to the language of Episcopalian clergy, having been brought up Lutheran, I didn’t really know what Thomas meant by “discernment”, so I asked him what he meant. And he answered that discernment was a time of seeking to find out where God was calling me; a time to test my call to find some deeper meaning and direction. He asked me again what I wanted to do for discernment and I answered without hesitation without thinking, “hospice”. I had worked with some hospice patients at the nursing home where I was Nutritional Services Manager and I always wished I could do more than provide food in the way of comfort and compassion. Thomas introduced me to the Chaplain at a local hospital and I was fortunate to enter his training program for associate hospice chaplains. After some weeks I received the name of my first hospice patient, her address, and general information about her name, age, diagnosis and so forth. Now in this present time of privacy it is not allowed to disclose names and information about a patient to anyone except family members. However, this particular patient asked me to keep her name alive and tell her story and so what I tell you about her, I have her permission to tell, especially after her death. Her name was Pati, and she was 55 years old. I stood at her door one Friday afternoon after work, and was terrified. I wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into, how I was going to be of any use to her at all, whether she would even be glad to see me, although she had requested a chaplain’s visit. I said “Come, Holy Spirit” and I knocked on the door. She let me in herself. Pati was a thin brunette with a lot of energy despite the spreading breast cancer in her body.
Right away she told me that she didn’t want to talk about God. God had let her down badly and she didn’t think God cared about her at all. To say she was mad at God was an understatement. She considered herself a spiritual person but we could not talk about God. No praying, no communion, no psalm-reading; I was at a loss, especially in light of my extreme inexperience in all of this. Come, Holy Spirit. I told her we could just talk and that I was interested in her story and spending some time with her on a weekly basis and she seemed ok with that. So every Friday after work I went to visit her and we got to be pretty good friends – enough so that I could risk talking about my own journey and how I got to be at her door that first day. I told her the story I told you about losing my job and feeling a strong call to ordained ministry at that time and about how I was in discernment for ordination, and that without the call of the Spirit and the direction of the Spirit through Chaplain Schwing I would never have ended up at her house. And THAT was enough evidence for me at least that God had not forgotten her. God had put us together at this time and place to be healing and comfort for each other. My presence had to be enough evidence that God cared about her still. I don’t think she really totally believed me, but she was polite enough not to argue. After that we didn’t talk about God anymore. At this point that I realized her beef was really with the church and a particular philandering preacher rather than with God exactly, but for her it was all the same. The church and pastor she loved let her down and God let her down and that was it. She had closed the door but cracked it open a little to let me in and I tried hard to bring some light in with me. The Holy Spirit put words in my mouth that I didn’t know I had during that time and taught me to be patient and forgiving and loving. I fell in love with this soul called Pati. I visited her for nine months. I never missed a visit and she never called me off. At one point she asked me how many patients I saw each week – she thought she was just one of many. When I told her she was the only one I saw something in her change. As time went on she became more and more sick and vulnerable, of course. By this time I was vulnerable, too, as I had grown to love her great sense of humor and somewhat cynical view of life. One day we were going over the whole issue of God forgetting about her again when she stopped and was quiet. She said she had been waiting for a miracle – to literally hear God’s voice and feel God’s presence. She wanted a big and showy gesture from God– to make up for her disappointment and anger about her church experiences and especially to make up for the years she was losing with her kids to cancer. What she got was me for a chaplain, not much in your way of showy gestures. But she stopped talking and said, “I get it. Now I get it. God called you to come and be with me now.” I said, “yes.” “God sent you to be with me.” “Yes, that’s right.” And I started crying, not her. She comforted me, not the other way. God’s power was made perfect in my weakness because she got it that God had not forgotten her and loved her still. For me, her awareness was everything I had hoped and prayed for. It was a miracle for us both.
Today, July 5th, is the 7th anniversary of Pati’s death, so it is right and proper that I would tell you about her on this day. I am grateful to share her story with you. I was privileged to lead her memorial service and that afternoon I met a group of ladies in turbans covering bald heads from chemotherapy. They introduced themselves as the “boat people” from Pati’s cancer support group, that was what Pati called them. Why boat people? Because we were all in the same boat, they said. That was Pati, witty and bright to the end.
In our Gospel for today, Jesus sends the disciples out two by two to spread the gospel by comforting and healing – or in Mark’s words, “They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” It seems like a dauntingly immediate task – take no shoes, bag, cloak; travel lightly, move urgently, repudiate violence, shake the dust off your shoes if someone is unfriendly to your mission. Jesus has work of love, comfort, compassion, healing and miracles for us to do. We are weak, says St. Paul, but God’s power is made perfect in our own weakness. Paul says, “So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” For me this is the essence of faith – knowing my own weakness and having confidence against all odds that God will give me the courage and words to do God’s work in the world. Marcus Borg, a contemporary theologian makes this comment about faith: “The Hebrew word for faith in the Old Testament is emoonah. What makes that word interesting is that it's the sound that a baby donkey makes when it is calling for its mother. There's something kind of wonderful about that. There is an element…I don't know if you want to say of desperation in it or not, but there certainly is an element of confidence also that the cry will be heard.”
We have confidence that our faithful cry will be heard – that God hasn’t forgotten us here in Antioch, though the budget is a challenge and the numbers are fewer than in the past, and now we are setting out on a new journey that has yet to be charted; but our weakness and our awareness of our weakness, is God’s strength and God’s power will be made perfect in our weakness. Now God sends us out into the field to preach and teach the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by word and deed. Even if we don’t know how to start. Don’t pack anything, don’t take a lunch – the mission is urgent! And God will give us the grace to do the work God has called us to do in 2009 in Antioch, California. Amen.
- 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 and Mark 6:1-13

Lord we pray for those who have died in the past weeks and for their families and all those who love them. We especially pray for Ray who we loved and knew and hoped for and will miss. Bless his daughter and grandchildren that the best of him may live on in them and that they may be strengthened in his love and Yours. Amen.

We Love You...

For an old friend who died too young. For a friend not seen for many years and yet it was just like yesterday. For a friend who wanted to stay longer at the party but had to go... we love you and we will miss you, Kirk.

Perserverance

“Have you still no faith?” These words from Jesus to the disciples during the storm must have stung, considering their devoted friendship and loyalty. Jesus had been teaching parables to a large crowd from a boat close to the shore for many hours. He asked to cross to the other side, perhaps for some private time with the disciples and so they took off across the water in the same boat. Jesus then fell asleep on the cushions, exhausted. Soon the storm began to rage, threatening to send them all to a watery death. The disciples woke him up to warn him about the storm, or at least to make him aware of the fearsome weather they were facing. Jesus responds in a frustrated and weary way – not a very flattering picture of him at that moment. His attitude seems to be that of a long-suffering parent – “Don’t you get it yet?” And yet we see that the disciples DO “get it”. One of the themes we hear in Mark’s gospel is the necessity of being open to the reality of who Jesus really is – the Son of God. This faith is what makes miracles possible. My New Testament professor, Scott Sinclair says, “In Mark faith produces miracles but miracles do not produce real faith.” So it seems that in this story of the stilling of the storm and the sea, the miracle was possible because the disciples were open to Jesus’ power and authority, believed in him, and did, in fact, have faith. This is just one of the puzzling and ambiguous stories we find in Mark’s Gospel, put there to cause us to ponder and think.
Each Sunday one of the focuses of our worship is the proclamation of the Gospel. The readings from the different Gospels follow a pattern. The Sunday readings from the Bible are divided into three years which are called A, B and C. The A years contain readings from the Gospel of Matthew, the B years contain readings from the Gospel of Mark and the C years contain readings from the Gospel of Luke. What happened to John? The readings from John come during Easter and other special times. We have just finished some readings from John and are now in year B – moving into the series of readings from Mark. So that’s where we are in the liturgical scheme of things. The Gospel of Mark was most likely the first one written – possibly before the fall the Temple in Jerusalem around year 70 of the current era. Mark based his writings on stories and sayings that he had heard repeated from those who had known Jesus personally. What prompted Mark to write down what he knew were two crises in his world. One was the arising of competing and false “Christs” or “Messiahs” who claimed to be like Jesus and were threatening to lead susceptible believers astray. The second challenge in the society of the time was the nightmarish persecution of the Christians that had begun after Jesus’ death. Even though they were technically still Jews, the early Christians were persecuted and martyred for their beliefs and had to worship in secret to be safe. So Mark set about writing down what he knew about Jesus as a response to these two ongoing events of his time. Similarly, St. Paul was part of the spreading of the Word to the gentiles in the surrounding countries – and we talked a little last time I preached about his trials and tribulations. The first century Christians faced an uncertain life in Christ – threats from other religious groups and government – and the uncertainty of not knowing who they could believe. Another theme of Mark’s Gospel rises out of these problems - the necessity of perseverance in the face of suffering for followers of Christ. This suffering is to be accepted as part the Way to the cross just as Jesus did accept his own suffering.
In our reading from 2nd Corinthians today we hear a little about St. Paul’s struggle to maintain relations with the churches he had established. There had been some falling out with the people at Corinth and letters we do not have today may have been passed back and forth by Titus – a co-worker with Paul. Finally Paul receives reassuring news about the Corinthians’ feelings toward him and 2nd Corinthians is written in response to this good news. These letters were written in approximately the same time frame as the Gospel of Mark – before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70. So in this reading we hear about the trials of Paul and his co-workers to keep up their walk with Christ on the Way to the cross – perhaps some are thinking of giving up because Paul exhorts them not to “accept the grace of God in vain.” “See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” Can you tell this is one of my favorite verses?
So we hear of the trials and sufferings of the early Christians – the threats from without and within and the temptation to give up in the face of all these challenges. We know that Mark believes perseverance during suffering leads to faith which can produce miracles and encourages believers to follow Jesus on the Way to the cross no matter what may come. Perseverance on the way to the cross can produce miracles.
Well, then, what about us, here in modern-day Antioch, Ca? What circumstances of contemporary life make it difficult for us to be faithful to following the path Jesus took? What encourages us to continue and not give up in the face of hardships? And what are the hardships of living the life of Christ and following his path to the cross for us today?
Could the challenge to our faith in contemporary times come from within rather than from without? No one in 2009 in America will literally be fed to the lions for professing to be a Christian. There may be some false prophets out there for sure, I will not deny that. But I think that the real challenge for us is to live a life steeped in the Way of Christ in a society that, for the most part, doesn’t get it. We are challenged to intentionally live a life that is not anything like the lives around us. What percentage of Californians go to church each Sunday morning? How many pray over meals in restaurants? What keeps us from personal prayer? Do we think, I am too busy, too tired, too overwhelmed by keeping things going to attend to my spiritual life? Too embarrassed at being different? Afraid to offend? Or be politically incorrect? Too caught up in the social and economic daily struggle? Or what if, one day, we wake up and find that our connection to God is gone? We feel that God has abandoned us – because something terrible has happened – or out of the blue - the real dark night of the soul – when we pray and we hear no response. This happens to priests, deacons, bishops, lay people, mystics, monks, sisters, people of all religious persuasions - even Mother Teresa. What then? Our challenge is within us to follow the path that Jesus took to the cross. We shouldn’t be deceived into thinking we have it any easier than all Christians throughout the centuries. A life lived in Christ is not easy. It is not easy but it is everything.
At our baptism we or someone acting on our behalf pledge us to participate in the life of Christ in five ways: Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers? Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? These are our walking orders – teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer, resisting evil, repentance, proclamation, serving Christ, loving your neighbor, promoting justice & peace, and respecting the dignity of all. God grant us all perserverance on our way.
Perseverance can produce miracles on the way to the cross. The storm was stilled after the disciples called out to Jesus – because they HAD FAITH he could do something, even if he was a little cranky about it. In their dark scary night they believed in the miracle of safety and sanctuary in Jesus’ presence. They had the faith that could lead to miracles.

We have the faith that leads to miracles on the way to the cross. Let it be so. Amen.

Unseen Hope (Sunday June 7th)

Unseen Hope

When I watch the news these days I sometimes feel hopeless – there are so many stories of people really suffering, homeless families, folks who have lost jobs they held for decades, kids going hungry. Not just a few, a LOT of people. At times it seems to me that the situation is really not fixable, and I turn the TV off, because the problem is too big for me. There have been some glimmers of hope that we might have hit the bottom of the recession, but for a lot of Americans new jobs and permanent housing are a long way off. The OT lesson for today has a sense of this desolation and emptiness – Isaiah is sent out to talk with those who can’t listen with their ears and see with their eyes and who won’t turn and be healed. He asks the Lord God, “How long, O, Lord?” And the reading from Romans’ echoes the feeling of even the earth groaning with labor pains. Paul writes, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23and 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.” The world groans in pain while waiting for redemption. Our world groans in social, financial and spiritual pain while waiting for redemption from the actions of those, and perhaps all of us, who would not see with their eyes, hear with their ears, or turn and be healed.

Almost ten years ago I was working in a Skilled Nursing Facility in San Francisco. And I volunteered with a program at the Episcopal Sanctuary near where I worked. I felt like I was right where I was supposed to be – I loved my job and I loved helping to set up a program at the Sanctuary called CHEFS – Conquering Homelessness thru Employment in Food Service. It was a good time in my life, I felt useful and purposeful. Like I was making a difference in my little part of the world. Then the company I worked for went into bankruptcy and I lost my job. That’s the really short version – I ended up feeling like I had been used and betrayed by the system I trusted and I was scared, too, I had three kids at home and I was a single mom. Having just bought a house and moved to Concord, I wondered how I was going to make ends meet and I have to admit I was more than scared. But I never got to the really hopeless part because I was able to find a job within a couple of weeks. I was lucky and I believe the Spirit was with me. I can’t claim to know what people feel when they are out of work for months, have maxed out their credit cards, have sold everything they can sell and see that their options are running out. That’s where too many people are in America today. This is the dark night of the soul, when hope has run out. I heard a little boy whose family is in a bad financial situation say on the radio the other evening, “I’ve given up.” A seven year old without hope.

St. Paul knows this kind of hopelessness, too. In our reading today St. Paul talks about human suffering from his own experience. During his career of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the gentiles – the people who were not Jews – he had some incredibly rough times: shipwrecks, imprisonment, unfriendly crowds, difficult living situations, depending on the kindness of strangers for food, housing and so on. Paul’s early life as an educated Greek, Roman citizen, respected religious leader, and persecutor of Christians, was totally turned upside down by his call to evangelize for Jesus Christ. As he said himself, he was the most unlikely to be called to be a disciple of Christ. He went from a life of privilege to a life of struggle and suffering for the sake of the Gospel. So Paul knows all about hope. The intensity of his hope is based not on a change in the human condition, but he looks forward with hope to something he couldn’t even imagine – the full glorification and liberation of God’s Kingdom. I can’t even imagine what that might look like. I know what I hoped for in my dark night of the soul – some real human relief from the fear that I might not be able to take care of my family. I got that, thanks be to God, but I experienced something else, too. Paul talks this new Kingdom of Jesus Christ as the “first fruits” of the Holy Spirit. The Sunday after I lost my job I went to church as usual and was very aware of how lost I felt. I sat in my pew and felt all the sadness and fear and wondered what I was going to do – and then I had a thought. I thought, “now I can go to Seminary”. An old deep desire of my heart – something I hadn’t thought of for years – resurfaced by the power of the Spirit through my heart broken open by human grief. And I did eventually go to the School for Deacons at the Seminary in Berkeley and eventually ended up here with you. The fruits of the Spirit opened me to not just a new job, but a new life in Christ, living more and deeper into the Gospel. Thanks be to God.

In today’s Gospel, Nicodemus comes to visit Jesus at night. Nicodemus also was a Pharisee, a religious leader, like Paul; and member of the Sanhedrin which was a Jewish council of judges; he was an educated and important man. Some Biblical historians think that he is the same Nicodemus ben Gurion, who is mentioned in the Talmud (a book of Jewish law and writings) as a wealthy and popular holy man who had the power to do miracles. He comes to Jesus by night, looking for some answers. The powers that be have seen the miracles Jesus has been doing around the countryside and they know that apart from a relationship with God, no one can do these amazing acts. Jesus answers the unspoken question Nicodemus asks. Who are you, how can you do this? What does it all mean? Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus is confused by this conversation because he doesn’t understand life beyond his human experience. Nicodemus has come to Jesus hoping to hear something – but what? When Jesus explains about life in the Spirit Nicodemus thinks Jesus is talking about climbing back into the womb and being born human again. Jesus is talking about the life lived in the Spirit – the great gift of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, given to all of us after the Resurrection to be our comfort and hope in the present days of human suffering. We experience the first fruits of this hope through the Holy Spirit. As adopted children and heirs to the kingdom along with Christ we wait with creation “in hope 21that 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.” And what gives us this hope is the movement of the Spirit in our lives. Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost – the day when the gift of the Spirit was given – and spread through the world through human beings like us. Pentecost brings us together as God’s beloved family and reminds us of Jesus’ commandment that we love one another as he loved us.
Where is the hope that our world needs today? It is foolish to place our hope in things of the flesh, as Paul says, hope that is seen is not hope. And he goes on to say that if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Nicodemus got the answer to his unspoken question from Jesus and evidence of his behavior after this conversation with Jesus shows that he might have had the ears to hear and turn and be healed. And me? My experiences of the power of the Holy Spirit in my life have taught me to depend completely on Jesus for my life and hope. Being human it’s hard not to feel hopeless and desolate at time; it’s hard to always remember that I am born of water and spirit; and I depend on the Holy Spirit to bring me back to hope and love again through the fellowship of the community of believers. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Amen. 17

For the Dying...

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death...

Luke 1:78-79

Please, Lord, be with all those who suffer today from life-threatening diseases and the knowledge that their lives on earth are nearly over. Bless their families with peace and love and take the dying into heaven to live with you forever. Amen.

Matthew and I used to walk the setter Morgan by Iwo Jima and look out over Arlington Cemetary. I am in awe of the sacrifice that has been made on our behalf and I bless all those who were brave enough and cared enough to give all they had to give. Please, God, no more war. Amen.

I Dare You

Dear Jesus, our Peace: To each of us you say “come follow me, follow me not just for an instant but in the faithfulness of a lifetime and as your call grows clearer, I, Christ, pray in you, dare to make a gift of your life.” This is the prayer of Broth Alois from Taize, a beautiful and perfect prayer about our corporate and individual relationship to Jesus. Let me say it again. Dear Jesus, our Peace: To each of us you say “come follow me, follow me not just for an instant but in the faithfulness of a lifetime and as your call grows clearer, I, Christ, pray in you, dare to make a gift of your life.”
All of our readings today are about our relationship with Jesus after the Resurrection. The reading from Acts describes the consequences suffered by Peter and John after they healed a man on the steps of the Temple at the hour of prayer - in the name of Jesus. There is a great uproar from the people inside the portico to the Temple – someone who had never walked in his life, who they had seen on the steps of the Temple every day - was standing, clinging, to Peter, and walking. In response to their astonishment, Peter witnesses to the prophets foretelling the coming of Jesus and to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. This ruckus alerted and annoyed the rulers and high priests who took Peter and John prisoner. They held them overnight and the next day demanded to know by whose authority they had performed this miracle – as if it were a crime to heal someone who had been lame from birth. Peter declared that is was in the name of Jesus who had been crucified, the cornerstone that had been rejected. Privately, the authorities recognized that a notable sign had been performed and would attract the attention of many people. And they were afraid of what the people might do if anything happened to John and Peter. So, as the lame man had nothing bad to say about them, the authorities let Peter and John go, demanding that they not speak anymore in Jesus’ name. Peter famously replied, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” The conviction of the disciples and their dependence on the Holy Spirit for words to speak is a model of Christian behavior and spirituality. God may grant us the power and courage to do likewise.
The psalm for today, Psalm 23, is the first one we learn to say as children and the last one we remember when we grow old. It describes our relationship with Jesus as protector. When Jesus the Lord is my shepherd, I will not want for anything. He leads me, restores me, comforts me with goodness and mercy all the days of my life. The gospel reading is also about Jesus as caretaker. Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. The good shepherd knows each and every sheep and they know him, too. They trust him and depend on him for their very lives. I do not doubt for one minute that I have been dependent on the Love and Mercy of Christ Jesus from the moment I was born, and I am sure that many of you, if not all of you, feel that in your hearts, too. Jesus cares for the sheep by the authority of God, his father and our father, his mother and our mother. In our day, the Bishops of the Episcopal church represent this shepherd and protector aspect of Jesus. The Greek word for bishop is episcopos, or overseer. So we are a church of bishops. If you have a prayer book in front of you, open it to page 855 and follow along with me about the ministry of bishops. “The ministry of a bishop is to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as apostle, chief priest, and pastor of a diocese; to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the whole Church; to proclaim the Word of God; to act in Christ's name for the reconciliation of the world and the building up of the Church; and to ordain others to continue Christ's ministry.” So our bishop is our symbolic and sacramental shepherd. And that is why he carries a staff just as a real shepherd in the time of Jesus might do. Turn the page over to 856 and follow along with me the duty of all Christians. “The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate worship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.” We understand the call to weekly worship, but the rest of the description of our duty as Christians is not very specific. If Jesus is our shepherd and protector by whose power we want for nothing, and by whose grace our daily lives depend – then what are we to do in return? What does God expect from us for all his mercy and kindness to us?
I think we will find that the crux of the meaning of our relationship with Jesus is spelled out in the reading from 1st John in Chapter 3. “We know love by this. (WE KNOW LOVE BY THIS); that he laid down his life for us – and we are to lay down our lives for one another.” There it is – we are to be for one another as Christ is to us: little shepherds. “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help? Little children, let us love, not in word and speech, but in truth and action.” If Jesus has died for us we should live for each other, by the power of his spirit who lives in us. The first time I had the honor of preaching at St. George’s was on Maundy Thursday. This is the day that Jesus tries to convey to the disciples that he is really leaving them and he gives them to each other to care for and love. Jesus shows this intimate and personal love by washing their street-dirty feet with his own hands, and says, that the disciples should likewise wash each other’s feet. We should likewise wash each other’s feet – or the modern equivalent of that kind of intimacy. We need to take care of each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. But how do we do that, you might ask! Each of us has a gift or more than one gift that God has given us and that is what makes us the Body of Christ – our gifts and talents help us continue to be Christ for the world and each other. Sometimes we feel our gift is very small and maybe not important – but with love and nurturing our gift can be just the right thing at the right moment – and all gifts grow and thrive with love and attention. Today after the service we will have an opportunity to begin to discover and explore our own gifts as members of the Body of Christ. It will be exciting and challenging – and require courage and hope from all of us as disciples of Christ, just like the disciples of Jesus’ day. May God Bless our discovery process.

Let us pray. Dear Jesus, our Peace: To each of us you say “come follow me, follow me not just for an instant but in the faithfulness of a lifetime and as your call grows clearer, I, Christ, pray in you, dare to make a gift of your life.” Amen.

Roses in Spring

Isn't that what you and I want, even now, in the midst of our painful circumstances -- to understand God like we never have before, to see him as we've never seen him before, to emerge from our days of suffering with God's blessing and with a life that can be described as good?"
—Nancy Guthrie

Thank you, Lord, for the beautiful reminders of your grace and goodness to us that these Spring flowers bring. Help us to remember to love each other as you loved us. Help us to trust in your boundless love and kindness to us. Love us and teach us so that we may love and teach and serve others. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

Maundy Thursday Sermon

Foot Washing
In our Gospel reading for today Jesus takes on a lowly servant’s role. In his day there were no paved roads or closed-toe shoes to protect one’s feet from the dust and dirt of the streets. A servant was assigned to greet guests with a basin of water and clean towel to refresh their feet and welcome them into the home. This was a particularly distasteful job as there was sewage and other smelly stuff in the streets of that day. The foot washer was faced with a challenging task in cleaning the guests’ feet. It was nothing like our gentle washing of clean feet during our reenactment of the scene from this Gospel later tonight. This meeting of friends was during the festival of Passover, which we heard about in the Old Testament Reading, and Jesus had gathered with his friends to celebrate. But there was no servant to wash the feet of the people gathered, so the feet had gone unwashed. Taking up the role of the servant, Jesus ties a towel around his waist to accentuate the aspect of his actions. He then starts washing the feet of his friends. As we know, Peter protests being serviced in this lowly way by his lord and master… I wonder how we would feel about Jesus washing our feet? How does it feel to have our feet washed by our friends here as we are Jesus for each other?

There are three short passages in this story that stand out for me. The first is right at the beginning “: Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Jesus knows that the time is short and he is gathered here with his friends whom he loves. He is concerned that they haven’t get quite gotten the idea of what is going to happen, but he tries to prepare them to remember and share the unconditional love he has had for them, which has held them together thru all their experiences, joys and fear. The emphasis this night is on intimate friendship and shared service.

The second phrase that grabs me is when Jesus says, ““Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” Just to make it really clear that Jesus is putting the disciples in each others’ care he has shown them this example of humble servitude as an example of how they are to approach and care for one another. (Pause) The Icon for the SFD, my alma mater, is an icon written by Lucia Dugliss, the wife of the Dean, Rod Dugliss. It is entitled “The Holy Ablutions” and it depicts the scene of the footwashing. Lucia describes the rich colors of the icon: “the brilliant colors give us a glimpse of the staggering beauty, glory, generosity and depth of the Divine Nature manifest as Jesus humbly establishes God’s kingdom in love and service.” Love and Service. These are Jesus’ expectations for us in our relationships with each other as a small band of his followers.

The last phrase that catches me is the final one, “Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Now Jesus turns his humble actions into a commandment on a level with the 10 commandments that they all knew so well, the commandments that God had given to Moses. This is now the depth of expectation Jesus has for his actions of service and love: that they will become a visual and physical reminder of the new commandment given by God that we should love each other just as Jesus has loved us. And in this way, everyone will know who we follow, if we show love for each other. When we are baptized or renew our baptismal vows, one of the questions asked of the congregation is “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” And we answer, “I will, with God’s help.” I will, with God’s help, seek and serve all people and love them as much as I love myself. Wow. Can we live like that? Do we know people who live up to this challenge? All baptized Christians are called to serve Christ in those we meets and deacons are particularly called to set an example of love and service, a sacramental representation of the deacon Christ and his diaconal church, as it says in the book, Many Servants, by Ormande Plater. I know several deacons in this diocese who set a mighty example of servant leadership. One has a house in Bay Point which was left to her by her grandmother. She has turned it into a food bank and resource site for the entire community. She and some volunteers gather and distribute food to those in need, entirely without any other kind of support. Another deacon I know runs an afterschool program in a marginal neighborhood in San Francisco. Many children who would go home to an empty apartment and maybe get caught up in gang activities find a welcoming place to spend some hours playing games, listening to stories and getting help with their homework, free to their grateful parents. Still another deacon I know is the minister to the sailors at the Port of Oakland. He travels ups and down the western seaboard bringing comfort and spirituality to many seafarers. These are mighty examples of love and service in our own diocese. However… I think Jesus is taking the reality of love and service to a deeper level here. We are all called – lay people, bishops, priests and deacons, to serve the poor and needy. But in this demonstration of service, the washing of feet, I think Jesus is asking us for something very basic to our faith. I see the commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” as a call to intimacy, the kind of intimacy that true friends share, agape is the Greek word. Jesus calls us to be there for each other in intimate, nurturing, caring relationship, the way he cared for his disciples. This is the love and service of a thousand small gestures of thoughtfulness and support. This is the love and service of a phone call just at the right moment, a hug, a shared laugh, the deep silence of compassion. God calls us to intimate service for one another and then the world will know us. These kinds of relationships lead us out into the world together to serve the needy as Christ’s disciples. The deepest level of loving serving friendship will bring the world to know we are Christians by our love. Amen.

Faith

Faith
“Keep this for me.”What child has not said this,And placed a treasure in his Mother’s handWith strict injunction she should keep it safeTill he return?He knows with her it will be safe;No troubled thought or anxious fear besets his mind,And off he runs light-hearted to his play.
If children can so trust, why cannot we,And place our treasures , too, in God’s safe hand;Our hopes, ambitions, needs, and those we love,Just see them, in his all embracing care,And say with joyous heart, “They are with Thee.”
Author Unknown

A Blessed Holy Week to all with Love from Mary

First Fruits

Thank you, Lord, for the beauty and newness of Spring. You give us hope and fresh minds to focus on your love and care for us. How can we share that with others today? How are you calling us to new life on this early spring day? Bless our hearts of love for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

FIRST LILACS OF 09

Thank you, Lord, for the smell of new Spring and the flowers that appear each in their own turn. Today I bless the luxurious lilacs which scent my garden - their color and extravagant beauty fill me with hope and reassurance that Spring comes again and again. We are new and the same in the flowers. Thank you for this blessed Lent of self-examination and springing hope for new life in your son our brother, Jesus, as we look beyond the grave with love. Amen.

It helps, now and then, to step backand take the long view.The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction ofthe magnificent enterprise that is God's work.Nothing we do is complete,which is another way of sayingthat the kingdom always lies beyond us. No statement says all that could be said.No prayer fully expresses our faith.No confession brings perfection.No pastoral visit brings wholeness.No programme accomplishes the church's mission.No set of goals and objectives includes everything. This is what we are about:We plant seeds that one day will grow.We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.We lay foundations that will need further development.We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everythingand there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.This enables us to do something,and to do it very well.It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results,but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.We are workers, not master builders,ministers, not messiahs.We are prophets of a future not our own.
—A prayer/poem by Archbishop Oscar Romero

The Power of Water

God of Heaven and Sky, Earth and Water - Bless our depths that we have not plumbed and our deeps that are known only to You. Show us the beauties that we might not have imagined and help us to keep the whole world safe and healthy which you have given us as a miracle of love and presence. Comfort the family members and friends of the football players who were lost at sea. Help us all learn to respect the power of water in it's natural state so that we may learn to use all of your resources for the good of all people. Thank you for surrounding us in water at birth, at baptism, and in our living every day. May water remind us that you are everywhere always. Amen.

Double Rainbow over Highway 37 at dusk...

Dear Lord, In this time of national and worldly crisis it is Lent. I have no choice but to examine my own sins and failures, fears and terrors. I offer my own sadness, grief and suffering to you in the deep hope that you will change me in the way best to guide me in doing your will. Thank you for the beautiful world we live in, which you love and gave to us as your gift. Help us to protect and love the world as you do. Thank you for your angels who keep me going and help me to be an angel to others. Bless us in this season of Lent as we seek to know you more and live in deeper relationship with you on the Way. In Jesus name amen.

Your Grace is Sufficient for me.

Dear Lord I pray for deeper understanding of the work and role you have given me in this world. I ask for sufficient grace to do your will and compassion to share with the people I meet on the Way. On my own I make a mess of things and with your love I can do the good you need me to do. Please bless my hands, heart, head and tongue (!) and give me words to help and heal. In Jesus name and for his sake, Amen.