The myth of redemtive violence

Sermon for Sunday July 29, Colossians 2:6-15,(16-19), Luke 11:1-13

“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.”

I speak with you in the Name of God. Amen!

As many of you may have guessed, when I was a teenager, I was a bit of a dork. Three of my favorite things, were comic books, cowboy movies (especially John Wayne) and, I must confess, professional wrestling—though down south we called it rasslin’ instead of wrestling. Anyway, if you think about it, the story line of every comic book, cowboy movie, and rasslin’ match is pretty similar. There is a good guy and a bad guy. For the majority of the story the bad guy is winning, and just when you think there is no hope for the good guy, by some extraordinary use of violence the good guy prevails and every body lives happily ever after. However, here’s the rub: everyone does not live happily ever after, because in the next issue, or movie, or match. Either there is a new bad guy to over power, or by some fluke the previous bad guy survived and the whole story gets repeated again. A classic example of this pattern, as New Testament scholar Walter Wink points out, is the comic strip and cartoon “Popeye the Sailor Man.” Wink writes,

In a typical segment, Bluto abducts a screaming kicking Olive Oyl, Popeye’s girlfriend. When Popeye attempts to rescue her, the massive Bluto beats his diminutive opponent to a pulp, while Olive Oyl helplessly wrings her hands. At the last moment, as our hero oozes to the floor, and Bluto is trying, in effect, to rape Olive Oyl, a can of spinach pops from Popeye’s pocket and spills into his mouth. Transformed by this gracious infusion of power, he easily demolishes the villain and rescues his beloved. The format never varies. Neither party ever gains any insight or learns from these encounters. They never sit down and discuss their differences. Repeated defeats do not teach Bluto to honor Olive Oyl’s humanity, and repeated pummelings do not teach Popeye to swallow his spinach before the fight.

Wink goes on to describe this as the myth of redemptive violence, the myth that things can be accomplished and that evil can be vanquished by overwhelming force, the myth that might makes right. Furthermore, there is evidence of this formative myth operating in every culture and in every age of human history at least since the agricultural revolution occurring about 3000 years before the life of Jesus Christ.

Speaking of the life of Christ, this myth of redemptive violence was most certainly active back in Jesus’ day. The Roman Empire had made quite a compelling argument that they were rightfully the rulers of the world because they had the military might to destroy any opponent. The Roman legions massed for war, cresting a hill set for conquering, were the ancient equivalent of Shock and Awe. Now here is where things start to get really interesting. In our reading today from Paul’s letter to the Colossians he writes, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.” Now, imagine with me for a second that we had no knowledge of the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Imagine if we only had this letter to the Colossians and read about Jesus’ triumph over the ruling authority. We would probably assume that he had won some great battle, that he had marshaled forces and succeeded through the physical and moral destruction of his enemies. For indeed this is almost all we have ever seen. Be it a popular election, a spectator sport, or a war we have rarely if ever seen anyone triumph in any other way.

But, and it is a big ol’ but, we do have knowledge of the gospels. We know the story of Jesus and there isn’t a army that marches off to war with Jesus in the front brandishing a sword in any of them. Even in the apocryphal gospels that are not part of scripture there not a story of Jesus bringing down the powers that be, the Roman Empire with military might. Something radically different occurs the narrative of Jesus. He does not develop new strategies for the destruction of his enemies, rather commands us to pray for those that persecute us. He does not amass a tremendous fighting force backed a military-industrial complex, rather the anointed one walks unarmed, penniless, and alone to the cross. He does not call fire from heaven down upon his executioners, rather he prays, “Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do.” He does not seek revenge for the violence done to him, rather he rises from the grave without bitterness or malice forgiving and says peace be with you. In the gospel of Jesus Christ—in the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah—we are a long way away from Popeye and Bluto, a long way away from the myth of redemptive violence. We are rather in the midst of the myth of redemptive sacrifice, redemptive love, redemptive forgiveness, and redemptive grace.

The gospel passage proclaimed today is Luke’s rendition of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus’ instructions to the apostles and us on how to pray. The formative narrative of redemptive sacrifice and forgiveness is enmeshed within this prayer. Jesus tells them and us to pray for God to provide daily bread. We are not instructed to pray that we have more bread then everyone else, more riches then our neighbors; rather pray for our daily bread, a sufficient amount to get through today. Furthermore we are told to pray for God’s forgiveness as we forgive those that trespass, sin, or are indebted to us. In other words, we are not to pray for the destruction of those who harm us, or that we are able to maintain a position of power over those less fortunate then us. No, we are to pray that we have the will and ability to ensure that all enjoy the providence and abundance of God’s creation like we have. We are to pray that we are able to pass on the graciousness of God to those that sin against us even though they do not deserve it, for indeed we do not deserve it either.

As you are aware, the Lord’s Prayer is a major part of our Anglican style of worship. We say it during every Eucharist celebration, as well as every morning, noonday, evening prayer, or compline we do together. The importance of this repeated practice of prayer is almost to great for me to articulate. For indeed the myth of redemptive violence is told over and over again in almost every context of our lives. From James Bond movies to spectator sports, from history books to, yes, even in organized religion, we formed by the narrative of dominance. However, it is not all that we hear and see. Whether it is Gandhi’s Satyagraha form of Non-Violent Resistance, Martin Luther King’s Soul Force, Dorothy Day’s Hospitality Houses and Catholic Worker Movement, Archbishop Tutu’s Truth and Reconciliation commission, Mennonite pacifism and yes even our simple repetition of the Lord’s Prayer, the narrative of forgiveness is told and is a part of our being as well.

Our job, our formation, our action plan, must include getting to know this different story well. Immersion in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, knowledge of those who followed him and lived the new story and attempting to live it out in our own lives is a start. We must also, proclaim this new story in every corner and crevice that the myth of domination has seeped into.

Jesus proclaims today that if we ask we shall receive. I invite you to this altar today, not merely so that things can carry on as they have, but hoping that you will join me in asking God to transform us, to form us by the narrative of Grace, to empower us to triumph as he triumphs and live our lives, “rooted and built up in [Christ] and established in faith.” Amen!

Bicycle

So, I have been on a bit of an environmental kick lately. For once this has included more then me just complaining about how we are destroying our planet. Indeed, I do believe we are performing some form of slow mass suicide by making our planet uninhabitable to human life.

Inflammatory rhetoric aside, this time I am trying to consider this a spiritual discipline that I need to practice physically and materially and not just rant about. I have posted more about this at my website www.barefootpriest.com. Last night, however, my wife and I bought bikes for the purpose of commuting. My goal is to commute by bike at least three times a week. This is part of a greater effort on our part to become carbon neutral. I'll keep you posted on how this works out.

Sermon for 21&22 July

The sermon actually got written early this week:

“As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying.”

I speak with you today in the name of the One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen!

I’m going to take a bit of a risk this morning. See, I don’t like to make assumptions about scripture. I believe that old adage about what happens when one assumes things is especially true in regards to scripture. The things we say about scripture should at least be present in scripture, even if most of the time we have no clue what they mean. Therefore, with your prayers of support, here is my assumption: the prophet Amos, dear, dear Amos, had to have friends.

I know that does not sound like too risky of an assumption, but I read the entire book of Amos this week and there is not a single reference to another person that we could even remotely consider a friend of Amos; enemies of Amos, yes; people extremely annoyed by his presence and prophecy, yes; but friends…not so much.

However, he must have had friends. Surely he must have had someone close to him that could pull him aside and say, “Dude, cheer up a little bit. I mean, come on man, every time you make one of these prophecies it’s all doom and gloom and the day of the Lord is wrath stuff. Don’t you know that you could get a lot more publicity and airtime if you tell the people what they want to hear?” Surely someone had to come to Amos and give him a heads up.

However, if someone did try to clue Amos in as to how things get done, the way things are, and how the game is played, Amos apparently did not listen. Amos is relentless in his denunciation of the powers that be: the ruling authority, the religious authority, the rich, and powerful. We hear a bit of that in our reading today which comes from the 8th chapter of the book. He writes, “The Lord said to me: the end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by. The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day says the Lord GOD; ‘the dead bodies shall be many cast out in every place.” This isn’t some random out of character blurb for Amos. No, Amos has been ranting like this for seven chapters already and he has got a whole other chapter to go after this.

What is his reason for this protracted, expressive, colorful, and extensive diatribe against the nation of Israel? We hear a little bit of an answer in verse 4 where he writes, “Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land.” This is a short verse, but apparently, there was a whole lot of trampling on the needy and ruining of the poor going on.

It was kind of like a best of times and worst of times situation back in Amos’ day; the best of times for a very few people and the worst of times for a whole lot of folks. The northern kingdom of Israel was experiencing a time of military security and economic prosperity. Trade relations with their neighbors were opening and the prospect of material gain turned the powers that be towards constrained self-interest. This led, as the commentator R.K. Harrison has noted, to the destruction of the middle class within a generation.” Y’all know what happens when the middle class is destroyed. The gap between the rich and poor becomes insurmountable. Systems of government, law and order become corrupt and weighted in the favor of the powerful few instead of the common good. Policy decisions and enforcement maintain the status quo rather then progress society towards justice and peace. In short order the religious system becomes domesticated by the powers as well, another pawn in the protection of the powerful. Ultimately God becomes domesticated by the religious system as well. Here, however, like Moses before him and many after him, is where Amos comes in.

It is because the powers that be had turned from the protection given the poor in the Law of Moses, because they had turned from the proper way of responding to God’s gracious liberating love that Amos delivers the prophecy of doom. They had turned to wealth and productivity as their idol instead of worshiping the free God who had freed them. Because they were so caught up in their attempt to domesticate God, they failed to hear Amos’ reminder that God is truly free. God is free even to direct God’s wrath upon God’s own people for their neglect, apathy, oppression of the poor, and idolization of wealth.

Now, we should not be too hard on the people of Israel, for indeed in every age and time, in every institution, society, and culture there is idolatry. If we look close enough we can see it in our Gospel passage today. Martha has welcomed Jesus into her home and she immediately dives into what the dominant culture of the day expects of her as a women. She is to produce and that is where she finds her value. She can not imagine any other way of responding, or that there might be anything wrong with the way she acts. She doesn’t know that she is deluded. Biblical Theologian and Old Testament Scholar, Walter Brueggemann describes this as the royal consciousness, where we are too caught up in doing what the fallen powers that be expect of us that we lose the ability to even imagine another way of being. It is into this befuddled, unaware, unconscious submission to the dominant culture that Jesus continually steps in and delivers a swift kick of Christian love.

Would Jesus have loved Martha any less if there was one less dish for dinner, or the plates weren’t placed in just the right spot? Would Christ have judged her if she burned the matza? Of course not, what is important to Christ is for Martha—and, by extension, us to be positioned as disciples that is to say “to sit at the Lord’s feet” as Mary does. For Mary to be a disciple, which is what is meant by the phrase “sat at the Lord’s feet” is an incomprehensible role for a woman in their day and age. It is out side the box of who women were supposed to be. However, Jesus, as he does over and over again in the Gospel of Luke, says that our roles as humans are to be proscribed by him not by the fallen powers that be. We saw it last week with the story of the Good Samaritan, where Jesus tells the lawyer not to allow cultural limitations and fear to define who his neighbors are. In our Gospel today he tells Martha not to be a slave to productivity.

I use the phrase slave to productivity deliberately, because I am afraid. I am afraid that American culture, our dominant culture, our form of the royal consciousness is forming us all into a rabid bunch of “Marthas”, running around desperately trying to accumulate more profits and possessions. I am fearful that the corporate idol of the bottom line is dulling our senses and suppressing our ability to imagine a different reality. Unwittingly, we are making bricks for pharaoh instead of living for Christ. I am certainly not immune to this temptation, which my addiction to caffeine and mile high to-be-read and to-do-lists evidence.
So what are we to do? Are we destined to be mechanical runners of the rat race attempting to finish the maze of life with more toys then our neighbors? Are we destined to continually make bricks for pharaoh with no hope of liberation?

No we are not, if we have the ears to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No we are not, if we are willing to sit at the Lord’s feet, willing to be disciples. We can be liberated from the powers and indeed call the powers to repentance if we continually come to this table not merely for a sedative, not merely to be comforted that everything will be okay, not merely for some pithy “self-help techniques to take the edge off of our rat-race lives”, but come here for a vision of what could be, a vision of the kingdom of God. The kingdom that Jesus proclaims is near to us all the time.

Come to this altar not for appeasement but for motivation to bring about the kingdom. Come to this table for that One Thing. Come to this altar to sit at the feet of the Lord. Come for communion. Come for the feast. Come receive the body and blood of Christ to be the body and blood of Christ. Amen!

Theologian Quiz

The results of this quiz are interesting, while I agree with the summary of Moltmann's thought and I have been intrigued by what I have learn of Moltmann, I have never been able to read any Moltmann with any level of comprehension. It's thick stuff. And I have a harder time understanding Schleiermacher. I'm a little disappointed that Hooker and the via media of Anglicanism is not represented. Anyway, here is the results of the Quiz:

You scored as Jürgen Moltmann, The problem of evil is central to your thought, and only a crucified God can show that God is not indifferent to human suffering. Christian discipleship means identifying with suffering but also anticipating the new creation of all things that God will bring about. Friedrich Schleiermacher 67% Jürgen Moltmann 67% John Calvin 60% Martin Luther 60% Anselm 40% Karl Barth 40% Paul Tillich 27% Charles Finney 20% Jonathan Edwards 13% Augustine 0% Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Friday Five

Yet another F5 from the RevGals:

1. Which Harry Potter book is your favorite and why?

I'm going to go with six. It totally caught me off guard when Dumbledore died, or did he? I'm still in the denial stage of grief about that.

2. Which character do you most resemble? Which character would you most like to get to know?

I think I may be most like Neville though that might just be my insecurities talking. I think if I were a whole lot younger I'd have a crush on Ginny Weasley. That's probably because my wife is a red head as well.

3. How careful are you about spoilers?

a) bring 'em on--even if I know the destination, the journey's still good
b) eh, I'd rather not know what happens, but I'm not going to commit Avada Kedavra if someone makes a slip
c) I will sequester myself in a geodesic dome to avoid finding anything out

I guess I am very careful. I haven't read any web posts or such or even thought about trying to find out what will happen in book 7. I think part of the joy for me is reading the book; so why go digging ahead of time. So my answer is B.

4. Make one prediction/share one hope about book 7.

Hagrid dies, then I cry profusely.

5. Rowling has said she's not planning any prequels or sequels, but are there characters or storylines (past or future) that you would like to see pursued?

Hermione and Ron, Harry and Ginny, but who doesn't want to know what happens to them?

Church Personalities -- Harry Potter Style

Purechristianithink over at Rebel Without a Pew has written a delightful post comparing the personalities of churches to those of the four houses of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Magic from the Harry Potter series. It is remarkable how dead on Purechristianithink is.

Sermon for 6th Sunday after Pentacost Year C

“See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.”

May only God’s word be spoken, and may only God’s word be heard. Amen!

“Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” Now, don’t get too excited. We are not cutting services short today because it is a holiday weekend. Rather I would like for us to reflect on this charge given us by our deacons at the end of every Eucharist we do here. “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” There is both conclusion and continuation in that command. There is conclusion in that we are sent away from this place and out into the world beyond the walls of this parish. There is continuation as well because we are commanded to love and serve the Lord just as we have been doing within these walls in the midst of our worship. The deacon’s dismissal of us is simply saying that the worship may have ended but the service is just begun. When we have said our prayers, when we have confessed our sins and received God’s forgiveness, when we have remembered Christ’s life, death, and resurrection and received the body and blood of Christ, the spiritual food of communion, then we are sent out into the world to serve God, as the catechism says, in the actions of proclaiming the Gospel and promoting justice, peace, and love.

I highlight the end of our worship today because of our Gospel text. Jesus sends out the seventy to proclaim his coming to towns ahead of them on the journey. They are given a mission to heal the sick, and proclaim the nearness of the kingdom of God. Jesus gives them rules of engagement as well, traveling procedures and mission strategies if you will. I would like to highlight a few of these commands of Christ today because they will help us when out deacons send us out on Christ’s behalf at the end of worship.

First, and foremost, Jesus tells them to remain dependent upon God. He says, “See I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” The way that sheep survive in the midst of wolves is to depend upon a shepherd. Christ is our shepherd and to him we should look for care and providence. To paraphrase St. Paul, “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” The trick here isn’t getting ourselves to believe in the power of Christ, however, but to resist the temptation of thinking that we can serve without Christ. Archbishop Desmond Tutu once put it this way, “With out us, God won’t; Without God, we can’t.”

Next we should remember to travel light; in others words, check your baggage. Jesus commands the disciples to, “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals;…” The disciples need not be weighed down by belongings nor seek souvenirs along the way. In turn, we should check our physical baggage. We should not allow the collection, consumption, or maintenance of our material possessions to impede upon our service off God. We should check our emotional baggage as well. Our personal prejudices, imagined slights, desire for glory and accolades, need be left behind so that there is emotional space to care for those that we meet.

Checking our physical and emotional baggage at the door is helpful with the next directive as well. Jesus tells the disciples to proclaim not to judge. The message to be given to those who listen, those who are receptive and welcoming, is the same message to be given to those who do not: the Kingdom of God is near. If there is a word of judgment it is Christ’s to give not ours. Therefore it does not matter if we are witnessing to the good or the bad, the beautiful or the ugly, the kind or the cruel, the powerful or the powerless the message is always the same and freely given: God loves you, God’s kingdom is near, come and feast.

Which leads us to the final marching order I would like to reflect on today: Eat what is put in front of you. While Jesus is commanding his disciples to depend on the hospitality of those they meet, there is for us a reference to communion here. When we come to this place, when we pray together over the bread and wine, by the power of the Holy Spirit it becomes the body and blood of Christ. It becomes spiritual food meant to empower us for the mission of proclaiming the Gospel and promoting Justice, Peace, and Love. We come to this feast not merely for our own nourishment, but for strength for the mission. We come to this altar of God’s not merely for our own sake but to be empowered to carry God’s love to the world. We come to the table not merely for our own peace, but to be sent to wage peace for all. We come to this heavenly meal, not merely for our own personal justification, rather to seek justice for all. Therefore, I invite you, I implore you come! Eat what is sat before you, and then go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Amen!

Who New?

Not sure why I took this quiz, nor if I agree with the results. However, it was moderately entertaining.

You Are a Chimera

You are very outgoing and well connected to many people. Incredibly devoted to your family and friends, you find purpose in nurturing others. You are rarely alone, and you do best in the company of others. You are incredibly expressive, and people are sometimes overwhelmed by your strong emotions.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Friday Five

Friday Five: Hasty Edition

Whoops! I have been in a family-induced haze these few days, with the July 4 holiday and taking time off while relatives are visiting. So I literally lost track of what day it was!

So rather than make you guys wait even one minute longer for the five, I'll dig up an oldie:

Today, what are you:

1. Wearing : Clergy shirt, collar and jeans.

2. Reading : Lots of Harry Potter in prep for movie and final book.

3. Eating : Coffee for it is the fuel of sermon writing.

4. Doing : writing a sermon

5. Pondering : the lectionary and mission

take me out to the ballgame!

I got to go to a Cubs game at Wriggley Field today with my good buddy Matt. It was the fullfilment of a life long dream for me. Good times, good friends, good seats, and baseball...who could ask for anything more?

Five things I dig about Jesus

I got this from Svandive, and if you play along please leave a link in the comments so we can all see.

Five of the things I dig about Jesus are:

• 1. He obliterated the rules and made it all about relationships!
  
• 2. He loved people he wasn't "supposed" to and pissed off people that society says we should suck up to.
  
• 3. He would not compromise his principles for the sake of his own safety.
  
• 4. Healing Powers
  
• 5. Yeah...and that resurrection thing is pretty cool too (see number one)!

God's Peace,
Jason+

Sermon for June 17th, Proper 6 Year C

“Yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”

May only God’s word be spoken, and may only God’s word be heard. Amen!

Once upon a time, in a southern city similar in size to Omaha, in the right neighborhood on the right side of town there was an Episcopal church with all the right people who dressed in all the right clothes and drove all the right cars. It was a well-to-do place as long established in the community as it was long steeped in tradition. The Families had been members there for generations and the patterns of worship well established and unchanging. One day a shocking thing happened in this monumental Episcopal congregation: a visitor. He calmly strode down the aisle and sat down in about the middle of the pews. Oblivious of the indignant looks of those that passed by who normally sat in that pew and equally oblivious of the looks of shock from those that could not believe he had to audacity to sit in so-and-so’s pew, our dear visitor knelt down to pray before the worship began.

Despite a few ruffled feathers at this new comers presence things settled down a bit and the service was moving along fine until the sermon. About an eighth of the way through the sermon the visitor said out loud in a moderate volume, “Praise God!” The people around him were just about to drip off into their traditional mid-sermon naps, so they were not sure it actually happened. Things kept going along and they began to journey towards dreamland again when again in a louder voice the stranger in their midst said, “Praise, God!” This time it was loud enough that not only were the people around him sure it happened, the usher in the back of the church perked up and took notice as well. The priest kept preaching and a few minutes later the visitor once again hollered, “Praise God!” At this point an usher rose and stately walked down the aisle stood over the man and said, “Sir, we don’t praise God in this church.”

We laugh at that joke because we know that in whatever context we are in there are unwritten rules of conduct. Whether it is at the office or at school, the golf course or a sporting event, the bridge club or even at church, we know there are things done and things just not done.

It was no different in Jesus’ day. There were commonly accepted cultural norms of how to act in public. Therefore when we read our gospel today, we should not be shocked by the Pharisees’ shock at the actions of the woman of the story. See in Jesus’ day women weren’t allowed to speak to men in public, much less touch them. So when this woman washes Jesus’ feet we are talking about an action far more culturally appalling then shouting praise God in an Episcopal Church.

So, as I was meditating on this passage this week, I began to wonder: Why did she do it? What would posses here to walk into this room of men, risk, literally, her life, and perform this profound, ostentatious—dare I even say—erotic public display of affection.

As is always a good idea, when one is puzzled by something in scripture, I reread the text. As I was in my fiftieth of sixtieth time through the text, I think I caught a clue to our dear lady’s motivation. Jesus says, “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love.” I think the word ‘hence’ may be the most important word in that sentence. Her sins have been forgiven and she responds by loving.

This leads me to make two points to you today. First, good works are not the path to salvation rather they are the response to salvation. The apostle Paul writes about this a lot in both his letters to the Galatians and Romans. In our passage today he writes, “Yet we know that a person is justified—that is to say saved—not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” Here Paul is referring to the law of God given to Moses. In other passages he brings up the figure of Abraham who received the promises of God well before there was ever a law of God to follow. Indeed the Hebrews who followed Moses out of Egypt did not have the law either, but received it as guidance of how to respond to God’s gracious act of liberation. We do nothing—indeed we can do nothing—we do not possess the ability to earn God’s love. The love of God, the redemptive life giving power of God, is given us freely out of the graciousness of God. The woman of our story does not anoint Jesus’ feet in order to gain salvation and forgiveness; rather she is forgiven and then anoints Jesus’ feet in response, which leads me to my second point.

When we experience the grace of God, when we know the forgiveness of Christ on a deep level, our loving response often does not fit in with the unwritten rules of the day. The liberation of our bondage by God often produces responses that are dramatic and disruptive. Whether it is giving money to those who beg, or food to those who are hungry; whether it is being an advocate, a voice for people who unwritten rules say should keep their mouths shut or the idea that we as a people never have the right to violently take a life; or even shouting “Praise God” in church, responses to the grace of God will often make us uncomfortable even angry. But that leads us to a question.

Who in the story are you going to be today? Who in the story am I going to be today? Who in the story is the community of All Saints going to be today? The “sinful” woman who is so appreciative of what has been given her that she is willing to risk it all to act out her love for God or the Pharisee who can’t get past the way he thinks things ought to be in order to participate in the love Christ in his midst.
I know whom I want to choose to be, and I know whom I hope that All Saints chooses to be. In the words of our baptismal covenant, I pray that with God’s help I and we will be the sinful woman. Amen!

Herding cats!

So, I was helping a friend recently test a website he built for work that is to collect information for a study. I was one of several testers, and fortunately I followed the rules and performed the test properly; for my friend told me some of the testers did not follow the directions completely and their data became null and void. I replied that it is often easier to herd cats then it is to get a group of people to follow directions. In fact my band director in high school claimed that you have not told people directions until you you have repeated them at least three times, but that seven times was a better rule of thumb. In the words of the movie Swingers: Seven times is kinda money.

Anyway, I think there is a metaphor for preaching here, or a least a word to the wise. See I often feel I am preaching the same sermon over and over again to the point that I worry that I'm boring people. The truth of the matter is, however, that you have to repeat things in variety of ways to keep whatever you are saying in people's consciousness long enough for it to seep into their sub-conscious. I guess the seven times phenomenon highlights what Jung once said about it taking a thousand years for an idea to catch on.

Therefore: keep preaching the same old thing that brings about so much newness: God's Grace!

Friday Five

Greetings,

Cathy over at revgalblogpalswrites:

We snitched a bit of time on an quiet island nearby this week. It was a last minute plan, escaping with a minimal amount of preparation. One must have essentials that make it a relaxing time. Perhaps you have had this opportunity to escape, or maybe it's only been a thought to get away. However, suppose you were told to pack some essentials for a trip to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Describe your location, in general or specific terms and....

Secluded beach or secluded mountain cabin, either would be nice. The key is magnificent nature and privacy.

1) What book(s) will you bring?

bible, Harry Potter, Something intellectual from the nightstand stack.

2) What music accompanies you?

Whatever is on the Ipod, but I would listen to a lot of Miles Davis

3) What essentials of everyday living must you take (as in the health and beauty aids aisle variety)?

tooth brush and tooth paste...I'm a minimalist

4) What technological gadgets if any, will you take with you or do you leave it all behind?

Only the Ipod

5) What culinary delights will you partake in while there?

BACON! LOTS AND LOTS OF BACON!

As a bonus question, what makes for a perfect day on vacation for you?

Beautiful scenery and a thick book!

The Thursday either/or.

Greetings,

The rules are simple. Below you are given an option. Choose one and defend you opinion. You may play in the comments here or as a post on your own blog. If you play at your own blog please post a link here to your play so we can all see. And now, your option:

Either Early Bird or Night Owl?


I use to be a night owl, but I am increasingly an Early Bird. I am usually in the office before 7:00 a.m. these days and earlier on Sunday morning. But I love getting here early. It gives me time for reading and prayer--two essentials to a healthy existence.

Sermon for Trinity Sunday year C

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, what is man that you should be mindful of him? The son of man that you should seek him out?”

I speak with you today in the name of the Triune God. Amen!

Good (Evening) Morning! Thank you for joining us on this Trinity Sunday. It is traditional, like Low Sunday the Sunday after Easter, for this day to be another one of those international the Associate gets to preach occasions. I checked around and indeed most of my friends that are associates and/or curates are indeed preaching this morning. It seems there is a bit of a rite of passage for associates to have to stand up—literally in front of God and everybody—and try and explain the Trinity. Now far be it for me to ever back down from a challenge. So let’s give it a go, shall we?

Basically, without getting too technical, the doctrine of the Trinity is the teaching that we know God in three distinct persons, but yet they are one. Now, my middle school English teacher is somewhere in the southern United States cringing right at this moment because I just mixed plural and singular in a sentence. They is plural and can not be One. Luckily God is beyond the rules of grammar; so this is indeed possible. Though possible, I do believe it is still confusing for the very reasons my grammar teacher is cringing. How can three distinct things indeed three distinct persons, be One?

Indeed, the church has been trying to describe our experience of the triune God, the three in One, since our inception. Athanaius, one early articulators of the Christian faith from the fourth century put it this way:

That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.

5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.

6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.

9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.

13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.

14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.

15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;

18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.

Got it? Good, because I don’t. Now that is about as clear as the federal tax code don’t you think? That makes about as much sense as yelling touchdown at basketball game.

Now truly the Triune God is incomprehensible, but not because of God, rather because of our tendencies. See, there is more going on about God than we could ask or imagine. Too often we are clouded by our limited perceptions of things. We have particular categories, boxes in which we place every thing and every person. As long as these people and things function within our conceptions of whom and what they should be we are able to blithely mosey along without paying much attention, without giving ourselves to the moment or each other.

These perceptions often lead to a rather mechanical worldview on our part. It can lead to a checklist type existence with a series of do’s and don’ts. It produces an extreme desire for control, because if we understand the cause then we can manipulate the effect. It manifests itself in a compulsion to have an ordered proscribed path leading to a predetermined destination. Furthermore, the daily grind, the rat race, or whatever you want to call it is a manifestation of our tendency to mechanize our lives. Wake up at the right time, drink the right coffee, drive the right car, have the right job. Complete the checklist, and purge the task list from the blackberry then all is well. The Bishop and Scholar N.T. Wright, describes this as the concrete we have used to cap the wells of spirituality, covers over the life giving waters of God.

This is all fine and dandy until God breaks in gives us a swift kick of Christian love. I think that is what happened to our psalmist today. He or She writes, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, what is man that you should be mindful of him? the son of man that you should seek him out?” I think the Psalmist was on auto-pilot and then suddenly it dawned on him or her, “wait a second, this creation is too elegantly fashioned too particularly ordered for it to be an accident. Furthermore, the being that created all this, the one that nurtures everything from the smallest sub-atomic particles to the paths of galaxies in the universe, cares about little old me.”

“What is man that you should be mindful of him?” Why in the entire universe, of all that is seen and unseen, would God, the Supreme Being, care about us? Furthermore, when there is so much going on in this existence, from the paths of planets and the emissions of stars, to the reproduction of cells and the motions of atoms, why would God seek us out? Why would God call us?

This wonderment, this overwhelming sense of awe is, I believe, the beginnings of enlightenment, the beginnings of wisdom. It is when God breaks in to our well managed routines to say to us there is more than what we are noticing that we begin the path to wholeness. This call of God’s is towards relationship and away from mechanization.

Indeed that is what the doctrine of the trinity is: a teaching about relationship. Our existence is meaningless without relationship and incomplete and broken without a relationship with God. Indeed whether say Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, or Speaker, Word, Breath we are attempting to describe a relational existence much more akin to a divine dance then a machine.

Now this is frightening to us, because a mechanical worldview is clean, comprehendible, and predictable. A relational worldview is messy, confounding, and unpredictable. In a relationship one may be asked to do or go where one least expects. This is okay. We can overcome the fear because we are not alone on the journey. Jesus says to his disciples today, “I know you are not ready for it all. That’s okay. The spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit that is me and is God will be with you and will guide you to all.”

My brothers and sisters, the call for us today is to be open to the cosmic divine dance that is the triune God; to be open to the relationship that is beyond our comprehension and regulation. We are called to be open to the spirit of Truth to lead us deeper into relationship. For as incomprehensible as the trinity is, as incomprehensible that the God that creates all that is seen and unseen cares about you and me, as incomprehensible as it might be God, loves us even more. God loves us so much that God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ and remains with us in the presence of the Holy Spirit. God loves us so much; God invites us to this table to receive the grace of God in the bread and wine that is the body and blood of Christ so we can then go be the body and blood of Christ in the world. Amen!

Friday Five

From reverandmother and the revgalblogpals, another edition of the Friday Five. My answers are in red.

As many of you know, I have been experimenting with some severely curtailed Internet usage. I realized that I had gotten into some bad habits, which got me thinking about habits in general. I understand that a habits/random facts meme has already been going around. In the hopes that it hasn't hit too many of us yet, be as lighthearted or as serious as you'd like with the following:

1. Have you ever successfully quit a bad habit, or gotten a good habit established? Tell us about how you did it.
Smoking....quitting was easy. I did it 500 times at least. Seriously though I haven't had a cigarette in 4 1/2 years. Remarkably I still get cravings.

2. "If only there were a 12-step program for ______M&M Consumption_________!"

3. Share one of your healthy "obsessions" with us.

Naps! To nap is rest in the lap of God.

4. Share the habit of a spouse, friend or loved one that drives you C-R-A-Z-Y.

My wife calls vacuuming sweeping which makes no since to me. You sweep with a broom, vacuum with a vacuum cleaner.

5. "I'd love to get into the habit of _______Hiking_________."

Bonus: What is one small action you might take immediately to make #5 a reality?

Get on the elliptical at the gym to get ready for this summers trip to the black hills/bad lands.

Bonus 2: Try it, and let us know how it goes in a future post!

Thursday Either/Or

The rules of the game are simple. Given the following option pick one and defend your answer. You can play in the comments or on your blog. If you play on your blog, share the link by posting it in the comments so we know your choice.

Today's Option:

John Cage or Conlon Nancarrow


I'm going to choose Nancarrow because his aesthetic somes across as more outward reaching for something as oppose to Cage who comes across more introspective.

God's Peace,
Jason+

Proud purchaser of a Mac

Greetings,

So, Mrs. Barefoot Priest and I bought a mac last night. I am excited, but a little frustrated that I am at work right now and can't play with it. I did get to play with Garage Band this morning for a bit, and it was nice to create music again.

God's Peace,
Jason+

Friday Five

Yet another addition of the friday five from the Revgals

1. Mac? (woo-hoo!) or PC? (boo!)
Why yes, the Friday Five author reserves the right to editorialize!

I'm in a little bit of a quasi pauline already/not yet situation. I concede that Macs are far superior machines and much closer to the kingdom of God than any PC available. Furthermore, i would like to join the kingdom and remove all things PC/Microsoft from my existence, but I have yet to realize this eschatological reality.

2. Pizza: Chicago style luscious hearty goodness, or New York floppy and flaccid?

All pizza is good unless it has fruit on it! However, true New York pizza is neither floppy nor flaccid! I miss living within a block of a Ray's Pizza in Manhattan.

3. Brownies/fudge containing nuts:

a) Good. I like the variation in texture.
b) An abomination unto the Lord. The nuts take up valuable chocolate space.
[or a response of your choosing]

Neither, one should just be thankful one has the opportunity to eat a brownie/or fudge because with or without nuts it is still evidence that God loves you and wants you to be happy (if I may paraphrase Benjamin Franklin's love for beer)!

4. Do you hang your toilet paper so that the "tail" hangs flush with the wall, or over the top of the roll like normal people do?

If I took the time to think about how I was hanging the roll on the roller, those would be valuable moments of my life wasted that I would never again be able to have.

5. Toothpaste: Do you squeeze the tube wantonly in the middle, or squeeze from the bottom and flatten as you go just like the tube instructs?

From the bottom! This is an ongoing conversation I have with my wife. When we got married I agreed to close all dresser drawers and she agreed to squeeze from the bottom of the toothpaste tube. I've lived up to my end of the bargain. Mrs. Barefootpriest, not so much! grrrrrr!!!!!!

Bonus: Share your favorite either/or.

Since I'm an Episcopalian I guess mine would Rite I vs. Rite II.

Hope yall enjoy!

Starbucks and healing waters

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter Year C.
Gospel Text: John 5:1-9

Jesus said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

May only God’s Word be spoken, and may only God’s Word be heard. Amen!

So, sometimes people catch me off guard with questions. It is a professional hazard for a priest. Usually it regards something minute and/or technical with regard to scripture, the prayer book, church history or polity, or some other equally churchy type thing. But last Sunday morning, I was caught by a question that was not technically religious at all.

About 6:45 a.m. last Sunday morning I pulled into Starbucks at 117th and Blondo to grab a couple of coffees on my way to church. I got the oddest question from the barista. Admittedly, on a day to day bases, I do not always dress the part of a priest. If it looks like I am going to be typing all day, writing sermons, lesson plans, emails, and meeting agendas, I will commonly wear “civilian clothes” to work. Furthermore, when I do wear the collar to work, I do not always wear a black priest shirt with a dark suit. I have priest shirts of a variety of colors, no floral patterns of course, but it is not uncommon to see me in a blue priest shirt with a pair of jeans.

However, this trip to Starbucks was on a Sunday morning, and for some reason not only was I wearing the collar, not only a black priest shirt too, but I had also donned my one and only dark suit. I had even combed my hair and trimmed my mustache. Y’all, I don’t really clean up much more than that. I am not sure if it is even possible for me to look more like a suburban-white-boy-priest than I did last Sunday morning standing before the counter of Starbucks.

Therefore, I was caught completely off guard when after taking my order the barista looked me square in the eye and asked, “So, what you got going on today?” Now, yall should know by now that I have a bit of the rascal in me. So, many a smart-aleck remark came to my mind in that moment. The most creative of which would have been to say, “Awww nothing, I just on my way home from a costume party.” However, I am happy to say that either I have matured enough to keep my mouth shut on occasion or it was too bloody early in the morning and I was way too decaffeinated to retort in a coherent fashion. Either way, I did not smart off to the barista. I mumbled something about heading to church and I am still welcome at my local Starbucks.

As I read our gospel this week of the sick man at the pool of Beth-zatha I wondered if he might have had some similar feelings as I did in Starbucks last week. See, he had been ill for 38 years and had been at the pool for a long time the scriptures say. Now it was believed that whenever the waters of this pool were stirred—how or by whom we don’t know—the first person to enter the pool would be healed. It sounds a bit far-fetched to us with our advances in health care, but then again open heart surgery would sound insane or profane to a first century person; so who are we to judge? The point of the matter is it was obvious that this guy was sick, and had been ever so close to healing for quite a while. His presence at the pool alone would seem to indicate his desire to be well. Therefore when Jesus asks, “Do you want to be made well?” could we blame the guy if he was a little put off?

Sitting at that well for a long time was probably like sitting in the doctor’s office for an appointment and having people who showed up after you continually getting their named called before you. This guy had to be frustrated already; so, I am surprised he didn’t look at Jesus and say, “What kind of question is that, ‘do I want to be made well?’ Of course, I want to be well, why do you think I’ve been sitting beside this stinking well all this time.”

At first glance, Jesus’ question seems a bit odd. Furthermore, when we come across things that seem odd to us in scripture those are usually the places we should pay attention to the most. So, following my own advice, I sat with that Jesus’ question this week and began to wonder if just maybe his seeming impertinence was more insightful than I thought. Could it be that our ailing man had been broken for so long, had become so accustomed to blaming others for his inability to get well, that he was indeed addicted to his brokenness? It is indeed possible; for a I believe that we all have times in our lives, aspects of our character, persistent behaviors that impair and impede us. Often we are unconscious of our brokenness, but even more often we unable or unwilling to imagine what it might be like to be whole. Whether on an individual level it is our petty prejudices or imagined slights; whether it is our desire to control or our habit of blaming others for our problems and issues; whether on a congregational level we are willing to admit that despite saying all are welcome here we rarely permit any and all into our midst; whether on a national level it is our addiction to petroleum or our arrogant don’t mess America foreign policy, we refuse to imagine what it might be like to be different, to be whole. We are so use to be broken the possibility of being whole literally scares us. Therefore, Jesus’ question is not impertinent rather perceptive.

There is a concept in the twelve-step community that wanting to be sober is a much different thing then wanting to want to be sober. We see that notion lived out in every level of our lives and in today’s gospel as well. For indeed Jesus has the will and the power--the life giving righteousness--to heal this man, but the man has to be willing, desiring, and want to be made well.

Therefore the barista at Starbucks did not ask a foolish question of me; for indeed I have a lot going on this morning. Indeed, WE have a lot going on in this house, on this morning. My brothers and sisters, Christ’s call to be well is issued to us each and every time we enter this space. When we pass that Font, we are reminded of the stirred waters of baptism and the invitation to be reconciled to God, to be made well, to be whole. We are immersed in the word of God, and we confess both our sins and our desire to be forgiven. In our prayers for the state of Christ’s church and the world, we hope for the wholeness of the world to be returned. In the passing of the peace, we outwardly and visibly symbolize once again our choosing to be a people that together physically embody Christ in the world. And most importantly we come to this altar, to this table of God’s to be fed with the spiritual food of the body and blood of Christ. We come with our brokenness. We come with our pain. We come with all that we are, our joy and our shame. It is here at this table where the feast is prepared that we see what we are, whole if we dare. “Do you want to be made well?” Amen.

Friday Five

Time for another installment of the Friday Five from the RevGals:

1) Would you rather be the host or the guest?

Guest!

2) When you are hosting, do you clean everything up the minute the guests go home? Will you accept help with the dishes?

No, and of course!

3) If you had the wherewithal, and I guess I mean more than money, to throw a great theme party, what would the theme be?

Saints of the Church meets great Jazz musicians...yes I am a dork and very proud of it.

4) What's the worst time you ever had at a party?

The ones I don't remember!

5) And to end on a brighter note, what was the best?

Maybe the same ones, but otherwise New Years 2002/03 kicked much butt!

IPOD Shuffle 9:38 CDT

It is a morning that demands music!

1. Easy Living, Miles Davis, Blue Moods
2. Miles Behind, Medeski, Scofield, Martin, and Wood, Out Louder
3. Turn! Turn! Turn!, The Byrds, Greatest Hits
4. Adam and Eve, Ani Defranco, Living in Clip
5. Never Alone, Johnny Adams, A Celebration of New Orleans
6. Is there Anybody Hear That Loves My Jesus, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Funeral for a Friend
7. Chachaca, Medeski, Scofield, Martin, and Wood, Out Louder
8. Check My. Popeye, Eddie Bo, A Celebration of New Orleans
9. I'll Fly Away, The Dirt Dozen Brass Band, Funeral for a Friend
10. Haleluya! Pelo Tsa Rona, St. Olaf Choir, Hallelujah! We Sing Your Praises!

The rules, for bloggers who want to play:

Get your ipod or media-player of choice, select your whole music collection, set the thing to shuffle (i.e., randomized playback), then post the first ten songs that come out. No cheating, no matter how stupid it makes you feel!

Idea originally from Fr. Jim Tucker of Dappled Things

Teacher of the Year

Greetings,

My wife was named the 8th grade teacher of the year for Morton Middle School Last night. I am proud beyond words. Her talent, skill, and devotion are unparalleled and she is an inspiration to all she meets. You Rock!

God's Peace,
Jason+

May Day

"All you have to lose is your chains"

--I have no idea who said this, but I think it is somehow connected with May Day as international workers day.

I wonder how true it is?

Happy May Day
Jason+

IPOD Shuffle 1:35 CDT

It's gray, it's cold, therefore listening to music is the only option.

1. Something You Got, Davell Crawford, A Celebration of New Orleans
2. The Sun Doesn't Like You, Norah Jones (who I am seeing in June), Not too Late
3. Alakati Owo, Los Hombres Calientes, Vol. 5 Carnival
4. Melena, Los Hombres Calientes, Vol. 5 Carnival
5. Das Wohltempierte Klavier, Book 1: Fugue in E Dur, BWV 854, Daniel Barenboim, Bach Well Tempered Clavier Book 1
6. Macha, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Bubblehouse - EP
7. Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 - "Pathetique": II. Adagio Cantabile, Rudolf Serkin -- Piano, Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano No. 1
8. It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing), Dizzy Gillespie & Stan Getz, Diz and Getz
9. Das Wohltempierte Klavier, Book 1: Prelude in A Dur, BWV 864, Daniel Barenboim
10. Whoopin' Blues, Nicholas Payton, Gumbo Nouveau

ENJOY!

The rules, for bloggers who want to play:

Get your ipod or media-player of choice, select your whole music collection, set the thing to shuffle (i.e., randomized playback), then post the first ten songs that come out. No cheating, no matter how stupid it makes you feel!

Idea originally from Fr. Jim Tucker of Dappled Things

Death Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Greetings,

One of the outstanding, loving, caring, beautiful parishioners of my parish is leaving the hospital today to go home and die. She is too young, too kind, too caring for this to be just. She didn't deserve this battle with cancer. She didn't deserve this pain. And she sure as hell didn't deserve to die this soon.

I know that she didn't deserve the gracious love of God that surrounded her hospital bed this morning. We can't earn or deserve that either. But Grace is little comfort today. It is at most a mustard seed of faith...I hope it is enough!


God's Peace,
Jason+

New Picture for Profile

Friday Five

From the RevGals the Friday Five is...

Tell us about five people, places, or things that have brought surprising, healing joy into your life.

1. The Eucharist
2. Camp Mowana
3. Music (Especially: Bach Prelude in C major from the Well Tempered Clavier Bk. 1, Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain album, and lately the choral music of Eric Whitacre.
4. Preaching
5. Jodie Emerson

Bonus: the scene of both Joy and Pain, but mostly Joy...The General Theological Seminary

God's Peace,
Jason+

Which Church Father are You?

A fun little quiz that is not the most reliable personality test you could take, but at least it is quick! I came up as St. Jerome!

You’re St. Jerome! You’re a passionate Christian, fiercely devoted to Jesus Christ and his Church. You are willing to labor long hours in the Lord’s vineyard, and you have little patience with those who are less willing or able to work as you do. Your passions often carry you into temptation zones of wrath, lust, and pride. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers!

Sermon for 2nd Sunday Easter, Year C

So I ended up not using the script I wrote for this sermon. What I wrote felt contrived an wanted to be more 'natural', whatever that means. Any I post the script knowing that it is not exactly what I said, but I think the gist of what I wanted to say is in here somewhere.

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

I speak in the name of the Speaker, the Word, and the Breath. Amen!

Good Morning! I wish to take a moment and thank yall for being here today. As Wynton Marsalis once titled one of his albums, it is a distinct pleasure to have you here, “in this house on this morning.” See there are many names for this particular Sunday, this particular feast of our Lord’s resurrection, in our Christian calendar. The official name is the Second Sunday of Easter; the second Sunday in the great fifty days of Easter, the fifty days that are considered the Sabbath of the year. But, beyond the official name there are some colloquial expressions used to name this Sunday that exist in Episcopal culture. First, this day is commonly known as Low Sunday, a two fold reference to attendance and adornment. See for a lot of people this is a Sunday off. It is a Sunday where low attendance is expected. After the family has visited, after the ham has been eaten, the eggs hunted, the house cleaned for the arrival of company and then re-cleaned post company, after the new suits, dresses, hats, and gloves purchased for Easter Sunday have been laundered and stored, and, indeed after the piety of lent, with its self-denial and discipline, a Sunday to sleep in sounds good. So, simply because you are here today, simply because you didn’t take this weekend off, I rejoice.

Furthermore, I am grateful that you are here because there is another name this Sunday. It is also known, along with Trinity Sunday, as International-Associates-Get-to-Preach Sunday. See, many a Rector is on vacation this Sunday, and even if they aren’t I guarantee you across this nation of ours, and maybe even around God’s great earth, any church that has an associate and uses the lectionary, the associate in the pulpit this morning. Furthermore, since we always read this gospel about Doubting Thomas the Sunday after Easter, Associate clergy have an intimate knowledge of this scripture.

Through the convenience of the internet, I keep in contact with many of seminary classmates, most of which are associates and are preaching on this text this morning. We corresponded a bit this week about preaching on Thomas, and as we conversed and I read, prayed, and re-read the scripture it dawned on me that our focus was misplaced. While we were drilling a hole in good ol’ Thomas we were forgetting Jesus. So I read the Gospel again, this time paying particular focus on Jesus and I noticed two things.

First the Resurrected Jesus, the one who is Risen, is scarred. Jesus is raised from the grave still bearing the marks of his execution. Early in this passage he shows his hands and side to 10 of the apostles, and then later he has Thomas touch his hands and side. At first glance, we might think these details are placed in the story as identification markers, proof to the disciples that the one who appears in their midst really is Jesus, the one who was crucified, the one who is risen. But I think there is more to it than that. I think there is an implicit message in the scars of the resurrected Jesus that our existence, this creation matters.

See, there have been times in Christian thinking and practice where it has become vogue to think that this life didn’t matter. That our time together was simply something to be endure until the next life, that the physical should be ignored for the sake of the spiritual. This thinking has led to some horrible actions. In some cases it has led people to believe that their bodies needed not be cared for or worse should be damaged as an act of faith. This thinking also has led some to think that we need not care for the environment that God’s creation is here for us to consume and use up completely with ne’er a thought on our way to the next existence.

Jesus, the risen one, the scarred one, stands in opposition to this line of thinking and its harmful byproducts. If Jesus carries his scars to through death to the risen life, then what happens to us in this life is important because we will carry it to the risen life. We should care for ourselves, each other, and this creation because it is the raw material for the next creation.

The second thing I noticed, is that there is forgiveness in this passage. Jesus was not just betrayed by Judas, not just denied by Peter. Indeed, all the apostles abandoned him in his neediest hour. But, yet Jesus appears among them and says “Peace be with you.” Despite their betrayal, despite their abandonment on him, despite their sin, Jesus says “Peace be with you” and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Now it is a good thing this creation matters and good thing that God forgives, because this is the only world we can get to know God in and we are all sinful people in need of forgiveness. So, I am glad you here today. I rejoice that we have come together because this world is where God acts we proclaim it here “in this house, on this morning.” In our celebration of the Eucharist and Baptism we proclaim God’s action and forgiveness in the simple things of life. As Litrugical Theologian Louis Weil says, “The sacraments reveal that the physical world, far from being evil, is the domain of God’s activity. The most common things in human life—a bath, food and drink, a human touch—can serve as the instruments of an encounter with God.”
So, thank God you are here. I rejoice in inviting you to this table, this altar of God. Come experience the risen scarred, know his forgiveness, and Peace be with you!

Friday Five

Another edition of the Friday Five as originated from RevGalBlogPals. Enjoy!

1. Are you a regular patron of dentists' offices? Or, do you go

b) every few years or so, whether you need it or not,


2. Whatever became of your wisdom teeth?

Still in my head, but probably going to be removed in the next year or so.

3. Favorite thing to eat that's BAAAAAD for your teeth.

M&Ms!!!!!! I am addict.

4. Ever had oral surgery? Commiserate with me.

No, but it is looming!

5. "I'd rather have a root canal than ___________"

another four years of Republican leadership in the White House."

Bonus: Does your dentist recommend Trident?
Don't know, I just had my first visit with my new dentist and he was to busy looking for procedures to do to charge me for.

Good Stuff!!!!!

Check out this op-ed piece from the U.K. regarding the release of the British Soldiers by the nation of Iran.

God's Peace,
Jason+

Surprise, Surprise! I'm a music nerd!

Ran across this quiz over at Bob G+'s Blog Hypersync. To those that know me, you aren't surprised I came up a music nerd.

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Musician   Doo doo de doo waaaa doo de doo! (<-- That's you playing something.) Everyone appreciates the band/orchestra geeks and the pretty voices. Whether you sing in the choir, participate in a school/local band, or sit at home writing music, you contribute a joy to society that everyone can agree on. Yay! Welcome to actually doing something for poor, pathetic human souls. (Just kidding.)
Literature Nerd
Social Nerd
Drama Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

God's Peace,
Jason+

Sermon for Easter Vigil 2007, Year C

Romans 6:3-11, Luke 24:1-10

“Do you know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

I speak with you in the Name of God the creator, Jesus the savior, and the Holy Spirit that makes all things new. Amen!

Were any of you shocked by our passage from Paul read just a few moments ago? I wasn’t either. It sounds like pretty typical churchy type stuff. Thoughts like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah baptized into death for new life…whoopty do preacher, it is Easter you’re supposed to say that,” might be running through your head. And, I don’t blame you if they are. When I was reading the passages this week in preparation for this sermon, I certainly flew by that first sentence of Paul’s. My hectic, day to day, what’s the next thing to get done, eyes just skimmed right over it with ne’er a thought at all. But something drew me back, and made me look again. Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death;” not his kingdom, not his paradise, not his club, gang, or crew, not even into his family, but into his death.

Let us not breeze past this death, let us not euphemize this death with phrases like, “He passed on,” or “He was at rest,” or “He was no longer with us.” He died! The Christ, the savior of all was nailed to a tree and left to hang there until he suffocated, until his lungs filled with fluid and he literally drowned in mid-air.
We should not, indeed we cannot, overlook this death because death is our common denominator. Despite our desires to the contrary we will all die. Despite whatever advances in the practice of medicine might occur we will all die. Furthermore, death hurts. Be it our own or that of a loved one, death will always entail suffering; either the physical pain of the dying process, or the emotional grief that comes from losing one we love. Death, like love, hurts!

Let there be no doubt on this point, Jesus’ death was a human death, complete with suffering and mourning. He experienced agonizing pain. Those that loved him experienced bewilderment and grief.

But Jesus’ death was more than a human death. Jesus’ death was the ultimate act of solidarity on the part of God. Jesus lives into the name Emanuel, God with us, in the fullest sense when he experiences what we all experience: death. Jesus’ dying on a cross is a bold and clear message that God is with us in our darkest hours, in whatever depths of pain and suffering we might find ourselves, God is there with us.
The cross of Christ is also a conviction; a pronouncement that we reject the love of God. The violent shameful death of Jesus is a clear condemnation that a society based on domination can not handle a freely loving God; therefore that freely loving God must be destroyed. Now, we have no grounds to judge neither the ancient Romans nor the ancient Jewish leadership. For indeed we continue to kill Christ to this day. Jesus told us in Mathew 25 that when we serve the least of society we serve him. Consequently, the opposite is true as well. When we hate, we hate Christ. When we allow people to starve, we are starving Christ. When there is injustice in our laws, we are wrongly convicting Christ. When we fight wars, we kill Christ. Therefore the cross stands before us, a constant reminder of our inability to be what God intends for us, a reminder of our inability to accept the love of God, indeed the cross of Christ will always remind us of our sin.

At this point, you might be wondering if I have gotten my days confused. You might be thinking at this point, “Preacher, this sounds a whole lot like a Good Friday sermon instead of an Easter Sermon. Where’s the glory, the joy, the praise? Why are you dwelling on Death and sin?” Indeed, you are right, the cross is more then solidarity, more then conviction, it is also a sign of Hope. The death of Jesus on the cross is a sign of hope because it points to the Resurrection. Jesus’ commitment to be God with us—the divine in solidarity with human kind—continues on past death, beyond this mere physical existence to whatever is further than death. The Cross points to our hope in the Resurrection because beyond the indictment and condemnation we receive from the cross there is forgiveness in the Resurrection. From the cross and the empty tomb we learn that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even our sinful rejection of God’s love for us shown in Christ Jesus. Therefore, indeed, there is joy today, praise, and thanksgiving; for God, as we have heard this night in the account of salvation history, has been about saving us since the moment we went astray.

But how do we get there? How do we get to this redeemed resurrected holy life? How do we live in this world but not of this world? How do we not look for the living among the dead? How do we come to this table, this altar of God, to receive the body and blood of the risen Christ? How do we get beyond the cross and, indeed, beyond the empty tomb?

The answer is in the back of the room. We enter this resurrected life through the death of baptism, and that is why I linger this evening upon the death of Christ. My brothers and sisters in Christ, through our baptism we are united with the Israelites in their deliverance by God through the waters of the Red Sea. Through our baptism our dry bones are given new life, breath, blood, and tissue. Through the waters of baptism we are united in the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through the waters of baptism, “This is the night, when [God] brought our fathers [and Mothers], the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea on dry land. This is the night, when all who believe in Christ are delivered from the gloom of sin, and are restored to grace and holiness of life. This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave.” My brothers and sisters, Christ is risen. The lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen!

Quote from Abraham J. Heschel

"An idea or a theory of God can easily become a substitute for God, impressive to the mind when God as a living reality is absent from the soul."

--Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets, Vol. 2, p.1

Good Friday

Greetings,

I'm having an odd Good Friday so far. I feel guilty, but not the way you would think. I haven't been meditating on the crucifixion and come to some deeper understanding of my complicity in death of Christ. Rather I feel guilty because I feel well rested. Holy Week is a busy time for clergy, and I have been busy this week. However, thanks to the shared effort of the leadership team here at my parish, and intentional nap taking on my part, I am not feeling stress, beat-down, haggard, or burnt out. For some reason that makes me feel guilty. Maybe there is some protestant work ethic still left in me that hasn't been completely pushed out. But part of me wonders if I'm letting my team down a bit, if I haven't taken my fair share of the load. I don't want to be worn out or haggard, but I also do not want my team worn out and haggard as well. I especially do not want them burnt out because I didn't take on my fair share of the load. This, my personal mind games and over thinking, is starting to take my mind off of Christ. Hopefully the services today will help me refocus.

God's Peace,
Jason+

Maundy Thursday and the Thursday Four

Greetings,

In honor of Maundy Thursday, this Thursday Four, derived from the Friday five of RevGalBlogPals, is simply this: What four commandments of Jesus do you find the hardest to keep?

Here's my answers:

4. Washing feet.
3. Making sure to store treasure in heaven not on earth.
2. Praying for my enemies.
1. That damn golden rule gets me everyday!

Thanks for playing. Put your answers in the comment section or a link to your post on your blog.

God's Peace,
Jason+

GO TO THE MOVIES!

I rarely give commands, because they are ineffective in the long run. However, for the sake of your soul, go see the movie Amazing Grace. I learned more about being a man and standing up for my convictions than any war film, action thriller, or drama I have ever seen.

God's Peace,
Jason+

Palm Sunday Sermon

Here is a my sermon from this past Sunday, but if you want to read one that is far superior to mine check out the Running Priest.

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.”

May only God’s word be spoken, and may only God’s word be heard. Amen!

I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately, more specifically Jesus’ spiritual leadership. It is not surprising thoughts of leadership have been banging around in my skull, since the vestry retreat ended yesterday; even more so because it is lent and we have been following Christ. Christ is leading us toward this day, Palm Sunday and leads us still toward Easter. This Day we follow Jesus liturgically in the invasion of that ancient Middle Eastern city Jerusalem.

Jesus’ act of riding into the city on a donkey colt is leadership because Jesus is showing us the Godly way to establish the Kingdom of God. Picture with me, that scene of Jesus, probably covered with way more travel dirt then paintings and artistic renderings allow, riding into town with throngs of people waving palms and shouting the royal greeting:

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”

Watching this had to make the “powers that be”, the religious leaders of the day, a bit nervous. In fact, we know some Pharisees were nervous because the scriptures say they tried to get the crowd to shut up. But why they are nervous is not clearly stated. The Gospel of Luke is silent on that point and we are invited to speculate.

Now, I think the Pharisees and other leaders were nervous because they weren’t Episcopalians. See, they had actually read their bible. Now, I know the bible wasn’t complete by this point, and for sure, despite popular misconception, Jesus did not ride into Jerusalem wielding a brown, soft leather bound, King James Translation of the bible with his words marked in Red. I know this. When I say the leaders of Jesus’ day knew their bible, I am, of course, referring to the Hebrew Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament, consisting of the books of Moses, the writings, the psalms, and most importantly for today the Prophets. They knew the great stories of the faith! See when Jesus rode in on a donkey, the Pharisees and other leaders had to recognize the scene from Zechariah 9:6 where the prophet writes,
“See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

They would see Jesus, and instinctively remember the foretelling of the coming prophet king that would establish peace and lift up the lowly.

Now, you might still be wondering why this made them nervous. Establishing peace sounds like a good thing. Indeed it is, unless you are part of the elite who prosper from the status quo. See, in order for the lowly to be lifted there would a disordering of the system, a reorganizing of the way things are. Like Mary the mother of God says in the Magnificat, for the lowly to be raised, the high must be brought down. Consequently, those that manage the system, those on top of the pile, are loath to lose there station. So seeing Jesus’ paradoxically triumphant entry on a humble mule, would make the Pharisees nervous, would make them ask: what is this prophet-king going to do, and what will this cost us personally?

Now the Pharisees weren’t the only power in town. Jerusalem was occupied by the Roman Empire. The sight of Jesus coming in town and being greeted as a king by the people had to at the very least seem weird to the Romans. See, it was ingrained in the Romans that peace came through victory, Roman victory; and the Romans were very good at victory. Make no doubt about it, in their day they were the only super power. They had the largest military force that was also the best funded and equipped with the latest in technological advancement. Where Rome went, Rome conquered. Rome was in no way squeamish about inflicting great violence upon the conquered. So, the Roman soldier standing a top the walls of Jerusalem watching Jesus amble into town on a colt had to wonder, “What’s the big deal?” “Where is this guy’s army?” This dirty hoard of unemployed unarmed fishermen, tax collectors, and vagabonds can not take on the Roman Empire.

Now, we know the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey use to say: a week later Jesus is dead and risen. A few decades later the temple is destroyed and the religious leaders all but exterminated, and the Roman Empire eventually falls as well.
Which leads me to ask, “what are we hereafter today?” How come we Liturgically remember, indeed we re-enact Jesus’ triumphant entry and his last days leading to his crucifixion. I have two ideas about this:

1) We do this worshipful imitation of Christ, because we know about the resurrection, but we don’t understand it. We may intellectually realize that Jesus defeats the powers that be and even the ultimate power of death by his life, death, and resurrection. But we do not get that the kingdom of God is not established by conquest; peace does not come from victory, domination, or control. Indeed, we often are more like the Romans and the Pharisees then we are like Jesus. We still build bombs instead of levies. Our schools are more separate and unequal then we admit. And our battles in the church are more about who we can keep out, more about maintaining the status quo; rather than about how we can share the good news with everyone.

2) We do this thing called Holy Week, because deep down we know number 1 is true. We know we are not right. We know we are wrong. We know we are not as God intends us to be. That’s why we say the confession every week. We know that we need to be formed, indeed transformed by God into what God intends. Simply put: we got some learning to do.

I am blessed to be married to an educator, one who is professionally engaged in the formation of others. She reminds me often that absolutely the worst way to teach anyone anything is through lecture. Study after study after study shows that talking at people just doesn’t get the point across. Now, I am a preacher. I like to think that my craft is affective and effective; so, those study result do not make me happy. However, I know they are true. We learn best by doing, by practice. So that is why we are here this week. That is why we processed with palms today, and why we will wash feet on Thursday; why we abstain from communion on Friday, and immerse ourselves in salvation history to await the Resurrection at the Easter Vigil. We do them in the hope that by literally doing what Jesus did we might be transformed to be more like Jesus. That we may continue to hope that we will structure our lives both personal and communal in more Godly ways. Indeed we do them in the hopes of letting the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, our victory is in our defeat, our salvation in the cross, and I invite you this day to walk with Jesus to the cross. Come! Receive the bread and wine, the body and the blood of Christ shed for you and for all. Come let this mind be in you! Amen!

The Friday Five

This game originates from revgalblogpals and it is called the Friday Five. Play in the comments section or post a link in the comments to your post on your blog.

This week is entitled: Holy Week, Batman!

1. Will this Sunday be Palms only, Passion only, or hyphenated?

Yes!

2. Maundy Thursday Footwashing: Discuss.

The footwashing on Maundy Thursday is experiential worship at its best. Jesus said do as I do, so we do in the hopes of being more like Jesus.

3. Share a particularly meaningful Good Friday worship experience.

Last year I preached on Good Friday. I think we did three services with never more the four or five people at each one. But inspite of the small crowds, or maybe because of them, I really connected with how lonely the disciples must have felt that day. It really helped me imagine what it would have felt like if God were dead if only for three days.

4. Easter Sunrise Services--choose one:
a) "Resurrection tradition par excellence!"
b) "Eh. As long as it's sunrise with coffee, I can live with it."
c) "[Yawn] Can't Jesus stay in the tomb just five more minutes, Mom?!?"

I'm at a new church so this is my first Easter here. My hope is for number 1, of course.

5. Complete this sentence: It just isn't Easter without...
BRASS lots and lots of BRASS! I could do without the lilies however.

Bonus: Any Easter Vigil aficionados out there? Please share.

Yep! I love the Easter Vigil, especially the readings. I would love to use all nine, but alas that isn't going to happen this year. Anyway, it is a wonderful experience of being immersed in salvation history, of getting in touch with our best story and hoping to live it.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my responses to the Friday Five. I hope I get to blog next week, but I am going to be busy for sure.

God's Peace,
Jason+

The Thursday Four!

I'm ripping this game off from RevGalBlogPals who does the Friday Five game. I should be writing a sermon right now, but since I am not feeling very original at the moment--evidenced by my theft of this game--I am procrastinating; therefore in the comments section, tell me four things you like to do to procrastinate. Here's mine:

1. Blog
2. Read
3. Go to a book store
4. Bug other people in my office to procrastinate with me!

God's Peace,
Jason+

IPOD Shuffle

Another installment in the Ipod shuffle game I picked up from Bob G+, though I believe he picked it up from someone else.

1. Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Fugue in C# Major, Daniel Barenboim Piano
2. What a Friend in Jesus, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Funeral For a Friend Album
3. Adam Raised a Cain, Bruce Springsteen, Greetings from Asbury Park
4. Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Prelude in E Minor, Daniel Barenboim Piano
5. Beautiful Day, U2, All that you can't leave behind.
6. Carnival Time, All Johnson, A Celebration of New Orleans
7. Beethoven, Symphony #3, Finale, Berlin Philharmonic
8. Beautiful Savior, St. Olaf Choir, Hallelujah, We Sing Your Praises!
9. Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Prelude in F# Minor, Daniel Barenboim Piano
10. Cuttin' Out, Professor Longhair, A Celebration of New Orleans.

Thanks for Playing!

A confession

With a title like, "A Confession" for this blog entry, I bet you were hoping for something juicy. Well...I'm not sure how juicy this post is; so you might be disappointed. What follows is a confession I wrote for our "Wednesday night laid back Eucharist" We have been using it during Lent, and last night was the last night. We'll probably pull it out again next year. However, our of my own egotism, I wanted to give it a little longer life. So, here it is...

Gracious God, who creates all there is and loves all there is; you command us to love as you love. We failed, we fail, and we are failing. Too many of your children, our neighbors, went hungry and died today; too many of your children, our neighbors, were oppressed today; too many of us counted our wealth in material possessions instead of your love today for us to call ourselves successful Christians, successful God Lovers. Please forgive us. For Christ’s sake have mercy on us. Give us yet another chance to love ourselves, our neighbors, and you as you want us to. Amen!

God's Peace,
Jason+

of moses and fig trees

This is my sermon from last Sunday. Not my best. Not my worst. But it is like I tell my congregation...I don't take credit for the good ones, and I don't take blame for the bad ones.

“I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you…you shall worship God on this mountain.”

May only God’s word be spoken, and only God’s word be heard, Amen!

Today is a special day. Not only is the Sun due to peek its head out this afternoon; not only, with the advancement of the clocks this morning, do we have a clear sign that spring is about to be sprung; not only do we get to freely gather here in this house of God and experience the mystery of communion when we come to this table and receive the ultimate gift of God’s grace in the mundane gifts of bread and wine; not only do we get to sing and pray, but we also get to witness the birth of a community.

Just a few minutes ago, we read the calling of Moses, also known as the story of the burning bush. Now we usually get caught up in Moses when we hear this story. We talk about how he is drawn up the mountain, how he is commanded to remove his shoes because he was on holy ground, and how he baulks at the prospect of leading his people because he doesn’t know God’s name. We get so caught up in the figure head of Moses that we forget what God is doing for all the people called Israel.

See, it’s like this: (yall know I’m a recovering camp counselor, right?) When I was working camps, I was on leadership staff. One of my jobs was to motivate the other counselors to do their jobs. Now this was rarely needed, for indeed most of the counselors I worked with are some of the most dedicated, hard working, self-starting people I know. But, after three or four weeks of mainly 20 hour days, hot sun, the occasionally challenging camper, and always having to be up and energetic, a modicum of exhaustion and self-pity is to be expected. Expected or not, it still must be overcome; therefore, us leadership staff folks had a little saying for when the whining began. We would tell the wayward counselor to “Suck it up, your working for God!”

Now, the staff that were able to actually hear that phrase, my self included, gained the most from the camp counseling experience. We, that is to say I learned what it was to be committed to a community, that my actions always effect someone else, and if I fail someone else suffers with me. In short I learned on a deep level that there is no I in Team.

So, yes, God calls Moses. God calls a person to lead God’s people, a person for God to act through. However, who God called is not nearly as important as to what end Moses was called. Moses was called for God to act through for the creation of a community, a society, indeed a nation founded on the Grace and freedom of God. Now, our story today is barely the beginning of the story of the Exodus, but we get a glimpse of what this community is to be when we hear God say, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you…you shall worship God on this mountain.” Now, that might not sound like much to us. That might not sound like a big deal, but to the slaves in Egypt, and even more so their masters, it is a huge deal. The statement that they would worship the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, is crazy; at least to Pharaoh. The God that we call God, that Jesus called father, the I AM, the one whose name is so Holy that the ancients simply said “the Lord” because they did not want the Lord’s name defamed by their unholy lips, pharaoh did not know this God. The ruler of Egypt had not given sanction to the worship of this God. How could Pharaoh be sure this God would tell the people what Pharaoh wanted said to them. What if this God commanded something of these people that undermined his rule. Well, that just isn’t done, that can’t be. We can’t have free Gods running around graciously acting upon the people, calling their allegiance, there devotion, indeed their love and worship away from the State, away from the king, away from pharaoh. But indeed that is what God’s says will happen. Furthermore, not only will they worship God, they will do it on God’s mountain. They will worship God where God says to worship God not where Pharaoh says.

Our reading from exodus this morning is not the beginning of the story nor is it the end. The people are liberated from pharaoh they do indeed journey to the mountain of God and worship God, but it doesn’t stop there either. They build a society, a nation based on a covenant, not with a king or a bureaucracy, but with God and on God’s commandments. And what a weird society it is, a society that is do what God did in liberating the slaves from Egypt. See, in the exodus we learn that God prefers, not pharaoh who had won many battles and much material wealth, but the slaves, the lowly, the ones Jesus called the least.

We see evidence of this preferential option for the poor in the law given to Moses on the holy mountain. The edges of fields are not to be harvested so that the poor and landless can harvest them and have food. A cloak, taken as collateral from a poor person, is to be returned at night; so that he or she won’t freeze. Every fifty years is to be a year of Jubilee where all debts are forgiven and land taken as payment of debts is to be returned to ancestral owners. The care and protection of the alien, the widow, and the orphan—all metaphors for the poor—are the responsibility of the entire community. In short the “good and broad land…land flowing with milk and honey” is to be organized, worked, and used to the benefit of all. The resources available to the community are not to be exploited for individual gain, but managed for the good of all.

So, what does all this have to do with fig trees? I confess I’ve been banging head against this Gospel reading all week. Deacon Bob Henrichsen, had to deal with me repeatedly coming out of my office this week and lamenting my lack of knowledge of the rearing of fig trees. Indeed, to my knowledge no one in the office this week, staff or congregant that happened to drop by, has ever owned a fig tree.
So, where’s the good news in Jesus’ parable about the fig tree. As far as I can tell, where the fig tree is located, is as important as the fact that it isn’t blooming. See, the fig tree is in the desert, resources are scant. For this farmer, if the tree is going to take up water and fertilizer, it had best produce fruit. It can’t take up the resources and time of the community without contributing to the community.

Now, yall, I love you but we’re the fig tree. Jesus is calling us to remember that our actions affect everyone. Jesus is calling us to remember, that we must use the resources of the community for the good of all, not just ourselves. Whether it is in our neighborhoods, our schools, our city, state, nation, or world, we are called to produce the fruit of God for the community. We are called to live in the covenant of God which commands we most serve the poor. Indeed, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 25 verse 40, it is by how we treat the least of society that we will be judged. Not whether we make a lot of money, not whether we win a lot of wars, not whether we wear the latest clothes, drive the coolest car, or live in the right neighborhood, the right house, with the right friends, but by how we as a community of the faithful live for the least, how we as a team, as a people, a congregation, community, society and state suck it up, ‘cause we working for God. Amen!

Bono Quote

Don't know if this is real or not, but it is a great quote:

Chris­tians­ are hard
to tolerate; I don't know
how Jes­us­ does­ it.
— Bono