Doing Justice
Prior to being clergy, I served as a shelter director and advocate for victims of violence. One little girl I served, a 4-year old named Lizzie (not her real name), suffered from fits of rage, something often seen in children who witness or suffer extreme violence at a very young age.
Lizzie’s rages were triggered by sounds, smells or events that connected her to memories of her abuse. Doctors and therapists were brought in to treat Lizzie and they instructed us on how to immediately interrupt her violent behavior while rewarding her good behavior.
Well, we tried. For weeks, every time Lizzie went into one of her rages, we did they said but Lizzie wasn’t responding. In fact, her violence toward herself and others was increasing.
One afternoon, as I was talking with Lizzie’s mom in the shelter, a little boy came in from playing outside and slammed the door shut behind him. Lizzie, who had been playing quietly on the floor in front of us, ran to the corner of the room and curled up in a fetal position. A rage began to overtake her. Lizzie’s mother responded immediately, but Lizzie would not be comforted. She began trying to hurt herself, running at full speed into the furniture. Lizzie’s mother, totally overwhelmed, sat down on the floor and began to cry.
I caught Lizzie in my arms as she ran across the room, sat down on the floor, and began to rock her in my lap. I spoke softly to her, telling her that she was loved. Lizzie punched at me, even bit me on my arm, but I continued to hold her and softly speak words of love to her. Eventually, Lizzie stopped struggling and rested in my arms, her breaths short and sharp from her tantrum. Then she looked up at me, her eyes still puffy from crying and asked, “Am I a good girl?” “Yes, darling, you’re a good girl.” A moment later, Lizzie was asleep.
That was the last fit Lizzie ever threw. By the grace of God, I knew in that frantic moment that what Lizzie needed was the assurance that she was loved. Being only four years old, Lizzie lacked the words she needed to describe how the violence she had witnessed and suffered made her feel. She was too scared to tell anyone that she thought she must be to blame for the nightmare she lived, and she was too vulnerable to speak her greatest fear – that she wasn’t loved. So instead, she acted out.
This reminds me of the woman in the parable of the unjust judge (Lk 18:1-8). To those who listened to her with earthly ears, she was an annoyance. But to God she was a beloved child, and God acted swiftly to bring about justice for her. God cares deeply about the powerless, the vulnerable, and the abused, and so should we. (Mt 25:40)
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. Last year, the Abuse Prevention Council (APC) here in Shelby, provided shelter to 287 women and 173 children. They advocated and filed for 827 orders of protection to keep these women and their families safe from their abusers.
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that:
· an estimated 1.3 million women are assaulted by their intimate partners each year.
· boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults.
· 30% to 60% of those who abuse their intimate partners also abuse children in the household.
· the cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services (Source: ncadv.org)
As people of God, we are called to open ourselves to hear the pleas of those in our midst who suffer. More than that, though, we are required to act, to do justice. (Micah 6:8)
How can we do that? We can be the mouths that speak love and offer hope to victims of abuse in our area. We can inform ourselves about domestic violence, and support the APC and their efforts to rebuild the broken lives of the women and children they serve, volunteering our time, talents, and expertise to strengthen their services. We can be the place where the grace of God touches the wounded children of God. We can, and we must.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Pentecost 16A: God's will, God's fruit
Lectionary: Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80: 7-14; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46
Lectionary: Isaiah 5:1-7 Psalm 80: 7-14 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve…
These words from our Collect are very comforting… especially in the face of difficult times. We live in a world where some people wonder if they’ll ever feel safe or secure again. Terrorists are still terrorizing all around the world. Worldwide stock markets remain nervous and erratic. There is a new discussion about whether college is worth the cost, which is exorbitant anymore (believe me, I know this – and I think it IS worth it) and our elderly wonder if their retirement savings will last as long as they do.
When faced with problems as big as this we need to know that God is big enough, loving enough, and involved enough to help us. Praying to God for that comfort is a right and good thing to do. We pray asking for mercy, for help. Some people even pray for money, or victory for their political candidate or sporting team.
Praying for specific things like that is fine. Ask and you shall receive, as the saying goes. But the true benefit of prayer is that it re-sets our minds and our hearts by bringing us into the presence of God and aligning us to God’s will – not God to our will.
It is in prayer that we remember that God, who created the whole universe and all that is in it, is the strength that covers our weakness, and is always ready to pour upon us an abundance of mercy and forgiveness. But in difficult times, people are often very aware of their unworthiness and they get fearful. ‘If we follow all of the rules,’ they say, ‘if we’re really good and do everything just right, God will look upon us favorably and spare us from this trial. It’s a tempting, but fruitless endeavor.
We don’t buy God’s love and mercy with our good behavior or pious living. God’s love is already ours – as promised over and over again in Holy Scripture and proven beyond all doubt in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
If our behavior is right and good it’s because we are living into the truth about whom we are – God’s beloved, redeemed children. Right behavior is not the way to faithfulness; it’s the fruit of it. As Mother Theresa of Calcutta has said, “If you know how much God is in love with you, you can’t help but live your life radiating that love.”
But we are a faithless people. We judge ourselves and others despite all of the commands not to, and while we may have convinced ourselves that our judgments carry the weight of God’s will, it is actually our will, not God’s, being done.
God provided everything that was needed to bring about shalom: a fullness of harmony between God, God’s people, and creation. As we read in Isaiah: “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?” (Isaiah 5:4)
But the reality confronting Jesus in today’s Gospel, was anything but harmonious, and the parable of the wicked tenants is a scathing judgment by Jesus against the religious leadership and their followers – the Jewish people. In this parable, the absent landowner is God. The vineyard is a common metaphor for the nation of Israel. The slaves represent the prophets (whom the Jews tended to kill) and the tenants are the people of Israel and their religious leaders, who kill even the landowner’s son – the Messiah.
What should this landlord do with these tenants? Jesus asks. ‘They should suffer a miserable death,’ the leadership replies, ‘and the land should be leased to someone else – someone who will give the owner the fruits of the harvest.’ Jesus has led the religious leadership to declare judgment on themselves – and when they realized it, they were steaming mad!
There are three things I want to hold up about this parable today. First, in the continuing revelation of Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus has, by this parable, identified himself as the son of the landowner (God’s son) and predicted his death at the hands of his own people.
Secondly, Jesus identifies himself as the cornerstone. By quoting from Psalm 118, which the religious leadership knew very well, Jesus points to the amazing things God is about to do through him, namely: open the gates of righteousness, overcome death, and bring salvation to the whole world.
Finally, like the parable of the two sons (which we read last week), this parable is inclusive. Jesus doesn’t condemn the tenants to exclusion from the kingdom of God, but he does take from them their work tending the vineyard and gives it to another people (the word here is ‘nation’ – and would have meant ‘Gentiles’ to Jesus’ listeners).
This new people (the Gentiles) will produce fruit for the owner to harvest. Notice that, once again, no one is booted out of the kingdom, but the unclean, sinful ‘others’ are not only brought in, they are given the responsibility of the care of the kingdom.
Now before we get all confident about our status as this new people, we might take a look at how well we – those to whom this work has been given – are doing? How much fruit are we producing for God’s harvest? How many souls, who are hated by culture, have we loved and welcomed into this house, into the family of God?
Well, if you’ve ever been here on a Wednesday during the Shepherd’s Table and Food Pantry ministries, the fruits of Redeemer’s care for the kingdom are pretty evident. And last night I attended an organizational meeting of Neighbors for Equality, a grass roots organization originating from Boiling Springs whose larger purpose is to support and protect the rights of Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender people among us.
Kingdom fruits. Shalom.
Here’s the challenge churches and church communities face: we love our church. We love our church family. We love and our church’s habits. But when we work to create or maintain a church that fits our design, our plan, then we are just like the chief priests and the Pharisees in Jesus’ time and we can expect the same results.
God is the owner of this vineyard, not us. We are simply called to be fruitful servants, and if we want to know how to be fruitful servants, we have a great example in Paul in his letter to the Philippians. In three simple phrases, Paul shows us how to get there: First, he says, we come to “know Christ and the power of his resurrection.” (Phil 4:14) Then, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [we] press on toward the goal…” (Phil 3:13-14) trusting that “Jesus Christ has made [us] his own…” (Phil 4:12)
We come to know Christ by praying, individually and in community asking for what we need, but more importantly, aligning our wills to God’s will. And leaving the past behind us, we move forward by allowing God to make the changes that God needs made in us, individually and as a community, so that we can press on toward the goal of shalom – or as we often say it, the reconciliation of the world to God in Christ.
We belong to God who is the strength that covers our weakness. And God is always ready to give us more than we desire or deserve. In return, we have to use the gifts God has given us - being as generous to those who have been judged unworthy as God is to us pouring upon them an abundance of mercy and forgiveness.
We must live the truth of who we are: God’s beloved, redeemed children. Amen.
Lectionary: Isaiah 5:1-7 Psalm 80: 7-14 Philippians 3:4b-14 Matthew 21:33-46
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve…
These words from our Collect are very comforting… especially in the face of difficult times. We live in a world where some people wonder if they’ll ever feel safe or secure again. Terrorists are still terrorizing all around the world. Worldwide stock markets remain nervous and erratic. There is a new discussion about whether college is worth the cost, which is exorbitant anymore (believe me, I know this – and I think it IS worth it) and our elderly wonder if their retirement savings will last as long as they do.
When faced with problems as big as this we need to know that God is big enough, loving enough, and involved enough to help us. Praying to God for that comfort is a right and good thing to do. We pray asking for mercy, for help. Some people even pray for money, or victory for their political candidate or sporting team.
Praying for specific things like that is fine. Ask and you shall receive, as the saying goes. But the true benefit of prayer is that it re-sets our minds and our hearts by bringing us into the presence of God and aligning us to God’s will – not God to our will.
It is in prayer that we remember that God, who created the whole universe and all that is in it, is the strength that covers our weakness, and is always ready to pour upon us an abundance of mercy and forgiveness. But in difficult times, people are often very aware of their unworthiness and they get fearful. ‘If we follow all of the rules,’ they say, ‘if we’re really good and do everything just right, God will look upon us favorably and spare us from this trial. It’s a tempting, but fruitless endeavor.
We don’t buy God’s love and mercy with our good behavior or pious living. God’s love is already ours – as promised over and over again in Holy Scripture and proven beyond all doubt in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
If our behavior is right and good it’s because we are living into the truth about whom we are – God’s beloved, redeemed children. Right behavior is not the way to faithfulness; it’s the fruit of it. As Mother Theresa of Calcutta has said, “If you know how much God is in love with you, you can’t help but live your life radiating that love.”
But we are a faithless people. We judge ourselves and others despite all of the commands not to, and while we may have convinced ourselves that our judgments carry the weight of God’s will, it is actually our will, not God’s, being done.
God provided everything that was needed to bring about shalom: a fullness of harmony between God, God’s people, and creation. As we read in Isaiah: “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?” (Isaiah 5:4)
But the reality confronting Jesus in today’s Gospel, was anything but harmonious, and the parable of the wicked tenants is a scathing judgment by Jesus against the religious leadership and their followers – the Jewish people. In this parable, the absent landowner is God. The vineyard is a common metaphor for the nation of Israel. The slaves represent the prophets (whom the Jews tended to kill) and the tenants are the people of Israel and their religious leaders, who kill even the landowner’s son – the Messiah.
What should this landlord do with these tenants? Jesus asks. ‘They should suffer a miserable death,’ the leadership replies, ‘and the land should be leased to someone else – someone who will give the owner the fruits of the harvest.’ Jesus has led the religious leadership to declare judgment on themselves – and when they realized it, they were steaming mad!
There are three things I want to hold up about this parable today. First, in the continuing revelation of Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus has, by this parable, identified himself as the son of the landowner (God’s son) and predicted his death at the hands of his own people.
Secondly, Jesus identifies himself as the cornerstone. By quoting from Psalm 118, which the religious leadership knew very well, Jesus points to the amazing things God is about to do through him, namely: open the gates of righteousness, overcome death, and bring salvation to the whole world.
Finally, like the parable of the two sons (which we read last week), this parable is inclusive. Jesus doesn’t condemn the tenants to exclusion from the kingdom of God, but he does take from them their work tending the vineyard and gives it to another people (the word here is ‘nation’ – and would have meant ‘Gentiles’ to Jesus’ listeners).
This new people (the Gentiles) will produce fruit for the owner to harvest. Notice that, once again, no one is booted out of the kingdom, but the unclean, sinful ‘others’ are not only brought in, they are given the responsibility of the care of the kingdom.
Now before we get all confident about our status as this new people, we might take a look at how well we – those to whom this work has been given – are doing? How much fruit are we producing for God’s harvest? How many souls, who are hated by culture, have we loved and welcomed into this house, into the family of God?
Well, if you’ve ever been here on a Wednesday during the Shepherd’s Table and Food Pantry ministries, the fruits of Redeemer’s care for the kingdom are pretty evident. And last night I attended an organizational meeting of Neighbors for Equality, a grass roots organization originating from Boiling Springs whose larger purpose is to support and protect the rights of Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender people among us.
Kingdom fruits. Shalom.
Here’s the challenge churches and church communities face: we love our church. We love our church family. We love and our church’s habits. But when we work to create or maintain a church that fits our design, our plan, then we are just like the chief priests and the Pharisees in Jesus’ time and we can expect the same results.
God is the owner of this vineyard, not us. We are simply called to be fruitful servants, and if we want to know how to be fruitful servants, we have a great example in Paul in his letter to the Philippians. In three simple phrases, Paul shows us how to get there: First, he says, we come to “know Christ and the power of his resurrection.” (Phil 4:14) Then, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [we] press on toward the goal…” (Phil 3:13-14) trusting that “Jesus Christ has made [us] his own…” (Phil 4:12)
We come to know Christ by praying, individually and in community asking for what we need, but more importantly, aligning our wills to God’s will. And leaving the past behind us, we move forward by allowing God to make the changes that God needs made in us, individually and as a community, so that we can press on toward the goal of shalom – or as we often say it, the reconciliation of the world to God in Christ.
We belong to God who is the strength that covers our weakness. And God is always ready to give us more than we desire or deserve. In return, we have to use the gifts God has given us - being as generous to those who have been judged unworthy as God is to us pouring upon them an abundance of mercy and forgiveness.
We must live the truth of who we are: God’s beloved, redeemed children. Amen.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Pentecost 15A, 2001: Dancing with God
Lectionary: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Psalm 25: 1-8; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32
En el nombre del Dios, Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo.
Recently, Steve and I went to the first ever clergy-spouse-partner retreat hosted by our Bishop and his wife at Kanuga. The first night after we shared dinner together, we did something radical for a group of priests – we danced! Yep! We danced – some of us well, some not, but we danced – and had a ball.
Dancing has always been important in my family of origin. My parents were amazing dancers – they could do the fox trot, the rhumba, the Lindy, the waltz – and they did it all with such style! My three sisters and I all learned and practiced these dances at every wedding and family celebration (and with our big family, we had a lots of practice!).
My father was a great dance partner. He never criticized us while we were learning. I remember being little, maybe 8 years old when Dad invited me onto the dance floor to learn the waltz. He put his hand out to me and said, “Come on. This is a waltz. It’s time for you to learn it.” I was hesitant because I’m the sort of person who would rather learn something in the privacy of my home rather than in public. But Dad, whose confidence in himself and in me was unwavering, simply waked me out to the middle of the dance floor, put my left hand on his arm which wrapped around my waist, and took my right hand into his up high. He leaned in close and with a smile I loved so much, said to me, “Just relax, lean back into my arm, and follow me. Look only at me. I will lead you. Trust me.” I did exactly what he said. We glided around the floor in what felt like a fantasy to me. When the music ended people were applauding. I looked around and noticed that everyone had cleared the dance floor. They were all standing around the edge applauding and cheering us! My Dad was beaming.
For me, the journey of life as a child of God is like dancing with my Dad. God, whose love for me is unwavering, will lead. All I need to do is relax, lean back into God’s arms, and trust. “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.” (the refrain from our chanted psalm)
In the gospel lesson today, members of the Sanhedrin, a group of high court judges who were the most learned, “faithful,” and powerful in the Jewish community, want to know by what authority Jesus is teaching and ministering. Is it by God’s authority or his own? Jesus offers them a trade: I’ll answer your question if you answer mine. If you can tell me by what authority John baptized, then I will tell you by what authority I teach and minister.
The question put these judges in a quandary. If they say John the Baptist acted on God’s authority, they condemn themselves for not following him. If they say John baptized on his own authority, they risk the wrath of the crowds who believe John to be a prophet of God. Finding themselves between the proverbial rock and hard place, they answered, “we don’t know.”
Fair enough, Jesus says. Then I won’t answer your question. Many commentators and readers of Scripture love to applaud Jesus for out-smarting the chief priests and elders, but I really don’t think that was his goal. Jesus wasn’t about winning intellectual contests. He was – and still is – always about reconciliation of the whole world to God, which he accomplished in all humility and obedience “to the point of death - even death on a cross. (Phil 2:8)
The members of the Sanhedrin, however, were not of that same mind. They were concerned with their own interests, namely, their power, authority, and reputation – like many of us are. The stories of people who put others’ needs before their own, or people who are humbly obedient, are rare. I think of the news story last week about the people who risked their own lives to lift a burning car off of a young motorcyclist and drag him to safety.
Then I tried to remember the last time I saw a news story about someone who was humbly obedient. How many shows currently on TV or in the movies extol the virtues of humility or obedience? How many paparazzi follow celebrities who are humble or obedient? Are there any celebrities who are humble and obedient?
So it isn’t just the chief priests and elders – it all of us. Humans have to work at living humbly and in true obedience to God. That’s one of the reasons we do this thing called “church” together.
Back to the gospel: we need to remember that the chief priests and elders are not Jesus’ enemies. They are, like us, people of God and part of God’s plan of redemption. So Jesus responds to them as he responds to all of us who struggle to live faithfully: with respect, with a teaching, and with an invitation.
“What do you think?” Jesus asks them, honoring that they are learned in these things. A father (a common reference to God in rabbinical stories) asks his two sons to work in the vineyard (a symbol for the kingdom of God). The first son refuses to obey his father, but later repents of that choice and goes to work in the vineyard. The second son agrees to obey, but fails to follow-up. Which one, Jesus asks, did the will of his father? The answer is obvious to the listeners: the first son.
Then Jesus concludes his teaching with one of the most comforting, inclusive statements in this gospel: “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Mt 21:32)
How is that comforting? Well, notice that Jesus does not exclude the second son (that is, the members of the Sanhedrin) from the kingdom of God. Instead, he invites them to lay down the burden of their own authority and rest in the mercy of God.
Jesus says, “Truly I tell you…” which is Scripture-code for “Listen up. This is important.” The ones you, who claim to have authority, have judged unworthy - the tax collectors and prostitutes, those whose sin is out there for all to see like the first son in the parable - these will be the first ones into the kingdom of God because they know they are sinners, and they are willing to repent.
But you who believe you have it all right and don’t need to change, you who pretend to obey while you sin in secret, you will find yourselves bringing up the rear, where you surely will learn humility.
Notice that no one is being booted out of the kingdom of God for being wrong or arrogant or misled. That isn’t God’s way. As God reminds us through the prophet Ezekiel: “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone… Turn, then, and live.” Turn and be humble. Turn and be obedient. Return to God and live. (Ezek 18:32)
When we gather each Sunday for worship and Christian formation (and we should ALL be gathering for worship and Christian formation), we come to know God who is revealed to us in Scripture, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers – sung or said. We come to be in the presence of the One who assures us that we will not be booted out of the kingdom for having made a mistake or losing our way.
We come to be freed from the burden of carrying our own authority; and we come to rest in God’s mercy.
We come to dance with God.
En el nombre del Dios, Padre, Hijo, y Espiritu Santo.
Recently, Steve and I went to the first ever clergy-spouse-partner retreat hosted by our Bishop and his wife at Kanuga. The first night after we shared dinner together, we did something radical for a group of priests – we danced! Yep! We danced – some of us well, some not, but we danced – and had a ball.
Dancing has always been important in my family of origin. My parents were amazing dancers – they could do the fox trot, the rhumba, the Lindy, the waltz – and they did it all with such style! My three sisters and I all learned and practiced these dances at every wedding and family celebration (and with our big family, we had a lots of practice!).
My father was a great dance partner. He never criticized us while we were learning. I remember being little, maybe 8 years old when Dad invited me onto the dance floor to learn the waltz. He put his hand out to me and said, “Come on. This is a waltz. It’s time for you to learn it.” I was hesitant because I’m the sort of person who would rather learn something in the privacy of my home rather than in public. But Dad, whose confidence in himself and in me was unwavering, simply waked me out to the middle of the dance floor, put my left hand on his arm which wrapped around my waist, and took my right hand into his up high. He leaned in close and with a smile I loved so much, said to me, “Just relax, lean back into my arm, and follow me. Look only at me. I will lead you. Trust me.” I did exactly what he said. We glided around the floor in what felt like a fantasy to me. When the music ended people were applauding. I looked around and noticed that everyone had cleared the dance floor. They were all standing around the edge applauding and cheering us! My Dad was beaming.
For me, the journey of life as a child of God is like dancing with my Dad. God, whose love for me is unwavering, will lead. All I need to do is relax, lean back into God’s arms, and trust. “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.” (the refrain from our chanted psalm)
In the gospel lesson today, members of the Sanhedrin, a group of high court judges who were the most learned, “faithful,” and powerful in the Jewish community, want to know by what authority Jesus is teaching and ministering. Is it by God’s authority or his own? Jesus offers them a trade: I’ll answer your question if you answer mine. If you can tell me by what authority John baptized, then I will tell you by what authority I teach and minister.
The question put these judges in a quandary. If they say John the Baptist acted on God’s authority, they condemn themselves for not following him. If they say John baptized on his own authority, they risk the wrath of the crowds who believe John to be a prophet of God. Finding themselves between the proverbial rock and hard place, they answered, “we don’t know.”
Fair enough, Jesus says. Then I won’t answer your question. Many commentators and readers of Scripture love to applaud Jesus for out-smarting the chief priests and elders, but I really don’t think that was his goal. Jesus wasn’t about winning intellectual contests. He was – and still is – always about reconciliation of the whole world to God, which he accomplished in all humility and obedience “to the point of death - even death on a cross. (Phil 2:8)
The members of the Sanhedrin, however, were not of that same mind. They were concerned with their own interests, namely, their power, authority, and reputation – like many of us are. The stories of people who put others’ needs before their own, or people who are humbly obedient, are rare. I think of the news story last week about the people who risked their own lives to lift a burning car off of a young motorcyclist and drag him to safety.
Then I tried to remember the last time I saw a news story about someone who was humbly obedient. How many shows currently on TV or in the movies extol the virtues of humility or obedience? How many paparazzi follow celebrities who are humble or obedient? Are there any celebrities who are humble and obedient?
So it isn’t just the chief priests and elders – it all of us. Humans have to work at living humbly and in true obedience to God. That’s one of the reasons we do this thing called “church” together.
Back to the gospel: we need to remember that the chief priests and elders are not Jesus’ enemies. They are, like us, people of God and part of God’s plan of redemption. So Jesus responds to them as he responds to all of us who struggle to live faithfully: with respect, with a teaching, and with an invitation.
“What do you think?” Jesus asks them, honoring that they are learned in these things. A father (a common reference to God in rabbinical stories) asks his two sons to work in the vineyard (a symbol for the kingdom of God). The first son refuses to obey his father, but later repents of that choice and goes to work in the vineyard. The second son agrees to obey, but fails to follow-up. Which one, Jesus asks, did the will of his father? The answer is obvious to the listeners: the first son.
Then Jesus concludes his teaching with one of the most comforting, inclusive statements in this gospel: “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Mt 21:32)
How is that comforting? Well, notice that Jesus does not exclude the second son (that is, the members of the Sanhedrin) from the kingdom of God. Instead, he invites them to lay down the burden of their own authority and rest in the mercy of God.
Jesus says, “Truly I tell you…” which is Scripture-code for “Listen up. This is important.” The ones you, who claim to have authority, have judged unworthy - the tax collectors and prostitutes, those whose sin is out there for all to see like the first son in the parable - these will be the first ones into the kingdom of God because they know they are sinners, and they are willing to repent.
But you who believe you have it all right and don’t need to change, you who pretend to obey while you sin in secret, you will find yourselves bringing up the rear, where you surely will learn humility.
Notice that no one is being booted out of the kingdom of God for being wrong or arrogant or misled. That isn’t God’s way. As God reminds us through the prophet Ezekiel: “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone… Turn, then, and live.” Turn and be humble. Turn and be obedient. Return to God and live. (Ezek 18:32)
When we gather each Sunday for worship and Christian formation (and we should ALL be gathering for worship and Christian formation), we come to know God who is revealed to us in Scripture, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers – sung or said. We come to be in the presence of the One who assures us that we will not be booted out of the kingdom for having made a mistake or losing our way.
We come to be freed from the burden of carrying our own authority; and we come to rest in God’s mercy.
We come to dance with God.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Pentecost 13A: Seventy seven times
Audio only - no text today. We did a children's sermon and demonstration instead. The demonstration involved a beach ball with "Jesus loves you" on it (3 times). The ball represented the grace of God and the rector tossed the ball to/at the children. The children held folded papers in their hands which represented sins to be let go, specifically forgiveness that needed to be received (for something we did or didn't do) or given (for something done to us).
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Pentecost 12-A: The Forgiveness Factor
En el nombre del Dios, Padre, Hijo y Espiritu Santo. Amen.
High on the list of things I love about our Prayer Book are the Collects. In today’s Collect we heard: “Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts…” because when we rely on our own strength we stand alone, but God, whose love and faithfulness are steadfast, promises to be with us when we remember, proclaim, and exercize God’s mercy.
When the Israelites heeded Ezekiel’s warning to repent of their sin and return to God, they sank into despair, “Our sins weigh heavy upon us [they said] …how then can we live?” Their sins weighed heavy on them, as one commentator put it, because they did not remember God’s mercy, and so they feared “being at the mercy of God.”
But, as Ezekiel reminded the Israelites, God takes “no pleasure in the death of the wicked” but desires “that the wicked turn from their ways and live…” And God will wait patiently, providing us time and room to repent, to turn from our ways.
Grant us, O Lord, to remember your mercy as a perpetual possibility, to trust in the forgiveness factor with all our hearts…
God’s mercy is something we hope for in regard to our own sin, but do we hope for it as much for the one has sinned against us? Or do we wait, and wish, and watch for God’s punishment to fall on those who have wronged us?
What is our response to sin? What should it be? This is a particularly poignant issue as we approach the 10th anniversary of 9-11. The answer can be partially found in the video series on YouTube called: “The Forgiveness Series.” I’ve linked this on my blog: I’ll put it on our Facebook page too.
The Forgiveness Series is a documentary done in small parts interviewing first responders, individuals who lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks, and regular folk on the street, and asking them about forgiveness. One of the videos in the series is about Cheryl McGuinness, whose husband was a pilot on the plane that was hijacked and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Cheryl said she knew what her response to the evil that day had to be: she had to forgive – for herself and for her children.
Here are a few other comments from people in that video: “The first step in forgiveness is deciding you want to do it. It can take years…” “Getting even is utterly weak. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do. To rise above that takes a lot of strength…” “What usually happens is that people carry around anger in such a way that they are crippled by their own anger…” “Forgiveness is really a gift you give to yourself. You free yourself of anger and resentment…” “…[Forgiveness] doesn’t mean you condone what was done, it doesn’t mean you want that person back in your life. It simply means that you no longer carry with you this polluting force that really poisons you.”
Studies have shown that holding onto anger and resentment in our minds and in our lives, affects our bodies. “Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you…like Cheryl did… with all our hearts…”
It remains a temptation, when we’ve been sinned against, to want revenge, to imagine God smiting our enemy and smiling on us as we watch them being punished for hurting us. But God’s wrath, as presented in Scripture, is always bound together with grace and mercy making space for repentance and restoration of life – for everyone.
Our wrath must be like that too.
Our beloved Episcopal Church, which is part of the world-wide Anglican Communion continues to struggle to find a way to live in communion with itself and with Anglicans throughout the world. Parts of the Anglican communion, even parts of the Episcopal Church, are using divisive terms like ‘schism’ and ‘excommunication’ and using Scripture to justify their position. In fact, this part of the Gospel of Matthew is often used to justify the excommunication of members from the body of Christ.
So let’s review Jesus’ instruction to us on how to respond to sin within the church. First, Jesus says, go to the person who sinned against you and meet with them privately. It’s possible that they don’t know they offended you or they don’t realize how offended you really were. Tell them when you’re alone so they’re not humiliated… because a humiliated person is more likely to be defensive than repentant.
If the person doesn’t listen, go back – and bring two others with you as witnesses so that you won’t be misinterpreted (this was a common practice in Jesus’ time). If that doesn’t work, take your complaint to the church. Seek the prayerful help of the whole community in restoring right relationship – because that’s the goal – restoring right relationship.
And if all else fails, Jesus says, let them be to you “as a Gentile, and a tax collector.” Now the Gentile and the tax collector were, in that culture, iconic examples of people living outside of community. That’s why this verse has so often been interpreted as biblical warrant for excommunication.
But it’s important to remember how Jesus himself treated Gentiles and tax collectors… remembering especially that the gospel we read today, is the Gospel of Matthew, who was a tax collector until Jesus called him to follow him.
So what does Jesus mean by this? If a person is outside of community, work to bring them in. If a person refuses to be reconciled, how many times do we offer it? In the verse that follows what we read today, Jesus says, “seventy times seven times” or in other words, as many times as it takes.
In some cases reconciliation is begun by our choice to forgive, to loose the sin, but accomplished by God, long after we have moved on or even died, because ultimately, reconciliation is the work of God (remember what Jesus did on the cross). Our partnership with God simply calls us to do our part – to loose the sin.
If we look at the body of Jesus’ teachings, we see Jesus calling his followers to be humble, to be welcoming to all, and to persevere beyond reason so that “everyone might come within the reach of [Christ’s] saving embrace.” St. Paul reminds us that Christians are called to live in harmony with each other to go beyond what is expected, reasonable, or even logical, in offering forgiveness and seeking reconciliation. That is, after all, what Jesus did for us.
When Jesus says, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” he is warning us, like Ezekiel warned the Israelites, that whenever we cling to sin, it will always lead to death. If we bind a sin on earth by withholding forgiveness (which means we have judged that sinner unworthy of grace) or by falling into despair (which means we have judged ourselves unworthy of grace) then that sin will continue to wield it’s negative power in our lives, leading us to despair and death – the ultimate in being lost.
But if we choose to loose any sin here on earth, it is loosed in heaven. In our Rite of Reconciliation of a Penitent, (BCP, 451) after the penitent has made their confession and received absolution, the priest says, “Now there is rejoicing in heaven; for you were lost, and now are found; you were dead, and are now alive in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Loosing sin opens the way for God’s grace to restore life. Christians are called to unbind sin by meeting it with forgiveness, to respond with love and do no wrong to one another, to overcome evil with good… over and over and over again.
This is not a call to become doormats for the wicked. It is a call to trust God with all our hearts
and to persevere in that trust beyond reason like Jesus did until every single one who is lost – is found and restored to life.
Today we will gather at our chancel and release whatever sin we are holding onto in our bodies and souls during our time of our healing prayer. Today we can loose the sin the continues to wield it’s negative power in our lives, and we can be free of it… remembering that we have already asked God to grant us the grace of trusting in God with all our hearts, trusting the ‘forgiveness factor.’
“Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts….”
Amen.
Friday, September 2, 2011
September Newsletter Article: From one discovery to another
A Taoist parable: Once upon a time and old farmer and his son watched as their only horse, a beautiful stallion, broke out of its corral and ran away. The farmer’s neighbor came around to grieve this loss with the farmer: “How terrible that your only horse is gone! Such bad luck!” The farmer replied, “Who knows what is good and what is bad?” The next day, the farmer’s horse returned bringing a wild mare with him into the corral. The farmer’s neighbor rushed back to celebrate, exclaiming,“Such a wonderful event! A mating pair! You are truly blessed by this richness of good luck” to which the farmer replied, “Who knows what is good and what is bad?” The next day, the farmer’s son fell of the new mare and broke his leg. The neighbor returned, bemoaning the bad luck of the elderly farmer who now had no one to help him with this farm. The farmer simply replied, “Who knows what is good and what is bad?” The next day, the local warlord rode into the village and conscripted all of the able-bodied young men into military service. Seeing the farmer’s son was lame, they left him with his father. The neighbor thought to himself, “Who knows what is good and what is bad?”
We are cautioned over and over again in Scripture not to judge – one another or the present circumstances. Isaiah helps us understand why: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8-9)
Anyone looking at Jesus’ life and ministry during his time might not have judged it too well. He was an itinerant preacher dependent upon the benevolence of his followers for his food and shelter. While his resume looked pretty good regarding pastoral care and healing, and his attendance numbers were good at the end of his ministry, Jesus was ultimately a ministerial failure: arrested, humiliated, publicly stripped and beaten, and finally, condemned to death and crucified by the powerful in his time. He even needed to borrow a grave.
But we look back at Jesus’ life and ministry and see something very different than the world saw then. We see the redemption of God unfolding in all of the circumstances of Jesus’ time – good and bad. God used it all. As Joan Chittister said, “the history of …God’s people has always been a good event, bad event situation, a continuing affirmation of life despite the unending threats of death.” (National Catholic Reporter, July 22, 2011)
In each of our lives, and in our common life at Redeemer, we confront circumstances like the farmer in the Chinese parable of the farmer. Some of us react like the neighbor, dancing in happiness or drowning in worry, spending our energy assigning credit or blame – forgetting that in all the cares and occupations of our lives we are ever walking in the sight of the Lord, (BCP, 100) who continues to use every circumstance – good or bad - to draw us closer to God’s self and to one another, according to God’s perfect plan of redemption for the whole world.
As we look at where we’ve been and where we’re going at Redeemer, we would be wise to remember that in every circumstance of our lives, God is there – loving us, guiding us, redeeming us, gifting us (yes, even the ‘bad’ circumstances are a gift), and then seeking to use the gifts given to us for the redeeming we are called to do with/for God.
God continues to form us and make us into the church God wants here in this time and place. As we move into our next program year, take a look at the many wonderful things God is doing in/through us:
EVENING PRAYER: Second Sundays at 5:00 pm in the church (new day and time). Evening Prayer is part of our long and rich Anglican tradition. There is no Eucharist at this service.
SERVICE OF TAIZÉ: Fourth Sundays at 5:00 pm in the church Take a break from the demands and stresses of daily life and join us in this ecumenical service featuring meditative prayer and song based on the practices of the monastic community in Taizé, France. Open to the community. All are welcome.
BIBLE DISCUSSION GROUP: Thursdays at 6:00 pm (new day) A weekly "no judgment zone" discussion group. Topics taken from the Bible and other spiritual books. Meets after Evening Prayer.
CENTERING PRAYER: Second and fourth Thursdays at 5:30 pm
Centering prayer is silent, meditative, receptive prayer resting in God’s presence. Come join us as we consent to the presence and action of God within.
EPISCOPALIAN ROSARY: These Rosaries (developed by our rector) and ‘how to pray' booklets are free to all who ask as an aid to their prayer life. Watch our online calendar for Rosary-making workshops which are scheduled as needed (and we need one soon!).
GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL SPIRITUAL DIRECTION: A time of entering into a sacred space together, to explore how we can live more fully into whom God created us to be. Individual meetings are by appointment.
MOVIE NIGHT! First Fridays at 6:30pm (new night) Popcorn and soft-drinks provided, along with BYOAdultBeverage. Next Movie Night! is September 2. We’ll be watching “The Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers” rated PG-13. Watch our online calendar for movie details.
PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY: Wednesdays, 12:45 pm (new day and time) Beginners to experienced knitters and crocheters meet weekly after the Shepherd’s Table to make shawls.
Also in this newsletter, you will hear from Matthew Kiggen, our new Youth Minister, about our newly designed Youth Program. Deacon Pam writes about our newly re-formed Christian Formation program for all ages. Steve Sherer talks about the rebirth of the Parish Net program as the Parish Meal Ministry and how you can help with it. Lowrey Young and Jane Shooter update us on the formalization of our Shepherd’s Table and Food Pantry ministries, including the development of policies and procedures, volunteer training and more!
Our Music Director search is underway, so your prayers for this are much appreciated. We are also transitioning in our admin office again - Ashley has accepted a full-time social work position in Gastonia (where she lives). Since we only recently interviewed for this position, I have re-contacted our top two other picks and will be re-meeting with them this week. I hope (expect) this will be a short transition.
The vestry has also approved Phase One of the garden project – the Columbarium. Work should begin any day (behind the connector, between the admin building and the parish hall). Our roof is also scheduled to be repaired later in the fall.
We still need to get busy on our planning for a playground/outdoor worship/learning space for our children. Anyone feeling called to help with that? Let me know: rector@redeemershelby.com.
As you can see, there is a LOT going on at Redeemer. Our life together is full, blessed, and constantly forming! Come and find your place, and God’s will for your gifts among us. I close with a prayer written for our Taizé service on Aug 28: “Although within us there are wounds, Lord Christ, above all there is the miracle of your mysterious presence. Thus, made lighter or even set free, we are going with you, the Christ, from one discovery to another. Amen.”
We are cautioned over and over again in Scripture not to judge – one another or the present circumstances. Isaiah helps us understand why: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8-9)
Anyone looking at Jesus’ life and ministry during his time might not have judged it too well. He was an itinerant preacher dependent upon the benevolence of his followers for his food and shelter. While his resume looked pretty good regarding pastoral care and healing, and his attendance numbers were good at the end of his ministry, Jesus was ultimately a ministerial failure: arrested, humiliated, publicly stripped and beaten, and finally, condemned to death and crucified by the powerful in his time. He even needed to borrow a grave.
But we look back at Jesus’ life and ministry and see something very different than the world saw then. We see the redemption of God unfolding in all of the circumstances of Jesus’ time – good and bad. God used it all. As Joan Chittister said, “the history of …God’s people has always been a good event, bad event situation, a continuing affirmation of life despite the unending threats of death.” (National Catholic Reporter, July 22, 2011)
In each of our lives, and in our common life at Redeemer, we confront circumstances like the farmer in the Chinese parable of the farmer. Some of us react like the neighbor, dancing in happiness or drowning in worry, spending our energy assigning credit or blame – forgetting that in all the cares and occupations of our lives we are ever walking in the sight of the Lord, (BCP, 100) who continues to use every circumstance – good or bad - to draw us closer to God’s self and to one another, according to God’s perfect plan of redemption for the whole world.
As we look at where we’ve been and where we’re going at Redeemer, we would be wise to remember that in every circumstance of our lives, God is there – loving us, guiding us, redeeming us, gifting us (yes, even the ‘bad’ circumstances are a gift), and then seeking to use the gifts given to us for the redeeming we are called to do with/for God.
God continues to form us and make us into the church God wants here in this time and place. As we move into our next program year, take a look at the many wonderful things God is doing in/through us:
EVENING PRAYER: Second Sundays at 5:00 pm in the church (new day and time). Evening Prayer is part of our long and rich Anglican tradition. There is no Eucharist at this service.
SERVICE OF TAIZÉ: Fourth Sundays at 5:00 pm in the church Take a break from the demands and stresses of daily life and join us in this ecumenical service featuring meditative prayer and song based on the practices of the monastic community in Taizé, France. Open to the community. All are welcome.
BIBLE DISCUSSION GROUP: Thursdays at 6:00 pm (new day) A weekly "no judgment zone" discussion group. Topics taken from the Bible and other spiritual books. Meets after Evening Prayer.
CENTERING PRAYER: Second and fourth Thursdays at 5:30 pm
Centering prayer is silent, meditative, receptive prayer resting in God’s presence. Come join us as we consent to the presence and action of God within.
EPISCOPALIAN ROSARY: These Rosaries (developed by our rector) and ‘how to pray' booklets are free to all who ask as an aid to their prayer life. Watch our online calendar for Rosary-making workshops which are scheduled as needed (and we need one soon!).
GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL SPIRITUAL DIRECTION: A time of entering into a sacred space together, to explore how we can live more fully into whom God created us to be. Individual meetings are by appointment.
MOVIE NIGHT! First Fridays at 6:30pm (new night) Popcorn and soft-drinks provided, along with BYOAdultBeverage. Next Movie Night! is September 2. We’ll be watching “The Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers” rated PG-13. Watch our online calendar for movie details.
PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY: Wednesdays, 12:45 pm (new day and time) Beginners to experienced knitters and crocheters meet weekly after the Shepherd’s Table to make shawls.
Also in this newsletter, you will hear from Matthew Kiggen, our new Youth Minister, about our newly designed Youth Program. Deacon Pam writes about our newly re-formed Christian Formation program for all ages. Steve Sherer talks about the rebirth of the Parish Net program as the Parish Meal Ministry and how you can help with it. Lowrey Young and Jane Shooter update us on the formalization of our Shepherd’s Table and Food Pantry ministries, including the development of policies and procedures, volunteer training and more!
Our Music Director search is underway, so your prayers for this are much appreciated. We are also transitioning in our admin office again - Ashley has accepted a full-time social work position in Gastonia (where she lives). Since we only recently interviewed for this position, I have re-contacted our top two other picks and will be re-meeting with them this week. I hope (expect) this will be a short transition.
The vestry has also approved Phase One of the garden project – the Columbarium. Work should begin any day (behind the connector, between the admin building and the parish hall). Our roof is also scheduled to be repaired later in the fall.
We still need to get busy on our planning for a playground/outdoor worship/learning space for our children. Anyone feeling called to help with that? Let me know: rector@redeemershelby.com.
As you can see, there is a LOT going on at Redeemer. Our life together is full, blessed, and constantly forming! Come and find your place, and God’s will for your gifts among us. I close with a prayer written for our Taizé service on Aug 28: “Although within us there are wounds, Lord Christ, above all there is the miracle of your mysterious presence. Thus, made lighter or even set free, we are going with you, the Christ, from one discovery to another. Amen.”
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Pentecost 10A: You are Petros
Lectionary: Isaiah 51:1-6; Psalm 138; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20
How many of you are familiar with the story, The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams (Unicorn Publishing, NJ)? It’s the story of a stuffed toy rabbit that lived with a small boy. The boy had lots of toys in his nursery - there were mechanical toys “full of modern ideas” who “looked down on” all the other toys; there was a model boat who “caught the tone” from the mechanical toys and held himself superior to the others; there was a jointed wooden lion who “pretended he was connected to the Government” and therefore, was a very important toy. When the Velveteen Rabbit arrived, the other toys made him feel common and unimportant – except for the wise, old Skin Horse, who “had lived longer in the nursery than any of the other [toys].”
One day, the Velveteen Rabbit asked the Skin Horse what it meant to be REAL. Does is mean “having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle” like the mechanical toys? Does it mean being important like the wooden lion?
No, said the Skin Horse. “Real isn’t how you are made… It’s a thing that happens to you... [when you’re loved] for a long, long, time."
“Does it happen all at once… or bit by bit?” the Velveteen Rabbit asked. “It doesn’t happen all at once” the Skin Horse replied. “You become. It takes a long time.”
The same is true about being Christian. We become. And it takes our whole lives.
In today’s Gospel from Matthew, the apostle we know by his nickname, Peter, experiences a moment of divine revelation. Jesus and his disciples have been discussing who people say he is, and Jesus asks: But who do YOU say that I am? And Simon Peter answers: “You are the Messiah. The Son of the living God.” Jesus blesses Peter, then clarifies to all who are listening (including us) that this revelation of truth came to Peter as a gift from God, and was not the product of his own understanding or experience.
Then Jesus gives his disciple his now famous nick-name: “You are Peter” Jesus says. ‘Petros’ in Greek; ‘Cephas’ in Aramaic, and it means ‘stone or rock.’
It’s a bit of word-play with a purpose. This particular nick-name is also an identity and a call to mission. “You are Petros (a stone, a single part of a greater whole) and upon this petra (foundation) I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
Did you hear that? Not even death - and Jesus is talking here about his own death which is about to happen – not even death will prevail against the church I build.
So - who is the builder of the church? Jesus says, “…I will build my church…” God in Christ is the builder. It isn’t the vestry, or the rector, or the bishop – or even the most involved members. We don’t build the church. God does. So when we consider our tithes and our budget, our worship and music, our leadership and programs, and our path into the future, it is important for us to remember that God is the builder of this church. We are individually Petros whom God graces and unifies and forms into petra, the foundation on upon which the church is built.
This is not a new concept. In the Old Testament lesson from Isaiah, God says to the people: “Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many.”
God did it. Abraham and Sara were Petros-es whom God graced and unified into petra and through whom God built a people so numerous that our numbers are greater than the number of stars in the skies.
Ours isn’t a church built on or by a single stone (person). It’s a church built by God through each of us who is Petros, who receives the grace of God into our lives and uses it according to and for God’s purpose. That is what Peter did that day, and that’s why Jesus said Peter had the keys to the kingdom.
Many understand this to mean that Peter is the one who reveals the mystery of the kingdom, or decides who gets to enter the pearly gates of heaven. But the gospel story makes clear that revelation comes from God, not from any human. And it isn’t likely that God needs a guard at the gate of heaven.
So what does it mean? To have a key is to have the means of opening a locked door. Jesus is giving to his disciples, and to all of us who are Petros, the means by which to open the doors of the kingdom to those who are locked out.
The last bit of the gospel story about binding and loosing is a rabbinical instruction. In those days, rabbis were responsible for establishing the rules for their followers. For us, these would be the canons of TEC and the diocese.
Jesus, the rabbi, is instructing Peter and the other disciples (the word in Greek is plural) in the ways of a rabbi. Jesus says - Now y’all decide what to bind (that is, what not to allow) and what to loose (…what to allow). I’ve got your back. I will guide you in this. Remember you are Petros. I am the builder. I have the big picture in mind. You don’t. You can’t.
Keep in mind that this gospel story takes place right after Peter has failed in his attempt to walk on water and right before he denies Jesus three times at the trial, which shows us that being Petros means that we are becoming as God would have us be. It means we are continually opening to whatever grace God chooses to give us at this moment in our journey, knowing that the gift isn’t for us alone – it’s for the petra - the unified foundation formed by God from each of us and our gifts for the building of the church, the body of Christ, on earth.
As St. Paul says, we “who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us by God. That’s why Paul cautions us “not to think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought to think.”
If we separate ourselves from the others in the petra, we impede God’s building of the church. If we withhold the gifts given to us (our money, talents, and time), we impede God’s building of the church. If we use the gifts given to us for our own purpose instead of for God’s purpose, we impede God’s building of the church. If we judge someone else’s gift as common or unimportant or our own as superior, we are wrong and impeding God’s building of the church.
Our church, the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, is a partial expression of the petra. We are incomplete and still becoming. We still are being formed by God. Everyone here, each Petros, is meant to be here. Everyone here has a gift and a purpose designed by God, which God desires to use. And everyone who comes to us brings a gift and a purpose designed by God and meant to be part of the petra upon which God continues to build the church in our time – right here at Redeemer.
This brings to mind a quote I saw on Facebook last week, posted by our own Kheresa Harmon. She quoted Douglas Webster, Ph.D. as saying: "We think of hospitality as giving to others, but what if hospitality is the Lord's way of bringing people into our lives who will give to us: the foreign student who enlarges our world, the homeless person who deepens our compassion, the missionary who causes us to pray more earnestly, the single mom who increases our family, and the neighbor whose next-door presence trains us in practical love?"
Practicing hospitality as Dr. Webster describes it will change us, transform us as St. Paul says, and that might be a bit uncomfortable. But that’s all part of our becoming.
When the Velveteen Rabbit asked the Skin Horse if becoming Real hurt, the Skin Horse replied, “‘Sometimes,’ for he was always truthful [but] ‘when you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
Jesus showed us the truth of that when he gave up his life on the cross. Now it’s up to us to hear and be transformed by Jesus’ words: You are Petros and upon this petra I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Amen.
How many of you are familiar with the story, The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams (Unicorn Publishing, NJ)? It’s the story of a stuffed toy rabbit that lived with a small boy. The boy had lots of toys in his nursery - there were mechanical toys “full of modern ideas” who “looked down on” all the other toys; there was a model boat who “caught the tone” from the mechanical toys and held himself superior to the others; there was a jointed wooden lion who “pretended he was connected to the Government” and therefore, was a very important toy. When the Velveteen Rabbit arrived, the other toys made him feel common and unimportant – except for the wise, old Skin Horse, who “had lived longer in the nursery than any of the other [toys].”
One day, the Velveteen Rabbit asked the Skin Horse what it meant to be REAL. Does is mean “having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle” like the mechanical toys? Does it mean being important like the wooden lion?
No, said the Skin Horse. “Real isn’t how you are made… It’s a thing that happens to you... [when you’re loved] for a long, long, time."
“Does it happen all at once… or bit by bit?” the Velveteen Rabbit asked. “It doesn’t happen all at once” the Skin Horse replied. “You become. It takes a long time.”
The same is true about being Christian. We become. And it takes our whole lives.
In today’s Gospel from Matthew, the apostle we know by his nickname, Peter, experiences a moment of divine revelation. Jesus and his disciples have been discussing who people say he is, and Jesus asks: But who do YOU say that I am? And Simon Peter answers: “You are the Messiah. The Son of the living God.” Jesus blesses Peter, then clarifies to all who are listening (including us) that this revelation of truth came to Peter as a gift from God, and was not the product of his own understanding or experience.
Then Jesus gives his disciple his now famous nick-name: “You are Peter” Jesus says. ‘Petros’ in Greek; ‘Cephas’ in Aramaic, and it means ‘stone or rock.’
It’s a bit of word-play with a purpose. This particular nick-name is also an identity and a call to mission. “You are Petros (a stone, a single part of a greater whole) and upon this petra (foundation) I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
Did you hear that? Not even death - and Jesus is talking here about his own death which is about to happen – not even death will prevail against the church I build.
So - who is the builder of the church? Jesus says, “…I will build my church…” God in Christ is the builder. It isn’t the vestry, or the rector, or the bishop – or even the most involved members. We don’t build the church. God does. So when we consider our tithes and our budget, our worship and music, our leadership and programs, and our path into the future, it is important for us to remember that God is the builder of this church. We are individually Petros whom God graces and unifies and forms into petra, the foundation on upon which the church is built.
This is not a new concept. In the Old Testament lesson from Isaiah, God says to the people: “Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many.”
God did it. Abraham and Sara were Petros-es whom God graced and unified into petra and through whom God built a people so numerous that our numbers are greater than the number of stars in the skies.
Ours isn’t a church built on or by a single stone (person). It’s a church built by God through each of us who is Petros, who receives the grace of God into our lives and uses it according to and for God’s purpose. That is what Peter did that day, and that’s why Jesus said Peter had the keys to the kingdom.
Many understand this to mean that Peter is the one who reveals the mystery of the kingdom, or decides who gets to enter the pearly gates of heaven. But the gospel story makes clear that revelation comes from God, not from any human. And it isn’t likely that God needs a guard at the gate of heaven.
So what does it mean? To have a key is to have the means of opening a locked door. Jesus is giving to his disciples, and to all of us who are Petros, the means by which to open the doors of the kingdom to those who are locked out.
The last bit of the gospel story about binding and loosing is a rabbinical instruction. In those days, rabbis were responsible for establishing the rules for their followers. For us, these would be the canons of TEC and the diocese.
Jesus, the rabbi, is instructing Peter and the other disciples (the word in Greek is plural) in the ways of a rabbi. Jesus says - Now y’all decide what to bind (that is, what not to allow) and what to loose (…what to allow). I’ve got your back. I will guide you in this. Remember you are Petros. I am the builder. I have the big picture in mind. You don’t. You can’t.
Keep in mind that this gospel story takes place right after Peter has failed in his attempt to walk on water and right before he denies Jesus three times at the trial, which shows us that being Petros means that we are becoming as God would have us be. It means we are continually opening to whatever grace God chooses to give us at this moment in our journey, knowing that the gift isn’t for us alone – it’s for the petra - the unified foundation formed by God from each of us and our gifts for the building of the church, the body of Christ, on earth.
As St. Paul says, we “who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us by God. That’s why Paul cautions us “not to think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought to think.”
If we separate ourselves from the others in the petra, we impede God’s building of the church. If we withhold the gifts given to us (our money, talents, and time), we impede God’s building of the church. If we use the gifts given to us for our own purpose instead of for God’s purpose, we impede God’s building of the church. If we judge someone else’s gift as common or unimportant or our own as superior, we are wrong and impeding God’s building of the church.
Our church, the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, is a partial expression of the petra. We are incomplete and still becoming. We still are being formed by God. Everyone here, each Petros, is meant to be here. Everyone here has a gift and a purpose designed by God, which God desires to use. And everyone who comes to us brings a gift and a purpose designed by God and meant to be part of the petra upon which God continues to build the church in our time – right here at Redeemer.
This brings to mind a quote I saw on Facebook last week, posted by our own Kheresa Harmon. She quoted Douglas Webster, Ph.D. as saying: "We think of hospitality as giving to others, but what if hospitality is the Lord's way of bringing people into our lives who will give to us: the foreign student who enlarges our world, the homeless person who deepens our compassion, the missionary who causes us to pray more earnestly, the single mom who increases our family, and the neighbor whose next-door presence trains us in practical love?"
Practicing hospitality as Dr. Webster describes it will change us, transform us as St. Paul says, and that might be a bit uncomfortable. But that’s all part of our becoming.
When the Velveteen Rabbit asked the Skin Horse if becoming Real hurt, the Skin Horse replied, “‘Sometimes,’ for he was always truthful [but] ‘when you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
Jesus showed us the truth of that when he gave up his life on the cross. Now it’s up to us to hear and be transformed by Jesus’ words: You are Petros and upon this petra I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)