tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86390101620869964452024-03-05T12:00:48.356-05:00CC Bible Study Middletown NJUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger184125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-57653454654837091562014-12-16T11:39:00.001-05:002014-12-16T11:39:05.958-05:00Don't Ask It's a Mystery
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Dear Friends, this will be my last post on this the Christ Church Bible Blog website. I will continue to publish readings and reflections based on the upcoming lectionary schedule on a new site entitled Word to word:</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.wordtowordbr.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.wordtowordbr.blogspot.com/</span></a> </span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">I</span><span style="color: red;"> look forward to your joining me in the future.</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: red;">Peace</span></strong><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1JrznZCLHL6eU4-wD09735ZTfe7d_RssBH13B8cpHSHrR0mbMkPf31QrnqZaDaeESvRcQF95SWjQNuiyg06xOIp6NlOeR95E3ODjBxtFPjFl8Yg8XTBmxyWrvySOfm8cc3lsXHvcBCOL/s1600/Annunciation++12-17-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1JrznZCLHL6eU4-wD09735ZTfe7d_RssBH13B8cpHSHrR0mbMkPf31QrnqZaDaeESvRcQF95SWjQNuiyg06xOIp6NlOeR95E3ODjBxtFPjFl8Yg8XTBmxyWrvySOfm8cc3lsXHvcBCOL/s1600/Annunciation++12-17-13.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We celebrate those events in the life of Christ in the
Gospel as stories that are meant to be lived as we are inspired to live them.
I’ve come to realize that if I understand something and feel that I can explain
it, it’s no mystery. Yet, there’s this undeniable urge to put our ego front and
center and do our best to try to explain things that defy explanation. I was
reminded when I heard Adam say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I was
afraid, because I was naked</i>. To which God answered, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who told you that you were naked</i>? (Genesis 3:8-19) Too often modern
believers tend to place their trust in therapy more than they do in mystery, a
fact that’s revealed when our worship resorts to the jargon of ego-satisfying, self-help
and pop psychology: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let’s use this hour
to get our heads straight or revisit our perspective.</i> Really? Sure, let’s
use this hour because we’re too busy later, after all, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we’ve got the kids</i>, or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
don’t want anything to get in the way of my Super Bowl Sunday</i>. Let’s use
this hour, and get it over with and you can send me a bill… later I will zip
off a check in the mail. There, that’s done. But the mystery of worship which
is God’s presence and our response to it doesn’t work this way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Somehow, the mistrust of all that has been handed down
to us, has led to a failure of the imagination, evidenced by language that’s
thoroughly comfortable and unchallenging. Our prayers become a self- indulgent
praise of ourselves as we purport to “confess” our weaknesses. These prayers are
anything but the lifting of our hearts and minds to God. There’s no attempt to
at least meet him half way and listen and stop talking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="mso-comment-date: 20141216T1125; mso-comment-reference: BR_1;"></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="mso-comment-date: 20141216T1125; mso-comment-reference: BR_1;">And</a> so now in this fourth week of Advent we focus on the Annunciation<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Advent/BAdv4_RCL.html"> <strong><span style="color: blue;">(Luke 1:26-38</span></strong></a><strong><span style="color: blue;">)</span></strong><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="mso-comment-date: 20141216T1125; mso-comment-reference: BR_1;">,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></a></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="mso-comment-date: 20141216T1125; mso-comment-reference: BR_1;"></a><span style="mso-comment-continuation: 1;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">a mystery of epic proportions that
defies rational explanation. It stuns us to hear some attempt to reduce the
virgin birth to a mere story of an unwed pregnant teenager. Have we come to a
time when anything that did not stand up to reason or that we couldn’t explain,
should be characterized as primitive and infantile? Why do we think that an
almighty spiritual being is confined to man’s intellect and his feeble language
to communicate? Do we not see how metaphor and poetry reveal meaning<u>, not
explanation, </u>on a deep personal level?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-comment-continuation: 1;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Last
year we had an opportunity to travel through Eastern Europe, making our way
from the Black Sea to Amsterdam. I was taken aback by the devastation in human lives
caused by the failure of the “great social experiment,” that created societies
whose wealth was shared but only among those at the top. So great buildings
were erected for the personal aggrandizement of the elite while sacrificing the
welfare of the people who were desperate for food and who desired a modicum of personal
enrichment. On the other hand, I was impressed with the number of churches and
cathedrals that were reopened after decades of being forced to close. These
were flourishing, and while they served as much to support tourism as worship, they
were a major presence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-comment-continuation: 1;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Looking
at the beautiful classical paintings and art in these churches made me wonder
what it was that inspired the artists to create poetic images and visual
metaphors depicting the “mysteries” of Christianity. It occurred to me that
their art was spoken in a language all its own and derived its source from inspiration
and not the intellect, and while the cynic might deride the image of the Angel
Gabriel appearing to Mary, the artist understood it completely. Art and music
are languages of the soul and bypass our rational being to speak to us at a
level we cannot explain or know but do we really need explanation for something
we feel down deep?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-comment-continuation: 1;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">When
we allow God’s love to break through into our consciousness as we contemplate the
Mysteries of the Annunciation and Virgin birth, do we run from it? Do we ask it
to explain what it cannot? Or are we “virgin” enough to surrender to our deepest
self and allow it to fill our being? We cannot ask it to explain what it
cannot.</span></span><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 107%;"><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><a class="msocomanchor" href="file:///C:/Users/Bob%20Reina/Documents/Christ%20Church/Bible%20Study/Blog%20Posts/Mystery%20and%20the%20Annunciaition%2012-17-13.%20final%20docx.docx" id="_anchor_1" language="JavaScript" name="_msoanchor_1"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">[BR1]</span></a><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-special-character: comment;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-62616741021483526142014-12-09T07:17:00.000-05:002014-12-09T07:17:58.066-05:00Leaving Home...Going Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wishes teach us
that we could have been something or someone other than who we are. We became
who we are not because we exhausted our potential in one direction but because
we are directed to take one path and not another. God does not make wishes come
true; he makes reality work. To dream of what shall never come to pass is to
dream in the manner of Jesus. To dream only of what shall come to pass is to
become a wise planner, someone who projects accurately. To dream also of those
things which may not likely occur but of which men are capable is to be a
prophet a disciple of Jesus. John 1:6-8, 19-2<span style="color: black;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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be “at home” with itself. It is this aspiration which is at the heart of all
yearning. The most redemptive of all experiences is that by which the human
heart is reconciled with itself. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evil
comes from fear and fear comes from an inability to live with oneself, to make
a truce with one’s own life, to settle the conflict which goes on inside the
person who cannot find a home and who never comes home</i>. Jesus promised us a
home... One day, our apparently unheard knocking shall yield to welcome as all
the doors open to us in love and peace. (</span><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Dawn Without
Darkness,</span></u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> Anthony Padovano)</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-5294553506480243702014-12-02T08:55:00.000-05:002014-12-02T08:55:26.413-05:00Who Was That?<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In January of 2007, <i>The
Washington Post</i> videotaped the reactions of commuters at a D.C. Metro
(subway) stop to the music of a violinist. The overwhelming majority of the
1000+ commuters were too busy to stop. A few did, briefly, and some of those
threw a couple of bills into the violin case of the street performer. No big
deal, just an ordinary day on the Metro. Except it wasn't an ordinary day. The
violinist wasn't just another street performer; he was Joshua Bell, one of the
world's finest concert violinists, playing his multi-million dollar Stradivarius.
Three days earlier he had filled Boston's Symphony Hall with people paying
$100/seat to hear him play similar pieces. The question the Post author and
many others since have asked is simple: Have we been trained to recognize
beauty outside the contexts we expect to encounter beauty? Or, to put it
another way, can we recognize great music anywhere outside of a concert hall?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, this makes us wonder: Can we detect God only in Church when we are
immersed in liturgy, hymns and organ music? I'm afraid that we can't. Even
more, perhaps the Church gets in the way and contributes to this state of
affairs. Church, as we have come to know, is not the structure or the inner
trappings, it’s the people, the community. How do we find God when there is
confusion and “turmoil?” In his book, <u><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The
Different Drum: Community Making and Peace</span></u>, M. Scott Peck says that </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community" title="Community"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">community</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> has three essential ingredients: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclusive" title="Inclusive"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Inclusivity</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><u>, </u></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commitment" title="Commitment"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">commitment</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><u> and, </u></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus" title="Consensus"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">consensus</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></u></span></span>Based
on his experience, he cites that community building usually begins with the
need to address dysfunction or what he terms <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pseudo-community: “</i>This is a stage where the members </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretend" title="Pretend"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pretend</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to have a <i>bon home</i> with one
another, and cover up their differences by acting as if the differences do not
exist. Pseudo-community can never directly lead to community, and it is the job
of the people guiding the community building process to shorten this period as
much as possible.” If our Sunday hour does not abide in our life Monday through
Saturday, or if that hour runs counter to our ability to draw closer to God
then…and in the other 167 hours of the week…how long can we expect to keep
coming back?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John was sent to prepare us for
Jesus. How many times have we read (</span><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Advent/BAdv2_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark1:1-8</span></strong></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ) or heard John’s words: "The
one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop
down and untie the thong of his sandals?” Do we walk past him as the commuters
did Joshua Bell? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please, please help me,
help us all to see God at work in and through all the "ordinary"
elements of our lives so that we might come running back to church each Sunday
ready to hear of God at work both in the biblical world and our own. Who knows,
we might even come to church eager to share where we’ve seen God at work in and
through our lives</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Mark
13:24-37<span style="font-size: 12pt;">)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the world. And then who knows what might
happen!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-780940722127585502014-11-25T12:27:00.000-05:002014-11-25T12:27:29.916-05:00Keep Awake...no one knows that day or the hour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Keep
Awake for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the
evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you
asleep when he comes suddenly.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> These words have been repeated
for over 2,000 years, yet somehow we still fear the end of our life on earth. Sure,
we are comforted by the many parallels in nature that reveal death to be a precursor
to new life, but the fear of death lingers in the shadows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have - or likely have - lived longer than
our parents and grandparents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are
better fed; we lose few babies, and modern medicine protects us from contagion
and disease that will lengthen our lives... and yet, we are still afraid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Shortly after 9/11 the words Fear Not seemed a little
out of place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely we had every reason
to be afraid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am reminded of Father
Mychal Judge, a Franciscan priest, who served as Chaplain to the New York Fire
Dept., and was the first registered victim at Ground Zero, the sight of the
former Twin Towers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The details of his
death are unclear:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>some say he was
fatally wounded as he administered last rites to a dying firefighter; others
recall his being killed while in silent prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whatever happened, his lifeless body was discovered in the lobby and
carried to a nearby church shortly before Tower I collapsed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What does this have to do with our gospel
(<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Advent/BAdv1_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Mark</span></strong></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><strong><span style="color: blue;"> 13:24-37</span></strong>)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who knew how that fateful Tuesday that began
with skies so blue and air so clear, would end as it did?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many ways, Father Mychal lived this
gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many ways this was a man who
had arrived at Ground Zero long before 9/11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He had proved himself ready to lay down his life many times during his
career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For him 9/11 could have occurred
on any day or at any time... he was prepared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If the thought of finding God amidst such harrowing
circumstances seems strange, perhaps it is because we are out of practice
looking for Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we can be
certain that Christ's death and resurrection hold the deepest answer to all our
fears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ was executed like a common
criminal and was totally forsaken by his friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By His overcoming death and our sharing in
his resurrection, He took away all our reasons to fear forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course it does no good to recognize this
on a merely intellectual level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing
that Christ loves us may not save us from fear, nor will it save us from
death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so it comes down to this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only way to truly overcome our fear of
death is to "be prepared" and to live our life in such a way that its
meaning cannot be taken away by death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As with Father Mike, it means fighting the impulse to live for ourselves
instead of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It means being prepared
to die again and again to ourselves, and to every one of our self-serving
opinions and agendas. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But about that day
or hour no one knows.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-30870864026803413452014-11-18T12:06:00.000-05:002014-11-18T12:06:57.454-05:00Is that Jesus in Disguise?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi450A6PA4MqBOorEXtCdzYQ7qATWOz_ei4hkEX06IqwQZp9UnolOv2mTyE9rJJzbNRkFnxZMmMn-y0z0Hb_TfYPkky7jSiCVuDNIFM2E2N-iRLMhjQPTA_zI6USvdEcwP1opET_Ne2ty-d/s1600/Least+of+My+Brethren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi450A6PA4MqBOorEXtCdzYQ7qATWOz_ei4hkEX06IqwQZp9UnolOv2mTyE9rJJzbNRkFnxZMmMn-y0z0Hb_TfYPkky7jSiCVuDNIFM2E2N-iRLMhjQPTA_zI6USvdEcwP1opET_Ne2ty-d/s1600/Least+of+My+Brethren.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do we like
surprises? As I think about it, I would probably answer, “it depends.” I know I
like to surprise others and must admit to having a penchant for playing practical
jokes, and while I have become more sensitive to time, place and personalities
targeted, I’m not completely “rehabilitated.” I’ve learned that not everyone
shares my sense of humor. I, myself, don’t really like to be surprised; I’d
rather be pleased or displeased with an event or outcome, knowing in advance
what might be expected. Yet, there are those, who enjoy surprises and would
rather not have any inkling in advance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This brings me to this week’s Gospel,
(<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp29_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 25: 31-46</strong></span></a>) which depicts elements of surprise for the good guys and
the bad, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sheep and the goats</i>.
Both groups were surprised by what Jesus said when they asked “Lord, when did
we and when didn’t we…” Why do we suppose this is? Nether group denies their
behavior, and both groups registered surprise when they failed to recognize
Jesus. Tell the truth, we know that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">when
we do it for the least of our brethren</i>, we do it for God but do we really
expect to see Jesus in the face of the disenfranchised, the homeless, the imprisoned
and the downtrodden? Don’t we really prefer to look for him as the royal figure
depicted in the words of Mathew as he gathers </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">all the angels with him, and sits
on the throne of his glory with all the nations assembled before him?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a deliberate set up in
Matthew as we are expected to be surprised and wonder when did we or didn’t we?
And really, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the least of my brethren</i>.
Don’t these words come much more easily than the reality of recognizing him,
and perhaps ourselves, in those who are hurting? Hasn’t “the least of our
brethren” become so wrapped up in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">religiosity</i>
and Bible-speak that we let the words flow trippingly off the tongue? Words,
words, words. And so we pat ourselves on the back when we provide a few cans of
food for those in need in this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">time of
outreach</i>, and we retreat to the comfort of our warm homes as we prepare for
our Thanksgiving Holiday. But are we really doing it for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">least of our brethren</i> or is it really
something we are doing because</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">it’s that time and at least we can keep our discomfort
at arm’s length, out of sight and still feel good? While we do thank God for churches
and charitable enterprises, as they work to serve the needy, unfortunately, they
often keep us safely within, “inside” and insulate us from the reality of God.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Richard Rohr tells us that for
centuries all the world’s religions were pointing to heaven or the kingdom of
God as something in the “next world.” God is with us, here and now, as revealed
in the fellowship of broken people we call church and available to us in the
seemingly small gestures of mercy we offer and are offered each and every day.
It may not be where we expect God to show up, but it is just where we need him.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, we celebrate Christ the King, not because
of his regal bearing, but because of his humility; not because of his power,
but because of his compassion and his presence in us and the least of these… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-66154479962099079212014-11-11T13:31:00.002-05:002014-11-11T13:31:34.217-05:00Risky Business <br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakhCxl0a_oidC4PFHWedtkVhiDB-1716eRZisWCK-RxtHTNp8owq5GAFyQZ_Gs9QzZK47JNR_B2_mVV51j9hLSLvI2MM0ykuGcecu-5NNdrd_pu5f7BNp2Q_WaG900k6SZU7rKEi9kblH/s1600/Talents+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakhCxl0a_oidC4PFHWedtkVhiDB-1716eRZisWCK-RxtHTNp8owq5GAFyQZ_Gs9QzZK47JNR_B2_mVV51j9hLSLvI2MM0ykuGcecu-5NNdrd_pu5f7BNp2Q_WaG900k6SZU7rKEi9kblH/s1600/Talents+2014.jpg" /></a></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How many of us grew up thinking
of God as one whose “performance standards” were rigid and unbending? Weren’t
many of us taught to believe that this God requires us to work out our own
salvation, and it was up to us whether or not we enter into paradise? This was
the One who told us that we had choices to make. Yet, on the other hand we are
told that we are loved and there is nothing we can do to lose God’s love. We
don’t earn salvation, but by birthright are entitled to the Kingdom. It’s not
my place to say either belief is or was right or wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while it’s not my place to say that we
have no “skin in the game,” and can’t do anything to earn it, I do believe we are
“required” to live a God centered life as Jesus did…even if the Kingdom is our “entitlement.”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It gets confusing doesn’t
it? On the one hand Jesus tells us the Kingdom of God is at hand, and on the
other hand he seems to be telling us that there are measurable performance
standards prior to entry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note last week’s
parables of the “foolish virgins” (Matthew 25:1-1-3) and this week’s the “talents”
(<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp28_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman;"><strong>Matthew 25:14--30</strong></span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman;"><strong> </strong></span>). Perhaps, the
story of the talents has more to say about attitudes than reward and punishment,
and is consistent with leading a God-centered life the Jesus way. How we use
what we have been given, and the willingness to step out of our comfort zone
and live the beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) and practice the Two Great
Commandments (Matthew 22:36-40) are all about the personal responsibility we
have to live life<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fully as Christians.
Life, love and faith, like money, require the taking of risks in order to grow.
And risks require relationships and relationships - true relationships -
require that we have the courage to be open, to be vulnerable, to let go of
pretense and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">give our egos a rest</i>. We
must take risks and invest ourselves in one another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When we put our talents
to work in the service of God, we take risks. When we are willing to be
imperfect and reveal our humanity we are capable of being open to one another and
see ourselves in the other. This is risky business and taking risks is not easy;
its consequences can cause anxiety. When we invest ourselves in one another,
the outcome cannot be guaranteed. But, so what…we have a “safety net. Nancy
Rockwell writes, “…there is power that comes from the joy of receiving life as
a gift, and from the confidence of being loved by God. The enthusiasm in
this sure hope opens us readily to share with others the bounty we have, our
bounty of ideas, of welcome, of the riches in the day itself, and all of this
is a sure way to increase our bounty. Matthew says those who were given
much went to others for help in increasing it. That upbeat, expectant
interaction, that can-do spirit, grows everything it touches.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-86175372193914291932014-11-04T12:52:00.000-05:002014-11-04T12:52:49.989-05:00Anticipation is making me wait<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhAxJq_k6xIvNDCw0hHXEk1U8_EUcCGhVys9LLlORJPgYtLEAG2u1rtSn1XrW_u4WptTIaSMOQjKKxtTAxw7193Ka8B9Iqe0JJ0rBa6n8gogvWDCnWqYfusruu7EoI37Tx6wff7X4yL5rU/s1600/ten+virgins+8-6-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhAxJq_k6xIvNDCw0hHXEk1U8_EUcCGhVys9LLlORJPgYtLEAG2u1rtSn1XrW_u4WptTIaSMOQjKKxtTAxw7193Ka8B9Iqe0JJ0rBa6n8gogvWDCnWqYfusruu7EoI37Tx6wff7X4yL5rU/s1600/ten+virgins+8-6-13.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a>The kind of waiting Matthew is encouraging
through this parable (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp27_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 25:1-13</strong></span></a><strong>) </strong>is difficult. Waiting for
something way over due, waiting for something you’re not sure will even come is
challenging. How about waiting for someone who is the center of your life and
not sure when he or she will arrive? It’s irritating and thoughtless when we
have no idea, but maybe they themselves don’t know. All I know is that it makes
me apprehensive. This special arrival involves preparation but I’m so
distracted I can barely concentrate on what I am supposed to do. And what about
the times we waited for a call from a doctor or lab test result? There is
nothing we can do to prepare, what’s done is done. We just wait. This kind of
waiting is really hard. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whether what we are waiting for is good or bad
hardly matters, the anxiety and stress of living in the “in-between time” of
waiting can be difficult. This parable reminds us that we are not alone in our
waiting. Upon closer look Jesus is speaking of his own “in-between time,” his
own time of waiting. The scene is set between Jesus’ triumphal entry into
Jerusalem and his trial and crucifixion. And one thing on which Matthew and all
the Gospel writers agree is that Jesus knew what was coming. Yet here he is,
still teaching the crowds; debating his opponents, and instructing his disciples…even
as he waits for the coming cross. When he gets to the garden we know how
difficult waiting was for Jesus, and how all his followers were so “hard to
find,” even after he asked them to wait with him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Waiting for Jesus’ imminent return is difficult
for most of us to conceptualize; yet, Jesus’ presence is with us always . Each
time we work for justice, we testify to the presence of Jesus. Each time we help
each other, we testify to Jesus’ presence. Each time we stand up for the poor,
or reach out to the friendless, or work to make this world God loves a better
place, we testify to the presence of the Risen Christ.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yet, these efforts are not always easy to sustain
and we can grow frustrated by the lack of “measurable outcomes.” Let’s admit
it, on any given day, at any given time each of us may discover we are a
foolish bridesmaid. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Given this reality,
let’s reclaim our church as a place where we can find help and support in our
waiting – all kinds of waiting! – and support as we try to live our Christian
life. I find it striking that Paul closes this part of his letter to those
first-century Thessalonians that found their own waiting nearly intolerable
with these words, “Therefore, encourage one another….”</i> (David Lose, <u>In
the Meantime,</u> 11/3/14)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are the Church. We are those who wait for each
other. We are those who support each other in times of pain, loss or
bereavement. We are those who help each other wait, and prepare, and keep the
faith. In all these ways, we encourage each other with the promises of Christ.
That’s what it means to be Christ’s followers, then and now. And that’s why we
come together each Sunday, to hear and share the hope-creating promises of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-60806424371059836302014-10-28T11:49:00.000-04:002014-10-28T11:49:14.974-04:00Do not do as I do<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi14ZGOz3baLxkYk-yEHHsYx8gZgEPgLKqPp8qk8ZZIJywiQKpUrovP8G8WM0nrFvk6fBRi3PftofPgqodnLevoPzmC4-O-6qmux6kIB05T4wql_ljAhkR1foJ3LYEkAuRJ0CM-6rmfMQqt/s1600/bregeda-1433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi14ZGOz3baLxkYk-yEHHsYx8gZgEPgLKqPp8qk8ZZIJywiQKpUrovP8G8WM0nrFvk6fBRi3PftofPgqodnLevoPzmC4-O-6qmux6kIB05T4wql_ljAhkR1foJ3LYEkAuRJ0CM-6rmfMQqt/s1600/bregeda-1433.jpg" height="160" width="200" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
don’t have to look far to see the hypocrisy of “Do as I say not as I do,” play
out in today’s geopolitics and our American culture. We are in the mind-numbing
throes of the silly season in which the never-ending barrage of political ads
are quick to point out the lies and hypocrisies of the “other party,” and political
advisors “scrounge” for any and all opportunities to shade the truth a bit to
capture the minds of those who want to validate their pre-conceived opinions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thank
God we don’t see this hypocrisy in our churches and synagogues! Really…just
look around. Protestants and Catholics criticize each other and, in their own
way, attempt to keep their clubs “private” by maintaining “status quo.” Ironically,
they behave more like the church from which they believed themselves to be so
different. Both seem willing to listen to Pope Francis, up to a point that is,
and acknowledge <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the least of our brethren</i>
who are left out and disenfranchised. But… <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">let’s
not get crazy now…</i> and dare admit them as part of their communities. We
have rules, you know. Yet perhaps the most pernicious of all rules are not those
committed to paper and by laws but those that reside in our minds and hearts.
These consume us from the inside out both on personal and institutional levels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
you look at the way Jesus criticized some of the Jewish leaders of his day (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp26_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 23:1-12)</strong></span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, it seems to me that
the common thread was one of ego. Matthew pointed out their hypocrisy, as they
used their religion to massage their own egos to make themselves feel
important. The truth of the matter is that religion has always been incredibly
susceptible to being corrupted into just another way for us to feed the
unhealthy pride that lurks in the corners of our insecurities. You know, that
righteous pride that tempts us to try to make ourselves look more moral or better
than others. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let’s face it</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you were all brainwashed</i>. Just who is
the “you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
we indulge the temptation to “exalt ourselves” at the expense of others, aren’t
we really only reinforcing our own insecurities? If my sense of worth depends
on my being better than you, then I will be searching for or manufacturing areas
in which I am superior. Inevitably we will have to shade the truth and lie to
ourselves and now the malignancy that takes up residence in our hearts and
minds, metastasizes and becomes a vicious circle of security, pride, ego. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
solution to that kind of religious egotism that is manifest in the unhealthy
need to “exalt ourselves” over others is surprisingly simple. We must just let
go of our hurt and not just pay lip service to letting go and stop feeding
those insecurities. And the way to let go of the hurt is to embrace the central
truth of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed: God loves and accepts us—unconditionally.
There is nothing we can do to earn it. Then who are we to determine who is more
lovable or acceptable? When we look at others that way, instead of trying to
“exalt ourselves” above others, we can care about them enough to serve them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-83643055825419747702014-10-21T13:30:00.000-04:002014-10-21T13:30:15.320-04:00The Power of Love Vs. The Love of Power<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDqK04LG4dME3rOZxWlqeDSlXmYsRhRvNXSiiD3BbudifC-Vbv6dsjQJrI-dYSmanqsdgnNOSmbmFBiRqo2Geu6y5tIm1yyDwnFB4Omoj9rP1qZoIB87MkYQzA0jojte0kVlmZdsNGWSG/s1600/Creation+10-21-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDqK04LG4dME3rOZxWlqeDSlXmYsRhRvNXSiiD3BbudifC-Vbv6dsjQJrI-dYSmanqsdgnNOSmbmFBiRqo2Geu6y5tIm1yyDwnFB4Omoj9rP1qZoIB87MkYQzA0jojte0kVlmZdsNGWSG/s1600/Creation+10-21-14.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
was only natural for Jesus to be prepared for the question, after all the
Pharisees and Jewish elite were lying in wait and trying to trap him. Hadn’t he
already been rightfully accused of breaking Jewish laws? He preached and healed
on the Sabbath; he defied the purity and dietary codes; consorted with women, some
of questionable reputation, in public and was pretty free with his use of God’s
good name. The Pharisees accused him of blasphemy when he forgave sins. So the
deck was already stacked against him when he was put to the test as to which is
the greatest commandment. I have to think that Jesus was well prepared for the
answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
<span style="color: blue;"><strong>(</strong></span><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp25_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 22:34-46</strong></span></a>) he summed up the
first five commandments in one great commandment, “love God with all your
heart, soul and mind.” And covered the next 5 in the second, “love your
neighbor as yourself.” In a way, Jesus is saying the Ten Commandments, (the
Decalogue), is one commandment and he is saying that no rule, no piety, no
custom, no tradition, is more important than loving God completely. God is love
and is omnipresent and cannot be contained by and in any man made law, culture
or tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While
Jesus offers up the two Greatest Commandments as his answer, he is not
contravening Moses or the prophets. St. Paul writes in his letter to the
Hebrews 1: 1-2, that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in the past God
spoke through our forefathers through the prophets at many times in various
ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.</i> How is it
different?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus preached the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">power of love as opposed to the love of
power</b>. Rules at a specific time and place may serve a purpose, rules for
rules sake are a means to exert control and satisfy the agendas of the
so-called ruling class. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Progression
is not the same as contradiction. An artist begins by making<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a sketch and applies his tools to the canvas
bit by bit until the whole picture (apparent to his mind from the start, though
not to the beholder’s) finally emerges. And parents teach children rule upon
rule until they are capable of making decisions for themselves. In time, as
children mature into adults, they are capable of understanding why these rules
were important in their developmental years, when in fact, their brain was not
fully developed. Wisdom emerges through experience, and the mature mind is
capable of making those rules a part of its being and “moral compass.” They are
internalized and become who we are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“And
yet the arguments over whose Law is greatest become mired in the deep darkness
of struggles for power. At the Vatican, the Pope himself has been denied,
by his own Cardinals, the tender words of mercy he sought to extend, on behalf
of his church, to those who have been made scapegoats in the righteousness
games that too many clergy – and laity – piously play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>If you are simply dispensing information,</i>
(and Jesus said to the lawyer questioning him, and the Pope is saying to the
College of Cardinals) <i>your days are numbered.</i> <i>(Laws,
history, learning as a product) can be codified, recorded, and dispensed.
A seedbed is a different matter. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It
is baptism into a mystery – an experience of God – a relationship with God and
those who have been touched by the Divine. Mystery is not something that
is simply learned, it is absorbed and the few that choose to offer that gift
have a future. For those that don’t offer that mystery, there isn’t one.”</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(</i></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Frederick Schmidt, <b><i>Patheos</i></b> on October 17, 2014</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The
Bible begins with the creation of the universe and ends with the re-creation of
the universe. It goes on at its beginning to describe the fall of man in a
garden and paradise lost; it concludes in a garden with paradise regained…For
at last God’s kingdom has been consummated. All creation is subject to him. And
the blessings of our final inheritance will be due to his perfect rule.” (</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">John Stott, <u>Understanding the Bible</u>, p 152</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">) </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-56795300850058852022014-10-14T11:46:00.000-04:002014-10-14T11:46:17.122-04:00So, what is your answer, Yes or No?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubxKGpd_SErj1lwl30LMGpFbmZ6zzn4ow9QatXjGqJa2i4KARLOd1gMtkruUyssQcHHyC43eOQV5X_GIP1BndyCz8spyijm_hl3QQJPgrlHS2mk6E4NF-36YGMTUIJwDaMChh8CqHRBYy/s1600/Caesar+10-15-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubxKGpd_SErj1lwl30LMGpFbmZ6zzn4ow9QatXjGqJa2i4KARLOd1gMtkruUyssQcHHyC43eOQV5X_GIP1BndyCz8spyijm_hl3QQJPgrlHS2mk6E4NF-36YGMTUIJwDaMChh8CqHRBYy/s1600/Caesar+10-15-14.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">In his parables Jesus invites the listener to be
part of the story by relating <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">explicit</i>
scenarios that were relevant to the listener’s world. These parables also serve
as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">implicit</i> invitations for them to
see something else beneath in the narrative. From time to time Jesus would
insert a clever device or provocative form of speech, i.e., an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aphorism</i>, in which a specific piece or
element would prompt the imagination and become an indelible memory. And so it
is in this week’s Gospel <strong><span style="color: blue;">(</span></strong><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp24_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Matthew 22: 15-22</span></strong></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">). Jesus uses the coin to
illustrate and memorialize in the mind’s eye of the listener his answer which typical
of Jesus, was in the form of a question and asks, “what do you think?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Over
the centuries, many Christians have based their attitudes toward government on
this passage. Some have thought that Jesus' statement establishes two separate
realms, Caesar's and God's. This interpretation strikes many Americans as
obviously correct, given our separation of church and state. In this historical
context, Jesus’ words had little to do with taxation or political authority in
general. Jews in the first century paid several taxes: tithes to the Temple,
customs taxes, and taxes on land. Yet, the people were not questioning taxes but
rather their question <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>specifically was
concerned with whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar who as the emperor
of Rome and the son of Augustus, represented the head of an imperial domination
system, and was purported to be the “son of God.” In essence, even</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> possessing the coin was tantamount to idolatry and a
violation of the commandments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The President of the Lutheran
Theological Seminary, David Lose writes that three of the most powerful words
in the world besides "I love you," <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">are</span> "I don't know." To many of us in our culture, these
words seem like an admission of failure. It’s as if our admitting any kind of
ignorance somehow undermines the validity of our education and degrees. How
could that be? But just maybe <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we don’t
know</i> and just maybe telling another person that we don't know provides them
an invitation to share what <i>they</i> know or, sometimes even better, to join
you in figuring something out. This becomes especially true when you pair those
three words with four others: "What do you think?" Isn’t that what we
do in our Jesus Way Bible Study?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">So back to the question put to Jesus in our Gospel.
It was a trap. Either way a yes or no answer would have gotten Jesus in
trouble. "Yes" would have discredited him with those who found the
imperial domination system unacceptable. "No" would have made him
subject to arrest for sedition. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So is Jesus saying that we owe nothing to a false God like
Caesar and should reserve all things for the true God? Or is he inviting us to
recognize that while we may owe the emperors of this world some things like
taxes, we owe God other things, like our whole selves? Perhaps Jesus is
inviting us to put aside our attachments and allegiance to the material and
temporal things of this world that our coins can buy and invite our ultimate
devotion to God? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't know. What do
you think? Or is Jesus advocating a retreat from the economic and political
dimensions of our lives and helping us recognize that all of these things are
part of God's “divine economy?” As such, is Jesus inviting us to set the stage for
our transformation…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">by putting on the mind
of God</i> in all of our decisions in what we do, buy, and how we spend our
time? The whole world is God's including us. What do you think? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="color: #97d1ff; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b> </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-9324658162636240482014-10-07T11:18:00.000-04:002014-10-07T12:21:29.098-04:00Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmrjvzTSyLu-kzLnoi0YOiMLxezK1CW06rmu9W1unqfSOog3SyM_o6BnY53kPX4EYuDb8-K1jCgetpmUnlSEfKejhdjKm7y_En6pdOeYsJnKEWDNlquDwVAx91SgcwEGbVztaFEnKgli3/s1600/Wedding+invitation+10-8-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmrjvzTSyLu-kzLnoi0YOiMLxezK1CW06rmu9W1unqfSOog3SyM_o6BnY53kPX4EYuDb8-K1jCgetpmUnlSEfKejhdjKm7y_En6pdOeYsJnKEWDNlquDwVAx91SgcwEGbVztaFEnKgli3/s1600/Wedding+invitation+10-8-14.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A few months back we received a hand delivered
rather large 8 x 10 envelope by a private messenger service. Not recognizing
the return address I was at first unwilling to accept the envelope, but noting
the considerable expense of the courier service, I decided to accept it. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To our amazement, it was a strikingly beautiful
embossed invitation to a private wedding ceremony along with an accompanying
letter describing specific instructions as to travel and lodging. The
invitation was to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wedding of the year</i>
between George Clooney, the “world’s most eligible bachelor” and forgive me, <u>People
Magazine’s</u> “Sexiest Man Alive,” and the strikingly beautiful Amal
Alamuddin, a noted civil rights attorney educated at Oxford and NYU Law School and
former clerk for Justice Sotomayor. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why us? I met George with his father an old
friend, many years back when he was an unknown aspiring young actor. (Frankly,
I was a much bigger fan of his late aunt, Rosemary Clooney, the popular singer
of the 50’s.) So why us?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The accompanying letter described our
pre-arranged all expenses paid travel to and lodging in a private villa in
Venice. We were to provide our passport information to an intermediary who had
scheduled our travel via private jet leaving and returning to Teterboro airport
at a specific date and time. Information as to the wedding was private and
confidential and asked that we sign a security bond insuring our willingness to
comply. No other communications were required or frankly permitted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Needless to say, we were excited at first but
then began to wonder how we would fit in. While we had the requisite formal
clothes required for the wedding, we began to wonder how we would interact with
this elite jet set of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>luminaries, likely
to be in attendance? While I am usually not at a loss for words and can talk to
anyone, I am not a movie goer and don’t follow or really care or know about any
of the new Hollywood stars. In fact, while Clooney seems to be a nice enough guy
and somewhat of a philanthropist, I’ve only seen one of George’s movies on TV.
And while we really love Venice, we realized we would have little time to
ourselves and be somewhat confined to our designated luxurious villa with lots
of strangers for 3 days. Having come up with enough reasons (or excuses), we
decided that it wasn’t worth it, so we regrettably declined the invitation,
although we signed the confidentiality agreement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What would you have done if you were in our
shoes? Most of our family and friends thought we were nuts for declining this
once in a lifetime opportunity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our readings in (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp23_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 22: 1-14</strong></span></a>) this week speaks of a different wedding. Jesus
tells of a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son and invited everyone to
attend. But they all declined. Hurt and insulted he sent his servants into the
streets to collect anyone and everyone and see to it that they came to the
wedding. One attendee came without being properly groomed or dressed and was
thrown out.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Throughout the gospels, Jesus makes curious
comments about the marriage of heaven and earth and our being prepared for the event.
</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK our
invitation to George Clooney’s wedding was fictitious; it was made up and, not
unlike Jesus’ parables, intended to bring the question home. What would I
really do? What would you do?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-2544631400595174282014-09-30T15:10:00.000-04:002014-09-30T15:10:21.534-04:00The stone the builders rejected is the cornerstone<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWZgo-Wo9TGYi9Hm_fYBKQnwQWqHqA84qtUrIUzQMZoOoqNnMroHihDnQ2oaZTokgHOdnBWDHHdn52UwhQMtI88PoOve8id1L13SMXUEVrLUVikHU0USn_XWt6cnElEe28BIba4wWSqj1/s1600/Jesus+the+cornerstone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWZgo-Wo9TGYi9Hm_fYBKQnwQWqHqA84qtUrIUzQMZoOoqNnMroHihDnQ2oaZTokgHOdnBWDHHdn52UwhQMtI88PoOve8id1L13SMXUEVrLUVikHU0USn_XWt6cnElEe28BIba4wWSqj1/s1600/Jesus+the+cornerstone.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">In this parable (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp22_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Matthew 21:33-46</span></strong></a>) the Pharisees were
indignant at the thought that they might not be as good as they thought they
were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As with the Pharisees, entitlement
runs rampant in our culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t we as
citizens of this great country sometimes take our blessings for granted and
live as though we are entitled and have somehow earned these blessings?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t we do the same in our churches?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We act at times as though the church is
something we own and possess for ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like the tenants who leased the land, we have often been so busy tending
to our own agendas and goals that we forget that the landowner is going to hold
us accountable for what we have done with his land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than serving as stewards of God’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">vineyard </i>in the world we have sometimes
behaved as though the church is our private club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The kingdom of God does
not work like a marketplace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we do
in His kingdom does not exist to serve our own agendas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But rather it exists to serve something much
greater than ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tending to His
vineyard has nothing to do with yield.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have no idea what that yield is or will be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus describes the
violent way the tenant farmers treated the servants and the landowner’s own
son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then asks them how they think
the landowner will treat the tenant farmer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thoroughly entrenched in their world’s ideology of violence and
retribution, the Pharisees say that the landowner will bring those retches to a
miserable end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus knows that this is
not quite the whole story and tells them, “The stone the builders rejected has
become the capstone.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words,
God is not about to give up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter
what violent acts are perpetuated against Jesus, the Father will see that the
rejected stone becomes the cornerstone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The kingdom is not
ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kingdom belongs to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We who live in the kingdom must enter on God’s
terms and not ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are just
stewards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This good news is worth
sharing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-23683118004628556782014-09-23T13:50:00.000-04:002014-09-23T13:50:18.209-04:00By what authority do I do these things?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyavom1YNnyeIflMjAL9bheqywX2H0iFyRX-rP0VLgKBAyHCCjYngb5klbLSlnS3GJMnbmJDFWd-Nr-aKnXxrNW5RC4ypKuHt-Z4-EyCruBGFBBQxr6XXlQBllfq0fZk3OcG-sSHeNPAMj/s1600/By+what+authority-matthew+9-24-14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyavom1YNnyeIflMjAL9bheqywX2H0iFyRX-rP0VLgKBAyHCCjYngb5klbLSlnS3GJMnbmJDFWd-Nr-aKnXxrNW5RC4ypKuHt-Z4-EyCruBGFBBQxr6XXlQBllfq0fZk3OcG-sSHeNPAMj/s1600/By+what+authority-matthew+9-24-14.png" /></a></div>
<br />
In Matthew’s deceptively simple parable (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp21_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 21:23-32</strong></span></a>), Jesus invites
his adversaries to look at the future, as one not dominated by the arguments
and opposition of the past, but one that is open to the movement of God’s
spirit to heal, revive, restore, and make all things new. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The chief priests and elders do not accept this invitation. They have too
much invested in the past…their identity has been defined by their own man-made
rules that they have assumed the “authority” to enforce. They have become
dependent on their established identity and they refuse to trade that past for
an unknown future. But look at those who are “down and out,” the dregs of
society, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the tax collectors and
prostitutes</i>, who discover that any identity created by their past does not have
to define or follow them into the future; they eagerly grab hold of Jesus’
promise with both hands.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Throughout our readings of Matthew these past weeks, Jesus makes this same
promise to us. We are forgiven solely because there is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">forgiver.</i> We are loved unconditionally; we cannot earn or lose God’s
love. No matter what we have done, no matter what may have been done to us, the
future is still open. Whatever hurt we may have experienced or done in the past
is, ultimately…in the past. We do not have to allow the past to define our
future or our identity. We do not have to drag our past around with us and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">take it out</i> whenever we feel the need to
linger in its memory. We are more than the sum total of all that has happened
to us. The future is open. It may be difficult and seem almost impossible to
let go of the past and walk into the future. After all, the past is a known
entity; it’s familiar to us, whereas the future is so open…it can be scary. But
when we meditate on and invoke the prayer of Thomas Merton, we <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know</i></b>
that we are not alone:<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> l will not fear,
for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me alone. No, you will never
leave me alone. </i>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Partner in Preaching</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">, David Lose, 9/22/14)</span><o:p></o:p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-15806493283999224922014-09-16T11:36:00.000-04:002014-09-16T11:36:21.138-04:00“…The last will be first, and the first will be last."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIsMxHtMVmtc0AHwb0GCpEIzCZoNZfh9K4GdcZzltUHhIYf0ljS2RwVKUAXTS8uMK4AOcaciM1-sLenqvyaHvmsFDXcpuTgDJetZOlXe1p_46CFoSQtjhEazcv8CfXaoBGFescbnWYKWY/s1600/grapes_vines_in_tuscany.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIsMxHtMVmtc0AHwb0GCpEIzCZoNZfh9K4GdcZzltUHhIYf0ljS2RwVKUAXTS8uMK4AOcaciM1-sLenqvyaHvmsFDXcpuTgDJetZOlXe1p_46CFoSQtjhEazcv8CfXaoBGFescbnWYKWY/s1600/grapes_vines_in_tuscany.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
story from our Gospel this week (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp20_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 20:1-16</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong> is one that asks us to put on the mind of the poet and think in
metaphor. On the surface it defies logic and the world of “fairness” in which
we live. But man’s sense of fairness and God’s “justice” are not the same. Can
we blame some of the gardeners for feeling that they were duped: “what’s going
on here; we worked from dusk to dawn, and these guys arrive just before closing
time and they get the same pay? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
not fair!” Who could argue with their logic? Think of it—if you tried to run a
business on the basis of paying everyone the same rate, regardless of how well
and long they worked, your business wouldn’t last very long and you’d have some
very disgruntled employees. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Just
as God’s forgiveness requires that we turn logic on its head and suspend our belief
system of “quid pro quo,” likewise God’s realm of justice and peace defies our sense
of fairness. God’s love has nothing to do with logic or fairness. These are all
part of a human convention and a world based on rules, laws and logic. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is nothing we can do to earn God’s love
or his kingdom. In this kingdom, everyone receives the generosity of God’s
grace, God’s unconditional love and God’s unfailing mercy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">David
Steindel-Rast writes that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“salvation” is
homecoming. When love not power reigns supreme, alienation from ourselves, from
all others, and from God is healed. The moment we realize we can never fall out
of God’s love, we come to “ourselves” like the wayward son in the parable—to our
true self at home in the God Household as a uniquely loved member of the
family. And now we become catalysts for salvation of the whole world, its transformation
from power and domination to service and love. Salvation—and this needs to be
stressed—is not a private matter. (</i></span><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Deeper Than Words, Living the Apostle’s Creed, p56.</span></u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
a very real sense, we are all “eleventh hour workers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-4379816740737223692014-09-09T10:32:00.000-04:002014-09-09T10:33:01.796-04:00Forgiveness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh22ppTY69wA9zyUikOL_zl02jzBonFlP4JIDdO53Jm1rYC524_NrP-Y60EthsVITedRFDb2BOgPu6U-0USwvNyl0drj0MwG6d-ogZCUNKsLhhbCD4qz2Qge2yQsL5O3mEAMLCo5SF94vt9/s1600/WTC+&+Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh22ppTY69wA9zyUikOL_zl02jzBonFlP4JIDdO53Jm1rYC524_NrP-Y60EthsVITedRFDb2BOgPu6U-0USwvNyl0drj0MwG6d-ogZCUNKsLhhbCD4qz2Qge2yQsL5O3mEAMLCo5SF94vt9/s1600/WTC+&+Flag.jpg" height="148" width="200" /></a> </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i> </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i> </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When you're awake, the things you think<br />
Come from the dreams you dream<br />
Thought has wings, and lots of things<br />
Are seldom what they seem<br />
Sometimes you think you've lived before<br />
All that you live today<br />
Things you do come back to you<br />
As though they knew the way </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Robert Capon Farrar tells us that God
does not forgive our transgressions because we have made ourselves forgivable. There
is nothing we can do to earn forgiveness. We are forgiven solely because there
is a Divine forgiver who loves us unconditionally. There is nothing we can do
to earn it or lose his love.<strong><span style="color: blue;">(</span></strong><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp19_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Matthew 18:21-35</span></strong></a><strong><span style="color: blue;">)<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Love is at the core of Jesus’
teachings and forgiveness is why he died and was resurrected. Why is it then that
we have such a hard time forgiving? Is it because it’s so closely tied to
memory and the human inability to forget? These two human <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">behaviors </i>are really mutually exclusive, yet we blithely say as if
it’s even possible, “let’s forgive and forget.” No wonder we have a difficult
time looking at personal hurt as Jesus did. He did not tell us to forget about
it; he told us to see God in those who have hurt us and just let it go. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We now approach another anniversary of
September 11, 2001, an infamous day in our history, which for those of us
living here in the Northeast, carries with it even stronger hurts and remembrances
of those loved ones who lost their lives. We will remember them but can we “forgive
and forget?” I don’t think so. Perhaps if we dwell on the memory of those loved
ones we lost on that fateful Tuesday, we can begin or at least continue the
process of forgiving. However, it’s easier said than done. To that end, I find
the words of Anthony Padovano particularly comforting as we reflect on the
importance of remembering:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When we
remember, we leave the present for the past. To say it better, we bring the
past into the present and give it life alongside the tangible realities we are
compelled to consider. In our memory of a loved one we choose to relate to
him/her even though, since he is not present, we need not relate to him. Not
physical presence but love leads us to live with this remembered person even in
her absence. When the love is strong, the memory of this absent person may be dearer
and more real than the reality of those who are present. Memory is sometimes
the difference between life and death, between hope and despair, between
strength for another day and the collapse of all meaning. Our memory of another
confers the present upon him, gives him further life in our life, and keeps a
moment of the past from drifting away or fading into death. We are fed and
nourished by communion of life in which two lives intersect in memory and merge
into common experience. No lover forgets. No beloved is forgotten. The memory
of love is life; the memory of another becomes our selves. So when the
communion of believers remembers Jesus, when the bride is alive with the
thought of her Spouse, Christ is present. Jesus is brought into the present
with his grace by the force of memory in the power of the Spirit…The gift of
the Sprit is fidelity to the memory of life’s mystery and confidence in the
mystery of its future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">(</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Anthony
Padovano, <u>Dawn without Darkness)</u></span><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-62027633830401334262014-09-02T13:47:00.000-04:002014-09-02T13:47:21.738-04:00Forgiveness<br />
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his <u>Life Together</u> that
the harmony we often envision and seek in the Christian community is not all
that likely or perhaps even possible. In fact, he says, you and I have no
right or reason to be disillusioned when such harmony doesn't meet our
expectations. For it is somehow in this very experience of our
community </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">not</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="background: white;">meeting our
own hopes and dreams that we actually finally discover our 'life together'
… not because we necessarily like one another or agree with one another…but
because of the ways in which our struggles enable us to see more clearly and to
be all the more grateful for what Christ has done for us. Christ died for
forgiveness. With all our hurts and sometimes our hurting one another,
this is where God put us and this is who God put us with to learn from and to
grow with. And it is in our differences and in our struggles that Jesus
speaks of forgiveness and helps to make our Gospel reading more relevant at
this time, for me at least. <a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp19_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Matthew 18:21-35 </span></strong></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">True forgiveness is best experienced when we can examine our
own faults and recognize our need for God... which is what our struggles also
do. Bonhoeffer's points out: </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Innumerable times a whole Christian community
has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian,
set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with
him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and try to
realize it. But God's grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as
God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so
surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with
Christians in general, and if we are fortunate, with ourselves.” (pp. 26-27)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bonhoeffer is saying
that it is in our differences, our struggles and our hurts that we encounter
and receive God's grace and gift most completely. It is then that we are
able to see Christ in our neighbors. It is then that we are able to be
loved in spite of ourselves. It is then when we know most deeply our own
need for God.</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now it is
possible that in Bonhoeffer's time and place, church conflict was more virulent
than it is today. Although there were times when all I wanted to do was
to slide into a pew near the back and be soothed by the familiar strains of the
liturgy, all the while hoping that no one would notice me or ask more from me. Still,
most of the time it has been important to me to look for and experience that
sense of connection to others. And yet when I have done so, when I have allowed
myself to go more deeply in relationship with those God has put me with, I
found these words of Bonhoeffer particularly relevant: </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“He who loves his dream of a community more than
the Christian community itself becomes the destroyer of the latter, even though
his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial. (p.
27)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What an important reminder it is to me to know that just
because I am hurt or disappointed does not mean that this group of God's people
is not of God's design. And when I have had the patience to live through
the struggle, I have learned over and over again that over time and hard earned
shared experience the connections do go deeper than anything I would have put
together on my own, with my all too human tendency to surround myself with
people who think and do as I think and do.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer's,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <u><span style="background: white;">Life Together, The Classic Exploration of Faith in
Community)</span></u><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-7635803515682853772014-08-11T15:27:00.001-04:002014-08-11T15:27:58.293-04:00Welcome Home<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBd0wGe5O51rSAVw1_Li7faKZYg8u7c_xuuKxkssyqPsshSnpRkCmnKFxD1UIyIPA3EN_SAWBrLBuf3pMZoC8wY1nsIq5ozTkyPE_SrTQpdS379UgTFDFx9IQ9QR-Wf3zKbzQyOP04_z0R/s1600/Luke+14_+excluded+8-27-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBd0wGe5O51rSAVw1_Li7faKZYg8u7c_xuuKxkssyqPsshSnpRkCmnKFxD1UIyIPA3EN_SAWBrLBuf3pMZoC8wY1nsIq5ozTkyPE_SrTQpdS379UgTFDFx9IQ9QR-Wf3zKbzQyOP04_z0R/s1600/Luke+14_+excluded+8-27-13.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you remember the last time you
felt decidedly uncomfortable somewhere? For me the time that is still forged in
my memory is when I went away for initial orientation and training for my first
job. I was twenty two years old and had just been discharged from Army active
duty and was invited to attend my initial orientation for my company in
Kalamazoo Michigan. This was a totally new experience for which I was so
unprepared in so many ways. Sure, I had the required academic credentials and knew
that I was fortunate to have been selected for this sought-after position. But
I felt decidedly out of place, being the only one from my area and finding
myself seated with a group from a far-away state, who spoke as differently to
me as I did to them. Except for the military in which everyone was very young
and frightened and “forced” to feel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">uniform,</i>
(the reason for the name of our apparel), I was made to feel different and
out-of-place. I can remember the not so subtle aside remarks that were privately
shared among the other group. I remember asking myself: what am I doing here? This
experience was completely foreign to me. Usually, we feel uncomfortable either
when we don't know many of the people around us or when we're not sure of our
role, place, or responsibilities. We've all been there -- feeling left out,
alone, out of place and unwelcome. It's a lousy feeling. So lousy, in fact,
that we'll go to pretty great lengths to avoid it. The Canaanite woman in our
Gospel [<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp15_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 15:(10-20,21-28</strong></span></a><span style="color: blue;"><strong>]</strong></span> today, who I’m sure was made to feel out
of place when she heard Jesus say "I was sent only to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel," reminded me of my experience so long ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now, imagine for a moment feeling
that way in church. This may be harder for most of us to believe since church
is one of the places we feel most at home. But let’s face it, each and every
week there are a certain number of people sitting in the pews, listening
attentively or only partially to sermons, singing or just mouthing the words of
the hymns, going through the motions of the prayers and worship, who do not
feel at home at church. They feel like outsiders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No one sets out to make them feel
unwelcome. It just happens. Blame isn't the issue. The issue is what can we do
about it? The text appointed for Sunday in Matthew is the quintessential
insider/outsider story. Matthew reshapes the belief from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">some are chosen and some are not</i> to make the case that everyone
should feel welcome. Why? Because <i>God says they are welcome</i>!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matthew's Gospel is the most
"Jewish," in the sense that Matthew is intent on demonstrating that
Jesus is the Jewish messiah, the fulfillment of long-awaited prophecy. In that context,
listen to Jim Boyce's excellent summary of Matthew as he pits the insider
disciples against the outsider Canaanite woman:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gathered in one corner are those familiar
disciples, for Matthew the true blue representatives of the faithful lost sheep
of Israel, Like a gang of watchdogs at the door they are about the checking of
IDs and keeping out the non-pedigreed riffraff. On the other side of the
gate stands this outsider, a woman no less, one lone representative of the dogs
of religion, pleading for the mercy of the master shepherd. No English
translation can capture Matthew's careful orchestration of the painful choral
refrain. "Get rid of her," the "lost-sheep chorus" barks
back in reply.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it all</i> strides Jesus, the shepherd, who not only welcomes this
newest and most unlikely of disciples, but praises her great faith! Yes, all
are welcome. All. Everyone. All. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who knows why people don't always
feel welcome. Maybe they are present on Sunday as reluctant spouses or for
their children…that is, they may be people who would prefer to spend their
Sunday mornings in another way, if it didn't matter so much to someone they
cared about. Or maybe they've never really understood all the things we say and
do at church and it's all just a little confusing. Or maybe they had some bad church
experiences as a child and it's hard to ever feel comfortable. Or maybe they
just can't figure out this whole biblical-story thing and just wish the pastor
would reference a story they understood. Or maybe they're intimidated because
all the "regulars" seem to know what they're doing. Or maybe they
have a hard time believing that the pastor wants them there if you really knew
the problems they have. Or maybe....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But that's the point. We don't know.
And we won't......Unless we ask and listen, really listen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So that's the challenge. We need to
talk about these texts in the contexts of what it's like to feel welcome or
unwelcome at church. And then ask in our own words: Why do you feel welcome at
this church? What is it that makes you feel welcome? What has made you feel unwelcome?
What do you love most about being here? What's gets in your way?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we can talk about how Jesus has promised
to build his church on us, just people and just as unlikely and “qualified” as
Peter was qualified. Just people. God willing, he will call upon the Holy
Spirit to open our hearts and minds and help us renew the process of building
and going forward. At the very least, we may get some insight into our own
people, whom we have been called to love and welcome in the name of Christ. And
that alone, will be enough. </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reference: <u>Dear Working Preacher</u>, David Lose July 31,
2011 <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-59385502700401843922014-08-05T16:24:00.000-04:002014-08-06T07:02:01.116-04:00Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oDJpqHNPF5q9vUKJpWwlP6NZ-XfRIghrdiJtZ0ZeWKewunQdwDdgeg6b-Yi0IiKOeinOIxkDOiKdeq4Ac-dk-TNv_3jqvuc3SHMcxqd4S_L9qcG87V0ArbBvzsDTFg4vX_uGrpp_0kAz/s1600/Bridge+over+Troubled+Water+8-5-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oDJpqHNPF5q9vUKJpWwlP6NZ-XfRIghrdiJtZ0ZeWKewunQdwDdgeg6b-Yi0IiKOeinOIxkDOiKdeq4Ac-dk-TNv_3jqvuc3SHMcxqd4S_L9qcG87V0ArbBvzsDTFg4vX_uGrpp_0kAz/s1600/Bridge+over+Troubled+Water+8-5-14.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><o:p> </o:p><br />
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<o:p> </o:p><br />
Have you ever noticed that it’s often in our most challenging times that we
sense God’s presence most clearly? I’m not saying it <em>should</em> be this
way. Or that God <em>only</em> appears when we most need him. Rather, I think there
is just something about significant challenges and trials that clarify our
priorities and cut through the many distractions of everyday life that prevent
us from seeing God more clearly.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
So part of what strikes me in this passage (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp14_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 14:22-33</strong></span></a><strong>) </strong>is how it reveals something deeply true about our humanity, and I think it is personified
in the behavior of the disciples. While I know for sure that I often overlook
God’s presence in the peaceful and pleasant times of my life when all is well, I
have no problem calling out to him when things take a more difficult turn. Yes,
I know it’s all a part of our transformative journey during which we grow in
our quest to be more closely united with God. But let’s face it, it’s so much
easier to live in the peaceful and pleasant times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I think part of it is that we spend a fair amount of our time and energy
trying to establish a stable, safe, and secure life, both for ourselves and
those we love. There’s nothing wrong with that on one level. From the beginning
God desires that we flourish, and stability promotes growth. But do we sometimes
just sit back and wait for life to happen, or do we step out of our “boat” and
make it happen? Either way, we may forget how much we depend on God. All
too often we take comfort in our modest success and assume we no longer need
God, or at least forget how much a part of our lives God is… and desires to be.
Or is it that we confuse the “status quo” with abundant life? Yet, when tragedy
strikes in the form of personal loss, illness, the fracture of a relationship,
or some mistake we’ve made, our ongoing need for God becomes painfully clear. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
And what does this say about Peter? What model does this simple man provide
for us? Despite the danger that surrounded him, he was willing to leave the boat
and meet Jesus where he was. And when he began to think and tried to take
control instead of surrendering his fear to God, he faltered…yet somehow he
knew he would be OK as he reached out to Jesus. Oh, how I envy Peter. <o:p></o:p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-68961491095358033722014-07-29T12:15:00.000-04:002014-07-29T12:15:02.873-04:00Compassion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_bZIHGZV_E_ccsl95sCqgHIDsilTndWPWnTW2f4qz1bNkmpCzKQq1fSQ1PZCoR7zPpmOzFFQBfv7XklJJ7ZFGFM9ZOvTxSkz69swUNmx1E0Tes7GelrELIEKOvVCOxW-0V_0rWomiX4R/s1600/Loaves+and+Fishes+(Matthew+14_13-21)+7-30-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_bZIHGZV_E_ccsl95sCqgHIDsilTndWPWnTW2f4qz1bNkmpCzKQq1fSQ1PZCoR7zPpmOzFFQBfv7XklJJ7ZFGFM9ZOvTxSkz69swUNmx1E0Tes7GelrELIEKOvVCOxW-0V_0rWomiX4R/s1600/Loaves+and+Fishes+(Matthew+14_13-21)+7-30-14.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Is
there any Gospel reading more familiar to us than Jesus feeding the multitudes <strong><span style="color: blue;">(</span></strong><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp13_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Matthew 14:13-21</span></strong></a></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">)</span></strong>? Let’s </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">put aside the
inclination to call Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand a miracle. Why? Primarily
because it misses the point and distracts us from the true miracles that take
place in the story.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Matthew
told us in the first chapter that Jesus is Emmanuel, “God with us.” So for the
one who made the world out of nothing and created light from darkness,
multiplying some food and loaves was no major feat. John reminds us that the
wonders Jesus performed throughout his ministry were always <i>indications</i>
of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">character</i> of the God of love
whose divine presence Jesus bears. Make no mistake, what Jesus did is anything
but pedestrian but the point isn’t <i>what</i> Jesus did, but <i>why he did
it</i>. Jesus reveals the God in him by his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">compassion</i>,
the hallmark of Jesus ministry. This single word summarizes God’s unconditional
love for us and is at the core of his incarnation in Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Before
going further in the story, the scene begins with the transitional line, “Now
when Jesus heard<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> this</i>, he withdrew in
a boat to a deserted place by himself.” Jesus had just heard about John the
Baptist’s murder by King Herod at a feast. The metaphorical juxtaposition of
images couldn’t be more powerful. After hearing the news, Jesus needed to retreat
and be alone. John was his baptizer, teacher and mentor. Jesus, in the fullness
of his humanity, was hurting and yearned for solace. And yet manages to fulfill the consistent
call of the Father to feed the hungry and heal the sick and fill the “empty.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ok,
let’s get back to our miracle… that was no minor endeavor. What we now call
“food scarcity” was <i>rampant </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">in
the ancient world</span>. And so the disciples’ suggestion that the hordes of
people go away and buy food isn’t just unrealistic it’s ridiculous. First, they
were in a deserted place in the middle of nowhere, and second, they would likely
not have any money to buy food anyway. And so Jesus tells his disciples to get
over their self-concern and desire to be left alone, and feed them… themselves!
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Which
brings us to the real miracle of the story: Jesus uses the disciples, even when
they would rather look after themselves, to tend to the needs of these
thousands of men, women, and children. They go from “we have nothing here but
five loaves and fishes” to one of abundance to “thank you, God, for these five
loaves and fishes.” Whatever their initial skepticism, or doubt, or self-indulgence,
the disciples are caught up in Jesus’ words of abundance and “they all ate and
were filled” as God worked through these reluctant disciples to care for the
poor and hungry that he loves so much.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
that miracle continues when a parent puts his/her own dreams aside to care for the
needs of their children or aging parent. God is working that same miracle when a
community of faith makes a promise that no one that comes to its doors will be
turned away hungry, or when a Muslim family hides a Christian refugee from the
wrath of murderous radicals. God is still at work performing miracles through us,
his disciples eager, yet reluctant, and everything in between. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
real wonder of this story is that it continues. God cares deeply and
passionately for those who are most vulnerable: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the poor, the homeless, the hungry. And God
continues to use us to care for them. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Just
maybe if we are serving our “needy,” however poor or rich, we are reminded of
the similarity that exists between the scenes in Matthew. Let those
of us who have been fed by God’s heavenly food go and do likewise by sharing
God’s love with all we meet and especially with those in deepest need.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There
are two miracles in this story. They have little to do with simply multiplying
loaves and fishes, and by remembering them, we are hopefully prepared to
continue to follow Jesus and care for those in need. And that is no small thing
at a time like this. Thank you God, and thank God for you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-59368807477004856532014-07-22T14:35:00.000-04:002014-07-22T14:35:29.591-04:00Treasures<br />
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<i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BRu1HavxwER3WX65JTiYYfcqPF8CH82PRZCFraEwxmC3pG8eUH5y2VKsnLCYLV35rCF51Oad7nrDGYLZHbGCjS0-iYyhEBOoqZ4vuQN4-CKw2brRHkZGLPBt4UPVzlvTkv3s0DvUgksd/s1600/mustard-seed-plant.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BRu1HavxwER3WX65JTiYYfcqPF8CH82PRZCFraEwxmC3pG8eUH5y2VKsnLCYLV35rCF51Oad7nrDGYLZHbGCjS0-iYyhEBOoqZ4vuQN4-CKw2brRHkZGLPBt4UPVzlvTkv3s0DvUgksd/s1600/mustard-seed-plant.gif" height="220" width="320" /></a><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s
the cutting edge of making choices,</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">splitting what you choose from what you
don’t choose.</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And making your choices will set you apart</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">from others, even friends and family.</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is the work of becoming your own self.</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When your choices upset those around you</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">it may be because you’re being foolish.</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But it may be because you’re making your
choices</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">instead of letting them. It will be like
this.</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Abandon that owned self, and find your own
self.</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Listen
deeply to God.</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let God alone lead you.</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Make yourself available to God</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">as an instrument of righteousness,</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and know that even as you let go of your
life</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">you receive life.</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Steve Garnaas-Holmes</span></i><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus
moves on, according to Matthew</span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span>(<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp12_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52</span></strong></a><strong>),</strong><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
from stories of God-the-Mad-Farmer who sows seed everywhere and refuses to weed
the crops, to stories of choices that must be made, stories in which it is not
God, but we who must do the choosing, between small seeds that can grow
God-crops in the world, and all the welter of things the world wants us to
choose instead.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
grain of mustard seed – the smallest of all the seeds, can grow in a weedy
patch to become the largest of all the bushes and offer shelter to many birds.
A small amount of yeast can grow flour into bread enough to feed a town. The
priceless pearl, a small thing among fakes and baubles, has value far greater
than everything we own. A great treasure, unexpectedly found in the field of
your life, will require everything you have. And the full fishnet, teeming with
life and trash, will best be sorted on shore, so bring it all in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Each
of these tales requires everything. And each requires just one thing. The price
for the treasures of God is everything we have. And the prize, the treasure, is
only one thing, one thing that must be seen and named and taken and prized. And
none of them would get you a round of applause in your choosing. And most of
them would get you some rolled eyes, or some catcalls, or some <i>Damn Fool!</i>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>remark, maybe muttered, maybe said to
your face.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After
all, who are the likes of you and I to be purchasing pearls? To be selling the
farm for something you found in a field? To be wasting all your yeast to raise
three barrelsful of flour into bread for strangers? To be planting mustard
instead of fig trees or olive groves? And as for that fishnet, any fool can see
the old boots, the broken bottles, the sea-bottom trash in that haul – throw it
back, cast your net again!</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s
precious, say all Jesus’ stories, is likely to be judged as junk by most folks,
and likely to require a lot from you and me. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All the stories say – <i>Make
yourself available to God</i></span><span style="color: #777777; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span lang="EN">(Adapted from “Treasures,” <u>The Bite in
the Apple</u> by Nancy Rockwell, </span></span><a href="http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fbiteintheapple.com%2Ftreasures%2F" target="_top" title="9:11 pm"><span lang="EN" style="color: #777777; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">July 19, 2014</span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: #777777; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-42829376026051203792014-07-15T13:17:00.000-04:002014-07-15T13:17:26.170-04:00Us and Them<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-jJdC-QSd6seFyEWJAfh4REjeOjwJLTz5u1S3CXoJWgC0mYlXTA0899TmMWc6jfd87203lqQYEnzOR3s1R0uGt7WDuXNb4fhJHfC0uYg-UFwsAYUW3uz7EmBSzLw8qba5vEVBizOM1KB/s1600/wheat-and-tares-7-15-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-jJdC-QSd6seFyEWJAfh4REjeOjwJLTz5u1S3CXoJWgC0mYlXTA0899TmMWc6jfd87203lqQYEnzOR3s1R0uGt7WDuXNb4fhJHfC0uYg-UFwsAYUW3uz7EmBSzLw8qba5vEVBizOM1KB/s1600/wheat-and-tares-7-15-14.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As children, many of us were raised on the great American myth in
which we were told that we can be anyone we wanted to be and could do anything we
wanted to do. I’m talking about the myth that says we’re “special,” not because
we’re special for having a healthy sense of one’s value as a person, but "special"
in the sense of having special privileges, special benefits, special advantages
or entitlement. I think one of the hardest lessons in life for those of us
raised on that myth is to come to grips with the reality of life that each of
us is born to a set of circumstances, with a genetic inheritance and
personality that, as hard as we try, we can no more change than a leopard can
change its spots. I think our generation especially, has had great difficulty
accepting the reality that I’m not “special.” </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It seems to me that religious perfectionism thrives on the desire
to be “special” in God’s sight. To some extent, it’s an obsession whose seeds
are planted early in the biblical narrative. In a very real sense, the stories in
the Old Testament about the patriarchs and matriarchs are all about the idea
that the children of Abraham and Sarah are special. Even in our current reading
from Genesis, God promises them special blessings “like the dust of the earth,”
and later, a “land flowing with milk and honey.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coming at the beginning of the Bible’s story,
it’s no wonder that religious perfectionists throughout the ages have sought to
lay claim for God’s special attention and blessing for themselves.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Religious perfectionists have used all kinds of strategies to
guarantee that they get to be “special” people in God’s sight. One of those
strategies is reflected in the parable from our gospel lesson for today (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp11_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 13:24-30, 35-43</strong></span></a>), making it all about “us” against “them.” It’s a difficult parable
to understand, and perhaps it may have been tampered with to make a point. The
community Matthew was writing for was probably struggling with the fact that,
though they were Jewish, they had been thrown out of their synagogues. Needless
to say they were feeling displaced and desperately struggling to justify
themselves in the face of rejection. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The parable itself seems to talk mainly about the difficulty of
separating good from evil in this world. It would seem that Matthew’s community
turned the story into a means of supporting an “us” against “them” mentality:
they are the “wheat” that will one day be harvested and gathered into God’s
barns, while their enemies are the “weeds” that will one day be gathered up and
burned. In an earlier sermon Jesus says that God gives the blessings of sun and
rain to all alike. Here, however, he tells a parable about separating the
“children of the kingdom” from the “children of the evil one.” When you look at
what Jesus says elsewhere, this parable about “us” against “them” stands out
like a sore thumb. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This past Sunday, I had
the pleasure of attending my Cousin Marianne’s 80<sup>th</sup> birthday party
celebration. My mother had nine siblings and we were blessed with many cousins.
Marianne and I were very close as she with her parents and her now-deceased twin
sister, lived a few doors away in the same building with my Grandmother, aunts,
uncles and cousins. Marianne and I shared a special bond in our love for music
which, despite our difference in age, held us close. We had a lot of fun
reminiscing as the 2 most senior people at a party of many first and second cousins
and their spouses. However, in a more private moment we shared the sadness that
we felt as we recognized how some siblings were estranged from each other.
They, of their own accord, set up separate “we” and “them” borders Vis a Vis tables
and seating arrangements to make sure that they kept away from one another. We felt
sure that the cause of these ongoing “feuds” had likely been long forgotten and
wondered if they would even have been allowed to exist if their parents were
still alive.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In thinking about the celebration and when we read
this parable and consider its allegorical interpretation, I realize that none
of us is immune to the desire to be “special”. Who among us doesn’t assume that
we are the wheat and “they,” whoever they may be, are the weeds. We all tend to
approach a parable like this one and assume that we are the favorites, we are
the chosen ones; we are the “children of the kingdom.” But the plain truth of
Scripture is that in God’s sight all people are loved and valued. There is no
such thing as “special” people in God’s realm, in the sense of having special
privileges. God does not single anyone out for special attention or blessings.
God gives the blessings to all people on earth alike. He loves all his people
unconditionally—both by virtue of our creation. There is nothing we could do to
lose this love, which we are expected to share with one another as a way of
life across the board and not just with “the we” but with “the them.” To God
there is no we and them. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">(</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Based in
part on a sermon Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-8274478177550364472014-07-08T13:09:00.000-04:002014-07-08T13:09:29.542-04:00I beg your pardon...He did promise us a rose garden<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicN9KOYn2FtUW9yin1UL5dYjyq2WYch3j2cxpIjX1Qsfqou0S_pbDztEoUU5ttZ2TIwHoquQAZMbsH8XWp99vGbXomKcY7E7VNMT46Z5r3QCW1A5Os98IeCkGAWBYz02zv9F9WwvOl-5xR/s1600/Bob's+63rd+B'day+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicN9KOYn2FtUW9yin1UL5dYjyq2WYch3j2cxpIjX1Qsfqou0S_pbDztEoUU5ttZ2TIwHoquQAZMbsH8XWp99vGbXomKcY7E7VNMT46Z5r3QCW1A5Os98IeCkGAWBYz02zv9F9WwvOl-5xR/s1600/Bob's+63rd+B'day+(2).jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As I read the Parable
of the Sower in <a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp10_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23</strong></span></a>, I can envision images of
various groups of people. We might tend to categorize them as just plain rocky
soil; or soil loaded with weeds and thorns; and those lucky ones, lush with
healthy soil. Being able to group people accordingly would be convenient, especially
if we happened to arrogantly consider ourselves to be fertile dirt. It’s easy
to think of the “poor-soil people” as if they had a condition like a receding
hair line, over which had no control. But, the uncomfortable reality is that we
have good soil potential within us and are inches away from some seriously
rocky ground as well. We are not far from the thorns and weeds either. These
possibilities are all within easy reach. And depending on the day, or the
moment, or the circumstance, either soil can be present. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My love for roses began
when I was a child. I can remember the climbing rose outside my bedroom window,
impervious to the hostile elements of city dirt. Aside from its incomparable beauty,
I especially recall the delicate fragrance that filled the room on summer
mornings. And so, when I bought my first house and had a real back yard, I decided
I was going to start a garden and plant roses. I was convinced the soil would
be perfect since we only lived yards away from a babbling brook. Well this bucolic
setting did not live up to its billing: the under-soil was clay and rock, and
the stream, eventually taught me more than I ever wanted to know about ground
water pressure and flooded basements. I spent hours digging just one hole,
extracting rocks and breaking poor quality spades. I persevered and in time, I
had a row of beautiful multi-colored roses which I fed and watered faithfully.
For a few weeks I took pride in their growth but it wasn’t long before they
began to wither, one by one and die. What could have happened? Despite, my
relentless tending, I learned that the ground’s inability to drain caused the
roots to “drown.” With all my digging and watering, I never amended the soil to
properly begin with and prepare it to receive and nourish the plants. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I suppose my initial
efforts as a rose gardener efforts can serve as a metaphor for many moments in
my life. Sometimes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything’s coming
up roses</i> and sometimes I come up with rocks and wind up breaking things in
the process. Sometimes, I just give up and say the heck with it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus is asking us here
to bring in our best dirt and appropriate fertilizer, so that his Way can take
root deep within us. This isn’t something that happens by chance, or because
we’re fortunate to have good genes. It’s something we work at. We’re the ones
charged with tilling our own soil so that the Life which Jesus sows may grow in
us, and produce a bounty…even if we wind up breaking a few shovels and spades
in the process; there’s no giving up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-36217471889001814382014-07-01T12:42:00.000-04:002014-07-01T12:42:01.488-04:00What Do You Want?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaiJb-IUKTrDN0kj6je6f50eGDWx9qA-oh88FOT-mjk-2c1zZBejvBwhyphenhyphen3iNja3lwnY7xifyT-3g_PmlX3muv3V6GDuEv1SJkZggatMX-z7xt0sOuUazPylTUefhqgotxMaO3C1Hvot4VC/s1600/Matthew+11_16-19,+25-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaiJb-IUKTrDN0kj6je6f50eGDWx9qA-oh88FOT-mjk-2c1zZBejvBwhyphenhyphen3iNja3lwnY7xifyT-3g_PmlX3muv3V6GDuEv1SJkZggatMX-z7xt0sOuUazPylTUefhqgotxMaO3C1Hvot4VC/s1600/Matthew+11_16-19,+25-30.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Can’t we relate to Jesus’ reaction to the crowd in <a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp9_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30</span></strong></a> as he compares
his followers to a bunch of children who cannot make up their minds: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“For John came neither eating nor
drinking, and they say, `He has a demon'; the Son of Man came eating and
drinking, and they say, `Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax
collectors and sinners!” In today’s vernacular, he might have asked “do you really
know what you want? What else will it take for me to help you understand how
much God loves you?” It is difficult to exactly pin down the emotions Jesus is
expressing but to me they reveal in his Divine <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">incarnation</i>, beautifully human feelings to which we can all relate.
It helps us to know that the one whose Word we follow and live by can
experience these emotions that are so much a part of our lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We all
view the world through our own prism or lenses that are largely influenced by the
world around us. Two people can hear an identical message, while the same two
people will have a different interpretation. This is part of our human nature.
Sometimes we consciously create our own reality that serve our desired
expectations and “wishes” based on what we want to hear. In most cases, our
perception is unconscious and consistent with our view of reality. When we
attempt to “re-write” or “re-create” our own “script” for what we know to be
reality, we work at cross-purposes with God’s will. Philosophers tell us that “wishing”
is more a fanciful dream, not based in reality while “hope,” has more of a
factual basis based on real expectations that come into its own when crisis looms…opening
us up to new creative possibilities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<em>“What do you want?</em> Jesus seems to ask the crowd. Except he knows
they won’t answer. Can’t. Because what they want is to grow, to evolve, to
improve and more. And yet at the same time they want to be left alone,
untouched and unchanged. Why? Because to change is to lose something, and so to
change can feel like dying. And more than anything else the people who listened
to Jesus – want desperately to grow but not really to change. Change, you see,
brings the unknown. Change is not certain. Change implies risk and even
potential loss. Which is why we often stay in failed jobs and relationships –
they may not be much, but at least they’re something and at least we know what
to expect.” <span style="font-size: 10pt;">(David Lose, Dear Partner in
Preaching</span>)<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In Matthew
we see the love of God manifest in Jesus’ ability to embrace our human
diversity with his divinely inspired nature. Reaction to the different
ministries of John and Jesus provide a model to help us understand that
whatever we do can never meet the needs of everyone. We will not be able to reach
those whose lenses are distorted by ego and they will forever remain deaf to
us. Instead, surrendering our voice to God who through the Holy Spirit will provide
the voice that will reach the different ears and different needs, we vainly believe
that what we say should be sufficient for all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Thomas Keating tells us “that there are all kinds of
ways in which God speaks to us—through our thoughts and/or anyone of our
faculties. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But keep in mind that God’s
first language is silence. We must listen. We must be willing to listen.</i>
The Spirit speaks to our conscience through scripture and through the events of
daily life. Reflection on those two sources of personal encounter and the
dismantling of the emotional programming of the past prepare the psyche to
listen at a more refined level of attention.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As John
and Jesus show us, there is more than one means to the great end… that is God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-39939884510765321352014-06-24T16:14:00.000-04:002014-06-24T16:45:35.824-04:00We see God in and through each other<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheT1oZJ_bzlzOKagAnWrd4YaxCU3FSPElq940f5L0qXzpYwvJfL6l2R6NfBM3faN0TPaO9varPwAHAgNRQZ0JTyIM5ssHj0JVMcADe_oohiFaXgbrDk-UOD2tyVaZCo4pMGsdGlLXeuqcp/s1600/Family+Tree+6-25-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheT1oZJ_bzlzOKagAnWrd4YaxCU3FSPElq940f5L0qXzpYwvJfL6l2R6NfBM3faN0TPaO9varPwAHAgNRQZ0JTyIM5ssHj0JVMcADe_oohiFaXgbrDk-UOD2tyVaZCo4pMGsdGlLXeuqcp/s1600/Family+Tree+6-25-14.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">A few weeks ago my wife and I had the good fortune
to celebrate Father’s Day with my son and his family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day was made more special because it
coincided with 2 recent birthdays. It was a great day with lots of fun and laughs.
Of course in time the youngsters, having spent the requisite amount of time
with the adults, grew restless and were eager to pursue their own interests. I
especially enjoyed listening to the various pleas and individualized approaches
each of the children used in asking permission for this or that. I recognized
many of these scenes from the past; they had been acted out when I was a parent
and when I was a child myself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I believe that I became a better parent when I
became a grandfather. As a grandparent I am more a spectator than an active participant
and now have the luxury of being able to sit back and watch and listen to how
these scenes all play out. Sure, I know some of the challenges my son and
daughter-in-law face in rearing children are the same as the ones we and our
parents faced, but the world and our culture are more complex today and the
pressures on parents to manage these challenges are greater than the ones we
faced. As a “spectator” I am in awe as to how our son and daughter-in-law work
through the endless requests and issues that pop up on a daily, if not hourly
basis, and I ask myself, “when did he learn to do all that; where did he pick up
all the skills to handle this? I don’t think I would have done it as well.” I
have learned so much about parenting in watching them and while it makes me
feel good to think that there’s probably some imprinting going on, they are far
ahead of where I was then. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Life,</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> wrote Kierkegaard, <i>can only be understood backwards.
But it must be lived forwards</i>. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Along those lines few
years ago I saw an interview with actor Michael Douglas on a late night talk
show. He spoke of his relationship with his father, Hollywood legend Kirk
Douglas; I’ll paraphrase the story he told.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dad called me the other night. He said, "Michael, I
was watching myself in an old movie earlier tonight and I didn't remember
making it." </span></em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Well, Dad, you made over 70 movies and you are 94.
Don't be so rough on yourself."</span></em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">"No, Michael, you didn't let me finish. I realized
halfway through that I was watching one of your movies." </span></em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Wouldn't it be
wonderful if certain aspects of our lives and ways of relating to others were
all but indistinguishable from Jesus? If they reminded others of Jesus, just a
little bit? We seek, every day, in every place, to be emissaries of Jesus:
representatives of Jesus who welcome others as if they were Jesus and who
relate to others in the spirit of Jesus?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our task (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/Aprop8_RCL.html"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Matthew 10:40-42</strong></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">) </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">is to consciously attend
to the Christ in everyone. Christ in the stranger. Christ in the enemy. Christ
in the friend. Christ in the spouse. Christ in our sibling. Christ in the
politician who makes our blood boil. Christ in the one who believes differently
than I do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8639010162086996445.post-80001490276869182712014-06-17T15:14:00.000-04:002014-06-17T15:14:43.994-04:00Our Beloved Community
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcg7d5h30_q8Gn7_xXByxBVcuqK-F5CQD3nvd7TzlS90teaKojCnkSvHAH2o7TeaErvC0L79fZ6dhFkfZh3_qpITVRluK_EdhR35FN203GgX-iRZkY2fQYe68Xu854DHRuwLyeKrNxRRL/s1600/clasping+hands+6-18-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcg7d5h30_q8Gn7_xXByxBVcuqK-F5CQD3nvd7TzlS90teaKojCnkSvHAH2o7TeaErvC0L79fZ6dhFkfZh3_qpITVRluK_EdhR35FN203GgX-iRZkY2fQYe68Xu854DHRuwLyeKrNxRRL/s1600/clasping+hands+6-18-14.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Matthew's
community was experiencing serious persecution. It would be decades before
Christians were even called Christians and would be persecuted solely "for
the name." Nevertheless, Matthew's followers were getting into trouble for
the same reasons that Jesus and Paul did.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>Sarah
Dylan Breuer, an Episcopal priest from Cambridge MA, conducts a workshop called
"Speaking the Truth in Love: Practical Skills for Reconcilers." She believes
that there are essential skills that are foundational and vital to the process
of reconciliation. Matthew’s (<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp7_RCL.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Matthew10: 24-39</span></strong></a><strong>) </strong></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Gospel
selected for this Sunday calls to mind those skills. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
first skill requires that we keep an open mind, listen and be as fully “present”
to the process of sincerely trying to understand one another. The second skill
is to be in touch as much as possible with God's love. We want to really know
and experience God’s extravagant and unconditional love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When
Jesus teaches that we "Call no one father on earth, for you have one
father -- the one in heaven,” he is referring to the earthly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">paternal</i> powers that we may allow to
enslave and have dominion over us. Matthew’s community deferred to God’s
infinite love and wisdom and not to the ruling powers of the time. They were
taught and believed that God gave every human being the ability to make their
own decisions. Each had gifts to offer the community and they didn't need to ask
anyone's permission to do so. As such, they built pockets of communities within
their overarching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christian</i> community,
based on Christ’s teaching, into a radical new order that looked more like
chaos to many and therefore threatened to undermine the order of the Empire.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
so their neighbors, their friends, and sometimes their own family turned them
in, hauling them before governors as agitators to be flogged, or worse. We can only
imagine that being betrayed by those so close to us would wound as deeply as
any physical punishment.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
one thing that Matthew wants his followers to remember isn't something they're
supposed to say or some particularly compelling case that they should make to
their accusers or the authorities. It,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> more than anything else, is that they need
to embrace how very much God loves them. </i></b>This is good advice for anyone
living in Christ's reconciling ministry. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sooner
or later, if you're a part of that ministry, you'll find yourself making
contact with very deep wounds, and wounded people. And all wounded creatures
are liable to respond to any overture out of pain, confusion, and anger. A
person who comes back at them with more of the same is only going to speed up
the spiral of violence, with disastrous results. What we want to do in a
situation like that is to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">present</i>
and loving; that's the only way to disrupt that spiral of violence. That's very
hard to do, though, when someone is right in front of you either threatening
violence or saying something that would normally provoke a "fight or
flight" response…something that's sure to happen eventually if you're
trying to be an agent of healing. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
a situation like that, we're understandably tempted to withdraw -- to
"check out" mentally if not remove ourselves physically…or to strike
back, or both. I think part of what makes those temptations particularly strong
is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that
contact with another person's deep wounds often reminds us of our own wounds
and vulnerabilities that we've tried to forget</i></b>. That's why reconcilers
must remind themselves moment to moment to stay grounded in God's love. If we remember
how much and how unconditionally God loves and values us, we won't be thrown
off-center by anyone's attempts to make us feel as worthless. Rely on the power
of God's love to heal, and we won't have to flee from things that remind us of our
own vulnerabilities and wounds. Recall what God's love looks like in the flesh…in
the person of Jesus, and we will know how to respond. Be in touch with that
love at the very core of our being, and we will be able to respond with
authenticity and with love no matter what we face.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Don't
worry about what to say. There's a reason Martin Luther King called the result
of nonviolent resistance "beloved community." It is the community of
those who know, who proclaim, and who embody the Good News that love is the
fundamental, powerful, and inevitable Word through which the universe was made
and lives, and for which it is destined. We have seen the Word made flesh in
Jesus, and we see it embodied in and among us. That can't be stopped by
violence. Bringing violence to bear against God's love only creates more
opportunities for God's love to disrupt the spiral of violence and build a beloved
community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Thanks
be to God!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Adapted
from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">SarahLaughed.net</i>, by Sarah Dylan
Breuer, an Episcopal priest who was elected to the <a href="http://www.episcopalchurch.org/13299_19849_ENG_HTM.htm?menu=menu19848" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext;">Executive Council</span></a> of
the Episcopal Church by <a href="http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gc.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext;">General Convention</span></a> in
2009.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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