Yes, I'll Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

When I initially read Luke’s familiar account of the Centurion, I was at first struck by how much easier this was to read than John, (who after many weeks, we now leave). In re-reading the Gospel (Luke 7:1-10) again for the first time, I realized that this story of great faith in some ways seems to pick up where John left off. While the main characters are Jesus and the centurion, the message has everything to do with faith, social status, love and community. Could there be a more disparate group of friends? The image of Jewish elders coming forward to appeal to Jesus on the part of a humble Roman centurion, who in turn petitions Jesus on behalf of his friend and slave, runs counter to what we know of the social order of the day.

Yes, this is a story of great faith, but it’s a story that is enriched when the believer’s community connects the believer to God. Even the powerful, believing centurion could not do it alone. Isn’t that the way it is with us? There are times in my life when my needs and story were being carried to Jesus by my friends. My guess is that neither I nor they even knew it at the time. However, the threads that connect us to God are often woven by our friends. So, it's not just about me. It’s not just about you. It’s about us and Jesus and the community that nourishes us and helps us stay connected. But what about this thing called community? If it works so well, how come there are times when we would prefer to fly under the radar, unnoticed and content to be left alone?  Dietrich Bonheoffer in Life Together proposes the following: It is in our differences, in our struggles, in our hurts that we encounter and receive God's grace and gift most completely.   It is then that I am able to see Christ in my neighbor.  It is then that I am able to be loved in spite of myself. It is then I know most deeply my own need for God.

Yes, I’ll get by with a little help from my friends!

In the Name of the Father from whom we come and are on our way, the Son...in whom we find our true self, and the Spirit...the divine aliveness within us all

 

I was asked to move to the Midwest by my employer early in my career.  This was not an easy decision for me and my family. After all at that time, disrupting everything and uprooting everyone to move far away was unheard of in my family’s “tradition.” It just wasn’t done and it was painful for all concerned. However, in time everyone adjusted to the change and in many ways we all benefitted from the experience.  What started out to be a two year commitment became fifteen.  Yet, I can remember how great it was when we would come home and visit for various occasions and holidays. I can also remember how it felt when we had to leave and return to our home, particularly in the beginning when it was still new. The last couple of hours before our departure were mixed. There were packing and last minute checks on “things.” But there were quiet and pensive moments during which we were all considerably more subdued and avoided the delicate subject of our departure. This may be a little of what John has been teaching us these last few weeks.

Our Revised Common Lectionary has presented John’s Gospel in a series of installments since Holy Thursday so that the disciples and we might understand that while Jesus would no longer be with them, he was not leaving them alone.  So, it’s important to read this brief section fromJohn 16: 12-15 John 16:12-15 as part of a continuum and not as a lecture on the doctrine of the Trinity.  John is intent on emphasizing Jesus’ ongoing loyalty, guidance and protection. The events leading up to and through and following The Last Supper contain pivotal elements of our faith:

·       Jesus demonstrates his unconditional love as a model for his disciples and us to follow.

·       He prays that they love one another and that they forever be united.

·       He knows his fate and their journey would not be easy and so he promises to send the help that they will need in the form of the Holy Spirit.

David Steindl-Rast writes in Deeper than Words: “The Holy Spirit, as the awe-inspiring power of life and love, is a reality with which every human being is familiar. We differ only by the degree to which we open ourselves to this power. Fear tends to block and close our access to life in fullness for which Jesus Christ stands. If we patiently cultivate courage and openness, we will become more and more aware of the Spirit which allows us to know God, love God and thrive in God because this power quickens our intellect, our will and our emotions…When in our Creed we proclaim our belief in the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge God as a triune with the ‘Father,’ the ultimate mystery from whom we come and to whom we are on our way; the ‘Son,’ in whom we find our true Self; the ‘Spirit,’ the divine aliveness within our innermost life, Here we touch upon the very core of faith.”

The Gift of the Spirit does not belong to us until it is shared

 John 14:8-17 (25-27) wants us to know the intimacy he shares with the Father and how this relationship belongs to us too. His lesson stresses the need to be a “servant” and to love one another. John’s gospels begin with action, i.e., service to one another and proceed to understanding. Isn’t this the way life works? We teach our children to be polite before they know why or how politeness and civility adds to the strength of a life and a civilization. We teach our children to learn how to calculate simple mathematical problems before they learn the theory of math (if they or we ever do so!).  We teach our children to do the "right thing," before they even know why it is right. The same can be said about the Gospel of John. Only after Jesus shows the disciples how to be a servant, and demonstrates that to them, does he bring them into the realms of intimacy and knowledge which He shares with the Father and that we in turn, can share with them. Our help resides in Jesus’ promise of intimacy with the Father, and becomes the gift of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, that will make it possible for our transformation to live God-centered lives.

Thomas Keating tells us that the Spirit of God, the promise of the Father, sums up in himself all the promises of Christ. For they all point to him. The Incarnation is a promise. The passion and death are promises. His resurrection and Ascension are each a promise. Pentecost itself, the outpouring of the Spirit, is a promise. He is the last, the greatest and the completion of all God’s promises, the living summary of them all…The Spirit, as a promise, is a gift, not a possession. Like the air we breathe, we can have all we wish for, but it does not belong to us. It must be shared. He is all ours as long as we give him away…In fact it is in giving Him away that we truly make it known that we have received Him. (The Mystery of Christ, The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience.)

When will we become Christians?

 

 

Great discussion last night on Christian unity and community and while discussing John 17:20:26 can be confusing, it's all about love for one another. Setting aside our confusion for a moment, may I share the following from Dawn Witout Darkness by Anthony Padovano? It has nothing and everything to do with our readings:

 

We shall become Christians on that day when sunshine means more to us than a further acquisition.  We shall become Christians on that day when the children of the world excite us at least as much as its rulers.  We shall become Christians on that day when we use our hearts to measure the worth of a  human being, on that day when greed or pride do not lead us to friendship but only to love.  We shall become Christians when we are joyful because so many people are in love rather than because so many people are affluent.  We shall become Christians when we learn to make music and poetry, to make love and peace, to make Jesus human and to make ourselves as human as He was.  We shall become Christians when the sight of the sea makes us dance more joyously than the purchase of a new car.  We shall become Christians when we allow Jesus to speak to us by His values as well as by his words.  We shall become Christians on that morning when we laugh and sing for the right reasons and when we weep not because we have lost something but because we were given so much.                

So...How do you feel when someone prays for you out loud?

John has little interest in the historical Jesus; he leaves this up to the synoptic writers. Instead, he is dedicated to our knowing about the divinity of Jesus. His symbols “speak” to us in abstract, poetic metaphors, the meanings of which become personal to and in each of us as the word becomes flesh in us. He is intent on our understanding that God is all about love and in this Gospel, John 17:20-26, he depicts a reciprocal image of love between Father and Son and us, each and every one of us…past, present and future. So here we have an image of Jesus as he prepares to leave us in the hands of the Holy Spirit, praying for our oneness with God and with each other. This unity is one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ ministry and life as he revealed the incarnation of God in Him and in us. Jesus’ life and his prayer for us is that we enter into a relationship with God by our love for one another, a relationship that takes us on a journey of transformation to a life centered in God. So rather than being an article of belief, God can be known in an intimate way as an experiential reality not removed from the world but in and of this world.

So, how do you feel when someone prays for you out loud? When we asked our Bible group this question some time ago, the answers ranged from comforted, awkward, embarrassed, grateful, honored, vulnerable, humbled and cared for. Perhaps being the intent of others’ prayers is to intimate for us? Maybe we feel “out of control” and must surrender to the will of others as they engage God with us and for us…and in us. Perhaps this is precisely what Jesus wants?

The Peace that surpasses all understanding

 

Jesus in John 14:23-29  asks that we not let our hearts be troubled. Is he kidding? Our world is in a perpetual state of turmoil. How do we make sense of the bombings in Boston and the terrible tragedy in Texas? The U.S. economy continues to hobble along at an unacceptable pace. Ongoing debate over immigration and health care reform make us wonder where is God in all these deliberations, the end point of which is political advantage and not doing what’s right for people. And now, eyes abroad are focused on new developments in Syria…did its malevolent dictator use Saran gas to annihilate his people? And we're not supposed to be troubled? And what about the day-to-day personal hurdles that seem insurmountable?

Peace is often defined as the “freedom from upset, anxiety and disturbance.” But just maybe the peace that Jesus speaks of is not the absence of something but the addition of something." John tells us that God wants us to abide in the comfort of knowing that our faith does not remove difficult things but rather, it gives us the “tools” and the ability to deal with them as part of our human condition.  As such, faith is not some divine shut-off valve that stops the hurt but rather, it prevents life’s hurts from dominating us and defining who we are, thereby preventing us from living fully human in the presence of turmoil. The peace of Christ is given to us when we surrender our egos and trust—not our circumstances but in God.

 Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise or trouble o hard work; it means to be in the midst of these things and still be calm in your heart (anonymous)

 

 

By This Everyone Will Know That You are my Disciples

 “That you love one another as I have loved you….By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,” is so familiar to us in John 13:31-35, that we are inclined to wonder what else we can say about this passage that has not already been said. Yet, this simple commandment is at the very core of who we are as Christians. Jesus was referring to living that love in everything we do. Sure, loving those with whom we agree or have an affinity is easy. Loving the rest of the folks is a much harder proposition. It is a part of the human condition to love and want to be loved.

The love that Jesus speaks of is hard because it required that we put the good of others before our own, even when it is inconvenient and when it “hurts.” It is the hallmark of God and the Christian Church. We see it played out when we overlook the slight of a friend, or put aside our goals to help someone achieve his or hers. Whether it’s a large act of love or a small “gesture,” it requires sublimating our ego to benefit another, not out of any sense of obligation or desire to incur favor or reward, but because we are inspired to do so. Sometimes that love requires putting aside a hurt or moving beyond disappointment caused by a friend or family member, even when it is incredibly hard.

Today, we are faced with the stark reality of two Chechen immigrants who have committed horrible crimes against families and the spirit of a wonderful city and grieving nation. How do we make room in our hearts for those who caused much pain? How in the context of these atrocities do we live the love that Christ lived?

God has not promised to take away our trials, but to help us change our attitude toward them…this is what holiness really is. (Keating, The Human Condition)

Is it Back to Business as Usual?

Following the recent events in the upper room event with Thomas, the disciples return to their "former" lives; they’re fishing! I guess I’m puzzled as to how after all that they've been through, they decide to go fishing. Sure, it’s their livelihood and yes, it may be their way of processing what they have experienced, and… yet, it almost suggests, it’s back to “business as usual.”

Needless to say, John 21:1-19 has is reasons for telling us this story and he continues... a “stranger” appears on the shore and inquires as to how they’re doing. They respond with some frustration, not so well. The stranger calls out to “try another side” and see what happens. Maybe their “old habits” and practices were just not working?

Whatever it was, they ventured back out and found huge success. Their nets were overflowing. They catch 153 fish. Why that number? Many have guessed but it may simply imply all of the community of believers. The number may simply imply that many were caught.

Perhaps John is relating this story to remind us not to fall into our old ways of doing things?  It is Jesus telling us to reach out to the world and “put our nets back in the sea” even when we are tired and have had no luck. In relating his encounter with Peter, Jesus reinforces his teaching the need for us to love one another by caring for each other. We are asked to abandon our old habits of fear and leave our “comfort zones” to create new habits. We are called to be mindful of the needs of our world and in so doing actively live our faith.

My Lord and My God

In many ways we are just like Thomas. We really don’t want to come by our faith second hand John 20:19-31. Our parents taught us that something worth having was something worth working for?  So we ask; is there really such a thing as “blind faith?” Blind faith does not encourage us to probe; it denies us the opportunity to question, to know what we believe intuitively, in our “core.” Blind faith requires minimal spiritual investment, and denies those inclined to cruise through their spiritual journey the opportunity to really live life’s joy and danger. True faith requires knowing what we believe…beyond any doubt.  So Thomas in refusing to say that he understood what he did not understand, or believe what he did not believe, exhibited an honesty that prompted his need to know.

Thomas wasn’t a faithless doubter. The so-called faithful disciples remained locked up in the upper room hiding in fear. Fear not doubt gets in the way of our letting the Holy Spirit take charge. Where did Thomas go while others were in hiding? What prompted him to return to his community? Was Thomas “working” at trying to know what he was asked to believe? Thomas wanted the experience of a deeper vision or sight. He was unwilling to blindly accept; it had to be real for him.

True faith is based on trust in God. True faith knows that are faith is deepened when we ask critical questions of our traditions and our “inherited” belief propositions. We do this by leaving our comfort zones and live in new ways made possible by the resurrection of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thomas’ encounter with the risen Lord challenges us to know what we believe so for us as, with Thomas, we too can personally acclaim “My Lord and my God.” 

Jesus, What Are You Doing?

 

 

Leave it to John to relate Jesus’ last communal gathering with his followers as only John can. His very first and second sentence in his very first Gospel starts with In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. Now, as he sets the stage for Jesus’ departure, he reinforces the essence of his ministry and his Divine incarnation in one word: Love…of God and for each other.

Over the months and years, whenever we discussed John we knew we were being asked to listen carefully to his words and phrases; what they revealed often defied literal interpretation. Reading John, not unlike reading poetry required the need to rest with them as the “personification” of the word became flesh in us, as they “circumvented” our intellect and went straight to our heart. In John, the understanding of any key word eventually leads to all the key words. They draw meaning from each other, or more accurately, from their connections to the words and works of Christ.  They resist definition, serving more as “signs” to Christ.

John was never interested in providing an historical account of Jesus’ life; he left that to the others. He was more interested in Jesus’ divinity. Yet and not ironically for him, John uses this gospel, John 13:1-17, 31b-35  to reveal Jesus’ divinity by emphasizing his humanity in some of the most human and visceral of all experiences: the washing of feet and the sharing of a meal.

Thus, Jesus’ command to love, tied to the example of the foot washing, lies at the heart of this day. The passage reveals that Jesus’ actions are intentionally shaped as acts of love meant as examples to be followed. Yet in life, not everyone readily accepts Jesus’ love. John uses Peter, the disciple closest to him to show the difficulties humans may encounter. Peter’s first words seem simply incredulous, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus’ act is socially inappropriate and incomprehensible, and Peter means to dissuade him of such foolishness. Yet why is Peter not bothered that Jesus offers others such a sign of love? What is John telling us? What is Jesus teaching us?   

Sharing in Jesus involves being served by him, even in so lowly and intimate an act as foot washing. Jesus commands us to “love one another” by his actions. As such, he focuses our attention on foot washing as an example of Christian love and captures the essence of “just as I have loved you.” 

Judas’s presence at the supper also serves to remind us that the example Jesus sets is not simply one of service to an elite group of believers. Including Judas in the washing of feet and the sharing of the meal helps us understand that this sharing is not just reserved for those he loved “to the utmost;” the love for “one another” is understood to include even those others we might prefer to forget and disassociate.

John makes sure that we know that the glorification of Son for Father is not just something between Father and Son alone; it does not stop with Christ. The capacity to glorify God extends to Christ's followers and is laid upon believers as we are empowered to do the same works that Christ did. What is true for Jesus is true for us.

What Jesus did on the last night before he died wasn't all that different from what he did throughout his ministry. That's one of the many reasons we say that Jesus was the perfect human being. As the Incarnation of God and living his full humanity, Jesus lived out who he was fully.

John presents Jesus at the end of his earthly experience in all his humanity: Was he afraid? Was he angry? Was he lonely? While we have no way of knowing, we can only assume in his having lived his life fully human, it’s likely these thoughts and emotions were real.

What we do know is that when Jesus had every reason to feel all of those things, he stayed with the community -- including his betrayer -- and cleansed, and cared, and forgave, and broke bread.

What would our lives, our churches, our denominations, our nations, our world be like if we were to embrace and express our humanity in God's image as Jesus did? Do this. Do this and remember.