July 17: the Power of Particularity

Sunday, July 17: Proper 11

Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

Each July as summer school ended, our kids and I would pack up the car and head to Yogi Bear Jellystone Park in Fremont, leaving Murray to some peace and quiet as we enjoyed the sun, the pool, and campfires.  We have many stories from those trips: the week when the kid in the Boo Boo costume had a thing for Meghan; when Noah caught his first “all by himself” fish; when Abe walked hand in hand with Yogi after the lowering of the flag; and how our oldest, Zach, easily beat Mom in mini-golf.  Many moments—each particular in our memory.

This past week, Murray and I took our two grandkids, with Noah and Jess their mom and dad, to make some more memories.  And I was quickly reminded what I loved about this place---this week apart was always a time when I was present in the moment.  The rat race of day in and day out was left behind.  The routine of everyday life was nowhere to be found. And without those distractions, I was able to be present in each moment with the kids.  The power of particularity.

Particularity is defined as:

1.  being present to the particular as distinguished from universal 

2.   attentiveness to detail :

3.  What makes someone or something unique or special.

So, what makes Mary particular in today’s Gospel lesson? Why does Jesus say she has chosen the better part? While there are many possible understandings of this Gospel passage, this week I was struck by the power of particularity Mary displays.  Martha is not doing anything wrong: she is being welcoming and practicing hospitality.  In fact, she is acting exactly how society, culture, and custom expect her---a woman—to act.  Mary, on the other hand, is being fairly radical---taking on the male role of listening, learning, and sitting at the feet of the teacher, the rabbi.

Mary is particular in her attention; she is focused on Jesus.  This is not an everyday dinner and this is no regular guest at their table; this is the Christ.  So Mary acts completely against gender, taking advantage of the particularity of the moment, and sees the Body of Christ in front of her. She not only sees, she listens.  Perhaps she realizes that this chance will not come again.  Somehow, she is given the gift of recognizing the gift, the Jesus, right in front of her and she responds to the moment—and in the moment---soaking up every second of this spectacular opportunity.  Not distracted by many things---even those things that are good and expected---instead, she is able to focus on the particular that will transform her life, and she makes herself completely present to Jesus. I think this power of particularity is a gift that Jesus means for us to receive as we live the way and life of a disciple. 

Let’s consider how Jesus uses the power of particularity. As Jesus lived and moved and acted in this world, Jesus responded in each moment to the particular rather than the universal.  But unlike most people, it isn’t particular achievements or worldly visions of success and prowess to which Jesus responds.  Jesus responds to particular need.  Jesus focuses on whoever is struggling, whoever is outcast, whoever is suffering---and then Jesus acts.  Jesus walks with them; Jesus listens to them, talks with them, touches them, heals them, forgives them, breaks bread with them, drinks wine with them.  Jesus’ redemption is universal, but Jesus’ ministry is particular.  The power of particularity that Jesus displays is seeing the one in need and choosing to meet that need.  Like the Father in the Prodigal Son parable---it’s not about one son being more loved than the other.  It’s about meeting the need of the one who is suffering, the one who is struggling---healing the wound and repairing the separation. For Jesus, working with the particular is how Creation is redeemed---one person, one situation, one system, at a time.

Currently, there is a movement in America that is grounded in this power of particularity: Black Lives Matter.  It is a movement that many seem to resent, responding to “Black Lives Matter” with “All Lives Matter.” And, of course, all lives do matter.  But let’s stop, take a breath, and look at Jesus’ actions in order to weigh the validity of this movement: 

In last week’s Gospel story of the Good Samaritan, even though the system supported the priest’s and the Levite’s actions---what they did was considered legal and moral by society--- Jesus points out the injustice of their treatment and declares: Samaritans matter. 

In the story of the ten lepers, even though society shunned them, Jesus heals them and declares: Lepers Matter.

When the Syro-Phoenician woman begs for mercy, even though she is not of the House of Israel, Jesus agrees to her request and declares: Gentiles Matter.

When the disciples wanted to send away the children because children occupied the lowest rung on society’s ladder (not to mention that they can be loud and distracting), Jesus says :“let the little children come unto me” because Children Matter.

When the townspeople want to stone the “sinful” woman, and the woman at the well is outcast in her own village, and the bleeding woman is left unrestored for twelve years, Jesus sees them, responds to them and declares: Women matter.

In the Good News, over and over again, Jesus acts and speaks in particular for the ones for whom the systems and policies are unjust. As the prophets Isaiah and John the Baptist foretold:

Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.

Jesus means to even the playing fields of humanity by disregarding and overturning the systems and policies that keep any person, or group of people, in an inferior position. 

It is time for us to be honest with ourselves. Many of the systems and structures we have created in our society contain injustice and prejudice. Within these systems, some lives matter less than others.  Some lives are more privileged than others. As disciples who take Jesus and the Gospel seriously, we are called to see the injustice, the discrimination, the hatred and the separation within our systems and customs and ways of being, and we are to overturn and abandon these ways, refusing to engage in these unjust practices and demanding their abolishment.

Recently an article was written about a speech given on the senate floor by one of the Republican Senators from South Carolina. Some of his experiences as the only black senator in the Republican conference, and as one of just two black senators, were shared. “In the course of one year as an elected official, Senator Tim Scott was pulled over seven times by law enforcement. Another time, a Capitol Police officer demanded that Scott show him his ID because the special pin on Scott’s suit jacket ― a pin assigned only to United States senators ― evidently wasn’t enough. Scott said: “There is absolutely nothing more frustrating, more damaging to your soul than when you know you’re following the rules and being treated like you are not. ”

As our own Bishop Matthew Gunter wrote in response to this article: “Those of us of a lighter hue, to whom this kind of thing does not happen, need to come to terms with the fact that it is a too common reality for many. This is not a matter of conservative vs. progressive. It is a matter of justice and reverence for one another. It is a question of whether we are truly willing to see one another and extend dignity and respect to everyone, but particularly to those to whom dignity and respect have too often been denied.”

Jesus came to empower us to live differently.  Part of this different way of living requires that we be willing to look long and hard at ourselves and our systems in order to make sure we dismantle any and every injustice inherent in our systems, our policies and practices.  For some of us, we do not feel the injustice.  We do not experience it.  Or perhaps our experience of it has been overcome.  But, Jesus’ power of particularity demands that we do not ignore it.  If we continue to see our harvest as a basket of summer fruit but the LORD sees the injustices and systems which allowed that fruit to be harvested for the benefit of only a few, the LORD makes it clear what the consequences are:

Songs become wailing;

darkness overcomes the light;

feasts turn into mourning and lamentation,

Famines, thirst and fruitless seeking overtake God’s people.

Oh, Beloved, we can no longer ignore the consequences: the wailing from Baton Rouge reaches our ears; the darkness of downtown Dallas fills our screens; the lamentation from the deaths of Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile fills the air; people are walking the streets in protest, blocking the highways, signing petitions seeking justice in this famine of righteousness.  

Brothers and sisters, it is time to take our promises of respecting every human being, seeking and serving Christ in all others, striving for justice and peace among all people as our main purpose, our core identity.  These baptismal vows are how we live out the proclamation that Jesus is our primacy.  Like Mary, this is how we sit at the feet of the One we call Lord, no longer distracted by what custom or gender or society demands we give the most importance, but instead focusing on the situations to which our presence and gifts are called, to the moment of particularity before us right here and right now---in our everyday lives and in our lives as citizens of this city, this nation and of this world. 

You know sometimes being a preacher is a hard gig.  There are weeks when I wish the Holy Spirit would whisper something else in my ear because there are weeks when I know the message may be hard or uncomfortable to hear.  

Proclaiming Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean I condone acts of violence in response to injustice.  The only things to overcome hatred and violence are love, compassion and forgiveness, not more hatred and violence.  Saying Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean I am anti-Law Enforcement.  I give great thanks for our brothers and sisters who devote their lives for the public safety.  But, I cannot condone systems and policies that allow destructive and unjust acts—even if only enacted by a few---to continue to exist. We dare not allow them to become commonplace.

Let us choose the better part.  Let us remain focused on the lessons we receive from Jesus and the power of particularity. It is far too easy for us to be distracted and live in ways that keep us separated from the struggles of our brothers and sisters, but the Gospel truth demands that each person’s struggle is the Body of Christ’s struggle.  Each act of injustice is an act against the whole.  Because, Beloved, All lives matter only when each life matters.  

July 3: We are the Seventy

Pentecost 7: 2 Kings 5: 1-4; Psalm 30; Galatians 6:7-16; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Many people today do not believe in God. Even more people do not believe that being connected to a faith community, even if one does believe in God, is necessary or helpful.  In fact in 2010, the Association of  Religion Data Archives found that 41.5 % of people in Stevens Point are not connected to any faith community. As someone whose relationship with God is foundational, I spend a lot of time wondering what this 41.5% know that I do not know or what I have experienced that they have not experienced.  This is something the Church, not just Intercession Episcopal, but all of the Institutional church needs to understand, and be willing to wrestle with, if we believe that we still have good news of God’s love to share.

If you haven’t seen it yet, leadership has put out a draft of a three-year Vision for this community of Intercession Episcopal.  This Vision maps out a different way for us to be the church, with hopes that we will be more effective in achieving God’s mission: to restore all people to unity to God and each other in Christ (page 855 in the BCP---memorize it).  If you have seen the Vision and you are wondering where the ideas in it come from, you need look no further than today’s Gospel reading.  Let’s see what God is up to in Luke, chapter 10.

First, Jesus chooses 70 apostles to go out two by two. Other Gospels tell of this sending out of apostles, but Luke is the only evangelist to choose the number 70, and it’s a very interesting one to choose.  In the tenth chapter of Genesis (just after the flood), we are given a list of the nations; there are 70. The number 70 represents all of humanity.

So, what is God doing with these 70---these apostles?

• ·      appointing them and sending them.  And in this appointing and sending, each apostle is given the same authority as Jesus to reveal God’s Kingdom in word, in example, in healing, and in sharing God’s peace. They are to go where Jesus intends to go (to all of humanity—throughout all of Creation) empowered by the same authority as Jesus. These apostles are extensions of Jesus—extending Jesus’ ministry out to whomever will listen, whomever they meet, with whomever they cross paths.
• ·      Jesus says they are sent as lambs amidst wolves.  This sending is risky, a bit dangerous; there is real evil in the world.  This sending requires vulnerability. This vulnerability is not a weakness---it’s not the equivalent of rolling over and exposing your underbelly.  This vulnerability is a strength that comes from believing that your authentic whole self is exactly what is needed and trusting that you are enough.
• ·      Jesus instructs the apostles to carry no purse, no bag, no sandals.  Sounds like bad planning to me; what is this “travel lightly” bit all about? First of all, with no purse, there’s no shopping; this journey isn’t about accumulation for one’s personal gain. Secondly, traveling lightly also means the apostle must be reliant upon the hospitality of those they meet; it obliges the apostle to be dependent upon others. This requires great humility. Traveling lightly, then, requires the recognition that this mission isn’t first and foremost about individuals; it is about a communion, the people of God and the Body of Christ. Traveling lightly shakes the apostles out of their self-centered way of being and requires them to become other-focused. Traveling lightly means that they are not mere benefactors because those to whom they are going have items, ideas, beliefs and resources they will need. 
• Jesus tells them it will be important to eat and drink with the people.  This mission is all about creating relationships with those to whom they are going.  And in these relationships, the apostles are to let people know—by action and word---that God’s Kingdom is near; it’s right here. Share the peace, Jesus, says: share the peace you know. And, if God’s peace is not wanted or accepted, Jesus says, just shake the dust off your sandals and move on.  Let it go, Jesus says, move on. 

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Beloved, we are these apostles being sent out.  For it is in our baptisms that we too are given the same authority as Jesus---the authority and mission to go out to God’s people as an extension of Jesus’ redeeming and healing love.  We are sent out to share God’s peace, to heal, to forgive, to love, to show compassion and mercy---seeking and serving Christ in all persons, respecting the dignity of every human being, striving for justice and peace for all people, proclaiming by word and action the good news of Jesus, resisting evil and returning to the LORD.

Yes, like the apostles at the end of today’s reading, we return to the LORD each week to give thanks and remember who we are and whose we are----our names written on God’s heart and carved into the tree of life.

This is a New Exodus God sends us on. Moses gathered 70 elders to join him as agents of God’s work in the first great Exodus, and Jesus gathers 70 apostles as agents of Gods’ work, and so it goes.  A New Exodus of leading God’s people to know and experience God’s love which frees each of us from the constrictions, restrictions, and binding powers of fear, anxiety, uncertainty and darkness. Faith isn’t believing without proof.  Faith is trusting without reservation.  And as we trust God more and more deeply, we are freed from no longer being the center of the universe, and instead recognizing we are a member of the Universe and the good of the Universe is my good, and my wholeness only comes as a result of my brothers and sisters’ wholeness.

God is inviting us to consider that the way those 41.5% of our neighbors will “come to church” isn’t by walking into our buildings on a Sunday morning---but by crossing paths with us---the Church---and experiencing God’s grace through us.  Perhaps it is a very brief connection. Perhaps it is a short-term connection.  Perhaps it’s a bit longer.  

But Jesus doesn’t send out 70 apostles to get more butts in the pews.  Jesus sends out 70 apostles so that more and more people can experience and taste God’s love right where they are.  Taste and see that the Kingdom of God is near. What happens next? We do not know. Scripture doesn’t tell us any more about those who experienced God’s love through those apostles.  All we know is that the church grew, and 2000+ years later, here we are.  Still here.

Jesus is sending us out---asking us to shun the ways of self-centeredness, exploitation, and personal gain---and to live a new way, as lambs amidst wolves. Yes, it is risky, dangerous, vulnerable.  But the fruits are peace, shalom, living in gracious relationship with one another---even among all our differences and variances---creating a beautiful mosaic---incarnation—God made flesh in humanity.

Let us not grow weary of doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time—the gathering of all people and all of Creation into God’s Kingdom---let us work for the good of all.  Beloved, we are being sent, and the Kingdom of God draws near.

June 26: Taking up the Mantle

Pentecost 6: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Psalm 77: 1-2, 11-20; Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62

So, how many of you have ever hitched up the workhorse or the mule or the oxen to your plow and set out to create a field of straight furrows for planting?  Raise your hands.

Yes, not most of us, so Jesus’ one-line parable may seem a bit strange or meaningless to us: No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

And it sounds a bit harsh too; after all, if someone is putting a hand to the plow at least they are prepared to do the work.  But Jesus seems to be declaring that in order to do this work—God’s work and mission for us, God’s people---then there are certain ways we are to go about being agents of God’s Kingdom.  And first and foremost, Jesus says, don’t look back to the past.

But, can’t we learn from the past?  Well, yes, we can, but in this instance---when one is plowing a new path forward for the purpose of new growth---then looking back is a problem.  While plowing forward, if one looks back to what has already been done, the looking back causes the next bit to become crooked.  It can also cause one to lose control of the plow.  While planting and growing God’s Kingdom, Jesus warns us to look forward, not backward. 

We hear another warning as well: Let the dead bury the dead. Again, this is rather harsh sounding.

Sidenote here: We come across these bits and pieces of Scripture—especially bits and pieces that are meant to come straight from Jesus---that are sometimes really hard to deal with.  They don’t sound like the sweet Jesus we know and love; they sound harsh and unmanageable.  You know what I mean: these pieces of Scripture that “pinch” us.  These are the bits that we really must take the time and effort to wrestle with and chew on.  We cannot just set them aside or ignore them.  They too have truth for us to know; even when they challenge us and stretch us. Especially when they challenge and stretch us. End of sidenote.

So, back to let the dead bury the dead.  At the time of Jesus, burying one’s father was a sacred, holy duty.  Why is Jesus so easily dismissive of it?

Because if we, Jesus’s disciples and apostles, mean to follow Jesus, then following Jesus is to be our top priority---nothing else, not even the sacred and holy duty of burying one’s father, should cause us to swerve off path.  Jesus asks us to have an undivided and loyal heart for the revelation and manifestation of God’s Kingdom.  Nothing else can be number one: not even our family, our passions, our work, our hobbies, our sports, our homes, our nations, or our desires. 

The freedom we receive in Jesus---the freedom from fear, anxiety, hopelessness and uncertainty----this freedom that comes from knowing we come from the Father and we are going to the Father---the freedom that comes from believing with our whole heart that we are bound for resurrection, for new life springing from life’s end---this freedom comes with a responsibility. 

The responsibility we see in Elisha’s actions.  Like Jesus, the prophet Elijah knows he is on his final journey.  Elijah gives Elisha several opportunities to step off the path; to change his mind about following Elijah.  But again and again, Elisha chooses to follow, to stay on the path, to remain with Elijah. And then, when the prophet Elijah’s mantle falls away as Elijah leaves this life, Elisha picks it up---we are told Elisha takes up the mantle two separate times---the storyteller wants to make certain we don’t miss this point.

The mantle, the adderet, is a sign of the prophet—a symbol of being a spokesperson of God—a person who points toward –and works to reveal--- God’s Kingdom.  Elisha chooses to follow Elijah, and eventually picks up Elijah’s mantle, and by doing so, insures that Elijah’s work of pointing to and revealing God’s Kingdom will continue, even in the absence of Elijah.

Friends, we are called to this same responsibility. As the living members of the Body of Christ, we need to choose to follow Jesus again and again, and eventually, to pick up the mantle of Jesus.  As the prayer of the day tells us: God’s church is built upon the prophets and apostles, Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone.  We are the church, built upon the work of the prophets and apostles.  And we, and those who have gone before us, are the prophets and apostles.  We are the ones who point to and reveal God’s Kingdom here on earth; we are those who are sent out to insure that Jesus’ redeeming, healing, and reconciling ministry continues to go on---in our community, in our neighborhoods, at our workplaces, in our homes, and in our world.

Today a draft of a 3-year vision, presented by our leadership, is being made available for us to consider.  It is a way forward, a way for us here at Intercession to continue our work as prophets and apostles, insuring that God’s mission for all people to be restored to unity with God and each other in Christ continues to unfold in the here and now.  We ask you to become familiar with this draft of a vision. It is a draft because it needs the input of our community.  There is a one-page paper summary available in the parish hall, and today a link has been emailed to everyone on our parish email list.  This link will connect you to an online, more detailed version of the Vision. It is available in Power Point, and also a narrated video version of the Power Point.  It is available on our webpage as well.

Please make yourself familiar with the draft, and then sign up for one of the opportunities to talk about the Vision in a small group during the months of July and August.  Vestry leaders will be hosting each small group discussion. We ask that in these discussions you share your hopes and excitement about the Vision, your concerns, your ongoing questions, so that at the end of the summer, we can finalize our Vision and begin plowing the furrow that is our path forward to new life and growth.

Beloved, we can honor the past; we can learn from the past, but, Jesus tells us, we cannot keep looking back to the past to know our way forward.

Let us be steadfast, as Jesus is steadfast in his love and faithfulness.  Let us set our face forward.  Like Jesus’ journey, there will be hardship, pain, suffering, loss and rejection.  But as we walk in the freedom we gain from the reconciling and restoring love of God, we can walk without fear---knowing resurrection is our promise, knowing new life comes from death, knowing we are equipped by those who went before us and empowered by the Holy Spirit herself.

And as we walk in the Spirit, let us take up the mantle of Jesus and continue the healing, the forgiveness, the compassionate acts of drawing others to God’s love. As we follow Jesus, the fruits of the Spirit will flourish within and around us----creating God’s banquet table for others to take their place and join in the feast.

Have you heard that saying: Standing in a garage doesn’t make you a car? Truth.

J

ust as much truth as the mark of an effective church isn’t how many people worship in the buildings on Sundays. No, the mark of an effective church is how many lives are improved, restored, and reconnected because of the existence of that faith community. The mark of an effective church is seen when those who are connected to the faith community worship God in their everyday lives---as a living sacrifice---by loving and serving all others.  That’s Gospel.