March 31: Emotional Baggage

For I am full of words;
   the spirit within me constrains me. 
My heart is indeed like wine that has no vent;
   like new wineskins, it is ready to burst. 
I must speak, so that I may find relief;
   I must open my lips and answer.   Job 32:18-20

In Job’s words, I hear the thoughts and expressions of the myriad of people I meet who are unable to reconcile.  From my desk chair, there seems to be an epidemic of people who refuse to reconcile, and it is disastrous.  Not only for the community, but for the individuals.

When we  insist on holding onto our anger and resentment,  we become blind to any point of view other than our own.  We tend to repeat the litany of our suffering from the hands of others (either in our heads or to anyone who will listen), and the ongoing litany only serves to deepen the well of poison within us.  The litany resolves nothing.  Instead, it strengthens and thickens the wall we have put up between ourselves (as victim) and the other (as villain).  Eventually, the wall appears to be impassable.  Inevitably, one side or the other chooses to “pack it up”----no reparation in sight.

Yes, when we allow our dark and ugly emotions to be exposed to light (by listening to the other party; through calm and open dialogue; with prayer and counsel) we become vulnerable.  But this is what our discipleship is all about.  “Being church” isn’t simply worship.  It isn’t relegated solely to serving those “in need.”  It’s about living differently.  It’s about doing the hard work of forgiveness.  It’s about understanding another person’s point of view---even if it will never become our own point of view.

Discipleship does not allow us to dismiss one another.  It is not about holding one another hostage with resentment and hostility.  It’s about the grace and sacrifical love of Jesus.  

If you are carrying emotional baggage and you are ready to burst, the hard work of reconciliation is long overdue.  There is no easy way, but there is the Way.  Seek reconciliation.

March 16: Amazing Love

This weekend I witnessed about 20 teens, along with some adults,  build an incredible community.  How is that possible in just two days?  The Holy Spirit.  Jesus.  God.

I saw these teens---so often dismissed by popular culture as the “self-centered” generation---give of their hearts.  I saw them take each other under their wings.  Even those who are often cast to the edges.  

I saw adults give their time and energy to make sure these teens  know that they are beloved, they are valuable, they are important.

I witnessed sacrificial, compassionate love---all in the name of Jesus.

This weekend I tasted Heaven----God’s holy presence.  God was revealed through the giving, loving and serving of these beautiful disciples.  A community of humans inspirited with the Divine.  

And I am changed.  I am changed because I know Jesus lives.  He lives in this community, and I am so blessed to have been a part of this weekend.  My prayer today?  That I don’t forget this.....that the change is imprinted on my heart.....that I pass it forward.

March 10: What a day!

So yesterday, the first Sunday in Lent, was quite a wonderful day for me.

I started the day with Morning Prayer---some time just with me and God.  Always a good way to start the day I find (especially while sharing a fragrant cup of coffee!)

Then I went to church to celebrate the 8 am service---a lovely, intimate service in the Chapel.  Since we are in the season of Lent, we started with the Penitential Order, and we are doing Rite I at this early service.  I started the day with “thees, thous, and thys”---a few tongue twisters and a break away from the known---although still familiar.  Especially wonderful is the Prayer of Humble Access (well, at least, I find it wonderful).  It’s hard to exlain what it does for my heart and soul to speak aloud with others: We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies.

Consider that statement for a moment.......trusting in thy manifold and great mercies....Now, that’s something, isn’t it?  To truly live trusting in God’s great mercies.

At 10 am, we started with the Penitential Order, but with Rite II this time.  Kids, and music, and lots of faces of loved ones gathered in one beautiful, prayer-soaked space.  And then ending with these words: God of abundance, you have fed us with the bread of life and cup of salvation; you have united us with Christ and one another.  What a blessing it is to be reminded of the grace we experience every time we gather to share the Lord’s Supper.  

In the evening, I helped lead the Youth Group in a reflective evening of prayer---watching young and old alike move through stations while music played quietly and candles flickered. And then, we ended the night with music that had us clapping and jumping and pumping our fists.

Lastly, at our Evening Worship service---another intimate gathering---we were surrounded by icons and images of God, candles giving off soft light, and beautiful Taize music played by two talented people in the parish.  We sang; we prayed; we practiced Holy Silence; we contemplated and discussed the Word; we shared God’s Peace and Christ himself with one another.  Simply beautiful.

As I reflect on my day, I realize the many wonderfully diverse ways this parish family reveres and worships God.  I know I am probably strange because I love and am enriched by every single way, but I am also so grateful that this parish family allows all these avenues for God’s people to draw near to God.

Blessed beyond all knowing....that’s what I say at the end of this glorious Sunday....blessed beyond all knowing.

March 6: Remember that you are dust!

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Ash Wednesday is not about making us feel like a worm; it is NOT about proclaiming that we are the lowest of the low (sorry, Luther).

Ash Wednesday starts a pilgrimage---our yearly pilgrimage, and we begin with remembering who we are.

Chapter 2 of Genesis tells us that we are adamah---dust, soil---adamah that becomes adam (Adam….in Hebrew meaning man or human).  We become human because God takes us in God’s hand and blows the breath of God into the adamah---giving us life and soul and being.

Ash Wednesday begins our Lenten journey; this journey that we as pilgrims---seekers who seek the Holy---walk each year in order to re-align ourselves with our True North---the Human who came to show us how to be human---Jesus.

We begin with the words “remember that you are dust” because in this world that tries to convince us that we are in control, Ash Wednesday reminds us that God is in control.  That God is the Creator---our Creator.  That all that we are, all that we have, the very fact that we exist---is all thanks be to God.

Ash Wednesday provides a ritual, and readings, and symbols to put us in our place---we are the Created, not the Creator.  We belong to God, not to our selves.  We are the adamah into which God blows the breath of life.  Creatures who are not made to be self-centered, but to be God-centered.

Adamah-----transformed into adam---pilgriming our way through this life, empowered by the Holy Spirit and joined by Jesus Christ through fellow pilgrims---in order that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God.  This is our promise.  This is our pilgrimage.  Let the journey begin.

And as pilgrims we recognize, that in order to arrive at the destination, we must know where we begin and be intentional in the seeking, the journeying, the moving closer and closer to God who invites us.

February 20: Peace! Be Still!

Mark 4:35-45

 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

We focused on this passage at our Living Compass small group the other day.  The conversation that sprung forth was wonderful----Truth being expressed from human experience related to God’s Word.  

During the midst of a storm (metaphorical or historical, it matters not)--Jesus tells his frightened followers: Peace!  Be Still!  In other words---hold your tongue.  Silence yourselves.

In my prayer life, I have found an equivalent to this.  When I am in the midst of anxiety, doubt, fear, I try to remember to pray: Lord, let thy will be done.  The prayer of Mary.  The prayer of submission.  The prayer that places all things in God’s hands, right where our lives belong.

And when I do this, I am kept from telling God what it is I think God should do and I leave it in His hands.  This prayer silences me.....allowing God to speak the Truth that is needed in whatever situation I have found myself in.  

Peace!  Be Still!  God is in our boat. 

Epiphany 6A: Choose Life

Deuteronomy 30: 15-20
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5: 21-37

Psalm 119:1-8 

Today God tells us: Choose life.

Paul reminds us that God gives us growth; God gives us our common purpose; we are God’s field, God’s building, God’s servants.

Today Jesus asks us to carefully consider how we understand and live out God’s commands for us.

The Good News points us to the Truth that if we are to choose life, if we are to grow and live into our common purpose, if we are to be God’s field and live out God’s commands for us, then we must choose Jesus.

No matter how busy or chaotic or danger-filled his life was at the moment---Jesus set aside time to pray and to rest in His Father’s presence----we are to do the same.

Jesus healed those who could no longer see, those who couldn’t hear the Word, those who were in the grip of evil, those whose hope had been lost----we are to do the same.

Jesus sat down with all sorts of people---even those considered unworthy, even those who disagreed with him----to break bread, to share table fellowship, recognizing each person’s God-given value and worth---- we are to do the same.

When Jesus saw the marginalized and outcast---even if the reason for them to be outcast was socially and culturally acceptable---- Jesus reached out and pulled them back inside the community--- we are to do the same.

When his friends left his side out of fear, when those who were frightened by his message attacked him because he threatened their status quo, when he was beaten, spit upon, and put to his death----Jesus refused to give into anger and retaliation.  He forgave.  He prayed.  He lifted up his anguish to the Creator instead of casting blame that would not change the reality.  He loved them all until the end.  And we are to do the same.

My friends, God has planned an abundant life for us.  But, it may not look like the life our televisions, movies, video games, magazines, and music tell us we are to seek.  God’s dream for us is a life of common abundance.  A life where every person has enough. A life based on our common bonds of being made by the Creator.  A life where every person’s inherent value and worth is based on the fact that every person is God’s beloved.  A life where justice, mercy, and goodness are the status quo.  Where building and maintaining community outweighs every man for himself and where we recognize that our salvation is dependent upon the salvation of our neighbor.

And it takes more than wanting this life.  It requires more than thinking: ”Yes, this is a good idea….wouldn’t it be nice….”  We are to choose it.   For, if we do not choose this life, then we choose death.  Death to God’s will for us.  Death to the community of the beloved.  Death to what is in our best and common interest.

Today’s Word urges us to choose.

Choose life by forgiving and granting mercy when we are hurt or wronged instead of choosing retaliation.

Choose life by refusing to gossip about other people’s downfalls, gloating in other people’s mistakes, desiring other people’s defeats.  Choose life by not joining in the whispers.

Instead of indulging in too much food, too much drink, too many possessions, we can choose life by living simply so that others can simply live.

When we make a mistake or misunderstand a situation, we can choose life by owning up to our error instead of casting blame on others. 

When we are angered or frustrated—we can choose to take the time to calm down and gain perspective before reacting---giving us the ability to respond with compassion and thoughtfulness, and by this we choose life.

Jesus chose life by acting on a societal level---demanding that unjust systems, policies, and ways of living be overturned.

Jesus made personal decisions and choices---Jesus took on personal practices and disciplines that allowed him to choose the life-giving path of God’s will instead of the world’s path to destruction and fruitlessness.

As poet W.H. Auden wrote in the midst of the madness that was the world in September of 1939: “We must love one another or die.”

Hear the Spirit speaking to us today, God declaring:

“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him.”

Our choices determine the quality of our lives.  Our choices judge us.  Our choices define us.  Perhaps that wise professor of Harry Potter fame, Albus Dumbledore, said it best:

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

We have been shown how to live---how to choose life.  Jesus is the Way, walk with him; Jesus is the truth, know him; Jesus is the life, live him.

Choose life.

Epiphany 5a: Be the Church

Epiphany 5A

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Isaiah 58:1-9a, (9b-12)
1 Corinthians 2:1-12, (13-16)
Matthew 5:13-20
Psalm 112:1-9, (10)

Enriching Our Worship, an approved liturgical supplement to the Book of Common Prayer, has a wonderful acclamation the reader declares at the end of a reading: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.

For me, this statement clearly declares the text we read, listen and soak up on a Sunday morning is the living Word of God.  This statement declares that Scripture is an active and relevant communication—God speaking to us right now in this time and place. 

Let’s listen again to the prophet Isaiah and hear God’s word.

“Isn’t this the fast I choose for you to keep: to break the chains of injustice, to get rid of exploitation in the workplace, to free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is
sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
covering the naked when you see them, being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,  and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You will call out for help and I will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you get rid of unfair practices, if you quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
if you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You will use the old rubble of past lives to build anew.  You will rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You will be known as those who can fix anything,
those who can restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
and make the community livable again.[1]

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.

Beloved, Jesus came to free us from our sins.  Sin, simply put, is misplaced love.  Sin is loving ourselves more than we love our neighbor.  Loving ourselves more than we love God.  We are freed from our sin when we choose to live the life of the sacrificial love of Jesus instead of the self-centered love of the world.  We are freed and saved by living the agape love that is centered on the welfare of our sisters and brothers---centered on the common good of the entirety of God’s people---the agape love that reveals the Kingdom of God.

Yes, it is hard. It is improbable...in fact, impossible without God’s help. And at times we will fail.  No doubt about it.  But if we believe and trust in a God of abundance, then we must trust that God gives us what is needed to do God’s mission.  And let’s not forget that God places us in community---bound to one another—just as the Holy Trinity is bound together—so that we might encourage one another, strengthen one another, equip one another to live this agape love that we—and the entire world—so desperately need.

The living Word speaks to us today---urging us, imploring us, to live our faith. To be Salt and Light.  Actively, intentionally, faithfully.

We will never change the world by going to church.

We will only change the world by being the church.

---

[1] Isaiah 58: 6-12, taken from The Message and the Common English Bible