+
here's the deal.
Life - is busy.
I've started to classes, both of which start with psycho-. Tells you something, no?
Psychopathology & Psychometrics. Pathology is on Thursday night. Metrics is on Saturday morning.
Psychometrics is the old testing and assessment class. My math and statistics are far, far behind me. This should be good.
And this week I accepted the role of chair of the 150th anniversary at Peace. We have enough money to pay the guest preachers and nothing else right now. I did not know this when I accepted the job. It will be an interesting year.
I'm not preaching as often, and that's okay. Life is busy. Things need to get done. I'm putting on my do-it hat and doing-it. Sometimes that makes me cranky. I will work on taking my time for prayer and mediation and exercise and eating right. Somewhere in there.
Anyone know someone with an Axis I diagnosis who is willing to be my interview subject?
Life goes on in the frozen north. But not as snowy as the north-east at least.
+
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
in the world
+
Christmas 2 – Year A – John 1:1-18 –“in the World” – Jan 1
& 2.
He came into the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world knew him not. But to all who received him . . . he gave the power to be children of God.
Happy New Year! I hope you had a good New Year’s Eve – even if you’re the sort that celebrates with New York City at 11 pm, or even New Year’s Eve in Nova Scotia – that’s for those of us who go to bed at 10 pm. It’s interesting how this date has become a cultural phenomenon – it’s all about
retrospectives of films, tv, music, news stories – what was thought to be important – and about looking forward – the bit about resolutions – plans and dreams that are unlikely to be carried out.
And all this for what is an arbitrary date, really. It’s a remnant of the old pagan solstice as much as anything. Why do we bother to make New Year's resolutions in the first place? Why do we feel this need each January 1 to set new goals? We hear things like: It is up to each of us to maximize the potential of every moment. It becomes all up to us to transform ourselves. Most of the New Year’s stuff we are exposed to, is all about us, about our world of things, appearances, status – what important, or what the world thinks is important. There’s a New Year Theology in all this, you see, a theology that suggests that it’s all about us, right now, in the place and pace of the world –
that if God is – God isn’t really important.
So I want you recognize that we are being kind of countercultural, subversive, when we read and reflect upon these scriptures in this New Year frenzy. Let us ask the scriptures what is important and see what they say.
So, let’s be a little ornery, let’s not think about us, let’s take a new – old - perspective – Let’s think about the greatest story ever – the real news – the reality that makes all and any true resolutions of better behavior possible. Here is the BIG NEWS: God acted, we claim. God promised and God came through. God made his resolution, and God doesn’t fail.
God entered the world – not as a bolt of lightning, or as a superhuman hero, or as an idea of goodness – but the Word of God became flesh, and dwell among us. That first few lines of the Gospel of John tell us of divine origin of CREATION – that God’s power of creation was in this WORD.
And then – a connection – the ministry of the one who pointed the way – the Baptist – was the one who saw that the light – the WORD – was entering the world in a whole new way.
And so the WORD CAME TO THE WORLD – was in the world. He spread his tent, he built his house, he made a home with creation. That is the big story, that is the whole point of us being here – in this room, together on at this darkest time of the year.
One writer suggests a new kind of Christmas celebration – the Christmas pageant according to the Gospel of John. What would a Christmas pageant based on the gospel of John look like?
The church would be bare and dark; the chancel stripped of pulpit, chairs, candles, flowers, altar: everything that's usually up there. All you'd need is a small, insignificant table, on which would sit a single, unlit candle. There would be no lights on, no music, nothing happening.
The worshipers would file in and sit for a very long time, silent as a Quaker meeting. They would sit long enough to begin to feel uneasy at the silence and maybe even a little scared of the dark (childhood fears returning). At long last, a person would march solemnly in, and without a word,
light that single candle.
No one, of course, would seriously try to put on a Christmas pageant like that, based on John's gospel. But, having imagined it, we can see how different John's Christmas story is. No color, music, or pageantry -- just one blazing, incontrovertible truth, a single statement so profound that maybe the only way to appreciate it is to sit in utter darkness and watch the candle-lit shadows play across the ceiling. (Lean Thompson)
He came into the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world knew him not.
But to all who received him . . . he gave the power to be children of God.
How else would we understand the power of light in the darkness but to sit in darkness? Of WORD in the silence but to experience silence? Of God taking on flesh and blood and humanity except to honor our own humanity? That’s it. We are human, and God loves us so much he takes on own
substance to honor us, to lead us, to save us.
“he was in the world, and the world came into being through him, but the world knew him not.”
That’s the tragedy – the world continued on its way, assuming that the near past – the top ten lists of human achievements and human wars and human silliness really mean anything. That’s the sad business – that people continue to make resolutions, say – here are my intentions for good living and back them up with their own will power. For some of those people, it is successful, but for many of us . . . not so much.
So let’s look at the New Year in a new way. Let’s address it as not all about us – let’s start with the notion that it is God’s story that we live in – not that God makes a rare appearance in ours, but that we live in God’s story.
What do our resolutions look like then? I like a list of resolutions prepared by the Rev. Walter
Schoedel. He calls them ‘7-UPS for the New Year.’ So – resolutions in the Light of John 1.
The first is WAKE UP--Begin the day with the Lord. It is His day. Rejoice in it.
The second is DRESS-UP—This doesn’t mean fancy clothes, but about showing an attitude of gratitude. Put on a smile. Delight in the world, and let it show.
The third is SHUT-UP--Watch your tongue. Don't gossip. Say nice things. Learn to listen.
The fourth is STAND-UP--Take a stand for what you believe. Resist evil. Do good.
Five, LOOK-UP--Open your eyes to the Lord. After all, He is your only Savior.
Six, REACH-UP--Spend time in prayer with your adorations, confessions, thanksgivings and supplications to the Lord.
And finally, LIFT-UP--Be available to help those in need--serving, supporting, and sharing.
If you're going to make New Year's resolutions this year, let me suggest this list, a list that remembers that transformation starts with God, the creator and savior and Lord.
Once we realize that we live in God’s story, we begin to understand it’s not all about us, and not all up to us, but we can live in the promise that those who receive him, who believe in his Name are children of God. AMEN.
+
Christmas 2 – Year A – John 1:1-18 –“in the World” – Jan 1
& 2.
He came into the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world knew him not. But to all who received him . . . he gave the power to be children of God.
Happy New Year! I hope you had a good New Year’s Eve – even if you’re the sort that celebrates with New York City at 11 pm, or even New Year’s Eve in Nova Scotia – that’s for those of us who go to bed at 10 pm. It’s interesting how this date has become a cultural phenomenon – it’s all about
retrospectives of films, tv, music, news stories – what was thought to be important – and about looking forward – the bit about resolutions – plans and dreams that are unlikely to be carried out.
And all this for what is an arbitrary date, really. It’s a remnant of the old pagan solstice as much as anything. Why do we bother to make New Year's resolutions in the first place? Why do we feel this need each January 1 to set new goals? We hear things like: It is up to each of us to maximize the potential of every moment. It becomes all up to us to transform ourselves. Most of the New Year’s stuff we are exposed to, is all about us, about our world of things, appearances, status – what important, or what the world thinks is important. There’s a New Year Theology in all this, you see, a theology that suggests that it’s all about us, right now, in the place and pace of the world –
that if God is – God isn’t really important.
So I want you recognize that we are being kind of countercultural, subversive, when we read and reflect upon these scriptures in this New Year frenzy. Let us ask the scriptures what is important and see what they say.
So, let’s be a little ornery, let’s not think about us, let’s take a new – old - perspective – Let’s think about the greatest story ever – the real news – the reality that makes all and any true resolutions of better behavior possible. Here is the BIG NEWS: God acted, we claim. God promised and God came through. God made his resolution, and God doesn’t fail.
God entered the world – not as a bolt of lightning, or as a superhuman hero, or as an idea of goodness – but the Word of God became flesh, and dwell among us. That first few lines of the Gospel of John tell us of divine origin of CREATION – that God’s power of creation was in this WORD.
And then – a connection – the ministry of the one who pointed the way – the Baptist – was the one who saw that the light – the WORD – was entering the world in a whole new way.
And so the WORD CAME TO THE WORLD – was in the world. He spread his tent, he built his house, he made a home with creation. That is the big story, that is the whole point of us being here – in this room, together on at this darkest time of the year.
One writer suggests a new kind of Christmas celebration – the Christmas pageant according to the Gospel of John. What would a Christmas pageant based on the gospel of John look like?
The church would be bare and dark; the chancel stripped of pulpit, chairs, candles, flowers, altar: everything that's usually up there. All you'd need is a small, insignificant table, on which would sit a single, unlit candle. There would be no lights on, no music, nothing happening.
The worshipers would file in and sit for a very long time, silent as a Quaker meeting. They would sit long enough to begin to feel uneasy at the silence and maybe even a little scared of the dark (childhood fears returning). At long last, a person would march solemnly in, and without a word,
light that single candle.
No one, of course, would seriously try to put on a Christmas pageant like that, based on John's gospel. But, having imagined it, we can see how different John's Christmas story is. No color, music, or pageantry -- just one blazing, incontrovertible truth, a single statement so profound that maybe the only way to appreciate it is to sit in utter darkness and watch the candle-lit shadows play across the ceiling. (Lean Thompson)
He came into the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world knew him not.
But to all who received him . . . he gave the power to be children of God.
How else would we understand the power of light in the darkness but to sit in darkness? Of WORD in the silence but to experience silence? Of God taking on flesh and blood and humanity except to honor our own humanity? That’s it. We are human, and God loves us so much he takes on own
substance to honor us, to lead us, to save us.
“he was in the world, and the world came into being through him, but the world knew him not.”
That’s the tragedy – the world continued on its way, assuming that the near past – the top ten lists of human achievements and human wars and human silliness really mean anything. That’s the sad business – that people continue to make resolutions, say – here are my intentions for good living and back them up with their own will power. For some of those people, it is successful, but for many of us . . . not so much.
So let’s look at the New Year in a new way. Let’s address it as not all about us – let’s start with the notion that it is God’s story that we live in – not that God makes a rare appearance in ours, but that we live in God’s story.
What do our resolutions look like then? I like a list of resolutions prepared by the Rev. Walter
Schoedel. He calls them ‘7-UPS for the New Year.’ So – resolutions in the Light of John 1.
The first is WAKE UP--Begin the day with the Lord. It is His day. Rejoice in it.
The second is DRESS-UP—This doesn’t mean fancy clothes, but about showing an attitude of gratitude. Put on a smile. Delight in the world, and let it show.
The third is SHUT-UP--Watch your tongue. Don't gossip. Say nice things. Learn to listen.
The fourth is STAND-UP--Take a stand for what you believe. Resist evil. Do good.
Five, LOOK-UP--Open your eyes to the Lord. After all, He is your only Savior.
Six, REACH-UP--Spend time in prayer with your adorations, confessions, thanksgivings and supplications to the Lord.
And finally, LIFT-UP--Be available to help those in need--serving, supporting, and sharing.
If you're going to make New Year's resolutions this year, let me suggest this list, a list that remembers that transformation starts with God, the creator and savior and Lord.
Once we realize that we live in God’s story, we begin to understand it’s not all about us, and not all up to us, but we can live in the promise that those who receive him, who believe in his Name are children of God. AMEN.
+
Thursday, December 30, 2010
poem
+
Break open the world with light and song!
A passionate song to that one king
whose throne, whose life so bright gems held
but wood and straw and dust beheld
A life like ours too short, too hard
and ever by injustice marred
from angel song to mother's tears
at last the hard road did appear
A manager born, a cross and grave
darkness upon all things alive
break open the world with light and sing
of great victory of our king
+
Break open the world with light and song!
A passionate song to that one king
whose throne, whose life so bright gems held
but wood and straw and dust beheld
A life like ours too short, too hard
and ever by injustice marred
from angel song to mother's tears
at last the hard road did appear
A manager born, a cross and grave
darkness upon all things alive
break open the world with light and sing
of great victory of our king
+
Saturday, December 4, 2010
on noticing
+
It's one of those Christmas/birthday seasons when I don't really need anything, and so I haven't offered the eagle any suggestions for gifts. I think we're going to buy some more furniture. Most of our stuff isn't new and never was new. We have a LOT of 'recycled' furniture. The dining room table and chairs come close to being antiques, because they belonged to my great aunt. We've had them since we were married, and they date from the 1950s. (So did the washing machine we got rid of last year.)
The big couch upstairs was a freebee from an estate. The upstairs recliner (which hasn't aged well) and the downstairs couch were from a used furniture store. Lots of things from our mothers. We did buy one recliner new, about 15 years ago. And various desks and stuff, usually cheap, and they show it. Our stereo system sits on an old sewing machine cabinet.
So the eagle wants a new cabinet for his cds - and he took me to the local cheap store and said - see - this is on sale! It was ugly. I said no. Now I'm looking for something better, better looking and better made. I'd love to buy local - but how does one find that kind of thing?
He turned to me and said, "I don't know how many women would go all these years without anything new." (aside from the stereotyping, I think it was a compliment.) "Well," I said, "I don't really notice."
Now I wonder, should I be noticing? I notice clutter, I notice broken things, but useful things are just there. I suspect I'm like my own mother in that regard.
What else do I not notice? What is in the background, accepted, but not paid attention to?
+
It's one of those Christmas/birthday seasons when I don't really need anything, and so I haven't offered the eagle any suggestions for gifts. I think we're going to buy some more furniture. Most of our stuff isn't new and never was new. We have a LOT of 'recycled' furniture. The dining room table and chairs come close to being antiques, because they belonged to my great aunt. We've had them since we were married, and they date from the 1950s. (So did the washing machine we got rid of last year.)
The big couch upstairs was a freebee from an estate. The upstairs recliner (which hasn't aged well) and the downstairs couch were from a used furniture store. Lots of things from our mothers. We did buy one recliner new, about 15 years ago. And various desks and stuff, usually cheap, and they show it. Our stereo system sits on an old sewing machine cabinet.
So the eagle wants a new cabinet for his cds - and he took me to the local cheap store and said - see - this is on sale! It was ugly. I said no. Now I'm looking for something better, better looking and better made. I'd love to buy local - but how does one find that kind of thing?
He turned to me and said, "I don't know how many women would go all these years without anything new." (aside from the stereotyping, I think it was a compliment.) "Well," I said, "I don't really notice."
Now I wonder, should I be noticing? I notice clutter, I notice broken things, but useful things are just there. I suspect I'm like my own mother in that regard.
What else do I not notice? What is in the background, accepted, but not paid attention to?
+
Monday, November 29, 2010
red-green team and the blue side
+
The sermon from this weekend. I held up red & green and blue ribbon bows while I spoke. And I did find Luther quotes for both sides.
Advent 1A, November 28/29 “That Day and Hour” - Matthew 24:36-44
You know, it's that time of year. The church calls it Advent, and the world calls this is the time before Christmas. Those are two different orientations, you see. I’m going to call these two attitudes the Red/Green Team and the Blue Side. And these are balanced, I think, and we live, more or less, in both ways of life, some of us more, some of us less.
The Red-Green Team – those who live in the ‘Time before Christmas” find their world filled with stuff to do,
• plans to fulfill, things to buy or to make, places to go, people to see.
• These folks have no problem with hearing Christmas Music early, seeing decorations and spreading the delightful promises of the festival season early and often. Why can’t we sing Joy to the World?
• It is a time filled with doing and activity. Those are not bad things – we really try to think about what others might want, we become more generous and kind-hearted. I love the time before Christmas for its ability to stir even the least spiritual into an awareness of others, of giving to the less needy. Charity at the holidays is something we can be proud of.
Now on the church calendar, we call these 4 Sundays the time of Advent. This is where the Blue Side lives.
• The Blue side is all about waiting, listening, watching, keeping awake, becoming aware of silence and uncertainty.
• The Blue Side remembers there are old and seldom sung hymns just for this season. They are the O Come, O Come Emmanuel folks.
• It is less about doing, and more about listening, seeing, asking questions. Where is God today? What does God want? What does it mean that God became human, and was really present in this first century Jew we call Jesus?
These two attitudes are often looked at as opposites, as two things that can’t exist together, but today I see both of these orientations as having their own blessing as we live as the Advent people. Both orientations, the one that is busy and full of things to do, and the one that is quiet and attentive, both respond to the same hope, the same great news.
The hope is the one expressed in our scripture readings today – over and over again – that God will do a new thing, that the kingdom of God will be made real, that the city of God will be established, that the people of God will be safe, that all people will be gathered into God’s loving embrace.
We know that this movement of God, this new thing, began with the birth of Jesus long ago, and flowered in the life of Jesus and was testified in his death and resurrection – and we wait in hope for the next moment, that which was promised. That’s why we call this time ‘Advent’ (which is related to the word advance – this is time in advance of something). There are these strange images from the Bible and they tell us that in some way, God’s not done. God’s not done with us. God’s not done with the story.
So both the Red-Green Team and the Blue Side are working in this sense of hope, of expectation that something is going to happen, and we ought to be ready for it.
We do not know when God will complete the story of his love, his victory, his justice for all. But we know that we live in advance of it – we live in expectation, in hope, that both justice and judgment will come. Those two things – justice and judgment – are not opposed at all in the eyes of God. The kingdom of God is a place where peace is practiced, where all are called to the banquet, and no one goes hungry, no one is cold, no one is left alone. And those blessings are to come through God’s chosen people, through the grace and love and strength given by God. The story is not completed, but we play our part as this generation of those who must be prepared.
So listen to the lessons – They speak of the joy of salvation – of being God’s loved people and they speak of responsibility. They speak God’s actions, yes, but also of the expectations for God’s people. Isaiah calls the people of God to ‘walk in the light of the Lord!’ even though the complete victory of his vision is far away. Walk in the light - there is a way to live that is close to God’s intentions.
The apostle Paul has the same insight – that when we are living in the waiting time, we are living not just for ourselves, but for the hope that is in us. So he reminds his listeners to cling to honor, to seek to live well, remembering the better way that we have been taught.
And Jesus gives us this extraordinary reminder that life can be short, that encounters with God can come at any moment – we do not know the hour or the day. We might want to shrug off this passage, but it should re mind us that judgment will come, and in the Gospel of Matthew, judgment and justice lie side by side. Like the owner of the house, we should be always ready to respond – never thinking that tomorrow is soon enough for charity, that next year is soon enough for commitment. God doesn’t work that way. Now is the time.
Perhaps for each of us, whether we are on the Red-Green team or Blue Side of this season – we can take a lesson from pattern of the other.
For the busy Red-Green people – how do we listen for God’s hope beyond our own busy plans? The answer may be in those practices of quietness and mediation – in devotions and music and scripture reading that force us to take time away from planning and doing so that we are just present. Luther was asked how he fit everything into his busy life - well, I pray 2 hours a day, and if I'm really busy . . . I pray for 4 hours.
If you are like me, and make to do lists, we could put ‘PRAY’ at the top of our list. If you already do this – then you may already be leaning to the Blue Side, but for those of us who find ourselves full of tasks to do, our Advent challenge is to stop and listen, stop and contemplate, stop doing and start waiting.
For those Blue Side – we must realize that God has placed us in the world and called us to service now. So the question may be: how do we find our path of impacting and serving the world that God has placed in front of us? There is an old story about Martin Luther being asked what he would do if he were to discover that the world were coming to an end tomorrow. Luther’s response: “I would plant an apple tree.”
That’s a Red-Green response if ever there was one. It was Luther’s way, I suspect, of asserting that our calling is ever to trust in God’s faithfulness and to seek to be faithful followers of Jesus, day in and day out. Our calling is to embrace the sharp edge of expectant hope, to affirm that, even now, God may well be at work in the world around us.
So whether you identify with the Red-Green Team or the Blue Side, whether you desire to sing your Christmas Carols today or long to hear the rare and solemn ancient hymns of Advent – you are called to live in expectation that, yes, Christ is Coming, Christ is coming indeed.
The sermon from this weekend. I held up red & green and blue ribbon bows while I spoke. And I did find Luther quotes for both sides.
Advent 1A, November 28/29 “That Day and Hour” - Matthew 24:36-44
You know, it's that time of year. The church calls it Advent, and the world calls this is the time before Christmas. Those are two different orientations, you see. I’m going to call these two attitudes the Red/Green Team and the Blue Side. And these are balanced, I think, and we live, more or less, in both ways of life, some of us more, some of us less.
The Red-Green Team – those who live in the ‘Time before Christmas” find their world filled with stuff to do,
• plans to fulfill, things to buy or to make, places to go, people to see.
• These folks have no problem with hearing Christmas Music early, seeing decorations and spreading the delightful promises of the festival season early and often. Why can’t we sing Joy to the World?
• It is a time filled with doing and activity. Those are not bad things – we really try to think about what others might want, we become more generous and kind-hearted. I love the time before Christmas for its ability to stir even the least spiritual into an awareness of others, of giving to the less needy. Charity at the holidays is something we can be proud of.
Now on the church calendar, we call these 4 Sundays the time of Advent. This is where the Blue Side lives.
• The Blue side is all about waiting, listening, watching, keeping awake, becoming aware of silence and uncertainty.
• The Blue Side remembers there are old and seldom sung hymns just for this season. They are the O Come, O Come Emmanuel folks.
• It is less about doing, and more about listening, seeing, asking questions. Where is God today? What does God want? What does it mean that God became human, and was really present in this first century Jew we call Jesus?
These two attitudes are often looked at as opposites, as two things that can’t exist together, but today I see both of these orientations as having their own blessing as we live as the Advent people. Both orientations, the one that is busy and full of things to do, and the one that is quiet and attentive, both respond to the same hope, the same great news.
The hope is the one expressed in our scripture readings today – over and over again – that God will do a new thing, that the kingdom of God will be made real, that the city of God will be established, that the people of God will be safe, that all people will be gathered into God’s loving embrace.
We know that this movement of God, this new thing, began with the birth of Jesus long ago, and flowered in the life of Jesus and was testified in his death and resurrection – and we wait in hope for the next moment, that which was promised. That’s why we call this time ‘Advent’ (which is related to the word advance – this is time in advance of something). There are these strange images from the Bible and they tell us that in some way, God’s not done. God’s not done with us. God’s not done with the story.
So both the Red-Green Team and the Blue Side are working in this sense of hope, of expectation that something is going to happen, and we ought to be ready for it.
We do not know when God will complete the story of his love, his victory, his justice for all. But we know that we live in advance of it – we live in expectation, in hope, that both justice and judgment will come. Those two things – justice and judgment – are not opposed at all in the eyes of God. The kingdom of God is a place where peace is practiced, where all are called to the banquet, and no one goes hungry, no one is cold, no one is left alone. And those blessings are to come through God’s chosen people, through the grace and love and strength given by God. The story is not completed, but we play our part as this generation of those who must be prepared.
So listen to the lessons – They speak of the joy of salvation – of being God’s loved people and they speak of responsibility. They speak God’s actions, yes, but also of the expectations for God’s people. Isaiah calls the people of God to ‘walk in the light of the Lord!’ even though the complete victory of his vision is far away. Walk in the light - there is a way to live that is close to God’s intentions.
The apostle Paul has the same insight – that when we are living in the waiting time, we are living not just for ourselves, but for the hope that is in us. So he reminds his listeners to cling to honor, to seek to live well, remembering the better way that we have been taught.
And Jesus gives us this extraordinary reminder that life can be short, that encounters with God can come at any moment – we do not know the hour or the day. We might want to shrug off this passage, but it should re mind us that judgment will come, and in the Gospel of Matthew, judgment and justice lie side by side. Like the owner of the house, we should be always ready to respond – never thinking that tomorrow is soon enough for charity, that next year is soon enough for commitment. God doesn’t work that way. Now is the time.
Perhaps for each of us, whether we are on the Red-Green team or Blue Side of this season – we can take a lesson from pattern of the other.
For the busy Red-Green people – how do we listen for God’s hope beyond our own busy plans? The answer may be in those practices of quietness and mediation – in devotions and music and scripture reading that force us to take time away from planning and doing so that we are just present. Luther was asked how he fit everything into his busy life - well, I pray 2 hours a day, and if I'm really busy . . . I pray for 4 hours.
If you are like me, and make to do lists, we could put ‘PRAY’ at the top of our list. If you already do this – then you may already be leaning to the Blue Side, but for those of us who find ourselves full of tasks to do, our Advent challenge is to stop and listen, stop and contemplate, stop doing and start waiting.
For those Blue Side – we must realize that God has placed us in the world and called us to service now. So the question may be: how do we find our path of impacting and serving the world that God has placed in front of us? There is an old story about Martin Luther being asked what he would do if he were to discover that the world were coming to an end tomorrow. Luther’s response: “I would plant an apple tree.”
That’s a Red-Green response if ever there was one. It was Luther’s way, I suspect, of asserting that our calling is ever to trust in God’s faithfulness and to seek to be faithful followers of Jesus, day in and day out. Our calling is to embrace the sharp edge of expectant hope, to affirm that, even now, God may well be at work in the world around us.
So whether you identify with the Red-Green Team or the Blue Side, whether you desire to sing your Christmas Carols today or long to hear the rare and solemn ancient hymns of Advent – you are called to live in expectation that, yes, Christ is Coming, Christ is coming indeed.
Monday, November 22, 2010
day off? on?
+
I found a free day, and I don't know what to do with myself. Or rather - here is a day in which I don't need to go to the office at least - the first in 10 days - and it's hard to get moving. I have a list of things to do - shop for Thanksgiving, clean house, call back on church details (oh, that's work again), catch up on school - - but.
But. Something in me just wants to curl up and finish my Trollope book (I love Anthony Trollope! His insight into people! His dry wit! Despite the fact he's writing in and about the 1850s, I know these people, and know these places), drink tea and listen to music. Now that I have a funeral on Friday, that day is chopped up. Sorry Sara, I can't spend all day with you at home.
Some of you know I'm taking courses in counseling. For my current course I need to speak to someone who leads group counseling/support groups, and I've come up dry. Any suggestions?
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I found a free day, and I don't know what to do with myself. Or rather - here is a day in which I don't need to go to the office at least - the first in 10 days - and it's hard to get moving. I have a list of things to do - shop for Thanksgiving, clean house, call back on church details (oh, that's work again), catch up on school - - but.
But. Something in me just wants to curl up and finish my Trollope book (I love Anthony Trollope! His insight into people! His dry wit! Despite the fact he's writing in and about the 1850s, I know these people, and know these places), drink tea and listen to music. Now that I have a funeral on Friday, that day is chopped up. Sorry Sara, I can't spend all day with you at home.
Some of you know I'm taking courses in counseling. For my current course I need to speak to someone who leads group counseling/support groups, and I've come up dry. Any suggestions?
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Saturday, November 20, 2010
Christ the King Sunday
+Christ the King C, 2010 – Nov. 20/21 – ‘End and Beginning’
Luke’s Passion
When did this start, this idea of the kingdom of God – this new thing that God does? We usually suggest it starts with the birth of Jesus – Christmas – that little babe. (The little babe, so few days old, has come to rifle Satan's fold) But in Colossians and in John – it is part of God’s imaginative hope when he made creation- these creatures, with imagination and language and reason – these ones who bear his image- these are the ones who might understand what it means to worship him. We are called to worship, from the beginning. And when we fall away, we – our flesh and blood and DNA - are still the vehicle for this miracle of incarnation. That’s where it starts – with being who we are, with being human.
Back up a few days from our Gospel story. We think the disciples, those who knew Jesus in his active ministry, who traveled with him, and listened to him daily – we think they had a pretty good idea of what Jesus was about. The stories we have received, however, show us otherwise. Those closest to Jesus misunderstood him, and showed themselves as ordinary folks who wasted their time debating who would be most honored.
Two of them, brothers James and John, came to Jesus and asked him to honor them by promising that they – James and John – would be the right-hand man and the left-hand man when Jesus came into his glory. Get this – they asked for the particular places of honor and power. They asked to be recognized above all the other ten intimates, above all the others who followed Jesus daily, above Jesus’ mother and Jesus own brother, above anyone else who would even join the movement. Let us be your lieutenant – your generals, your chosen men.
Jesus said to them: “you don’t know what you are asking. Will you follow where I am going to go? Will you do what I am going to do?” “Oh, yes, of course” And Jesus probably looked at them with love and shook his head – because he knew they would indeed be taking up the way of the cross, and that they had no idea of what was in store for them. “Indeed you will drink the cup that I drink, and you will go the way I go – but to guarantee that kind of honor you seek – it is not in my hands.”
The son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for all.
Now look were we are a few days later – Jesus is abandoned on the cross. James and John – well, they are not on his right and left hands. Those on his right and left hands are criminals, probably either highwaymen or revolutionaries foolish enough to get caught. All three are face the horrific execution of crucifixion. Let’s remember, Jesus was not the only one to suffer this way – not the only one to ‘take up his cross’ – it was a common practice in those cruel days.
This is the cup which Jesus must drink, the baptism he must be baptized by. This is what he asked James and John if they were willing to undergo. For James and John, this is the END – this is the end of the Jesus movement, this is the end of the hopes that through charisma, through teaching, through works of power and healing justice and righteousness might win. This is the end to the hopes that James and John or Peter or anyone might find themselves able to act with God’s Power and Might and Judgment.
This is the end of all that – all that expectation that the Reign of God, this Kingdom of Heaven was going to be a Nation, an Empire, a Government like any other Government.
The sign above Jesus head said “This is the King of the Jews” and at his right hand and his left hand were the scum of the earth. It was meant to be ironic, a claim that was so obviously untrue that no one would ever claim that title again. But Jesus, in the midst of his own agony, shows what a king truly is.
What is a King? A King is forgiving: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Extraordinary – those soldiers knew what they were doing – they were mocking the dying, they were benefiting from other’s pain, they were killing people. Jesus still asks that they be forgiven – for the complete generosity of his kingdom will include even those who are cruel, the enemy, the scoffers, the on-lookers.
What is a King? A king is gracious. So Jesus turns to the one who acknowledges his own guilt, defends Jesus, and attributes innocence to him, and Jesus promises grace. Jesus promises paradise, Jesus promises that this broken man will be with Jesus in Paradise.
What is a King? This cross is the moment of beginning of the kingdom of God. This cross is where we see what a King is and what a King does. How a King becomes not a King of the World, but a King of our soul, of our hearts. The cross is the end point of any dreams that following this Messiah would provide power and authority on earth. The cross is the beginning of a new thing, a new kind of kingdom.
And if we are not sure that this story is true – that this is the way that God will be working - God completes the drama, God provides the last act, has the last word – on Easter morning Jesus is seen alive and whole and complete. The King has returned, and the new way has truly begun.
The New Kingdom is an invitation to all of us – to see ourselves in the story. Who are we, where do we stand?
o Are we still like James and John, wondering what the reward on this earth is going to be? And if so, what happens when the reward is not forthcoming? Can we open our hearts to realize it isn’t about us, isn’t about what we think is important – that God is pointing to an internal, spiritual transformation that must precede the reformation of the world?
o Are we like those on-lookers, not so sure that this King has any real power over what really matters to us? What do we miss when we do not see that this King, this incarnated savior, is present for us always, showing a way of life that does powerfully shape what really matters to us?
o Are we like those thieves – caught up in our own pain? And then, even then, in pain – real pain – grief, illness, fear, anger, disappointment, frustration – do you see that there are two ways to respond to the presence of our broken King?
He’s there with us in our pain – and we can turn away or we can turn toward. Turn away: “Save yourself and us!” and when he does not save us in the way that we want, let bitterness overtake us. Or we can turn toward him – and do what the thief did: Worship him. See him in his truth. See what he went through, and why.
The New Kingdom is an invitation. To you and me, to know this King, to struggle with what he means for us, in the old language to conform our lives to his, to figure out how we live -
How we spend money, how we participate in all the uses of power in our lives,
How we love each other, how we treat each other.
The New Kingdom is an invitation to live in Christ Jesus, to embody this King – forgiving, gracious, and hopeful of Paradise.
Not a bad way to begin a new life – forgiving, gracious and hopeful of Paradise. Amen.
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