Can We Bear It?

Jesus said to the disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now."  John 16:12

Unretouched Photograph "God: Off the Coast of New Zealand"                 Rose Surgay

I am still reveling in the mystery of Pentecost, that is, the extraordinary arrival of the Holy Spirit as s/he came crashing into the hearts of the disciples that day in Jerusalem so many years ago.  We busy, literate, 21st century Christians do not cope well with mystery. We prefer facts, proof. Perhaps Jesus addresses the likes of us in this 16th chapter of John:  "I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now."

What would it take for us to bear the great Truths? To accept the great Mystery? Is Truth and Mystery so gut crunchingly wonderful that we dare not ingest it? Might we drown from drinking the Living Waters of astonishing purity?  What holds us back?

Mystery demands we believe ourselves to be made in the image and likeness of God. Mystery demands that we accept our belovedness. Perhaps Jesus was right; it is all too much for us to bear. It is easier for us to accept the labels the culture adheres to us. Tragic.

Draw near. Consider the Mystery. Allow it to swirl in your head. And pray that we will be able to bear it, one day. 

The Fear Trap

All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…. Romans 8: 14-15

"Earworms of Doubr"  Michelle Walka

"All who are led by the Spirit are children of God."  That is what we are: Children of God. As such, much is required of us and much is given us.  Sometimes, though, we forget whose we are and fall into Satan’s snare – the fear trap. The fear trap subtly uncoils its tentacles and draws it unto itself with the earworms of doubt, self-hatred, and unworthiness; thoughts that we are not good enough, or strong enough, or faithful enough to be children of God.

But remember, God always wins! Just as the Holy Spirit rushed in at Pentecost to fill the disciples with itself, the Spirit of God, when faced with the devil’s tentacles, rushes in and beckons to us. The Spirit softly yet persistently whispers to us that we are God’s own beloved ones: loved, cherished, worthy and enough.  

Our task is to become attuned to that voice, to train our ears to be aware of its quiet persistence.  In doing so, we will hear the Spirit of Love and able to defeat the trap of fear.   

Praying for the Future

Jesus prayed for his disciples, and then he said. "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.     John 17: 20-21

                                                                  "Argus"                        Salvador Dali c. 1963

The first thing that strikes me here in this passage from John’s Gospel is that Jesus prayed for his disciples.  I don’t know why this surprises me, but it does.  And more surprising still is that Jesus goes on to pray for all of us who would one day become his disciples!  We are in this fellowship of Christ that we call “The Church” because Jesus prayed for us!

So now I’m wondering about prayer existing without the limitations of time and space. In other words, Jesus was praying for the generations who would come after him. Prayers for the future of humanity.  How often do we pray for the generations that are to come after us? If our Lord did, then we ought to give it a try.

How boldly might we pray if we prayed that our children’s grandchildren might inherit a world that is safer, cleaner, and more beautiful than the one in which we now live.   “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, I pray that they may also be in us….”

Pray for our future.

God's Blessings

The Reading:

The earth has brought forth her increase; *
may God, our own God, give us his blessing.  Psalm 67:6




I've been visiting the Morton Arboretum 2-3 times a week this month. The landscapes change daily at this time of year, from the spring beauties that quietly creep into bloom and litter the forest floor with their delicate petals to the glorious abundance that explodes onto the landscape when the crabapples begin to bloom.  A profusion of miracles -- every day, when we take time to notice. 

This verse from the psalm reminds us to look for God's increase and to seek out God's blessings every day.  For it is the spiritual side of ourselves that births transformation. Crossing items off our temporal  "to-do" lists may bring temporary satisfaction, but will never transform us.  Transformation occurs only when we remember that God is the author of all miracles and the provisioner of the grace which blesses us every day. . 

May God, our own God, bless us this day. 

Labels

The Reading: So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying,..Three men from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.  Acts 11: 2-4, 11-12

“The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.” We are so human; so prone to labeling others. It starts when we are young, as we naively become aware of who “brings” vs. who “buys” lunch. During this election year, the candidates use separatist pronouns such as  “they” or “them” to garner support. Those fundamentalists. Those Muslims. Those immigrants. Those liberals. Those rednecks. Labels make it easy to dismiss entire groups of people, and we are lured into forgetting that each person is a beloved child of God.  Taken to its extreme and most nefariously, labels have been used to assign value to human beings, defining who is  “in” and who is “out” as happened in Nazi Germany and in Rwanda.  Yet each one of us is made in God’s image and beloved by God. This lesson from Acts makes it clear that it takes neither the mark of circumcision nor a special diet to enter into the Body of Christ. There is great freedom in Christ. Love God. Love one another. That’s it. Every time we find ourselves dismissing and labeling a group of people, we must examine our motives. For we are all one in Christ Jesus, and the Spirit calls us “not to make a distinction between them and us.”

Recognizable

The Reading: 
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”   John 10: 27-30

I struggle with this passage. There have been times when I’ve not been sure of the Shepherd’s voice — or known, exactly, what I’m listening for. There have been times when I’ve sat primly in a pew and wondered whether the shepherd knew me at all. But then? Then that still, small voice whispers: “No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Hindsight is 20-20. There have been incidences when I was ripe for snatching and times when I probably deserved it. I’ve been retrieved from those gaping jaws and drawn into the arms of the holy of holies more than once. Grace led me there.

To know the sweetness of the nectar when we come to believe that the Shepherd recognizes us is the culmination of a life in faith. To gulp thirstily when we recognize the Shepherd’s voice is primal. And when God carries us through times of trial or dances with us during times of celebration? That is like drinking from God’s own cup.

It is the nectar of Truth that bids us return.

Blindness

Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Acts 9: 8-9

Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus, met his fate as he approached Damascus. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

You’ve heard the story: Suddenly Saul’s eyes were covered with scales and he was blinded for three days. During this time, he realized his utter dependence on others; realized his helplessness. It became a moment of conversion.

God calls to us in our faithlessness and in our blindness. Let us not assume it is not God calling. Let us, in faith, recognize the call so that the scales might fall from our eyes and that we might see where the Lord has need of us.

Breathe

March 30, 2016 The Reading: When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."    John 20:19                   Denis Fremond

The Whispering: "And the doors were locked for fear of the Jews." Who can relate? How often are we tempted to flee and shut out the world? This is exactly whet the disciples felt that day. Fear, anxiety, nerves; what are we going to do now? Paradoxically, it is when we try to shut out the world that we often encounter the risen Lord. "Peace be with you,"  And in breathing on us, we are filled with that peace which passes all understanding. It was enough for the disciples; it is enough for us. Enough to return to the world to do the work God has given us to do. Breathe!

The Triduum

The Reading: This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. Exodus 12:14

The Whispering: Tomorrow, we enter into a three day long liturgy called the Triduum.  During these three days, we focus our attention on Jesus. The liturgy begins at the Passover meal. Jesus gives his followers those final instructions that will become the benchmark of the future Christian church: the primacy of a shared meal and the need to serve all people with humility and generosity. The next part to this three day liturgy finds us following Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he prays and where he is arrested by Roman soldiers. We watch, helplessly, as he is whipped and interrogated and mocked. A dreadful error. And then we cringe as he is led up a hill and nailed to a tree. And he dies. How can God die? Surely there must be a mistake. What is our role in this? On Saturday, we consider what a world without Jesus might look like; how we would feel if God's grace were irrevocably absent. We feel bereft. We wonder what our inaction accomplished.  We teeter on the lip of hopelessness. And then?  And then? The third day, we find ourselves drawn to the tomb once again. Where is he? The tomb is empty! Do you see him? Feel him? Experience him? Alleluia!

Need

The Reading: "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'"     Luke 19: 30-31.

The Whispering: "The Lord needs it." As we enter Holy Week, these are good words to carry with us. Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him to fetch a donkey from the next village. When the owner of the beast confronted them, they responded as the Lord had instructed them:  The Lord needs it. The donkey became the conveyance that brought Jesus into the holy city later that day. What is it of yours that the Lord needs? What do you offer that is precious to you because the Lord needs it?  Your time? Your talent? Your treasure? We are the hands and feet of Jesus in our world today. What does the Lord need from you in order that we might transform this world into the Kingdom of God? You are the conveyance that brings Jesus into the world. Give generously.

Moving Forward

The Reading: ...but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 3:13-14

The Whispering: I took this picture five years ago, standing in a cold field in Indiana at dusk. At the time, I was facing some hefty decisions about my own life, my call, and where God was leading me.  Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, reminds us that we must always resist the human inclination to look longingly backwards and to cultivate a spirit of adventure that leads us forward. Lent accomplishes this by leading us into a liminal place of repentance. Lent invites us into a time where we consider, and then excise the sins and guilt that bind us. Ultimately, we must face this truth: that God will forgive all our sins when we "do earnestly repent." Lent pulls us into that place where we are made ready for absolution and, ultimately, for the triumph we will celebrate when we accept God's forgiveness. Every Lent is followed by an Easter morning. What do you need to leave behind?  What hurts? What guilts? What impediments must be cast off in order to discover the joy that is in Christ? Look forward. God forgives us our sins and leads us into Easter -- always.

Manna

The Reading: Gracious Father whose blessed son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him.                         Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the 4th Sunday in Lent  "Manna"   The Whispering: The question of manna has intrigued me since I was a little girl. A child's imaginings that magical bread fell from heaven every morning and every evening. And the fact that it was always enough for everybody?!?   And I remember being utterly gobsmacked when my Sunday School teacher told us that if the Hebrews took more than their fair share, the excess would turn rancid by the next day. God's economy is like that. God's grace and love are always enough, abundantly enough; and God proffers enough grace for everyone. Why, then. do we spend time worrying that someone is getting more than their share? More manna, more love, more wealth, more attention? Meditate this week on God's economy. Do we covet that which our neighbors have received? Has God offered us enough? How do we speak to God about our cravings and our appetites?