My God, my God....Why?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
and are so far from my cry
and from the words of my distress?   Psalm 22:1

This intricately woven cross of palm fronds was created by a Coptic Christian for their Palm Sunday celebration. It was an act of devotion and a statement of hope. Little did he or she know how it would all end; that blood would stain the cross, that 44 would be dead, that hundreds more would be injured.  I wonder if the creator of this palm cross knew that a homicide bomber could be filled with such hate. 

As Christians, we acknowledge that evil exists and so we cling to our Lord’s promise: that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. God was there in those two churches on Palm Sunday, blessing and comforting and God will continue to be there, even when only blood stains remain. The Easter message proclaims that God will always triumph over death and destruction.  Always.

Let us wrap ourselves in the love God as we seek to make sense of it all.

The Power of Denial

Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”  Matthew 26:34

                    "The Denial of Peter"     James Tissot

This is one of the most haunting lines in Scripture. Peter, desperate to prove his allegiance to Jesus, promises never to disavow his Lord, and yet Jesus speaks truth.  “Truly I tell you….”   Sadly, Peter believes to his very core that he would never deny Jesus, and yet, we know that on that very night, Peter does exactly that – three times. Our Lord always speaks truth.  

What of us? When and how have we denied Jesus? Is it when we turn a blind eye to injustices observed? Or when we “refuse to get involved” because something doesn’t directly affect us?  Or is it simply when we mask our allegiance to Christ in order to get that promotion or to be better liked?  Peter did it, and so have we all.  

This approaching Holy Week is a time to bring our hearts closer to God, a time to confess the times we have denied Jesus by our thoughts, words and deeds. Join me as we do the important work of transforming our hearts and minds before the cross.

The Lord has need of us.  

Dry Bones

                      "Valley of the Dry Bones" c.1935          Ben-Zion Weinman  (1897-1987)

When we hear the story of the Valley of the Dry Bones in Ezekiel, it isn’t long before we are trying to remember the words to the Sunday School song: “The hip bone’s connected to the thigh bone….”  And, “ZAP!” any interest in deciphering the meaning of the passage goes out the window. Yet the message is an important one.


So, set aside neck bones and shoulder bones for a moment (you’re humming it, aren’t you?)  and listen to the conversation God has with the prophet, Ezekiel.

“Tell these bones that I, the Lord, will put sinews on them and breathe life into them, so that they will come back to life and know that I am the Lord.”

And so, Ezekiel does and the bones come back to life. Wow!  We’ve all seen bones, bleached by the sun: fragile, dried out, inert. God is speaking, in metaphor, to those whose faith has dried up.  

How dried out is your faith? Your love of God? Your participation in the community of faith? Lent is the time when we consider the quality of our spiritual health and God's answer is always the same: “Return to me. Enter my fold. Hear my words and I will give you life and vitality – live so rich that you cannot imagine it.”  Such is God’s call to us. Return. Repent. Re-engage. God wants to put sinews on our bones, and life into our hearts.

Such is the Love of God in Christ Jesus.

Tend My Sheep

March 22, 2017

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Rev. Liz

The LORD is my shepherd; *

     I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures *

     and leads me beside still waters.

He revives my soul *

     and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.                                                                         Psalm 23: 1-3

                                             "Life Out West"                D. Whitehead

At our Vestry meeting the other night during our Bible Study, we were talking about sheep and lambs, and Jesus’ mandate to “feed my sheep,” and to “take care of my lambs.”  One Vestry member commented that we are drawn to lambs because they are cute and cuddly – but then they grow up into sheep, which are harder to love because they can become obstinate, dirty, and stupid. Her point was that Jesus asked us, mandated us, to take care of them all – not just the cute, fuzzy ones.  

This Sunday, we will read together the most famous psalm of them all, the 23rd Psalm. In it, we realize it the writer believes that the Lord is his shepherd.  As Christians, we believe this too.  The good news is that our Lord loves us and accepts us as his own whether we are cute and fuzzy little lambs or tired, old, obstinate sheep. Thank goodness for that! The Lord provides for our needs, brings us to green pastures, and revives our souls.

In turn, our Lord asks us to do the same with those around us. “Feed my sheep; take care of my lambs,” he said.  Tend to those who are cute and fuzzy, but also to those who are restless, irritable, and discontent. That is our call.

Sustenance

 “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.”   John 4: 31-34

The last thing this volunteer is thinking about is where his next meal is coming from or why he isn’t home watching the latest episode of Dancing with the Stars. His food, his sustenance, is the pure contentment we find when we follow the way of Jesus: helping others, doing unto others what we would have them do unto us.

We all know the feeling: the satisfaction, the warm in your belly contentment that comes from doing the right thing. Whether it is teaching English as a second language or picking up litter, we know the feeling that comes from altruism. Whether it is serving hot lunches at Trinity Soup Kitchen or reaching out to a lonely senior, the Kingdom of God is found in those exchanges.  

When we murmur and moan (as the Israelites did while wandering in the desert), it is a sign to us that we need a fresh infusion of the Kingdom of God. We find it not in complaining, but when we get out of ourselves and connect with others.  Our sustenance comes from service; joy and happiness come from jumping into the Kingdom of God wherever we encounter it.

Seek ye first the Kingdom – and JUMP!   

Born Again

Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  John 3:5-7

The Providence Journal  1903

In this complicated conversation between Jesus and the Pharisee, we come face to face with the phrase “Born again.”  This phrase has become a sort of fundamentalist litmus test – where people ask each other “have you been born again” in order to assess another’s faith.  It is time re-claim this phrase and understand it as the scripture intended it.

So what is “to be born again?”  As Jesus explains it, we must be born twice. The first time, through water, speaks to human birth – that moment when a baby emerges from the womb and draws one’s first breath. Being born again, being born in the Spirit, is another thing all together.  Some say it is a decision we make as adults, independent of others, to decide to follow Jesus – but many others believe that it is that moment in Holy Baptism when the Spirit binds us to a community of faith entrusted to teach us in the ways of following Jesus.    

What do you think?  Is it one or the other? Or is it both? To argue these divergent viewpoints is to risk missing the Truth that God is bound to us inextricably; that there is nothing we can do to separate ourselves from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.  And when we recognize that, then life becomes anything but rigid and stiff; life becomes flexible and increasingly comfortable with living in the paradox that is life. 

Return. Rend. Re-Orient.

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.    Joel 2: 12 

Yad Hasmona Biblical Garden    Israel

"Rend your heart and not your clothing"  seems to get at the very heart of what in means to keep a "Holy Lent."  Lent should never devolve into just "giving something up."  For what is the good of that? Losing a few pounds? Feeling triumphant that you can temporarily overcome some addiction?  Pleasing a spouse or a parent?

Neither is Lent about focusing on our fallen nature, as many of us have heard it preached before. Lent is about returning to the Lord.  It needn't be a public show apologizing for our misbehavior; God already knows all that.

Lent is about our hearts.  It is about returning to God and remembering whose we are. When we return our focus to God, there may well be some repentance and fasting, but not always. Sometimes, just the returning is enough.  In simply returning, in rending our hearts, we may just find ourselves deeply thankful for God's forgiveness and grace and mercy. And isn't that the point?

Return. Rend your hearts, Re-orient.

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Transfiguration

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Matthew 17: 1-2

Transiguration                      John Armstrong

The Transfiguration of Jesus occurs in the three synoptic Gospels, and is glancingly referenced in John’s Gospel. How utterly jaw-dropping for those disciples who took an ordinary walk  – we’d call it a “day hike” today – and suddenly, right there on a mountain their good friend Jesus turned blindingly brilliant. Right there in front of them! His face shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white.

This is one of those stories (it happened to Moses on a mountain once too) that offers us a glimpse into the power of God. We may go on with our daily lives, giving a nod to God every now and them, but we in the western world have pretty much tamed God. We don’t think very often about God’s utter GOD-NESS:  God’s ability to hang the planets on their courses or to populate and stock this fragile earth, our island home.

God does that.  And it’s a good thing for us to remember from time to time. 

Being Holy

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
Leviticus 19: 1-2

Nuns on a Beach                              Carlo Canevari 

The readings for next Sunday take a “blinders off” look at what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Some dictionaries define “holy” as consecrated or set apart for God. Nuns, for example.  When I was growing up, they were objects of mystery. They dressed differently. They closed themselves into convents. My friends and I didn’t know what they actually did, but we knew they embodied holiness.  So, as a culture, we came to accept that definition; that things holy were things set apart – segregated form the rest of us. 

Over time, I have begun to dislike that definition. Being “holy” doesn’t mean that we should shut ourselves off from the world in order to avoid being tainted by its toxicity.  To the contrary, when God invites us to “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God am holy” it is an invitation into the world; into a world that is often unclean, unfair, and unruly. God is not asking us to be set apart; God is asking us to jump in.  

Holding Onto The Candle

If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.   Sirach 15:15

"Reaction"     Emily Van Engel   c. 2012

In times of stress, division, or polarity, we each respond differently. Some cry, some get angry, some ruminate, and others participate in large group actions. Fortunately, we are free to respond however we wish. We need not be bullied into protesting if it does not suit us.  

What is essential is that we continue to hold love out as the candle of our faith: Loving each other and respecting the dignity of every human being.

In times of national disunity and stress, we are Christians first. Some may be inclined to march, while others prefer to visit someone who is lonely or sick.  Any response, done in the name of Christ, is good and holy.  Let us not permit the polarity which infects our nation to break the bonds of affection we enjoy as brothers and sisters in Christ.

The question set before us is this:  When was the last time you connected what you said and what you did with who God is for you?

Our actions and our words reveal our theology.

Mystery

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the human heart conceived,

what God has prepared for those who love him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9

“Into the Eye of God”                Jimmy Canali 2012          

There is so much that we do not know. Essentially, God is a mystery. Sure, we can ascribe words and phrases to God like: “God is Love” but the mystery of this force, this Creator of the Universe, this power that can redeem all things and restore all things and bring new life into all things is beyond the finiteness of our human brains.  And yet we seek to know and love and believe in this “Everything” that we cannot ever really understand.

Even at the middle of this mystery, we testify to what we know to be true. And I know this: that God’s promises are true; I have never been let down by God. So when our government seems to be in chaos, and when fear threatens to overwhelm us, and when divisiveness threatens to besmirch our most precious relationships, remember that God's promises are eternal and true.  Here are some of God's promises that I know to be true: That God is with us, That nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. That God will never leave us or forsake us. That we are each God's beloved. These are Truths. These are God's promises to us.

So in the frenzy of these distressing times, when we aren't sure who or what to believe, pause and listen for that still, small voice, and pray without ceasing. Cling to God and grasp at God's Truths, for that is what will sustain us as we move into the unknown. God's promises are true and eternal and they are what will sustain us. That’s a promise.

Doing Justice

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?             Micah 6:8

Mississippi Burning        Normal Rockwell

This line from the prophet Micah always brings me home. Micah calls us to clean up our relationships with God and with each other. To do this does not mean increased piety, increased numbers of circuits around a rosary or increased hours meditating on scripture. 

What does the Lord require of you – 

YOU who already been declared as God’s beloved child?

Micah prophetically reminds us that God requires relationships; relationships with our neighbors and particularly with those who are being denied justice and those who are being ignored or treated unkindly. To be in relationship with these IS to walk humbly with God; to do what God requires of us.

God has already told us what is good. Now comes the time to do justice and to love kindness – for THAT is God’s call to action, and that is what develops a deeper relationship with God.