Nourishment

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.  John 6: 27

Is this not the heart of Jesus’ message to us?  John’s Gospel is one of mysticism and symbolism. In it, we know to look for the spiritual truths that lie beneath the obvious. In doing so, we discover God’s invitation to wholeness and holiness. 

In proclaiming himself to be The Bread of Life, Jesus reveals the essence of what he hops hopes we will come to understand: that in setting aside the anxieties and stressors that are part of daily life, we will encounter God. As we chafe at that which irritates us or cling to past hurts, we cannot change. We remain stubborn, simmering pots of dissatisfaction and victimization.

But Jesus offers us an alternative: The Bread of Life is not only a salve for our hurts and balm for our battered hearts and minds, it is Christ’s invitation to dwell enter into the very heart of God.  With it, we cannot remain the same. Through it, we are transformed into a new creation, infused with compassion, joy, hope and love. By it, we ingest the fuel necessary to love each other as Christ loves us.

The choice is ours. 

Fear? Fear not?

.....they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."    John 6: 10-20

                                           The Storm                            Andy Gonzales

How many times in scripture do we hear the words "fear not" or "do not be afraid?" I didn't actually do the counting, but apparently the scriptures contain 365 admonitions about fear: one for every day of the year.  Coincidence?  Probably. But the point is, God has something to say to us about fear. 

Why are so many of us besieged by fear? Fear of change, fear of ill health, fear of poverty, fear of foreigners?       Fear of disappointing others.  Oh my. That's a biggie.

 "Fear not," say the angels. "Do not be afraid," says our Lord. Fear paralyzes  Fear nibbles away at our faith. Fear distorts reality. The Lord wants more from us. The Lord wants us to live into our belovedness and to share it with the world. The Lord wants us to cast out our fears and our demons; to rest in God's mercy and grace. 

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This week, take a look at what's bugging you; what's eroding your own sense of belovedness. And if you find fear to be the culprit, cast it out. Name it. And walk in faith. .

Peace be with you.

Sabbath

The Apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. Mark 6: 30 - 31 

           

The Woman at the Window                  Salvador Dali, 1925

The Whispering:

Jesus knew.  Jesus knew how tiring it was to be so busy.  He knew what is was like to have people clamoring for his attention: needing money, needing healing, needing to touch him. No peace and quiet. No down time. No day off.

Jesus recognized the need for down time, and knew how hard it is to claim.  

Sabbath time is essential for good health and for perspective. Very often when we take time "off," it is for action packed trips with complicated itineraries - all well and good - but when is there time for this essential Godly rest? Without it, we get road weary. Resentments fester, job performance slips, and relationships suffer.

In the coming weeks, consider how you can carve out a small space of Sabbath time each week. Start by claiming 20 minutes - maybe an hour - for yourself.  

Do it. Dare to do nothing. And dare to dedicate it to God. 

Abuse of Power

"I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head.           Mark 6: 25-26                                                             

Frieze - Amiens Cathedral 

This week's Gospel relates the story of the debacle of the death of John the Baptist. He did not die because he had done anything wrong; he died because a woman was furious with him and wanted revenge. A silly reason. An unjust reason. A miscarriage of justice.

As Christians, we are called to be prophets; yet this is a hard ministry for most of us. The text for Sunday tells us that King Herod "was deeply grieved" about ordering John's beheading, but he gave the order anyway because to refuse the girl would have caused him embarrassment. He valued saving face more than human life.  

This Gospel passages forces us to look at our own hearts and our own actions. In fact, when preparing our hearts for repentance and confession, we must ask ourselves uncomfortable questions.

• Have our actions ever resulted in us becoming the Oppressors?

• Does "being right" matter more to us than "doing the right thing?"

• Who, by our silence or inaction, has experienced a miscarriage of justice?

God calls us to be prophets.  How do you use your prophetic voice? 

 

 

Home Grown Prophets

Jesus said, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin...... Mark 6: 4

                                      Chapel Island     Squam Lake, NH,

Greetings from the backwoods of New Hampshire where I am vacationing with my family.

They are a loving lot, though not exactly sure what to do with the one Episcopalian in their midst -- and a priest to boot.  Yesterday my agnostic sister sailed me over to Chapel Island in the middle of Squam Lake to see the 125 y.o. outdoor (Episcopal) chapel there. She thought I'd like it. I did. Tall whispering pines, a font made from a slab of granite with a depression in the center; rainwater collects there. The cross is made from local birch trees and the altar and pulpit are also slabs of granite.  Holy ground.

"Do you ever come here to worship," I asked?

Uncomfortable silence.    

                   

Such is the tenuous relationship Jesus has with the people of  his hometown.  

He is able, the text tells us to do a couple of healings, but nothing much more. 

At dinner last night, a couple who I did not know approached me, saying they had heard I was an Episcopal minister. What followed was a conversation of deep blessing and sharing. "How did you  know I was a Episcopal priest?" I finally asked.

"Your brother told us," they said.

Perhaps it is enough.

Transaction

I will exalt you, O LORD,
because you have lifted me up *
and have not let my enemies triumph over me.      Psalm 30:1

                                      Raising Jairus' Daughter         Chris Higham

I will exalt you, O Lord, BECAUSE you have raised me up?

The Psalmist seems to be putting conditions on his reasons for exalting the Lord.

It sounds almost transactional.

It makes me wonder if we do that. 

WHY do we exalt God? Is out of fear? (If I don’t, that God might cast me out?)

Is it out of greed? (God as the great Santa Claus in the sky?)

Is it because we were taught to exalt God as children and just do it out of habit?

Or is there something more?

Or is it because we have considered the mystical beauty of God’s creation and discovered the  miraculous?  Or because we have been touched by God and experienced the fullness of Divine Love? Or because we have experienced Divine Love through the compassion of others?

Why did Jairus, a Temple executive, seek out Jesus, healer of souls?

Why do you?

God is God and I am not

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

                                                                                          Job 38: 1

After 37 chapters of bad advice from his friends, Job finally gets his chance to plead his case before God to God about the terrible suffering he has endured.  And God came to Job “from out of a whirlwind”  and continues the battering by asking Job a series of rhetorical and sarcastic questions.            

 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth, Job?

               Who determined its measurements?  Surely you know, Job.”

Many of us shy away from Job because we are uncomfortable with “this side” of God.  We rationalize that its best to avert our eyes and stick only to those passages that provide us with a warm, fuzzy God who loves us unconditionally.  It’s decidedly more comfortable that way. 

But to deepen our understanding  of God, it is essential for us to examine all that the scriptures reveal about God. 

So what are we to glean from Job?

Perhaps Job is a reminder to us that God is ultimately in charge.

That God is majestic, with power over Creation.

That the world is not our oyster, but God’s.  

And ultimately, that God is God and we are not.

Thanks be to God. 

Growth Pains

It is like a mustard seed, which, when it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.                                                                        Mark 4: 32-33

The Mustard Seed         by Nelly Bube

It can be scary at times to wander into newness of life. We like things the way they are; we are comfortable. And yet God, who loves us just as we are, works deep in our hearts and minds and nourishes the potential in all of us. 

The work of growth is not easy as we emerge to the darkness and the dirt and the chill of spring rains. Our crusty seed coverings soften and the seed inside wakens to the smell of the earth in which it finds itself -- and struggles toward the Light. It is an arduous trek at times, but the seed can feel the draw of the Light. 

Emerging into the Light, God thrusts us forward and and into the dreams God has for us, which are infinitely more than we can ask or imagine for our own selves. Because the crusty old seed covering was pretty comfortable -- down there, deep in the soil.

Free Will

Adam and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.     Genesis 3:8

Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Immediately, their act of disobedience led them to hide from God.  This seems to be the frequent response of many of us -- a human response. When we stray from the path God has set before us, we often run for cover, hiding from God, dismissing God.  

But the thing is: God sees. God knows our hearts, knows our intent. This is not said for the purpose of shaming us - or trying to make us feel guilty; God is not about guilt or shame. Yet is in those very cross hairs of choice  that we face the miasma of free will.  Do we choose love or hate? Do we choose that which is life giving or that which drains life? 

 As we prepare to make difficult decisions that will affect our lives (and the lives of those around us), it is then when we must turn to the Creator of all that is lovely, all that is noble, all that is holy. It is no time to hide. It is time to square our shoulders and face down the abundance of all that has been granted us and to respond in kind.

Purification by Seraph

"Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"  Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." Isaiah 6: 5-7

                                                         "Purification"     by Tim Mackie and Jon Colli

Here we have this rather terrifying story of a seraph, a kind of six winged angel, who suddenly flies straight at Isaiah carrying tongs that hold a red hot coal. When the seraph reaches Isaiah, he presses the burning charcoal into Isaiah's lips. It sounds like villainous torture. Imagine his burned lips, the smell of charred human flesh, the blistering and discoloration............. So much for benign angels.

If we get all hung up, however, on the drama being played out in this brutal scene, we might miss the coda. Notice what the seraph says after he sears Isaiah's mouth with the burning coal:  

                    "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." 

It is so easy to miss the Good News! Many Western Christians have a propensity to dwell in the dreary, in the inhospitable, in the subterranean caves of our souls -- and yet, God promises us Good News. The passage begs the questions: 

What is the price we pay for the alleviation of our guilt? 

What is the cost of having our sins blotted? 

And, conversely, what are the costs of holding onto our guilt and sin?

Let our habitual propensity for clinging to guilt and sin never separate us from the love of God and true freedom in Christ.

Whimsy

There move the ships,and there is that Leviathan,
 which you have made for the sport of it.   Psalm 104:26

There is that great Leviathan - the great sea creature - perhaps a whale? 

What, exactly, the Psalmist meant by Leviathan is secondary, really. 

What is important is that God made it, created it, for the sport of it. Whimsy.

As Spring erupts, it's impossible not to marvel at the beauty that surrounds us:  

daffodils erupt into tulips, lilacs replace viburnum, and puppies morph into loyal companions. And the Lord God made them all, as the children's hymn reminds us.

We are taught much about sin, but not as much about redemption. We contemplate the horrors of the crucifixion, and often take a pass on the miracle that is Resurrection.  We remember when God rained down fire and brimstone, yet we are dismissive of the whimsy revealed in the first chapter of Genesis where we experience God as Creator. 

God created llamas, for heaven's sake. Who cannot smile? Where do you experience God as whimsical? God as creating things for our enjoyment, for the sheer sport of it? Look into the faces of those you love. 

Look into the relationships you most enjoy. 

God creates those too - for God's own enjoyment -- and for ours

Lord, You Know My Heart

The Text: 

                  Lord, you know everyone's heart.....     Acts 1:24

                     

                                                        Cristomo                         by Agostino Arrivabene, 2013 

 

The Whispering:

Lord, you know everyone's heart..... Wow. 

God knows. Knows the stuff we do with good intentions, and knows that which we may do with carefully crafted malevolent intent. God knows..

We all keep secrets:  feelings we harbor yet never express; desires for which we may yearn yet never chase, actions we've taken but have never admitted.  And, yet, God knows. 

How much energy do we spend keeping our secrets hidden? What effort, what psycho-social spiritual strength do we expend in order to create acceptable social masks that are congruent with society's norms - or the church's expectations? 

Because God already knows our hearts.

This is the place from which our prayers must commence.                                                 

This is the conversation God yearns to have with us every day. 

Because God knows.