Easter 3: A Ghost?

 Welcome to Easter-tide or the Great 50 Days of Easter. We’re looking at some of the post-Resurrection meetings by Jesus and his followers. Last week we considered the interaction between Thomas and Jesus. Despite the very verbal doubts expressed by Thomas, Jesus comes and gives him the proof he needs. God shows up for us in just the way we need.

This week, the Gospel reading is from Luke (24:36b-48). This is Jesus first appearance to his disciples as told by Luke. Just before this, the travelers to Emmaus have returned to Jerusalem with the astounding claim that he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they are still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Despite the simple greeting, those gathered thought that they were seeing a ghost. Jesus shows them his wounded hands and feet and invites them to touch him. As further proof he asks for food. They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Jesus then goes on to remind the disciples of the scripture promises about Messiah. Luke says, he opened their minds to understand the scriptures…You are witnesses of these things. This was a real flesh and bone human who could eat and talk just like before his death.

What would it be like to be in a closed room and suddenly have Jesus there?

We want Jesus to come in a way that is understandable—not through closed doors or in the face of a neighbor. We want, as Julia McCray-Goldsmith notes, “…the Holy enshrouded in fabric un-rent…not my neighbor perspiring the aroma of Christ.” (found in Daily Prayer for All Seasons, 2014, pg. 104) But that’s not how God works. God is among us. That is the very truth that the Incarnation and Resurrection emphasize. No matter where we are on our journey and whether or not we feel close to God—God IS right there. God is, in fact, in our neighbor and me and you and the stranger and even the enemy.

Jesus is with us at every moment, not just the ‘good’ ones where we have our act together. How does it make you feel to recognize God is right there when you are angry or cruel and when you are loving and kind?

Frederick Buechner noted, “Jesus is apt to come into the very midst of life at its most real and inescapable. Not in a blaze of unearthly light, not in the midst of a sermon, not in the throes of some kind of religious daydream, but … at supper time or walking along a road. This is the element that all the stories about Christ’s return to life have in common... He never approached from on high, but always in the midst, in the midst of people, in the midst of real life and the questions that real life asks.” (originally published in The Magnificent Defeat.)

Life “at its most real” is not neat and orderly. Being “in the midst of life” means accepting all the messiness of life including unanswered and unanswerable questions about disasters and war and sickness. And, that’s where God is found—in those questions and in the tragedies and joys.

Can you embrace, and let yourself be embraced, by the God who is right there “in the midst of life,” eating fish with his friends?

Joanna Seibert has a good meditation on Buechner’s words, and Jesus presence. 

Lord's Prayer as a Rule of Life: Centering on Jesus

 During Lent we are looking at how the Lord’s Prayer can be a Rule of Life as part of “Becoming A Church that Looks Like Jesus.” This week we are looking at the opening lines of the prayer as a way to Center on Jesus. You can download the slides from the online study. 

To start thinking about how to Center on Jesus, we need to become quiet and centered ourselves. One way to enter a quiet place and center is to use a ‘breathing’ prayer. This ancient form of prayer and meditation is very simple. You use a short phrase or prayer. Breathe in on the first half of the phrase and out on the second. For instance:

(breathe in) Our Father in Heaven,
(breathe out) Holy is your Name.

Repeat, slowly and quietly several times, allowing the words to sink into your soul.

Before we can think about a Rule of Life that uses the Lord’s Prayer to Center on Jesus, we have to define who we say Jesus is. In the Gospels Jesus asks his disciples, But what about you? Who do you say I am? (Matthew 16:15, Luke 9:20, Mark 8:29)

There is a song by David Phelps that asks “Was he a poet turned radical politician trying to start a revolution? A preacher on a mission talkin’ bout fishing in a new kind of kingdom? Or a small town wannabe tired of carpentry carving out a little fame? John or Elijah, teacher, Messiah? Or just someone trying to make a name? Could the one we know as Mary's son Be the long awaited Holy One?” You may agree with some of those answers. You probably have your own responses. Think about it:

•       How do you identify or name Jesus?

•       What names do you have for Jesus?

Last week we looked at the idea that the Lord’s Prayer can be a Rule of Life and a way to live a Way of Love. Becoming a Church suggests we Center on Jesus by looking at his teachings, his example, his Spirit, his way of love and his way of life [as] the key to having loving, liberating and life-giving relationships with God, our neighbors, all of creation, and ourselves. Jesus gave his disciples, and us, the basic principles of a life centered on God.

We open the prayer by saying “Our Father in heaven, Holy is your Name. Your kingdom come…” In the New Zealand Prayer Book we say: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!

It's true that calling God 'Father" can be problematic for some. On the other hand, because we are given the gift of calling God “Father” or even “Abba” or “Amma” an intimate familial form of address, we see from the beginning of the prayer that we are in relationship with the one who is the creator of all things. God, in fact, Centers on US! We are reminded that we are children by many authors and by the Bible itself.

“We are called to step out as apprentice children, into a world of pain and darkness…the temptation then is to switch off the news, to shut out the pain…if, as people of the living creator God…we take the risk of calling him Father; then we are called to be the people through whom the pain of the world is held in the healing light of the love of God.” (Wright, p. 21)

“The opening words of the LP invite us to come to God as our loving Abba/Amma…we can come and sit on our Abba’s lap and tell God what is on our minds.” (Davis, p14-15)

[God] gives you his name…takes you home…God has adopted you…sought you, found you, signed the papers and took you home.” (Lucado, p 15)

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. ⁶And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ ⁷So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. (Galatians 4:4-7)

Galatians tells us that we are heirs of God’s Kingdom, bearers of “God’s dream” (Verna Dozier). In fact, we are an important part of God’s dream of Beloved Community. We need to make a response as children and heirs, and bearers of the gift.

NT Wright says the Lord’s Prayer is, in fact, “the risky, crazy prayer of submission and commission, or, if you like, the prayer of subversion and conversion. It is the way we sign on, in our turn, for the work of the kingdom.”  Micah 6:8 issues a call to action: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Our response to our Abba/Amma is founded in LOVE. Deborah Smith Douglas tells of her 5-year-old daughter who wasn’t quite sure what to say to God. (The Praying Life) Smith recounts, “I poured orange juice and congratulated myself on such a splendid opportunity for age-appropriate instruction… ’God likes to hear from us…the same things all mommies and daddies like to hear from their children: please and thank you and I’m sorry.’ Emily considered this…she nodded…and said ‘maybe there are two other things I say a lot that God would like to hear from me.’ ‘What’s that honey?’ I asked absently…’Maybe,’ she suggested, ‘I could tell God ‘Wow!’ and ‘I love you.’”

As we start to write a Rule of Life based on the Lord’s prayer, we remember that we are in loving relationship with our Creator, who is also our Abba/Amma/Father. We can ask ourselves these questions.

What do those familiar words tell us about a Rule of life with the intent of centering our lives on Christ?

What might we say in our Rule of Life to incorporate these ideas? 

What can we say about these lines in our Rule of Life?

Does the Lord’s Prayer feel risky?

Is there anything about saying to God ‘you’re in charge’ that makes you hesitate?

The Lord’s Prayer opens by telling us we are in relationship with God as Father. That means that everyone else in the world is also held in that same relationship of love, whether they know it or not. Therefore, we can bring the needs of the broken and hurting to our Abba/Amma. During this week consider taking time to intentionally hold the needs that are on your heart up to our loving Father God. Maybe this is something to include in the Rule of Life you are writing.

Some ideas are to:

Pray for your neighborhood
Pray for Ukraine and her people.
Pray for world leaders
Pray for forgotten conflicts
Pray for those at our borders
Pray for injustice anywhere

This prayer found in Ephesians helps encapsulate what Centering on Jesus might look like.

For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:14-21).

Next week we continue by looking at "practicing a self-giving way" of life and how that is found in saying "your will be done"...

Joseph of Arimathea at the Ascension

 During the 50 Days of Easter, my blog will be musings by Joseph of Arimathea on the amazing happenings of the time between Easter and Pentecost--between the Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. Enter with me into this imagined series of recollections by Joseph. Ascension day is May 13 this year, so the image today is the Ascension of Christ by Salvador Dali, 1958.

After my acknowledgement of Jesus of Nazareth as the Holy One of God, I felt different. It was as if a weight was lifted from my shoulders. The grief of holding the man’s dead body was gone. The questions about how a person can come to life didn’t matter. All that mattered was that God had acted in a powerful way.

Nicodemus, too, must have come to the same realization. He was not surprised when I told him I was certain the Rabbi was alive, even though I had not seen him myself.

“It is what he told his disciples would happen,” he agreed. “We too often try to confine the Almighty to our rituals and our Temple. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob cannot be contained. The One who parted the Red Sea and set our people on the path to freedom continues to work through men and women to reconcile all creation. Why should be think that an itinerant rabbi from Galilee is an unlikely instrument. The Holy one of Israel always uses the least likely men and women to act.”

“You are right, my friend,” I grinned, almost giddy. “Will you come with me tomorrow? Peter and John say that we are to gather on the Mount of Olives and that Jesus will meet us there.”

Nicodemus agreed, and so it was that I stood with the disciples and many others who had been followers of the rabbi, and even some who, like me, were new to belief. Forty days had passed since I found my tomb vacated. Jesus had been seen by his followers several times. I had never been lucky enough to see the man, but I no longer sought that gift. Now he stood on the small hill with the small crowd gathered around. His closest disciples stood not far from the man. No one dared approach him directly.

We heard Jesus promise, “You will feel the Breath of God soon.”

Nicodemus and I looked at each other. It was another sign to us that a new creation was being born. The same Breath of God was present when all creation was brought into being. Now it would be poured out on humanity.

“It is as Joel prophesied,” I whispered to my friend, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

He just nodded, staring at the man on the top of the hill.

“Will you now restore Israel?” someone called out.

“It is not for you to know the appointed time,” Jesus responded. “For now, remain in Jerusalem. When you receive power from the Breath of God, you will bear witness in Jerusalem, and to all Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the earth.”

This comment caused a lot of muttering around me as people asked each other what he meant.

“Surely he doesn’t mean to go to Samaria and to the Roman Empire,” I heard someone say.

Then there was a collective inhalation. I too caught my breath. The man seemed to be rising from the ground. Indeed, as I watched he rose higher and higher until all we could see was the soles of his feet. Then he was gone into the clouds far above.

“Why are you staring upward?” Two figures in white stood on the hilltop. “This Jesus will return as you saw him go.”

Then they too disappeared. We were left staring at each other in confusion. No one seemed to have anything coherent to say. Slowly the men and women drifted away in small groups talking to each other. They seemed to have similar questions.

“What is the Breath of God?”

“How will I know when it comes?”

“When will Jesus return?”

Nicodemus and I looked at each other.

“Is this what Moses felt at the burning bush, or Elijah at the cave entrance?” I asked in an awed tone.

“Or Elisha watching Elijah ascend in the chariots of fire?” My friend responded with a raised eyebrow.

Slowly we returned to Jerusalem. The road looked the same as it had earlier. People came and went through the city gate as if nothing momentous had occurred. The breeze tugged at my turban. I thought of Jesus telling Nicodemus that the wind blows wherever it wants. It was the same moving air as an hour or a day ago.  

But it wasn’t the same. We had seen astonishing things that morning. Our lives would not be the same.

Joseph of Arimathea and Peter

 During the 50 Days of Easter, my blog will be musings by Joseph of Arimathea on the amazing happenings of the time between Easter and Pentecost--between the Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. Enter with me into this imagined series of recollections by Joseph. (The image today is from a post on the Episcopal Café.)

 As they had announced, Peter, James, John and four other disciples headed to Galilee the next day just as I arrived at the upper room.

“We will go fishing.” I heard them tell the women. “It’s what we’ve always done when things are unsettled.”

Mary of Magdala smiled. “Perhaps Jesus will meet you there.”

Her words were prophetic. When the men returned only a couple of days later, they were bursting with news. Mary sent for me when they arrived so I could hear their report.

“Thank you for inviting me,” I gave a slight bow to the group.

Peter nodded. “It is right that you should be part of those who know the truth. You stood with the women when it mattered most.” He looked a little ashamed of his own actions during the days less than a week earlier.

“What happened in Galilee?” Salome asked the question on all our minds.

“We were fishing, just as we said we would,” John began.

“And there was nothing to be caught,” James interrupted. “It was very discouraging. We pulled in the nets and turned toward shore. There was someone walking along the seaside. He called to us, ‘Have you caught anything?’”

John took up the story. “It seemed like an odd question and even rude, but Peter called back, ‘Nothing.’ Then this man said, ‘cast your nets on the other side.’ The phrase sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it at first. Peter said, ‘may as well try.’ We threw out the nets and the next thing you know they were filled. Then I knew why the words sounded familiar. ‘It is the Lord,’ I said to James and Peter. ‘He said the same thing years ago, remember?’ Then Peter dived into the water and swam to shore. James and I dragged in the full net. It was hard work and Peter waded out to help us drag in the net. There were 153 fish.”

James took up the story. “Jesus said, ‘Bring some of those fish you caught.’ We didn’t need them, though. There was already fish roasting on a fire. We ate breakfast with him.”

I caught my breath. A great longing surged through me. These men had an experience I would never have. They had been reunited with the one they loved most in the world. It seemed impossible, but there was no reason for these men and women to lie. The visits by this Jesus were not something that someone could make up.   

Peter took a deep breath. Haltingly he began. “I wanted to apologize for failing Jesus…I couldn’t find the words…After breakfast Jesus spoke to me.”

There was a long pause. Then the big man resumed, “Jesus asked me an odd question. ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me, do you desire me more than anything?’ My answer was hesitant, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you as a friend.’ He smiled at me, although I knew my response wasn’t whole-hearted. ‘Feed my lambs,’ he said.”

“That is an odd thing,” I heard my voice interrupt.

“Yes,” John nodded. “We thought so too. We think it means to take care of the littlest and least.”

Peter continued as if we hadn’t spoken. “Again, Jesus said, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love, esteem, and care for me?’ My response was the same, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I am your friend.’ This time he said, ‘Tend my sheep.’ I felt that was an order to care for all these friends who followed him.”

The man looked around at all of us. “For a third time, he asked the same question, but phrased it differently. He asked, ‘Simon, son of John, are you my friend?’ My response was impatient. ‘You know everything. You know I am your friend!’ Then he repeated, ‘Feed my sheep.’ Then he told me that when I’m old I will be bound and taken ‘where I don’t want to go’. I didn’t want to hear that and tried to divert the conversation by asking about John.”

John grinned boyishly. I often forgot how much younger this man was than most of the disciples.

“Jesus’ response was to tell Peter to mind his own business,” he chuckled.

My mind was spinning. It was too much to take in. Jesus, this strange risen figure, seemed to have given Peter special consideration and to have forgiven his failings. My heart yearned to have a relationship with these men and even more importantly with the one they called Lord.

Epiphany: Worship

This week in our Epiphany series we come to the discipline of Worship. Over the pat 3 weeks, we’ve looked at the Way of Love practices of Learn, Go, and Bless. Worship is another core component of any life of faith. It can take many forms, too. 

Worship is a time of drawing near to God, whether it is in a grand Cathedral, or a tiny prayer gathering. The communal act of worship joins us with others and with God who promises “where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20)

We know Jesus took time to Worship. In the lesson this Sunday from the Gospel of Luke (4:14-21) we learn that Jesus “returned to Galilee…When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”

Jesus went to the synagogue in the town where he grew up to worship. It was just a regular Sabbath service, nothing special. As is the right of any adult Jewish man, he was invited to read the scripture. He had likely done this many times before. He ’unrolled the scroll” and read Isaiah 61. As customary, following the reading, he could give an interpretation or sermon on the lesson. Jesus amazed everyone by stating, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

It's a pretty radical claim for the carpenter's son! In next week’s lesson (and on this blog), you’ll discover that the men in the synagogue didn’t like this statement. They renounced him and attempted to literally throw him out of town.

When we claim our God-given gifts we may not find them welcomed by the home town crowd. There can be too much familiarity to see the new person we have become. The addict who is now clean, the paroled criminal, the mother turned entrepreneur, the hometown kid who makes it big--each of these has an uphill battle when they return home. People have a hard time seeing past ‘little Suzie with the pigtails’ to the sports star or successful business owner she has become. The people of Nazareth had the same problem when Jesus claimed to be fulfilment of one of the scriptures pointing to Messiah.

It can be difficult to claim, or even recognize, who we are in God. Worship is one way to help figure that out. In a community at worship, we can find encouragement and discernment. The worship of a group helps put life in perspective as we come before God with awe and wonder. Worship helps us put God back in the center. Worship moves me to the proper position of child of God, not CEO of the universe.

At the end of our time of worship, ideally, we find ourselves feeling more capable. As the D365 meditation on January 22 says, we are to: “Go, a disciple, called and sent. Go, a disciple, equipped for justice. Go, a disciple blessed in the strong name of God: one holy and undivided Trinity. Amen.” 

The same meditation begins with a quote from the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. He states, “Vocation is, you could say, what’s left when all the games have stopped. It’s that elusive residue that we are here to discover, and to help one another discover. (Rowan Williams in A Ray of Darkness: Sermons and Reflections (1995))

It is in and through and during worship--in and through and during dedicated time with God, that we can help one another discern vocation. In worship, we can begin to look past our differences and how ‘little Suzie’ might have changed to acknowledge and support one another on our faith journeys.

Jesus used the context of a worship service to announce his vocation, his calling. The people were amazed. As we grow in God, people may be amazed at the changes in us.

Do you find yourself strengthened as you worship?

How do you respond to Rowan Williams' definition of vocation?

Can you help someone discern their vocation, or can your worship community help you discern your own?  

Prayer of course is part of worship, and we will look at the Way of Love call to pray next week. 

Ascension...or Being a Skyhook

We are almost at the end of the season of Easter-the 50 days between Easter Day and Pentecost. One significant event that happens not long before Pentecost is the Ascension of Jesus.

Luke is the one Gospel writer who brings us the story of the Ascension. At the end of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 24:44-53) we hear Jesus summarizing his ministry by opening “[the disciples’] minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’”

After this, they went to Bethany and “While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.”

In the Book of Acts (Acts 1:1-14), also written by Luke, the first chapter picks up right where the Gospel ends. “In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven.” Then he goes on to repeat Jesus’ promise. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’”

We are told that they returned to Jerusalem, “to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.”

The other 3 Gospels don’t specifically detail the Ascension. Mark notes that “the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” Matthew tells us that the disciples met Jesus at a mountain in Galilee where “they worshiped him; but some doubted.”

What would it have been like to be a witness to the Ascension? Artists across the ages have imagined the scene. From the gathered crowd of haloed followers in the icon to the unusual view of Christ’s feet ascending (by Dali), we get a variety of images. 

Edward Hays in his book St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail, somewhat tongue in cheek, suggests what would have happened if the disciples tried to grab onto Jesus and ascend with him.

“Once upon a time, long ago, a great spiritual master gathered all his disciples and followers around him…’My friends, it is now time for me to return to my Father…I will come back and take you with me to live forever in paradise.’

At this announcement the small band of faithful disciples wept and pleaded with him not to leave. But in spite of their tears and please, the Master took them out to a high mountain…then with his arms raised to the sky…he prayed, ‘Father I am ready.’ Slowly he began to rise from the earth…

One of [the disciples]…cried out, ‘O Master, don’t leave me…’ Suddenly the disciple jumped upward and grasped the Master’s ankle.

The Master stalled in midair…’Let go!’…he clung to the ankle even more persistently…

The mood on the mountain underwent a radical change…from deep sorrow to open anger…The rest of the followers began shouting to the disciple who dangled from the Master’s leg,.. ‘Let go, you fool!’

[Ultimately all the disciples end up hanging from the Master and one another]...Then, out of the forest…came bears and foxes, birds and bugs, flowers and bushed, and they too jumped upward…what had begun as a beautiful religious experience had suddenly been turned into a circus act!...

At that moment, the spiritual Master was enlightened!...he understood his true mission in life for the first time…His real purpose was to be a giant skyhook*.”

While that story may make us smile, in one sense it is very true. Jesus is a ‘giant skyhook’ who lifts us (and all creation) to heaven. And as little Christ’s we are also to be lifting one another toward heaven as well. We, like the disciples, are witnesses of Jesus life and ministry. Even more than that we are heirs. Paul tells the Galatians, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:29) In Romans he goes further and says we are [God's] children, and because of that, we are heirs of the promises. "We are children...we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:17) The disciples knew that they were inheritors of God's promises because they were witnesses of Jesus in his ministry, his death, and his Resurrection! So are we!

If we look at the Gospel and Acts account, we notice that the disciples were actually joyful after the Ascension, instead of trying to hang onto the Risen Lord. They “returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.” 

 

Is our Resurrection faith evidenced by joy and thanksgiving as witnesses to the mighty acts? 

Are we waiting with anticipation for the promised “power from on high”?

Do we live and act like we are lifting people up to God (like skyhooks)?

*A skyhook, for anyone who didn’t grow up in the construction industry in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, used to be another name for a building crane. Apparently now it is a space elevator concept or a form of rigging used in some sports like skate boarding and sky diving. Edward Hays book has a copyright of 1987, so he was probably referring to a crane type apparatus.

Wonder of Hearing

Stop for a moment. Sit quietly. Listen. What do you hear? Wind? Traffic? Children? Birds? Sirens? As I sit here preparing to type this blog, I hear the furnace blowing, a car going down the street, the rustle of leaves, a snoring cat, the hum of appliance motors…

I wonder how often we really pause to listen and hear the sounds around us. Are we too focused on whatever we are doing to really hear sounds? Do you find yourself so familiar with the sounds, that you don’t really hear them? People that live near railroad crossings soon learn to tune out the train horns nearby. Have you ever been in your house when the power goes off? Suddenly it is much quieter because all the appliance sounds we take for granted are missing.

The same can be true in our spiritual listening, too. We can (and I speak for myself) get so caught up in the accomplishing of ‘God’s work’ that we can forget to stop and listen to hear what God might be saying. We can get so familiar with the sound of the Christian music on our i-pod or car radio that we don’t really pay attention to the words. The rhythm of our prayer is rote and we don’t even listen to what we are saying. We become deaf to the Wonder of God speaking to us.

Sometimes we need help with our hearing. Modern medicine gives us ways to help those who cannot hear, or to assist those who have trouble processing what they do hear. One of my grandchildren went to a couple of weeks of extensive therapy for her language processing. She can hear just fine, and speak-just not understandably. One of the little synapsis in her brain wasn’t connecting properly to let her repeat what she heard. It is amazing what science can accomplish.

In Mark 7:31-37 we meet a (probably) Gentile man who is brought to Jesus. The Gospel doesn’t say who exactly brings the deaf man to Jesus, but “they begged him to lay his hand on him.” Interestingly, Jesus takes the man “aside in private, away from the crowd” to heal him. “Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.”

Perhaps there is a lesson in this for us. Maybe we, too, need to come aside in private when we’ve lost the ability to hear God clearly. Megan had to sit with headphones for half hour stints to help that brain synapsis work. Jesus took the deaf man aside, away from the crowds, where the man could hear only Jesus. Only in the private, quiet place can God breathe the word “Ephphatha” so we can hear and speak plainly. Remember Elijah (I Kings 19:11-12) did not hear God in the fire or wind or earthquake, but rather in the “still, small voice”.

Elijah was beset by many worries and feared for his life. He has run away to hide from Jezebel who threatens to kill him. No wonder he is assaulted by wind and earthquake and fire. His own fears are consuming him. But “God is not in [these],” but is in the still, small voice.

Come away to a quiet place and listen to what God may be saying. You may hear “Ephphatha” and find your ears and tongue loosened to offer praise and be like the people of the Decapolis who though, “Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.” (Mark 7:37)

It is difficult to turn off the sounds in your mind and heart and surroundings, but in that stillness, you could just be blessed. At the very least, you will be refreshed. Perhaps, like Elijah, when you quiet the noise inside and hear that ‘still, small voice’ it may be telling you to “Go…return…anoint” (I Kings 19:15). Or maybe it will be “go…make disciples...” (Matthew 28:19)

Next week, the importance of touch.  (Oh, and my granddaughter...each day her speech is a bit more understandable.)  

Awareness of Christ

This week starts a new series to take us through Lent. It is based on a study I'm doing at the Cathedral. Over the next 7 weeks or so we'll look at various towns, people, and aspects of Christ's life and ministry on his way to Jerusalem.

What is awareness, or being aware? It is becoming conscious of, responsive to, and recognize something or someone as important. We also become aware of God’s love and our own calling. So did Jesus. Before we go further, I suggest you take time to sit quietly and consider how aware you are of things around you right now. The light in the room, the sounds you hear, what you smell or taste, are you touching something or feeling deep emotion. At the class this week, we took time to sit and study this photo of one of the Cathedral windows. Each person was aware of different things in the window picture.

How aware are you on a daily basis of what is going on around you and within you? How aware are you of Christ in your life and ministry?

Christ grew up in Galilee, the northernmost part of what once was the Kingdom of Israel. The country was now under Roman control and Galilee itself was considered somewhat of a 'dirt water' town (to use a favorite expression of my mother). It was out in the boonies and the residents were not all Jews. Many Gentiles had settled there as traders and merchants. The area was nominally under the rule of Herod Antipas, but the real power was Rome. Trade routes to Syria, Jerusalem, and the Jordan River valley passed through Galilee. The local crops of grain and fruit were sold locally, and traded even as far away as Jerusalem.

It was this provincial area that first became aware of the new rabbi, Jesus, son of Joseph of Nazareth. The residents of Nazareth, however, were not very receptive to the idea that the carpenter's son was claiming to be the one who would fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah. Read Luke 4:16-30 for their reaction.

It was Jesus' mother who actually encouraged his first act of ministry. The family was invited to a wedding in Cana, about 10 miles north of Nazareth. (Some scholars think the wedding was for a relative of Jesus, but the Bible doesn't say that.) Known for its grapes and wine, this small town was also in Galilee. Sometimes it takes the urging of someone else to push us into our ministry or calling. Mary did that for her son by telling him the bride and groom had run out of wine. (John 2:1-11) This was a social faux pas of the highest degree, but at first Jesus refuses to act. His mother's faith in him, however, made him give in. He felt compassion for the embarrassment of the couple and turned over 120 gallons of water into wine.

In the class discussion this week, someone noted that some Bible commentators equate this miracle with the Last Supper and with Holy Communion. In each of these acts of ministry and worship, wine is shared in community and we are transformed into new 'wine'. I think that is an interesting thought to contemplate.  The picture of the Cana window at Canterbury Cathedral does almost look like a rendition of the Last Supper until you notice the servant filling the water bottles at the bottom.
Each week I'll leave you with a few questions to ponder.

Jesus quotes Isaiah 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth. How can we ‘preach good news to the poor...liberty to captives...proclaim the year of the Lord”?

Jesus’ first miracle was at a wedding. How can we bring Jesus into the everyday events of our lives?

I ask again, How aware are you of Christ in your life and ministry?

Palm Sunday-Expectations

Last week we touched on expectations and how God often changes our expectations—for something much better. Miriam found her life dramatically changed when Moses returned, claiming to be the Deliverer. It changed even more during the Exodus wanderings and when she was struck with leprosy. In the end, she and all the Children of Israel found that they were blessed beyond their wildest dreams, but not in the way they expected. Some of the areas of NM are much like the terrain of the Exodus--rocky, desert with scrubby vegetation. However, in the midst of that seeming desolation, God provided food (manna and quail) and water (even from a rock)! God definitely exceeded expectations!

The disciples and crowd were filled with expectation on the first Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem to the cheers of the people. This was Messiah, the Deliverer who would cleanse the Temple and city and country of the hated Romans. Everyone was sure that Messiah would return Israel to her proper place in the world and all would be well.

God’s plan was quite different. When their expectations weren’t met, the people turned against Jesus, shouting ‘crucify him.’ Too often we box in God by trying to impose our plans for this event or that dream. Maybe we need to rethink our desire to control the outcome and let God have a little more chance to work!

A couple of weeks ago I attended a retreat where Bishop Frey talked a bit about our expectations of God. He reminded us that our God is a God of action. Throughout the Bible, we hear God say “I am the God who led you out of bondage,” I am the God who fed you in the wilderness,” “I am the God who redeemed you,” “I am the God who called you by name,” etc., etc. Despite that, we often have limits on our expectations of what God will do.

The Bishop reminded us that Jesus tells us not to limit our expectations just because it appears that God isn’t listening. In the parable of the widow and the judge, Jesus reminds us that it is important to continually bring our needs and desires to God in prayer.

“Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’” (Luke 18:1-8)

Unlike the judge, who gives in because the widow nags, God gives us what we need out of love. When we give our dreams and desires and needs to God, amazing things happen. What God does with them, will be greater than anything we can imagine! I confess that I do try to outline for God the way things should go. When I remember and step back, then amazing ‘coincidences’ happen. Has that ever happened to you?

Bishop Frey used a favorite quote during his talk. (He admits he doesn’t remember where he got the quote and a quick online search finds several clergy claiming or using it in sermons and meditations.)

“Hope is the ability to hear the melody of the future.

Faith is the courage to dance to it today.”

Living out this quote is one way to move beyond our narrow expectations and embrace joyfully the promises and expectations of our loving God. We may need to let go of some of our plans and plots.

What expectations bind you? Are they expectations of yourself, your life, or even of God?

May your Palm Sunday be a blessing and greeted with the joy of these children and adults at a Wings party. As you enter Holy Week and follow Christ on his journey to the Cross and Easter, may you find renewed joy in your expectations.

See you next week-Easter Sunday!

Epiphany--a Journey Begins

The days between Christmas and January 6 are traditionally known as the “Twelve Days of Christmas”. Common parlance has named any time between December 1 and December 25 as the “12 Days of Christmas”, but the actual liturgical season of Christmas is the time between Christmas and Epiphany. In the church calendar, several saints, like Stephen, the first martyr are remembered. The Feast of Holy Innocents recalls Herod’s slaughter of the boys of Bethlehem and on January 1, the Naming of Jesus is remembered. Then on January 6, we come to Epiphany when we remember the visit of the Wise Men.

For our final interview of Mary, Luke asks her about the visit of the Wise Men.

LUKE: I’ve heard that the shepherds were not the only people who came to see your Child.

MARY: That’s true. It was a while after Jesus was born. We had some astonishing visitors.

LUKE: Some people say they were kings.

MARY: No really kings, but they were important and wise men who had traveled a long way to see Messiah.

LUKE: How did they know about the birth?

MARY: Joseph asked them the same thing. It is not every day that a caravan of camels arrives in Bethlehem. “We are seeking the one born King of the Jews,” one of the men said. “We have seen his star in the east.” I was grateful that Joseph spoke to them. I was a bit frightened of the grandeur.

LUKE: They saw a star?

MARY: They were wise men who watched the stars for signs. “A new star formed in the sky,” we were told. “It foretells that a great One has been born.”

LUKE: I think it is amazing that they found you in such a small place as Bethlehem.

MARY: It surprised them, too. “We sought the Baby in Jerusalem,” the eldest of our visitors said. “Instead of paying attention to the sign in the sky, we deduced that a Child of such importance would be in a palace. We were wrong.”

LUKE: They must have seen Herod.

MARY: Yes, they told us that they met with King Herod. He was angry and frightened that there might be a child born who would threaten his dynasty. The wise men said, “We knew we were wrong as soon as we saw Herod. He called his advisors. One of them gave us the guidance we sought. He quoted the prophecy, ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel’

LUKE: I have heard that prophecy.

MARY: It is from the book of Micah. “As soon as we were able, we left Herod and hurried away from Jerusalem,” the Wise Men told us. “God is good, because the star was in the sky, low to the south, over Bethlehem. We followed it here.”

LUKE: What did they do after they found you?

MARY: The men brought gifts for the child. They gave them to us. I was astonished by them because they were more like offerings than the gifts the shepherds left.

LUKE: What did they give Jesus?

MARY: There was gold and frankincense and myrrh. Each was a symbol of my Son’s life and ministry.

LUKE: Gold for kingship, incense for priesthood, but why would they bring myrrh?

MARY: (smiles sadly) It was a warning that my Son would be anointed for burial. I had already been warned. When we presented Jesus in the Temple, two aged prophets met us. Simeon told me, ‘this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.’ I nodded and he added, ‘A sword shall pierce your soul.’ When I saw the myrrh from the sages, I knew what it was for.

LUKE: Did they stay with you?

MARY: (shakes her head) No, they hurried away. ‘Herod will seek the Child,’ they warned Joseph. That night he had a dream of an angel who told him to take us to Egypt. Before dawn we had left Bethlehem. It was a long, hard journey to Egypt, although we were fortunate to find a caravan that we joined.

LUKE: Thank you for telling me all that happened. My readers will be interested to learn about this.

The Wise Men turned aside to Jerusalem when seeking the King of the Jews, because they assumed that someone so important would be found in the courts of Israel. They forgot to follow the leading that God had provided—the star they saw in the East.

How often do we think we know the way God means for us to go? How often do we neglect to watch for the signs along the way? Very often our journey takes us in a different direction than we expected. I hope your journey in 2010 will be filled with blessings and led by the signs God puts in your path to follow.

On January 10, I will start a six week series on Epiphany. During the season of Epiphany the Church remembers how Jesus was made manifest to the Gentiles and started His ministry. Perhaps you and I will find some signs for our journey in those weeks.

There is also still time to join the Dancing in the Footsteps of God Yahoo discussion. You can join here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dancinginthefootprints/