Holy Presence

Christmas Sunday 1
(Last Sunday of the year, 2010)
Isaiah 63:7-9

Read Isaiah 63:7-9 (NRSV)

“Recount” the vote, the deposit, the guest list. Make sure it is the correct number.

Or perhaps a clearer translation for “recount” may be, ‘give an account’ or ‘detail, describe in full narrative’, or ‘recall’, ‘remember’, ‘evoke’, ‘call to mind’.

The prophet writes: I will recount the gracious deeds of the LORD [Yahweh], the praiseworthy acts of Yahweh, because of all that Yahweh has done for us. On this last Sunday of the year, 2010 we are invited to recount the acts of God, bring back into mind, an accounting, not just recording numbers to finding out how many. The number is not the important part although there may be many. Name and remember, consider and bear in mind who and what Yahweh, (‘I am who I am’, I will be and do as I will be and do’) has been and done. Call to mind not only those acts generated toward all people or all the cosmos, but the specific ways, both large and small, that Yahweh has been engaged in your own personal life.

Reflection and meditation:

Can you recount, recall the acts of God in your life?

Name those gracious activities of the LORD, Yahweh.

Give thanks for that has been.

Or, do you have notions of God that somehow God is out to get you and no gracious deed has come your way? What sort of God do you acknowledge?

Through the prophet Isaiah, Yahweh says, “Surely they are my people”, and "became their savior in all their distress”.

Reflection and meditation:

How do you understand belonging? To whom do you belong? What difference does it make that Yahweh claims us? Within your inmost being, stripped away of all else, is it possible to have a sense of belonging to the Eternal One? What could this mean for your sense of well-being?

The gospel reading for this day is Luke 2:8-20, that heavenly host singing, Gloria in excelsis Deo, to the Bethlehem shepherds. It is one of four angel visitations recorded in Luke’s and Matthew’s nativity story, announcing the saving acts of God. The prophet’s words, however remind us that, “It was no messenger or angel but [Yahweh’s] presence that saved them”. Saving / salvation is a major theme of scripture and too often limited in understanding by readers. Promises of salvation become notions of escaping calamity, or that we are saved from sin, (a notion which is also misunderstood), or being whisked off to a heavenly abode upon death. Prophets and psalmists alike help reclaim the notion of salvation as being the refuge of belonging to God, the security of God being with us – Immanuel. Being “saved” is more about being ‘well’, being whole, within and with God, rather than some outward rescue from ill circumstances. The Holy One is not a Rambo, Braveheart, Super Man, who by force saves the lost ones. Becoming our salvation is “Being”- I-AM-coming-One who has always been, who is always coming and becoming, with us in simple yet powerful terms, present. In all of the holy callings of biblical figures there was repetitive reminder to not be afraid for ‘I will be with you’. It is Yahweh's mantra, and it is the Holy One's presence, the Holy Presence always, that is our salvation.

In the prophet’s lesson reading today we are reminded again, that it is not in surprising angelic appearances, not in the anguish-filled times of disaster and rescue, but in the simple presence of God that is our wholeness, our salvation, our hope. “No messenger or angel but Yahweh’s presence that saved…the LORD’S love and compassion that “redeemed” us, (i.e. reclaimed and owned us), and ‘lifted us up and carried us all our days, both past and present. Immanuel, God with us, is from the beginning and will be always. Immanuel in Jesus was perhaps one of the greatest clues for us, but Immanuel is always. Yes there is that popular writing of “Footsteps in the Sand” which is the reminder that we are lifted up and carried all our days in Love’s compassion.

Reflection and meditation:

How do you experience divine presence?

Can you quiet your mind and heart enough to sense life; Life in and around you?

To what degree can you realize that you are not alone, but Holy Presence abides?

“Be still and know that I-AM is here”. (Psalm 46)

I-AM life. I-AM love. I-AM breath. I-AM always. I-AM peace. I-AM….

I-AM making all things new always. I-AM

As this year draws to an end and another year begins may we recount the gracious ways and deeds of God and may we experience the loving presence that claims us and carries us making all things well always. Truly a gift of Immanuel.

Prayer: from your favorite translation – Psalm 148

Signs of Immanuel-A Birth

(“Come! Save us!” What’s love got to do with it?)
Isaiah 7:10-16 (fuller text: Isaiah 7:1-17)
and Psalm 80:1-7; 17-19; Matthew 1:18-25

What’s King Ahaz of Judah doing in the Advent story? We tend to yank this sign of a young or virginal woman who names her son, Immanuel, out of the text and place them into the nativity story of Jesus without much thought regarding Ahaz, the people of Judah, and the year 735 B.C. in which Isaiah was priest and prophet. Let’s look at Ahaz as a mirror to ourselves. Then let’s listen for God’s word and look for God’s signs.

Here is what is known about King Ahaz of Judah. He became king only a year before this incident was recorded, at about 20 years old, rather inexperienced. (see II Kings 16 and II Chronicles 28). Ahaz was king of Judah, the southern kingdom, for 16 years. Though he was a descendant of David, he was not attentive to the LORD God, but placed his trust in the visible and tangible cultic religions and political institutions he saw around him that would serve his purposes. (It was his son, Hezekiah, king after Ahaz, who helped turn the people and nation of Judah to attentiveness and trust in God.)

The situation that the prophet Isaiah addresses with Ahaz is that neighboring kings and nations were vying for power and aligning themselves with or over against one another. Several kings had come and laid siege against Ahaz to pressure him to their side over against Assyria, the stronger nation to the north. Ahaz was scared to death. Where should he put is allegiance? Whose side should he side with? We read in Isaiah 7:2 that his heart and the hearts of his people were trembling, shaking, like the trees of the forest bend and shake with the wind. You might think that at that point Ahaz would pray and call out to the God of his ancestors; that he might quote Psalm 80…
“Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel…
Stir up your might! Come and save us!
Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!”
But Ahaz did not call out to God. Into his fear, however, God sends the prophet Isaiah to tell him, ‘Don’t be afraid, do not lose heart, because it is only a matter of time when those and that which is against you will soon fade away.’ But those words don’t seem to console Ahaz. Then God speaks to Ahaz as if to say, ‘You don’t believe me? Go on. Ask for a sign, any sign, big or little, a promise-sign that this will be true.’ Putting on his pietistic mode of operation Ahaz refuses to ask. Fed up with him, the prophet says, ‘Okay, I’m getting weary of your moaning and groaning. How much more you are making God weary! So God will give you a sign anyway, a sign that you can trust, that God is saving you, that God is with you caring for you and rescuing you, all within a short amount of time. As a young woman is pregnant… 9 months time… and gives birth to a son and names him “Immanuel”(i.e. “God is with us”), and by the time he reaches the young age of knowing what is a ‘no-no’ and what makes for acceptable behavior, everything will be alright. Ahaz, all those that you fear will disappear.’

My question at this point is – so what was the sign? A young woman, or a virgin woman? Was it a birth of a child to a virgin? Was it the name of the child? Was it the time frame of nine months pregnancy and two years more – a three year time span? (That doesn’t seem like a short amount of time in our 21^st century instant gratification assumptions. Nor does the 65 years mentioned in v.8) Or, is that which enables us to be fearless in the face of overwhelming situations the reminder that Life goes on, that in the midst of warfare and clamor, and fear and death, life is born. What parent, even in the midst of the violence of war and destruction does not pause in awe and mystery at the birth of a child, any child. I may be very wrong but I imagine even in refugee and labor camps, the birth of a child is accompanied, even the briefest of moments, by hope and love.

That sort of sign was not good enough for King Ahaz. He could not trust that God was with and for him in the tenderness of a birth, in the sign of hope, or the sign of new life. Ahaz refused to trust in such ordinary signs as a woman, an infant, or a name. Ahaz’s closed ears and narrowed vision was predetermined; the only way he would recognize Immanuel, God’s presence with him, was in big military power, a loud bang, the bigger the better. Assyria, that big country to the north was the power source that Ahaz trusted, and so to the king of Assyria he said; “I am your servant and your son. Come up, and rescue me from the hand of [those] who are attacking me.” And as an offering of allegiance, Ahaz took the silver and gold from the temple of the Lord and sent it to the king of Assyria. (II Kings 16:7-8) He sold out to the biggest act in town.

Now let’s hold up our mirrors. I wonder how much are we like Ahaz?

What makes our hearts tremble? What are the fears, worries, and disappointments; that which cause us pain and troubled sleep?

What are the “enemies” that seem to attack inwardly or outwardly? What do we need to be saved from? When all around us looks bleak and the future seems questionable, do we ever shout out like the psalmist, “Come on, God! Stir up your might and come to save us!”

How might ordinary signs of God’s loving presence be given to us... and we dismiss them? How might the sign of a pregnant woman and the birth of a child, be a reminder that God is with us, loves us and has not abandoned us?

In his troubled night-time dreaming, Joseph of Nazareth was told to not be afraid nor turn away from a pregnant woman, his fiance` and the birth of her child, but that through that child would come salvation, wholeness, well-being; through this birth God’s intention would overcome humanity's misplaced intentions; in the mystery of life God would be with us, Immanuel. (Matthew 1:18-25) Unlike Ahaz, Joseph believed and trusted the sign of God’s promise and love; ordinary as a birth may be, God in it made it extraordinary. Celtic spirituality would invite us into those ‘thin places’ where the veil between earth and heaven is so sheer that there appears to be no separation of human and divine. A birth is such a thin place. The Celts would look into the face a newborn and see the face of God. “God surprises earth with heaven” in each new life.

Is it possible, in every birth, in every emergence of life to recognize holiness? to see and hear that God is with us? We would like to yank this virgin birth from Isaiah’s prophecy out of our experience and separate it, along with the Jesus’ life, as extra-ordinary, exceptional and relegate it to sometime and some place else. Yes, in Jesus' birth and life we have the gift of seeing God with us in an amazing way, but God has not come near to us just once and only in one birth. Jesus helps us to see the bigger picture of God with us. The Advent mantra is “Come, Lord Jesus” and it means that our God, The Spirit of Life, the Spirit of Love, Immanuel, is always coming to meet and greet us, to “save” us daily from that which would destroy hope, peace, and joy. From the beginning of the story of God in scripture to the very end we are invited to see and hear that God is time after time coming to us to say: I am with you; I am in you; I am for you; I am here to “save” you – to bring you to your full self in and with me, to wholeness and life, with hope and peace and joy; I love you. For God so loved the world, the cosmos, the universe, that God came in ordinary ways, like a birth, through tears and sweat and blood, crying and hungry, into the ordinariness of life, in unremarkable places, to be a life-sign, to give us courage to be.

If we hold up a mirror for ourselves, or look for and listen for signs of God with us, what do we see and hear? Are we like Ahaz, trembling, fearful, quick to head for the easiest, quickest, biggest power source to ease our discomfort? What might these be for you? Or, can we look for and see signs of God who is with us in the most common events, and recognize that they are infused with wonder because God is in them? Can we wait, even for several months to see the unfolding of God who is with us? Can we see or hear a word from God in signs, even in the wonder of silence?

God’s “salvation” is that God is loving us and this world, that God is with us in the midst of all the troubles that surround us; that life and light shines in the darkness and darkness and death cannot over come. May we have eyes to see and ears to hear the signs of Immanuel.

Prayer:

Holy Presence, ever with us,
help us to see and hear and trust that you infuse life
with love and transforming hope in ordinary everyday ways
as well as in the extraordinary.
Come, Holy Wonder, and make us well.

HOPE - A Sign of Immanuel

Isaiah 2:1-5 (Ps 122; Matt 24:36-44; Rom 13:11-14)

I don’t have anything to tell you. I only have questions to ask in the hope that questions can prod each of us to search our own hearts and minds, listening for what they may have to tell us.

The 70’s-80’s band, Chicago, sang: Does anyone really know what time it is? Does anyone really care about time?

Do you know what time it is? Do you know what day it is?

What time is it in this season called Advent? What time is it for this generation? for this day that the Lord has made? Can you see, can you hear what’s happening in this time and day? Soon we will be singing that Christmas song: Do you see what I see? Do you hear what I hear? What do you see and hear? Do you sense that it is time for Immanuel? time for God to be with us? Are you looking for and expecting to see signs of Immanuel? Are you listening for words from Immanuel?

The scripture lesson from the prophet Isaiah speaks of the word that Isaiah saw. I usually HEAR words and SEE visions but here we have…

THE WORD ISAIAH SAW CONCERNING JUDAH, AND JERUSALEM

CONCERNING THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD

Read now, Isaiah 2:1-5, and try to see what Isaiah saw.

In a word, what is this a picture of for you? Do you picture some far off mountain in the Middle East? Do you picture confusion? something in the future? a picture of heaven? the second coming when Messiah comes? Does this word that Isaiah saw have anything to do with us; the dwelling place of God where all nations stream and flow together? where people seek and desire to be taught the ways of God? where just and right mediation is made? where peace abounds?

And when will this be? Did it already occurred in Isaiah’s time? Isaiah said, in days to come. When are these days that are to come? According to the gospel writers, Jesus said that, no one knows about that day and hour, not the angels of heaven, nor the son, but only God. He says, you must be ready, for the son of man is coming at an unexpected hour. (Matt. 24:26-44) The Apostle Paul said, You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake up from sleep. (Rom. 13:11-14) Which is it? Does anyone really know what time it is? Does anyone really care about time? (Chicago)

What day it is? What time it is? Let’s clang some pots and pans and play the trumpet revelry! It’s time to wake up!!! Let’s sing:

Awake, Awake and greet the new morn

or Awake from your slumber! Arise from your sleep!

A new day is dawning for all those who weep.

And, To us, to all, in sorrow and fear,

Emmanuel comes a-singing,

Now is the time to wake up, to both hear and see that Immanuel is here even now, not only in an Advent past or second coming in some unknown end times. There are all kinds of signs of Immanuel around us if we would only wake up, open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our hearts to be receptive. Advent is a wake up call to see all the signs of Immanuel, to recognize the hope of the world who is with us.

And should we wake up, how shall we begin to recognize God who is with us? What signs should we look for. Perhaps a first sign is one small, lit candle. This first Sunday of Advent, we light a candle, a candle of HOPE.

To light an Advent Candle is to say in the face of all that suggests the

contrary, that God is still alive, still Lord of this world, and because of

that all will be well.

(Rev. Ron Rolheiser, OMI – www.thetidings.com: Advent 1, 2004)

A candle lit in the darkness brings hope, brings comfort. The Christ candle lit in sanctuaries, a sign of God with us, is much more than ambiance or decoration. Dare we sit in the silent stillness and wonder a single flame in a holy place? It is a reminder that we too are a people of hope, and that our Hope, Immanuel, is here. Do you look for such simple and profound signs such as these? When we look for, listen for, see or hear any signs of HOPE, in spite of notions contrary to it, we see Immanuel, God who is with us. Whenever we choose to live in the light, living into hope, we participate in God’s presence and transforming reality here and now.

Are you a hopeful person? Do you have hope that God is not finished with us yet? Do you have hope for 2011? Our world? our nation? all nations? Do you have hope for the economy? Hope for clean air, pure water, the earth to be made well? Do have hope for the Afghanistan? Iran? Pakistan? China? Palestinians and Israel’s living side by side? Do you have hope for our present leaders of nations? Do you have hope that Jews, Moslems, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, that those with faith and those without faith can come to understand and live together in respect and peace? Do you have hope that Republicans and Democrats might be able to work together for the good of our nation? Do you have hope that someday the rich and poor might come closer together in community rather than move further apart?

I am usually pegged as being a pessimist, not an optimist. I tend to see what is missing or wrong more often than what is present and good. It was my daughter, Bekah, who received the “Optimist Award” in 4th grade, not me. But I am not alone. When Henri Nouwen was asked if he was an optimist he answered; No. I live by hope, not by optimism.

Hope is a vision of life that guides itself by God’s promise, irrespective of whether the situation looks optimistic or pessimistic at any given time, Rev. Ron Rolheiser, OMI said. Hope is not based on whether the evening news is good or bad, whether things are getting better or worst, whether the stock market is up or down, whether the unemployment increases or decreases. Hope does not fluctuate with the present military death toll. Hope is based on living into and out of a vision of God’s promise to be with us without denying reality or the facts. Hope trusts in a God who is still present, not just coming sometime, or soon, or in the days to come, or at some unexpected future, but who is already here.

I want to be a person of hope; a person waking up each minute of every hour and day. I want to live by hope; looking for and listening for whatever signs and promises there may be of God who is with us, Immanuel. I want to participate in the activities of God that are signs of hope, like

lighting candles in the dark;

having dreams or visions as Isaiah did who could hear and see the word of God in which all nations and people came streaming together to learn the ways of God, learning the ways of justice, turning instruments of war and destruction into tools for feeding one another and caring for the earth;

as Judas Maccabeus’ 8 days of miraculous Hanukkah light in the temple;

having the light of truth that enabled Dietrich Bonhoeffer to offer hope in a Nazi prison camp;

a song of hope in our child’s voice or de-light in their eyes;

as a man standing beside the highway in his business suit and trench coat

holding a peace sign at rush hour during times of war;

taking one simple even if incomplete step toward justice where injustice dominates;

offering a hand or a hug, a home, dignity;

being that neighbor rushing out to protect another’s child in harm’s way;

or saying, yes, when asked to give, even when we think there is little to offer;

when enemies shaking hands in commitment to work together for peace;

or planting a trees on vacant lots, knowing full well that it will be others in future years who will enjoy their beauty or fullness.

Profound and simple ways of participating in and planting hope.

Signs of hope are signs that Immanuel is among us. Can you see, can you hear, any signs of hope? In what signs of hope are you participating? How are you a sign, a word, a vision of hope for your family, friends, and community? Now is the time to wake up, says Paul and to live in the light of God with us. Are we awake yet?

Emmet Fox, early 20th century spiritual teacher reminds us to

Look where you are going because you will inevitably go where you are looking. Where your attention is, there is your destiny. Attention is the key to life. Whatever you really give your attention to, you become. Whatever you really concentrate upon will come into your life.

May we set our attention on God who is with us, and become people of hope, bringing hope to an oft times hopeless and sleeping world; a world so loved by God.

Lost and Found

Luke 15:1-10ff

He lost the document he had been working on all morning. The laptop seized up and restarting meant his morning work plus all the prior study and preparation would be lost. He could search his files afterward, but it would be unlikely to find an unsaved document. What joy to discover after a "restart" that the document is found intact!

The young pup took off chasing another dog, thinking it all a game. A panicked young couple walks and drives the streets calling, whistling, searching, to no avail. Put a lost notice in the newspaper immediately! Worried tears as night settles in, only to be awakened by a soft whimper as the back door. Tears of joy shed over a dog which found his way home unharmed.

She knew the woods fairly well, but even that did not keep her from getting lost on a cloudy day in an attempt to take a short cut off the path. Wandering, where everything look unfamiliar from a different angle and no shadows cast from the light of the sun, she stopped to listen. She could hear the waves crashing and motor boats out on the lake. Relief. That was not the direct route home, but was a clear direction to find one’s way to the familiar, to find a road that led home. Tired but rejoicing.

Which way to go here in the crossroads of life? No going back. Unsure of the future. Which way? Lost in direction, in place, in purpose, in perspective, or in where the heart’s home lies. Joy, when body and soul find grounding.

Finding lost keys, recovering lost thoughts, renewing lost friendships, unearthing buried treasures found in dust laden storage, finding way in the lost places of life, all require effort, some persistence which upon repossession is cause for great joy. Finding and being found are gracious gifts.

The stories of holy scripture teach of God, "The Hound of Heaven" according to Francis Thompson (1893), who’s never ending care-filled, persistent, unrushed, pursuit is sacred search in order to love and be united with all - all things, creature and creation. God is the seeker. The God of scripture, time and time again, comes searching for a lost people, a lost community, lost individuals who have lost their way in desert places, or wandered aimlessly, or even like Jonah, who took off in the opposite direction to avoid God’s quest, who could not deal with God’s mercy. "How can I give you up?" says God whose compassion grows warm and tender (Hosea 11:8).

The gospel writer, Dr. Luke, records stories of God’s relentless pursuit of God’s beloved, to include all in that beloved-ness. Luke sends his gospel truth to "most excellent Theophilus" (Luke 1:3-4), perhaps an individual by that name but more likely a name for the whole community of God’s people. Theophilus combines two greek words, Theo=God, and philio=love, more precisely the mutual love of friendship. Theophilus may mean 'lover of God' or 'one who loves God' or 'loved of God' or 'God’s beloved'. Whether an individual or the whole community of the faithful, Luke directs his gospel stories to those learning and living in the gracious diversity of God’s embrace. Luke’s stories of ‘lost and found’ in chapter 15 is further evidence of the seeker God looking for the beloved who need to be found.

According to the text in chapter 15, Jesus directs his stories and teaching to the exclusionists among the religiously fervent who disapproved of those to whom Jesus gave himself. Luke makes clear through Jesus that God’s pursuit of the lost ones is what it means to be God, and, likewise what God would have each one of us do. God is like a shepherd who leaves the 99 found sheep to search for the one that is lost. God is like a woman who cleans and hunts and sorts and rummages around her home until she finds that precious small lost coin. God is like that father who loses his sons as they wander far from his love, who waits and pleads for each to come home and into his embrace. God steps out searching for the lost; each one and everyone both individually and corporately. It is God’s great joy, it is heaven’s joy, it is the joy of the host’s of heaven when the lost is found and is brought home into God’s embrace.

What is lost? Who is lost? What does it mean to be lost? How does one become lost? Is one ever 'A lost cause'? Is this about heaven and hell? about being saved and safe like long worked upon document found and 'saved' on a hard drive? about 'salvation'? Yes if we understand and recognize that the biblical notion of 'salvation' is about restoration, wholeness, completeness, wellness, filled-fullment, being found in grace.

Consider all the things, possessions you have once upon a time lost.
Consider all the lost hopes and dreams, lost opportunities you once held, that are no longer in your possession.
Consider lost relationships; lost friends, colleagues, even family members.

How were they lost? If they were found, how were they found. What effort was extended to find them? How did you respond in heart and mind? Did you give up on the pursuit or keep on until finding and restoring the lost made for celebrative joy?

Ever feel lost? in thought? in perspective? in direction of vocation? in love? in purposeful living? Ever feel lost in the midst of community, isolated and lonely like an island in a sea of humanity? Ever choose to be lost? unseen and unknown and unclaimed? Ever long to be found? pray to be found? Ever wonder, ‘what if there is no one interested in finding me, or noticing that I am lost?’

What about those stories of scripture; who are the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost children? What does this God of lost and found have to do with me? Are we the lost or are we to be like God and search for the lost ones? or do we leave it up to God to do the searching and finding of lost hearts, souls and lives? If God is the seeker, who are the sought for? If one is lost and found, for what purpose is the finding?

Could it be that this hound of heaven, the Good Shepherd, the relentless searching woman, the loving father, is seeking simply and profoundly to be mutually present and in love with us? According to the Westminster Catechism, the chief purpose of humanity is to love and be loved, to know and be known, to glorify and enjoy God forever, to live into being "theolphilus". According to the Heidelberg Catechism, the greatest comfort in life is to belong to God; body and soul, in life and in death always to be found in God’s presence and care. John Newton, previous slave ship captain writes, "Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found". Even the Apostle Paul who had been absorbed in religious fervor in his earlier days tells of his being lost in ignorance only to be found through grace (I Tim 1:12-17). Saving grace of God is being found by and in God. Am I lost? or found?

And what of the lost ones who we don’t know? who we forget about? who are lost through disregard, lost because they are set aside as 'other', lost because they don’t fit the system’s 'norm', lost because no one gives them a second thought for they are 'not my responsibility', lost in war, oppression, or discrimination, orphaned from community care. How does the pursuing God of love search and find these lost ones? How does it feel to be seen and found and embraced and welcomed home in joy? Is there to be joy in the community of heaven when the lost are found? Could we be participants in the community of heaven? in being seekers as well as being sought? And what if we want to find our life in God? is there something about losing in order to find?

Perhaps like the TV series, LOST, life is a mystery in which we are all lost in time and space and purpose, until we are found in grace. Thank goodness for God’s persistence that we may be found. May we become more and more like this God even as we receive God’s grace. "O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee" (hymn writer, George Matheson).

Martha and Mary Revisited

Luke 10:38-42

Jesus loved both of them.

In my imagination, Martha is a well to do woman, a feminist in her day, one woman that you don’t mess with much. (Aunt Norma?) Dr. Luke, the writer of this account, says Martha welcomed Jesus into HER home, hosted him, opened space for him to be. Martha was a take-charge woman who saw needs and opportunities and acted. I like Martha.

In St. John’s gospel we read about this family, in which sister Mary is mentioned first in relationship to Jesus (John 11). We hear about the death of their brother, Lazarus. Martha is one who is annoyed with Jesus that he did not come right away before their brother died. Martha has expectations of Jesus, expectations of his action to come when called and his gifts to heal and restore. She has confidence in his power and strength and ability to make things happen.

Jesus’ acceptance of Martha’s hospitality in the gospel reading from Luke, places Jesus at Martha’s disposal for more action. Martha is in charge of the event and she expects help. (We read nothing of Lazarus in this account. I might wonder if he is the lazy younger brother, if he is already ill or recuperating, or if he is just doing what guys did, stay out of the kitchen and the domestic chores.) I imagine this family of siblings living together; no mention of spouses or parents or children, only 2 sisters and a brother. Martha seems to be the matriarch, the vocal one. Martha takes charge in hosting Jesus and everyone waits for her to do it, likely because she does it so well and tends to do it all herself anyway. Maybe they have learned to stay out of her way. This time, however, in her desire to be with Jesus, she is annoyed that all the work of hosting is left up to her. She is jealous of Mary’s taking in Jesus’ presence. Confident of Jesus ability to make things happen she tells Jesus to tell Mary to get off her lazy butt and help.

I imagine Mary to be the younger sister, maybe the “baby” of the family. In the Greek rendering, Mary is “Mariam”, my own name. I know what its like to have a bossy older sister. Mary is sensitive and is moved to action in a different way than Martha. She is the cry-baby, the weeping sister, the one whose tears bring Jesus to tears. (John 11:32-35)

Martha and Mary, yet, Mary seems to take top billing as all refer to them as MARY and Martha, Mary always listed first. Perhaps it is due to this story. Perhaps readers have taken this account as a diminishment of Martha’s busyness and an affirmation of Mary’s contemplative mode of operation. My hunch is that there is a bit of Martha and Mary in each of us, and finding the balance of both their personalities would helpful for each one of us.

I imagine Jesus enjoying this home of siblings, who welcomed him often, who were his supportive friends. He felt at home with them; home enough that Martha and he could “have words”, confront one another, because of the deep love between them. Jesus had to remind this strong woman of action, that relationships were still more important that busyness, being together had great value and perhaps was more precious than food.

We need to be people both of action and contemplation. It would be to our benefit to recognize when our busyness has gone overboard and we need to stop, to sit down and listen for a while, and perhaps regain perspective on all our “doings”. Sometimes we can be so frantic in running and going and doing that relationships suffer and are neglected. We mistake the preparation as the most important thing, when it is the shared meal, the eating and the talking, the sitting together and passing the broken bread, that makes the meal a feast of communion.

We tend to value more highly the visible and tangible realities. We measure and hold them, see them and weigh them. We tend to follow people of action, those who are out front leading the way; the flurry of activity impresses (if not others, at least ourselves). The external journey of changing the world around us for the better is a wonderful and noble pursuit. We need people of action, who take charge, who make decisions, who make things happen. People like Martha.

We need introspection also. The invisible and intangible things are more difficult to assess. Those who are reflective, who are busy changing their internal realm may go unnoticed. They, like Mary, sit down, listen, wonder, cry a lot in response to both suffering and joy. It is harder to define or recognize or value the inward, invisible workings. But neither is this contemplative mode inactivity. It too is busy at changing the world from an inner mode.

We all know people who are action oriented, who must keep busy or go nuts. And we know people who seem to operate more out of their quiet being. Yes “doing” and “being”, the outward action and the inner contemplation both translate into transforming our worlds. We need both Marthas and Marys, people who are in relation to one another and can learn and grow, encourage and yes even annoy and prod one another on occasion. It would be helpful if within ourselves we could recognize how to balance our inward and outward modes of operation; for busy folks to stop in silence and wonder periodically, for reflective folks to get in the mix of the hands on work. All action without reflection may be spinning our wheels. All reflection that never is expressed or shared is selfish. Balance.

Can we value both activity and reflection in ourselves?

Can we value both in one another? and give thanks for the gifts of both the “DO-ers” and “BE-ers”?

Can we recognize and respond in times that call for action?

Can we recognize and respond in times that call for contemplation?

Can Martha and Mary, action and contemplation, we so joined in relationship in and around us that wonderful things happen?

And where is Jesus in all this? After all, Dr. Luke the writer, thought this was an important story to tell for all of us to learn something about gospel truth. Perhaps it is that Jesus loved them both; both the busy, vocal, “don’t mess with me” Martha and the quiet, sensitive Mary, whose action in John’s gospel was one of extravagance that came from deep love (John 12:1ff). Perhaps gospel truth is that both action and contemplation are part of the story, both are needed and both are valued. Maybe the gospel truth is that Jesus himself, as we remember him teaching and healing and going and doing, was also a man who sat down and talked and shared, who crept away alone to pray. Jesus was both Mary and Martha, his inner being, intangible and invisible realm with God was balanced with his outer doings, the tangible and visible changing the world. Perhaps the gospel truth here is that the realm of God, the reign of God, the transforming reality of God is both an inner and an outer reality that we are all invited to honor, within ourselves and among one another. Perhaps the gospel truth is that in our hectic culture today and the frantic programming of our lives, institutions, and the Church -- where more and bigger and better and newer is imposed -- we just might miss the most important underlying reality right in front of us. We might pause and sit and listen to one another a while, enjoying the simple presence, the profound presence, the communion of God-who-is-with-us. And that might be the most important action in which we engage.

Luke's Sermon

Luke 10:25-37 Good Samaritan

The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of Jesus’ stories that is commonly known beyond the Christian tradition. “Be a Good Samaritan” we hear people say who have nothing to do with the Church. I am sure many would know what it means to “be a good Samaritan” and have no idea who or what a “Samaritan” is. Taking a look again at this very familiar story, consider this time associating one’s self with the lawyer.

Jesus teaching in this parable is directed to a lawyer, a religious leader whose calling was to interpret religious law, teach religious law, and live according to religious law. The lawyer stood up to test Jesus as to how well Jesus defines religious law. The lawyer wanted proof from Jesus, as well as proving himself, as being ‘a good Jew’; a ‘good Jew’ being one who knows and keeps the religious law. So the lawyer asked Jesus, knowing the answer he was looking to hear; ‘what behavior results in eternal life?’ In Jesus’ typical form, he asked a question in return; ‘okay, you know the law inside out, you know what is needful; you tell me what you read in the law.’ Jesus seemed to get himself out of the controversy by agreeing with the lawyer’s response as to the two core elements of Jewish law; ‘love God with all you have within you and your neighbor as well’. And then the lawyer pulls out his legalistic maneuvering, asking for clarification and definition of who constitutes a ‘neighbor’.

You see a common daily prayer of a good religious law keeping man in that day was to give thanks to God that he was not a Gentile or a woman, both readily discounted from the category of ‘neighbor’. Anyone not of their own race or gender or religion was exempt from neighborliness; don’t talk to, don’t eat with, don’t associate with those ‘others’ who may contaminate ‘our’ purity laws; walk away, or walk by, never enter the house of an ‘other’. I suspect that this lawyer already knew that Jesus associated with women and unclean people and yes, even some goyim, Gentiles, and so ‘eternal life’ was not so much the lawyer’s agenda as much as proving Jesus’ “good Jew-ness” to be a questionable, while his own “good Jew-ness” was impeccable. “Wanting to justify himself he asked Jesus, ‘Who is my neighbor?’”

Now it should be remembered that Dr. Luke, a Gentile, is the writer of this Gospel. One of Luke’s agenda was to state very clearly that God’s good news of grace in Jesus extended beyond the insiders, beyond race, gender, religion, beyond birth right. Only from Luke’s pen do we read the statement from old Simeon at Jesus’ first temple appearance when he said, “for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all people, a light for the revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:30-32) Only Luke included this story of “the Good Samaritan” emphasizing his point that there can be no exclusion from God’s embrace of grace, and God’s people need to follow God in inclusive love.

Jesus’ parable slashed all the traditional sense of ‘good Jew-ness’ which might exempt anyone from loving all, the very reality that the lawyer no doubt held up as his own religious and legal justification for exclusion. Jesus jabs and stabs with the characters of the priest and the Levite, both models of religious legalism. They did the right thing to avoid uncleanness, to avoid messiness. The man who fell among robbers and was beaten is unknown in race or religion. We don’t know if he was a Jew or a Samaritan (that is half-breed) or Gentile, only that he was going from Jerusalem to Jericho which was toward Samaria. We don’t know why the priest and the Levite avoided helping; perhaps the man was not their neighbor according to religious law because he was not a Jew, or perhaps it was their prerogative to avoid the man because it would make them unclean to touch a dead man or bloodied man. After all, they were religious purists, like the lawyer; they were ‘good Jews’, like us, ‘good Christians’ who can justify inaction in the name of religion if pressed to do so.

What a great story for the Church today which so often slips into being like the legalist, justifying its own goodness and righteousness at the expense of others who are in need or who are outside the parameters of acceptance. How easy it is for the Church to believe it has all the right answers while perhaps disregarding the right behaviors. The Church, in the midst of confessing their love for God and all people, in spouting a desire to save the world for Jesus, can become arrogant, paternalistic, judgmental, and exclusive as it discriminates against those perceived outside the parameters of grace-filled responsibility.

To the pietistic, religious legalism of his peers, Jesus says, the good neighbor, the one who did the right thing, the one who fulfilled the law of love was the Samaritan, the very one you despise. Be like him and you will live, says Jesus. The lawyer could not bear to answer Jesus’ question as to who was a neighbor to the man in need; he could not or would not soil his mouth even with the word “Samaritan”. He answered that the neighbor was “the one who showed him mercy.” Be that man, says Jesus. To fulfill the law of love show mercy, act mercifully, to whoever is in need. Be like that one you despise, but who acted with grace.

I don’t think Jesus parable was so much about that Good Sam as much as it was and is an indictment about any and all of us who would put on pietistic airs of exclusive disregard, justifying ourselves as religious, faithfilled, do-gooders who have kept God’s command to love. If we are to live, to have the gift of life eternal that begins now, then we must love God and our neighbor, and be mercy-filled neighbors to all. Like the lawyer, wanting to justify ourselves we might ask, 'who exactly does “all” include?' (as if we need clarity on “all”). Bad people? Abusers? Those who mock God or our religion? Terrorist? Osama bin Laden? Communists? Republicans? Gays or lesbians? NRA card holders? Abortion doctors? Tattoo covered multiple-pierced gage wearing Harley riders? Enron executives? Homeless drunks? Tiger Woods? whoever we would name as the scum of the earth? Eeeeew!

Luke chooses Jesus’ story to preach mercy and grace, in the name of Love touching the wounded and the wounds inflicted by this world . This is the action of love we are instructed to do if we are to be the neighbors who love God and follow God’s law of love. “Go and do likewise”.

The prophet Amos spoke God’s word to the religious status quo of his day when the pious didn’t want to hear it: (from Amos 5 describing how God’s people had turned away from responding to the poor and afflicted, the wounded and disregarded, yet regarded themselves justified and ‘good’)

“I know how many are your transgressions…
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, who push aside the needy in the gate…
Seek good… that you may live…
Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever rolling stream.”

Loving God of all,
who would have us be imitators of your love,
help us.
Free us from our notions of religiosity and a tendency to exclude others, or exempt ourselves from doing what is just and kind .
Help us to act in love and mercy when opportunities present themselves to us, regardless of circumstances.
Help us to love extravagantly because we love you.

What's Driving You?

I Kings 19:1-15; Luke 8:26-39
Elijah and Sheer Silence ; Jesus and the Demoniac
June 20, 2010

What drives you? What is the driving force that pushes you forward?...that directs your thoughts and actions? Today’s lectionary passages have 2 stories that on the outset may appear to have nothing in common, other than they are great stories. As we listen for God in the Word, may we be open for the Spirit speak anew, teaching us the things of God. Listen as we engage these 2 stories:

From I Kings 19 we join in the story of the prophet Elijah who has just completed that famous contest on Mt. Carmel between himself and Yahweh and 450 prophets of Baal. There had been a God-sent drought as a sign to the wayward people of God. King Ahab, married to Queen Jezebel, together had led Israel far from Yahweh. Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal met on Mt Carmel to test whose god was the greatest. Each had built and altar and killed a sacrificial animal. All day long the prophets of Baal had called out to Baal to come and ignite the altar. Nothing happened. Then Elijah, in the midst of drought, poured water 3 times on his sacrifice, the wood and stones and filled a ditch around the altar, and called upon Yahweh to hear and answer. God responded by instantly consuming in fire the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and all the water. All declared Elijah’s God as the true and only God… and then killed the 450 prophets of Baal. What a victory for Elijah! What a victory for God(?)

Now, I really don’t want to address the contest, and the killing---though those are good questions to consider. What today’s focus is about, is what happens immediately after this great contest….how King Ahab, a bad king, and his wife, Queen Jezebel, responded… AND of course, how Yahweh’s prophet, Elijah, responded. Listen for the what drives each person…. (I Kings 19:1-15)

Is there someone you connect with in this story?

Ahab, the king… who seems more like a messenger boy… who has the status of authority but does not have the where with all to act on his own behalf? His status as king is such that all he need do is state his dissatisfaction with things and “someone” ---Jezebel---will make it all better for him. Ahab is a whiner, who pouts and complains… is driven by his own personal needs. (You should read the pouty, spoiled-brat stories of Ahab which surround this one…)

Jezebel, the Queen… who is driven by power, who has the military forces behind her, who is not going to be put-out by one spiritual leader. With her threats and anger she spews forth venom that sends the mighty prophet of Yahweh running for his life. Her words strike him down with fear and cause a mighty prophet to run for his life. Driven by her desire for power and use of power and love of power…. POWER is all that matters.

or do you connect with Elijah, prophet of Yahweh, the God of gods… who shortly after a mighty contest that may have him flying high in success… maybe his ego got away from him… but the words of Jezebel threaten his life make him afraid. He can take on 450 prophets of Baal and strike them down, but Queen Jezebel has him running for his life into the wilderness, ready to die because it’s all too hard. How soon glory can turn to despair.

Have you ever had a great experience, and then one person makes a judgmental comment and your whole day gets turned around? It amazes me… and yet, I completely understand Elijah’s depression and despair. You think everything is grand and then BOOM! Down comes that derogatory comment that sends you into a tail spin… and off to the wilderness you go, despondent, depressed, ready to call it quits…. The mighty man of God… what was driving him? Was it God? or is it true that even the most faith-filled can succumb to fear?

And God comes calling… “What are you doing?” and we, like Elijah, whine and whimper our woes.

I love this encounter that Elijah had with God… in which we and he might expect God who has done mighty battle with the prophets of Baal might come sweeping in… in thunder, earthquake, fire. Elijah may have gone to the wilderness to escape, to run in fear, to hide. But the wilderness finds us in our solitude. In those wilderness places of the soul we have to confront ourselves. In out of the way places, in silence and solitude God comes and says…. what are you doing here? what is driving you? Fear? Your own ego? Your need for power? Status? Have you lost perspective of the what is your purpose? Are you ready to throw in the towel. In the empty space, the empty sound, the solitary mountain of silence… God comes; is present, and sets Elijah and us on our way again with a few simple words.

Then there is the story of the crazy, wild, homeless man, who was likely mentally ill and considered to be a raving lunatic. Listen for where God is in this story:

LUKE 8

Jesus and his disciples boat over to “the other side” of Lake Galilee… the side that is no longer Israeli, the area of people called Ger’a gesenes, who were not Jews. Why did Jesus go there??? to get away for a while? Just before this story Jesus was crossing the lake of Galilee, asleep in the boat when the wind and waves started to fill and sink the boat. The disciples, seeing they were in danger wake Jesus, who tells the wind and waves to be still. The story states that when the waves and wind calmed down… then “they were afraid and amazed”. It doesn’t say they were afraid of drowning… rather that they were afraid when Jesus displayed power over the nature. The disciples were driven by fear in the boat before and after Jesus acted.

In the story that follows, it doesn’t seem that that the herdsmen are afraid of the wild-man who lives naked in the caves and in the tombs. While the demons are afraid of Jesus, the herdsmen are not afraid until Jesus the loss of their animals threatens their pocketbooks… he becomes an economic and social threat that is too much for them to endure. They lost their stock market investment for the sanity of a man.

We have Jesus, his disciples who have just witnessed and been afraid of his calming the sea and wind, we have a wild, homeless, possessed man, the demons, called Legion afraid of God’s grace at work, and finally the herdsmen and village dwellers who are so afraid of who and what Jesus might require of them that they ask him to go away. Fear seems to be a primary driving factor for all these various characters in both stories. How quickly it can sneak up on us.

As I listen for the Word of God for me today, the question comes…. Miriam, what’s driving you? What motives are you operating under? So I ask you the same questions…. what is driving you? What motives do you operate under?

Is it status, like King Ahab?

power, like Jezebel?

or is it underlying fear? like Elijah… the disciples…. Legion the demons?... the herdsmen’s?

What is the driving force and motivation in your life?

OR is it possible to be like God? like Jesus?

Could it be that we might be driven…. if we need to be driven at all, or moved and motivated to act by wholeness, by returning to God? Could our driving force be to be fully present, to give ourselves our full self, even if it is in silence? Could God, could grace, could love, could healing and hope be our driving force?

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquiet within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise the Beloved, my help, my God.”

Pss 42 &43