Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

 

 

Healing, nothing more than Healing….

I’m taking my liberties with the song, which really sings, feelings, nothing more than feelings, and making it my own and trying to get a karaoke fix.

At first glance that what this story is, this little view into Jesus healing ministry: It looks like Jesus was walking along with his disciples, somebody in need gets his attention, Jesus attends to them and heals them. End of story. Right? No. Not if we take a deeper look and slow down long enough to pay attention to what is going on around the edges of this story.

Let’s start with Jericho. Jericho is a famous city in the Bible because the Israelites were up against and it looked like they were in a fix, once again, and they were looking at their own doom and destruction. It didn’t turn out that way. Joshua, who took over for Moses, called upon the lord to tear down the heavily fortified walls of Jericho and, as the song goes the “walls came a tumbling down”.

So Jesus and his disciples, according to Mark enter Jericho and the next thing that happens, they turn around and come out. But, something happens inside Jericho because Jesus went in only with the disciples but came out with his disciples and, and this is where paying attention helps, came out with his disciples and a crowd. We don’t know why, Mark doesn’t tell us, but more came out than went in. This is not what happens in a slot machine in Las Vegas. More goes in than what comes out. And as my father likes to say, they don’t build those hotel/casinos, which he refers to as joints, because people are winning money.

So Jesus comes out of Jericho with more than he went in which tells me that folks listened to him, maybe even to his disciples, and decided to follow. We don’t know why, for how long, or anything about them, but we know they got out of the city with him. Their first encounter once leaving the city was the shouts of Blind Bartimaeus, the Beggar. presumably he had heard about the fame of Jesus, was blind, but not deaf and couldn’t miss the fact that there was something going on.

I love how he handles this. He yells out for Jesus to have mercy on him. And the crowd, these new followers of Jesus were very quick and immediately tried to snub his enthusiasm and ordered him to be quiet. I’ve wondered about the crowd’s response for sometime and have always found it peculiar. How come they didnt t grab him, get him on his feet, and get him to Jesus? They do just the opposite and it’s not unlike some of the disciple’s response to children. They wanted to keep these folks with out  status, no resources, no pull, away from him. That’s always puzzled me. But as I think about it, it occurs to me that this new Jericho crowd was probably responding to Jesus and his movement out of their own enthusiasm. They probably looked upon him as a powerful leader who was going to get things done and who couldn’t be bothered by children or women or the lame or the blind or whoever else didnt hold much worth in their society.

But much to Blind Bartimaeus the Beggar, who had never seen Jesus, but was astute enough to pay attention to what was going on around him, Bartimaeus completely disregards their prohibition and shouts out, even more loudly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”. And Jesus, the one who epitomizes paying attention to the moment, stops, stands still and he says to the crowd, bring him here. I am amazed at two things here: first, Jesus ability to stay present in the moment and not caught up in the hub bub of the crowd; and two, the way in which he exercises his power. He just says to the crowd, bring him here. No diatribe on why we need to help the least of them, nothing about blind people having it really rough. He simply uses the power, his personal power, and he asks the crowd to do something that they otherwise would not have done, and they do. 

“They” bring Bartimaeus to Jesus. Jesus asks him what he can do for the guy, they guy says I want to see. And Jesus  says your faith has made you well. No spittle and mud this time. No forgiveness of sins. Nobody  asking who sinned his parents or his parents’ parents. He just says your faith has made you well. And the guy sees again. Immediately he sees again and begins to follow Jesus.

I would submit to you that the guy was made well even before he regained his sight. I would submit to you that this man’s persistent hope, this ability to shout over a loud crowd, to stand up, throw off his beggar’s cloak and his beggar’s identity made him, with God’s help, well. The sight part is just gravy. Folks around him said, shut up and stay in your place. You are a such and such. You are disabled, an addict, an SOB, an ignoramus, a queer, a black, a woman, a white male, a doubter, a liberal, a conservative. You are a such and such and you don’t get to be a part of this because you don’t count. Bartimaeus healing was that he knew that we was more and he did count. He paid enough attention to Jesus to know that he was valued inherently. That he counted. That Jesus would listen, would pay attention, would attend to him.

There are incredible implications in this story for us this morning. Implications for us as individuals and implications for us as a community-as this particular community. This year, as part of our stewardship season, I and other parish leadership are going to ask you all to pay attention to the life of St. John’s. I and others, and there will be more about this, are going to ask you to pay attention. Pay attention to what is working and what is not working.

I think we have some things in common with Bartimaeus, or at least with the crowd around him. There is a tendency in a small church to think small, to expect less, to be less. We are small in number, we know that and others know that. However, there is a  danger that we let ourselves be defined by someone elses’ perception of us. The crowd told Bartimaeus to shut up and to stay in his beggar stance, to accept his lot in life and not expect anything more. What they said to him makes sense from one perspective: look, your blind, you beg, you always have you always real. Why get your expectations up. This is who you are.

We have done some preliminary work on stewardship and it sometimes comes up that we are a small church, that we don’t have the resources to do much more, that we should keep that in  mind as we approach this whole issue of giving and mission and what it is we are to do. We have been small for a long time. We’re small now. We’ll be small in the future. I’m guilty of it myself. When I tell people what I do, I say to them well, I am the vicar of two small churches and I do border work.

Just using that adjective “small” is problematic. It also doesn’t do justice to what and who we are. I think that St. John’s is a dynamic, interesting, engaging, and outgoing community. It is well-known in the community. It has a good reputation and is known for its hospitality to organizations such as 12-step groups and others. It hosts the alternative clinic. It’s involved in border activism. It’s made of people from all over the area who are diverse in terms of thought, education, and experience. To say that St. John’s is a small church is a little like saying that the Piatta, do I have that right is a small sculpture. I’ve never seen it but I understand it’s breathtaking and remarkable. It happens to be small but that’s not really important about it. We happen to have a certain average attendance, but that doesn’t define us. What defines us is that we are not a small church, but the church of Jesus Christ. Rumor has it that he himself was not all that well thought of in terms of pedigree and background. Rumor also has it that he did remarkable things and changed lives and changed history.

I need and will try and do a couple of things differently. I am going to try and stop defining both the congregations as small. I’m not saying that’s a bad word in and of itself, but I am simply going to say I am the vicar of two churches in Southeastern Arizona. If people want more information, I’ll give them that. If they want budget and avg attendance Ill tell them that.

But this is what I will tell you. The story of Bartimaeus reminds us that God did not use the “brightest and best” to get God’s own word out. He used the most unlikely characters to bring the Gospel to others. He used simple folks, folks that abandoned jobs and family in order to follow, folks that argued amongst themselves about who was the most important, folks that when it all went down and Jesus got in trouble, most of them went running for the hills. God used Blind Bartimaeus the Beggar to get his word out. Someone who was insignificant and of no account. God used Bartimaeus to show forth his power. And part of why God chose Bartimaeus, as I read this story, is that Bartimaeus would not allow others define him. He had a hope that, even despite his unfortunate circumstances, God would take note and change his life. And that is exactly what happened. And 2000 some odd years later we are talking not about the Roman Consul in Jericho or the finest poet they had or the brilliant theologian/philosopher/athlete/entrepeneur/politician that was in town. We are talking about a guy who didn’t even live in the town but was relegated to the outskirts, the insignificant, the boonies.

We who live in the boonies need to take note. God works miracles in the desert where miracles seem few and far between. This community of ours is a miracle. I have the priviledge of knowing most of you and your story and the first word that comes to mind when I think about you is not small or under resourced or lacking or less than. The words that come to mind are dynamic, diverse, intelligent, engaged, committed, maybe a little bizarre, generous. I could go on. 

Bartimaeus, even after he was told to shut up, threw off his beggar’s cloak and sprang up and said, because he trusted he’d be heard, “Jesus, listen to me. Jesus have mercy on me and give me a hand.” He had energy, he had a spring in his step and he received many a blessing, not just his sight, but the priviledge to follow, to join the adventure, to tell his story and to tell others the Good News of how God paid attention to him.

Let’s pay attention to what’s happening here. Let’s take a look around and take note of the energy, the hospitality, the inclusivity, the mutual care, the community in need around us, the new faces and friends. Let’s not be defined by what others see or even what we see on the bad days. Let’s be defined by hope. Let’s be defined as those who recognize that God is in our midst, who recognize that God pays attention, who recognize that God offers healing and new vision, who recognize, who know that God’s way is the way of wellness, the way of sight.                                                 Amen

Snake shot. Chicken gizzards. Color copies.

There’s a snapshot of the time that we had at our diocesan convention that just happened this weekend. After a meeting and putting up the exhibit at the exhibit hall a member of the delegation from St. Stephen’s and one from St. John’s went to run some errands and eat lunch before the official opening of the Annual Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona. The diocese convenes its annual convention yearly to do business and budget, elect members to important leadership roles, and to deal with a them-this year it was the stewardship of creation-and I’ll talk about that in a minute.

But as I was returning to the hotel where the convention site where we stayed and held the convention I was thinking of the time the three of us had that morning. Ron from St. Stephen’s lives on a ranch and has a particular problem with rattlesnakes that come close to his home, horses, and pets. He uses bullets with snakeshot, little pellets, to deal with the danger they pose to him and his ranch.

While we were buying bullets at the gun shop, Stephanie from St. John’s, noticed next door there was a restaurant serving soul food, including chicken gizzards. She suggested we try it and we did. Stephanie has a spirit of adventure and enjoys different and diverse foods and has herself led a diverse and interesting life living in New York, Utah, Montana, and Arizona.

Running late, as usual, I had to find a Kinko’s copy center to make copies for some work I was doing as border minister and in preparation for a resolution that the program group I convene was presenting to the convention for its approval.

I find Kinkos fascinating and very helpful. I can take some work I’ve done on my computer, pull it up on one of their computers, edit, print, and copy it at really most hours I need. It comes in handy for someone as organizationally challenged as I am.

Once I had the copies in hand, we rushed back to convention late. But I couldn’t help revel in the situation I was in. What an extraordinary convergence of odd things like snakeshot, chicken gizzards, and color copies. I said to myself as well as Stephanie and Ron, well, here it is: mission and ministry in Cochise County, even though we were in the middle of Phoenix. I was reminded, once again, how much I enjoy doing what I do and how much I enjoy doing it with the folks, you all, around me.

Convention went well. There was some talk that the budget would be drastically cut putting the part of my compensation that comes from the diocese in jeopardy. I learned even before convention began that the resolution to cut the budget was withdrawn and so I went a little more relaxed than I would have had I had to worry about my funding for next year.

With that out of the way, I settled in, with the other delegates, enjoyed and learned and connected with folks all around the diocese. As I said, this year’s theme was the stewardship of creation. We heard from folks about global warming and the serious threat that it poses to life, all life on this planet. We also heard about the good news that we as people of faith are in a position to do something about the situation we find ourselves in. Because we are people of hope-as distinct from optimism-and because we believe that all of life is a gift-a good gift-from God, we are in a unique position to do something about the grave danger facing our planet.

I have to acknowledge and confess that I am not the best steward of creation. I accept the scientific finding that indicates that the planet is warming at a dangerous rate and I acknowledge that the planet is in peril. Someone said at convention,  if  God were the earth’s landlord and we were the earth’s tenants, we would not be getting our security deposit back. I am not the best steward. I have the reusable grocery bags in the trunk of my car and they usually stay there most of the time I go shopping. I have a heavy foot as I drive when I know that driving the speed limit is more fuel efficient. Not all the light bulbs in my home are the energy efficient ones and I tend to consume more than my share. I’m not the best recycler.

I also will say that I find the whole environmental situation overwhelming and the magnitude of the crises daunting. So much so that I tend to tune out the information and the cries around me and simply say, well, I’m just one person, what difference can I make, as I open another bottle of water or drive somewhere when I could walk or ride my bike.

But I don’t think that this problem we face is going to be solved by breast beating, guilt, and shame. So I don’t think it’s going to serve me and the environment all that well if I get incapacitated because of my failings and let my failures hold me back. I think of myself as a person of hope and even a person of some optimism. I also think of myself as a person of faith and I know that God is alive and well on planet earth and wants even more than the most committed “Johnny DoGooder” or adamant “treehunger” to see us learn to take better care of this wonderful treasure of creation and life that we so enjoy, love, and literally depend upon.

I find some comfort in the gospel this morning in facing this situation-which I acknowledge is complicated and will not be solved simply. I think of the two disciples this morning James and John. Remember they were called early on in Jesus ministry to follow. They left their father and their father’s boat and did indeed follow. And, based on this morning’s reading, it looks to me that they took some pride in that early decision and were looking for recompense. It looks to me that they had lost some focus. Recall that they were motivated to fish for people, to bring people to God, to work at including others in this ministry and adventure that was Jesus. But only ten chapters into the story, their focus had shifted away from their service to God and toward a consideration of their status. Teacher, they said, grant us one to sit at your right hand and one at your left. In other words, look, we’ve worked hard for your, we bought into this early, before most of the others, we’ve given up a lot and we’d like some recognition, a little prestige please, we think we’ve earned it.

I love Jesus’ response to them. He doesn’t chide them for asking what seems to be a selfish request. He doesn’t say, no, not going to happen, get back to work. He simply says, that’s not my call, it’s God’s. But before he says it’s not his decision to make, who sits where, who gets the honor, who gets the recognition, the ‘ataboy’, he turns the question back, as he so often does, to the questioner: he really tells them, that in their question,  they’ve lost focus. You don’t know what you’re asking. But pay attention and remember what happened back on the shore when you made the decision to follow. Remember that and let me ask you, are you willing to  continue to follow? Are you willing to drink the cup that I drink, are you willing to share in what’s coming, are you willing to stay in this fight? You’ve made that choice before. Are you still willing to go the distance with me, whatever that means?

Their response? They say, yes, yes, we are. And he affirms their commitment. He affirms their refocus. And he assures them that they are still on the journey with him and that they will drink the cup he drinks and they will live into the baptism that he lives into.

I think I got a bit of refocus these past few days. I think before this convention of this church of ours I was worried about my future, my salary, my status, and my comfort. But you and I both know that there are things much more important than our own conditions and situations. If things are as dire as many say they are, as dire as what appears to be good science says they are, then our focus needs to shift, needs to shift from our immediate concerns and preoccupations and concerns, as real as they are.  Salaries, and pensions, and personal health, as important as they are, are less important than the survival of our habitat and community as a whole. 

I read Jesus’ words and I take from them this sense that Jesus impressed upon his closest companions that they were in it together. They they would rise and fall together, that they would bleed together, that they would triumph over death together. They did indeed drink the cup that he drank; lived into the baptism he lived into;. His closest companions met similar ends as he did. Our faith says they share life in glory with him now and evermore.

You and I and every living thing inhabit this fragile earth, our island home, together. My decisions as consumer and as a steward affect you and those you love. Your decisions as such affect me and those I love. I pray that those of us who have the good fortune to live in this tiny corner of the world, allow God to remind us, to refocus us, to impress upon us that we are in this together. We drink from the same waters. We breath the same sky. We live the same God given life that lives in all living things. 

All of creation is  Holy and Blessed. We are holy and blessed. We forget that at our peril. As we remember it, live into, teach it to young and old alike, the Life God has created and so generously given us, over and over and over again, will never die.  Amen.

John Donne (1572-1631): “He was the Word that spake it; He took the bread and brake it; And what that Word did make it; I do believe and take it”

John:

When I say to you the word “uppity” what comes to mind? When have you heard that word? And in what context was it used?

Well, I would say to you that uppity may be  a good word to describe the way that the religious authorities felt about Jesus when he said what John said he said, when he said I am the bread of life. Granted, I think that anyone who claimed to be the bread of life whether then or now would be considered arrogant and uppity, but think about Jesus context a bit, when he was to have said it and it’s even more profound.

My sense is that Jesus world was not a big one. He was an itinerantpreacher and wandered around the countryside going from village to village and region to region, but the whole area he covered during his ministry was not that great. We live in a very large country and are bordered by another very large country. We are accustomed to great distances. I don’t think the same was true in Jesus world. Granted, he did not have the advantage of car or airplane or Internet, but word still traveled and got around. Trade routes were common and people were not stagnant but moved around some. Repeatedly in Scripture, mention is made that Jesus fame spread throughout the region. And it spread through word of mouth. It’s hard for us to imagine how that worked in our world of TV and Internet and cell phones. But think a little bit about your youth and schools you attended. As I recall, and I attended school before the Internet and cell phone, word traveled fast. We knew who was dating whom. We knew what teacher had had words with what students. We knew about fights, and romances, and all sorts of things. My point here is that you don’t need the modern technology to have the word get around so fast.

So when Jesus says that he is the bread of life, it doesn’t really matter who was in earshot to hear it just then. The word got out and it traveled and it probably traveled faster than usual because people were paying attention to what Jesus was saying. Which makes the response of the religious authorities so interesting and a bit predictable. They had heard him say other things, or at least heard of him saying other things and doing other things and here he is again, saying something pretty profound and provocative that caught their attention.

I am the bread of life. What? He said what? I am the bread of life? I don´t think so. Just who in the hell does this guy think he is? And what on earth is he saying. He’s got the audacity to forgive sins and say so. He claims that he’s the vine and we are the mere branches. And now he’s gone as far as to say I am the bread of life. I think that at the very least the religious authorities were saying to one another, this guy is being arrogant and proud and resting on his laurels, and well, we think this guy is being uppity.

Uppity. I asked you what came to mind when you first heard that term and this is what has come to my mind when I think to the term. I think of uppity as the term that some people have used to describe black people who happen to speak  in forceful tones or act assertively or express a lot of confidence. I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone use that term within my hearing referring to a black person, but I’ve regularly heard people talk about that term when they have described the history of race relations in our country. I’ve read about it and I’ve heard people talk about it and that is one of the main terms that people have used, uppity.

I know I have heard TV pundits and commentators when discussing Barack Obama and his campaign and now his presidency and they haveused that term, not in using it to describe the president from their perspective, but to shed a little historical light on the country and they’ll say well, 30-40 years ago, maybe longer, some people would have referred to Barack Obama as uppity.

Let’s get back to Jesus. One of the objections that some people had to him making the kind of claims that he did and coming across as arrogant or uppity or whatever is that he was known in the community. It says it right here in the Gospel. The religious leaders respond to him by trying to discount him and remind him of his place by saying, wait a minute. Isn’t this Jesus, son of Joseph.? Isn’t this the carpenters son? Bread of life, he can barely make a square table and he’s claiming to be the bread of life. Who is this uppity guy. Get back to Nazareth and stick to carpentry where you belong. The whole bit about isn’t he the son of Mary and Joesph, that’s all about trying to make the point that they don’t think Jesus knows his place. Because if he did, he wouldn’t be acting the way he does and he sure wouldn’t be referring to himself as the bread of heaven-for heaven’s sake.

Knowing one’s place. There’s a lot to be said about that and I havejust a little anecdote to share about when it was made abundantly clear to me that I did not know my place. I was doing my seminary internship in a black Episcopal Church in Oakland. For a number of reasons, I wanted that kind of experience and I served the folks there for an academic year as their seminarian. The first and only time I attended one of St. Augustine’s vestry meetings I learned a little about knowing my place. A relative of a parishioner had been doing some maintenance for the church and had claimed that while doing this maintenance his tools were stolen which were valuable. I think he was asking the church for some sort of compensation since he was on the job. I, along with some others, thought that the claim was fishy because he didn’t inform anyone of the theft for a couple of weeks so I thought the vestry was being conned. And I said so, but in a little more tactful way than that. I hope I´velearned some things. Well, one of the vestry members abruptly responded to my excessive energy and reminded me that I was just a seminarian, a newcomer to the community, and really had no business discussing that issue. Now there was a lot going on in that whole encounter that doesn’t pertain to this sermon, but suffice it to say, that unlike Jesus, I was distinctly aware of my place in that community and I pretty much learned my lesson and got along with them better than that exchange would indicate.

I knew my place-or at least the place I was asked to assume-and I accepted it. I do not think that’s what Jesus did.

Now, let’s jump ahead from 2000 years ago, from 1990, from Barack Obama, from St. Augustine’s, Oakland, and to the Douglas Safeway on Wednesday. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was there, as I understand, to speak to and listen to constituents. My guess is that the health care debate was a big reason for her coming, but that’s beside the point. I was not there, but I have gotten reports from several folks who were and they have described the event as tense and it sounds like, even, hostile. A member of our Spanish service reported that she had been confronted in an unfriendly way by a man who yelled at her group that they should be speaking English. The word wetback was used, I don’t know by whom, but it was used.

Brothers and Sisters, there was a lot going on there Wednesday afternoon other than the debate over health care reform. To me, based on the way events were recounted to me, from our member as well as from Mark Adams, the issue was less about Barack Obama’s health care ideas and more about some members of our community angry over the fact that other members of our community don’t know their place. It will surprise no one here to hear me say that there are tensions in Douglas, in Bisbee, in Arizona, and in throughout the country about language, culture, citizenship or belonging, history, etc. Those tensions have been present for some time, they percolated out on Wednesday, they are present amongst us as in a bi cultural community and those who worship in a bi cultural church. They are not going to go away and they might get worse before they get better.

My sense is that Latinos are less comfortable than they have been- if they ever were at all- with being told to know their place when they are fully aware that this has been their place, this part of the country for a very long time. My sense is that some of the tension that percolated up on Wednesday is that some perceive the maintenance of Spanish and Latino culture as uppity and resistance to assimilation of Anglo values and others see the holding to tradition and language as essential issues of identity and value their background as a source of pride and with confidence.

It’s not my purpose here to figure out all the complexities of politics, culture, race, religion, health care, and Safeway and Gabby Giffords. It is my purpose to say however, that, as the author of Ephesians puts it, we are members of one another. We as a church are growing increasingly diverse in terms of language and culture and in terms of class and socioeconomics. I think that will continue to happen. I hope it continues to happen. I’m enjoying that it is happening. But I am not so naive as to think that it has been, is now, or will be easy. Praise God we are not yelling at one another and throwing racial slurs back and forth as happened at Safeway, but we are human beings, limited, and flawed. 

But we are also followers of Jesus Christ. We are those who have shared community together and those who are nourished by God’s Word and God’s Body and Blood. And that is probably the main reason that we are not yelling and arguing and acting ugly to each other. I think that is good news. It’s good news for us, but it’s also good news for the folks caught up in the tension in a supermarket parking lot. Whether we are uppity, passive, Spanish-speaking, English-speaking, brown, black, white or some combination of all and more, we are followers of the one who claimed to be The Bread of Life.

We need to continue to feed on that One. We need to continue to follow the Uppity One. We need to continue to be a community of good and wholesome and life-giving relationships while we work for peace and justice in our parking lots and in the world around us. We are members of one another and as such, we will never be hungry. We will never be hungry or thirsty because we share with one another. We share because God has shared first with us. God’s bread. God’s Body. God’s Life.

 Amen

Samuel:

Ephesians:

John: How many here, show of hands here please, believer in miracles?

How many here can say that they have heard others describe a miracle that has happened to them or someone they know?

How many of you have had an experience with a miracle-your own. A miracle that happened to you?

Now the kicker: how many of you are willing to talk about it this morning?

John’s story about miracles. Goes without saying that it’s not been all that long ago that this story of the multiplication of the fishes and loaves was simply accepted as factual. I’m sure there’s been tons of explanations given as to what the multiplication means and what God was trying to do in making it happen, but it’s only been about since the middle 19th century that biblical scholars began to question the “facts” of the biblical miracles. I think it was probably earlier than that that these things were questioned, but my mid-nineteenth century date points to a whole new way of doing biblical scholarship and introducing all kinds of pseudo scientific disciplines to examine Scripture that  that date is important to remember.

Back to the miracle: the story goes that Jesus is teaching in the grass and its getting late and one of the disciples points out the hour and suggests to JC that he disperse the crowd so that they can go feed themselves. Jesus responds that the disciples should handle that and they point back to his ludicrous that all they have is a little bit of food some kid has. Jesus takes that food. Blesses it and distributes. It feeds everybody-about 5000 men- and there is plenty of left overs.

Use to be that this story was accepted, for the most part, at face value. There was an acceptance that a supernatural event had occurred and that that small amount of food miraculously turned into enough food to feed everybody that day.

But then the kind of biblical criticism came along and suggested that miracles and the supernatural and the multiplication of fishes and loaves didn’t actually happen. But this scholarship didn’t leave people high and dry and say nothing happened, it’s all made up, and there was no sunny afternoon, no 5000 people on the grass, no miracles, and certainly not 12 baskets left. They didn’t go that far. They did, however, say that this miraculous phenomenon can be explained by the little boy’s generosity. Scholars have “deconstructed” the miracle story by saying that, well, nothing supernatural happened, but still, a lot of people ate that day because once the little boy pulled out his bread and sardines, others did too (they all had a little bit with them in anticipation of their hungers just like you and I do when we go for a hike or an outing we take something along with us for a snack.

The biblical scholars suggested that explains the so-called miracle, everybody got generous, shared what they had, and nobody went hungry. I can assure you that many preachers have favored that particular approach and when they have preached on this, they’ve suggested the generosity theme and then have urged their hearers to be like the boy and be willing and open to share from which good things like abundance, good feelings, satisfaction will occur.

That’s basically how I was trained to read the Bible. The miracle at the Red Sea was really a low-tide day and that’s how the Israelites crossed over. Jesus resurrection probably didn’t occur in the physical way that the gospel portray it occurring, but the coming together of the early church suggests that the perception that there was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead explains their growth, courage to accept martyrdom, and eventual legitimization. I may have even put forward the theory about the little boy sharing theory in a sermon or too. I can’t quite remember.

I’ve just returned from a week at the seminary I attended having done a week of continuing education titled “Anglican Insights”. The course was good. The colleagues were good. I had the chance to see my brother, get some exercise, and step back  from some busyness and get some theological nurture. We did what I remember doing. We examined Scripture, discussed the tradition, and reflected critically. And it was all very good and I handed out my border flyers hoping for visitors and money.

It was hard not to think about the 21 years since I’ve started that journeyeyed. And I assure you it has been a journey. While I was there I quit right before finals during my first semester. I imploded at the beginning of my second year. I started Spanish. I traveled to Latin America. I intentionally did not date throughout the rest of my time following my implosion because I feared it could happen again and end my studies. I sold my car, my computer, my television. I grew my beard, put in my earring, wrote an underground newsletter. After the 6 Jesuits and their two female coworkers were massacred in 1989 in El Salvador I circulated a petition and asked every faculty member I knew to sign it asking the first Pres. Bush to stop supporting the El Salvador government. I became the dorm president. I was not elected as the omsbudsperson to the board of trustees. I initiated and organized a street-preaching event on Sproul Plaza in the middle of the UCBerkeley Campus. I did my internship at a black Episcopal church. I worked at a pizza place. I became the recycling officer. I passed all of my ordination exams much to my surprise and probably that of others. I went sailing with the dean and new a street person named Allison. It was an extraordinary journey and I was not easy to be around during some of that time.

It was an extraordinary journey and when I graduated I received from my aunt a very nice t-shirt that said “miracles do happen, Seth just graduated” It no longer fits.

I had all that experience and study at the seminary and I’ve had not just a few years of doing this kind of thing for a living. But, I cannot tell  you what I think happened at that field that day when Jesus was to have turned a few fish into a banquet. I cannot tell you exactly what happened when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water. I can’t tell you about any of the miracles really, because, like you, I am a modern. Maybe even a postmodern and even though I don’t always like being one and even though I live and love the border and culture only five minutes away from here, which is not modern in the philosophical sense, in the same was that the West is modern-even though I covet their worldview-I am a product of modern education and scientific inquiry and reasoned explanation and that’s who I am and that’s who, like it or not, you are too.

So, I don’t know what happened on that field or on that first Sunday morning or at the Red Sea or when someone was touched by Jesus. But this is what I do know and this is why I’m up here this morning and have been for a few years and why there is a good chance that I’ll be back next week. Because I believe, I know that God has done miracles in my life. God has restored and continues to restore me even despite my best efforts, sometimes, to not cooperate. I know I talk about this-I hope I don’t talk about it too much. But for me miracle and salvation and healing are not theological categories and terms and something you just study and talk about and read about. They are real. Transformation takes place. God lives and God restores and that is what God does. That is the Christian Story. That is my Story and that is your Story-even if you don’t quite understand that right now. If you don’t know how God is going to bring new life into your story-and quite frankly I don’t know how either-but I know God can and will. You can keep that from happening I suppose, but the odds are against you because you’ve come here and you will receive at that table-I hope- and you will be fed by God who does miracles in people’s lives and communities and families. This world is a miracle. This life is a miracle. I don’t quite care how long ago or how it started or really much about any of that. Protoplasm or Big Bang. We are here and we are not alone and the reason we are here is to love each other, to love ourselves, and to love the entity responsible for putting us here. And it’s that simple.

I’m getting to know some of your stories. They are miracles too. We need to find a way for us to hear each other’s miracle stories in the way that listened to Panchita tell a little bit of her story at the Spanish Mass last night. I don’t think it’s all that important if you think you don’t have a miracle life or a miracle story. I’m not going to make one up for you, but I think that God has been doing miracles in and around you for sometime. I think God will continue to do that-even if you resist. We need to find a way to tell our stories to each other. That was one of the presentations I attended. Called the “Shared Pulpit”. It’s time we hear from some other around here. And we’re going to. We’ll do it well and right and slowly, but it’s time to hear of other miracles and to be edified by one another.

And we are going to share our miracles with one another not only because they are good news and that’s what we should do, but because God hasn’t done good things in us because God just wants us to sit around and enjoy it all-which is part of it, but not all of it. We are going to share each others’ stories because we have good news, through Jesus Christ, to give to others. We are supposed to share it. Scripture is clear that you don’t put your light under a bushel. You open it up to give light to others.

It’s a miracle that we are here this morning. It’s a miracle I’m here with you. It’s a miracle that we choose to live our lives by faith and in the light when around us is so much darkness and unbelief. Miracles happen and we are going to share them-if you want to.

Amen

Samuel

but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle.

God has been, and is on the move. Despite Nathan and David’s attempts and desires, however noble and admirable, there is a sense that God resists being contained. It’s important to get to what’s happening here with David and Nathan. David, as with many powerful individuals, is interested in his legacy and how historians remember his life and work. I’m always astonished at the effort that goes into a presidential library once the current officeholder leaves the white house-sometimes even before. There is a keen interest on the part of those in power to preserver their legacy and build monuments to themselves. I don’t think David is any different, and even though it wasn’t under his watch that the Jerusalem Temple was built, but under his son’s, Solomon, it’s important to interpret David’s desire to find a suitable place for God as a testimony to his own reign as king.

Ephesians

It’s hard not to notice the contrast between the kind of building that David and Nathan are talking about and the kind of structure that the author of Ephesians is discussing. At the end of this passage, which  attempts to make clear to those of non-Jewish lineage that they are now part of the fold, there is all this image of a building and a structure. There is mention of a cornerstone, a household, a dividing wall, a foundation, a dwelling place; images that communicate the idea of a building, of a place, of something concrete. But the author is talking not about a physical temple, but a spiritual one. Jews believed God dwelled in the Jerusalem Temple. It was an incredibly holy place and only the most elite of priests could enter into the inner sanctum, known as the Holy of Holies. The author of Ephesians writes that in Christ there is a new dwelling place for God, the faithful who call Christ savior and Lord and who endeavor to follow. It think it’s a remarkable contrast and goes right to the heart of the question: where does God dwell? Where does God live? Where is God? Is God in a building? Is God in a community ? Is it both? Is it neither?

Mark

Where does God dwell? I’m going to take a stab at answering that cognizant that some of you may not like the answer I come up with. Look at the scene that Mark describes. Despite their best intentions, Jesus and disciples cannot get away  from the crowds. The needs are too great, the region is too small, and word travels too fast for them to catch their breath. They are inundated with the sick and the needy, with people being carried on mats and laid at their feet.  Just touching the fringe of Jesus garments resulted in healing. Notice that there is not mention of devoutness or of strict adherence to the law. There is no mention that these people believed anything about Jesus other that he could make them better.

And it doesn’t appear that Jesus put any conditions on those who were healed. There is no questioning about who they believe he is. There is no direction to go wash or report to a priest about what has happened. Folks that day simply sought out Jesus and attempted to touch him and in so doing were healed and their lives were changed.

Now here is my answer to the question where does God dwell? God dwells where there is the most need. The most hunger, the most illness, the most poverty, the most desolation, depression, violence, war, hopelessness. The God of Life dwells where there is the most death. God dwells there because God has been there. God transformed death into the miracle of God’s own resurrection-and consequently ours-and God is busy about the business of doing it again and again and again.

I don’t know if you all have been following the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in Anaheim. It’s basically a one every three year legislative convention that pretty much determines how we are to do church. I went for a couple of  days to do border stuff and get resources for our various ministries and was glad I did. I was also glad I ddn’t stay too long. Well, the big news of this year’s convention was that a pretty sizable majority of clergy and laity said that it was time to move on and lift the moratorium on ordaining gay people as bishops, priests, deacons. Now I don’t believe that who we ordain is the essence of our life together but it does say something about who we are as a community and something specific about our identity as Christians who worship in an Episcopal tradition.

Back to my answer: prejudice and bigotry and intolerance-let’s call them death- were defeated. God  was in the midst of the great need of so many and God did what God does, God transformed the darkness into light. People living with integrity, living as honest human beings, who have suffered so much for who they are have been affirmed by our church and affirmed by our God. I don’t for a minute suggest that we are the perfect church. We have plenty to deal with and many challenges to continue to face, but at least for now, we can say we are moving ever closer to that structrure, the body that the author of Ephesians talks about. We have seen the dividing wall of hostility being torn down and with Christ as our cornerstone, we will continue to become a foundation for many people, a rock, a community of believers who are seeking to live in honesty, integrity, and humilty. I am proud to be an Episcopalian this morning. I haven’t always been able to say that and I’m sure that there will be times in my life that I will wonder what I am doing as one. But for now, I say to you that God was not contained in Anaheim. Brothers and Sisters did not seek to keep God in place but rather moved to where they thought God was leading. Our God is on the move and we are on the move with God. May we continue to follow where God leads. May we stay in place only long enough to catch our breath. May we respond to the great need around us. And, may we continue to dwell with God as God so clearly and everlastingly and without condition, judgement, or hesitancy dwells with us.

Amen

Home maintenance: Don’t be overcome by challenge.

Experts are important. Watch what they do. Learn. Adapt

Use the right tools. If you don’t have the right tools, use what you have.

Let the Spirit surprise you.

Think. Pray. Act

Money and buying someting new is not always the answer.

Don’t underestimate your creative ability, your experience, your ability to learn.

Prepared to be surprised and effective (successful)

The job is not over until it’s over.

Patience is key, crucial, and essential. Unless you’re in a hurry.

Avoid perfectionism. Do the best you can with what you have.

 Ask for help.

Put your tools away when your done. You’re going to need them again. 

 

Mark’s Gospel

Don’t be afraid of taking on a new project while you’re in the midst of another. You’re going to learn something from the second that will help you when you return to the first.

Jesus and the Crowd: healing with Woman with a Hemorrhage- he has some experience of the crowd in the sense that he’s aware of their presence while the woman touches him and receives healing.

How does his experience of the crowd in that healing affect his experience of the crowd in the second healing? In the first the crowd is merely puzzled at his question about who touched his cloak. In the second healing, the crowd has a much larger role and is doubtful, jeering, and emotionally distraught. He handles their incredulity with effectiveness and doesn’t appear to let their doubts and pain keep him from bringing healing and new life.

Skills and experience build upon one another. I often worry that I’ve forgotten much of what I learned in seminary. And the truth is that I have forgotten plenty of facts, figures, and information. But what has remained has been my experience in faith and the lessons that I’ve learned, many of which began during that very formative time in my life, have remained and continue to inform me in life and ministry.

For instance, because of some of the difficulty I had in seminary, I think that I learned that, despite my best intentions, I have little or no control over others and what they do. People respond how they respond and do what they do. Control of or others is a myth. What I do have control of is how I conduct myself and live my life. The truth that I live out is the truth as I have received it. It is mine and the best I can do is to share it with others. To the degree they resonate with what I say and do really is the degree to which my truth corresponds to their truth. If  I urge others to ’live a Day at a Time” and it works for them, then it’s not about them following me or living out their faith through me. Leadership, from my perspective,  is about living my life the best way I can. If others connect it’s because they have discovered the same is true for them. We walk together in Christ. We are community in that sense and all of us journey together.

About the only expertise I have is the expertise I have at living my life for some 47 years. Of all the people I know, Ive spent the most time with myself and know myself better than anyone else. My mother use to say to me when I was an adolescent that she knew me better than I know myself. That may have been true then, but not anymore.

Jesus, though he was surrounded by others during both of those healings, appears to have command of little more than himself. He can’t control the crowds or keep anyone from touching him. Even if he had wanted to, he didn’t have the control of the woman with the hemorrhage to keep her from touching him-something that as a 1st century male Jew would have given him at least a little pause. He certainly had not control of the crowd which was weeping when he approached Jarius’ daughter. He’s surrounded by chaos of a sense-not unlike last week’s scene in the boat- but he as the amazing presence of mind to summon the resources at his disposal, remember his past lessons learned, and bring new life and healing to the current challenge.

Experience builds. Faith builds. New life and healing builds. These things continue to grow and bloom because  that is the nature of life in God, in Christ, and in community with one another. I really believe that as we learn from the lessons before us, as we learn how to turn our experience into guidance and help for others, there is no limit to what we can become as individuals and members of our faith communities. Setbacks and doubts and delays occur because that to is the nature of life. But lessons will be learned and new life and healing will occur because we follow Jesus who both points to the way and is the way.

I always have a substantial sense of satisfaction when I finish even the most simple project around the house. I go back and look at it. See if it’s still working the way I fixed it and the way its supposed to. I do that because it makes me feel good and is life giving. Good things are happening to us in this community. It’s appropriate to enjoy them and to feel good about the common life we share in community. When I have to leave for SJ and you all are still having and enjoying coffee hour, I feel good about that because that wasn’t the case when we first started to journey together. I feel like I helped to make that happen. And I did. But the truth is, you all made it happen and continue to make it happen not primarily because I asked you to, but because it’s life giving and healing for you. Please take that seriously and remember that as we approach new challenges and lessons.

The training we had yesterday was a highlight for me because, one, we’ve been needing to to this for sometime and I’m glad that we could do it. But it also gives me a sense of satisfaction because when we started journeying together, we didn’t have acolytes and Eucharistic Ministers. Now we do and we need to take seriously that you all have responded. You’ve done that less because I’ve asked you to and you want to make me happy, but more out of your sense of truth that these ministries are life-giving for you and for others. I pray that we continue to bring the same life-giving, truth-telling, healing-producing to the other endeavours we take on together. I pray we continue to learn from one another and from the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Editor’s note: This is as far as I got before the suenos hit hard. Figured the rest out on Sunday am.

Samuel Reading:

David’s perspective informed by faith in God. The other who considered the threat posed by Goliath did not share the same perspective and experience of God’s hand at work as did David. His was not a blind faith. It was informed by the experience of facing lions and bears and still prevailing. He probably could not have faced Goliath without having had the critical experience of prevailing in other circumstances. Certainly, Goliath was not a lion or bear. He was a formiddable warrior who had been successfull and threatened to prevail again.

We all know what happens. David slays Goliath and they return

Collect: a true faith, as distinct from the true faith. Important to acknowledge the difference/distinction. Obama in SA & Egypt and Middle East. Engaging with Islam. World too big to contain God in one understanding and practice. Still, what do we do as those who call themselves Christians? In what sense is our faith in a Triune God true and eternal and the best understanding that we can come up with?

“Keep us steadfast in your faith and worship” We are Trinitarians in the sense that that is the faith that we inherit from history but also the faith that we continue to share with others around us. I don’t find the concept of the Trinity all that easy to understand, especially when I try to understand it; to break it down, to analyze, to grasp. To say God is three and to say God is one is not only funky math, but confusing for some. Confusing especially when we apply rational thought to it, when we try to explain it in the same way that we try to explain a scientific formula or an equation or a historical understanding.

I’ve noticed that when Episcopalians encounter something they don’t quite understand, they often fall back on what one could a “default” position, they’ll say, “well it’s a mystery”. I’ve heard that plenty. I’ve even used it myselft, and at some level, it can be understood as a cop-out and simply an out or a default and say well, I really don’t understand, so I’ll just say, well it’s a mystery, and get back to my television program or groovy new camcorder or Facebook, or something. But if I can stop for a moment and think about the idea of mystery, of tying to know something, that at a pretty profound level is unknowable, then mystery works.

I and some others signed up for an online class through the seminary I attended.  The introductory essay was an explanation about the concepts known as modernism and postmodernism. Now, if you go your whole life without having a grasp or even an inkling of the concepts of what modernism and postmodernism are, I don’t think you’re life will be less rich or you’ll be missing much. But they are concepts that exist and keep scholars employed and I think they can be helpful at some level.

Basically, as I understand the idea, people say that as westerners, we are in a so called postmodern epoch or time in our history. If something is “post’ as postmodern is, then something has to precede it to make it “post”, hence the term, modern. People have said that the so-called modern period, which basically began with the Enlightenment and continued for about 500 years has ended. To get an understanding of modernism, think Francis Bacon, Rene Decartes, the end of the idea that the earth revolved around the sun, think Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution, think John Locke and his thinking about government; think about Adam Smith and economics. Basically, to understand the idea of modernism, think about science and the scientific method and the application of rational thought to all sorts of problems and situations and stuff. When you think about modernism think about the idea that things can be understood in a rational and logical way and that it all should make sense.

Now, before I get into a critique of modernism, let me just say that some good things have come of it, mainly, the emphasis on science and inquiry and experiment and the expansion of knowledge. If people had stayed content to say, well, the plague or polio or the flu were just part of God’s design for humanity, then nobody would have set to the task to understand those diseases or illnessess and done anything to curing them and alleviating a lot of suffering. Science is good. Knowledge is good. Reason is good. One of the advantages of being an Episcopalian is that we value those aspects of human experience and say that we’ve got brains, given us by God, and it’s a good idea if we use them and value them.

The whole modernist process even applied to religion, especially to our religion Christianity. Basically, theologians and scriptural scholars and others said, well, look, if you can find more out about germs and physics by looking at that stuff critically and applying some reasoned understanding to them, then let’s do the same with theology and the Bible and our faith. And that, my brothers and sisters, is where the rub, as they say, is. Sometime in the 18th  and 19th centuries, folks started scrutinizing the Bible from a historical perspective and a more or less scientific perspective and this led to all kinds of criticism of Scripture. Instead of just simply saying, well, this is what the Bible says and we are too follow it-actually, the Church never quite looked at it that way. Fundamentalism is really a “modern” response- let’s take a look at the history of Israel. Let’s look at archeology, the historical record. Let’s get into the politics and sociology of the day and see what we can find out about the history of Israel and Jesus and the Church independently from what Scripture says about itself.

Well, what they came up with was challenging and critical and not all that easily accepted at first. Especially when folks said, well, you know, the Red Sea probably didn’t really get parted in two like it says in the Hebrew Scriptures. Looking at the archeology, we think that there was some sort of migration of the Hebrews and maybe they even had a challenge near the Red Sea with high tides and some mud, but nobody opened up the sea in the Cecile B. DeMille sense.

As to the Gospels, people said, well, we’re confident Jesus existed as a historical figure, we can verify that he was known as a teacher and had a following. We even have evidence to confirm that he was indeed arrested, tried, and crucified in Jerusalem probably more or less around the same time that the New Testament says he was. But as to the miracles and the healings and the walking on the water, well, listen, that simply doesn’t happen. It would be against the laws of physics and irrational and not particularly scientific. So, let’s just say that those wonderful stories about Noah and the Ark and David and Goliath and the Lazarus from the Dead and, well, even the Resurrection, let’s just put that in the category of myth, of legend, of oral tradition, and move on. We value our religion for giving us morality and meaning, but it’s gotten a little carried away, and after all, well we are modernists now, and we finally understand the way things work. And, quite frankly, we are sophisticated enough to practice our religion without the superstition.

Just as an anecdote to make my point, Thomas Jefferson, was a modernist par excellence: scientist, philosopher, politician. He’s a good example of someone who, as a product of his age, was deeply affected by the modern era and responded as a modernist. As I understand it, he even went so far to actually cut and paste through the New Testament and cut out the stories of miracle and supernatural occurrences and left the teachings of Jesus, thinking that was the real value of the Christian story, what Jesus taught and said as distinctly from what he was purported to have done.

Now, fast forward from Jefferson and those guys past Darwin and Marx, and get to the 20th century. Remember, we are still talking about the Trinity. It’s Trinity Sunday and Mystery and I now need to put the postmodern part of this into my sermon. I’m not sure where folks say that modernism ended and postmodernism began-and plenty of folks have careers and tenure and sabbaticals arguing just those questions- but suffice it to say, that  when WWI came and western civilization applied its knowledge of science and physics and mathematics to industrial warfare and came up with mustard gas and trench war fare and learned to kill with tanks and planes and very efficient canons and did so with great efficiency, almost whiping out the male population of Europe, well, some astute thinkers and philosophers and theologians began to say, you know, looking at the evidence around us and the destruction and what we’ve managed to do to each other as so-called moderns, well maybe we’ve over estimated our own capacity to improve and learn and to investigate, because we’ve done very well destroying ourselves here and that is not what the promise of modernism had to offer.

So folks began to rethink things and suggested there was a limit to what human knowledge could teach and attain. And this happened at the theological level and this superpositive, hopeful Christianity that didn’t need it’s miracles and mystery but could depend on its morality and moral authority failed because the moral authority of Englightened Christianity didn’t show up in the trenches of Germany and France when it was needed most.

Enter postmodernism, which as I understand it, is a philosophical construct which applies some criticism to the notion that everything can be known and understood and controlled. The tragedy of WWI had to do with the coming of a postmodern understanding, but so did, I think, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, which, after trickling down into philosophy and theology, affected things enough to say, well folks, maybe there is more than one way to look at things, and maybe truth is not as easy to grasp or as verifiable or understood as we thought. So, maybe, my brothers and sisters, this absolutist notion that one religion, notably our western one, has all the answers and is superior and is truth itself, well, maybe we need to exercise and embrace a bit of humilty here and at least acknowledge that we may not have it all figured out as well as we once thought we did.

Now, back to the Trinity, which by the way, is not a modern or a postmodern concept, but precedes both those constructs by at least a milennia or so. The notion that God is three persons but remains one God is not a new concept but ancient and came onto the scene well before Locke and Marx and Eienstein and mustard gas. But, we cannot ignore that we live in a age of relativism. We live in an age that is probably more open to the notion than ever before, that there can be more than one path to the holy, to the divine, to God. I simply have no problem with that and that’s not because I am a wonderful postmodern priest, effectively evangelized by postmodern theologians and scholars and trained to teach and preach my relativist thelogy to the new, however diverse, masses. I embrace this understanding that other religions also offer a path to God because it makes sense to me and because my mother taught me, when it was most important for me to understand it, that one cannot put God in a box.

So, to get back to the beginning, our collect prays that we would remain steadfast in this faith, steadfast in this unique understanding that somehow God, even though there is only one God and we shall have no other God but that one God.  Our collect prays that we would remain steadfast, we would continue to believe and practice this Trinitarian Christianity as best as we can and as best as we understand it-or don’t understand it- because that is the faith that we both have inherited and the faith that we renew and commit ourselves to every time we renew our baptism, feed on Christ  who is Eucharist,  one person of the Trinity, fully God, fully Human. This  faith enlivens us, motivates us and sustains us as we go out into this wonderfully complex, yet more wonderfully created world-modern, postmodern, beautifully created world- as those created in God’s image, created in the image of God, who at God’s essence is in relationship with itself and who, as a God whose essence is relationship, calls and encourages us to deeper relationship in God, in ourselves and one another, and in whom we live and move and have our being.

Amen

I recently completed my CREDO in Richmond, Virginia. CREDO is a program funded and operated by the Episcopal Church Pension Group and is designed to address the spiritual, vocational, financial, and physical health of Episcopal clergy and lay employees. I shared at the closing Eucharist that my week spent in community exploring and reflecting on different aspects of my professional and personal life was one of the best in my life. It was truly a remarkable experience and I felt very much like the Spirit was alive and well and working in and through all of us during our time together. God works in community and that was both reaffirmed and made new to me as I felt the Spirit’s promptings. I felt encouraged to attend to physical and financial well-being and also equipped to make some changes-including losing some weight!

Vocationally I felt affirmed that things were going pretty well with my work in So. Arizona but also want to make some adjustments and strengthen organization and goal-setting. Some clergy, of course, upon reflecting on thier positions, believed it was time to look at a move and pursue other employment and calls. I did not. I have just over three years in my position as vicar and border missioner and only want to strengthen the relationships I have  and the work I do in Cochise County and for and with the diocese of Arizona. I’m very fortunate to have the work I have, to enjoy good collegiality, a good bishop and diocese, and to work with some wonderful people in my congregations. As we say in Spanish, La Lucha Sigue (the struggle continues) and I’m content to be in the struggle with people I love and respect.

One of the more helpful, if a tad uncomfortable, was an exercise called Glib and Glob. Highly educated, professional, and uptight clergy were asked to construct a representation of their vital relationships using tissue paper, popsicle sticks, and glitter! I have more familiarity with this medium than most of my CREDO colleagues becasue of Catalina, my 5 year-old. As I set to the task of gluing, cutting, pasting, tearing, and tracing, I discovered both an affinity for purple glitter and tiny decals and awareness for the most important relationships of my life, with Catalina and Lori especially. I can’t overstate how important it is for me to remember that I am first a husband and father and called to and responsible for care and nurture of those two relationships. Lori and Cata strenghten my life, contribute to my ongoing healing and creativity, and ground me to the reality of family and connectedness in the midst of a busy workload and some unique demands. I love what I do. I love them even more. And I will be a more effective and happy priest as I remember them and remember the promises I have made to them both.

CREDO was great and I appreciate that I belong to and work for a church that cares enough about my development to make a significant investment in my well-being. It is in everyone’s interest, especially mine, for me to learn about and live into a balanced life. Our work as Christians is, to quote a U2 song, bring “heaven on earth”. I am more committed to that task as a result of my week in a lovely setting in Richmond, Virginia. I have more confidence and collegiality with my colleagues than I can remember. And I have a deeper sense that I have something to contribute to our well-being as church and as society. In God we Live and Move and Have our Being. I am so grateful for a renewed appreciation of that truth. I am grateful for community. Grateful for healing. Grateful for you all. Amen.

Acts 4:5-12

Peter’s transformation. One of my problems with GS Sunday is the analogy we make between sheep and believers. As a fundy, folks always talked about how stupid sheep were. As a corollary, we followers were stupid and in need of a GS. I don’t see Peter as stupid. I dont’ see any of us as stupid. In Peter I see an extraordinary story of transformation and courage. Certainly, being arrested they must have feared the same fate as JC. Yet, that doesn’t seem to keep him from speaking in what appears to be a pretty powerful way. Sheep seem docile, confused, and so easily led. I do not see that in Peter or in the Church that these Easter readings of Acts portray. Peter failed miserably, but interesting that last week, during discussion sermon, more than one person talked about Easter being about 2nd chances and opportunities. How powerful Peter’s testimony to that aspect of Easter. He lives into it and has a powerful witness and ministry as a result.

Psalm 23

What’s the guy doing in the Valley of the Shadow of evil/death if he is a stupid sheep? Docile and weak and dumb. Maybe the sheep wanders off aimlessly and gets in trouble. Sure that happens to us. But in the case of Peter, he puts himself in danger, or at least, allows himself to be put in danger, in the shadow of death. He could have walked away but he didn’t he came back and we see what has happened. We are not docile, victim-like folks to whom life happens. We are, or at least we can be Actors. Actors in the sense that we can be pro-active, creative, powerful, motivated by the Spirit. Certainly we need comfort and solace and the ministry of angels at times. Thank God for Ps 23 and the comfort that comes from it. But our comfort can come from being in the Lucha, en the struggle, in the tension that life is.  Easter Resurrection is about the courage to stay in the fight, whatever that may be for each of us and as a community. Whether we battle with personal demons, addictions, too much Facebook, illness. Or if we are part of a community that wants to make a difference, that wants to be light in the midst of darkness, that wants to be hope and community and God’s presence in times when fear and the shadow of death are seemingly closer all the time.

1 John 3:16-24

 

I don’t always take on the Epistle in my sermon’s, but this passage seems to be speaking to a theme I’m trying to connect with. The author speaks about boldness, action, and truth. That energy comes to us out of Easter Resurrection. For me coffee and Prozac help. The passage says we receive “boldness from God” Boldness. I don’t get boldness from sheep. Maybe I need to spend more time on a sheep ranch, but it’s not the first image that comes to mind. I get, like I said, docility, subservience, etc.  You may know that some folks receive communion standing. It’s actually a return to an ancient form of receiving communion. There was a sense in the Early Church that people had been made worthy to stand before Christ, before God. That’s actually in one of our Eucharistic prayers, that we have been made worthy to stand before you. I see that sense of worthiness, boldness, partnership with God in Peter. I see it in our congregation. I see it as folks take on leadership roles and exert themselves. This is Easter season, the humility, repentance, wallowing of Lent is over. Now we celebrate the feast, Alleluia. God Rocks, we Rock. Rock on, o people of God, Rock on

John 10:11-18

I’m looking at this Gospel passage and a bit relieved. Despite my concerns with the sheep, this passage is not about the sheep primarily, its about the Good Shepherd. It’s about Jesus and his response to us both historically, and how he continues in us. Actually, the docile one who cowers in this passage is not a particular sheep, but the hired hand. He splits and leaves the cheep on their own. The guy could use a little  Petrine  transformation. it’s Jesus the good shepherd who stays and deals with the wolf. You know his boldness emboldens me. His courage me encourages me, gives me courage. Many of us are parents. I know that one thing I can relate to as a parent is that I have a new sense of boldness now having a daughter. I know I come across as extroverted, etc. But it’s a persona and a mask and I’m pretty much looking for a laugh and reaction. I’m sensitive and don’t like conflict.  . I really don’t. I get into it with someone and I fret and stew for hours, days, etc.  I really do so I think I’m learning to pick my battles because I know that there is a cost for me. But when it comes to Cata, I find myself emboldened and ready to go to the mat for her. On more that once when I’ve felt that maybe some behavior or something was dangerous or threatening to her like on a play ground, etc. I really don’t hesitate in lifting my voice and saying hey, be careful or pay attention or something like that. It helps that I’m usually dealing with 12 year olds but I do get a bit animated. My fear of conflict is outweighed for my care and love for her. I wonder if that’s what happened in Peter and others. Obviously, the guy’s experiences changes. He has something to fight for, to struggle for, and he puts himself out there. Maybe he had a sense of protecting and promoting this new community that he had principle leadership for. Maybe he was emboldened by Jesus witness through the crucifixion. we dont’ typically get a picture of Jesus as fighting for his life throughout the ordeal of the crucifixion, but the more I think about what he went through, the more I see in him this profound courage to let go of control and to give himself over to what was beyond his control. we talked in the Men’s group Thursday about letting Go and letting God. I think of Jesus as the GS and it comes to me that as such he was still caring for his flock even as he went through the trial of his life. That leadership in acceptance and pacifism-as distinct from docility-is important. Had he resisted think about the  negative consequences not just for his followers, but for the whole of Jerusalem. The wolf he fought off in his own death was the wolf of aggresion and fear and of mob-rule. But I’m backing up. We’re in Easter andwe are on the other side of that drama. We are on the side of victory, hope, new life, second chances and transformation.

We are not sheep. We are human beings created in the image of God and given great gifts of creativity, compassion, leadership, and courage to face whatever it is that we need to face. We are those who have been given the gift to embrace the implications of Resurrection. Because we know that life endures beyond all odds and despite all indications to the contrary, we have been captured by that reality. In our own new life, we must fight for life, in our own rising again, we must shepherd life and lives. Wolves, our internal ones and the wolves that engender fear, threaten death, and feed on weakness, they loom and will continue to. But we know that the Good Shepherd leads us. the Good Shepherd goes first and never asks us to venture forth where he has not gone himself.  Christ descended to the Gates of Hell and came back to talk about it. May we live into that victory. May we accept the transformation that has already begun in us. May we joyfully stand before God, emboldened not by our own strength or merit, but by the courage and strentgh that is God and that God offers to us all. Alleluia.

1 John 4:7-21

God is love. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we ought to love one another. Theme of abide in me important. God’s love is perfected in us. No fear in love. but perfect love casts out fear; fear has to do with punishment. There is a freedom that I find comes after some maturity in faith. A freedom to be ones self. A freedom to be authentic. A freedom to not fear God’s punishment but to revel in God’s grace and acceptance and joy. I had a conversation yesterday with someone who fears the coming of a world government. Sees that globalization and technology and all are going to lead to one government. Cites book of Revelation. Referred to  the European Union as evidence of this trend or development. I remember that thinking from my time as a fundamentalist. The European Union had something do with clay feet and once the EU gto  to ten members, then Armageddon would be on. I don’t fear a world government. I don’t fear it if it happens, but I don’t think it’s too realistic. Talking to someone else this past week who objected t the idea that the US is a Christian nation. Quite aware that’s some how a way p[people look upon our history. I don’t see it quite that way. But more importantly, I odn’t  necessarily care if the country is Christian. Pretty sure that  I don’t want that. But what I do want is for the churhc to be Christian. If we could get there that would be good. What I mean is that I wish the Church would embrace some of its core values a bit more seriously.

John 15:1-8

Really like vine imagery and see it as distinct from a tree image. A vine has a life of its own. I know this passage refers to vines in a vineyard, which are pretty well pruned and trimmed and directed toward the fullest yield they can produces. I think of a vine of ivy along a wall or building. It just takes over and makes its way up the wall- for years. I think of the vines of the rainforest’s in Panama. That were all tangles and interlocked high above in the canopy but they would also drop down as individual vines and just hang there.I like the vine imagery because I like how it seems to move and adapt according to its circumstances. as beautiful as a tree is, it’s stationary and even though it boughs and branches may give wonderful shelter and all that for other creatures, a tree is not going anywhere. I tree may be expansive above its trunk and its trunk may even grow and grow. but it is stationary.A vine is not. I’m no horticulturist or vine grower, but it appears as if a fine can have more than one base, it can actually start another supportive root system that augments the current one.

I think I’d prefer to think of the church as a vine than as a tree. I like to think of the church as one the move, even if that movement is slow and painstaking. I lilek to think of the church as adaptive to new circumstances, an organic institution that can both produce growth and fruit Adanalso be led by growth and fruit.A vine is going to go after warterandnourishment. it’s going to move along to find those things. I hope the church would be less stationary and more agile and responsive and ready to move along right path sake

You know we in the Episcopal Church ventured into some uncharted territory. By seeking to be an inclusive church we are moving along a path that is asking us to be more responsive and adaptive and the like. I wonder if we are not only leading, but being led. There is this sentiment in some Christian circles that says we are to stand firm against the culture and the values around us and not to be polluted or swayed by them. I think the church could use come cross fertilization and sway. The church, I think, was on the right side of history by embracing the Civil Rights Movement. Certainly, much of that movement had its origins in the Church, especially the black church, but other church folk took a look around them, saw what was happening in the streets and in the courts and in the culture and was led by the movement as much as led it.

I’m very taken by this word and idea of abide. Its used not only in the Gospel but in First John and I find it very compelling. I think of abide and I think of the idea of staying  in the fray, continuing in God, hanging in there. Abiding. We are in relationship with one another and that in and of itself is very significant. We are in relationship with one another and we are to abide in each other and in God through Christ by staying in relationship. there si a clarity in this passage that says that a part from the vine, there can be no fruit. I think that is fundamentally true. Apart from the vine,, there is isolation and fear and not much fruit. If I am to thrive in Christ or hang in there or stay in the fight or continue I need to stay in relationship, to stay connected. If I cut myself off or wander off or lose touch with you in any form -and it doesn’t have be physical, I can lose connection by stopping listening or insisting on my own point of view or not letting others in- if I stop that, then I will wither and die and not do very well. In the years I’ve been ordained and had pastoral responsibility, there have been times when folks, for whatever reasons, have stopped coming to church. It’s happened hear and will probably happen were I too serve other places. When that happens I’m saddened for a couple of reasons: one, I know that our community is at a loss because of their loss, and two, I get concerned by what could happen in them. Some find other faith communities. And some do not. That’s probably the part that is the hardest, for those who have no home, for those who are not part of the vine, which I think is so life-giving and essential.

I just want to get back to this issue of fear and love, before I concluded. I think some fear for the future of the Christianity and the church. Sometimes I do. I don’t consider myself a super-orthodox person, but I do have a sense of history and an appreciation for what has come before us. I also understand, at some level, the impact of the change that we are facing. In seeking to be inclusive to all kinds of folks, we are moving in new directions. Our theology is changing and adjusting, our liturgy is changing and adjusting, our practice of ministry is changing and adjusting. Some fear that the church  and its faith will hardly be recognizable in a generation or two from now because of what we are getting into. I don’t fear that as much when I think about a couple of things. One, I think about the Eucharist. I think about how ancient a tradition and ritual it is and I think that it’s gone through a lot. language, understanding, etc. But we still have it and it looks like we will continue to do have it. A lot has changed around it, but the words This is my body, this is my blood. Take eat. Take drink, have not. Nor will they. We stay in touch with what the Eucharist is, we will be fine. And I also think about 1st john in the sense that he insists upon the idea that God is love and that we ought ot love one another. What else is there to say. If we continue to insist and to live and to preach and to witness to God’s love in this world, we will be fine. If we continue to do what we do pretty well together-we can always improve- but if we continue to love one another, to abide in one another, to care for one another, then there will be no problem. I believe that because I believe what 1st John says, God is love, and perfect love casts out fear.

May we continue to be God’s love in this place in time. May we continue to hang in there, stay in the fray, abide, abide. And may we do so as an Easter people, a people who enjoy life and God’s richest blessings because God is helping us to do away with fear, to love, and love well. To Continue in God and trust that God Continues in us.  Alleluia