Sunday, October 9, 2011

Our Kingdom or God's

Sheri and I are very happy to be back to visit and pray with you all again. This facility has been rightly claimed as a central hub and a meeting place for numerous diocesan programs, classes, and meetings. The church’s structure is classic, the grounds are sanctified and made holy by the countless gifts of the body of Christ, and the community is a reflection of what one wishes to see in a church that treats others as Christ asked us to. So when I’m offered the opportunity to return and participate in your celebrations, I make every effort to share in this experience. We had been looking for a wonderful retreat for the morning, the weather is precisely as we’d love for early October, and time was not an issue. But that was our plan and our little kingdom.
As it were, this is not quite as happy a reunion as we may have wished. God had other plans, ones that involved the loss of some dear friends and family. Other personal events precluded me from paying attention to what I’m supposed to be doing in managing my email, and just a tad forgetful about how some medications interrupt your previously planned agenda. Then, you see, here’s my hiking staff - not relevant to the OT reading dealing with Moses – who proudly carried his about reverently. What this staff represents is the closest thing I have to a cane after a bout with sciatica that put me in the Emergency Room last weekend. What matters most about it though, is that these events, incidents and happenings are all things as viewed by me in my life, in my kingdom. They are not one bit about what God has planned for you and me in His kingdom – in the here and now in what we call “real time.”
Here it’s pointed out in splendor in the Gospel reading of Matthew about the land owner who is preparing for a wedding feast. Everything he needs and wants is planned. All the meals are prepared. The wine is ready. The tables are set. The band is playing. And so he sends out his slaves to pass on the good news that a celebration is in order and all that is needed are people to come along and join in the celebration. Sounds like a plan to me! But not all agree with his plan. Everyone invited is too busy doing their own thing in their own world to be bothered with the good tidings of another. Some go back to their fields and finish farming. Some go back home to their families and businesses. Still others take on horrific acts of torture and murder against the king’s slaves. Who, then, in their right mind would expect the land owner to be anything other than enraged? But even to the point of being filled with enough hatred to send his armies out to kill the invited guests? Here again, this is happening not in God’s kingdom, but in our own created kingdom of self-absorbed and human-made priorities. None of it is about God and what He has created for us in this parallel reality. We see it as a playbill at the local theatre called “Our kingdom now versus the Kingdom of God here and now”. The play continues from ages past, scene after scene, act after act, play after play. The script – the loving mercy and grace of God - stays the same; only we hear the actor’s ad lib their lines to fit things conveniently into their lifestyle and away from the script which appears to be a burden of socializing and patronizing with others.
Now being the well-known man he appears to be, after killing off the original intended guests, he sends more servants out to invite everyone else to his celebration that he may somehow show some kindness. This is where novices such as myself come to a sharp “do I really have to go here?” when a man shows up without a wedding robe and has no answer for why he’s not properly dressed? Perhaps it’s the man’s inability to respond that gets him in the most trouble and hurled back out into the streets to be one with the wailing and gnashing of teeth! Today he might say, “Oh, getting a last minute invitation with my tux in the cleaners left me with only a sport coat and a tie that didn’t match, I’m so sorry, I’ll leave if you want me to! Please pass on my congratulations to the lovely couple!” But the fact of the matter is that the man just showed up and expected to be a participant without preparation of any sort to maybe see if he could get by. That’s all speculation, but trying to pinpoint God’s plan for salvation in extraordinary situations is something theologians have been working on exegesis of for over 2 thousand years. And it may be another thousand or so years that we remain rehashing these parables over and over again until we are able to get past the final notion that perhaps God’s plan and kingdom IS the here and now. And every single one of us IS called. Maybe it’s how we attempt to see His kingdom at work while ours goes on in our own little brain, hashing away why we need to go home instead of attending that one other gathering that is the place we should really be heading instead of into the little world of ours, that is a little cause, that is more important to us in our own kingdom.
Many are called. And few are chosen. Perhaps it is the ones who realize that God’s kingdom contains the good and the bad, the fast and the slow, those who have good intentions and those who are lazy, the giver and the thief, and all things in between. For it’s what we choose to do when we are called, that – according to the Gospel of Matthew – makes the difference whether we continue in our kingdom wailing and gnashing our teeth, or see God’s kingdom and reach out to lend a hand where one is needed.
Recently I’ve been following a few blogs on current events and only my back has prevented me from being present at the rallys and meetings. But my voice is being heard in phone calls to politicians and CEOs and others who need to know what it is the people are going through these days. I’m not urging you to join me in my efforts at that scale, but to continue to do what you see that needs to be done in God’s Kingdom here in this church and community. In the words of the late Bobby Kennedy, ”Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.” I agree with Bobby. Our generation and time is to bring the Kingdom of God into our daily lives and continue doing what we can and must do best: Be the hands, eyes, ears, and voice of accepting to be chosen and allow Christ to act through us to create His Kingdom.
Amen

Sunday, August 21, 2011

St Peter's Confession

I spent the last school year attending extended CPE: Clinical Pastoral Education. My plate was full after adding the remaining two classes to finish my School of Christian Studies requirements. Those two classes along with the CPE completed all of the Diocese’s requirements of a postulant as well. And as I was writing this sermon on Friday, I received notification from Bishop Baxter inviting me to meet the Ordination Commission on September 28th, to be interviewed for Candidacy as a Deacon. I owe a great deal of thanks for the support of Father Mark, the vestry, and to all of you for making this possible. I’m truly grateful for making it this far.
During my CPE I did an internship as a chaplain at Gettysburg Hospital. There are so many stories of how God creates the space in the midst of a Chaplain and the patient or patient’s family and friends; I hope to have the opportunity to tell you about some of them in the future. I was able to pray with many different people and many different styles from a Quaker woman who asked me just to sit with her in silence to a Four Square Pentecostal Minister who was whipping up the Holy Spirit with huge gyrations of his arms and loudly praising Jesus and asking Him for His healing power! Some stared off in to space while others quietly wept. I in turn worked on my listening skills and learned how to pray without a book. This produced some very tender moments where I left the room in tears on more than several occasions. As the year progressed, entering a room became easier. The situations didn’t. You see, at the beginning of the course there was so much confusion in my mind as what I was to do or what to expect when making visits. Hospitals were not my favorite place to be; especially with my wife having spent so much time in them the past couple of years. After a time I was going along with the flow, so to speak, paying attention, listening, talking things over with my peers and colleagues to grasp an understanding of what was expected of me. Then one day I was called on an emergency and before you know it I was reacting and not thinking because I’d let go of my safety net and was relying – unknowingly - on Holy Spirit to guide my actions.
This sounds similar to what many of us do on our paths as we try to understand what we are called to do or why we are called to do it. We have a gut feeling or something catches our attention and we start to seek out and learn what we can. We may have a revelation or an epiphany. And the reality of it is – with the exception of having Jesus physically present – is that these episodes in our lives aren’t very different from what the apostles experienced as they travelled with Jesus on his journeys of healing and preaching. They are the experiences that are described in what we just read in the Gospels. They listened to his call as he chose each of them; they dropped their current interests and began to follow him. They were normal workers, tradesmen, and professionals who worked at their jobs for the family income. They watched, they listened, and they talked with each other about what Jesus taught them. Their journey was more ardent then yours or mine, no doubt, and if any of them were like me and perhaps a few of you, a lot of knowledge and education came their way through osmosis. If we hear something and do something enough times - one day we find ourselves hearing the Holy Spirit speak to us as we receive the answers we need. After Jesus’ journey that included feeding the 5,000 then the 4,000 with numerous miracles thrown in here and there for good measure, it came time for Him to see who had been paying attention. After crossing the sea and landing on the banks of Caesarea, Jesus asks the question that brings their journey to a turning point. A turning point toward a destination they were not expecting: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Ask yourself that question. Who do you believe to be the Son of Man, the Messiah, the Christ? The apostles answer to the question showed the diversity of opinions the people had, who held the likes of John the Baptist, Elijah, and the prophets in high esteem. None of them; however, had mentioned Jesus.
Now the title Son of Man is most often referred to as meaning the Messiah. It dates back to the Old Testament and appears in several books of the prophets, most notably in the apocryphal text of Daniel, but Ezekiel holds the claim for being called Son of Man the most times with over ninety references, just slightly higher than any reference to Jesus in all of the Gospels combined. So after Jesus hears the replies he asks another question. Up to this point, he was considered a great teacher, healer, and performer of miracles who knew many things, but there were many others out in the streets at this time in history who were claiming to be the Christ. What throws the whole Messiah image upside down is that Jesus’ image is not of the Warrior King savior that Israel had been looking for to set them free and lead them to the Promised Land. The Son of Man was about to become completely ridiculed, tortured, and murdered in order to bring about a different kind of redemption. Redemption not of land, material possessions, or physical freedom; but redemption for the loss of Eden, broken trusts, and reconciliation of the soul with God. A redemption that would be secured through the resurrection.
Recently I heard this next question in a different way. Even as the question was read as I’ve heard every time before with the emphasis “Who do YOU say that I am?” with the emphasis on the “You”, I heard “who do you say that “I AM?” And I immediately recalled: I AM THAT I AM. Who knows if this was what Peter heard, too, for he burst out, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God!” Yes, it was at this point where Peter was open and listening to the Holy Spirit revealing to him the answer that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of Man, and the Son - not just of a god, but the Son of the one living God. If we think about the reactions of the others as they sat hearing this, each of us may have our own thoughts. Some will imagine them sitting quietly soaking it all in, feeling the Holy Spirit move through them in a calming peace. Others may feel an exhilaration and want to jump up and down swinging their arms around because they can’t contain the emotions that are welling up inside. Still others may weep happily, laugh with joy, or even stare up into the heavens and ask themselves over and over, “What just happened here?”
For Peter, what happened next was the presentation of authority and responsibility for the knowledge he had just received. It is said that with knowledge comes responsibility. Ignorance may be bliss in some places but for me, nothing is as exhilarating as the knowledge that Jesus is the Son of Man. I hope to continue with the help of God to be responsible by supporting this claim through my actions. As each of us receives the message and realizes what it entails, may we carry out that responsibility and continue the work of Christ in whatever gifts we have been given. Whether it be providing food for several dozen people at lunch, sending cards or making phone calls to the sick and homebound, or using the power of prayer to connect with the Holy Spirit and bring about peace; whatever your gift, when used the grace received in return from the Son of Man is truly amazing. Amen.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

The Crocuses

The crocuses are lying just below the snow this time of year. I know that. They are not visible but they are there from my planting them some 15 years ago. It’s normal for me to think of them during early January when my exposed skin bears the brunt of the wind that pushes the temperatures downward. I gaze into the barren field across the road, searching the stripped branches for signs of this year’s buds that will obey their creator and open when they are called. We have just entered into the season after Epiphany, yet I seem to be yearning for Easter. Am I impatient? Bored? Confused? Apparently there is some disconnect between my senses and my soul. Or perhaps I am just present in a place I may not have been before.
There are many Januarys tucked into my life. Most of them have been forgotten in a mundane silence of cold or the blur of a holiday hangover. One is particularly well deserving of my life’s landmark in time from the freshness and excitement of a new found love, my wife. Although it is a characteristically mundane new year in appearance, my world seems unsettled. I can tell you that my intentions of being present to the purpose of Advent were honorable, even with the death of my beloved Dad in the midst of it. Death is as obvious as birth at this time of year. We die to our old selves to be born again in Christ. Advent is a time of exploring and waiting. Christmas is a time of celebrating. Epiphany is a time of discovery and turning the corner to a new world of life and thought. Living and thinking anew are not compatible with most secular mind sets. We are told it is not acceptable to keep your decorations up into the next year. Christmas began (for some) after Halloween, while a vast number started the celebration while engaged in the activities of Thanksgiving Day. While I have no objection to preparing for holidays in advance, my personal preference is to remain active during the entirety of this holy season. So when my friends comment on my continued and seemingly excessive salutations for a Merry Christmas past New Year’s day, I am not puzzled by their curiosity.
As much as I’d like to commend myself for previous years where I thought a corner had been turned in my journey, there was merely a hint of change – barely a glimmer of hope. While honoring myself with pats on the back, there was a retreat of sorts back to a secular world where I found comfort in being with the norm. Today I am uncomfortable. And we are well past Christmas. We are just past Epiphany. I begin to contemplate the words of T. S. Elliot in his poem “The Journey of the Magi”:
“…But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, With an alien people clutching their Gods. I should be glad of another death.”
Yes, it has been told time and again from those whose formation makes a turn to another reality where the world seems to be looked at through different lenses. Once we become the Magi, where we make the discovery that there is a different world when discovering Christ, when our attention is not ruled by a date on the calendar dictating when and what hangs on our door, decorates our walls, or lights up our lawns, that is where we meet Christ in the world. I do not know if my present situation is because of an uneasiness with the world as I refrain from being drawn back to my old dispensation. It could just as well be a continued process of grief. Or a head cold. Only time will tell. Meanwhile, I do know that the crocuses are lying just below the snow this time of year.