Praying Politically Subversive Statements

 

Jesus went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat.  When Jesus’ family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’    Mark 3: 20

 

Jesus’ family is worried about him, so they go to him – perhaps to see for themselves or to talk sense into him or to protect him from the crowds. There is real concern for people are saying Jesus is out of his mind while others are saying that Jesus is possessed by the devil. Jesus is certainly drawing attention and crowds: perf0rming miracle after miracle, touching the sick, eating with sinners,  casting out demons, and telling what sound like prophetic parables that include dangerous kingdom talk.

It sounds overwhelming, chaotic: imagine being surrounded by large groups of disenfranchised people those looking for God’s steadfast love by means outside of the Temple, the Temple officials wanting a return of control of power over the people, people in the margins needing healing and words of hope, the insurrectionists who think Jesus might just be the military Messiah they are dreaming of.

 

I picture a scene of:  logging protestors, anti-maskers, pro-Palestinians, Pride flag bearers, BlackLivesMatter marchers, drummers calling for truth and reconciliation, people placing pairs of tiny shoes for Indigenous children’s lives lost, all gathered in a park around the tents of the homeless and precariously housed – all there because Jesus has something to say or be for the cause, the circumstance, directly affecting their life. Arriving and standing on the sidelines poised, ready, are eager reporters, curious bystanders -phones out to record, and flack-jacketed law enforcement. And in the middle of this crowd is Jesus standing on a picnic table, portable mic in hand – speaking kin-dom truth, while the disciples act as body guards pushing the crowd off the table.

 

And this is why the Psalms (otherwise known as the Psalter) was Jesus’ prayer book;

and for the summer will be our prayer book, our focus.

 

This past week I was reading a blog about Bonhoeffer where the author described the Psalms as politically subversive statements. Continuing to say that Bonhoeffer – following in the steps of Jesus- used the Psalms as a prayer book; praying the Psalms led both, Jesus and Bonhoeffer, to actions that had them face execution.  Praying the Psalms is a powerful way to join in the work of God, the kin-dom, -- but it is dangerous to pray politically subversive statements.

 It is dangerous because, as Mother Theresa once said, “I use to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know prayer changes us, and we change things.”

 

The powers-that-be do like when ‘WE’  including any person I mentioned standing in the park around Jesus on the picnic table, change, and then change things. Praying the Psalms is a continuation of the revolutionary work of Jesus passed on through the ages in a community of Spirit joined by the steadfast love of God that endures forever.

 

Bonhoeffer in his book, “Life Together,” explains ‘the secret of the Psalter,’ where those who pray (not read, but pray) the psalms learn three things.  First a person learns what prayer means by praying the Word of God including God’s promises; secondly one learns what one should pray; and thirdly one learns to pray as a fellowship.

 

Over the years, I have heard two opinions about the Psalms, both opinions often held by the same person: that the psalms are comforting so should be used all the time, while others are over the top and should be entirely excluded. The Psalms present joy, that for some is too high; pain that is too sharp; sufferings that are too distant; expressions that are too harsh; thoughts that are too private to share aloud - politically incorrect or impolite to speak aloud even though the thoughts have passed through the mind.

 

Bonhoeffer described the Psalms as prayer for the community – a fellowship – which for Christians is centred with Christ. A paraphrase of his thought goes something like this:

Each of our individual prayers is but a minute fragment of the whole prayer of the church.  As we pray a psalm, we enter the prayers of Jesus -the very ones Jesus prayed - and so we are transported to enter into Christ’s sufferings when he prayed the psalms – we are with Jesus singing the Psalms after the Last Supper, with Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, with Jesus crying from the cross. When we enter the prayers of Jesus we encounter in that prayer place others who also have prayed with Christ. Our prayers do not end in Jesus’ earthly moments, our connection then moves outward to Christ’s entering the sufferings in the current world through those praying the Psalms in the circumstances in which they find themselves – at a death bed, in the refugee camp, in residential schools and in the remaining trauma, in forgotten burials mounds, in an AIDS hospice, in an internment facility, in the courtroom, behind bars; we enter the prayers, the lives of others who are praying from their experiences that are beyond our own – we enter the sufferings of all, a fellowship of prayer that extends way beyond our boundaries and sense of comfort. This profound fellowship, profound prayer, changes us... so that we change things.

 

Jesus was not out of his mind or possessed by devils, he was empowered.

Praying the politically subversive statements of the Psalms, entering the extremes and depths of human emotion, connected to the promises of God, embraced in the Word – God’s steadfast love enduring forever and ever, had Jesus prophetically and boldly preach and bring the kin-dom of God to the present.

And yes, it was dangerous...

the sick were healed, the possessed were set free, the hungry were fed, the powers-that-be were put in their place, hope was given, grace shared;

the marginalized were included, people were not forgotten, differing views stood side-by-side, gross injustice was named,

 and a fellowship of unlikely groups came together to listen, to pray, to enter each others’ sufferings,  to change... and thus change things, for the healing of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him.  A crowd was siting around him; and they said to Jesus, “ your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And Jesus replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, Jesus said, “here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3: 31-33

Trinity: Words Are Not Enough

 

Human beings communicate using words. For some of us lots and lots of words.

This morning is Holy Trinity Sunday and through the centuries tomes have been written to explain this doctrine of the church.  And although a lot of very smart people have spent lifetimes on the subject, their descriptions fall short and are oft times accused of being close to heresy.  As musician Jon English wrote – “Words are not enough.”

 

In this morning’s Gospel, Nicodemus and Jesus are having a conversation about the kingdom of God. Jesus says, “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above,” and also, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of Spirit is spirit.”

The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus is a multilayered story, pregnant with possibility.  Stepping aside from traditional interpretations, this morning we are going to continue the conversation begun in the season of Easter, where we have considered how to tell the Gospel story, --- Jesus’ death and resurrection, God’s love---- to a hurting world; exploring authentic and innovative ways to share the Good News.

When I heard the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, “the flesh is flesh and the Spirit is spirit,” I interpreted a dualism – two very different ways of being and understanding: body vs. spirit, thinking vs. feeling, ... and a lack of relationship between the two, other than they are on either end of a polarity. The conversation is full of words, what might be called ‘heady’ phrases issued by Jesus, thought provoking where Nicodemus -and of course ourselves- know we hear something important, but, can’t quite grasp the fullness of the explanation.  To top that, Jesus used ‘heady’ phrases to talk about the heart, the feeling, the action of Spirit, who is beyond words.

 

Although the church has spent centuries discussing and arguing about the nature of God – the doctrine of the Trinity- I would like to think that the discussion mirrors that of Jesus: ‘heady’ phrases that emphasize the dualism human beings make between using our heads and using our hearts. Perhaps the very idea of Trinity is to draw out the polarity, so that in trying to work out the nitty-gritty of the Trinity, the complex relationship of the Mystery has us give up and move to heart and experience --- drawing us to the centre of the relationship where the polarity crosses over.

Preacher Claudio Carvalhaes explains God as Trinity where Trinity’s nature and character is the relationship’s deep belonging and entanglements --- a very dynamic and moving being and action - as is all relational living.  Words are not enough to describe the fullness of this relationship.

In this place, where the polarity crosses over – where our heads and our hearts converge, here, one finds a synergy, life, possibility. It is here that language -words- are transformed.

The kin-dom of God is experienced (flesh and spirit, in water and word, thinking and feeling) in the language of art: poetry and spoken word; song lyrics and music; drama, theatre, and dance; visual art in a plethora of mediums; mathematical equations and coding.

 

Assistant to the Bishop Rev. Doug Reble tells this story in his sermon for today:

The story is told of a wealthy man, who commissioned Pablo Picasso to paint a portrait of his wife.  When the portrait was completed, the man was shocked to see the image that had been created. “Why that looks nothing like my wife. You should have painted her the way she really is!” Picasso took a deep breath and said, “I’m not sure what that would be.” Without hesitation, the man pulled out his wallet and removed a photograph of his wife saying, “There, you see, this is how she really is!  Picasso bending over, looked at it and replied, “She is rather small and flat, isn’t she?”

 

Or what of the famous portrait of Winston Churchill painted by Sutherland and given to  Churchill at a public ceremony in Westminster Hall for his 80^th birthday.  Churchill felt the portrait to be terribly unflattering; as the artist captured the fragility of age, a sternness, and a look of disenchantment.  So unimpressed with it, Churchill did not display it – after his death his wife said that to relief his frustration she had had it destroyed a couple of months after it was painted.  

 

Lutheran theologian, Paul Tillich, wrote some very good theology about art – abstract art – to be exact. There is ‘art’ from WWII , that are paintings that appear as exact representations- draftsmen-like- of fighting war planes or navy vessels for example; rendered in greys and blues, model-like, and flat.  The works engage the head not the heart. This was the point – the art recorded the war, while safely keeping feelings out of it; in other words, bottled up never to be addressed.  Like talking about the Trinity with words alone, is keeping God talk in the realm of word and the head, so there is a measure of control.

Tillich describes the birth of abstract art as a counteresponse. All the pent-up emotion (anxiety, PTSD, depression, conflict, change) post-war was painted out, splatted, smeared, thrown, across canvasses. Emotion was up-chucked, spewed out, and publicly displayed.  Many spoke out about their dislike for abstract art, their discomfort with the chaos, the inability to make sense of the works of art.  Tillich theologized that abstract work was the post-war gospel, the Spirit at work. You see the chaos depicted -when looked at- moved and had the observer FEEL the work, often agitating the fear and anxiety within the onlooker; making the onlooker uncomfortable in their own skin, as what the person was bottling up would come to the surface because they were seeing how they felt. As one continued to engage with the abstract the movement would lead the eye to a bright spot -HOPE- that carried off the canvas....the abstracted caused a disruption that allowed the person to move -to be changed... leaving the art the person returned to the world with options, a heart and mind to experience and see resurrection, and possibilities for healing and wholeness.  A picture of the Ultimate (that would be Tillich’s name and expression for God – rather than Trinity); a picture of the Ultimate’s kin-dom come to life in relational living, where head and heart converge so one can enter more fully into the Mystery of God.

 

I have learned a lot over the past month while writing and retelling Luke’s version of the resurrection using words that begin with the same letter of the alphabet.  Pondering words, scouring the dictionary, imputing words into an online thesaurus, to recreate the story has brought the resurrection story to life and given my heart and brain innovative, provocative, exciting, disturbing, and changing ways to enter the story.  It’s in the dimensions, the nuances that the story has infected me in a new way... and now is proclaimed as a new creation --- abundant with meaning, purpose, and life. It is the same old story, but it is not the same old story. To say that Jesus was murdered, martyred, rings in my ears differently than the word crucified. To say that the Marys found Jesus missing!.. has me experience the story in more depth.

 

I suppose the sermon for today comes from a theme -read in blogs and talked about on the radio- of there being an over all ‘flat’ feeling going around.  COVID has many feeling that life is flat.  Before COVID, and now even more through COVID, many were feeling that church life, the story of the Gospel was flat – some of us were too afraid to let that thought bubble to the surface.  I think -I feel- that in regular time our telling of the Gospel, our love for God, faith, hope, engagement with the church and community was comfortable and lived more through our heads so we had more control of the outcomes. Perhaps this abstract art titled ‘COVID’ has forced us to move from our being too much in our heads and returned us to matters of the heart.

 

I have a memory of my dad being commissioned to do a watercolour painting of an immaculately tended house, the sort where one would never find even a blade of grass out of place on the front yard. Dad painted the house and included (almost emphasized) the downspout of the rain gutter; the end of it looked like the lawn mower had runover it; the man commissioning the work, asked dad to redo it – on the next trip past the house the rainspout had been replaced. I don’t remember if dad redid the painting – I remember him commenting that the spout was the character that made the flat house come alive.

 

Our bumps and bruises, our fears and foibles, our crazy ideas and creative mannerisms, our gruffness and worries, our enthusiasm and untapped talents, our approach to change, the things about us that endear us to others, the pieces that annoy and grated on others around us, ... the things that make us characters... these are the parts of us that are authentic and alive --- that are the abstract ... the Spirit ... working to get us out of words alone, because they are not enough.  To be un-flat, is to relish being in the convergence point of head and heart, in relationship’s deep belonging centre where in the entanglement hope and resurrection burst forth; that is where the mystery of Trinity dances and from that revolving synergy creates the energy that is spewed across the canvas of the world with healing for all.

the Gospel According to the Letter 'M'

 this retelling is based on the resurrection story from the Gospel of Luke

In the mirky morning mist, Mary, Mary, Mary, and Joanna, meandered to the mortuary mound with emoliant myrrh to massage the mummy with mandated mourning ministrations.  Materializing at the mouth of the monolith, the mini-mob-of-mourners, were mystified as the monolith's mouth's masking mass was moved. 

The Marys, mesmorized, move into the moist moldy masoleum.  The mortal man - the mortal membrane of the Master ---- missing!

Momentarily, magnanimous messengers manifest, magnifying the miracle --- the Messiah is mobile!

The messengers masterfully massage their minds with the Master's message and mission of mercy.  The mob of Marys mulls memories, and are minidful of the Messiah's material manna and mysterious memory of the masterplan: that the Messiah must be maliciously marked, mocked, and murdered by manevolent men-of-the-cloth and municiapl Machievellian magistrates, martyred --- and after a medley of matins be miraculously mended, a masterpiece.

The Marys - amazed- immediately mosey to the mainstay of the Master's male minian and mates.  The Marys meet their melancholy with a magnificient monumental message.  The Master's mulish male minian and mates misunderstood and mistook the message as the Mary menagerie meerly making melodrama.

Meanwhile, motivated Peter, marched to the mortuary mound.  Misgivings melt at the meagre materials misplaced in the masoleum - a muslin mort-cloth.  Musings of the mob of Marys, meritorious.  No myth. A major miracle - the Messiah mobile!  Magnificient!

The Gospel According to the Letter 'P'

 This rendition of the resurrection story is based on the story found in the Gospel of Luke

Pre-dawn, a proficient and pleasant peasant party, a plethora of Marys plus peers, perambulated purposefully to the place of the permanently planted to perform prescribed perfuming practices on the passed away.  Pausing in the park, the party was puzzled -- the posterior partition plugging the portal was pushed passed its position.  Penetrating the portal, peekin in, the Promise - the prophesied Prince of Peace's presence had parted.  The perplexed party pondered the proceeding's particulars.

Partner plenipotentiaries presented themselves, probing the party. This plan proves impossible, to perceive a person with a pulse in a place pertaining to the plainly perished.  The Prince's pulse plus presence has parted.  Picked up plus propelled! Permeated by Progenitive Power!

Picking precise parables plus phrases the plenipotentiaries point to the Promise, the Prince of Peace's preachings: the Promise's plight of persecution, prison, public pain, prosecution by pompous priests plus poisoned politicians. Punishment. Permanent perishing, period. Patiently prepared to persevere passover of primetime, primetime, primetime--- POOF! A potent perfection of power, as the pulsating Prince of Peace 'ppears positively present.

Points perculated; the party perceived the parables plus phrases perfectly.  Pleased, promptly the party proceeded to portray the present prediciment to the pupils plus pals of the Prince of Peace. The party with passionate persistance produced a profound proclamation of the promise. The pupils plus pals pleaded, preposterous! --- presuming the party was partaking in penning phony prose.

Pragmatic Peter personally proceeded to the permanent place of the perished.  Plunged in. Poked about. Peter perceived paltry paraphenalia otherwise the portal presented perfectly plain, pristine.  The party's proclamation proved perfect.  Praise pure providence!

The Gospel According to the Letter 'T'

 this rendition of the resurrection story is based on the telling found in the Gospel of Luke

The time:t op-of-the-morning.

The traditional team (the women) travelled to the tomb to tend to their task of the tonic treatment of the temporal tenement.  The tomb's triky tableau, to the team's triumph, was turnedabout --- thoroughly thrown open, the team trespassed the transition into the tomb. Terrifyingly thrilling, the truth was that of their Teacher there was no tangible trace.  The team thought, thirsty to touch what had transpired.

Then, ta-da, two travellers turn up together, translucent and twinling.  They talk: why trap the teaming transcendent in the thick of the terrestial?  The Teacher is not in this tomb.  The Truth - the Teacher- is transformed.  

They thought of their teacher's teachings: that the Truth be treacherously turned-in, tagged, trucked to the tainted tribunal and tromented tsar, to be tortured and terminated.  Then in three tomorrows - transform.

Then the tem took in the truth of the Teacher's teachings.

Teary, they turned-about and took off toward the tutored twelve and troop to tell their testimony.

Testifying their tantillizing, terrifying, and terrific tale to the troop, the troop didn't trust them.  Typical! They thought the Teacher's tonic treatment team was telling tall-tales.  Though tenacious Peter tousled and troubled traipsed to the tomb.  Toured the tomb.  Touched the tunic.  

The truth tested --- totally no trace of a tenant.  Thankfully the tale was true!

Graduate School of C-O-V-I-D

 

Easter 7B- May 16, 2021:  Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26: prepared for ELCIC sermons by email service

Rev. Dr. Kimberlynn McNabb – Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Halifax, NS

 

Welcome to the graduate school of C-O-V-I-D; known internationally for providing a foundation in the disruption of status quo, managing constant anxiety and grief, expertise in change response, and leadership amidst crisis.  This advanced degree is taught in a fast paced environment through hands on experience. This degree is not for the faint of heart and promises to reset all your boundaries. Once in the program you can not withdraw and get your previous life back.

We are the class of 2021+ (plus).

 

The disciples also went to a graduate school of sorts with similar learnings. In the early days, after the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples find themselves in a place where the status quo has been disrupted; they are managing anxiety and grief – their own and others; they are in the midst of change as their interpretation of faith and belief shift; they are in physical danger from the authorities; they are forced into a roll to carry on Jesus’ teachings, meaning they become Apostles rather than disciples; they are in a full crisis and busy figuring out what to do next.

            THAT is where today’s story from Acts begins. Peter, whether by choice, or chosen by the other disciples, addresses the 100 or so believers who have gathered together devoting themselves to constant prayer.  Setting the stage of the story, the circumstances sound wonderful: gathered together as a people of similar beliefs to comfort and encourage each other, as you pray and worship God together in one place. Wouldn’t that be a treat?  Anyway, into this way of coping with everything new, Peter comes as a bearer of sad news. Peter addresses the crowd, sharing that after Jesus’ death, Judas – their friend and fellow disciple-  committed suicide.

            I can’t imagine how difficult that would have been for Peter to share, and for the crowd to hear. It would rest heavy on their hearts. Yes Judas did betray Jesus to the authorities, but, none of the 12 stayed with Jesus as he was arrested.  They all dispersed while Peter followed at a distance and then denied knowing him. All were carrying guilt, betrayal, and the remorse of I-wish-would-have. The disciples would remember Judas Iscariot’s zealot tendencies; his passion for participating in the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel, and his belief that Jesus was the Messiah to make this dream become a reality. The sadness was deep as the realization dawns that Judas missed the resurrection. There is grief too because Judas was unable to face his fellow companions, and the inability to reconnect with the community contributed to his decision to bring an end to his life.

            In a circumstance of uncertainty, faith in transition,  and emotions all over the map, the community devises a plan; a process to deal with loss and fill the void left by Judas. They chose two who had been witnesses to the death and resurrection of Jesus, followers who had been around since the beginning when Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. The final decision was made by the community voting. Matthias is added to the Apostles, making the team once again 12.

 

Faith communities around the world are in a circumstance of uncertainty, faith in transition, and emotions all over the map.  Communities have been making decisions on the fly, but, as the pandemic lengthens in time, communities are devising plans – processes- as to how to continue as witnesses to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The text this morning, brings to the forefront the precarious place where we are as a church and a community of faith. With sadness and heavy hearts the truth is preached. The reality of the Graduate school of COVID is that there will be drop outs – some suicide, some death due to virus, some people not able to reconnect, there is and will be loss and grief, there will be voids.  How will we as a group gathered in constant prayer: grieve, help each other reconnect, and work with the voids that are left? How will we continue to witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus?

 

Right now, looking out at the pews in the church – they are empty; new seats have been taken up in our homes.  The church building looks like an empty nest, where everyone has gone off to new adventures, still connected, yet not sitting shoulder to shoulder at the table. It is kind of like the empty nest, when the last young adult leaves home, and parent or parents are left behind to figure out how to live into a new reality. There is grief and freedom at the same time. Forced on an empty nester is a change in responsibilities, making new routines, re-evaluating priorities, finding new passions and purpose for the next cycle and stage of life. The time is one too of figuring out new boundaries for relationship with the young adult. There is  connection, but, it is different.

We experience this in the church too. Over the years consider people who have drifted away or returned in a different relationship. Heavy on my heart are people who I know who have not returned to their faith community – those who have struggled with addiction, gone through a divorce, been fired from a job, become a widow, lived through serious illness, dropped out of school, gone bankrupt – all life changes that for the individual changed their relationship with themself and how they felt the community would see them or interact with them. Whether because of shame, guilt, not wanting to explain, feeling different, expecting looks or judgement, or incapable of receiving the concern or love of others ... people drifted away.

The graduate school of C-O-V-I-D has changed each of us. And, AS community is made up of a gathering of ‘us-s’ we can anticipate that all of our relationships will be different because we are different.

The church community has adapted procedures and rituals. In worship our relation with God and each other has been enhanced as we approach communicating with God and each other through more movement, less speech, less physical touching, more eye contact, active listening, bringing less stuff, sanitizing, using recall and memorized text,  caring more for the health of others, recreating rituals to work via mixed media and with COVID protocols. Relationships have changed.

 

At the end of today’s story a 12^th person is chosen to complete the group of Apostles -perhaps a twelfth was chosen as a show of continuance and stability; giving authority of leadership to one more. The piece of importance for us to apply this last Sunday of Easter, is that the person chosen was chosen to bear witness, because they had seen and heard and lived the death and resurrection.

As people of faith, we too live death and resurrection in troubled times. We are to be witnesses to the good news. In the process we are encourageed to be mindful of our relationships with God, ourselves, each other, creation -and how these relationships are changing while walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Hold hope, stay the course, be compassionate and patient; resurrection is just around the corner. Be prepared to embrace something completely new and  continue to be a witness to these things, so that the community ----the whole community--- with none being lost will gather together in one place, shoulder to shoulder in prayer around the table.

 

On this last Sunday of Easter, in light of the resurrection -

I invite you with Easter joy and the hope of resurrection, to commit to being a witness, through an affirmation of Christian vocation.

 

Affirmation of Christian Vocation – adapted from ELWorship pg 84

 

Friends, both your work and your rest are in God. Will you endeavour to pattern your life on the life of Jesus Christ, to proclaim the resurrection, to listen to and encourage all voices, to embrace new ways – resurrection-, in gratitude to God and in service to others, at morning and evening, at work and at play, all the days of your life?

 

If so say: I will, and I ask God to help me.

 

Almighty God, by the power of the Spirit you have knit your servants into one body through Jesus Christ.  Look with favour upon us in our commitment to serve in Christ’s name.  Give courage, patience, and vision; strengthen us in our relationship with you, each other and the community; and empower all of us in our Christian vocation of witness to the world and of service to others; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Alleluia, Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

Easter 6: The Women Were Not Silent

 

Earlier in the story... before Peter preached and the Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the word... on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women came to the tomb taking spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. ... Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and other women with them who told this to the disciples. But these words seemed to be an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 

 

For a group of people often characterized as talkers, the women’s voices are disturbingly silent in the book of Acts. Peter and his voice ring loud and clear in the public square, and yet, the blossom of the resurrection – the fullness of the truth was born by women to him.  Luke writes that after hearing the women’s tale:

Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

 

The women are present in Acts: gathered with the disciples in prayer, equally receiving the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent persecution distributed to Jesus’ followers; women are present standing along side men like Priscilla with her husband Aquilla; women are described as sharing the hospitality of their homes, Tabitha was named as a follower and is healed.  According to the record the women were present but silent.

 

But we know, deep down, that the women were not silent.

 

In my ears ring the stories of women – resurrection words- from mothers, grandmothers, God-mothers, aunts, matriarchs of the church, Sunday School teachers, the proverbial ‘church lady,’ choir directors, nursery tenders, Mother Earth.  With deep gratitude I acknowledge the women who through the ages have born witness to the Gospel story, who have birthed hope, and have breathed new life into communities of faith.

 

Readers and researchers of history will know that historical records and documents are shy when it comes to women’s voices. Women’s voices are not recorded, or are recorded from someone else’s perspective or simply a passing note.

But we know, deep down, that the women were not silent.

 

Yesterday, May 8^th is the commemoration day of Julian of Norwich, a renewer of the church who died around 1416.  Julian was a medieval English mystic whose words were written in her book, “Revelations of Divine Love.” This is the first known book to be written in English by a woman author. Her personal story includes living through the Black Death (the Plague) which in her time killed a third of Norwich’s population.  She also lived through war, the Peasant’s Revolt, marked by civil insurrection and religious conflict.

 

What I find amazing – and what I want us to consider this morning- is her theology and her theological language.  Julian uniquely articulated descriptions and understandings of God that were not like those of her male counterparts; in fact I suspect that her writing and telling of her visions would have redden the face of many who heard her words. Her well written theological insights of Jesus talks of Jesus as mother, flowing from an understanding of the motherhood of God. The maternal nature of God and the mothering nature of God’s love  were the core of her belief and theological expression.  Her theology of Jesus and Jesus’ relation to the world and humanity is described using words like: conceiving, giving birth, weaning, and upbringing.

She went as far as to say that the relationship between a mother and child is the closest metaphor/experience to understand God’s love and relationship to humanity-  it is the only earthly relationship that comes even close to describing God’s relationship with us.

Those who heard and hear Julian’s voice hear an optimistic approach to life based on the certainly of being loved by God. In addition her bearing of the good news includes a healthy dose of the omnibenevolence of God, experiencing this ultimate love, translates through us as  both joy and compassion.

 

It’s the weekend of commemorating Julian of Norwich, we are experiencing pandemic like we have not until now, it is Mother’s Day.

I invite you to spend some time considering the witness of women –

The words, phrases, stories, and actions that faithful women have shared with you, witnessing to God’s love, joy, and compassion.

Pause to stand side by side with the women who first told Peter the good news. What words would they have used to describe the experience of entering the empty tomb? How many bubbly words would flow with a myriad of expressive hand gestures to  describe the amazing work of God? Imagine the joy on their faces as they excitedly shared how they felt,  how they were filled with optimism, and embraced the warming truth that Jesus was alive.

 

And once telling Peter and the others gathered – although not believed, but thought to be telling idle tales- the women were not silent.

Deep down we know this because the women’s story has been passed down from generation to generation, for we too have been birthed the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection through the voices of women; women who we know and love – whose joy and compassion has shone on us.

 

Today as we consider what it means to bear witness and take images of Jesus as mother, born from the motherhood of God, let us be incubated in the  prayer of Julian of Norwich:

 

In you, Father all-mighty, we have our preservation and our bliss.

In you, Christ, we have our restoring and our saving.

You are our mother, brother, and saviour.

In you, our Lord the Holy Spirit, is marvelous and plenteous grace.

You are our clothing; for love you wrap us and embrace us.

You are our maker, our lover, our keeper.

Teach us to believe that by your grace all shall be well,

 and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well. Amen.       ----as in ELWorship pg 87

Easter 4: Are We Living Death or Living Life?

 

Traditionally the Fourth Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Reflecting on the image of the Good Shepherd and the sheepfold we are to consider Easter resurrection by taking a serious look at how we choose to live as individuals and as community: Are we living death or living life?

In the Kid’s Corner, I mentioned the gems that I have found between the pages of books, particularly old books; bookmarks, notes, prayer cards, newspaper clippings. Amongst some old books of my dads I found a little booklet published a 120 years ago, called: ‘The Song of the Syrian Guest.’

The author, William Allen Knight, tells a story of his family in America, receiving a Syrian guest into their home for dinner and conversation. The guest told many stories from Syria including the words of a favourite song – which we know as Psalm 23- along with an explanation of each line from the heart of a Syrian shepherd.  

Two sections particularly spoke to me as Good News, as words of resurrection, amidst new restrictions and growing cases of COVID.  I invite you to pull up a chair and listen to two phrases from Psalm 23 as told by a Syrian guest.

 

-for thou art with me –

“To show how much the presence of the shepherd counts for the welfare of the sheep I can think of nothing better than the strange thing I now tell you.  It is quite beyond the usual, daily care on which the flock depends so fondly. But I have seen it more than once.

Sometimes, in spite of all the care of the shepherd and his dogs, a wolf will get into the very midst of the flock. The sheep are wild with fright.  They run and leap and make it impossible to get at the foe in their midst, who at that very moment may be fastening his fangs in the throat of a helpless member of the flock.  But the shepherd is with them.  He knows what to do even at such a time.  He leaps to a rock or hillock that he may be seen and heard.  Then lifts his voice in a long call, something like a wolf’s cry: ‘Ooh! Ooh!’

On hearing this the sheep remember the shepherd; they heed his voice; and, strange to tell, the poor, timid creatures, which were helpless with terror before, instantly rush with all their strength into a solid mass.  The pressure is irresistible; the wolf is overcome, frequently he is crushed to death, while the shepherd stands there on a rock crying, ‘Ooh! Ooh!”

-I will fear no evil for thou art with me.

 

You anoint me with oil –

“Oh, there begins the beautiful pictures at the end of the day.  The psalm has sung of the whole round of the day’s wandering all the needs of the sheep, all the care of the shepherd. Now it closes with the last scene of the day.  At the door of the sheepfold the shepherd stands and ‘the rodding of the sheep’ takes place.  The shepherd turns his body to let the sheep pass; he is the door, as Christ said of himself. With his rod he holds back the sheep while he looks them over one by one as they go into the fold. He has the horn filled with olive-oil and he has cedar-tar, and he anoints a knee bruised on the rocks or a side scratched by thorns. And here comes one that is not bruised but is simply worn and exhausted; he bathes its face and head with the refreshing olive-oil and he takes the large two-handled cup and dips it brimming full from the water he has brought for that purpose, and lets the weary sheep drink.

There is nothing finer in the psalm than this. God’s care is not for the wounded only it is for those who are just worn and weary.

-thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

 

Are we living death or living life?

What I hear in the stories told by the Syrian guest, is that the heart of shepherding and being a sheepfold is relationship. Thou are with me, you anoint my head with oil – both are relational. When reminded by the shepherd to not be afraid, the sheep work together – collectively pushing in on each other to form a tight community, and face/address/tackle whatever ‘wolf’ is in their midst.

There are instances where collectively we hear God’s call and do push in on each other to form a tightly knit community that addresses social ills and evil in our midst. But there are other examples where we are scattered and not a sheepfold at all. When it comes to the stewardship of creation, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, addressing Systemic racism, we are not in the sheepfold, we are not even in the same field.

There are other areas also where perhaps we are living dead, rather than living life.

Areas where we are not living as a sheepfold, meaning relationships are all screwed up. Consider how the norm is no longer tight knit neighbourhoods or extended family living.

We have hired-hands and out-sourced our relationships: consider that much of our caring capacity has been given to ‘experts’ – professionals, service providers, organizations, government- particularly in relationship with seniors and long-term care, childcare, health care,  education, food production, manufacturing the things we use. On so many levels - We are disconnected. We are outsourcing relationship.

Are we living death or living life?

 

The Syrian guest’s reflection on Psalm 23 is the shepherd standing on rock or hillock and crying, ‘ooh! Ooh!  This is a call to resurrection, a call to not be afraid, a call to remind us to work together to stamp out evil in our midst; to push in on each other and form a tight community and address the things that draw us away from relationship with shepherd and sheep and creation.

 

Living death – is living that does not have us living into our capacity to care; it is living devoid of relationship, or only living into some relationships. It is outsourcing and hiring others to do the difficult work of walking with others, suffering with others, taking care of others. It is being too busy to care or too wrapped up in your own stuff to warrant getting involved.

 

Living life – is living that is resurrection. Life that brings joy because all your relationships – those with God, people, creation, objects; centre on care and growing and or reflecting on the relationship.  Living life is taking to heart the care of the Shepherd and applying the word’s thou art with me and you anoint my head with oil, and then sharing this resurrection  in and through our relationships.

 

As a gathered community - Anointed with oil and cup over-flowing- be released from fear and refreshed from weariness; that you may live life. Amen.

 

Easter 3: How Have Ministries Been Enhanced

 

 

Through this season of Easter we are reflecting and applying the Easter story to resurrection springing up from the Lent of pandemic.

The first Sunday of Easter we reflected on the question: what is God calling us to do?

The second Sunday of Easter we reflected on spring cleaning – and were introduced to a journaling pamphlet, “Moving With the Risen Christ.” And you were/are invited to take time through this season to fill it out and return it to the church.

On this third Sunday of Easter we reflect on the question: how have ministries been enhanced over this pandemic time?

 

Enhanced. This is a resurrection kind of word.

Heightened, increased, intensified, appreciated, built up, deepen, boosted, bolstered, strengthened, enlarged, augmented, raised, enlivened... yes, a resurrection word! Alleluia!

 

This past week I read, ‘The Council of Pecans’ – a chapter in the book,  ‘Braiding Sweetgrass,’ by Robin Kimmerer. I learned something extraordinary!

There is a curious thing about pecan trees; from year to year one can not determine how many pecans trees will produce; there is not a pattern to the thin years or bumper crops. The trees have a mind of their own... kind of. Perhaps not unexpected is that all the pecan trees in one area produce the same amount as the other trees in a given year – chalk that up to similar environmental conditions – water, sun, temperature, soil.  What is curious is that pecan trees across the country -so in vastly different environmental conditions- all produce the same amount of fruit in a given year. In low years, everyone has less pecans and struggle together to find adequate food for the winter.  In years of abundance, there is an abundance for everyone and every creature. The chapter is called, the council of pecans, because some how to achieve this the trees must communicate with each other, deciding how much they will produce. Especially in years of mass fruiting, there is evidence that the trees share carbohydrates with each other via incredible fungal networks that redistribute the wealth – one tree to the next.  The council of pecans has a beautiful message, if we listen  -- there is no discrimination; when there is a scarce harvest this scarcity it shared, when there is a feast it is a feast for all- producers and creatures everywhere!

 

How has ministry been enhanced? This question is asking us to open our eyes to the resurrection story being experienced in our midst. It is the same as Jesus’ question from the text, “Have you anything to eat?”  Jesus’ question doesn’t say, ‘give me something to eat’ or what it is that he wants to eat;’ rather it is simply, ‘have you anything to eat?’

 

Jesus’ followers were in a lull, a time of grief and confusion. A time of fear and insecurity when they were not sure whom they could trust and what might happen to those found out to be connected to Jesus.  In the fog of confusion and cloud of unknowning a pair of followers are on the road walking to Emmaus, when a stranger appears on the road and enters their conversation. With hesitation the couple shares with the stranger the strange events of the past few days – talking about death and the recent stories of seeing the dead -Jesus- to be alive. The stranger shares with the couple his understanding of scripture and the hearts of the couple are warmed. They have been given something to eat – spiritual food.

On arriving at their home the couple invite and welcome the stranger into their home, despite any fear or hesitation they may have. The stranger asks the open-ended question, “have you anything to eat?” ... and in sharing fish, bread – physical food – they recognize that Jesus, in flesh and bone, is in their midst and with wounded hands Jesus blesses them.

 

This resurrection story is full of abundance! It enhances our understanding of what resurrection is all about and hopefully expands our experiences of resurrection as we take it to heart.

It is in the willingness to welcome a stranger and to share ‘anything to eat’ – whether conversation, scripture, a journey, shelter, food, table – that the couple, the disciples, recognize Christ in their midst. And Christ is incarnate, flesh and blood, where the divine is seen in human flesh.  Resurrection is a tangible God showing up in person ... in person, bearing the marks of death, the wounds of suffering. 

We live in a time of foolish and senseless deaths: black lives, murdered and missing indigenous  lives, COVID death, domestic violence, mass shootings ---- we can’t turn away from death.  It is ever-present. We live in a fog of confusion and a cloud of unknowning.

 

And into this Jesus asks, ‘have you anything to eat?’

How have ministries been enhanced over the pandemic?

Ministry has been enhanced in the moments when, with wounded hands, we have welcomed the stranger and shared what we have. Facing death, in the time of death, this morning – right now – we experience resurrection as we gather together to hear the word of God and feed the soul; when we don’t turn from foolish death but work to change the statistics; when we as a community invite expressions of grief and lament; when we open a space -in a mult-media plethora of options- to welcome and feed the stranger. Ministry is enhanced when we feast on gratitude and prayer for others; when we take the time to pass out bread whether in the form of physical bread, or heart bread by telling someone else about God’s grace and forgiveness. Ministry is enhanced when repentance and forgiveness are proclaimed.

 

The most eye opening idea for me this week was the putting together of thoughts:

 that ministry is enhanced when we work together like the council of pecans.

Communicating with each other where no one is left out and all are connected; indiscriminately suffering with each other, enjoying abundance together; being fed by each other so that others will be fed; dying with each other, rising together; praying for all; proclaiming repentance and forgiveness widely without reserve; and remembering that some years there will be a scarcity of fruit – so to survive creatures will need to rely on each other- and other years there will be an over-abundance of fruit, a time to celebrate, to live resurrection in its fullness; a year when death will be overshadowed with life!

Until then, proclaim repentance and forgiveness in word and action, welcome strangers, share what you have (conversation, scripture, journey, shelter, food, table), and in so doing may we all experience the risen incarnate Christ in our midst.

 

 

 

 

Spring Cleaning

 

Have nothing in your house you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. ---William Morris

And from geniusquotes.org:

Spring cleaning isn’t about sorting through things and getting rid of clutter. It’s about taking stock of who you are and how others see you.  Its a chance to redefine yourself, to change expectations and to remember that it’s never too late to recapture who you were, or to aim for who you want to be.

 

Today’s scriptures (and the beautiful weather of the past week) have had me thinking about spring cleaning:

 In the early church community we hear of a community of people who are sharing what they have with each other.  The community uses their possessions for the good of all: I sense that nothing is wasted; items are used, reused, and passed along; if food or necessities are required possessions without immediate purpose are sold or traded for what is essential.  The focus of the community is love and compassion for each other.

The disciples’ story gives us a glimpse into a different kind of spring cleaning, one that focuses on the items in our brains and hearts. The text speaks about degrees of belief. The disciples have just experienced the death of their teacher and have had to work at making sense of what they belief; integrating new thoughts into a life-long faith system, accepting a changing relationship with how they understand scripture and the idea of Messiah, and how this applies to actions and life moving forward. And then Jesus appears in their midst! Spring cleaning continues – beliefs, ideas, emotions, actions – some things get pushed out and others resurrected into something new.  

 

In the early years of the church, the community gathered together to care for each other and to tell the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The community also went out to care for others and to proclaim the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection to those who had not yet heard.  There was nothing in the house church that one did not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.  The community took stock of who they were and how others saw them. This early period was a chance to redefine themselves, to change expectations and to remember that it’s never too late to recapture who you were, or to aim for who you want to be. And so it was for the first 200 years or so.

 

After 300 CE,  there was a change of focus within some church communities from spreading and telling the story of Jesus to collecting and preserving sights and artifacts belonging to Jesus and the disciples. Historian Eusibeus records that the Emperor (that is of Rome) has a desire to recover sights like the Upper Room, Jesus’ tomb; artifacts like the cross. Shrines were built to mark the sights, pilgrims began to visit sights to see and take a piece home with them – whether a rock or a piece of tile, a chunk of pottery. Sights began to accumulate things: artifacts to attract pilgrims, candles, sculpture, decorative pieces, tombs, benches; ways of doing things, prayers to be said, fees to pay, what to believe, how to act. The proverbial closet became full of stuff.

 

Over the years there were times of ‘spring cleaning,’ particularly of hearts and brains; buildings remained, as did the stuff in them.  One example of a ‘spring cleaning’ was the Reformation – where focus shifted through a renewed reading of scripture – hearts and minds were changed through wrestling with and understanding that God was not about judgement, but rather, grace. ‘Spring cleaning’ -getting rid of that which was not useful or beautiful – helped the springing up of creative music, art, preaching, conversation, study – resurrection of faith through once again focusing on telling and sharing the story of Jesus.’

 

The current situation of the church is one of spring cleaning.  Over pandemic items have been set aside, some completely tossed out, and new ways of telling and sharing the story of Jesus’ have grown. We are in a position where we are slowly returning to the closet – the building- where our relationship to the material things around us will have changed; some items will have lost their use and no longer be beautiful.

This is our chance to spring clean – to spring clean material things, to spring clean matters of the heart, to spring clean our intellects, to spring clean so that our focus as individuals and a community of believers is resurrected to be of use and beauty to the world.

 

To help in this endeavor a reflection pamphlet has been created to assist us in figuring out our focus – and the nitty-gritty of who we are and who we want to be moving forward.  The pamphlet will be available for pick up, it will be mailed out to some, and photos of it shared. Please take the time to participate and reflect --- to do some spring cleaning of yourself and the church--- And if the pamphlet is not your style, feel free to send your reflections to the church in whatever style works for you.

 

Spring cleaning has been forced on us. Spring cleaning can continue as fuller community is resurrected coming out of pandemic.

 

Resurrection is:

.. about taking stock of who you are and how others see you.

It’s a chance to redefine yourself, to change expectations and to remember that it’s never too late to recapture who you were, or to aim for who you want to be.

 

Thanks be to God.

Easter - What Is God Calling Us to Do?

 

 

It was the best of times it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.      Charles Dickens might as well have written the opening to the “Tale of Two Cities” to describe our present time; Easter 2021.

 

Echoed in line from Dickens, is Paul’s reflection from 1 Corinthians on the foolishness of the cross; echoed is the conundrum the women find themselves in at the empty tomb; echoed is our reality of living in the tensions of belief and incredulity, hope and despair; echoed is the truth that there is nothing and everything before us – just as the Gospel of Mark ends the story where the women say nothing to anyone because they were frightened.  In the Greek text it literally reads ‘they were afraid for...”

 

The Gospel of Mark – this Easter morning story- is early.... Mark does not use theological expressions, he gives no Christological titles, doesn’t use proofs or prophecy from scripture, no descriptions of the resurrection are present, and  the description of the angel at the tomb is basic – not extrapolated.

I know there are some of you who will take your Bible and look at the ending of Mark to verify that this is indeed how the Gospel ends.  Be warned that you will find more verses after verse 8. Generally publishers will mark the verse ‘shorter ending’ and ‘longer ending.’  Both of these were added later – you can google ‘ending Gospel of Mark’ to learn more.  Two of the oldest scrolls of the Gospel, dating to 300 CE end at verse 8.

 

Throughout the seven weeks of Easter we  will hear stories of resurrection appearances from the other Gospels. As beautiful as these stories are – in the story told by Mark there is something simple and honest and oh so very real.

This is my favourite ending because I get it, I can put myself in the group of women; I get lost in conversation with them about who will roll the stone away; I feel the confusion of finding not a body, but, a young man in an empty tomb. I feel devastated that my final gift of love – to anoint the body of a friend and teacher- is not going to happen. How am I ever going to grieve this loss? And I am afraid because this is not what I was expecting, I don’t understand, and this is going to get someone or a group of someones in a lot of trouble. 

Standing at the tomb I sense something beyond understanding; there is a truth that I just can’t quite put my finger on; a change has occurred may I not be too afraid to live into it.

As an introvert I walk away, pondering, seeking options to answer the how, the why, the what now  --- what can this mean?

 

What is God calling us to do?

The women, Mary, Mary, and Salome, were asked to go and to tell the disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of them to Galilee; there they will see him. 

Peter is specifically mentioned because Peter would have been living in the guilt of denying Jesus the night before his death. A specific invitation to come, invites Peter back into the fold --- still loved, still a disciple, still a member of the community.  It also book ends the Gospel of Mark for at the beginning Jesus’ first invitation to be a disciple is given to Simon (Peter) who immediately leaves his nets to follow Jesus.  In literature of this time, to come full circle naming a specific person at the beginning and at the end – is to say that the telling of the Gospel is based on the eyewitness account of the person mentioned. Mark relates Peter’s account of Jesus. At the end, Peter would not have an account, if Mary, Mary, and Salome chose to live as if nothing was the matter, as if nothing changed; if they chose to be silent in fear, rather than grapple with the possibilities before them.

 

What is God calling us to do?

When in the Gospel of Mark I stand at the tomb, I sense something beyond understanding. I feel a change.

This resurrection account feels like our present reality – our journey through pandemic.  Things have changed and won’t ever be the same, but, looking forward we can’t see what resurrection experiences await, or what possibilities will grow.

I imagine the women - having the empty tomb experience-  work its way through their brains; their fear subsiding enough that they chose to tell the disciples and Peter what they found and heard.  Little by little as the days go on, as the group leaves Jerusalem to go back to their homes in  Galilee, more and more truth is accepted and sprouts new life. COVID won’t just one day end, rather, living in a changed world happens little by little as the days go on and then we open our eyes and hearts and we will find ourselves – the community- in a new place.

 

What is God calling us to do?

This is one of various questions that will be posed to you -to us as a community- through the Season of Easter. The question asks us to wrestle with Jesus’ resurrection, and what it is to live this resurrection through our lives today; it is a question to help us move as a community through pandemic to participate in what God is doing – what God is wanting to do- in this neighbourhood, in this world, in creation- through the community’s hands and faith and proclamation of the resurrection. Despite fear, perhaps because of fear, we are called to go and tell!

We are to consider the concrete ways we as individuals and a community can do this. This is our task:

Calm your fears enough that you can  tell someone the story of Jesus and the resurrection –

 particularly in

The best of times and in the worst of times, in the age of wisdom and foolishness, in the epoch of belief and incredulity, in the season of light and darkness, in the spring of hope and the winter of despair, when we have everything before us and when we have nothing before us, whether we are moving heavenward or the other direction...

 

Go tell others -especially those whom you know by name- that the empty tomb has brought change, a mystery not be ignored, and in emptiness offers possibilities for new life.  Jesus has gone before you and will meet you in the neighbourhood.

Thanks be to God. Amen.