Practicing forgiveness

The Practice of Forgiveness
Matthew 18:21-35
I once read a story in which two individuals, one who had been assaulted and raped and the other who had been wrongly accused and convicted of the crime, discussed the power of forgiveness in their lives. Both spoke of the horrible circumstances that brought them together and that had almost destroyed their lives. Both spoke of sleepless nights, anger, fear, depression, and shame; but each also spoke of the beauty and goodness they had found in being able to forgive. They talked about what it meant to not be defined by their pasts, to be set free from a burden they had not chosen, and how life-giving the practice of forgiveness had been.
I also want to share another story that I originally heard on NPR written by Dina Temple-Raston

For nearly three decades, Tim Zaal thought he had killed a man during his rage-filled youth. The idea haunted him, but he buried it with the rest of his skinhead past.
"This used to be my stomping grounds," says Zaal, standing on a street in West Hollywood, Calif., where he used to hang out in the early '80s. "Mostly punk rockers would hang out around here after concerts and we would be involved with violence on a regular basis. Violence for me, back in those days, was like breathing."
Zaal has a wrestler's physique These days he's a computer programmer, and most of the time it is clear that he has found a way to distance himself from his past — almost as if it were someone else's history.
But bring him to the streets of his past, and gradually, Zaal sweeps backward through rooms he has avoided for years.
When Zaal and his friends were itching to make trouble, they would stand out in front of a hot dog joint called Oakie Dogs.
Zaal recalls that particular night, when he thought he took another man's life. It began with listening to a band called Fear. During the show, a bouncer was stabbed and the police came. By the time he and his friends got to Oakie Dogs, they were juiced up on alcohol and testosterone and spoiling for a fight.
They found their victims across the street, a group of gay street kids. They were just hanging out when Zaal and his friends cornered one and started kicking and hitting him — 14 skinheads pummeling him all at once. But the small gay kid was still moving. For some reason, that enraged Zaal.
"I walked up and said, 'What is wrong with you guys, can't you do it right?' " Zaal recalls. The kid they were beating on looked up and made eye contact with Zaal. "I kicked him in the forehead with my boot and that was it," Zaal says, snapping his fingers. "He was out like a light."
Zaal says an uncomfortable silence descended on the group.
"I never talked about it because in the back of my mind I was thinking, we killed this person," he says. "So we jump in our cars and drove away."
The Man Who Didn't Die
Zaal thought that would be the end of it. He shoved the whole thing out of his mind, until 28 years later.
A few years ago, the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles asked him to speak about his experience leaving the skinhead movement. Before the talk, he found himself chatting with his fellow presenter, Matthew Boger, the manager of operations.
"I asked Tim how he got out of the skinhead movement and what that was like," Boger recalls.
The pair reminisced about West Hollywood back in the '80s.
"And there was this moment in which I said that I lived on the streets," Boger says, "in which I said I hung out on this hamburger stand, and [Zaal] said, 'You know, we used to hang out there, but we stopped hanging out there after this one night that was so violent, I think I killed a kid.' "
In a flash they both knew without saying that Boger was that kid.
"It was the very first meeting that we had realized who we were to each other 20-something years ago," Boger says.
Zaal recalls the moment the way anyone in his position would.
"Of course I was ashamed," he says. "I didn't know how to handle the situation. And obviously he didn't how to handle the situation and he left as quickly as possible. It was about two weeks before I saw him again."
Reflecting On Violence
Now, in his 40s, with a son of his own, Zaal has come to understand what motivated him to be so violent, so angry, back then. When he was a teenager, his brother was shot in their neighborhood . Zaal says he became a skinhead a short time later. He thought preying on people like Boger would somehow provide protection. Instead, it has haunted him.
"You know I went through some turmoil," he says. "But at the end of the day the right thing to do was apologize. What was I supposed to do? Ignore him? Pretend it didn't happen, pretend we didn't have the conversation?"
So Zaal apologized.
Now Zaal and Boger present their story — and their unlikely friendship — to high school and middle school students around Southern California. They also do a tag-team presentation one Sunday every month at the Museum of Tolerance. It begins with a DVD film of their story and ends with a question and answer session.
Today’s text from Matthew moves us to consider one of the most difficult practices of Christian discipleship—forgiveness. Forgiveness is a hard road to walk, but it is the way to life and life abundant. Forgiveness is the way of Jesus, the way of the cross. While at first glance revenge may seem much easier and more desirable, in fact it leads to bondage and death.
From the place of death, vengeance, and coercive violence—from the cross—Jesus spoke words of forgiveness, pointing to the way that leads to life. At the heart of discipleship lies the painful and challenging practice of forgiveness.
Matthew tells us that Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive?” (Matthew 18:21). Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy- times seven times” (v. 22). I cherish this answer. Jesus gives clear instructions about the importance of forgiveness as a way of life in the kingdom.
Perhaps sensing that Peter hasn’t quite gotten the point, he tells a story. In the parable Jesus deftly describes our propensity to seek vengeance, to demand a righting of the scales of justice in a manner that we believe balances our accounts with others. A man experiences undeserved mercy and compassion from one to whom he owes a significant debt. Instead of shaping and defining his dealings with others by the mercy he has undeservedly received, he immediately turns to one who owes him a much smaller debt and demands the account to be paid and the debt settled.
Upon hearing what he has done, his master, who had extended him mercy, now calls him to account and hands him over for punishment. The man is in bondage to his own greed, his misguided sense of justice. He, who had been set free for life, chose the way that leads to bondage and torture. He chose not to forgive. Sadly, so many of us do the same.
In relating this story Jesus holds up a mirror for us to see our tendency to withhold the very mercy and forgiveness we have received. The only righteous judge, Jesus, says from the cross, “Forgive them.” We, from our positions of self-righteousness, cry out, “Pay me what you owe.” What a tragedy that we forfeit the gift of freedom because we are unable to allow the spirit of love to form us into a people who practice the abundant economy of forgiveness rather than the bankrupt market of vengeance, getting even, and settling the score.
I know forgiveness is a hard road. It may take months, years, countless tears, and endless prayer to say, “I forgive you.” But Jesus was clear: grace is costly and forgiveness involves the way of the cross. True life is found only on the other side of Golgotha.
Let’s be very clear about what we are talking about. Forgiveness is a practice, a discipline made possible by the grace of God, not some heroic act of the will. It is something that we practice again and again, on a daily basis, until it becomes a part of who we are. Believe me just when you think you got it down something comes along and triggers old hurts or new pains and you find yourself angry, and vengeful all over again. – then we start praying all over again.
Forgiveness is not forgetting. One cannot forgive that which is forgotten. Forgiveness involves telling each other the painful truth, not to hold something over the other person but to find a way forward that breaks the cycle of eye-for-an-eye violence in which we so often find ourselves trapped. Forgiveness is not about becoming a doormat and relishing the role of victim. Forgiveness is about being victorious, freed from the horrible things others might have done to us. Likewise, forgiveness is not a strategy for turning our enemies into our friends; it is instead a grateful response to what God has done for us. We forgive others as a way of saying “thank you” to God, who in Christ has graciously forgiven us.
Finally, practicing forgiveness does not deny the possibility or the necessity of justice. Rather, it redefines justice, and ensures that it is God’s peculiar brand of justice we are practicing and not the retribution and retaliation that often masquerade as justice.
In calling us to forgive, Jesus offers us a different kind of justice that holds open the possibility of a new future, a way through the hurt and pain that can lead to resurrection and new life. Forgiveness is about having our lives defined by the justice of God’s kingdom rather than the justice of the kingdoms of this world.
Today is the anniversary of 9/11—a day when horrible atrocities were committed in the name of God. I remember being in my little studio in palm springs watching the news. I mean I turned on the tv and the events were in full on disaster mode. The news kept repeating the events over and over again.
At first we thought it was some kind of bizarre accident. I mean what else could it have been? Then the second plane struck. I just remember watching, crying, non-believing. I became numb as debris fell from the sky, as the news cameras caught the faces of the people running out and the firemen running in.
After watching repeatedly the plane crash into the building, hearing about the plane downed at the pentagon. Watching again the faces of people on the street and then the tower collapsed. Then the second tower collapsed and I could not watch any more. I had watched the events unfold over 4 or 5 hours. I had to get outside. I needed to find some people to be with.
I remember walking down palm canyon and there being hardly any traffic as I approached arenas there was no activity on the street. I went to the street bar for I knew most everyone there and sure enough there was a small click of my friends all sitting on the patio. As I got closer all I could hear was “let’s go bomb the hell out of them . . . yea we should kill ten of their s for each one of ours.”
I was hit with another mind numbing event. All I could think of was the families and their loved ones who needed care and help. Yet here was another side to that coin let’s get out and get revenge.
The better part of that day was the many of hundreds of heroes. Right here in our foyer there is the icon of Fr. Mychal Judge. Upon hearing the news that the World Trade Center had been hit, Father Judge rushed to the site. He was met by the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, who asked him to pray for the city and its victims. Judge administered the Last Rites to some lying on the streets, then entered the lobby of the World Trade Center North Tower, where an emergency command post was organized. There he continued offering aid and prayers for the rescuers, the injured and dead.
When the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 AM, debris went flying through the North Tower lobby, killing many inside, including Judge. At the moment he was struck in the head and killed, Judge was repeatedly praying aloud, "Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!” according to Judge's biographer and New York Daily News columnist Michael Daly.
Shortly after his death, an NYPD lieutenant, who had also been buried in the collapse, found Judge's body and assisted by two firemen and two civilian bystanders carried it out of the North Tower lobby to nearby St Peter's Church.
Mychal Judge's body bag was labeled "Victim 0001," recognized as the first official victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks. September 11, 2001 resulted in a total of 2,996 deaths More than 90 countries lost citizens in the attacks on the World Trade Center,Former President Bill Clinton was among the 3,000 people who attended his funeral, held on September 15 at St Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan. It was presided over by Cardinal Edward Egan. President Clinton said that Judge's death was "a special loss. We should live his life as an example of what has to prevail".
Just this past Tuesday I was at an event at Claremont Lincoln university where the Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool from south Africa addressed a group of students, alumni, and faculty. In the audience were Christian, Jewish, Muslim, jain and humanist. He said;
“Ten years ago we saw the danger of teaching religion and loving faith in old ways, we saw the terror unleashed by religious fundamentalists upon innocent people through an act that was the apotheosis of suicide missions in the name of God. That moment unleashed a decade that reinforced victimhood, violence, and militarism as the default position of the world and banished peace, compassion, and dialogue as concepts denoting weakness.”
The events of 9/11 led to a violent response from our own nation as it pursued “justice,” also in the name of God. Thousands of men, women, and children on all sides have lost their lives. Whatever we think or feel about the events of the past several years, it might be good for us to ask, “How does one follow Jesus and practice forgiveness in such a time?”
I have to be perfectly honest and say that I’m not entirely certain how to answer that question except to say that maybe Jesus knew there would be times such as these. One day on a hill by a lake, he gathered his disciples and told them to pray like this: “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us. . . .” Perhaps that is where we begin. With all the hurt, pain, shame, guilt, anger, and betrayal, perhaps that is where we should begin today. Let us pray. “Our Father . . .” (David C. Hockett)
Just as a side not on Fr. Mychal Judge
Following his death a few of his friends and associates revealed that Father Mychal Judge was gay — as a matter of orientation rather than practice, as he was a celibate priest.[34][35] According to fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen: "I actually knew about his homosexuality when I was in the Uniformed Firefighters Association. I kept the secret, but then he told me when I became commissioner five years ago. He and I often laughed about it, because we knew how difficult it would have been for the other firemen to accept it as easily as I had. I just thought he was a phenomenal, warm, sincere man, and the fact that he was gay just had nothing to do with anything."

In conclusion I would like to recite a Muslim prayer of remembrance --Composed by Khadija Abdullah and Omar Ricci, Los Angeles, August 2002


Dear God, as our country remembers the heartbreaking events of September 11th, 2001, we humbly turn to You in prayer. At a time where our nation is facing unprecedented challenges, we need Your Spirit, Mercy, and Strength, now more than ever, to guide us down the right path.

Dear Lord, we pray that you have taken under Your Merciful wings those who innocently perished on that tragic day. We are grateful they were once a part of our lives. We thank You for the love and joy they gave their parents, spouses, children, friends, and co-workers. We thank You for the testimony of their faith in their churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples. We thank you for the comfort and courage they extended to others in their last moments. Dear God, with Your compassion, please answer our prayer.

Dear Almighty, shower Your comfort upon the families of the victims. We pray for all who searched the streets and hospital rooms and rubble with fading hopes of finding a dear one alive. Replace the pain in their hearts with the knowledge that their loved ones are in an abode of peace. We pray their tears of grief are replaced with a tranquility of the soul that only You can bestow. Dear God, with Your compassion, please answer our prayer.

O' our Sustainer, bless the children of the victims. Bless them with bountiful lives, with direction and remembrance, with discipline and virtue. Bless them with all that is good, and protect them from all that is evil. May the loss of one or both parents be replaced by Your Merciful and Blessed guidance. For You are the best of all guides. May the country do what it must to ensure their future. Dear God, with Your compassion, please answer our prayer.

Dear God, we pray for the rescue workers and volunteers from across the nation, who worked faithfully and tirelessly to find survivors and cleared the debris. Sustain them all, dear God and please answer our prayer.

O' Lord strengthen our nation and protect us from evil. Guide our leaders, elevate our society, and enrich the fabric of the country. Dear God, with Your compassion, please answer our prayer.

O' Most Merciful, we have seen the very worst that we are capable of - vengeance, greed, and murder. But we have seen the very best that we are capable of - courage, compassion, service, faith, heroism, community, love. Strengthen us and make us better people who will choose the latter and better way.

Dear God, it is in You that we place our ultimate trust; it is to You that we pray; it is to you that we ask for guidance.

Dear Almighty, please bless the victims; Dear Sustainer, please bless the families; Dear God, please bless America.

Amen.

--Composed by Khadija Abdullah and Omar Ricci, Los Angeles, August 2002

Adults behaving Badly

Things change, Churches grow, communities shift as people come and grow. Now and then something dies. We don’t like it. We appropriately mourn and we move on. So why should it be a surprise when a little church choir that has slowly been diminishing is discontinued.

The church has to grow and adapt this includes music. We have decided to allow the choir concept to rest awhile as the membership along with the standards have lessened over the past few years. We have initiated a praise band that everyone seems to enjoy.

Yet be deleting an outdated “Music department” Suddenly people are in an uproar. Well 3 to 6 people at the most. Yet these people they have the right to pull other people outside and discuss and push their point of view. They feel they should disrupt service in order to discuss what they don’t like.
What they don’t like. . .

Change and growth, Beware in some small communities these can be fighting words. People are threatened by change. I actually heard a congregant say out loud I do not want this church to grow I like it just the way it is.

Imagine if Jesus felt that way. Imagine if the spirit felt that way. Our hearts would not be open to welcoming new and loving people into our midst. There would only be one church and only twelve members. The music would still be Hebrew chants.
Okay yes we can grieve and mourn the loss of a beloved choir. We can even be saddened that we no longer have a paying position for the person who directed the choir. But to choose to disrupt service and then when asked to be quiet because someone was praying telling that person to “Shut up!” Where is the Christianity in that?

The rumor mills and the gossip will persist. The concept that one person knows better than another of what is good for our church will persist. Heck even believing that I should be removed will persist. However, disrespecting others during Sunday service or behaving as gossipy back biting mean people in front of visitors that will not be allowed to persist.

There are ways and appropriate means to address what is disliked or perceived to be unfair. Office doors are open every day. People are willing to discuss and even just listen to each other’s sadness and pain. Then it is time to work together in order to make the changes that are happening come together smoothly. We need to open our hearts to the joy and the love that is the Christ with in each of us so that we can grow stronger as a community of faith.

Dangerous Dreamers

Today’s reading from Genesis is of Joseph and his dreams. It is hard for me to actually state it that way for one of my favorite cantatas slash musicals is “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor dream coat”. Even before that cantata was written this was still my absolute favorite biblical story growing up.
I remember as a child going to the doctor’s office. It didn’t matter if it was the podiatrist, the family doctor or the dentist they all had Childrens books of Bible stories. I would eagerly page through the stories till I arrived at the story of Jacob and His sons. I mean for one it is a story about a dreamer. As a kid I was a big time dreamer. I could day dream into new worlds imagine myself off on distant shores of strange and foreign lands and I was always the hero.
My family actually could not pick on me for being a dreamer because I was armed with the bible story, the story of Joseph and Jacob and Levi and Naphtali and Benjamin. Joseph was a dreamer and his dreams . . . well they got him places. Not always great places but they got him places. I had Biblical Justification to be a dreamer.
The story of Jacob’s family would make a wonderful television miniseries. As we read the tale of the twelve sons of Jacob, we can see so many elements of the story that ring true to not only ancient times but our modern times as well. At the beginning of today’s text, we see clear signs of sibling rivalry and family dysfunction. We are told outright that Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son. Jacob “loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves” (Genesis 37:3). Jacob demonstrates his favoritism, and it causes resentment among the brothers. Then, to make matters worse, Joseph is a tattletale. We are told that he was a helper to his brothers in their work and that he “brought a bad report of them to their father” (v. 2). All of these factors create animosity between the brothers, and “they hated [Joseph], and could not speak peaceably to him” (v. 4).
Yet I think the straw that broke the camel’s back and caused true division among the brothers was not simply the favoritism or the tattling, but Joseph’s dreams. Today’s text does not include verses 5-11, but these verses are crucial to understanding the rest of the story of Jacob’s children. Joseph dreams of sheaves bowing down to his sheaf, and the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to him. It is in the sharing of these dreams that “they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words” (37:8). Joseph’s dreams place him in a position of honor and authority, and neither his brothers nor his father respond well to this vision of the future. Yet, we know that these dreams are from God, and speak to the future of not only Joseph but also his family for generations to come.
When I think on this story I often wonder about the hatred that Joseph’s brothers felt for him. Things come to a head rather quickly in the story after Joseph goes to find his brothers as they shepherd the flocks. “They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him’ ” (37:18-20). The dreams that Joseph articulates most threaten the brothers. When they hear Joseph share the vision of the future that God has given to him, they respond in violence and hatred. History proves that it is sometimes the dreamers in our world that we find most threatening.
I think about Martin Luther King, Jr., articulating a dream of unity. We remember his sermon on the Washington Mall, where he spoke of a day when people would be judged by their character and not the color of their skin. This was a dream from God about a future of hope and inclusiveness.
The dreamer was a threat to the status quo, and, ultimately, those who resisted his words and his dream silenced him.
I think of Archbishop Oscar Romero, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in San Salvador. Archbishop Romero was a pioneer in liberation theology, and he worked with the poor and oppressed. He spoke with a strong, clear voice about the need for basic human rights to be observed. He spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture. As a result, Romero began to be noticed internationally. He lived his life among those who had the least in terms of material possessions. Romero was a dreamer, and he was assassinated as he presided over worship.
I think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor who, studied under Reinhold Niebuhr and met Frank Fisher, a black fellow seminarian who introduced him to Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where Bonhoeffer taught Sunday school and formed a life-long love for African-American spirituals — a collection of which he took back to Germany. He heard Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. preach the Gospel of Social Justice and became sensitive not only to social injustices experienced by minorities but also the ineptitude of the church to bring about integration. Bonhoeffer began to see things "from below" — from the perspective of those who suffer oppression. He observed, "Here one can truly speak and hear about sin and grace and the love of God...the Black Christ is preached with rapturous passion and vision."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer fought against Nazism in World War II. He was a leader in the Confessing Church and became involved in the anti-Hitler resistance movement. He was arrested, charged, and found guilty of sedition in a plot to assassinate Hitler. He was hanged for his resistance to Nazism, but he continues to speak to us through his writings, as he encourages the church to live out its prophetic calling within community. Bonhoeffer was a dreamer who bravely lived out what his conscience dictated, even when it meant going against the powerful structure of Nazism and public sentiment.
I think of Dorothy Day who established the Catholic Worker movement, a nonviolent, pacifist movement that continues to combine direct aid for the poor and homeless with nonviolent direct action on their behalf. She was also considered to be an anarchist, and did not hesitate to use the term.
The Catholic Worker attitude toward those who were welcomed wasn't always appreciated. These weren't the "deserving poor," it was sometimes objected, but drunkards and good-for-nothings. A visiting social worker asked Day how long the "clients" were permitted to stay. "We let them stay forever," Day answered with a fierce look in her eye. "They live with us, they die with us, and we give them a Christian burial. We pray for them after they are dead. Once they are taken in, they become members of the family. Or rather they always were members of the family. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ."
Some justified their objections with biblical quotations. Didn't Jesus say that the poor would be with us always? "Yes," Day once replied, "but we are not content that there should be so many of them.”
Another Catholic Worker stress was the civil rights movement. As usual Day wanted to visit people who were setting an example and therefore went to Koinonia, a Christian agricultural community in rural Georgia where blacks and whites lived peacefully together. The community was under attack when Day visited in 1957. One of the community houses had been hit by machine-gun fire and Ku Klux Klan members had burned crosses on community land. Day insisted on taking a turn at the sentry post. Noticing an approaching car had reduced its speed, she ducked just as a bullet struck the steering column in front of her face. This wouldn’t be the last bullet she dodged. Dorothy day was a dreamer and the Catholic worker movement continues to this day.
I think of Harvey Milk who, to quote time magazine, There was a time when it was impossible for people--straight or gay--even to imagine a Harvey Milk. The funny thing about Milk is that he didn't seem to care that he lived in such a time. After he defied the governing class of San Francisco in 1977 to become a member of its board of supervisors, many people--straight and gay--had to adjust to a new reality he embodied: that a gay person could live an honest life and succeed.”
The magazine goes on to say that “The few gays who had scratched their way into the city's establishment blanched when Milk announced his first run for supervisor in 1973, but Milk had a powerful idea: he would reach downward, not upward, for support. He convinced the growing gay masses of "Sodom by the Sea" that they could have a role in city leadership, and they turned out to form "human billboards" for him along major thoroughfares. In doing so, they outed themselves in a way once unthinkable. It was invigorating.” Harvey Milk was a dreamer, he dreamed of giving the gay community hope and living openly and honestly, for these beliefs he was assassinated.
These five individuals are just a few examples of those who have had dreams placed upon their hearts, and who showed great courage in living out their convictions. They had a dream of what a just world would look like, and they spoke the truth of God to all who would listen. Yes I include Harvey in that for anyone who speaks of freedom, Justice and equality for all is speaking Gods truth. Though these people spoke the truth, they were not always embraced and some paid the price with their lives. Dreamers like Joseph sometimes end up in the bottom of a dark, deep pit.
The interesting things about dreamers and their dreams, these stories seem to say to be a dreamer is dangerous, you can be beaten, left to die, shot at, assassinated and yet, and yet the dream manages to live. A dream that is good and true is like a spark in dry timber it ignites and grows till the light can be seen and carried by many.
Today I have here on the altar a Paperweight. I love paperweights and Glass. It is amazing what happens to individual grains of sand when they are heated up inspired by the fire they come together to make glass. Then the master glass blower shapes it and coxes the glass into a shape that takes on meaning and beauty.
I was actually at the factory when this was created. I was shown around and introduced to many of the master crafts people. This husband and wife team was working on their newest project and they just opened the doors to their cooling kiln. You have to let the heated glass cool slowly otherwise it may crack or break. They pulled out their newest creation and its name was “Joseph and the dream coat!” I tell you I was thrilled and amazed I wanted to get one there and then. Unfortunately the company keeps number one. I had to go home and wait to order mine and have it shipped. This is it number 60 out of 76. Sometimes it takes a while to see a dream come to fruition. Sometimes it is not even in one’s lifetime.
In Andrew Lloyd Webbers retelling of Joseph we see Joseph in his darkest hour, in his prison cell when all dreams should be shattered and yet he still keeps his dreams alive. “Close every door to me,
Keep those I love from me Children of Israel Are never alone For we know we shall find Our own peace of mind For we have been promised A land of our own” Even in despair the dreamer knows the dream is bigger than just one dreamer.
The church today continues to need those who are open to the movement of God in their lives, and who will dream divine dreams of what the world might become through the power and grace of God, and we must acknowledge, that to be a dreamer, is dangerous. Those around us are not always willing to hear words of challenge or confrontation. The community of faith is sometimes resistant to the very changes that are most needed. The world will not understand the way of Jesus Christ. Those around us may not embrace the ways of God.
Dreamers sound naive at best and crazy at worst. Dreamers proclaim that the meek are blessed. Dreamers proclaim that there should be equality among the races, the sexes and the genders. Dreamers demand that the outcasts be welcomed. Dreamers beat plowshares into pruning hooks. Dreamers believe all humanity should live as one and care for this earth. The world is in need of dreamers. Are we willing to risk our lives in proclaiming the truth? Are we willing to risk our lives to embrace the dreams of God? Are we willing to allow a dream of heaven on earth become a reality and allow the kindom of God to manifest here and now? Well we can dream can’t we! Amen!

Abundant Hospitality - June 26th 2011

Spend a little time with Matthew’s gospel, and this is what you will find Jesus telling his disciples as they are about to embark on their first evangelistic rally... Proclaim the good news, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, take no payment, no gold or silver, and don’t put any change in your pockets. Don’t carry a bag or take any extra clothing or shoes. Work for what you eat.

That’s what Jesus told his disciples. That’s all. That’s all.

And that seems like enough. But he’s not through. After giving them their marching orders, he tells them what they can expect for their troubles...

“I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves,” he says ominously, “so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves... Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his children, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name...”

It doesn’t sound much like the gospel, does it? Sounds more like the Civil War.

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword...

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Wow, that’s all just in chapter ten – just in chapter ten – of Matthew’s gospel. One chapter. In fact, it’s one of the most difficult portions of scripture that we will find anywhere.

So what is Jesus saying? What is Matthew telling us by putting these words of Jesus together? They are saying it’s a fearful world out there, especially for the one who dares carry Jesus’ name as an I.D.

So it is with rejoicing – and not a little bit of relief – that we finally get through all these terrible warnings and dire messages, and find a hopeful word when Jesus says, “... whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – amen I tell you – none of these will lose their reward.”

Like the allusion itself, after hearing all the terrible things that can happen to one who dares follow Jesus, these words are like a cup of cold water to a dry and parched throat. After telling his disciples what they must do – which seems downright impossible to us – Jesus tells them the consequences of it all will be harsh. But then he says it is enough – it is quite enough – simply to be offered a cup of cold water in his name. Just a cup of water.

So, we offer a collective sigh of relief and think that this lets us off the hook.

Besides, a cup of cold water... why, that’s easy. Piece o’ cake.

Except, Craig Kocher, a Chaplain at a university, reminds us of something all too real. “In a world as broken and fragmented as ours,” he says, “a simple act of kindness, a welcome to a stranger, a little genuine hospitality can be downright dangerous.” And that’s especially true here in Los Angeles.

“In a world where people are attacked in their own homes,” he says, “answering the doorbell becomes an act of faithfulness. Offering directions to a lost traveler provokes second thoughts. Holding another’s hand involves body contact. Visiting the hospital or retirement home means an encounter with the sick, the dying, and the lonely... Mumbling hello to a stranger on a crowded street may seem odd. A little airplane flight to visit...friends can be nerve-racking; a bomb may be aboard... In this kind of world, a world of walls and barriers, violence and loneliness, Christian hospitality becomes a prophetic act.”

This is not an easy world for many of us, if for no other reason than we have memories of a simpler and more pleasant time with which to compare it. Many of us grew up in a safer, different world. At least, that’s the way we remember it.


Robert Browning, not the poet but a pastor in Georgia, puts it well and says it for a lot us who are here this morning... “I grew up in a time,” he says, “when houses had screen doors that let light, air, pollen and noise filter throughout each room. Company never surprised us because we could hear their car coming up the gravel driveway. Spring rains did not sneak up on us either, because we could smell them before they arrived.”

I, at one point, lived in a small town that was only accessible by a long drive down a two lane road about an hour and a half outside Detroit. We did not lock our doors, we knew all our neighbors, as kids we would play tackle foot ball in a muddy field without a care, and stranger danger was never a concern that was a problem for the city.

Do you remember what that was like?

Now, we have air-conditioning and blaring TVs that blot out all the outside noises while we have transformed our homes into cocoons of safety and retreat, Dead-bolts and security alarms, lights that come on automatically when there is a motion nearby. For some, the only way you can get into your neighborhood is to have an access code that guards the gate. We are more comfortable, it seems, to live this way, but underneath it all is an underlying sense of unease, that lurking just outside the walls of our homes is danger. So we do all we can to protect ourselves from that which would jeopardize our well-being. We don’t live in that open, screen-door world any more.

Truth be told, however, neither did Jesus.

The context for what Jesus says here is conflict. The world he describes sounds more like Nazi Germany, when neighbors spied on neighbors and turned them in if their loyalty was not orthodox to the existing regime. Jesus has warned his disciples that even family members would turn against one another because of one’s allegiance to him.

Jesus says plainly that following him can lead to struggle, not smooth sailing. It can create more havoc than it does peace of mind. He is sending out his messengers, and wherever they go they will run the risk of creating the same kind of situation he himself has found everywhere he has gone. In some places he was accepted, received with warm hospitality. In others, he was met with anything but that. He also understood why. For someone to offer Jesus and his disciples hospitality – even just a cup of cold water – that in itself could be considered an act of treason.

It was a difficult world in which Jesus lived, a world in which hospitality had a dangerous edge to it. To us, the word “hospitality” implies coffee and Terry’s pie before service, a polite reception in the other room with cake and coffee. To Jesus, it meant far more than that. It meant acceptance, even to those who, in his society and in his day, were deemed to be unacceptable. This is why he put his arms around lepers, ate with tax collectors and sinners, forgave adulterers, and broke Sabbath laws. Hospitality was not only important to Jesus; it was at the very heart of being like God. And it didn’t make any difference to him where such hospitality took place, or to whom, or on what day.

Hospitality can have a hard edge even today. I suppose it depends on where you are and whether you’re willing to put yourself in difficult places.

The power of hospitality is no better illustrated in our Lord’s teachings than in these three verses. The key words are welcomes and gives. The culture of the Middle East is seasoned with generous hospitality. People who visit Jerusalem today always comment on the warm hospitality extended by shopkeepers.

To have the honor of showing hospitality is rooted in his culture. Here, Jesus summons his disciples to be men and women who welcome others as if they were welcoming him. We Christians are called to be people who live with open arms, open minds, and open acceptance. To take this idea further, Jesus identifies giving a cup of cool water “to one of these little ones” (Matthew 10:42) as the ultimate expression of hospitality. Tempted though we are to show deference to the powerful and wealthy, Jesus calls us to express the same level of concern to “little ones”—the marginalized, voiceless, abused, and forgotten. Especially those beyond these walls.

Elizabeth Newman writes in Untamed Hospitality that “The Faithful practice of hospitality must begin (and also end) with what our society will tend to regard as of little consequence. Waiting for the earthshaking event or the cultural or even ecclesial revolution can paralyze us. We are rather, as the gospel reminds us, called to be faithful in the small things. Hospitality is a practice and discipline that asks us to do what in the world’s eyes might seem inconsequential but from the perspective of the gospel is a manifestation of God’s kingdom.”

Simply greeting someone at the door, introducing yourself, and inquiring of their journey to our church. This small building and community quickly becomes comfortable and home. Being sure our doors are large enough for wheel chairs to come through, providing listening devices, and interpreters are just small ways that we make known God’s hospitality.

If you think about it we are not really giving anything special or unique when we offer hospitality to all we encounter. We are simply mirroring the generous Hospitality that God has offered to all, That God has offered to us! A welcoming place of community where God’s love is expressed acknowledged and shared every day. Not just Sundays but everyday that you are out engaging people the hospitality we extend here should be extended out there!

Hospitality has nothing to do with show and ostentation; but that it has everything to do with the way in which the guest is welcomed and made to feel comfortable and at home. I wonder, if given a choice amongst many spiritual gifts, which of us would choose the gift of hospitality. Would we not rather in responding to the needs of our friends request the gift of healing; or in responding to the needs of our country request the gift of prophecy; or in responding to the needs of a community request the gift of pastoral care.
And yet...... and yet the cardinal virtue, the cardinal spiritual gift, in the biblical record is the gift of hospitality. The bible is the story of the welcoming table.

We catch a sight of this in the gospel reading when the twelve are sent out in the expectation that they will receive hospitality. So they are not to take money or baggage, but they are to be entirely dependent on the hospitality of unknown hosts. Those who show them hospitality will be given the gift of peace; and those who refuse hospitality will be accounted as worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. We know that the sin of Sodom had nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with in-hospitability.

Sodomy is the sin of locking the door, barring the windows, turning the pantry into a safe, and looking at the stranger with cold and fearful eyes through lovely lace curtains.

Hospitality is the ways in which God’s people do more for the stranger than they might do for their dearest friends. For God often comes to us in the guise of the stranger. Bob has the habit of keeping change around just in case a stranger asks for help for you never know when that stranger just may be Christ. Remember it is written On the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand, "Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Then Jesus will turn to those on His left hand and say, "Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me." These will ask Him, "When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to Your help?" And Jesus will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto me!"

Even in the Old Testament we know the story of hospitality and the rewards of a simple welcome. Abraham is an old man of 99 and lives in the desert with his wife. One day he sees strangers in the distance he runs out to greet them offers them shade, water, and food. And in return he is granted a son. He was entertaining angels unawares.

As I truly believe that each and every one is created in the image of God then I must treat each and every one with the hospitality I would give to God. Imagine if the whole world were to practice this way, what kind of world this would be. Hospitality is not so much about extraordinary deeds as it is about allowing God to invade our very ordinary lives. There is holy significance in the ordinary small gesture.

We have heard it time and again from people who visit this community. They are touched by the number of people who come up and say hello and introduce themselves. This simple, small gesture of Hospitality becomes a grand gesture to the stranger who is feeling nervous, timid and perhaps alone as they arrive here for the first time. If that small gesture can make such a difference here, in this place . . . what effect would it have out there in the everyday place?

I hope and pray that as the spiritual communities grow and learn of Gods abundant Hospitality that they all, we all may become reflections of God’s Abundant Hospitality out in the world. Then perhaps, just perhaps I won’t have to lock my door any more. Perhaps I actually may walk down the street and hear Good afternoon. At least I know the world will be a better place if I choose to reflect God’s hospitality. Will you do the same? Can you meet that challenge that Christ has put before us today? I do hope so, I believe so and so In the name of Jesus Christ, I say welcome, good morning, have a cup of cool water and join us here at the table. Amen.

What is in a name

Who here has ever had a nick name?? C’mon growing up what did they call you don’t be shy let’s hear some...I had a few . . . my folks called me Charlie brown because whenever I flew a kite it would crash, get stuck in a tree or if I finally managed to get it in the air it would keep going the string would brake and i would never see that kite again. In high school my nick name just became sea no not the letter c but sea as in sea shore. Many of the disciples had nick names or descriptions to help keep them all straight
1. Simon Peter: Renamed by Jesus to Peter (meaning rock
2. Andrew: The brother of Simon/Peter, a Bethsaida fisherman, and a former disciple of John the Baptist.
3. James, son of Zebedee: The brother of John.
4. John: The brother of James. Jesus named both of them Bo-aner'ges, which means "sons of thunder'.'"[Mk 3:17]
5. Philip: From the Bethsaida of Galilee[Jn 1:44] [12:21]
6. Bartholomew, son of Talemai; usually identified with Nathanael, who is mentioned in Jn 1:45-51.[15]
7. Matthew: The tax collector.
8. James, son of Alphaeus: James the Less is a figure of early Christianity. He is also called "the minor", "the little", "the lesser", or "the younger", according to translation. He is often confused with James the Great and may or may not be James the JustGenerally identified with "James the Less",
9. Simon the Zealot: you might recall him in super star he wants jesus to get the romans out thus the name zealot for they were a group who wanted to expel rome from the judean area.[18]
10. Judas son of James, aka Thaddeus he is the "mystery" apostle because he's the one the synoptic gospels disagree on. Mark and some versions of Matthew list him as Thaddeus; some versions of Matthew list him as Lebbeus;.
11. Judas Iscariot: The disciple who later betrayed Jesus and his name became identical to betraying
12. Thomas: Judas Thomas Didymus - Aramaic T'oma' = twin, and Greek Didymos = twin. Doubting Thomas.
Wow doubting Thomas how would like to be stuck with that name and then have it mean something. I mean really mean something:" If you look up this phrase in the dictionary, you'll find something like: "one who habitually or instinctively doubts or questions." A "doubting Thomas" is somebody who always lags behind in matters of faith. A "doubting Thomas" always needs more proof, more time. A "doubting Thomas" has a hard time trusting others.

I honestly believe Thomas gets a bum rap here. I mean was he the first to doubt what others told him? I mean let me throw a quote at you and tell me who it is about “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him say; ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’” What story is that from. . . .Mathew 14:31 Jesus walking on the water and who falters??? Peter “the rock! Yes he sank like one

Then again in Luke we hear how the women at the tomb learn of the resurrected Christ and told all they had seen to the Apostles then the book states “but these words seemed to them an idle tale.” It isn’t only Thomas who doubts but they all do. Peter even has to go see for himself the empty tomb.

In Luke when Jesus suddenly appears before the 11 he states “why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see.” And even after that the bible states that “they were disbelieving and still wondering.” In John’s gospel when Jesus appears to the 10 he shows them his feet and hands in order that they may believe it just happens that Thomas wasn’t there with the crowd.

Interesting note if you remember the video Gospel of john from a couple of weeks ago. As Jesus is telling the apostles to get ready to head back to Judea to see Martha and Mary the 11 voice their fears for they barely made it out of there alive the last time but it is Thomas who states in“John 11:16
"Let us also go, that we may die with him."
It sounds like Thomas had a pretty good grasp on Jesus mission and what the outcome would be. So here is a man Nicked named the Twin. Why he is called the twin is not clear but by the comment above it sounds like wherever Christ went and whatever Christ was doing Thomas was right there ready to go right alongside him.
That is until The Garden of Gethsemane . . . After the arrest, trial and crucifixion all the men fled
They were heartbroken disillusioned and in despair.
But then, on Easter morning, some women claimed that the tomb where Jesus had been buried was empty, and that they had even seen him alive. "Nonsense," Thomas must have figured. "Nothing but delirium. Wishful thinking!" Yet that evening, while Thomas was away from the group, Jesus appeared to the other disciples. When he returned, they excitedly reported to him : "We've seen the Lord."
Doubting Thomas
But Thomas didn't share their joy or confidence. He said to his fellow disciples, "I won't believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side." There you have it: doubting Thomas. And it stuck!
But do you blame him? Remember, he had been burned before, big time. He had gone way out on a limb for God, and the limb broke off. What had that got him? Discouragement. Defeat. Devastation! Thomas wasn't going to fall into that trap all over again. No way. This time he was going to be sure before he invested all that he was in some spiritual Ponzi scheme. (By the way, Charles Ponzi deserves to have his name associated with a fraudulent get-rich-quick scheme.)
We have just come through Lent and Holy Week, periods of serious spiritual labor. We had more intense reflections. . .reflections around the wreath focusing upon the poor, the hungry, Marriage equality, Peace, Healing of the ill, and the earth herself. We added the narratives of the passion to reflect upon before proclaiming absolution. The reflections focused on how we treat the public, how we serve as employers and work as employees, we looked at ourselves and pondered if we ever get caught up in a mob mentality going along with the crowd, We asked if we ever turn away from what we know is right, we looked to see if we were perhaps guilty or do we share our story and witness to God accordingly and finally last we proclaimed we are Guilty and, because of Christ we are free and forgiven! That was a lot of spiritual work and it would be easy to rest in the spirit of the risen Lord and just state ahh it is Easter.

Yet today’s reading calls to us to say: “Wait. There is work to be done. There is work
yet to do.” This point is driven home by the fact that this reading is the Gospel lesson for the Second Sunday of Easter in all three years of the lectionary cycle. Whereas the spiritual work of Lent could be conducted in a more private manner, the work of resurrection life is more communal, more public
Many readers of this passage have noted traces of early Christian liturgy or worship,

Liturgy is a rite or system of rites prescribed for public worship.
The first thing we notice is that the disciples are already in the habit
of assembling on the Lord’s Day (first day of the week). Despite their fear
and confusion, these earliest disciples find it necessary to gather as a community.
Even the decision to gather is part of our liturgy as the people of God, an act of worship. If we wish to probe the meaning and reality of the risen Lord, it is going to happen
most fully when we are gathered for the work of worship.
In this liturgy of resurrection, as the disciples are gathered, Christ
appears—bearing the marks of his passion. Don’t miss that. Jesus, from
the beginning, exposes his wounds for the sake of those present, effectively
allowing them to find their faith again. Christ knows that these men must see to believe. This liturgical appearance involves observing the body broken “the bread the bread of a new covenant broken for you” this event takes the symbolism of the last supper and makes it concrete and real for the apostles as for us. Of course for Thomas it happens eight days later.

When, after eight days, Jesus finally appeared to the disciples in Thomas's presence, he addressed the "doubter" directly: "Put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Do not Doubt but believe." (v. 27).
Do you know what's missing here? The rebuke! The guilt! The lecture on not doubting! It's not here. Jesus doesn't chew Thomas out for his unbelief. Rather, he gently and mercifully offers Thomas exactly what he had wanted. Jesus met Thomas right where he was. And he offered himself to Thomas: "Here, touch me, and believe." The same offer he made to the other ten the week before. It is reversing the last supper. At the last supper “Seeing isn't believing... Believing is seeing” (to quote the little elf Judy from the Santa clause) here after the resurrection after being tested and tried and heartbroken the belief comes after seeing but what is the proclamation to us ”Blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe.”

I want you to notice something else absolutely crucial here. Thomas said, "My Lord and my God!" This makes him the first person in the Gospels, perhaps even the first person in all of history, to confess Jesus not only as Lord, but also as God. Doubting Thomas, or better yet, honest Thomas became faithful Thomas, bold Thomas, believing Thomas.
This is where honesty with God leads. This is the outcome of an open confession of doubt. This is not pretend faith. This is not the sort of Christianity we wear as a costume to impress others. It's a 100% genuine faith that issues from the deepest recesses of our soul. It's a faith that transforms our lives. It's the sort of faith that I want. And I expect you do too.
The final thing I want to point out in this passage is the giving of a blessing: “Peace be with
you” (John 20:19, 21). Peace is the fulfillment of Jesus’ earlier promises.
Scholars point out that Jesus’ statement is not a wish or hopeful intention;
it functions grammatically as a statement of fact. The liturgy of resurrection requires that, as followers of Christ, we work for and proclaim peace. The peace the disciples receive at Christ’s first appearance, the peace given to Thomas so that all doubts are erased and he is granted to proclaim the Truth of Jesus is God and now “As the Creator has sent me so I send you” The great commissioning. After all doubts and fear s are assailed this can no longer remain a secret one must go out and proclaim to the world that Christ is God, risen, Alive, he understands the human condition for he has been through it all and so At the last supper “Seeing isn't believing... Believing is seeing” again I say here after the resurrection after being tested and tried and heartbroken the belief comes after seeing but what is the proclamation to us ”Blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe.” A final thought from Carolyn Arends. She says, “The world offers promises full of emptiness – Easter offers emptiness full of promise.” She’s referring to the empty tomb, the empty cross and the empty grave clothes. Easter offers emptiness full of promise. My message today: embrace the promise. Believe where you have not seen. And know this: the God who gave life to Jesus will also give life to you. God asks your belief. God expects your trust. That’s where it starts. The proof will appear in your life. Then you must go out and proclaim it live it boldly and fully Amen.

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Gay Man with Alzheimer’s Eagerly Awaits Prop 8 Case Outcome :: EDGE Philadelphia

My sermon on Mary the magdalene (I was last in a series)

Over the past few weeks, We have been listening to the unfolding of the revelation of Mary Magdalene who she was and who she is or who she should be to us today. Mary of Magdela or the Magdalene has been reduced to the prostitute, the sinner, the unclean woman who followed Jesus, and yet, who she was truly. . .is being slowly revealed to us.
Rev. Bob has told us that. Magdela was a fishing community on the Sea of Galilee, three and half miles from the city that Herod Antipas founded—Tiberius. It was a small fishing community. Yet we know from Luke’s Gospel that. “Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources."

Imagine woman traveling the country side of Jerusalem freely with a group of fisherman proclaiming radical news.
Woman in those days had their freedoms severely limited by Jewish law and custom, as they were in essentially all other cultures in that time. Generally speaking: woman were restricted to roles of little or no authority, they were largely confined to their father's or husband's home, they were considered to be inferior to men, and under the authority of men –
either their father before marriage, or their husband afterwards.
Women were not allowed to testify in court trials. They could not go out in public,
or talk to strangers.
When outside of their homes, they were to be doubly veiled.
"They had become second-class Jews, excluded from the worship and teaching of God, with status scarcely above that of slaves."
Their position in society was defined in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the interpretation of those scriptures.
A woman could be arrested, beaten, raped and/or killed for the slightest display of impropriety
and yet, here with Jesus, the Magdalene walks freely as an equal and provides for the ministry of Jesus and the disciples.
I still wonder who this woman was. . . I mean to provide for twelve men on the open road in places where they were under suspicion. . . The men themselves were under suspicion for being associates of Jesus.
What does this make this woman, this woman who walks freely as a follower,
This woman who has the means and the wherewithal to listen and to learn from Jesus,
Who is this woman?
The first time we hear of Mary she is referred to as the woman who had seven demons cast out of her. You may recall that Pastor Bob stated “Whatever her trauma was, Jesus exorcized her of the pain and memories that traumatically scared her.
We don’t know the events that led Jesus and Mary to cross paths, but Jesus met with her in a ministry of exorcism and healings of unclean spirits.
Such afflictions of unclean spirits had to be dealt with in the inward, spiritual personality.
Jesus believed that God’s Spirit was far more vital than spiritual possession. He preaches, “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the reign of God has come to you.”
There were very few quick fixed exorcisms. The description of Mary possessed with seven unclean spirits indicates that Jesus exorcism took place over a period of time, perhaps months or even up to a year.
It meant replacing each expelled demon or unclean spirit with the divine Spirit. He anointed her with oil as a symbol of installing the Spirit of God within her psyche and her soul.
He prayed over her many times, and it was a struggle for her to become emotionally and spiritually free.
As she grew in emotional and spiritual health, she finally became free and a committed disciple of Jesus.
In fact, Mary became the living embodiment of the power of the Spirit. “
I understand that seven is a magical number in the scriptures and it usually refers to something of god or in a perfect form.
In the Gospel of Mary she is asked to teach what she knows for peter, peter who later would be named the head of the church, says to her, a woman;
“Sister, we know that the savoir loved you more than all the other women. Tell us the words of the savoir that you remember, the thing s you know
The things we don’t know because we haven’t heard them.”
Mary begins to teach of the assent of the souls and when the soul reaches the fourth power she states speaking of the soul
“It had seven forms. . . “
She lists these forms as darkness,
desire,
ignorance,
a zeal for death,
the kingdom of the flesh (or earthly desires)
foolish wisdom
and the last is a wrathful or vengeful wisdom
she describes these as the seven powers of Wrath”
I believe these are the demons that Mary was exorcised of.
I believe she, somehow must be a rich widow and that her loss, perhaps it was loss of her children, loss of her husband, or just the brutality of the world around her had made her a dark, vengeful and hateful woman
and when her path crossed with that of Jesus’,
Jesus, as bob said, over time healed her of these things and taught her of the soul, taught her of love, and of blessed spirit and generosity.
She was brought in and taught things that no other man or woman was taught.
So now we have an image of a woman, who is somehow well- to- do and independent,
a woman who is not afraid to break with all tradition and understanding of her time and be taught, healed and anointed, by a man who is despised by the reigning Jewish powers and feared by Rome.
We really don’t know if she walked with him for three years or just the final year but, the point is, she walked with him.
She walked and stood with him at the cross when the others had fled.

As it was said, and as I can testify to, as can anyone here who has walked with a loved one on their path to the next life.
No matter how much she believed she was prepared for the death of Jesus. Jesus whom she loved, Jesus the one who has freed her from pain and suffering and handed her a new life, and lovingly taught her how to pray and become intimate with Abba God. No matter how prepared she thought she was,
She could not be fully prepared for the grim reality that awaited Jesus. Then, after being a witness to all he went through, to stand there, at his feet, and wait and watch for 3 hours as his life force slowly waned to be carried off and laid in a tomb before sunset.
I tell you with every bone in my body I know she walked away numb lost in total shock unprepared for the emotions that were running through her. She would play and replay the events over and over again in her mind right through to the morning that she started that long slow walk to the tomb to anoint and care for the body. (Play Video)
Now, imagine her heartache and fear at finding the tomb opened and empty. I
t was not uncommon for tombs to be vandalized but even more uncommon was for a criminal to be granted a tomb to begin with,
So you can understand her fear that the body may have been stolen and even destroyed, for even in death, by being granted a tomb, Christ broke with tradition.
Now imagine seeing what she supposed to be the gardener and asking him if he knows anything please tell her.
I am sure there was much fear and desperation in her voice,
She would do almost anything just to know where they had taken her beloved teacher,
Where they had put him, and yet,
all He has to do is say that one word with all the love and compassion that she had ever heard it,
“Mary”,
Every heartache, all the memories of the past days,
all the pain,
just melted away,
her soul was washed anew with one word. . .
“Mary”
and she responded loud, joyous, practically Giddy, “Rabboni!”
and she lunged at him, wanting to hold him close, but Jesus says “Don’t hold on to me.”,
or “Don’t Cleave to me” which is the same word used in the second story of genesis when it is said; “that a man leaves his mother and cleaves to his wife.”
But it is also the same word used in Jewish mysticism which means
To have an experience of inseparable attachment in prayer and meditation, a link between the human and the divine.
Prayer is a powerful thing, is it possible that Mary, with her training and spiritual knowledge was holding Jesus back with her prayer?
That her love and their spiritual relationship was so strong that she could actually bind him to this plain?
I don’t know.
but what Jesus is saying is you have to let me go, and you must Go now proclaim my resurrection to the others and to the world.
In all four Gospels Mary the Magdalene is the first witness. In all four Gospels it is Mary who proclaims the news of the resurrection.
Without Mary Magdalene, without that witness,
the witness of a women hurt, a woman hurt that was made whole,
a woman who stood outside of all tradition ,
a woman who could do as she pleased in a society that frowned on women doing anything at all,
Mary the Magdalene was chosen by Jesus to be the first witness,
the very First to proclaim the good news.
The first to run to the 11 and the other men and woman and say;
Christos Anesti (Christ is Risen)!
Without Mary Magdalene’s proclamation there is no Easter Sunday.
Jesus who lived outside the norm,
Jesus who reached out to the marginalized and outcast of society, intentionally chose the least of all his followers.
Well the one who would be considered least by tradition, culture and society.
Yet it was Culture, society and the majority ruling class that chose to stigmatize, marginalize and exclude the one person who could embody
and carry on Christ’s message of salvation and redemption for all.
Yet, what is interesting, in other cultures Mary remained an important and pivotal preacher and teacher.
If it wasn’t for Mary’s unique position we would not have dyed eggs at Easter.
For centuries, it has been the custom of many Christians to share dyed and painted eggs, particularly on Easter Sunday.
The eggs represent new life, and Christ bursting forth from the tomb.
Among Eastern Orthodox Christians (including Bulgarian, Greek, Lebanese, Macedonian, Russian, Romanian, Serbian and Ukrainian) this sharing is accompanied by the proclamation
"Christ is raised!" (In Greek "Christos anesti") and it is followed by the response "Truly He is risen!"(In Greek - "Alithos anesti").
One tradition concerning Mary Magdalene says that following the death and resurrection of Jesus, she used her position, as a influential woman, to gain an invitation to a banquet given by Emperor Tiberius.
When she met Tiberius, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed "Christ is raised!" Caesar laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it.
Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red, and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house. [33]
The challenge before us today is to ask ourselves where have we perhaps judged, pigeon holed or even ignored the Gospel being proclaimed because of the source?
Could we have assumed someone to be something other than they are because society has proclaimed it?
Are we afraid or suspicious of other religions?
Perhaps we are afraid of other manifestations within our own community;
maybe we just choose to pay no attention to the needs of the young or the old.
Perhaps we discount someone because they are transgender or perhaps they live a leather lifestyle?
We as a community of believers are being called by the one who was excluded and pushed aside,
we as a community are being called by the one who made it possible for us to be here today.
We are being called by the Magdalene to look at ourselves and to listen to the good news that is being proclaimed from all corners of civilization,
The good news that is being proclaimed from all corners of our community
Christ is risen, all are forgiven and all are loved children of God!
Christos Anesti (Christ is Risen) Alithos Anesti ("Truly He is Risen!" Or “He is raised indeed”)

Mathew 4:12-23 Fishermen

In today’s Reading we hear how Jesus called his First disciples. Simon who is called Peter and James They immediately dropped their nets and followed him. Imagine how lucky they must have felt to have an opportunity to stop fishing and follow Jesus instead. But not so fast, what does this really mean, what did it mean to be a fisherman at the time of Jesus.
The Sea of Galilee has been renowned for its fish from ancient times. There are 18 different species that are indigenous to the lake. They are classified locally into three main groups: sardines, biny and musht.
Sardines are endemic to the lake. Today at the height of the fishing season tens of tons of sardines are caught every night. Biny fish consist of three species of the carp family. Because they are “well fleshed” they are very popular at feasts and for Sabbath. Musht means “comb.” These are large fish, some of which are 16 inches long and weigh 2 pounds.
Fishing in Galilee was/ and is a thriving industry. Fish was the main source of protein, and the market for fish was extensive. The population of Palestine at the time of Jesus was about 500,000. The ordinary masses depended on fish along with bread as a staple food. Satisfying the epicurean appetites of the upper classes at home and abroad with dried fish was a profitable business.
The fishermen oversaw all aspects of the business. They furnished the boats and equipment for the actual fishing. They paid their help and paid the quota to the tax collector. They attended to the business of sale, were accountable for the preserving of the fish and shipment, and did their own bargaining.
The fishermen hired sailors and fishers (maybe day laborers) to do the work, care for the boats, mend the nets, sift and count the fish. These fishermen operated in legal partnership with others. They belonged to guilds (much like trade unions).
Zebedee, the father of James and John, owned his boats and hired day laborers. This leads to the presumption that he and his sons had a sizeable business, which would have required travel. Peter and Andrew were partners with them.
James and John, according to the gospels, traveled frequently to Jerusalem where fish was required for the pilgrim feasts. It has been suggested that they supplied fish for the high priestly family (the gospel says that John was known to the High Priest, Caiaphas). Was it on these trips that Jesus went to Jerusalem? In John’s Gospel we find him there for many of the feasts, which would have been the times when fishermen went with their fish.
Jesus Chose Fishermen
Jesus entrusted fishermen from Bethsaida with the spreading of his message. They were the ones he commissioned to be fishers of people and to teach all nations. He may have done this for practical reasons. These were savvy businessmen. They were multilingual. Their native tongue was Aramaic. They would also have known Hebrew. Knowledge of Greek would have been essential for people like Peter and his co-workers who were involved in the fishing business. The gospels themselves suggest that they were able to carry on conversations with Greek speakers the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mk 7:26), people in the Decapolis where the curing of the deaf man took place (Mk 7:31), and the incident of Philip and Andrew conversing with the Greeks (Jn 12:20-23). They may also have had a smattering of Latin. Peter converses with the Roman centurion, Cornelius (Acts 10:25).
Fishermen had to develop attributes that others did not have. They had to be skilled at their trade, knowing the when, where and why of fishing, but they also had to be patient, not easily discouraged, strong, hard-working and community- oriented.
As businessmen they had to be judges of character, savvy about the market, conscientious about their civic and religious responsibility. They had to have respect for the law and learn to operate within its limitations. All of this was required in their new enterprise. And in bringing the skills of their trade to Jesus, these fishermen changed the world.
Knowing all this of the trade of fishing and their skill sets and most likely their income and lifestyle Imagine what it means to drop their nets and follow Jesus. Jesus called and they answered without even thinking about it. God placed something on their hearts and when Jesus called they knew this was the time to answer.
There are other stories in the Gospels where people are feeling called for example the young well to do man in Mathew 19 who says to Jesus what must I do to enter heaven and Jesus explains to him to keep the commandments and the young man states I do all that then Jesus says “well if you want to be perfect sell all you have and give the money to the poor” to which the writer tells us the young man “went away grieving for he had many possessions.”
Here was a young man who too felt he had a calling that God had placed something upon his heart and yet when he decided to explore what that meant he wasn’t prepared to answer the call. Then there is the instance of the person who Jesus says follow me and his response is “allow me to bury my father first” and of course Jesus’ reply is “let the dead bury their dead”. Often we feel this response is harsh yet this is nature of Devine calling in Scripture. The characteristics are all the same; they require instant obedience, the caller is not aware of exactly what they are being called to; and the response is through faith alone.
In today’s time here and now we are constantly being called by God. We are not called once, to become people of faith, but many times. All through our lives Christ is calling us. God called us first into life at the moment of our creation. Christ calls us into relationship with God and the spirit. Whether we listen for that voice or not it is there calling us to come ever closer. If we somehow feel we are less than or we hold ourselves accountable for something we have done or haven’t done, we are called into forgiveness; If we are struggling to fulfill our calling, Christ calls us on from grace to grace, and from holiness to holiness. Calling is constantly inviting us to go further and deeper with God.
It is sad but all too often we think of Christ’s call as something that happened in the day of the Apostles along the Sea of Galilee or only for those entering the religious life and Yet Christ is among us calling us this very day often we do not believe it ,we do not hear it or feel it, we do not look for it in our own lives.
These sacred callings come to us suddenly and have obscure consequences just as in any account of calling. The accidents and events of life are one special way in which callings occur and they are, by definition, sudden and unexpected. You may be going about your daily routine and you come across a letter, or a note, or a person, and now you find yourself faced with something, which, if met prayerfully and whole-ly ( that is spelled Wholely) that is with full conciseness and intentionality there may be an opportunity to deepen your relationship with God.
Perhaps it may be the loss of someone dear to us which shows us the impermanence of things in this life and how unimportant the collecting of “things” are and calls us to turn and become more focused on God.
The little things which we do, or we respond to, that come to us as suddenly as a summer squall, may be just the answer to open us up to new possibilities and greater understanding of God callings here and now. It may open up our hearts and minds into a truer view of life and choices that we have not seen before.
Another way that the call may come and we answer is through daily devotion, perhaps you read scripture everyday and suddenly see something in a new way in which we never have before. A new light may seem to shine in Jesus and his Apostles and the way they lived their lives and responded to the world around them that suddenly you see you can now respond to life in a way that you have never responded before.
The Calling of Christ and God is constant, often referred to as the lure. God is ever luring us into a deeper relationship of prayer and awareness. Yet to answer the calls of God requires a prayerfull relationship.
There is an old story about a man sitting at a bar getting drunk in Alaska. He’s telling the bartender about how he recently lost his faith in God after his twin engine plane crashed in the tundra. "Yeah," he says bitterly, I lay there in the wreckage praying with all of my might and crying out to God to save me, and he didn’t raise a finger to help me. I'm through believing in a God who doesn’t care about what happens to me."
"But you’re here talking to me," says the bartender, "You were saved."
"Yeah, that's right," says the man, "because finally some Eskimo came along. . ."
God appears to us through many different people and speaks to us in many different ways. If we have a preconceived notion of what God looks like, or sounds like, we just might miss her when she calls! The voice of God does not always sound like Charleton Heston in Cecil B. Demille’s, "Ten Commandments." Even Samuel, from the Old Testament, confused the voice of God with the voice of his mentor, Eli. God calls each one of us, but we may not recognize God's voice.
When I say that God calls each one of us, I simply mean that the Holy Spirit has a desire to lead us and guide us throughout our lives. I don’t mean that God is like a great puppet-master sitting up in heaven pulling the strings and making us dance around. But the one who created us all gave us different gifts and desires, and we were given those gifts and desires for a reason. When we dedicate our lives to following Christ, we are choosing to live as God would want us to live, and to use our gifts for the greater good. God calls us to be who we are and to live as authentically as we can. When we follow God's direction for our lives, we are being who we were created to be.
The word vocation is derived from the Latin word Vocare, which means, "to call." A vocation is a calling, which sets it apart from being merely a job. My professor Frank Rogers always taught us that; “Vocation is the place in the road where your deepest gladness and the worlds deepest needs meet." God can and does call us at different stages in our lives. For some people, the call is very clear and there is no question about following it. Simon, Andrew, James and John did not hesitate to drop their nets and follow Jesus, leaving the lives and the work that they knew well. For most of us, however, God's call is not so clear and it takes a while to discern just what we are being called to do.
Parker Palmer writes in “Let your Life Speak” of when he was a young man, he was trying to figure out his own calling. He was trying "to find a vocation that seemed real and right." At the time, he was living in a Quaker community outside of Philadelphia. It seems that whenever he tried to talk to any of his Quaker friends they told him, "Have faith, and the way will be made know to you." He was getting very discouraged, because he had been praying and listening and nothing seemed clear to him. One day, he went to visit an older member of the community whom he admired. "Ruth," he said, "I've tried many different kinds of work, but nothing seemed right for me. My friends keep telling me that the way will open if I have faith, yet I've been praying and the way is not being made clear to me. Way may open for other people but it sure isn’t opening for me."
After a moment Ruth responded, "I've been a birthright Quaker for sixty-plus years, and way has never opened for me,” she responded. She paused and Palmers heart sank. Could it be that the Quaker concept of God's guidance was all a lie?
Then Ruth spoke again, "But a lot of way has closed behind me and that has the same guiding effect."
Together they laughed aloud and in that moment Palmer realized a simple truth that re-framed his spiritual life. He writes: “There is as much guidance from God in what does not happen and cannot happen in my life as there is in what can and does happen, maybe more."
One way that we can determine call is if we are sensing a way opening before us, or a way being cut off behind us. This is referred to as looking for signs and blocks. When trying to determine if God was calling her into the ministry, a friend went to a wise woman for spiritual direction. She told her that if she wasn’t sure, she should try doing something else for a while. If God were calling her into the ministry, she wouldn’t be able to avoid it. When God calls us to be our authentic selves, nothing else will bring a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment.
I had gone into the seminary to become a Pastor in MCC. All my studies of Pastoral care and Chaplaincy were to make me a better pastor. Yet when the time came for ordination I had met Bob. We were married and I went into chaplaincy. I was good at it but it was not where I was called to be. I even considered commuting to Santa Ana and back to serve there.
Then I was asked to apply for the position here and not by bob I may add. Bob was sure it was a good fit but I was concerned. I had to pray and pray hard. I had to consider what was best for the people here whom I love, and had already come to know as fellow congregants. The answer was difficult and yet simple. I am called to this Church!
If we want to recognize the Divine call in our lives, we must first pay attention. We must look for God in the ordinary, in the every day, and recognize that all moments are holy and that life itself is grace. We must be open to the possibility of the Holy in our lives. We must be open to the possibility of the Holy in our lives! Peter, Andrew, James, John and their father Zebedee were tuned in to the Spirit. They recognized the spirit in Jesus and up and followed him and Zebedee, recognizing the call, let them go.
The first key to recognizing God's call is to pay attention to pay attention to whatever is going on around us on the outside, and to listen to that still small voice within. When our lives are not fulfilling, or we dread going into our jobs, or even when we get fired, there may be something better lying ahead, and the boredom, or the dread, or the fear and anxiety may be just what we need to push us in a new direction.
A second key to recognizing God's call, and one that is closely linked to the first, is to listen to other people. Samuel of the Old Testament, didn’t recognize God's voice, he thought it was his master’s Eli’s voice, but Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Eli gave Samuel instructions about what to do the next time that he heard the voice. Often other people have more clarity about what is going on in our lives than we do, because they can step back and look at the situation more objectively. At times in our lives, especially those times requiring discernment, it’s important to seek out wise counsel. This is why I encourage people to have a spiritual director. If you do not have a person who is companioning with you in your spiritual journey then Friends, family members and even strangers can be messengers for the Divine, often without realizing it! Listen to other people.
Thirdly, when attempting to discern whether God is calling you to act, pray about it. Before even entering the seminary I prayed constantly for guidance. I was comfortable living on my disability in palm springs had rent I could afford it seemed crazy to give it all up but there was this constant ache, pulling me, calling me to serve. I prayed and prayed hard, If you’re at a loss for words this will suffice: "Speak Lord, your servant is listening." If you don’t feel comfortable asking for something, just sit quietly and listen for the word of God. After praying for clarity, go back to step one and pay attention. Look and listen for the answer. Be open to Holy possibility. Notice your thoughts and feelings. Be aware of signs and blocks. Look for Way to open before you, and notice when Way closes behind you. Know that all moments are Holy moments.
Finally, know also that sometimes God calls us out of our comfort zone. Quoting Micah 6:8, South African United Methodist Bishop George Irvine has said, "If it’s loving, if it’s just, if it promotes right relationships, and if it scares the hell out of you, it just might be a call from God." I really didn’t want to do what god was calling me to do. It meant giving up the life I knew, it meant going into debt, and it meant having the openness to say I am ready to go wherever you lead me. When we follow God's call, we can be assured that God will guide us every step of the way. God often calls us to step into the unknown and do things that require courage and faith on our part. When we are open to the leading of the Spirit, and allow ourselves to, as Frederick Buechner, says in Listening to Your Life;
"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace."

A Shepherd's story

Living in a culture far removed both in time and distance from that in which Jesus was born, we are unfamiliar with life in biblical times and it is easy for us to accept without question the traditional romanticized images that have come down to us about the events surrounding the birth of the Messiah and persons who appear in the Gospel accounts. Our lack of knowledge can leave us vulnerable to all manner of alternative and bizarre teaching. For example, in the magazine of a mainline Christian denomination a couple of years ago, a writer stated that he knew Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem who were descended from shepherds to whom the angels appeared!

Although some of Israel’s greatest men – including Jacob, Moses, David and the prophet Amos – were shepherds, in the great collections of rabbinic law the Mishnah and the Talmud, shepherding was a despised profession. According to the Mishnah, “A man should not teach his son to be an ass-driver, or a camel driver, or a hairdresser, or a sailor, or a shepherd, or a shopkeeper, for their craft is the craft of robbers.”
Because many shepherds were hirelings and the flocks they tended were not their own, it was easy for them to steal wool, milk and goats and blame the loss on bandits. Therefore there is a passage that forbids buying wool, milk or goats from shepherds. A Jewish commentary on Psalm 23:2 says: “There is no more disreputable occupation than that of a shepherd”.
A biblical shepherd’s life was independent, responsible and – in view of the threat from wild beasts and robbers – dangerous. Although some sheep owners looked after their flock themselves, the job was usually was done by hired shepherds, who often did not justify the confidence placed in them, Also, shepherds couldn’t help but tread in sheep excrement and touch dead animals which, according to the book of Leviticus, placed them in a permanent state of ritual impurity and ceremonial defilement. Because of that, shepherds were excluded from the temple and the synagogues.

Bethlehem “Which Literally means the House of Bread “had a long association with shepherds and the grazing of sheep. The patriarch Jacob pastured his flocks there almost 2,000 years before the birth of Jesus, and Genesis records that when Jacob’s wife Rachel died, she “was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.”
The “tower of Eder”, Migdal Eder, means “tower of the flock” and was a watch-tower built for the protection of flocks against robbers or wild beasts. The Mishnah tells us that the flocks for the temple sacrifices were pastured there: Quote, “Of the herds, in the space between Jerusalem and ‘the tower of the flock’ and on both sides, the males are for burnt-offerings, the female for peace-offerings.

These sheep that the shepherds were watching were destined for Temple-sacrifices. The same Mishnaic passage also tells us that these flocks lay out all the year round, since they are spoken of as in the fields thirty days before the Passover -- that is, in the month of February, when in Palestine the average rainfall is nearly at its greatest.
The "lambing season" for sheep is in February in Palestine. Could it be that Jesus, being the "lamb of the world" was born at exactly the same time the literal lambs were born. If so then Jesus was born when the lambs were born and he died when the Passover lamb was slaughtered
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So, Bethlehem, “House of Bread” became the birthplace of the “bread of life” (John 6:35) and the Lamb of God was born within a couple of miles of the place in which the sacrificial lambs for the temple were pastured.



The Shepherds lived most of the year outside, away from the townspeople Flocks were kept outside in this way from February to November, They were constantly with their sheep, since the sheep were vulnerable to all kinds of trouble. The shepherds made sure that the sheep were safe from wandering off and injuring themselves, as well as dangers from thieves and wolves.

So I want you to imagine for a moment what it might have been like on that night in the fields. It is cold; perhaps it had even rained earlier so you are damp and dirty. It is one of those uncomfortable nights. The skies have since cleared and you are with you companions watching over the sheep.
One minute you are talking quietly in the blackness of the winter sky. The next moment the hillside is ablaze with light and booming with the sound of an angel's voice.
An angel of the Lord appears to you, and the glory of the Lord Shines all around you.
This appearance isn’t at a distance, but upfront and personal. It is very sudden, you jump for it is unexpected and it is something even beyond your human comprehension that you are witnessing. You and your companions are so scared you can’t move and can hardly breathe.
The brightness is more than just mega-candlepower. It is Blinding and confusing. In this case the glory shines around the whole area and the result is absolute terror.
The angel moves first to calm your fears....
The angel says; 'do not be afraid.’
Needless to say this voice is not comforting at all for it is not spoken aloud but is heard from within, it is hard to comprehend how you are understanding this for it is coming to you from all around you and yet in you as well, in your heart and in your mind.
The Angel says to you again “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.'"
The message the angel brings is very good news that results in joy. But this isn’t simple happiness this joy is overwhelming, it is filled with the Glory of the Angels, their voices and the news that the Messiah is born, this is the greatest joy you have ever experienced!
Notice how broad is the angel's message. It's not for just the pious or the Jew, but "for all the people." What wonderful news for those who are estranged from God and struggling under oppression! The baby is not just born to Mary and Joseph. The Angels has said that the baby is born "to you" -- to the shepherd, to the one who is shunned, forced to live outside of society, the one who it has been said: “There is no more disreputable occupation.” A simple shepherd.
After the angel's startling declaration, the heavens reveal a huge crowd of angelic beings:
"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
'Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to all on whom God’s favor rests.” (2:13-14)
Imagine you are just getting use to the idea of the one voice and suddenly all of heaven appears to you singing God’s praises and proclaiming salvation for all of humanity. The joy and the panic arising in you are almost too much to bear, you actually forget to breath for a while.
How would you know that the angel's message is true?
"This will be a sign to you:, said the Angels You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." (2:12)
The sign consists of two elements. The baby is:
1. Wrapped in cloths, and
2. Lying in a manger.
The phrase "wrapped in swaddling clothes” there were perhaps several newborns in Bethlehem wrapped up in this manner that evening.
However, the second sign was that the newborn would be found in a manger -- that was unique! This would indicate the location in some kind of stable -- a Second Century legend indicates that this was in a cave.
Now the scripture tells us the Angels leave them and return to heaven. Suddenly the night is calm, clear and cold again. As a Shepherd you have a responsibility to the sheep yet you just had the most amazing experience. So you talk it over with your fellow Shepherds and decide to “go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So you start searching stable to stable, looking to find a baby in a feeding trough.
As you search the city, a place you are not very welcome in, you get nervous, you begin to doubt what you have seen, and perhaps it was some sort of dream. Knowing you are so marginalized why would this news would have come to you? Then you see it, a manger with a new born babe and couple there just so happy to have a healthy baby.
Then it hits you all over again everything you just saw, you heard and felt, coming to you, one of the outcast of society, it is too much, you fall to your knees overwhelmed at the whole night. Once you are able to gain you composure you retell all you have seen and heard then you go and tell others as well.
For it is written that "They made known what had been told them about this child." The angel's announcement of "a savior, Christ the Lord" is spread throughout the area, resulting in amazement in the hearers.
Yet you still have a responsibility you must return to the fields. It is still cold and damp. But you can barely notice it. You return giving praise to God for your life and the gift that has been granted to you. There is nothing in the world that can take your experience of this night away from you and it will carry you for the rest of your days.
Please pray with me
Blessed creator, what an amazing night the shepherds had! To, be chosen as the first of the marginalized, to have a glimpse of your heavenly glory, to hear a mighty Chorus of praise, to see the Messiah-Child, to listen to the angel recite the glorious title -- Savior, Messiah-Lord. Thank you for letting us hear the story again. Write it large and indelibly in our hearts that we might be fervent Good News tellers, too. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
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Do Not Fear Dying, Fear not having Lived

Today we celebrate dia de los muertos – the day of the dead which coincides with all souls day. These Holidays have their origins as far back as ancient Egypt where they believed the spirits of the dead returned each fall to visit the living and they welcomed these spirits with lights and food. These traditions spread to Rome and eventually found their way into Christianity. The day of the dead, officially named All Souls Day in the Catholic Church, is celebrated on November 2, the day after All Saints Day. Although not recognizable as such in its current hyper commercial incarnation, Halloween – a time of visitation by the dead -- is part of this tradition.
Of course at the center of this tradition lies the dark and gloomy figure of death. Why should we invite this fearful figure into our midst, which we would rather not get to know? Why make Death more distinct and palpable? The poet Rainer Maria Rilke described the task of the poet this way: “to confirm confidence toward death out of the deepest delights and glories of life; to make death, who never was a stranger, more distinct and palpable again as the silent knowing participant in everything alive.” This is an invitation to befriend death to become familiar with the transition from this world to the next which is part of life and not to be feared.
In not so distance a time we lived with our elderly and our infirmed. They were in our homes and it was the younger people’s responsibility to care and look after their elders and or infirmed. When one passed the family was all around the person, offering prayers and mourning. The woman would then gather wash and dress the body for viewing. People from the community friends and loved ones would come to the home to pay their respects to the dead and the living. They would bring food to be shared and often drink as well. They would reminisce about the person’s life and have a good time all the while the body was in the living room.
Death was a common and expected experience. Nowadays death is often removed from us. It occurs in hospitals and or nursing homes. Yet when given the choice most people state they would like to die at home with loved ones around. We, as a society, have made death something to fear, to only whisper about. We often find ourselves at a loss of words. Many of us do not even like to walk into hospitals or nursing homes or even mortuaries for they remind us not of those we lost , but our own mortality.
Yet it is a fact of life and it is a part of life. It is the ultimate goal of life. I had a professor who would say “I hate to tell you this but it is not a matter of if you die but when.” You know for some young people that is a hard thing to hear. When you are in your mid twenties you are still of the mind set you are going to live forever. Well guess what . . . you are. Just not the way you feel you will.
The Day of the Dead is a creative response to one of the most important questions in human life: what does my death mean? This is a question born of fear -- our fear of the ultimate unknown. What brings this fear, of course, is our experience of the deaths of those who populate our lives. Each of us wants to know not only what one’s own death means but also what meaning to make of the deaths of those others. We ask these questions from many different vantage points in relation to death – young or old, healthy or sick, working with death in our jobs or rarely seeing it, but no matter. Questions about death are something we all have in common.
The theologian, James Carse, tells the story of one family’s answer to these questions. He met them at a lakeside vacation retreat. They said they were attending a group meeting with a channeler of communications with the dead – that they did this regularly to be connected to a family member who had died, and who had been the central figure in the life of the family. They spoke of the missing member in the present tense, as if he might show up at the lake later in the afternoon to take a dip with them. Carse happened to ask them how long they had been doing the channeling with the one who died. Twenty-nine years, came the calm answer.
He was stunned by this distance, but for this family, their missing relative was as present to them as Carse’s nine-year-old child was to him --. He described the family this way: “These were people who had sought to have death taken away – and death was taken away. Death was now but one event in an unbroken cycle of events, and therefore no longer death. Death no more ended anything in their lives than a leap from the diving board ended the swimmers’ play. Life and death had merged into a timeless whole that nothing could disturb. I could not help feeling that when they got what they asked for, it was not death that ended; it was their lives that had ended. I could not know them where they lived. I could only look on with an indulgent smile. I sat next to them that afternoon – but twenty-nine years away. “
This family that Carse describes had not mourned. Had experienced no loss, no separation, no sadness. They were stuck, Stuck in the death of a family member for 29 years, never moving on, never letting go, never healing. There is a process that one must move through in order to remain healthy and sane. Dr. Kubler-Ross was the first to put the stages of grief into a context. The progression of grief is:[2]
1. Denial – "I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not to me."
Denial is usually only a temporary defense for the individual. This feeling is generally replaced with heightened awareness of positions and individuals that will be left behind after death.
2. Anger – "Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?"; "Who is to blame?"
Once in the second stage, the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue. Because of anger, the person is very difficult to care for due to misplaced feelings of rage and envy. Any individual that symbolizes life or energy is subject to projected resentment and jealousy.
3. Bargaining – "Just let me live to see my children graduate."; "I'll do anything for a few more years."; "I will give my life savings if..."
The third stage involves the hope that the individual can somehow postpone or delay death. Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made with a higher power in exchange for a reformed lifestyle. Psychologically, the individual is saying, "I understand I will die, but if I could just have more time..."
4. Depression – "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm going to die... What's the point?"; "I miss my loved one, why go on?"
During the fourth stage, the dying person begins to understand the certainty of death. Because of this, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much of the time crying and grieving. This process allows the dying person to disconnect oneself from things of love and affection. It is not recommended to attempt to cheer up an individual who is in this stage. It is an important time for grieving that must be processed.
5. Acceptance – "It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it."
In this last stage, the individual begins to come to terms with his mortality or that of his loved one.
One moves back and forth jumping through these stages at various times it is not a simple progression but a process never the less. It is interesting to note that toward the end of her own life Dr. Ross stated there should be another stage. Frustration when one is ready to go but remains living.
These stages of grief apply to any and all kinds of loss whether it be for the family home due to a catastrophe, loss of a pet or the ending of a friendship one moves through these stages in one way or another for they are all a form of death. Which brings us back to the question: To ask what our death means is to ask what it would be like to live life as if there were always an ultimate deadline on the horizon – because in fact there is.
We would treat time as precious and the perishable commodity called being alive as something of great value. Our experience of mortality thus focuses our attention on the question of the value of our lives. We want to know, do our lives make a difference? Do they matter? What we long to know is not whether they matter just for the fleeting few moments – historically speaking – that we are onstage. But rather, do they matter in a way that is lasting. This is a question not only about what is valuable, but more importantly, about how our lives become valuable. If having a life that matters means having a life that is valuable, where do we get the value? Certainly part of the answer is that we create it from within ourselves.
Yet the greatest value came more than 2000 years ago. There is a song that is a favorite of mine it tells the story of as a child one enjoyed imaginary friends and walking and playing with them but as the man got older he had lost his way. The song of “Christopher Robin” by Kenny logins, in which the lyrics say help me if you can I need to get back to the house at pooh corner by 1. But I've wandered much further today than I should and I can't seem to find my way back to the Woods.”
I like this song for it reminds us that we must have that child like wonder. The child like wonder to believe in the words of today’s Gospel. When Christ says I am the bread of life that is a direct reference to the covenant of the last supper. Christ stated I live because of the creator so whoever eats this bread will live because of me. That is the Value of our lives. So valuable that Christ allows us to participate in life through him and the creator with the spirit.
Christ is our way back to the woods. We have to shed all disbelief and often what we do believe to get back to the message of Christ’s salvation through the table and through our lives.
It is Jesus’ assurance that there is new life a new covenant to be given by him through his resurrection. It is through his resurrection this promise is fulfilled! This covenant so strongly made in the love and the life that he poured out that it snapped time.
Hear me, Time itself was changed. .the laws of physics broken for each time . . . wherever, whenever we enact this simple meal of bread and fruit of the vine, we are there. We are there and Christ is here renewing that covenant.
We have to put away our adult hood; we have to put away our skepticism we have to get back that childhood awe and amazement and take on a simple belief. Jesus loved us so much that he made a promise in a small upper room. He willingly handed himself over to the roman guards and allowed himself to suffer and die only to rise again on the third day.
They say the earth shook, the curtain in the temple rent, the light was so bright that when the stone was rolled away the guards fled in fear.
Time snapped and the promise made at a simple meal 3 nights before now became alive and transcendent in the ressurection! It carries on constantly day in and day out around the world; the love that was promised is promised again manifested and made real. It is the value of our lives and our transition. For through the Bread of life, through Jesus the Christ one day we transition from this life of faith into a life of knowing.
Do not doubt it. It is really a simple thing to believe. In Mathew 18:3 it says we must become childlike. That simple faith, that simple way of believing must become true in us again. Santa, the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, yes even Winnie the Pooh; we rationalize and outgrow these tales. But I tell you the tale of the last supper the redemption of the cross and the resurrection we cannot afford to outgrow. We need to believe in a love so great that it can fill us sustain us and carry us through any adversity, any disappointment and the heart ache of loss of loved ones.
Today day we celebrate all souls day, the day of the dead, all saints day. We honor those who have honored us with their lives. By living with the Christed one we are called to live life to the fullest for when we transition from this life to the next we will be prepared to know love and life in the fullest of the covenant of the bread of life that is Jesus the Christ.
Listen to this poem and pray with me;
I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which came to me as blossom goes on as fruit.

Let this poem be a candle that your soul holds out to you, requesting that you find a way to remember what it is to live a life with passion, on purpose. There is only enough light to take the journey step by step, but that is all any of us really needs.

When you have the courage to shape your life from the essence of who you are, and who God is in you, through you, you ignite, becoming truly alive, alive in the Love and Life of Christ.
I pray these words today find their way to your heart and comfort your soul, amen.