I confess I do not like today's parable…I just don’t
because it implies that if you pray long and hard enough God is going to give
you what you want but if we look at Jesus’ way of being in the world and his
way of prayer we may be able to get at his meaning.
One clue that this was not the message Christ was
trying to get at is the simple fact that this story starts with an atheist
Judge. His listeners would know that
that isn’t likely so we cannot take this parable literally. You see in that day and age of you were a
Jewish Judge you followed Jewish law and prescribed to Jewish theology. If you were a Roman Judge you proclaimed that
the emperor was a God you could not be an atheist and well, be a judge.
enough Trivia
Richard Rohr reminds us that “Jesus’s own style of
teaching in stories, parables, and enigmatic sayings was undoubtedly learned in
his own prayer practices. He clearly
operated from a consciousness different from that of the masses and even that
of the religious leaders who largely fought him. Most seemed to misunderstand him, or even
ignore him, despite what seem to be astounding healing and miracles.”[1]
I believe this parable is an example of that…this
misunderstanding can and has led to the prosperity Gospel. Where if you pray for it, it will come and if
you don’t get it you did something wrong and/or you’re a sinner!
Jesus seemed to know that he would be misunderstood
and did not allow that to stop him nor discourage him. He even said: “For this people’s senses have
become calloused,
And
they’ve become hard of hearing,
And
they’ve shut their eyes
So
that they won’t see with their eyes
Or
hear with their ears
Or
understand with their minds,
And change their hearts and lives that I may heal them. [A]
16 “Happy are your eyes because they see. Happy are
your ears because they hear.” (MT 13:15-16)
Let us explore a little further what Richard Rohr
addresses.
Jesus
himself seemed to prefer a prayer of quiet, something more than social,
liturgical, or verbal prayer, which is mentioned only a very few times. What we do hear are frequent references such
as “In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house and went off
to a lonely place to pray.” (Mark 1:35; also in Matthew 14:23 and Mark 1:12-13)
Luke describes him as praying privately before almost all major events. There
are the forty days alone in the desert, which means he must have missed the
family-based Sabbath observances and the public temple services. And of course there is his final prayer alone
in the Garden of Gethsemane.[2]
Richard Rohr Points out that Jesus taught us “You
should go to your private room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is
in that secret place.” (Matthew 6:6)
This is again rather explicit and also intimately invitational,
especially because most homes of his people would have had no such thing as a
private room.”[3]
But some people Caught what Jesus was teaching, he
was teaching of seeking a quiet place.
This quiet private space does not need to be physical. It can be spiritual, it can be done in group
much as it is done here today.
Jesus says we should not seek prayer in public, now
he did not condemn the concept of church or synagogue but he did emphasize a
different kind of prayer life. “What all of these teachings of Jesus seem to
say is that we probably need “unsaying prayer,” the prayer of quiet or
contemplative prayer, to balance out and ground all “saying prayer.” Many Christians seem to have little
experience of prayer of quiet, and tend to actually be afraid of it or even
condemn it.”[5]
Without this inner, secret contemplative prayer life,
a life of constant prayer, a conversation of love in God that is ongoing our external, communal prayer becomes nothing
more than a meaningless show, prayer, communal and silent are practices that
each supports the other.
St. Teresa reminds us that: “First, we must be
searching for God. If God is just a name, if God’s love for us is an abstract
truth which we believe but do not realize, we will hardly search for It. … If,
on the other hand, we are convinced that God is in Teresa’s words “a better
prize than any earthly love,” if we realize that we actually have within us something
incomparably more precious than anything we see outside, then we will desire to
enter within ourselves and to seek God. When we are convinced that God cares
for us and waits for us, we will have the security and the courage to love God
in return.”[6]
This is what that odd parable is about, it is not about
bugging God to get what we seek, but it is about what we should be seeking a relationship with God. When the stern Judge offers justice to the
woman she is getting what she sought and there is a relationship there now
between the judge and her.
When we turn inward and
constantly seek God we will find God seeking us as well.
“Western culture has tended to be an extroverted
culture and a “can-do” culture. Prayer
too easily became an attempt to change God and aggrandize ourselves instead of
what it was meant to be – an interior practice to change the one who is
praying, which will always happen if we stand calmly before this uncanny and
utterly safe Presence, allowing the Divine Gaze to invade and heal our
unconscious, the place where 95 percent of our motivations and reactions come
from. All we can really do is return the
gaze. Then, as Meister Eckhart so
perfectly said, “the eye with which we look back at God will be the same eye
that first looked at us.” We just
complete the circuit!”[7]
amen
[1] Richard Rohr, The
Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See (New York: Crossroad Pub.,
2009).
In today’s Gospel Jesus physically calms a storm and then
asks the question “why don’t you trust me?”
In the Psalm Gods voice is in the thunder and flattens the
cedars. Now the image of a man telling
the seas to calm and the storm to cease is hard to picture, but if anyone has
seen pictures of mount St. Helen’s we know what flattened cedars look like.
There is a dichotomy in our souls when it comes to
storms. How many are in awe when they
see videos of thunder and lightning or maybe a tornado in a field somewhere in
a distance? How many glue themselves to
the flooding and the storm surge and the spectacle of a reporter in a
hurricane.
There is a sense of safety and awe and beauty when we see a
storm at a distance. We are not affected
by it. I remember when I first entered
the diocesan seminary. It was an old
gothic building built in 1923 and the tower was about 7 or 8 stories high and,
being the explorer I am, I found the hatch that opened to the flat roof of the
tower. We could sit there and see an
approaching storm from miles away with lightning bolts flashing against an
enormous cloud.
It was safe to watch a storm from a distance but when it
lands and the walls shake and the wind howls and the windows rattle, well, our
perception changes. It becomes angry and threatening and we cannot wait for it
to be over, especially if you ever had to sit in the basement listening to the
am transistor radio waiting for an all clear.
Our ancient world
often blamed the storms on angry God’s and yet those same God’s were also
attributed with fertility in many cases.
Why? Because rain brings new
growth and feeds the crops in spite of it being terrifying.
However the Hebrews, from where our Jesus’ tradition and
faith is rooted, “believed that God, without any detriment to God’s majesty,
Makes God’s presence known even through the force of nature…The Israelites
envisioned God as one who reveals God’s self through the sudden and the
unexpected, the terrifying and awesome forces of nature, namely the
thunderstorm and lightning.”[1]
Often storms are attributed to God’s wrathful response, with
an image of a vengeful God. Lord knows
our LGBTQ community gets blamed for every storm, flood and tornado that happens
except when it hits the home of a wrathful preacher.
In article from the religion news.com exactly a month ago
today“(RNS) comes the news that the Baton Rouge flooding destroyed Tony
Perkins’ home and forced the Family Research Council president and his family
to escape by canoe to their RV on higher ground.
Perkins revealed this in a special segment of his
radio show a couple of days ago, describing the disaster as “a flood of near
biblical proportions.”
There are those who have noted some irony
here, since when Hurricane Joaquin threatened Washington last year, Perkins
declared the storm to be God’s punishment for the Supreme Court’s same-sex
marriage decision.
That of course recalled the interpretations of
Hurricane Katrina by Pat Robertson, John Hagee, and Yehuda Levin, as well as
Robertson and Jerry Falwell’s explanation of 9/11, and so on.
These are what’s known in the trade as exercises
in theodicy — justifying bad things as demonstrations of God’s
goodness, omnipotence, and righteous judgment….Perkins, who in his interview
stayed away from any speculation of this sort. The flood, he said,
“is a great opportunity for the Church to minister.” The experience has taught
him “what is important. Sometimes we get too occupied with the other
things of life.”[2]
I hate to say it but Tony Perkins got something right. In the midst of the storm we need to trust
God. Jesus asked; “why don’t you trust
me?” I mean the disciples had Jesus
right there with them, physically with them and yet, in the midst of a storm,
they panicked.
In this day and age as we are seeing more extreme weather,
more storms, more devastation instead of playing the blame game or getting all
justified and righteous we need to see this for what it is. God’s voice is in the thunder and this is our
call not only to minister to others but to the planet herself.
The voice of God could not be any louder, could it? Summer is hotter, fire season is all year
long, hurricanes are stronger, and floods are moving further inland. Yet many do not trust that this is the voice
of God calling all humanity into action.
I am not speaking of just the continued call to service and
monies needed for refugees and victims of natural disasters but the call to
reverse what we can and to try to limit the extent of human damage to the
atmosphere, and the planet.
We have come a long way and, as I pointed out last week,
have even achieved bringing certain species back from the edge of
extinction. I am also proud to say that
our president is doing all he can and has gone beyond the call of duty.
“When he signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of
2009, President Obama marked the most extensive expansion of land and water
conservation in more than a generation, designating more than 2 million acres
of federal wilderness, thousands of miles of trails, and protecting more than
1,000 miles of rivers. In addition, the President has used his authority under
the Antiquities Act 13 times to permanently preserve some of America’s most
treasured landscapes and waters, most recently designating the San
Gabriel Mountains National Monument in Los Angeles County, one of the
most disadvantaged counties in the country when it comes to access to parks and
open space for minorities and children.”[3]
I know this is a lot about president Obama but he has done a
lot more than most if not all the past presidents for example he also has
created the largest marine sanctuary in the world with a single signature he
created a reserve that ended up “resulting in 370,000 square nautical miles
(490,000 square miles) of protected area around these tropical islands and
atolls in the south-central Pacific Ocean. Expanding the Monument will more
fully protect the deep coral reefs, seamounts, and marine ecosystems unique to
this part of the world, which are also among the most vulnerable areas to the
impacts of climate change and ocean acidification.”[4] Yes this was just one man with a lot of power
but each one of us can seek out ways to make a difference.
Yesterday was beach cleanup day and over 500000 volunteers
in 91 countries got together and well cleaned our beaches. They even had an underwater squad here for
the first time. Last year this effort
800000 volunteers who picked up over 18 million pounds of trash.[5]
We have done a lot around here on the conservation side and
we preach about it a lot but you know I
would encourage you , if you have never done it, take a ride up into the
mountains take a look at what your tax dollars are protecting it is truly
amazing. Take a drive, a slow drive, along
the pacific coast highway and stop, just stop in a remote spot where you have
just you and the ocean. And if you do
not hear the voice of God in the waves, or if you do not see the hand of God in
a mountain sunset you are not listening or looking very hard.
Better yet the next time you see extreme weather or really
feel the heat that seems to never end or simply rejoice at a tiny sprinkle we
got because it seems like it’s all we get.
Listen to what the voice of God is calling us to do. Cry out in anguish and anger and fear then do
something, hear Gods voice in the thunder and answer. We trust you and we shall
act accordingly! Amen.
[1] Norman C.
Habel, David Rhoads, and H. Paul Santmire, eds., The Season of Creation: A
Preaching Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011), Digital eBook.
[2] Mark Silk, Tony
Perkins ditches theodicy after flood destroys his home, August 18, 2016,
accessed September 14, 2016,
http://religionnews.com/2016/08/18/tony-perkins-eschews-theodicy-after-home-destroyed/.
[3] the white house
administration, Our Enviroment, 2016, accessed September 15, 2016,
https://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/our-environment.
[4] Office of the
Press secretary, FACT SHEET: President Obama to Designate Largest Marine
Monument in the World Off-Limits to Development, 2014, accessed September 15, 2016,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/24/fact-sheet-president-obama-designate-largest-marine-monument-world-limit.
[5] The Ocean
Conservatory, 2016 daata release, 2016, accessed September 17, 2016,
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/international-coastal-cleanup/sign-up-to-clean-up.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjw0_O-BRCfjsCw25CYzYoBEiQAqO9BDNAEo-Cpl3v_TND4ZE5m00e4KUXwqvmsNd7uOg9EVQsaApYV8P8HAQ.
Today is Fauna and flora Sunday, those terms are heard often
in a biology class that one took somewhere and after that not much thought is
given to it. So what is this flora and
fauna, fauna and flora? Well it could be
the Siamese twins that dated fester and Gomez in the Adams family but not
today…
Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or
time. The corresponding term for plants is flora. Flora, fauna and other forms
of life such as fungi are collectively referred to as biota. Zoologists and
paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in
a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonora Desert fauna" or the
"Burgess Shale fauna".[1]
So we are talking about Life, Anything and everything that
breaths, no matter how they do it all creatures and plants breathe. I know it is not the season but I cannot help
myself and quote the Ghost of Christmas present; from the 1970 movie musical
scrooge with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse , “The sins of man are huge, A never ending
symphony Of villainy and infamy Duplicity, deceit, and subterfuge. And no one's
worse than Ebeneezer Scrooge, though man's a handy candidate for Hell I must
admit life sometimes has its brighter side as well. I like life, Life likes me,
Life and I fairly fully agree, Life is fine, Life is good…Life and I made a
mutual vow, 'Till I die, Life and I, We'll both try to be better somehow”
Being better somehow is what life calls us to be. As in today's Gospel Christ is calling us to
pay attention to more important matters than what clothes we wear or where we
are going to go out to eat tonight. The
centering prayer today, Psalm 104, calls us to see the interconnectedness
between us and all of Gods creation. In the Psalm there is a line that says the
Earth is satisfied by Gods work.
The Earth is satisfied by Gods work. Well now there lies a problem. You see humans have never been satisfied by
Gods work. We are always trying to
improve upon it, or fix it. We try to
control what was never meant to be controlled and are surprised when it goes
drastically awry. We built damns, we
encased rivers in cement, we build on flood plains, and we use pesticides and
poisons to control what we see as pests, and where has that gotten us?
The psalm points out the interconnectedness of all creation
how one part of creation opens itself up to provide for another. There is a co dependence in nature that
relies on each and every other part of God’s creation doing its part. For a long time man did his best to play by
the rules. Knowing that water ran
downhill people created a terrace farming system that allowed crops to grow
without creating erosion. Knowing that crops and plants use up nutrients people
learned how to replenish nutrients in a natural way and rotate crops so that
the land would always be hardy.
Heck the story of Joseph even tells how knowing that there
are seasons of drought people learned the cycles of the weather and prepared
for the worse and learned to survive.
But all that was man cooperating within the set ecosystems in which they
lived. All in all there is a simple fact
the natural world does not need human kind in order to survive.
Humans had to learn to adapt to their environment in order
to survive. Our ancestors were very
aware that we are dependent on the earth for e very aspect of our being. The fruit of the earth nourishes us, the
water keeps us alive, the landscape and plants and animals have fueled our
imagination for centuries spawning some of the greatest artist ever known. Yet, until recently we paid no attention to
what we did to the planet and its consequences.
Yes Genesis 1:28 says man is to “subdue” and have dominion
over the earth. Yet with Dominion comes
responsibility. A ruler, a king, a
conqueror, or invader does not last long if the region in which it has control
is not cared for. Look at our own human
history for the answers to any question you might have about dominion and
relation.
“In that ancient world, it was quite common for people to
set up some kind of an image, symbol or representation to signify the locale of
their god’s jurisdiction. Since ancient monarchs were often thought to be
divine, they could be considered images of the god. Israel would certainly
reject any thought that its monarchs were divine. Therefore, the man and the
woman in the creation account could be depicted as royalty with responsibility
for the rest of the created world. However, they would not be considered
divine. The world was not theirs to do with as they pleased. They were
accountable to God, as the story of the first sin demonstrates (Genesis 3). We
can say, then, that while human beings are totally dependent on Earth for their
life, they have a special duty to exercise responsibility for the created
world, and they are accountable to God for this responsibility. Today we speak
of this responsibility in terms of stewardship. The second creation account
says it in very simple words. It directs us “to serve and guard it” (Gen. 2:
15; my translation).”[2]
Give you an idea on just how bad we are at our role of
serving and protecting in California alone there are some 283 plants (flora) in
California listed as threatened endangered or rare. Six pages of plants alone. There are 124 species of fish animal and
invertebrate (Fauna) 41 pages of mammals and their accounts. All of this can be found at California Department of
Fish and Wildlife. But that is
pretty scary when that is just our state.
What Kind of stewards are we?
As I did further research I found that there are a total of
11,577 vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered plants species in the
world. On that same list there are a
total of 1208 mammals, 1375 birds, 2343 fishes that is a total of 4926 species
and that does not include reptiles, amphibians, insects, mollusks, other
invertebrates and fungi. When you add
all of them together on this list there were 23, 919 vulnerable, endangered or
critically endangered flora and fauna. This is from International Union for
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.[3] What kind of Stewards are we?
“The message of the Gospel text redirects our attention from
awesome aspects of the natural world in their own right to human attitudes
regarding our well-being in that world.
It describes a kind of carefree attitude that is present in various
lifeforms. Animals are not anxious about
their next meal, and yet they seem to survive; flowers do not worry about their
covering, yet they are enfolded in their beauty; grass is not disturbed by the
brevity of its life, yet it continues to grow. Why do we human beings seem
unable to trust nature in a comparable way? Why do we fail to see that, through
the mysterious workings of earth, God provides our basic needs? Might it be
that we humans are not satisfied with the way we have been created? We want
more than we need, so we exploit and we hoard at the expense of the earth
itself, of other human beings, and of other form of life?”[4] I mean look at what we have done just across
our border.
We created very smart environmental protections in our
country. We do not want factories
dumping mercury onto our water. So, we
paid no attention when they built factories in Tijuana. We paid no attention when those factories
dumped mercury and lead into the local water ways. We did not cared if another part of our earth
was poisoned as long as it wasn’t ours?
Luckily a group of women got together and sued the EPA for allowing the
factories to do to them what they would not allow them to do in our neighborhoods.
But one does not need to look past our borders. I mean just
look at the air quality verses neighborhoods one lives in. Environmental health news reports;
“Tiny
particles of air pollution contain more hazardous ingredients in non-white and
low-income communities than in affluent white ones, a new study shows.
The
greater the concentration of Hispanics, Asians, African Americans or poor
residents in an area, the more likely that potentially dangerous compounds such
as vanadium, nitrates and zinc are in the mix of fine particles they breathe.
Latinos
had the highest exposures to the largest number of these ingredients, while
whites generally had the lowest.
The
findings of the Yale University research add to evidence of a widening racial
and economic gap when it comes to air pollution. Communities of color and those
with low education and high poverty and unemployment face greater health risks
even if their air quality meets federal health standards, according to the
article published online in the scientific journal Environmental Health
Perspectives”[5]
As Human beings go, we average white people have been horrible. Somewhere along the way of learning to
exploit the earth to get what we want, we also learned to exploit our fellow
humans. It is bad enough we treat the
earth with basic disregard but we treat each other even worse. Somehow, somehow we had been called to be
stewards of this planet to learn to live with her and all of God’s creatures
and yet we have managed to Rape pillage and destroy her. We have managed to marginalize exploit and
burden ourselves in the constant search for more. More power, more control, and more stuff.
In genesis Adam and eve eat of the tree they were told not too and then
when God comes walking in the Garden they hide themselves from God. This is the lesson we have yet to learn. We as humans continue to take too much, live
where we shouldn’t break into the planet in ways we were never meant to and
when repercussions occur. We run, we
hide, we cry out. Then we go right back to our bad behavior.
I must say we have started to learn from our behavior and not
everything is doom and gloom. People and
scientists are looking at the way we live and many are making a conscience
effort to change. Because of that some
trends are reversing. For example the
national wildlife foundation reports;
“Habitat loss, hunting and poaching, toxics and other man made
interventions have at some point pushed all of the following species to the
brink of extinction.
In some cases species have even been declared extinct in the wild!
But the good news is that human intervention has also saved these
species. Protection of habitat, effective control of hunting and captive
breeding programs have all played their part in these dramatic rescues.
Whilst in many cases there is still much to do to assure the future
security of these species, many are now safely on the road to recovery.
BACK FROM THE BRINK
Tigers in the Russian Far East (Amur Tigers)
Gray Whale
Southern White Rhinoceros
Black Rhinoceros
African Savannah Elephant
Mountain Gorilla
Saiga - The saiga (Saiga tatarica) is the world’s northernmost
antelope. It originally inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe zone.
We can make a difference by participation in
programs that help to reverse the carbon foot print man leaves behind. Animals like the Grizzly bear, and the bald
eagle have all made comebacks thanks to conservation efforts. One interesting
story I read talks of the trumpeter swan. “People living in 19th-century
Minnesota must have found trumpeter swans delicious, because the species was
eliminated from the state — and practically from its entire range in the United
States — after it was over-harvested for food. The largest native waterfowl
species in North America, trumpeter swans didn't successfully return to the
wild in Minnesota until a number of ecological agencies partnered in the 1980s
to restore them, according to a statement released Feb. 11, 2016, by the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). Trumpeter swans' Minnesota
population is currently estimated at 17,000, and continues to grow”[7] We can be good stewards!
It is news and stories of the creatures
making comebacks, of people finding better ways to seek food sources without
over fishing or destroying habitats. It
is when we make true efforts to set aside unique environments and protect them
that makes us good stewards. One of the best things we have done in order to become
good stewards is something like the Paris accord. This is where a 195 countries have agreed to
reduce the carbon and green gasses output sin order to slow climate change.
We are good stewards when we decide to
plant climate appropriate plants around our homes. We are good stewards when we use solar if we
can and uses electricity outside of peak demand. We are good stewards when we seek out
sustainable food sources, not just for ourselves but teach others how to do so
as well.
We are Good stewards when we care for those
who are less fortunate than us, the marginalized, and the neglected and make
sure they have safe clean and healthy environments to live in. Many see this connection to the flora and
fauna as a connection tot eh earth, plants and animals, but it is also a
connection and responsibility to each other.
We are responsible for our neighbor just as we are responsible for the
earth herself and all that encompasses.
Once we learn how to do it all with equanimity and healthy practices
then we will witness the kindom of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
[1] wikimedia,
Fauna, August, 2016, accessed September 6, 2016,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauna.
[2] Norman C. Habel,
David Rhoads, and H. Paul Santmire, eds., The Season of Creation: A
Preaching Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011), Digital eBook.
[3] International
Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Changes in numbers of
species in the threatened categories (CR, EN, VU) from 1996 to 2016, Medium,
accessed September 6, 2016,
http://cmsdocs.s3.amazonaws.com/summarystats/2016-2_Summary_Stats_Page_Documents/2016_2_RL_Stats_Table_2.pdf.
[4] Habel, Rhoads,
and Santmire, The Season of Creation: A Preaching Commentary.
[5] Cheryl Katz,
Unequal exposures: People in poor, non-white neighborhoods breathe more
hazardous particles, Medium, accessed September 6, 2016,
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2012/unequal-exposures.
[6] world wild life
foundation, 10 species that may have just escaped extinction, Medium, accessed
September 6, 2016,
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/back_from_the_brink/.
[7] Mindy
Weisberger, Species Success Stories: 10 Animals Back from the Brink, Medium,
accessed September 6, 2016,
http://www.livescience.com/54010-species-success-stories.html.
There
was a Christian rock group in the early 80’s featuring Marty McCall Called
Fireworks One of my favorite songs by them was called Rusty Burdens which can
be found on their live album “Fireworks”…“Rusty Burdens like dusty curtains
hanging from top the windows of my heart
I
been chasing this dingy lacing for so long its tearing me apart though I can’t
see the shining sunset the blue horizon or the dew on the ground
Well
I have hope that I can cope till Jesus comes to me and rips those curtains down.”
This
so reminds me of the woman who walked into the synagogue in today’s
reading. She is weighed down
physically. They do not say by what and
it doesn’t really matter. This story is about Jesus healing on the Sabbath.
The
message says the woman is twisted and bent over with arthritis. Harper Collins
study bible says that the woman had “a spirit that had crippled her for
eighteen years. She was bent over and quite unable to stand up straight.” In both versions Jesus says; “you are free…”
(Luke 13.13)
How
many people hear this message can see where I am headed already? I mean let’s face it we are often troubled
and burdened. We often find life
weighing us down. At times it can seem so strong and heavy it feels as if we
are bent over with the weight of our anxieties, the weight of daily living, the
weight of our job, the weight of bills and ailments, the weight of our own
conscience and our failures, the weight of our procrastinated projects…If you
can name it, we humans have a great talent into making it into a burden.
How
do we free ourselves of our own guilt, of our own frustrations and of our own
burdens? Bo Dunford a Baptist minister reminds us in psalm 55 it says to “cast
your burden on the Lord.” (Psalm 55:22) “Let the Lord carry the burden for you!
* Since the burden is too heavy for you, give it to the Lord to carry.
* The word cast literally means “to fling or hurl.” * It requires and denotes
action and effort.
* “Fling” that burden upon the Lord … “Cast” that burden upon the Lord!
* Or as they say in the south, “Chunk” that burden upon the Lord!”[1]
That sounds easy. So you all get it right? Just whatever is bothering
you, whatever is keeping you awake at night, whatever is weighing you down you
just give it to God and your done nothing more to worry about. Got it? Good!
It sounds so easy, I wish our minds and hearts actually worked that
way. But they don’t so the Bible reminds
us over and over and over again. Isiah
53:4 “surely has born our grief and sorrows” or 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your
anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
Why is this repeated so many times?
Because we forget it so many times.
Because this is not a once and done thing; this is a practice.
Practice, Practice, practice, and when you think you got it, practice
some more. Our hearts and minds are
fickle and strange. We may think we have forgotten something or believe we have
gotten over something and suddenly, decades later it comes back to us with just
as much negative energy as it had the first time.
This is Human nature. This is
only defeated by a practice of prayer and devotion seeking the light of
God. Yet the more we seek the light …well
let me quote; “There is a connection between light and shadow; more light means
more shadow. The more a person
approaches the light, the more he or she will experience his or her own
imperfections.”[2]
Yes we give our burdens to God in prayer but in prayer we also expose
ourselves and our hearts to God’s light and as was just described the more
light the more shadow. One cannot begin
on this journey of seeking God in our daily lives and just leave it for Saint
Theresa said: “If you do not strive for the virtues and practice them, you will
always be dwarfs. And, please God; it
will only be a matter of not growing, for you already know whoever does not
increase decreases. I hold that love where ever present, cannot possibly be
content with remaining always the same.”[3]
Once we start this practice of looking at what is weighing us down,
honestly looking at our burdens and holding them up to the light and love of
God. Yes, they will diminish and we will
also begin to see more clearly our own spirit.
Prayer, a simple prayer over and over again: “take this worry form me
God.” Or “God I give this burden to you.” cannot stop there. We are called to continue our work on and
within ourselves.
Once we feel we have moved past a pain, a burden, a weight on our
shoulders, our prayer life cannot stop there. One must continue to seek out
this sustaining, life giving experience that is God. For we know what has bothered us in the past
will come back to us again. In some ways
it almost seems as prayer is futile but it is all a part of growing in God.
If one is taking actual and real time to pay attention to God in their
life and in prayer daily. One will see
patterns arising, one will see concerns arising, and one will seek a deeper
way, a better way of living in the presence of an all loving God. As one grows in prayer, I will also suggest,
you cannot do it alone. I recommend
seeking out companions. A spiritual
companion or friend someone you can talk to about how your prayer life is
progressing. How your spiritual life is
manifesting in your day to day living.
A spiritual companion can point
out your journey and help you to notice things you haven’t noticed before. They
can help you see what is arising in your heart in your spiritual journey, they
can help you notice where you have energy around projects or songs or prayers
that lift you spiritually and help you translate that experience into. How shall
I say it...? God language!
When in our daily life burdens; the daily grind and our own conscience
seems to be weighing us down, when we feel like we just cannot stand up
straight, when even in prayer we cannot always hear the voice of God saying you
are free, free from these burdens, stand up.
Though we try to give the burdens to God and we do over and over again,
sometimes we need another set of eyes and ears to help us see we have been
relieved of our burden.
Just as when we have carried a heavy load and we set it down we may
need a hand up to straighten our backs.
Prayer in and through our lives can help us to stand up straight and as
we continue the journey a companion can be nice. ( I would add if this makes
you wonder and want to learn more about spiritual companioning also called
spiritual direction I would give these two links Seek
and find Guide sponsored by spiritual directors international and Stillpoint CA if you wish to learn more
about spiritual direction and maybe take a class.)
Now as I come to the end of this
reflection let me simply remind you…no matter who you are or where you are on
life’s journey you are welcome here and that welcome comes form no man, no one
person but from an all loving God who says you are free, cast your burdens upon
me! amen.
[1] Bo Dunford,
Cast Thy Burden Upon the Lord, September, 2007, accessed August 17, 2016,
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/cast-thy-burden-upon-the-lord-bo-dunford-sermon-on-faith-113567.asp?Page=4.
[2] Norvene Vest,
ed., Tending the Holy: Spiritual Direction Across Traditions
(Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Pub., 2003), Digital eBook.
[3] Kieran
Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila
(Washington: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1976–<1980>), Digital eBook.
Lord we love our stuff.
We collect records, or um CD’s or um MP3’s...I have my paperweights…my
glass, my photos, my knitting, my weaving, my tent that sits in a garage used
twice maybe 3 times. I have books that I
have read once that I can’t part with…I have stamps collected for who??? Because it brings me pleasure…Our stuff our Knick
Knacks, bring us Joy.
The online dictionary says …noun
Plural noun: knick-knacks
A small worthless object, especially a household ornament.
Se we need extra words for all our stuff because we have
just so much of it….
There is no0thing wrong with collecting things…there is
nothing wrong with storing up for a rainy day
there is something wrong with keeping so much you could never possibly
use it and not even consider sharing it.
Nancy Rockwell shared a story; “Once, and with sadness, a
lawyer on the brink of retirement told me he had spent his career in the midst
of fights over inheritance that occur between siblings. And really, he said, they are fighting over
their parents love.
So the pain that Luke remembered in the shouted plea, tell
my brother to divide the family inheritance with me, is deep and ongoing among
us. Luke remembers Jesus using the
moment to define greed (the storing up of treasures) as the opposite of living
richly toward God.
And death, which triggers the distribution of accumulations,
becomes the moment in which living richly towards God becomes evident. Or not.”[1]
There is nothing wrong with abundance, there is nothing
wrong with wealth as long as we remember to share it. You see the rich man already had barns that
were sufficient for his needs but when he saw this abundant crop instead of
using it for the good it could bring he decided to make larger barns to store
it all in.
Nancy shares a few others people concepts and theories about
abundance…”Montaigne, the French Renaissance philosopher, wrote It’s not want,
but rather abundance, that creates greed.
In dire need, we want what we truly need, but in the midst of plenty, we
want it all.”[2]
You see when we need to budget to survive we are ever so
grateful for what we have. Yet as we are able to acquire more …more is what we
want. Now this isn’t true for all but it
is something to consider as we pay attention to our own wants and needs and we
consider the needs of the world around us.
Theologian Walter Brueggeman, says greed is born out of the
idea of scarcity, and scarcity is born out of anxiety – and all three are acted
upon in an abundant world. Abundance is
denied, not trusted, forgotten in our culture.”[3]
In other words the concept of having so much as to have enough to give away has
been denied by most and forgotten by others.
This concept that one can have too much seems to be slipping out of our
consciousness. Our society has become
the fool in that no matter how much we have …what we have is just for us.
Yet “Rabbi Lawrence Kushner wrote: Wealth is the highly
subjective sensation of having more than enough, so much that there is money to
give away. For this reason, wealth is a
function of generosity: the more you
give, the richer you feel.”[4]
That is what it means to be rich towards God.
Think of the widow and her mite. She gave out of her want
but yet through her want she has continued to teach us what it truly means to
be blessed and abundant. What it means
to turn our back on greed and self-centeredness and turn our focus on God and
outward toward our community
Today’s centering prayer “going Down to the River” is a
blessing in abundance that arose out of scarcity. It is written and performed by a man who was
homeless on and off for most of 25 years of his life.
This man had tried his luck at music at a very young
age. He even toured a bit with buddy
miller back in the 70’s but dint like touring much so he went back home to
upstate NY. He married his girlfriend
and raised his two kids. He mad e a
living doing cabinetry work...” After his time in Texas as a troubadour, he
married his girlfriend and had two children. His woodworking kept him busy.
"I built the wall unit for the White House when President Reagan was in
office," he says. "I worked for the company in Long Island that had
[the] contract. I remember I used Japanese Ash."[5]
But the music called him back. He asked his son if it was ok if he pursued
his music dreams and the 16 year old said it would be cool. So back to Nashville he went. He ended up living in the streets plagued by
alcoholism and some drug abuse. He went
virtually unnoticed.
“Seeger’s made friends while living on the streets:
especially the folks that operate the Nashville Rescue Mission, where he'd
crash when he wasn't sleeping in a tent in the woods or under a bridge, and
Stacy Downey, who runs the Little Pantry That Could food bank.
It wasn't a bad life. "The truth of that whole homeless
thing is it's exciting to me, it's an adventure," says Seeger’s, his lanky
build, tousled grey hair and weathered, angular face making him look like a
character out of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. "In the summertime,
you're outside living in a tent by a stream, maybe you're fishing. In the
wintertime, maybe you've got a 55-gallon drum in the woods and you're throwing
big logs into it and everyone's hanging around by the fire. It wasn't stressful
to me."[6]
His life went on like this day to day often seen sitting in
front of the Salvation Army with his guitar in hand and the box open for tips
of any kind. He was living hard going
from shelters to under a bridge. The
song you heard today he wrote about 2011.
Seeger wrote the Song “while he was still homeless and
wrestling with his demons. “It was almost like a prayer I wrote to
myself," he says, sitting in a corner office of his booking agency in
Beverly Hills, hours before his first Los Angeles show.
A few months later, he was struck sober. "I prayed for
[God's] help and I feel like he pulled me out of it," Seeger’s says, who
has remained abstinent. "Also, I had none of the joneses or the cravings
or the pain. I had nothing. He removed them all. It was instant."[7] It was that song that a Swedish documentarian
who was doing a piece on homeless musicians heard. She had him record it and it became number
one on the Swedish charts. His second
album is due out this summer sometime.
He uses his luck and his gift as a message…“It is such
responses to his music that have made him feel he is on a mission that can't be
measured by airplay or sales. "I don't really care about the money and the
fame," he says. "I want to be an inspiration; for people to benefit
from what I've been through. I think that's what God wants me to be. I think
maybe that's why God put me into this seat."[8]
I share this story not just because it is a lovely Cinderella
music story but more so because he is the opposite of the rich man. He suddenly has an abundance and all he wants
to do is share. Share his gift, which he
has always done, and now share his experience in the hope of making people’s
lives better.
But there is another side to this as well. If someone had not noticed this man on the
sidewalk, if someone had not taken the time to share some time, food, and give
shelter to him, he might not even be here today.
I want you the meet another person who I also see as the
opposite of the foolish man.
“Vikus Khanna, a Michelin-starred chef, has built an
impressive career for himself in the culinary world, but in 2000 he was
homeless and living in a shelter. To give back, he helped put together a
special evening to feed those at the New York Rescue Mission. In the video
above, watch Khanna explain the tasting menu and experience the “Hollywood”
meal with those who enjoyed it.”[9]
This story is about giving back. Yet again there is nothing wrong with his
success. What is important is he is
giving it back or paying it forward. It
is the opposite of the foolish man. He
is not hording his abundance and keeping it all for himself he is giving it
away.
I think one thing we often forget or over look is our own
abundance. I have been homeless with no
income and I relied on the desert aids association and friends to get by. Not everyone has friends that can help
them. I was very blessed.
I think no matter how
bad off we are. How little we believe we
have. There is always someone who has
less. No matter how powerless we feel
there is always something we can do. Be
it monetary or of time. No matter who we
are we all have time…it might not feel like it but we do. Time is one thing we try to horde the most.
It seems I do not know why but suddenly the day is over…I
don’t know what day it is anymore. The years fly by…yet how much time did you
spend just watching TV, listening to music, taking a nap? How many times have we said; “my time could
have been better spent.”?
I know in this day and age many people enjoy TV, Movies and
computer time. We often lose track of
the real world as it is filtered and fed to us through electronic devises. We often get bombarded with hateful speech,
prejudices, or atrocities of people hurting people.
So I was wondering instead of spending so much time being
abused by our choices of electronic stimuli, what if we took the time to find a
way to contribute to others. We have the
feeding program here…there is no reason why any of us cannot take a few hours
to participate.
I know not everyone is called to get up early and make
sandwiches or to go out and meet the homeless face to face. That is a very special calling indeed and we
have wonderful people who are called to it.
Maybe you can donate a bag of socks.
Perhaps some hygiene kits?
Maybe something not so creative. Maybe just going through your closets and
donating clothes to one of the thrift stores.
Did you know we have thrift stores that monies raised goes to the blind,
to people living and with cancer, to children at children’s hospital? We are an animal loving community did you
know there is a thrift store helping hands for animals.
If you look around you one can find so many ways to give
back. Maybe volunteer time with a local
hospice. Many hospices use volunteers to
read to clients, sing for them, and spend time to companion with them and their
families.
We are still collecting money for the solar empowerment
project they have about 11,000 dollars’ worth of solar panels at las
Memorias. Yet they need more, they are
adding on to the building. They have
enough power for lights and things but they still could use solar panels for
hot water.
You know you can bring a friend to church. Be brave in your faith and share you
experience of community and an all loving God.
Who knows sharing Gods abundant Grace is truly what we are about and
maybe just what someone you know needs.
There are opportunities to share your time and talent in many
places. I will say if you are capable of
walking and or talking you have gifts to share.
Let’s get back to our parable The Reverend Dr. David Lose
says: “Jesus doesn’t warn against money, wealth, or material abundance. He
warns against greed, about the insatiable feeling of never having enough. And
the parable he tells illustrates this. The farmer’s problem isn’t that he’s had
a great harvest, or that he’s rich, or that he wants to plan for the future.
The farmer’s problem is that his good fortune has curved his vision so that
everything he sees starts and ends with himself.
Listen again to the conversation he has with, not a spouse
or friend or parent or neighbor, but only with himself: “I will do this: I will
pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain
and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up
for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”
Do you see what I mean? It is an absolutely egocentric
conversation, even including a conversation with himself inside the
conversation he is already having with himself! This is why he is a fool. He
has fallen prey to the notion that life, and particularly the good life,
consists of possessions, precisely the thing Jesus warns against.”[10]
Jesus wants us to live a connected life. One in which we build loving relations ships
with each other in community. Dr. David
asks the question and answers it: “What, then, does the good life consist of?
Read the rest of what Jesus says across the gospels and it becomes pretty
clear: relationships -- relationships with each other and with God. And, as you
inevitably discover while reading, these two can’t really be separated. Hence
Jesus tells stories like the parable of the Good Samaritan that invite us to
think more broadly about who we imagine being our neighbor, and he preaches
sermons that extol caring for the poor, loving our enemies, and doing good for
those in need. Not once does Jesus lift up setting up a retirement account or
securing a higher-paying job as part of seeking the kingdom of God.”[11]
Now there is nothing wrong with wanting a better paying job,
moving up the corporate ladder, preparing for a good retirement. All these things allow us to have comfortable
lives. They give us the opportunity to
support our church and community with financial support. That is nice but the key is still building
relationships with each other in community to help better this world and bring
it closer to the kindom of God.
When we build a living and loving community the other stuff
stops. The electronic bombardment of bad
news stops. The constant fear of the
other stops. When we work with our
brothers and sisters in our community we meet someone may be from each one of
those emblems on the wall. Because each
one of those faiths are also working to better themselves and to make this
world a better place and it is only through community and relationships can
that happen.
Not through building bigger places for our stuff. But by sharing our gifts, time and
energy. I love our stuff the stuff we
have so much of that we can give it away.
The Love, the talents, and the gifts that come from god and the grace of
God…go out and give a little love away…I’ll guarantee you will get some in
return!
[1] Nancy Rockwell,
Rich toward God, July 29, 2013, accessed July 26, 2016,
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/biteintheapple/rich-toward-god/.
[5] Melinda Williams,
Homeless to famous, October 7, 2014, accessed July 26, 2016,
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/doug-seegers-shares-homeless-to-famous-journey-20141007.
[9] Kira Brekke,
Celebrity Chef Who Was Once Homeless Gives Back To the Community That Fed Him,
Medium, accessed July 26, 2016,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vikas-khanna-celebrity-chef-new-york-rescue-mission_us_5697c474e4b0b4eb759d622e.
[10] David Lose, What
money can and can't do, July 29, 2013, accessed July 30, 2016,
http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2668.
