SLEEPING

TUESDAY AFTER PALM SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

It is Holy Tuesday and today I want to look at Mark 14:32—42. There are two thoughts on my mind today. The first; how hard it is for me to be present with Jesus when I am tired. The second; Gethsemane.

Last night the Cathedral hosted a Service of Chrism and the Renewal of Ordination Vows. It was a lovely service. Some 70 or more clergy were present, including two bishops, and another 75 or so people in the congregation. The priests all con-celebrated with Bishop Love. At the end of the service he blessed the Holy Oils that are used throughout parts of the diocese for the coming year. After it we then had dinner…dinner for 120. It was a lovely dinner.  Our governing board, the Chapter, served as the wait staff and then did the cleanup. To pull that all off my day started early. The service has lots of details. As people arrive there are lots of instructions to give. I find that some folks get keyed up for a big unusual service and it requires I try and stay calmer…all of this takes energy. And then of course there are the things that do not go properly during the service and there is not a blessed thing you can do about it. Last night it was my failure to set out hymnals on the special seats for the clergy, and so there we are, at the first hymn, with 70 or so clergy scurrying about to find and pass along hymnals…that also takes a bit of energy out of me.

So here are the disciples…they just have eaten the Passover meal. It is late and they find themselves out in the garden. “Can’t you even stay awake with me for one hour” Jesus asks? I am feeling the tiredness in me and I must admit, I would have been one of those asleep…and unlike the disciples…I know what lays ahead and how it ends…certainly with this knowledge I should be able to stay awake…but if I am honest with myself, I know I cannot. When I am tired I have trouble staying with Jesus.

Which brings me to my second point: Gethsemane. Most of you reading this blog know that this word refers to the stone, the very large heavy stone that was rolled over the olives to squeeze every last drop of oil out of them…a terribly fitting metaphor for Jesus’ agony in the Garden. In some ways this scene reveals how small my view of God can be. This scene reveals that expanse of God’s love. Jesus’ hesitation (if that is what we might call it) can be seen as his humanness struggling not against his Father’s will, but rather death. Which of us goes to the grave willingly…we are wired for life…and so there, under the weight of my sin, Jesus pauses, revealing the inherent human desire for life…and then he quickly continues into the path of his Passion for exactly that compelling reason—that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

Thank God this all, none of it, relies on me…there are just too many days when I would fall asleep.

THE MORNING AFTER

MONDAY AFTER PALM SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

It is Holy Monday and today I want to look at Mark 14:1-9. The text tell us that it is two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread…and the authorities had had enough of Jesus and they were intent on killing him.

The scene offered is powerful…a woman poured oil over Jesus’ head and anointed him. I have titled today’s short reflection The Morning After. It is the Morning After Palm Sunday for me. Two big services yesterday and a higher number of people in duress and requiring some pastoral attention. It is the Morning After Jesus’ last confrontation in the Temple…those must have been exhausting. So here is Jesus, here am I, sitting. Can you imagine someone coming up and pouring oil over your head…the value of that oil equivalent to one year’s worth of your salary? What do you make in a year? Now turn that into oil and pour it out, offer it over—Jesus.

I find that on days when it feels like the Morning After things are a little more surreal for me. It is as if I don’t fully engage. Said differently, it takes a while to get my engine running. The scene portrayed in the Gospel today seems surreal as well…and maybe that is good. When things seem surreal it is as if they are slowed down and they intersect me differently…how about for you? How does a year’s worth of expensive perfume poured over your head strike you? How about if you knew it was because you were being prepared for burial? It is beyond words to imagine what going through Jesus’ mind this week.

REGARDLESS…HOLD ONTO JESUS

THURSDAY AFTER FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

I just posted a long blog on Jesus-Rocks-Idols-Cathedrals. In some ways that blog relates to Jesus’ mood. We are in Mark chapter 13. Jesus is leaving the Temple after he has been sparring with the various religious groups of his day. The disciples praise the building and Jesus notes that not one stone will be left upon another—he foretells of its destruction.

And that is exactly Bishop Wright’s point; that chapter 13:1-23 is Jesus foretelling the destruction of the Temple. People read this section one of three ways: first Jesus is foretelling the Temple’s destruction, second that Mark wrote after the Temple fell and put these words in Jesus’ mouth, and the third that the words about the “sun and the moon…” are about the end of the world. Bishop Wright more than suggests the first reading is correct which places Mark’s Gospel as being written before 68-70 AD. People way smarter than me debate that point, but I agree with the good bishop.

The point about the meaning of the “sun and the moon…” Bishop Wright says are symbols of worldly power. He goes to some length to reason that the entire chapter is about the Temple’s destruction…but there is a lesson for us today. Jesus, in teaching his disciples about this turbulent time, says that they should not be shaken…that they should hold onto him. The same is true for us. Regardless of how you read chapter 13, we all face turbulent times. In our personal lives, in our work and home lives, in our society, and more…when you find your life shaking, hold onto to Jesus.

Jesus—Rocks—Idols—Cathedrals

Recently The Living Church published an article regarding the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut evaluating a number of possible actions, including closing their cathedral (http://livingchurch.org/cathedral-hartford-future). The article was shared on social media and there were a number of comments regarding cathedrals in general. Rather than engage in warring Facebook comments, I have tried to pen here some thoughts regarding Jesus, Rocks, Idols, and Cathedrals

I start with Jesus. Most of us, even when we find ourselves years into ministry can remember back to the time our faith was simple…and we were excited about it. It is the kind of pre-seminary faith where you do not have all your systematic theology worked out, yet you have pretty much bet your life on the belief that a Jewish carpenter turned rabbi really is God Incarnate…the Second Person of the Trinity. Why do I start here? Because ultimately it is about leading from a core of our foundational beliefs and values; shaped and sharpened by our education, mentoring and prayer; which leads by God’s grace and Holy Spirit to our vision of ministry. And as the years of ministry pile on top of us, and as the institutions of the church…including local parish and regional diocese wear upon us…it becomes ever more important to stand atop those foundation stones, which leads me to Rocks.

Rocks; I cannot find two of them that Jesus left on top of one another. He did not build a physical building. He did not leave any instructions about it. One church building he spent some time in, his synagogue in Nazareth, nearly got him thrown off a cliff (cf. Luke 4:16-30). The other church building he spent time in, the Temple, drew his ire and provided a number of opportunities for his enemies to get to such a fever pitch that they crucified him. [Yes I know this was all part of God’s plan, but hang in here with me.] My point; Jesus did not spend a lot of time on buildings. He did spend a lot of time exposing wrong religion—the religion of idols.

I am not talking about pagan idols…I am talking about how God’s People turned the Law and the Temple, really good things given by God for good godly purpose…into idols. The Law, which Jesus came to fulfil, rightly lived would yield a society in its own day that would have been radically concerned for the poor and needy. Instead the Law was twisted, the Law became an instrument of control by humans, the Law was contorted to demand from people that which was never intended…idols have a way of doing that (cf. Jeremiah 8:8). The Temple, with all its grandeur, similarly became about the humans in charge, the Sadducees, and not about the place where God’s glory resided. The situation in the Second Temple of Jesus’ day is a long way from the vision of Isaiah chapter 6 where the Shekinah of the LORD inaugurated the first Temple. Overtime that which was built for God’s glory, and to be a place where both God’s people were built up and the love and mercy flowed from as envisioned by Ezekiel—turned inward upon itself. Anytime we turn inward on a good gift God has given us, we make an idol, and feeding the idol becomes the mission.  

Feeding idols, a friend of mine says sooner or later they demand blood. So how does that lead to Cathedrals? I only have one reference point, the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany. It is about 140 years old, plenty of time to turn inward. Bishop Doane is properly credited as the force behind building the cathedral, but that description is completely misleading and if we start wrong then we most likely will end wrong. Yes Bishop Doane built the cathedral. Yet to Doane the cathedral was not a building…it was and is an idea (http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/wcdoane/address1874.html). From the cathedral the love and mercy of Jesus Christ must flow. The cathedral is not to be a fixed building which has frozen in stone the truth of the Gospel…it is not enough for Christianity to be true…it must be real. Bishop Doane knew it needed to be real. Before a stone was set in place for this The Cathedral of All Saints, St. Agnes School was built and in operation. Before the mortar was mixed for this Cathedral, Childs Hospital was built and in operation. St. Margaret’s opened for the care of babies in 1883: our cornerstone was laid in 1884. The Cathedral…is an idea more than a building. Of these four projects the only one not finished was the Cathedral…maybe that is the point, an idea is never finished.

Which brings me all the way round back to the Living Church article. I am not sure what the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut should do. Here is what I do know. Every church needs to remember its foundation. Every action taken and every decision made needs to affirm and acclaim the saving love of Jesus Christ not only to the people of the church, but to people of the village, town, city and diocese. I also know that I am by all measures an aesthetically-challenged person, an engineer by training. I am called to be a Cathedral Dean, to serve people who by most measures are completely…and I mean completely…different than me. The see and feel and hear beauty that I do not see or feel or hear…it is why they come to the Cathedral. They also see and feel and hear the poor…much more than I do. They can get comfortable in the cathedral. All of us can get comfortable in our churches. They can get scared, it is hard to be “do” church these days. Frightened people can turn inward; those at a cathedral are no different. And yes it can become their idol. I must tell you though, most church buildings and programs have idol potential…cathedrals are just bigger…which leads me to my closing point.

The population is moving back into cities. Albany’s population went up for the first time since the 1940’s in the last census go round. One million people live within a 25 mile radius of our cathedral. This is not to suggest that a city church, albeit a cathedral, replace the work of the local congregations. Rather it is to note that we, the Episcopal Church, are rarely positioned as the “first-in” with respect to any demographic move. But consider that between an increase in population, and a move among younger folks to rediscover liturgy (simply google millennials and liturgy), and that I have seen in these cathedral people a concern for the poor that I had not seen before, that maybe, just maybe, if we can stay turned outward…we have a chance to actually live into this idea called a cathedral which in the end is to live the Gospel.

IT IS RATHER HUMBLING

WEDNESDAY AFTER FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

I “fell off my horse” so to speak as I am posting my Wednesday blog on Friday…maybe I was stuck in Groundhog Day?

Today is Mark 12:18—44

Bishop Wright in his devotional focuses on verses 18—27. He highlights a point that Tertullian made. Tertullian (160 – 220 AD) was a Christian writer who lived in Carthage. Christianity at that time was new. People did not understand it. There were rumors that at Communion real flesh was eaten. People in power, the establishment felt threatened by it and so, “What would happen if a cannibal eats a Christian and then later is converted to Christianity…at the Resurrection who will have which bits of his body?” Tertullian was highlighting a commonly used ploy—when people feel threatened by a person or another group or an idea, they tell a silly story to make “rubbish of the idea.” Bishop Wright’s first point is to please understand that is what the Sadducees were doing. They are the elite. They run the Temple. They are in power. They feel threatened by Jesus. Jesus responds by turning to the Scriptures.

In fact beginning at verse 13 in chapter 12 there are a number of groups feeling threatened—first the Pharisees with the famous moment of “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s… Then the Sadducees and then the Scribes. Jesus responds to each. He then tells the bystanders to “watch out for these religious types” and the chapter closes with a faithful widow giving all she had. In the second half of verse 43 and verse 44 we read, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

And that is the part of the Scripture that is speaking to me today. I am late getting my post up…this is a Wednesday post on Friday. I have been running about (I think that I posted about busyness a few days back). We are running up to Holy Week and it is the natural crunch of work. There are two ironies for me. The first is that in my run up to Holy Week I am reading about Jesus’ Holy Week. He is challenging and getting challenged. The second irony is that some of my busyness is that I, one of those religious types Jesus is being challenged by, that I am with some people who really do give sacrificially. It is a privilege. They face all sorts of challenges…and yet they give to God through their labors, or their money, to the Cathedral. It is rather humbling…which is a good thing.

GROUNDHOG DAY

TUESDAY AFTER FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

My question to myself is, “Am I living in my own version of Groundhog Day?”

Today is Mark 12:1-17…to readers of the Gospels this is a familiar story. Jesus tells a parable about how an owner leases out his farm to some tenants. The tenants kill all of the people the owner sends…including the owner’s son.

Unpacking the text has been done countless times by people showing how Jesus is drawing on images from the prophets (cf. Isaiah’s chapter 5). With prophet after prophet being killed, it is in many ways like watching a repeating loop…even when they choose to kill the owners Son. Jesus’ point of course is that he is the Son, and just as God’s people in the past rejected the prophets…so now they are rejecting the Son. The imagery is powerful and it will earn Jesus the ire of the religious of his day.

But what if we drill into the parable and ask if it applies to our own lives—after all we are getting ready for Lent. How many times have we heard God’s call and not responded? In the 1993 movie Groundhog Day actor Bill Murray is caught in a time loop. Each day he wakes up to repeat the same events of the February 2…day after day. He grows weary of the repetition. Life has no joy, no spontaneity. After a while he loses such hope that he begins trying to take his own life. It is not until he realizes that because he knows the pattern, he may in fact be able to interact with the events in a different way…in the end he breaks the time loop and makes it to February 3.

In what ways are we stuck in a Groundhog Day time loop? Where might we be ignoring the ways God is inviting us to join and welcome his Son? There is the obvious first step of accepting that he is the real “only-begotten” Son. Yet I would suggest that for people who have made that first step…that God is not done sending his messengers, even his Son, to them, in order that they (we) might follow. So my words, I suppose of caution, are make sure we are not standing outside the parable patting ourselves on the back because we have accepted the Son…rather let’s have the courage to see what repeating patterns which lead us to shun God exist in our lives.

HUGGING TREES AND THROWING MOUNTAINS

MONDAY AFTER FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 11…the whole chapter. It is not too long, and the first 11 verses is where Mark chronicles Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As we will celebrate Palm Sunday next Sunday, today's reflections have to do with verses 12-25.

Bishop Wright continues to keep us rooted in the complete Old Testament Jewishness of just what is going on. The Gospel’s quotation of Isaiah in verse 17 serves as a reminder.

Today we get another “sandwich” compliments of Mark. Jesus sees a fig tree with no fruit on it and curses it. He then goes into the Temple and demonstrably takes action against all the commerce going on…in the Temple there is no spiritual fruit. The next day as they walk by the fig tree they see it withered up. Next comes an interesting comment from Jesus—he says their prayer can move mountains.

The fig tree and the mountain are related as they both have to do with the Temple and its power. Jesus will in the rest of chapter 11 and then in all of chapter 12 and chapter 13 be dealing with the Temple and all that it represents. The Temple and the authorities are a big-big deal. Many of us when we read of a poor innocent fig tree getting randomly cursed think, “that is not fair.” It is as if we become tree huggers and take issue with Jesus' actions (sorry if you are one and I pray the picture did not offend you, I just could not resist). Now I love nature, but let’s not miss Jesus’ point. The fig tree is the Temple and its authorities…and it will wither and die for losing its God-ordained calling. That is a straight up, almost "trash talking" challenge to those in power.

The mountain is also the Temple and its authorities. The are big and powerful and seemingly immovable. Jesus and the disciples will have to face them. Jesus tells his disciples not that they can pray and move just any old mountain…but very specifically this one of the religious authorities. The religious authorities are standing in the way of God’s Kingdom breaking into this world…Jesus says not to be afraid of any such mountain. He says very specifically that we are to have faith…and we are to forgive.

Which today for us is good news. The church in the West just seems not to be doing terribly well. We are smaller. We perceive we are weaker. We know we are divided and arguing over all sorts of issues…yet the point of today’s reading for us is simple—it we, God’s Temple, are being about God’s work and God’s kingdom…then not to worry have faith. 

NEVER TOO BUSY

FRIDAY AFTER FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 10:46—52, a fairly short few verses in comparison to what we have read in prior days, but the image is powerful on so many levels. The one that is convicting me is that Jesus is never too busy. Think about it, Jesus is on his way to the Cross, and yet he stops for this man who is blind. I serve at an inner city church. There are always people stopping in. People I have never met before. People who often are on the margins of society. I must confess that at times I groan inwardly. I am all too aware of the meeting, or the appointment I am running late for. I have a list of people who come to the Cathedral that I do know, that I am pastor to, that I have to call on. I wonder how Jesus does it. How is it he is not rushed. How is it he never seems too busy. As I reflect on this question I have to realize that part of my problem is that I think I do not really have what they want. They often want monetary support. At times they want me to do something that is just not safe. I listen. I tell them what we do provide. I offer to pray—all the while feeling like I am getting later and later…so I have no great insight for you today…only an observation—while I am seemingly too busy—Jesus never is, so stop in and chat with him. 

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR

THURSDAY AFTER FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

I pray my title got your attention. Today is Mark 10:32—45

Today James and John ask if they can be “at his right and at his left.” They think Jesus is going to become our equivalent of President and even more…and they are looking for a promise that they will get some really great political appointments. If we think about who will be at Jesus’ right and left in a few days’ time, then you and I will wince—the place of two thieves.

James and John struggle with what some of us struggle with. Some of us think following Jesus means that we will somehow enjoy a favored place—or in religious speak—a blessed life. In point of fact we do receive a blessed life…it is just that we have a different idea of what a blessed life is as compared to God.

My parents used to say “be careful what you ask for.” As people who had more life experience, as people who could see the bigger picture, they often could see the foolishness of my request. When we ask God for certain things we have no sense of the big picture, and we at times like James and John, often have a misguided understanding of just how things are going to work out. The lesson is the same. I needed to learn to trust my parents…to be faithful to them…to not go behind their backs to get what I wanted at all costs…because I believed they had my best interest in mind. Now I am adult (at least chronologically) and so while the lesson is the same, I think I have to remind myself that my posture and attitude towards God needs to be that of a child…one who believes that God has my best interest in mind…so…be careful what you ask for.

BE MORE OF A LITERALIST

WEDNESDAY AFTER FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

I pray my title got your attention. Today is Mark 10:17-31—the rich young man! If you are familiar with the Bible you are probably familiar with this scene. A rich young man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life…Jesus gives him the answer…sell everything and give it to the poor.

It is easy for many of us to mock literalism—it leads to fundamentalism (see below my thoughts about that, but they do not pertain to the main point). It is a mistake to avoid first looking literally at what the words say…taking the words seriously encourages us to have a positive disposition to God’s Word. So often people immediately dismiss the literal meaning, or they spiritualize it—creating some sort of holy fog about it. When Jesus tells the rich young man to sell everything the “immediacy of literalism and poverty come together. There is no ambiguity…no impediment except for our ongoing acquiescence…” (This is from an article on the Pope Francis…and how he embraces poverty more than other popes).

So how much stuff do I need? How much more could I give away…wow that is an uncomfortable thought!

The point in this today is to let the word literally hit you—enjoy it—wrestle with it—do not be so quick to dismiss it—after all it is God’s Word—and guess what, you may actually change and do something about it—like be more mindful of the poor.

***Fundamentalism—this is a bit of me ranting, but we are all fundamentalists. By that I mean we all, in our core, have a set of beliefs, that when people cross over them we react. We may react politely, but we react. The label “fundamentalist” is a pejorative term used to cut someone off at the knees…when a person uses this label, I immediately think less of the “labeler” because it tells me that they do not know themselves…they are unaware that they, when they level that label, are doing so because their “fundamentals” have somehow been violated—they are in essence being their own version of what they call fundamentalists—and by that they mean closed minded opinionated people. [And yes I know historically this term first appeared referring to a group of Christians, but we are long past that point rhetorically.]

HARD AND HARDNESS

TUESDAY AFTER FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 10:1-16 with Bishop Wright focusing on verses 1-12.

The text today is hard…it is about divorce. The mere mention of this word on a churchman’s blog gives pause. But we need to have a bit of courage to press into what for anyone touched by divorce is hard…touching that scar can be painful.

I am reticent to write about this. I find that this message is best given face to face so that people can see care and concern in my eyes…that they might see love and not judgment…but here goes.

Let’s take this in two stages: analytical and then more practically. Analytically we see from the passage that they set out to trap Jesus. What is the trap? Is it talking about divorce? Sort of. It is talking about divorce in the land of King Herod. King Herod who divorced his wife, and beheaded John the Baptist for being critical of that divorce. So the idea, the trap, is to see if they can get Jesus beheaded.

Continuing with the analytical—Jesus turns the question upon them, those that teach the Law, by asking, “So what did Moses teach?” They answer and Jesus then moves onto the issue—divorce is a result of hard-heartedness.

Which brings me to the practical. I am divorced. I did not stand up on my wedding day with that as the goal…I doubt many people do on their wedding day have divorce as the goal. Why did it happen? Jesus would say hard-heartedness and that is not a bad summary. And here is the crazy think Jesus is claiming…we all have hard-hearts and he is the person who is coming into this world to give us new hearts.

Yes his teaching on divorce is hard…what do you expect him to say…that it’s ok? He wants us to love each other. He does not want us to normalize something that we know from social science is based more on the wounds that we bring to the marriage from our past, and from the world that pushes in upon us, then it is from two people who started out in love. He wants us to be healed of the wounds that we bring into relationships that so often lead to brokenness. He wants us to come to him so that this kingdom may come. He is trying to draw us closer, vice drive us away…Peace.

THE GREATEST

MONDAY AFTER FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 9:30-50 with Bishop Wright focusing on verses 33-41.

For some of us this is a classic exchange. Jesus tells them (again) that he is going to suffer and die, then as they are walking with him they debate among themselves who is the greatest disciple, and they share concern that other people are healing “in Jesus’ name.” Jesus responds by telling them they must become like children…and in fact it would be better to have a large bolder tied around their necks and then be cast into the sea, rather than lead a little child astray—now as an aside there is nothing cryptic in Jesus’ words.

One thing that we see over and over again in the Gospels is that the disciples had such a firm view in their minds about “the kingdom of God,” that they were unable to receive Jesus’ view of it. They kept expecting a worldly kingdom with power and palaces…Jesus’ vision is a kingdom of people with new hearts.

I (and maybe we the church) have a similar problem. It is a dilemma really. How do we witness Christ’s love to the world in an effective way and not fall into the trap of it, the church, becoming more important than inviting people to new life. I meet people all the time who quip that the Church is the problem. It is too caught up with protecting itself as an institution…and they go on with a long rant with how they just need their Bibles. But here is the deal…I have my Bible and all the teaching of the centuries because this behemoth of a thing, the Church, exists. Without the institution I would not have the instruments that led to my faith and nurture my faith…at least I do not think I would have them. My point is that to say the solution is to the throw out the institution, seems to me, well naïve.

Yet there is real tension. I work at a place that has a rich history. A place that is reportedly the fifth longest Cathedral in America and the twenty-seventh longest in the world. Now the fact that I know this fact…the fact that I was told this fact very early in my introduction to this beautiful place of worship…well it makes me wonder…and not just some days, but every day. I am not kidding—every day. The Cathedral, and the Church have in them the potential to witness God’s love to a world of darkness. The Cathedral, and the Church also have the potential to get too caught up in themselves. What “facts” am I telling people when they enter the Cathedral? I pray I am not telling them, “Look how great we are.”

Muhamad Ali claimed he was the greatest fighter in the world—it made (and makes) for such good entertainment. Amazingly talented he knew it was also about the show. But today we hear Jesus’ voice that it is not about the show…and it is not about being the greatest. The solution I think is always to keep our motivation in view. Am I motivated because I want the Cathedral all fixed up and perfect? OK so if that is my motivation, then how is Jesus proclaimed? That is the question for me…how do we each day offer our very best…and all the while pointing to Jesus…so that those who come after us have these same treasures.

Sorry no answers today…only continued pondering…but I would suggest avoiding millstones. 

WHICH PART OF THE MOUNTAIN--TOP OR BOTTOM?

FRIDAY AFTER THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 9:1-29 with Bishop Wright focusing on verses 2-13, the Transfiguration. My thoughts today are quite different.

Bishop Wright spends some time speaking about how the Transfiguration once again demonstrates, in a very dramatic way, that Jesus is the Messiah and more. He unpacks the symbolism of the “shelters” that Peter wants to build, and he even cuts Peter a little slack with his “foot-in-mouth” moment. But my mind is running to a different place. On the other side of the Transfiguration is the remarkable story of Jesus healing a boy and interacting with the father who says, “I believe, help my unbelief.”

The words of Marks’ Gospel and this blog reach you not in a vacuum, but rather they come to you in the midst of your day and your week. For example, was it an especially hectic week and are you tired? Or has today had a few interactions and moments that you were not expecting and those moments have thrown off your equilibrium? Or perhaps you have received some hard news and that again gets your mind and heart going in all sorts of directions. My point is that as I write this blog…I too am processing my day and week.

So my mind, as I read the Transfiguration and the rest of the chapter is a bit numb to it…I know that may sound strange, but it has been the week I have had, and already the things I have had to deal with this morning. I believe of course, but it is at an intellectual level at this moment. It is as if I am somehow at an “arms-length” distance from the events of the text and am looking not just at events described today, but at all that we have read to date. Consider how crazy this story is. Consider all that is being claimed. First that this man, born of a virgin, is now off running around the earth healing people, feeding people, and there are moments when the sky somehow opens and a voice is heard. And as crazy as it all sounds I quote unquote believe.

I imagine if I was swept up in one of these moments, then everything from the week, and even the day so far, would evaporate, but the challenge is to live as I believe—and in the ancient days belief had everything to do with how we live, and not just what was a theoretical thought. Where are you today? On the mountain top…if so enjoy…and you require no explanation about why Peter wanted to linger. If you have come down off the mountain, know that Jesus is there as well…after all he spent most of his time on that level… 

GOOD WRITERS—HELP US SEE

THURSDAY AFTER THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 8:1-30 with Bishop Wright focusing on verses 22-30.

In the past Mark’s Gospel was seen to be one of the less elegant Gospels. Apparently the Greek leads people to that conclusion, but then they noticed something—the story lines. Good writers construct their stories in a way so as to have one story illuminate another. Before we unpack a small bit of chapter 8 there is a question we might ask, “What are the storylines in Mark?” Now you might say, “Duh, it is that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, he rose from the dead, etc.” And of course you would be right. But there is another story line in these Gospels…it is the story line of the disciples…and it is the story line of our lives, “That the kind of a God, the kind of a savior we want, often clouds our vision, and requires time for us to see.”

Over and over in the Gospels we see the disciples “not get it.” Peter, apparently the self-appointed spokesperson for the group, most frequently puts their feet in his mouth (you see, I just think he said what most of them were thinking). They were thinking that Jesus was the Messiah, they would follow, and he would raise an army, kick out the Romans, and establish a new Jewish kingdom…heaven on earth you might say. But here is the deal…he is not a military leader…he keeps feeding and healing people…they cannot “see” what he is doing and what God’s plan looks like. Why can they not see? Because they have an idea of what the Messiah will do—a powerful idea of what their world should look like if God were in their midst.

So Mark presents us with a man who cannot physically see. Jesus takes him out of the village, gets him to see a little, and then gets him to see fully. Look next at what Jesus does. He takes his disciples out of their village. He takes them away to a Roman stronghold. Asks them who people “see him as”—they say John the Baptist, or a prophet, etc. Then he asks them, “If they see him more clearly.” They do! They see him as the Messiah. The parallels between the two stories are remarkable and if you look at it again I trust you will see more of them. What happens next is Jesus telling them what the Messiah will do and Peter saying “No!”

Which brings me back around to what kind of a Messiah do they want? They have preconceived notions about it, and the Gospels show us the journey not only of God come to earth, but of the disciples—and what it will take for them to “see Jesus clearly.” It will take them going to the Cross with Jesus. It will take them staring in disbelief at the Empty Tomb. It will take the in-filling of the Holy Spirit—it takes that for all who come to him. I have my “wishes” and my “pre-conceived notions” about what a “God in the midst of my world” would look like…we all do…and  many just cannot buy into this Jesus guy…it takes walking the path of the disciples…all the way to the Cross…and the Tomb…and to the Holy Spirit. 

DON’T LOSE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES

WEDNESDAY AFTER THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 7:24-37. Some days when you are reading the Bible, you just have to either accept the Big Picture premise of the entire story…or it just does not make sense.

Today we have this especially difficult story where Jesus appears to be mean to a non-Jewish woman. Bishop Wright, always at his best when he is dealing with what most people find a particularly challenging passage, unpacks today’s snippet. As I said, Jesus seems almost mean spirited towards a non-Jewish woman. Some suggest in her persistence and witty “come back comment” she has “one-up’d” him. This is the kind of “Biblical interpretation” you get when you do not accept the Big Picture story. Bishop Wright takes us back to God’s plan: Jesus first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. What does that mean? If means first Jesus goes to the Cross and defeats death…fulfilling the covenant God made with Abraham so long ago. Then, after that, the Holy Spirit is poured out and available to all flesh. Which means, in this story, and if you look at the whole of the Gospels, Jesus is primarily ministering to Jewish people. It is the rare moments when he is not. He is not some mean-spirited bigot. He is simply following God’s plan.

Following the big picture, not losing the forest for the trees, is something that is important in life and in faith. Living, and living as a person of faith, can be a challenge. There are many times the church, or other followers of Jesus, do things that make it hard for you to proudly be a disciple. The key is not to lose the big picture, to keep your eyes on not just Jesus, but on Jesus as the big story of God reconciling the world.

Let me just drill into that a little more. If we think Jesus’ coming will make everything perfect NOW…in our lives and in the lives of the Church…well then we have lost the big picture story. The big picture is God rescuing and restoring us…and his good world that he has created. We, now rescued by Jesus, are to be the people who point others to this final glorious point.

GET RID OF TRAPPINGS

TUESDAY AFTER THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

What kind of a picture do I find for "getting rid of trappings?" I found this guy who looks pretty slick!

Today is Mark 7:14-23.

Yesterday I wrote that the Jewish people of Jesus day we so concerned about their identity that “surrounded by the occupying Roman force, (they) are so concerned to guard and protect their way, that they obsess over every little thing, all the while losing the big picture. They have become closed off, isolated, and are not sharing God and God’s love with others.”

We are still in that scene with Jesus…and he continues to shock them. He is driving at what it means to be “pure” or “holy” or “good.” What if we “switch it up?” What if a person trying to get us to understand what it meant to be American, burnt an American flag? What would your reaction be? I know some people burn the flag to indicated their hated. In this instance the person would tell you that they love America, but that you do not know what it means to be really an American. They certainly would have gotten your attention. Go back and read Mark 7:14-23….Jesus is in essence burning the flag by saying all foods are clean.

He is smacking them in the head to get them to understand what it is that makes a person a person of God…it is what comes out of them…out of their mouths and hands and feet…and HEART.

I do struggle with all the “trappings” of being a Christian. My black leather (imitation) Bible. My white collar…even sometimes my blog. I just got back from getting a cup of coffee…with my white collar. I was stopped several times while I was in a rush. I kept telling myself to relax, pay attention to the person, all the while thinking I needed to get my blog typed. What was in my heart? I can tell you why I have and do each little thing…why I wear a white collar…if I were in Jesus’ day, why I do not eat certain foods...but for those who do not know Jesus, if my heart is not right, then they will see someone who is either a little too slick, or even worse, someone with an angry heart. 

BEING HUMAN—WHAT DO WE STAND ON?

KMONDAY AFTER THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 7:1-13.

People follow this blog differently. Some “click on it” when they see it on Facebook or get an email. Others check each day. If you are in the latter category, then you know I missed a day…I missed Saturday. Fortunately, the way Bishop Wright has set out his study, he reads Mark sequentially Monday-Friday, so we have not lost the flow. But here is the thing. I said I was going to do something every day for Lent…and I didn’t. Things in life just got a little hectic. Not terribly bad things, but we had ice jams and roof leaks at the Cathedral, I started teaching a new course, some people got very ill, and a number of other demands…and so I did not post a blog for Saturday. It does bug me, the recovering “perfectionist.”

Remarkably it ties into today’s reading from Mark (you would think I planned it—but I am not that clever). In Mark the religious of the day are giving Jesus a hard time because his disciples are not following some prescribed religious rules…like they skipped a day in Lent. Now first off Jesus does not say these rules and customs and traditions are bad. He does however point out that somehow those who are complaining have lost the core, the foundation, of their faith. They, surrounded by the occupying Roman force, are so concerned to guard and protect their way, that they obsess over every little thing, all the while losing the big picture. They have become closed off, isolated, and are not sharing God and God’s love with others.

This need to keep the “big picture” in focus is front and center in my world these next few weeks. I teach a course called Finding your Foundation. I have done it for years. I try to help people explore what they believe, explaining what the church believes, hopefully without forcing those beliefs on them. I do this because I think so many of us have inherited a faith that we may not have had the time to think through, and we all are immersed in a world that promotes some ridiculous ideas about faith and religion…in summary, in this course (or perhaps better said conversation) I try to get us to all think…to think about our foundational beliefs.

I write all that not so much to promote this effort, but to share the intersection of my real life events that mirror Mark 7. On one hand I had a tradition, a good tradition called a Lenten Discipline—and I did not get it done and it bothered me. On the other hand I was leading a discussion about the various ways people understood God, and then we moved to the person of Jesus, and he radically challenges all those ideas—Jesus is the foundation. Which, at the end (or beginning) of the day, is a good thing to keep in focus.

REALLY!?

FRIDAY AFTER SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 6:45—56: Jesus walks on water, and he heals many people. Bishop Wright today takes a different tack, he places himself in the role of one of the disciples. If you think about these poor guys, they are on a crazy rollercoaster ride, trying to figure out just who their Rabbi really is…not just who he says he is, but what that means because his notions are radically different.

If Jesus is the new king of Israel, then the disciples have a very specific image in their head of just what this new king will do—he will “kick out” the Roman occupiers and re-establish the great nation of Israel. But Jesus confuses them. He teaches with real authority—a new great king would do that. He does amazing acts of power—a great new king would have power, but maybe not as much as Jesus. He cares about people, real people—what a wonderful way for a new king to act. He tells themn that he is going to die and he is not putting up any real resistance—and there is the rub, this does not make sense.

So this new “on his way to be king” Rabbi says, “Get in the boat and I will meet you on the other side.” 

Now you don’t even have to be Thomas to have the following reaction, “Really, get in the boat, you are kidding right!?” Last time they got in a boat, Jesus slept through a storm. And when they got through the storm, they met a demon-possessed man on the other side. “Really, get in the boat, you have got to be kidding!?”

There is a “tag line” based on the story in Matthew where Jesus invites Peter to get out of the boat and walk on water. It goes something like, “If you want to walk on water you have to get out of the boat.” I have to think that some of the disciples do not even want to get into the boat.

Getting into the boat is doing what Jesus says to do. He tells them to. Getting into the boat to possibly repeat the same stormy night events that require you to simultaneously put all your hope on Jesus (who this time is not even in the boat with you) while you are rowing and straining against the storm. This act of getting into the boat requires faith and trust, even when you do not understand just how he plans on “pulling off this new king thing.”

I am kind of like these disciples. Jesus is Risen Lord. He has broken the power of death. His Kingdom, God’s Kingdom is being inaugurated. Further, I can teach and preach about how we are people who live in a world where this Kingdom of God has not reached its fullness. I can preach we are a people who live in the “now—and not yet” reality of God’s rule. I can preach and teach all that, but I also don’t quite know how he plans on “pulling off this new king thing.” How it all will come to fruition. I also have moments of “Really!?”

Really, this ISIS stuff. Really, all this poverty. Really, the stuff with my family, I mean after all Jesus I have left a lot to follow you…how many more of those sentences I can write. How about you? Can you write some of them?

The issue or situation is that I am often projecting my idea of God’s kingdom into some mental map of how I think this is all supposed to work. If I am honest with myself, the issue is also a little bit too much about me. I want it my way. I want Jesus to look at me and somehow acknowledge all I think I am sacrificing and make it easier for me. I do not want to get in a boat, a boat where I cannot see him, and end up having to row in a storm, and go to a place where there might be another maniac. But it’s Lent. It’s a season of sitting with your Bible. It’s a season of sitting in prayer. It’s a season that I sit and try a get real with our Lord…and then get in the boat.

BALANCE

THURSDAY AFTER SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 6:3--44. Today we read of Jesus feeding the 5,000…and he is about to walk on water. All of this comes right after the disciples have returned from their first independent outing as disciples.

Miraculously feeding people is sometimes seen as Jesus having “something up his sleeve,” some sort of magic trick. People puzzle at it. Some even suggest that the crowd really had food, and Jesus just really encouraged them to share it. Some of you reading this blog may have even been subjected to sermons along these lines. Before I comment on what I think this text tells us Jesus is doing, let me ask a different question. What do you think the guy who wrote this Gospel, we call him Mark, what do you think he was trying to communicate? Now mind you, in a moment he is going to tell us Jesus walks on water, and he has already told us that Jesus heals people and casts out demons. When reading a book, we might first make sure we understand what the author is saying…before we choose to re-write it.

Mark is saying Jesus, as God come to earth, is carrying out an act of creation. In the beginning there was nothing—and from nothing God made everything. Whatever your theory of how the universe all came into being…the Bible says He is the source and force behind it all. Jesus demonstrates that he is able to create…Jesus is God.

Now having written all that, this bit of the feeding is not what caught my eye. What caught my eye were Jesus’ words, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest while.” He feeds the people because they find him, he feels for them, and he cares for them. Before all this he looks at his disciples, exuberant upon their return, and his first instinct is to take them to a desolate place and rest. I am really taken by that part—and even within it—the idea of a desolate place, there is probably no cell phone service.

Some of us need to go away, even if it is for a few hours, to a desolate place. Others of us might need some company and activity. It seems like the disciples have had plenty of activity and so now they need some balance…which side of this situation do you need more? Ask God for his help to provide it.