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.]