1/15/2012
(The Baptism of Our Lord – transferred from January 8th)  

Jesus comes to John-the-Baptist at the river Jordan seeking John’s baptism.  It was different from the ritual cleansing common in Judaism.  It was a baptism by another person for the forgiveness of sin.  Up to this point, forgiveness was accompanied by sacrifice, not baptism.  Jesus wanted to identify with John’s ministry of ‘turning people around’ from an understanding of God and a religious system that was often oppressive.  Jesus wanted people to know that God is forgiving and compassionate and passionately interested in their (our) lives.  Jesus’ earliest disciples were disciples of John.

Epiphany 2012

1/8/2012
(Feast of the Epiphany transferred from January 6th) 

The story of the Magi is only found in the Bible within the narrative of Matthew’s gospel.  It describes non-Jewish wise men seeking a child born under the sign of a brightly shining star.  An ancient text called The Revelation of the Magi was recently rediscovered in the Vatican archives and translated into English by Professor Brent Landau from Oklahoma University.  The text dated to the second or third century C.E. paints a different picture of the Magi.  A few new details include: origin was not Persia but China; they were not so much astrologers as men who pray in silence, and they were descendants from Seth, Adam and eve’s third son.  Whatever the difference between this text and the Matthew story, it is clear that both stories emphasize people seeking the birth of a holy child, a child born for all humanity and for all time.  That is the theme of the Feast of the Epiphany – God being discernible in the person of Jesus and born to save us all from greed, selfishness and the powers that try to lure us away from living in healthy relationships with God and others.

1/1/2012: (Holy Name of Jesus) 

It was the responsibility of the Jewish father to name his male heir.  Joseph named his son Jesus, the Greek derivative from the Hebrew name Joshua, which means God saves.  As Christians we believe that Jesus is the Messiah of God, the Anointed One.  We are confident that God’s essence is known through Jesus’ life and teachings.  And through his death and his resurrection we find God’s never-failing commitment to love us and reconcile with us (all humanity).  Joseph may have never imagined the significance of the name given to his son.  But his followers, we do.

 

12/25/2011
(Christmas) 

The story of Jesus’ birth is dramatic enough for us to remember.  It draws us into that time and place in Bethlehem.  It gives us joy and hope.  If the truth be told, don’t we spend more of our time buying, wrapping, giving, visiting, cooking and eating than we do telling the story?  And, if you’re like me, while those times of sharing gifts are precious, most gifts will be forgotten within days, if not hours of being received.  Why do we spend so much time on things people will forget rather than share the powerful story that brings joy to our hearts and hope to our world?

12/18/2011
(Advent IV) 

Mary, a poor peasant girl, welcomes an angel of God.  Mary is stunned by the message of the angel, but humbly accept the will of God for her life.  Marry is our example of opening our self up to God is faith and vulnerability that we might be used as a conduit of God’s miracles.

 12/11/2011
(Advent III) 

John-the-Baptist claims to be the one who heralds the Anointed One of God.  He is very clear about his own identity and limitations.  He points beyond himself to the revelation of God.  That is what we are called to do as Jesus’ followers.  We are to live in a manner pointing beyond our selves to the One who fills us with Divine Love for the sake of the salvation of the world.

12/4/11
(Second Sunday in the Season of Advent) 

(from Mark 1:1-8) Mark begins his “good news” with the story of John-the-Baptist.  It is a story calling people’s attention; proclaiming repentance; preparing for God’s “anointed one”; looking for God’s new way of acting for our benefit.  The story tells it like it is.  John was a messenger - and we have the message to prepare.

11/27/2011

(from Mark 13:24-37) Keep awake!  These words are reminiscent of Jesus’ request to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus prayed before his arrest, trial and execution.  In our passage from Mark’s gospel, Jesus encourages his followers to look for God working in and through chaos and suffering.  God doesn’t cause people to suffer; that is sin – sometimes not our own and sometimes from generations past.  However, God is with us and always working for the good of God’s children.  We don’t have to live in hopelessness, emptiness or defeat.  Our faith gives us reminders of God’s continual activity in our world to restore all creation to wholeness.  The immediate signs of God’s working for Christian s are the Manger, the Cross and the Empty Tomb.

 

11/20/2011

(Christ the King Sunday - from Matthew 25:31-46) This passage gives us a poignant lesson: if we choose to honor and follow Jesus, we must respond to those in need.  Being a Christian (Christ-follower) demands we live in relationship to others, concerning ourselves with caring for humanity and all creation as well as justice issues.  Our society favors wealth and power.  Jesus and the Hebrew prophets clearly state that God favors the outcasts and downtrodden.  Christians must follow our Savior, Jesus, rather than societal norms if we truly desire to bring honor to Christ Jesus and God, our Heavenly Parent. 

 

11/6/2011

The gospel writer recalls important sayings Jesus shared with his friends in regard to life in God’s realm right here on earth.  The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of those sayings (Matthew 5:1-12).  It does us well to remember that these are not wishes, but rather, ways of living where people may experience God and enjoy “happy, blessed or deeply satisfying” lives.  They are a far cry for the life most of us choose to live.  Again, living within God’s realm is an experience counter to most societal, cultural, national and political aspirations.
 

10/30/2011

In our scripture lesson from Matthew’s gospel (23:1-12), Jesus tells his disciples and the crowd gathered to respectfully listen to the Scribes and Pharisees.  They teach the Law of Moses.  But Jesus warned not to follow their example.  He had little respect for the way the religious authorities of his day lived.  To Jesus, the Scribes and Pharisees had forgotten the intention of the Law – to bring people into covenant with God.  The Law was not to be the focus, but rather, God’s accessibility and desire to be connected with the people.  At the heart of our Christian religion we find relationships – with God and with our neighbor.  A relationship with God and others (inseparable) is to be a Christian’s primary focus, not vocation, events, church growth, outreach or anything else.  Christians are to commit to nurturing relationships, and let all else flow from that commitment.  This is a challenge for all of us.  

10/23/2011
(From Matthew 22:32-46) 

Jesus clarifies the heart or intention of Jewish Law and his own ministry with the Two Great Commandments (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  And, love your neighbor as yourself.)  Jesus tells these commandments, taken from the Hebrew scriptures, to a group of Pharisees.  These men are among the religious elite.  They do not like Jesus because he does not teach the specifics of the Law nor does he teach from the traditions of former elders and rabbis.  So, Jesus is constantly put to the test. 

The second part of this gospel lesson is rather confusing.  Matthew identifies Jesus as the Son of David, a term reserved for the Messiah (Anointed One).  But Matthew helps to distinguish that Jesus, although related to King David, is very different.  Jesus is not a warrior king, but rather, the Anointed One who brings peace, healing and reconciliation to the Jews and to all people on earth.  Jesus does not shed the blood of others, but his blood is shed for sake of connecting people with God.

10/16/2011

Religious authorities attempt to discredit Jesus with a question, “Should be pay taxes to the occupying government?”  Jesus takes a coin.  Caesar’s face is on the coin.  Jesus says, “Gove to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”  His statement demands us to ask another question: “What part of our life belongs to God?

10/9/2011 

Jesus’ authority was questioned by the religious hierarchy of Judaism.  He told a story about a wedding feast.  The invited guests didn’t show up, so outsiders were invited to enjoy the feast.  The others were left to wallow in their own self-centeredness, anxiety and greed.  Matthew tells this story to his Christian community to encourage them at a time where they were being excommunicated from local synagogues.  We, too, are invited by God to a feast of grace, love and new possibilities.  Do we want to accept the invitation or live the way we choose?

 9/11/2011

Jesus presents his followers with a dilemma.  Either we can hold on to resentment, anger and hurt, even seek revenge for wrongs imposed upon us, or we can obey Jesus by forgiving others, thereby living as Jesus’ disciples.  We might have the tendency to try to negotiate our feelings with discipleship, but there are no excuses, no compromises.  There are no other options.  Jesus teaches that forgiving others is a prerequisite for us being forgiven by God.  The measure of forgiveness we give is the measure we receive.  How’s that for justice!  In light of the recent 10th anniversary of 9/11, we are smacked in the face with a disturbing reality: acknowledge our pain, seek God’s healing, forgive the terrorists and teachers of extremist ideologies and move forward in love.  Hate destroys, love heals. 

9/4/2011

Matthew thinks it important for his Christian community to understand conflict resolution.  He draws from both Jesus and Jewish teachings.  Any group of people has the capacity for conflict.  Christian communities must recall our purpose grounded in Jesus’ mission of loving and healing relationships (reconciliation).  With love and sincere desire for mending relationships, the Church is well prepared for differing opinions resulting in conflict.  Trouble arises when Christians refuse to be accountable to our purpose.
 

 8/14/11

Jesus is approached by a Canaanite woman.  Canaanites were gentiles who once occupied the promised land of Israel.  Jews viewed Canaanites as the lowest of gentiles, worshipping and sacrificing to useless, non-existent gods while living in immorality.  This woman annoyed the disciples.  Jesus ignored her; but she would not be ignored.  Jesus even debased her, calling her a small or worthless dog (in classical Greek).  He claimed to have a mission only to the other Jews.  Yet, the woman cleverly responded that even dogs eat crumbs from the family table.  Jesus may be confronting his own past, that is, what he was taught by his parents, his culture and his religion.  Matthew may be adding to this story for our sake: to confront the prejudice that we have been taught.  The story ends with Jesus honoring the Canaanite woman and granting healing for her daughter.  Who are the Canaanites in our lives?

8/7/11

Jesus needs a break.  He tells his disciples to get in a boat while he climbs a hill to rest and pray.  Later, he comes to his disciples walking on the sea.  Peter tests Jesus.  Peter requests that if it really is Jesus on the sea, allow him to walk on the water as well.  Jesus invites him and Peter climbs out of the boat and begins to sink.  Faith is important to seeing God work and acting in God’s name.  Matthew conveys that Jesus comes to us wherever we are and invites us to accomplish the seemingly impossible through our faith in God and God’s love for the world.

7/31/11

The disciples feed 5,000 plus people with two fish and fives loaves of bread.  Jesus tool what they had, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples and they gave what they received to the crowd.  And, all were fed with leftovers.  Matthew is communicating how very important it is for us to give to Jesus whatever we have and who ever we are because Jesus will bless and as we give others will be fed in physical and spiritual ways.

 

6/19/11 

On the weekend after Pentecost, the Episcopal Church remembers the doctrine of God as Trinity.  This understanding of God comes from the early Christian experiences of God.  The doctrine of the Church as expressed in the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed may be interpreted in various ways.  The essence of the doctrine is this: God expressed the Divine Self in ways that meet us where we are because God loves us so very much.  God is a mystery revealed in experience.  God can never be contained nor defined by human experiences.  Yet, our experiences give us a better inclination of God and God's magnanimous love for all creation.  Episcopalians believe in the freedom of conscience which allows for each person to interpret personal experiences of God with the intention of fostering a meaningful and transformative relationship with God.  The ancient definition of God as expressed in Trinity cannot be taken literally because the definition limits God and gives humans a false sense of understanding the mystery of the one true God.  We remember and celebrate God as Trinity while acknowledging that God continues contemporary revelations of the Divine Self to draw us within God's loving embrace. 

 6/12/11
(Pentecost)

Jesus’ promise of God’s Holy Spirit is experienced by the disciples as empowerment.  God’s Spirit / God’s Breath give Jesus’ disciples then and now what is needed to motivate us to share God’s good news of extreme love for all creation as discovered in Jesus.    

6/5/11
(Last Easter – VII)

Jesus prepares his disciples for his departure by promising God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to be their companion and strength for their mission to the world.

5/29/11

Jesus tells his disciples to keep his commandments.  By doing so demonstrates their love for Jesus, God’s Anointed One.  Jesus commandments are articulated throughout the four gospels in the Christian New Testament.  Since Jesus was a Jewish rabbi, these commandments come out of that rich heritage.  Jesus’ commandments are: (1) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength; and, (2) love your neighbor as yourself.” And, (3) “Love one another as I have loved you.”  At times fulfilling these commandments are a challenge.  Yet, as followers of Christ Jesus, we are to accomplish these commandments in our thoughts, in our words and through our deeds.

5/22/11

In our gospel text Jesus encourages his disciples before he is condemned by the Jewish religious leaders and murdered by the Roman authorities.  He promises his disciples that they would one day be together in God’s promised realm.  Because of Jesus’ promise, second generation Christians could claim to be precious stones, placed upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, together building a spiritual home for God that has the ability to influence the entire world with God’s love, forgiveness, reconciliation and healing.  Christians today must be aware that we have a purpose.  We are to continue building a spiritual environment where God may be experienced by all of God’s people throughout the world.

 

5/1/11
(Second Sunday of the Season of Easter)

Another familiar story: doubting Thomas.  This disciple is the practical one.  The disciples present Thomas with a dilemma of the risen Christ.  Thomas’ questions were honored as Thomas himself experienced the risen Lord Jesus.  God loves us, God honors our questions and God can be experienced here and now if we open our self to God.

 

4/24/11
(Easter or Resurrection Sunday)

The familiar story is celebrated:  Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty and witnesses Jesus risen from the dead.  Hope, confidence in God’s never-ending love, is ours. God is not limited by our limitations.  God works hard to ensure we know just how much God loves us.

 

4/17/11
(Passion or Palm Sunday) 

The gospel reading appointed for Palms Sunday is the entire drama of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, his trial, conviction crucifixion and burial.  It conjures up all kinds of emotions.  What strikes me is that after all is said and done, life goes on.  It was very different for those scared Jesus-followers, yet it went on.  And, for us today, life goes on.  In fact, life goes on so hurriedly for most people that thinking of such “Jesus events” in antiquity is not on most of our calendars.  That’s why Holy Week exists – to grab our attention, take us back nearly 2,000 years to important events and remind us of God’s magnanimous and limitless love for us.     

4/10/11
(Last Sunday in Lent) 

The story of Jesus reviving his friend Lazarus, calling him forth from the tomb, powerfully demonstrates Jesus’ compassion.  Yet, for the community of the writer of this story, it holds even deeper meaning.  This story tells us about God.  For the community of John, Jesus was the awaited Messiah.  He was the light of God in the darkness of this world.  Jesus revealed the essence of God.   So this story tells us of God’s compassion and God’s power to overcome anything that attempts to separate us from life in God, including death.  Also, this story is used by John’s community to substantiate their confidence in life with God after the death of our mortal body.  And, this story is used to get our imaginations open to God’s creativity, preparing us for Jesus’ resurrection after his passion (the events of Holy Week).

4/3/11
(Fourth Sunday in Lent) 

Have you ever questioned the importance of your life?  How influential am I, are you, with family, friends and the broader community?  The story of the prophet Samuel gives us a clue that he was discouraged at the prophetic choices made because something always happened that didn’t work out to God’s divine favor.  Israel, Saul and later David all failed big-time, causing God deep grief.   

Our Gospel lesson tells us that Jesus healed a man born blind on a Sabbath day and the by-standers responded by complaining that it took place on a holy day (a Torah no-no), accusing the once blind man of fraud and Jesus of being a devil, and denying it ever happened in the first place.  Can you imagine how discouraged Jesus must have felt?  And this happened over and over again during his short ministry.  Responses like those might have burned out someone else.  Even so, I think it is quite possible that in his mind Jesus heard: “Am I really making a difference?” 

I find the 40 days plus Sundays in Lent as a fitting time to ask difficult questions of myself.  Our world seems to be going crazy in a downward spiral.  Self-centeredness and greed are societal norms.  In fact, it seems quiet clear that these norms are praised by American financial powers; and when we question those norms, an authority presents with scenarios intended to create fear resulting in submission to the financial powers.  How influential has the Church been in society over the past 2,000 years?  Looking at our society today, I don’t see much of a lasting influence.  Yet, the Jesus Movement has always been subversive.  It has always been counter-cultural.  Jesus threatens powers and authorities and greed and self-interest.  It would do well for us contemporary Christians to expect nothing less than resistance, complaining, accusations and denial of the power of the Gospel message. 

A 4th generation Christian, Ireneaus, wrote: “With God everything has purpose, there is not one thing that has no meaning (paraphrase).”  We don’t have to wallow in discouragement.  Yes, it’s OK to doubt and question and find new inspiration.  Yet, we need to keep in mind that our lives do have purpose.  Our message has great meaning.  All we need to do is keep faithful in sharing the Gospel message.  And, by God’s grace we, too, may be able to influence just like Jesus, one person at a time.     

 3/27/11
(Third Sunday of Lent) 

Jesus meets a Samaritan woman.  Samaritans shared part of a genealogy with Jews, but were despised by them.  The woman offers Jesus a drink of water.  Jesus offers the woman water that will quench her restless spirit.

3/20/11
(Second Sunday of Lent) 

Jesus challenges Nicodemus, a Jewish leader, to experience life anew.  Jesus invites Nicodemus to be ‘born from above.’  The Greek word can mean new, again or from above.  Nicodemus was so stuck in his literalness, referring to the way he understood following the Law of Moses would foster a right relationship with God.  But Jesus encourages Nicodemus to see the very heart of God and God’s Law.  What can be seen is God’s desire for relationship with us and God’s deep compassion for us.  God’s Spirit and God’s compassion cannot be contained in the Law of Moses.  God’s compassion is far reaching.  Jesus suggests that we can only experience the enormity of God’s compassion when we see life through God’s eyes, through God’s attitudes, through God’s generous love.  We must be born from above.  This new orientation will allow us to experience God and share his compassion with others.

 

3/13/11
(First Sunday of Lent) 

The stories of Adam & Eve and Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness both have to do with choices in regarding identity, responsibility and purpose.  These stories remind us of how very important it is for us to remember that we have choices to make.  We can make healthy choices and we can make destructive choices. 

Scripture reveals that each one of us is created in the image of God.  It would do us well to recall whose child we are and what blessings have been given to us.  Each of us has the responsibility in honoring God and participating in a meaningful relationship with the one who breathed into us the gift of life.  Also, each one of us has purpose.  We possess individual purposes which have to do with our talents, skills and interests, yet, we all have the purpose of serving God in loving deeds shown to others. 

God delights in us and encourages us to make healthy choices for our life.  Jesus is a good example for us. 

(Story of Mr. Stringer choosing to serve the poor when he is poor himself.) 

 

 3/6/11
(Last Sunday in the Season of Epiphany) 

This Sunday celebrates the Transfiguration of Jesus.  What happened on that mountain, we do not know.  We do know that after a miraculous event, James, John and Peter saw Jesus very differently.  They understood him to be God’s Messiah, the anointed one revealing God’s essence and God’s purpose.  It must have been a dramatic event. The disciples were speechless, caught up in the holiness of the presence of God.

 

2/27/11

Jesus reminds his listeners that God provides for our needs.  Also, he tells them and us that we can only serve one master, either God or material things (represented as wealth).  As we focus on those material things we need and those enticing items we want, how much control do they have over us?  Advertisers spend billions of dollars conveying messages that our lives are not as good as they could be unless we purchase certain products.  Our world and capitalism are built on wealth (the desire and acquisition of material goods).  Jesus hits us right between the eyes with a staunch reality.  If our lives are focused on desiring and acquiring material goods, whether they be for our necessities or to fulfill our desires, we are unable to serve God.  Followers of Jesus must learn the discipline of living simply and being grateful and trusting in God’s provisions.  If our focus is anything other, we are not serving God.  We are only fooling our selves if we think so.  This is a hard lesson to learn and live.

2/20/11

Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what reward to do you?”  This statement reminds us that it is easy to love those who are already loving us.  But that is not what Jesus asks of his followers.  He tells his followers to “love your enemies” and “turn the other cheek.”  Gandhi once said something to the effect that Christianity is a wonderful way of life, but that “it’s too bad no one has ever tried it.”  That’s because it is hard.  It threatens those things in which we place our trust like guns and bombs and military.  Christianity is a way of life that demands a disciplined focus upon God.  Jesus taught that when a person invents intentional, undisturbed focus on God, then that person can face the externals of life with an inner confidence in God’s immense, gracious and all-encompassing love.

 

2/6/11

Jesus said: “You are salt of the earth.”  This is not a comment of admiration.  This is our purpose.  As followers of Jesus we are to be “salt of the earth.”   We are to bring flavor to the world, enhance life with the love, justice and peace of God.  We are to stand out, and when absent, be noticeably absent.  Salt has been used for over 6,000 years.  It is a necessary mineral in our diet and can make slippery roads safer.  What we offer in Jesus’ name is to have the same effect.  Our lives as “salt of the earth” is essential to the world, because God uses us to give what humankind needs, the essentials of life in God’s domain.

 

 1/30/2011

The Beatitudes are not happy sayings nor are they blessings for Matthew.  Instead, they are challenges to his community.  They are the standards whereby Jesus will judge his followers.  We are to be humble, hungry for God, compassionate, peacemakers and willing to suffer persecuted for God’s sake.  They speak volumes of one’s commitment.  If Jesus examined your life and mine, would he find these attributes?  If not, why?  What is the primary commitment distracting from commitment to Jesus?

1/23/2011

Unity within Diversity of Faith Weekend  -  John’s Gospel sounds anti-Semitic.  We must remember that the disciple John and most of his students were Jewish.  As a result, we must interpret John’s Gospel as reactive to first century Jewish religious leadership, not an entire people.  John did not accuse Jews of crucifying Jesus.  Rather, he accused the religious leaders who were trying to protect their religious traditions and personal status against an ever-growing condemnation from Jesus, his disciples and others in the Jewish community.  We are just as guilty as those religious leaders when we place our own ways and our own decisions above following the teachings and examples of Christ Jesus.

 1/16/2011 

There are several metaphors of artisan symbols depicting the Messiah (Anointed One of God).   One such depiction is a light.  In the gospel writings, Jesus is identified as the Messiah (Hebrew – Christ in Greek).  He is called the light of the world.  A light shines so that we may see.  Jesus remains the light that allows humanity to see the face of God and experience God’s character.  As Jesus’ followers, we are to be lights shine in our world, so that others may know Jesus and invited into a relationship with God through Christ Jesus.  That is our Christian purpose.  So let your light shine!  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a light for Christ.  A boy who asked for food to share with those in need instead of a birthday present, starting a food distribution program, is a light of Christ.

1/9/2011
(The Baptism of Our Lord) 

In the gospel of Matthew, often Jesus is portrayed as a powerful judge who will hold all humanity accountable for their decisions, attitudes and behaviors.  But in the lectionary reading for this Sunday, Jesus comes to the waters of baptism in humility, vulnerability and surrender.  Again, Jesus is our example.  As Jesus’ disciples we are to be humble, honoring, praising and serving God above all else.  We are to be vulnerable in trusting God.  The stories of Jesus prove that God is trustworthy.  And, we are to surrender to God.  We have been created fro a purpose.  That purpose can only be lived in relation to God as God’s presence, compassion, justice and love flowing through us.  Humility, vulnerability and surrender are characteristics of those who choose to follow Jesus.

1/2/2011

There is a common threat between the story of the Wise Men finding the Christ-child in Bethlehem and the story of Joseph taking the Christ-child and his Mother to Egypt.  Both are amazing stories; both include a response to Herod-the-great wanting to know the location of the holy child: fear.  Both the Wise Men and Joseph feared for the child’s life.  King Herod was ruthless.  He had been instrumental in killing his own Father and his three oldest sons along with his first wife, her brother, a High Priest and many rabbis.  Fear seized the key characters of the two stories, yet in the middle of everything, God was present and working for humanity’s sake. 

 We live in a world of fear.  Our American culture is overshadowed with this primordial emotion.  Insurance, the stock market, automobile safety regulations and the national debt are all based on fear.  Even the medical field involves the fear of disability or death.  Advertising contributes to us feeling afraid that we will miss out on something or pay too much for what we want.   Fear is all around us trying daily to infiltrate our lives.  But the words of the angel to the shepherds remain true throughout human history: “Do not fear for I bring you good news of magnificent joy for all people: your Savior is born and lives among you” (paraphrase).  If we keep our focus on the good news of God experienced in Christ Jesus (God’s love, compassion and desire for our companionship), then we will not fear.  Rather, we will rejoice and trust in the one who sent a vulnerable baby to grab our attention and hear what is being communicated: we are precious to God.

12/25/10

What makes Jesus’ birth so important can be understood  from the four gospel writers.  Jesus is called the Son of God, not because he claims to be, but because his behaviors and attitudes reveal the essence of God, namely compassion, forgiveness, joy and peace.  As Christian, we believe that in seeing the face of Jesus we see the face of God.  By listening to his words and watching his behaviors, we see God in action.  That is why Jesus is so important to us and why we celebrate his birthday.  Jesus is God’s gift of love born for us so that we humans can know and experience God as love.  We need not approach God with fear, but rather, acknowledging the love the Holy Other has for us as God's own creations.

 12/19/10

On the fourth Sunday of Advent, Matthew tells us of Jesus’ birth through the perspective of his earthly Father, Joseph.  God chose Joseph to raise Jesus because he was “a good man.”  He took Mary as his wife under scandalous conditions and protected her and her child out of the goodness of his heart.  God chose Joseph as God chose Mary.  The love and dedication of this good-hearted, Jewish couple gave Jesus a most appropriate home life for growing up knowing the God of Israel and feeling loved by his incredible parents.

Both Joseph and Mary gave honor to God through their decisions and openness to God’s imaginative ways.

 

12/12/10

On the third Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist expresses some disappointment in Jesus.  He is not the Messiah John had hoped for.  John desired a warrior king to return the land to the people of Israel and reform the Temple.  But God had another idea.  Messiah Jesus was to be a healer, a feeder, a reconciler, and a joy-giver.  Jesus brought a new understanding to what God desired from a Messiah and from God’s people.  This is one reason so many Jews didn’t accept Jesus.  They were like John, expecting what they anticipated, not what God wanted for them.

 

12/5/10

On the second Sunday of Advent, the prophet Isaiah pictured God’s Kingdom of Heaven.  He foretold that God’s Anointed One would come and establish God’s kingdom in God’s time.  John the Baptist believed it was time for God’s Anointed One, so he prepared his contemporaries to receive the news from God’s Messiah.  He did this by proclaiming the need for repentance (which literally means: turning around, changing attitude and behaviors).  John anticipated that if the people repented from the wrongs they were committing, they would be prepared for the Messiah’s message of God creating a new way of living on earth, God’s way of living in justice, peace, harmony and mercy.

 

11/28/10

On the first Sunday of Advent, Christ Jesus expected his disciples to see the world comprehensibly (the BIG picture).  Sometimes we get lost in the details of our lives.  We might not sense God working in the details because of our busy-ness.  The Patriarchs, Prophets and Jesus, himself, viewed the world comprehensibly.  This way of living helped them see God working, which allowed for lives built on hope.  Our hope is not wishful thinking; rather, it is confidence in God’s compassionate love. If we life as our ancestors lived, we will experience hope and be motivated to work alongside of god to build a new world of peace, joy, justice and love.  Unfortunately, it seems that most people in our world don’t want this new world.  We praise war heroes for doing what was deemed necessary by our nation’s self-interest.  The NRA, the most influential lobbyist in government, fights to preserve the right for weapons rather than beating them into plowshares (as the Prophet Isaiah dreams about god’s peace).  Look what God has to work with!  Ultimately, war and guns and the people who insist upon them will fail and God will prevail.  Are we willing to work with God?  Do we want the light of Christ to influence our behavior so that we see others as brothers and sisters rather than enemies?  The light of Christ has come.  What will we do, work with Christ or fight against him?

11/21/10

The last Sunday of the Season of Pentecost (or Ordinary Time) is called Christ the King.  Jesus is the example of king living as servant.  He is the servant of God called to give God’s people the opportunity to experience God’s love.  Jesus’ disciples are to do the same, for the purpose of spreading the love of God throughout all creation.  It is in love, not in power, that God’s love is experienced.

11/14/10

Jesus spoke frankly to his disciples about future events.  He warned that would not be easy being his follower.  By the time Luke wrote his good news story, the Jerusalem and its temple had both been destroyed by the Roman army.  Life in general was not kind, but being a Christian complicated life even more.  What is important to remember is this: Jesus taught by his life, his sayings, his death and resurrection that God is worthy of being trusted.  The end results may not be as we imagine or desire, but God embraces those who receive and trust God’s love.  Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

 11/7/10

A conservative, wealthy and elite group of Jewish men approached Jesus, asking him a twisted question in order to get him to say something ridiculous and discredit himself.  Jesus didn’t play their game.  Rather, he stated his belief in resurrection, of which we would experience after his crucifixion.  Luke included this story probably because he thought Jesus’ teaching about resurrection was very important.  What Christian beliefs do we hold as of primary importance to our lives?  How are we passing them on to our family, children, friends and neighbors?  Without our intentional passing on of our faith, Christianity will be less important as influential in our world.  What will you do?

10/31/10

As at the time of the prophet Habakkuk, violence, deceit, greed and injustice were prevalent at the time of Jesus.  Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, he was wealthy, he was despised, he was powerful and he was a sinner.  While Jesus was walking through Jericho, Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see what was going on.  Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus home.  In that encounter, Zacchaeus life changed.  He no longer was the quintessential instrument of injustice; rather, Zacchaeus promised to right his wrongs.  When we feel powerless to do anything about violence, deceit, greed and injustice we need only think of Zacchaeus.  We are Jesus Christ’s disciples, we represent Christ to the world.  We only have to engage people one at a time and the wrongs of our world can be transformed into God’s justice, peace and love.  It is up to us to put our faith into action and make a difference in the world.

  10/24/10

  Jesus turns his cultural norms upside-down when he tells a parable of a Pharisee and a tax collector praying in the Temple.  Because of the tax collectors expressed need for God (forgiveness), the tax collector left the Temple in a right relationship with God.  The Pharisee did not.  He was so full of his own goodness that he had no room for God.  Jesus teaches us that at the heart of true religion there can be found love for God and neighbor, inseparable.

 10/17/10

 The lesson from the gospel is: If persistence brings justice from the unrighteous, how much more will God give justice from love for us.

10/10/10

Jesus healed 10 lepers, but only one returned to say “Thank you.”  Leprosy isolated the victim from their families, their religion and their communities.  Leprosy stopped their lives.  Jesus gave their lives back to them.  9 healed lepers focused on getting back into their lives.  The 10th healed leper willingly placed his life on hold for a little while longer in order to show the rabbi, Jesus, gratitude and, thus, showed God gratitude.  How do we show gratitude to God?  When was the last time you stopped your busy life, turned away from distractions, focused on the presence of God and gave thanks?

10/3/10

The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. They really wanted the same power that Jesus had to perform miracles of healing and feeding. Jesus didn’t directly address their selfish request. Instead, Jesus emphasized faith tapping into imagination. When we foster a relationship with God based on trust and love, we can tap into God’s power to make things different, whole and healthy. When we tap into God’s power through faith, we can begin seeing the world as it could be, through God’s eyes, through our own imagination. God has given us imagination to envision what could be so that we can work to make it reality. God entrusts us with the gift of imagination so we can work with God to change our world and craft it in God’s design.

9/26/10

There is an ever widening gap between the poor and the rich. We see it in nearly every society on this planet. Jesus taught his disciples about the disconnect between what we experience in our world and what God desires for humanity. He told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, a beggar. The rich man never notices Lazarus in life, and in death he only calls upon Lazarus to serve him. In life the rich man was blessed by many possessions. In death Lazarus is blessed by the mystical presence of God and God’s glorious heaven. We are told there is a wide chasm between heaven and hell, which no one can cross. This story teaches Jesus’ disciples today to look for those who are anonymous to most of the world, to treat them as brothers and sisters, with justice and compassion, sharing our resources so that all may know the wonder and love of God. If we learn this lesson, we, too, will be welcomed into the presence and home of God.

9/19/10 

Life is filled with complex decisions.  Where do we turn when we must make hard choices?  What is the tie breaker in your life?  Does your relationship with God through Jesus make any difference at all in your decisions?  Is Christ Jesus your tie breaker?  God wants to permeate our life, even decisively hard choices.

9/12/10

Things become lost.  Jesus’ parables teach us that God seeks those who are lost.  God’s love allows God to do no other.  And when we are found by God, we are given the choice to respond: to live as those found and encompassed in God’s love.  The found then become the seekers.  We are to seek the lost and influence them with God’s love to entertain and embrace a new vision, a new life, a new love just for them.  Things become lost; and God seeks and we seek and people are found, that is, given the opportunity to change and make life new.

 

9/5/10

The shock factor works, grabbing our attention and making us think.  Jeremiah calls his people to a stark reality with an inferred question: “What if God treated you like you treat God?”  Jesus told his followers that they could have only one first loyalty, not to family or Jewish law or tradition, but to God.  There is a cost to placing God first and following Jesus as his disciples along the journey to God.  In this consumer culture where even spirituality is sometimes seen as a commodity, where do our loyalties lie?  What are the priorities of our life?  And would we be satisfied if God treated us the way we treat God?

8/29/10

Jesus is invited to a party.  He teaches the other guests to show humility and challenges them invite to their own parties those on the margin of society and discarded by the religious elite.  In so doing, God is honored and will honor the one behaving in this manner with heavenly rewards.

8/22/10

While Jesus was worshipping in a local synagogue, he saw a woman hunched over with pain.  He broke several “laws of Israel” when Jesus spoke to her and touched her in public, and then healed her on the Sabbath.  Jesus was ridiculed by the president of the synagogue for breaking the laws.  Jesus called the president and the ruling elders “hypocrites” or “pretenders” who say they are honoring God but do not.  Jesus taught that honoring God is understood in seeing God as most interested in our well being.  In other words, God doesn’t desire obedience to the law, but rather, God desires to love us, transform us and shower us with blessings that will overflow to others.  God cares more about us and our needs than following commandments.

7/25/10

In the Lord's Prayer Jesus gives his disciples a model for praying AND for living.  There are deep acknowledgements of God's status compared to ours.  Respect, gratitude and responsibility radiate from this most famous prayer.  If we pray it in sincerity, it can't help but transform us more into the likeness of Jesus. 

7/18/10

The gospel lesson invites us into a very familiar story.  Martha works hard at her Jewish, female role of hospitality while her younger sister, Mary, sits at the feet of Jesus as one of his disciples.  Martha is trapped within cultural demands.  Jesus, not one to follow the normative, abusive rules of his day, tells Martha that she is being distracted from what is truly of importance.  Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to face the consequences of his teachings and ministry.  He knows that he is facing death.  Jesus wants his disciples to be prepared for continuing his teachings and ministry.  It is imperative that they all pay attention.  In this story Jesus gives us an example of discipleship.  We are to be people who serve, but also, we are to be people listening and relating to God and others.  The former can never out shadow the latter.  

7/11/10

Story of the Good Samaritan.  God calls us to show compassion above all else, responding to human need.

7/4/10

On the National Day of Independence we remember those earliest of patriots who risked everything for a shared dream.  They dreamed of freedom: freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom to pursue happiness and individual aspirations, and freedom to have representation.  Many of the earliest patriots were members of the Anglican (Episcopal) Church.  Even the Vestry at Christ Church in Philadelphia proclaimed freedom by voting to exclude from the Prayers of the People the mandatory prayer for King George III of England (as the protector of the faith).  Freedom is the reason we celebrate the 4th of July.  Freedom is what every American enjoys.  The call to freedom continues in America.  We must free people from poverty, oppression and abuse.  We must fight to welcome all people within our borders as Lady Liberty stands and proclaims: “Give me you tired, your poor, your homeless, your huddled masses yearning to be free…” 

 Jesus’ message is one of freedom.  He sent out 35 pairs of disciples to heal and proclaim that “the Kingdom of God had come near.”  His message was emancipation from everything holding us back from a meaningful connection with God.  As Christians, we are to be bearers of freedom.  We are to share the good news of God’s love as revealed in Christ Jesus.  God’s love liberates us from our behaviors and attitudes that deny our identity.  God’s love frees us to be and act as children of God.   Let freedom continuing ringing in this nation and through Christ Jesus’ disciples!

 

6/27/10

Luke gives us a peek at Jesus’ frustration.  He is headed to his fate in Jerusalem.  Jesus is keenly aware that the religious authorities will attempt to eradicate him and his teachings.  Jesus wants to be sure that his disciples have a good handle on what he is teaching.  But at every turn, they disappoint him.  Today, James and John demonstrate their inability to see things as Jesus sees them and relate to people as Jesus desire for them to relate.  Jesus teaches his disciples then and now that God must be first priority, the number one value in our life.  God will not accept second place.  God waits patiently for us to decide to value God over everything else.  For those who learn this new way of living, God’s Spirit fills them.  As a result, they experience the fruit of the Spirit described by the Apostle Paul: love, joy peace, patience, kindness generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  This is the life of Jesus; this is the way of Christ; this is the struggle we face each day in living as Jesus’ disciples.   

6/20/10

Jesus heals a man filled with demons.  Jesus always had compassion on those in need.  Also, he wanted all people everywhere to experience wholeness, defined as a mutual relationship with God (as we were created to participate in).  It is difficult for us to find time for wholeness.  A relationship with God, like any other relationship, takes time and energy and attention.  The prophet Elijah sought after God.  He looked for him in a whirlwind (the hurriedness of life) and could not sense God.  He looked for God in the earthquake (in our chaos) and could not sense God.  He looked for God in the fire (in passion and interests) and could not sense God.  It doesn’t mean God wasn’t there; just that Elijah didn’t sense God.  Then, Elijah sough God in sheer silence, and he found an experience of God.  This lesson teaches us that we need to perceive God in all circumstances.  The primary way of doing so is in solitude and silence.  These gifts give us an experience of God as well as an understanding that God is always our companion.

6/13/10

In the ancient world women were seen as dangerous (seductive, manipulative, emotionally chaotic).  By approaching and touching Jesus, the woman in our gospel story from Luke broke many Jewish laws.  Her sadness and desire for a life change compelled the woman to shed her tears on Jesus' feet, wipe her tears with her hair and anoint his feet with ointment.  Jesus broke Jewish law by welcoming her rather than condemning her to be stoned to death.  He understood her deep need to express herself, to cry and touch and anoint, all coming from her repentant heart.  What people do we desire to keep away from Jesus today?  Possibly, those on the margins of society or those people we just don’t like?  Who do we feel is worthy of meeting Jesus and seeking his forgiveness and blessings?

6/6/10

Jesus raised the dead son of a widow.  In Jewish culture in the first century, a woman had no value apart from her father, husband or sons.  Without her son, the woman was an outcast with little hope for survival.  Jesus provided for her a means of staying in the community and having provisions for survival.  Jesus showed this woman compassion.  To whom does Jesus want us to show compassion?  

5/23/10
(Pentecost) 

God’s Spirit is portrayed in scripture as breath, wind, fire, tongues, thunder, a dove and fog.  In Celtic Christianity a wild goose is symbolic of the Holy Spirit because it is loud and disturbing.  God’s Spirit given at Pentecost is the very spirit that animates Christ Jesus, filling him and moving through him.  We have this Spirit available to us today.  One knows this Spirit by experience.  We can recognize it in the actions of Christian love.  God desires all people to invite and welcome the Spirit of God into their lives so that God may motivate them to accomplish acts of grace and love.

5/16/10
(Easter 7)

What is right with the world?  There’s plenty that wrong, but what about those moments when we experience God in nature, in music, in art, in one another?  Jesus prayed for his disciples that they would be part of what is right in the world.  We have that responsibility and privilege.  Being a part of what is right in the world is our opportunity to share God’s magnanimous love.

5/9/10
(Easter 6)

What are we leaving behind for our loved ones?  Those around us absorb whatever attitudes, behaviors, words and habits we let escape.  What will people, especially our loved ones, remember about us when we have passed from this life?  Will they know that God is important to us?  Will they know that we pray for guidance?  Will their remembrances be a lasting tribute to someone who revealed God and made a difference in the world?   

5/2/10
(Easter 5)

Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment: love one another.  By the time John’s community wrote this gospel there was division arising in the new religion.  Jesus reminds his disciples that love is to be at the center of their lives and commitment to him, not beliefs, not laws, not doctrines.  This is a commandment the Church needs to remember.  We are of many different flavors, but all made delicious by love.

 4/25/10

Christ Jesus was not recognized by those to whom he appeared after his resurrection.  There must have been something different about his appearance.  It was only in his actions of breaking bread, offering fish, and calling people by name that people knew it was Jesus.  His body was not merely resuscitated.  At his resurrection he was given a new spiritual body.  What this lesson teaches is that Christ is a live and is known through action.  You and I can allow Christ to be known to others in our actions AND Christ is known to us through the actions of others.  This lesson challenges us to keep our eyes open for Christ and our work focused on making Christ known.

4/18/10
Third Sunday in the Season of Easter

Jesus meets some of his friends at the seashore.  He helps them, talking with them and feeds them.  Christ Jesus lives and meets us in our everyday life, if we keep our eyes open to looking for him.  Jesus will never leave us or forsake us.  Alleluia!

4/11/10
(The Second Sunday of Easter)

The disciple Thomas, known as doubting Thomas, is confronted with Jesus’ resurrection.  He fights the thoughts and feelings associated recognizing that the world as he knows it is now completely topsy-turvy.  Thomas fights change.  When Jesus died, besides grieving his loss, Thomas had no teacher, no guide, no place to go and no purpose.  When Jesus appeared to Thomas, his understanding of death was changed.  Thomas represents all Christians who struggle with the changes Jesus death and resurrection brings to our lives.  Everything is changed.  God’s love transforms what we suppose to what is joyful and life giving.  Alleluia!

4/4/10
(Easter Sunday – Resurrection Sunday) 

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection from the dead.  In Jesus Mary placed her hope, not wishful thinking, but hope for her life in the here and now.  This challenges us because we have other contemporary things in which our hope sometimes lies.  We place our hope in education, employment, medicine, investments, military, family, hard work and personal aspirations.  Mary teaches us that Christian hope (hope invested in Christ Jesus) is all inclusive, embracing our entire lives.  This hope placed appropriately in Christ Jesus drives our lives in every direction we turn.  This hope is difficult for us, because hope like this is a lifestyle that runs contrary to society.  Yet, this hope gives us the life of God as our companion here and now, and in the life to come.

 

4/2/10
 (Good Friday) 

We rarely celebrate a death.  Jesus’ death is sad and a celebration, for in Jesus’ death on the cross we encounter a love without boundaries, without excuses.  Jesus was killed as a result of sharing God’s forgiveness, acceptance and love to the people of ancient Palestine and to us today.

 4/1/10
(Maundy Thursday)

When Jesus begins to wash his disciples’ feet as a symbolic ‘visual’ of serving others, Peter responds with a hearty, “No.”  I think, Peter represents many of us.  He wants to keep Jesus as “holy other” which helps to clam out fears about following his life examples.  Plainly put, Peter doesn’t want to be a servant of anyone.  As a Jewish Palestinian, already he is a slave of the Roman Empire.  He is a free man in Jewish culture.  He doesn’t want to serve anyone; and, Jesus challenges him to become a servant of God’s indiscriminate love.  This is a challenge for all of us.

3/28/10
(Palm Sunday – Passion Sunday)

Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem with palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna.”  Then, the religious leaders turned the people against Jesus.  We are told they changed their feelings and energy, shouting, “Crucify him;” and Jesus died.  Jesus wasn’t powerful enough for the religious.  Jesus wasn’t religious enough.  Jesus wasn’t indomitable enough.  Instead, Jesus chose to reveal God in weakness, humbleness and love.

3/21/10
(Lent 5C)

The sister of the man Jesus raised from the dead, Lazarus, is overcome with unstoppable affection for Jesus.  She pours expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and wipes the excess with her hair.  Jesus interprets this act as a preparation for his death and burial, one more act confirming his destiny.  However, Mary simply wants to show Jesus how very much he means to her as her friend, teacher and medium for encountering of God.  

 

3/14/10
(Lent 4C)

The story of the Prodigal Son is more about the Father than the Son.  The Son asks for his inheritance and squanders it.  When his belly is empty, he returns to his Father.  Before he gets to his Father’s house, his Father runs to greet him.  This act is one of welcome, forgiveness and love.  Jesus uses this story to describe his understanding of God, our Heavenly Father.  Yet, like the Prodigal Son’s brother, are we willing to accept that God welcomes, forgives and loves even those we deem as undeserving?

 

3/7/10

There is a sin called non-actualization.  Jesus told a parable about a non-productive fig tree and how the owner of the garden wanted to cut it down because it is wasting precious resources; but the gardener wanted to nourish it and give it one more chance to produce fruit.  We are people created in God’s image.  When we show forth God’s image in us through our behaviors and words and imaginations we bring honor to God because we live as we are intended to live.  When we fail at this, we sin.  Sin is anything that separates us from God, others and our true self.  We show forth God’s image in us through our compassion, our working for justice, our helping the poor and oppressed.  Jesus allowed God’s image to shine through him.  We are created to do the same.  God waits for us and gives opportunity after opportunity to claim God’s image in us.   It would do us well to let God's image be known through the way we live.

2/21/10 

Jesus overcame temptation.  The common temptations are associated with (1) perceived needs, (2) desire for power, and (3) choosing the god we want to worship at a particular time (for example: the god of sports, self, material possessions, etc.).  To overcome temptation we must: a) want to overcome it, b) pray to God for help, and c) focus our attention on who we are and God’s purpose for our life.  We have the responsibility of holding our self accountable for our own faults.  God is understanding and willing to give us the grace to overcome temptations.  Jesus is our companion, walking with us through every situation of life.  We have all we need.  Now, it’s up to us.

 2/17/10
Ash Wednesday

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”  These haunting words remind us that God is God and we are not.  We are humans created in God’s image and given responsibilities of caring for creation and loving God with all our being.  Ash Wednesday is a stark reminder of our humanness.  Also, it reminds us that God loves us not in spite of who we are (sinners made of dust), but because of who we are (God’s unique creations).  Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Season of Lent, a time of preparation for the resurrection celebration.  We enter Lent with humility, prayer, confession and confidence in God’s magnanimous love.

 

 2/14/10
Last Epiphany

Peter, James and John have been called by Jesus to be his disciples.  They go with Jesus on an excursion that proved life-changing.  While the men were on a mountain, something dramatic happened.  Exactly what, we’ll never know.  Yet, the experience was so powerful that Peter, James and John found themselves disciples of Jesus for their entire lives.  We, too, must have time alone with Jesus.  People know Jesus, but his followers (Christians) must experience Jesus.  I can’t describe my own experiences.  Words do not do justice.  Symbolically, my experiences with Jesus are similar to me coming home, being welcomed by two waging tails, sitting in my living room while being loved by two excited creatures rubbing against my body, licking me and smiling (in their way).  Though I cannot describe my own life-changing experiences of Jesus, however, I can describe the process that I think is necessary for an experience with Jesus: a) desire for an experience, b) effort (energy of concentration), c) time set apart from distractions, d) an open mind rather than imposing what we want on Jesus and e) a discerning heart listening for Jesus’ divine, mystical communications.  Once you experience Jesus, who’ll never regret it.

 

2/7/10

Jesus takes an image from the prophet Amos and gives it a twist.  Jesus calls an ordinary laborer to fist for people.  Amos uses the image of fishing as God's act of judgment.  Jesus uses the fishing imagery as God inviting people into God's compassion and love.  What a great twist!  And, God uses ordinary people like Peter, like you and me, to be the conduits of God's grace.  We may never feel worthy, yet, we are God's children and God sees us as valuable, just because we are God's.  We can have a twist to our lives.  God takes us ordinary people and uses us as grace to the world.  In those experiences we are blessed, transformed and made more deeply into the image of God.  Alleluia!  

 1/31/10

Jesus shares with the people of his hometown synagogue that he is the fulfillment of God’s promised Messiah.  They were perplexed because they knew Jesus and his family.  After time, they realized what Jesus was asking them: believe in me as God’s Messiah.  That angered the crowd so much that they attempted killing Jesus, but he got away.  Today Jesus confronts us with questions: Do we believe that Jesus is God’s Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God?  We must answer “yes” or “no.”  There is no in between.  And, if we believe Jesus is the Christ, do we choose to follow him?  Again, only “yes” or “no” are acceptable.  And, if we choose to follow Jesus, what meaning does that have for our life?  These are important questions to answer by every person who claims to be Christian.  Identifying the answers gives us a certainty of who we are and what is our purpose.

 1/24/10
 (Epiphany 3)

Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah in his hometown synagogue.  He reads: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…”  Jesus tells the people of his hometown, Nazareth, his purpose.  With confidence Jesus embraces his life’s adventure of bringing good news of God’s love, forgiveness and healing to all who are poor (those physically, spiritually and emotionally deprived of God’s blessings).  If we are to follow Jesus, this is our purpose as well.

1/17/10
(Epiphany 2) 

The wedding feast at Cana when the wine ran out and Jesus' Mother asked him to do something to save the newly married couple from embarrassment – lesson to be learned: God wants to give us from God’s abundance; this brings God joy.

1/10/10
(Epiphany 1)

"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  At his baptism by John in the Jordan River, Jesus hears a voice from heaven and a dove settled on him.  From this point on, Jesus claimed his identity with God.  Jesus knew that he was chosen to make a difference in the world, to bring people into a new understanding of God and God’s longing to save and love humanity.

 1/3/10

Matthew uses two stories (which only can be found in this author’s book) to emphasize to his Jewish – Christian community 1) the continuity between Judaism and the new Christian movement, 2) Jesus as fulfillment of God’s promises voiced through the ancient prophets, and the inclusion of Gentiles into the Christian movement.  Matthew utilizes the stories of the Three Wise Men and Joseph taking Mary and little Jesus to Egypt when King Herod began to search for the newly born Messiah.   These stories are important for Christians today.  We see in Jesus God fulfilling promises made in ancient times to God’s people.  We understand Jesus as our salvation and as our example of how to bring about God’s justice, mercy and peace.  Also, these stories dramatically communicate the importance of sharing Jesus stories and our own stories to perpetuate our Christian faith and share the good news of God’s love.  When news is important, we share it in stories.  When I purchased my former 1965 Lincoln Continental, I called everyone I knew, telling them the story of how I found it, how I'd wanted one for 40 years and what it looked like.  We share stories important to us.  How can we better share the stories of Jesus so that the impact of these stories may be experienced in our world?

 

12/27/09

All four of the gospels in our Christian Bible begin in very different ways.  Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus and the stories of Mary’s pregnancy and Joseph’s dream to take Mary as his wife.  Mark begins with the words of the prophet Isaiah and the ministry of John the Baptist.  Luke begins with a greeting and explanation of his writing to an unknown person and, then, tells the birth story of John the Baptist.  John begins at the beginning of time, claiming that God’s eternal companions of Wisdom and Word were enfleshed in human form, in Jesus, God’s Christ (Messiah).  For the author of John, no one is like Jesus because he is the fullness of God’s wisdom and word revealed in humanity yet, with human limitations.  Analogy: when one gets in their 30’s – 50’s, one’s parents can be known in them.  Not with Jesus in regard to Mary and Joseph.  For Jesus, he revealed God.

 

12/25/09

Favorite Christmas songs: includes “Happy Birthday to Jesus.  One of an infant’s earliest gestures is reaching out their arms.  Instinctively they reach out, knowing that there is something beyond they need to comfort and supply their needs.  In the baby Jesus, we see, not only the human baby reaching out, but also we see God reaching out to us.  In Jesus God reaches out to us, desiring to comfort us, longing to embrace and love us, yearning to supply all of our needs.  In the baby Jesus we have the dramatic experience of God wanting to love us and claim us as God’s very own.

12/20/09

Mary, a willing servant is asked to bear the child of God.  Her society understands Mary to be of little value.  She is poor and unwed.  Yet, she accepts what the angel tells her with hope and anticipation of God working in miraculous ways through her child for the sake of the world.
 

12/6/09

John the Baptist paved the way for God’s Messiah, Jesus, by calling people to turn from their ways of estranging themselves from God.  We are called to pave the way for God’s kingdom here on earth (as referred in the Our Father).  We do that through acts of kindness, justice and love.  We all experience potholes in our life.  Yet, Christians won’t let the potholes take over, because we have a companion who understands, comforts and guides us even in the potholes, our Savior, Christ Jesus.  St. Nicholas, a Bishop in the early 4th century, was generous with his money.  He helped people with many needs including sailors and children.  He is the true Father Christmas.  He paved the way for people to experience the love of God through his prayerful acts of compassion and love.

St. Nicholas reflected God’s love in the way he lived and related to others.  We, too, are to pave the way for people to experience God’s love and bring about God’s kingdom of love right her, right now.

11/22/09

 This last Sunday of the Season of Pentecost is called “Christ the King Sunday.” It would do us well to remember three things: first, that most governments of the ancient world were monarchies or empires with powerful Heads-of-State, so this concept is familiar to the ancients; second, that the gospels tell us that Jesus avoided being named King by his followers and the crowds; and, third, that Jesus emphasized his roles of servant and teacher.  So, on this particular Sunday, I find it rather contrary to celebrate Christ the King.  Yet, Christ Jesus is the chosen, Anointed One who invites us to live his teachings and example of servanthood so that God’s realm will permeate our human world, a realm of compassion, justice, mercy and peace.  The realm of God is what I celebrate and am grateful to Christ Jesus for leading me into this realm of life.

 11/15/09

Our readings from the books of Daniel and Mark are apocalyptic, an “unveiling” the mysteries of God’s working in the future.  Mark says that God will intervene in human history to rectify all the wrongs and make things new.  If we read the entire Gospel of Mark, we will find that Mark believes God’s intervention in human history has already taken place in the life of Jesus, and in his death.  God has made all things new through Christ Jesus.  That means, as Christ Jesus' followers, we are now responsible for bringing about God’s Kingdom.  We don’t have to wait for God to intervene, it has already happened, and we need to live it and make it come alive throughout all the earth.  Tennyson: “An egg must crack before the bird can fly.”  God has cracked our human existence and now, by God’s grace, we can fly.

 

11/1/09
(All Saints Day) 

In the Episcopal Church we have a working definition of saints that allows for ordinary people to be saints, as they open themselves up to be used by God in everyday life in extraordinary ways.  We don’t need to perform miracles, rather allow God to flow through us to meet the needs of others.  It is the duty of all Christians to be examples of living out our faith in God.  We are all to be saints.

 

10/25/09

As Jesus was leaving Jericho, Bartemaus, a blind beggar, cried out for him. In the midst of teaching the crowd and walking toward that fateful Passover in Jerusalem, Jesus stopped everything, calling the beggar and healing him.  Often, we are so distracted by life that we do not see or intentionally ignore those whom God has placed in our paths to help.  We must learn to see the world through God's eyes.

 

10/18/09

Two disciples, brothers James and John, ask Jesus to fulfill their desire for power.  The will to power is part of our human condition.  We struggle to be in control (or have power over) our environment and sometimes others.  Power can be used for good, selfish reasons and for evil.  Jesus confronts all of his disciples both then and now with Jesus’ interpretation of God’s kingdom.  At the heart of God is not the will for power, but rather, compassion.  Jesus brings the human experience into the heart of God.  God understands and loves us beyond our capacity to comprehend.  Jesus tells his followers that they are to model his lifestyle of serving others with compassion.  This is life in God’s kingdom.  

10/11/09

We hear the story of a rich man approaching Jesus and asking how to acquire eternal life.  He had his grasp around his wealth, which gave him prestige, power and security.  Jesus told the man to sell his possession, give away his wealth and enjoy freedom, then, come follow Jesus as a disciple.  The man turned away, never to be heard from again.  The story asks a question of us: what are those things that we grasp hold of that we fear releasing?  We can serve only one God at a time.  Do we serve and trust the God of Abraham and Jesus or do we serve a god of our own making, such as wealth, employment, a hobby, a sport, our cell phone?   

 9/27/09

In Mark's gospel, Jesus defends someone doing good deeds in his name while not being a member of Jesus’ disciples.  Sometimes we close the door to our understanding of how God works and through what instruments God chooses to use.  While being God’s Messiah, Jesus never focused on himself.  Rather, he focused on people and their need to aware of God’s immense love, forgiveness and accepts of them.  Unlike the disciples, he wasn’t about “insiders” and “outsiders.”  He wanted all people to enjoy God no matter if it were through him or another creative means of God’s grace.  How are we limiting God?  Are we open to experiencing God through unexpected ways? 

 

9/20/09
 

Jesus teaches his disciples that they are to use their power for the sake of the powerless and those society determines of little or no value.  In Mediterranean culture children were seen as almost worthless until they reached adulthood.  The high mortality rate contributed to this cultural norm.  Jesus, taking a child and commanding the disciples serve such as this child were getting a lesson in Jesus’ new world order, the Kingdom of God.  Status would be flipped upside down.  Those with resources including money, education and status are to serve those who do not have with the intention that through these shared resources God will give society’s outcasts compassion.  Jesus taught hat compassion is at the heart of God.  If we are to follow Jesus and bring about the Kingdom of God, we must serve those in need so that all people will have the opportunity of experiencing God’s compassion.  Who are those people we need to serve today?  What does the face of Jesus’ servant look like today? 

 

9/13/09

Jesus asks his disciples who they say he is.  Peter voices the groups’ sentiment: “You are the Messiah, the one we’ve been waiting for.”  Yet, Peter and the other disciples don’t understand Jesus’ interpretation of being the Messiah.  The disciples had an vision of a political figure making war with other authorities and winning.  But Jesus taught his friends that the Messiah must suffer for the sake of sharing God’s love and compassion, the Messiah will be killed and then God will breathe life into the Messiah once again for the sake of God’s love.  Jesus calls Peter, “Satan” or “one “resisting” God’s ways.”  He tells Peter to get behind him, support him, rather than being an obstacle.  The disciples take a long time to understand what Jesus is talking about.