TAKING UP ONE'S CROSS - A REFLECTION

This is my Reflection on the following readings as part of the Sunday Devotion  I prepared for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, South Dakota for August 30, 2020

 Ephesians 4:14-32

We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practise every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ! For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labour and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

The New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

Matthew 16:21-28

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

The New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

REFLECTION

+In the Name of Jesus+

When Peter declared Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God in last week’s Gospel lesson, it became clear that Peter had a different understanding of its meaning than Jesus did.  In today’s lesson we hear Jesus explain to his disciples what being the Messiah means; that he was not here to fight against human flesh and blood but rather fight for the soul of humanity at the expense of his own flesh and blood.  This was foreign to the mindset of Peter and foreign to the mindset of the time.

A messiah was supposed to be a military hero, someone who would liberate Israel from oppression like the Roman Empire; not someone who would be killed.  Peter found Jesus’ explanation unfathomable and disturbing.  To Peter’s mind, Jesus should have been talking about raising an army, calling on the Hosts of Heaven to come to his assistance in freeing Judea from Roman rule and cleansing the temple of those who have been collaborating with the Romans.  In his dismay, Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to scold Jesus for such an outlandish idea, but Jesus stops him cold by calling him Satan because Peter was attempting to stand in the way of what Jesus was fighting for.  

Jesus, however, understood what Peter was getting at and takes Peter up on his implicit suggestion of rallying the troops for the type of warfare Jesus was waging.  Instead of laying out a plan for battle, Jesus turns the question he asked them in last week’s Gospel lesson back on them.  Instead of asking who he is, he now asks them and us, “Who are you?”   

In the context of Matthew 16, this is not as simple of a question as it seems.  Jesus does not explicitly ask that question, rather he implicitly does so by playing off of the idea of rallying his followers, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”   

In order to deny oneself, one has to know who one is and what it is about one’s self that one needs to deny.  In the context of worldly warfare, denying oneself means being willing to give up one’s physical existence for a cause, and this is usually how this statement of Jesus is taken.  In the light of Jesus’ crucifixion and Christians being subject to periodic persecutions, this may have been what the writers of Matthew and Mark meant also.  In fact, during the two centuries following Jesus’ ministry on earth, martyrdom was seen by some as highest form of allegiance to Christ. It was even promoted by some as something that should be sought.  People to this day are murdered because of their faith in Christ, but I think it safe to say no Christian today is seeking to become a martyr.  In today’s world we know that martyrdom can be weaponized.    

When I hear Jesus say these words today, I don’t sense Jesus asking us to seek martyrdom but rather to deny what is not truly us and humbly take up what is our true selves, our true calling.  This understanding comes from what Jesus followed up his rallying call with, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?”   This is not martyrdom Jesus is taking about.  Jesus is referring to something much deeper.  Jesus is talking about the soul; the soul of humanity. 

Throughout many of these reflections I have referred to what I called the illusionary surface of life.   As we skim along its surface in our daily lives, we acquire and take on some of its illusionary features in order to blend in and get along.  It’s hard not to.  Most of us want to blend in rather than stand apart from the mainstream of life’s surface illusions of popularity and power.  Instead of trying to be a standout in this illusionary environment, Jesus is asking us to take up being who we are; Jesus’ followers who, like Jesus, see ourselves as God’s offspring.

I have selected a different lesson for this Sunday than the one assigned to illustrate what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel.  The Epistle to the Ephesians perhaps explains what Jesus is talking about better than anything I can say here.  The use of the term gentile in Ephesians denotes what I am describing as those skimming along the illusionary surface of life who do not see themselves as part of the bigger picture of creation, as a children of God amongst enumerable others.  Paul is aptly describing what it means to take up our crosses and follow Jesus. 

In order to take up the cross of our true selves means to dump a lot of meaningless things that we’ve acquired on our journey through this illusionary world. We cannot deceive ourselves into thinking that dumping such things is easy because we have come to rely on them as protective shields and masks that keep us from the fear of being lone standouts or being alone in the crowd.  Such masks and shields can give us a sense of false humility based on how well they allow us to blend in with the crowd, displaying likemindedness with our tribe, and permitting us to turn a blind eye to what we know is not right by justifying doing so as necessary in order to get along.   

True humility is a rare thing.  It becomes a cross to bear because few appreciate it, because it can lead one to become a lone stand-out and be alone, and because it removes the protective baggage we’ve acquired and the masks that help us fit in. But true humility, when born faithfully as a cross, reflects the cross of Christ.  It will shine brightly in the darkness of this illusionary world.  True humility resonates with humanity's shared existential core.  True humility speaks for itself.  People see it, and some will reject it; preferring the mask and shield of selfishness.   Others, however, will be drawn to its resonance.  They may feel encouraged to pick up their crosses, brush them off, and let them shine.   True humility frees one to be who one is; a child of God uniquely made and uniquely equipped for Life.  

I’m not sure what the writer of Matthew had in mind when quoting Jesus saying that “some will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”  After two thousand years, what comes to mind is something Paul said about death and dying in his letter to the Romans. Paraphrasing, Paul puts it this way, “If we die to our illusionary selves (what I call our selfish selves or what Paul defines as sin) then we are already alive in Christ. [See Romans 6]  In that sense, death has lost its savor; its attraction and meaning.  As Jesus’ resurrection illustrates, life comes from death.  It is when we allow our selfishness to die that our true selves emerge and can be taken up like a cross that will carry us through to Life.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Loving Jesus, help us lay down the burden of our selfishness, the masks that hide us from ourselves, and the illusions we pretend to shield ourselves with, that we may take up the cross of our true selves; the cross of humility and the cross of our common humanity, and follow you in unity as the children of our heavenly Father.  Amen.

Until next time, stay faithful.

Norm

 

WHO AM I? - A REFLECTION

 This reflection was presented at Christ Episcopal Church in Yankton , SD on August 23, 2020 

Matthew 16:13-20

When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

The New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

REFLECTION

+ In the Name of Jesus +

Picking up where we left off last Sunday, Jesus and his disciples are still taking a tour of the region outside of Galilee.  Leaving behind the region of the Canaanite woman near Tyre, Jesus and company headed east toward the city of Caesarea Philippi in what is modern day Syria.  It is in this foreign land that Jesus asks his disciples the question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

This story is also found in the Gospel of Mark, where the question Jesus asks is, “Who do people say the I am?”  Mark’s account is void about the part of Jesus changing Simon’s name to Peter during this event.  

Both stories agree, however, that Jesus had this conversation with his disciples in an area near Caesarea Philippi.  Both Gospels agree on Jesus asking who people people thought he was and asking the disciples who they thought he was.  Both agree that it is Peter who declares Jesus to be the Messiah, and both agree that Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah at that time.

This story raises questions of its own:  Why did Jesus wait to have this conversation outside of Galilee?  Why does Jesus ask his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is” in Matthew’s account instead of “Who do people say that I am recorded in Mark’s account?”  Why did Jesus warn his disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah?

If I were doing an exegetical class on this story, we could spend a good amount of time probing such questions which might tell us something about Jesus’ need to sojourn into territories beyond the Galilean border.  We could explore why Jesus saw a need to ask those questions, why Matthew’s version of this story differs from that of Mark’s, and why Jesus sternly warns his disciples to say nothing about his being the Messiah to anyone.  All of that is worth spending some time with, but not this morning.

The main point of this story in both Gospel accounts is clearly Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Messiah.  Beyond that, Matthew reads back into Mark’s more original telling (through Jesus’ voice) the fact that by the time Matthew is being written, the church is already established and Peter is considered its primary leader whose faith is seen as the bedrock upon which the church’s authority of is derived.  It is clear that identifying Jesus as the Messiah, meant one thing to Peter and another thing to Jesus, as we shall see in next Sunday’s Gospel lesson.   Matthew also makes it clear that what Peter uttered is something he really didn’t understand, leading Jesus to say, “You didn’t come up with this on your own. My Father revealed that to you.” 

 

What I would like to focus our attention on today is those two original questions that Jesus asked his disciples. They’re not the same question.  Considering them from the perspective of today’s world, we could phrase them as:  What are people saying about Jesus nowadays and how would you personally describe Jesus?

I think it safe to say if we were asked today, “Who do people say Jesus is?”  Our first response wouldn’t be John the Baptist, Elijah or the thought-provoking Jeremiah.  After two thousand years and Jesus being known world-wide, the answers to that question, I suspect, would vary greatly:  “Jesus is the Son of God.  Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is God, Jesus is the Savior,  Jesus is True God and True man.  Jesus is a prophet.  Jesus is a great religious teacher.  Jesus is the founder of Christianity.  Jesus is charlatan, or Jesus is a fictional character; all things people claim Jesus to be.

While most would consider it is safe to mimic Peter’s answer as the right answer to Jesus’ second question, I think it also safe to say we could add to that; as in, “Jesus is my Lord, Jesus is my Savior, “Jesus is my friend ” or “Jesus is my brother.”  Christian mystics often talked about Jesus in more intimate of terms as a lover; as in, the lover of my soul.  

Before this pandemic caused us to discontinue worship services, some of us met to discuss our experiences with Jesus.   We had a couple of interesting discussions about them, and I recall commenting then and in my reflections since then that what is true for Jesus is true for us and what is true about us is true about Jesus.  

What struck me in rereading this story several times is when Jesus asked who do you say that I am, nobody stated the obvious, “You are Jesus.”  To me, that would have been an appropriate answer.  Jesus has value in just being Jesus; just as you and I have value in being who we are. Mark and Matthew, however,  were trying to explain to their audiences what they depicted Jesus explaining to his disciples what will become clear in next week’s lesson, which is that Jesus was not here to fight against human flesh and blood but rather fight for the soul of humanity at the expense of his own flesh and blood.  Jesus was called to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God  to instill in our hearts the rule of love that would foment (stir up) compassion, forgiveness, understanding, and give birth to a new way of life.

Here we are, two thousand years later, still trying to make sense of Jesus in a world that continues to struggle with and, at times, struggles against what he taught, what he lived for, what he died for, and what raised him to new life. 

Jesus literally had to take his disciples beyond their familiar turf to some place foreign to teach them something that was foreign to their thinking.  Although Jesus is the Messiah, he was and is not the Messiah they thought the Messiah should be but rather the Messiah God called Jesus to be.  As the prophet Isaiah reminds us, God’s ways are not our ways. [Isaiah 55:8]. 

Throughout the history of the Church, questions, such as Jesus asked his disciples, would have been and even be today in some denominations might be considered toying with heresy.  I grew up in a religious environment that discouraged questions and encouraged bypassing my inquiring mind and sticking with what I was taught. The questions I was allowed to ask where the questions the church gave me in catechism classes, but they didn’t encourage me to ask any that would have crossed my mind.  I never heard a pastor say, “Do you have any questions?”    

Jesus knew the value of and the need for questions.  In the domain of religion, the questions are more important than the answers we find because the Word of God is a Living Word, a Word that meets us where we are at today in order to give us insight into the questions of today.  

At times, Jesus leads us into unfamiliar turf; to a places where we are prodded to examine what we think about Jesus collectively and re-examine our personal experiences and relationships with Jesus.  So I invite all of us to take some time today and think about how you would answer Jesus’ questions and don’t be afraid to ask Jesus a few questions of your own.  

 * * * * * * * * * 

Jesus, lover of our souls, prod us towards a deeper, heartfelt experience of you. Create in us inquiring minds and help us to question boldly and discern wisely.  Gently guide us to those foreign places in our lives where we may come to know ourselves better in the light of your love.  Amen.  

Until next time, stay faithful

Norm

JESUS AND A CANAANITE WOMAN - A REFLECTION

 This reflection was delivered at Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, South Dakota on August 16, 2020

Matthew 15:21-28

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

The New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

REFLECTION

by

Norm Wright

+In the Name of our loving friend and brother, Jesus+

The story of the Canaanite woman is one of three events in Jesus’ ministry as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels that gave Jesus reason to pause and recalibrate his views on Gentiles.   The first is a Roman Centurion who came to Jesus asking that a loved slave be healed.  The second is this story, and the third is the story of the ten lepers who Jesus heals and the Samaritan leper who turned back to thank Jesus.   Of these three, this story seems have given Jesus the greatest reason to pause.  

Pause is a term I use to describe those moments when we find ourselves challenged by an event that causes us to take notice of what we are dealing with or confronted by.  It may involve a period time in which we may have to deal with our demons, our doubts, and our uncertainties; a period of soul-searching that often leads to transfiguration; a new way of seeing things and, perhaps, a new way of being seen.  

I write a blog called “The Faithful Agnostic” in which I did a series posts on transfiguration called “Tales of the Mystic Journey” in which I take a deeper look a certain characters in Scripture like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Peter, and Paul in the light of their transfiguration experiences.  In each of their stories, one can identify moments of pause that led to a literal transfiguration.  For instance, Abram and Sarai become Abraham and Sara, Jacob becomes Israel, Joseph is transfigured into an Egyptian prince which rendered him unrecognizable to his brothers.  Jesus’ disciple Simon becomes Peter, and Saul becomes Paul.  In all of their stories there are distinct moments of pause - some event or events that changed them, their outlook, and how they were seen and understood by others.

In today’s lesson from Matthew, Jesus and his disciples cross the border into what is modern day Lebanon, Canaanite turf, a people depicted in the Hebrew Scriptures as the original settlers of what is modern day Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon.  In the Hebrew Scriptures they were depicted as idolators and the historical enemies of the Israelites.  We don’t know why Jesus and his disciples decided to enter that territory.  Perhaps it was to find some time away from the crowds that followed him or to take a breather from the constant debate Jesus was having with the religious authorities in Judea.  Jesus finds out, however, that his fame is known beyond the borders of Galilee and Judea.  

We do not know who this saintly woman is.  Her only identity given is that she is  Canaanite.  This by itself would have been considered a mark against her as far as the disciples were concerned.  Another mark against her was that she was loudly addressing Jesus in public.  Women were not expected to address men in public; a social costume that continues to exist in some middle eastern cultures.   So when this loud, idolatrous woman shouts at Jesus, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.,” the disciples want nothing to do with her and they asked Jesus to send her away, and that is exactly what Jesus does, or tries to do.  

We need to pause with the image of that situation in our minds.  

We have been trained to give Jesus a pass whenever we encounter something in the Gospels that doesn’t look or sound Jesus-like.  We are tempted to excuse it or explaining it away as some editorial comments in the gospels do; as “Jesus did such and such in order to test so and so” or “Jesus did this in order to fulfill prophecy.”   There are no such editorial comments made here, and this story doesn’t permit us to easily give Jesus a pass, which makes it all the more powerful.  

That Jesus attempted to send this woman away shouldn’t shock us; after all, back in Chapter 10 of Matthew, Jesus sent out the twelve disciples with explicit orders not to go among the gentiles or in any Samaritan towns; specifically saying, “Go rather to lost sheep of Israel” [vs. 6].  In essence Jesus was simply following through with that order. In fact, Jesus tries to sending her away by repeating what he told his disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 

But the woman doesn’t take that for an answer.  Kneeling in front of Jesus she earnestly pleas, “Lord, help me.” Jesus then brazenly insults her, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Calling a person a dog in those days was about as demeaning and dehumanizing  a comment one could make.  A declaration that conveyed, “You’re not worth the bother.”

We need to pause with that scene for a moment. 

We need to hear what this woman heard; in the way she heard it and let it sink in as if it was said to us, personally; as if, Jesus called any one of us a dog in the sense he used it in this story.  

How would any of us take that?  What would we think of Jesus, and what might our reaction be?

We also need to pause and ask ourselves, “What kept her there, kneeling at Jesus’ feet?  Why didn’t she leave after being treated so rudely and publicly humiliated?”

One might say sheer desperation.   True, but it is her response to Jesus’ insult that I think reveals her super-power to stay put; her tenacious love that wasn’t about to give up on hope when she was so close to the cure for her daughter’s condition. It also revealed her determined faith and her determinate heart in which “No” would never be an acceptable answer to her daughter’s need, so she responds to Jesus’ insult with a yes:

 “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 

I am convinced that was not the answer Jesus was expecting; much less, hoping for from her.  You can’t call someone a dog and then say, “Oh, just kidding. Come back. Your daughter is going to be fine.”  

No.  That is not how Jesus, who said,” Let your yes be yes and your no be no,” works. [See Matthew 5:36-38]  

I am convinced if she would have left, this story wouldn’t have made it into the gospels, but this Canaanite woman didn’t leave.  She stood her ground and took Jesus by surprise.  In that surprising comeback, Jesus paused and took a deeper look at this woman.  Looking deeply into her eyes, I believe Jesus saw something recognizable; the image of his Father, our Father - her Father looking back at him through her pleading eyes, speaking to him through her longing voice.  

In that brief moment, Jesus knew what he was dealing with because it resonated with his experience of having dealt with his own demons in the wilderness.  It resonated with that love that would not let him go.  He recognized in her a determinate heart like his own, a heart that could only accept the yes of God’s love.  Jesus saw something he didn’t think he would see outside the boundaries of his native land, faith.  

In that transfiguring moment, this idolatrous, Canaanite woman of faith gave Jesus a new perspective of God as the non-discriminating, unconditionally loving Father of all; a vision that he would carry with him to the cross and prompt him to forgive all.  Her answer demonstrated a deep faith that exceeded most and so Jesus unabashedly said to her,  “Woman great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” 

Pause.  

 

This Canaanite woman understood pause.  Her life was put on hold because of her daughter’s affliction.  Her tenacious love for her daughter developed a determined faith and a determinate heart that was ready to say “Yes” to any opportunity that would transfigure the course of her daughter’s life and her own; in whatever form it came, even if it came in the person of an annoyed and didn’t-want-to-be bothered Jesus.  Her tenacious love and faith brought down the boundaries and barriers that existed between them as traditional enemies, and she gave Jesus a healing moment from the weariness he felt, a respite from the wariness of the same old mundane expectations as her determinate heart reached out and touched his.

Pause.

During their exodus from Egypt, the children of Israel spent 40 years of wandering in the wilderness so that a whole generation would pass away as a mean to put an end to the Israelites being slaves to the slavery they couldn’t see past.  In that pause, God transfigured their offspring into the Chosen People God intended them to be; a people capable of seeing things differently, of seeing themselves differently; a people who put their trust in God as they started the new life God promised them when they crossed over Jordan into the Canaanite land.

We’re in a pause for the past three years, maybe longer.  

Pauses can last a long time or they can come in short, momentary jolts that lead to transfiguration.  When transfiguration occurs, we may not feel all that different but we may start seeing things differently, and we may appear differently to those around us; as in, there is something about them that is different.  Scripture’s advice on pauses is to be like this Canaanite woman: to be patient, to watch (to be on the lookout for opportunity in whatever form it may come in), and to pray earnestly.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Gracious friend, like this Canaanite woman we come to you on bended knee seeking your help. Do not turn us away in our time of need, but hear us, help us, grant us the determined strength of her faith and transfigure us according to your will.  Amen.

Until next time, stay faithful.

Norm