DESIRE - A REFLECTION

 

This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on November 29, 2020

THE FIRST LESSON

Malachi 3:1-5

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011  Used by permission. 

CANTICLE

Veni, veni, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,

that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice!  Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Desire of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind, 

bid thou our sad divisions cease, and be thyself our King of Peace.

Rejoice!  Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

THE SECOND LESSON

Mark 13:26-27, 32-37

Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.  And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

. 

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

+Come Desire of nations, come+

I like watching documentaries about the universe.  I’m no scientist by any stretch of the imagination, but I am always struck by how much theoretical physics and theology compliment each other.  This should not come as a surprise because both theory and theology share the same root word, “theo,” the Greek word for God.  Both theory and theology are, in a very literal sense, rooted in God.  Both are garnered from our experiences, observations, and revelations (discoveries) that help us understand our being; albeit from different perspectives and expressed in different ways. 

What fascinates me most are the scientific theories that attempt to explain the origins of our universe, generalized as the Big Bang; when everything that is and will be was ignited into existence some 14 billion years ago.  If I were to describe this event, using the language of scripture, the word that comes to mind to describe what ignited the “Big Bang” is desire; as in, the desire to be. 

The desire to be was expressed in the first words uttered by God recorded in our scriptures,  “Let there be light,” at which point there was a big bang that lit everything up and from which everything proceeded and continues to proceed.  That original burst of light and utterance can be seen as a detectable back-glow at the furtherest edges of the known universe and heard as radio waves via the technologies used in space exploration.  In other words, the desire to be is still resonating and being played out in the universe. 

Desire is an essential component to being in love.  Love doesn’t exist without desire.  Love proceeds from desire, and love seeks to be desired and loved in return.  If God is Love, then desire is an essential component of God, that being in which we live and move and have our being. [Acts 17:28]  In the language of astrophysics, we can say desire serves as the back-glow to all of God’s loving and kenotic (outpouring) creativity.  

   

Had God wanted a universe to act like a clock ticking time away or create a set of tinker toys to play with, we wouldn’t be here.  God could have simply avoided the messes we make by not making us who we are.  That we are here today says something about God’s desire for a cognitive and willful response to the love that was released at the start of our universe.  We are the result of that desire and that love. 

One of the attributes we acquired when God our Father made us in his image is that we were imbued with a desire to be known and to be loved for who we are so that we can desire to know and love God as our Father.  In this sense, the fall of humankind, as recorded in the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, appears to be a test more than a fall from grace.  Taking the bait of temptation gave proof of our ability to desire, to be willful, and to be knowing.  The outcome of the “Fall” permitted us to fall in love with God willfully, knowingly, and to acquire a desire to know God and to know what it is to be loved and known by God in return.   

Like any parent, God would get frustrated with us precisely because we are willful and have a tendency to stray off on our own; forgetting who we are and whose we are.   There were days, scripture tells us, when God thought, “What did I get myself into by making these children?  Do I start over or do I just keep on loving them? And if I keep loving them, how will they know that I love them?”

Instead of getting rid of the headaches that we are at times, God’s desire to be known and loved by us led God to demonstrate, through one of us, that God truly loves us, truly knows us, and is truly with us in every step we take in this life’s journey.  For Christians, this desire of God to be with us  - to be Emmanuel - is theologically explained in the first chapter of the Gospel of John where the story of creation in Genesis is retold in the light of Christ:  

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life….  (And that )Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us..” [ John 1:1-4, 14*]

Musing on desire brought to mind today’s first lesson from the prophet Malachi.  It also brought to mind a verse from the prophet Haggai on which our Canticle this morning is based, “ I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.” [Haggai 2:7*] Malachi and Haggai were prophets during the time the second Temple was being constructed; the Temple that Jesus was having a conversation about the end times with his disciples, as recorded in last Sunday’s Gospel of Matthew and this morning’s Gospel of Mark.  

Both Malachi’s and Haggai’s prophesies mention a desire for the one coming into our lives who would shake us up, refine us, and make us shine.  Malachi casts this messenger as a judge and asks, “Who can stand the day of his coming?”  

What catches one’s attention in this Old Testament reading is its last statement, “‘but do not fear me,’ says the Lord Almighty”  What an unexpected thought, after saying this messenger will judge.   Given Malachi’s description of this judge, why wouldn’t one be fearful? 

That odd statement not to fear God, heard in the Christian ear, resonates with what we know.  Jesus, the Son of Man and our brother,  who is our judge gave his verdict on the cross: “Forgiven!”  As such, there is no need to fear the righteous one who was judged unrighteous; the one who was executed because of his innocence, and the one who experienced our every weakness on the cross and still desired to forgive and to heal all with his dying breath.

God, our Father, granted our brother Jesus’ dying desire in that indescribable light of the risen Christ Jesus, who emerged from the chaos of a tomb to be the first-fruit (the start) of a new creation. 

That redeeming/recreating event brings us to where we are today as members of Christ’s rising body on a journey into being the children God desires us to be. 

As we begin a new Church Year, Advent calls us to examine ourselves as the willful, knowing, desirous, and, at times, rebellious children we are and awakens us to whose we are.

 

Advent calls us to examine the life of our brother Jesus so that we may know and follow the one who is the desire of nations and the hope of the world.

Come desire of nations, come!  Come to us and abide with us, O Lord, Emmanuel!  Amen. 

 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Until next time, stay faithful,

Norm

CHRIST THE KING - A REFLECTION

 This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on November 22, 2020

A reading from the prophet Ezekiel 

[34:11-16, 20-24]

Thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.  As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

A reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 

[1:15-23]

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord  Jesus Christ according to Matthew 

[25:31-46]

Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

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 Christ our King+

On this Sunday of Christ the King, we find ourselves at the end of another Church Year.  As such, this Sunday serves as one side of a bridge anchored in the old year leading to a new Church Year.  Endings lead to beginnings.   In the Church Year, endings and beginnings look much the same. The new year picks up where the old year left off.  The scripture readings for both the ending and the beginning of a church year are aimed at awakening us to God’s presence in our lives.

Today’s lesson from the Gospel of Matthew is Jesus’ answer to a question his disciples asked as they were touring around the Temple in Jerusalem, commenting on its splendor.  As they were doing so, Jesus points out that there would come a time when not one stone would be left standing on another, to which his disciples ask, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” [Matthew 24:3].   At the end of Matthew 25, Jesus answers their question in what can be described as the Great Reveal in which Jesus, as the Son of Man, comes to judge the earth at the end of the age.  

One of interesting features of Jesus talking about the end times is that he brings his audience back to the present; to what we are doing in our day to day lives.  What is important to keep in mind when reading this selection from Matthew is that Jesus is saying these things in the Temple precincts, a place where people with differing theological and political perspectives came together to worship God and fulfill their religious obligations.

Both goats and sheep are part of the Temple’s worshiping community.  What differentiates them at the end of the day, the day of judgement, is what they did in their day to day lives. What Jesus doesn’t make any mention of is how many times they showed up to worship; if they did it right, if they belonged to the right theological/political party (Pharisee, Sadducee, Zealot, or Herodian) or if they threw the right amount of money in the Temple’s coffers.    

What Jesus points to is how the individuals of that worshiping community treated people in their communities; especially, those living on the margins. Jesus associates himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and those in prison. He also associates with those who fed the hungry and thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, and visited the sick and imprisoned.  Jesus makes it clear that giving care to the marginalized is giving and showing care for him. Jesus is also with those who don’t care.  Jesus is with all; both sheep and goats. Jesus truly is Emmanuel, God with us. 

Perhaps nothing underscores this concept of God going where we take God more than reading the prophets.  The prophet Ezekiel is one of the strangest individuals in scripture. He is the  prophet who literally acts out his prophecies.  Ezekiel and Jesus have shared common features.  Both were identified as “son of man” in scripture.  In my opinion, it is Ezekiel’s use of this term that Jesus adopts and applies to himself.  Both Ezekiel and Jesus acted out their messages; Ezekiel as a prophet and Jesus as the one chosen to live into being the son God proclaimed him to be; demonstrating how we too are to live into being the children God created us to be.

In today’s reading from Ezekiel, we see God taking on the role of a shepherd seeking his sheep, going where they are, and bringing them back into the fold.   Jesus would further this image of God in his parable of the Lost Sheep.  [Luke 15:1-7]

The prophecies and other lessons appointed by our lectionary during this time of year often depict God as an angry, judgmental, and vengeful god. What doesn’t get much press in these prophesies is God’s hopefulness, God’s faithfulness, and God’s love which are present but frequently couched in terms of restoration and redemption.  

Portraying God as being angry, wrathful, and judgmental is a matter of using language we’re familiar with to demonstrate that God is not remote or removed from what we do; that God cares deeply with how we treat each other, and that God does not nor will not ignore the human fray of anger, wrath, and injustice that we inflict on ourselves from time to time.  Our unrelenting anger towards perceived and real enemies will kindle (for a lack of better language) God’s anger.  Our tendency towards vengeance will kindle God’s wrath.  Our injustices will kindle God’s judgment.  

When people ask, “Where is God in all of the bad things that are happening in our world today?”  The answer is God is with us.  When people ask, “Why doesn’t God intervene when we get off course?”  The answer is God does intervene in our affairs by being where we are; not by stopping us from doing what we do, but by shaping us through what we do, “So that, with the eyes of (our) heart(s) enlightened, (we) may know what is the hope to which (God) has called (us),” as Paul wrote in the second lesson this morning.

When Jesus answered the disciples’ question about the signs of the end times by pointing them back to how they were behaving in their day to day lives, Jesus was on this side of life and had not yet come to the crossroad of the cross.  He used the judgmental language of the prophets that he and his disciples were familiar with.  He was speaking from the position of a prophet whose feet was planted on this earth at a given time; as one who had not been tried and crucified.  Jesus had not, at the time, rendered his judgment but he would and he did on the cross as one of us, as one with us, and as one who lived fully into being God’s son.

Although Jesus was judged unrighteous for being righteous, Jesus, out of his endless love for all the sheep and goats gathered around his cross, looked upon all through the loving eyes of our Father who created all and handed down the final judgment: 

FORGIVEN!

Why did Jesus forgive all?  

The well-know hymn puts it this way, “Jesus knows our every weakness” because he lived through them and understands every one of them.  While being tortured to death on the cross and feeling abandoned by our Father and at his weakest point, Jesus experienced the strength to trust the faithfulness in, the hopefulness for, and the love of our Father for all.  It is one of the great paradoxical teachings of Christianity that God works through our weaknesses.  As St. Paul said, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.” [2 Corinthians 12:10] 

At his ending, Jesus was able to see all of us, sheep and goats alike, through the lens of our Father’s love and spent his last breath, forgiving all; a move so powerful that it shattered the gates of hell and the finality of death.  Forgiveness is the victory Christ Jesus attained for us over the powers and principalities of darkness.  Forgiveness was the springboard by which God raised Jesus from the dead and will raise all to new life.  Forgiveness is the victory we celebrate on this Christ the King Sunday. 

As we cross the bridge to a new Christian Year, we will be called to awaken to the new day and the new age that was hoped for; the new day that began with the vulnerability of a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in manger.  If we want to know how much God cares about us and how God works through us, we have only to peer into that manger and be enlightened.   

Amen.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Until next time, stay faithful.

Norm

LET'S BE SOBER - A REFLECTION

 This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on November 15, 2020

Psalm 90:1-12

Domine, refugium

1 Lord, you have been our refuge *

from one generation to another.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,

or the land and the earth were born, *

from age to age you are God.

3 You turn us back to the dust and say, *

"Go back, O child of earth."

4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *

and like a watch in the night.

5 You sweep us away like a dream; *

we fade away suddenly like the grass.

6 In the morning it is green and flourishes; *

in the evening it is dried up and withered.

7 For we consume away in your displeasure; *

we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.

8 Our iniquities you have set before you, *

and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

9 When you are angry, all our days are gone; *

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

10 The span of our life is seventy years,

perhaps in strength even eighty; *

yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow,

for they pass away quickly and we are gone.

11 Who regards the power of your wrath? *

who rightly fears your indignation?

12 So teach us to number our days *

that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

THE LESSON

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

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 God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit+

In this morning’s lesson, Paul give us this advice, “Let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”  

So let’s get serious for a moment. 

This has been a tough year for all of us.  In fact it has been a tough year for the whole world, and for so many reasons.  The reality of Covid-19 has underscored a multitude of crises our world faces.  Beneath the surface of the pandemic is the more serious and viral crisis of selfish indifference to the well-being of others; particularly, here at home.  

At the beginning of this pandemic, there appeared to be a common resolve to fight this virus as expressed in the statement, “We’re all in this together” and yet, over the summer months, we seem to have grown so far apart when it comes to following simple protocols aimed at protecting each other in the face of an even more deadly resurgence of this global pandemic.   

As South Dakotans, we find ourselves tragically vying for the number one spot as having the most positive Covid cases per capita in the United State, if not the world.  By extension we are also the state with the largest number of individuals behaving selfishly by failing to protect the lives of their neighbors and fellow citizens in their refusal to wear a protective mask and practice social distancing.  Sadly many are doing so based on an erroneous claim that doing so is a constitutional and God-given right, which it is not. 

All sin is rooted in selfishness. When we do not protect our own person, we cannot protect others. When we are less than true to ourselves and less than true with ourselves, we cannot be true to others and act truthfully with others. We become liars to ourselves and to others. The devil is called the Father of Lies for a reason. [See John 8:44] The LIE is the oldest and most treacherous of sins.  

At a time where conspiracy theories, half-truths, baseless opinion, and outright falsehoods abound; when, since the beginning of this pandemic hit our shores, we have been told not to worry (be at peace) because the pandemic will be over soon and to go about our business as usual (you are fine and secure),  Paul’s warning, “When they say, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come…” takes on a prescient dimension with an urgent message.  That the day of the Lord is coming “like a thief in the the night” needs to be taken to heart. Because, at some level we are experiencing, at the very least, a day of the Lord. 

God goes where we go. 

Paul reminds us that the faithful, the alert and awake to the day of the Lord’s inevitable arrival, don’t have to worry because they are prepared for its contingencies, just as the ten virgins were waiting for the bridegroom in last week’s Gospel lesson.  Those who are not prepared do not take God seriously and mock God by acting carelessly and irresponsibly. To those, the day of the Lord is what Amos, in last weeks lesson, called a day of darkness.  

Paul’s armor metaphor of putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and using hope as a helmet is about protecting ourselves and others from the onslaught of an enemy as invisible as Covid-19, an enemy that lies beneath the surface of an illusionary reality fomented by sensationalist punditry and delusional fear-mongering.

While we should not demonize each other at times like this, we should recognize that there are demons in this world; demons that come to us in the form of distorted ideologies, conspiracy theories, falsehoods, prophetic deceptions, and lies; all of which can have a viral effect on us that can lead us to promote and spread them. Paul referred to these demons as principalities and powers that turn us against each other.  [See Romans 8:38 and 39]. We must recognize them for what they are and protect ourselves with faith, hope, and love that has been given to us by the Holy Spirit.

Words and actions matter.  If we don’t know who to believe or what is true, we only have to place what we hear and what we see being done next to what Jesus did and taught. People in authority have been entrusted by God to do what is right; to be just, to be merciful, and to walk humbly with God.  The position that gives people authority does not make them right.  It is up to them to use the position they hold to do what is right.  As Jesus said, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.” [Luke 12:48].  Power is not a privilege.  It is a responsibility.  

God is not mocked.  God hears the cries of children orphaned from their parents at our borders.  God hears the cries of the widowed because of those who exercise their selfish “rights” over the wellbeing of others.  God sees the destruction of creation on earth as a result of human greed and the lust for wealth.  Such cries will not go unheard.  

God is patient and God’s good will is being carried out in our time. The day of the Lord is coming.  No power in the universe can stand in the way of God’s steady and loving desire to save, redeem, and restore what God created. How that day impacts us is a matter of where we are at and how prepared and equipped we are when it arrives. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

This has been a tough year. There is likely to be more challenges and sadness in the days ahead, but we are not without hope. Paul reminds us, "For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake (alive) or asleep (have died) we may live with him.” 

Our psalm this morning draws our attention to the fact that this side of life is very short and withers away like grass. We should not treat this transient life as something we can hold on to but rather accept that we cannot. With the psalmist we ask God to help us to learn to number our days on earth and apply our hearts to wisdom; knowing that God, and God only, is our refuge and strength.  So let us use our brief time to build each other up, encourage one another, and set our hearts at ease in the knowledge of God’s love for all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

* * * * * * * * * *

Until next time, stay faithful.

Norm

 

THE DAY OF THE LORD - A REFLECTION

 This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on November 8, 2020

Amos 5:18-24

Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:

Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the day of the Lord?

It is darkness, not light;

as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear;

or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a snake.

Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,

and gloom with no brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your festivals,

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals

I will not look upon.

Take away from me the noise of your songs;

I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

Matthew 25:1-13

Jesus said, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

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 our faithful God+

A couple of months ago in one of these refections the question was asked, “Where are we taking God?”    

That question came from my reading of biblical prophesy.  What becomes particularly apparent in reading the prophets of the Old Testament is that they were prophesying about things that should have been obvious to the religious leaders and the rulers of Israel and Judah at that time.  A prophecy involving judgment was not a case of its being delivered because people and their rulers didn’t know that what they were doing was wrong.  On the contrary, it is precisely because they did, didn’t care, and were willfully turning a blind eye to it. 

What condemns these kingdoms, one after the other, is their lack of faith as exhibited by making a mockery of their the worship of God by turning to other gods for help and their lack of concern for the poor, the widow, and the orphan. Given that they were in a covenantal relationship with God these prophecies of judgement and doom should not have come as a surprise and were often ignored when delivered

Ultimately, God proves to be compassionate in these prophesies. In the meantime (in our time), those in the past and we in the present have experienced and can experience the shadowy side of God’s compassion; in the sense, that God goes where we go and interacts with how we act.  While the prophets spoke of such interactions in terms of retributive justice, the reality is these kingdoms brought such destructive moments on themselves, and God, through the prophets pointed out that a day of reckoning was coming.  In some cases, God was open to averting disaster if people woke up and took to heart what the prophet was telling them.  More often not than not, they didn’t and tried to suppress the message and suffered the consequences.  

Prophets have the unenviable task of pointing out the ignored obvious and speaking truth to power.  People ignore the obvious for one basic reason:  They don’t want to be bothered by it. 

Ignoring the obvious is not a case of mere misjudgment. It is not a case of being unaware of what is taking place.  Ignoring the obvious actually takes some effort in the form of willful ignorance,  justifying wrongdoing, and fomenting lies that make ignoring the obvious appear like the right thing to do.   It was a problem in Amos’ day and it remains a problem today, making his prophecy relevant in every age.

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The prophet Amos lived in the Northern Kingdom of Judah in the eighth century BCE.  In his prophecy, Amos is clear that he did not consider himself to be a prophet.  As far as Amos was concerned, he was a shepherd and a keeper of sycamore fig trees who found himself being sent by God into the Southern Kingdom of Israel to deliver devastating news.  

The prophecy of Amos is not a pleasant read.  The premise for God’s immense displeasure with the Kingdom of Israel and its neighboring kingdoms was their brutal treatment of each other or their faithlessness, as in God’s condemnation of the Kingdom of Judah.  God’s primary focus, however, was on the Kingdom of Israel and its treatment of the poor and its faithless abandonment of what has been referred to in these reflections as the Trinity of Requirements: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.  God could no longer let Israel and its neighbors continue in their wrongdoing.  In the end, each of the kingdoms Amos addresses are vanquished and their people carried off into exile. 

In today’s reading from Amos, God was taking issue with Israel’s insincere worship; that it was a ruse to appease God and validate the rule of corrupt kings.  This is one of several familiar themes found in Old Testament prophesy; God’s displeasure with treating worship as a futile attempt to deflect God’s attention by offering the trappings of religiosity and solemnity for no other purpose than to ease the worshiping community’s mind and divert it from doing what God requires.

The religion of the ancient Kingdom of Israel relinquished its prophetic role to guide its people in the ways of righteousness.  Instead it was used to appease the powerful by fostering a belief that God was on their side and would come to Israel’s aid; believing that on “the day of the Lord” God would fight for their causes because of who they were, Israel, God’s Chosen People.  Amos, however, challenges that belief, saying on God’s behalf, “Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord?  It is darkness, not light.”

The Day of the Lord is a term used in apocalyptic literature throughout scripture. Its use in scripture usually was taken to mean that God would intervene militarily to defend Israel and Judah from their enemies.  In the case of ancient Israel, however, Amos says “the Day of the Lord” would be the day of Israel’s reckoning; a day in which Israel’s enemies would vanquish them because of their faithlessness   

The prophecy of Amos almost ends on that dire note.  In what appears as an addendum to this prophesy, Amos offers a glimmer of hope.  God promises in the last verse of Amos’ prophecy, “I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them.”

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Jesus' parable of the Ten Wise and Foolish Virgins, like the prophecy of Amos, addresses the issue of faithfulness.   In this parable, Jesus differentiates between faithfulness, portrayed as wisdom by being prepared for all contingencies and unfaithfulness, portrayed as being unprepared for any contingency.

The day of the Lord in this parable is set in the context of a wedding in which young maidens await to escort the bridegroom to his wedding feast.   Fr. Robert Capon, who wrote a series on the parables of Jesus, writes that this parable begins with inclusion and ends with exclusion, a feature in many of Jesus’ parables of Judgment.*  Everybody gets an invitation to participate.  Both the wise and foolish maidens are invited and included in the wedding party. What ends up excluding people is their lack of faithfulness as demonstrated by the five foolish maiden’s lack of preparation for the role they were to play. 

In this case, preparedness is differentiated between people who believe they know how things will happen and people who are faithfully prepared for the unexpected.  The wise maidens are guided by the reality that things don’t always happen as planned and faithfully prepare for the “what-if” moments.  The unwise young maidens are taken by surprise and find themselves unprepared, arriving late, and deemed unrecognizable by the bridegroom. 

What ends up getting people in trouble is a faithless, self-assured certitude that ignores the obvious and is not prepared for the unexpected.   As the prophet Amos said, they are like “someone (who) fled from a lion and was met by a bear; or went into (a) house and rested a hand against the wall and was bitten by a snake,” or, in the case five foolish maiden, never thought that a bridegroom would come in the middle of the night to be escorted to his wedding feast.  

In the end, the Day of the Lord comes and so Jesus advises us to “Keep awake… for you know neither the day nor the hour” when it comes.  Keeping awake is a daily exercise that involves seeing and addressing the needs of others; treating others as we would like to be treated, to do what the Lord requires, and to follow Jesus’ example so that “justice rolls down like waters and righteousness becomes an everflowing stream.”   Amen.

Capon, Robert,“The Parables of Judgment,” William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids Michigan,1989

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Until next time, stay faithful.

Norm

THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS - A REFLECTION

This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on November 1, 2020

2 Corinthians 5:14-19 

For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.  From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.  So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before 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.

REFLECTION

“I believe in the Holy Spirit,

   the holy catholic Church,

   the communion of saints,

   the forgiveness of sins,

   the resurrection of the body,

   and the life everlasting.”

On this All Saints’ Day we not only remember those who have gone before, but we ponder the interconnection that exists between those who are past, those who are present, and those who are yet to be as expressed in the term, “the communion of saints.”   The word saint is derived from the Latin word, “Sanctus” - holy - which in Hebrew is קֹדֶשׁ kodesh, meaning set apart or other.  Within Christianity, saint is term that can be broadly applied to all members of Christ’s Body. 

With that being said, it is important to understand that the Body of Christ is not limited to those who are recognized as Christians through baptism, confirmation, and their participation in the Holy Eucharist but to all who, by God’s grace, do what Jesus did and taught.  Jesus said, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” [John 10:16] 

People that come to mind in this category are like the French-born Jew, Simone Weil, a philosopher and mystic who never formally converted to Christianity but deeply loved Jesus and felt great compassion for the poor and persecuted throughout her life.  Another is Mahatma Gandhi, a life-long Hindu, who not only admired the beatitudes of Jesus in today’s Gospel lesson but also put them into practice and liberated a whole nation through the practice of non-violence. 

There are untold others who may not have even heard of Jesus, much less, converted to Christianity but who practiced and are practicing what Jesus taught whether from the perspective of a different religion or as awakened human beings who understand the interconnectedness between one another and all life on this planet.  These too are in the Body of Christ and are among the saints we honor today. Jesus said, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.  But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” [John 10:32-38]

As the well-known hymn says, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea; there’s a kindness in his justice, which is more than liberty.” [TH 1982 #470]  There is, in all major religions, a sense of interconnectedness; a communion of creation in which nothing God has created is lost. In spite of all the evil, wrongdoing, and needless tragedy played out in our world and in our lives, there is a strong undercurrent within our Scriptures that indicates everything culminates in God.  

Consider these words of St. Paul from today’s second lesson, “ In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them.”  Such mercy and loving-kindness seems so unimaginable in today’s polarized world that it borders on what one might consider divine naiveté. 

But God is not naive.  God is purposeful.  In and through Christ Jesus God knows our every weakness and our every failure as individuals, as nations, and as a species. 

There is nothing about us that God doesn’t know and that God doesn’t forgive. This is what Jesus was hinting at in his Parable of Landlord and Hired Workers [Matthew 20:1-16] and in Parable of the Prodigal Son [Luke 15:11-32].

Such a loving desire to reconcile the world and forgive all is so unbelievable that we can recoil at the thought of it because, at a worldly level, it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t seem right, and it doesn’t seem fair.  We are all prone to a retributive payback mentality for wrongs done to us.  We are prone to withhold forgiveness until the offender demonstrates a measure of contrition, asks for it, or begs for it. Even then some, who claim to follow Jesus, may not offer it.  

This is not God’s way.  This is not the way of Jesus.  Our ability, as Christian, to ask for forgiveness is strictly based on being forgiving.  [See Luke 11: 2-4]

Those we honor as saints today are those who in this life followed the way of Jesus and who worked at reconciling the world; those who did justice, loved kindness, and walked humbly with our God.  They are those who embraced the message of the beatitudes and viewed the world through its holy lens.

  

On this day we remember with thankfulness those who have gone before us; those who, by the grace of God, built the foundations upon which we stand and those who shaped our lives and set our feet on the path we are walking.  It is proper to remember and honor them; not as people of the past but rather as alive in Christ. 

The experience which brings this home for me is when I am reading the scriptures writ large in nature; as in, stepping outside for a moment on a still, clear, and frigid moonless winter’s night to look at the stars.  Such frigid darkness is as close as I can get to experiencing the unimaginable vastness of space, to encounter a silence that speaks, and see with my naked eyes stars that are as far away as 2 million light years.   Seeing light in the present that was generated in the far distant past reminds me that nothing in God’s creation is lost.  

Light perpetual shines. 

For Christians, the communion of saints is that timeless bond created by God in Christ Jesus, through whom all things were made. This bond is sealed by the life-giving Holy Spirit who brought life from light and raises all to new life through the outpouring of our Father’s love.  We who are here today and those who will follow us are entrusted to continue the ministry of reconciling the world to God in Christ so that all may come to know the wideness of God’s mercy and experience the kindness of God’s justice that exceeds liberty.  

May God strengthen us in this endeavor.

A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING FOR ALL SAINTS

Most loving God whose mercy is wider than the sea, we offer you our thanks and praise for those known to us and known only to you in every age and place,

who like Saints Stephen, Peter, and Paul willingly laid down their lives for the

            Gospel and did not forfeit their faith, their hope, and their love of you;

who like Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Julian of Norwich humbly    

            opened themselves to your will and revealed hearts aglow with your love;

who like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Oscar Romero devoted 

            their lives to the nonviolent pursuit of justice and peace; 

who like St. Francis, St. Theresa of Calcutta, and Desmond Tutu committed their 

            lives to reconciling the world to through their offerings of mercy and forgiveness to all.

On this day, we remember all those of sainted memory whose lives have impacted ours and who we name in hearts (please offer the names of those you carry in you heart). 

Gracious God, who in Christ Jesus has created a timeless bond in the communion of saints, instill in us the strength and will to walk in the paths they forged for the sake and in the name of Jesus.  Amen

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Until next time, stay faithful.

Norm