A walk on the wild side

Scripture: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-10; 1 Peter 3:18-22; and Mark 1:9-15.

Last week, the Rev. Geoffrey Hoare told us to sharpen our focus if we are to be transformed - that the glory of God is not realized by staying on the mountain, or taking refuge in past security, but, instead, means leaving the past behind and following Jesus down off the mountain and into the wilderness - the first stop on the way to the cross and the kingdom of God. What awaits us in the wilderness?

This week, in "Enemies," Hoare challenges us to confront that, within and without us, which keeps us from becoming who we are called to be - beloved children of God - to confront the enemies which compromise our freedom and impair or impede us from being in a right relationship with God and our neighbor. How does being in the wilderness help us to do that?

The Rev. Dr. Lou Bouman in "Back to the Wilderness," tells us "To walk in that wilderness, to be alone with my thoughts and with God is one of the things that feeds my soul. But it is not safe. It is never safe. For each encounter with myself and with God changes me forever. Just as it changed Moses when he encountered God in the burning bush, so each encounter changes us. For in the wilderness I cannot escape from who I am, nor can I escape from the one who calls me to be so much more than just who I am. In the wilderness I am laid bare and open to all the things that God calls me to be." In the wilderness when everything else is taken away, we learn the value of things. What is most valuable to us? What is the value of testing? What can we learn in the wilderness?

Transformation - culmination of Epiphany

Scripture: 2 KIngs 2: 1-12; Psalm 50: 1-6: 2 Corinthians 4: 3-6; Mark 9: 2-9

               This last Sunday of Epiphany is also Transfiguratrion Sunday. In the transfiguration we again see the extraordinary come out of the ordinary, this time in the form of a glorious mountaintop experience. Can you think of any “mountaintop experiences” you have had? What does it mean to be “transfigured,” or “transformed?”  Can you think of any thing, person, or experience which transformed you, or altered your thinking or life in some important way?

            The Rev. Jeffrey Hoare in “Epiphanies,” shows us how we can be transformed by sharpening our focus in considering how and why we are doing things:

 “Years ago I was whining to a wise monk, a man now in his 90s, about how dull and fruitless and boring my prayer and my worship seemed to be. He pointed out to me that I was looking for the effects of my prayer and worship in the actions themselves. I was looking for some kind of experience of God, some kind of manifestation of God, some powerful sense of God's presence. I was trying to conjure one by my devotion or engender an epiphany by the fervency with which I sang or sense of wonder that I was able to find as I approached communion. He told me I was missing the point. I should rather be looking for the effects of my prayer in my life, he said, and not in the prayer itself.”

            Hoare shows how worship focusing on stirring up the emotions without discernment can result in “our” will, not God’s will and purposes being served. It can lead to an “us” and “them” mentality. What does he mean by “Nuremburg worship?” How are we to worship God?

            On the other hand, Kate Huey, in her “Reflections,” tells us worship can unintentionally dull us to awareness of God’s presence. She tells us we should be reassured in that Peter, James and John didn’t “get it” even when they experienced the Transfiguration. How did they not get it? What is she referring to by the “thin places” of Celtic spirituality? What do we mean when we say, use or think about “glory?” How is real “glory” obtained?

            Huey asks us to reflect on this year’s Epiphany season with a question or two:

“This text, which manifests Jesus' identity so dramatically, brings the season of Epiphany to a fitting close before we begin the journey of Lent. During this Epiphany season, how have you come to deeper understanding of who Jesus is, and then, a deeper understanding of who you are, as a person of faith? What are moments of insight, when you both saw God's glory and heard God still speaking to you, calling you to the path of discipleship? What are glimpses you have had of a light too bright for any of us to see, that drew a response from you, a desire to do something, as Peter had, to mark this event? Is that something our churches do, like Peter--mark the event, look backward, instead of forward, see only partial truths instead of the big picture? Is it possible that our "work," even in the church, may distract us from more important things? Do we walk right by the brightest lights and sweetest sounds and miss the most important moments of our journey in faith, those thin places, because we were paying attention to something else? God spoke to Jesus directly at his baptism and to the disciples at the Transfiguration, proclaiming him the Son of God: when have we been like the Roman centurion who saw Jesus on the cross and exclaimed, "Surely this man was the Son of God"? What do we need to see, and what do we need to hear, in order to understand, and to follow?”

"If you choose, you can make me clean..."

Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Mark 1:40-45

"If you choose, you can make me clean..." the leper said to Jesus, who was making his way to proclaim the good news of the nearness of the kingdom of God. Emily M. Brown, in her "Jesus Interrupted," offers insight, from the original Greek, of how Jesus must have felt, as well as what he did. She points out that some ancient manuscripts use the verb derived from οργιζω - to anger - that Jesus was angry at the request of the leper to heal him. Other manuscripts use the word  σπλαγχνιζομαι - to be moved with compassion. Why would Jesus have been angry? The particular Greek word for having compassion is of one being moved in a gut wrenching way, literally from the depths of one's own being so you can feel it in your gut. What is the depth and meaning of Jesus' compassion? He feels and knows the pain - he, and we, vicariously, as the body of Christ, are to feel the pain, be moved by it, and do what?

Our own Fr. Rodge Wood in his "So how do we get paid?" teaches us there is no quid pro quo in doing God's work. And when we have that "aha" moment of Epiphany, and experience God's nearness, accepting his call, we are to proclaim the good news of God's forgiving love, to "lift up," to serve, as Peter's mother-in-law showed us, to bring about healing and reconciliation, and as Father Rodge tells us:

 "The reward for what we do in the name of God is the bringing of the Kingdom of God into the world. That, in reality is not the job of the clergy, but the job of the whole Christian community.  We all are the ones who are to heal and preach without price that God may be made known in all the world.  The way that God is made known is by the work that we all do with those who are without resource, whether it is through illness or poverty.  Those who have lost their homes or their health or food for their table are the ones to whom we are sent,  not to convert them, but to help them.  That is the message that we get from the gospels and from all of scripture.  When we forget that, the whole of the Christian message is lost."

How did Jesus respond to the leper? Why did he do it? Why will we do it?

"What are we to do with this Jesus?"

Scripture: Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-12, 21c; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39

This Epiphany season we have been challenged to discern that "AHA!" experience when the extraordinary manifests itself in the ordinary, as God comes near. We have seen fishermen immediately drop their nets and leave their occupations - life as they knew it -  and follow Jesus, stepping out in faith to discover how to become fishers of people. We have discussed what made them take this drastic step.  What was it about Jesus which draws us to him, to lose ourselves in him, and his mission?

Last week we discussed his authority - εξουσια -  "freeing power," as he cast out demons, unclean spirits, and began his healing ministry. What makes us seek him? What is it we long for?

In his homily, The Rev. James Liggett tells us that the people of Capernaum recognized a good thing when they saw it. You know, have him set up shop in their town, "establish the Jesus of Nazareth Preaching and Healing Mission," give him top billing, a good benefit package, nice pension and time off - you get the picture. But what does Jesus do? Why does he leave? Where does he go? Liggett then turns the tables and asks us "What are we to do with this Jesus?" What does Jesus do to Simon's mother-in-law? What does Simon's mother-in-law do?

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, tells us we are to rise up from Jesus' healing touch, and become his hands in healing, feeding, offering hope where there is no hope, becoming a companion to the lonely, and a comfort to those who suffer loss, lifting them up, as we are lifted up - raised to wholeness in that liberating journey home in her "Join Hands, Reach Out, and Lift up."

Casting Out Demons with Authority

Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

This Epiphany season we are discussing "God come near" in otherwise ordinary elements, people and at times and on occasions unexpected. Our time becomes God's time. Learning to listen, and being open to receive God's call are some of the lessons we have learned.

 

We left off last week discussing what was it that Jesus said or did for Peter, Andrew, James and John, ordinary fishermen, to immediately drop their nets and leave their families to follow Jesus? How and when can we experience what they did when heaven and earth meet?

 

This week we listen in as Jesus speaks before a crowd eager to hear him in a synagogue in Capernaum. They are astounded at the authority with which he spoke and acted.  How does the author of Mark's gospel relate the authority of Jesus? Who is it that recognizes him as "the Holy one of God?" Again we are told the people are amazed. Again we are told of his authority. What is the authority and power of Jesus? How is it manifest to us? What does "Jesus of Nazareth have to do with us?" What do we have to do with Jesus? What is your "aha!" moment?

 

How was the power and authority of Jesus made manifest in John E. Sumwalt and Jo Perry-Sumwalt story "Casting Out Demons?" What are the demons we have to be cast out? Are we immune from being possessed by demons? How are they cast out? What does Kate Huey, in her "Reflection," tell us about the authority of Jesus?

 

 

The Call to Live Extraordinarily - Time Fulfilled

Scripture: (RCL) Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62: 6-14; 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31; Mark 1:14-20

This Epiphany season we have discussed the enlightenment from the unexpected, God at work in common elements - of water, of bread and wine. Seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary, being open and receptive to "heaven come near."

 

The gospel of Mark urges us to listen,. There is something new and exciting happening, and we don't want to miss it. In this week's gospel account, we are presented with the calling of Simon, Andrew and the "sons of thunder," James and John - who will be made fishers of men. What is extraordinary about the call of these ordinary men? How is God working here? How did God work through Jonah in Nineveh? Read Dianne Bergant's "The Fish Story That Tops All!"

 

Bergant and The Rev. Rick Morley, in "Time Fulfilled," capture the urgency of the author of Mark's gospel in their discussion of "time," distinguishing χρονοσ (chronos), ordinary time, such as chronological age, and καιροσ (kairos) - extraordinary time - God's time - God's kingdom come near. We call for this every time we say the Lord's prayer ... "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

 

The Rev. Ben Helmer ties together three themes from this weeks lesson in his Lectio Divina. This week we learn about the epiphany of the "call," of Christ as Jesus tells us "the kingdom of God is at hand," and that we are to answer the call by proclaiming the good news of God's saving love and forgiveness. What is the Benedictine Lectio Divina? What is the call of Christ? How are we to proclaim the good news of God's salvific love?

 

 

Meeting the Extraordinary in the Ordinary - Epiphany 2

Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20); Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51

Last week we had an interesting discussion of "what is an epiphany," and why is The Baptism of the Lord an appointed reading during Epiphany.

 

This week, the second Sunday in Epiphany, or "Ordinary time," we read about three encounters of what Dianne Bergant calls the "extraordinary, " in seemingly ordinary circumstances in her "Did You Call? In God's calling to Samuel, Paul's claim that ordinary people are members of the body of Christ, and our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, to the first and then last response of Nathanael to Philip's invitation to see  the one the law of Moses and the prophets talked about - in John's Gospel, we are invited to simply "Come and see" for ourselves. How will we respond?

 

Will we experience a "Surprise Encounter," like the ones Professor Christine Pohl describes. Will we glimpse "heaven come near" in our ordinary encounters and experiences this year?

 

Where will "Heaven and Earth Meet," in the words of The Rev. Dr. Sharon Taylor? 

 

Not if, but how and when will we see Christ revealed this year? Who does Jesus say will see God?