Today I was honored to preach at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Buffalo's Parkside neighborhood. I spoke about the Millenium Development Goals and how the Gospel compels us to remember those who have less than we do. Afterwards I came home, opened the Sunday paper and saw this column by Anna Quindlen. The column is reprinted below, followed by the text of my sermon. The bottom line? There are a ton of needy people in the world and if we just skipped one latte a week, we could feed an awful lot of people:
Blessed Is the Full Plate
A terrible shortage of food for the poor grips the country. Where is the political will to do the right thing for the hungry?
By Anna Quindlen
NEWSWEEK
Updated: 12:47 PM ET Nov 17, 2007
One of the most majestic dining rooms in New York City is in the Church of the Holy Apostles. After the landmark building was nearly destroyed by fire in 1990, the Episcopal parish made the decision not to replace the pews so that the nave could become a place of various uses. There are traditional Sunday services, of course, and the gay and lesbian synagogue on Friday evenings. And every weekday more than a thousand people eat lunch at round tables beneath 12-foot stained-glass windows and a priceless Dutch pipe organ.
"You can't get more Biblical than feeding the hungry," says the Rev. William Greenlaw, the rector.
Holy Apostles has fed the hungry for 25 years now without missing a single weekday, including the morning after the fire, when the church lay in ruins, still smoldering, and 943 meals were served by candlelight. There's a queue on Ninth Avenue by midmorning; sometimes tourists think there's a wait for some exclusive New York happening until they notice the shabby clothes, piles of shopping bags and unshaven faces that are the small unmistakable markers of poverty.
The poor could be forgiven for feeling somewhat poorer nowadays. The share of the nation's income going to the top 1 percent of its citizens is at its highest level since 1928, just before the big boom went bust. But poverty is not a subject that's been discussed much by the current administration, who were wild to bring freedom to the Iraqis but not bread to the South Bronx. "Hunger is hard for us as a nation to admit," says Clyde Kuemmerle, who oversees the volunteers at Holy Apostles. "That makes it hard to talk about and impossible to run on."
At Holy Apostles the issue is measured in mouthfuls. Pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches. But in this anniversary year the storage shelves are less full, the pipeline less predictable. The worst emergency food shortage in years is plaguing charities from Maine to California, even while the number of those who need help grows. The director of City Harvest in New York, Jilly Stephens, has told her staff they have to find another million pounds of food over the next few months to make up the shortfall. "Half as many pantry bags" is the mantra heard now that the city receives half the amount of emergency food than it once did from the Feds. In Los Angeles 24 million pounds of food in 2002 became 15 million in 2006; in Oregon 13 million pounds dwindled to six. It's a cockamamie new math that denies the reality of hunger amid affluence.
There are many reasons why. An agriculture bill that would have increased aid and the food-stamp allotment has been knocking around Congress, where no one ever goes hungry. Donations from a federal program that buys excess crops from farmers and gives them to food banks has shrunk alarmingly. Even the environment and corporate efficiency have contributed to empty pantries: more farmers are producing corn for ethanol, and more companies have conquered quality control, cutting down on those irregular cans and battered boxes that once went to the needy.
What hasn't shrunk is the size of the human stomach. At lunchtime at Holy Apostles, Ernest is hungry, his hand bandaged because he got in a fight, even though he is sober now and has his own place in the Bronx. Janice is hungry, too, she of the beautiful manners and carefully knotted headscarf, who sleeps on the train on winter nights and walks with a cane since being hit by a car. There are the two veterans, both Marines, with the raddled faces and slightly unfocused eyes of those who sleep outdoors, which means mostly always being half-awake, and that group of Chinese women who don't speak English, and the Muslim couple who sit alone. Mostly it's single men at Holy Apostles. Some are mentally ill, and some are addicts, and to repair their lives would take a lot of help. But at the moment they have an immediate problem with an immediate answer: pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches.
This place is a blessing, and an outrage. "We call these people our guests," says the rector. "They are the children of God." That's real God talk. The political arena has been lousy with the talk-show variety in recent years: worrying about whether children could pray in school instead of whether they'd eaten before they got there, obsessing about the beginning of life instead of the end of poverty, concerned with private behavior instead of public generosity.
There's a miracle in which an enormous crowd comes to hear Jesus and he feeds them all by turning a bit of bread and fish into enough to serve the multitudes. The truth is that America is so rich that political leaders could actually produce some variant of that miracle if they had the will. And, I suppose, if they thought there were votes in it. Enough with the pious sanctimony about gay marriage and abortion. If elected officials want to bring God talk into public life, let it be the bedrock stuff, about charity and mercy and the least of our brethren. Instead of the performance art of the presidential debate, the candidates should come to Holy Apostles and do what good people, people of faith, do there every day—feed the hungry, comfort the weary, soothe the afflicted. And wipe down the tables after each seating. Here's a prayer for every politician: pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches. Amen.
URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/70982
© Newsweek Mag
"Jesus Remember Me"
Preached by Cathy Dempesy at The Church of the Good Shepherd, Buffalo, NY
November 25, 2007 Christ the King Sunday, Last Pentecost
Christ the King Sunday. Christ as the Ruler, Christ as the Sovereign. That is a difficult image for some. Prince of Peace may be a little easier. But the truth is, I think we should embrace this moniker---Christ as King, Christ as Sovereign—because the point in this label is that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ has completely turned the idea of earthly rulers, of powers, of dominions, of principalities on its ear. We as humans are held hostage by the limits of language. When we hear King we have a number of negative images Better that when we hear Christ the King we hear it accompanied by a wink and a nod. For this king, this ruler, is not about power and oppression but is about peace, reconciliation, and love.
Why do we celebrate OneSunday, the day we reflect on the work of the Church toward achieving the millennium Development Goals—the eradication of world poverty by the year 2015, on a day when our readings are full of rulers, and wrath and mocking? Because the church has a fabulous sense of irony. On the one hand it is the result of power and domination that we have a world of haves and have nots. Power and domination has contributed to the millions of AIDS orphans throughout the world. It is the result of power and domination that there are women who remain enslaved in abusive relationships because they have no access to education, who die in childbirth due to no access to basic maternal health care. It is the result of power and domination which leads to the destruction of our environment through global warming and the waste of our earth, entrusted to us at creation.
On the other hand, it is through the life, death and resurrection of this peasant from Nazareth that we are given the route to righting all of these wrongs. All the powers and dominions of the world do not have a chance in the face of The Christ. Because Jesus, the Christ, the incarnate God, God made human doesn’t play the game.
“If you are the King of Jews save yourself. If you are the Messiah then save yourself!”
We, as humans don’t get it, do we? By not saving himself he saved us. And by not saving ourselves, we save others. Think about some of the basic tenets of relationship success. Sometimes you just back off. Sometimes you compromise. Sometimes you let go. Because sometimes being right isn’t as important as your beloved. By not buying the biggest bossiest car around we may feel a little less comfortable or important, but we will help, in the littlest bit, slow global warming. By accepting higher taxes we may have less of the extras, but someone else will get a little more of the necessities.
So the alleged King of the Jews, the First Born of all Creation, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lord and King of Kings, died on the cross. It wasn’t in a blaze of glory, it wasn’t after a battle royal. They came, they arrested him and he went, peacefully and in a seeming state of resignation. The men around Jesus fled, their King had been stripped, their Teacher had been defeated, their Emperor had No Clothes. They fled. They were scared. The power of the earthly realm had swooped down and destroyed, in their minds, the promise of a new rule, a new kingdom, a new power. So they hid, the denied, they ran. A handful of women remained, including his mother. Did they remain because they knew it would be ok? Did they remain because they knew Jesus would reign supreme? Did they stay because they knew that the empire would be defeated? No. They stayed because this man they loved, this son she had birthed, this teacher they revered, was seemingly defeated. He was beaten, he was abandoned, he was lost. And they would not leave. They couldn’t save him from death, but they could stand with him until the end. They remained his companions. They remained his friends. They remained because the right thing to do was to stand with the one they loved, to make sure he knew he was not alone, that he mattered to them and that they would stand with him until the end. He wasn’t their King, he wasn’t (just ) their savior, he wasn’t their messiah, he was their friend, he was their family. And he was in big trouble. And he was very scared. And they would not let him die all alone. So they stood there. They watched a horrible spectacle, they quite possibly wondered where God was in all of this, they quite possibly felt overwhelmed. No doubt they were terrified. No doubt a part of them wanted to turn and run. But they didn’t. They looked at the horror dead on. They looked, they saw, they witnessed. They remembered.
That’s what we are asked to do through the MDG’s. At the Cathedral a lot of people have mentioned that they have compassion fatigue because we talk about the MDG’s a lot. Our answer? We will keep talking about them as long as there is one child who goes to bed hungry tonight. We will keep talking about them as long as families are dying from very preventable diseases. We will keep talking about them as long as the Haves in our World forget ignore or deny the Have Nots. Because if we do not look at the horror of global poverty, environmental destruction and the spread of preventable diseases like HIV and Malaria, dead in the eye then we are no different than the mocking crowds at the cross, shouting, SAVE YOURSELF. But is that who we really are? We may fall into that behavior, when we cross the street to avoid the homeless person, when we don’t recycle, when we buy and buy and buy for ourselves, leaving nothing for the rest of the world. But at our core that is not who we are. God knows that. Jesus knows that. It’s us who forget.
And who, in today’s lessons teaches us to remember? Jeremiah? Paul? Jesus? Nope. The Thief. A thief. A criminal, a nare do well, one of the other two crucified with Jesus that day. The one who simply says, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He saw the crowds, he heard the taunts and he simply asked Jesus for salvation. Jesus, Remember Me When You Come into Your Kingdom. Not this Kingdom, not the Kingdom of oppression and domination, but the Kingdom of salvation, the kingdom of unfathomable joy, peace and light. The Kingdom of all of Creation, unified and reconciled in perfect harmony, as God intended. Jesus Remember Me.
The question of course isn’t will Jesus remember us, but will we remember Jesus?If we remember Jesus we remember that the thrones, dominions rulers and powers of this world mean nothing.
When we remember Jesus, we remember the least among us.
When we remember Jesus we can no longer keep the blinders on.
When we remember Jesus we no longer accept oppression of the other.
When we remember Jesus we no longer tolerate millions of people dying because of preventable diseases.
When we remember Jesus we no longer accept that women die in childbirth.
When we remember Jesus we remember that this creation, this earth, our island home, is a gift to be cherished and nurtured and loved.
When we remember Jesus, we remember that love, God’s love, was poured out on that cross .
When we remember Jesus we, along with Mary and the other women, along with the beloved disciple, along with the thief, are remembered by Jesus when he comes into the kingdom of equality, his kingdom of abundance, his kingdom of love for all, regardless of thrones, dominions and powers. When we remember the least among us. when we remember the downtrodden, the oppressed, the hated and the despised, we remember Jesus. And when we refuse to accept a world of inequality, a world of terror, a world of abuse, we remember Jesus. And when we do that, Jesus remember us.
Jesus remember us when you come into your kingdom while we remember you as we gaze upon the awesome things God has done with Creation. Jesus as you remember us, let us remember you.
Amen.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Bishop Tutu from the BBC News
Tutu chides Church for gay stance
Archbishop Tutu rebuked religious conservatives
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised the Anglican Church and its leadership for its attitudes towards homosexuality.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4, he said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had failed to demonstrate that God is "welcoming".
He also repeated accusations that the Church was "obsessed" with the issue of gay priests.
He said it should rather be focusing on global problems such as Aids.
"Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.
"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.
"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."
Criticising Dr Williams, he said: "Why doesn't he demonstrate a particular attribute of God's which is that God is a welcoming God."
'Extraordinarily homophobic'
Archbishop Tutu referred to the debate about whether Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, could serve as the bishop of New Hampshire.
He said the Anglican Church had seemed "extraordinarily homophobic" in its handling of the issue, and that he had felt "saddened" and "ashamed" of his church at the time.
Asked if he still felt ashamed, he said: "If we are going to not welcome or invite people because of sexual orientation, yes.
"If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God."
Dr Williams has been working to limit divisions between liberal and traditionalist Anglicans that came to the fore following Bishop Robinson's consecration in 2003.
Following his plea for compromise, leaders of the Episcopal Church in the US agreed to halt the consecration of gay priests as bishops, to prevent a split in the Anglican Communion.
In the interview, Archbishop Tutu also rebuked religious conservatives who said homosexuality was a choice.
"It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual.
"You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred.
"It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society."
F
Archbishop Tutu rebuked religious conservatives
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised the Anglican Church and its leadership for its attitudes towards homosexuality.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4, he said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had failed to demonstrate that God is "welcoming".
He also repeated accusations that the Church was "obsessed" with the issue of gay priests.
He said it should rather be focusing on global problems such as Aids.
"Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.
"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.
"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."
Criticising Dr Williams, he said: "Why doesn't he demonstrate a particular attribute of God's which is that God is a welcoming God."
'Extraordinarily homophobic'
Archbishop Tutu referred to the debate about whether Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, could serve as the bishop of New Hampshire.
He said the Anglican Church had seemed "extraordinarily homophobic" in its handling of the issue, and that he had felt "saddened" and "ashamed" of his church at the time.
Asked if he still felt ashamed, he said: "If we are going to not welcome or invite people because of sexual orientation, yes.
"If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God."
Dr Williams has been working to limit divisions between liberal and traditionalist Anglicans that came to the fore following Bishop Robinson's consecration in 2003.
Following his plea for compromise, leaders of the Episcopal Church in the US agreed to halt the consecration of gay priests as bishops, to prevent a split in the Anglican Communion.
In the interview, Archbishop Tutu also rebuked religious conservatives who said homosexuality was a choice.
"It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual.
"You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred.
"It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society."
F
Saturday, November 17, 2007
On Sunday November 11, 2007 I preached the following sermon at the Cathedral. Enjoy--Cathy
I know that my Redeemer lives. It is a beautiful sentence isn’t it? Too bad Job wasn’t actually referring to God. Actually he was referring to a friend, an advocate, someone to represent him to God, for at that moment in time Job was pretty ticked off at God. But for centuries we have heard this line as a loving statement of faith. And I am all for keeping it that way.
I know that my Redeemer lives. I know it, I know it, I know it. Except for those times when I forget. Sometimes we forget.
Job forgot. Paul was worried that the church in Thessalonica would forget. The Sadducess? They forgot. Jesus? He forgot---not for long, just for a moment when he was so scared on the cross.--- But then before the lament was out of his mouth, he remembered. He remembered that His Redeemer lived.
I know that my Redeemer Liveth, that wonderful solo from Handel’s Messiah. Handel knew that his Redeemer lives and he shouted it to the world through his music.
So even though it may not have been the original intent in the book of Job that phrase resonates with us—Job may not have meant it as we meant it, but the statement works, it will warm us when our choirs sing Handel’s Messiah on December 2 right here at the Cathedral. Even the coldest of December nights are warmed when he hear: “My Redeemer Liveth.” Because it is true.
December, it will be here before we know it. Two short weeks ago it was hard to imagine the cold and dark of a Buffalo winter, but now? Now there
has been snow, we have dug out the gloves; the ice scraper is back in the car. The earth is going dormant, the leaves are dying, and the plants are frost bit, but even in the darkest and coldest of nights, we know that spring will come. We just know it.
Everything around us has died, yet we know that spring will come. We know that the earth will live again. The circle of life.
We live each day to its fullest even though we know we will die. We may weep at the grave of family and friends, but we are not hopeless. For we know we will be together at the last day (John 6:40). The relationship we had with the deceased is not over, it is changed. It is this point the Sadducess are having trouble with, so they challenge Jesus with their long tale of marriages and remarriages [as was the Levrite marriage custom] . To whom would the woman be married in the afterlife? The woman,is a child of God, and in the world to come, that’s all that matters. Because, according to Jesus, it is the relationship we know as faith which feeds and fuels all other relationships. As John says in his epistle, God is love. (1 John 4:8) And all other love flows out of that.
Our ability to have relationships-- to be in relationship with each other-- is because of the relationship God has with us.
God the three in one, trinity, is all about relationships, actually the triune God—father son and holy spirit isn’t about relationship. God is relationship.
The creator God made the heavens and the earth and all the interconnections and inter-relatedness of that creation. That vast expanse of interstellar space? We now know that it is vast beyond all our wildest imaginings. It is
exponentially larger than scientists thought. Yet, in all that vastness there is intricate interconnectedness. The effect of a butterfly flapping her wings in Peru can, 3 weeks later, impact the weather patterns in Tibet. This “butterfly effect” is just one of a whole cadre of discoveries science has made regarding the inter-relationship of creation. Can not recycling your newspaper destroy the earth? Single-handedly no, but in conjunction with other seemingly miniscule decisions? Yes. This interconnectedness is relationship. The ultimate form of this interconnectedness is the trinity—for each aspect of the trinity feeds off the other:
This God the Creator and God the Son in relationship is what fuels our faith. That fuel ,that action between God and Son, God and Creation, Son and humanity—that is the Holy Spirit.—
My ability to love you, your ability to love me, our ability to love one another is God Given. It is the relationship which is God, it is Grace. Grace is the stuff of relationships. The love we feel for others is God. God the Father lovingly incarnated as God the son, lovingly at work within us, between us, above us, before us, behind us, below us is God the Holy Spirit.
In today’s Gospel, The Sadducees were trying to trick Jesus and Jesus did what he was very good at—he beat them at their own game. It was easy for Jesus to do for he knew that the Sadducees were focused on this life, the life we know the life which we can taste touch and see. But Jesus is talking about a greater life—the true and eternal life which is not easily
comprehended. The life which requires faith to grasp. The life which is shown to us day in and day out through our loving relationships.
Jesus understood that the relationships we have on earth are precious to us and I don’t think he is saying that we should scrap it all .
The relationship of Three in One—the trinity-- fills our hearts and souls. It is the action of that relationship which gives us the ability to be in relationship with one another.
Jesus isn’t demeaning our loving earthly relationships—not at all—but he is saying that we must always remember that our ability to be in relationship, our ability to love and to nurture is a gift…a gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon us by God, through Jesus Christ.
If we acknowledge the fact, that it is through relationship God is expressed, then so much falls into place:
The irritating co-worker, the annoying driver, the whiny friend, the belligerent 2 yr old, the impatient spouse—all of these people are in relationship with us, and in that relationship God is working. The Sadducees were in relationship with Jesus, just as Job was in relationship with God—and those relationships are a conduit for Grace. All relationships are potential vehicles for God’s Grace. It is up to us, in our human condition to decide whether we will cooperate with God’s grace. When in relationship we can one of two things: we can head toward the life giving light of God or toward the life draining darkness. When we head toward the darkness we deny the flow of God’s grace.
When in darkness we find many false redeemers: power, prestige, drugs, money, and elitism. In Denying God we embrace all the worst aspects of humanity: anger, hatred, abuse, bigotry, the list goes on.
Darkness begets darkness so once in it, finding our way out is hard. We can’t do it alone. We need help. We need a partner. We need another. We need to be in relationship.
The Church, the one in Thessalonica, as well as this one in Buffalo, is all about relationships. A church of one is no church; a church of one is no community. For the church relies on people, people who gather in faith to rejoice in the relationship we know as God. In this world, we need the church. In this world and in this church, we need each other.
Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann has a theory about what we, the modern day church needs to be for the world in the 21st century---what he calls a non-anxious presence. To illustrate his point he reminds us of the role a loving adult plays when a child awakens in the middle of the night
from a nightmare. We go to the child take them in our arms and say, do not be afraid, I am here.
That’s being the light in the child’s darkness: I am here. You are here, together we will be ok, because together we are in relationship and that relationship is God’s grace.
How powerful this can be. What if, when we are blind with rage at another we stopped to think, is this God’s grace?
What if when the government made decisions about the war they stopped and thought that every person they harm, Americans or Iraqis or Afghanis has relationships and that in those relationships is God. Each of these people can be vessels for God’s grace. We must cherish that grace, we must realize that they—all of them---are creatures of God.
They are part of the ever flowing grace and love of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, One God.
What, if when we exchanged the Peace with one another we realized—I mean really realized that we, right then and there in that exchange are doing what God has intended: to connect, to relate, to love.
When we stand together, look at each other and say “The Peace of the Lord Be With You” we are also saying, “Do Not Be Afraid, for I know that my Redeemer, Your Redeemer, Our Redeemer, Lives.”
I know that my Redeemer lives. It is a beautiful sentence isn’t it? Too bad Job wasn’t actually referring to God. Actually he was referring to a friend, an advocate, someone to represent him to God, for at that moment in time Job was pretty ticked off at God. But for centuries we have heard this line as a loving statement of faith. And I am all for keeping it that way.
I know that my Redeemer lives. I know it, I know it, I know it. Except for those times when I forget. Sometimes we forget.
Job forgot. Paul was worried that the church in Thessalonica would forget. The Sadducess? They forgot. Jesus? He forgot---not for long, just for a moment when he was so scared on the cross.--- But then before the lament was out of his mouth, he remembered. He remembered that His Redeemer lived.
I know that my Redeemer Liveth, that wonderful solo from Handel’s Messiah. Handel knew that his Redeemer lives and he shouted it to the world through his music.
So even though it may not have been the original intent in the book of Job that phrase resonates with us—Job may not have meant it as we meant it, but the statement works, it will warm us when our choirs sing Handel’s Messiah on December 2 right here at the Cathedral. Even the coldest of December nights are warmed when he hear: “My Redeemer Liveth.” Because it is true.
December, it will be here before we know it. Two short weeks ago it was hard to imagine the cold and dark of a Buffalo winter, but now? Now there
has been snow, we have dug out the gloves; the ice scraper is back in the car. The earth is going dormant, the leaves are dying, and the plants are frost bit, but even in the darkest and coldest of nights, we know that spring will come. We just know it.
Everything around us has died, yet we know that spring will come. We know that the earth will live again. The circle of life.
We live each day to its fullest even though we know we will die. We may weep at the grave of family and friends, but we are not hopeless. For we know we will be together at the last day (John 6:40). The relationship we had with the deceased is not over, it is changed. It is this point the Sadducess are having trouble with, so they challenge Jesus with their long tale of marriages and remarriages [as was the Levrite marriage custom] . To whom would the woman be married in the afterlife? The woman,is a child of God, and in the world to come, that’s all that matters. Because, according to Jesus, it is the relationship we know as faith which feeds and fuels all other relationships. As John says in his epistle, God is love. (1 John 4:8) And all other love flows out of that.
Our ability to have relationships-- to be in relationship with each other-- is because of the relationship God has with us.
God the three in one, trinity, is all about relationships, actually the triune God—father son and holy spirit isn’t about relationship. God is relationship.
The creator God made the heavens and the earth and all the interconnections and inter-relatedness of that creation. That vast expanse of interstellar space? We now know that it is vast beyond all our wildest imaginings. It is
exponentially larger than scientists thought. Yet, in all that vastness there is intricate interconnectedness. The effect of a butterfly flapping her wings in Peru can, 3 weeks later, impact the weather patterns in Tibet. This “butterfly effect” is just one of a whole cadre of discoveries science has made regarding the inter-relationship of creation. Can not recycling your newspaper destroy the earth? Single-handedly no, but in conjunction with other seemingly miniscule decisions? Yes. This interconnectedness is relationship. The ultimate form of this interconnectedness is the trinity—for each aspect of the trinity feeds off the other:
This God the Creator and God the Son in relationship is what fuels our faith. That fuel ,that action between God and Son, God and Creation, Son and humanity—that is the Holy Spirit.—
My ability to love you, your ability to love me, our ability to love one another is God Given. It is the relationship which is God, it is Grace. Grace is the stuff of relationships. The love we feel for others is God. God the Father lovingly incarnated as God the son, lovingly at work within us, between us, above us, before us, behind us, below us is God the Holy Spirit.
In today’s Gospel, The Sadducees were trying to trick Jesus and Jesus did what he was very good at—he beat them at their own game. It was easy for Jesus to do for he knew that the Sadducees were focused on this life, the life we know the life which we can taste touch and see. But Jesus is talking about a greater life—the true and eternal life which is not easily
comprehended. The life which requires faith to grasp. The life which is shown to us day in and day out through our loving relationships.
Jesus understood that the relationships we have on earth are precious to us and I don’t think he is saying that we should scrap it all .
The relationship of Three in One—the trinity-- fills our hearts and souls. It is the action of that relationship which gives us the ability to be in relationship with one another.
Jesus isn’t demeaning our loving earthly relationships—not at all—but he is saying that we must always remember that our ability to be in relationship, our ability to love and to nurture is a gift…a gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon us by God, through Jesus Christ.
If we acknowledge the fact, that it is through relationship God is expressed, then so much falls into place:
The irritating co-worker, the annoying driver, the whiny friend, the belligerent 2 yr old, the impatient spouse—all of these people are in relationship with us, and in that relationship God is working. The Sadducees were in relationship with Jesus, just as Job was in relationship with God—and those relationships are a conduit for Grace. All relationships are potential vehicles for God’s Grace. It is up to us, in our human condition to decide whether we will cooperate with God’s grace. When in relationship we can one of two things: we can head toward the life giving light of God or toward the life draining darkness. When we head toward the darkness we deny the flow of God’s grace.
When in darkness we find many false redeemers: power, prestige, drugs, money, and elitism. In Denying God we embrace all the worst aspects of humanity: anger, hatred, abuse, bigotry, the list goes on.
Darkness begets darkness so once in it, finding our way out is hard. We can’t do it alone. We need help. We need a partner. We need another. We need to be in relationship.
The Church, the one in Thessalonica, as well as this one in Buffalo, is all about relationships. A church of one is no church; a church of one is no community. For the church relies on people, people who gather in faith to rejoice in the relationship we know as God. In this world, we need the church. In this world and in this church, we need each other.
Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann has a theory about what we, the modern day church needs to be for the world in the 21st century---what he calls a non-anxious presence. To illustrate his point he reminds us of the role a loving adult plays when a child awakens in the middle of the night
from a nightmare. We go to the child take them in our arms and say, do not be afraid, I am here.
That’s being the light in the child’s darkness: I am here. You are here, together we will be ok, because together we are in relationship and that relationship is God’s grace.
How powerful this can be. What if, when we are blind with rage at another we stopped to think, is this God’s grace?
What if when the government made decisions about the war they stopped and thought that every person they harm, Americans or Iraqis or Afghanis has relationships and that in those relationships is God. Each of these people can be vessels for God’s grace. We must cherish that grace, we must realize that they—all of them---are creatures of God.
They are part of the ever flowing grace and love of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, One God.
What, if when we exchanged the Peace with one another we realized—I mean really realized that we, right then and there in that exchange are doing what God has intended: to connect, to relate, to love.
When we stand together, look at each other and say “The Peace of the Lord Be With You” we are also saying, “Do Not Be Afraid, for I know that my Redeemer, Your Redeemer, Our Redeemer, Lives.”
Thursday, November 15, 2007
J2A THIS SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18
We will meet at our regular time, 4:30-6:30. Don't forget to bring something to drink. Also we need a volunteer to bring dessert---any takers?
This week in the group with Cathy, we will discuss confirmation and go over a list of stuff we need to accomplish before confirmation on May 1. We will also set up a rehearsal time for those acolyting at the ordination. See you Sunday!
This week in the group with Cathy, we will discuss confirmation and go over a list of stuff we need to accomplish before confirmation on May 1. We will also set up a rehearsal time for those acolyting at the ordination. See you Sunday!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Ordination!!!!
Yes, it is true, on December 1, 2007 I will be ordained a transitional deacon. 6 months or so later, I should (God and the People Willing) be ordained a priest. For so long now I have been consciously trying to NOT get excited, as there were hurdles to overcome, committees to meet with etc. But now the invitations are out, the plans are being finalized and it is official: I am VERY excited.
Not being excited reminded me of trying to act very cool when I was younger---you know pretending that nothing was a big deal, taking everything in stride. Well no longer. I am older and I have decided that I can be excited. Now I won't get too excited because that can get annoying really fast, but I will be excited...I am excited. Be excited with me, OK? Several of the youth from St. Paul's have already agreed to help with the service on way or another....I want as many kids and youth there as possible...so mark your calendars for December 1 at 10:30 in the morning, at the Cathedral. Join me, it should be VERY fun!!!!!!!
Not being excited reminded me of trying to act very cool when I was younger---you know pretending that nothing was a big deal, taking everything in stride. Well no longer. I am older and I have decided that I can be excited. Now I won't get too excited because that can get annoying really fast, but I will be excited...I am excited. Be excited with me, OK? Several of the youth from St. Paul's have already agreed to help with the service on way or another....I want as many kids and youth there as possible...so mark your calendars for December 1 at 10:30 in the morning, at the Cathedral. Join me, it should be VERY fun!!!!!!!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Relationships
I am working on the sermon for this Sunday and it is turning out to be about relationships. Especially about the primary relationship--The Relationship--of our life: the Trinity. Now before you stop reading, give me a moment of your time, especially if you are preparing to be confirmed. The Trinity, as we express so regularly, is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But how does this work? How can God be One yet be three? The basic answer is: well it is one of the mysteries of faith. But that is wholly unsatisfactory to inquiring minds. So, you inquiring minded folks, try this on for size:
God so loved the world, that God needed to be with us in flesh and blood, because God knew that we needed to see, hear and touch God in the flesh to really understand. That taking on flesh, that God made in human form, is Jesus. It took Jesus to explain to us that even when he was no longer walking upon the earth he would still be with us, because God is always with us. Being human beings though, we need more assurance than that. We need some proof! So, as Jesus explains in the Gospel of John: In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. John 14:19-20.
What is Jesus talking about here? What does he mean?The Holy Spirit--the Holy Spirit is in me, it is in you, it runs between us, it is relationship. When you and your best friend have an excellent time together, that's the Holy Spirit. When you and your Dad or Mom really connect, that is the Holy Spirit. When we laugh and laugh and laugh together that is the Holy Spirit. The good stuff in life is almost always stuff which happens between two people, or in a group of people, a family, a bunch of friends. The really good stuff in life is experienced in relationship. And relationship---connecting---is God---God as Creator (Father); God as Son (Jesus), God as Holy Spirit (grace). On Sunday when we were working at Friends of the Night People and we were laughing and saying hi to all of the guests and helping them get a hot meal God was there--with every "Hi, how are you?" and every, "Thank you" and "you're welcome" and every smile we were exchanging grace, we were instruments of God's love, we were, through our connecting with one another, expressions of the Holy Trinity, expressions of God as Creator, God as Son and God as Holy Spirit. God is huge, so God needs a variety of ways to get our attention.
See you Sunday!
PS check out www.npr.org and look up StoryCorps on the Morning Edition tab. StoryCorps is all about relationships!
God so loved the world, that God needed to be with us in flesh and blood, because God knew that we needed to see, hear and touch God in the flesh to really understand. That taking on flesh, that God made in human form, is Jesus. It took Jesus to explain to us that even when he was no longer walking upon the earth he would still be with us, because God is always with us. Being human beings though, we need more assurance than that. We need some proof! So, as Jesus explains in the Gospel of John: In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. John 14:19-20.
What is Jesus talking about here? What does he mean?The Holy Spirit--the Holy Spirit is in me, it is in you, it runs between us, it is relationship. When you and your best friend have an excellent time together, that's the Holy Spirit. When you and your Dad or Mom really connect, that is the Holy Spirit. When we laugh and laugh and laugh together that is the Holy Spirit. The good stuff in life is almost always stuff which happens between two people, or in a group of people, a family, a bunch of friends. The really good stuff in life is experienced in relationship. And relationship---connecting---is God---God as Creator (Father); God as Son (Jesus), God as Holy Spirit (grace). On Sunday when we were working at Friends of the Night People and we were laughing and saying hi to all of the guests and helping them get a hot meal God was there--with every "Hi, how are you?" and every, "Thank you" and "you're welcome" and every smile we were exchanging grace, we were instruments of God's love, we were, through our connecting with one another, expressions of the Holy Trinity, expressions of God as Creator, God as Son and God as Holy Spirit. God is huge, so God needs a variety of ways to get our attention.
See you Sunday!
PS check out www.npr.org and look up StoryCorps on the Morning Edition tab. StoryCorps is all about relationships!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Casualties of War--Children
I just saw this in this morning's paper. 2 children killed by US or US supported troops. I am sure hundreds if not thousands of children have been killed in Iraq, but we sure don't hear about it. Children are a gift. To kill a child is the worst type of horror. Pray for the children of our world, those in the path of war, those in the grips of disease, those who will wake up today hungry, scared or lonely.
2 children die in US raid in Afghanistan By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - A nighttime raid in eastern Afghanistan by U.S. and Afghan troops sparked a gunbattle that killed three people, including two children, and the military said Thursday it is investigating the deaths.
Civilian casualties have incited resentment and demonstrations against U.S. and NATO forces, though officials blame militants who use civilian homes as cover during clashes. President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with Western forces to do all they can to prevent such deaths.
The latest civilian casualties came as U.S. and Afghan troops were raiding a compound suspected of harboring militants belonging to a suicide bombing network. They were fired upon as they approached late Wednesday in Bati Kot district in Nangarhar province, said Maj. Chris Belcher, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition.
After the clash, a militant and two children were found dead inside the compound, Belcher said. A woman and another child were wounded, he said.
"It is regrettable that the civilian lives were put in danger by the militants and our sincere condolences goes to the families of the deceased and wounded," said Belcher, noting the military has launched an investigation.
A policeman also was wounded during the raid, said Ghafoor Khan, a spokesman for provincial police chief. Three other men from the house were detained by U.S. troops, Khan said.
2 children die in US raid in Afghanistan By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - A nighttime raid in eastern Afghanistan by U.S. and Afghan troops sparked a gunbattle that killed three people, including two children, and the military said Thursday it is investigating the deaths.
Civilian casualties have incited resentment and demonstrations against U.S. and NATO forces, though officials blame militants who use civilian homes as cover during clashes. President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with Western forces to do all they can to prevent such deaths.
The latest civilian casualties came as U.S. and Afghan troops were raiding a compound suspected of harboring militants belonging to a suicide bombing network. They were fired upon as they approached late Wednesday in Bati Kot district in Nangarhar province, said Maj. Chris Belcher, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition.
After the clash, a militant and two children were found dead inside the compound, Belcher said. A woman and another child were wounded, he said.
"It is regrettable that the civilian lives were put in danger by the militants and our sincere condolences goes to the families of the deceased and wounded," said Belcher, noting the military has launched an investigation.
A policeman also was wounded during the raid, said Ghafoor Khan, a spokesman for provincial police chief. Three other men from the house were detained by U.S. troops, Khan said.
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