In our gospel reading [Mk. 9:38 et seq.], au unknown person acting in Jesus' name is "casting out demons."(In modern language, he was relieving mental and emotional suffering). The disciples have their knickers in a twist because the man is not one of them, not a certified member of the apostolic college. Jesus attacks their criticism, saying "whoever isn't against us is for us." We don't know the historicity of this episode; when Matthew picks up a decade later he changes it; he has Jesus say just the opposite, "whoever isn't for me is against me." No matter, we don't look to Scripture as historical but as theological material and we focus on the message.
I find some really solid messages here. First, we are not presume that we know what God is doing, nor why nor with whom. That is not our province. Second, we must not be elitist or exclusive. We must avoid us v. them scenarios. Not to say that we should not stand by our convictions, but we can do some without judgmentalism towards others. As Christians we aren't called to be right. We are called to be faithful. I recently received an invitation to a clergy-appreciation event at a retirement community where I offer regular services and minister to several people. I was shocked to learn that some residents asked the management not to invite me (or the Roman priest who also serves) as they don't consider us Christians. They need to read this passage and some history books.
Another message that the passage conveys to me is the value of ecumenism. First, Christian ecumenism which allows us to learn from persons of various traditions and to be more tolerant. I serve in an ecumenical body with a gentleman who was a lifetime pastor in an exclusivist type of tradition, and I was delighted when he announced recently that he has left denomination for a more open and progressive one. Second, broader ecumenism can also be wonderful. The teaching which we called the Golden Rule is the philosophical basis for all the worlds great religions. I have come to know, respect, and learn from, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and other faith traditions.
In our Hebrew pericope [Esther 7, portions] we engage a wonderful book which was written in the fifth century B.C.E., and the text was enlarged and finalized in the second. There are only three books of the Bible starring women, the other two being Ruth and Judith. In Esther, persons following the traditional religion and values of the Persian Empire have decided that Jews are guilty of being different and need to be annihilated. Showing amazing chutzpah, Esther, learning of a planned pogrom, enters the King's court, reveals the plot and saves herself and her people. The book teaches several good points. First, people of faith, faced with an Empire and its culture hostile to their values (as we are today) need not withdraw, but become involved in the culture and try to better it. Second, people of faith can and should honour what is good in the prevailing culture. And, finally, people of faith should cooperate with the system when they can do so with violating the principles of their tradition. There is good stuff here about being responsible, yet faithful, in a hostile environment.
Let me close with Edwin Markham's poem "Outwitted"
He drew a circle that shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win.
We drew a circle that took him in.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Monday, September 24, 2018
Saint Matthew, Patron
In the Fifties, the flagship parish of Tulsa, Trinity, in a paroxysm of evangelical fervour, founded four mission churches in its environs: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John. Located on the four points of the compass, all these are still extant, though St. Mark and another congregation were later merged to become St. Aidan's.
In the three great traditions of Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church -- Roman, Orthodox, and Anglican -- it is customary to place each new congregation under the protection of a Saint for whom it is named. Thus, Saint Matthew, tax agent of the first century, is our Patron. He is an interesting character. As a Jew who collected taxes for the occupying enemy, the Roman Empire, he was despised by co-religionists, who shunned the traitorous tax collector, and were aware that most were con-artists who charged for their fee whatever the market would bear. A pious Jew would not even marry into a family that contained a single tax collector. Jesus rejected that kind of harsh judgmentalism; indeed one of his most powerful stories is about a proud Pharisee whose judgmental prayer was rejected even as God honoured the prayer of the very tax agent he criticised, when the tax man prayed, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Jesus liked to turn things upside down.
We see that in today's pericope [Mt. 9: 9-13] depicting the call of Matthew. He is in his tax booth where goods going out of Palestine were charged a toll (a rate set by Rome but then augmented by any amount the tax agent could get away with adding on). Jesus says "Follow me," Matthew does immediately follow. Then later the new recruit throws a dinner party for Jesus at which Pharisees bitch and moan because Jesus and his disciples are eating and drinking with people like Matthew and other outcasts.
After the Resurrection, Matthew was an effective evangelist in Judaea, then travelled east and was martyred. That is why our liturgical colour today is red. The gospel later named in his honour is truly Jewish-Christian and its Jewish provenance is seen in the emphasis of deeds over words, and especially a person's religious obligations to neighbours, family, even enemies. And the capstone of the Matthaean gospel is the Sermon on the Mount, which contains many things to do, not one doctrine or dogma to profess.
Matthew's life teaches us the importance of discernment and then bold action in response, (Be sure you are right, then go ahead, as Abraham Lincoln said). When Matthew read who Jesus was, he was all in, forever. His life also teaches us the importance of perseverance; his ministry was rich and full, continuing to the end of his life.
Saint Matthew, teach us to read the signs of the times, to respond to God's call on our lives, and to live out that response forever. And, to aid us in fulfilling our mission, Saint Matthew, pray for us.
In the three great traditions of Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church -- Roman, Orthodox, and Anglican -- it is customary to place each new congregation under the protection of a Saint for whom it is named. Thus, Saint Matthew, tax agent of the first century, is our Patron. He is an interesting character. As a Jew who collected taxes for the occupying enemy, the Roman Empire, he was despised by co-religionists, who shunned the traitorous tax collector, and were aware that most were con-artists who charged for their fee whatever the market would bear. A pious Jew would not even marry into a family that contained a single tax collector. Jesus rejected that kind of harsh judgmentalism; indeed one of his most powerful stories is about a proud Pharisee whose judgmental prayer was rejected even as God honoured the prayer of the very tax agent he criticised, when the tax man prayed, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Jesus liked to turn things upside down.
We see that in today's pericope [Mt. 9: 9-13] depicting the call of Matthew. He is in his tax booth where goods going out of Palestine were charged a toll (a rate set by Rome but then augmented by any amount the tax agent could get away with adding on). Jesus says "Follow me," Matthew does immediately follow. Then later the new recruit throws a dinner party for Jesus at which Pharisees bitch and moan because Jesus and his disciples are eating and drinking with people like Matthew and other outcasts.
After the Resurrection, Matthew was an effective evangelist in Judaea, then travelled east and was martyred. That is why our liturgical colour today is red. The gospel later named in his honour is truly Jewish-Christian and its Jewish provenance is seen in the emphasis of deeds over words, and especially a person's religious obligations to neighbours, family, even enemies. And the capstone of the Matthaean gospel is the Sermon on the Mount, which contains many things to do, not one doctrine or dogma to profess.
Matthew's life teaches us the importance of discernment and then bold action in response, (Be sure you are right, then go ahead, as Abraham Lincoln said). When Matthew read who Jesus was, he was all in, forever. His life also teaches us the importance of perseverance; his ministry was rich and full, continuing to the end of his life.
Saint Matthew, teach us to read the signs of the times, to respond to God's call on our lives, and to live out that response forever. And, to aid us in fulfilling our mission, Saint Matthew, pray for us.
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Pentecost XVII: New-fangled Messiah
Mark is the earliest canonical gospel and it does not have a flattering portrait of Jesus' disciples. They are an ignorant and hard-hearted lot. In Chapter 4, they debate who Jesus might be. They are clueless. In Chapter 6, they mistake him for a ghost. They're hopeless. But for us who are readers, reality sets in from the very first sentence of the gospel: Jesus is "the Messiah, the Son of God."
In today's pericope [Mk. 8: 27-38] Jesus calls the question and Peter actually gets the answer correct, "You are the Messiah." So far, so good. But then Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone. (In the Markan gospel, his true identity is to be kept secret until the resurrection). More importantly, Jesus now pivots to explain that he is re-defining messiahship! He will not be the expected and glorious military leader who heads up a violent revolution against the Roman Empire, re-establishes Jewish statehood, and brings in God's earthly kingdom by magic. On the contrary, this new-fangled Messiah will suffer.
Suffer? That is a shocking notion, that the one we awaited should be a suffering servant instead. And suffer he shall. Let me make a theological statement about that. He will not suffer because suffering builds character and endurance (suffering often just makes people weaker, and bitter). He will not suffer because his angry, unforgiving Father demands to be appeased through bloody sacrifice. No, Jesus is going to suffer because it is the natural consequence of a life lived fully in conformance to God's will. He will reject bad social and religious norms, opposed imperial power and the values of the Empire. He will lift up the marginalized, the unclean, the forgotten, teaching that God equally loves all his children and never gives up on any of us.. That kind of social action can get a person killed -- and it will.
The question for us is not "do we profess?' but "do we practice?" Do we live Jesus' life and take those same risks that Jesus took for the sake of God's inbreaking Reign?
In answering the interrogative "Who do people say I am?," many folks today acknowledge Jesus a prophet, a religious leader. Many others, like the disciples, mistake him for a ghost with unlimited knowledge and powers, not a fully-human being magnificently radiating the love of God. But Jesus wants to be our leader and master, not our favorite philosopher, nor a godlet disguised as a human. Jesus wants to be our Lord and Savior, not our mascot. That requires surrender to the faithful and dangerous God-life which is our mission and is the only life worth living anyway.
In today's pericope [Mk. 8: 27-38] Jesus calls the question and Peter actually gets the answer correct, "You are the Messiah." So far, so good. But then Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone. (In the Markan gospel, his true identity is to be kept secret until the resurrection). More importantly, Jesus now pivots to explain that he is re-defining messiahship! He will not be the expected and glorious military leader who heads up a violent revolution against the Roman Empire, re-establishes Jewish statehood, and brings in God's earthly kingdom by magic. On the contrary, this new-fangled Messiah will suffer.
Suffer? That is a shocking notion, that the one we awaited should be a suffering servant instead. And suffer he shall. Let me make a theological statement about that. He will not suffer because suffering builds character and endurance (suffering often just makes people weaker, and bitter). He will not suffer because his angry, unforgiving Father demands to be appeased through bloody sacrifice. No, Jesus is going to suffer because it is the natural consequence of a life lived fully in conformance to God's will. He will reject bad social and religious norms, opposed imperial power and the values of the Empire. He will lift up the marginalized, the unclean, the forgotten, teaching that God equally loves all his children and never gives up on any of us.. That kind of social action can get a person killed -- and it will.
The question for us is not "do we profess?' but "do we practice?" Do we live Jesus' life and take those same risks that Jesus took for the sake of God's inbreaking Reign?
In answering the interrogative "Who do people say I am?," many folks today acknowledge Jesus a prophet, a religious leader. Many others, like the disciples, mistake him for a ghost with unlimited knowledge and powers, not a fully-human being magnificently radiating the love of God. But Jesus wants to be our leader and master, not our favorite philosopher, nor a godlet disguised as a human. Jesus wants to be our Lord and Savior, not our mascot. That requires surrender to the faithful and dangerous God-life which is our mission and is the only life worth living anyway.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
St. Paul Jones, Bishop
Born in Pennsylvania, Paul Jones was graduated from Yale University and then took his theological decree at Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His first posting was to a congregation in Logan, Utah. That must have been a bit of a cultural shock. In the event, Father Jones was named Archdeacon of the Missionary District [proto-diocese] of Utah. He excelled at the growing of congregations and diocesan institutions and, in 1914, was elected Bishop of Utah. He was strongly opposed to the First World War, which was born out of entangled alliances and had no moral purpose, and that opposition soon led to trouble.
In 1917, Bishop Jones attended a meeting of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Los Angeles and, in a speech, made the statement that "war is un-Christian." He was immediately attacked in the press, especially with banner headlines in Utah. In the ensuing furor, the House of Bishops appointed a committee to investigate the situation. The committee conducted a trial, found fault with Jones's statement and called on him to resign, explicitly rejecting his contention that he had a right to object to the war on grounds of faith and conscience. In the spring of 1918, Bishop Jones resigned. From then on, he continued to lead a strong peace movement. Under his leadership, the Fellowship of Reconciliation became international and accomplished much. In 1940, he was the Socialist Party candidate for governor of Ohio. Bishop Jones died on 4 September, 1941.
The churchly crisis Bishop Jones faced is a reminder of how, even today, there are Christians and religious leaders who refuse to allow their religion to interfere with their politics! Leaders for whom values instilled by Jesus Christ are to be openly rejected, especially his clear teachings on peace and non-violence. When Christianity becomes inconvenient, just redefine it to conform to the world's agendas! It is a sad fact of life that Christianity does not convert cultures; cultures find ways to convert Christianity.
I am pleased to say that the House of Bishops, meeting in 1962, declared "the validity of the calling of the conscientious objector and the pacifist, and the duty of the Church fully to minister to him, and its obligation to see that we live in a society in which the dictates of his conscience are respected."
Bishop Jones wrote, "Where I serve the Church is of small importance, so long as I can make my life count in the cause of Christ." So it must be for us.
In 1917, Bishop Jones attended a meeting of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Los Angeles and, in a speech, made the statement that "war is un-Christian." He was immediately attacked in the press, especially with banner headlines in Utah. In the ensuing furor, the House of Bishops appointed a committee to investigate the situation. The committee conducted a trial, found fault with Jones's statement and called on him to resign, explicitly rejecting his contention that he had a right to object to the war on grounds of faith and conscience. In the spring of 1918, Bishop Jones resigned. From then on, he continued to lead a strong peace movement. Under his leadership, the Fellowship of Reconciliation became international and accomplished much. In 1940, he was the Socialist Party candidate for governor of Ohio. Bishop Jones died on 4 September, 1941.
The churchly crisis Bishop Jones faced is a reminder of how, even today, there are Christians and religious leaders who refuse to allow their religion to interfere with their politics! Leaders for whom values instilled by Jesus Christ are to be openly rejected, especially his clear teachings on peace and non-violence. When Christianity becomes inconvenient, just redefine it to conform to the world's agendas! It is a sad fact of life that Christianity does not convert cultures; cultures find ways to convert Christianity.
I am pleased to say that the House of Bishops, meeting in 1962, declared "the validity of the calling of the conscientious objector and the pacifist, and the duty of the Church fully to minister to him, and its obligation to see that we live in a society in which the dictates of his conscience are respected."
Bishop Jones wrote, "Where I serve the Church is of small importance, so long as I can make my life count in the cause of Christ." So it must be for us.
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