Today's gospel reading [Lk 15: 1-3, 11b-32] is commonly known as the Prodigal Son Story. Let's dig into it. In Jesus' time, an estimated 4 million Jews lived outside the Jewish homeland. The disaspora area extended as far east as Persia. The incredible Roman transportation system expedited the movement of people all over the Empire, and it was common for younger Jewish sons to migrate. Likewise it was not unusual for a son to take custody of his putative inheritance. However, while he was allowed to take that money, invest it, and build a new life with the proceeds, under absolutely no circumstances could he jeopardize the principal. That was his father's retirement account in times to come. In violating this rule and spending the corpus on riotous living, the prodigal has stolen his own parent's future and acted as if they were dead. His action is a grievous violation of law and morality.
Worse, the prodigal has eschewed help from his own, the chosen people. The Jewish world had an elaborate network, a highly organized and efficient system, for charitable help towards any Jewish traveller or immigrant. It was well known that no Jew anywhere in the Empire would go hungry or find himself lacking accommodations. Our prodigal picks the worst conceivable alternative. He turns for help to a gentile who puts him to work as a swineherd, an occupation forbidden to Jews ,as pigs were held to be ritually unclean. In this manoeuvre our star has rejected his Jewish religious heritage with its fidelity to the Law, and his own ethnicity. One who behaves in this fashion is expected to be treated as dead by his family and Jews in general.
What finally wakes our prodigal up is starvation. Starvation leads him to realization of his sin, and acceptance of personal responsibility. From there he is called to teshuvah, moving in a new just direction or, as we would say, repentance. He decides to go home and asked to become a hired employee of his father. Under the Law, the father is supposed to execute his own son! Instead, the insane father does a series of things that no oriental patriarch would ever do!
First, he runs to see the prodigal. This would astonish early readers, knowing that no male family leader would ever do that. Second, he bestows gifts. He presents a signet ring -- sign of authority, embraces him in full forgiveness -- the greatest gift of all -- and orders his prized cattle for a quick slaughter in order to throw a welcome-home party for the prodigal! Third, the father begs his other aggrieved son to stop pouting and join the party. No son in that culture would dare disobey in this fashion,play nor would any father play into it an seek to cajole the child. Here too, deadly execution remains within his rights.
It should be terribly obvious that the crazy dad in our story represents God. God treats our pasts as forever dismissed, and encourages us also to live in the present and not be controlled by what was or might have been. Moreover, God reconciles everyone in the family, encouraging all not to be judges over each other but to love, forgive, and live into the future God has in mind for us individually and collectively. If God loves with such absolute lavish, unconditional love, how can we do less? In our New Testament reading today [II Cor.5: 16-21], Saint Paul says that we are all called to the ministry of reconciliation. "In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ." Let us ask ourselves: whom do we need to forgive or ask forgiveness of? What relationships need rebuilding? What better time is there than Lent to exeercise our ministry of reconciliation?
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Lent III: Bad Things Happen to Good People
The Hillcrest Medical System over the years offered an annual clergy appreciate day, on which credentialed clergy would be invited to hear a guest speaker and enjoy a delicious lunch. One year the speaker was noted rabbi and author Harold Kushner. I arrived early and entered the auditorium, To my surprise and delight, Rabbi Kushner walked up to my table, introduced himself, and we had a great conversation prior to the day's program. Mostly we talked about his latest book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, which was the product of Kushner's soul-searching about the meaning of the untimely death of his son from a rare disease. Could this mean, as ancient Jewish scholars surmised, that the boy or his parents or grandparents had sinned and this was God's payback? No way. Kushner realized that God made a free universe in which bad things will occur; that the question was not to sort out how to assign blame, but to ask where God is in such a crisis. God is right there with us to share in our pain and to help us deal and heal.
Jesus addresses the same fundamental question of whether God is an amoral micromanager in today's reading [Lk 13: 1-9]. He speaks of two events, Oddly, neither is attested anywhere in the records of secular scholars. The first is a slaughter of Galileans during their worship, a massacre attributed to Pontius Pilate. Contrary to some conciliatory material in the New Testament, the fact is that Pilate was a monster, pure and simple. The story is perfectly consistent with what we know of him. The second event was the suddeb collapse of a tower at Siloam resulting in the death of several bystanders. Jesus asks whether the victims of these tragedies were worse people than anyone else; his answer: no. Bad things happen to good people.
This is a point that self-serving religious leaders try to ignore to their advantage. Back during high school we had to read The Bridge over San Luis Rey. Therein a priest tries to attribute deaths from failure of the bridge to the moral inadequacies of the victims. That didn't play, and it still doesn't. I remember being horrifed when televangelists tried to blame the Twin Towers collapse on sinfulness among those working there and to blame Katrina deaths on New Orleans' tolerance for gay people. What a bunch of hogwash! God loves all his children, but bad things happen to good people.
The end point of Jesus' engagement was to say that none of us has a clue how much time remains. Life hangs by a thread. Like the fig tree Jesus references, we need to produce while we can, while our clock is still running. If we find that we have not been productive while planted in the bad soil of materialism, consumerism, and greed, we may be allowed extra time to be transplanted into the rich soil of the Gospel. What is important is that we bear fruit.
Consider Moses in our Hebrew bible reading today [Exodus 3: 1-15]. He became a murderer on the run and now he starts a new life in Midian in a soil of comfort and security. After God comes after Moses in the burning bush experience, Moses comes up with no less than five different excuses as to why he cannot answer the call. But God isn't buying Moses's excuses, And he doesn't buy ours. We must discern and respond, realizing that we never know how much time we have left.
Jesus addresses the same fundamental question of whether God is an amoral micromanager in today's reading [Lk 13: 1-9]. He speaks of two events, Oddly, neither is attested anywhere in the records of secular scholars. The first is a slaughter of Galileans during their worship, a massacre attributed to Pontius Pilate. Contrary to some conciliatory material in the New Testament, the fact is that Pilate was a monster, pure and simple. The story is perfectly consistent with what we know of him. The second event was the suddeb collapse of a tower at Siloam resulting in the death of several bystanders. Jesus asks whether the victims of these tragedies were worse people than anyone else; his answer: no. Bad things happen to good people.
This is a point that self-serving religious leaders try to ignore to their advantage. Back during high school we had to read The Bridge over San Luis Rey. Therein a priest tries to attribute deaths from failure of the bridge to the moral inadequacies of the victims. That didn't play, and it still doesn't. I remember being horrifed when televangelists tried to blame the Twin Towers collapse on sinfulness among those working there and to blame Katrina deaths on New Orleans' tolerance for gay people. What a bunch of hogwash! God loves all his children, but bad things happen to good people.
The end point of Jesus' engagement was to say that none of us has a clue how much time remains. Life hangs by a thread. Like the fig tree Jesus references, we need to produce while we can, while our clock is still running. If we find that we have not been productive while planted in the bad soil of materialism, consumerism, and greed, we may be allowed extra time to be transplanted into the rich soil of the Gospel. What is important is that we bear fruit.
Consider Moses in our Hebrew bible reading today [Exodus 3: 1-15]. He became a murderer on the run and now he starts a new life in Midian in a soil of comfort and security. After God comes after Moses in the burning bush experience, Moses comes up with no less than five different excuses as to why he cannot answer the call. But God isn't buying Moses's excuses, And he doesn't buy ours. We must discern and respond, realizing that we never know how much time we have left.
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Lent II: Cutting a Deal
Have you ever used the expression "cut a deal"? Ever wondered what that meant? This morning's reading from the Hebrew Bible [Gen. 15: 1-12, 17-18] answers the question. In early Jewish times contracts were concluded by cutting an animal in two, after which the parties walked between the halves to conclude the transaction and then feasted on the animal to celebrate. They 'cut' the deal. However, in matters rising to the level of a covenant, the parties walking between the halves would be accompanied by a flaming torch or smoking thurible in vivid representation of the presence of God in the transaction.
To make the proper distinction, a contract is made between two parties for some consideration, and running for a time certain. If one of the parties breaches the contract -- fails to perform contractual obligations -- the other party is excused or can seek legal remedies. In a covenant, God is party to matters of supreme importance. A covenant is not time-sensitive; it is eternal. And if one party to covenant breaches, it does not excuse the other party. The one who has been unfaithful can always return.
God likes to make covenants and each is eternal, for God does not lie or go back on any promises. Let's take a look. The first was the Noahic Covenant. After conclusion of the flood story, based largely on the Gilgamesh Epic that preceded it, God sets his rainbow in the sky as a sign of God's fidelity and creates a covenant with all humanity. It has seven commandments, of which one is kindness towards animals, and another is establishing honorable government. It may be that we fulfill that covenant without knowing it.
Next comes today's tale of Abraham. Remember that he follows the old migration route from Ur (in what is now Iraq) to Palestine. There the one then called Abram receives a vision of God in which he is called into covenant to found a nation through his own biological descent. He trusts God. Then he goes to Egypt and back, goes on in life to be wealthy, and then later is separated from Lot who is returned. By then Sarah's biological clock is really ticking; in fact, it's wound down; and Abram is not getting any younger. Finally he complains, and God reiterates and enhances the promises. Soon his wife Sarah becomes miraculously pregnant, and what God has promised --that Abram will be father of many nations -- becomes reality for this patriarch who trusted the Lord.
Now we look at the Mosaic Covenant. Under the leadership of Moses, the Jewish People are born out of the slavery experience deep in Egypt. They are reborn through the waters of the Red Sea, which parts for them, and God leads Hebrews in two manifestations, a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. Just like the parting of that sacrificial animal and the priest carrying fire or smoke to symbolize God's presence. At Mount Sinai the covenant is sealed and an important new chapter of history begins. This lovely covenant with God, like any other, is eternal. Despite misstatements in the late pseudo-Pauline epistles, the Jewish covenant has not been annulled or replaced. God does not lie or go back on any promises.
Now we come to our covenantal relationship. We have passed through the new Red Sea waters of holy baptism. There we receive our freedom. For we are prone to be slaves to selfishness, pleasure, wealth, and many addictions and many compulsions which keep us from abundant life. Christ came to set us free! The death of the Son of God exposed the bankruptcy of the world's powers and dominion systems, of all empires and their false values. Jesus once for all led them captive to his cross, and it is there we find salvation and eternal life. At every Mass we celebrate and renew our unique covenant with God, even as we receive the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ in Holy Communion.
Lent is a great time to be strengthened as covenant people, in order to serve the world in Christ's
name. An important part of that process is to take better care of ourselves so we can be strong witnesses in word and deed to God's promises. For we are standing on the promises.
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Lent I: The Devil, Dan'l Webster, and Jesus
From the "border country" of northern Massachusetts comes the old legend about Daniel Webster, namely that if you go to his grave in Marshfield during a thunder storm and call out "Dan'l Webster, Dan'l Webster!," the ground will tremble and he will reply, "How stands the Union, neighbour?"
Webster was a remarkable figure who served in Congress and as Secretary of State, but was best known as one of the greatest orators in American history. He was also a Whig Party leader who sought to have the problem of slavery resolved by diplomatic means to avoid the kind of bloodbath that, in fact, followed secession when the successor to the Whigs -- the Republican Party -- led the nation in civil war. In "The Devil and Daniel Webster," Stephen Vincent Benet tells a tale of a poor farmer named Stone who sold his soul to the devil and, then when Satan called the bet, engaged Webster as his attorney and won the heavenly case!
In today's gospel reading [Luke 4: 1-13], Jesus is given opportunities to sell out to the devil, but he prevails. Each of the temptations involves a particular sin to which we modern people are prone, so we can learn much from this story. First the devil challenges Jesus to convert stones into loaves of bread. This is an appeal to anxiety coupled with a lack of trust in God, and Jesus will not give in. Second, the devil shows Jesus all that nations of the world and offers him glory and authority over kingdoms, if he will but sell his soul. Jesus knows that this is an appeal to greed, vanity, and the quest for power and again rejects the temptation. Finally, the devil beams Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem, challenging him to jump down, in expectation of divine rescue. This is a clear call to presumption and self-glorification. Jesus wins this final round as well.
Surely in modern times we experience anxiety that finds its root in a lack of full reliance and trust in God, placing confidence in our own resources instead. Surely in our own day we can find ourselves desiring wealth, power, and influence, instead of the sacrificial giving and servanthood to which the Lord calls us. Surely in our daily walk we presume on God. Do we, as Soren Kierkegaard pointed out, treat God as "cosmic bellhop," instead of seeking to know what is his will? These are all kinds of spiritual shortcomings -- openings for the Evil One -- that we can be strengthened against by our Lenten prayer, reflection, and disciplines. Don't sell your soul to the devil!
Webster was a remarkable figure who served in Congress and as Secretary of State, but was best known as one of the greatest orators in American history. He was also a Whig Party leader who sought to have the problem of slavery resolved by diplomatic means to avoid the kind of bloodbath that, in fact, followed secession when the successor to the Whigs -- the Republican Party -- led the nation in civil war. In "The Devil and Daniel Webster," Stephen Vincent Benet tells a tale of a poor farmer named Stone who sold his soul to the devil and, then when Satan called the bet, engaged Webster as his attorney and won the heavenly case!
In today's gospel reading [Luke 4: 1-13], Jesus is given opportunities to sell out to the devil, but he prevails. Each of the temptations involves a particular sin to which we modern people are prone, so we can learn much from this story. First the devil challenges Jesus to convert stones into loaves of bread. This is an appeal to anxiety coupled with a lack of trust in God, and Jesus will not give in. Second, the devil shows Jesus all that nations of the world and offers him glory and authority over kingdoms, if he will but sell his soul. Jesus knows that this is an appeal to greed, vanity, and the quest for power and again rejects the temptation. Finally, the devil beams Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem, challenging him to jump down, in expectation of divine rescue. This is a clear call to presumption and self-glorification. Jesus wins this final round as well.
Surely in modern times we experience anxiety that finds its root in a lack of full reliance and trust in God, placing confidence in our own resources instead. Surely in our own day we can find ourselves desiring wealth, power, and influence, instead of the sacrificial giving and servanthood to which the Lord calls us. Surely in our daily walk we presume on God. Do we, as Soren Kierkegaard pointed out, treat God as "cosmic bellhop," instead of seeking to know what is his will? These are all kinds of spiritual shortcomings -- openings for the Evil One -- that we can be strengthened against by our Lenten prayer, reflection, and disciplines. Don't sell your soul to the devil!
Sunday, March 3, 2019
The Dorchester Chaplains
In January of 1943, the Dorchester, a converted cruise ship set sail with a troop convoy from New York City to Greenland with 902 souls aboard. On the third of February, one day out of port, the vessel was attacked by a Nazi U-boat The round struck the boiler room and the ship began to sink.
Although every passenger slept with a life jacket, many were left behind in the scramble to get topside to safety and escape. The crew were only able to get two of the fourteen lifeboats into the water, so many of those onboard had to choice but to dive into 19-degree (F) water.
There were four chaplains aboard the ship at the time: George Fox, a Methodist who had been a medical corps assistant during World War I and decorated for heroism. Clark Poling, a Dutch Reformed minister whose dad had warned him not to become a chaplain because of the very high mortality rate, but who joined the Army Chaplain Corps anyway. Alexander Goode, a Jewish rabbi who had joined the National Guard whilst still in seminary and continued after ordination. John Washington, a Roman priest who had been a gang leader in New Jersey when he experienced the call to the Sacred Priesthood After seminary, Father Washington signed up as a military chaplain.
As the ship went down, the four chaplains moved about calming people and passing out life jackets from the ship's store to those choosing to jump into the icy Atlantic. Then the four chaplains gave up their life jackets to others, and made for the after deck. There they linked arms in prayer until the ship sank, claiming their lives. Survivors reported that the chaplains were singing "Nearer My God to Thee" at the moment they went under the waves. 230 persons were picked up by other ships and survived.
I am reminded of the comment by Jesus that no person has greater love than to give up his life for another. I am especially moved that here such an act of sacrificial love transcended the boundaries of denomination, and even religion. The story is a profound reminder of our call to live, and if it be necessary, to die in meeting the high calling to love God and our neighbour as much as ourselves.
Although every passenger slept with a life jacket, many were left behind in the scramble to get topside to safety and escape. The crew were only able to get two of the fourteen lifeboats into the water, so many of those onboard had to choice but to dive into 19-degree (F) water.
There were four chaplains aboard the ship at the time: George Fox, a Methodist who had been a medical corps assistant during World War I and decorated for heroism. Clark Poling, a Dutch Reformed minister whose dad had warned him not to become a chaplain because of the very high mortality rate, but who joined the Army Chaplain Corps anyway. Alexander Goode, a Jewish rabbi who had joined the National Guard whilst still in seminary and continued after ordination. John Washington, a Roman priest who had been a gang leader in New Jersey when he experienced the call to the Sacred Priesthood After seminary, Father Washington signed up as a military chaplain.
As the ship went down, the four chaplains moved about calming people and passing out life jackets from the ship's store to those choosing to jump into the icy Atlantic. Then the four chaplains gave up their life jackets to others, and made for the after deck. There they linked arms in prayer until the ship sank, claiming their lives. Survivors reported that the chaplains were singing "Nearer My God to Thee" at the moment they went under the waves. 230 persons were picked up by other ships and survived.
I am reminded of the comment by Jesus that no person has greater love than to give up his life for another. I am especially moved that here such an act of sacrificial love transcended the boundaries of denomination, and even religion. The story is a profound reminder of our call to live, and if it be necessary, to die in meeting the high calling to love God and our neighbour as much as ourselves.
Quinquagesima: Changed Forever
About sixty years ago in Los Angeles there was a famous murder trial. Counsel for the defendant in closing argument tried an amazing new tactic to boost his chance of winning. The barrister reminded jurors that a verdict of guilty requires conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. Then he proceeded to tell them that in a moment the true murderer would be walking into the courtroom! Of course, that didn't happen, but the jurors' eyes were glued on the door for a time. Then counsel asked the judge hearing the case to grant a directed verdict. When the judge refused, the barrister argued that the reactions of the jurors showed they had a reasonable doubt as they were all looking towards the door. The judge said indeed they were, but the defendant wasn't. He knew he was guilty. The motion for directed verdict was denied, the jury deliberated and they found him guilty as charged.
In today's gospel reading [Lk 9: 28-36] the star witness does appear, Jesus himself. Transfiguration is the fifty-cent word we used to describe the change in his appearance during this apostolic vision, but the phenomenon is in fact well-known in Scripture generally. Moses was transfigured after his own mountaintop encounter with God. (Interesting side story: the great scholar Saint Jerome translated the Bible into Latin -- the language God speaks. 😃 When he got to this story about Moses on the mountain, he mistranslated karan, shining, for keren, horns. So mediaeval art depicting the scene shows Moses coming down with the Tablets and sporting horns!) Like us, the people in the desert could be their own worst enemy, hankering after false gods. They needed a leader to show them the way to be the "drafted people" called to be Light to the Nations. Here in our story, Jesus himself is transfigured and the Executive Committee - Peter, James, and John -- have a vision in which they witness a glowing Lord, a receding Moses and Elijah, and a voice of divine endorsement. Jesus offers a new way open to all, not displacing, but moving beyond, Law and Prophecy.. They will envision a more excellent way and follow.
The core conviction here is that these apostles' perception of Jesus changed; they got it! To see God is to be changed forever and in turn become an agent of change in the world. Pope Benedict XVI once wrote that when you and I have a God-moment, we are having the same encounter as Peter and his colleagues experienced in our story. Do we allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to have that encounter with the Divine? That is my hope, and that it comes through the Christ we come to see in others. Saint Paul says ours is the ministry of reconciliation. And one cannot be a reconciler without reaching out. Two relatively-progressive Southern Baptist congregations in Tulsa -- Antioch and Southern Hills -- decided to start meeting regularly to get to know one another as people and fellow siblings in Christ. Fifty-sixth street south met fifty-sixth street north! Neither congregation has been the same since. Other religious communities have begun to establish contact with Latinos. Dare we ask ourselves how well we are doing in the core ministry of reconciliation? Reconciliation must begin inside the home and neighbourhood, but then it must reach beyond into the wider world.
In today's gospel reading [Lk 9: 28-36] the star witness does appear, Jesus himself. Transfiguration is the fifty-cent word we used to describe the change in his appearance during this apostolic vision, but the phenomenon is in fact well-known in Scripture generally. Moses was transfigured after his own mountaintop encounter with God. (Interesting side story: the great scholar Saint Jerome translated the Bible into Latin -- the language God speaks. 😃 When he got to this story about Moses on the mountain, he mistranslated karan, shining, for keren, horns. So mediaeval art depicting the scene shows Moses coming down with the Tablets and sporting horns!) Like us, the people in the desert could be their own worst enemy, hankering after false gods. They needed a leader to show them the way to be the "drafted people" called to be Light to the Nations. Here in our story, Jesus himself is transfigured and the Executive Committee - Peter, James, and John -- have a vision in which they witness a glowing Lord, a receding Moses and Elijah, and a voice of divine endorsement. Jesus offers a new way open to all, not displacing, but moving beyond, Law and Prophecy.. They will envision a more excellent way and follow.
The core conviction here is that these apostles' perception of Jesus changed; they got it! To see God is to be changed forever and in turn become an agent of change in the world. Pope Benedict XVI once wrote that when you and I have a God-moment, we are having the same encounter as Peter and his colleagues experienced in our story. Do we allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to have that encounter with the Divine? That is my hope, and that it comes through the Christ we come to see in others. Saint Paul says ours is the ministry of reconciliation. And one cannot be a reconciler without reaching out. Two relatively-progressive Southern Baptist congregations in Tulsa -- Antioch and Southern Hills -- decided to start meeting regularly to get to know one another as people and fellow siblings in Christ. Fifty-sixth street south met fifty-sixth street north! Neither congregation has been the same since. Other religious communities have begun to establish contact with Latinos. Dare we ask ourselves how well we are doing in the core ministry of reconciliation? Reconciliation must begin inside the home and neighbourhood, but then it must reach beyond into the wider world.
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