Tuesday, April 21, 2009
It's still Easter
It's hard to remember when the world moves on. This music -- "Come Again" sung by one of my favorite groups over the decades -- the Swingle Singers -- echoes my feelings about getting back some of the excitement of Easter morn. And there are still nearly 40 more days of Easter. Just like Lent
Sunday, April 12, 2009
He is risen!! Alleluia!!
Many of the depictions of the Resurrection look silly to 21st eyes used to amazing special effects. What is amazing is how that Resurrection has changed the world In spite of the fact that the people of the time mostly slept through it, those who were willing to stake their lives on it found the power and the peace to be able to tell others that they had nothing left to fear -- not even death.
Have a blessed Easter!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Time in between
Lent really ended yesterday. Easter is tomorrow. So what is today? It is a quiet time, a time to take a breath and give thanks both for what has been and what is about to be.
As the sun sets today, we'll hear the story of God's intentions for humanity. Then we'll renew our baptismal vows and be anointed with the chrism blessed by the bishop. It is our connection with the early church, as well as our promise to take the church into an exciting future.
It is time both holy and mundane. It is like most of our life.
As the sun sets today, we'll hear the story of God's intentions for humanity. Then we'll renew our baptismal vows and be anointed with the chrism blessed by the bishop. It is our connection with the early church, as well as our promise to take the church into an exciting future.
It is time both holy and mundane. It is like most of our life.
Friday, April 10, 2009
God's Friday
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:3-4
It's called Good Friday as a variation on God's Friday. But it is hard to understand God's willingness to die in such an ignominious way. And we have been more than willing to look away, to pretend this didn't have anything to do with us.
If only we would look and see beyond the suffering to the love and generosity on the cross. Then it would be a truly Good Friday.
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:3-4
It's called Good Friday as a variation on God's Friday. But it is hard to understand God's willingness to die in such an ignominious way. And we have been more than willing to look away, to pretend this didn't have anything to do with us.
If only we would look and see beyond the suffering to the love and generosity on the cross. Then it would be a truly Good Friday.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
A feast of remembrance
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Exodus 12:14
This verse refers to the observance of the Passover -- the time when God passed over the homes of Israelites and visited a killing plague on the Egyptians. Then God helped the Israelites to pass over the Red Sea and escape slavery in search of a promised land and freedom. Passover has been observed more or less annually for more than 3,000 years. This year's observance began last night.
Tonight Christians will have their own day of remembrance, remembering Jesus' last supper, which took place in conjunction with his observance of Passover. We've been observing that event for a mere 2,000 years.
But there are some differences from the Passover. We are not limited to an annual observance what Jesus has done for us. Rather we can observe it many times a year. And our observance is not only about something which took place in the past. It is about what continues to happen in the present. The risen Christ continues to offer us escape from slavery -- slavery to sin and death. He has also promised to be present in the bread and the wine -- in an unexplained but very real way.
It is good for us to know the story of the Exodus. It is even better for us to live that story as people of faith who put our trust in Jesus Christ and his gracious love.
Exodus 12:14
This verse refers to the observance of the Passover -- the time when God passed over the homes of Israelites and visited a killing plague on the Egyptians. Then God helped the Israelites to pass over the Red Sea and escape slavery in search of a promised land and freedom. Passover has been observed more or less annually for more than 3,000 years. This year's observance began last night.
Tonight Christians will have their own day of remembrance, remembering Jesus' last supper, which took place in conjunction with his observance of Passover. We've been observing that event for a mere 2,000 years.
But there are some differences from the Passover. We are not limited to an annual observance what Jesus has done for us. Rather we can observe it many times a year. And our observance is not only about something which took place in the past. It is about what continues to happen in the present. The risen Christ continues to offer us escape from slavery -- slavery to sin and death. He has also promised to be present in the bread and the wine -- in an unexplained but very real way.
It is good for us to know the story of the Exodus. It is even better for us to live that story as people of faith who put our trust in Jesus Christ and his gracious love.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Learning to teach
The Lord GOD has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens--
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
Psalm 50:4-5
The complete teacher both speaks and also listens. And it's not just about those who see teaching as their vocation. The psalm is for all of us, who are called to help others know the joy and strength that comes from our relationship with God. But knowing how to teach others about that relationship comes from listening to what causes them distress and difficulty teaches us what words will help them. And listening to God teaches us that what we are to say will be God's gracious gift to us.
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens--
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
Psalm 50:4-5
The complete teacher both speaks and also listens. And it's not just about those who see teaching as their vocation. The psalm is for all of us, who are called to help others know the joy and strength that comes from our relationship with God. But knowing how to teach others about that relationship comes from listening to what causes them distress and difficulty teaches us what words will help them. And listening to God teaches us that what we are to say will be God's gracious gift to us.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
What does your cross stand for?
The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18
The cross has been a powerful symbol for nearly 2,000 years, but what does it symbolize? I bought a slice of pizza in Philadelphia one day, and the clerk asked me what my cross meant. He was wearing a coptic cross. Someone had told him the coptic part, but he didn't seem to understand that all the variations of the cross represent the same thing -- Christ's total sacrifice of himself for us.
Conversations like that one in the pizza place make me wonder whether a cross is really an appropriate accessory item. We wouldn't wear a tiny electric chair or a miniature hangman's noose. Does a cross pendant or cross earrings trivialize the solemnity of that first cross and the value of what we were offered on that hill outside Jerusalem?
1 Corinthians 1:18
The cross has been a powerful symbol for nearly 2,000 years, but what does it symbolize? I bought a slice of pizza in Philadelphia one day, and the clerk asked me what my cross meant. He was wearing a coptic cross. Someone had told him the coptic part, but he didn't seem to understand that all the variations of the cross represent the same thing -- Christ's total sacrifice of himself for us.
Conversations like that one in the pizza place make me wonder whether a cross is really an appropriate accessory item. We wouldn't wear a tiny electric chair or a miniature hangman's noose. Does a cross pendant or cross earrings trivialize the solemnity of that first cross and the value of what we were offered on that hill outside Jerusalem?
Monday, April 06, 2009
The last word on money
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."
John 12:1-8
In the last few days before his death, Jesus is still offering thoughts about money. Judas makes a disingenuous statement about wasteful spending on expensive perfume to anoint Jesus by Lazaraus' sister Mary, who wanted to express her love of Jesus. Jesus replies that the moment might call for something special -- either as that sort of expression or as preparation for Jesus' death.
One of the noticeable features of Jesus' various statements about money was that they were generally context driven. What was the right answer for Mary probably wouldn't have been the right answer for the rich young man who was told to sell all he had and give it to the poor. And the answer is not always the same for us. Sometime we should use our material resources for those who have been marginalized by society, people we may never know. Other times a luxurious gift for the beloved may be the best way we express our faith in God's abundant love for all of us.
John 12:1-8
In the last few days before his death, Jesus is still offering thoughts about money. Judas makes a disingenuous statement about wasteful spending on expensive perfume to anoint Jesus by Lazaraus' sister Mary, who wanted to express her love of Jesus. Jesus replies that the moment might call for something special -- either as that sort of expression or as preparation for Jesus' death.
One of the noticeable features of Jesus' various statements about money was that they were generally context driven. What was the right answer for Mary probably wouldn't have been the right answer for the rich young man who was told to sell all he had and give it to the poor. And the answer is not always the same for us. Sometime we should use our material resources for those who have been marginalized by society, people we may never know. Other times a luxurious gift for the beloved may be the best way we express our faith in God's abundant love for all of us.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Too good to be true?
You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin
Psalm 85:2
Jesus tells a parable about a servant who is forgiven a great debt, then turns around and punishes someone who owes him much less. How hard it can be to admit how much we need to be forgiven, and how easy it is to see all that others are doing wrong.
Lent is a time when we are to pay attention to our spiritual life by time in prayer, reading of scripture, attending worship, maybe even confessing to our sins. While this is a valid and valuable way to move us along the path toward righteousness, the temptation is to detour at self-righteousness.
Someone once said that self-righteousness is one of the greatest impediments to intimate relationships. It can impede our relationship with other people, with God and maybe even with ourselves. Other people will fail to live up to our high standards for them. The self-righteous person sees little need for a relationship with God. And self-righteousness is an effective shield in keeping us from seeing our need for forgiveness.
As we end our Lenten disciplines, may we see how much we need God's forgiveness and may we ask to be forgiven the sin of self-righteousness.
Psalm 85:2
Jesus tells a parable about a servant who is forgiven a great debt, then turns around and punishes someone who owes him much less. How hard it can be to admit how much we need to be forgiven, and how easy it is to see all that others are doing wrong.
Lent is a time when we are to pay attention to our spiritual life by time in prayer, reading of scripture, attending worship, maybe even confessing to our sins. While this is a valid and valuable way to move us along the path toward righteousness, the temptation is to detour at self-righteousness.
Someone once said that self-righteousness is one of the greatest impediments to intimate relationships. It can impede our relationship with other people, with God and maybe even with ourselves. Other people will fail to live up to our high standards for them. The self-righteous person sees little need for a relationship with God. And self-righteousness is an effective shield in keeping us from seeing our need for forgiveness.
As we end our Lenten disciplines, may we see how much we need God's forgiveness and may we ask to be forgiven the sin of self-righteousness.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Are you ready?
Who dost bid thy faithful people cleanse their hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast; that, fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by thy Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which thou hast prepared for those who love thee.
Preface for Lent
This is one of two prefaces to Holy Communion to be recited during Lent. It pretty much sums up what Lent is about -- getting ready for Easter. Most people probably think preparing for Easter is about clothes or a special meal. This preface makes it clear that a different kind of preparation is what God desires. And when we realize how hard it is to get ourselves ready for new life, God's grace helps us to finish the task.
Even though we're getting to the last days of Lent, this sort of preparation is best undertaken throughout the year. Experiences of resurrection take place through all seasons.
Preface for Lent
This is one of two prefaces to Holy Communion to be recited during Lent. It pretty much sums up what Lent is about -- getting ready for Easter. Most people probably think preparing for Easter is about clothes or a special meal. This preface makes it clear that a different kind of preparation is what God desires. And when we realize how hard it is to get ourselves ready for new life, God's grace helps us to finish the task.
Even though we're getting to the last days of Lent, this sort of preparation is best undertaken throughout the year. Experiences of resurrection take place through all seasons.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
The miracle of us
Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
Psalm 105:4-5
The Bible tells the story of many miracles which are supernatural, at least in the understanding of those who wrote them down. But think how incredible are the many things which God has brought into being within the laws of nature.
Look at your own hand. Could you in several lifetimes make a tool which could do so many things and also convey compassion and concern by its mere touch? How many other parts of you defy replication or even complete understanding? Are these things any less miraculous because we think medical research may explain them some day?
You and I are among God's wonderful works. Remembering that can bring our awareness of his presence ever closer. Knowing that God has given us such amazing abilities can assure us of our own strength -- strength which is just one of the gifts beyond counting that he has given us.
seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
Psalm 105:4-5
The Bible tells the story of many miracles which are supernatural, at least in the understanding of those who wrote them down. But think how incredible are the many things which God has brought into being within the laws of nature.
Look at your own hand. Could you in several lifetimes make a tool which could do so many things and also convey compassion and concern by its mere touch? How many other parts of you defy replication or even complete understanding? Are these things any less miraculous because we think medical research may explain them some day?
You and I are among God's wonderful works. Remembering that can bring our awareness of his presence ever closer. Knowing that God has given us such amazing abilities can assure us of our own strength -- strength which is just one of the gifts beyond counting that he has given us.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
A new lease on faith
Almighty God our heavenly Father, renew in us the gifts of your mercy; increase our faith, strengthen our hope, enlighten our understanding, widen our charity, and make us ready to serve you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
In the Episcopal Church the renewal movement has generally been associated with a more conservative theological position. However, it seems that all of us, regardless of our particular theological bent, need renewal in our faith throughout our lives. And maybe we especially need it as we come out of a cold, gray winter or as we come to the end of the Lenten season. We need to recommit ourselves and to know that God will give us the strength to follow Christ on his journey to the cross and the courage to live again on Easter and beyond.
In the Episcopal Church the renewal movement has generally been associated with a more conservative theological position. However, it seems that all of us, regardless of our particular theological bent, need renewal in our faith throughout our lives. And maybe we especially need it as we come out of a cold, gray winter or as we come to the end of the Lenten season. We need to recommit ourselves and to know that God will give us the strength to follow Christ on his journey to the cross and the courage to live again on Easter and beyond.
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