From the book Barking to the Choir: the power of radical kinship, Gregory Boyle writes, “Now, we can be astonished at the authority of Jesus, who calls us to love our enemies. Or we can just love our enemies and so astonished the world as to jostle it from its regular course” (p. 194).
“Jesus is always inviting folks to move beyond the limitations of the blood family. The early Christians would greet one another with a kiss on the lips, which in those days only the members of the same family would do. Jesus is high hopes that we will move from separation to Solidarity to kinship. God knows that we just keep waiting for the Kingdom to show up just around the bend. Turns out, it is the bend Just around the corner. The kingdom is the corner...where we can kiss each other on the lips” (p.192). Sometimes we are pushed and stretched and broken for no other reason than to come together to pull, reshape, and heal each other in a community where the first are last and the last are first. Jesus invites us into a new family, in him we find a newer you and a newer me.
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This was shared by my mother-in-law, and I have no idea who the author was who wrote it but I can imagine from where the inspiration came.
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after the delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.” “Nonsense!” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?” The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.” The first replied, “That’s absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.” The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.” The first replied, “Nonsense! And moreover if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Deliver is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.” Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.” The first replied, “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?” The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by Her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this would would not and could not exist.” Said the first, “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.” To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.” Perhaps this conversation is the best explanation to the concept of God and worthy of sharing to a skeptical world to think about. "Often we think that we do not know enough to be able to teach others. We might even become hesitant to tell others what we know, out of fear that we won't have anything left to say when we are asked for more.
"This mind-set makes us anxious, secretive, possessive, and self-conscious. But when we have the courage to share generously with others all that we know, whenever they ask for it, we soon discover that we know a lot more than we thought. It is only by giving generously from the well of our knowledge that we discover how deep that well is." - Henri Nouwen Who has been your favorite teacher? Or what has been your favorite teacher? Or What is the best lesson you learned so far in life?
This week's message is kinda like a continuation of this idea that Jesus invites us to abide in him and bear good fruit. Jesus’ invitation is to be so close that you can’t help but to learn from him and begin to behave like him; and reap the reward – complete joy. READ THE ENTIRE MESSAGE FROM JOHN'S GOSPEL HERE: This week on Facebook, I asked you all how do you find or define joy. And here’s a sample of what was submitted:
Think about that for a moment: Joy begins with a connection to Christ that already abides inside you. Joy is Jesus. And Jesus is joy. To abide in him is an invitation to experience overwhelming sense of euphoria and share it with others. This is the fruit-bearing stuff. You might find joy reading a good book, listening to great music, or getting lost in a beautiful painting. Or you might be the kind of person who finds joy working hard and partying harder. As fun as all that can be, it only produces temporary joy. Eventually the bar closes, the record finishes, and emptiness returns. The joy Jesus is offering us is more; it’s everlasting. And all you have to do to receive it, Jesus said, is to “Love one another.” Joy is love. And Love is joy. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” Now the very same love Jesus received from God is offered to us if we want it. The joy Jesus is offering us is grounded in God’s love for us. God is love. And love is relational. So the first step to complete joy begins with a relationship with Jesus who wants to share God’s love with you. And where God’s love is, God’s joy abounds. Jesus knows that all who abide in him will have their hearts open like his - always ready to receive the outpouring of God’s grace in the most unexpected ways. An old friend of mine has taken up a new relationship with Christ. At first her joy ebbed and flowed in and out of a temporary euphoric state as she grasped with trying to understand God’s grace. And how that grace fits into her life. In the last few weeks I’ve receive numerous text messages from her with nothing but crying emojis in the text box. She opened her heart, and made herself vulnerable to God’s love that is being poured into her life in abundance. She never knew such love was possible – at least not for someone like herself. Her tears are her joy! God’s love catches us off guard. And as Darlene is discovering, this intoxicating, euphoric, and no-strings attached happiness is hard to contain. Her joy can’t help but to affect Others. Another post read, “Joy is smiling at a stranger and having them smile back!” A smile is an invitation to joy – it can reach heaven through the heart. And so a relationship with Jesus is an invitation for us to create a relationship with others. Can you think of a time when you were invited into a group and how it made you feel when they wanted to know about you? It produces joy, a smile on your heart, right? I remember when Barbara Brown Taylor, a wonderful author and amazing theologian, invited me sit with her because she wanted my opinion for a class she was teaching at Piedmont College. My heart leapt with joy. Because of her invitation, I felt like I was somebody. When we abide in Christ, we learn how to welcome people with a compassionate heart, help strangers with loving hands, see the other with compassionate eyes, and listen with compassionate ears. It’s in this loving of one another that causes God’s heart to smile with joy. Jesus said, “Bear good fruit that will last, so God will give you whatever you ask in my name.” Complete joy is God’s gift for You. Jesus said, “Love one another just as I have loved you.” Think about that for a second. You are love (present tense). And You are loved (past tense). You are both the giver and the receiver. Love must flow both towards and from you to experience and enjoy its full effects. The Law of Flow is this: “Love One Another.” In order for this to work you must be grounded in the sure and certain truth that God loves you – in spite of who you think you are. I’ll admit I still have trouble accepting this. I often feel unworthy or undeserving of such love & grace. In my moments of doubt, God reminds me of the sacrifice one made for me, not so I would live with guilt and shame, but so I could have grace and life. It’s in this recognition my eyes well up with crying emojis. No matter whatever has gone horribly wrong in your life, your failures and rebellion, your hardened heart...in spite of what’s been done to you or what you’ve done, God has made peace with you. And invites you and me to experience unbounded joy; “the wholeness of emotion satisfied, a swelling of the heart, a filling up of the soul and a bursting at the seams kind of feeling.” This complete, eternal Joy begins with Jesus who came to be with us and invited us to be with him. Jesus joyfully gave his life for Others so we might to experience eternal life with him; including people inside and outside his social circle; the strangers, the awkward, the dirty and gross. We are all welcome to abide in him. Including You. Especially you. You are the joy of God’s heart! And if Easter has taught us anything, it’s that God will do anything for you. Now it’s your turn, as Paul writes in Philippians 3, to “live up to what we’ve already attained.” One thing you might already know about Los Angeles is the fact that we have a rather large Mexican-American population. There's not a neighborhood in this massive city that doesn't have at least one Taquería,each with their own unique take on tacos. Today is Cinco de Mayo, a day when the Mexican Army’s difficult victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 is remembered and celebrated. But for some strange reason this tradition has migrated to the U.S. And people of all different nationalities and ethnicity join in on the the joyous cultural celebration by eating way too much Mexican food and drinking just enough Mexican beers. Last night I kicked off Cinco de Mayo by taking my family to a carnival at the kid’s school. Even though everything was in Spanish and I had no idea what anyone was saying, there were we dozens of booths selling all sorts of delicious foods. And of course there were crazy rides, games of chance and luck, and even a stage with many great musical acts. My favorite part was watching the joy in the eyes of the little children as they discovered the colorful lights that adorned the towering rides. They seem to have seen something we can't see or perhaps have forgotten how to see. They all seemed to have this newness of life that made the world seem more magical than usual. Or maybe they had a better understanding of being in God’s presence. As I watched these little faces light up, I could hear Jesus whisper, “Unless you become like a little child you will not get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” It was like he was saying to me, "See what they see, feel what they feel, be one with them and you will be one with me." It must have worked because Colleen came up to me and asked me what I was smiling about. All I could say was, “Mi vita loca…my crazy life.” How many times has God uttered those words when looking at us? Jesus has called us to abide in him, that is to say accept his invitation into a personal relationship with him where we celebrate life to the fullest: “keeping the commandments,” and “loving one another.” This is how we bear the good fruit of the Kingdom of God. And the reward for doing this is so that our joy will be complete. God wants us to be happy like those little children no matter how old we are, or how difficult life might feel like. God is love, and sent Jesus to be with us in this crazy life. Jesus came and gave us the same God Love he received and practiced. With it we also get his joy and his salvation. That’s worthy of a special celebration every day!
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. The gist is this. Jesus tells Peter he is the rock upon which the church will be built. It’s in this one sentence that human beings have caused massive divisions among God’s children, and great schisms of historical proportions (1).
What does this mean? In short, Catholics believe Jesus purposefully called Peter “The Rock” (not because but like the self-given nickname of Dwayne Johnson) to literally say he is the big massive boulder or foundation which God will begin construction upon. This is used to justify the doctrine of Apostolic Succession, which if quickly summized would suggest that each Pope continues from the linage of Peter...who a direct line to Jesus’ teaching. They are therefore the keepers of the pure teachings of Jesus. Protestants more often than not read the Greek word Petros (1) as a small pebble, meaning God is using all of us small pebbles in life to build and grow the church. And that the Bible and nature reveals Jesus and God’s great mysteries to us. Believe me, I know this is grossly simplified and offers zero justice to either side of the argument. Its just context that helps me make my point. (Bible.org does a a much better summery below). I see both both sides and do not attempt to argue them because both work to whatever God intended. Both agree that Jesus is the cornerstone and the head of the church. And neither discount our place and purpose in the blueprint. Just as it takes many grains of sand heated up and tightly compressed by eons if time to make a rick formation, so too does it take a lot of tools and materials to build a house or any structure. Even a work of art, be it a cathedral or a person. The great Catholic theologian Henri Nouwen has a beautiful way to show the importance of our inclusion in this wonderful design called Life. He writes, “A mosaic consists of thousands of little stones. Some are blue, some are green, some are yellow, some are gold. When we bring our faces close to the mosaic, we can admire the beauty of each stone. But as we step back from it, we can see that all these little stones reveal to us a beautiful picture, telling a story none of these stones can tell by itself. “That is what our life in community is about. Each of us is like a little stone, but together we reveal the face of God to the world. Nobody can say: "I make God visible." But others who see us together can say: "They make God visible." Community is where humility and glory touch.” We are made from different names, languages, beliefs, theories, concepts, shapes, sizes, and colors just to name a few. Yet we are all one, amazing work of art - created by an impressive and imaginative artist for the sole (soul) purpose of building a community of love and peace. When put together we have the power and potential to be stunning and priceless. But to see it from afar, in the big picture of eternity donwe really begin to comprehend the true wothbof such beauty. (1) Bible.org had this to add: “But his declaration about Messiah’s person led to a declaration of Messiah’s program. Peter (Petros, masc.) was strong like a rock, but Jesus added that on this rock (petra, fem.) He would build His church. Because of this change in Greek words, many conservative scholars believe that Jesus is now building His church on Himself. Others hold that the church is built on Peter and the other apostles as the building’s foundation stones (Eph. 2:20; Rev. 21:14). Still other scholars say that the church is built on Peter’s testimony. It seems best to understand that Jesus was praising Peter for his accurate statement about Him, and was introducing His work of building the church on Himself (1 Cor. 3:11). (2) Strong’s Greek; Pétros (a masculine noun) – properly, a stone (pebble), such as a small rock found along a pathway. (3) Nouwen, Henri. Bread for the Journey, 1996. ”We always seem to be faced with this choice; to save the world or savor it?”
- savor it in all its deliciousness. “The affection of God unfolds when there is no daylight separating us.” - light can be as blinding as the darkness, so no matter where we are we are susceptible to being blinded by God’s love. ”Putting on Christ is the easy part, but never taking him off...that’s a challenge.” - it’s not so much a costume as it is birthday suit that we never out grow despite the many ways we try. Never stop trying. ”God is Love. And love is a relationship. This relationship is one of joy, and it can’t be contained.” - you’ve been invited to the greatest party the world has ever seen...what are you going to wear? (See above) “Dying to live.” - but like who? ”I’m not too concerned with what I am going to do. I am more interested in who I am becoming. I want to be a lover of God and people.” - I want or I am? Here’s a deep thought to ponder: everyone is some one. We each have a name. A story. A scar. A place of birth and a time of death. Something always happens during the waking hours. And even while we are sleeping our name, our story and our scar continue to define us whether we like it or know it or not.
In essence these elements are the things that unite us. Our differences might define us but they also draw us together. Jesus knew this. Eating with “sinners” to touching the “unhealthy” to reaching out to the “out” Jesus understood we are all one; not just some one but simply ONE. Jesus saw us as children of God. We all belonged to God. And therefore we all belong to one another. What might life life be like if we actually practiced such radial inclusion? If we truly looked at the other person and saw not just the divine image of a loving and merciful God, but also our own self; name, story, scars et al. What might our streets look like or jail cells be like if we began to recognize that everyone is more than a brother or sister...they are me! “I am the other you. You are the other me.” “The invitation for the christ in me is to see the Christ in you. There is no one outside of that way of seeing.” This is what it must be like to love your neighbor as yourself. And what we must do in order to truly forgive one another as God has forgiven in you and me...us. ”God is not waiting around for us to prove our worthiness.” - Greg Boyle, Barking at the Choir.5/1/2018 Let’s face it. “We don’t always get it right.” In fact, more often than not we get it all wrong. God isn’t asking us to perfect in the sense that we never mess up, that our “t’s”are perfectly crossed and our “i’s” are dotted with just the correct amount of effort and energy. God just wants us to be in a constant state of trying to get it right. If we are always in the process of trying then we are always moving towards God and not waisting our time doing something that draws us away. One of those “waist of time” is worrying about being perfect enough, or right enough, or good enough to receive the love of God or others.
When speaking to celebrating mass in detention facilities, Boyle writes, “I remind folks before receiving the Eucharist that, as human beings, we often do t always get things right. So I welcome them to the human race, the whole catastrophe, in all our imperfections, so they will come to the communion table.” We are all worthy to receive God’s love, grace, mercy, and sacrifice. As we are. Where we are. No matter what. This is the love Jesus taught and gave away. The very love we too are called to live. Thankfully, “God is not waiting around” for us to come to our senses. |
Ian MacdonaldAn ex-copywriter turned punk rock pastor and peacemaker who dedicates his life to making the world a better place for all humanity. "that they all might be one" ~John 17:21“Prius vita quam doctrina.”
~ St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) * “Life is more important than doctrine.”
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