What is the relation of [contemplation] to action? Simply this. He [or she] who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love will not have anything to give others. He will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of his own obsessions, his aggressiveness, his ego-centered ambitions, his delusions about ends and means, his doctrinaire prejudices and ideas. There is nothing more tragic in the modern world than the misuse of power and action. . . . —Thomas Merton, from his Contemplation in a World of Action. (University of Notre Dame Press: 1998), 160-161.
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.” - Jesus the Christ, Matthew 23:1-8, ESV. The politics of Jesus are simple. Love God. Love one another. Serve, and not be worried about being served. Fear not, and do not breed fear for others. Turn the other cheek. Forgive one another. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Mt. 23:13)
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His name is Jesus.
And this is what we know about him. He was born in another country, forced to leave his own hometown, he was an immigrant. Many years later that experience would cause him to make us look differently at one another. Look through a different lens. Feel through a new heart. And speak through a new vocabulary. His name is Jesus. He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:7-11 NIV) His name is Jesus. But it could easily be Jesús. Or Jose. Or Carlos. Or Kevin. You might not even recognize him when he comes. But you ought. You might not know him but does that matter more than how you might greet him, treat him, welcome him or cast him aside? I think not. But if you know Jesus. Do what he did. Love as he loved. Give as he gave. And be one with the One as you are with one another. “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” (Philippians 2:1-4 MSG) His name is Jesus. And what Jesus did for Jesús...Jesus did also for you. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:11-12 ESVFr. Richard Rohr writes about the economy of war in a July 4th devotional. He does so by speaking of his spiritual mentor St. Francis of Assisi. It just so happen to coincide with a daily bible verse I received on my phone from John’s first epistle, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:11-12 ESV)
Here is what Rohr wrote. My spiritual father St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), was a nonviolent and “soft” prophet—keeping God free for people and people free for God—during a pivotal period when Western civilization was moving into rationality, consumerism, and nonstop war. Francis himself was a soldier and his father was a wealthy clothier. From this personal experience, Francis was able to offer a positive critique and an alternative way of living. His radical message and lifestyle were a warning about what money, power, and war were about to do on a much larger scale. Francis refused to be a “user” of reality, buying and selling it to personal advantage (an I-it relationship). He granted personal subjectivity to sun, moon, wind, animals, and even death, by addressing them as brother, sister, friend, and mother—intimate I-Thou relationships. Like Jesus, Francis was a non-exclusionary bridge-builder. He tried to stop Christian crusaders from attacking Muslims. He wanted Christians to carry the Gospel of peace to the Islamic world, not to take up weapons. But he had little success with either side. [1] Francis tried to point us beyond the mere production-consumption economy and the typical us-versus-them mentality, which still dominates the world today. To be a contemplative means to look at reality with much wider eyes than mere usability, functionality, or self-interest; it is to experience inherent enjoyment for a thing in itself, as itself, and even by itself. An act of love is its own reward and needs nothing in return. This demands that we learn to love the stranger at the gate, the one outside of our comfort zone, who cannot repay us and so we can be repaid by God (see Luke 14:14). Do you realize how revolutionary that is? It is what Charles Eisenstein means by a “gift economy,” and yet most do not realize he is merely repeating what Jesus already taught but has never been seriously considered by most Christians. [2] When we can recognize the image of God in every living being, the ethics and economics of war reveal themselves in all their evil and stupidity. As one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries, the United States’ over-sized defense budget says a great deal about our priorities: $668 billion for defense vs. $190 billion for education, housing, infrastructure, and other basic services. [3] It might appear that the U.S. is fighting fewer wars with fewer troops; however, more work is being given to private, highly paid contractors (while many active service members and veterans qualify for food stamps). Why don’t we say, “Thank you for your service!” to teachers, too? The military gives us needed security, but teachers give us the health and culture that allows us to flourish inside that security. Security is not an end itself. Human flourishing is. [1] See Paul Moses, The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace (Image: 2009).[2] Charles Eisenstein, Sacred Economics: Money, Gift & Society in the Age of Transition (Evolver Editions: 2011).
Today’s gospel is a story about two people, each one seeking the same thing form Jesus: a healing miracle. This would take nothing less than faith. But once they showed it, God immediately addressed their cries and healed their brokenness.
The story is found in the fifth chapter of Mark’s gospel. When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and Mark takes us to a seaside town, a place where Jesus has been before. At the docks, a crowd gathers, pressing in on him, hoping to see if the rumors about this man are true. Jairus, an important man in the community, is there to meet him. Faithfully believing in what is being said about Jesus, he humbles himself and begs for help. While they make their way to Jairus’ home, Jesus has an encounter with a woman who would have seemed destined to die alone and unknown. She too showed her great faith - trusting that all she needed to do was reach out and touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and she would be healed and restored. Her faith, like many of us today, seems to come from out of desperation and fear. But for twelve years, “She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had.” This tells me that she was once a woman of means but whonow had been reduced to poverty. Jesus would be her last investment. With nothing left to lose, she pushed her way into Jesus. Mind you, she was considered unclean by Jewish law. Anyone she touched would also be considered unclean. Yet when she grabbed hold of Jesus’ cloak, “Immediately, her bleeding stopped.” Without fully understanding, she knew in her heart “she was freed from her suffering.” Here's the good news...Jesus doesn’t see an unclean woman. He doesn’t see her by her social status. Nor judge her by her wealth or sin. He simply sees a child of God, like you and me. Instead of shaming her for what she did, Jesus praises her for what she has… faith. Looking into her eyes with love, he says the words that make her healing complete: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.” After so many people had cast her down, it is Jesus who lifts her up. And after being defined by her brokenness, it is Jesus who redefines her. And with one word, “Daughter,” this unnamed woman sees her worth in God's heart and her salvation is complete. Whether you’ve had faith all your life like Jairus, or you are only finding it now like this unnamed woman, the same truth applies: the second you reach out to God, God immediately draws you into his heart and makes you a beloved child. This is what Jesus so often does with his healing. More than just curing a disease, Jesus restores us to our rightful place: at home in God’s eternal love. And it all begins with faith. Faith is best defined as Trusting in God’s faithfulness and promise to us. There is also a sense of immediacy with faith. Immediately the blood dries up. Immediately Jesus is aware. Immediately the house is filled with joy again. Immediately my cancer was gone. Immediately our sins are forgiven. The second we say yes to God, we immediately become God's beloved. Our brokenness restored, our life renewed. God’s healing hands – Our forgiven hearts. Restoration. Salvation. This is the power of God’s grace that flows to us through Jesus Christ. This week as will celebrate our nations’ independence, it’s hard to imagine the division and brokenness that plagues our communities is what are founding fathers and mothers had in mind. But here we are, a broken country in dire need of healing and restoration. Inside and outside our borders, the beloved children of God are judged unfairly and pushed away from being a part of society. They are named in various ways as outcasts and treated as less than human. Families are divided over pettiness and politics. Until all of God’s children are welcome into our hearts – as God has welcomed each one of us – we will continue to fall short of the kingdom of God. Our faith will be incomplete. And our bleeding will continue. Thus we must always pray for God’s healing hand, and the strength to love and forgive and accept one another no matter what. If you are struggling with a long-term problem in your life that does not seem to be getting any better, or if you have recently received news that knocks your faith, turn to Jesus…whose faithfulness to God has a profound impact on us and the world. If you believe you are unworthy or that you are someone who has been judged as less than, know that God loves you as you are and wants better for you as well. God sent Jesus to take your hurt and brokenness, and give you shalom—the health, healing, and wholeness—he gave to a woman not named in scripture, but whose faith is unforgettable. You don’t have to even touch the hem of his garment. You only have to reach out your heart in prayer and offer Jesus your pain and suffering. And immediately you will be made new again. Work Cited: I am grateful to the wisdom and insight of Rev. Cannon Frank Logue whose sermon “A Beloved Child Of God” inspired this sermon. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2018/06/11/a-beloved-child-of-god-pentecost-6-b-july-1-2018/ |
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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