Stand Firm in Following Jesus

Two questions come to mind as we read today’s passages from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians and the Gospel of Luke:  What does it mean for us in the summer of 2016 to stand firm in the knowledge that Christ has set us free; and how are we to follow Jesus? 

It is summer and for many if not most of us it is a time to relax, take a vacation, go to the beach, or in any way we can to get off the fast-moving treadmill of our frenetic and busy lives.  Following Jesus and standing firm in God’s grace requires a different kind of energy from the stresses and pressures of our normal routines.

In the Gospel there were three people who wanted to follow Jesus but they had excuses for not getting behind him just yet.  They seemed to realize that following Jesus meant changing the way they were accustomed to living their lives.  The status-quo was no longer an option, but in order to be a follower, a disciple, required real change, a transformation.  A new life was to be adopted; it was a life of freedom, justice and peace in a world that was fraught with injustice, oppression and inequality.

Jesus responded to the three people who said they wanted to follow him.  To the first person he said, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." In other words, while some people are content with what they have, it requires taking a risk to leave the comforts of what you already have in order to follow an uncertain course into the future.

The second person who asked to follow Jesus said he first wanted to go and bury his father.  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."  It is a far cry from burying the dead when you are called to affirm the teaching of both Jesus and the prophet Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; and recovery of sight to the blind.  To let the oppressed go free; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Finally, a third person said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

These three people had reasonable excuses.  The first person was willing to follow Jesus but he did not seem quite ready to make a very strong commitment.  The second person needed to bury his father.  Certainly his excuse necessitated a delay in following Jesus.  And the third person simply wanted to say goodbye to his family and friends. What could be wrong with that? 

Was Jesus unreasonable?  I think the point to be made is that we are to continually find new ways of being followers of Jesus.  There can be no excuses, no turning back to the older and perhaps more comfortable or nostalgic ways of being a Christian. 

When Jesus said that no one who plows looks back, I am reminded to some relatives I had growing up in southern Ohio.  I had aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides of my family who were farmers.  I recall one of my uncles plowing with a horse drawing the plow and the other uncle using a tractor on his farm.  It was important to plow in a straight direction so when seeds were planted crops would grow in properly spaced and fertilized rows.  Crops were also rotated so the soil would be refreshed or renewed over the years.  As one commentator stated,  “A Palestinian plow required constant attention; diverting one’s attention for a moment led to disaster.  Jesus demands constancy and concentration in proclaiming his message; once committed to Christ, there is no going back.”

Paul in his letter to the Galatians said there was no going back when it comes to standing firm in the faith.  “You were called to freedom… do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, …for the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

We all stand firm in the faith by being led by the Spirit: “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law…. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. … If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”

When we ask what it means to stand firm in the knowledge of Christ who has set us free, and how are we to follow Jesus it is clear that we are to focus on living by the fruits of the Spirit and to work for realizing the grace of God by healing the sick, comforting the broken-hearted, freeing prisoners and captive, and proclaiming God’s love for everyone.  It is a ministry of new life and hope for our troubled society and world.  It demands our complete resolve and dedication.  So during these wonderful days of summer may we all live by the grace of God knowing in our lives and actions the love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity, faithfulness. gentleness, and self-control that is the fruit of the Spirit.  Amen.

Healing our Demons

We heard in the gospel of Luke, “people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid…. Jesus sent [the man] away saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. -

A man possessed by demons had fallen down before Jesus.  He had been bound with chains and shackles and was afraid that Jesus, like others before him, was going to torture him.  He was powerless and in bondage.  He saw Jesus and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I beg you, do not torment me.”  He was obviously frightened because “Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.”  Jesus then asked him his name.  The man said, “‘Legion’, for many demons had entered him.”

One of the many gifts Jesus had was the ability to heal.  Jesus was a healer.  His healing encompassed “a wide range of phenomena.  Physical healing,… psychological healing, inner healing, healing of memories,…and also healing of societies and institutions.”  Driving the demons, the unclean spirit, out of the man demonstrated the level of Jesus’ care for those in desperate situations.  The name “Legion” that the man gave to himself means “many.”

The many demons of our time are the consequences of the sins that infect our culture.  Greed, individualism, inequality, racism, bigotry, and violence are the demons that need to be driven out and healed.  It is a healing that encompasses psychological healing, educational healing, inner healing, physical healing, social and institutional healing.  It is the healing Jesus demonstrated when he commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man named Legion.

Jesus was compassionate and cared deeply for the poor and oppressed people of the world.  He demonstrated that God’s love included outsiders, especially women, Gentiles, marginalized, and people possessed by demonic forces.  Jesus showed that God’s power was mightier than the power of evil.

Two weeks ago I spoke about the need for effective gun legislation that would require background checks on all gun purchases and other violence prevention measures, including making gun trafficking a federal crime

In light of what happened last week in Orlando, Florida, it is now critical that action occurs in preventing gun violence in our country.

The hate and bigotry toward fellow citizens and people of different religions, gender and race is unconscionable.

Gun violence is not something that happens to other people.  The deaths in Connecticut, Colorado, California, and Florida impact every person.  They happen to us and to everyone.   We know there is widespread public support for gun-safety measures.

Here in Rhode Island there are legislative measures that have been introduced to target perpetrators of domestic violence, to keep guns out of Rhode Island schools, and to restrict high-capacity magazines. These are sensible legislative measures designed to improve public safety.

There have been vigils and prayers offered on behalf of the victims and families of the Orlando massacre.  We shall soon pray in a Litany to Prevent Gun Violence, “Merciful God, bind up the wounds of all who suffer from gun violence, those maimed and disfigured, those left alone and grieving, and those who struggle to get through one more day.  Bless them with your presence and help them find hope.”

Prayers and moments of silence whether in Congress or our General Assembly are important but they are not enough.  As I said two weeks ago Christians and people of faith in God’s plan for creation and the future of all humanity musty do more than offer only thoughts and prayers for victims, both dead and wounded, and their families.

We need to rise to the challenge presented by the Gospel to heal our society of unclean spirits, to alleviate suffering and death and to transform our culture so it will become one of peace and justice, and a place in which children may grow and flourish in safety.  Working for peace and justice and the end to violence requires a commitment to action for promoting the common good and health of our society.

You and I come to church where we can find the Spirit of God’s love in our lives as we open our hearts, kindle our spirits and enlighten our minds so the awe and wonder of our lives and relationships will fill our souls.  Here we experience the healing ministry of Jesus.  Here we experience the mercy and compassion of God.  Here we pray as Paul said in his letter to the Galatians, ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female;” and I add, there is no longer straight or gay, there is no longer Christian or Muslim, “for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’”  Amen.

Faith and Forgiveness

The book group I am part of is reading a fascinating book titled Infinite Awareness by Marjorie Woollacott.  Woollacott is a neuroscientist and professor of science at the University of Oregon.  As with most scientists she had no doubt in her early education believing that the brain was a physical entity controlled by chemicals and electrical pulses.  However, many years ago when she experimented with meditation, her journey made her question the reality upon which she built her career. As a result she was forced to ask what really is human consciousness.  

Infinite Awareness is about Professor Woolacott’s research as a neuroscientist and her self-revelation about the mind’s spiritual power.  Between the scientific and spiritual worlds, she breaks open the definition of human consciousness to investigate the existence of a non-physical and infinitely powerful mind.

I mention this because it is similar to St. Paul’s comparing his understanding of faith versus the importance of observing the law.  Each has its place.  The law, like science and the brain, is objective and can be studied and amended as new knowledge and circumstances warrant.  Faith and love, like the mind or conscience, are beyond objectivity. They are subjective, spiritual and relational.  There is for Woollacott and for people of faith, a sense in which the spiritual mind exists beyond the physical limitations of the body and the brain.  It is both a transcendent and an imminent reality.

The stories from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians and the Gospel of Luke are about faith versus the law and forgiveness. What is inferred by Paul in his letter is that justification by observing the law is not sufficient for those who follow Christ.  Paul writes, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ…. The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”

In commenting on this passage the Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann said, “Paul offers a classic statement about an alternative life that is lived out of God’s limitless generosity, for which we use the term ‘grace’….  These texts witness to the summons put before us by the gospel—a choice between self-securing that brings death or reliance upon God’s generosity.”

The narrative in Luke’s gospel is is also about God’s limitless generosity and in this case, forgiveness.  It is a story about a sinful woman who “crashed” a dinner party Jesus was having in a Pharisee’s house.  She brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment, stood behind Jesus, wept, and began bathing his feet with her tears and then drying them with her hair.  Then she anointed his feet with the ointment. 

This is a beautiful story.  As it develops the Pharisee host, Simon, tells Jesus that the woman is a sinner.  Jesus replies by sharing a parable about two debtors who owed different sums of money to the same creditor.  The creditor out of his generosity forgives both the larger and the smaller debts when he learns that those who owed him money could not pay.  Then Jesus asked Simon, “Now which of them will love him more?”  Simon replied that it is likely the one who owed the most.

Jesus used this parable to accuse his Pharisee host of not providing common hospitality for him when he entered his house.  “You gave me no water for my feet…. You gave me no kiss…. You did not anoint my head with oil.”  The sinful woman did all of this and more; she even “anointed my feet with ointment.”  Then, turning to the woman, Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven…. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This story is a generous expression of grace and mercy.  The woman’s sin is never identified.  Jesus was impressed by the woman’s love and concern, and he responded by expressing his gratitude and forgiveness.

We learn from the woman’s forgiveness how we are to relate to our neighbors, and how we are to be forgiving and provide loving care to others.  Are we like the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet and offer hospitality and love for everyone?

Paul in his letter to the Galatians and the story from Luke invite us to reflect on how we think of ourselves, our faith and our relationships with others.  Marjorie Woollacott in Infinite Awareness shows that through meditation we let go of all the stresses and pressures that surround us and try to empty our minds of everything except the grace of God.  Meditation is about a spiritual reality, and properly understood it motivates us to live with greater awareness of our relationships with God and our neighbors, and to have compassion for those in need.

We pray that God will keep the Church and all of us in his steadfast faith and love, that through God’s grace we may proclaim truth with boldness, and minister God’s justice with compassion.  We are a community of loving forgiveness so that everyone who enters here will know the love of God.  Amen. 

Stories of Death and Life

Our stories this morning from the Book of Kings and the Gospel of Luke are about death and life.  In the first reading, Elijah who was staying in the house of a widow at Zarephath, took her severely ill son and cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.

 

Then, in the Gospel of Luke we are told about a woman’s only son who had died and was being carried to be buried when Jesus saw her.  He came forward and touched the bier and said, "Young man, I say to you, rise!" The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

These are stories about life, how valued it is, and they are stories about the power of God.  God’s creation is dynamic, open to change, and capable of transformation, of being reborn to new life.  They are stories to challenge us to alleviate the world’s suffering.  How can Christians be more like Elijah and respond to a world needing new life and hope? 

How can we as Christians follow Jesus and respond to the world’s suffering, violence and death with compassion and knowledge that God’s desire is for the life of all people?

This past Thursday was a day focused on national gun violence awareness.  During the past week both the New York Times and the Providence Journal had articles about gun violence and what measures could be undertaken to reduce the deaths and wounds from guns. The Episcopal News Service carried an article that focused on the “Wear Orange Movement,” a movement designed to reduce gun violence.

“The Wear Orange Movement began in 2013 after Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old high school student, was shot to death on the south side of Chicago just a week after marching in President Barack Obama’s second inaugural parade. Her friends asked people to honor Pendleton by wearing orange — the color hunters choose for safety — on her birthday, June 2.  Their cause was taken up by gun violence prevention groups around the country who last year promoted the first National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

This year a group of more than 60 Episcopal bishops formed a group called Bishops United Against Gun Violence.  They advocate for background checks on all gun purchases and other violence prevention measures, and they have urged all Episcopalians to join the movement.”

The bishops want us to support “the passage of an effective statute making gun trafficking a federal crime, and the development of smart gun technology.”

In a statement they said, “As religious leaders, we are sometimes asked why we involve ourselves in divisive political issues such as this one,” Newark Bishop Mark Beckwith, the convener of the bishops group wrote an op-ed piece in the Newark, New Jersey, Star-Ledger newspaper on June 2^nd, “Our answer is two-fold: First, to speak in the language of one of Jesus’ best-loved parables, we must not only be good Samaritans, ministering to the man who fell in among thieves; we must also make safe the road from Jericho to Jerusalem, and that is an inherently political business. And second, this issue is not as divisive as it may seem.”

Bishop Beckwith continued, “overwhelming majorities of Americans, including large majorities of gun owners and members of the National Rifle Association, support requiring background checks for all gun purchases. The numbers fluctuate from poll to poll, but seldom dip below 85 percent.”

Connecticut Bishop Ian Douglas said, “death and destruction is not of God.  The church has a key role to play.  We need to foster a conversation, create space where gun owners and those who do not possess fire arms can have a conversation about what it means to be children of God.”

“With sacred and secular rituals of memorial services and vigils, we struggle to honor and cherish the loved ones we have lost.  We owe our children something we can no longer give them — safety, protection, a society in which the slaughter of innocents is unthinkable rather than routine. Sadly, the best we can do is redoubling our efforts to provide some sense of security to the children who are still with us. The work is urgent: in the three years after the tragedy in Newtown, a child under 12 was shot and killed in this country every other day.”

Bishop Douglas concluded, “In the U.S. every year 30,000 people continue to die directly because of gun violence and 60 percent of them at their own hand… Our vocation is to work together and find that space where arm-in-arm we can say that such death and destruction is not countenanced in our society anymore. ”

Gun violence is not something that happens to other people.  It happens to us and to everyone who lives right here in Providence.  The Journal reported last week, “A new poll commissioned by gun control advocates points to strong public support for three gun-safety measures currently before the Rhode Island General Assembly. All three were introduced last year and failed to gain traction. Unfortunately, they appear headed for the same fate as this year’s session draws toward a close.

“One bill targets perpetrators of domestic violence. Another seeks to keep guns out of Rhode Island schools. And the third would restrict high-capacity magazines. All seem sensible steps toward improving public safety.”

These measures are common sense legislation designed to prevent gun violence.  As Christians and people of faith in God’s plan for creation and the future of all humanity it is not enough to offer only thoughts and prayers for victims, both dead and wounded, and their families. We need to rise to the challenge presented by the Gospel to alleviate suffering and death and to transform our culture so it will become one of peace and justice, and a place in which children may grow and flourish in safety.  Amen.