December 13, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Zephaniah 3: 14-18 + Psalm Isaiah 12:2-3,4:5-6 + Philippians 4:4-7 + Luke 3: 10-18 Fr. Boyer

Poor John the Baptist suffers from bad-press.I think he needed a press agent or someone to put a good spin on his preaching. His home in the desert as we have it described does not exactly sound like a villa in Phoenix or Palm Springs. Maybe it was his wardrobe or his diet that made him seem so scary both of which seem to have caught the attention of writers. Artists have consistently made him look like a raving mad-man. But Luke treats him a bit more gently today. John is not screaming rebukes trying to reduce a crowd to a pool of guilt and fear. While there is a sense of urgency about his message, when you listen carefully without all the bad spin he gets, he is encouraging not threatening. The response he urges is not motivated by fear and terror, but by a desire and hope for readiness. “What shall we do?” they ask. In fact, three times the question is asked by the crowd, by the soldiers, and by the tax collectors. Everyone asks. I find it interesting to notice that this is the exact question posed with the exact same Greek words in Luke’s description of how the people responded to the preaching of the apostles on Pentecost morning, “What shall we do?”

In some ways, it’s a silly question and as often is the case, questions say a lot about the ones who ask them. It’s a like a student coming to a teacher and asking, “What do I have to do to get an A in this class?” Duh!
How about showing up for class; paying attention, participating in discussion, reading the text book, and getting assignments done on time for starters!

Tax collectors as the question, and John says: “How about not cheating people for your own gain?” Soldiers as the question, and John says: “How about not abusing your power like a bully?” Of course they’re all looking for some big thing to do, something extra ordinary perhaps to get some attention and look good when the time comes.  But that is not what they get from the response, and it must have left them stunned.

Instead of telling them to head to the Temple, to offer incense, light candles, start novenas or hold fast days, he tells them to be just, stop being greedy, feed the hungry, share their clothing and take care of one another. I would point out to you that this translation is not quite as specific. If it were more precisely translated from the Greek, would be clear that what John proposes is not a closet cleaning whereby you get rid of extras coats. The word he uses specifically refers to what is worn closest to your skin. In other words, take off the one you are wearing and give that someone who has nothing. Giving a spare is not much of a gift. You don’t need it anyway.

He tells the powerful to stop victimizing the poor. The poor are not there to supplement and sustain the lifestyle of those in power. The message of John and of the one coming after him is first of all a social message that addresses political and economic matters long before it turns to pious matters of faith. It is as though we have to get that right before we can show up at the temple with any authentic credibility. The conversion and repentance John calls for affects first of all the social life of the people who hear the message.

So, filled with expectation we are like those who heard John and we still ask, “What shall we do?”
John has the same answer for us. Readiness for Christ’s coming at the end of our time requires nothing spectacular and nothing we cannot do. For people like me, it means giving all I can, being prepared for Mass, listening and guiding, leading and teaching, forgiving, comforting, and encouraging. For young people it means being kind, faithful to your church, chaste, prayerful, and attentive to the Gospel, using your gifts and your time generously, and being good students open to learning and looking for wisdom. For parents it means simply nurturing the whole life of your children spiritual, physical, intellectual loving them all the way even when the love is tough and painful. For spouses it means fidelity, love, and sacrifice. It means presence, tenderness, attention, and willing forgiveness before it is asked. For single people it means simply being who you are wherever you are;
living with integrity, sincerity, and confident that just as Christ is your companion every day, you are a companion to others. Do a good day’s work as best you can. For all of us readiness for Christ’s coming means being and living just as God created and called us: living our vocation in fullness and in gratitude.  In the light of what John has to teach us then there is nothing for us to fear and every reason to live with the joyful anticipation that one day even if caught by surprise we shall be found worthy and blameless in God’s sight.

December 6, 2009 at Saint Mark in Norman, OK

Baruch 5: 1-9 + Psalm 126 + Philippians 1: 4-6, 8-11 + Luke 3: 1-6

Christ has died, Christ is risen, CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN! Remember that from last week? Good because I’m not finished talking about it. We believe that Christ will come again, and that expectation has given rise to some really weird ideas. “The Rapture” which we who live here in this part of the country hear a lot about is a perfect example. Before the 19th century no one ever heard of such a thing. The scheme comes from a British Preacher named John Darby and it is the consequence of his mistaken literal interpretation of several passages of scripture. By taking several verses from different biblical sources out of their context he desperately reassembled these bits and pieces in a strangely literal way coming up with the concept of the “Rapture”. Those of us who grew up down here under the buckle of the Bible Belt know only too well what that’s all about. You know how the conversation goes: “Are you saved?” A question which has no interest in salvation. It means: “Do you believe literally in the bible like me?” Right then and there, you’re in trouble because no matter what your answer, the questioner will determine that you are not saved which means that when the end of time comes, and that’s going to be soon, you are going to be punished. It always makes me think of my mother saying to me way too often:”You just wait till your Father gets home.”

The Rapture of course is going to be pretty awful, so they say. The saved, meaning the born again are going to be lifted up, and then seven years of tribulation will set upon the rest of us, especially us Catholics. There is an alarming popularity in this thinking, and there is something very wrong with it. It leads far too many Christians to believe in a kind of “shoot-em-up” “Terminator” type of Jesus who comes back to kill the bad guys and blow up the world. Movie theaters pack in crowds who want to watch the end of the world, and the move violent and bloody it is, the more believable and the possible it become.

Now this kind of thinking has had a serious effect upon our lives and our culture. This kind Jesus who comes in blazing and bloody starts looking like the right kind of Justice. Revenge and punishment start to take over and the God Jesus wanted us to call: “Abba” turns into angry monster who is bound and determined to get even.
This idea of Justice has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. An expectation that the next coming will bring the Lion of Judah who will trample his enemies and spare the elect is twisted thinking that sells a lot books and abandons the Good News.Because those of us who have begun to enter into the mystery of redemption and live in the tradition of our faith know there is something very wrong with this thinking, so we get tempted to not think about  the second coming at all. Since the Rapture thinking gets so much press we just stop thinking about Christ’s return altogether. We forget what it is we wait for and instead of getting ready, we stay busy about today and tomorrow and little silly things that suddenly one day are not going to matter at all.

This is costing us a sense of urgency, and the fact that we live in a church that celebrates in cycles only makes it worse, because we forget as we go around from season to season that we are going someplace. This Advent could be a time to reclaim an urgency about our mission, not stir up fear that Jesus is going to come and destroy everything and everyone he doesn’t happen to like. The truth is, sometimes there is not enough fire in us. Sometimes we forget that time is short and we have to be about something important: more important than shopping, football, how we look, and what we can do for fun this afternoon.

Rather than being distracted by silly talk of the “anti-Christ” we might do well to recognize that the enemy is within us, and that we have the potential of destroying ourselves through a catastrophic war with nuclear and biological weapons or through the slow but steady destruction of this beautiful planet.

Think of this: If you look at the history of salvation right down to the Incarnation, nothing happens between heaven and earth without the cooperation of humans: No willing woman in Nazareth, no Jesus of Nazareth.
It still continues just that way. Our mission is to hasten the day of Christ’s coming, and look forward to that day with joyful hope. Living now in this time between the first and the second coming ought to bring us a kind of peace and serenity from living and understanding the message and mission of Christ. It also ought to stir us with a passion for the possible that urges us day in and day out to keep on working to better establish the Kingdom of God to get it right and get it where it’s supposed to be.  Even death itself is nothing to fear for those who have lived in expectation of what wonderful things are to come from a healing, loving, merciful God. And so we can proclaim with confidence and joy: Dying you destroyed our Death, Rising you restored our Life, What’s the rest of it? ………. Lord, Jesus Come in Glory.

November 29, 2009 at Saint Mark in Norman, OK

Jeremiah 33: 14-16 + Psalm 25 + 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 + Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

That there will be a “second coming” is a fundamental element of Christian Faith. How and when this shall occur has not been given us. If it were, the way we live our lives would probably be quite different. In fact, as I have thought about this, it occurs to me that the very reason why we live our lives is shaped by an expectation of a “second coming.” Then the “how” we live in this world will reveal whether or not we have understood and embraced the promise that there will be a second coming.

The birth, the life, and the death of Jesus Christ reveal something about us as much as about God. His absence from this earth is a reminder that this place is not our home. We were not created to live here forever. We understand that from a serious reflection on the meaning of Jesus Christ. Within our own Catholic tradition, to make the point even more forcefully, we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Mother. We were not created, called into life, and brought into communion with one another and God to be at home here. Therefore, what we do here, why we do it, and how are serious matters that have something to do with whether or not we shall fear the second coming or anticipate it with joy.

Somehow, we seem to be surrounded by people who do not believe this. In spite of the fact that they would like to be known as “spiritual” or “Christian” there is not much evidence that they expect any second coming or that they will be called to account for their stewardship. The faith we share insists that we are guests on this earth; that it is not ours to use, to use up, or to abuse all to comfort ourselves with the best of everything right now no matter what the cost to this earth or to those who will follow us.

You remember that the first and earliest followers of Christ expected the second coming very soon, and so they lived in such a way that generosity, justice, forgiveness, and a constant concern for the common good was simply the way of life. I am beginning to suspect that the delay in the second coming has been God’s way of waiting to see if we get the point, waiting to see if we really believe,
waiting to see who will live here in expectation that there is more to come which shapes and disciplines how they live today.

I wonder sometimes if our response to the depth and complexities of the challenges we face living in this world is not making us more shallow and more simple minded. In the wake of another “black Friday” the evidence of our shallow values is overwhelming. Luke calls it “indulgence.”

The demand for simple answers to complex problems polarizes us civilly, and all the while we grow more and more distant, more and more distracted, and more and more impatient with one another living more and more as if this was all there is. “Bloated with indulgence and drunkenness and worldly cares” is the way Luke describes his times.

So, Advent comes: four Sundays of reflection and biblical reminders from God’s Word that Christ will come again. The feast of Christmas is not the concern of Advent. There is more going on here than an annual pre-Christmas season. The “coming” we sing about, the “coming” for which we prepare is not for a baby in Bethlehem no matter what poets may tempt us to imagine. The “coming” for which we prepare is clearly announced by Christ to those who listen. The warnings issued by Christ and sacred writers since His words were spoken urge us to take care that we may not become shallow and empty consumers. They urge us to remember at all times that this precious earth is not ours to use,  but a time and place for us to make ready, a time to perfect our skills as stewards, and a place for us to reveal in our lives what we believe and what we hope for.

In raising the thought and the promise of a Judgment, I want to propose to you that there will be little to fear from that Judgment if we have daily judged how well our lives have been pleasing to God, as Paul suggests to the Thessalonians. Shallow empty lives of glamour and comfort, entertainment and pleasure, silly and trivial matters will not bear up well under the Judgment to come when examined in contrast to the life of Jesus Christ. That life from Bethlehem to Jerusalem and everything that happened in between must be the model of what we shall become on this earth. When we finally understand that and make it so, the first coming will awaken us better than it did some shepherds outside Bethlehem for we have seen what they did not see, we have known what they could never know: that Christ Has Died. Christ is Risen, and Christ will Come again.

November 8, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

1 Kings: 17: 10-16 + Psalm 146 + Hebrews 9: 24-28 + Mark 12: 38-44

We have made it to Jerusalem with Jesus where it is one constant confrontation with the authorities. But today, there stands before him, someone different from all the others. They come with all their money, their wisdom, their experience, their authority

She comes to teach what they cannot, and to reveal what they cannot imagine.

When we finish telling this story however, we have to ask a question: is this Gospel story about the widow or about the scribes? In the context of this Gospel our attention is being called to the Scribes. The widow is used as an example. If we want to hear what Jesus is speaking of, we cannot read back into the Gospel what we want to think about. The Jerusalem which Jesus has entered is not a place of welcome for his message. He has nothing to offer those in control of the place. There is nothing in his message that interests them or can improve their comfortable, safe, and protected lives.

The bottom line of this story is that this widow is supporting and helping the very people who ought to be taking care of her. Jesus is not talking about her. He is talking about them: the ones who like to sit in the front seats of the very synagogue she supports with out of her need.

Instead of sitting back and admiring her, we ought to be wondering what’s wrong with this picture? What’s wrong with a situation or an institution; or a nation or a culture that allows the most needy to take care of those who have the most? What’s wrong with exploitation of the most vulnerable, weak, and helpless by those who because of their gifts their wealth and their knowledge ought to be, by God’s plan, taking care of those vulnerable, weak, and helpless?

This Gospel is no glorification of poverty or of the generous poor. Somehow, those who work with the poor discover again and again that the poor are always the most generous with the little that they have. This Gospel is not urging some shallow interpretation that motivates generosity. This is the Word of the Lord teaching disciples. It is the voice of Jesus speaking to disciples about the “establishment”, so to speak. There are three points of focus in these verses of chapter 12: the scribes at the temple, the poor widow, and the disciples to whom Jesus speaks. We need to figure out which of these we belong to, and what to do with the message. A disciple of Jesus has already stepped out of the first group. Jesus has not invited his disciples to this kind of poverty. He warns them to beware of hypocrisy and avarice. He warns them not to exploit anyone, and proposes that they reflect upon the causes of hunger and poverty

and do something to eradicate them.

My dear friends in Christ, work of that sort will take everything the disciple has. The question today is: “Are we up to the task?” “How much longer are we going to ask the poor of this world to take care of us?” Some will find this a hard question, and some will dismiss it as a “political” message. I found it in the Gospel. It has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with justice, with greed and hypocrisy, and with justice.

November 2, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Wisdom 4:7-14 + Psalm 25 + 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 + John 11: 17-27

Today we are about something that uniquely Catholic.

To the best of my knowledge we are the only the only religious tradition that prays for the dead; a custom that springs from our profession of faith in the creed. We know from the earliest history that the Christian communities kept alive their relationships with those who had died by frequent respectful visits to their graves, by unique and long cherished traditions of remembrance and respect. All because we believe in communion, because we believe that tied that bind us do not unravel with death, that what binds us together is not these bodies we wear for a time, but the communion we share through Baptism.

And so, here we are gathered together because, as this Gospel text affirms, Jesus listens to the prayers of those who love him even though the response is at his own time and in his own way. And so we tell the story of Lazarus today as we have for generations for Lazarus is a symbol that death can not lock in its dark chambers those whom Jesus loves.

Throughout the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, Paul struggles with this question: “How are the dead raised?” Paul never speaks of immortal souls, but always of the resurrection  of the body, affirming that what is raised is a “spiritual body.” We affirm the same thing in the creed. Remember how it goes? “I believe in the resurrection of the body……” we say, Sunday after Sunday.

Our faith is not in the immortality of a soul, but in the resurrection of the body. What Paul teaches us is that the body is not simply flesh and blood, but rather it is the body that gives continuity to life through history and allows us humans to relate to each other. Body is what makes community. I am coming to discover that calling this day: “All Souls Day” is an unfortunate description, but I am realistic enough at my age to know that I don’t stand a chance of changing that custom, but it is poor one for describing what this day is all about.

We are not here to remember souls. We are here to remember people: people who have made a difference, people who have been linked to us by their body and are now part of our communion in God. We remember easily those who have given us our bodies, our mothers and our fathers grandparents and great-grandparents. We believe in the eternal life and the resurrection of the body…. in more simple terms, we believe that having been one with Christ through out body in Holy Communion, we shall be one with Christ forever.

October 25, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Jeremiah 31: -9 + Psalm 126 + Hebrews 5: 1-6 + Mark 10: 46-52

In the eighth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, a blind man is cured, and then Jesus begins his Journey toward Jerusalem. Now it is the tenth chapter, and another blind man, this one with a name is cured. This is the last event before Jerusalem. In the verses between those two chapters, Jesus has addressed a universal blindness to his identity and his message. He has tried again and again to bring his disciples to a new understanding of what a Messiah he will be. He has spoken of power and authority; service and simplicity. He has invited them to come with him, and he has sent them out ahead of him. Now in this final encounter, the seeker and the one sought meet. A blind man begs for revelation. He wants more than sight. He wants to understand.

But look at what happens. He twice shouts the truth: “Jesus, Son of David.” This is the only time this title is used of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel. This blind man is shouting a name for Jesus that reveals the truth about Jesus; a truth others will not accept. And for doing so, he is hushed up. He is not calling out for attention. This is a profession of faith. This man has faith BEFORE Christ does anything for him.

Because of his faith, a blind man can see what others refuse to see. Why? Because they have another agenda. They want something else. They want power and prestige. They want a place at his right hand. They are so burdened by their riches that they cannot do without and want more. In their desire to have more possessions, they fail to possess what really matters. They do not accept the role and the identity of a true servant. They want to be served, but as we heard last week, they must do the serving.

There is so much about this story that is unique and profound. In fact, this is not really a miracle story – this is not a typical “cure”. This is really a “call” story; an invitation more than a cure. In this wonderful story, the seeker and the sought meet, and we are left to wonder which one is which. Does the blind man seek Jesus, or is Jesus seeking the blind man? They both call out for one another. Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus, and Jesus calls the blind man to himself. Then Jesus asks: What do you want me to do for you? We should recall that he just asked that question of James and John a few verses earlier while they were arguing over who was going to have a place of honor. My friends, I believe that Jesus is still asking that question of each of us. “What do you want me to do for you?”

Our faith has brought us far. It has brought us to this place on this day. Yet we still do not quite get it all – still do not quite accept the way of Jesus.  All of us try compromise, make excuses, and try our best to negotiate our way into the Kingdom of God. We’re like that rich young man whose story we told a couple of weeks ago. He asked: “What must I do?”

The answer, the truth, the reality of our call to holiness and goodness, righteousness and salvation lies in this profound and powerful story. Like Bartimaeus who threw aside his cloak to come to Jesus, we musts cast off whatever shields us from the demands of the Way of Jesus; we must quit sitting by the way like Bartimaeus at the beginning of this story and start to move along the way; most of all, we must begin to ask for what we truly need not for what we want or would like to have — but for what we really  need to make it to Jerusalem.

In every other healing story, Jesus goes to the one who is sick or in need. In this story, Jesus calls this believing yet blind man to himself. The man got up and walked to Jesus. He didn’t say: “I’m blind! I can’t get there.” He threw off his cloak before he was healed and went to Jesus. Bartimaeus is a model for every believer and disciple. We must pray that Jesus will call us to himself. This is the prayer of believers. Asking for trivial things: prayers to pass a test, for good weather, and stuff like that are silly and shallow – always letting us avoid asking for what we really need. Sometimes I think it’s because we are afraid of what will happen if we do ask We are about to profess our faith like Bartimaeus professed his faith. We are about to be called to Jesus.

Cloaks of comfort and old ways of doing things, seeing things, and expecting things

have to go. We have to quit sitting by the way and get up and start moving along the way. It might be time to quit our begging and get up and tell Jesus what we really need.

October 4, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Genesis 2: 18-24 + Psalm 128 + Hebrews 2: 9-11 + Mark: 10: 2-16

The Gospel, every Gospel is about the kingdom of God. It is always an announcement that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Every story, every saying, every parable is about the kingdom of God; and one of the most frequently used descriptions of the Kingdom of God is a wedding feast. So, when this incident occurs and this discussion follow, we must think about the Kingdom of God. This is not about divorce.

“What God has joined together, no one may divide.” This is gospel talk – so, it’s about the Kingdom of God, and the signal to remind us of that is the context in which it is placed: a discussion about marriage. A favorite image of the Kingdom. If you do not go further and deeper into these words and what they reveal about God’s plan, you will be stuck where some Pharisees are stuck. Jesus has come to restore the original condition of life between us and God. He has come to restore, reestablish that life we first had by God’s plan. It was a life of unity – oneness between man and woman, and oneness with God. The effect of sin has been to destroy that unity. As Genesis tells it, the first consequence of sin was for Adam and Eve to recognize that they were different, and then they hid.  The oneness, the wholeness, the unity of creation has been ruined.

When Jesus says: “What God has joined together, no one may divide”, why do we think he is only talking about marriage?   Is the unity of husband and wife the only thing God has joined together? What about the unity between and mother and her child? What about the unity between a brother and a sister? …. between families ….within the human family? What about the unity, the harmony and oneness between human life and this earth itself? I was listening to a commentator on the TV the other night talking about red states and blue states – sensing as we all do the terrible division and hostility between those political ideologies, and I wondered, what ever happened to the “United States” Now they are only blue or red?

The work and mission of Jesus Christ was one continuous ministry of healing what was divided, reuniting what was separated, healing what was broken. Think of the miracles – they are always about some reunion or restoration. He raises a little girl and gives her back to her father. He raises a centurion’s son and restores that family unity. He tells about a broken family and a runaway son, describing a father waiting to have all his sons come in the house together. He heals lepers so that they can be restored to their place in the community. On and on it goes, one continuous effort, one manifestation of God’s will —- that all would be one and nothing be divided.  So, what has God joined together?

Much more than a man and a woman. We can’t stop there with this expression of God’s wish and will for us all.  Friendships broken cannot remain so. Children who will not speak to brothers and sisters or to their parents cannot remain so apart and hostile.

Nations and races cannot be at odds. Racism has no place in God’s plan. Why? Because God joined us together at the beginning, and that paradise, that plan, that love of God will be restored, or the work of Jesus will be in vain.

When Jesus calls those children to himself, those apostles are still doing what they did last week when they wanted to exclude someone who had cast out a demon they had failed to cast out. They thought it was all about them, that they were somehow privileged and therefore could exclude someone who was different. Jesus objects. Today he rebukes even more strongly their effort to exclude; this time it is children.  It is of course, not because they are tiny, vulnerable, or weak. It is, according to that culture, that they produce nothing, and like children, they are totally dependent upon God making no pretense that they are special, unique, or self-sufficient.

The very inclusive nature of the Kingdom of God and the very inclusive behavior of Jesus Christ confronts attitudes of division, privilege, brokenness, and disunity. There will be no Kingdom of God, while there is disunity of any kind. That Kingdom will come no closer as long as we insist on being separate, different, or special expecting privilege or power or positions of influence over others. In the final day of his life with us, Jesus expressed in his prayer the Father’s will: “That they may all be one as we, Father, are one.”

What God has joined together must not be divided. At some point we have to open our minds and hearts and begin to wonder at all God has joined together and wonder how we can put it back together again. When we do, the Kingdom of God will be at hand.

September 27, 2009 at Saint Mark in Norman, OK

Numbers 11: 25-29 + Psalm 19 + James 5: 1-6 + Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 46-48

One of the most sure manifestations of sin in our times is the human delusion that someone else is the problem. Not me. Creating scapegoats and victims is the way we excuse ourselves from every problem. It’s a small and tiny step to demonize the ones we blame, and that behavior is a set-up for violence whether it be violent words or violent action. It’s all of course about power and control. We think we have to have it, and there is never enough. There is something in us that makes us either want to play the victim or make a victim. Once we start feeling sorry for our self, i.e. “playing the victim”; we find someone else to blame or attack and that takes away our shame, guilt, anxiety or fear. But only for a little while, because it isn’t real and never works for long. The consequence however is alienation, polarization, and exclusion.

We get a look into that sort of thing with today’s Gospel and Old Testament reading. The disciples in earlier verses have been unable to cast out a demon. It is important to remember that incident which occurred prior to this one. They are down on themselves, disappointed, discouraged, and frustrated that they could not accomplish what they expected and wanted. Then someone else comes along, someone different from them, perhaps less respected and they accomplish what the apostles cold not! Suddenly the victim of failure makes another victim.

Of course, never mind, give no thought to, or even consider the person who has been relieved of a great burden and set free: the one who has been healed. It is as though that person does not matter as long the winners and losers get established in the power struggle. In the meantime, the work of the Kingdom is at a standstill, so Jesus insists that it makes no difference who does the work as long as it gets done.

For disciples of Jesus then, a change is in order. Instead of thinking about themselves with relentless competition and the constant need to be the best, the greatest, or number one, what matters is the little ones; and as far as Jesus is concerned it makes no difference who cares for them as long as they get cared for.

When Jesus talks about self-mutilation it is of course not something literal that he expects — at least not quite. What he does expect is that we root out of ourselves, cut off and cast away something that we think is just as important or as dear to us as a hand or a foot. He expects his disciples to give up their quest for power, their exalted ideas about being the best or being important, and all ideas about how things should be done and who should do them.

“Do it my way” is a constant recurring theme with people of power, and rather than have it get done another way, they would rather not have something happen at all. That sort of thinking, and that sort of behavior is the end of the Kingdom of God. Jesus would have disciples always “thinking out of the box” so to speak; always ready and willing to embrace new ways and new partners in the work of the Kingdom. For the truth is, the Spirit of God blows where it will and blows upon everyone. As a religion, we are finished with the triumphant idea that only Catholics can be saved even though some others may doubt that about us. As individuals though, we may yet have to get a little more creative and Spirit filled to see the hand of God working through people who are not like us or see the face of God in people who do not look like us, sound like us, and act like us.

Moses got it right: “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets. Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit upon them all.”  We pray at this Eucharist today that we get it right.

September 13, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Isaiah 50: 4-9 + Psalm 116 + James 2: 14-18 + Mark 8: 27-35

 Peter gets the word right: “Christ” (the anointed one), but not the idea behind it. Then as if that isn’t enough, the student begins to lecture the teacher! Peter is not happy with Jesus. Peter has a better idea about what it means to be the “Son of Man.” Jesus silences the disciples for fear they will spread misunderstanding rather than Good News. It is why he silenced talk of “Messiah” because it was an ideology filled with too many meanings and expectations. Once the silence is asked, an important movement takes place that we can easily pass over…….it says: “He turned around.” This is more than a physical twist. It tells us that he is moving in a different direction and deeper level of consciousness and meaning.

The “Son of Man” is one who lives in solidarity with God and others.” That solidarity with both God and others is the point. This is Jesus, and it must be the true name of all who follow him. It is the new humanity Jesus initiates.

The problem these disciples have is still a problem. Like Peter and his companions, we are stuck in our ways of thinking and our fantasies. We are stuck in our prayers, our expectations, and our way of life, even spiritually. Our images of God are often images of our selves. Idolatry is no sin of the past. We are still making our gods. Sometimes they are us. We have expectations of how God ought to behave.

We are little people always thinking bigger. If we have rank and power, it is never enough. If we have money, we always need more. If we are important, we are never important enough. We are little people with big ideas and talk and dreams of a Messiah feed this fantasy.

When the Messiah comes, he will wipe away every tear, seat people at table and feed them. He will heal every sickness, love and reward each human person. He will do everything we do not do our selves? And why is that? Why do we not dry the tears of another? Why do we not feed the hungry and bring them to this table of plenty? Because. Because we do not understand what it means to be “Son of Man”.

As Mark’s Gospel unfolds, it looks as though God is going to fix everything, and everyone comes running to get in on the action. Satan is run off, crowds are fed, the sick are healed – everyone dreams and hopes are going to be satisfied. They proclaimed his power and greatness, but he kept talking and insisting that they listen. Instead of going the way they proposed a Messiah should go, Jesus turned on them. He was a profound disappointment, and to many, he still is. He lives a life of trust in God and service of others. He does not harm other to secure his own life. Saving himself is the last thing on his mind. And so those disciples of this master become what he is. Instead of wanting to become great, we becomes small. Instead of wanting to lord it over others we grow in service. So, “one who lives in solidarity with God and others” (Son of Man)

bears burdens not grudges, is always his brother’s keeper, sees all things of this world as gifts to be shared, gives forgiveness before expecting it, and always has enough to give more to others.

To those who live in this world alone, this way of thinking is offensive. They will not look the other way. They will make us suffer. Many will be ashamed of us, take advantage of us, and ridicule us. This is the cross we must take up. Like Jesus, we will have to turn – turn away and turn toward. It is conversion to which we are called. It is a way of life, a state in life, a description of the Christian’s life: conversion. We must clear up in our minds what discipleship is all about. It is not about saving our lives, justifying our thinking, opinions, or ideas. It is not about our chronic concern to enhance our lives and secure ourselves. Our minds must be on the things of God, not on our little puny lives.

August 30, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Deuteronomy 4: 1-2,6-8 + Psalm 15 + James 1: 17-18,21-22,27 + Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

As I was sitting with this Gospel, began to remember an old saying my father used to use on me and my sister. We have been collecting some of those old sayings our parents used on us now and then and this one came to mind:  “Sticks and Stone will break your bones, but words can never hurt you.” Now several of those old sayings are going to be the subject of a long conversation one of these days when we meet again in the Kingdom: that is provided their plans for me to get there are realized! What in the world was my dad thinking? The person who first said that must have been a deaf-mute! Words hurt, and they hurt a lot longer than sticks and stones, at least that’s my experience. Yet Words are important so they must be chosen carefully. The Jewish people often referred to the Ten Commandments as the “Ten Words.” Insisting that those words have power, the power to save or the power to justify.

This is the heart of the dispute with Jesus. He is suggesting something else. He challenges the idea that just keeping the rules or minding the commandments is not enough. In fact, that behavior can sometimes lead to evil, wrongdoing, and take one far away from God. Jesus makes a contrast between what is inside and what is outside.

He suggests that it is what is within us that matters first and foremost and paying attention to that – perhaps we could call it, that inner voice is motive for and the source of goodness and righteousness.

There are times when strict adherence to the law can produce the opposite of what is intended. Rather than enhance human life and direct us to God, rigid conformity can restrict life and result in smug self-satisfaction. In his example of life, he makes exceptions when the good of others seems to call for exceptions. What we enter into with this passage from Mark’s Gospel is probably a look at the early church and an inner-Jewish dispute. The Pharisees were primarily a lay group dedicated to strict observance of the Temple regulations for purity in their daily lives as a sign that every aspect of life could be holy. What we might suspect is that the followers of Christ were beginning to struggle among themselves over how to keep the law and yet be faithful to the master’s vision of the family of God hospitable to all, welcoming the increasing number of Gentiles and Greeks who were not “clean.”

In this Gospel Jesus speaks not to the Pharisees and scribes, but to his disciples, warning them of those evils that can pollute the human heart and destroy relationships. It strikes me that this struggle is always with us. We face it as a nation when we struggle over the law and the immigrants – over whether or not the demands of charity that are rooted in our hearts might influence the imposition of the law and how we might view the law when we see it tear families apart with children left helpless and homeless while we enforce the law. This is just the most obvious example of what this Gospel suggests we might need to consider on an even larger scale.

A lot of human suffering and destruction goes on in every age as people hide behind rules and regulations. Jesus is concerned about moral defilement and how it comes into the world. He shows us that it happens in the exact opposite way of ritual impurity. Defilement begins and develops in the human heart in the cultivation of evil thoughts, intentions, and imaginings.

We all work from the inside out, not the other way around. If our minds are full of fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, jealousy, deceit, slander and pride, these drive our actions. Hiding behind the facade of keeping all the rules does not build a kingdom of love and peace. The Pharisees and scribes are obsessed with the ritual defilement and the external world. Jesus is attentive on the internal world and the moral havoc it releases. He insists that we pay attention to and focus on what drives moral behavior.

There is always more going on within us than we care to admit. Without attending to the inner voice and the inner self, the outer easily turns into an act into hypocrisy. This is the beginning of shallow trivial lives concerned about how things look more than with how things really are. Jesus lives out of his heart and proposes that those who would follow him would confront any inability to hold together the inner love of God and neighbor and the outer ways hat love should be embodied.