November 18, 2007 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

 Malachi 3:19-20 + Psalm 98 + 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 + Luke 21: 5-19

This Gospel is not about the future even though that might make it more interesting and entertaining. Prediction of the future has always drawn a crowd. We are the ones being addressed here. We are the ones who are living through times of trial, catastrophe, disasters, betrayals, war and natural disasters. Jesus speaks to us just as plainly and just as clearly as he did to those in Luke’s community who witnessed their own disasters, betrayals, wars, and catastrophes. It is not a matter of when are things going to come. They already have. It is a matter of how we shall face them and what shall become of us because of them. To this issue Jesus speaks.

It seems to me that there are only three options: denial, fear, and faithful perseverance. We all know what happens to people who are in denial. They end up being destroyed by the very thing they will not name. We know what happens to people who give way to fear. Many have in these days. The culture of fear is all around us. Politicians are using with great skill. Scare us badly enough and we will surrender our most treasured principals and compromise our very liberty. Neither of these two options is consistent with Gospel life. Neither of these two options will save us from anything. In fact, they are both ultimately destructive.

A culture of denial and a culture of fear are toxic to the soul as well as to the body. The only option is what Jesus Christ offers us. Age after age on this earth has had a time of crises. Every one of us has or will have it as well. This room is full of people whose lives bear the marks of suffering, disappointment, tragedy, loss, death, sickness, and pain. Some can tell stories of family member who have betrayed them, who have laughed at them, and left them. Some have stories of disease, sudden death, tornados, fires, and tragic accidents. An absurd war tears apart families, leaves men and women broken and scared for life. It has wrought economic chaos for the future and it threatens our life style more than any terrorist.

The fearful and those in denial just keep going passing on the debt to our children’s children.

What to do, and what shall we become is the question raised by the Gospel. Jesus gives the answer. Luke has said it from the first spoken words of his Gospel. Fear not. All of these things are signs that the Kingdom of God is at hand. We are living already in the end time if we stand firm, hold to faith, and let nothing tear us from one another and from Christ. Human suffering and even human sin can be a privileged time for renewal, reflection, and new directions that may give birth to the hope that Malachi has spoken of. A new hope that “There will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.  Whether we face a terrorist, a dreaded diagnosis, loss of a loved one, some natural disaster that takes everything we own, the loss of our job, or anything else this world can throw at us, we know what we must do, and what we must become. Persevere in faith, in hope, in charity. Become like Christ in order to share in His victory. This Gospel then is about today, not a prediction of the future, so the order of the day is perseverance with which we shall secure our lives.

November 11, 2007 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14 + Psalm 17 + 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 + Luke 20: 27-38

He is in Jerusalem now, and he has already cleansed the Temple. Jesus is in a no-win conversation, and anyone who has been the target for religious questions raised by persons who had no intention of being influenced by the answers can sense the frustration. These Sadducees were the ultimate right-wing religious fanatics. They only believed and gave authority to the first five books of the Old Testament: the Pentateuch. They did not ask this question to get an answer or have a conversation. They raised the issue to bully Jesus with their conviction. They wanted to argue, to embarrass, and perhaps, turn people against Jesus. Their attitude gets no response from Jesus only their question.

To understand the answer, we must understand the culture. Marriage at that time was not about love, affection or romance. It was a simple political/economic system concerned with property accumulation and population growth. Population growth is the issue addressed in the Book of Deuteronomy requiring the brother of a deceased man to take the widow and her children into his care so as to continue the family line. The scenario proposed by the Sadducees is of course exaggerated to the point of being silly, and Jesus ignores that. He simply sticks with logic and avoids being embarrassed by their proposition.

On the second point, Jesus stays within their accepted scriptures reminding them that their own scriptures speak of the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” who must somehow be alive since the same scriptures refer to God as a “God of the living”, not a God of the dead. At this point, their trap collapses by the words of their own accepted authority.

Yet the point Jesus makes is not just for the Sadducees, it is for all who are listening. What he reveals or teaches here is that there is a radical difference between the present life and the resurrection; but because of God and within God, there is some continuity. In other words, life after death is so different that procreation will not be necessary. He is not saying that there will be no relationships; but that the primary relationship will be with God and in God and all other relationships will be found in God. This becomes a proposal for ordering our relationships now. Perhaps what Jesus suggests is that the more God is a part of a relationship, the closer that relationship is to the divine plan

that comes to fulfillment in heaven.

When earlier in his teaching Jesus raised questions about how much his disciples should worry about material possessions, he proposed that we consider what of those possessions we would take with us after death. It was a radical way of questioning values and how we look upon the stuff we gather up and keep in our garages, attics and storage facilities. Now he goes one step further raising a question about our relationships. He proposes that one relationship will carry over through death: our relationship with God. Getting that point calls into question how we relate to one another, and what we might seek, expect, and find in our human relationships.

The heart of what is revealed here is that belief in the resurrection is not the same as the conviction that the soul is immortal. On this point we divert from religions that believe in reincarnation because they believe in immortality but not in resurrection. Our belief in resurrection is grounded upon the concept of covenant, which claims that God has established a relationship with human beings. The question is this: does physical death end that relationship, or is God’s desire to keep the covenant stronger? The tradition in the Bible is that God’s desire is stronger than death.

Consequently, for you and me, this covenant holds our hope for resurrection. Only one relationship holds that promise. Other relationships we have in this life must lead us into the covenant which is why love is such an indispensable issue. Casual sex, narcissistic relationships, or the insincere manipulation of another for the sake of profit or fame does not lead us into covenant. Only sacrificial love takes us there, and these are the relationships that should matter and be the focus of our attention and the source of our hope. Our relationships are what we shall take with us into God, nothing else. Relationships are what we must work for, nothing else. A family that suffers the absence of someone because they are working all the time is very poor no matter what the earned income. This Gospel on a November Sunday simply calls into question the quality of our relationships with one another and how those relationships lead us to God.

November 4, 2007 At Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Wisdom 11:22-12:2 + Psalma145 + 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2 + Luke 19: 1-10

Like so many of the stories in Luke’s Gospel, there is a parallel. Luke seems to like things pairs, and most of his characters have an “opposite” match somewhere in the Gospel. It’s all part of his “great reversal” theme, and Zacchaeus is no exception. Earlier, another rich person has come up to see Jesus, and he goes away sad. This time, a rich man comes to see Jesus, and he ends up joyful.

The problem Zacchaeus has is the “crowd”. Because of them, he can’t “see” Jesus. But be careful, Luke is not talking about a “sighting” here. That is not Zacchaeus wants. Think about how we use the word “see” a little bit more. Sometimes we say: “I’m going to see the doctor.” That’s the point here – that is what Zacchaeus wants. He wants to understand and be understood by Jesus. He wants a relationship, now a pair of binoculars.

His problem is not his eyes nor his physical stature. His problem is the crowd! They are in the way – not physically, but personally. They want sightings, they want to watch, they grumble and mummer, they do not enter into a relationship. Zacchaeus wants none of that stuff, but because of the crowd and their behavior and the things they say, and their expectations, he is needs to get above them – he needs to “get over” them. Think about the images here, not the literal details.

Zacchaeus has enough desire, enough willingness, enough creativity to do just that. He is willing to look silly, be laughed at or ridiculed because of his desire to have a relationship that Jesus; and he gets what he wants and more.

So does Jesus. He gets what he wants and more. There are people with intense desire here: Jesus, who says: “I MUST stay at your house today.” This is strong language. He is not asking for an invitation. He expressing something he MUST do. Zacchaeus comes down QUICKLY and received him with JOY. Both of these men have their deepest most urgent longings satisfied, and the consequence if Joy for both of them. Remember, in the parallel story of a different rich man, Jesus was saddened as the man went away with eyes cast down for he could not do what Jesus asked of him.

 There is another wonderful little but important thing happening here worth observation and reflection. When Jesus shows up at dinner or at someone’s house, he is never the guest; but always becomes the host. He feeds, nourishes, serves, and always, he becomes the host.  It happens at Cana in Galilee with wine and water. It happens in the home of Martha and Mary.

It happens in home of a Roman Centurion, in the home of a Pharisee,

and now in the home of Zachariah. The divine guest becomes the divine host prefiguring the heavenly banquet. He invites Zacchaeus into his life, into the intimacy of his friendship.

This invitation is extended to us all, my friends. Would that the same sense of urgency could move us to do the same, to ignore the crowds of this world and their superficial response to Jesus and get above it all and experience the same Joy. What Luke says to us on this autumn Sunday is that Jesus loves us

not because we are particularly holy, pure, and good, but precisely because we are not. There is on God’s part through Jesus, an obligation, a desire, an urgent longing to stay in your house. The response God’s want and God is anxious to have is not one that is simply spiritual, but one that radically changes our behavior, that is marked by extraordinary generosity, and the freedom to give away, let go of, and make amends for harm done in our past.

One rich man in Lukes Gospel could do it and lived with Joy. The other went away sad for his riches were many.

Which one is going to be our story?

November 2, 2007 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Wisdom 3: 1-9 + Psalm 23 + Romans 6: 3-9 + John 6: 37-40

Jesus is not willing to lose anyone, and this day sustains the hope we place in the strength of His desire. It is as much an affirmation of our faith in a God of Mercy

as it is a profession of faith in life everlasting. It is a day that rightly considered might lessen our fear of death not so much because we have a “second change” in “Purgatory” but because life and all that goes with it for faithful people does not end in death.

We have no idea how this might happen, the possibility of purification and pardon, but we have every reason to live with this expectation. It is not that we somehow, we deserve mercy, but that God will not abandon us to ourselves.

There is more to this day than simply a “memorial”, more than a nostalgic brooding over people who once were with us. Our prayers this day are really an involvement in what these people are now growing into the company of the Father; human beings, children of God who need to hear from us, know that we are with them, and that we are learning from their example.

Think about what it is like to have a dear friend struggle with some personal challenge, something deeply involving, a real personal choice; the sort of thing you know you can’t fix for them. All you can do is stand back and prayerfully encourage, support and hope. You know they can do it and that they will do it and so your prayer is not fearful but hopeful, maybe a little lonely, but not without confidence.

This is what we are doing today, expressing our confidence that Jesus is not willing to lose anyone. And that because we have helped each other through a lot of purgatories already, we shall continue to do so as long as it takes.

November 1, 2007 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 + Psalm 24 + 1 John 3: 1-3 + Matthew 5: 1-12

These Gospel verses could easily be published under a new title, and I can imagine the cover:  it would be yellow with black print running diagonally across the page. If you are a browser of book stores, that image might make you think of a familiar cover design with many specific titles. This one would be:  Sanctity for Dummies! That is all it really is – “A Smart Guide”, or “Sanctity Made Simple.”

It is a portrait of what we shall be when we finally decide to become what God has made us to become: poor in spirit…meek…and merciful; hungry and thirsty righteousness, clean of heart and makers of peace. “Lord, this is the people that longs to

see your face.” says our Psalm today. This is the people that want to be saints.

The more I have thought about this, and the more years I’ve celebrated this feast, I have begun to see something more here than that individualistic sanctity promoted by the Litany of the Saints and our tradition of great stories about extra ordinary heroism and courage. I’ve come to conclusion that becoming a saint by alone is no big deal.

It’s easy to be holy by yourself. Anybody can probably pull off a good “saint” routine if left alone. What really is remarkable is becoming a saint in a community, in a family, in a relationship. Now that is tough. It’s a whole new proposition when we work to live graciously with a community of people practicing the disciplines of fidelity, mercy, forgiveness and blessing those who mess with your life. The most creditable miracle I see these days is a community of Christians who assemble regularly, know themselves as the body of Christ, and suffer with one another patiently, kindly, and gently.

Perhaps the real movement to holiness and sanctity in our lives comes from learning to live together in peace with other flawed people. After all sanctity is not an accumulation of merit like frequent flier miles on a credit card. It is gift that comes to us in Baptism lived, celebrated, and acknowledged in a holy communion of lives that nourish, support, and encourage each other to become what God has created us to be.