Christian Community Homilies: Christ

Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts

Sunday, December 9, 2018

2nd Advent 2018, Accept or Refuse

Conrad von Soest

2nd Advent

Luke 1: 26-38

During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was confused at those words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High,

And the Lord your God will give him the Throne of David your father.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;

And his kingdom will have no end. “

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; And for that reason, the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

2nd Advent

December 9, 2018

James Janknegt

Luke 1: 26-38

"Annunciation"

Denise Levertov

We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,

almost always a lectern, a book; always

the tall lily.

Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,

the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,

whom she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions

courage.

The engendering Spirit

did not enter her without consent.

God waited.

She was free

to accept or to refuse, choice

integral to humanness.

Henry Ossawa Tanner

Mary is the archetype of the human soul. And annunciations come to all of us. Even in barrenness, our own souls, too, can conceive. We can absorb accurate conceptions of Christ. We can open ourselves to how He wants to be conceived in us. We can make our souls virginal, incapable of harm and receptive for God's healing Spirit so that we can bear Him within. And we can say yes or no to whatever God sends as personal destiny, as community destiny, as world destiny. We can agree to serve His purposes in humility. Or not.

Christ wants to be born in us. His angels draw near, whispering words of great moment and encouragement. And as angels always say when they approach, 'Do not be afraid. The Lord is with you.'

God is waiting. We are free to accept or refuse.

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Sunday, February 28, 2016

1st Passiontide 2016,

1^st Passiontide

Luke 11: 29 - 35

And as the crowds increased, Jesus began to speak. “The men of this generation are strangers to their true being. They look for signs and outer proofs of the spirit, but none other will be given to them but the sign of Jonah. For just as once Jonah shared the experience of the spirit with the inhabitants of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man share the experience of the spirit with this present generation. The Queen of the South will rise in the time of great crisis and decision against the men of this present generation and judge them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But know this: here is more than Solomon.

The inhabitants of Nineveh will rise up in the days of crisis and decision against the men of this present generation and will pronounce judgment over them. For they changed their ways after the proclamation of Jonah. But know this; here is more than Jonah.

No one lights a light and then puts it in a hidden place or under a vessel, but rather sets it on a lamp stand, so that all may see the light shining.

The light of your body is your eye. When your eye looks at the world clearly and impartially, the processes of your whole body will be inwardly filled with light. If however the eye’s desire sees the world separated from the spirit, darkness will pour itself into you.

Protect yourself that the light does not become darkness in you.

If your body is now filled with light, so that it no longer takes part in darkness, everything will be completely illuminated, so that, with lightning brightness, the light irradiates you completely from within.

1^st Passiontide

February 28, 2016

Luke 11: 29 - 35

In last week’s Gospel reading, we beheld the light form of the transfigured Christ Jesus, shining on the mountain like the sun. The light that shines from him is the revelation of the Father’s love. In today’s reading the life of the light continues its progress; for the light of the Father’s love wants to work from within each of us.

Christ chides the people of this generation for not actively seeking the light of wisdom; he chides us for not doing what John the Baptist had encouraged us to do: to change our way of thinking and perceiving.

The Father kindled the light of Christ in the man Jesus, so that all could see the light of love and take it into themselves. The Father would like the same thing to happen within us: that we would take in the light of Christ; that we would look out into the world with the eyes of a clear, impartial, but warm love. The Father would like us to take in with our eyes the being who is the Light of the World, so that our eyes can in turn radiate and shine the brightness of objective love back out into the world.

As the poet Hafiz says:

God

pours light

into every cup,

quenching darkness.

….

God pours light

and the trees lift their limbs

without worry of redemption,

every blossom a chalice.

….as light

pours like rain

into every empty cup

set adrift on the Infinite Ocean.*

* Hafiz, Interpretive version of Ghazal 11 by Jose Orez

Sunday, October 11, 2015

2nd Michaelmas,

2nd 3rd or 4th Michaelmas

Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 6:10-19

What it comes to in the end is this: grasp the power that streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and in the powerful regency of his pure spiritual strength.

Put on the power of God as one puts on full armor, so that you may stand against the well-aimed attacks of the adversary. For our struggle is not to fight against powers of flesh and blood, but against

Durer, The Knight, Death and the Devil (wiki)

spirit beings mighty in the stream of time,

against spirit beings powerful in the molding of earth substance,

against cosmic powers whose darkness rules the present time,

against spirits who carry evil into the realms of the spiritual world.

Therefore take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand your ground on the day when evil unfolds its greatest strength, and victoriously withstand it.

Stand firm, then, girded with the truth, like a warrior firmly girded. Connect yourself with all in the world as is justified in the spiritual world, and this connection with the spirit will protect you like a strong breastplate.

And may Peace stream through you, down to your feet, so that on your path you spread peace, as the message that comes from the realm of the angels.

In all your deeds have trust in God. This trust will be like a mighty shield; with it you can quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take into your thinking the certainty of Christ’s healing deed. It will protect your head like a helmet.

And the spirit, which has become living in you, you shall grasp as one grasps a sharp sword. The sword of the spirit is the working of the Word of God.

May this armor clothe you in all your prayers and supplications, so that in the right moment you raise yourself in prayer to the spirit, and at the same time practice wakefulness in inner loyalty.

Feel yourself united in prayer with all other bearers of the spirit—also with me, Paul, so that the power of the word will be given to me when I am to courageously bring the knowledge of that holy mystery which lives in the message of the gospel.

2nd Michaelmas

October 11, 2015

Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 6:10-19

When we ship out something precious, we know to pack it well . We give it layers of protection, so that it can withstand the shocks and drops and weight of the shipping process.

In this reading, called The Armor of God, it is clear that we are being sent out in the midst of a battle against spiritual adversaries. We are to receive and bear protective armor. We are to put on the protections of truth, of trust in God, and of the knowledge that Christ heals. The only weapon we hold is the sword of spiritual discernment, discernment according to Christ’s Word. Yet we are not being called upon to attack the adversary, nor to destroy them. Our part in the battle is a defensive one. We are to endure their attacks, and remain standing.

Through the wearing of this armor we are called upon, not to thrash about and flail our weapons. We are called upon to become a protected vessel that contains and pours out peace, a peace that reaches down into the way we walk in the world, a peace that streams out from us so that we become messengers of the good news from the realm of the angels. As Adam Bittleston says:

We need in the strife of our day

St. Michael, Norton Simon Museum

The eternal Peace of the Word of God.

Seeking this Peace with our whole being

On the path which leads from the nightmare

Of endless chaos,

Into the order of heaven

And to the Father of all things—

We shall meet Michael

Who reveals how Christ

Awakens Man

That he may serve God.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] Adam Bittleston, Michaelmas II, in Meditative Prayers for Today,

Sunday, July 5, 2015

St. Johnstide

Lamb of God

John 1: 19-34

This is the testimony of John, when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” Freely and openly he made confession. He confessed, “I am not the Christ [the Anointed].”

Then they asked him, “Who are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “No, I am not.”

“Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”

Then they said, “Who are you? What answer are we to give to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

He said in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying in the loneliness: Prepare the way for the Lord [so that the Lord may enter into the inmost soul [self].”

And those who had been sent by the Pharisees asked him, “Why do you baptize if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”

John answered them, “I baptize with water. But someone is standing in your midst whom you do not know, who comes after me although he was before me. I am not worthy even to untie the strap of his sandals.”

This took place in Bethany near the mouth of the Jordan where John was baptizing.

The next day he [John] sees Jesus coming to him, and says, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the burden of the sin of the world. He it is of whom I said: ‘After me comes one who was before me, for he is greater than I [for he is ahead of me].’ [After me comes one who was (generated) before me, for he is the prototype.] Even I did not know him; but for this I have come, and have baptized with water, so that human souls in Israel might become able to experience the revelation of his being.”

And John testified: “I saw how the Spirit descended upon him as a dove from the heavens and remained united with him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend, so that it remains united with him, he it is who baptizes with the [breath of the] Holy [Healing] Spirit [and with fire].’ And I saw this, and so I testify that this is God’s Son.”

John and the Lamb of God

St. Johnstide

July 5, 2015

John 1: 19-34

In the ancient world view, the four primal states of being were arranged in ascending order. First was the solid state, called earth. Then came the fluid state – water; then invisible ‘thin air’ and finally radiant warmth, called fire. Fire evaporates water; water quenches fire. Air mediates between them. The elements exist within us as the solidity of bone, the flow of blood, the breath of air and our constant warmth.

John baptized with water. It was a ritual of purification. By being immersed in water, people had a glimpse of the flow of their lives. They recognized their failings and errors. It stirred them to change their ways. John indicates that Christ will bring with Him another kind of baptism – an immersion in the airy breath of a healing spirit, and the warmth of a purifying fire.

Were the element of a water baptism to prevail in our lives, we would likely drown in the enormity of our sins. But Christ brings with Him the means to overcome. He will help us carry the burden. And He will bring us the breath of His healing, comforting spirit, which breathes peace into our souls. And with it He kindles in us the fire of enthusiasm, which ignites our will to bring about the good. John the Baptist announces this with his health-bearing, guilt conscious fiery words.

Thus will all our elements, all our states of being, be brought into harmony. We will water the solid body of earth with our tears of remorse; and we will breathe in Christ’s peace, kindling in our spirits the purifying fire of love, a creative fountain of being. As the poet Rumi says:

The voice of the fire says:

“I am not fire, I am fountainhead,

Come into me and don’t mind the sparks.”

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Sunday, October 12, 2014

2nd Michaelmas, Withstand

2^nd Michaelmas

October 12, 2014

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 6: 10 – 19

What it comes to in the end is this: grasp the power that streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and in the powerful regency of his pure spiritual strength.