3rd February Trinity 2011, God of Mercy

1st February Trinity

Matthew 20:1-16

The kingdom of the heavens is like a man, the master of his house, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Agreeing to pay them one denarius a day, he sent them out into his vineyard.

At about 9 o’clock he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace, and he said to them, “Go also into my vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.” So they went.

He went out again at about noon and at 3 o’clock and did the same. At 5 o’clock he went out and found others standing there, and he said to them, “Why do you stand here all day idle?” They said, “Because no one has hired us.” He said, “You, too, go into the vineyard.”

And when evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”

Those who had been hired at 5 o’clock came forward, and each received one denarius. Therefore, when it was the turn of those who were hired first, they expected to receive more. However, they too also received one denarius each. They took it, but they began to grumble against the master of the house. “These men who were hired last only worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”

However, he answered one of them, saying, “Friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did you not agree with me for one denarius? Take what you have earned and go. I wish to give to the man hired last the same as I give to you. Have I not the right to do as I wish with what is mine? Or do you give me an evil look because I am generous? Thus will the last be first and the first will one day be last. “

3rd February Trinity

February 20, 2011

Matthew 20, 1 – 16

Some flowers, like tulips and crocuses, bloom early. Some like roses, bloom all season long. The autumn crocus, however, blooms late. One form of it is the source of the costly spice, saffron.

Human beings appear on fields of earth early, for a long season, or late. The gospel reading, as scripture often does, warns us about judging the value of a human being and his or her contribution to the fields of earthly and heavenly endeavor. The value of their contribution is not fully visible to human view. The Master of the house and vineyard is the full judge of the orchestration of human efforts, especially in more hidden spiritual matters. We each receive our ‘one denarius,’ the means for our daily bread. We each receive our integrity, our singleness of purpose, from the Master, who gives us what we need according to his generous mercy.

Those who worked the whole day complained that they had borne the heat of the day and the burden of the work. Those who had waited out the day, idle in the marketplace, had also borne the heat of the day, along with suffering the burden of unemployment. Without them and their fresh efforts at the end of the day, it is possible that the day’s harvest may not have been completed.

There is no place in spiritual matters for ambition or greed. We all receive the just compensation for our time, our work and our suffering. The God of Mercy sustains us all. For we are all making our contribution to the universe. Mary Oliver says:

On a summer morning

I sat down

on a hillside

to think about God -

a worthy pastime.

Near me, I saw

a single cricket;

it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.

How great was its energy,

how humble its effort.

Let us hope

it will always be like this,

each of us going on

in our inexplicable ways

building the universe.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1]   Mary Oliver, “Song of the Builders” in Why I Wake Early

3rd February Trinity 2012, The Next Step

3^rd Feb. Trinity

(Sunday before Ash Wednesday, 7^th Sunday before Easter)

Luke 18: 18-34

 The Rich Young Ruler, by Heinrich Hofmann

One of the highest spiritual leaders of the people asked him, “Good Master, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”

Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One—God alone. You know the commandments, you shall not destroy marriage, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not speak untruth, and you shall honor your father and your mother!

He said, “All these I have observed strictly from my youth.”

When Jesus heard this, he said, [Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said… Mk 10:21] “One thing however you lack: Sell all of your possessions, and give the money to the poor; thus will you achieve a treasure in the spiritual world—then come and follow me!

He was sad about these words, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw him thus, he said, “What hindrances must those overcome who are rich in outer or inner possessions, if they want to enter into the kingdom of God. Sooner would a camel walk through the eye of a needle, than a rich man be able to find the entrance to the kingdom of God!”

Those who heard this said, “Who then can be saved?”

He said, “For man alone it is impossible; it will be possible however through the power of God working in man.”

Then Peter said to him, “Behold, we have given up everything to follow you.”

He replied, “Amen, the truth I say to you. No one who leaves home or wife, or brother or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in earthly life, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Then he took the twelve to himself and said, “Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything which the prophets have written about the Son of Man will fulfill itself: He will be given over to the peoples of the world; they will mock and taunt him, they will spit upon him and scourge him and kill him; but on the third day he will rise up from the dead.”

Yet his disciples understood nothing of all this. The meaning of his words remained hidden from them, and they did not recognize what he was trying to tell them.

3^rd February Trinity

February 19, 2012

Luke 18, 18-34

The blossom possesses great beauty. At its fullness, it can seem almost perfect. Yet its petals must fall away and its beauty withdraw if it is to move on to serve its true purpose—to bear fruit and the seeds of new life.

Hofmann, detail

The rich young man has reached such a point in his life. He must move past his own perfection, sacrifice his riches, so that he can take the next step. For all of us come such nodal points in life, when we are called upon to release the achieved and move forward.

Yet fear of loss can cause us to overlook an important element in this process. Christ says to the young man, to all of us—Follow me. I will lead you through this. I will be with you always, through suffering and loss, through death. I will lead you to victory over death, to new life.

As the poet says

Sombart

The greatest secret of

life

is death,

the great transmuter

who leaves nothing

as it was,

who changes all

renews

enlivens—

new life

begins

in passing away

endure it

hold on through it

rise up

The greatest secret of

death

is life.[1]


www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Roswitha Bril-Jager,  “The Greatest Secret”

Picture: The Rich Young Ruler, by Heinrich Hofmann

3rd February Trinity 2014, Obey Thy Heart

3^rd February Trinity

Luke 12: 35-48

“Be dressed and ready for service and keep your lamps burning. Be like men who are expecting their master back from the marriage feast, so that they can open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are the servants whom the master finds awake when he comes! Yes, I tell you, he will put on an apron himself and show them to the table and serve them. And if he does not come until the second or third watch of the night, and yet finds them awake: Blessed are the servants! You know: If the master of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would not let his house be looted. So be ready: the Son of Man comes at an hour that you had not thought.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, are you telling us this parable, or is it for all human beings?”

And the Lord answered, “Imagine a faithful and competent steward whom his master appoints to be in charge of the whole staff, to give to each one what he is entitled to. Blessed is that servant if the master comes and finds him carrying out his duties.  I tell you, he will entrust him with all his goods. But if the servant says in his heart, ‘My master will not be coming all that soon,” and begins to mistreat the other servants and the maids, himself all the while eating and drinking and becoming intoxicated, then the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour that he does not know. The master will virtually tear him to pieces; he will treat him as those deserve who have not proved faithful.

A servant who knows his master’s will but does not act according to it and so does not carry out his will, deserves the severest punishment. If he does not know the master’s will and then does something that deserves punishment, he will escape more lightly. From one who has many gifts, much will also be expected; and from one who has been entrusted with much, much more will also be demanded.

3^rd February Trinity

February 23, 2014

Luke 12: 35 – 48

The world of the angels is ordered in a hierarchy. Each order of angels serves the one above, and all ultimately serve God in love. Demonic beings were once angels who refused to serve.

Today’s reading is a story of good and poor servants. They can be seen parts of a single human being. There is a part of us which, like the angels, wants to serve the Master faithfully, even in his apparent absence. And there is another part of us that would like to devote itself to instinctual or even destructive behaviors. Christ makes it clear that succumbing to the latter will eventually destroy our integrity and tear us to pieces. Doing so consciously and willfully hastens the process.

Christ is the Master of the House. We are the stewards in charge of the house of the body. We are to become competent over our own impulses and behaviors. Part of that competence involves giving to our array of inner ‘staff’, as Christ says, ‘what each one is entitled to.’ (Luke 12:42) They too are servants. We are neither to beat them nor starve them. All of our inner parts need sufficient nourishment and just treatment in order to fulfill their tasks. The chief steward is not to become intoxicated with its own importance. The steward task is to maintain order in the house while watching for the Master of Love, the Master of the Heart, to return. Ralph Waldo Emerson says:

Give all to love;

Obey thy heart;

.…

’T is a brave master;

Let it have scope:

Follow it utterly,

Hope beyond hope:

It was never for the mean;

It requireth courage stout.

Souls above doubt,

Valor unbending,

It will reward,….[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Give All to Love” 

3rd February Trinity 2013, Creative Power

3^rd, 4^th February Trinity

(Sunday after Ash Wednesday)

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the loneliness of the desert to experience the tempting power of the adversary.

Blake

After fasting forty days and nights, He felt for the first time hunger for earthly nourishment. Then the tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, let these stones become bread through the power of your word.”

Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘The human being shall not live on bread alone; he lives by the creative power of every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

  

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the parapet of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Blake

Again a third time, the devil took him to a very elevated place, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me  as your Lord. “

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship [pray to] God your Lord who guides you and serve him only.’”

Then the adversary left him, and he beheld again the angels as they came to bring him nourishment.

3^rd February Trinity

February 17, 2013

Matthew 4: 1-11

To live as a human being on earth is to attract the Tempter. And Christ Jesus was no exception. He too faced humanity’s adversary; but the adversary failed to ensnare Him. This was because Jesus had been taught by scripture, by God’s word itself; and Christ was able to access this and to remember three things at the right moment.

When tempted to supply his own food, He remembered that the human being remains alive by the creative power of God’s eternal speaking, His power streaming through the universe. Even today there are people who do not require food in order to stay alive and healthy.[1]

Blake

He also remembered that human beings are not to challenge the divinely ordained order out of a sense of their own self-importance and pride.

And He remembered that guidance and wisdom come from God, not from the supposed splendor of the prince of the fallen world.

It was Christ’s three recognitions: God’s creative power streaming through the atmosphere, God’s divine ordering, and His wise divine guidance that kept Christ protected from the universal human temptations. He shows us what to remember in times of temptation. He shows us the way to keep our integrity and to remain connected with our own divine origins. For by resisting the temptations of the adversary, Christ has restored humanity’s lost connection with the Kingdom of God in human hearts.[2]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] One example is Therese Neumann

[2] Pictures by William Blake, Satan tempting Christ to turn stones into bread, to cast himself down, and to worship Satan.

2nd February Trinity 2007, Grow God

2^nd February Trinity

Luke 8:14-18

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:

A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered, because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called out:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:

To you it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking. The meaning of the parable is this:

The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterwards the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts, so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them.

Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial they fall away.

What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the seed which fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.

No one lights a light and hides it under a vessel or under a bench; instead he places it on a lamp stand so that all who come in see the light. For nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed, and nothing is secret which shall not be known and proclaimed.

So attend to how you listen. For he who has enlivened in himself the power to bear the spirit, to him more will be given. He however who does not have this power, from him will be taken that which he thinks he has.

2^nd February Trinity

Feb 11, 2007

Luke 8:14-18

  

Imagine a potted plant you could only view from a distance. How could you tell if it were a living plant or an artificial one? You could observe it over time. Does it grow and blossom? Does it change?

The Gospel says that Jesus uses agricultural images especially for the souls who stream to him from the city. These plant images are the most accurate for describing how the living seed of the Word of God changes and grows over time. So He uses images from the realm of living processes to describe how the Word of God lives and grows in the soul.

The life realm is a quiet realm. We don’t hear flowers open to a fanfare of trumpets. We don’t perceive a great symphonic flourish when fruit ripens. The living Word of God is as quiet as a seed. The very loudness of modern life with its sorrows and riches and joys may distract us to the point where our souls can no longer provide the depth and richness, the fertility for the germination and growth of His Word.

We need to tend the field of our own souls. We need to till the ground of the

Alfred Soord

heart, perhaps through suffering, certainly through attention and selfless deeds. We need to water the ground of the heart with our tears, warm it with our prayers, let shine the clear sunlight of our spiritual learning and understanding. We need to take in the seed of God’s Word and treasure it in our hearts. We need to protect it and nourish it in the womb of the soul so that it grows and develops there.

We can grow God in our hearts. We do this so that His Word can mature and ripen into fruitfulness that we can offer to the world of earth and the world of the angels. God’s Word – as it quietly speaks in the Gospels, as it is imaged in nature, as it speaks through human destinies -- resounds and manifests in the world through us. We can grow and carry God wherever we go. We can be the place where His Word becomes manifest, grows and transforms.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

2nd February Trinity 2008, No Fool

3^rd, 4^th February Trinity

Blake, Stones into Bread

(Sunday after Ash Wednesday)

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the loneliness of the desert to experience the tempting power of the adversary.

After fasting forty days and nights, He felt for the first time hunger for earthly nourishment. Then the tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, let these stones become bread through the power of your word.”

Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘The human being shall not live on bread alone; he lives by the creative power of every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

  

Then the devil took him to the holy city and

Blake, Throw Yourself Down

had him stand on the parapet of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Again a third time, the devil took him to a very elevated place, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me  as your Lord. “

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship [pray to] God your Lord who guides you and serve him only.’”

Then the adversary left him, and he beheld again the angels as they came to bring him nourishment.

2^nd Sunday February Trinity

February 10, 2008

Matthew 4:1-11

When a first-time driver sits behind the wheel, he or she must first gain control of the power of the vehicle—how far to turn the wheel in order to end up where he wants; how hard to press on gas or brake. The first lessons are usually out in an empty space.

In this gospel reading, Christ had just been baptized. He had just for the first time entered the strange territory of a human soul and body. Imagine what a great coup it would have been for the devil to abort Christ’s mission at its very inception. So we can imagine the devil hauling out his greatest weapons.

The first of the devil’s weapons is the desperation of the body’s need. In suggesting that Christ turn stones into bread, the devil might also be whispering that of course it would be foolish for Christ to let Himself die of starvation here in the desert. Yet Christ resists literally taking matter into his own hands. He relies on the Father’s living presence to sustain Him—and indeed He is nourished by angels who come to feed Him.

The second and the third of the devil’s temptations involve the soul’s

Blake, Riches of the World

pride in two extreme forms. First the devil draws Him over to one side, into foolishly assuming God’s total protection of body and soul, no matter how extreme the behavior, even if He were to jump off a high place. Failing that, the devil takes Him to the other extreme, encouraging Him to drop his allegiance to the Father altogether and to derive His power from the Prince of this World.

Yet, new as He is to life in a human body, Christ is no fool. He sees through the errors and consequences in the devil’s propositions. He knows that His connection with His Father must remain both appropriate and unbroken in order for Him to do what he has come to earth to do.

Because Christ was able to overcome temptation from within the human body, He is able to give every human being the possibility to do likewise—to see through and to resist the devil’s false suggestions, in order to do what we have come to earth to do. Each human being has the possibility to maintain a connection to the world from which we all have come. We can become aware of our real connection with our Father in the heavens, whose kingdom comes when it is His will that is done on earth. We can perhaps hear Him speaking in the words of the poet:

Close both eyes and see with the other eye.

Open your hands if you want to be held….

Quit acting like a wolf and feel

the Shepherd’s love, filling you.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Rumi, “A Communion of the Spirit” in The Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks, p. 3.

2nd February Trinity 2009, No Simple Gift

2^nd February Trinity

Luke 8:14-18

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:

A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered, because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called out:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:

To you it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking. The meaning of the parable is this:

The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterwards the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts, so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them.

Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial they fall away.

What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the seed which fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.

No one lights a light and hides it under a vessel or under a bench; instead he places it on a lamp stand so that all who come in see the light. For nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed, and nothing is secret which shall not be known and proclaimed.

So attend to how you listen. For he who has enlivened in himself the power to bear the spirit, to him more will be given. He however who does not have this power, from him will be taken that which he thinks he has.

2^nd February Trinity

February 15, 2009

Luke 8: 14 – 18

In the garden we are approaching a time of year when a lot will need to be done: earth turned, tested, amended in preparation; seed chosen; watchful tending of sprouts, so that they will eventually flower, set seed, bear fruit. This is especially important for food crops, for fruit and grain are the whole point and purpose of a season’s work.

God and his angels worked long to prepare the earth for humanity. God has planted us on the earth. And on the fields of earth, in the midst of his crop of humanity, He planted one particularly magnificent, potent and fruitful seed—His Divine-Human Son. This Son ripened on earth, and has offered Himself as seed, as a potential voice, to every human heart.

His abiding voice is a gift to us from the Father. We don’t have to accept the gift. For the rules of the game, established by God Himself, are that we must have the possibility of choice. So it is quite possible that we allow modern life to drown out the voice of the divine as it whispers to our heart. We can fail to open our heart’s listening. We can fail to cultivate the necessary depth and fertility of soul, so that what we hear and inspires us cannot grow and thrive in us.

This gift of the seed-word from God is no simple gift. It is a gift that requires our participation. So we have to make time and space to work with it. We plough the earth of the heart through suffering and learning. We listen, paying attention to the qualities of heart-earth we may need to amend, so that the seed from the Gardener of the Heart can be received at just the right time. We tend to His words, patiently helping them grow there in loyalty and trust. And then in time the seed-word of God, which bespeaks of human development and inner growth, produces a beautiful nobility of soul. It grows into a fruit that enlivens, a grain that feeds and nourishes. Our heart becomes banquet that feeds and nourishes our fellow human beings and the world.

In time we will have grown something to offer back to God and His angels; the gift of a matured and fruitful soul. In time, with labor, our souls themselves will become bread and wine, which we can offer to the angels, as support in their work with us. 

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