Christian Community Homilies

Saturday, June 21, 2014

June Trinity 2009, Raying Outward

June Trinity

The Ascension, Dali

John 17: 6-11

Father, I have revealed your name and your being to all human beings whom you have led through destiny to me. They were yours; they lived out of the powers that worked in folk and family, and now you have given them to me, and into my working that lives in the Self, and they have kept your word in their inmost being. Thus they have recognized how all the spiritual power that you have given me truly proceeds from you; for all the creative spiritual power that you have given me, I have brought to them.

They have taken it up into themselves and have recognized that in truth I come from you, and they have gained insight, and trust that I have been sent by you. I pray to you for them as individual human beings; they who are to live out of the power of the self, as individuals, I pray to you for them; not for mankind in general, but for the human beings which you have given me. For they belong to you, just as everything which is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine, and the light of my being can shine in them [I am revealed in them]. I no longer live in the outer world, but they live in this world.

My whole being is devoted to you. And I am coming to you. Holy Father, you who give healing to the world, keep in your name and in your being all whom you have given to me, so that they may be one even as we also are one.

1^st June Trinity

June 7, 2009

John 17: 6 – 11

Some flowers form a single blossom, like the tea rose. Others bloom in clusters, like sunflowers. Although each blossom is beautiful by itself, the whole cluster forms a larger entity. Each blossom in the cluster contributes to a greater whole, a greater beauty, and a greater truth.

This truth is that as beautiful as each of our souls may be, we are come together in order to form a greater whole. And this greater whole is the place where Christ can work differently than He does in single individuals. Single hearts are to become a vessel, a grail chalice, into which is poured the wine of His love. The community is to become the greater vessel through which the wine of His love is poured out into the world. Together we can form a greater, more creative, more potent force in the world. For Christ said:

“…all the creative spirit power that you [Father] have given me, I have brought to them. They have taken it up into themselves…I pray to You for them….They live in the world. Holy Father, You who give healing to the world, keep in Your name and Your being all whom You have give to me, so that they may be one, even as we also are one.” John 17: 8-12

We come together in worship, dedicating our individual selves to receiving the Spirit of the Father and Son. We dedicate, consecrate ourselves as a whole to pouring out their Spirit into the world. The Spirit that they pour into our hearts is the creative spirit of love, of healing compassion, of service toward all on earth. The love we have received is the love we will pour out into the world. [1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] The illustration is the seed head of a sunflower. Note how the greater pattern, formed by the arrangement of individual seeds in the middle, rays outward.

3rd Trinity 2010, Asking for You

June Trinity

John 11: 17-44

Sombart

When Jesus got [to Bethany] there, he found that he [Lazarus] had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary remained within. And Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know that he will rise again in the great resurrection at the end of time.”

Then Jesus said to her, “I AM the resurrection and the life. Whoever fills himself with my power through faith, he will live even when he dies; and whoever takes me into himself as his life, he is set free from the might of death in all earthly cycles of time. Do you feel the truth of these words?”

And she said, “Yes Lord. With my heart I have recognized that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

When she had said this she went and called her sister Mary and said to her privately, “The Master is here and is asking for you.” Jesus had not yet entered the town. He had stayed in the place where Martha had met him.

Rembrandt

When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her. They thought she was going to the tomb to weep there. But Mary came to the place where Jesus was, and when she saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been there, this brother of mine would not have died. “

When Jesus saw how she and the Jews coming with her were weeping, he aroused himself in spirit and, deeply moved within himself, he asked, “Where have you laid him?”

They answered, “Come, Lord, and see.”

Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not he who restored the sight of the blind man keep this man from dying?”

And again Jesus, deeply moved within himself went up to the tomb.

It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. And Jesus said, “Take away the stone!”

Then said Martha, the sister of him whose life had reached completion, “Lord, there will be an odor [he has already begun to decompose], for this is the fourth day.”

But Jesus said, “Did I not say to you that if you had faith, you would see the revelation of God?”

Then they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes to the spirit and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me; but because of the people standing here I say it, so that their hearts may know that you have sent me. Then he called with a loud voice: “Lazarus, come out!”

And the dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with strips of linen, his face covered with a veil. And Jesus said, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

3rd June Trinity

June 13, 2010

John 11: 17-44

Sombart

When her brother dies, the ever-active Martha rushed out to meet Christ. She gently rebukes him for his absence at her brother’s death, while stating her faith that somehow He will fix things. To Martha Christ gives the answer: Whoever fills himself with my power through trust, he will live even when he dies. John 11:26 Christ reveals Himself as the resurrecting power of life that permeates all of creation. And He probes her heart for her sense of the truth of what He is saying.

It is then Martha who summons Mary. ‘The Master is here and is asking for you,’ John 11: 28 she says to her. To Mary’s same rebuke, that His absence has resulted in Lazarus’s death, Christ responds with tears of compassion for the grief of loss. He moves to the tomb and commands that the heavy stone be rolled away. And then, in concert with His Father, He calls—Lazarus, come forth! And then, ‘Unbind him’. John 11:43

Martha and Mary are two sides of the human soul. Our more active, Martha side arrives first, and responds in hope to conversation with Christ. She summons the other side, the more inward, contemplative Mary side, the side of deep feeling. Christ weeps with them both and then does battle with death. Lazarus, the representative of the eternal human spirit, rises from death to the call of Christ.

In the Act of Consecration of Man, the communion service, each side of our soul is activated. Our Martha side hurries us to the chapel to meet with Christ. She calls forth our more contemplative, Mary side to join in the deed of offering, so that our inner Lazarus, our eternal spirit, is called forth from the place of death. Every time the Act of Consecration of Man is celebrated, Martha’s words sound forth: The Master is here and is asking for you.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

Friday, June 20, 2014

4th June Trinity 2010, I Am Not I

June Trinity

John 17: 6-11

I have made manifest your name to those human beings who have come out of the world to me through you. Yours they were, and you have given them to me, and they have kept your word in their inmost being. Thus they have recognized that everything which you have given me is from you; for all the power of the word which you have given me I have brought to them. They have taken it into themselves and have recognized in deepest truth that I come from you, and they have come to believe that I have been sent by you . I pray to you for them as individual human beings, not for mankind in general. Only for the human beings which you have given me, because they belong to you. Everything that is mine is yours and what is yours is mine, and the light of my being can shine in them. I am now no longer in the world of the senses. And I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep, through the power of your being, those who came to me through you, so that they may become one, even as we also are one.

4^th June Trinity

June 20, 2010

John 17: 6 – 11

The child is cradled and guided by folk and family. They are the forces that guide the child’s life and form its

character. When the child becomes an adult, s(he) takes over the responsibility for shaping and forming his/her own life. In fact one could say that until one makes one’s own decisions and exercises one’s own strength of character, one remains a child, regardless of age.

In the history of humanity, and in our lives, guidance once came from outside; as adults it comes from deep within the core of our own individual being. It is not always easy to live out of the depths of the heart, particularly if folk and family try to dictate and pressure us otherwise.

In this Gospel reading, strangely Christ says to His Father: ‘I pray to you for them as individual human beings; not for mankind in general, but for the human beings that you have given to me.’ John 17: 9 Living out of one’s core self is often a lonely proposition. But Christ supports our attempts to strive for authenticity. For He carries the pattern of each individual’s true self. He is our silent partner along the path. In Him we live, even when we die. In the words of the poet:

Simeon Solomon

I am not I.

I am this one walking beside me whom I do not see,

Whom at times I manage to visit,

And whom at other times I forget;

The one who remains silent when I talk

The one who forgives, sweet, when I hate,

The one who takes a walk where I am not.

The one who will remain standing when I die.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] “I Am Not I”, by Juan Ramón Jiménez, in Risking Everything, ed. By Roger Housden, p. 19

June Trinity 2012, Mighty Doorways

June Trinity

John 17: 6-11

1^st June Trinity

June 3, 2012

John 17: 6-11

Wulfing

We each of us have a guardian angel. This angelic being has been with us from the very first chapter of the story of our lives. It never for a second leaves us. It knows how our chapters want to turn out. And with the tenderest love and encouragement, it stands by, hoping to be called upon to collaborate in the authorship of our lives. It waits to carry the offered substance of our prayers up to God.

God and His angels have also offered us one most precious gift. Out of their love, they give us the gift of our freedom. We can choose, or not, to ask for their guidance and help. The mystics say that one of the saddest sights in the spiritual world are the angels whose charges have left them unemployed.

Communities also have an angel. It watches over and guides the workings of the members of the group. The angels of the individuals collaborate with it, as it gathers the noble thoughts, the warmth of love, and the devoted wills of the individuals joined together in prayer. The prayers of the members form a fragrant bouquet. It is the fragrance itself, offered to God through the angels that nourishes and strengthens them in their work of love. Bread and wine, offered to be the body and blood of Christ, are food for our angels.

Perhaps before going to sleep at night, we might think to our angel:

Through my earth-days, watchful angel,

Thankfully I feel your presence

Knower of my destiny.

When I listen, you are helping.

When I move, your strength is with me:

Birth and death alike you show

Mighty doorways for my spirit—

Never lost, never forgotten

Held before your holy vision

Faithful, patient, hopeful angel.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] Angel, by Adam Bittleston, in A Window into Worlds

June Trinity 2013, Unifying Love

Durer

June Trinity

John 17: 6-11

1^st June Trinity

May 26, 2013

John 17: 6 – 11

Every school child learns this: we can add single things together to make a greater sum. And we can take things away from the whole and thereby diminish it.

In today’s reading, Christ is conversing with His Father about how they have chosen out of the world a number of individuals, and added them to the sum of those connected with themselves. But in the realm of the Father there is a greater principle: The Father is One. And the number one is itself in fact the great all-inclusive unity containing all numbers. One, the whole, when divided, generates the rest of the numbers: two, three, four…. We are all part of the original One-ness of God.

And in the realm where the Father and the Son are joined, there is another great principle – the sum is greater than the parts. Those joined together with the Father and the Son are no longer merely isolated entities. They have rejoined the greater unifying One-ness from which we have all come.

We are held in the unifying love between the Father, who holds World Destiny in his hands, and His Son, who turns all things toward the good. The love between them and for the world is the Healing Spirit. When we recognize them, they live in us; we partake in their unifying, healing love. In fact, that is their wish – that we may be One, whole, a greater unity, just as they are One.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

5th June Trinity 2013, Field of Sorrow

June Trinity

John 11: 17-44

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know that he will rise again in the great resurrection at the end of time.”

And she said, “Yes Lord. With my heart I have recognized that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

When Jesus saw how she and the Jews coming with her were weeping, he aroused himself in spirit and, deeply moved within himself, he asked, “Where have you laid him?”

They answered, “Come, Lord, and see.”

Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not he who restored the sight of the blind man keep this man from dying?”

And again Jesus, deeply moved within himself went up to the tomb.

It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. And Jesus said, “Take away the stone!”

Then said Martha, the sister of him whose life had reached completion, “Lord, there will be an odor [he has already begun to decompose], for this is the fourth day.”

But Jesus said, “Did I not say to you that if you had faith, you would see the revelation of God?”

And the dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with strips of linen, his face covered with a veil. And Jesus said, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

5^th June Trinity

John 11: 17-44

June 23, 2013

In today’s reading, Jesus interacts with the three siblings, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. As one of them dies, each of them is plunged into the depths of human experience. We can look at each of these characters as archetypal parts of one human soul.

Martha is the active one; she goes out to meet Christ on the way, because her heart has recognized Him as the Son of God. Then there is Mary, the more inward side of the soul, sunk in contemplation and grief, waiting. And there is Lazarus, the rich young man who had asked what he must do to attain eternal life and who was told to follow the deep path of sacrifice. (Matthew 19:16, Luke 10:25) He has preceded Christ into the realm of death. After his own death experience, he will be able to stand under the cross and as the disciple John he will accompany Jesus’ death.

And finally there is Christ Jesus himself, who is both compassionate and ultimately called upon to draw on His deepest powers. Deeply stirred within, He pours out the power of his Life, the power that overcomes death. And He calls Lazarus forth from the grave, restoring him to Life. He is anticipating His own death, His own entombment, His own rising from the grave.

Martha acts; Mary waits; Lazarus has surrendered. They are all three images of what is necessary when the soul faces loss. We do what we can; we wait; we surrender ourselves to the greater will of God. And Christ comes. He takes away the stone that seals the grave of the heart in death. He brings new Life. Often it is the unexpected. One poet says:

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse. ….
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

…Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss; ….

The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen: may it happen to you.[1]

[1] Sheenagh Pugh, “Sometimes” in Good Poems, ed. by Garrison Keillor

Thursday, June 19, 2014

2nd June Trinity 2008, Different Wells

June Trinity
John 7: 33-40
Jesus said, ‘Only a short time shall I still be with you; then I go to Him who sent me. You will seek and not find me. Where I am you cannot come.’And the Jews said to one another, ‘Where could he go that we would not be able to find him? Perhaps he intends to go to the Jews in the Greek lands and teach the Greeks himself. What does he mean by those words: You will seek and not find me: where I am you cannot come?’On the last, the great day of the festival, Jesus stood there and called out loudly: ‘Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink! Whoever fills himself with my power through faith, from his body shall flow streams of life-bearing water, as scripture says.’He said this to indicate the spirit which those were to receive who unite with him in faith. But this Spirit was not yet working, for Jesus had not yet revealed his spirit-form.

2^nd June Trinity

May 25, 2008

John 7: 33-40

Human culture has created many ways to send water to where it is needed. Essentially they all involve some form of capture, in a vessel or a pipe or canal. And somewhere at the other end there is a place of release for the water to flow out. For the whole point of capturing water is to let it go again, so that it can support life.

Christ likens Himself in this reading to a giver of water. He gathers the Father’s life-giving spirit waters. He makes Himself the conduit for these waters of the spirit. At the end, he will pour out the water of life. He pours His Life first into wine and bread at the Last Supper. In so doing he creates another extension of the channel, a conduit that reaches through time into the present day. Then he pours His blood and water from the cross, re-enlivening the dying earth. And finally He ascends to the clouds, to inhabit the life sphere of the whole earth, to pour the waters of life, both spiritual and physical, onto the earth. This is what He means when He says: “Then I go to Him who sent me. You will look for me and not find me. Where I am going you cannot follow.” John 7:34 We cannot yet follow Him in all His ways, into the biosphere, for we have not yet ascended. So He pours out his life as He rains down on us from the clouds.

Yet this process involves not only Him; we are also included, for He says: “Whoever fills himself with my power through faith, from his body shall flow streams of life-bearing water.” John 7: 38 For Christ’s life-giving spiritual-physical power flows not only in rain, in the wine, in His blood; His waters of life flow now through the blood that flows through every human heart. The poet says:

There are different wells within your heart

Some fill with each good rain.

Others are too deep for that.

In one well

You have just a few precious cups of water.

That “love” is literally something of yourself.[1]

Christ’s waters of life now flow through the blood that flows through the heart of everyone who drinks from the well of His being. We become the conduits of His streaming life. From human hearts can flow the streams of His life-bearing waters. We receive His waters of life in order to let them go again, to pour out the water of life, of love, wherever it is needed.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] Hafiz, “Some Fill with Each Good Rain”, in The Gift, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 76.