4th St. Johnstide 2009, No Body But Yours

St. Johnstide
Matthew 11: 2-15

When John heard in prison about the deeds of Christ, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are awakened, and those who have become poor receive the message of salvation. Blessed are those who are not offended by my Being.”

When they had gone, Jesus began to speak about John. “Why did you go out into the desert? Did you want to see a reed swaying in the wind? Or was it something else you wanted to see? Did you want to see a man in splendid garments? Those in splendid garments are in the palaces of kings. Did you go to see a man who is initiated into he mysteries of the spirit, a prophet? Yes, I say to you—he is more than a prophet. He it is of whom it is written:

           

            Behold it well: I will send my angel before your face;

            He shall prepare the way of your working in the hearts of men

            So that your being may be revealed.

The truth I say to you: among all who are born of women, not one has risen up who is greater than John the Baptist; and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist, and even more now, the kingdom of heaven will arise within human beings through the power of the will; those who exert themselves can freely grasp it. The deeds of the prophets and the content of the Law are words of the spirit that were valid [worked into the future] until the time of John. And if you want to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

4^th St. Johnstide

July 19, 2009

Matthew 11: 2 – 15

In spring, fruit trees bloom in beauty. Through the kiss of sunlight, the wind, and the bees, they set fruit. Without the fruit, spring’s flowering beauty would be empty. It is the fruit that nurtures the sees of the next generation of life.

When John the Baptist asks Christ to confirm that He is the Messiah, Christ doesn’t say, ‘Yes, I am.’ He points to the fruits of His deeds: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are awakened, and the poor in spirit receive the message from the realm of the angels. (Matthew 11: 4 – 6) The beauty of Christ’s teachings and parables would be empty spring blossoms if they did not also develop into deeds. Christ teaches by example. He enacts what He says of every human being: by their fruits you shall know them (Matthew 7: 16 – 20); not what they say defines them, but what they do.

At Jesus’ birth the good news from the angels was that there will be peace on earth through those human beings in whom good will dwells. Christ came to strengthen, develop and consecrate human willing. Through His deeds in life, in death and in resurrection, He created a doorway in the human constitution so that He could enter into human willing. He lies as a seed in the innermost heart of every human being. Nurturing the Christ seed in our will life, we can become those in whom Christ’s good will dwells, those who spread healing and peace, those whose deeds reveal Christ fruit through the way we act and work in and for the world. For as someone said,

God has no body now on earth but yours

no hands but yours

no feet but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which he pours out,

compassion for the world, compassion in the world.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Teresa of Avila

3rd St. Johnstide 2009, Hope Flares

St. Johnstide

John 1: 19-39

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.”

Sombart

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.”

The next day John was again standing there, and two of his disciples were with him. And as he saw Jesus walking past, he said, “Behold, the [sacrificial] Lamb of God [through whom humanity’s sense of self will be purified.]”

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?”

They answered, “Rabbi [Teacher], where are you staying [where do you live] [where do you take refuge]?”

He said, “Come and you will see!”

And they came and saw where he stayed [lived], and remained with him all that day. It was about the tenth hour [four o’clock].

3^rd St. Johnstide

July 12, 2009

John 1: 19-39

There are two forces, two streams that flow side by side within our human constitution. One is the instinct for self-preservation. The other is for the perpetuation of the species. These two streams rise from deep within our soul-bodily constitution. They are symbolized by the twin serpents of wisdom, twining upward around our spinal column. They guard and protect our selfhood, our life, and ensure the perpetuation of the human race.

John takes pains to speak what he sees: in Christ Jesus, John sees and proclaims that there is a new image arising in the constitution of man, the image of the lamb. He is seeing the emergence of a new human archetype.

Memling

As a young animal, the snowy white lamb represents upwelling, joyous new life. But ironically, this is an animal that offers no resistance when its own life is taken.

The old double serpent is being metamorphosed into the lamb. The wise serpent of self preservation is metamorphosing itself into an image of outspreading and self-sacrificing life. And the wise serpent of the generative force that perpetuates family and tribe is metamorphosing and rising into the innocent purity of an outpouring love for all of humanity.

John says ‘The lamb in us must increase; the serpents must decrease.’ Naturally we don’t like metamorphosis or self-sacrifice; for us, they are hugely threatening; it feels too much like a death. It takes courage to change one’s whole disposition. It takes courage to say with the poet:

I praise life's bright catastrophes,

and all the ceremonies of grief.

I praise our real estate - a shadow and a grave.

I praise my destroyer,

and will continue praising

until hours run like mercury

through my fingers, hope flares a final time

into the last throes of innocence,

and all the coins of sense are spent.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] “I Praise My Destroyer”, Diane Ackerman

3rd St. Johnstide 2010, What You Are

St. Johnstide

Luke 3: 7-18

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You are sons of the serpent yet! Who led you to believe that you can avoid the decline of the old ways of the soul? Produce true fruits in keeping with a change of heart and mind. And do not begin excusing yourselves by saying, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I tell you that God can raise up sons for Abraham out of these stones. The ax is already poised at the root of the trees, so every tree that does not produce good fruit is felled and thrown into the fire.”

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

John answered, “Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”

Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

John Preaching, Ghirlandaio

“Do not collect any more than you are authorized to do,” he told them.

           

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”He replied, “Do not intimidate and do not accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ, the Messiah.

John answered them all, “I wash you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will wash you with the breath of the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, while he burns up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

And with many and various exhortations John preached the good news to the people. 

3^rd St. Johnstide

July 11, 2010

Luke 3: 7 -18

Living things change and evolve. If a plant never put out new leaves, never flowered or produced fruit and seeds, we would wonder if it had died. Evolution ultimately manifests in outwardly visible ‘deeds’.

John’s message about a change of heart and mind is an encouragement to us to keep on evolving. When the crowd asks him how to do this, he points to changes in behavior, to deeds done in the outer world. He encourages deeds of sharing, compassion and right relationship to our fellow human beings. He points to deeds motivated by social justice, by a respectful relationship to those who are not only our equals, but also toward those over whom we have authority.

Six centuries earlier, Buddha had brought this teaching to mankind in his eightfold path. John is exhorting us to take up this path again seriously, as a preparation for the One who fulfills all. By making our own inner and outer evolutionary steps, we will ‘make His paths straight’. Through transformative deeds, which demonstrate the transformation of our hearts, the ‘guilt-laden seed of mankind’ will be cleansed and made viable toward the future, and receptive to the Coming One.

For in the words of another ancient wise teacher, Lao Tzu: 

This is the profound, simple truth:

            You are the master of your life and death.

            What you do is what you are.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

3rd St. Johnstide 2012, Drops of the Sun

John in Prison

St. Johnstide

Matthew 11: 2-15

When John heard in prison about the deeds of Christ, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are awakened, and those who have become poor receive the message of salvation. Blessed are those who are not offended by my Being.”

When they had gone, Jesus began to speak about John. “Why did you go out into the desert? Did you want to see a reed swaying in the wind? Or was it something else you wanted to see? Did you want to see a man in splendid garments? Those in splendid garments are in the palaces of kings. Did you go to see a man who is initiated into he mysteries of the spirit, a prophet? Yes, I say to you—he is more than a prophet. He it is of whom it is written:

           

            Behold it well: I will send my angel before your face;

            He shall prepare the way of your working in the hearts of men

            So that your being may be revealed.

John the Baptist

The truth I say to you: among all who are born of women, not one has risen up who is greater than John the Baptist; and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist, and even more now, the kingdom of heaven will arise within human beings through the power of the will; those who exert themselves can freely grasp it. The deeds of the prophets and the content of the Law are words of the spirit that were valid [worked into the future] until the time of John. And if you want to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

3^rd St. Johnstide

July 8, 2012

Matthew 11: 2-15

The sun can shine mightily. Yet the bird in the covered cage will not sing. The plant kept in the dark will not thrive. Uncover the cage, place the plant near the sunlight, and they respond to the light.

When John the Baptist asks from prison whether Jesus is the Messiah, the answer is not a simple yes or no. Rather Jesus points to the effects of his deeds. He has uncovered the soul-cages, brought human souls to the spirit light.

Not only those physically blind, but also soul-blind and soul-deaf can see and hear. Deadened souls are awakened. Weak souls can rise and move forward. The outcasts, the beggars for the spirit receive heaven’s healing richness.

The point is that the working of Christ was and continues to show itself as effective within human beings. “Through Him can the healing spirit work.”[1] And those who choose to follow the Christ path become those who, through Christ working in them, are also effective among their fellow human beings in a healing and uplifting way. 

We can hear in a poem by Hafiz how our souls relate to the Spirit-Sun:

I know the voice of depression

Baptism, Berry's Book of Hours 

Still calls to you.

I know those habits that can ruin your life

Still send their invitations.

But you are with the Friend now

And look so much stronger.

You can stay that way

And even bloom!

Keep squeezing drops of the Sun

From your prayers and work and music

And from your companions' beautiful laughter.

Keep squeezing drops of the Sun

From the sacred hands and glance of your Beloved…[2]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] From the Creed of The Christian Community

[2] Hafiz, “Cast All Your Votes For Dancing”, in I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)

Picture by Rembrandt

3rd St. John's Tide 2014, God is Gracious

St. Johnstide

van der Weyden

John 3: 22-36

After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.

But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to this: that God is true [truth] [that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens in man.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

3^rd St. John’s Tide

Sombart

July 13, 2014

John 3: 22 – 36

John the Baptist came with a mission. He was to witness the incarnation of the Light of the World in Jesus at His baptism. He came to prepare souls to also be able to perceive Christ. He inaugurated a rite of purification, a ritual immersion, which allowed individuals to have their own unique spiritual experience. Some saw the quality of their own lives pass before them; others felt the glorious beings of the spiritual world.

As we hear in the reading, those following Jesus were also undergoing baptisms. John’s reaction to the ‘threat of competition’ is noteworthy.

John’s very name means ‘God is gracious’. God graced John with the opportunity to complete what he had come to do. He witnessed, indeed he helped midwife the incarnation of God’s Light and Love. And John speaks out of the meaning of his own name when he says that spiritual power is given as grace. He recognizes that his own day is beginning to decline while Jesus’s sun is rising. And so John graciously lets go the baton and passes it on.

God is gracious. He gives us our lives and sends us to fulfill our task. And when we have accomplished what we have come to do, when we have borne witness to our times and loved those whom we were sent to love, we send the Father our heart-warm thanks for the opportunity to be on the earth, doing what we do. As the poet says:

May the light of your soul bless your work

with love and warmth of heart.

….

May the sacredness of your work bring light and renewal

to those who work with you

….

May it release wellsprings of refreshment,

inspiration and excitement.

…..

May dawn find hope in your heart, ….

May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.[1]

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[1] John O’Donohue, For Work, in To Bless the Space Between Us, p. 146.