6th August/September Trinity 2019, HERE

August Trinity

Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Charalambos Epaminonda

In reply, Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

6^th August Trinity

Sep 1, 2019

Luke 10:25-37

Van Gogh

One of the scripture experts asks Christ how to attain eternal life. Christ asks him how the scripture reads and the expert answers: to love God with one’s whole being and to love one’s fellow human beings as well as oneself will lead to eternal life. And Christ affirms this; love directed outward, beyond oneself, overcomes the deadening effects of mere self- love.

Yet there comes the man’s somewhat defensive next question: which of my fellow human beings am I supposed to love? Christ’s answer in story form is: Not just my family, not just my own tribe or those with whom I can identify. Any fellow human being in need whom I happen upon along the way can be the recipient of a love that expresses itself in concrete action. For it is our deeds, not our feelings, that live beyond the boundaries of this life. The key here is to regard others with an attitude of mercy, of loving-kindness. And then we give and do what we can.

Corrine Vonaesch

It may be that the priest and the Levite felt that they could not touch the unclean man because they were on their way to a work that required their ritual cleanliness. The Samaritan, however, though despised by the Jews, was truly free to help (or not). He helps a stranger, a potential enemy, in a personal, hands-on way. And he also helps by deputizing and paying the innkeeper to complete the work of healing. He is thereby encouraging others to help. And in this way he, therefore, maintains his own freedom to help the next victim he finds, to further practice his love for his fellow human beings. 

Christ is saying that our neighbor is not necessarily one whom we know, the one who lives next door. It is the stranger whom we meet along the way. It is we who are to act neighborly. A poet expresses the universality of this in a little parable:

Some fishermen pulled a bottle from the deep. It held a piece of paper,

with these words: "Somebody save me! I'm here. The ocean cast me on this desert island.

I am standing on the shore waiting for help. Hurry! I'm here!"

"There's no date. I bet it's already too late anyway.

It could have been floating for years," the first fisherman said.

"And he doesn't say where. It's not even clear which ocean," the second fisherman said.

"It's not too late, or too far. The island Here is everywhere," the third fisherman said.

They all felt awkward. No one spoke. That's how it goes with universal truths.*

  

*Wislawa Szymborska,  “ Parable” Poems New and Collected 1957-1997, trans. S. Baranczak and C. Cavanagh)

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5th August Trinity 2019, One Word

Mark 7, 31-37

6th Trinity August

As he was again leaving the region around Tyre, He went through the country around Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the region of the ten cities of the Decapolis. They brought to him one who was deaf and who spoke with difficulty and asked him to lay his hands on him. And He led him apart from the crowds by himself, laid his finger in his ears, and moistening his finger with saliva, touched his tongue, and looking up to the heavens, sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphata, be opened.” His hearing was opened and the impediment of his tongue was removed and he could speak properly. And He commanded them not to say anything to anyone. But the more He forbade it, the more they widely they proclaimed it. And the people were deeply moved by this event, and said, “He has changed all to the good: the deaf he makes to hear and the speechless to speak.

5^th August Trinity 

August 25, 2019

Mark 7:31-37

Deep inside the ear is a fluid-filled chamber. In it, little hairs stand up like reeds, swaying to the motion of the water as sound waves enter. This movement underwater is translated to us as sound.

Sea of Galilee

In today’s reading, water is the hidden background element in this healing— the paradisal Sea of Galilee, the sea where the healing takes place; the fluid-filled chambers of the deaf man’s ears, the moisture from Christ’s own mouth. The watery element in the man’s ears, in his soul, had grown stagnant, flat. Christ recharges it with the fiery sound of His word—Be opened! Christ’s fire-word brings the waters into movement, opens hearing, frees speech.

We too have become deaf, deaf to the speaking of the spirit. Everywhere, noise drowns out spirit-word. In defense, we close our ears.

In the Act of Consecration of Man, the communion service, we hear Christ ask that we take, along with the bread and watered wine, His body and His blood, His peace. Yet hidden in communion resounds His eternal healing, strengthening Word—Be opened!

For, in the words of David Whyte,

It is not enough to know.

Ottheinrich

It is not enough to follow

the inward road conversing in secret.

...You must go to the place

where everything waits;

there, when you finally rest,

even one word will do,

one word...

And now we are truly afraid

to find the great silence

asking so little.

One word, one word only.*

---

*"It is Not Enough" from Where Many Rivers Meet by David Whyte. 

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4th August Trinity 2019, Unthinkable Can Be Thought

August Trinity 

Luke 18, 35-43

It happened as he approached Jericho: a certain blind man was sitting by the road begging. Hearing the crowd going by, he wanted to know what was happening, and they told him Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. He cried out in a loud voice: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Those leading the way threatened him and wanted him to be quiet. But he cried all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and had him led to him. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want that I should do for you?”

He said to him, “Lord, that I may look up and see again.”

And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Through your faith and your trust, the power for healing has been awakened in you.” ( your faith has healed you)

In that moment his eyes were opened. He followed Him and thus revealed the working of the divine within the human being--and all who saw it praised God. 

4^th August Trinity 2019

Luke 18: 35 – 43

Imagine only being able to look downward, to see only the ground under your feet. Certainly, there are small miracles there—the beauty of sand grains or green grass. But looking up, elevating our gaze, opens up whole worlds. We can take in the majesty of mountains, the ever-transforming sky, the magnificence of the stars. We can perceive the wonders of all our fellow creatures.

Whole levels of meaning emerge.

Brian Jekel

The blind man asks Christ to help him look up and see again. He wants to elevate his gaze, to take in the expanse of the universe, to experience new levels of meaning. And Christ tells him that because he trusts that this is possible, the power to enlarge his vision is already operating in him, is already elevating his gaze. His openness allows him to receive his sight.

In a sense, we are all blind. Yet the ability to see is an indwelling capacity given to us by God, a capacity we can further cultivate. It is partly a matter of ignoring those inner and outer voices which would squelch our attempts to elevate our gaze. And it is a matter of trusting that it is possible, and listening for the Voice that says to trust the power to heal our inner blindness, to raise our gaze upward.

And ultimately, when our eyes open and our gaze rises, we encounter the One speaking to us, the One who helps us heal, the One who gave us our sight.

And in the words of the poet He tells us to look at the true yet commonplace miracles:

…a small and airy cloud
is able to upstage the massive moon.

...

 A miracle, just take a look around:
the inescapable earth.

 An extra miracle, extra and ordinary:
the unthinkable can be thought.*

* Wislawa Szymborska, "Miracle Fair"

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3rd August Trinity 2019, Enough for All

August Trinity 

Luke 9: 1-17

Duccio DiBuoninsegnaca

He called the twelve together and gave to them potent authority and formative power, so that they could work against all demonic mischief, and heal all sickness.  And he sent them out to heal and to proclaim the Kingdom of God, appearing now on earth, the kingdom of human beings filled with God’s spirit.

And He said to them, “Take nothing with you on the way: no staff for support, no bag for collecting, neither bread nor money, no change of clothes. If you enter a house, remain there until you go further. And where they do not accept you, leave their city and shake the dust from your feet as a sign that they have refused community with you.”

They left and walked through the villages of the country, announcing the joyful message of the new working of the kingdom of the angels and healing everywhere.

Meanwhile, Herod the Tetrarch heard of all that was happening, and he was very perplexed, for some said, “John has risen from the dead,” and others said that Elijah had appeared, and yet others, “One of the Prophets of old has risen again.” And Herod said, “John, I have had beheaded; who now is this, about whom I hear all these things?” And he wished to see him himself.

And the apostles returned and reported to Jesus everything that they had accomplished. So he gathered them to himself and retreated with them to a city called Bethsaida [beth-say’uh-duh] for special instruction. But the people became aware of it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God of the future, of the human kingdom on earth, filled with the divine spirit, and he healed all who had need of it.

Boy with Fish, Woloschina

But the day began to decline. The twelve came up to him and said, “Send the crowd away so that they can reach the villages and farms in the vicinity and find food and lodging, for here we are in a deserted place.” He, however, said to them, “From now on, it falls to you; you give them to eat.”

They answered, “We have nothing but five loaves and two fish. Or shall we go and buy food for all of them?“ There were about five thousand people.

Then he said to the disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of fifty.” And they did so, and all reclined.

Then he took the five loaves and the two fish and, raising his soul to the spirit, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. And they ate, and all were satisfied. And they took up the pieces that remained: twelve baskets full.

3^rd August Trinity

August 11, 2019

Luke 9: 1-17

Jan Luyken

Here in the gospel, the spirit, the life of God begins to live and breathe within the human community. First, an in-breath - “He called the twelve together and gave them potent authority and formative power.” He breathes into their community His powers of life, the power to order and to heal.

And then He breathes the twelve themselves out into the world, to bring his powers of life to others. He warns them first not to crowd out His spirit with satisfying a desire for stuff, for sticks, bags, bread, money. And so, free and unencumbered, they go forth, breathing out his healing and joyful spirit into the world.

Then they return for another round of inbreathing, of inspiration. And Christ gathers them together again, to deepen the working of his spirit into their community. Now they are not only able to order and to heal. Now they are to join themselves together with his power to nourish, to feed and sustain. “From now on,” He says, “it falls to you to give them to eat.”

For a moment, they are confused - food is surely something tangible, countable. And what they have isn’t enough.

But He shows them that true nourishment, true sustenance, comes from both a higher and yet a deeper level, from a level where living forces multiply themselves before they divide, from a place of love.

Woloschina

Christ demonstrates the laws of how this mysterious process works. He breathes out his own spirit up to the Father of all Life in a great outpouring of gratitude. In so doing, He makes his own spirit of love into the great Tree of Life itself. His gratitude ripens fruit on this tree, ever fruitful, ever-bearing. The community, united in thanks with Christ, is allowed to harvest and eat of the fruits of the Tree of Life itself.

The fruits of this tree nourish by bestowing living forces in abundance. Together the community gave thanks. And together they ate. Together they were satisfied. For with Christ, they had breathed themselves into the realm of multiplication. The realm where there is more than enough. Enough for all time, for everywhere.

2nd August Trinity 2019, Joyous Feast

3^rd August Trinity

Luke 15:1-32

Now many customs officials, despised by the people, who called them sinners and expelled them from their community, sought to be close to Jesus. They wanted to listen to him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law, however, were upset by this and said, “This man accepts sinners and eats with them!”

So he told them this parable:

“

Tissot

What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking for the lost one until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost!’

I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.

Tissot

Or which woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the whole house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost!’

In the same way, I tell you, there will be joy among the angels in the world of spirit over one human being living in denial of the spirit who manages to change his heart and mind. “

And he said further: “A certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Give me the share of the estate which falls to me.’  And he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later the younger son gathered ever

Fritz Eichenberg, The Prodigal Son, wood engraving

ything together and went on a journey to a far country and squandered his estate in the enjoyment of loose living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine came over the land, and he began to be in need. So he went and attached himself to a citizen of the country who sent him out into his fields and let him herd swine. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, but no one gave him anything.

Then he came to himself, and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here of hunger. I will rise up and go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].’

So he rose up and traveled along the road to his father. When he was still a long

Rembrandt

way off, his father saw him, felt his misery, ran toward him, embraced him and kissed him. And yet the son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].’

But the father called his servant to him. ‘Quickly! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and slaughter the fattened calf. Then we shall eat and be merry. For this, my son was dead and is risen to life. He was lost and is found again.’ And they began to celebrate.

Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he returned home and came near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants to him and asked him what it meant. He gave him the news: ‘Your brother has come home again. So in joy, your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back again safe and sound.’

The son grew dark with anger and didn’t want to go in. But his father came out and pleaded with him. He, however, reproached his father saying, ‘Look! For so many years I have been with you and have never neglected one of your commands. But you never gave me so much as a goat that I might be merry with my friends. And now comes this son of yours who has eaten up your wealth in scandal, and you offer him the fattened calf.’

The father, however, said to him ‘Child, you are always with me and all that I have belongs to you too. But now we should be glad and rejoice, for this your brother was dead and lives; he was lost and has been found again.’

2^nd August Trinity

August 4, 2019

Luke 15: 1-32

When seeds are ripe, they fall to the ground and disappear. If the mother plant were sentient, she could feel this moment as a loss. The potential for new life has disappeared from her; but only apparently. For at the right season, those seeds will indeed sprout and grow and blossom.

Today’s gospel reading tells the story of humankind as a whole. At

John Macallan Swan - The Prodigal Son 1888

first, we were at home, close to God, our Father. But at a certain point, we broke away, took our gifts, and went out to explore and enjoy the world. And at first, came the joy and excitement. But eventually, we found ourselves, like the seeds buried in the ground, feeling nigh unto death. But whereas seeds are programmed to grow and rise, human beings need to make a choice. The lost son notices his own condition. As it says, “he came to himself.” And now he has the choice: he can continue crawling toward death, or he can overcome his pride, and his humiliation, seek out his Father, apologize for the waste and start over at a lower level.

Kathryn Doneghan

What Christ wants to tell us with this story is the amazing fact that the Father does not judge. The older brother tries to, but the Father receives His lost son with nothing but joy and forgiveness. The younger son has judged himself. He has discerned and taken responsibility for his own misdeeds. Under those circumstances, the Father does not need to judge or punish. He is a being of Love, whose greatest joy is to see us face to face. He has let us go from Him in the hope that we will one day find our way back to Him, stronger for our experiences. He rejoices in our coming back to Him because we choose to, since He is anyway aware of all our straying from Him, all our pretending that He doesn’t exist, all of our weaknesses.

Therefore here in this Act of Consecration, we are bringing You, O Father, the best we have to offer – ourselves. May You and Your angels rejoice at this celebratory feast. May we grow and blossom with new life.

1st August Trinity 2019, Regions of Kindness

Matthew 7, 1-29

August Trinity

“Do not judge your fellow man, so that your judgment will not someday be visited upon yourself. For with the judgment that you pronounce you also speak your own judgment, and the measure by which you measure will be the measuring rod for your own self. Why do you look to the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not become aware of the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother: “Wait, I will pull the splinter out of your eye” - but mark it well, there is a log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first remove the log from your own eye, and then you may be able to see how to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw pearls to the swine, for these will tread them underfoot, and then turn upon you and tear you also to pieces.

Ask from the heart and it will be given to your heart; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for he who asks in uprightness will receive; he who earnestly seeks will find; he who knocks, to him will be opened. Or are there among you those who when his son asks for bread would give him a stone; or when he asks for a fish would offer him a snake? If then you who in spite of wickedness know how to give good things to your children, how much more goodness will your Father in the heavens give to those who earnestly ask him for it.

All that you want that men should do for you, do first for them. This is the true content of the Law and the Prophets.

Walk through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the path is easy which leads to ruin [the abyss] and many are they who walk it. But narrow is the gate and difficult the path that leads to Life, and it is only the individual who finds it. 

Be on your guard against false prophets of healing. They come to you in the garments of peaceful lambs but inwardly are rapacious wolves. You shall recognize them by the fruits of their deeds. Never will you harvest grapes from a thorn bush, nor figs from thistles. Every noble tree brings forth good fruit, but a wild tree only forms unusable fruit. A noble tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a wild tree cannot form good fruit. A tree that does not bring forth good fruit will be cut down and put in the fire. Therefore, recognize them by the fruits of their deeds.

Not everyone who addresses me with “Lord! Lord! can be taken up into the kingdom; only he who accomplishes the will of my Father in the heavens. In the future, when the light of God breaks over the earthly darkness, many will call to me. They will say, “Lord! Lord! have we not worked in advance for your revelation? Have we not driven out spirits of destruction in honor of you? Have we not gathered multiple powers for your word?”

Then I will freely say to them, ‘I do not know you. My paths are not your paths. Depart from me, for you serve the forces of chaos [the downfall of the world].’

Burnand

Everyone who hears such words from me and acts accordingly will be like a man who wisely built his house on bedrock. The clouds burst, the waves rose, the winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not totter, for it was founded upon the rock. He, however, who hears such words from me and does not act accordingly is like a man who foolishly builds his house upon sand. The rain comes down, the floods rise, the winds blow and beat upon the house, and it collapses with a great crash.”

When Jesus had completed saying this, the people were greatly moved, for he spoke to them out of spiritual authority, as if the powers of creation themselves spoke out of him, and not like their teachers of the law [canon-lawyers].

 1^st August/September Trinity

July 29, 2012

Matthew 7: 1-14

In ancient times, caves were often places used for certain kinds of initiations. They involved tests of courage. Even today, being in a cave, or any dark tight space, are places where the only light is the one you bring with you. Often the darkness brings one face to face with oneself.

Our lives can also bring us to tight dark places, where the only light seems to be what we can bring to the situation ourselves. They often involve tests of our courage and our faith.

Today’s gospel reading is a kind of instruction on ‘soul-caving’. It encourages us to enter our perhaps dark and tight soul space. We are encouraged to turn our powers of discernment inward into ourselves, rather than only onto our fellows; to notice the hindrances to seeing that exist within our own soul; to avoid the cynical, the broad and easy.

For what is to be learned is the courage to face, not what is outer, but one’s own inner darkness; to bring our inner light to bear upon ourselves. We are to generate the light of trust toward the beneficence of our God. We are to generate the light of nourishing kindness to shine toward ourselves and toward our fellows. As Naomi Nye says:

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness....*

---

 *‘Kindness’, by Naomi Shihab Nye, in Words From Under the Words: Selected Poems

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4th St. Johnstide 2019, Not the Only

4th St. Johnstide

Mark 8, 27-Mark 9-1 (Peter’s Confession), adapted from Madsen

  

And Jesus went on with his disciples into the region of Caesarea Philippi (in the north of the land at the source of the Jordan where the Roman Caesar was worshiped as a divine being). And on the way there he asked the disciples (and said to them), “Who do people say that I am?”

They said to him, “Some say that you are John the Baptist; others say Elijah, still others that you are one of the prophets.”

Then he asked them, “And you, who do you say that I am?’

Then Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

And he began to teach them: “The Son of Man must suffer much and will be rejected by the leaders of the people, by the elders and the teachers of the law, and he will be killed and after three days he will rise again.” Freely and openly he told them this.

Then Peter took him aside and began to urge him not to let this happen. He, however, turned around, looked at his disciples, and reprimanded Peter, saying to him, “Withdraw from me; now the adversary is speaking through you! Your thinking is not divine but merely human in nature.”

And he called the crowd together, including his disciples and said to them

Roland Tiller

, “Whoever would follow me must practice self-denial and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever is concerned about the salvation of his own soul will lose it; but whoever gives his life for my sake and the sake of the gospel, his soul will find power and healing. For what use is it to a human being to gain the whole world if through that he damages his soul, which falls victim to the power of an empty darkness? What then can a man give as ransom for his soul? In this present humanity, which denies the spirit and lives in error, whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the shining revelation of the Father among his holy angels.”

And he said to them, “The truth I say to you, among those who are standing here there are some who will not taste death before they behold the kingdom of God arising in human beings, revealing itself in the power and magnificence of the spirit.”

4^th St. Johns

July 21, 2019

Mark 8:27 – Mark 9:1

We have passed the half-way point in the year. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere have begun descending from the sun’s zenith. For those in the Southern Hemisphere, the time of the year’s deepest darkness is past. Now begins their ascent into the light.

In today’s reading, Peter’s recognition of the Christ in Jesus is a kind of a high point. It allows Christ to further reveal even more of Himself—He says that the Son of Man must suffer much, be rejected, killed. He speaks of a descent into the depths of human existence, into death, and beyond; but He will rise again.

This revelation seems to spur Peter’s thinking into a narrow abyss of fear—he urges Jesus to save Himself; but thereby Peter’s practicality misses the bigger picture, and he inadvertently opposes Christ’s mission. For Christ came specifically to conquer death from within. In descending to the depths of the earth, Christ will ultimately make the whole earth itself into His body.

In our lives too, there are moments when the working of the divine reveals itself, often in the midst of an ordeal. We may not recognize it until later. And we may also then see how we resisted it out of fear or pride.

Though it is certainly human enough that we resist suffering, we ultimately need not fear it. These are indeed just the places where Christ is most easily found. For He has placed Himself forever into the depths of human existence. Whether we are ascending into the light, or descending into darkness, He always there to help us begin anew on our path. As Vaclav Havel said,

Collot d'Herbois

It is I who must begin.

Once I begin, once I try --

here and now,

right where I am,

… I suddenly discover,

to my surprise, that

I am neither the only one,

nor the first,

nor the most important one

to have set out

upon that road.*

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---

*Vaclav Havel, “It Is I Who Must Begin’ in Teaching With Fire, ed. by S.M. Intrator and M. Scribner