All In

A Sunday Reflection*:
The readings for the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost are here.

When you hear the word abundance, where do your thoughts go?
When you hear the word enough, where do your thoughts go?

In the reading from Mark’s telling of the good news story today, Jesus and the disciples are on the campus of the Temple in Jerusalem and Jesus offers us a comparison, more like a juxtaposition really, of two people: those who give out of abundance and those who give. (No, I didn’t forget any words at the end of that last sentence.)

Jesus speaks of those who give out of their abundance, people who give because there is some left over. And then he points out one individual who doesn’t have enough and still gives. Jesus provides us with clues in the verses we read today as to the motivation of the folks who give out of abundance when he cautions the disciples to beware of the religious leaders who seek public recognition by showing off, who casually toss in some spare change and say “oh, it’s nothing” because, really, it means nothing to them.

If you back up even more and read all of the 12th chapter of Mark, you gain an even deeper understanding of Jesus’ teaching on our motivations for giving. Do we give simply to give or do we give because we want recognition or because we can afford to? Materialistically, the widow could not afford to give; spiritually she knew she couldn’t afford not to.

This widow was all in with God, living within God’s Kingdom economy even if those around her were not. This woman, whom God had commanded his people over and over again to care for (along with orphans and foreigners and all whom society marginalizes), gave all she had. It was everything to her.

Are we all in with God? Do we strive to live in the Kingdom Economy even is no one around us does so? Even if the world around us tries to prevent us from doing so? In the Kingdom Economy, everyone has enough. When our greatest desire is that all people know they are loved and cared for, we discover there is always an abundance of everything. There is always enough.

God’s peace,
Mtr. Nancy+

*Now that I am back in parish ministry, I will be preaching every other Sunday. For the alternate Sundays I will still do a short(ish) reflection on the lectionary readings.

Always Learning

I fret sometimes after one of my posts goes live about saying the wrong thing or if some might consider my words to be controversial or offensive. And then I am reminded by God’s gentle voice of the reason for this desire, the need, to share words with others. What started as a way to help us grow more compassionate toward others has become a journey of discerning how we live this amazing gift of life as living, breathing participants in the prayer ‘Your will be on earth as in heaven.” I have learned that when I read or hear something that makes me bristle and immediately say, “that’s wrong” or “what do they know” that I need to read or listen to the words even more closely because often my reaction is uncovering an unknown bias or learning edge in me. I may not agree with or accept what I’ve read but really listening to other points of view help me know my point of view more clearly and it helps me be more compassionate toward others.

In the last moments before ascending to be at God’s right hand, Jesus commissioned the disciples saying, “I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age” (Matthew 28:18-20). This is what is passed on to us, through all of the generations of believers of this present age, so that we can continue the continuous line of succession of discipling, baptizing, and teaching others to walk the Way of Love.

We are to be a Living Sunday School, revealing to all we encounter by our very lives the love of God. As any good teacher will tell you, however, true teaching means we are also in a continuous state of learning. Teaching and learning cannot be separated and both are continuous, life-long actions. In the moment we say to ourself, “I’ve learned all I need to learn,” we stop living fully. Once I decide my ‘knowledge’ is complete, I must fight against anything that threatens or contradicts my certitude.

In the new Friday Feature I posted this past Friday as I told the brief story of my own separation and convergence of science and faith, it occurred to me how similar the processes of scientific learning and faith formation are. The enemy of both is certainty. The process of science involves the continuous collection and observation of new information to analyze and test what we know. When new information changes things it doesn’t mean we were wrong to begin with; it means we’ve grown in our knowledge and adjusted accordingly.

Our faith is the same. Believing that Jesus is Lord isn’t about a static moment in time but about growing and maturing in our relationship with God throughout our whole life, just as we would in any healthy relationship. Jesus tells us that we must become like children, not childish but childlike with an openness to learning and in a continual state of growth and development. What Jesus doesn’t say is anything about how to determine we are ‘fully grown’ as his followers. He doesn’t define a curriculum plan to get the degree or certificate that proves we’re done with our studies but says ‘be like children and follow me’.

Following Jesus is a relational way of life, The Way of Life, living as God intends us to live, the life God created us for as beloved children. Following Jesus is a continuous learning journey as we discover more and more how to love like Jesus.

What have you been learning and discovering along the journey lately?

The God of Life

A sermon preached for the Feast of All Saints’ at St. Francis by the Lake, Canyon Lake, TX.

The lectionary readings for the Feast of All Saints’ are here.

I’d like to share a personal story with you, if I may. I shared this with the group who gathered on the deck for fellowship this past Wednesday so sorry for the repeat for those who were there, but at the time I hadn’t yet made the connection between this story and the message of today’s gospel reading. Thanks for asking me to share it with you then and giving me the inspiration to share it in connection with today’s celebration of All Saints’.

As many of you know, I didn’t grow up in the Episcopal Church. My very first footstep into an Episcopal church was at an uncle’s funeral, at the cathedral in Houston. As I observed all that was going on around me, for the first time in my church going life I knew I was where I belonged. The signs and symbols revealed God’s glory. The music gave a new rhythm to my heart. The words of scripture and prayer spoke to my soul. In the grief and sorrow of the death of someone so very dear to me, I encountered the God of Life.

In the church of my childhood, the focus of our faith was mostly on what happens after we die; our belief in Jesus was more or less an after-life insurance policy to save us from the fiery torment of a Dante-style Hell. I don’t recall being taught much about how our faith shaped our living but rather how it affected what happened upon our physical death. I am so grateful to have come to know the God of Life and to be in a community where we seek together how to live a resurrection life, following Jesus for the glory of God.

In our gospel reading today, Jesus reveals life as God intends it for all of us, here and now, on earth as it is in heaven, a resurrection life lived for the glory of God. I want take a few moments to set the stage so that we can dig deeper into the short bit of God’s story we read today. It’s important that we know where we are in God’s story literally and figuratively.

So just how did Jesus arrive at the tomb of Lazarus?

Not too long before, while Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem for the festival of Dedication, what is called Hanukkah today, Jesus was asked by a group of people at the Temple to tell them plainly if he was the Messiah. The festival of Dedication was about the Maccabee’s revolt against the Greeks and the rededication of the temple almost 200 years before this incident. Jesus doesn’t behave or talk like the Maccabees, or what they expected from a messiah figure, so they aren’t convinced he’s a messiah who can free them from Roman rule. Jesus points out that even with all that he has said and all of the good they have seen him do, they are unable to see him as the one whom God has sent.

They take up stones to kill him and try to have him arrested but Jesus and the disciples escape across the Jordan back to where John had baptized him. And it is here that Jesus gets a message from his friends Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus is very, very sick. Jesus assures the disciples that Lazarus’ illness will not lead to death but to God’s glory and he waited two days before telling them he was going to return to Judea.

The disciples remind him of the previous incident and warn him against returning to where folks had just tried to stone him. And even though he had just told them that Lazarus’ illness doesn’t lead to death, Jesus now tells them plainly, “Lazarus is dead” and begins the return journey. The disciples are very confused. We have the benefit of knowing how this bit plays out but I bet we’d be just as confused as the disciples if we were there with them.

As they approach Bethany, Martha runs to meet Jesus on the road with the same words we hear her sister say later: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” Martha and Jesus then have a conversation about life and resurrection and Martha, in her grief at the death of her brother says, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

It is Martha who has the ears to hear and the eyes to see Jesus. It is Martha who proclaims God’s plan. It is Martha who is the exemplary disciple.

Martha then returns to the house and tells Mary that Jesus is calling for her. And this is where we enter the scene in our reading today. When Mary approaches Jesus she kneels before him and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Mary is immersed in her grief and Jesus is deeply saddened by the pain he senses from all who are mourning Lazarus. Jesus isn’t raising Lazarus as a way to dismiss death and the pain and grief it causes all of us. Jesus doesn’t downplay our pain and sorrow in this world. He knows better than any of us how real the suffering can be. Jesus walks with us in the place of our pain to show us how to see every moment of our life through the lens of God’s love.

Jesus asks where have they laid Lazarus and their response is the exact same as Jesus spoke to his first followers a few years earlier: “come and see.” Jesus uses these words to mean come and see the life God has planned for you. For the mourners, these same words reveal their understanding of life shrouded by death.

At the tomb, Martha speaks again, ever the pragmatist, the one who so boldly proclaims Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah points out that Lazarus has been dead four days as proven by the smell. Grief is like that isn’t it, one minute we are clear headed, the next looking for distractions in the details, and in the next we weep.

The four days is important. It took time for word to reach Jesus and then he delayed two days before making the trip. In Jewish tradition it takes the soul up to three days to leave the body so in the understanding of those around them, Lazarus was completely dead, not just mostly dead. Not only was he physically dead but the life source, his soul, the very breath of God that had been in him was gone as well.

Jesus reminds Martha of their previous conversation: this is all for God’s glory, to reveal the resurrection life we’ve all been promised. Jesus is living this with them and provides a prayer to help them focus on God to find comfort in their pain.

And finally, Jesus commands:
Lazarus, come out!
Come out of the darkness.
Come out of the fear.
Come out of the struggle.

Be freed from the trappings of this world that shroud life in death.
Be freed from the burdens of living life on our terms rather than God’s terms.

To all of our questions and struggles Jesus answers, “Come and see. Come and follow me out of the nightmares of our own devising into the life that God intends for everyone (to borrow a phrase from the Most Reverend Michael Curry).
Come and see the resurrection life. Follow me to the future with hope in which God dwells with us, undoes death, and wipes away all our tears.”

At the celebration of my uncle’s life, in the midst of the grief, I saw God’s glory revealed, not just in the details of the service but through the memory of the life my uncle lived, demonstrating the heart of Jesus to everyone he encountered. My uncle lived a resurrection life freed from the trappings of this world, as a light that shone in some very dark corners to reveal God’s love and glory to others living in fear and struggle.

We are stewards of this gift of life given us by our creator. Our faith is all about how we live life here and now, in the now and not yet of God’s Kingdom. The home of God is already among mortals. We don’t have to wait for it some day. God dwells with us and in us and it is through us that God continues to reveal himself to this world as the Living God, the God of Life.

Jesus calls us with the invitations ‘follow me’ and ‘come and see’ to step into God’s story. This is the resurrection life: seeing God in all people and places, aware of God’s presence with us and in us always, proclaiming with our whole life that Jesus is Lord not someday but here and now.

And that is precisely what we celebrate on our festival of All Saints’ – the lives of those who have walked before us with the God of Life, the Marthas and Marys and others whom the church recognizes as special witnesses of God’s story as well as those more personal to each of us, the uncles and others whose lives caused a shift in our lives so that we can walk with God through this life on earth as in heaven, sharing with others what has been handed down to us. Amen.

A New Thing: A Friday Feature

Let’s start something new, shall we?

Along with the regular Tuesday and Sunday posts, on the last Friday of each month I’d like to start sharing with you a podcast or book or blog that has become one of the learning tools along my journey. My hope is that you will make the time to check out what I share and let it be a part of our together journey. Take a listen. Find a good spot and a cup of coffee and read. Open your heart to God’s message for you. And, then, share with us through the comments your thoughts.

If you know of a podcast or book or blog that is influential for your journey, let me know! I’ll check it out and share it.

To start this off with a bang, my first recommendation is a Three-fer: a book, a website, and a podcast! But first, let me tell you a short story. I was in high school when I saw a stage play based on the Scopes Monkey Trial. I remember coming home in tears because my Baptist church influenced teenage brain could not fathom the scientific concept of evolution. Although my dad, himself a scientist, had never voiced a conflict between trusting the scientific method of understanding the world around us and believing in a God who created the universe, I did not know how to reconcile the two in my head, heart, and soul. I felt as if my identity was being shattered and no one around me was able to help me hold all the pieces together. No one I knew had the language to help me articulate what I was experiencing because science and faith were never brought together in the same conversation. The underlying message was they both existed but did not interact or belong together.

I learned to live with this un-articulated tension and as had been modeled for me, I did not attempt to discuss the two at the same time. Until I read Dr. Francis Collins’ book The Language of God. It’s been so long that I can’t remember how I found the book but it was definitely a game changer for me. For the first time, I began to learn how to integrate what I knew about scientific study and information and the loving God who created each of us in the divine image and the entire universe. I was learning how to integrate the two into one comprehensive and full-bodied understanding of Whose and who we are.

Ten or more years after reading the book and referencing it countless times in sermons and seminary papers, I discovered the “BioLogos” website and from there the “Language of God” podcast. Both of these are now a part of my weekly reading and listening routine and I am so grateful for their ongoing exploration of “God’s Word and God’s World to inspire authentic faith”.

I invite all of you to make use of what the amazing folks at the BioLogos Foundation provide for all of us to grow in wisdom and understanding in our companionable journey following Jesus on earth as in heaven.

Language of God – book
Language of God – podcast
Biologos website

I’d love to have a conversation with you about what you discover!

God’s peace,
Mtr. Nancy+

And

It’s a long one, Y’all. You might want to grab another cup before we begin …

When I first started posting my writing on FB in the early fall of 2019 in response to the gun violence that has become way too common in our culture, my intent was to help us all grow more compassionate and to see each other more clearly as beloved children of God. As my topics have broadened and I’ve discovered that what I’m doing is working at separating social ideologies from theology, my intent is still compassion because the better we see the world as Jesus sees it the more compassionate we become.

Part of our compassion journey with Jesus is learning that our words have the power to either build up or degrade other people. How we speak of others and how we choose to label others reveals how we see them with our heart. Jesus tells us that even if we think of harming another we have already caused harm. Our words matter and we must use them carefully and with compassion.

My heart is hurting and I just really need to say this out loud: my belief that every single human being deserves to be treated with dignity, you know, basic things like hungry people need food and everyone needs a safe place to sleep and equal access to competent medical care, does not mean that I bear the labels of liberal, or progressive, or democrat, or socialist, or communist. It means I want to do the things Jesus teaches us to do about loving our neighbor. It means I’m doing my best with God’s help to follow Jesus.

Even before I understood I was on this journey of teasing out societal ideologies from theology, I stopped identifying with any political party in this country (please do not read that as I do not vote. I do and I take it very seriously). When we choose to follow Jesus, we cannot set aside bits and pieces (or the very main thing) of what he teaches so that we can claim allegiance to a particular group of people.

I think a part of the issue is that we’ve decided that everything in life is us-against-them, a fight-to-the-death competition in which we can leave no one else standing; the only way to be successful is to annihilate everyone else. We’ve decided that polarization is normal and that there can only be two, diametrically opposed sides to any issue. We must be ‘this’ or ‘that.’ There is no both/and. And we miss out on so much of who we are when we live in the ‘us versus them’ attitude.

I recently saw a meme that illustrates well how this simplistic way of thinking has permeated our culture and shapes our thinking. It said “kids need germs and dirt and not masks and sanitizer.” In the either/or mentality, when we choose to label masks and disease prevention as a politicized evil because some political leader told us they are bad, we have no choice but to elevate the very things that masks and sanitizers protect us from. Do our kids need measles germs or flu germs or chickenpox germs or even cold germs? Do we say our children need fun not bike helmets, or freedom to move about not car seats? Our children need to develop their immune systems AND proper hygiene and vaccines are critical in the process. It isn’t either/or, it’s both/and. This simplistic, either/or way of thinking and living leaves no room for complex thought and reasoning. This kind of thinking leaves no room for others. It leaves no room for compassion or grace. It leaves no room for relationship development and growth. Life is so much more than either/or. Life as God intends us to live it is a complex, intricate, multi-faceted mixture of all of us, journeying together as beloved children of God.

It may sound contradictory to talk about living in the both/and as a faithful follower of The One who says “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” but we must also remember that Jesus scolded the disciples for trying to stop others from doing good just because they weren’t members of their little group. Jesus scolded the religious leaders of his day for twisting the rules to be about exclusion rather than inclusion. He fed crowds of thousands on the Jewish side of the lake AND the gentile side of the lake. He washed all the disciples’ feet, including Judas. Jesus didn’t force or coerce or bully anyone but laid out the truth of Whose and who we are created to be as an open invitation to everyone and lets us choose because that’s how love behaves.

We are all God’s beloved children. We are all invited to gather around God’s table. We are all walking this beautiful, mixed up, complex, amazing journey of life together with the relationship status of “it’s complicated.”

Would you join me for an extra cup of coffee this morning? I’d love to hear your thoughts and discover something about you.

What do you want me to do?

A Sunday reflection*.
The readings for the twenty second Sunday after Pentecost are here.

I’d like to start off this reflection with a short explanation: I know that not everyone who may be reading this is part of a congregation that uses the Revised Common Lectionary and there are some who do but don’t know that this is where the scripture readings they hear on Sunday come from. The RCL is a three year cycle of readings from scripture that is used by many denominations. For each week there is an Old Testament, Psalm, New Testament, and Gospel reading assigned appropriate to the church season. I link to the readings each week in my Sunday posts and these are the readings with which I prepare my sermons (and now these every-other-week reflections). I briefly touch on the RCL in my Episcopal 101 video The BCP Part 2 but now wish I had given more information. Perhaps it’s time for an additional video! But I digress … back to the topic at hand.

As I approach the assigned texts for each week, I first ask a two-fold question: What do these readings teach me about who God is and who we are as God’s beloved children? In seeking to answer these questions, I always have to keep in mind that the parts we read on a particular Sunday do not stand alone. They are part of the whole of God’s story as revealed to us in the scriptures.

In today’s Gospel reading, we encounter a blind man named Bartimaeus who is making a ruckus because he desperately wants Jesus to notice him. The crowds try to silence him but he cries out even louder. Jesus stops and asks for the man to be brought to him and suddenly the crowd’s attitude does a 180* and they encourage Bart to approach Jesus. Oh, the fickle, fickle crowd.

As he comes near, Jesus asks, “what do you want me to do for you?”
“Teacher,” Bart says, “I want to see.”

This is the same question Jesus asked James and John when they approached him and told him to give him whatever they asked. The juxtaposition of these two stories highlights the disparity of understanding between the ones who walked closest with Jesus and the man in the margins of society. The disciples were presumptuous: ‘give us what we ask.’ Bart called out from a distance “have mercy.” The disciples wanted recognition and prestige as they defined it so that they could place themselves above others. The man from the margin wanted to be healed so that he could move in from the margins and wholly be a part of the community again.

The comparison forces us to ask ourselves, “what do we ask Jesus to do for us?” Do we demand what we want or look for healing so that we can participate wholly in God’s Kingdom?

After restoring his sight, Jesus tells Bart to ‘go’ and yet we are told that he followed Jesus on the Way. Bart wasn’t disobeying Jesus; his way was now Jesus’ Way. Where else would he go? Do you remember the story in John’s telling of the good news where many have walked away from Jesus because of the difficult teaching about the Bread of Life? When Jesus asks the disciples if they too want to leave, Peter says, “where would we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Which way do we go? Do we follow Jesus on the Way with healed eyes to see and ears to hear the words of eternal life, wanting to participate wholly with Jesus on earth as in heaven?

What do these stories teach us about who God is and who we are as God’s beloved children? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

God’s peace,
Mtr. Nancy+

*Now that I am back in parish ministry, I will be preaching every other Sunday. For the alternate Sundays I will still do a short(ish) reflection on the lectionary readings.

Present Tense

When was the last time you heard or read the Twenty Third Psalm? I’m going to venture to guess it was at a funeral. It does appear as the optional reading in the lectionary for certain Sundays in years A & B and also every year in the readings for the 4th Sunday of Easter. (My apologies to those of you who do not participate in a Lectionary congregation – I do not intend these words to exclude but to explain.)

Most of us think of the twenty-third Psalm as a funeral psalm. The beautiful setting described brings us comfort as we picture the person who has died being cared for by The Great Shepherd; we consider the dark, shadowed valley to be death, rather than the threat of death in this life. But the reason we read it every year during the season of Easter is because it is a Psalm about Life as God intends it.

Let’s read it together and I invite you, if you are where this is possible, to read it out-loud and let your heart hear the words.

The LORD is my shepherd.
I lack nothing.
He lets me rest in grassy meadows;
he leads me to restful waters;
he keeps me alive.
He guides me in proper paths
for the sake of his good name.
Even when I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—
they protect me.
You set a table for me
right in front of my enemies.
You bathe my head in oil;
my cup is so full it spills over!
Yes, goodness and faithful love
will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will live in the LORD’s house
as long as I live.

Psalm 23, Common English Bible

All of the verbs are present tense. Life. Here and now. Walking with God. Following Jesus on a journey of love and grace, even in the difficult steps. We miss out on so much when we relegate our faith to some future time when our physical bodies die, when we seek Tod’s presence only when we are in the shadows. God loves us and desires the best Kingdom life for each of us. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom is here, it is us, living as God’s beloved children on earth.

God wants us to know the beauty of life in God’ presence wherever we are: a meadow or a stream or a beach or lake or your back porch. Walking the “proper path,” following Jesus, is where we live fully as we are created to be.

As you journey through your week, take this Psalm with you, read it as often as you can. Let it shape the way you experience life. Invite someone for coffee or lunch and talk about how the words influence you.

God’s peace be with you, my friends.

Measuring Success

A sermon preached at St. Francis by the Lake Episcopal Church, Canyon Lake, Texas.

The lectionary readings for the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost are here.

I’m going to start us off today with two questions:
1. Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
(And not to deflate any bubbles, but there is absolutely no evidence that Ben Franklin, or Albert Einstein, or Mark Twain ever said such a thing but we can factually trace the quote to the recovery group Narcotics Anonymous.)
2. Does Jesus call us to be successful or faithful?

Now, before I get into the meat of these questions in regards to following Jesus, let’s remember what Jesus has been saying to the disciples and the crowds as we’ve been journeying with Mark’s telling of the gospel narrative these past months:

Jesus said:
Those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake and the sake of the good news will save it.
Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.
Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

And in today’s reading:
Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.

Do you see the consistency of Jesus’ message?
How is greatness measured in God’s Kingdom?
And if the first is last and the last is first, is there really any ranking at all? Isn’t Jesus saying that we are all on equal footing?

This is the good news! All are welcomed and loved in God’s kingdom; there is no way to earn it; there is no rank or status we can achieve on our own that will gain us entry. Being in relationship with God is a gracious gift of life from the God who created us. And there is absolutely nothing we can do that will make God love us any more or any less than he already does. Or, make God love us any more or any less than any other human being.

The disciples keep trying to get Jesus to tell them how to be the greatest in God’s Kingdom and he keeps answering them the same way: with the good news that following Jesus is about being faithful not successful.

And I get that this may sound like bad news to some: We like clearly defined goals so that we know we’ve done well. We like to confidently proclaim achievement with numbers and facts. We like the certainty of measurable achievements. We like checkboxes we can check off and feel good about ourselves.

And when we become completely goal oriented, we often lose out on the joy of the journey. If you are planning a hike to the top of a mountain and you only think about being the first to the top, you will miss the beauty along the way and more than likely you’ll miss out on some good conversations and relationship moments as you zoom past the others on the same path.

Our relationship with God through following Jesus is just that: a relationship. We can’t quantify the success of our relationships in numbers. Just how long is a successful relationship? When our kids turn 18 do we say we’ve reached the goal and sever ties? When we’ve been married ten or twenty years do we say we’ve reached the goal and leave? Relationships don’t have goals to reach. Relationships are successful because of a whole-self, continuous commitment. Relationships are an ongoing journey of growth and development and a deeper knowing of who we each are. Our relationship with God is no different.

In all of his servant and first/last talk, Jesus isn’t telling us that those who are currently powerless will miraculously have power over those who’ve been lording power over them. He isn’t turning things upside down. Jesus is giving us a whole new way of living, the Way of Love in which no one has power over anyone else and we all work together with God so that everyone has what they need.

Soren Kierkegaard, the 19th century Danish theologian, philosopher, and social critic, describes our faith as the very thing that keeps us grounded in our existence in the here and now because our faith is in the eternal goodness of God. Our faith that enables us to live in joyful expectation is knowing that God is always faithful. We can see God’s faithfulness in our history and we set our hope in what Kierkegaard calls the “excess of possibilities” of God’s promise to restore all things to the proper order because that is God’s greatest desire for all of us and for all of creation.

Kierkegaard said, “Life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.” Only he said it in Danish.

We cannot measure the “success” of our faith by any earthly standards. Jesus doesn’t show us how to be successful, he teaches us with his very life how to live in faithful relationships: with God, with each other, and with the world around us.

Jesus invites us into this journey of relationship with the invitation “follow me” and then he tells us that it is in the way we love that others will know we are on the journey with him.

Being faithful followers of Jesus is about showing up with a willingness to keep learning and growing and being transformed by God’s love. Faith is a lived reality not a checkbox on a ‘good person’ list somewhere. Living our faith means we are all in, mind, body, soul, on what God is doing through Jesus’ command to love God and our neighbor whether they be a friend or an enemy.

This is pretty heavy stuff, so let’s go back to the questions we started with: Do we keep trying the same behaviors, like the disciples, and expect to find a different answer in Jesus’ words? How have we tried to prove our faith successful?
Have we tuned our ears to hear Jesus calling us to be faithful rather than successful as we walk together the Way of Love?

Jesus says, “whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Do we take this to heart or dismiss it for our own way of doing life?

This leads to one more question before we wrap up: what is a ransom? A payment for the release of a captive, right? Which leads to yet another question (I may need a white board to keep us with all of these questions – is anyone taking notes?): who or what was holding us captive so that a ransom was even necessary?
It can’t be the devil because this mean that the evil forces of this world had some negotiable power over God.
And it can’t be God because Love does not hold anyone captive for any reason.

Do you remember our Yokes discussion two weeks ago and I talked about the yokes of our own choices – those things we let weight us down so that we lose sight of Jesus. In what ways to we let our ideas of success cause us to lose sight of what it is Jesus calls us to be? Perhaps what Jesus ransoms us from is our need to prove ourselves worthy, our need to make it to the top before anyone else or to rank each other according to our ideas of success.

“Doing” is easier to measure than “being”. Yet we are created by God as Beings, human beings. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we use this language to describe our state of existence. Jesus calls us to BE servants of all so that we are freed from the bonds of ‘doing’ in order to prove our worthiness.

Jesus’ ransom sets us free from our own bonds so that we can live on earth as it is in heaven, in the “now and not yet” of our journey following Jesus.

And I’ll end not with a question – aren’t you relieved – but with a quote from Kierkegaard, “Now, with God’s help, I shall become myself.” We discover our created identity in our relationship with God. Our faithfulness to who Jesus calls us to be leads to the things we do in order to serve others. And when we are all serving others, everyone is taken care of because while you are serving others, someone is also serving you. We are all to be servants of all. The doing, the serving, is how we function in our existence as beloved, faithful children of God, living and experiencing life on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Enough

We need some cupcakes with our coffee this morning, Y’all!

Exactly one year ago today, I posted the first articles on this blog! Now, granted, I’d been writing them for a year prior to that but today marks the anniversary of when this website, by God’s grace and my keyboarding skills, officially opened. I write simply because I cannot contain all the words inside of me but it’s always nice when someone is willing to read those words. Thank you for giving of your precious time to read what I write. I pray it has blessed you as that is the purpose of blessings: for the benefit of others. I pray the posts have been enough for all of us to see a bit more clearly into God’s Kingdom on earth as in heaven.

When someone says the word ‘enough’ what comes to your mind? Do you perceive the word as positive or negative?

We’ve been taught through our culture that enough is not good enough. We must have more and we must have the best and since we’ve also been taught that ‘best’ and ‘newest’ are synonymous, we are always in need of a new thing. We’ve taken God’s promise of abundant life and decided it means we will have an excess of all good things (meaning what we want) and nothing bad. When we get what we want, we claim that God has blessed us yet in doing so we imply that God is showing preferential treatment toward us. Blessings are given not because God loves one individual or group of people more than another; God bestows blessing SO THAT we will share with others and help everyone have enough.

I’ve learned a lot about enough this past year.

On September 30, 2020 I walked out of a parish that had chosen to dissolve our pastoral relationship because they told me to leave God out of their business and money and I could not do that. My husband and I had no idea what was next but we trusted God would provide.

On October 1, 2021 I began a new position with a new parish who invited me to be a part of their community because of a conversation we had about listening to where the Holy Spirit is guiding us to serve our community as we move into the new post-pandemic norm.

Exactly one year transpired between these two events and with each and every of the 365 days in between, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is God who provided all that we have needed: the right people to help me process and recover from the trauma of being betrayed and fired; the right people to help my husband deal with all that comes with being a priest’s spouse in such a time; sufficient funds to pay for rent, insurance, utilities, and groceries and even to do the occasional ‘ice cream date’ that we enjoy so much.

A full year of seasons, holidays, church seasons and celebrations, birthdays, anniversaries, births, deaths, and moves. God provided enough. God has blessed us beyond our imagination, not with material things but with growing wisdom, compassion, and grace SO THAT we are better equipped to live as Kingdom people and I pray we will steward these blessings appropriately as we, with God’s help and in community with the good people of our new parish, flavor the world with God’s love.

The abundant life of God’s Kingdom, lived here and now, day by day, is trusting that we will all have a sufficient supply of daily needs and that we all work together to participate with God, living the answer to the prayer, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” We live in a way that works toward all people having enough. If I have more than enough and you don’t have what you need, my excess has no value.

The treasures of God’s Kingdom, love, compassion, grace, forgiveness, kindness, hope, and gratitude, increase the more we give them. We will never run out and we can’t hoard these things (because they aren’t things). As we follow Jesus we will have a never ending supply, abundance, enough.

I give thanks to God each day for all of you who are on this Kingdom Journey with me.

God’s peace, y’all!
Mother Nancy+

Lacking

A Sunday reflection*.
The readings for the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost are here.

In the prayer for today, we ask that God’s grace always precede & follow us – surround us – so that we can do good works. The order is important: God’s grace enables us to do good works, we do not earn God’s gift by doing good works. Grace is a gift that costs the giver everything and the receiver nothing; God gives God’s self to us freely. We cannot earn God’s presence or favor; God alone makes us worthy of God’s love. As we accept this grace, recognize it for what it is, we want to spread it around, do good things for others because of who God is. God’s amazing grace transforms us to be who we are created to be in this life.

I grew up in a denomination that focused our faith on what happens after our physical death and taught that salvation was about having a ticket into heaven and avoiding going to hell in the next life. And as much as I’d like to say the idea of an eternal-life-insurance policy type faith doesn’t permeate the denomination I’m currently in, I have often seen it played out in the way some people live. I think it’s more of a cultural thing than a denominational thing. We want to live life on our terms with the peace of mind that we’ll have an easy next life, even if we aren’t quite sure there will be a next life.

Like the man in today’s gospel reading, we confront Jesus in an assumed posture of humility and ask for the minimum amount of work that we must do in order to gain eternal life. I show up on Sunday mornings several times a month and I contribute financially to help pay the church’s bills; I haven’t killed any one and I love my parents. Is there anything else that I can check off my list so that I sleep peacefully knowing I’ll go to heaven when I die?

And Jesus looks at each of us and reveals what it is we lack. For the man in our story, Jesus knows he lacks compassionate generosity, so Jesus tells him to sell what he has and give it to the poor. The man was unable to see others through a Kingdom of God lens because he let his stuff block the view. Jesus knew that in learning to give the man would gain a life that is other-focused rather than the self-centered life he had.

What do we let block our view? What do we lack? What keeps us from letting Jesus refocus our worldview to be a Kingdom of God view? What blocks our view of Jesus so that we can’t see where and how to follow him?

Jesus’ talk of lack has nothing to do with physical possessions but with the traits of our hearts, our character. When we choose to follow Jesus, we are asking to be transformed into Kingdom of God people. We step into the path of Love behind Jesus so that we learn more and more each day to be like Jesus and flavor the world with the light of God’s love because eternal life includes now. Eternity isn’t the future but always. Eternal life is the life we are created to live, a life grounded in God’s unconditional love for all.

We follow Jesus not because we think we are now perfect because we made the right choice but because we know we are not and that God’s grace surrounds us, it fills us so that we know we are loved and can give in love, lacking nothing.

God’s peace be with you, my friends.

*Now that I am back in parish ministry, I will be preaching every other Sunday. For the alternate Sundays I will still do a short(ish) reflection on the lectionary readings.