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Pentecost 10 Proper 14A RCL August 13, 2017

Posted on August 13, 2017 by Beth Crane

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33

Last Sunday, we had an interesting and unusual event in our lectionary. When a feast of our Lord, such as the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple, or, the Transfiguration of our Lord, comes on a Sunday, that feast supersedes the normal lectionary. This past Sunday, in reading the lessons for the Transfiguration, we skipped the lessons for the ninth Sunday of Pentecost.

So I am going to fill in just a little of the story of Jacob and his family. Last Sunday’s readings described Jacob sending his two wives, their two maids, his eleven children and all his possessions to go ahead of him so that, when they got to his brother Esau and Esau asked them whom they belonged to, they would say, “Jacob,” and Esau would know that his brother was returning home. It was Jacob’s sincere prayer that seeing his possessions and wives and children might inspire mercy on the part of Esau and prevent him from killing Jacob.

Meanwhile, Jacob stayed back and had his wrestling match with God. This left him with a dislocated hip and a new name, Israel. Esau did indeed have mercy on Jacob, and now we see how large the family of Jacob, now Israel, has  become.

But that old sin of envy and jealousy is running rampant. Envy is defined by my mentor David Brown as, “The inability to rejoice in the blessings and good fortune of others.” Joseph is loved by his father. He has a special cloak, that coat of many colors, that “amazing technicolor dreamboat.” He has a special place in his father’s heart, and his brothers want to kill him. Fortunately, Reuben persuades them to throw Joseph into a pit and at least leave him alive. Then, when the Midianite traders come by, Judah comes up with the bright idea of selling their brother to them for twenty pieces of silver. Thus Joseph is taken into Egypt.

In our epistle, Paul is quoting Scripture, specifically Deuteronomy 30:11-14. We do not have to go to great lengths to find Christ. We do not have to bring him down from heaven, and we do not have to bring him up from hell, where he descended to share his love with everyone and every part of the creation so that no one will be separated from him. The writer of Deuteronomy was referring to the law when he said, “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.” But Paul is extending that wisdom to our understanding of our Lord. He is near us. We do not have to go far to find him. He has come to earth to find us and to heal us and forgive us and give us grace to continue on our journey to him, and he is walking with us every step of the way.

Jesus is God walking the face of the earth. God has come to be with us. God loves us so much that God would come to be one of us.

In today’s gospel, Jesus has just fed the five thousand. He tells the disciples to get into a boat and go to the other side of the lake while he dismisses the crowds. And then, what does he do? He goes up to the mountain to pray. He goes to be with God, his heavenly Father. Jesus did this whenever he could. He went to God for guidance, sustenance. He went to his divine Father for feeding, refreshment, true peace, true direction. This is something we need to do each and every day, several times a day. The great moral theologian Kenneth Kirk said that this habit, recollection, going into the presence of God and reordering our hearts and lives, is the practice of the presence of God, and he said that recollection is “the habit of referring all questions to God.” That is what Jesus did so often, and that is what he is doing at the beginning of this gospel. He is so deep in prayer that by the time he comes back to what we are pleased to call reality, the boat is way out in the lake, the waves are high, and the boat is being battered by wind and waves.

Early in the morning, Jesus comes walking across the water, and they think he is a ghost. You know how the mist can sit on the water early in the morning. Everything can seem quite other-worldly, ghostly. They cry out in fear.

And he says those words that we can carry like treasure in our hearts: “Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid.”

Dear impetuous Peter imposes a bit of a test,”Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus says, “Come.” So Peter jumps out of the boat into the water and he is doing just great until he notices how very strong that wind really is, and, just like that, he sinks like a rock. But he calls out to Jesus and Jesus reaches out his hand and grips him in that strong loving handclasp, asking him why he doubts. And they all know who Jesus really is.

This gospel has at least two very powerful messages for us. The first is that we need to spend time with God. We need to make time in our busy days to “be still and know that God is God.” We need to bask in God’s presence and let God’s love and healing seep into the depths of our being.

The other message is about fear. It is important to remember that fear is not always a bad thing. If we start to climb up a sheer mountainside with sharp drops on all sides and we feel afraid, that could be a helpful message that perhaps we are not quite up to that level of mountain climbing. So, on the positive side, sometimes the feeling of fear can be a helpful warning on behalf of our self-care.  

Then there is the other aspect of fear, and that is that fear can get in the way of our faith. Wise people have said that faith is the other side of the coin of fear and that faith is fear that has said its prayers. For me this means that sometimes we forget the message of our epistle and gospel today. We forget how close God is. All we have to do is reach out and the loving and steadying hand of Jesus will be there.

There are many scary things in this life and in this world, but we can’t let them stop us in our tracks. We are here to help God build God’s shalom, and we have to be about that work. Sometimes it can feel like a storm with ten foot waves and winds of fifty miles an hour out on the lake. But God is always with us. Amen.

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Pentecost 10 Proper 12C RCL July 24, 2016

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Beth Crane

Hosea 1:2-10
Psalm 85
Colossians 2:6-15,  (16-19)
Luke 11:1-13

Our opening reading today comes from the first of the so called Minor Prophets, Hosea. His ministry in the Northern Kingdom took place from 743 BCE to 722 BCE  and closely followed the ministry of Amos

Hosea was married to a woman who was unfaithful to him. Obviously, this was a terribly painful experience for him. Through all this suffering, Hosea never lost his love for his wife. His own experience helped him realize that God will never stop loving us, no matter what.

We do not know exactly what problems were troubling the congregation in Colossae, but scholars look at the text and find evidence that some teachers were telling the people that they had to follow the Jewish law, meaning that they had to be circumcised and they had to follow the dietary laws. Others were introducing beliefs which were not in harmony with Christian belief. Paul writes, “See to it that no one makes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition.” Then, as now, there were all kinds of philosophies circulating, and Paul is encouraging the Colossians and us to remain “Rooted and built up in [Christ] just as you were taught.”

He tells the people that they received a “spiritual circumcision,” that they have been made new in Christ and they do not have to receive a physical circumcision. At that point in the Church’s history, some people believed that a person had to literally become  a Jew before they could become a follower of Christ, and Paul is trying to help them to understand that life in Christ is a spiritual transformation, not a physical one. He says that our Lord nailed the law to the cross because he is trying to help us to understand that it is not the letter of the law but the spirit of the law and the work of the Holy Spirit that is important.

Then, as now, there were various spiritual practices which are not appropriate for the life in Christ. Some people were engaging in harsh practices of self-denial and others appeared to be engaging in having visions which were used to, as Paul says, “puff up” their egos. He ends the passage with a powerful description of our relationship with Christ. We need to remember that each of us and all of us are part of the Body of Christ. We are bound together by ligaments and muscles and arteries and veins and nerves, and we are united to each other and to our Lord.

In today’s gospel, Jesus and the disciples have left the home of Mary and Martha, where Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, learning and absorbing his presence. As they had traveled with our Lord, they had seen him go apart time after time to pray. And now, one of them asks him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And he teaches us.

The first thing is that God is our Divine Parent. We address God as Father, or Mother, or even Dad or Mom. We have an intimate relationship with God. God is as close as our breath. God is as close to each of us as our neighbor in the pew. “Hallowed be your name.” The Name of God is holy, We approach God with reverence. “Your kingdom come.” We pray that God’s shalom will come to be here on earth. “Give us each day our daily bread.” And this is a prayer, not only for us, but for the whole world, because we have just prayed “Thy kingdom come.” So we are praying, and we are committing ourselves to work for the day when everyone will have his or her  daily bread, and shelter, and clothing, and the basics of a good and fruitful life. We pray that God will forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. The attitude of forgiveness is crucial to life in Christ. But it assumes that members of a Christian community are committed to treating each other with respect and caring.

We need to make it clear that, in cases of domestic violence and terrorism and war, people need to get to a safe place and stay there, and there are times when, if someone has been abusive but does not have the capacity or the awareness to make amends, true forgiveness is not possible. The one who has escaped must preserve her or his own safety and leave the matter of forgiveness between God and the abuser.

“Do not bring us to the time of trial.” Life is full of joys and also full of challenges, some of which stretch us to the limits of our faith and endurance. Scholars tell us that the “time of trial” probably refers to an occasion of severe struggle with the forces of darkness. We pray that God will be with us and will protect us if such a time comes in our lives.

And then Jesus tells us a wonderful parable. In the world of ancient middle eastern hospitality, if a stranger comes to your door at midnight and says that someone has arrived at his house and asks for a loaf of bread, everyone in Jesus’ audience, certainly every one of the disciples, would have assumed that of course you would get up and give them a loaf of bread.

So, if all of us frail humans would get up and give our neighbor what he needs, think how much more willing God is to give us what we need. “Ask, and it will be given you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened.”

Our Lord is reminding us how much we are loved and how willing God is to give us what we need for the journey. At a time when most of us are praying fervently, Jesus is encouraging us to pray even more. Our Lord is reminding us how much we are loved and how much God wants to give us help and strength.

So, please, continue to pray as you are led by the Spirit.  Prayers are powerful. They can transform us, and they can transform the world, especially if we link them with action. “If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” So, let’s keep those prayers going.  Amen.

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