Luke 4:31-37

        Listen

        31 And he went down to Caper'na-um, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath; 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 "Ah! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy  us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." 37 And reports of him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

       My daughter is wonderful. When she was a just an small child, we had a coal burning stove in the living room to heat our home. One day she started to walk over towards it and in a panic I screamed at her to stop! I really screamed at her. She cried and was afraid to go near the stove again. I suspect I may have scared some demons out of her that day and she may have needed a diaper change as well. This wonderful little girl listened to what I had to say even if it involved some level of fear.  Thank God she did listen.

       The demons in this reading listened to Jesus as well.  I am sure there would be something said about him curing a man on the sabbath or some such nonsense but I'd like to focus on the listening.

        You probably already know how I feel about stopping to listen to those around you and the subtle (and not so subtle) messages that God sends us all day long.

         While I am certainly not even close to the definitive word  when it comes to God's word, I know that I am a voice. I also know that the Bible, indeed, all holy scriptures are not the definitive word either. While certainly inspired by God, they are open to interpretation and certainly mis-interpretation. One thing is certain, they do contain truths about our lives and how we are supposed to live. They do contain stories of a love affair between God and his people, between people and their God.

          As such, do we listen to holy scripture? Do we try to read them and understand them? Perhaps a bible study group is in order. Perhaps we could get a study bible that has notes in it that will help us understand, the context, the original wording etc. It isn't enough to say any ancient texts are holy. They need to be read, understood and listened to. When we do, I feel countless demons of every sort will be exercised.

          Listen, hear God's word. 

  Luke 4:16-30

                 Hard hearted

           16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day. And he stood up  to read; 17 and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." 20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 22 And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" 23 And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, `Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Caper'na-um, do here also in your own country.'" 24 And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Eli'jah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; 26 and Eli'jah was sent to none of them but only to Zar'ephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Eli'sha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Na'aman the Syrian." 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. 30 But passing through the midst of them he went away.

       I can't help but think of the politics that are going on right now, what with the Presidential election not too far off. Without trying to incite anyone, I am reminded of the recently concluded Republican convention. So many words were spoken and the reaction was fairly swift - all lies! I am sure the same thing will happen when the Democrats have their convention. There will be demonstrations and analysis from the usual rabid 'news' organizations.

       The other observation from this reading is that we are quite often skeptical of answers, advice or solutions if it doesn't come from a source that we deem acceptable. Does one have to have a PhD to solve one of life's problems or mysteries? Can the simplicity and love of a child have the insight into something we find too complex to handle?

        Does anybody listen to each other any more? Did they ever? Why is it that we refuse to listen? 

       Lastly and most importantly, are we as hard hearted with God as we are with everyone else in our lives. I would find it hard to believe that we  are not.

         A wise person once advised me, God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason.

        We would be wise to spend a great deal more time listening and less time being hard hearted.  

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
      American Pharisees

         

7:1 - 7:8  Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines. 'You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition."

7:14 -7:15 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand:

there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile."

7:21 - 7:23  For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.

All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

      Jesus spoke out against the Pharisees in the harshest of terms. He set the groundwork for a new church, a new vision. It is ironic that the church founded on diatribes against the Pharisees is now guilty of many of the same things that Jesus was railing against. This is not just true of the Roman Catholic church but many churches here in the United States and around the world. One only needs to read this scripture passage to get a vision of what they are like. It is not unlike the Taliban and it is here in the hearts, the preaching and actions of some churches; unthinking, unloving, unforgiving, rules oriented at the expense of the true message Jesus spoke and lived by. Based in or guilty of the avarice, wickedness, deceit, slander, pride and folly. Lord knows I could go on.

       It might be terribly interesting to go through this scripture reading line by line and write commentaries on each one but that would take way too long for a daily blog entry.

       Let me focus on some of the sexually related issues that Jesus spoke of since that is what many churches are fixated on. Fornication and Adultery. Neither one of these pertains to gay sexual activity by themselves. They would apply equally to heterosexuals as much to homosexuals.  Fornication would never be used to describe sexual relations between a married couple. Now that marriage equality is here in New York State, gay people can be guilty of adultery but that certainly wasn't so in Jesus' time. Although Jesus was aware of same sex relationships as part of the normal social construct of his time, and although Hebrew scripture speaks of love between same sex couples, Jesus did not rail against it at all. I do not understand then how any church or any person can rail against gays today if they don't in the very same breath rail against fornication in straight people. No one group is more guilty than another. 

        This does not seem to be as much of the spirituality, meditation based entry that I would prefer to set down on paper. I am comforted though by the fact that even Jesus recognized these problems and it upset him too. I can imagine a very angry Jesus who has no desire in his heart to be angry. It troubled him as it troubles me as it should trouble you. 

       Today, Sunday morning, I feel the need to pray, to meditate on how to move forward; what actions are called for when the very church He created is so patently wrong.

        

        

Matthew 25:14-30
         Standing still is actually moving backwards

14 "For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; 15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. 17 So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, `Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I  have made five talents more.' 21 His master said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the  joy of your master.' 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, `Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' 23 His master said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the  joy of your master.' 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, `Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and  gathering where you did not winnow; 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' 26 But his master answered him, `You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not  winnowed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken  away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.' 

       Interesting reading isn't it? What's this? I can get in trouble for not being industrious enough or not going the extra mile? It's not good enough to simply do the correct thing?
   
        The short answer is no, it's not good enough.  I recall the story of the man who was being chastised at the pearly gates for the state of his marriage. The man argued that he had never been unfaithful, never cheated on his spouse. Of course the answer came right back at him. You are not merely supposed to remain faithful, you are supposed to love , a verb, it's not a passive statement. 

          Then there is my most wonderful son. We were told when he was very young that he was gifted. This boy knew it in his own terms already. It was probably came as a surprise  to him that his mother and I told him more would therefore be expected of him. Say what?  To those who are given more, more is expected.   

            We know this concept, it's rooted in this scripture reading. It means we simply can't accept the status quo. With whatever we have we are called to action, to love, to do more. This is how we grow in love and faith and character. If we do not, we are shrinking in character, shriveling in our potential to be what created us to be. After all, God created you to be a perfect fit into the jigsaw puzzle of his creation.

         God gives us so very much and like the wheat in the field, we are to grow, stretch  and reach toward the son. 

       

       

Matthew 25:1-13

       Party on Garth

       1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, `Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7 Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 But the wise replied, `Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, `Lord, lord, open to us.' 12 But he replied, `Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

       I am amazed by the almost biblical sanction of partying in this reading. It seems that both the foolish and the wise want to attend the feast (party). The difference between the two is who is prepared and who is not. The reading clearly indicates a party, life going on as usual and some of the cast not prepared for what is coming.

       It isn't enough for us to say that God loves us and wants us to have a grand old time 24/7/365. God loves us but the message is clear, we have to be realistic about life and plan as well. Of course we have to plan and expect that at some point we will be called back to our Lord but what about preparations for life and living? How do we prepare while we are here? How do we find a balance between preparing for then and the now?

        God loves us, this is true. God created us special, this is true. God wants us to be happy and enjoy life, this is also true. God has given us friends, family, a planet and all of these things, including things that we feel we 'own', that are actually only entrusted to us. We prepare for life by respecting it all and using what has been entrusted to us wisely. This is a journey of growth through learning, enlightenment and prayer. These are things we are responsible for on our journey as much as God wants us to be happy and have a good time.

       By all means, party on Garth but keep one foot in reality.

       

1Cor. 1:9  and  Mt. 24:42-44
        The time is coming

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord

42 Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 

        It is a common expression that Christians are Easter people. We are people of hope,expectation and new life.  In the period of time, years, after Jesus' death the second coming was expected soon, in their lifetime.  That did not materialize. Still, the hope and expectation is emblazoned in our hearts.

        We do not know when Jesus is coming again, no more than we know when a thief may come in the night or the phone will ring at 3am with bad news. We are not soothsayers.

        But what we do know is that God is faithful and loving. As such, our expectations take on more than waiting for the end times so often predicted by oddball preachers. We take on the expectation of good things because that is what God wants for all of his children, no matter what.  

     As a faithful person we are called into a mutual loving relationship with our creator, we are called to believe that we were created intentionally and with great love, we are called to expect the fruits of that love in our lives and we are called to act as facilitators of that love.  We do knot know what form our gifts will take or when they will come. But we are called to expect them because we know that God loves us.

      The time is coming, expect the best.

Mark 6:17-29

       What price ?

17 For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Hero'di-as, his brother Philip's wife; because he had married  her. 18 For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19 And Hero'di-as had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he  heard him gladly. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee.  22 For when Hero'di-as' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you  wish, and I will grant it." 23 And he vowed to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." 24 And she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer." 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

      Lightness or darkness? Truth or Lies?  Which ones would you prefer? Well, if you have to die for it, perhaps you think a little darkness might be ok or perhaps a little lie might be ok.

      John the Baptist did not settle. Perhaps he did not realize the risk he was taking by proclaiming the coming Messiah. He wound up paying the ultimate price.

       We have two choices to make in life. One involves our faith and one involves who we are as people. It is extremely rare these days that someone is asked to pay the ultimate price for their faith in Jesus Christ although it does still occur. These people are true martyrs. This is not to be confused with jihadist bombers who consider themselves martyrs for their faith. It is still quite dangerous to admit that you are Jewish in many parts of the world. Would we be willing to stand up and say "I am a Jew" knowing the price you may pay? I honour those that do. We revere stories of people who risked thieir own lives to save the lives of Jewish loved ones and total strangers. There is power and honor in speaking the truth and owning what you say and do for a just cause.

       These days it almost seems fashionable to come out gay. To own up to who you are is still risky business though. I have spoken of the risks I took in coming out once I realized I was gay.  You may not  be beheaded but there are extreme emotional risks and prices you may have to pay, and yet we do it. We have to come out. We have to acknowledge who we are. It is as important as our faith because it is who God made us to be. I am heartened when I hear of someone who has stayed closeted for years deciding they have to come out because they realize the power, the dignity and the role they can play in helping others take pride and speak the truth of their own.

         We need to come out, not be outed. We need to take the risk. We need to have dignity and self respect. It really is as important as our faith, they are integrally mixed. We need to honor and support everyone's journey from the darkness into the light.