Come and Join the Party, Every Day! Lent 4C

Come and Join the Party, Every Day!

Hey hey, hey, come right away

Come and join the party every day. [i]

That’s the refrain from The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion, the first song on the first Grateful Dead album. Which pretty much sums of the 15^th Chapter of Luke: Come Join the Party! Jesus is telling stories to a crowd of outsiders, including tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees and Scribes grumble and do not approve. Story one, a shepherd loses one out of 100 sheep, and leaves the 99 to find the one, returns home and invites his neighbors to a celebration party. Story two, a woman loses one coin, sweeps out her whole house, every nook and cranny, until finally she finds the one coin. And what does she do? She throws a block party for the entire neighborhood. Finally, a story we call The Prodigal Son, as if somehow this profligate spend-thrift son deserves top billing. It might better be called The Story of Two Sons, since stories of older and younger sons is a common tale throughout the Bible: think Cain and Able, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Manasseh and Ephraim, in which the younger sons end up supplanting the older sons. This may be why Jesus is always talking about the last becoming the first?

This third parable could be called The Parable of the Loving and Compassionate Father. I cannot help but think, however, that it is The Party theme in all three that becomes the central character of this story – once in Jerusalem, Jesus will initiate a party we call The Last Supper, of which perhaps this parable offers insight and foreshadowing! For what this party represents is what my dear late friend and mentor, N. Gordon Cosby calls a Grace Party:

 When we hear the invitation to claim our membership in God’s family, it’s like we’ve stumbled onto a Grace Party. We can hardly believe our good fortune. The sights and sounds of it are pure delight. Abundance characterizes the whole shindig. The most delectable manna is falling everywhere, and wine overflows as though from an Artesian well Everyone is eating and drinking endlessly, yet not being harmed because this food and wine are not of the world but New Life.

 And get this: Everyone’s invited! That’s the really good news. No one has to crash this party, there’s no limit to how many of my friends I can bring along with me. Or, my enemies for that matter. It’s such a blast that I want everyone to come – those with wealth or not a penny to their name, those who are down and out or who thought they had some power. I do notice, though, that the so-called nobodies seem to be having the most fun. It takes others a while to lay down everything they brought with them and start to play.

What are people doing at this party? That’s the funny thing – We’re not ‘doing’ much at all. We’re just being. We’re being our real selves, relaxed and eager to help out with whatever the host asks of us. Love is flowing all over the place. Whatever you need, we’re ready:

             Do you want someone to listen? We’ll hear whatever you need to say.

Are you bleeding from wounds of the past? We’ll soothe and bandage your wounds.

Do you need to be held for a while, just being quiet in a safe place? Not a problem. We have all the time in the world.

Looking for respect, even reverence? You’ll get such a dose of it you’ll wonder if you can take it all in.

 In fact, there’s so much peace and joy at this party that it can be hard to absorb. Some of us just aren’t able to let in this much unimpeded Love and Goodness. That’s right. The host isn’t pushy. We can come and go as many times as we need to until we can handle this much joy.

 This is simply the nature of a Grace Party. None of us is here because we deserve to be. We haven’t earned any of it. And although some of us might keep turning down the invitation, the host will never stop inviting. And neither will we who have decided to stay. We’ll be spreading the news of this unbelievable Feast everywhere we go. Come to the party! It won’t be the same if you’re not there.[ii] 

The older son refuses to join the party. We can suspect the Pharisees and Scribes agree with him. And we may as well admit it, his reasons are justifiable: his eventual inheritance has been significantly reduced by his younger brother’s “dissolute living.” But we also know that this rather self-centered point of view is completely at odds with everything Jesus has to say about living here and now in the Kingdom of God: where the last will be first; where love of neighbor, outsiders, and even enemies is the absolute measure of our love; and where ultimately, we are all going to give it all away when it is all said and done! This is what Jesus was trying to say to his disciples when the night before he died, he washed their feet, and gave them a sacramental meal of bread and wine, his own Body and Blood, as a reminder that the love he is proclaiming is meant for others - all others, not, as the older brother assumes, for ourselves alone, or just those like ourselves, no matter how good and righteous we think we are!

 L. William Countryman, in his little book, Good News of Jesus, sums it up like this:

 “The life of the community that celebrates these sacraments is a life of mutual giving and receiving. The early Christians were convinced that the Spirit has a particular care for the church, supplying the community with all its needs. She does so, however, in a peculiar way. The gifts you need she gives to someone else. The gifts you are given are meant for others. The Christian community can live only by the sharing of these gifts. (1Cor 12-14) The church at its best is a community that lives by this kind of sharing, exercising generosity not only within its own circle, but toward outsiders as well. Jesus, after all, came for the outsiders. None of us has any higher claim on God than the claim to God’s willing forgiveness. We are all outsiders, miraculously included within the community of the gospel by God’s call to us.”[iii]

 This is why this is The Parable of the Grace Party for Outsiders Everywhere. This is the Party we are meant to share with all people, everywhere, all the time, every day:

                                                 Hey hey, hey, come right away

Come and join the party every day!

---

[i] The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion, on The Grateful Dead (Warner Brothers:1967)

[ii] N. Gordon Cosby, Church of the Saviour, Washington, D.C.

[iii] L. William Countryman, Good News of Jesus (Cowley Press, Cambridge, MA:1993) p.105. 

I Am with You Always to The End of the Age Lent 3C

 

I Am with You Always, to the End of the Age

I listen to quiet music coming from a hand-pan as a gentle snow falls upon a Colorado mountain. I ponder suffering. It seems to be as the Buddha said 27 hundred years ago – there is Suffering. So very much suffering that even our planet Earth is suffering. As chapter 13 of Luke opens up, some people tell Jesus of the suffering in Jerusalem as Pontius Pilate had slaughtered pilgrims from Galilee and “mingled their blood with their sacrifices.” Appointed sacrifices that could only be offered in the Jerusalem Temple. Jesus then recalls those killed when a tower in Jerusalem crashed and fell to the ground. One tragedy the result of an intentional calculated act of terror by a powerful Roman official; the other an accident? Or, perhaps the result of shoddy workmanship in an effort to save time and money and maximize profit.[i]

 

Suffering. Like the intentional act of violence and terror against the people of Ukraine. Or, people still suffering the effects of the earthquake-tsunami and nuclear plant meltdown in Fukishima, Japan.

 

Earlier Luke tells us, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”[ii] He has already told his friends and disciples that he goes there to enter into the suffering. Who knows, once he is in Jerusalem, perhaps he will recall Psalm 63, “O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.” We know this feeling all too well. We internalize the world’s suffering; that of our loved ones; our own sufferings. When talking to the people about the fate of the Galileans and the Jerusalemites, what he says is what he always says, “Repent.” By which he means, as Psalm 63 concludes, “My soul clings to you; your right hand holds me fast.” There is so little time to turn, to re-turn, to the Lord. For who knows when our end will some. But fear not, for I am there. I will be there with you through any and all suffering. It has nothing to do whether you have been naughty or nice. I will always be there. If you turn, you will see me. You will know that I am with you.

 

Then he tells them a story about a tree. William Countryman in his little book, Good News of Jesus[iii] tells the same story about a woman and her two trees:

The new life of the good news is like this. There was a woman who lived in the country in Sonoma County, near Sebastopol. She had no relatives there – not even any close neighbors. The nearest was an elderly man who lived a half-mile away. Behind her house she had a garden, and at the foot of the garden, two apple trees that were her pride and joy.

Once she was called away to care for her only living relative, who was sick and lived very far away. She gave a key to the elderly man, who promised to look in on her house every week or so; but he was too infirm to care for her garden. She thought she would be away a few months, but she was gone for two years. From far away, she heard about drought and fires and storms.

When at last the woman came home, she found her house had lost some shingles, and there was a little water damage inside. Otherwise, things were much as she left them. Then she went through the house and out into the garden. It was overgrown with tall grass and nettles. At the foot of the garden were her two apple trees. They were in bloom – at the height of their bloom, when apple trees look like white clouds with a touch of pink and the petals are just beginning to fall and carpet the ground with white as well.

She stood thee awhile and drank it all in, and her heart filled with delight and thanks. Then she unlocked the toolshed, took out her pruners and, wading through the weeds, went down to the apple trees and began cutting out deadwood. And she thought. She thought of the day when she would have apples for herself and her neighbor.

 

The snow continues to fall, the music continues to fill the air. I once read that our image of God creates us. Like Pilate, like the woman in the story, we make choices. We can be reactive like Pilate, like the man in the story Jesus tells, and cut the tree down. But is that what we really think our God wants us to do? Is this what our God wants to do to us, whether or not we have been naughty or nice? Our God is not Santa Claus. That is not a God of good news. My God is more like the woman who bears no anger toward her neighbor who let the property go while she was attending to her sick relative. Instead, her heart is filled with delight and thanks. She looks forward the day when she will have apples for herself and her neighbor.

 

Yes, there is suffering. The Buddha, like Jesus, also said there is a way through suffering. A path. A hand to which we may cling when we feel we are in a barren and dry land where there is no water. Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem – Jerusalem, which at the time, was the center of much suffering. He sings Psalms, songs, as he enters into our suffering to be with us. Jesus, who also says, “I will be with you always, to the end of the age.”[iv]

 

What is our image of God? Just how and who does it make us? Can we reach out in our suffering and cling to God’s hand? These are the questions that race through my mind as I listen to the sound of a hand-pan as snow gently falls upon a Colorado mountain. I ponder suffering. I ponder Jesus setting his face toward all that suffering in Jerusalem. I ponder the Buddha’s path through suffering. I ponder the psalmist who sings of our constant need to turn our souls toward the Creator. And oddly, I begin to feel delight and thanks in the midst of great sorrow. Amen.

 

The Sound of the Hand-Pan

---

[i] Luke 13:1-9 NRSV

[ii] Luke 9:51 NRSV

[iii] L. William Countryman, Good News of Jesus (Cowley Publications, Cambridge, MA:19993) p.109

[iv] Matthew 28:20 NRSV

The Fox is In the Hen House Lent 2C

The Fox is In the Hen House

The Fox is in the Hen House, and the Mother Hen is quickly gathering her brood under the safety of her wings – yet as soon as she gets six under her right wing, two squirt back out from under her left wing. And once she gets the two back under her left wing, three more escape from under her right wing. Of course, it would be funny to watch if it weren’t for the fact that the Fox is in the Hen House looking to kill the Mother Hen.

 

If that’s not enough, a group of Pharisees, often misunderstood as antagonists in the Gospels, show up out of nowhere, this time to warn the prophet Jesus to walk away, as Herod, the Fox in the Hen House, wants to kill him, just as he has already beheaded the prophet, John.[i]

 

Jerusalem, literally “city of shalom,” “city of peace,” is described here by the Mother Hen as a killing field for any and all prophets who come to challenge those who wield Power over all of Israel on behalf of Caesar’s Empire, Rome. The roadways in and out of the city on the hill are lined with wooden crosses and corpses to remind those, who like Jesus, are on a mission, sent by God, to announce the news as that hapless one Jonah did in Ninevah, “Return to the Lord. Turn around, and walk in the Way of the Lord, the God of creation, the God of the Rainbow, the God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, ready to forgive, abounding in steadfast love, and ready to begin again a life together under his gracious and protective wings!”[ii]

 

Jerusalem, city of the Hen House, the Temple, which is no longer the safe-haven household of God’s people, for that other Fox is in the Hen House, Pontius Pilate is his name. He who slaughters innocent Galileans and mingles their blood with their sacrifices; the hometown sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles of the Christos, the one anointed as the Beloved Son of God Most High. See what’s left of your Hen House, profaned as it is by the Foxes on Caesar’s payroll.[iii]

 

“Get away from here,” say the Pharisees. It’s really the Greek translation of the Hebrew halak - walk. Tell that Fox I will walk, but I walk not away. I will continue to walk in the Way of Halakha - the Way of the Lord - casting out demons, healing people of every dis-ease, gathering my Father’s brood back under the Protective Wings of his Torah, his Halakha, his Statutes, his Word – for his Word is a lantern for my feet, and a light upon my path.[iv] I must continue my Father’s work today, tomorrow, and on the Third Day I will finish his work of Halakha! I will Rise Again on the Third Day and gather my brood under my wings. For I am the Wings of God.”

 

Life under those wings is Halakha, is the Way of the Lord. It is where the hungry are fed, the thirsty have their thirst quenched from the Fountain of the Waters of Life, where demons are cast out, those cannot see will see, the poor, the lame, male and female, Gentile and Jew, slave and free, prophet, farmer, artisan and day laborer, all will be sheltered under the Wings of God where life is eternal. Life lived with God never ends! Walk back and tell that Fox Herod I am walking to Jerusalem.

 

Caesar and his foxes will burn the Hen House to the ground, but will never capture those protected under the Mother Hen’s wings. Walk we will, but we will not walk away. You who take shelter under my wings will continue the work I do, and greater things than these will you do, In My Name.[v] For you are my Beloved, you are my Body and Blood, you will continue to walk in The Way of the Lord until that day I return and you sing, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”[vi]

 

Today, Kyiv, Ukraine is Jerusalem – the City of Shalom for us all. The Fox is still in the Hen House. So many people are in danger, so many being killed for no reason other than to feed the ravenous hunger of the Fox. We are the Wings of God. Those in need must find shelter under our wings. So that the Earth may be filled with the Glory of the Lord. That the Earth may be filled with mercy, filled with forgiveness, filled with the steadfast Love of the Lord. For Life lived with God never ends.

 

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to us and to all go astray from your ways, and bring us again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

 

---

[i] Luke 13:31-35

[ii] Jonah 4: 1-5

[iii] Luke 13:35a

[iv] Psalm 119:105

[v] John 14:12

[vi] Psalm 118:26a

This Is a Test Lent 1C

This Is a Test

When you are about to buy a house, you hire a home inspector to test the construction and major household systems. When people about to become a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, a priest, an electrician and so forth, you are tested and certified or licensed to go to work.

As it turns out, if you are going to be God’s anointed (christos) and God’s Beloved Son, you need to be tested. The Holy Spirit received at his baptism leads Jesus into the wilderness, an area beyond any of the regional settlements; an area of few resources, some danger, and inhabited by wild animals. A character familiar throughout his sacred texts shows up: known only as “the sat-tan,” or satan. Who is nothing like what we think of as “the devil.” No horns, no tail, no red leotard. He is more like a building inspector who is not opposed to God, but is sent to see just what shape God’s creation is in. As we know all too well, things are frequently in rough to bad shape with troubles of multiple kinds: pandemics, inflation, a fragile and threatened ecosystem, mass shootings, thirst for power, and war. If the satan were to turn in a quarterly report at the end of this month, it would certainly bring tears to the eyes of God.

The satan knows that human beings appear to have two inclinations: one good and one bad. The good inclination is the ability to follow rules, behave ourselves and cooperate. The bad inclination is to make our own rules, push the envelope and compete. The first woman pushes the envelope and reaches for the stars believing the slithering serpent’s Big Lie: you can be like God! And the first man, like most men, will eat anything put in front of him without a second thought.

The Jewish understanding of this story has nothing to do with “a fall,” but rather to recognize we need to learn how to cooperate and compete with some sort of balance: we need to clean our rooms and reach for the stars, and no real human accomplishment from walking on the moon to running a successful business is possible without the productive tension between these two inclinations.[i] When these two inclinations are out of balance, however, our troubles begin. All humans need to keep this in mind. Jesus is no exception, being flesh and blood like the rest of us.

In the fourth chapter of Luke we find Jesus Christos the Son of God on a silent retreat: away from so-called civilization, fasting, a traditional spiritual practice in Israel, and sorting out for himself just what happened down by the River Jordan when God’s Spirit-Breath took hold of him. And of course, the announcement that he is God’s Beloved Son. Note: the first thing the satan puts in front of Jesus is food: you have not eaten for a long time, why not turn stones into bread! Jesus quotes Moses from his farewell sermon in Deuteronomy to say that we need more than bread to really live in this world (Deut 8:3). The next two tests are for absolute power over all the nations of the Earth, and putting the way God’s mercy and love to a test. To which Jesus replies, “Only the God of love has absolute power, and I will not put God to a foolish test like jumping off the roof of the Temple (Deut 6:13 and 6:16). We saw Jesus talking with Moses last Sunday, and yet long before that he quotes Moses chapter and verse! This suggests if nothing else, Lent is a good time to re-read Deuteronomy since on that basis, and that basis alone, Jesus passes the test – and the satan leaves until some future opportunity makes itself available. In Luke’s story that will be when he whispers in the ear of Judas Iscariot. It does not turn out well.

It's interesting to note that when that happens, Jesus turns to the other disciples and says, “You have stood with me even in my sorrow and testing. My Father has made me Chief of the Good Road of God’s love. As Chief, I give you the right to walk the Road of God’s love with me, and share my table.”[ii]

The wilderness story has little to do with Jesus defeating the satan on our behalf. A brief scan of the day’s news tells us the sat-tan is alive and well. What this episode suggests is that what we need most has little to do with accumulating life’s externals: food, power, and trying to be our own gods. Rather, when our time of testing comes, will we walk the road of God’s love with Jesus and share his table? The Franciscan nun and theologian, Ilia Delio, calls this The Primacy of Love. Do we truly love God, our neighbor, and our enemies?

She reminds us that the deepest reality of love cannot be found in those externals found outside of ourselves, because divine love dwells deep within us.[iii] It is there that we discover that we are God’s Beloved. It is there we experience the mercy, forgiveness, and steadfast love of God in Christ that makes it possible for us to love ourselves, love our neighbors, and even love our enemies. Because love, says Delio and a host of scientists and theologians, is the source and energy of the entire universe.

“Given the primacy of love, if we have only one choice to make today, let us choose to love, let us seek love in all aspects of our lives. If love really is the truth of our existence and the truth of God, then may we not aim to meet the minimum requirements of love; rather, let us love to the point of tears. Let us breathe in the pain of the world and breathe out the goodness of love, letting go in love, from the simplest act of gratitude, to caring for another, or perhaps risking out lives for a stranger – or better yet – loving our enemy. For every act of love is a personalization of God, and when God is born through our lives, heaven unfolds on earth. All that we long for and anticipate becomes a reality in this moment, in the here and now, in every particular act of love.”[iv]

This life is a test: a test of the Emergency Love Network which Jesus passes with his knowledge of God’s Word. He gives his disciples and us just one choice to make: Do we accept his commission to walk the road of God’s steadfast love self, of neighbor, and of enemy? For it is not what we believe, but what we say and what we do that will reflect the mercy, forgiveness and steadfast love of God. Only our actions on behalf of others will tell the world whether or not we pass the test.

Let us breathe in the pain of the world and breathe out the goodness of love, letting go in love, from the simplest act of gratitude, to caring for another, or perhaps risking out lives for a stranger – or better yet – loving our enemy. Amen.

---

[i] Richard Swanson, Provoking the Gospel of Luke (The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland: 2006) p.116.

[ii] First Nations Version: An indigenous translation of the New Testament (Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL:2021) p 156.

[iii] Ilia Delio, The Primacy of Love(Fortress Press, Minneapolis:2022) p 51.

[iv] Ibid, Delio p 82.