22 November 2009/Christ the King – John 18:33-37
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
Christ The King
Our edit of the conversation between Jesus and Pilate in the Fourth Gospel stops just short of what I have always thought to be the money line.
Jesus says, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
This is undoubtedly the most peculiar Sunday of the Christian Year – Christ the King Sunday. It challenges all notions we have about Kings as well as all notions we have about “the truth.”
We tend to think of truth in terms of assertions or facts to which we can give or withhold our assent. We think of truth as ideas, notions, assertions, verifiable facts.
“The term [truth] has no single definition about which a majority of professional philosophers and scholars agree, and various theories and views of truth continue to be debated.” Thank you, Wikipedia!
We are those people, however, who hold fast to a peculiar notion without which there is no such thing as Christian Faith: we believe “truth” to be a flesh and blood person named Jesus. And further we believe this flesh and blood person to be God.
Jesus says as much later in John: I Am …the truth…
As I tell the girls in my classroom, whenever the words “I Am” are written in the Bible they can only point to one thing: the ultimate reality of God. For when Moses asks the voice in the burning bush who it is that is sending him to confront Pharaoh, the answer is quite simply, “I Am….tell him I Am sent you.”
So when Jesus says, “I Am,” the reader knowledgeable of scripture hears the voice from the bush speaking from a new place – and that place is a flesh and blood person like you and like me. So to know Jesus is to know Truth – to know Truth is to know Jesus as the voice from the burning bush.
We try to gussy it all up and make bold assertions about our knowledge of and the nature of God, but in the end we are left with the simple assertion that Truth is a man.
And when we say this man is King, we do not mean a king like any other king we have every read about or known. Truth, the man, says his kingdom is not of this world. He says he has no armies to command to protect him. He tells those of his followers who would pick up weapons to defend him to put them down.
Not once does he utter words like, “Off with his head,” or “Send him to the dungeon,” or “Annex his property to mine,” or “Foreclose on his farm today.”
Jesus wrote no books and yet is considered a teacher for all the ages.
He had no servants, yet people called him master.
He had no army yet kings feared him.
He came as God incarnate, yet he is seen on his knees washing his disciple’s feet.
He was buried in a tomb, yet he is as alive today as he was 2,000 years ago.
He says we will do the things he does, and greater things than these.
What is truth?
Jesus is our idea of Truth. Jesus is our idea of a King.
A day such as this means to ask us: Are we ready to know the truth?
Are we ready to serve such a King?
Are we doing the things he did? Are we doing greater things than he did?
The Letter of James writes, “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.”
This is how we are called to honor our king – by becoming the first fruits of all God created.
May we honor this calling in all that we do and all that we say.
Amen.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Widows
8 November 2009 – Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17/Mark 12:38-44
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, St.Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
Widows As Icons of God’s Faithfulness
It is almost too easy on this day of Stewardship Pledge Ingathering to focus attention on the Widow’s Mite. It may be more fruitful in that regard simply to observe that Jesus sits, watches and takes note of just what people like us put into the offering plate!
After all the scribes Jesus is taking down a few notches are good, faithful church going folk like most of us. True, they are more interested in being seen as faithful, and seen to be praying while all the while they “devour widow’s houses” – a quaint Biblical metaphor for what we might call foreclosure, a not unfamiliar activity in today’s so-called “economy.”
I think it may be most productive for us, therefore, to focus on just what “widows” represent in Biblical terms. First off, without a husband to support them, widows represent a class of persons who are without resources. Unless a relative takes them in, they generally live on the streets. And typically, in those days, even if a relative takes them in, they are relegated to becoming a household servant – which in those days were simply called slaves. The folks who wash the feet of a guest or visitor.
Widows in the Bible, however, are also considered to be a protected class. Like the poor and resident aliens (foreigners), widows are to be given special consideration for charity – the Biblical word for “love” in such phrases from Leviticus that tell us to love God and “love our neighbor – the poor, the widows, and the strangers in the land.”
This morning we have before us the example of two extraordinary widows – Ruth and the widow making an offering to God of all that she has – two coins.
On a day when we are asked to consider just how much of God’s money we are willing to give back for the mission and ministry of God’s Church, we might do well to simply meditate on the lives of these two widows, who odd as it may seem, are presented as two of the most faithful people in all of Holy Writ.
I once had to translate the Book of Ruth. To this day I find it to be the most remarkable and important story in the entire Bible – in that it is a narrative summary of just what God in Jesus came later to teach us.
It takes place a long, long time ago, as most really good stories do. There is a famine in Israel. The rumor is that there is food in neighboring Moab, so Naomi and her husband Elimelech go to Moab with their two sons. The famine is long, the boys marry Moabite girls – that is gentile-foreigners, aliens.
The famine is so long that Elimelech and the two sons die, leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah (from which we get the modern day Oprah!) all widows. Naomi decides to go home having heard there is now food in the land. Perhaps a distant relative will have mercy on her and give her work to do. She urges the two daughters-in-law to go home to their relatives in Moab, since life for a gentile-alien woman would not be so good where she is headed. Orpah goes home, Ruth says she will go with Naomi and help care for her mother-in-law. How times have changed!
It happens that a relative, Boaz, is hiring workers to harvest his fields. He agrees to take on Ruth, which entitles her to pick up the gleanings – the leftovers in the field – to take home and feed Naomi and herself. As the threshing season ends, Naomi hatches a plan – Ruth is to go into the threshing room after the men have done their work and had a few drinks, and curl up around Boaz’s feet as he falls asleep.
Ruth has no time to think about it. The text tells us that Ruth does as “Naomi had commanded her.” The word commandment has great depths of meaning for those of us who claim to live a Biblical faith. She does not hesitate to do as she is commanded to do.
The rest, as they say, is history. Boaz marries Ruth, they have a child, Obed, that is “one who serves,” and Obed becomes the grandfather of David, only the greatest ever King of Israel!
All this because of Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi – not to let her mother-in-law become a beggar or slave. Ruth was willing to risk bigotry, rejection, becoming a slave-worker herself to take care of Naomi.
Her faithfulness to Naomi is an icon of how we are to be faithful to God in Christ.
Like the widow at the Temple treasury, Ruth was willing to risk and to give all that she had.
These stories are meant to be about us. How much of who we are and what we have are we willing to give as an offering to the God who has given us all we have and more – God gave us his only Son that we might have life and have it abundantly.
That the Bible raises up before us the lives of these two widows as examples for us as to what the life of faith requires of us is truly astonishing.
No more astonishing, however, than what we can do for the life of God’s world if only we were to remember them and emulate their lives in all that we say and all that we do.
Ruth and the Widow in the Temple :
What can they teach us about Christian charity and love today?
What can they tell us about who we are called to be?
What can they tell us about what we are called to do this day?
Jesus is still watching to see what we put in the Temple treasury.
Amen.
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, St.Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
Widows As Icons of God’s Faithfulness
It is almost too easy on this day of Stewardship Pledge Ingathering to focus attention on the Widow’s Mite. It may be more fruitful in that regard simply to observe that Jesus sits, watches and takes note of just what people like us put into the offering plate!
After all the scribes Jesus is taking down a few notches are good, faithful church going folk like most of us. True, they are more interested in being seen as faithful, and seen to be praying while all the while they “devour widow’s houses” – a quaint Biblical metaphor for what we might call foreclosure, a not unfamiliar activity in today’s so-called “economy.”
I think it may be most productive for us, therefore, to focus on just what “widows” represent in Biblical terms. First off, without a husband to support them, widows represent a class of persons who are without resources. Unless a relative takes them in, they generally live on the streets. And typically, in those days, even if a relative takes them in, they are relegated to becoming a household servant – which in those days were simply called slaves. The folks who wash the feet of a guest or visitor.
Widows in the Bible, however, are also considered to be a protected class. Like the poor and resident aliens (foreigners), widows are to be given special consideration for charity – the Biblical word for “love” in such phrases from Leviticus that tell us to love God and “love our neighbor – the poor, the widows, and the strangers in the land.”
This morning we have before us the example of two extraordinary widows – Ruth and the widow making an offering to God of all that she has – two coins.
On a day when we are asked to consider just how much of God’s money we are willing to give back for the mission and ministry of God’s Church, we might do well to simply meditate on the lives of these two widows, who odd as it may seem, are presented as two of the most faithful people in all of Holy Writ.
I once had to translate the Book of Ruth. To this day I find it to be the most remarkable and important story in the entire Bible – in that it is a narrative summary of just what God in Jesus came later to teach us.
It takes place a long, long time ago, as most really good stories do. There is a famine in Israel. The rumor is that there is food in neighboring Moab, so Naomi and her husband Elimelech go to Moab with their two sons. The famine is long, the boys marry Moabite girls – that is gentile-foreigners, aliens.
The famine is so long that Elimelech and the two sons die, leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah (from which we get the modern day Oprah!) all widows. Naomi decides to go home having heard there is now food in the land. Perhaps a distant relative will have mercy on her and give her work to do. She urges the two daughters-in-law to go home to their relatives in Moab, since life for a gentile-alien woman would not be so good where she is headed. Orpah goes home, Ruth says she will go with Naomi and help care for her mother-in-law. How times have changed!
It happens that a relative, Boaz, is hiring workers to harvest his fields. He agrees to take on Ruth, which entitles her to pick up the gleanings – the leftovers in the field – to take home and feed Naomi and herself. As the threshing season ends, Naomi hatches a plan – Ruth is to go into the threshing room after the men have done their work and had a few drinks, and curl up around Boaz’s feet as he falls asleep.
Ruth has no time to think about it. The text tells us that Ruth does as “Naomi had commanded her.” The word commandment has great depths of meaning for those of us who claim to live a Biblical faith. She does not hesitate to do as she is commanded to do.
The rest, as they say, is history. Boaz marries Ruth, they have a child, Obed, that is “one who serves,” and Obed becomes the grandfather of David, only the greatest ever King of Israel!
All this because of Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi – not to let her mother-in-law become a beggar or slave. Ruth was willing to risk bigotry, rejection, becoming a slave-worker herself to take care of Naomi.
Her faithfulness to Naomi is an icon of how we are to be faithful to God in Christ.
Like the widow at the Temple treasury, Ruth was willing to risk and to give all that she had.
These stories are meant to be about us. How much of who we are and what we have are we willing to give as an offering to the God who has given us all we have and more – God gave us his only Son that we might have life and have it abundantly.
That the Bible raises up before us the lives of these two widows as examples for us as to what the life of faith requires of us is truly astonishing.
No more astonishing, however, than what we can do for the life of God’s world if only we were to remember them and emulate their lives in all that we say and all that we do.
Ruth and the Widow in the Temple :
What can they teach us about Christian charity and love today?
What can they tell us about who we are called to be?
What can they tell us about what we are called to do this day?
Jesus is still watching to see what we put in the Temple treasury.
Amen.
Widows
8 November 2009 – Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17/Mark 12:38-44
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, St.Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
Widows As Icons of God’s Faithfulness
It is almost too easy on this day of Stewardship Pledge Ingathering to focus attention on the Widow’s Mite. It may be more fruitful in that regard simply to observe that Jesus sits, watches and takes note of just what people like us put into the offering plate!
After all the scribes Jesus is taking down a few notches are good, faithful church going folk like most of us. True, they are more interested in being seen as faithful, and seen to be praying while all the while they “devour widow’s houses” – a quaint Biblical metaphor for what we might call foreclosure, a not unfamiliar activity in today’s so-called “economy.”
I think it may be most productive for us, therefore, to focus on just what “widows” represent in Biblical terms. First off, without a husband to support them, widows represent a class of persons who are without resources. Unless a relative takes them in, they generally live on the streets. And typically, in those days, even if a relative takes them in, they are relegated to becoming a household servant – which in those days were simply called slaves. The folks who wash the feet of a guest or visitor.
Widows in the Bible, however, are also considered to be a protected class. Like the poor and resident aliens (foreigners), widows are to be given special consideration for charity – the Biblical word for “love” in such phrases from Leviticus that tell us to love God and “love our neighbor – the poor, the widows, and the strangers in the land.”
This morning we have before us the example of two extraordinary widows – Ruth and the widow making an offering to God of all that she has – two coins.
On a day when we are asked to consider just how much of God’s money we are willing to give back for the mission and ministry of God’s Church, we might do well to simply meditate on the lives of these two widows, who odd as it may seem, are presented as two of the most faithful people in all of Holy Writ.
I once had to translate the Book of Ruth. To this day I find it to be the most remarkable and important story in the entire Bible – in that it is a narrative summary of just what God in Jesus came later to teach us.
It takes place a long, long time ago, as most really good stories do. There is a famine in Israel. The rumor is that there is food in neighboring Moab, so Naomi and her husband Elimelech go to Moab with their two sons. The famine is long, the boys marry Moabite girls – that is gentile-foreigners, aliens.
The famine is so long that Elimelech and the two sons die, leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah (from which we get the modern day Oprah!) all widows. Naomi decides to go home having heard there is now food in the land. Perhaps a distant relative will have mercy on her and give her work to do. She urges the two daughters-in-law to go home to their relatives in Moab, since life for a gentile-alien woman would not be so good where she is headed. Orpah goes home, Ruth says she will go with Naomi and help care for her mother-in-law. How times have changed!
It happens that a relative, Boaz, is hiring workers to harvest his fields. He agrees to take on Ruth, which entitles her to pick up the gleanings – the leftovers in the field – to take home and feed Naomi and herself. As the threshing season ends, Naomi hatches a plan – Ruth is to go into the threshing room after the men have done their work and had a few drinks, and curl up around Boaz’s feet as he falls asleep.
Ruth has no time to think about it. The text tells us that Ruth does as “Naomi had commanded her.” The word commandment has great depths of meaning for those of us who claim to live a Biblical faith. She does not hesitate to do as she is commanded to do.
The rest, as they say, is history. Boaz marries Ruth, they have a child, Obed, that is “one who serves,” and Obed becomes the grandfather of David, only the greatest ever King of Israel!
All this because of Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi – not to let her mother-in-law become a beggar or slave. Ruth was willing to risk bigotry, rejection, becoming a slave-worker herself to take care of Naomi.
Her faithfulness to Naomi is an icon of how we are to be faithful to God in Christ.
Like the widow at the Temple treasury, Ruth was willing to risk and to give all that she had.
These stories are meant to be about us. How much of who we are and what we have are we willing to give as an offering to the God who has given us all we have and more – God gave us his only Son that we might have life and have it abundantly.
That the Bible raises up before us the lives of these two widows as examples for us as to what the life of faith requires of us is truly astonishing.
No more astonishing, however, than what we can do for the life of God’s world if only we were to remember them and emulate their lives in all that we say and all that we do.
Ruth and the Widow in the Temple :
What can they teach us about Christian charity and love today?
What can they tell us about who we are called to be?
What can they tell us about what we are called to do this day?
Jesus is still watching to see what we put in the Temple treasury.
Amen.
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, St.Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
Widows As Icons of God’s Faithfulness
It is almost too easy on this day of Stewardship Pledge Ingathering to focus attention on the Widow’s Mite. It may be more fruitful in that regard simply to observe that Jesus sits, watches and takes note of just what people like us put into the offering plate!
After all the scribes Jesus is taking down a few notches are good, faithful church going folk like most of us. True, they are more interested in being seen as faithful, and seen to be praying while all the while they “devour widow’s houses” – a quaint Biblical metaphor for what we might call foreclosure, a not unfamiliar activity in today’s so-called “economy.”
I think it may be most productive for us, therefore, to focus on just what “widows” represent in Biblical terms. First off, without a husband to support them, widows represent a class of persons who are without resources. Unless a relative takes them in, they generally live on the streets. And typically, in those days, even if a relative takes them in, they are relegated to becoming a household servant – which in those days were simply called slaves. The folks who wash the feet of a guest or visitor.
Widows in the Bible, however, are also considered to be a protected class. Like the poor and resident aliens (foreigners), widows are to be given special consideration for charity – the Biblical word for “love” in such phrases from Leviticus that tell us to love God and “love our neighbor – the poor, the widows, and the strangers in the land.”
This morning we have before us the example of two extraordinary widows – Ruth and the widow making an offering to God of all that she has – two coins.
On a day when we are asked to consider just how much of God’s money we are willing to give back for the mission and ministry of God’s Church, we might do well to simply meditate on the lives of these two widows, who odd as it may seem, are presented as two of the most faithful people in all of Holy Writ.
I once had to translate the Book of Ruth. To this day I find it to be the most remarkable and important story in the entire Bible – in that it is a narrative summary of just what God in Jesus came later to teach us.
It takes place a long, long time ago, as most really good stories do. There is a famine in Israel. The rumor is that there is food in neighboring Moab, so Naomi and her husband Elimelech go to Moab with their two sons. The famine is long, the boys marry Moabite girls – that is gentile-foreigners, aliens.
The famine is so long that Elimelech and the two sons die, leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah (from which we get the modern day Oprah!) all widows. Naomi decides to go home having heard there is now food in the land. Perhaps a distant relative will have mercy on her and give her work to do. She urges the two daughters-in-law to go home to their relatives in Moab, since life for a gentile-alien woman would not be so good where she is headed. Orpah goes home, Ruth says she will go with Naomi and help care for her mother-in-law. How times have changed!
It happens that a relative, Boaz, is hiring workers to harvest his fields. He agrees to take on Ruth, which entitles her to pick up the gleanings – the leftovers in the field – to take home and feed Naomi and herself. As the threshing season ends, Naomi hatches a plan – Ruth is to go into the threshing room after the men have done their work and had a few drinks, and curl up around Boaz’s feet as he falls asleep.
Ruth has no time to think about it. The text tells us that Ruth does as “Naomi had commanded her.” The word commandment has great depths of meaning for those of us who claim to live a Biblical faith. She does not hesitate to do as she is commanded to do.
The rest, as they say, is history. Boaz marries Ruth, they have a child, Obed, that is “one who serves,” and Obed becomes the grandfather of David, only the greatest ever King of Israel!
All this because of Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi – not to let her mother-in-law become a beggar or slave. Ruth was willing to risk bigotry, rejection, becoming a slave-worker herself to take care of Naomi.
Her faithfulness to Naomi is an icon of how we are to be faithful to God in Christ.
Like the widow at the Temple treasury, Ruth was willing to risk and to give all that she had.
These stories are meant to be about us. How much of who we are and what we have are we willing to give as an offering to the God who has given us all we have and more – God gave us his only Son that we might have life and have it abundantly.
That the Bible raises up before us the lives of these two widows as examples for us as to what the life of faith requires of us is truly astonishing.
No more astonishing, however, than what we can do for the life of God’s world if only we were to remember them and emulate their lives in all that we say and all that we do.
Ruth and the Widow in the Temple :
What can they teach us about Christian charity and love today?
What can they tell us about who we are called to be?
What can they tell us about what we are called to do this day?
Jesus is still watching to see what we put in the Temple treasury.
Amen.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Whence Cometh The Tithe?
25 October 2009/Proper 25B – Hebrews 7: 15-17, 23-28/Mark 10:46-52
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
Lessons From Bartimaeus and Melchizedek
Listen for the echoes. This is what these stories in scripture demand of us – a listening heart. We are meant to remember James and John the Zebedee brothers, the rich young man, Melchizedek, and all the way back to brother Abram before he even became Abraham, the father of all three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Oh yes, and Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind beggar outside of Jericho where the walls come tumbling down. An apt metaphor for all of scripture – ancient words and stories attempting to break down the walls we place around our hearts, minds and souls. Tumbling walls, opening eyes, metaphors asking us if we can see.
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” cries Bartimaeus as he throws off his cloak – the cloak which was stretched on the ground about his feet to catch the coins people might toss his way. The cloak holds his entire fortune. He casts it aside to get to Jesus, to regain his sight, and to follow Jesus. Despite Jesus telling him to go on his way, Bartimaeus instead follows Jesus into Jerusalem. This is the last stop on the way to the Passion and Resurrection.
This blind beggar gets it like James and John could not get it, like the rich young man could not get it, like the disciples do not get it. The brothers wanted power, the rich young man could not bear to part with his wealth, only this blind beggar is willing to give it all for a chance to follow Jesus.
“Rich or poor are asked to give up only one thing, everything,” says Timothy Geddert in his commentary, Mark, Believers Church Bible Commentary (Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press, 2001) 256.
Bartimaeus gets this. Begging the question (no pun intended), Do we?
Then there is Hebrews. What a marvelous, fascinating, dense and complicated epistle it is! I remember being on silent retreat on the shores of Lake Michigan in the middle of winter in Racine Wisconsin studying Hebrews. The wind was howling, the waves crashing, ice formations crusting the shoreline, and the words of Hebrews were “living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow!”
It says Jesus is a new kind of Priest, and at the same time he is a very old kind of priest, and that he holds this priesthood forever. We know we are made the Body of Christ by water and the Holy Spirit in Baptism. So that we hold this new and yet ancient priesthood forever as part of our very Being – it is who we are called to be in this world: “and share with us in his eternal priesthood,” we pray at every baptism. (BCP 308)
Last Sunday Hebrews told us that the type, the model, for this eternal priesthood which we share is Melchizedek. “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Who on earth is Melchizedek?
He only shows up for three verses way back in Genesis chapter 14. We may recall, God sent Abram and Sarai and their nephew Lot on a journey of faith. Keep going until I tell you to stop. When they stop life is as God promises, fruitful, bountiful, even prosperous and affluent! Abram and Lot’s herds are so prolific they need to spread out, move away from each other to have room to continue to prosper.
Of course some of the local tribesmen want some of the blessing, attack Lot, capture Lot and all his herds. Abram springs into action, and with his “trained men” frees Lot and the herds. As Abram returns to the valley to give thanks, in rides Melchizedek, the “King of Salem.” Salem, of course means shalom, which means Peace, which makes him the King of Peace. And Salem was of course the ancient name for Jerusalem. Further, we are told, Melchizedek is a priest of God Most High.
Melchizedek gives Abram bread and wine, and then blesses him, announcing that it is indeed God Most High “who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” This is the message from the King of Peace, Prieset of God Most High.
Abram’s response is reported in one short declarative sentence: “And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything.” Everything, as in every thing.
This is long before God dictates any commandments to Moses about the Tithe. Abram’s immediate, spontaneous act of gratitude is to give one-tenth to thank God Most High.
This all has something essential to say about who we are and whose we are – we are Christ’s own body. We are children of Abram long before he became Abraham. We are priests after the order of Melchizedek. We are called to give thanks to God – one tenth of everything.
Bartimaeus, Melchizedek and Abram show us how.
“Rich or poor are asked to give up only one thing, everything.”
Bartimaeus gets it. Abram gets it. Do we?
The world looks at us to see if we can demonstrate in any concrete way that we are in fact who we say we are – followers of Jesus Christ. The most ancient Holy Habit of Tithing is one such concrete act.
Will we be like James and John and the rich young man?
Or, like Abram and Bartimaeus? Only time will tell. Amen.
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
Lessons From Bartimaeus and Melchizedek
Listen for the echoes. This is what these stories in scripture demand of us – a listening heart. We are meant to remember James and John the Zebedee brothers, the rich young man, Melchizedek, and all the way back to brother Abram before he even became Abraham, the father of all three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Oh yes, and Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind beggar outside of Jericho where the walls come tumbling down. An apt metaphor for all of scripture – ancient words and stories attempting to break down the walls we place around our hearts, minds and souls. Tumbling walls, opening eyes, metaphors asking us if we can see.
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” cries Bartimaeus as he throws off his cloak – the cloak which was stretched on the ground about his feet to catch the coins people might toss his way. The cloak holds his entire fortune. He casts it aside to get to Jesus, to regain his sight, and to follow Jesus. Despite Jesus telling him to go on his way, Bartimaeus instead follows Jesus into Jerusalem. This is the last stop on the way to the Passion and Resurrection.
This blind beggar gets it like James and John could not get it, like the rich young man could not get it, like the disciples do not get it. The brothers wanted power, the rich young man could not bear to part with his wealth, only this blind beggar is willing to give it all for a chance to follow Jesus.
“Rich or poor are asked to give up only one thing, everything,” says Timothy Geddert in his commentary, Mark, Believers Church Bible Commentary (Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press, 2001) 256.
Bartimaeus gets this. Begging the question (no pun intended), Do we?
Then there is Hebrews. What a marvelous, fascinating, dense and complicated epistle it is! I remember being on silent retreat on the shores of Lake Michigan in the middle of winter in Racine Wisconsin studying Hebrews. The wind was howling, the waves crashing, ice formations crusting the shoreline, and the words of Hebrews were “living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow!”
It says Jesus is a new kind of Priest, and at the same time he is a very old kind of priest, and that he holds this priesthood forever. We know we are made the Body of Christ by water and the Holy Spirit in Baptism. So that we hold this new and yet ancient priesthood forever as part of our very Being – it is who we are called to be in this world: “and share with us in his eternal priesthood,” we pray at every baptism. (BCP 308)
Last Sunday Hebrews told us that the type, the model, for this eternal priesthood which we share is Melchizedek. “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Who on earth is Melchizedek?
He only shows up for three verses way back in Genesis chapter 14. We may recall, God sent Abram and Sarai and their nephew Lot on a journey of faith. Keep going until I tell you to stop. When they stop life is as God promises, fruitful, bountiful, even prosperous and affluent! Abram and Lot’s herds are so prolific they need to spread out, move away from each other to have room to continue to prosper.
Of course some of the local tribesmen want some of the blessing, attack Lot, capture Lot and all his herds. Abram springs into action, and with his “trained men” frees Lot and the herds. As Abram returns to the valley to give thanks, in rides Melchizedek, the “King of Salem.” Salem, of course means shalom, which means Peace, which makes him the King of Peace. And Salem was of course the ancient name for Jerusalem. Further, we are told, Melchizedek is a priest of God Most High.
Melchizedek gives Abram bread and wine, and then blesses him, announcing that it is indeed God Most High “who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” This is the message from the King of Peace, Prieset of God Most High.
Abram’s response is reported in one short declarative sentence: “And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything.” Everything, as in every thing.
This is long before God dictates any commandments to Moses about the Tithe. Abram’s immediate, spontaneous act of gratitude is to give one-tenth to thank God Most High.
This all has something essential to say about who we are and whose we are – we are Christ’s own body. We are children of Abram long before he became Abraham. We are priests after the order of Melchizedek. We are called to give thanks to God – one tenth of everything.
Bartimaeus, Melchizedek and Abram show us how.
“Rich or poor are asked to give up only one thing, everything.”
Bartimaeus gets it. Abram gets it. Do we?
The world looks at us to see if we can demonstrate in any concrete way that we are in fact who we say we are – followers of Jesus Christ. The most ancient Holy Habit of Tithing is one such concrete act.
Will we be like James and John and the rich young man?
Or, like Abram and Bartimaeus? Only time will tell. Amen.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Draw Near To God
20 September 2009/Proper 20 – James 3:13- 4:3, 7-8a/Mark 9:30-37
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
Draw Near to God
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” – James 4: 8a
“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” -Mark 9: 37
This is the time in the Liturgy of the Word when we seek to find a way to apply the Word of God to our day to day lives, and our life of corporate worship. We recall that one of the Four Holy Habits is Weekly Corporate Worship – The Eucharist, an act of Thanksgiving.
Whatever else our Epistle and Gospel may be about, one readily sees a common theme at the end of each lesson: draw near to God, welcome God – the one who sent Jesus to be among us.
At the core of what we believe our Sunday mornings are all about is a belief that Jesus is present – in theological parlance we call this The Real Presence of Christ in the Breaking of the Bread. That’s a mouthful, for sure.
So how have and how do God’s people welcome God’s presence? How do we acknowledge God’s presence?
There is a full spectrum of behaviors ranging from silence and taking off one’s shoes to flat-out joyful celebration. The Eucharist attempts to blend all of this together.
One thing we evidently are not to do is argue with one another! Arguing is not only a poor way to welcome Jesus and draw near to God, but it just does not appeal to visitors and others who might come in the door. Jesus repeatedly shows little interest in “getting things right” or finding out who is right and who is wrong when it comes to worship and life in general.
Jesus comes from a tradition that begins with taking off our shoes. Recall Moses at the burning bush where the bush, the voice of God, tells Moses to take off his shoes. “Take off your shoes, for the place you are standing is Holy Ground.” Exodus 3: 5
Now in a number of places and cultures this is still taken literally: enter a Mosque and you are required to take off your shoes. Enter a home in Japan and you are expected to take off your shoes. It is a sign of respect, and a sign of humility. It is such humility that Jesus finds lacking in his disciples. The same is true today.
In God’s kingdom there is no room for those who think they are the greatest! There is plenty of room for those who welcome the least of our sisters and brothers into their midst – children represent those people who live every day at the bottom of the human totem pole – at the bottom of our society.
Children had the status of just above dog or slave in those days – so the metaphor is rich and telling of the kind of people we are. Children were not cuddly, and fawned over, but were generally cast aside – if they survived infancy, so be it. If not, so be it. By placing a child in the disciples midst, Jesus makes a statement of radical acceptance of all people among his followers.
Jesus wants us to take off our shoes. The Letter of James has been explicit about the radical inclusion of all people into the fellowship of Christ, the Church.
Taking off our shoes may also be a metaphor – remove those things that might signify stature among one another. Show respect for others by treating each person we meet as Holy Ground – as we stand before one another, do we respect one another as Holy?
There is no more important question to ask ourselves. In our baptism we promise to Seek and Serve Christ in ALL persons – see others, all others, as Holy, Sacred, God’s own Beloved. Treat others as we would treat God’s presence.
And God asks us to take off, take off our shoes. It is something to ponder as we gather week by week for corporate worship. In many places it means not talking during the prelude and postlude – treating that as Holy Time, quiet time, time to draw near to God.
It may mean observing the Silence called for before we Confess our Sins, and as the Body of Christ is Broken at the Altar. There are many ways to draw near to God. As we do, God draws near to us.
Take off, take off your shoes
The place you’re standing, is Holy Ground
Take off, take off your shoes
The place you’re standing, is Holy Ground
This place is Holy, Holy Ground
God made this place, His Holy Ground
This place is Holy, Holy Ground
God made this place, His Holy Ground
( Words - Woody Guthrie)
Amen.
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
Draw Near to God
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” – James 4: 8a
“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” -Mark 9: 37
This is the time in the Liturgy of the Word when we seek to find a way to apply the Word of God to our day to day lives, and our life of corporate worship. We recall that one of the Four Holy Habits is Weekly Corporate Worship – The Eucharist, an act of Thanksgiving.
Whatever else our Epistle and Gospel may be about, one readily sees a common theme at the end of each lesson: draw near to God, welcome God – the one who sent Jesus to be among us.
At the core of what we believe our Sunday mornings are all about is a belief that Jesus is present – in theological parlance we call this The Real Presence of Christ in the Breaking of the Bread. That’s a mouthful, for sure.
So how have and how do God’s people welcome God’s presence? How do we acknowledge God’s presence?
There is a full spectrum of behaviors ranging from silence and taking off one’s shoes to flat-out joyful celebration. The Eucharist attempts to blend all of this together.
One thing we evidently are not to do is argue with one another! Arguing is not only a poor way to welcome Jesus and draw near to God, but it just does not appeal to visitors and others who might come in the door. Jesus repeatedly shows little interest in “getting things right” or finding out who is right and who is wrong when it comes to worship and life in general.
Jesus comes from a tradition that begins with taking off our shoes. Recall Moses at the burning bush where the bush, the voice of God, tells Moses to take off his shoes. “Take off your shoes, for the place you are standing is Holy Ground.” Exodus 3: 5
Now in a number of places and cultures this is still taken literally: enter a Mosque and you are required to take off your shoes. Enter a home in Japan and you are expected to take off your shoes. It is a sign of respect, and a sign of humility. It is such humility that Jesus finds lacking in his disciples. The same is true today.
In God’s kingdom there is no room for those who think they are the greatest! There is plenty of room for those who welcome the least of our sisters and brothers into their midst – children represent those people who live every day at the bottom of the human totem pole – at the bottom of our society.
Children had the status of just above dog or slave in those days – so the metaphor is rich and telling of the kind of people we are. Children were not cuddly, and fawned over, but were generally cast aside – if they survived infancy, so be it. If not, so be it. By placing a child in the disciples midst, Jesus makes a statement of radical acceptance of all people among his followers.
Jesus wants us to take off our shoes. The Letter of James has been explicit about the radical inclusion of all people into the fellowship of Christ, the Church.
Taking off our shoes may also be a metaphor – remove those things that might signify stature among one another. Show respect for others by treating each person we meet as Holy Ground – as we stand before one another, do we respect one another as Holy?
There is no more important question to ask ourselves. In our baptism we promise to Seek and Serve Christ in ALL persons – see others, all others, as Holy, Sacred, God’s own Beloved. Treat others as we would treat God’s presence.
And God asks us to take off, take off our shoes. It is something to ponder as we gather week by week for corporate worship. In many places it means not talking during the prelude and postlude – treating that as Holy Time, quiet time, time to draw near to God.
It may mean observing the Silence called for before we Confess our Sins, and as the Body of Christ is Broken at the Altar. There are many ways to draw near to God. As we do, God draws near to us.
Take off, take off your shoes
The place you’re standing, is Holy Ground
Take off, take off your shoes
The place you’re standing, is Holy Ground
This place is Holy, Holy Ground
God made this place, His Holy Ground
This place is Holy, Holy Ground
God made this place, His Holy Ground
( Words - Woody Guthrie)
Amen.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Just Say The Word!
6 September 2009/Proper * Mark 7:24-37
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
A Crumb Is Enough
This is perhaps the most remarkable story in all of Mark’s Gospel – all the more so when we consider that until the Revised Common Lectionary restored it to Sunday Reading in Year B, it had been excluded from the Prayer Book Lectionary of readings.
It is easy to see why: it features a woman, a woman of remarkable chutzpah and faith, a woman of passion, a woman of wit and wisdom. It also features Jesus saying the most disturbing thing we ever hear him say: he calls this woman, and by inference her daughter and her people in general, a dog.
But in the past we skipped over the Syrophoenician Woman to the healing of a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. Which is a good place to begin, since both stories feature people who advocate for the healing of others – that is, the people coming to Jesus ( the woman and the unspecified “they”) do not ask for healing for themselves, but rather ask on behalf of others: the girl and the man. The real surprise is just who really gets healed in this story – but on that later.
A lesson in discipleship? Are we meant to be advocates for the needs of others? The story means to provoke us to answer just this question.
Jesus wants to be alone. He did not want anyone to know where he was. Enter a woman. Not just a woman but a Gentile woman. Not just a Gentile, but a Syrophoenician woman, and the Jews in Jesus’ time did not like Syrophenicians at all. So on the face of it, three strikes and you’re out!
And so it seems. She asks for her daughter to be healed. Jesus, not content simply to say, “No,” instead hurls an insult at her, at all Gentiles and at Syrophoenicians specifically: I am here to feed God’s children, ie the Jews, not the dogs of the world like you, your daughter and your people.” Not exactly Jesus meek and mild. Not exactly “In Christ there is no East or West....”
Undeterred, the woman replies famously, “Yes sir, yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Please note: this is the only person in four gospels who argues with Jesus and wins. Because of her willingness to advocate for her daughter, and her willingness to confront Jesus’ discriminatory attitude, her daughter is healed.
And at that moment, the world changed – and it was a big, huge, cosmic, axial shift! Jesus includes gentiles, even historically hated gentiles, into his mission, that would be into our mission. He will no longer discriminate. He crosses the boundaries of gender, ethnicity and even socioeconomics since the Syrophoenicians were infinitely more affluent than the Jews in that region. The demon is gone. Not just the demon in the girl, but the demon that might have stalled Jesus and God’s mission.
Because of this woman Jesus changes his mind. Because Jesus changes his mind, a larger, more faithful vision of God’s reign among us is called forth. Rather than insulting her, Jesus compliments her by saying, “Because of this word you spoke, go! The demon has left your daughter.” And Jesus knows a demon has left him because of this woman’s courage to speak truth to power.
And note the new dimensions of his power – no longer does he lay hands on someone, or speak directly to the demons. He is in hiding, the girl is at home, and yet she is healed. Jesus’ power is not restricted by time or space.
And note, according to what the woman has said, it only takes a crumb of our Lord’s power to be healed, transformed, made new.
Most amazingly of all, this story suggests that mere gentiles like ourselves share in our Lord’s power. If the woman speaks a few words and the world and all of history is changed, so can we.
There are those who would have us believe otherwise. There are those who thrive on our willingness to be quiet and accept things the way they are. There are demons at work who count on us to remain quiet when a few words from any one of us has the potential to shape an alternative reality – for instance, fewer hungry people, fewer homeless people, fewer people without health care, a culture that no longer discriminates against gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic standing, sexual orientation, age and the like.
That’s what the second story is all about – opening our mouths and speaking plainly – opening our mouths and speaking truth to power. And even if Jesus tells us to be quiet, it is not to be! The more zealously the crowd proclaimed his power and glory.
So as to be clear, the church throughout the ages, and even today, can be and has been prone to tighten the boundaries of “righteousness” to keep “outsiders” at bay. This story says that will not work. It never has. Jesus tried and was changed.
This story is not about the woman, the daughter, or the man – it is meant to be a story about us, and how a crumb of Jesus’ power can change us forever. It is about how disciples of Jesus are meant to advocate for the needs of others, especially around healing! And how a word from us can change the world. Forever. And, as we say, ever!
A crumb is enough to change the world, to change us, and most astoundingly of all, to force God to change God’s mind.
As a girl in my class on Thursday said, “Wow!”
Amen.
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland
A Crumb Is Enough
This is perhaps the most remarkable story in all of Mark’s Gospel – all the more so when we consider that until the Revised Common Lectionary restored it to Sunday Reading in Year B, it had been excluded from the Prayer Book Lectionary of readings.
It is easy to see why: it features a woman, a woman of remarkable chutzpah and faith, a woman of passion, a woman of wit and wisdom. It also features Jesus saying the most disturbing thing we ever hear him say: he calls this woman, and by inference her daughter and her people in general, a dog.
But in the past we skipped over the Syrophoenician Woman to the healing of a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. Which is a good place to begin, since both stories feature people who advocate for the healing of others – that is, the people coming to Jesus ( the woman and the unspecified “they”) do not ask for healing for themselves, but rather ask on behalf of others: the girl and the man. The real surprise is just who really gets healed in this story – but on that later.
A lesson in discipleship? Are we meant to be advocates for the needs of others? The story means to provoke us to answer just this question.
Jesus wants to be alone. He did not want anyone to know where he was. Enter a woman. Not just a woman but a Gentile woman. Not just a Gentile, but a Syrophoenician woman, and the Jews in Jesus’ time did not like Syrophenicians at all. So on the face of it, three strikes and you’re out!
And so it seems. She asks for her daughter to be healed. Jesus, not content simply to say, “No,” instead hurls an insult at her, at all Gentiles and at Syrophoenicians specifically: I am here to feed God’s children, ie the Jews, not the dogs of the world like you, your daughter and your people.” Not exactly Jesus meek and mild. Not exactly “In Christ there is no East or West....”
Undeterred, the woman replies famously, “Yes sir, yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Please note: this is the only person in four gospels who argues with Jesus and wins. Because of her willingness to advocate for her daughter, and her willingness to confront Jesus’ discriminatory attitude, her daughter is healed.
And at that moment, the world changed – and it was a big, huge, cosmic, axial shift! Jesus includes gentiles, even historically hated gentiles, into his mission, that would be into our mission. He will no longer discriminate. He crosses the boundaries of gender, ethnicity and even socioeconomics since the Syrophoenicians were infinitely more affluent than the Jews in that region. The demon is gone. Not just the demon in the girl, but the demon that might have stalled Jesus and God’s mission.
Because of this woman Jesus changes his mind. Because Jesus changes his mind, a larger, more faithful vision of God’s reign among us is called forth. Rather than insulting her, Jesus compliments her by saying, “Because of this word you spoke, go! The demon has left your daughter.” And Jesus knows a demon has left him because of this woman’s courage to speak truth to power.
And note the new dimensions of his power – no longer does he lay hands on someone, or speak directly to the demons. He is in hiding, the girl is at home, and yet she is healed. Jesus’ power is not restricted by time or space.
And note, according to what the woman has said, it only takes a crumb of our Lord’s power to be healed, transformed, made new.
Most amazingly of all, this story suggests that mere gentiles like ourselves share in our Lord’s power. If the woman speaks a few words and the world and all of history is changed, so can we.
There are those who would have us believe otherwise. There are those who thrive on our willingness to be quiet and accept things the way they are. There are demons at work who count on us to remain quiet when a few words from any one of us has the potential to shape an alternative reality – for instance, fewer hungry people, fewer homeless people, fewer people without health care, a culture that no longer discriminates against gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic standing, sexual orientation, age and the like.
That’s what the second story is all about – opening our mouths and speaking plainly – opening our mouths and speaking truth to power. And even if Jesus tells us to be quiet, it is not to be! The more zealously the crowd proclaimed his power and glory.
So as to be clear, the church throughout the ages, and even today, can be and has been prone to tighten the boundaries of “righteousness” to keep “outsiders” at bay. This story says that will not work. It never has. Jesus tried and was changed.
This story is not about the woman, the daughter, or the man – it is meant to be a story about us, and how a crumb of Jesus’ power can change us forever. It is about how disciples of Jesus are meant to advocate for the needs of others, especially around healing! And how a word from us can change the world. Forever. And, as we say, ever!
A crumb is enough to change the world, to change us, and most astoundingly of all, to force God to change God’s mind.
As a girl in my class on Thursday said, “Wow!”
Amen.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
We Are Home With God
Saint Timothy’s School Convocation 2009
Deuteronomy 6:10-12/I Corinthians 13:1-13
In all cultural and religious traditions, throughout all time, it is customary to stop before the beginning of a new journey and reflect: reflect on where we have been and where we are going.
Typically, like we are doing this morning, this means listening to the ancient wisdom for clues about why we are here and where we are going. So we consult texts as old as three thousand years from Torah and nearly two thousand years from the Christian Scriptures. What on earth can they tell us about beginning a new school year?
In Deuteronomy, the last book of Torah, we find the people of God who had been wandering in the wilderness for forty years. That’s a rather long vacation – longer than we have just enjoyed!
During this time God had led them and fed them. He had satisfied their hunger and thirst. We are told everyone had enough, no one had too much.
But now they were about to cross over the River Jordan to a new land and life lived more or less on their own.
Moses stops to review all the lessons they had learned along the way: lessons like love God, love your neighbor, and choose life. Lessons like, I chose you because I love you - there is no other reason at all but my love for you. I believe we can safely say everyone in this room is here today because we surrounded by such love.
And where we enter the story God, through Moses, assures everyone that crossing over into a new land, a new life, and a new world, that all shall be well because where you are I will be, says the Lord, and where we are will be home! Do not forget me, says the Lord.
It’s rather touching, really. You will have all these new things, go new places, learn new things, have new experiences – and here is God saying, please, don’t forget me, don’t forget where you come from and where we are going, together.
Not a bad message to hear as we begin a new year together - many of you leaving home to make a new home here for the next nine months, and others who make this their home day by day: we have been called here to love God, love one another, know we are loved and cared for, and know that Saint Timothy's is home!
Such knowledge provides the very foundation of our motto, Verite Sans Peur - Truth without Fear.
And to make sure we fully understand how all this love which forms the foundation of Verite Sans Peur is meant to work, Saint Paul lays it all on the line in his letter to the young church in Corinth: such love requires patience, kindness, rejoicing in the right, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping and enduring all things. Faith, Hope and Love, abide these three.
Those who rejoice, hope, believe, and endure with patience and kindness, says Paul, will transition from childish ways to a new way – a new kind of spiritual maturity. It is the promise of a new beginning – a new start.
What an exciting prospect! What an exciting promise! Spiritual maturity is ours for the taking if only we have faith, hope and love - and the greatest of these is love.
Perhaps the single most misunderstood word in scripture. When I had to memorize this chapter in high school in the King James Version, the word was Charity, not love. The Revised Standard Version was out, it was the 1960’s, and we mounted a revolt to use the RSV which used “love” instead of “charity.” Mrs. King held her ground, and today I am grateful. Throughout the Bible Charity or Love means something like doing something helpful or useful for others whether or not you like them let alone love them.
A community committed to these values of faith, hope and charity is a community that will endure. A community committed to these values will embody the very essence of Verite Sans Peur. As long as we remain committed to these values of faith, hope and charity Saint Timothy's will be a home for all of us and for all those who are sent to visit, work, live, play and ride with us this year!
And for this we all say, Amen!
Deuteronomy 6:10-12/I Corinthians 13:1-13
In all cultural and religious traditions, throughout all time, it is customary to stop before the beginning of a new journey and reflect: reflect on where we have been and where we are going.
Typically, like we are doing this morning, this means listening to the ancient wisdom for clues about why we are here and where we are going. So we consult texts as old as three thousand years from Torah and nearly two thousand years from the Christian Scriptures. What on earth can they tell us about beginning a new school year?
In Deuteronomy, the last book of Torah, we find the people of God who had been wandering in the wilderness for forty years. That’s a rather long vacation – longer than we have just enjoyed!
During this time God had led them and fed them. He had satisfied their hunger and thirst. We are told everyone had enough, no one had too much.
But now they were about to cross over the River Jordan to a new land and life lived more or less on their own.
Moses stops to review all the lessons they had learned along the way: lessons like love God, love your neighbor, and choose life. Lessons like, I chose you because I love you - there is no other reason at all but my love for you. I believe we can safely say everyone in this room is here today because we surrounded by such love.
And where we enter the story God, through Moses, assures everyone that crossing over into a new land, a new life, and a new world, that all shall be well because where you are I will be, says the Lord, and where we are will be home! Do not forget me, says the Lord.
It’s rather touching, really. You will have all these new things, go new places, learn new things, have new experiences – and here is God saying, please, don’t forget me, don’t forget where you come from and where we are going, together.
Not a bad message to hear as we begin a new year together - many of you leaving home to make a new home here for the next nine months, and others who make this their home day by day: we have been called here to love God, love one another, know we are loved and cared for, and know that Saint Timothy's is home!
Such knowledge provides the very foundation of our motto, Verite Sans Peur - Truth without Fear.
And to make sure we fully understand how all this love which forms the foundation of Verite Sans Peur is meant to work, Saint Paul lays it all on the line in his letter to the young church in Corinth: such love requires patience, kindness, rejoicing in the right, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping and enduring all things. Faith, Hope and Love, abide these three.
Those who rejoice, hope, believe, and endure with patience and kindness, says Paul, will transition from childish ways to a new way – a new kind of spiritual maturity. It is the promise of a new beginning – a new start.
What an exciting prospect! What an exciting promise! Spiritual maturity is ours for the taking if only we have faith, hope and love - and the greatest of these is love.
Perhaps the single most misunderstood word in scripture. When I had to memorize this chapter in high school in the King James Version, the word was Charity, not love. The Revised Standard Version was out, it was the 1960’s, and we mounted a revolt to use the RSV which used “love” instead of “charity.” Mrs. King held her ground, and today I am grateful. Throughout the Bible Charity or Love means something like doing something helpful or useful for others whether or not you like them let alone love them.
A community committed to these values of faith, hope and charity is a community that will endure. A community committed to these values will embody the very essence of Verite Sans Peur. As long as we remain committed to these values of faith, hope and charity Saint Timothy's will be a home for all of us and for all those who are sent to visit, work, live, play and ride with us this year!
And for this we all say, Amen!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)