Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down

15 July 2012/Proper - 10B Amos 7:7-15/ Psalm 85:8-13/ Mark 6:14-29

The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Timothy’s School for Girls, Stevenson, MD

Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down

This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built

with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos,

what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See, I am

setting a plumb line in the midst of my people… Amos

Prophets: Amos and John the Baptizer. At the corner of Park Heights and Northern Parkway in Baltimore stands a little house. A sign nearly as large as the house itself announces that one can get one’s fortune told inside. Online one can read one’s horoscope. Palm readers, Tarot Card readers, TV diviners – all have conspired to give us a rather skewed idea of what prophets were and are. So we come to believe that prophecy means to predict future outcomes, tell us our futures, help us make phenomenal investments and so on. These modern soothsayers don’t mess around with the entrails of birds, pig livers and the like as their ancient ancestors would have – that would be too messy and not at all glamorous.

Instead they wear exotic outfits, silk suits and Gucci shoes, and try to emulate the role of celebrity – in the end, styling themselves much more as entertainers of a curious and often desperate public. Or, they have their own radio and TV shows, blogs and Twitter feeds, pulling in multi-millions of dollars for simply trumpeting one ideological viewpoint or another all the while mercilessly bashing the opposition.

That is, at the end of the day they have more in common with Herod, Amaziah, Herodias and her mother than they do like the prophets Amos, John the Baptizer and all those God has appointed throughout human history to be his messengers – his Editorial and Op-Ed writers, his poets and visionaries, his truth tellers. God’s prophets, as represented in the Bible beginning perhaps with the Witch of Endor, Elijah and Elisha, Amos, Isaiah, Ezekiel all the way out to John the Revelator, all appear to have two primary tasks: To speak Truth to Power, and to speak Hope to the Powerless.

And turning a neat profit (no pun intended, but apropos nonetheless) has never been the benefit of such an appointment on behalf of the Lord of Lords, King of Kings, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus. More likely they get run out of town (Amos), tossed to the bottom of a well (Jeremiah), exiled on an island (John the Revelator), or eventually just lose their head, like John the Baptizer. There is no single instance of a Biblical prophet being offered a multi-million dollar contract to broadcast their opinions, which are meant to be the opinions of the aforementioned God of the Exodus, Exile and Resurrection. Nor do they ever ask for money, and often refuse offers of the bare necessities like food and water. To say they are an odd lot does not begin to cover it.

As the Psalmist reminds us:

8 I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, *

for he is speaking peace to his faithful people

and to those who turn their hearts to him.

…

10 Mercy and truth have met together; *

righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11 Truth shall spring up from the earth, *

and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

…

13 Righteousness shall go before him, *

and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.  Psalm 85:8-13

Most prophets, like the Psalmist, are poets and songwriters – those members of human society who attempt to use language, imagery and metaphor to help us see where we are and where we ought to be headed. They comment on the present and remind us that our actions now have future consequences. We have before us a contrast in styles: John the Baptizer simply tells it like it is – you ought not to be married to your brother’s wife. Amos, on the other hand, is to be a plumb line in the midst of the people.

You have to love God’s innate sense of humor. He appears to Amos, standing beside a wall with a plumb line and asks, “What do you see?” With the same kind of straight forwardness that will characterize John the Baptizer in years to come, Amos replies, “A plumb line.” This shepherd and dresser of sycamore trees just does not see what God sees – a metaphor for all that is wrong with the current political situation and social unrest. God’s people are out of plumb. The wall is not plumb. The wall might be the nation, it might be the church, it might be society at large, it might be the political leaders, it might be the military leaders, it might be the religious leaders, it might be the business leaders, it might be you and it might be me – it might be, and likely is, all the above and more. The wall is not plumb, it is not straight, it is crooked, leaning to the left or right, in danger of toppling over, crumbling, falling down – ashes, ashes, we all fall down! We are all out of plumb.

So here we are in the political season of Stone Throwing - almost every day one camp or the other demands and apology – you said, she said, he said, we said. Stones are hurling back and forth. You read about it in the paper, on Facebook, in Tweets. In some countries stones are literally all people have to throw to try and end generations of oppression. Sign on the wall in a classroom at UNIS: “…the oppressor never voluntarily gives freedom to the oppressed. You have to work for it. Freedom is never given to anybody. Privileged classes never give up their privileges without strong resistance.” MLKjr

Martin Luther King Jr was the plumb line. Ghandi was the plumb line. A young man in the streets of Syria is the plumb line. Joan of Arc is the plumb line. A monk in Tibet is the plumb line. Sister Joan Chittister is the plumb line. A girl who goes to school in Afghanistan is the plumb line. Pete Seeger is the plumb line. You begin to get the picture. Everywhere we look, if we look for it, there is the plumb line. It is not hard to see once you see it. There are those who work overtime to obfuscate our vision. The prophet-poet means to help us to see again.

Poetry lends itself to music. When we sing the words of the prophets it goes to a deeper place within. We embody the words themselves. We become the words we sing. So it was last Sunday night at Furthur when the boys and girls all sang together:

Picture a bright blue ball, just spinning, spinnin free,
Dizzy with eternity.
Paint it with a skin of sky,
Brush in some clouds and sea,
Call it home for you and me.
A peaceful place or so it looks from space,
A closer look reveals the human race.
Full of hope, full of grace
Is the human face,
But afraid we may lay our home to waste.

There's a fear down here we can't forget.
Hasn't got a name just yet.
Always awake, always around,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Now watch as the ball revolves
And the nighttime falls.
Again the hunt begins,
Again the bloodwind calls.
By and by, the morning sun will rise,
But the darkness never goes
From some men's eyes.
It strolls the sidewalks and it rolls the streets,
Staking turf, dividing up meat.
Nightmare spook, piece of heat,
It's you and me.
You and me.

Click flash blade in ghetto night,
Rudies looking for a fight.
Rat cat alley, roll them bones.
Need that cash to feed that jones.
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Commissars and pin-stripe bosses
Roll the dice.
Any way they fall,
Guess who gets to pay the price.
Money green or proletarian gray,
Selling guns 'stead of food today.

So the kids they dance
And shake their bones,
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Heartless powers try to tell us
What to think.
If the spirit's sleeping,
Then the flesh is ink
History's page will thus be carved in stone.
And we are here, and we are on our own
On our own.
On our own.
On our own.

If the game is lost,
Then we're all the same.
No one left to place or take the blame.
We can leave this place and empty stone
Or that shinin' ball we used to call our home.

So the kids they dance
And shake their bones,
And the politicians throwin' stones,
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Shipping powders back and forth
Singing black goes south and white comes north.
In a whole world full of petty wars
Singing I got mine and you got yours.
And the current fashion sets the pace,
Lose your step, fall out of grace.
And the radical, he rant and rage,
Singing someone's got to turn the page.
And the rich man in his summer home,
Singing just leave well enough alone.
But his pants are down, his cover's blown...

And the politicians throwin' stones,
So the kids they dance
And shake their bones,
And it's all too clear we're on our own.
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

Picture a bright blue ball,
Just spinnin', spinnin, free.
Dizzy with the possibilities.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.
Ashes, ashes, all fall down.

-Words John Perry Barlow/Music Bob Weir

The Plumb Line has been set in our midst. Look and you will see it. Listen and you will hear it. Sing and you will become it. Soon you will speak Truth to Power and offer Hope to the Hopeless. Picture a bright blue ball, Just spinnin’, spinnin’, free.

Amen.

Listen to the Dead playing Throwing Stones

— The Rev. Kirk Alan Kubicek has served as rector and assistant in a broad variety of parishes over the past 28 years. He is currently chaplain and teaches at St. Timothy’s School for girls, the diocesan girls’ boarding school in the Diocese of Maryland, where he teaches World Religions and English. His sermons are archived atwww.perechief.blogspot.com. 

Amazed At Their Disbelief

8 July 2012/Proper 9B – Second Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10/Mark 6:1-13

The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Timothy’s School for Girls, Stevenson, MD

He Was Amazed At Their Disbelief

A shepherd and a carpenter. One chosen by God to consolidate power and strength for Israel, the other sent by God to give it all away. David – the prototype for God’s anointed leadership. Jesus – God’s anointed, God’s Word, God come down as one of us – God in the flesh. David fortifies Jerusalem and turns it into a citadel on a hill, calling it the City of David – in contrast to its name, Jerusalem, which means City of Shalom, City of Peace, City of God’s Shalom: peace and justice for all persons. Jesus enters the City of David on a lowly beast of burden to offer himself as a sacrifice for all. David meets with the “elders of Israel” and is their chosen king and defender. Jesus challenges all religious and political authorities answering to no one but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. David marshals great armies to conquer enemies and protect the city. Jesus sends his rag-tag followers out two-by-two to cast out demons and heal the sick. David is the Empire. Jesus is the alternative to the Empire.

Jesus and David: a study in contrasts. And yet, both are chosen by God in their respective eras to be God’s anointed messenger. The message? Love God and love neighbor.

And yet, in his home town, he is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The people, his hometown people, are “astounded.” Where did this man get all this? He has wisdom and power, and yet he’s just a carpenter. We know his family. He’s just a neighbor kid. Then the text says, “And they took offense at him.” No pride, no excitement, no support – they are offended. Unlike with David, the elders do not come forward to acknowledge his power and certify his leadership. We are told simply that they are offended.

Jesus pretty much shrugs it off. This is how Israel usually treats its prophets. Note the sly irony as the narrator offers this: “And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.” Except! He heals a few sick people. That’s all! No hard feelings. He continues to do that which somehow offends them – he heals the sick. Then he moves on. He packs up his power and his followers and moves on. Perhaps there are others who will appreciate what this carpenter has to offer – eternal life.

The hometown crowd is astounded and offended. Jesus is amazed – amazed at their disbelief.

At moments like this most people would consolidate their power. A David would refortify the walls of the city, hunker down and take a stand – make a play, make a point. David would call the elders, the authorities, the leaders of the community together and make a plan. A leader like David would assert and declare, “This is my city – you will now call it The City of David.” We know this kind of leadership all too well. Political maneuvering, assertions of power are all too familiar. We are in the political season of consolidating power, money and access to power.

Jesus, on the other hand, moves on to the next town. Once there notice what he does. Instead of asserting his power, instead of astounding people with his wisdom and works of power, he gives it away. He gives it all away.

He does this by commissioning his disciples to go out two by two. Notice how when there is kingdom work to do, God’s work to do, Jesus does not send us on our own, but with at least one other partner in ministry. Note also, they are to travel light: He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.

In other societies, in other religious traditions, this is normative. Among Hindus and its reformed cousin Buddhism, it is expected that at some point in your lifetime you will head off, wandering from town to town, bowl in hand, learning to depend on others for your survival. It is meant to be a lesson in humility and a lesson in interdependence.

We forget that this is how the Biblical story begins – a group of people who were no people, who had been a disparate group of slaves, wandered together for forty years learning to depend on God and others. Independence was discouraged. Independence does nothing to bring home the message: to love God and to love neighbor. To love God and neighbor is an invitation to interdependence – learning to rely on the generosity of others so that we might become more generous people ourselves.

Jesus invites those who follow him to go back to the original story – to participate in traditions that had evolved in the lands of the east, of the Indus valley – to participate in the kind of life that leads to love of God and love of neighbor. A life that is not at all about the consolidation of power – economic, military or otherwise. This is his reaction to having been rejected in his hometown: he shares his power with others, and sends them out to give it all away.

It is an astonishing story really. It ought to leave us astounded. It ought to make us think differently about power and the use of power. Again, in Hindu tradition, it is believed that power and money need to stay in circulation for the health of the whole community. Such ancient wisdom is in short supply these days – except in the religious traditions that are reservoirs of such wisdom.

Religion gets blamed for many things, much of which is unfair. Religion rarely gets credit for preserving ancient wisdom essential for life lived in the present. Love of God and neighbor demands equal amounts of humility and interdependence – qualities we are led to believe we have no time to pursue.

And yet, the healing of individuals, of communities and of the world community depends on such qualities. Time spent learning and cultivating such qualities will, in the end, lead to eternal life. As the late great Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple once put it, “The source of humility is the habit of realizing the presence of God.” Will we take the time to cultivate such a habit? Or, like the hometown crowd, will we be astounded, but ultimately offended? And, as Rabbi Hillel once asked, “If not now, when?”

Amen.

Lightening Strikes!

1 July 2012/Proper 8B -

Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15;2:23-24/Psalm 30/2 Corinthians 8:7-15/Mark 5:21-43

The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, St. Timothy's School for Girls, Stevenson, MD

Do Not Fear, Only Believe

This story of healing has always been close to my heart. The leader of the synagogue, that is a very important person in the community, needs Jesus to heal his daughter. A woman who has been unclean, therefore an outsider, ostracized by the community for twelve years, interrupts and is healed. People, doubters, unbelievers, people who had shunned the woman, then try to discourage the leader of the synagogue from bothering Jesus any further. Jesus is undeterred. He goes to the house. People laugh at him for even coming, let alone trying to do anything. The girl gets up and walks. Jesus instructs people not to tell anyone, and by the way, please get her something to eat.

When dealing with Jesus, life appears to be about interruptions. Life stops, plans are suspended, to take care of the interruptions - even when it means attending to the most marginalized people in society. Our culture is obviously not ordered this way. Those who have access to money and power are first on the agenda. People like the woman, and even the little girl, are not even afterthoughts. In America, repeatedly described as a "Christian Nation," we might pause to consider what this story might have to say to us as a people, as a nation.

Further, the story challenges all our assumptions around scarcity and abundance of resources. Saint Paul goes back to the 40 year wilderness journey when he recalls, "The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little." Jesus seemingly has no concerns about scarcity of resources. And he seems to recognize that there must be a just distribution of those resources - there is enough for the woman and the child. That is, there is enough for everyone if, as Saint Paul urges, there is a "fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be there for your need." Jesus looks past rights and property ownership to the bigger picture - how can God's world provide for all of God's people?

Yet, we are constantly encouraged by marketing and advertising schemes, and by policy debates, to adopt an attitude of scarcity, which in the end is always an attitude of fear - fear that there will not be enough. And we know that actions and decisions made out of an attitude of fear will not serve us well.

We are to place ourselves in these stories. What is it like to be the leader of the synagogue whose daughter is "at the point of death?" What is it like to be in the "great crowd" following Jesus? Are we among those who truly follow him? Are we among those who laugh at him for trying against all odds? What is it like to be the little girl, home, waiting, fearful of what comes next? What is it like to be the disciples, trying to protect Jesus from the crowd? What must it have been like to be the woman, cut-off from  society for  12 years? What is it like to have  her kind of hope and faith? What is it like to touch the hem of Jesus' garment? Madeleine L'Engle helps us to imagine this all:

The Lightening   by Madeleine L'Engle

When I pushed through the crowd,
jostled, bumped, elbowed by the curious
who wanted to see what everyone else
was so excited about,
all I could think of was my pain
and that perhaps if I could touch him,
this man who worked miracles,
cured diseases,
even those as foul as mine,
I might find relief.
I was tired from hurting,
exhausted, revolted by my body,
unfit for any man, and yet not let loose
from desire and need. I wanted to rest,
to sleep without pain or filthiness or torment.
I don’t really know why
I thought he could help me
when all the doctors
with all their knowledge
had left me still drained
and bereft of all that makes
a woman’s life worth living.
Well: I’d seen him with some children
and his laughter was quick and merry
and reminded me of when I was young and well,
though he looked tired; and he was as old as I am.
Then there was that leper,
but lepers have been cured before –

No, it wasn’t the leper,
or the man cured of palsy,
or any of the other stories of miracles,
or at any rate that was the least of it;
I had been promised miracles too often.
I saw him ahead of me in the crowd
and there was something in his glance
and in the way his hand rested briefly
on the matted head of a small boy
who was getting in everybody’s way,
and I knew that if only I could get to him,
not to bother him, you understand,
not to interrupt, or to ask him for anything,
not even his attention,
just to get to him and touch him…

I didn’t think he’d mind, and he needn’t even know.
I pushed through the crowd
and it seemed that they were deliberately
trying to keep me from him.
I stumbled and fell and someone stepped
on my hand and I cried out
and nobody heard. I crawled to my feet
and pushed on and at last I was close,
so close I could reach out
and touch with my fingers
the hem of his garment.

Have you ever been near
when lightning struck?
I was, once, when I was very small
and a summer storm came without warning
and lightning split the tree
under which I had been playing
and I was flung right across the courtyard.
That’s how it was.
Only this time I was not the child
but the tree
and the lightning filled me.
He asked, “Who touched me?”
and people dragged me away, roughly,
and the men around him were angry at me.

“Who touched me?” he asked.
I said, “I did, Lord.”
So that he might have the lightning back
which I had taken from him when I touched
his garment’s hem.
He looked at me and I knew then
that only he and I knew about the lightning.
He was tired and emptied
but he was not angry.
He looked at me
and the lightning returned to him again,
though not from me, and he smiled at me
and I knew that I was healed.
Then the crowd came between us
and he moved on, taking the lightning with him,
perhaps to strike again.

-          Madeliene L’Engle

"He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to get her something to eat." After the interruptions, come the practicalities. Alongside the spirituality of Mary comes the spirituality of Martha. There is no time to waste glorifying the good thing that has happened. There are people who are hungry and need to be fed. See to it that those who have little do not have too little. See to it that those who have much do not have too much.

Amen.

New Beginnings

24 June 2012/Proper 7B - Job 38:1-11/Psalm 107:1-3,23-32/2 Corinthians 6:1-13/Mark 4:35-41

The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, St. Peter's at Ellicott Mills

Always We Begin Again

"O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for

you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure

foundation of your loving-kindness…"

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?(Job 38)

29 He stilled the storm to a whisper *

and quieted the waves of the sea.

30 Then were they glad because of the calm, *

and he brought them to the harbor they were bound for.

31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy *

and the wonders he does for his children.

32 Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people *

and praise him in the council of the elders.(Psalm 107)

At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of

salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day

of salvation! (2 Corinthians)

“Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And

they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that

even the wind and the sea obey him? (Mark 4)

As we come to what appears to be the final moments in our journey together with Christ, I woke up the other morning with the realization that The Bible appears to speak only of beginnings, not endings. The Bible itself begins with words that continue to resound throughout all of creation, all that is, seen and unseen (and thanks to Hubble we can see quite a lot!), “In the beginning….”

Indeed, in trying to give the reader some sense of just who Jesus of Nazareth is, the writer of the fourth gospel repeats these eternal words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….” And our gospel for Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary, Mark, also starts off with a reminder and the assertion that this Gospel is, “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” And we may recall, all the way back on Easter morning, the Gospel of Mark ends with the women fleeing the Empty Tomb, leaving us to engage with, as Paul Harvey used to say, “The rest of the story.”

Indeed, the very last words of Holy Scripture issue our plea to stay connected with the rest of the story: Come, Lord Jesus!(Revelation 22:20b) Like the disciples in the boat, crossing the sea, we have run into rough waters. The wind is fierce, the boat seems in danger of capsizing, and where is Jesus? Asleep on a cushion in the rear of the boat. Come, Lord Jesus, we cry. Teacher do you not care that we are perishing, is the cry of disciples in all ages! As only Jesus can, he wakes up, rebukes the wind and the waves, restores a sense of calm to turgid waters and then asks the question that is meant for all of us, for all believers and non-believers alike, in any time, in any place, “Why are you afraid?”

It is like God who finally, after 38 long chapters of Job defending God against his detractors, out of the whirlwind of fear and uncertainty declares, “Where were you? Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know!” Job is a cautionary tale for preachers and anyone who thinks, who believes, they know all that can be known about the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus. It is placed near the center of our Bible to chasten our hubris and thinking we know all that much about God. And it is a reminder that our purpose is to know God, not to know all there is about God. The difference may be subtle, but it is an important distinction to know.

How we know God is in Jesus. Jesus and God, Jesus like God, Jesus who is God – there it is, the wonder and the scandal of Christianity – sends us back to the beginning. Because that is all there is – new beginnings. As St. Benedict puts it so succinctly, always we begin again. Always and all ways we begin again. It could be argued that there is only one story in the whole Bible – the story of new beginnings! Or, as one psychologist/theologian put it many years ago, Creation Continues (Fritz Kunkel). In his book of the same name, Kunkel looks at the structure of the Gospel of Matthew, but focuses his central attention on the Dark Sea Journey – this little episode of stormy seas on the Sea of Galilee.

It is a story that is persistent in asking the questions, “Why are you afraid? Why have you so little faith? Already I have told you, you just need an amount of faith as small as a mustard seed. A faith grounded “in the beginning,” when my Spirit, my Holy breath, my Holy wind tamed the chaos of the primordial seas of creation – which creation continues to expand, just as your Hubble telescope observations have confirmed. There is much to see, and yet much more to come into being. Are you going to be a smart aleck like Job and pretend you know everything there is to know about me? About creation? About how to survive the current storm? About how to calm the waters and begin yet again? Or, will you be more like my servant Paul who recognized, he knows not how, that all things are being made new in Christ, in my Word, in the logos, the eternal Word that declares, ‘Let there be…’? You ask yourselves, 'Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?' I am who I am and have always been: God creator, redeemer and sustainer - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with emphasis on the 'and'!”

Always we begin again: the promise of eternal return. We come from love, we return to love, and love is all around. All of life is a homecoming, a coming home to God. Do you believe this? Do we believe this?

God says in Christ: In the waters of Baptism I declared to my Son, “You are my beloved with whom I am well pleased.” He walked among you, taught among you, healed, fed, and cared for you. He invites you to a Baptism of water and the Holy Spirit, that same Spirit that hovered over the face of creation, that same Spirit-Breath that I breathed into your nostrils when you took your first breath, that same Spirit-Breath that is the first and last word of every mortal on earth from time immemorial, that same Spirit-Breath that is life for all living things, that same Spirit-Breath that continues to create all that is, seen and unseen, that same Spirit-Breath which you inspire every moment of every day, declares that “You are God’s Beloved. God is well pleased with you! Do you believe this?”

The same Spirit-Breath took off his robe, wrapped a towel around himself, and got down on his knees to wash our feet. It was to be a sign. It was to be a sign that we are to love one another as he loves us. If only we will love one another as he love us, all shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of thing shall be well.

Paul summarizes this in what is perhaps the most beautiful and breath-taking passage in the Christian Scriptures in the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians. Please open the pew Bibles to Philippians Chapter Two: 1-11 (page 182) so we may read this out loud together:

"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. An being found in  human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others as better than yourselves. Look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Have this mind amongst yourselves. Have the mind of Christ. For today is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation! There is no time to wait. He arises from his well deserved rest, he arises from his Sabbath, he arises from his three-days Shabbat, to still your fearful soul, calm the waves of emotions that destabilize you and the whole community, to offer you one, tiny, little mustard seed’s worth of faith.

Always we begin again. As I read the Bible year in and year out, there is no ending, only beginnings. That is what the Passover-Exodus means. That is what the deliverance from Exile means. That is what the cross and resurrection mean. There are no endings with the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus. Always we begin again, always a new beginning. This is the Good News, yesterday, today and tomorrow!

Walk together, little children. You don’t ever have to worry. Through this world of trouble, you’ve got to love one another. For you are God’s beloved. God is well pleased with you. We come from love, we return to love, and love is all around – if only we will take one another by the hand, we will all be together, forever and ever, when we make it to the promised land! And the Promised Land begins here and now! Because with our God there are no endings - only New Beginnings!

I wanna say to my sisters and my brothers
Keep the faith
When the storm flies and the wind blows
Go on at a steady pace

When the battle is fought, and the victory's won
We can all shout together, we have overcome
We'll talk to the Father and the Son
When we make it to the promised land

If we walk together, little children
We don't ever have to worry
Through this world of trouble
We've got to love one another

Let us take our fellow man by the hand
Try to help him to understand
We can all be together, forever and ever
When we make it to the promised land

Our bible reads
Thou shall not be afraid
Of the terror by night
Nor the arrow that flies by day

Nor for the pestilence
That waiteth in the darkness
Nor for the destruction
That waiteth in the noon-day hour

If we walk together, little children ...

This world is not our home
We're only passing through
Our trail is all made up
Way beyond the blue

Let us do the very best that we can
While we're travelin' through this land
We can all be together, shakin' a hand
When we make it to the promised land

If we walk together, little children
We don't ever have to worry
Through this world of trouble
We've got to love one another

Let us take our fellow man by the hand
Try to help him to understand
We can all be together, forever and ever
When we make it to the promised land

When we make it to the promised land
Make it to the promised land
(Sisters)
Make it to the promised land
(Little children)
Make it to the promised land

Make it to the promised land
(Children)
Make it to the promised land
We can all be together, forever and ever
When we make it to the promised land

Walk together, little children
We won't ever have to worry
Through this world of trouble
We gotta love one another

Let us take our fellow man by the hand
Try to help him to understand
We can all be together, forever and ever
When we make it to the promised land   
We can all be together, forever and ever
When we make it to the promised land   
-Charles B Johnson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBaRx-TgdX0 

Mustard Seed Faith

17 June 2012/Pentecost 3 – 1 Samuel 5:34-16:13*2 Corinthians 5:6-17*Mark 4 26-34

The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at Ellicott Mills, Maryland

For We Walk By Faith

Thirteen days and counting! The obvious resonance for many of us may be with Samuel, the boy prophet when the Lord asks, "How long will you grieve over Saul?" How long, O Lord, how long indeed. How long does Jesus weep for Lazarus? Or, how long does Jesus weep over Jerusalem? How long does God weep over the way things appear to be going on this Earth he created and pronounced "good"? For a congregation in transition, still reeling from the tragic events of May 3rd, perhaps it is enough to know that Samuel, Jesus and God are with us as we grieve what someone once called "necessary losses." Like the "someone" who scatters the seed in today's parable, we do not know. It is not ours to know. What we need to know is that God is in this with us every step of the way.

I cannot help but think back to the day I arrived in New York City to move into the Seminary housing. It was a hot, muggy, August afternoon. We had to move everything out of the rented U Haul into a fifth floor apartment - and the elevator was out of service. Soon, however, a chain of fellow seminarians assembled to hand things from one to another to the fifth floor up the stairway. About half-way through, I was standing in the back of the truck looking for what to unload next, when a smiling face appeared in the street below, looked up at me, and in a soft, South Carolinian drawl said, "Yo po lidda lamb!" Yo po lidda lamb, I thought? It was my first delightful encounter with one of God's greatest gifts to mankind and the seminary, Lili Smith, who had just moved to NYC from Staunton, VA with her husband Ben. Just four little words that it took me a few moments to comprehend, and already I was feeling better.

Reading Paul's letters, or Mark's version of the Good News of Jesus Christ the Son of God, one gets the feeling that both Paul and the Jesus of Mark would give anything for someone to look at them with loving eyes and say, "Yo po lidda lamb!"

As we look at the world around us, as we struggle to understand where we are all headed come June 30th, it becomes increasingly difficult to agree with Professor Pangloss “that all is  for the best in this best of all possible worlds.”

And yet, against such a backdrop, Paul and Jesus both challenge us to see things as different from what they appear. Paul says we are to see no one from a human point of view. Jesus in his parables alludes to the present yet hidden and emerging nature of God’s kingdom. Without a categorical listing, suffice it to say that Paul and Jesus faced a dangerous, confusing and evil world much like the one we face today. As did the young church, as did the early disciples of Jesus.

Yet, despite all that can and does go wrong, Jesus talks about a sower and some seeds. Seeds that once sown grow, the sower knows not how. It is a mystery. Even while the sower is asleep, the seed produces a harvest. In a culture in which we find ourselves caught up in endless cycles of overwork, increased productivity, and increased profit as immutable necessary goals, Jesus in this simple tale invites us to recognize that God’s grace does not depend on human efforts.

Indeed, it seems to be an invitation to Sabbath Rest by which our lives might be lived in a more balanced rhythm of sleeping, rising, working and RESTING. In this way we glorify God by performing the productive work of the sower while recognizing that the growth of the seed ultimately depends on God. Is it possible that such recognition constitutes what Paul calls Walking By Faith?

Are we to believe that God is in control of growth and harvest despite the evidence of the way the world  appears to be?

Jesus would be saying, Yes! Yes, says Jesus, the world is not chiefly about happiness but about Hope. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you would see things differently. If you stick around long enough, you will hear Paul conclude that the old has passed away, so that if you are in me as I am in you, there is a new creation. Everything has become new. You become new! We become new! The seed becomes a bush with branches to provide a home for all wayfarers like the birds. The bush will provide shade for those who are wilting in the sun.

Then the editorial board of Mark points out that Jesus was always talking this way. No straight lines, no clearly defined markers. Yet, stories that are infused with Hope. Stories which mean to remind us that God will not fail to fulfill the promise of salvation! It is already coming into being, says Jesus! Like the shrub slowly emerges from the seed, silently, quietly, but powerfully coming to be.

Our being here, called by God in Christ, as a worshipping community, a community of prayer, as people who continue to form families, raise children, welcome strangers, care for one another, makes us a sign that the falseness that this world is ultimately bounded by a more profound truth. We are the seed. We are becoming the shrub, the shelter and the shade from the falseness of this world

If only we will walk by faith. Faith as small as a mustard seed is all you need.

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed/

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed

You can take trees and hurl them in the sea/

You can take trees and hurl them in the sea

The lame will walk and the blind will see/

The lame will walk and the blind will see

Wars will cease with the end of greed/

Wars will cease with the end of greed

Loaves multiply so there’s enough to feed/

Loaves multiply so there’s enough to feed

As you sow you shall receive/

As you sow you shall receive

As you pray you will believe/

As you pray you will believe

Trust in the Lord, He’ll supply every need/

Trust in the Lord, He’ll supply every need

As you follow Christ you’ll begin to lead/

As you follow Christ you’ll begin to lead

Amen.