Subjects in Christ’s kingdom of Truth

Holy Spirit...  Take my lips and speak through them.  Take our minds and think with them.  Take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you.  

[intro remarks…] Good morning, good people of St. Thomas (in Garden City, KS).  Greetings from Bishop Wolfe in the Diocese of Kansas (on whose staff I serve) and from Bishop Milliken here in Western Kansas (who I spoke to briefly on Wednesday); your own Sadie Pile at Emporia State is one of our campus peer ministers;  visiting Pastor AJ Striffler, pastor of St. James Lutheran (ELCA) – they welcome you, particularly for Holy Eucharist any Sunday at 10am (ref: ELCA and TEC concordat “Called to Common Mission”)

Today’s lessons offer a radical reorientation for our allegiances in a day and age when our loyalties are so often subjected to commercial temptation and political seductions.  We’re here today in a transition from one season of the church year into another… we’re here today with a choice of kings of kingdoms.

We’ve made it through a long political campaign season and survived, more or less, the national elections.  There was so much talk this past year about what type of nation we want to live in and who is worth to lead us through the challenging days ahead, grappling with outrageous national debt, pervasive unemployment, lack of affordable healthcare, etc..  Despite all the squawk of seemingly hopeless political and economic challenges, just days ago, we gathered as a nation in “Thanksgiving” to celebrate our many blessings; many people gorging themselves on processed foods while surrounded by ads in the paper, on TV, and on radio generating anxiety and/or inciting near riotous excitement about where and when to “line up” to be first in the commercial frenzy of “Black Friday” – an occasion for us to abandon all godly patience and financial prudence as we storm the retail establishment, wild-eyed, wielded our credit cards, seeking to ‘capture’ the best deals on things to relieve perceptions of inadequacy, alleviate fears of being ‘without’, and otherwise show others how much we love and care for them.  Oh, to see us over these past few weeks… which kingdom does it appear we’re wanting to inhabit?  To what rulers do our calendars and checkbooks bend and kneel?

Here near the end of this frenzied month, the days are getting shorter as cool weather takes hold and it gets darker earlier.  The gardens and fields have dried up, died off, and been blown away.  The soil is being prepared to bare new life months from now.  There’s something almost instinctive that instructs us to huddle close by the embers of a warm hearth and reflect on the year that is passing away while quietly imagining the possibilities of a year ahead.  As nature tells us that we’re in transition from one season to another, so does the liturgical calendar of our church. 

This is the last Sunday of the Christian church calendar.  A week from now is the first Sunday of Advent.  We’re transitioning from ‘ordinary’/’proper’ time following Pentecost when we’ve been remembering the mission and ministry of our messiah, into a season of spiritual expectation as we start over again in our church year together, anticipating the new birth we’ve all been promised through faith in the incarnation of God’s love coming into our world and living among us.  We will call the holy fruit of Mary’s womb our new born king. 

But, what sort of king will Jesus be for us?  Do we really want to be Christ’s subjects?

In today’s Gospel lesson (John 18:33-37), Pilate asks the arrested Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”, not so much out of intellectual curiosity or the desire to discover real truth about the nature of Jesus’ authority, but motivated by a need to hear something scandalous that would enable him as a Roman provincial leader, concerned about quelling the growing unrest of the Jewish mob, to legally justify further punishment and possibly elimination of this irritant and threat to the civic order in his jurisdiction.

In their ensuing brief conversation (unique to John’s telling) Jesus doesn’t answer Pilate's question directly nor does he deny being a king per se. Instead he invites Pilate, and us, to re-consider that his kingdom “is not from here” and to listen to the “truth” so as to belong to it.  Pilate doesn’t accept the invitation… and, frankly, some who claim to follow Jesus haven’t either. 

He invites those who hear his truth with the promise that his yoke is lite and also the instruction that living into this kingdom will not be easy and will even cause them to endure suffering. To be clear, being subject to his rule will put them/us at odds with the rule of Caesar and many of our principalities in power today.

Just weeks ago, in a reading from the Gospel according to Mark (Mark 10:42-45), we heard Jesus contrast His rule to the rule of traditional earthly kings when he said, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.  But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Jesus has made it clear that the kingdom he represents is conventional in geo-political terms.  As one commentator put it, “Jesus knew the oppressive nature of secular kings, and in contrast to them, he connected his role as king to humble service, and commanded his followers to be servants as well. In other passages of Scripture, his kingdom is tied to his suffering and death. While Christ is coming to judge the nations, his teachings spell out a kingdom of justice and judgment balanced with radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness. When we celebrate Christ as King, we are not celebrating an oppressive ruler, but one willing to die for humanity and whose "loving-kindness endures forever." Christ is the king that gives us true freedom, freedom in Him.”  (http://www.churchyear.net/ctksunday.html)

Indeed, the king we’re remembering today was born amid a blessed mess of to a rural couple with little societal standing, identifies more closely with the poor, the hungry, the imprisoned than with any royal pomp or regal celebrities… and gives up his earthly life wearing a crown of thorns rather than jewels, and executed aside criminals in public shame rather than coronated aside the powerful in public honor. 

Surely, this is not the long-awaited political, warrior messiah in the family line of King David who was supposed reclaim Israel from those who has dominated and oppressed her people? Is this the sort of lord any of us want to bow before… the kind of king we want to be subject to?

And, yet, here we are on “Christ the King” Sunday, the final feast before we begin the expectant journey of Advent.  In the 1920’s, this special feast day “Christ the King” was established by Pope Pious the XI as antidote to the rising primacy of secularism and a noted decline in respect for Christ and church of that era (sound familiar?).  Naming this Sunday “Christ the King” is intended to remind faithful Christians, amid an ever-more prevailing secular culture, that Christ is to reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies.  

About the establishment of this special feast day, PiusXI wrote, “Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ. It will call to their minds the thought of the last judgment, wherein Christ, who has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored, will most severely avenge these insults; for his kingly dignity demands that the State should take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing for the young a sound moral education… The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.”  (Quas Primas,32-33) 

From our readings of the Revelation according to John, we are greeted with peace and grace and reminded, in vivid imagery, that Christ’s kingdom is at hand, in parallel with our sense of reality – his reign was, is and will be.  Written during a time that it was not just counter-cultural, but downright dangerous to live as a Christian, the author reassures his readers they (and we ) are radically free from what has held them captive and that their ultimate place in a heavenly realm in contrast to the corrupted world they now perceive around them.  This corrupted kingdom and Christ’s kingdom will collide eventually in an awesome moment of transformation.  God’s will be done on earth as in heaven – God’s kingdom come!

In this meantime, Christ’s reign is already over hearts and minds… a reign of compassion, justice, mercy, charity, peace and love.  We are free to serve Him.  We are expected to serve Him.

As we leave church this morning, we’ll again be among the busy secular world preparing for the stressful holidays and the cunning commercial demands for our time and attention.  When you feel yourself getting caught up serving other lords, worshiping idols, and eating of the bread of anxiety, step back, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and remember our Lord’s supper and the true kingdom he calls us live in. 

Amid the noise and haste of a sin-filled marketplace around us where material things tempt and taunt us, promising to pleasantly distract us from the pangs of our deeper yearnings and longings, what if we dare to surrender to sweet silence, even if only for few brief moments when we gather with friends. What if, in our momentary, prayerful death to the distractions of this world, it’s possible to taste paradise with Christ and the saints?  What if we surrender the game of political gain and embrace the reign of sacrificial love?  How might this even brief experience of Christ’s kingdom come, change our wills for what must be done in our world here and now?

As we enter this Advent season, is it not authentic life with each other that we’re really longing for?  The beauty of the twinkling lights at night; the smell of crackling wood burning warm inside; the table prepared for us with loving care… are these not merely signs that invite us to the feast that we’re really hungry for – more perfect communion with God and our loved ones.  How can we make our gatherings this season more of a foretaste of the heavenly banquet that has been prepared for us by Christ our King? 

from SoichiWatanabe Portfolio

Christ our King is not removed from us, upon a throne somewhere distant.  He is, through the Holy Spirit, with those in greatest need – the least among us, those who we might prefer to avoid, those who might prefer to avoid us – the hungry, ill, imprisoned, forgotten, pushed aside, any who feel outside the gates… not welcome at the feast. It’s with those ‘lost’ that Christ our King can be found. We experience Christ in/through our reconciling interactions with each other.  Growing in knowledge and love of God through growing in knowledge and love each other, particularly the neighbors we’ve yet to welcome, is the work of the Christ’s kingdom.  Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people. 

Let us pray.

Christ, you are our King of redeeming justice, leading us in a principality of peace and charitable love.  Christ, our king, we are thankful for the mercy and peace you have freely given us – compel us to share these with our family, friends, and neighbors.  Help us surrender to your rule of justice and charity in our hearts.  Strengthen us as we boldly seek to help build your kingdom by being unexpectedly generous in our compassion, forgiveness, charity, and love toward others - particularly toward the “least of these” who are in most need -  and to graciously accept kinds acts from others when they’ve seen, through your Spirit, our deeper needs. 

AMEN.

Lincoln on thanksgiving

"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.... No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union."

President Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of October 3, 1863 (Presidential Proclamation 106)., 10/03/1863

http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2009/nr09-25.html

Beginning of birthpangs. Comforting the afflicted, afflicting the comfortable*

*ref: quote attributed to Finley Peter Dunne, newspaper writer and cartoonist of the late 19^th Century)

[good morning, introductions, and head’s up that I’m going to raise some questions for brief discussion]

This is the second to last Sunday of our Christian church year.  You can definitely hear in today’s lectionary readings wisdom for our preparation for the season of Advent, a time in which we prepare to celebrate the arrival of God’s love incarnate among us, the in-breaking of perpetual, communal light into our otherwise selfish and dark world. 

In the readings from 1 Samuel (1:4-20, 2:1-10) we hear the anguish and pain as well as strength and faith of Hannah (and a people) who, amid the shame of barrenness and oppression of being misunderstood (and amid a self-center culture that has turned away from God) is blessed with new life – new prophetic leadership beginning Samuel.  Hannah’s song, symbolic of the voice of a people renewed in faith, becomes the precursor for the Song of Mary (the Magnificat) that we’ll hear soon as we near Christmas.

In the readings from Hebrews (10:11-25) we hear how the coming of Christ as our great priest and perfect sacrifice has cleansed our hearts and minds, opened anew for us God’s will in our very being, and encourages/invites us to encourage one another, even to the point of provocation for the sake of God’s love.  One commentator said the good news, and challenge, being delivered to the Hebrews is like delivering truth about the availability of electricity and steam engines to the early agricultural laborers.

And, in our Gospel lesson from Mark (13:1-8) we hear Jesus confirm that man-made walls, no matter how grand, will not contain God, nor be the center of God’s kingdom, and that the breaking down and end of such institutions are but the beginnings of the birthpangs of the coming age and kingdom.

In the readings, there’s a theme of commitment to action that we’re called into as we await the coming again of our Lord – this is not a time of passive waiting. 

Long-suffering Hannah (the cultural causes of her long-suffering worth of a sermon of its own), when finally blessed with a child, proclaims through her song what she believes “will be” and “shall be” in God’s name and otherwise commits her son to God’s service all the days of his life (he will, in fact, be a prophetic guide to his people).

The author of the letter to the Hebrews aims to inspire to persevere in the face of persecution and renew their commitment to Christ’s mission, encouraging one another in faithful community and worship, and provoking one another to love and good deeds.

Jesus, in his longest ‘sermon’ in the Gospel of Mark (the entirety of chapter 13, not just verses 1-8 that we heard this morning), shakes us from any unhelpful preoccupation with concerns about the when and where of ultimate end of the age and instead challenges us to beware and be awake/alert to what we’re called to do and be in the meantime.

 [TO STIR DISCUSSION]

In Hannah’s story, she is anguished, groaning in prayer, and finds no solace at home (she is taunted by her husband’s more fertile wife and her misery unappreciated by her own husband) nor initially at her nearby religious institution (she’s instead accused to being drunk by the priest Eli).  Yet, the Lord “remembers her.”  Where are we likely to find contemporary Hannah’s today?  Who and what might be misunderstanding them?  What are they trying to give birth to?

The author of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that we’ve been cleansed of sin and made worthy to stand before God without any guilt or shame getting in our way.  We are to meet together, worship together, encourage one another, and provoke one another to love and good deeds.  In other places in the bible the Greek term for ‘provoking’ (literally ‘to sharpen’ or ‘to stimulate’) usually conveys sense of unwelcome stimulation that causes aggravation and agitation (perhaps even eliciting anger), like in Peninnah’s provocation of Hannah in 1 Sam 1:6.  Have you ever been provoked into love or good deeds?  Where Jesus’s acts of love and good deed provocative in his day?  Why?  What might loving provocation mean to us as Christians today?  

When Jesus is asked “when”, he essentially answers “how” and “what.” If you continue reading chapter 13 of Mark through to the end with verse 37, it’s clear that he wants us to know that institutions that are failing to fulfill God’s purposes will crumble and fall-apart (invoking some of the same language of the prophet Jeremiah), that there will be calamities and disasters before the end of this age, AND that he doesn’t want us to us to be led astray or stuck in worry about when the ultimate end will come.  What temples do you believe are destined to be torn down?  What is Jesus calling us to do in the meantime?

CONCLUDING “GOOD NEWS”

What is the Spirit saying to God’s people this morning?  I hear:

• God remains faithful to us, even when we’ve drifted away.
• Our salvation is not a one-time accomplishment or a cataclysmic event – our sanctification is a process of repentance, forgiveness, and new birth / new beginnings.
• When institutions no longer serve God’s purposes, they wither and crumble away, but that’s not the end of God’s story.
• God will open closed doors and bring life back, even to what has been barren.
• We are called less to personal piety and personal devotion as much as communal worship and collective encouragement in Christ.
•  The radical love that God intends will likely be provocative and disturbing to the status quo.

“Subversive God, deconstructing temples of power in which we would keep you trapped and tamed: lead us through violent times, unafraid to speak for peace, untempted by those who promise easy answers; may we follow him alone who renews the world in love; through Jesus Christ, who sits at God’s right hand. Amen.”

(Shakespeare, Steven. Prayers for An Inclusive Church (NY: Church Publishing, 2009) p.77)      

What are we invited to ask as we consider the widow and her mites?

Good morning good folk of St. John’s, Parsons. 

[introduction of my role as Campus Missioner; acknowledge The Rev. Susan Terry’s time here; kudos to “Laundry and Latte”; and highlight that I’ll be here this afternoon talking about campus ministry at the SE Convocation meeting]

There’s so much we could cover this morning: an important intimate moment in the story of Naomi’s and Ruth’s struggle to survive; the ‘widows mites’; Veteran’s Day (as an examination of honoring sacrificial service); and how themes from today can tie into stewardship and sacrificial giving of our finances to the mission of the church.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to try to cover all this.

I’d like to narrow in on the Gospel story we’ve heard about the widow’s mite (or, more precisely, her two mites), represented by the chosen image for the front of your worship bulletin today.

Often, people hold up this story as an illustration, and even celebration, of sacrificial giving to the church and perhaps even use it to encourage or guilt people into giving more during stewardship season.  However, I don’t believe that’s what the Spirit intends for us to hear or see in this Gospel lesson.  Before we’re too quick to imagine a smile on her face as she joyfully deposits everything she has into the temple coffers, we’re invited to consider what’s going on from the perspective of our Lord, who invites us to look over his shoulder and consider what’s really going on here.

First, consider these points:

 

1.    We don’t know what’s going through her heart or mind as she makes this offering, but we do know that offerings to the temple were expected. Think of it like paying taxes. 

2. She’s not tithing – she’s not giving a tenth. Jesus tells us “she put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (v 44) – essentially, she has put in her life. It’s hard to imagine that she’s calculating how she can give as little as possible while still meeting the letter of the law, or that she’s being self-serving, expecting people to notice her or otherwise get a social benefit from having been seen as being a ‘major gift’ giver.

3. Jesus doesn’t praise her offer, nor does he say to the disciples that they should follow her example of giving. He doesn’t comment on our faithful giving as supporting the valuable mission of the temple as a religious institution. Jesus simply draws their attention to the fact that this widow – this already impoverished and otherwise overlooked person who is already vulnerable to exploitation – has put in more than others who have given out of their abundance – her effective tax rate is higher than those who have much more than her.

4. In the verses just before mentioning this widow, Jesus has condemned the pretentious and hypocritical religious who “devour widows’ houses” while seeking to appear holy and righteous. In the verses following his mention of this widow, Jesus says that the very temple that the she is giving her money to will be destroyed.

5. Just one chapter earlier, Jesus called this temple/institution a “den of robbers” (Mark 11:17) after he attempts to cleanse it of gross commercial exploitation of the faithful. Then, at the beginning the chapter we’ve heard from (chapter 12), Jesus tells the story of greedy vineyard tenants who even result to violence and murder to get what they believe they’re entitled to (vv.1-

8. What are we to make of this?  What might the Holy Spirit being inviting us to see?

Some questions to consider – take a silent, prayerful moment to listen for what you might hear in your heart….

a)    Is Jesus pointing to the woman as an exemplar of faithful stewardship, or might he be lamenting her being compelled to offer all that she had left as a tragic example of how too much is being expected from those who have little already, for the benefit of those who already have much?

b) Given what Jesus says before and after drawing attention to this widow’s offering, might he be pointing out that she’s giving so much of herself to a corrupt institution, destined for destruction, that otherwise is enabling wealthier people to take advantage of her faithful participation in the temple taxation system?

c) Why would someone give all they have left for others apparently so underserving?

d) Who would be so unreasonably and extravagantly generous as to offer something so precious to others who will only take the gift for granted and use what they want from it for their own self-preservation (rather than the benefit of others)?

e) Might the faithful folly of this scene with the widow and her mites be foreshadowing of what Jesus, in the remaining chapters of Mark, is about to give on behalf of so many who are otherwise undeserving and unappreciative? In his earthly mission and ministry since baptism, did he not put in everything he had, all he had to live on? For what? For who?

f) As we approach the beginning of the Advent season, might this story of such an unreasonable and extravagant gift from an otherwise unknown nobody resonate with a gift God is about to offer the entire world through an otherwise unknown rural couple who otherwise don’t have any standing with the ruling institutions of their day?

Through noticing the widow and her mites and consider her circumstances, is the Holy Spirit calling us to examine collectively the integrity and fidelity the institutions that we support.  Are they providing shelter and opportunity more for robbers, or are they providing protection for the vulnerable as well as healing and rehabilitation for the sick (in all sense of that word)?  Who are we expecting offerings from and why?

Certainly, Jesus does challenge us time and again to re-consider how we’re utilizing our time, talent, and treasurer.

Are we settling for a faith that has Jesus doing the sacrificing while we reap the rewards?  Or, have we been inspired by his gifts to be equally gracious toward others, providing for their needs out of all that we have to offer?

What is the evidence in our lives that we are generously and otherwise unreasonably giving what we have, truly trusting in God’s abundant provision for our future?

If Jesus were to sit by any of our treasuries (the offering plates we’re about to pass, the budget of this parish family, our nation’s storehouses of wealth and debt, or our personal bank accounts), what would he notice about the transactions?

Is it ours to judge or worry if others are deserving of our gifts offered in faith, hope, and charitable love?

What example do we have in Christ?

“God of fierce justice, you close the mouth of those who devour the poor and hide behind their prayer: humbled by the giving of those who have so little let us live from your abundance; through Jesus Christ, the judgment of God. Amen.”

(Shakespeare, Steven. Prayers for An Inclusive Church (NY: Church Publishing, 2009) p.76)