26 Sept - Recognizing Lazarus

HOW DO WE DEAL WITH OUR PHYSICAL AND TANGIBLE POSSESSIONS? HOW DO WE DEAL WITH OUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS? JESUS REQUIRES AN ANSWER. (Luke 16:19-31)

Throughout this sixteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel, Jesus is talking about us and our possessions. He says again and again that this is one of the most important relationships in our lives, and that we will be judged largely on the way we have dealt with it.

Jesus has also been saying that possessions can be both outer and inner. Our relationship to our outer possessions, from which we take so much pleasure, is only an outward sign of our relationship with our inner possessions, our spiritual riches. We can be very rich outwardly and very poor inwardly. We can be poor outwardly and rich inwardly. We can sometimes be rich both outwardly and inwardly, but only if we are prepared to be good stewards of our riches before God.

The chapter ends with Jesus telling a powerful and poin - - - story of the rich man and Lazarus. For his listeners, Jesus was presenting the rich man as an image of themselves, rich and comfortable, but without any compassion for others. These “religious” people claimed a special relationship with God, but how was this spirituality seen in their actions? Jesus is emphasizing the way judgment takes place in human life. We judge ourselves by making our own choices and living the consequences.

When, in the story, the rich man beseeches Lazarus at least go to his still-living brothers, the answer he gets is a terrible one. They have placed themselves beyond reach, and cannot be made to hear. The terrible truth is that we can, by our own patterns and choices, place ourselves out of the reach of God. That will not be God’s wish for us, but it will nevertheless take place. We are free beings, free to make moral decisions. There is of course always a way back, but only we can choose to take it. Thank God that we are offered the love and grace again – and again.



Peace,

Fr. Bob+

19 Sept - Balm in Gilead

Is there no balm in Gilead? (Jer 8:22a)

“Balm in Gilead” is, or may be, a phrase with which some are familiar. You may even know the hymn “There is a balm in Gilead.” But what does the phrase mean? Dick Donovan writes that “Gilead was a mountainous region on the east side of the Jordan River” and was known for a healing balm made from resin from a type of tree that grew in the area.

The answer to the question asked in scripture is that indeed there is a balm in Gilead and the doctors with the skills to use it well. But Jeremiah (and God through Jeremiah) asks the question mournfully because what ails the people of Israel is not of a physical nature; rather, it is spiritual. The balm they and we need to look for is the balm of God’s forgiving grace.

By all means, take advantage of the physical balms available. But also, remember that God is constantly offering healing and love through the gift of Grace. I hope you are able this week to feel comfort in that knowledge.

Peace and Blessings,

M.E.+

12 Sept - Parish Picnic Photos

New parish picnic photos are available.

12 Sept - Think Upside-Down

Several years ago I read a book titled The Upside-Down Kingdom, by Donald Kraybill. The author writes about Jesus’ teachings about God’s vision of the world. He points out that Jesus upends our usual ways of thinking. He insists that we should not think vertically, i.e. in terms of power: who is more important, more successful, richer. Instead, he insists that we turn all of that upside-down and concern ourselves with those who are usually considered the lowest, the least significant: the poor, the people on the margins. People who are often overlooked because they aren’t considered important.

Today’s Gospel lesson (Luke15:1-10) is an example of upside-down thinking. When the Pharisees and the scribes grumble that Jesus “welcomes sinners and eats with them,” Jesus quickly responds with two stories. One about the shepherd with a flock of one hundred sheep who puts great effort to finding one that is lost, rather than simply sighing and saying to himself, ‘Oh well. One sheep is all that important. After all I still have ninety nine.’ The second story focuses on a woman with ten silver coins. When she loses one, she searches high and low for the lost one. Like the shepherd, she could have simply let herself be satisfied with what she still had: nine coins.

Jesus constantly challenges us to turn our thinking upside-down. Not to think in the worldly terms of success, power structures. Instead, to have the broadest kind of thinking. To be always on the lookout for those who are easily neglected or forgotten. And to reach out to them. To honor them, to show them respect, to help them.

Peace,

Deacon Sue

5 Sept - Follow Me

Every step we take with Jesus in this part of the gospel brings us into harsher and harsher circumstances. His tone gets grimmer. “Whoever comes to me and does not hate . . .”(Luke 14:26). To hear that passage even after many centuries is to be chilled by its harshness. It could be terrifying to hear.

This is a time in our Bible reading and study when we must be aware that such exaggerated language was commonplace in Jesus’ society and culture. If we go further down the passage to verse 33, we find the heart of Jesus’ meaning. His demand for ultimate discipleship is that a man or woman “give up all.” What Jesus is pleading for is that to follow him is to offer our lives to him with singlemindedness and deep commitment. To have a religion or faith that is a mildly diverting weekend hobby is not following Christ. Having an intellectual interest in theology is not following Jesus. These things are in their own way admirable, but they are not what Jesus meant when he said to people, “Follow me.”

The decision to follow Jesus Christ is one of ultimate significance in a human life. Very few of us can respond to the call of Christ on the level that some great souls have done. To “renounce all” in a literal way is a fearful thing and is possible only for some. That is precisely why we know these men and women as great souls or saints, both in the past and in our own time. But when Jesus calls us, we decide to follow at the level at which we can. And Jesus accepts us! Good news.

Peace,

Fr. Bob+