27 March

A theme or image running through several of the Scripture readings for today is water.  In the lesson from Exodus, the Israelites are complaining about a lack of water.  Moses appeals to the Lord for help and, following the Lord’s command, he strikes a rock and water gushes out.  That event is celebrated in Psalm 95.  In the passage from the Gospel of John, we hear the story of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at the well.  She has come there to get water and Jesus tells her about a new kind of water, living water.  This life-giving water is a gift that Jesus offers to those who come to him.

Why this focus on water?  In our own time, in this country, we take water for granted. We turn on a faucet and clean water comes out.  If we are not satisfied with tap water for drinking, we can buy bottled water. But it was different for the Israelites, the Samaritans and others whom Jesus met.  They lived in desert country where water was precious, never taken for granted.

Today, in many parts of the world, clean water is scarce and, sometimes, not available at all.  As we read the stories about the impact of the earthquake and tsunami on nuclear reactors in Japan with the increase in radiation and the possibility of contaminated water nuclear, we are reminded once again that clean, life-giving water is not something to be taken for granted. 
One of the Millennium Development Goals addresses this issue, setting an objective of making clean water available in poor countries.  Bishop Lee has challenged parishes in our diocese to raise money to provide wells in Third World countries.  We will be hearing more about this initiative in coming months at St. Simon’s.  It will be an opportunity for us to help those who do not have what we take for granted: safe water. 

Deacon Sue Nebel+

20 March

Not the easiest gospel to understand.  And if it’s hard for us to try and figure it out, imagine poor Nicodemus.  Who’s in control?  Born “anew”?  Born “from above”?  Flesh verses spirit?

 Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night and he’s probably heard of the miracle at the wedding of turning water in to wine.  And he certainly has heard of Jesus’ behavior at the temple.  And he says that he knows that Jesus must be blessed because “no one can do these signs apart from God.”  And Jesus launches into “no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  Did Nicodemus even get to ask what he came there to ask or discuss what he wanted to discuss?  Suddenly he’s dealing with “what?!  How can we be born anew?”

 Now, Nicodemus would have felt very sure in his place in the kingdom of God because his understanding, along with all of the Pharisees of the time and the Jews of the time, was that if you obeyed the Mosaic Law to the letter of the law, then you were blessed.  And that would be the salvation plan.  But Jesus – Jesus is turning things upside-down.  He’s talking about being “born from above,” which can also mean “anew.”  Well, who’s in control here?  Many Christians emphasize turning to Jesus Christ, choosing Jesus Christ, being born again.  And that is a human choice, a human action.  But babies, real babies, they are born by God’s action.  How many babies are actually born on their due dates?  Who’s in control?

And then Jesus says: “the wind blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it but you don’t know where it comes from or where it goes.”  The wind, an analogy for the Spirit of God: mysterious, invisible, certainly beyond our control, but we can discern its effects.  We can look outside on a day like today and we can see the branches move and know that there must be wind.  Or, if we’re outside, we can feel the wind in our hair, on our faces, but we don’t know where it’s going.

Francis Maloney talks about the difference between the flesh and the spirit.  “To be born of the flesh means to be content with what one can observe and control…making judgments on…what one senses.  Birth in the Spirit leads to a different way of seeing and understanding.”  Nicodemus is stuck in his senses; on what he can see and on what he can control – his behavior.  And Jesus is saying: “That’s not it.”

And we’re not unlike Nicodemus.  We like to control things.  Boil things down, simplify so that we’re not confused.  And I asked the vestry on Tuesday – that they have heard John 3:16 a number of times in their lives; certainly many of us have seen the placards at ball games: John 3:16.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life.”  And I asked them: is it overdone?  Is it overstated?  Does it have meaning for you anymore?  And I got: Yes!  It’s an incredibly powerful statement.  And I also got: No, it really doesn’t have meaning anymore. 

 

Carl Gregg, another theologian, agrees that it’s both.  That, in typical human form, we try and make it formulaic.  But, that verse, like any verse in the bible, needs the verses around it to provide the context.  The verse just before it is: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”  Well, I had to go and remind myself what the story of Moses and the serpent was; I couldn’t remember.  And it’s in Numbers 21; it’s while the Israelites are wandering in the desert for years and years.  And their feet hurt.  And they’re tired and the food stinks and there’s not enough water and they start complaining loudly to Moses.  And Moses is like: “Hello?!  Not my problem.”  And God says: “Fine.  I’m gonna send a bunch of poisonous serpents.”  Now this is kind of like going to the doctor or the emergency room with a broken arm and having the doctor say: “Hang on a sec” – gets a hammer – WHACK – smashes your toe.  You’re not thinking about your broken arm anymore.  And the Israelites, with the infestation of the poisonous snakes were not really thinking about how bad the food was at that point.  It’s about perspective.  And Moses built (or creates, casts) a serpent according to God’s design and tells the people: “if you’re afflicted, look upon this serpent, turn to God and you will be healed.”  And that’s what happens.

And there’s a parallel between Moses’ story and Jesus bringing it up (not unusual).  One, the people were in danger because of their sin.  Two, God provides the agent of salvation – bronze snake, Jesus.  Three, the agents are lifted up – literally.  And four, the people are saved by believing in the agent or by believing in God through the agent.  The major differences, of course, are: Jesus is the Son of God and worthy of worship and the bronze snake – not so much.  And Jesus offers eternal life, not just extended life.  

But Gregg goes deeper to show how things can become formulaic if we don’t really try and go beneath.  In 2 Kings 18, Hezekiah becomes king and he’s a pretty young king at twenty-five.  And he is “right with the Lord.”  And “right with the Lord” means that he worships the Lord, that he has destroyed idols and he has knocked down poles that represent idols; but it also says: “he broke in pieces the bronze serpent of Moses.”  That’s hundreds of years from when Israel was in the desert.  So this bronze snake – serpent – was carried for the rest of the way, made its way into the temple and had become an idol.  People were going with their afflictions to the snake and worshiping there hoping to be healed.  It is no longer an agent of God.  It is an idol.  

And trying to take one verse in the bible, like John 3:16, and making it into a formula is just as dangerous.  Yes – Jesus was lifted up and died.  But that’s not the focus.  The focus is how Jesus taught us to live our lives.  The focus is on resurrection.  The focus is on Jesus pointing out: it’s not all about Mosaic Law.  It’s about the two Great Commandments, which we heard earlier: Love your God and love your neighbor as yourself.  It’s not enough to just believe in words.  We have to live it.

Nicodemus ultimately does live it.  Being a Pharisee, when Jesus goes to trial, he fights to try and get Jesus a fair trial.  And then, later, he takes care of Jesus’ earthly body after the crucifixion.

How will we embody it?

Peace,
The Rev. M.E. Eccles, LPC+ 

13 March

All of us have to make decisions.  Sometimes it is far from easy.  We go through a time of real struggle, sometimes feeling resentful about the process.  Sometimes we may feel depressed by the complex choices before us, and sometimes we feel that we want to run away from the whole thing.

It may well be that Jesus experienced moments like that.  One certainly faced him when he went into the wilderness after his baptism.  Maybe the word wilderness is a good way of describing how we feel when we face making really important choices in our lives.  All signposts seem to be missing; we don’t know which way to turn.  There may be unknown dangers if we choose one way rather than the other.   One thing quite certain is that no choice ever provides the perfect answer.  Jesus knew thoughts like that as well.  He had heard the call of God to public ministry, and had gone to accept baptism from John in the Jordan.  Then he faced the difficult task of deciding how he was going to pursue the vision of God’s kingdom which had been given.

Jesus tells us that the devil offered him at least three ways of building the kingdom.  The first was to bribe people into following him.  The second way was to impress them.  The third was by reaching for power.  Jesus says a resounding “No,” because he saw clearly that the devil was appealing to self-image and ego and the human desire for position and power.  To build a ministry on what appealed either to his own ego or to the desires of those who followed him would be a betrayal of himself, of his followers, and of God.  So Jesus made another choice.  He calls people to come to him and with him, not for what they can get, but for what they can give of themselves to him, to one another, and to the world around them.

When we are facing a wilderness of choices, it is important for us to be clear about the basis on which we are finally going to make our choice.  Are we merely out for our own advantage?  Do we merely wish to build our own image and position?  If so, we are failing to bring Jesus into our choosing.  But knowing that Jesus himself experienced the wilderness makes him our companion in our time of wilderness.  That can make all the difference!

Wishing you a Holy Lent,

Fr. Bob+

6 March

Today marks the end of the Epiphany season. The season began two months ago with the story of the wise men guided by a star on a journey to Bethlehem to find the infant Jesus. The season ends with the story of the Transfiguration. Jesus up on a mountain with a few of his disciples. Jesus in a new, changed appearance—his face shining like bright sunlight, his clothes a radiant white.

Central to both stories, and to the season itself, is the image of light. When we celebrated the birth of Jesus at Christmas, we spoke of a light shining in the darkness. Each Sunday in the season of Epiphany, as part of the Eucharistic Prayer, we have heard these words: “Because in the mystery of the Word made flesh, you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts. . .” That is the gift of Epiphany: a light that we carry in our hearts. The light of Jesus. The light of love.

In a few days, on Ash Wednesday, we will enter the solemn season of Lent. Lent is a stark, often bleak time, seemingly devoid of light. We may feel that we have shut the door on the Epiphany season, leaving it all behind. But that is not true. We still have the gift of Epiphany: the gift of light in our hearts. May that light continue to shine brightly, bringing warmth, comfort, and strength as we move forward in our journey of faith.

Peace,
Deacon Sue Nebel