Wednesday in the Second Week

Here are some other questions I ask when I’m reading:

What message did the author want to me to get through this story - a quality of God, or Jesus, or faithful discipleship, or whatever?

What message do the organizers of the lectionary want me to get?

What are they leaving out, and how does it change the message of the Scriptures?

And what do I think about that?  Do I agree that we are better off without this story, or is this a loss? 

When the lectionary skips some section, go back and read what they left out.   The readings from Acts are a great example.

Yesterday we read the inspiring depiction of the community of believers.  Everyone shared, no one went hungry, Barnabas was generous.  Life was good: so good some of us have been trying to live that way ever since!

Then today we are supposed to read about signs and wonders, about miracles of healing and of bravery.  Again, something to be inspired by and aspire to.

But in between, we have something a little different.  Ananias and Sapphira stand as warnings of what can happen when people pretend to be committed, when they withhold, when they lie.  It’s not a pretty story, but it’s important.  Lies and secrets do indeed corrode a community, more than many other infractions.   So why is this story elided?

I’m not sure.  Perhaps the lectionary committee did not want us to consider such a dangerous God.  The problem isn’t with God’s power; we’re happy to read about signs and wonders.  But I suspect that we in the “mainline” churches have become so allergic to the vengeful God of some quarters that we can’t stomach any hint of a punishing God.  

Eastertide is the season of the big carrot: resurrection life.  But we need sticks too, sometimes, to stay on the path.  We need promises, and we need warnings.  We don’t have to believe in a literal killing God to get the truth of the cost of being dead to God and to life-giving community.  If you are one of those who think resurrection is a metaphor, then let this story dwell in you as well.  Is there a secret part of yourself you’re withholding from God or important others in your life?  Now is the time to let it go.  It won’t get better later.  

We now return to our regularly scheduled readings.  Thanks be to God for all of it!

Monday in the Second Week

I’m going to be gone a lot over the next five weeks, so writing will be sporadic.  I can, however, give you the readings for daily Eucharist as well as the daily office.  For your convenience, here’s a link you can copy and access each day:

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/

And here are some questions you might ask of the readings, things I ask myself:

First is a request: God, show me what I need to see in this today.

Then ask:

Is there a word or phrase that stands out for me today?

What inspires me in this passage?

Is there something that strikes me as funny or “off”?

Is there something I don’t understand?

Is there something I disagree with or find offensive?

If something lands in any of these ways, I keep reading it.  I ask God to show me what matters in this.  What might I tell someone else about this?

Finally, thank God for this time, and ask:  Lead me in your truth and teach me, and enable me to serve others through your Spirit.  Amen.

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 2:14a,22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31

The story of Thomas is so powerful and rich that it’s easy to neglect the other readings.  I love Thomas: I love his love for Jesus, his integrity, his refusal to settle for other people’s faith.  And I love that Jesus loves him enough to come back and show him what he needs.  But, as John wants us to get, we don't all get that privilege.  What of us who (try to) believe without seeing?  Jesus doesn’t say that we are “more” blessed than Thomas and his empiricist friends; he merely says that we are blessed.  The blessing comes from the faith we receive and live in.  It is not a preference on God’s part, not a special favor or ticket to heaven.  It is simply the way things work in God’s realm; the “outcome of your faith” is “the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9).  

Why?  Why is salvation the outcome of faith?  And what is salvation, anyway?  (Warning: unauthorized theology follows.  May be hazardous.  Just guessing, really.)

The letter attributed to Peter gives us an answer, though it’s more suggestive than systematic.  (And that’s a virtue!)  “Peter” refers to the “new birth into a living hope” that is accomplished through Jesus’ resurrection.  Here are the nouns that stand out in this poetic cascade: birth, hope, inheritance, salvation; faith, trials, praise, glory, honor, joy. 

Salvation isn’t for an afterlife.  It’s in how we live here and now.  It’s in the details: the praise, the joy, the trials, the hope.  It’s in the faith that enables us to wait.  It’s in the resilience and the endurance that faith makes possible.  It’s in the love that we experience and the love we share as a result of knowing ourselves to be loved.  

When Thomas believes, his response is “praise, glory and honor”: “My Lord and my God!”  When I believe, when I really believe and God’s love and power are present to me, my response is the same: “Thank you!  Blessed are you, Amazing and Holy One!”  And my soul is healed, is made whole.

May you believe, and be blessed.  However you get there, however many times you have to claw your way back to faith, you will receive salvation as for the first time.  

April 20, Thursday in Easter Week

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!

I’m sorry to have been so silent during these wonderful days.  We’ve had a lot going on here, which I will write about in our newsletter.  More is coming up, so I’ll be posting infrequently for a bit.  But that doesn’t mean that Easter joy isn’t here and flowing.  This is the season for Mary Magdalene to come into her stature as an apostle, after all.

The theme in all the readings this week is renewal and new life and miracle.  Where are you seeing this around you?  This is a good exercise for any day, any time of day.  Where are you open to being surprised by joy, by gratitude, by wonder?  Is it an unfolding flower?  The first baby animals?  The beauty of liturgy or Scripture?  A burning heart within you?  Where do you notice that what seemed dead is coming to life?

Here, I’m delighting in daffodils and reveling in green leaves.  The song birds are back.  The alleluias are back in the daily office, along with joyful hymns and antiphons.  And, yes, we are going through some changes that feel like loss, but even there I’m suspicious that new life is emerging so I’m hopeful.

Look for resurrection, and tell us what you find.  Easter blessings to you!

Easter Greetings!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0xZVquUpYg

Alleluia!  Blessed Easter to you all!

Good Friday

Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42

Maundy Thursday

Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14; Psalm 116: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35

“For I have set you an example, that you should also do as I have done to you. . . . I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  (Jn 13)

And not only one another.  Love your enemies.  Do good to those who hate you.  Let everyone know you are a disciple of the Servant One, by your love.