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Lectionary - December 2002 |
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Lectionary - December 2002 |
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1 December 2002 - Year B - Advent 1 Wesley White December 1, 2002 Isaiah 64:1-9 Wesley White Mark 13:24-37 Take a lesson from the world around you. How goes it? How are the fig trees? How are the vines? How is your sense of the quality and quantity of milk and honey? Instead of asking when the end will come - since no one knows it anyway - what happens if we begin asking "When did the next stage of heaven coming on earth begin?" If we can't say, "Today," we are in poor shape and all the waiting and watching for some surprising end to the story won't make a whole lot of difference. So, go ahead and do some watching, "Keep awake." But even more, do some changing - increase the number of "elect" scattered in every direction. The process of increase needs a component beyond scaring folks to keep alert until they drop from alert fatigue. This component is an active awareness that GOD is with us in calling forth a new heaven, a new earth, a new you, a new me. Not only is GOD calling, but empowering. GOD is with us in the actual change from the old ways to new ways. Enjoy being a partner in calling and empowering the change toward wholeness. Wesley White 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 "All God's gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God...is right alongside to keep you steady and on track.... [God] will never give up on you. Never forget that." The Message All good gifts are present in medias res. GOD alongside - never giving up. Us alongside one another - never giving up. We are in this for the long haul and we have the resources needed for the journey. When we forget the footprints we will be reminded by the butt prints. When you start getting forgetful that the needed gifts are already present in the community, check with the wisest person you know. You'll be reminded that you have enough to act on and that your acting is important to partnering with GOD and neighbor. Wesley White Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 The Spiritual Formation Bible reflects: "Imagine God's face turned toward you with such shining tenderness. God's eyes are full of love for you; God smiles at you and sings to you gently." Wesley White Isaiah 64:1-9 ... You have hidden your face from us and given us up to the power of our misdeeds. And yet, Yahweh, you are our Father.... [NJB] In the midst of the most difficult and strained of relationships there still remains a relationship. Sometimes it feels as though the only connection we have is that we breathe the same air. [And why don't we take care of such a precious gift but degrade it for the sake of the idol of Maximum Profit?] And yet there is never a time we are so far out of touch that reconciliation can't take place. Even when this is difficult to see, it remains something we can do. Perhaps the most thanks we can muster today is tied up with that "And yet..." It is something that can be built on. Will we? Will you? Will I? Let us pray so. Wesley White 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 What might it mean to be called by GOD into companionship with Jesus? If Jesus was about coming to oneness with GOD, we join him on the quest. We journey toward oneness with GOD. If Jesus was not about this, then what was Jesus about? Was Jesus about making new rules? Was Jesus about forming an exclusive community? Was Jesus about being worshipped? The NRSV says our fellowship with Jesus is a reflection on GOD's faithfulness. The NJB reflects in a note, "Because Jesus is our partner
in human nature, we are his in the divine nature." All of this is wonderfully circular. The Community Christian Bible reflects, "You have to become holy, but you are already. Holy, in the biblical sense, is the person or thing that belongs to God." There never is a time when we are not companions or partners with Jesus. There never is a time when anyone is not a companion or partner with Jesus. [Admittedly sometimes the companionship and partnership are tighter and looser.] When looked at through the lens of holiness and oneness, what is said about Jesus might be said of all the guys - Abraham and Moses and Mohammed and Buddha. A holy one is free to surpass all these limits - even those of one's own companions. Wesley White Mark 13:24-37 It sounds as if the last best war is well on its way. It is understandable that our ancestors saw the angels array themselves in the upper heavenly realms and accepted that they would be automatically, magnetically dragged along in some cosmic game. Even today there is a sense of fatalism that we have been set up by larger forces to inevitably prepare for war. How much choice do you see for yourself and your congregation in this matter? This issue of choice will have an effect on how you deal with Advent issues. How are you going to wait during this Advent season? Will
you wait resignedly for the angels to work things out for you?
are you simply a pawn in that cosmology? Will you actively attempt
to change things by going where the angels fear to tread? Will
the fear and trembling caused by working out your faith scare
you away from such work? Don't forget to speak out as you wrestle with what it means for you to wait. I encourage active waiting that is similar to active listening - being alert to whats going on and responsibly proactive. 8 December 2002 - Year B - Advent 2 Wesley White December 8, 2002 Isaiah 40:1-11 Who are the messengers you are listening to? How do you understand yourself to be preparing, encouraging, enhancing, egging on, pursuing, dragging in the presence of GOD's freedom? Around such questions do we live Advent. Wesley White Mark 1:1-8 How do you react to these two ways of coming at things? "John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." [NRSV] "John the Baptizer appeared in the wild, preaching a baptism of life-change that leads to forgiveness of sins." [The Message] There is a sense in which the first posits forgiveness first and baptism in response while the second is the act of baptism that enters one on the path to forgivenss. There are even overtones of being forgiven in the first and forgiving in the second. A part of our work of openness is to see the way in which these elements are polarities that weave back and forth between one another. The strength is in the warp and woof together, not one or the other. So how does it happen in your life? Do you honor anyone who came through the other tradition? How do you parcel out baptism/forgiveness recommendations to the various people in your life who have experienced neither? To whom would you recommend the first and to whom the second? Wesley White 2 Peter 3:8-15a Often we consider issues of salvation to be issues for mighty striving, for action. Here the simple action of not over-reacting is being called for. GOD's patience and restraint opens space for us to practice being peace. Our being peace opens space for others to join in the wholeness and safety of best living. In this space there is room for us to honor the regularity of prayer of Islam, the emphasis upon good work of Judaism, the meditation of Buddhism, the sanctity of life exhibited by Jainism, the many faces of GOD of Hinduism, the connection to earth creation by Wickans and so much more. These are not threats but part of the way GOD's salvation comes in its own thousand-year day. Whew, what relief, we can live out of the patience of GOD and learn such restraint in our own time. bob paterson-watt Wesley, your insight around patience & restaint is most helpful. I wonder how one might include the issue of many faiths being part of God's salvation in the context of worship, or is this insight too dangerous to preach? Such openness has been my understanding for many years now, but many folks are not there yet, & perhaps may never be there, sticking to Jesus as the 'only way'. Thanks for you posting. It has given me food for thought, & possibly a new tack for Sunday. Wesley White I think the concept of something being "too dangerous to preach" is an important one for us to deal with. In today's world we are being told it is too dangerous to speak of alternatives to war. Jesus found bringing the prophet of old into his present at Nazareth and saying the old has come to pass in his day was dangerous. Moses in going up the mountain for new direction found that to be dangerous as those remaining returned to golden calf days. A part of the conversation needs to be, "What danger is there in avoiding the known dangers?" It will be important in facing multiple dangers to both sort through them and to be as wise as serpents while caught in between. Conversation with friends is an important part of the process of sifting and winnowing and discerning. Wesley White Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 - paraphrased by Jim Taylor Pious voices utter platitudes: "Silence!" I want to cry. Surely goodness and mercy will grow again, and sunshine return to the sky. Sorrow is holy ground; Through the darkness, the Lord comes walking on the salt sea of tears. From: Everyday Psalms. Wood Lake Books. For details, go to www.JoinHands.com Wesley White Isaiah 40:1-11 "This haunting, evocative poetry is so beautiful, I can feel the hair on the back of my neck tingling. And of course, I hear Handel's music when I read this. But Handel is part of the problem because he used the King James translation, and they got the coma in the wrong place in verse three. King James has the 'voice of him that crieth in the wilderness.' But the newer translations have, 'In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.' (Mark goes with the King James Version. Or the KJV goes with Mark.) "Having just returned from more than three weeks trotting about doing workshops, I came back with the deep feeling that clergy and other leaders in the mainline American churches are feeling a deep sense of agony around the foreign policy of their government. They find themselves being that voice crying, 'in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.' And that wilderness may be in the hearts of many called to preach this Sunday. "Rev Bev points to the first part of this powerful passage for some hope. 'Comfort, O comfort my people!' She wants us to think about 'who needs to hear these words today?'" ----- If you are interested in a good-humoured weekly mailing from Ralph Milton, author of the above comment, send an e-mail to: rumors-subscribe@joinhands.com. Don't put anything else in that e-mail. You can unsubscribe at anytime. Wesley White 2 Peter 3:8-15a Since I am going to be dissolved what sort of person ought I be? - how might I be solved? While "solved" is not the past tense of "saved" there is a connection. "Solve" is connected to being released. So, for what am I released before I am separated? For holiness and godliness, saith Peter. Wow, really living as though the image of GOD were present right here! To be released into life is to wait for (to be awake to the moment of) a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness and godliness are at home in me. Ah, sweet release! And you? Wesley White Mark 1:1-8 Word should have arrived in parishioner's homes yesterday that I have been reappointed to an 18-month interim ministry beginning the middle of January. That news will be a real piece of coal for some and the best gift ever for others. A part of the work on Sunday will be a recognition that the work I have done here is preparatory work for someone else who will be able to do that which I have been incapable of doing - turning around a 40+ year pattern of straight-line numerical decline. It is appropriate that what will be remembered from my time is the pain associated with repentance. Pastoral sexual misconduct from 40+ years ago that was dealt with by simply moving the pastor on has festered. We finally recognized that we have been trying to control pastors and parishioners through conformity to civic religion of external behavior. Perhaps by confessing our response-to-betrayal of trying to wash away differences as a compounding of the sin, we can be ready for the grace of the Holy Spirit and to grow through difference. To forgive the offender, to forgive the church-at-large for its past inability to deal with the offense by other than covering it over, and to forgive ourselves for our response to betrayal by over-control rather than by gifting all (active and passive betrayers) with a Holy Meal -- may be all that can be done right now. O GOD, we have felt all too worthy to bind the feet and journey of others. Help us untie the sandals we have too tightly bound on others by forcing them to walk in one-size-doesn't-fit-all shoes. It is time to dance barefoot with one another. jo ann wiblin pastor white: would it be possible to tell us which version of scripture you are using? this weeks text mark 1:1-8 uses the phrase "thunder in the desert" and i can find no version which uses that language. it would be helpful to me. thanks. god bless you and your ministry and your church. Wesley White pastor wiblin, Welcome to the ranks of Thunderers. The "thunder" image comes from The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene H. Peterson [Navpress]. Peterson calls his translation a "reading Bible," as distinct from a study Bible. I find the imagery he uses helpful in triggering a response of thoughts and feelings in a way the standard translations don't. It is almost as if the tried and true expressions have become easily categorized as Holy Scripture that is too well known to have a second thoughts about. I am presuming that your question about version comes from a weekly thought on the Gospel lesson that I do a month ahead. There is a link from there to here, but not the other way around. So, for those who haven't found the other series of comments it is at Sermon Preparation. That address will change in the next month because of my reappointment. The change will be noted on that page. 15 December 2002 - Year B - Advent 3 Wesley White December 15, 2002 Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Who are you if you are not a witness of light from beyond our horizon? How persistent is light? - it is still arriving from the time of its creation and moving past us. How persistent are you in anticipating such light, rejoicing in its moment with us, and blessing it on its way? Wesley White John 1:6-8, 19-28 I am not GOD. I am not GOD's messenger/prophet/messiah/etc. I am a witness to lightly lived life. I am a pointer on point. I am a gentleman's gentleman. I am a water-splasher in puddles. We get caught up with the heaviness of John the Baptist out there crying and yelling in the wilderness or thundering in the wild. We hear his intensity. How would you respond to the question, "Who are you?" this day. Would you be bold enough to say. "I'm not President W." Would you go on to say, "I'm not Rummy." (Though I do hope we have some budding Rumi's out there.) Would you further respond, "I'm not the Governor." So then might come a question behind their question, "So why are you protesting a war against Iraq if you don't have the right credentials and obviously are not privy to the quality of information our leaders have?" Would you be bold to say, "I am simply concerned about water." (You do know what I high percentage of a human being is water, don't you?) "I am here to bless the water people, where ever they might be." Sometimes we need to be a joker, no matter how seriously serious our reputation has become. Would it lessen the presence of John if we saw him testifying to the light more lightly? Wesley White Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Terebinth - turpentine tree "The fruits are used in the baking of a specialty village bread. The plant is rich in tannin and resinous substances and has been known for its aromatic and medicinal properties since classical times, Theophrastos described the resin as having excellent fragrant and setting qualities. A mild sweet scented gum can be produced from the reddish bark and the large reddish horn-like galls often found on the plant are used for tanning leather. Terebinths are traditionally planted over Armenian graves." It will be a comfort to those that mourn that they will be called "terebinths of saving justice" who can see their pain borne as a glory. Can you see yourself as a terebinth, with many diverse uses? Can you see in the afflicted more than broken-hearted captives who not only are capable of glory but are to be honored and praised right now? If we connect verse 3 with verse 10 we catch a glimpse of the intertwining of self and other in the transformation of life through salvation and glory praise. Justice issues, righteousness matters, must be attended to on behalf of others and for one's own integrity of self. Up from graves grow helpful trees. Up from graves grow trees with healing leaves. Up from graves grows justice. Up from graves grow you and I. So, friends, up! bring good news to the afflicted! Wesley White Psalm 126 Wonderful new words from 10 years ago were penned by Ruth Duck and set to that marvelous tune, Resignation. It is # 2182 in The Faith We Sing. It moves from "the seeds we watered once with tears sprang up into a song," to recognizing there are those now caught in mourning and suffering wrong who need active prayer, "may seeds they water now with tears spring up into a song." As we sing our song we strengthen others to sing their song. A sign of our being one, as Jesus prayed for us and all, will be when we can sing together. The image here is not a battle of the bands, but the interplay of tonalities and rhythms even more widely cast than the category of world music. For one who can sometimes manage a johnny-one-note participation in singing and finds that any melody I try morphs into an entirely different key and tempo, this is a remarkable image. Imagine, even off-key singing is still singing. William Butler Yeats put it this way in closing his "Dialogue of Self and Soul," I am content to follow to its source Wesley White Luke 1:47-55 In some ancient manuscripts these magnificent words are attributed to Elizabeth. There is nothing uniquely Marian about these words. This means they can also be my words. They can be your words. What would it mean for you to begin each day with this recitation on your tongue. Imagine it, GOD's presence/promises are active from before Abraham right up to now and beyond. How would rehearsing this every morning change what goes on in your life during the rest of the day? You do know, don't you, that that question can only be answered by trying it. So try it. Start now. This is the first moment of your day. I'm bursting with God-news; I'm dancing the song of my Savior God. [Oh, yeah? Are you doing this in front of a mirror? How would anyone know you are bursting and dancing?] God took one good look at me, and look what happened - I'm the most fortunate [person] on earth! [Yep! GOD looks "good" at you. Who are you looking "good" at?] What God had done for me will never be forgotten, [Well, a better image for us might be "God whose very name is holy, present in the depths of each other."] [GOD's] mercy flows in wave after wave [And what mercies are you piling high?] It's exactly what [was] promised, [Including "now" so be brave right now.] [The Message, modified] Wesley White 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 "Don't suppress the Spirit, and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don't be gullible." [The Message] Here we are, on the growing edge of church. It is here on the edge that we find the joys and sorrows, the opportunities and dangers, of faith living side-by-side or cheek-by-jowl. Two ways to avoid the fear and trembling of this position -- -- move back to the settled places of established belief rather than pioneer the wilderness of faith -- emigrate to some twilight zone where this tension has been resolved by having everything or nothing be accepted. For now, though, we are called to cheerfully embrace this space and one another. Pray for others on the edge of church. Pray for those in settled and twilight places. Pray your aptitude for thankfulness will reach increasingly more parts of your life and be triggered by a wider set of experiences. This might be the time for you to register for the coming event: "Voices of Faith: New Life in the Christian Church" to be held in Atlanta, GA on April 25-26, 2003. To find out more, go to Voices of Faith. This promises to be a time of unstifling and discernment. Come. You'll be glad you did and I hope to meet some of the readers here, there. Wesley White John 1:6-8, 19-28 Who has become exasperated lately by not knowing your source of authority? This is part of the prophetic, progressive tradition - simply to go ahead. The powers that be will send queries about who you are with the intent of putting you on the defensive - justify yourself, explain yourself, place yourself, categorize yourself. All of this is an attempt to get you to self-censor yourself. It makes it a lot easier for the powers if you begin to second guess yourself instead of claiming your authority and joining with others who claim theirs. So, lets practice. Powers: "Why are you doing what you are doing?" John and You: "Because. And if you think you are having trouble with me, just wait for what is coming next." Now, how can you take this freedom of being beyond the border and bring it into legislatures and congregations? Hang on to your head, but bring it on. 22 December 2002 - Year B - Advent 4 Wesley White December 22, 2002 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Revelation upon revelation to not do and to see what is in a different light - these are a part of the work for this week. How is this week different and not different from all other weeks? Wesley White Luke 1:26-38 What 13-14-15 year-old has a good image of themself? I got zits. Along comes an angelic presence proclaiming "you're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out!" [The Message] No wonder there is perplexion (an internal bad complexion?) on Mary's part. No matter how you cut it, this story is beyond comprehension. In that way it is a great way to demonstrate that everything is possible. The gift of seeing everything as possible (in slight distinction to seeing "'nothing' is impossible") is important for us as we prepare to come to a manger and to flee as innocents are slaughtered. It is important still to see everything as possible. It is still possible to not get caught up in the volume and shrillness of an administration saying," we know there are weapons there no matter what isn't found." The technique of big lies is one of our culture's motifs (just listen to the advertisements that stand between your pocketbook and maximum corporate profits). It is still possible to take a huge step toward a living wage and not settle for too little a raise in minimum salaries and too short a life for unemployment and too many uninsured. It is still possible to actively love enemies. It is still possible to accept sexuality as a good gift and not limit it by generativity. It is still possible to commit ourselves to proactively vision GOD inclusively. It is still possible to serve before we are granted conventional authority to so serve. It is still possible to flourish while barren, after all, who says it must be otherwise before we count? It is still possible to live abundantly and fully even in a culture that measures those qualities only in quantitative terms. And in the midst of these possibilities the angel leaves us. So which possibility will you pick up as your own and carry it on even where angels fear to tread? Wesley White 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 It is still a good question - Is GOD localizable? That does seem to be our experience - we take what has happened to us in a particular instance and universalize it. GOD becomes our particular writ large. Hopefully we are more than our experience. Hopefully we are not simply an extension of the experience of others. All that being said - here is our experience writ large and also beyond our understanding - even when wrong, we are never without love. What a difference this can make to our common life when we not only receive it for ourselves but pass it on to others. (Of course this comes from the deleted part [verses 14-15], but it seems too good to pass over and it is of a different quality than the reported part that glorifies the nation state. It might be worth reading anyway.) Wesley White Luke 1:47-55 So, is this Mary's song? Some ancient texts call this Elizabeth's song. Might it also be your song? This is one of those Ecclesiastes "there is a time" visions. A time for mercy binding us together and a time for strength to scatter us. A time for knocking tyrants (how'd they get there in the first place?) and a time for rescuing victims (how'd they get there in the first place?). A time for feeding and a time for fasting. A time to embrace and a time to promise. Of course you will add your own couplet from your own life experience. For me right now it is a time to put down a call and a time to pick up a new ministry. We are called out of as well as called into and it is important to honor both side of this coin. [Can we see tyrants and victims in this same light of both sides of the same coin - perhaps if we take the time to investigate how such a state came to be we might catch a glimpse of a connection between the two rather than seeing them as opposites to be chosen between. This is tough material. Keep meditating.] Wesley White Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 "Love is built to last forever." [New Jerusalem Bible, Psalm 89:2) This is a grand affirmation. Later God says of David, "My
constancy and faithful love will be with him." We begin to hear it coming out of our own mouths toward (1) GOD, (2) our neighbors, (3) our self, (4) one another, and even toward (5) enemies. While we are yet shaping the words there is something holding us back from meaning it. It is almost as though we recognize that love is built to last forever and we are not ready to live out the consequences of that reality. For GOD so loved the world that GOD participated in its frailty (birth). May we so love in all these five different directions at the same time, thus giving birth to a new heaven and a new earth. What else will get us to that glorious newness than living as though love were indeed built to last and last it will so dive deep into love and live anew. Wesley White Romans 16:25-27 The Message concludes Romans with this line: "All our praise is focused through Jesus on this incomparably wise God! Yes!" This is a fitting ending to the beginning line of Romans: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God...." NRSV The movement is from one (Paul) to those whom he served (all). The lens through which we work is first and last Jesus (though not necessarily the only lens). The focus is not on one or all or Jesus, but GOD. This patterning leads me to the last of Chapter 8 and the first of Chapter 9 as the center of Romans. "...absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. At the same time, you need to know that I carry with me at all times a huge sorrow." Isn't that an interesting juxtaposition that usually gets overlooked because of the power of chaptering and our propensity to break things into meaningful segments that, once so divided, can never be put together in another way. Loved and sorrow-filled. That's us. Because we are loved we are bold to do what we can about our sorrow. This is a call to action. Are you loved? What is your sorrow? Now smash those together and you have your vocation, your way of focusing on GOD. Wesley White Luke 1:26-38 "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus." You have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you. Through your life GOD will be revealed - Emmanuel will be birthed through you - your decision and your actions. So often we limit this announcement to the BVM. Do you know about Elizabeth and Mary? Well, they stand as exemplars for us. As with E and M of old, so the Holy Spirit will come to you. The power of the Highest and Deepest and Broadest will be present to you. Therefore the life you bring to birth in the midst of the world will be called Holy. Are you birthing you? Well, Holy One, the Holy One is with you. Live well! Serve well! Let it be! 24 & 25 December 2002 - Nativity of the Lord - Christmas Eve & Day Wesley White Proper I: Proper II: Pick a proper. In fact pick a peck of proper propers. Where do you find the new birth amid all the old stories? What needs to be set aside to catch a new glimpse of life and what needs to be seen in a new light and what needs to be added in? Wesley White Proper I: God's readiness to give and forgive is now public. [Tit. 2.11] The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants -- Don't be afraid. For a child has been born -- for us! [Is. 9.6] Sing GOD a brand-new song! [Ps. 96.1] ----- Can there really be joy for everybody, for everybody - worldwide? Isn't joy a scarce quality? Don't we ration it? On holidays we can sometimes hold it more lightly, but not much for we have too much experience of post-holiday blues. Might we be so bold as to recognize a new child born born within us? This new you and new me begins to sing a new song. No longer is it, "Might makes right." Now we hum: "Fair and right -- day or night, bloom or blight -- Our song becomes us and becomes us. Which "becomes" came first to you? Regardless, the other does eventually come. Life and art do not imitate one another, but egg one another on. You are a present present. May you so present yourself. Wesley White Proper II: Light-seeds are planted in the souls of GOD's people, GOD gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. [Tit. 3:5] Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose.... [Lk. 2:19-20] Day and night they keep at it, praying, calling out, reminding
GOD to remember. ----- When the detritus of life is scrubbed away it appears we are new, but it is just that there is less thickness for the Light and Joy to work through to be recognized. Ahh, for the thin places of life. Whether we Mary ponder or Shepherd prance, Light and Joy are our internal weather system. This energizes our quiet or exuberant praise to pray constantly to connect Living Together in Peace (Jerusalem) with Praise. Like the rainbow of old, Christmas is a sign of remembering the best promises. Like the rainbow of old and Christmas, our prayers remind GOD of the best promises. Pray as though a new creation and a new birth and a new best promise depended upon you. Pray while pondering. Pray while prancing. Pray GOD to be re-minded. Modifying the mighty words of Red Green to address GOD: "Remember, I'm praying for you, we're in this together." Wesley White Proper III: Whoever does want the Life-Light is made to be their true selves, their child-of-GOD self. [Jn. 1.12] A child of GOD reflects GOD, and is stamped with GOD's nature. This child holds everything together by what is said -- powerful words! [Heb. 1.2-3] God remembered to love us, a bonus.... [Ps. 98.3] How beautiful on the mountains ----- When true to self we are not alone. We are not only a unique option we carry within ourselves a reflection of the rest. What holds this all together are the powerful words, "I love you." This bonus of a catalyst makes all the difference in bonding the elemental relationships into creative new configurations. The new resulting from the work of the catalyst is good news - a new heaven and a new earth and a new wholeness between them. There it is - Christmas - from the self to the universe - good news. And a question of response is whether we will join these infinitely powerful words or settle for the finite powers of money and politics and religious authority. Wesley White Given the traditions of Christmas, how playful can we be. A danger is that we will more easily be called heretics when we mess with the sanctity of the accumulated traditions. We can mess with some of the lesser known passages of scripture, but when it is connected with the civil religion of holiday, beware. So how playful will you be with the holy solemnity of ChristMass? 29 December 2002 - Year B - Christmas 1 Wesley White December 29, 2002 Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Whether in your first, second, or angelic childhood this is a time to sing and dance. Wesley White Luke 2:22-40 Led by the Spirit, Simeon entered the Temple. Led by the Spirit, John entered the desert and Jesus entered the wilderness. When the Spirit is loose in one's life there is no telling where it will lead. As we draw nearer to a traditional time to use the Covenant Service John Wesley adapted for his use, it is helpful to remember the lines: "Lord, put me on whatever task You will; rank me with whom You will. Put me to doing; put me to suffering. Let me be employed for You, or laid aside for You, exalted for You, or trodden under foot for You. Let me be full; let me be empty. Let me have all things; let me have nothing. I freely and heartily resign all to Your pleasure and disposal." So where have you been led - into Temples to hold babies and benedict - into the slums to accuse a brood of vipers - into the wild on a Spirit Quest - into ...? Enjoy the ride. Bless, preach, clarify, whatever - but do it well. Wesley White Galatians 4:4-7 This sounds like a homeopathic remedy or sympathetic/affinity magic. Gotta send something within the law to help us deal with the shortcomings of the law. How else might we get to child-of-GODness? To whom might GOD not send the Spirit of Jesus? Are you going to be satisfied with that state of affairs? Does GOD work through other Spirits to help folks experience their connection with GOD, being an heir, even? This passage is very comforting to folks in the Jesus camp. Hopefully it will not be a curse on others. Wesley White Isaiah 61:10-62:3 There is a new name coming for you, for me, for us. In relatively recent days we have been calling our calling to a the larger traditions and experience of faith, hope and love - progressive. Other terms have been used down through time of prophetic, social gospel, liberal, etc. This current self-identification will change and change again. It is not so much that the insight and energy we have changes, but language is too small to capture this or any spirit. Here on this traditional anniversary of Jesus' birth and in looking to the first gathering of a tradition of Sunday community gatherings, I wonder about names. Joseph and Mary were individually charged with naming the manger babe, Jesus. A bit after Isaiah's words we hear about renaming a country as Delightful and Partnered. Movements also get named after people (Buddhist), transformations (Christian), techniques (Muslim), and more. Our difficulty is in getting caught in the name and thinking we have captured the energy, the space and the pace, of what is being named. I am pleased with the moment where we are identified as progressive. This is a good gift. I will be pleased when the next incarnation of this life-orientation is differently named. Regardless of name, may we rejoice at every new birth into a larger vision. Wesley White Psalm 148 The word "praise" comes from older words related to "price." What price do you put on praise? This is an important question. Is it what keep you from living praise - the cost to some part of you is too high? What price would be too high for having been created (Ps. 148.4)? for having been incorporated into neighborhood (Ps. 148.13)? What price do we charge others to praise? Do they have to say things a certain creedal way? Must they experience glossolalia? Will they have to agree to a particular polity? Has status, power, class, education level, income or other mark become a hurdle to their ability to ante in? What keeps you from praise and what keeps others from praise and how are these realities related? Wesley White Galatians 4:4-7 From the Christian Community Bible we read this liberation perspective: "[Christ] received his whole background from the Law, namely, from the people and the religion of the Old Testament: this Law was highly positive. But time had passed and it was no longer possible to receive the fullness of the divine truth without being redeemed from the yoke of the Law. "We must see in this a fundamental disposition of the plan of salvation: God saves us by becoming one of us. The same is now true of the Church which saves people, rather than giving to them or 'being interested in them.' And the Church cannot bring them a permanent and transforming salvation if it does not share in their very condition. "This is the reason why the Lord wants the Third World churches to bear the cross of the people of their continents: their marginalization, their sufferings and humiliations, in order to give them authentic salvation. When they are only middle-class churches following occidental or Roman patterns, Third World people cannot be saved." ----- Peterson talks about people being "kidnapped by the law." While under the influence of privileged kidnappers will not the kidnapee take on the values of the kidnapper - (remember Patty Hearst?). The issue is not that we kidnap for a good reason (deprogramming) or for a bad reason (to raise money), but that we kidnap at all. How does the Church kidnap people? This is a significant issue to raise in light of Christmas and the angelic song regarding peace. How will you enter into the lives of those kidnapped by privilege? for surely you will not let them remain unaware of the limitation of their position. This is huge work that will need all your awareness of being an heir of a larger way. Wesley White Luke 2:22-40 No, we aren't fooled. The Sunday after Easter/sunrise and the Sunday after Christmas/eve will not live up to the numbers of those highly public days. These are Sundays for the Anna's among us. Her persistence is noteworthy. Luke records that Anna never left the Temple. She worshiped through fasting and prayer. If this is not hyperbole, a part of us wants to know the details of how this happened. Did she have a "son" during her years of marriage (was it during her betrothal?) who grew and became strong, filled with wisdom: prosperous, by GOD? Did this son see to his mother's welfare out of his own? Was it another relative? Was her acknowledged spirituality rewarded by gifts, "Now don't forget to take a little something to the Temple to help old Anna, you will be rewarded for your good deed to this saint among us!"? But, beyond the gossipy part of us that wants details, how are we progressives doing with our Anna-shaped challenge to sing our joy on a Low Sunday for seeing, even in these difficult times, a renewed expectation for the freeing of Jerusalem when cities of peace everywhere are bombarded with rival claims to right and privilege and power? Let us not give up. Let us hoist Anna and all callers-to-freedom on our shoulders to sing an everyday angel song of peace to all. So often at the end of the year we close with "Old Father Time" who cyclically passes away. This year, as we have a cup of cheer, let us bring Anna Lang Syne to mind (modern translation of Anna Phanuel Asher). Be persistent not only in doing good but in expecting redemption for all as we move from days in the past to life available in this moment. Joyce Antila Phipps I think the gospel passage is about the way messages are revealed to us, how we least expect such revelation. This is especially true in our modern culture where the aged are not respected as they were in ancient cultures. The passage also raises the issue of the inclusiveness of the gospel -- no one is excluded, no matter age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or stated faith. Your comment about other faiths -- we need to be open to what other faith traditions have to say about our view of God. |