Apostle Prototype, Sermon at St. Andrew's

 So here we are now, deep in Lent, 

and you have probably noticed that the Gospel readings during this Lent

             have been a series of whole chapters from John,

each with a rich story loaded with 

1) revelation about who Jesus is, 

and 2) each with the exploration of particular personalities – 

Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the man born blind, and next week Martha, Mary and Lazarus.  

 

Today in this chapter not only are we presented 

with a startling revelation about Jesus, 

but we also can see modeled for us

the example of a candid and guileless apostle.

 

The man born blind -  

            he sees more clearly than the religious leaders, 

            those who have studied the Torah and who are experts in their religion.

 

They, the theologians and “church pillars” as we might call them, 

            are metaphorically blind 

            because they cannot see past their doctrine and dogma 

                        to perceive the hand of God in operation right there before their eyes.

 

Their theology, their belief system provides them with a structure of meaning,

            a way to interpret the world around them in light of 

            the revelation of God that has come to them 

                        through the Torah, the prophets and the wisdom literature.

But their theology has become a box for them, 

and everything they encounter and experience 

passes through the filter of their belief system.

Now the story from the Hebrew Bible paired with this Gospel for today

            may not appear on the surface to have a ready connection with each other. 

This is the story of Samuel inspecting the sons of Jesse, 

searching for the one chosen by God,

until finally David, the youth, hardly more than a boy,

            is summoned in from the fields.

But the key verse is, 

            "Do not look on ... appearance(s) ... 

            for the Lord does not see as mortals see; 

            they look on the outward appearance, 

            but the Lord looks on the heart."

 

The theme here in both readings that connects them is discernment;

            this is discernment that takes place on the spiritual level, 

it is a different kind of seeing,

            what we experience and learn through the heart.

 

The spiritual vision, or sight, of discernment requires 

            that we are open to what goes on beyond appearances, 

beyond simple physical sight. 

It requires that we can "think outside the box."

 

We know that in problem solving 

if you're focused on the problem, 

you're going to miss possible solutions.

            You have to look beyond the problem for the solution.

 

Samuel's preliminary judgment was that the eldest son of Jesse 

would be God’s natural and traditional choice,  but not so.

Samuel had to move out of that perspective through the parade of six more sons, 

            seeing beyond physical sight,

and he was finally rewarded when David came in from the fields.

 

Now in the Gospel passage it is obvious who moved outside the box:

Not the religious leaders but the blind man.

 

The problem was the Sabbath;

making a mud poultice, healing, walking and washing were problematic 

            since technically they were work.

The religious leaders could not conceive 

                                                of how a messiah could flaunt the law; 

            they couldn't move outside their meaning box.

Their understanding of the law and how they interpreted it, 

                                                and how they defined Messiah 

            was preventing them from seeing the life behind the law.

 

Spiritual discernment is certainly something the world needs at the moment,

             especially when there is violence 

being wrought in the name of religion 

This happens in more than one place in the world.

 

I won’t presume to touch that on the global level here today,

            although I saw some of that most recently in the Holy Land itself.

But spiritual discernment is a needed element for life for each of us individually; 

            I would say that it is a Lenten focus, 

                        as it connects with the Lenten discipline 

                                    of self examination and repentance.

 

We are over half way through Lent now.

Do you remember back on Ash Wednesday?

            We were invited “to the observance of a holy Lent, 

by self-examination and repentance…

 

When it comes to self-examination and repentance in looking at ourselves, 

                        we can very easily have blind spots.

What may seem so apparent to others, 

            is hidden from our own perception, and we get "blind-sided."

We actually live in self delusion continually.  

We have a constant drama going on inside our heads, 

a continuous process of running all our experiences and encounters

             through the belief system we operate out of.

And this can feed right back into our self-delusion.

 

For instance someone may have the view of life that 

if you eat right, exercise regularly and drink lots of water 

you will enjoy good health.  

And then that person is diagnosed with colon cancer, 

and feels betrayed by their body. 

You can see how that can create a great internal crisis of meaning!

                                                                                              And that’s just a little example.

We all fall into that trap of thinking to greater or lesser degrees 

with all sorts of things that happen to us.  

The meaning frameworks operate fine for much of the time, 

but when they don’t

then we feel lost, shaken, anxious, fearful, and angry.  

The meaning frameworks we construct 

can be a set up for our self delusion.  

 

Life blind-sides us. 

Life too often happens outside our box.

The Spirit of Christ at work in the Church and in the world today

            has a way of always taking us where we hadn't expected to go,

in getting us to move out of some of our boxes.

                                                                                    The last 3 years have shown us that.

So - Think of experiences of when the Spirit of the Risen Lord touches us – 

When that happens, you gain insight, 

you come awake, as it were,

            once you were blind, now you see.

 

What John is writing about in his Gospel

            is this process for Christians everywhere for gaining sight.

 

Jesus had told the blind man to go across town 

and wash in the Pool of Siloam.

Now notice this:

The blind man is sent to a pool whose name means “sent,” 

and the blind man who now sees becomes an apostle, one who is sent.

 

This person is the quintessential Christian,

                         the quintessential apostle.

            He is you and I, 

                        if we too are willing to look beyond appearances 

                        and see with the spiritual eye.

 

Even if we aren't willing to look beyond appearances,

Jesus is still there for us offering the same healing for our blindness.

 

And – here is the revelation about Jesus – 

            Jesus made mud – he did work – and this was a work of creation.

Notice how this parallels the Genesis account of the creation of Adam

                        whose name refers to the mud from which he was formed.

 

The man was blind, but this was no sin, 

just a matter of an incomplete body, that is, eyes that don’t function - yet.

Here is a revelation about Jesus – Jesus as the Creator.

            Jesus completed the act of creation with this man

                        using the same primordial ingredient of creation, that is, mud,

                        using mud to make, in a sense, new eyes that actually see.

 

And it is noteworthy how compassionate he is.

            Jesus and his disciples are just walking by on the street,

            and they see a blind man sitting there.

They find out he was blind from birth,            

            and  the disciples focus on the reason why the man had been afflicted.

They only saw the problem, while Jesus was already far ahead, 

beyond even the healing to the consequences:

            making the glory of God manifest in the blind man,

            showing himself as light for the world.

 

And all the while this person, as far as we know,

             had not even asked for healing,

                        yet Jesus was already at work.

 

I suggest that we haven't even seen our own need for healing,

still being imprisoned by our own narrow sighted-ness and self-delusion,

            and Jesus has already been working for our healing ahead of us 

                        before we ask.

 

The blind man hadn’t asked yet, 

and Jesus gave him sight, 

and the man went through a huge paradigm shift of perception 

and he immerged as an apostle, 

speaking words of truth to those questioning him:

 

“Here is an astonishing thing!” he said.

“You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.

We know that God does not listen to sinners, 

but God does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 

Never since the world began has it been heard 

that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 

If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” he said to them.

                                                                                                And he worshipped Jesus.

 

How about us?

 

The process of gaining sight is one way we can describe 

spiritual discernment –

                        for each of us and for this congregation as a whole.

 

It is a process of waking up to self-delusion and self-limiting perspectives,

            a healing process of Lent,

            encouragement for seeking and opening to 

our Lord at work within us.

Initial Reflections on Return from the Holy Land

 2023-02-28 through 2023-03-11

Reflections on the Holy Land Pilgrimage

 

The daily posts from the Center for Action and Contemplation for this last week have been about pilgrimage, a grace-filled synchronicity.  

 

Sunday
Pilgrimage helps us see that as long as we think happiness is around the corner, we have not grasped happiness yet. Because happiness is given in this moment and this place, and this moment and place are as perfect as they can be. —Richard Rohr

Monday
Above all else, pilgrimage is praying with your body and it’s praying with your feet. It’s an exterior prayer, and the exterior prayer keeps calling you into the interior prayer. —Richard Rohr

Tuesday
Your soul no longer stays still. It’s moving with God in the world, and moving toward God, revealed in signs or shrines or saints or surroundings. The pilgrim’s walking body holds incarnate this inner journey of the soul.
—Wesley Granberg-Michaelson

Wednesday
A pilgrim must be like a child who can approach everything with an attitude of wonder and awe and faith. Let’s pray for wonder. Let’s pray for awe. Let’s pray for desire, and ask God to take away our cynicism. —Richard Rohr

Thursday
What most distinguishes the sacred art of pilgrimage from a tourist trip or hiking expedition, as beneficial as these are, is the characteristic inward journey, a turning of one’s heart to the Divine, with the expectation of transformation on every level of being along the way.
—Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook

Friday
Whether we are on an actual pilgrimage or perceive that the road of life we are on is our pilgrimage, each step, each move one makes is blessed by the Spirit. For both an actual pilgrimage and the pilgrimage of everyday life is a journey of faith.
—Brett Webb-Mitchell

 

Now back “home” it is the pilgrimage of everyday life, but informed by my discoveries during the days of this physical pilgrimage to walk the footsteps of Jesus and Francis.  Again I walked in the footprints that span thousands of years, the same roads, the same paths, the same geographic locations that contain all the history that came before me, this particular individual in the continuum of human existence.  

 

Our species tries to distinguish itself as separate egos within our species, separate races, tribes, clans and families, continually dividing down into smaller and smaller units of existence.  I, too, am so acclimated to this attempt to self-identify an ego as my claim to existence.  I need the concept of pilgrimage, not to “find myself,” but to see myself in the larger scheme of life, and to look beyond the human species to the Gospel of Creation. 

 

The land we walked on during this pilgrimage was silently shouting to us about how much our human striving was beside the point, how much our clashing ideas, desires, claims of rights and demands for ownership and power and control blind us from seeing our relationship with all the other living beings: from the microbes in our guts, to the cats prowling the streets, to the birds singing their songs we do not hear, to the roots of trees that hold them to the stones, to the hills and valleys strew with those stones, the smaller ones of which that are placed on graves, to the power of water flowing downwards.  We did not feel that shaking of the earth that made those ancient carved columns fall all in the same direction bowing down to the force greater than any emperor’s monument.

 

This Lent I am overwhelmed – again – by the Ash Wednesday invitation to penitence, to examination of sin, not just listing my sins, but looking at the spiritual blindness that sin causes, the stumbling block, that which makes the labyrinth of the life journey into a hideous maze.  And I am also and again overwhelmed by the mercy and grace that I continually experience, the divine hand that gently turns my face toward the pilgrim road where the light is shining, where the path of the labyrinth is distinguished from the hell of the maze.  And again, year after year, I see – hopefully more clearly – those same old sins that I have persisted in and repented of and despaired over, that seem tattooed on my soul, newly again taken away in that grace and mercy by the One who has always drawn me into the heart of his love.

Meditation – Beginning Again

“Everyone … has been living through a time of mounting political, economic, ecological and climate peril – the turning point that we all share. Without exaggeration, it has been described as both ‘unthinkable’, and ‘like no other in human history’. We mislead ourselves to think of this as only the background or context of our lives -an external condition that needs to be fixed so we can then continue with life as before.”

Jeff Golliher, The Franciscan Forms of Service, Hopeful

Reflections in a Perilous Time, © 2021

The last couple of years have left their mark on us all in numerous ways. For some of us our prayer life and spiritual practices have been a source of comfort, or these practices have faced new challenges, or they have fallen short in what we would want to expect from them. Now is a good time to reflect on our spiritual practices, to reevaluate them, to renew or refresh them, or to open to new spiritual practices. This is important to address, as it is in our spiritual practices and prayer life that we can find grounding and support for how we face the challenges of this current point in human history and live our lives in response and not reaction.

For those of you who have (or have not) been meditating, doing mindfulness practice or another Buddhist practice or Centering Prayer or the Orthodox Jesus Prayer or any other form of sitting in silence with the intention of openness to the Holy, and for those who would like to learn how to meditate, I am offering a way to engage this spiritual practice.

Starting this Sunday, November 13, at 4:00 PM at West Central Abby, 1832 W Dean Ave, Spokane:

Advent Countercultural Meditation for the Busy Christmas Season

This class will explore the spiritual practice of meditation through short times of sitting together in silence and discussion about:

· what meditation is

· why meditate

· ways to meditate

· how meditation is a subversive sabotage of the prevailing culture

· how sitting still and doing nothing accomplishes so much

Our time together of sharing personal experiences of meditation is sacred and respected for each one participating while providing opportunity for loving personal growth and growth as a compassionate faith community.

It's not about continuing life as it was before.

Last Words

Well, here we are.  My last Sunday and last sermon.

 

Ordinarily I would be tucking into the Gospel reading for today,

            exploring how it is relevant for our own lives 

            and how it gives us insight, light and strengthening grace

                        for facing the challenges we have been dealing with.

 

For this really significant Resurrection story today

            I am going to refer you to the sermon I preached to you last year,

                        since this is the Gospel reading 

                        for the 2nd Sunday of Easter every year.

It’s posted on the Nativity Facebook page and on my blog

            for those of you who would actually do such a thing 

                        as to look up a sermon from a year ago and read it.

 

But today is my opportunity to say some parting words to you,

            and dole out some advice for handling the coming weeks

                        before your new priest is discerned, called, and moved in.

 

Most of you here have been blessed by the many years that +Gretchen 

            was here and served as your rector.

That was a special time

            and a large part of that was because +Gretchen was a great priest,

                        and a very good administrator.

And that’s a major reason why this diocese discerned and called her

                                                                        to be their bishop.

And you all can be rightly proud 

            of her service to all the congregations in the diocese

                        because it has been excellent.

 

Her leadership has served the diocese well during this incredible time

            of living through a world wide pandemic.

 

And I am thankful for that leadership,

            because I, like every other priest, was working out how to do ministry

                        under new and difficult circumstances,

            and doing that not as your rector, but as an interim.

 

Let me say right here during the time of serving as your interim Vicar.

            I have not fulfilled all the  expectations you may have had

I have not resolved differences between individuals.

            I have not satisfied everyone.

Some of you disagree with me on various topics, and that’s okay.

            That wasn’t my job – to be everything for everyone.

But I did what I could and trust the rest to our Lord.

 

So amazingly, 

            despite having long stretches when we couldn’t worship together,

                         we engaged in the calling process,            

            and you folks have responded to all sorts of surveys and questionnaires,

giving your input to the profile committee

            for the ministry they were tasked with

                        in creating the all important Parish Profile.

 

That profile committee, which, I must say, 

was a really excellent group of people,

            talked with every one of you,

            and then put together a well crafted parish profile.

You owe thanks to Rosemary, Annamarie, Harold, Mary Lou and John

            for a job well done.

 

I think we can now reasonably say that the worst of the pandemic is behind us,

            and I have been truly impressed with how you all 

                        cooperated together to make this place safe for gathering

                                                                                    during this time.

 

You all have been a witness in a crazy world 

            about caring more for the health and well being of others 

                        than supposed individual freedom rights 

            that flew in the face of medical knowledge and wisdom.

 

And you all can be very proud of the fact that we have a core membership here

            that made it possible to continue providing essential services,

providing life sustaining food to the community during this prolonged crisis.

                        I am so proud of you for this

            because this has been the epitome

                                                             of showing your faith through your works,

because in giving to those in need,

            very truly you are giving  to the Risen Christ disguised in your midst.

I am so proud of you all for this.

 

So even though we haven’t hit the attendance numbers 

            that we had pre-pandemic,

we have nonetheless come through this terribly trying time stronger.

You have been tried, and whether you can see it or not,

            you have come through the time of trial.

 

The contemporary wording of the Lord’s Prayer

            for “lead us not into temptation” reads “save us from the time of trial.”

I want you to think about what we have been through in the last 2 plus years

            and know that this has been a time of trial.

We have come through this trial by the grace of God,

            whether or not we recognize that God’s grace has been at work.

 

When your new priest arrives, 

            I hope very much that you will tell this person

                        stories about this time.

Don’t sugar coat the stories, be honest.

We weren’t heroic or angelic,

            but we persevered in being faithful.

We weren’t always kind and gentle with each other,

            but I heard apologies and expressions of grief and regret

            and, at times, occasions of tenderly reaching out to each other.

Saintly we were not, but I would say that we have been saints-in-training.

            And you better be sure to keep working on being saints-in-training! 

 

You know, this congregation was very fortunate to have been enrolled 

            in the Baptized For Life program.

That was just the impetus that was needed for making a commitment 

            to spiritual growth and sharing our faith stories with one another.

No matter what small group you have been in,

            I hope you value that opportunity going forward 

                        to keep working on those relationships

                        and on your own going deeper into your relationship with Jesus.

THIS is THE BEST THING you can do as preparation  

            and as you anticipate the next priest who will be coming to Nativity.

 

Now, some words of advice about how you are to view your next priest.

 

First of all, this person is not your savior.  Jesus is!

This new priest will be working WITH you, not FOR you.

            So you will need to continue working in your areas of ministry

            as you have been, and maybe in some new ways or with fresh vision.

You are not to back off from the ways you have been contributing in service.

            Can I press you to pledge that now?  

No slacking off when the new priest arrives!

                        even though that is often an unconscious thing that happens.

I am telling you that now and I want you to remember this.

            And it doesn’t need to be just Maxine and Don doing everything 

                        – God bless them – 

Trust that you will not be treading on anyone’s toes 

                                                                        by offering to help in any area.

 

Second word of advice, 

new clergy leadership does not guarantee a growth in attendance.

            Having that expectation – spoken or unconscious – 

                        is really detrimental to you all.

You and your new priest will need to work together and pray together

            about HOW you want to be a welcoming beacon of light

                        to the LC Valley.

You and your participation will be a big part of what happens 

                                                in terms of congregational numbers.

 

And be very clear that the purpose of reaching out to bring in others

            is NOT about sustaining the membership 

            so that you can meet the budget.

                        Loving, sweet Jesus, no!

 

It is about one beggar showing another where to get bread.

            That is one of the best definitions of evangelism that I have ever heard.

One beggar showing another beggar where to get bread.

            There is no judgment in that kind of evangelism.

There is admitting that I am just as much in need of God’s mercy 

                        as you are or as anyone else is.

But I have found something life giving and life sustaining here,

            I have found a solid ground for faith here,

            and it has sustained me through difficult times:

                        times such as these last couple of years with a pandemic

                        and ragged times of my own doing – or undoing.

 

Each of you need to do your own reflection about this – I mean it – 

            and then be thankful for our Risen Lord faithfully with us

            hidden in bread and in wine and in each other.

 

Third word of advice:  This is essential for being able to be with each other 

            in loving ways that create connections, rather than dividing.

Do not judge each other.

            That is presupposing your own values and rules on another

                        without knowing their circumstances,

                        without knowing the whole picture.

Do not expect others to act or be as you think they ought to be.

 

And now a last word of advice:  remember, control is an illusion.

            Do NOT try to control the ever moving flow of Life, of the Spirit leading.

A good way to quit trying to control is to recognize that at its base

            control is motivated by thinking you know what’s best.

It takes some humility and spiritual maturity to recognize this.

Control is a trap.  Don’t get caught in it.

 

But know this: You are all so lucky to be here.

You have made it through the plague that stalks in the darkness

                        and the sickness that lays waste at mid-day,

                                                to quote Psalm 91 – read that Psalm!

As you wait your turn to come up to the altar to receive communion,

            pick up the prayer book and read Psalm 91, page 719.

And be so utterly thankful for God’s providence that has overshadowed you.

 

In conclusion, let me tell you a story.

            There is an ancient story, not in the New Testament

                        but handed down through the oral tradition,

            a story about the Apostle John.

 

Of all the twelve he was the only one to live to old age.

He lived through persecutions and the martyrdom of the other apostles.

He is said to have lived through exile on the island of Patmos.

He is attributed with writing the Gospel of John, 

                        three epistles, and the Book of the Revelation.

 

The story goes that when he was very, very old

            the faithful would gather around him to hear his wisdom.

Now, as he was approaching death, 

            they came to ask him for what his final sermon to them would be.

Gathering his strength so that he could speak, he said,

                        “Little children, love one another.”

After some silence, he then spoke again:

                        “Little children, love one another.”

After further silence, he spoke once more:

                        “Little children, love one another.”

 

I don’t think I could do better than that.

So my dear sisters and brothers, if you want to honor my time among you,            

    do this:            Love one another.