Pentecost VIII

By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Year C, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 11
22 July 2007

Text: Luke 10: 38-42, Other Readings:  Amos 8: 1-12; Colossians 1: 15-28; Psalm 52

            As I stood in the back of the beautiful white nave at Trinity Church here in Houston preparing to process into the service for my ordination to the priesthood in June of 2001, Bishop Leo Alard admonished me in a stage whisper, “Martha, Martha, you are worried & distracted by many things;” & he was exactly right.  Kitchen preparations had not gone well, the custodian had refused to let the Bishop into the rector’s office, my sister & mother had arrived only 5 minutes earlier, & Bill’s mother & brother were stuck at Intercontinental Airport.  As the Bishop was one of my champions in the ordination process, he had long anticipated this day, wanting it to go as well as I did.  He added with a twinkle in his eye, “I’ll ask you some of the ordination questions in Spanish,” & I quipped, “And I’ll answer in Spanish.”  He did, & I did.  His playfulness took my mind off all the anxieties I had about the many things which had distracted me. 

            I’ve always contended that those who aren’t nervous about an important event clearly don’t comprehend what’s really going on, & since liturgy & hospitality are two of the hallmarks of our identity as both Episcopalians & Christians, I was as nervous that night as I was when we greeted Bishop Wimberly several weeks ago with no air conditioning.  Yes, I’ll admit it!  I’m well-named, & my sister Mary’s ability to take daily time for meditation & journaling heightens my discomfort with this story.

            After years of being haunted by this passage, I have read enough & lived enough that I believe this story deals with a balanced life, not a choice of one way of life or another.  I am an active person & am told that I have a high energy level, but I can only accomplish good & healthy acts in my life out in the world if I am in fit spiritual condition.  Healthy activism must spring from hearing the Word of God & taking time to let it sink into the inner layers of one’s heart.  A favorite collect from the Prayer Book says, in part, “Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, & inwardly digest them, that we may embrace & ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. . . .”  We can hear & read Scripture or other spiritual reading in public, but in order to mark, learn, & inwardly digest them, in order to embrace & ever hold fast to the hope we find in them, we need time & space & resting in God’s loving arms.  That’s not just true for the introverted Marys among us; but for all of us, even the Marthas.

            Each day I begin with prayer & meditation, scripture reading & journaling, especially since a group of us has been reading The Artist’s Way this summer.  After the retreat I took in Massachusetts in June, I’ve been much more aware of my need for Sabbath time, both on Mondays but also when I have time stuck in traffic or in a slow-moving line where I would ordinarily just be steaming that I am held up.  In the doctor’s office, I relax & breathe deeply, giving thanks or uttering a breath prayer rather than being uptight & frustrated that I can’t get what I want as soon as I want it.  Weekly time to prepare for worship with you, the larger community, is essential.  As I did just recently, every Christian needs a larger chunk of time to “rest in God’s arms” & let the Holy Spirit refresh our souls.  It’s not a vacation; I’m not vacating anything.  It’s part of my job to be spiritually fit.  Such spiritual renewal is necessary for you, too.  Many retreat houses are available much closer than Massachusetts, & I’ll be happy to help any of you find a fitting place for you to open the ears of your heart to Christ. 

            In this short story Luke gives us much useful in modern life.  Remember that Jesus recommends a balanced life.  After all, he has come to Martha’s home, according to the reading.  This single woman must have means to manage her own affairs and provide for a sister & brother, Mary & Lazarus.  Jesus regards Martha’s home as a place of hospitality, a place he can come to rest, perhaps his place of retreat.  Martha is a woman of hospitality.  She welcomes Jesus to her home, bustling about to make her guest comfortable.  She exhibits the ancient custom & virtue of hospitality which we often neglect in this society.  Sometimes it is very inconvenient to extend our hands & our table & our hearts to strangers, but that’s what we’re called to do.  We had a great example of our doing that yesterday with our Summer Festival.  Jesus calls us to be givers at some times in our lives &, as we discussed last week, other times we’re to be gracious receivers. 

            Speaking of last week, you may remember that we talked about the parable of the Good Samaritan & I said you had to come back this week to hear the rest of the story.  Why?  These 2 stories are set side by side for a reason.  Last week, we saw an unlikely person—a Samaritan—exhibiting the virtues of an active life.  This week we see another unlikely person—Mary, a woman—acting like a male disciple, sitting at Jesus’ feet to listen to him—a complementary contemplative life.  There’s nothing wrong with Martha’s actions—someone has to make the dinner—but rather in her over-zealousness to DO which overrides her ability to receive from Jesus. 

A modern-day example we can relate to is that all of us enjoy our coffee hour after church, but if someone has to miss worship—the central communal activity for our community—in order to set up coffee hour, then perhaps we overvalue coffee, little wieners, & cookies.  Our despair at what is happening in the parish, the community, or the larger church often is acted out by our “doing a Martha.”  Ouch!  That still hurts!  When we rush around distracted by many things, trying to fix whatever is amiss, as if God has abandoned us & left it all to us.  When we take the weight of the world, or at least our little corner of it, upon our own shoulders, kindness & charity to one another takes a back seat.  We end up not being very nice to each other; thus to God.

We neglect to live “in” Christ, to stop & take time to get to know Jesus & to learn from him.  Relationships take time & energy to build, but we often neglect the time needed to get to know God.  And then we accuse GOD of leaving us.  Who’s moved?  When we trust fully in God, it’s scary because we’re urged to lay our whole selves on the altar for God to revive & renew.  We are frightened not to be in control, to give it over to God.  We have an old hymn we’re singing during Communion today I hope you truly listen to.  Are you truly willing to lean on the everlasting arms which are always there to hold us, to catch us, to enfold us?  Try letting go as Mary did to let Jesus fully have your whole life.

            So here we have the rest of the story.  Jesus wants us always in the process of sitting at his feet as disciples.  In worship, we are nourished with his Body & Blood.   Then, we’re called to loving action.  As a Christian community, we’re reminded in a passage in Hebrews that we’re to “Let mutual love continue.  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that, some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebr. 13: 1-2)  When we show hospitality to others, we don’t do so to earn brownie points in God’s little black book but because we have been blessed so much by God that we must pass on the blessings.  This week with Vacation Bible School, we have another opportunity to be gracious in our hospitality, & further, we can bring our friends to experience this VBS for 3 nights, no matter what our age.  We all have friends who are not church-goers; let’s bring them to enjoy our lives together.

            So there, we have the rest of the story.  Once again, we’re caught in the tension between active & passive lives, & both are necessary.  It’s a both/and proposition, friends.  We’re all in this together.  Out of our prayer & study come Christ-led actions in our community & beyond which then leads us back to the altar & the community to be renewed & refreshed in worship & study & fellowship so we can return to the world to share with others.  There’s no time limit on this process, folks.  The warranty doesn’t wear out.  It’s a lifetime proposition!

Pentecost VII

By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Year C, Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 10
15 July 2007

Text: Luke 10: 25-37, Other Readings:  Amos 7: 7-17; Colossians 1: 1-14; Psalm 82

            Our Gospel is the 1^st two parts of a story we will continue next week. Stay tuned until next Sunday for a story of Mary & Martha.  The chapter & verses are listed in your pew bulletin, so perhaps you can look over the lessons before you get here.

            Let’s first pay some attention to Jesus’ conversation with the lawyer who comes forward to test him.   This lawyer is tempting Jesus to compromise values Jesus says are necessary to a life of integrity & honor.  The lawyer wants to know how hard he has to work to gain eternal life.  He wants to earn God’s love through following the Jewish law, not an unusual concept for an attorney. 

Jesus answers by asking the lawyer to state the summary of the law.  The lawyer combines both of the great commandments—loving God & loving neighbor—& Jesus says he’s exactly right.  But Jesus pushes beyond just what is required, like studying for a test in order to pass with a 70%.  No, Jesus wants the lawyer—& all the rest of us, too—to love God with every bit of our lives:  with all our heart means in our innermost being; with all our soul includes our individual identity—our personality; with all our might means with our energy, our strength, our resolve, & our resources; & with all our mind means with all our understanding & intellect.  Jesus doesn’t want us to hold anything back; he calls us to turn our will & our lives over to the care of a loving God. 

By loving God that fully, then, of course we’re going to

love our neighbors just as God loves them, aren’t we?  That’s why both commandments go together, because fulfilling one by its very nature fulfills the other. 

The lawyer, still trying to figure out the limits to what he has to do, asks “And who is my neighbor?”  How far does this loving of neighbor have to go.  Frederick Buechner, in his book Wishful Thinking, says the lawyer was looking for a legal definition like this:  “A neighbor (herein referred to as the party of the 1st part) is to be construed as meaning a person of Jewish descent whose legal residence is within a radius of no more than 3 statute miles from one’s own legal residence unless there is another person of Jewish descent (hereinafter to be referred to as the party of the 2^nd part) living closer to the party of the 1^st part & then one is oneself relieved of all responsibility of any sort or kind whatsoever.” (65-66)

Who in here can honestly say that she or he has never tried to figure out the minimum daily requirement to get what we want, so we can do the least possible & still get by?  This lawyer wanted Jesus to say only certain people like him were his neighbors, & he only need act lovingly toward those select few, those who won’t make him uncomfortable or have to make a leap of faith.

Jesus doesn’t answer the lawyer directly but tells him a story, a parable.  By now, we know Jesus’ parables can make us squirm, make us ask what Jesus expects of us.  And his parables always have an unexpected twist.  A man about whom we know nothing travels a notoriously dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho, descending nearly 3300 feet in 17 miles.  No one hearing Jesus’ parable was surprised that robbers left half dead.  Neither would both the priest & the Levite’s passing him by on the other side surprise Jesus’ audience.  After all, if these important men in the community touch this man & he dies, they will be ritually unclean, unable to fulfill the duties for which they are paid.   The person they expect to rescue the injured man should be another faithful Israelite. 

But who comes along & responds to the wounded man?  A Samaritan!  A hated Samaritan!  Samaritans are unclean—descendants of mixed marriages—they don’t even have the sense to go to Jerusalem for worship like good Jews do.  No good self-respecting Jew will have anything to do with a Samaritan.  Who would be as despised as a Samaritan in today’s society?  The dark-skinned Middle Easterner, probably from Iraq, who might be a terrorist?  The woman just out of prison without a place to live or a job?  The homosexual man whom we’re convinced is out to ensnare an unsuspecting teenager?  Or perhaps the teenager with spiked hair & constant ear-splitting music?  An undocumented immigrant holding a job some deserving American should have? Who do we believe would be the last person in the world we would like to accept help from?  That’s who the Samaritan would be in our society.

Look at how the Samaritan cares for the unfortunate traveler:  the Samaritan sees him, is moved with pity, goes to him, bandaging his wounds & pouring oil & wine on them.  Then, putting him on his own animal, he takes him to an inn where his immediate needs can be addressed.  Even though the Samaritan must leave, he makes provision for the innkeeper to care for him further, promising to pay for his trouble.  The Samaritan does more than we would ever expect to care for the injured man.  Even the lawyer admits it is the Samaritan who proves to be the neighbor, the one who shows mercy to the injured man.

Now I’ve spent all my life listening to this story, studying it, but it wasn’t until preparing for this sermon that I realized Jesus is not the Samaritan himself but rather the injured man.  We all must receive help from the unlikeliest of people from time to time.  And you know what?  God loves that other person just as much as God loves you & me.  We’re all precious in God’s sight.  That’s part of what being neighbors is all about:  sometimes we’re the givers & sometimes we’re the takers.  We must learn to do both with grace & dignity, across all boundaries that we humans keep insisting on setting up.  Many of us don’t want to give up the power position & be as vulnerable as we feel when we’re the receivers.  Jesus’ love reaches beyond all barriers to draw us all in to give & receive, treasuring each other as Jesus treasures us. 

What Jesus tells the lawyer about the requirements for inheriting eternal life is to let go of all the judgments & divisions we set up to separate ourselves from others.  Jesus asks us to care for each other as brothers & sisters whether the others are like us at all, even regardless of whether the others like us or whether we like them.  It’s not our feelings toward others that matter at all; it’s rather Jesus’ love for them, for all of us. 

And how on earth can we accomplish this neighborliness?  How can we love those we don’t like at all, & whom we don’t even trust?  We can’t; not on our own.  We’re not expected to do so.  We’re totally dependent on God’s grace & power to accomplish such love of others.  That’s what we prayed for in the collect for today:  to know & understand what we ought to do & to have the grace & power to accomplish it.  Grace & power don’t happen on our own; they’re gifts from God, & we do well to utter that prayer often, for we cannot manufacture those qualities ourselves; we must rely upon God to provide them. 

But that’s the whole point of loving God with our whole being:  heart, soul, strength, & mind.  We must turn our whole will & lives over to the care of a loving God.  Ah-ha!  We’re back to the 1^st commandment, aren’t we?  This business of loving God & neighbor really does go together, doesn’t it? 

How do we go about loving without reservation?  We can’t do it all alone.  That’s why we need the community.  That’s why we come together week after week to worship God in praise, in song, in prayer, & in hearing & meditating on God’s word together.  That’s why we gather at this altar, offering our prayers of praise & thanksgiving, offering our lives again & again to God, strengthened by the body & blood of Christ in this banquet we share together.  We need each other, & we need to be nourished by this Eucharistic dinner regularly as we practice being a community of disciples together. 

But we must always remember that the community is not complete.  Someone once said if we want equality, we must work for justice—others’ as well as our own.  There are always neighbors out there for us to invite into the banquet with us.  And sometimes we share at our neighbors’ banquet table.  Jesus shows us in other places that there’ll be an abundance as long as we’re giving freely.  Let’s all celebrate with the neighbors present here, ever praying that Christ show us the neighbors we do not yet recognize.  Amen.

Pentecost V

By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Year C, Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8
1 July 2007 

Text: Luke 9: 51-62  Other Readings:  2 Kings 2: 1-2, 6-14; Ps. 77: 1-2, 11-20; Galatians 5: 1, 13-25 

      "Life is difficult."  So began Scott Peck in his best-selling self-help book of the '80s The Road Less Traveled.  Most of us didn't have to be convinced of that verity as we first opened the book.  In looking at the scriptures we read today, I was reminded that throughout the history of the Judeo-Christian faith, life has been difficult.  The psalmist said, "In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. . . ."  Last week Elijah was on the lam from Jezabel's wrath & whined to God that he was the only one who had been faithful, and this week, Elijah passes on his mantle and a double share of his spirit to Elisha as he is taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire.  The prophets of Israel did not have easy lives.

      With memories of the story of Elijah, Luke begins his narrative of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem where he will be "taken up" by saying that, despite the difficulty & hardship, Jesus sets his face to go to Jerusalem & his death.  As Jesus redoubles his efforts to teach the basics of discipleship to his followers before he leaves them, he encounters rejection in a Samaritan village & a clear misunderstanding of his message of love & forgiveness as James & John, 2 of his closest disciples want to zap the Samaritans with well-directed bolts of fire.  Even some who decide to follow him still have mixed loyalties as they want to attend to their elders until they die or at least say goodbye to all the relatives before taking off.  Jesus' followers shared neither his pacifistic tendencies nor his urgency to spread the good news.

      St. Paul had similar difficulties in helping the first Christian communities grow in the faith & learn to live together.  The Galatians were having a hard time staying joined together in unity of spirit as we prayed for in the Collect for the Day this morning, especially since some of the Jewish Christians were still convinced the Gentiles had to convert to Judaism & be circumcised in order to be Christian.  We don't know the exact issue the Galatians were tearing their community apart over, but whatever it was, Paul reminded them that the most important commandment for their development was "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  It doesn't sound like a pretty sight he describes:  biting & devouring one another, consuming each other.

Even when we live in the freedom of the Spirit rather than the rigors of the Torah, the Mosaic Law, we have a tough time living responsibly.  Paul has to continuously remind the churches he has founded that in Christ they have freedom TO act responsibly in the love of Christ, not just freedom FROM the law.  I remember as a child looking forward to being a grownup when I would be free of the dumb rules adults imposed upon us kids—things like bedtimes & curfews, finishing homework & showing respect to elders.  Little did I realize how much responsibility came with the freedom of adulthood!  The Galatians & the other young churches were certainly in their adolescence if we read between the lines of Paul's epistles.  Paul's list of "works of the flesh" didn't come out of nowhere.  Why would he have had to warn them numerous times that those who practiced the whole list of atrocities from carousing to drunkenness to quarrels to licentiousness would not inherit the kingdom of God unless these abuses of their freedom were present in the community? 

      Regardless of what label put on most "works of the flesh," they can usually be summed up in the word idolatry:  making something else into a god & worshipping it as their god.  When we know better than God does how to manage our lives, we make our own good judgment into an idol.  Even laudable behavior such as maintaining a good name in the community, making a respectable living for our families, & tithing to the church can become an idol when it becomes a god to us.

      Notice that Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit, not fruits.  They are not individual deeds which make the difference in a Christian who is free from the law & living in the Spirit.  These are attitudes & orientations of our lives which are given as grace to us by the Spirit.  The overarching quality of the Spirit is love, not just one of the 9 virtues but the one which informs & makes possible the other 8.  Out of the love of our neighbors as ourselves, we can be graced with joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control.  Yes, they are gifts—graces—and they are not given in order to make us super-Christians but rather that our community may grow in unity & faith so we can spread the glory of God to others. 

      Here at Hope, life is difficult.  Many of us have physical or emotional challenges we deal with daily, either personally or with someone dear to us.  While our own or our elders' bodies are falling apart, our children simply insist on doing their own things regardless of the fact that we know what's best for them!  Some can't find adequate work & others are trying to stretch their fixed income.  We're already struggling to keep up with the summer bills, finding folks to work in Vacation Bible School & to chaperone the youth group, and lead certain events & groups at the church.  Then we have things all fixed up nice for the Bishop's visit, & the air conditioning breaks down the night before.  Kerry told me on the phone last Saturday evening that it wouldn't do any good to cry about the heat, but I can tell you I felt a lot better after a good cry!  Sometimes, life is especially difficult!

      Yet the psalmist cries out, "You are the God who works wonders & have declared your power among the peoples."  Archbishop William Temple reminds us that we are only part of the whole of God's creation:  "While we deliberate, God reigns;  when we decide wisely, God reigns; when we decide foolishly, God reigns; when we serve God in humble loyalty, God reigns; when we serve God self-assertively, God reigns; when we rebel & seek to withhold our service, God reigns—the Alpha & the Omega, which is, & which was, & which is to come, the Almighty."

      A little over 2 years ago, we came together as one parish, "servants of Jesus Christ, an inclusive community called to spread God's transforming love to all people."  Our community is becoming transformed as we are offering opportunities to the larger neighborhood.  Last weekend, we presented 6 people to the Bishop for confirmation, reception, & reaffirmation since we are a growing Christian community.  An impressive group of youth have been baptized recently.  Several other individuals & families have united with Hope in the past year or so, & our average Sunday attendance grows a bit each year.  Elizabeth, our new youth minister, is meeting faithfully with our youth three times a week.  Two book study groups—one men's & another women's—are meeting weekly this summer.  The Brotherhood of St. Andrew has joined the Daughters of the King as both organizations combine prayer, study, & service for the spread of God's reign.  Counting our blessings & listing those things for which we are grateful help keep life in perspective & remind us that God truly is in charge.

      We have much farther to go in our journey of faith as Hope parish, my friends.  The Diocese will help us make a new air conditioning unit possible, but we must solidify our financial base so that we can be healthy enough to do the transforming work God is calling us to do in this place & beyond.  The Vacation Bible School looms ahead & will require a cadre of adults to make it happen.  Every time Elizabeth meets with our youth, she is required to have another adult with her.  Those of you who are NOT parents stood up at the baptism of many of these very youth & agreed to support them in their Christian lives to fulfill those baptismal promises.  Ok, folks, now's your chance!  They need you 3 times a week.  All of us need ongoing Christian formation such as Bible study &/or small group development.  Don't see something that fits your schedule or interest?  Start a group!  I'll be glad to help you get started. 

      Opportunities beyond the parish abound also.  The Black Middle School tutoring program can make a marked difference to the health of our neighborhood.  We can influence the decisions made in our city & beyond by becoming politically active.  The proposed garbage fee was removed from the city budget after Theresa & several others involved with TMO spoke before City Council last week.  Before long, our cabin at Boys' Country will need school supplies & clothing. 

      My friends, we have come a long way on this adventure we call Hope.  God continues to do good things for us, & we have the opportunity to continue to be co-creators with God.  St. Paul says "If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit."  Jesus himself says, "No one who puts a hand to the plow & looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."  Let us pray for guidance on what Hope can be & do, & let us act on God's response.