Column on Vacation

I went on a short cruise this past week on the West coast. It was a shock to see snow on Saturday morning, as I awoke, groggily, form a late flight that was, of course, delayed even more. Of course, we received no explanation from the airline, no offer of recompense.

Prior to going to Mexico, a lot of people inquired about the state of crime and violence there, as chaos has descended like a storm cloud on the region. No issues occurred of which we were aware. This was in stark contrast to the news form home that yet another school shooting had occurred. One cannot take a vacation from the gun violence in our country.

Gun violence is a plague in this country. Events involving just a few people, such as those hurt in a train derailment get extensive coverage. It takes more for gun violence to get attention at all, as what the president called carnage in his inaugural address continues unabated.

One encounters some of our worst traits on vacation. A number of people stumbled about, concerned that their daily purchased drink allotment may not be reached. “Vacation pounds” was a mantra heard more than prayer blessing. So were pleas to the gods of fortune at the smoked-filled casino area, and the dash to the ATM machine to replenish money lost at the tables. The complaining among relatively economically secure people continues to astound me: the best on this trip was a woman complaining that the pool on the deck needed to be heated and enclosed as the breeze from the ship’s course annoyed her.

On the other hand, family members or care givers d took tender concern over their wheelchair bound charges and disabled children. I love seeing the joy on a child’s face when seeing a towel animal placed about common areas and getting to press the buttons for everyone on the elevator.

Sometimes, it feels as if God goes on vacation. We pray and pray and sense neither presence, nor an answer to out heartfelt concerns. This cruise line offers clergy the chance to register with them and respond to needs, a request for worship, or bible study during trivia contests. No call came. Mardi Gras went full steam ahead, shorn of its religious background, and I noticed some people seeking a church in Mexico.

I imagine God shaking the divine head in grief at what we do to each other. I imagine god beaming with pride when we encountered pods of dolphin skirting the surface of crystal blue water, apparently for the sheer joy of doing just that. I wonder if the divine heart still gets a thrill out of seeing whale on their migratory journey, still heading both directions and  breaching form the waters, again, perhaps out of the sheer joy of having given birth in the Mexican waters. I wonder if God too appreciates the care it took for creating the Wrigley Gardens on Catalina Island and maybe the golf carts that seem to be the transportation mode of choice there. I wonder if God continues to take the ordained Sabbath rest every week as well.

In my vision of God, I imagine the divine presence like a magnet drawing us toward what we could be. I still wonder why that same presence does not do more to flip the polarity and have evil repel us much more than it does. I do imagine God constantly at work trying to draw good out of wrong, with an eye toward a distant horizon of harmony and peace. I imagine God lending a listening ear like a therapist but offering us guidance and hints of discernment like a coach. After all, love does not take a vacation.

Column on transfiguration

When you are a minister for a while, some Sundays become harder to preach. We get a few early in the year: baptism of Jesus and Transfiguration Sunday today. We try to host a gathering of clergy to read a piece every few months, and we decide dot work with transfiguration, and it proved one of our bett4er gatherings, partly due to the anxiety of the preachers present.

Many know the story. Jesus goes up with three disciples and takes on a decidedly heavenly aspect and speaks with Moses and Elijah in their vision. First the word we translate as transfigure is metamorphosis. We know the word from rocks that are transformed by heat or pressure into something different: limestone into marble. Some think that this is a preview of resurrection. Elijah, recall, was taken up in a chariot of fire, and by the time of Jesus, some thought that Moses, without a burial spot, was assumed into heaven as well.

Mary Gordon cites a translation of Matthew 17:5 that has God saying, “This is my beloved son in whom I take delight. At the Transfiguration, then, “we are in the presence of delight. Delight as an aspect of the holy.” It’s tender moment. God loves, so God interacts.” These words repeat the baptismal announcement, but add: Listen to him.

What kind of voice did they hear? I tend to think that god sounds like Charlton Heston or James Earl Jones. A piece of rabbinic tradition holds that we can speak of the divine voice as soothing, the daughter of a voice, like an echo, or the soundless hum of the creation of God.

Transfiguration tells us that the ordinary is being transformed, transfigured to reflect something deeper, something higher, something more than basic appearance. When we will be receiving Communion during the Sundays of Lent, we are in a classic experience of transfiguration. The elements retain their character but are filled with the very presence of the living Christ. That life is being incorporated into our own. How can we not be changed? Another way of saying it would be treasure in earthen vessels.

“It is good that we are here.” Preachers often laugh at impetuous Peter and his desire to make it a religious ritual to build some makeshift tents. Perhaps better, it was good for Peter to behold the vision, so he w could work down in the valley.

Paul Lehmann wrote: “In that light, the mystery and meaning of the ultimate presence and power by which reality is, and is defined and directed, are unveiled and concealed in the hiddenness and openness of a human person whose presence and power set the whole off-course world and human story on course again.”

In the new Presbyterian Outlook, Jill Duffield recalls an experience with an immigrant cab driver in San Francisco who was complaining about his hard life. “He pulled over to the curb, I paid, and he got out to get my bag. As he handed my suitcase to me he said, "Pray for me." Then emphatically again, "Pray for me." I asked his name. I told him mine. Suddenly, I saw him in a whole new light. Not just a cab driver, but my brother, one for whom I had been entrusted to pray…Not one contained in the boxes in which I place him, but one who transcends any limits I try to impose upon him, as  close as the person right in front of me. In those moments of revelation, transfiguration, I don't know what to say, but I am left only to listen, for God, to Jesus, in the clouds and in taxis too.” 

sermon Notes Transfiguration Feb. 11- @ Kings 2 Mark 9 2 Cor.

2 Kings 2, The second is simply a question: How might this story, with so many boundary-crossings, fuel the imagination of faith today?Elisha is transfigured too.

Ps. 50, 2 Cor. 4:3 Jacobsen-At the beginning of this little passage, Paul addresses the question of whether or not the gospel that Paul preaches is "veiled." The word "veiled" used by Paul here is kekalymmenon,  if the gospel is veiled -- hidden, obscured, unknown -- it is only veiled to those who have been blinded by the "god of this world."With Christ, Paul sees God’s glory as he has never seen it before. It is as though the law turned on a flashlight in the darkness, but Christ has shone daylight. After seeing the world with the light of the sun, the limitations of the flashlight, though a wonderful tool, are obvious. While the law produced glory that fades, seeing Christ results in glory that grows as the witnesses are being transformed into Christ’s likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18).Heaven. And it is this "god" that veils the gospel and obscures it from the eyes of some. Carla Works-and see last paragraph

Mk.9-Skinner- Mary Gordon’s meditations on this story, she cites a translation of Matthew 17:5 that has God saying, “This is my beloved son in whom I take delight.” At the Transfiguration, then, “we are in the presence of delight. Delight as an aspect of the holy.” The Transfiguration does not sketch an image of intimidating purity or self-satisfied and inviolable majesty. It’s tender holiness. The scene is a reminder that holiness, as a characteristic of God, is participatory and shared. God loves, so God interacts.

What kind of voice is God? Bat kol or james Earl Jones

We know the word metamorphosis-it is a fundamental transformation, yet the basic elements remain the same as in geology.Marble is a metamorphic rock. Another way of saying treasure in earthen vessels.

It is a commonplace to see this vision as being connected to the post Easter Jesus.

Transfiguration tells us that the ordinary is being transformed, transfigured to reflect something deeper, something higher, something more than basic appearance.we will be receiving Communion during the sundays of Lent.

It is good that we are here.

Dwellings/tent is also a way of speaking about the presence of god and our understanding that Jesus is God’s own with us, as us Juel-.He withdraws with the inner circle of the Twelve...to offer to them a glimpse of his “glory”—the glory with which the Son of man will return. What the disciples see and hear on the mountain are matters reserved for the last times. They are offered a preview, a foretaste of what is to come. The inner group of the disciples is given a preliminary glimpse of his glory. But it is only preliminary. There can be no final glory until after the cross. That is the “necessity” which dominates Jesus’ career

Lehmann-In that light, the mystery and meaning of the ultimate presence and power by which reality is, and is defined and directed, are unveiled and concealed in the hiddenness and openness of a human person whose presence and power set the whole off-course world and human story on course again.

To gather in this assembly of the new creation is to be ever so briefly at home base, in the presence. And to lift up another insight from Schmemann, whether we dramatically encounter the presence of God or not is not the point. The church’s history is full of the lives of people who waited for a mystical encounter with the presence and never received that gift.

reflections-Week of Feb. 11

Feb. 11 Sunday-Ps.50:1-6 is the selected psalm for Transfiguration sunday, the climax of the readings after Christmas on the revelation of Jesus.Here we have God displayed in majesty, while Jesus is approachable. Jesus holds those parts of divine presence together. How do you seek god’s presence? How do you imagine it?

Monday-“As creatures, we were made in the image of God, which imbues us with profound dignity.  The reality of our nature, too, is that we each carry a brokenness that affects how we deal with others.  To deny this truth is to perpetuate the suffering that comes as a result of our limitations.”--- Christine Valters Paintner

Tuesday-The peace of morning's stillness/ the peace of new beginnings/the peace of heaven's kiss/to welcome us to this day/to root us in this day/to free us for this day/that we may grow with the greening earth/that we may grow from the ground of glory/that we may grow in grateful wonder of You/Gracious Giver of this day/Great Giver of this new day./Praying with the Earth by John Philip Newell ~

Wednesday-"Part of what we need to do is distinguish between desire and craving or compulsion. Richard Rohr describes the gap between the two as the difference between being driven and being drawn. Being driven is the force of ego imposing its will on others; being drawn is the soul yielding to its call in the world."--- Christine Valters Paintner, PhD

Thursday-From Jinkins blog- the church and its message (converting grace into unconditional acceptance and evil into bad habits, and the gospel into self-realization) became so relevant that gradually it became just one more path to a happy life that, frankly, we could take or leave. In other words, the Christian faith in its quest for relevance became irrelevant.But what if redemption is really quite different from self-realization?What if the self isn't something to be actualized, but lost?What if reconciliation is more than just "connecting" in a weekend encounter group or virtually? What if our relationships, so often characterized by sorrow and regret, can only be healed at a cost we cannot pay?What if the genius of our faith lies in its very strangeness, not on its familiarity?

Friday-a man must set an example and so draw men’s souls out of their solitude and spur them to some act of brotherly love, so that the great idea may not die. Source: The Gospel in Dostoevsky

Saturday-New Testament Greek speaks of believing "into" rather than believing "in." In English we can perhaps convey the distinction best by using either "in" or no preposition at all.Believing God is something else again. It is less a position than a journey, less a realization than a relationship. It doesn't leave you cold like believing the world is round. It stirs your blood like believing the world is a miracle. It affects who you are and what you do with your life like believing your house is on fire or somebody loves you. buechner

Sermon Notes. Is. 40:21, Mk. 1:21

Is. 40:21,sometimes we go back to dream of the glory days of Protestant churches a generation ago.-The church cannot go “back” to anything. The church will move forward into an uncertain world, even in the face of declining numbers and influence.Like Isaiah, we feel as if we live under threats. What does the church need moving into that future?  God’s power and creativity as well as the affirmation that God sees and knows us. God cares for us. God can give the church the energy it needs to move into an uncertain future. Although these words originally spoken to people whose faith might have faded nearly away, they can speak  to people whose faith is shaky and tentative. They can speak a word of courage to those who see reason for fear in what the church faces.Has God abandoned us? No.Has God abandoned us in 2018? No.

No one, pastor or president, can promise that the problems of the world will go away.God can give us what we require for whatever the church faces.Yes,  God is transcendent, above the fray, but also God is  engaged with the world and the church. Davidson-McCormick-The temporal and spatial descriptions of God in verse 28, "the everlasting God" (literally "the God of forever") and "creator of the ends of the earth," indicate the limitless dimensions of the power and concern of God. As such, no historical moment stands outside of the power of God. The rest of verse 28 affirms this as it indicates that God's capacity is endless as God's reach is inexhaustible. The passage then translates these claims to real people in verses 29-31. In other words, we are pushed into a new perspective-can the Creator of the universe really be daunted by what mortals cook up? How big are our problems, really? How much of our response is sheer anxiety?

Ps 147, I Cor. 9:16,Paul will use  any wedge he needs to get a hearing, to break into the awareness of another. In our lifetime we have been exposed to thousands of commercials to try to do the same, even for political candidates.

Mk 1:29  Mark answers the question of Isaiah with Jesus in action. He is a healer of body, diseased minds and tortured souls.We are told the identity of some, a mother in law of Peter and others are in nameless need.I always have felt a little sorry for the mother in law that she gets up and serves as soon as she is healed, on the other hand, isn't that our impetus as well when our sin-sick souls have found some relief.As people crowd around the door, begging for help like tuesday and Saturday here and the constant stream of calls and knocks we receive daily, Jesus needs a break, to go and recharge, to go and pray. No such luck, as this time his brand new disciples track him down to tell him that everybody is looking for him (but they found him). He sees that a s a signal to move on. More named and unnamed need in other towns, on the road again.Holds Mary and Martha together, prayer mobilizes action.

Passages touch on perspective.I often go back to the time I first saw earthrise from Apollo 8 at Christmas of 1968. Our big world s looked so small , a blue marble set against the abyss of space. We seem so frail against the forces arrayed against us. What can one person do/ What can a small group do? God does not weaken. God does not grow weary. When we do we can receive a touch of that divine power.

Column on the "Calvinist" 3 Billboards movie

Karl Barth, the eminent theologian, said we should preach with a newspaper in one hand and the Bible in the other. Maybe we could extend that to movies, as here we go with another look at a new film. Movies are screens where we can see ourselves reflected. The silver screen is a place where we can project our deep fears and fond hopes in the dark, with no one else to see.

We went to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing MO on Thursday. If you are sensitive to foul language, then this movie will burn your ears away. the fallen characters would be rendered mute if they did not pepper their short sentences with an everflowing fountain of expletives. A very popular book Hillbilly Elegy knows these characters on the underside of America.

The acting is uniformly good. Frances McDormand is a force of fierce nature throughout. Woody Harrelson, the police chief embodies his tragic role. Sam Rockwell uncovers some semblance of humanity in a nightmare of a power mad cop. Peter Dinklage does good work in a role that demanded more for his prodigious talent.

While it is set in a beautiful natural area, this is a Calvinist movie in that human nature is shown to be depraved. Nature itself has already turned on the police chief, with a deadly illness. Most of the people are damaged goods. They live in a damaged set of interactions; one cannot call them relationships. Social life is marred by prejudice. People regard others as either obstacles or tools of an ill-thought scheme. Alcohol fuels their demons, or helps them escape in sleep or passing out.

In this case, the expletives are emblems of hearts of darkness. these characters are more than flawed; they are consumed by their detour into the abyss. the lead character has suffered tremendously, as an abused wife but more recently, the mother of a raped and murdered teen daughter. For her grief has transmuted her into a bundle of frayed nerves, hate, and revenge.

A dimwitted ten gives the movie its center: ‘anger just begets greater pain.” These characters don’t have to worry about keeping anger bottled up, as it incites them to beings absorbed in it, no catharsis just increasing levels of rage.

If a few tender, good moments help these people one day at a time, in their lurid universe you know that something terrible is going to happen. This is more than a chaotic world; it is a world that is tilted toward trouble.

More than anything else, it shows that we are unwilling and unable to accept apology or recompense for the evil inflicted on us or that we inflict on others. Hatred escalates. Revenge is a thirst that is never slaked. It even reaches beyond the grave. Justice rarely appears in this movie, only retribution. In that sense, it reminds me of the dark side of the old Westerns and vigilantes arrayed against the adult force of law. From a Christina perspective, as we move toward Lent, it shows that we cannot fix ourselves, as the illness within us seems too deep, maybe ineradicable. That is why the story of Jesus seeking to reconcile the gravity of the human condition with God’s vision for us touches such a resonant chord within us.

I understand that some folks go to movies to get away form their troubles. some of us go “to forget about life for a while.” In a tough world, they offer escape and maybe some hope for a happy ending. At times, they put our worst at a safe distance on the screen, and that allows us to do the hard work of self-examination, in the safety of a darkened theater.

Reflections for Week of Feb.4

Sunday- 2/4 Ps. 147 moves toward the conclusion of this composed prayer book as one of the praise prayers. I love how the care of v.2 moves into the vastness of creative planning. And goes back to it in v. 6.What catches your eye in vv.1-11?

Monday-Dietrich Bonhoeffer-Humanly speaking, we could understand and interpret the Sermon on the Mount in a thousand different ways. ..He does not mean that it is to be discussed as an ideal; he really means us to get on with it.

Tuesday-For John of the Cross the spiritual life is not about getting closer to God.  Instead it is a journey of consciousness.  We realize union with God, we don’t acquire it or receive it.  It is something we already possess but we need to let go of everything that keeps us from seeing this reality.  The dark night journey essentially is about stripping away all of our false idols and securities so that we might come to a more profound realization of the love that already dwells within us.

Wednesday-Teilhard de Chardin-Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.

Thursday-He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle.” William Shakespeare

Friday- Robert Frost-Mending Wall":         Before I built a wall I'd ask to know/  What I was walling in or walling out,/And to whom I was like to give offence./ Something in me there is that doesn't love a wall That wants it down.../ He moves in darkness as it seems to me,/ Not of woods only and the shade of trees./ He will not go beyond his father's saying:/He says again, "Good fences make good neighbours."

Saturday-Martin Luther King Jr.-Time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of stagnation.