Readings:

Sirach 3, 2-6, 12-14, My son, take care of your father when he is old.

Psalm 128,  Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

Colossians 3, 12-21,  Wives, be subordinate to your husbands.

Matthew 2, 13-15, 19-23, Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you.

Leo, the Candle Lighter, at work with his dad, Ray.

Sirach observations:

What.  One of those 12 odd books, neither in the Old nor the New Testament.  A book with wise little sayings & vingettes.

Examples: Be humble in everything you do, 3, 17.   Stubborness will get you into trouble, 3, 26.  If you are polite and courteous, you will enjoy the friendship of many, 6, 5.  A father who loves his son will whip him often, 30, 1.  A woman has to take any man as a husband, but a man must choose his wife carefully, 36, 21.

Who.   Sirach is the father of a man names Joshua (or Jesus) who wrote & compiled these saying.

When.   Composed around 200 years before Christ, maybe.

Colossians observations:

Get ready, this is a good one.  Especially for wives.  

Where else but with this hospitable community can The Candle Man kneel on the altar to light the candles.

Paradigmes for Families

I remember way back when Rosemary and I had been married a while, I told her one day that I thought this special line from the Bible was my new favorite line.  “Wives, be subordinate to your husbands.”  Sounded good to me. 

You know what I got, the look, the dog kennel look, the look that said, ‘There is a vacancy in the dog kennel in the back yard, bubba.’  So much for my new favorite line. 

We have one of the classic lines in Scripture here this morning.  “Wives,be subordinate to your husbands.”  I would like to talk about this.

We begin.

I also remember one afternoon I was in line to ride the roller coaster or something at 6 Flags.  Ahead of me was a family, husband and wife with maybe two or three kids.  The couple were discussing two sides of some decision.  Then I heard the husband tell the wife that she should follow his opinion, because….   You know what he said.  I almost passed out.  I did not realize that contemporary, educated, middle class folks followed this just because it says it in the Bible.

Let me offer some perspective, a little history and the 3 models of family dynamics.

Historically, remember that the writer of the line lived not in the Middle Ages, but way before that.  Women were not considered equal to men in any way.  I saw this in East Africa when I lived there.  The man was the head and the wife, kids, and farm animals were all more or less on the same level.

Cupcake of The Week to Hugh on his birthday.

You may see the same phenomenon today.  Where?  Try Afghanistan or among many Arab or Muslim countries.  Women have no rights and are certainly not considered equal to men.  Because of this, women can be beaten like a child or abused with hardly any consequence.  The old dictum held, ‘A good beating never hurt anyone.’

The writer of this letter saw this and spoke to it.  Not only does he speak to the wife, he also speaks to the husband, “Husbands, love your wives.”  Pretty unique stuff for those days.  Wives, in other words, are human beings, not property to be told how to dress and behave.

Cupcake of the Week to Georgie for being such a big help.

Finally, let me remind you of the 3 models of family dynamics.

First, you have the patriarchy.  The father is the head, which today’s writer is aware of.  And accepts.

Secondly, you have the matriarchy, the wife is the head of the family.  This model has been used over the centuries in various places.

Thirdly, you have equality.  This model has more traction today because women and men are equally educated and often equally talented.  In this family the husband and wife share responsibility and consult with each other.

It is not so much that one model is better than the other.  Which model works?

The Cupcake Kids, Zoe & Leo.

There are days when I am convinced that Rosemary and I have a matriarchy.

What works for you?

Readings:

Numbers  21, 4-9,  Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert.

 Psalm 78,   Do not forget the works of the Lord.

Philippians 2, 6-11,  God greatly exalted him.

John 3, 13-17,  Nicodemus.

Kevin says, "Welcome in, Everybody.."

The Introduction is a brief summary of today’s readings

Before you hear the first reading from the Book of Numbers, I want you to realize that this is part of a parable.  The people were complaining against God and Moses in the desert because of lack of water and food; and because of this complaining we are told that God has punished them with poisonous serpents. ‘Moses, ask God to take away the serpents!’ 

Moses replies that the Lord wants them to make a bronze replica of the serpent and put it on the top of a pole.  If someone has been bitten and looks upon it [has faith in my words and quits complaining] they will live. 

When we look upon the cross that has been lifted up [which means exalted] we no longer think of it in terms of punishment; but rather one of triumph. It has become a sign of our Faith.

Mike sharing his thoughts on our readings.

Homily

To continue the theme of the past few weeks, I suggest to you that the Scripture verse, ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light,’ encompasses, ‘Take up your cross and follow me.’  

John spoke to us two weeks ago about a mother who asked for his advice about one of her children, an overly active boy. Learning didn’t come easily for the boy.  The boy had his own, unique, cross to carry.  John didn’t carry the boy’s cross for him. Instead, he encouraged the boy to welcome his cross, to derive strength from it.

Who is that crawling around on the floor? Why, that's Cathy. What next?

Sometimes we encounter someone with a cross that would seem to be too heavy and too burdensome to be carried…and yet that person’s faith is so strong that they can say ‘thank you’ to it.  When that happens it should also bring us to our knees to say, Alleluia.

No matter what our cross, we are to give thanksgiving, and it will be given back pressed down and over flowing.

My dad never talked to my older brother or to me about college.  We had always worked in the summer, and each of us had saved some money.  We knew that when we left home we could be self sufficient.  After getting our class schedules my older brother got a job at a bar in Iowa City working a few hours every night to pay for his food during college. 

What next? Harper.

The yoke was easy, the burden light.  I followed the example he had given me a couple of years later, however the food that I ate was better and more plentiful. All through college I worked lunch and dinner at a sorority house a few blocks from the campus with three other guys. One of them was Tony Lazos—I realized after college that he had become my best friend. 

I lost touch with Tony after college. He did a couple of tours in Vietnam and afterwards he started a couple of small companies. When he found out that I was working in Dallas he called to visit on his way through.  Time passed and we lost touch with him again.  About a year ago Judy found a story about him on the internet that was three years old. 

Cupcakes of The week to Mike & Geri, Mary Jane, Rob & Beth, and Tom & Lynda, plus others.

He had eaten some tainted chicken and had caught a disease that left him a quadriplegic and on a respirator.   I tried to reach from the email location Judy had found; but three year had past and I received no reply from my emails. Four weeks ago I received an email the subject of which was Chi Omega Waiter.  It was from Tony.  He is still a quadriplegic; but he’s off the respirator.

 This is his testimony, ‘Faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ is my foundation, my strength.’ He had built his foundation on rock.  Some friends of his in California had gotten him a voice activated computer, and he had found me in Dallas a second time.  We have been conversing with one another by email 3 or 4 times a week this past month.  

Others, like Holly.

Sometimes I send him a photo; other times we share a remembrance. Tony remembers washing dishes this way, ‘Since we had to run across campus to make it to the Chi O house for the noon mean, we made darn sure that washing dishes was fun.’ 

I’d like to send him another picture this week, and I need your help. I’ve brought with me some cards to spell out, ‘We love you, Tony Lazos!’  And I was hoping that before we sing our final song this morning that you will join with me to hold up the letters that spell out this message to him.  Please, someone remember to take a picture and send it to my email address.

And others, like Dana.

Readings: Isaiah 2, 1-5; Psalm 122, Let us go Rejoicing to the House of the Lord; Romans 13, 11-14; Matthew 24, 37-44

First Sunday in Advent – Intro to Readings

With the start of a new Church year we begin a new cycle of readings, this year is Cycle A and the gospel readings will focus on Matthew’s Gospel.  It was written about the year 85-90 CE and used Mark’s Gospel, a source now referred to as “Q” and some material unique to Matthew.  The audience had knowledge of the Old Testament and is presumed to have been Jewish. 

A familiar phrase occurring some 41 times in the gospel is “this was to fulfill….”.  In Luke’s Gospel the major theme centered on Jesus journeying up to Jerusalem.  Matthew’s Gospel had five major sections, each ending with a great discourse, the most well known being the Sermon on the Mount.  Matthew’s Gospel is one of the two gospels to tell us about Jesus’ birth.  Joseph is the focus in this gospel and Mary is the focus in Luke’s Gospel. 

The trigger event for Matthew’s Gospel was the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Since the temple was central to the Jewish faith – what was to become of Judaism?  For Matthew it was Jesus, he is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, he is the way forward.

Homily 

The last line of our first reading from Isaiah was “let us walk in the light of the Lord” and I would like to use that line as our starting point for a few ideas on the Sacrament of Baptism.  In the rite of infant baptism, the priest hands the parents and godparents a lighted candle and says “receive the light of Christ”.  By our baptism we are put on a well lit spiritual highway.    

We know that in the gospels, Jesus begins his public ministry by being baptized by John in the Jordan River.  This baptism of John’s was a baptism of repentance.  The next time baptism is mentioned in the gospels is in Matthew’s gospel at the very end of the gospel “go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”. 

The Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters make clear that this command of Jesus was very quickly identified as the method of joining this group of followers of Jesus.  It became a ‘Rite of Initiation’.  Remember that for this early group, they were Jews first and then baptism made them different.  We have a clear disagreement between Paul and the other apostles over whether gentiles who were baptized needed to be circumcised also.  Paul won that argument. 

Within a couple of centuries we find a big change when the church declares that only those who are baptized can enter heaven and so we have Original Sin invented and baptism was the only way that could be forgiven.  This later let to the invention of Limbo.  It wasn’t until the Second Vatican Council that the focus on baptism shifted back to its being a sacrament of initiation or joining. 

 The point I would like to have us consider this morning is this:  what does being baptized mean to me today?  It may have happened when I was two or three days old, or maybe when I was an adult.  It was a one-time event, but I believe that has an effect in my life every day.  By being a member of the Christian community I am part of a group which focuses on living life according to a set of ideals, has a faith in a God who loves me and who wants me to love my neighbor.  

Just a few words about water, as the main symbol used in baptism.  Water is one of those primal elements, necessary for life.  Our experience of water is fairly simple, great for washing things, essential to keep a lawn alive here in Texas, wonderfully refreshing on a hot day for quenching thirst.  But for the Old Testament people it also reminded them of the escape thru the Red Sea from a life of slavery in Egypt, it was there at the beginning of time at the creation,

 and the waters of the flood destroyed all of the evil in the world.

Even though my baptism was a once only event, each time I come here to the community to celebrate the liturgy, each time I try to follow God’s way I am reaffirming what my parents had done to me when I was three days old. 

Picture 1:   Tony beginning with Advent Candles

Picture 2:   Sacrament of the Sick with Curtis

Picture 3:   Curtis' daughters, Marlene & Cindy

Picture 4:   Ryan with mom & dad, Jim & Michelle

Readings:

Acts 10, 34, 37-43, He went about doing good.

Psalm 118,  This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. 

1 Corinthians  5, 6-8,  A little yeast leavens all the dough.

John 20, 1-9,  Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning.

The Team, Mike and John, Georgie and Kevin.

Welcome, artwork by Rosemary.

Acts observations:

Date:  sometime before the year 70.  Why?  No mention of the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place the year 70, a Big Date in Jewish history.

Who:  The same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke.  How do we know?  Similarities of style, language (Greek), and theological themes.

Subject:  The story of the expansion of the Jesus story in 3 areas, first, Jerusalem, then, Palestine or the Holy Land, and finally, into the Mediterranean and ultimately, Rome.

Sources: Good News Bible, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Wikipedia

Patty and Bill.

Our Ms. Roberts.

Resurrection Life

I would like to talk about two things this Easter Sunday.

First, Resurrection is what for me and for us?   I would suggest that it is at least one thing, new life. 

Secondly, I would like to exemplify what I mean with a little story from France.

Sabrina back home.

The Princess Emma.

As many of you know, Rosemary & I spent about ten days in France the first two weeks of March.  We spent some of the time in the eastern province of Alsace.  The province is a vertical, north-south valley bordering the Rhine River, which marks its border with Germany. 

The last few days we spent in Paris, a favorite city of ours.  We have a small hotel in the region of the Eiffel Tower.   Near the hotel is a coffee shop.  It is on the corner of Rue Grenelle and Rue de l’Exposition, and it is one of our most favorite places in Paris with all its other wonders.  Two reasons.

Payton and Erin picking up Joanie's Cupcake of the Week for her birthday. Our Dear Joanie could not come today because of her MS.

First, it is warm and cordial.  This warmth we especially appreciated our last visit because the days in Paris were not only cold.  But all of the Tuesday before we flew home on Wednesday it snowed and snowed.  So it was magic to walk the city.  It was equally charming to walk in from the cold and snow and have a hot café au lait, or latte in Starbuck’s terms. 

Cupcake of The Week to Sydney and Hugh for 6 years.

Even more delightful was the reception we two Americans received when we walked in.  It was ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Bonjour’ yelled to us as we got in the door.  The place reminded me a little of the bar in the TV series Cheers.  So friendly.

 Secondly, after two days, they remembered not only us, but what we wanted.  We did not even have to order.   They knew we wanted the first of two cafes and would simply begin preparing when we got to the bar.  And then we would converse, me with my learner’s French.  I am sure that in two more days we would all be on first name basis.

Casey and Robbie with guess who at 5 years old.

Two women in their late 20’s or early 30’s ran the place or should I say ‘hosted’ the place, and they greeted everyone with same friendliness.  Many of the people who came in, naturally they knew.

This small café in Paris gave off life, folks.  Occasionally I hear people say that Parisians are unfriendly and rude.  I have never found that.  They even cheer my efforts at speaking French.  The café, however, the name of which I don’t even know, was an exceptional fountain of positive vibes.  I looked forward every morning to absorbing that life and left feeling more alive. 

Sir Charlie and Jan having too good a time.

This for me is one example of resurrection life.

Where do you find this life? 

How & where do you create it?

Readings: Deuteronomy 30, 10-14; Psalm 69; Colossians 1, 15-20; LUKE 10, 25-37, The Good Samaritan.

Deuteronomy: the scene is the desert outside the promised land.  Moses is talking to the people about all that has happened to them since he led them out of Israel and through the desert for many years.  Now, as they prepare to enter, and Moses is dying, he is simply exhorting them to love Yahweh and obey his laws.

Moses talks about a command, but never mentions exactly what it is.  Watch for the answer in today’s gospel.  The Great Command.

The Good Samaritan

I am going to do an explication of text today. 

Initially this parable looks like simply an encouragement to help others. Actually there is a second meaning, perhaps much more profound, especially for the Jews who are listening. It has to do with prejudice.

The setting. A Jewish lawyer is asking a question about his justification. Where does one draw the line in helping a person. Who is my neighbor? Some observations.

First, the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notoriously dangerous and plagued with thieves. That this man was alone is significant.  People would travel in groups for safety. Was he an outcast?  Friendless?  Not too intelligent or innocent?

Second, the man was stripped. For the lawyer this would signify that the man was without identity, of no identifiable class. In other words, he might not be a lawyer or intellectual or even a Jew. He was Every Person.  A human being.

The priest & the Levite. The lawyer would know why they did not stop to help. The Law. They could have been on the way to the temple and they could not cause themselves to be ritually impure. In the temple they had to be pure, no contact with dirty people orthey could not offer their sacrifice. Obviously organized religion still follows this practice. 

Along comes a Samaritan. To the Jewish lawyer & the Jewish listeners Samaritans were considered demon possessed.  Samaritans intermarried with pagans, i.e., people who did not recognize Yahweh as the name of their God. They would defile the temple just by entering. In sum, they were vile and dirty, certainly not capable of performing an act of love.  

But, to the surprise of the lawyer & the audience, it is the Samaritan who performs the act of love.  He even risks his own life by rescuing the man. Jesus further twists the knife by showing how the Samaritan goes beyond the call by setting the man up in an inn and promising to cover all his expenses.

The composer of the parable goes further and plays with two elements used in the temple sacrifice: oil and water.  He employs these elements to clean (purify?) the victim.  The author knows what he is suggesting in using these items.

Jesus is responding to the lawyer’s question, "Who is my neighbor," by saying "Everybody."  No prejudice.

Who is the number one neighbor you are taking care of today?

Audio: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-07-15.mp3