Sunday Homily 3-18-12, 4th Lent

Readings:  

 1 Kings, 19, 4-8, Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you.

 Psalm 34, Taste and see the Goodness of rhe Lord

Ephesians 4, 30-5, 2, Be imitators of God and live in love.

John 6, 24-35, I am the bread of life. 

Kings:  a review–

Subject: The kings of Israel.  The Big 3 kings were Saul, David, & his son Solomon.  The 2 Books of kings follows the 2 Books of Samuel, which describe the lives of the the kings up to the death of the Great King David, my favorite.  1 & 2 Kings takes up the life of Solomon, David's son, his building of the temple, his death, and the fate of the kingdom following his death, that is, it divides and is conquered. 

Time Period:  from ca. 900 – 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus.

Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 550 BCE. 

Our Selection: focus is on one man, the prophet Elijah.  The kingdom has already been split.  Our story takes place in the northern state, Israel.  Time of severe drought.  The king is Ahab; his queen, the famous Jezebel.  The prophet Elijah has scolded them for turning to false gods to end the drought.  

There has been a contest in chapter 18: Elijah vs the 450 prophets of Baal, ultimately to see which side would be more effective in bringing rain.  2 bulls were slaughtered.  Naturally, Elijah wins when Yahweh answers his prayer, sends down fire, and consumes the bull Elijah has slaughtered.  When he wins, he slaughters the 450 prophets of Baal.   

We enter at a point where Jezebel is furious with Elijah for killing her favorite prophets and aims to kill Elijah.  He is going to run away all depressed.   

We will read an expanded chapter 19, from 1-13.   In fact, I want to tell  you the story in Chapter 18, such a special story.    

 

Taste & See the Goodness

This story takes place in Marshalltown, Iowa.  It is the fifth of eight layover towns on our west to east bike ride across Iowa, a trip called Ragbrai (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride across Iowa), 10 thousand people this year, its 40^th.

We had just had a lasagna dinner at a Christian Church in the town center.  We are getting our campsite & gear ready because a storm was predicted.  The temperature had been above 100 and rain & cooler temperatures were approaching.  In fact, we could see big clouds building in the west and heading toward us. 

At 8:30 a shower hit.  8:45 it tapered off.  I took a bag of water bottles to a nearby pavilion to fill them.  I fill them and prepare to return when it went chaotic.  The rain came down in sheets, the wind blew every which way, and suddenly two gigantic gusts blew everything over, tents, bikes, gear.  People poured into the pavilion.

I could not see Rosemary & Aviana, but I know Rosemary well enough.  She can cope & would be okay. 

After 30 minutes of this torrential rain, it began to lessen.  Then the police arrive & tell us we are being evacuated to a school because of tornadoes & hail coming our way.  Not good.

I run & get Rosemary & Aviana.  Our tent has collapsed, so we roll it up wet and put it in the back of the van.  We end up in a Lutheran Church because the school could not fit everyone.   It is dark by now, still raining lightly, but cooler. 

I can still remember entering that Lutheran Church.  First of all, it was air conditioned.  Wow, so nice.  Secondly, the pastor was at the entrance welcoming everyone, saying we could use every room & corner.  We did.  It was wall to wall people.  We all spent the night on the floors, which were carpeted. 

Lying on that floor in the middle of a crowd in the middle of the night, I considered chucking the remainder of our trip.  So much of what we had was soaked.

The next morning about 5:30, however, it was spectacularly beautiful, cool and sunny with light, left over clouds.  People were in great humor.  One guy said to me with a laugh in the parking lot of the church, “It’s just Ragbrai, let’s ride!”  And I did.  And Rosemary did.  And so did Aviana, who had been the queen of those sleeping in the church. 

There were a gazillion lessons that struck me & Rosemary from that adventure.  Let me single out 3. 

First, we were homeless and taken in, sheltered, and shown warm hospitality, by a Lutheran Church.  Yahweh showed hospitality & care for Elijah.  We attempt to show hospitality as a community.  Look at Habitat.  Look at the Katrina refugees.

Secondly, like Ephesians says excellently today, there was no bitterness, anger, fury, or shouting.  In fact, generosity & love emanated from the Lutheran community and we returned it in a small way.

A basket had been put in the back of the church part of the complex and it was filling with $20’s.  Rosemary sent a thank you note to the pastor.

Thirdly, taste & see the goodness of the Lord.  I love this line and what it calls me to.   I could savor the goodness some at the time.  But I had a list later with Rosemary. 

The ability just to ride my bike.  And we got the car fixed easily (dashboard light came on).

The cooler temperatures and the needed rain, which produced a glorious day.

The evacuation so peacefully accepted by so many, and especially the Lutheran Church, which was so gracious.

Folks, we take bunches of trips in our lives.  We taste & see the goodness of the Lord every day.  Occasionally we have an adventure like Marshalltown.   At the time of the adventure and even more so later, we really taste & see the Goodness.

What happened the last time you really tasted and really saw the Goodness?

 

Readings: Exodus 17, 3-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5, 1-8; John 4, 5-42

Exodus: After two weeks in the first book of the Bible, today we move to the second. The book basically tells the heroic struggle of Moses to get the Hebrew people out of Egypt, where they had gone because of the drought in their land some decades or centuries before.  Moses is considered the author.

Today’s reading makes an enormous jump from the story in Genesis about Abraham’s call to an episode after the exodus where the people are angry with Moses for taking them out of Egypt into the drought of the desert.  See how Yahweh saves the people and Moses.

Whatt??  You Want a Date??!!

Decades ago when my younger sister Kathey & I were little kids, we used to love Saturday nights.  On those nights we had fun harassing poor young baby sitters.  Or, later as we grew older, we had fun causing mischief by ourselves.  Because every Saturday night our parents went out to have fun.

This is one of my most favorite memories & stories that I have mentioned to people getting married for the past 30 plus years I’ve been doing weddings.  I remember a time when I must have been around second or third grade.  The second world war was over and my dad was probably going bankrupt.  He had worked before the war in paper products.  When the war broke out and paper was scarce he opened a coffee & donut shop on Ervay St. in down town Dallas.  The Mercantile Bank was being built and he was doing well.  When the bank finally opened his business went in the hole because all the workmen moved elsewhere. 

I had started school at University Park Elementary, then moved to Christ the King when they built a school.  I remember being anxious that I was going to have to return to University Park, because we could not afford the Catholic school.  I actually never did return.

All during this time I can remember my folks going out on Saturday nights.  They had a lot of friends, of all sorts of religions, something odd for those days, thinking back on it.  Occasionally the group would come to our house those Saturdays and I enjoyed that just as much.  The people were accepting and fun to hang around. 

I think this was part of what kept my parents going.  They had fun and they had fun at least once a week.  I often tell married couple, "You have fun once a week, and you won’t have to end up in Stack’s therapy office." 

One of the fun things my parent’s loved, I heard mentioned yesterday morning on The People’s Pharmacy, 6:00 A.M., Saturday (note credit).  A doctor describing how to live a long & healthy life suggested dancing as an excellent form of exercise.  My mom & dad, especially my dad, loved to dance.  I wish I could see how they did swing dancing, which was popular during their time.

I often ask couples who come to my office when was the last time they had fun.  They look at me like I am loco.  This is Dallas.  People work and work.  There is no time for fun.  Fun will come when we retire.  In Dallas people lose their health to make money, then lose their money to restore their health.

Consequently, the fourth suggestion for having a great marriage is to have a weekly date.  Get some friends together, go out, go dancing.  Date!  Once a week!  Good times, bad times.

When was your last date, the next?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-02-24.mp3

Readings:

Jeremiah 31, 7-9,   Shout for joy, the Lord has delivered his people.

Psalm 126,    The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Hebrews  5, 1-6, Every high priest is taken from among people.

Mark 10, 46-52,  Bartimaeus, a blind man, sat by the road begging.   

 

           Grace says, "Welcome in, Everybody, Good to see you."

 

Jeremiah observations:

Who:  one of the Big 3 Prophets, 52 chapters, the “broken hearted prophet,” because he hated being so unpopular and having to condemn so much. 

Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe seems to be who put down the prophet’s message.   Jeremiah probably died in Egypt.

When: put together before & during the B.C., Babylonian Captivity, say 555 before Christ  (reminder, Babylon is near present day Bagdad, Iraq).

Remember, too, that time before Christ is counting downward or backwards.

 

                And, of course, Genevieve says, "Hi, Everybody."

 

Interesting Side Note: (another reminder) can you guess when the Genesis story of creation in 7 days was composed?  Biblical research reveals that the creation story was put together during the Captivity, this same time, i.e. ca. 555.

Why?  The priests & prophets (e.g., Ezekiel) of the Jews in captivity determined that the people would not be assimilated into the local gene pool as their cousins in the northern kingdom had done when made to live with the Assyrians.  They decided they would establish customs & religious practices that would make the Jews so different they would not intermarry.  Three special laws were established: 1.  male circumcision; 2. dietary laws and laws about not touching menstruating women; and 3. the Sabbath.

 

            There he is, our most proficient camera man, usually just                  inside the entrance, Rick.

 

The priests put together the 7 day creation story to suggest that Yahweh approved of their Sabbath law.  They had Yahweh rest on the 7th day to bolster their demand that all Jews take a day off every 7 days.  Before the Babylonian Captivity there was no legislated Sabbath and no myth of Yahweh creating the world in 7 days with the 7th being a day of rest.  So, now you know when the story was created & by whom, the priests, and why, to keep the Jews united vs the Babylonians.  It worked, even down to today.

Subject of the work: the usual prophet message—condemn, pay, peace.

Today's subject: Beautiful message of peace and consolation.  It is coming.

Sources: Bishop John Shelby Spong, The sins of Scripture; Wikipedia

 

 

     We caught you, Shonda, hugging our pet gorilla.  He loves it.
 

What, Shout for Joy ?

The consoling readings today are summed up in that first line from Jeremiah, ‘Shout for Joy.’  Unless you are blind as Brartamaeus or as I am so often, you can get behind this shouting pretty easily. 

Let me propose 4 reasons why I shout for joy today and see if you can spot some of your own. 

First, the rain.  We just endured 3 months or more of drought.  The ground was dust.  I was sitting on our back porch Thursday night when it started.  At first I thought we were really going to get missed, despite all the weather reports to the contrary.

 

          The Best, Shonda (doing Air Force today), Bethany, & Ray.

 

However, we got 3 ½ inches that night.  Then 3 more on Friday and 3 again on Friday night, total 9 ½.  

The only negative for Rosemary & me was that an old roof leak that comes into our kitchen showed up again, even with the work we put into fixing it in the May rains.  Nevertheless, I shout for joy over the rain.

Secondly, Romeos on Friday.  Actually, a week ago I had a most interesting lunch.  None of the bums showed up.  I was alone.  ‘Out of town,’ they all said.  However this past Friday, wow, Mike and Bill and Ray all showed up.  Don’t tell them, but I was shouting for joy.

 

         The Team says, "We miss you, Georgie (at a swim meet).

 

Thirdly, I see every Sunday a bunch of no fear kids.  I love it when Leo or Emma or Harper walk around up here.  Let these kids know they have a cupcake waiting up here for them, and they come running, or dancing, as in the case of Leo. 

Yes, I’ve been told that when I put on the white alb, the kids think I am God.  My hope is that because I will not get mad at them and will welcome them, they will know that God does not get mad at them and welcomes them.  This was not the message that I and many of you got when we were little kids going to church. 

I shout for joy that these kids are here with us.

 

                                 "Hi, Tori, Keeping busy?"

 

Finally, picking up on the message in Hebrews about the priest, I shout for joy that I have lived the majority of my life as a priest.  I have always felt called to this vocation and I love it.   For me it has not been prestige but opportunity, like to do what we do here with the kids. 

I shout doubly because just when I might have had to put the opportunity on the shelf, you people invited me to carry on, what we have done together now for 11 years this Thanksgiving.

 

                                 Ace candle lighter, Cole.

 

There is so much I love, like doing weddings.  For example, the big, fun Lebanese wedding last Saturday.  It is a privilege to visit people who are sick and to give some peace to people getting ready to move to the other side, like Joan & Rita, Chuck & Curtis, and Fred. 

For this I shout for joy.

 

                                Fall has arrived in Dallas.

 

And You?  If you are not shouting for joy, are you deaf, or blind like Bartamaeus or me? 

For what do you shout for joy?

                  

Readings: Wisdom 12, 13-19; Psalm 86; Romans 8, 26-27; Matthew 13, 24-43

Wisdom:

• Author: not Solomon, but an unknown Jew from Alexandria
• Original Language: Greek
• Time: 1-2 centuries B.C.
• Message: Yahweh rewards those faithful to him.
• Means Greek Philosophy common in Alexandria (Platonism & Stoicism) and Jewish traditional  teachings (wisdom of Solomon).
• Uniqueness: one of the ca. 11 deutero-canonical books (not originally part of the Jewish bible).

The Kingdom

Almost every morning of the year I grab a rocking chair on our back porch, sip a cup of coffee, and admire the beauty of the day.  Since our house is situated on a corner, from my rocking chair I can see a small street called Camellia which comes from Royal Lane and passes our street, Tulip Lane.  Camellia can get busy on school mornings when parents bring their kids in the back entrance to St. Mark’s Boys’ School.  Normally, however, I watch joggers & walkers pass by, some of them on their way to or from the Starbucks on the Preston & Royal corner.

This past Wednesday morning I was sitting on our back porch as usual.  The joggers & walkers were passing by.  At some point I look up and see a couple and their dog approaching.  I have never see them before, but they certainly caught my attention.  They were both talking on their cell phones.   

At first I could not believe that I was seeing what I was seeing.  I do not want to judge this couple in any way.  They may have been talking with their kids or their parents or some very important people. 

In todays’s Matthew reading we have three metaphors or parables attempting to show what the kingdom might be like.  Three more agricultural parables.  Last week we had the seed sewn on four types of soil, one of which was good.  Today we have a mustard seed, a bit of yeast, and a field infected with weeds put there by an enemy.

Let me make four observations about this kingdom that comes up so often in the gospel writers.

1. First, I would suggest that the kingdom is inner peace, peace with my neighbors, peace with my friends, peace with my lot in life, and peace with who & what I am.
2. Secondly, I would suggest that the peace of the kingdom is present tense. It is available now, in this life. It may also grow, as the parable of the yeast and the mustard seed indicate. I may be more peaceful next year than I am this year.
3. Third, the peace is a gift. We have the yeast in our spirit. We have the mustard seed inside of us. We are created to have inner peace.
4. Fourth, the growth of the seed of peace inside of us sometimes involves effort, self-discipline, and self-defense against the enemy. And who is the enemy? Part of me. I can scapegoat something outside of me, saying, “The devil made me do it.” However, the real enemy may be my inclination to miss the beauty because I am sidetracked by all the metaphorical cell phones in my life. Serious enough, these cell phones are called addictions.

Paradoxically, the form my self-discipline and self-defense may take is acceptance, that word I have put forward so often.  Acceptance of others, of my place in life, and acceptance of myself, even with my shortcomings. 

The couple I was watching Wednesday morning may have definitely been in the kingdom that we are talking about.  They may be peaceful people.  However, they might find even more peace if they discard what may be an enemy to their peace.

What is the enemy keeping you from entering the kingdom, from inner peace?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-07-20.mp3

 

 

Palm Sunday Procession begins.

 

 

Readings: 

Entrance, Luke 19, 28-40.

Isaiah 50, 4-7,  I give my back to those who beat me.

Psalm 22,  My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?

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

Luke 22, 14-23, The  Passion.   

Holy Thursday & Good Friday, 7:00, Marlene's, 2017 Keystone, Plano.

 

Palm Sunday procession.

 

Palm Sunday continues.

 

 

Buddy reading The Blessing of the Lenten Candles, all 5 plus 1.

 

 

Readings:

Acts  5, 27-32, 40-41,  The Sanhedrin ordered the apostles to stop speaking in the name of Jesus

Psalm 30,  I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Revelation  5, 11-14, I heard to voices of many angels.

John 21, 19-31,  Simon, do you love me more than these?   

 

Introduction: In our reading from Luke’s Acts we are told that the apostles are teaching, through the power of the Spirit, about the Lamb of God.  At this time they have in their possession the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. In the Book of Revelation, written later, we are told about the four living creatures that glorify the Lamb of God. They are the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John; in these gospel stories Jesus is alive to us through the power of the Spirit.

 

 

Homily by Mike:

Today’s gospel reading is not in the original John gospel. It was added later with two other parable-like stories.  Since the gospels complement one another, the inspired writers of the Matthew gospel prepare us for this reading with the words, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a net, thrown into the sea, that catches people of every kind,’ and that’s why Jesus had called his disciples to be fishers of men.

In Judaism, there was a net; it was called the Sabbath Synagogue Service.  Later the inspired writers initiated a net in which the Sunday gospel reading fulfilled the expectation of the Law and/or the Prophets for the coming of Christ.  We give thanks that the Holy Spirit moved the Church to re-institute the net during Vatican II, to be used in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. 

 

In today’s parable-like story, Peter and six others have gone fishing for gentiles, not fish.  We know their intention because seven disciples also began this mission to the gentiles in the Matthew and Mark gospels, and in Luke’s Acts of the Apostles.  We are told on the first day of their mission they caught nothing.  Jesus tells them in this parable story to use the net, and that even if they cast it to the worst possible place, the right side of the boat were the rudder would most likely tangle the net; they would still catch many gentiles. The success that the disciples have ignites John’s heart, and he tells Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’

Now, there are two synonymous fish in this story.   Each has the same Greek definition, ‘to be eaten along with the bread.’  Recall the gospel stories about the loaves and fish that anticipate the Lord’s Supper. After the Lord blesses the loaves and fish, or gives thanks over them, he gives them to his disciples to distribute to the Jews and to the gentiles.  So, what is it that we are to consume today along with the body of Christ, the bread blessed and broken that we are called to become daily in our lives?  It is this Sunday’s Liturgy of the Word where our parable story was first proclaimed and now being explained.

 

Many of you have or have seen other Christians whose cars or homes show the symbol of the fish, ichthus, one of these two words for fish in this parable story. Recall its Greek acronym stands for, ‘Jesus, Christ, God’s Son and Savior.’ Believers identify themselves with it. And they should! This Greek word for fish is found throughout Matthew, Mark and Luke; but in John it is only found there in today’s reading along with the other word for fish found only in John.

 

If you study today’s reading carefully in Greek, you will realize that the net used by the seven to catch many gentiles was composed of the 153 parable-like stories written by the inspired writers of Matthew, Mark and Luke.  In our reading today, Jesus joins them with the original gospel stories of John, that were not yet in use but in these disciple’s possession, along with the additions to the John gospel on the grill, to form the one Gospel. The truth presented by this parable-like story is that the net that was formed will not be divided; there is one Gospel, one net, to be used to the ends of the earth.

Today’s parable-like story ends this way:  Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.  This is how the disciples knew that it was the Lord present to them in both the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Word.