Daily Office Reflection: 12 Evils

Psalms 87, 90 * 136; Genesis 47:27-48:7; 1 Cor 10:1-13; Mark 7:1-23

"fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly" is the list of 12 evils that come from the heart, which Jesus provides to his disciples today. This list is given in explanation of Jesus' strong dressing-down of the Pharisees, who criticize the disciples, and through them Jesus, for not ritually washing their hands, and foods, and dishes, prior to eating. Jesus, in turn, tells them they are full of whoeey, as they allow parents to be disregarded, in violation of God's commandments, as well as "many things like this."

Jesus outrages the leaders further by saying anything, all foods, are clean and should be eaten as gifts from God. Jesus is breaking apart the rigid controls set in place by the leaders of Temple society over the generations. Rules, laid upon rules, which grew to occupy life, as opposed to paying attention to that which is really important is the focus of Jesus' attention in this passage. Rules can help govern, but they can also (and often are) used to circumvent things we ought to be doing.

Jesus' list of 12 evils emanating from within us is his response to these rules that don't address these baser instincts that can live within us. By paying attention to, and making all efforts not to violate these 12, we can all live without nano-second-controlling rules and regulations. Instead, we can be free and imaginative in creating the Kingdom Jesus proclaims. Difficult, but not impossible.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: DC Garden-Terrace. 2011.

Daily Office Reflection: Rushing To....

Psalms 75, 76 * 23, 27; Genesis 43:16-34; 1 Cor 7:10-24; Mark 5:1-20

Jesus heals the howling and self-bruising demoniac, who was living among the tombs in the area the Gerasenes had settled, in Mark's Gospel today. Those poor swine, numbering 2000, get possessed by the legions within the individual and drown themselves after a wild rush down a steep bank leading to the sea. The townsfolk are perplexed, upset, afraid, and begged Jesus to leave. He complies, rejecting the healed individual's request to accompany him, instructing him, unusually for Mark, to go and proclaim the good news of God. The individual goes and proclaims the good news of Jesus.

Miracles and wondrous workings, and massive change to a society are things we read about in today's Gospel. Jesus up-ends a society's system; at the same time he saves an individual, not only from self-abuse, but from the abuse/mistreatment/neglect of the individual's own town-folk.

For what is this story a metaphor? What do we accept as "normal" behavior, and/or treatment, that we should not? What has our culture, in our rush for self-satisfaction, chosen to ignore, push aside, lock away? Who might be the demoniac, living on the outskirts of our awareness, needing healing, whose healing would up-end and forever change how we view and understand the world?

Good things to noodle on from this familiar story.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer, All Rights Reserved.

Photo: jfd's (lost) DC Garden, 2011.

Daily Office Reflection: On Parables and Secrets

Psalms (70), 71 * 74; Genesis 42:29-38; 1 Cor 6:12-20; Mark 4:11-34

The Gospel of Mark is filled with the idea of secrets. Jesus doesn't want anyone to know what he is doing, outside of those with whom he has personal contact. The parables are a mystery to those who hear them: we hear today With many such parables he (Jesus) spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

Mark, the first of the Gospels, was written to, and for, a community that had just experienced the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, and were a community under siege from all sides. This explains the tone and tenor of a lot of what we hear. But if we were to take these parables, and the whole of Mark, as metaphor, and we think about this idea of parables and Jesus telling us things as we are able to hear, how would we view the world differently? How would we approach our lives differently?

Almost all of life is experiential, we learn things along the way, we grow and develop. We try out some things, like a suit of clothes, but as we grow and change that new and shiny suit slips to the back of our closet. So, I don't know if Mark and Jesus' parables are so much about "secrets" as about our continued and growing developmental understanding of the richness of God's kingdom all around us; a kingdom that we are meant to foster and nurture and assist in developing.

So, maybe, we don't understand scripture all that well. That doesn't mean we should stop trying.....

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: Before the Wedding, Johnny & Bryan's DC Shindig, 2010.

Lent 2B

Genesis 17:1-7,15-16, Romans 4:13-25, Mark 8:31-38

Preached @ St. Christopher’s, Roseville, MN, 3/4/11

(A PDF of this sermon is available on St. Christopher's Website, which can be reached by clicking on the title "Lent 2b" which contains the imbedded link.)

In “Gareth and Lynette,” Tennyson wrote a story of a young man who had a vision that he was to join King Arthur’s circle of knights, to which his mother objected. She pulls out her arsenal of arguments against her son’s desire: bribery, promising to arrange hunts and sport and a bride - his age, saying he is too young – guilt, at leaving her alone. All of these being good reasons to try to keep her son from what she perceives as a harmful choice. But her son replies

O Mother, How can ye keep me tethered to you – Shame.

Man am I grown, a man’s work must I do.

Follow the deer? Follow the Christ, the King.

Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King –

Else, what fore was I born?

Tennyson’s story is meant to evoke questions in us, two of which are: In what do we believe? In what do we have faith?

Good and challenging questions. Our Gospel reading from Mark today raises those same questions. In the verses just before ours today Jesus has been identified, by Peter, as the “Messiah.” And then we have the rebuking back and forth between Peter and Jesus, with Jesus then turning to the crowds around them and he talks to them about faith, belief and a re-focusing of our priorities. In what do we believe? In what do we have faith?

Peter was very much acting the part of the mother in Tennyson’s story: wanting and believing in his understanding of what “Messiah” means. Jesus, very much like the son in Tennyson’s tale, is following a path that he knows is right, is the correct one - one he invites us to, asking us to deny our self, take up our individual cross and follow him. Jesus is not talking about self-hatred, or our Lenten penchant to give something up (a/k/a denying ourselves something). Jesus is asking us to focus on what is really important in life. Jesus took up his individual cross and changed the world by carrying that individual cross. We are asked today to pick up our cross, and change the world. Jesus’ cross gave us redemption and love that is beyond measure. What is our cross, that picking that up, dropping those things that are truly unimportant, can change our world? In what do we believe? In what do we have faith?

Our Hebrew Testament reading of God’s renaming of Abraham and Sarah (from Abram and Sarai) is all about faith, and faithful living. Paul, in the portion of the letter to the Romans we hear, defines Abraham’s reward as being based on the righteousness of his faith, not Abraham’s adherence to the law. In what did Abraham believe? In what did he have faith?

Richard Rohr has written about Jesus’ three “P”s: power, prestige and possessions. Rohr says that over 90% of Jesus’ concerns and teachings were on the seduction of these three Ps: a seduction that takes us away from that which is really important in life. We all have seen examples of people who are hugely successful, having power, prestige and enormous possessions, and yet are unhappy, unsatisfied, unfulfilled - Truly living a life not worth anything. This is not a new phenomenon, as Jesus was preaching against this mind-set 2000 years ago. And we are hearing about it today. In what do we believe? In what do we have faith?

Steadfast faith…that is one of the things we ask for in our Collect today. Faith in what? Belief in what? Jesus asks a rhetorical question to the crowd: For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? The new Common English Bible translates that same verse as Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? Why would people gain the whole world and lose themselves? Jesus is asking us to focus on that which is important in life…on the kind of life we are leading…to regularly ask the questions: in what do we believe? In what do we have faith?

A number of years ago, I was asked to sit in on an ecumenical conversation from a group visiting the United States from Northern Ireland, on a trip exploring how different denominations in the U.S. were addressing GLBT issues. In this group from Northern Ireland were: Presbyterians, Catholics, an Anglican priest, a Baptist minister, Unitarians, and a few others. The conversation was guarded and careful at first, but as it got going there were some surprises. The first truly negative comment about GLBT people came from the Anglican. This evoked a very strong response from the Baptist minister and the catholic lay individual, who voiced strong opposition to the Anglican priest’s opinions. Surprising, perhaps, and unexpected to have a Roman Catholic and a Baptist minister give full-throated support for full inclusion of people they felt were a minority, and being discriminated against. In what did those people believe? In what did they have faith?

Our Gospel and other readings, that ecumenical conversation, focus our attention on the possibilities of the in-breaking of God into our world. The retiring Suffragan Bishop of New York, Cathy Roskum, talking about this in-breaking of God into the world said: Supporting MDGs cannot just be about good works and charity and writing checks. Even working for justice does not cover it. But, true sharing of wealth and resources is the in-breaking of God’s realm: mountains of wealth are lowered and the deep valleys of poverty are raised to make the path level for the coming of God.

In what do we have faith? In what do we believe? Do we, here at St. Christopher’s believe our baptismal covenant vows in which we regularly promise to see Christ in the “other”, to seek and support justice and equality, to respect everyone’s dignity? How do we live out those vows? How do we support justice and equality and dignity if we remain silent on issues of the day that make inequality the norm? Where is our voice supporting and arguing for the marginalized? Does our silence make us complicit in acts and beliefs in which we do not agree? In what do we have faith? In what do we believe?

How can we act out our faith, as a community of faith, as the Body of Christ in Roseville today? Would Jesus stay silent when there was a substantive chance that a large swath of people were about to be marginalized: told they are less than those who view them as different? How should – how can our voice be heard?

Anytime there is an attempt to concretize into law prejudice, discrimination, inequality of a group thought of, by some, as different, we, as Christians, must rise up and voice our opposition, and actively work to halt those attempts. Our silence will be damning to us in the long run. We must act to show that discrimination, prejudice, inequality are the exact opposite of God’s in-breaking into the world. While Our actions in opposition to these attempted acts to legalize inequality and injustice can be that in-breaking of God into the world exemplifying the truth: ALL are welcome at God’s table for all the sacraments. ALL are equally loved.

Some will say this is too political – others not enough. It seems we are called by Jesus today to ask the hard questions and find a way to actively create a world where justice & equality for all is made palpable and real for all…..Is this something St. Christopher’s is willing to do? - Else, what-fore were we born?..... In what do we believe? In what do we have faith?

Copyright © 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Art: Cross 23, (a/k/a "Jessica's") jfd+, 2011

Daily Office Reflection: Enslaved

Psalms 55 * 138, 139:1-17(18-23); Genesis 41:1-13; 1Cor 4:1-7; Mark 2:23-3:6

We are only in the second chapter of Mark and the people who object to the actions and teachings of Jesus are already "conspiring to destroy him." Jesus allows his disciples to pick grain heads on the sabbath and heals an individual's withered hand, also on the sabbath - just pissing off the temple leaders.

We hear from Mark today that Jesus looked at these leaders, was angry and he was grieved. Grieved at their hardness of heart which was based upon their strict understanding of what was allowable and not allowable on the sabbath. The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath, Jesus says today.

These folks with whom Jesus was interacting were stuck, enslaved really, in their interpretation of the law: a human-made law, passed down through generations, based on a belief and understanding of what God desires for us. The sabbath was made for humankind... made for us to rest and remember. Not something mandated and meant to be burdensome.

This account we have today should help us examine that to which we are enslaved. To what are we wedded because we believe it is God's will? Are we putting God in a box by doing so? Are we giving more credence to our own biases and/or desires, than being open to the wideness that is God's grace and love?

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: Christopher and Scott's Blessing Service, 2011.

Daily Office Reflection: On Behalf Of

Psalms 30, 32 * 42, 43: Ezekiel 39:21-29; Philippians 4:10-20; John 17:20-36

Jesus says in our Gospel reading from John today, I ask not only on behalf of these (his disciples), but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. Just a terrific verse to have this day before the first Sunday in Lent. For what else are we, but those who struggle to have faith and belief because of "their word?"

Lent is a the perfect liturgical season in which to struggle, consciously and with intent, with putting words and prayer to our faith and belief. To try and put a re-examined framework around our understanding of the Passion for which we prepare. We do this every year, because with each passing year, we are different, we have changed. How do those changes in our life impact our belief and faith? How have they been tested? Strengthened? Challenged? Weakened? Where do we find an absence, a void, in our life?

Wherever we are in our own individual journey, Jesus is with us, in us, interceding on our behalf, because, like those disciples, we continue to struggle with our faith and belief. We do this individually and we do this corporately. Individually, with our efforts to pray and work toward making the kingdom a reality. Corporately, by praying and working within whatever community of believers we are graced to find ourselves a part, whether small or large in number.

We do not do this alone, the one whom we struggle to have faith and belief in, is with us, always.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved

Art: Stations 5-8, jfd+, 2012

Daily Office Reflection: So, Lent Has Started

Psalms 37:1-18 * 37:19-42; Habakkuk 3:1-10(11-15)16-18; Philippians 3:12-21; John 17:1-8

We had a number of Ash Wednesday services yesterday: that solemn and beautiful liturgy that begins the Season of Lent. Some people commented to me yesterday, similar to comments I have received over the years, that they don't feel particularly "sinful" and are a bit confused by the abject nature and tone of the service and the Lenten season.

Our Outline of the Faith in the BCP (a/k/a the Catechism) defines sin as: sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all of creation. (BCP page 848). A somewhat helpful definition, but for those looking for concrete, solid walls within which to live their lives, perhaps not as direct as they might expect. I harken back to Jesus and the individual who thought by living thoroughly by the "law", eternal life was a given. Jesus asked more, to sell everything and give it to the poor and then follow him.

Part of sin is complacency. Thinking we have done enough, given enough. God wants all of our efforts directed to the building of this kingdom opened for everyone by Jesus. An impossible expectation, perhaps.... And that is why we need Lent. We need to remember that no matter how much we do, there is always more to do, always more required. Not because we are sinful, but because we are perfectible.

All of us are sinners. And God knows that and loves us anyway. That helps me breathe easier. I hope it does you too. A holy and blessed Lent.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Art: Stations 1-4, jfd+, 2012

Daily Office Reflection: Knowledge and Faith

Psalms 105:1-22 * 105:23-45; Genesis 32:3-21; 1 John 2:18-29; John 10:19-30

So many of us just want to know. We want and need proof. Without that concrete, solid evidence we just won't believe. This is how most of us are in life. This is how our society and culture operates. And this is not all that different from how we have always acted throughout the ages of time.

In John's Gospel today (and the past few days), Jesus has been in Jerusalem, facing off with the leaders of the temple-society. They have heard of the miracles he has been performing, have spoken with the individual whose eyesight has just been restored. They have spoken with Jesus many times, not really listening to him. Instead, they try to fit Jesus into their constructs of knowledge, into their belief system, based on facts and evidence as they perceive them.

John reports Jesus' words as, "I have told you, and you do not believe..." You do not believe is a repeated phrase in this portion of John's Gospel. Even though they have seen the results of Jesus' work, have spoken with him, the do not believe. How are we supposed to believe if we haven't had the same opportunity as those temple-leaders? Where does our faith come from, if we cannot have concrete knowledge and evidence of the existence of that which we believe?

Volumes of texts have been written on this subject of faith in that which we cannot, and do not, see. We can study (and really must study) these texts we believe to be sacred. And through that study, we can gain some modicum of knowledge. And yet, faith is something un-concrete: it is an ethereal thing, a feeling, a belief.

From those ethereal moments, when we know, without concrete proof, that we are on the right track, those are the moments on which we must hang our faith.... Our belief that God is with us in this world. From those moments, we can and build a life based on the goodness and love modeled for us by Jesus. The hard truth is, we build our lives on faith, and there are things that we can just not concretize.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Art: Cross # , 2009, jfd+

Daily Office Reflection: Some People....

Psalms 89:1-18 * 89:19-52; Genesis 30:1-44; 1 John 1:1-10; John 9:1-17

Some folks, no matter what you do, are going to be obstinate and not "get it." Frustrating, absolutely. What are we to do about those folks?

Jesus deals with some of that in today's Gospel from John. He heals an individual, blind since birth, and because he did this unheard of miracle on the Sabbath, the strict constructionists, the literalists, claim he cannot be of God. Thick-headedness, myopia, narrow-mindedness surrounded Jesus, all of which still exist around us in various forms today. Do we stand in front of these folks and yell "fool!"? Do we simply ignore them, chastise them, belittle them? As good as that might make us feel at times, no, that is not the way either, although, Jesus does have a pretty sharp tongue for these folks at times. Should we model that sharpness?

But that isn't all that Jesus does: he continues on, he keeps at it. He stays true to his mission and journey: opening and creating the kingdom for all of us. Even those of us who, at times, are the thick-headed, myopic, narrow-minded literalists. We are given a model of continuing our efforts, continuing to invite those who don't yet want to be invited: again, sometimes who are us. That is the good news....it is never too late to join up with Jesus.....We need to ask ourselves, What blinders do we need to take off today?

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: Provincetown Harbor, 2006, jfd+

Daily Office Reflection: Making Room

Psalms 88 * 91, 92; Genesis 27:46-28:4,10-22; Romans 13:1-14; John 8:33-47

Jesus is in a knock down, drag-out verbal match with the hierarchy that controls the religious system. Strong words, insulting words and accusations, are bantered about. But before Jesus' words get intemperate (calling his foes spawn of the devil), he says that these folks are trying to kill him because there is no place in you for my word.

These individuals with whom Jesus is arguing had created a world rigid with rules and regulations and guidelines, micro-managing how people were to live their lives in a "holy" fashion. A by-product of that kind of approach to life is that those rigid constructs also control how we can understand the world and how we understand God. These tight constructs had left no room for God, as these rules defined God in very tight and particular parameters. Jesus, his life and ministry, are testament to taking our notion of God out of the box. Of making room in ourselves for ambiguity, and thoughtful imagination, and dreaming, and not-so-rigid-rules-and-regulations, and a space to breathe, and see the beauty of God's creation all around us.

Life can seem to be so much easier with tight constructs controlling how we live and interact in the world, and how we define God. "Seem" is the operable world, for those constructs, mostly, are false and human-made and can, and do, keep God out of our life. We are asked to consider today where in our life have we left no room for God.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Stoned or Not Stoned

Psalms 78:1-39 * 78:40-72; Genesis 26:1-6,12-33; Hebrews 13:17-25; John 7:53-8:11

I have often wondered what Jesus was doodling on the ground when the Pharisees dragged that adulterer before him to be judged. Lots of folks have spoken with authority about the kind of thing he would have been writing...but if John wanted us to know what it was that he was doing down there in the dirt, well, he would have told us. Leaving it to our imaginings is part of the work we are called upon to do.

The Pharisees have been hard at work trying to trap Jesus. We can almost see them drooling with glee at their conniving today...We've got him! Let him try and save this adulterer! He does flummox them though. "Let the one among you who is free from sin be the first to cast a stone." Who are we to judge? In particular, when the resulting punishment is death?

Jesus is pointing us to forgiveness, reconciliation and the truth that God can and does love and forgive us when we "repent," meaning "turn." God even loves us when we are trying to figure out what this means. Who are we to judge when the penalty is so final? Every life is worth being given the opportunity to turn. Turn from what we have been doing to what we should be doing. Judging is so much easier than realizing all of us are fallen in some way and need to turn...turn to a more open, forgiving nature. What a different society we would live in should this crucial instruction be followed by Jesus.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: Baptismal Font @ St. Christopher's, 2012.

Daily Office Reflection: From Our Hearts

Psalms: 80 * 77 (79); Genesis 25:19-34; Hebrews 13:1-16; John 7:37-52

Jesus quotes scripture today in saying Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water. He is in the midst of his talking about his body and blood being the bread and wine of life, to which most people are recoiling and arguing with him and each other.

Jesus is onto something here...haven't we all experienced in some fashion the infectiousness that "good buzz" from people can produce? Positive enthusiasm can and does generate more enthusiasm. The opposite is as true, negativity is a buzz-kill. One of the things Jesus is driving at today is this idea of our permanently changing our hearts, our attitudes, our mindset. The joy that comes from our believing heart is truly infectious: people see it, feel it, and want to know how to get it. And when our heart is truly turned to God, those nay-sayers cannot turn it back.

Few of us ever reach that level of ecstatic belief. Most, if not all, of us are like Nicodemus, who makes his second appearance today. He had visited Jesus five chapters back, in the pitch of night, because there was something churning in his heart. That seed, planted and taking root, is stretching out its branches today when he is pushing back on those nay sayers that surround him. Nicodemus' heart is turning to God, to Jesus. That is what we are called upon to do, everyday: turn our hearts to God, and the infectious joy that can suffuse us cannot help but pour out of us to those we encounter.

This is a lifetime's effort, with twists and turns and bumps along the way. That journey we are all on is a gift we can share, we cannot help but share, as our heart overflows.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, 2012, jfd+

Daily Office Reflection: Time

Psalms 72 * 119:73-96; Genesis 22:1-18; Hebrews 11:23-31; John 6:52-59

Time is so changeable. At moments in life, time can seem to not exist at all, events flying by in the seeming blink of an eye. At other moments in life, the same amount of time that blew right past us seems to be an eternity for us to slog through. But when we get to the other side of that slog, and time becomes more "normal," the excruciating nature of what has just transpired can fade. And there are times when we seem to be in both places, the too quick passage of time, and simultaneously the feeling that we will never get to the other side.

So much of that impression of time, our experience of time, is amorphous and based on the things that are going on in our lives. Jesus is immersed in a conversation with those who are trying to figure him out, and he says in today's Gospel from John, But the one who eats this bread will live forever. Well, forever is a long time. What does this mean?

One of the things Jesus is getting at today is that by incorporating Jesus into our very being, by becoming, as much as we possibly can, to be like Jesus, we become the living Body of Christ in the world today. We become part of that centuries old line of souls doing our utmost to make the world morph and change and pay attention to those things to which Jesus directs us: caring for the poor, the sick, the incarcerated, the lost, the frightened, the mournful. And by doing those things, living life in that way, we become a part of something that lives forever.

A radically different way to think about time, its passage, and our own short time in which to live that way.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: Blessing Matt & Brett's Wedding, 2009.

Daily Office Reflection: The Last Day

Psalms 56, 57 (58) * 64, 65; Genesis 19:1-17(18-23)24-29; Hebrews 11:1-12; John 6:27-40

....all that see the Son, and believe in him, may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. Jesus says this at the end of the Gospel reading from John today. Over the course of history the phrase "the last day" has caused substantive conversation and dispute. Are all those millions of souls who have gone before us waiting on this last day to "come back?" Have they not been allowed into heaven and eternal rest just yet because that last day has yet to come? Has the last day already come, at the end of the Triduum we approach during Holy Week? Are we in the last day now?

We talk about not reading Scripture literally, but, instead, based on "the three legged stool" of the written word (Scripture), how it has been understood through time (Tradition), and how we understand it now (Reason): all three, Scripture, Tradition and Reason, weighted equally. If this phrase "the last day" (when all are to be raised up), is not to be understood literally, than what does it mean?

Just before this phrase, Jesus is teaching the crowds about what belief is, what true life can and should be like. Jesus tells the crowd that he is the bread of life come down from heaven, given by God to teach us how to live. The crowds have asked Jesus for a sign similar to the one Moses performed when bread (manna) was given to their ancestors in the desert. Jesus corrects them saying not Moses, but God provided the sign, and that bread, although nourishing, did not change how the world operates. To follow and accept and be like him does change the world, Jesus says.

What if "the last day" is a metaphor. A metaphor of how we are truly to live our lives, not for ourselves, but for those Jesus reached out to: the poor, sick, lame, forgotten, cast aside? Perhaps we are in a continuous last day doing the work Jesus modeled for us.

jfd+

Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Art: Panel 3 of Four Fold Action: Broken. 2008. jfd+

Daily Office Reflection: Burning & Shining Lamps

Psalms 50 * 59, 60 or 118; Genesis 16:15-17:14; Hebrews 10:1-10; John 5:30-47

"He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light." This is part of a description Jesus gives of John's work that preceded him. Jesus goes on to chastise them for not recognizing that the light emanating from John the Baptist was ignited from elsewhere, and that elsewhere is standing and working right in their midst, un-acknowledged, un-appreciated. We do that all the time, focusing on the human and not on the origin.

This is not an uncommon, or new phenomenon, this practice of finding a hero, a savior, putting them up on a pedestal, forgetting that they are human too, and lauding and magnifying their works as those that can fix all our problems. And then, at some point, these humans act like humans, and fail - or burn out - and disappoint. We do this over and over and over again.

This is one of the main points the Gospel writer we call John is trying to drive home by giving Jesus these words today. Recognizing the individual abilities of people is absolutely appropriate and the right thing to do. Forgetting that these laudable and talented folk are human too, with all the frailties and foibles existing within that all of us have, is an habitual tendency we need to fight against. Focusing those hopes, dreams, love, admiration and wonder at Jesus, the one standing among us, who is with us always, is the appropriate direction of those emotions and desires.

John is asking us to think on today, Who have we made a god-head in our lives, setting ourselves up for future disappointment? Can we short-cut that disappointment and instead re-direct that energy and attention on Jesus?

jfd+

Copyright 2011, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: From a Distance

Psalms 41, 52 * 44; Genesis 14:(1-7)8-24; Hebrews 8:1-13; John 4:43-54

Jesus heals the son of a "royal official from Capernaum" in today's reading from John. Jesus is up in Cana of Galilee when this official approaches him in great distress about his ill child. Jesus says the child is healed and the official believes and starts home. What we can miss in this story is the distance between the actors in this account. Carpernaum and Cana were approximately a three day trip apart, making the official's faith, and this feat of healing, all that much more remarkable.

So many people can feel alone in life, whether they are surrounded by people or truly alone. Having and making close connections with people, although vital and important for our health, can also be difficult. When we feel like there is no one in the world who understands us, or is near to us to help us through a particularly challenging time in our life, we must always remember the nearness of God to each and every one of us. That love God has for us, represented in the account of Jesus and the royal official, is a comfort to us in difficult times. But more than a comfort, it is a palpable reality that can make the most difficult-seeming times in our lives, bearable.

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Copyright 2011, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: StoneArch Bridge, 2011, jfd+

Daily Office Reflection: Nicodemus is Introduced

Psalms 25 * 9, 15; Genesis 8:6-22; Hebrews 4:14-5:16; John 2:23-3:15

We are introduced to Nicodemus in our Gospel reading from John. This Gospel has great creative genius within its verses. This scene with Jesus and Nicodemus is a precursor of what is to come. So much of these early passages in John is setting the stage for later events. Nicodemus returns to Jesus a number of times in the story that follows.

We hear just before Nicodemus comes by night that Jesus "knew what was in everyone." Then Nicodemus appears, this leader of the Jews, this member of the group that so opposes Jesus' ministry (the Pharisees), and he starts a dialogue with Jesus. A conversation that will be continued throughout the Gospel of John, concluding with one of Nicodemus' fellow Pharisees coming and burying Jesus in his own tomb. Jesus knew Nicodemus, what he was able to become and who he could influence.

There are moments in all of our lives when we just know something is right, that we are on the right track. And we keep plugging away at this "thing," not really understanding why, just knowing it is right. Much like Nicodemus snuck in to speak with Jesus, at first, and then he continues to explore what this kernel of questioning is that is blooming inside of him. By having the reading we have today, we are called to think on, explore, discern, pay attention to those nudges we experience in life, directing us to do something we never thought we could or should explore.

Where is God leading us? What new avenues can we walk down that will completely change our lives? They may not be "safe" and "familiar." Certainly, Nicodemus' life was radically changed, and in so doing, he also changed and modeled for the world a different way of being and acting in the world. Where is (are) our Nicodemus moment(s)? Are we paying attention so that we can experience those?

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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: Calling on the Holy Spirit to Descend, 2007.

Daily Office Reflection: Being Direct

Psalms 20, 21:1-7(8-14) * 110-5(6-7), 116, 117; Genesis 6:9-12; Hebrews 4:1-13; John 2:13-22

Jesus chases people from the forecourt of the Temple in John's Gospel today. Overturning tables, tossing money on the floor, yelling at people selling doves to get out, all paint a different picture of the Jesus we are accustomed to hearing and reading about in Scripture.

The custom and practice in temple worship was for an offering to be made, to honor God. A whole system developed around that custom that involved having to change the secular currency into currency acceptable for use in the temple, and that coinage used to purchase animals that could be sacrificed (or symbolically sacrificed) on the altar in the hidden sanctuary. The system that developed not only enriched those who did the trading and selling, but made the whole theological idea behind the "sacrifice" those efforts were to be reminiscent of, easier for those partaking in the rituals.

One of the things that so angered Jesus was the "making easier" part of this system. By its very name, "sacrifice" is not supposed to be easy, or made easier. The concept, the reason for the act, the remembrance of the past sacrifices being made easier, was offensive to the very root of Jesus' being, because it cheapened the meaning of the ritual, undercutting it's purpose for existence.

Where are we cutting corners in our spiritual lives? Where we are short-changing our selves in the experience the rituals and practices we follow are leading us? What are we trying to make easy, and in so doing, cheapening the experience, and the meaning behind those efforts?

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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo: Magnolia blossom, National Cathedral, 2006, jfd+

Daily Office Reflection: Mary and Jesus

Psalms 16, 17 * 22; Genesis 6:1-8; Hebrews 3:12-19; John 2:1-12

Jesus has a lot of Marys in his life. Today, in our Gospel reading from John, we have his mom strongly suggesting to him what he should do about this wine situation at the wedding they are attending. Like many children, he gives an "ahh, mom, cut it out. Can't you see I'm busy having a good time here?" But she knows him so very well, that she tells the steward to pay attention to him because he can fix this wine fiasco. And he does.

She knows him so very well. Who do we have in our lives that knows us like Mary knows her son? Who can we brush off, and yet that seed, that kernel of "yeah, I should do this thing" stays with us, urging us to do what is asked, which is often the right thing for us to do (much to our distress).

God knows each of us like this. God knows us, so very well, and urges us to do those right things. That small, sane voice that nudges us when we are heading down a path that might not be the best for us, is like Mary nudging Jesus to do the right thing. To pay attention to the larger picture of what is going on around us, and not be so worried about having a good time at that present moment.....Where are we being urged by our sane, small voice to turn water into wine, and help change the world?

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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved

Photo: P-Town Flats at Sunrise, 2008, jfd+

Daily Office Reflection: Telling

Psalms 18:1-20 * 18:21-50; Genesis 4:17-26; Hebrews 3:1-11; John 1:41-51

Jesus finds Philip, who goes and finds Nathaniel, giving an invitation to come and see Jesus. Nathaniel mouths off to Philip and then Jesus proves Nathaniel wrong and predicts the arrival of the kingdom.

Who do we need to invite, today, to come and see? Who do we need, today, to point in a different direction because of the surety of their misperceptions? Who, today, needs to see the world in a different light, through a different lenses, have misconceptions challenged?

Don't all of us need this kind of reminder, this kind of challenge on a regular basis? Inviting someone else to come and see the goodness that is God is vital. Reminding ourselves, often, that we need to do the same, and take off blinders we have placed firmly on ourselves, in order to see and understand our world in new ways is just as important.

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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.