Daily Office Reflection: Shock Value

Wet Feet (In Progress), 2010, jfd+

Psalms 105:1-22; 105:23-45; Judges 14:1-19; Acts 6:15-7:16; John 4:27-42

Today, we have the second part of the account of Jesus and the Samaritans in John's Gospel. This story was meant to shock people, have us look at Jesus in different ways, and understand his mission and ministry in a new light. With the passage of time, that shock value has faded.

The Samaritans were a much maligned people, maligned by the ruling temple authorities. They were thought of as unclean, impure, to be avoided. Compounding the shock value of this story, Jesus is talking to a woman... alone...and a Samaritan at that.This would have caused the initial hearers of this Gospel to have their jaws drop open. 

Where the Samaritans resided was directly between two major areas. Most people would travel days out of their way to avoid coming in contact with these outcasts. Jesus took the direct route to his destination, taking him directly through "enemy" territory, bringing him into contact with this Samaritan woman.

One of the many things this account is meant to make us contemplate is whether or not we are taking a direct route in helping to create the kingdom Jesus opens for us, or if we are taking the long way around in order to avoid contact with undesirable and uncomfortable situations. Do we avoid going to certain places so that we do not have to encounter a particular individual who makes us uncomfortable?

God's kingdom is for everyone...those we like and those we would prefer to avoid. Our job is to welcome everyone, not exclude people by avoiding contact with them, ignoring them...At the same time, and as Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan woman illustrates, we are not called to be "patsies" and be bullied. Being direct with people about inappropriate behavior is not the same thing as being unwelcoming. Pointing out what is appropriate conduct is not the same thing as exclusionary avoidance.

Lots to think about in this Gospel of Jesus, the Samaritan woman, the Samaritan community and the well.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Bookending

Johnny & Bryan's Wedding, 2010

Psalm 87, 90 & 136; Judges 9:22-25,50-57; Acts 4:32-5:11; John 2:13-25

The Gospel of John presents us with such a different Jesus, a different flow to the story of Jesus' life and ministry. Jesus marches into the narrative with authority and certainty of who he is and where he is going. The Gospel writer we call John bookends this long account: what happens toward the end, the things Jesus says and does, are mirrored toward the beginning.

Yesterday, we had the wedding feast in Cana (the first portion of Chapter 2), where water is turned into wine on Mary's request. That Chapter begins, strikingly, with the words "On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee..." This comes right after (at the close of Chapter 1) Jesus telling Nathanael that he (Nate) will see far greater things happen than Jesus telling him where he had been sitting under a fig tree. So, the "on the third day" reference stands out as something that does not flow with what has just gone before - the third day of what? John is setting forth the importance of "the great three days," the Passion that is to come later in the story, where at the beginning of that Passion narrative, Jesus has wine (and bread) become something else entirely.

In today's continuation of Chapter 2, Jesus cleans out the market place area of the temple. When challenged by temple authorities on this action, who demand a sign that gives Jesus authority, Jesus says "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." There are those three days again. There is no mystery in this Gospel, for the author tells us that his disciples understood this after he had been raised from the dead. A deliberate march, from Galilee to Jerusalem, back out again, and eventually back to Jerusalem. A deliberate life and ministry.

How are we supposed to mimic this kind of determination, this kind of deliberateness and certainty? This very high-Christological-Jesus makes him seemingly unapproachable, remote, challenging for us to make these accounts of Jesus relevant to the everyday hubbub of our lives. I find it helpful to remember the other Gospels in comparison to this one, combined with looking at the human elements the Gospel writer puts in these accounts of Jesus' ministry. He is a bit cranky with his mother when she asks him to do something about the lack of wine at the wedding...a typical child being unhappy with being told by a parent what to do, saying no at first, and then going ahead and doing the thing asked for....Jesus shows anger/temper in the temple in today's portion of Chapter 2 - a whip of cords, a raised voice. There's no teaching, just "zeal" and physicality at trying to right a wrong. This can be very balancing when set against the more remote-certainhood of John's Jesus.

A challenging and often misunderstood Gospel. Yet, it is one that continues to speak and guide and invite us to be in conversation with God. 
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Seeing...Knowing

St Christopher's, 2011, jfd+

Psalms (83) or 145 * 85, 86; Judges 8:22-33; Acts 4:1-12; John 1:43-51

There are times when we just know something. We don't have to be told...we just know. Trying to articulate why we know can be challenging, and can cause us to start to doubt, but that seed of knowing stays put, no matter how much we try to intellectualize it away.

We can know when we love someone. Not everyone has experienced love at first sight, of knowing this is the person, but those who have understand this un-intellectualized knowing. We know when we are being stared at...we just instinctively look. It is not (often) something we can make happen, but we just know.

In response to a question of where he is going, Jesus invites two of John's disciples to "come and see." He doesn't teach them, he doesn't preach at them. He shows them, and they know. This is the one. And off Andrew runs to get his brother Simon, who Jesus names Peter. 

One of the things we Episcopalians say, frequently, is that if you want to know what we believe, come and worship with us...come and see. We are what we pray. We try to live and be what we pray. Quite often, people will feel something during a service that makes them want to stay, to learn more...but they know, this is the place. With all its warts and humanness...this is the place. Seeing it helps make us know...I want to be a part of whatever is going on here. 

Understanding is a different thing all together. The knowing we hear about today is different from understanding. Living into that mystery is the challenging and hard part. Not losing that initial, yes, this is it, is the hard part. Today's Gospel is asking us to remember and stay with that initial knowing...reminding us to put up with the other "stuff" that comes along with intellectualizing...balancing that knowledge with the inner knowing.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Who Are You?

Alley - in progress, jfd+ 2012

Psalms 78:1-39 * 78:40-72; Judges 7:1-18; Acts 3:1-11: John 1:19-28

John the Baptist is asked by the leaders of the Jewish community, Who are you? They are rather indignant and impatient, as John is baptizing and preaching, and criticizing the cultural structures that leadership had labored hard in creating. The undertone of their questions is: Well, you have some nerve sticking your nose in to these matters about which you have little understanding! John tells them they ain't seen nothin' yet! Wait until the one whom I am announcing makes an appearance! 

Who are you? We are asked this self defining question quite often in our lives. And we all may have differing answers for the audience to whom those answers are directed. I was recently filling out an application for a "church-appointed/elected position" and one of the questions was "how do you define yourself?"...another way of asking: Who are you to put your hat in the ring for this position? And my answer was along these lines: "I'm a rector (with all that entails), a son, a brother, a brother-in-law, an uncle, an artist, a writer, a friend, a lover of people, a child of God, a small part of the Body of Christ in the world today." I don't think I'll be appointed/elected to this position, but that question, "how do you define yourself?" (a/k/a "who are you?") has stayed with me. (To parishioners and friends in MN: I am NOT looking for a new call/job - this is a volunteer position within the larger church.)

How do we define ourselves when asked Who are you? How do we answer? Is being part of the living Body of Christ in our answer? Does the inclusion of our faith/belief system shape our answer? Does it depend on to whom we speaking? Good and challenging questions, requiring us to think about where our faith fits into our life.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Do Not Be Afraid

Cross 21, 2009, jfd+

Psalms 69:1-23(24-30)31-38 * 73; Judges 5:1-18; Acts 2:1-21; Matthew 28:1-10

Do not be afraid, Jesus says to Mary Magdalene and one of the other Mary's that populates this narrative. He appears to them as they are rushing back to the others to tell what the angel at the tomb told them: Jesus is risen, do not be afraid.


Fear is such an innate part of all us. Some are better at hiding it than others. Some are better at "dealing with it" than others. But fear resides in us and manifests itself in a myriad of different ways: small and large, overwhelming and with minimal impact at different times in our lives. 


Being afraid can take many forms. We can be fearful of someone's reaction to some news we have to break to them. We can be fearful of having enough money to pay the mortgage or rent. We can have fear about having enough money to buy food so our family can eat something nutritious. We can be fearful of becoming unemployed. Of losing friends. Of being alone. Of dying.


Do not be afraid, Jesus says. The angel appearing to the Marys says it too. Fear can be a motivator to some, pushing us to do that which we think we cannot, for fear of what will happen if we don't.


Jesus, and that God-sent angel, is asking us to trust: the opposite of fear. To trust in God. To trust that no matter what happens, whether we become unemployed, or lose a friend, or cannot afford what we think we should be able to afford, or that we will die...trust that no matter what happens to us, we will be alright. That no matter what comes our way, because of the love we see exuding from Jesus to the Marys, (who are exemplars of us), no matter what happens, we will be okay. For God's love is greater than all our fears, and can, and does, bring us through all that we face in life.


Fear will always be with us, a part of us. Trust is something we have to work on quite a bit harder. But when we allow that trust to rule our lives, and not the fear, we are forever changed for the better.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: A Pause, Not an End

SW, DC, 2010

Psalms: (70), 71 * 74; Judges 4:4-23; Acts 1:15-26; Matthew 27:55-66

A rich and diverse set of characters in Matthew's Gospel today: multiple Marys (Magdalene and James and John's mother and James and Joseph's mother), Joseph of Arimathea, Pilate, chief priests and Pharisees, a guard of soldiers. All of them, in different ways involved in, impacted by, the life that just ended on the Cross. 


A sad and confusing day for the Mary's and Joseph of Arimathea. A day of seeming success for the priests and Pharisees. A day like many others for Pilate, filled with bureaucratic work. A different sort of day for the soldiers sent to seal a tomb. But all revolving around this now dead person: the end game all of them thought. Different views, different lenses through which to see and experience these hours after Jesus' death on that Cross.


Initially, having a "Good Friday" moment in the middle of the summer seems odd and inappropriate. Yet, Holy Week is so rich and full and complex, revisiting it during the year is a good way to reflect upon different aspects of the Passion narrative that can get pushed aside because of the rush and pressure of that week. These different characters in our story today demand our contemplation. Each of them, with their own distinct viewpoint and experience and motivations, can draw us deeper into an understanding of what God was doing through the ministry and life and mortal death of Jesus. 


When have we been one of the Marys? Or Joseph? Or Pilate? Or the chief priests and Pharisees? Or the soldiers? When have we been involved in something that we thought was over and proved to be just the opposite: a new beginning? Are we able to, in that pause between stages/development, grow into the new life that comes from new beginnings? These are all reflections worth our time to consider.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Betrayal and Repentance

Journey, Quint-tych, jfd+ 2012

Psalms 40, 54 * 51; Joshua 9:22-10:15; Romans 15:14-24; Matthew 27:1-10

Judas takes center stage in the ten verses we have today from Matthew. Jesus is handed over to Pilate, and Judas sees what he has done and he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. He tells them he has sinned but they refuse to entertain anything from him. Judas tosses the coins on the floor, leaves and kills himself. The chief priests don't want anything to do with the money, as it was used for inappropriate purposes - but come to utilize it to buy a field in which foreigners can be buried.


Some jeer at the character Judas, others cheer at his demise. Others question how he could be so dense and selfish and petulant. But, aren't his character traits so very human, seen in every day occurrences in our world? People, all of us, make mistakes everyday. Some bigger than others. Some have consequences that seem impossible from which to come back. Yet, Judas repented and tried to stop that which could not be stopped. Could Judas have been forgiven? Isn't that one of the precepts and underpinnings of our faith...that all of us can be forgiven?


And, isn't Judas a foil for something greater that is about to happen in Matthew's account? Could Jesus' Passion have happened the way the writers of the Gospel intended (which are based so heavily on the prophetic writings of Hebrew Scripture) without this betrayal? I have often wondered if it is fair to cast stones at the character Judas. 


Haven't we all been, or known someone close to us, who has to some extent been Judas? Acted out the part of Judas?


I do believe that we all can be forgiven for whatever sin we may commit. We won't be able to stop the consequences or repercussions of those actions, but God's forgiveness is present for each one of us. Of that, I am quite sure. Forgiveness and stopping consequences are two very different things.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: A Great Thanksgiving

Four Fold Action, jfd+ 2008

Psalms 30, 32 * 42, 43; Joshua 6:1-14; Romans 13:1-7; Matthew 26:26-35

Mathew provides us today with the central action of our Eucharistic Prayers (our Great Thanksgiving Prayers) in today's Gospel selection. 


Jesus is at the table with his friends. The one who is betraying him has left the table already. Mirroring what he did at the mass-feedings, Jesus performs the four fold action that encompasses the Eucharist. Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." 


He then tells them this is their last meal, and they sing "the hymn" together (unspecified hymn @ that). Then they go to the Mount of Olives where he says all will abandon him, Peter refutes that, Jesus tells him no, three times will Peter abandon him that night. Peter says no again, And so said all the disciples. 


Such bitter sweetness in these nine verses. The beauty of the central action of our worship, surrounded by the very human and painful unfulfilled-optimistic-hopefulness of Peter and all the disciples, balanced by what we know comes later - - resurrection. Every time we pray A Great Thanksgiving prayer, this poignancy is present, and has the ability to transform us from our own unfulfilled-optimistic-hopefulness, into a piece of the kingdom-creating-people to which we are called. 


Verses from Psalms 42 & 43, assigned today, can assist us in making those grace-filled moments a more permanent part of our lives:

As the deer longs for the water-brooks,

so longs my soul for you, O God.

My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God;

when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?

Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?

Why are you so disquieted within me?

Put your trust in God;

for I will yet give thanks to the One,

who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me,

and bring me to your holy hill

and to your dwelling

That I may go the altar of God

to the God of my joy and gladness,

and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God.

Amen.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Two More Days

Garden Terrace, DC, 2011

Psalms 37:1-18 * 37:19-42; Joshua 3:14-4:7; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 26:1-16

Jesus tells his disciples they have him for two more days, and then his Passion will begin. They don't get it. Plotters gather to capture Jesus, he is anointed, by an unnamed woman, with expensive oil from an alabaster jar, his disciples complain about waste, and Judas offers his soul up for thirty pieces of silver.


Today's "action" in this Gospel from Matthew takes place in the home of Simon the leper. With so much going on in these sixteen verses, this little piece of the story tableau can be easily overlooked. Jesus and his followers are in Bethany and are taking dinner in a lepers house...Two days before he is to be "handed over" and he has chosen to spend time with a leper...an outcast/unclean/spurned from society individual. And his disciples are cranky over "waste" of good oil. Two days left.


Where in our lives are we misdirecting our energy, and in that misdirection not understanding the urgency of the work we are called upon to do, in the relatively brief period of time we have to accomplish those things? How are we, today, helping to create the Kingdom Jesus opens for us? How are we utilizing the "two days" we have left?
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Being Good and Trustworthy

St Christopher's, Lit. 2012, jfd+

Psalms 26, 28 * 36, 39; Joshua 2:15-24; Romans 11:13-24; Matthew 25:14-30

Matthew provides us today with Jesus' description of the Kingdom in the account of the 5-2-1 talents given by a departing landowner to three slaves. Putting aside the offensiveness that the word "slave" can cause, this is a fascinating and thought-provoking story.


Upon the owner's return, "after a long time," the slaves are summoned. The first to speak, the one given 5 talents, has doubled their value and the owner is pleased. The second slave, having been given 2 talents, also doubled what had been given, again pleasing the owner. The last, having been given one, returned exactly what had been given. The owner is not well pleased.


This last slave says that the owner is known as harsh, taking things not personally owned (a thief, perhaps?), doing things with the possessions of others, all of which makes this third slave fearful. The talent was buried in the ground, un-used, un-utilized to be returned as it had been given.


This owner in this parable is thought of by most interpreters as God. One of the ways this story can be understood, is that this third person, who did not utilize the talent given, had the wrong understanding of God. Thinking of God as a harsh and cruel thief, using and abusing creation is the wrong way to consider how God operates in the world. There is a lack of joy, understanding, compassion and self-awareness in this last person's understanding of the gifts given. They aren't for personal use. They aren't to be hidden, buried. The gifts we are given can and will multiply by our using them to create the Kingdom Christ opens for all of us. They will also make us understand, and be a more integral part of, that Kingdom, helping us to focus on truly understanding what it means to be good and trustworthy.


This individual who refused to use, share, develop the gifts, the talent, freely given, mis-perceived the nature of that gift, and the one who gave it. Wicked thoughts, slanderous motives, selfish desires are no where in God's plan for this Kingdom. We are directed by this story of the 5-2-1 talents given to be actively engaged in using and sharing all our gifts and talents and abilities that have been freely and lovingly given to us. 


That sharing is why we have been gifted them.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: The End of the World As We Know It

 Psalms 16, 17 * 22; Deut 31:7-13,24-32:4; Romans 10:1-13; Matthew 24: 15-31

"Oiling of Hands"

A Blessing Moment

In Matthew, we have end of the world, frightening images presented to us by Jesus. Just prior to yesterday's beginning of this oration by Jesus, he had left the temple where he had his final confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees. He leaves that holy place and the disciples don't get his mood, and point out to him the beauty and wonders of that central temple. Jesus talks to them about "the end times," of which our sixteen verses today are a part.


Scholars have written volumes on this passage. Many point to these verses as Matthew giving his readers solace about the destruction of the Temple they so dearly loved, and showing how Jesus predicted the event. Some say Matthew and his readers truly believed Jesus was coming again to them in their lifetime, saving them from the torment in which many lived. A few "prophetic" people today will cite these verses (and other apocalyptic language from other books of the Bible) as justification for their belief that the end is nigh.


What do we take as metaphor? Analogy? What do we take literally? How can we 21st Century Christians understand and learn something from this passage and not dismiss it out of hand? Jesus is, in this Gospel passage, on the precipice of his Passion: the torture, execution, burial and resurrection that will transform the world.


If we try to personalize these verses, this apocalyptic discourse by Jesus, what event(s) in our lives, and those in our immediate circle, or event(s) that we have participated in, have altered our reality and understanding of the world? How have those "world-changing" events in our lives changed our perceptions and how we interact and live in this world?


How can we take those personal experiences that have so moved and changed us, and give similar opportunities to those who have not experienced this life-altering love that is the center of our belief and faith?


These verses, yesterday, today, and tomorrow are not meant to frighten us, but to entice us to share our  experiences and change the world of others.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: On Justice and Mercy and Faith

SW, DC, 2010, jfd+

Psalm 5, 6 * 10, 11; Numbers 35:1-3,9-15,30-34; Romans 8:31-39; Matthew 23:13-26

Jesus is taking a big verbal swing at the scribes and Pharisees in our Gospel selection from Matthew today. He calls them hypocrites, and children of hell, and blind guides, and blind fools. Strong words - but deserved in Jesus' mind because of their innate refusal to listen...to change.


They (the scribes and Pharisees) were more interested in the world they created than looking at the world around them and focusing on "the weightier matters...justice and mercy and faith." They were more interested in how they looked, than what they actually did.


The triennial General Convention of The Episcopal Church is past its mid-mark as this is written. Delegations from every diocese are present and working hard on rules and laws and word-smithing. Concerns about money and structure abound in blog postings. My hope and prayer is that the forest is not lost because of the focus on trees. My hope and prayer is that we are not straining out gnats and being forced to swallow a camel. My hope and prayer is that the focus will remain on Jesus and on his directions to all of us to live the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. To not worry so much about "how" we look (for making sausage is never pretty), but be shiny and clean and Jesus-centered on the "inside" allowing our work to shine all on its own.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Disingenuinness

From the Rough, jfd+ 2010

Psalms 137:1-6(7-9), 144 * 104; Numbers 24:12-25; Romans 8:18-25; Matthew 22:23-40

Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees and their minions shows him to be the direct opposite of who and what the leadership had become. For the last few days in our reading from Matthew the Pharisees have been trying to trip Jesus up...trap him. Jesus has been teaching about the kingdom of God, and how different that kingdom is (and ours can be) if they (and we) would just listen. Instead of listening and living into the kingdom, they plot to get rid of him, because he is challenging the way things have "always" been. Jesus, of course, does not fall for their lack of genuineness and ends today's session with a teaching about love.


So many people model the plotting of the Pharisees and not the direct nature of Jesus, as a way to live in our world. We have to get to "B", but we can't let anyone know that is where we are headed from where we now stand at "A", so we will go left, right, turn around, jump up and down, spin and spin, and eventually get to "B". Jesus' model is far more direct...and can make us much more vulnerable. Unless people trust us, see us for who and what we are, that love-thing Jesus preaches about all the time is difficult to attain. Being genuine, vulnerable, truthful is how Jesus is directing us to live in the world.


Fraught with danger today...but worth the risk.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Rigidity & Stubbornness

Provincetown Harbor, jfd+

Psalms: (120), 121, 122, 123 * 124, 125, 126, (127); Numbers 22:21-38; Romans 7:1-12; Matthew 21:23-32

The chief priests and elders approach Jesus who is teaching in the temple, just after he has cleansed the market place. They are pretty much put-out by his actions and demand to know by what authority he is acting. He doesn't answer directly, asking them, in turn, about John's authority, to which they fudge an answer, and he tells them, because of their dishonesty they can chew sand as opposed to get an answer out of him. But he then asks them about a father and two sons - one who says no to a request and then changes his mind, and the other who says yes but does not do the requested action. Jesus castigates these leaders for not recognizing John as an agent of God, even after others so blatantly did recognize him. Jesus is also saying to these leaders of society, You are repeating history here, as you refused to acknowledge John's authority, so too, you are being stiff-necked about seeing what I am doing.


We do not have to look far in our own lives, society, and culture to see repeated history because of an insistence on trying to keep things the same, the way they have "always" been done. Rigidity to change can, and does, put blinders on us.


Jesus is not doing the things he is doing just for change-sake.  Change for changes sake is not at all the direction Jesus is heading. Nor is he directing us to act in this manner. But looking at our surroundings and society and culture and system in which we live, and truly evaluating whether that life-system is creatively enabling the kingdom's presence among us, is what we are supposed to be doing on a regular basis. If the system is stuck, because we have made ourselves comfortable, and is not progressively creating this kingdom, than change must happen to jump start those necessary actions.


If we have become comfortable, Jesus is saying, than perhaps we have stopped looking and evaluating. Comfortable is nice...but that is not the life Jesus is calling us to live.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Of Moved Mountains & Withered Fig Trees

VTS

Psalms 106:1-18 * 106:19-48; Numbers 22:1-21; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 21:12-22

A big, complicated, and audacious Gospel selection from Matthew today. Jesus rips apart the temple market, argues with the temple authorities, curses and causes a fig tree to wither, and tells his amazed disciples to not doubt - have faith and whatever asked in prayer will be received.


This entire account is symbolic and metaphoric of so much, and is one of those Gospel accounts that can cause tremendous heartache. Jesus' temple cleansing is symbolic of his death and resurrection: the old and set ways of doing things will, and must, be changed. The fig tree, bearing no fruit, is symbolic of all those things in life that have started and stopped, tried and been unsuccessful, gifts given that have not been utilized. And the moving of mountains is metaphor of all those teachings Jesus has given in the 20 chapters preceding the one we are reading today. If we take to heart those things Jesus teaches, things that seem impossible, are impossible, become do-able - what we ask for, need, desire will be different than those things we ask for, need or desire now. Our priorities, and understanding of what is important, changes when we truly work toward making God's Kingdom a reality now.


Literalism kills the Gospel, shuts out God from these holy words. These accounts are meant to challenge our perceptions and our understandings of how the world should work, skewing and helping us refocus on that which is truly important.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Peter and Paul (No Mary)

Balcony Garden, DC, 2011

MP: Psalm 66; Ezekiel 2:1-7; Acts 11:1-18
EP: Psalm 97, 138; Isaiah 49:1-6; Galatians 2:1-9

Peter and Paul have always struck me as two different kinds of bookends: both holding up the middle, but in differing ways, with equal weight. Peter being the kinda-person you would want to have a beer with, hang out and talk - someone to laugh and joke with and have a good time, and at that same time be able to learn something. Paul is different: stand-offish, officious, cranky, the kinda-person who in a different set of circumstances would have been the boarding school disciplinarian. Not really someone with whom you would want to casually hang out. Two different bookends who approached life and their ministry with the same objective, but with differing methods based on their own peculiar personalities.


Many times in life we can try to emulate people whom we respect. Emulate does not mean mimic, copy, be the same as. We are called to be ourselves, using the individualized gifts God gave us to further do the work the Spirit prods us toward. Fitting a narrow model, a particular mode of being is not how we should live as the Body of Christ in the world today. But instead, we should simply be ourselves...beautiful in our own right...perfect in our own imperfect way. And at the same time, emulating the one whose Body we are an individualized part.
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Of Needle Eyes and Camels

Stone Arch Bridge & Downtown Minneapolis, jfd+, 2011

Psalms 97, 99 (100) * 94 (95);  Numbers 16:20-35; Romans 4:1-12; Matthew 19:23-30

Jesus uses a phrase in talking about rich people and the kingdom of heaven that does not mean much to our present day culture. He says, "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." Today's Gospel lesson begins right after the rich young man has gone away crestfallen having been told by Jesus to sell all his possessions, give those proceeds to the poor and then follow him. Jesus doesn't say it is impossible, but "hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven"... Hard, not impossible...And then he talks about camels and the eye of the needle. Jesus is not talking about needle and thread here...


The ancient city of Jerusalem, before its destruction by the Romans around 70 AD, had numerous entrances. One of those entrances was called the eye of a needle, because it was low and narrow. For a camel to pass through this entrance to the Holy City, it would have to get on its knees,  and shuffle its way across the ground, and then upon squeezing through the entryway, labor back up onto its feet...A difficult and labor intensive task, but not impossible.


Jesus' "odd" reference in regard to rich people's entrance to the kingdom of God takes on different nuances when this cultural reference is understood. Difficult...hard work...not impossible is part of the message. 


This explanation is in no way meant to advocate the misbegotten and impossible to defend "prosperity Gospel" so many misguided individuals preach and advocate. Quite the opposite is the point of this reflection. For that rich young man to "be good," and enter into this kingdom Jesus is opening for all of us, he had some substantial work to do, for his possessions had taken possession of him. Quite frankly, his priorities are screwed up Jesus is saying, and although welcome in the kingdom, there is a cost involved in that entrance. Like the camel must struggle to get through that narrow and low gate, those blessed with wealth also have work to do: to not allow those possessions to skew the reality of how the world should actually work.


One of the things we are asked to explore by these Gospel verses is: what possesses us that is keeping us from being able to walk unhindered through the narrow and low door?
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Doing Good

Alley just in from a romp in the snow, 2011

Psalms 89:1-18 * 89:19-52; Numbers 16:1-19; Romans 3:21-31; Matthew 19:13-22

Jesus challenges an individual about the definition of the word "good" today. He defines that word mostly in the negative: we shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness. He adds two positives: we are to honor our parents, and love our neighbors as ourselves. The individual Jesus is talking to shrugs those off saying, yup, I already do those...what else? Jesus than challenges him to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and then come and follow. The questioner leaves dejected, being the owner of many things.


The things we own can take possession of us. Some can't consider the thought of moving because of the weight of all those things owned. "Down-sizing" seems an impossibility: what can we do with all these things we love? The interaction here is bigger than those considerations...What if we take a step back from literalism, and wonder what metaphor "possessions" might be for us?...


What is controlling us, possessing us, that is getting in our way of doing the right thing, doing what is good, as defined by Jesus? For Jesus sees that the individual with whom he is conversing is doing pretty well, but has been gifted with opportunities that allow further work to be done...


Priorities...what is important in life and what is not...these are the focus of Jesus' conversation with the individual with many possessions today. Are we ready to really address these true priorities? Our lives, and the world around us, will probably be very different if that were the case.
jfd+


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

Daily Office Reflection: From the Mouths of Fish

A Study in Yellow & Black, 2011, jfd+

Psalms 78:1-39 * 78:40-72; Numbers 11:1-23; Romans 1:16-25; Matthew 17:22-27

Jesus has Peter go to the sea, throw in a line, and pull out a fish, open its mouth, and whal-la, a coin to pay the temple tax for Peter and Jesus. This story is often dismissed as silly, a child's tale, non-essential to the Gospel story. Perhaps it is something more.


Peter got defensive with the temple-tax-authorities, worried about how his master would be perceived: a scoff-law? A pauper? Arrogant? So, Peter says of course he pays what he is supposed to! And Jesus knows, and sends Peter on this seeming wild-goose-chase. 


Peter's livelihood before becoming Jesus' right-hand-person was as a fish-catcher. The people that knew Peter, also knew that this was a part of his background - he wasn't a refined, temple-trained, individual. He was a bit rough around the edges. The story of this interchange between Peter and Jesus plays off of that background and relationship. This story of a fish's mouth giving out temple-tax-coins is meant to remind us, to help us see, that we have all that we need to be a part of God's kingdom. We don't need to be fancifully attired, prim and proper, intellectual. God accepts us for who we are, loves us for who and what we are in life. Does this mean we are "stuck" where we find ourselves? No. We can do our best to try to change where we find ourselves, if we are unhappy, or abused, or down-on-our-luck. But that is for us, not for God, or to be a part of God's kingdom. God is with us whether we are looking for coins in the mouths of fishes, or use those coins as earrings. As always, Jesus is reminding us about priorities, and of what is important in life, and what is fluff.


We are asked in today's reading to consider, really evaluate, what is important and what is ornamental fluff. And to remember that God is with us, even when we are stuck in the fluff. 
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Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Independent Thinking

The Happy 90s, 2011, jfd+

Psalms: (70), 71 * 74; Ecclesiastes 11:1-8; Galatians 5:16-24; Matthew 16:13-20

Jesus asks the disciples surrounding him what the "people" out there around them are saying about him...Who those folks think that he is...and they tell him that people are saying that he is Elijah or John the Baptist reborn, or perhaps Jeremiah who has come back to them. Or, maybe, one of the other prophets come to set them straight. Interesting choices Matthew gives: Elijah, John the Baptist, Jeremiah. All of these are individuals who were substantially critical of the ruling classes, and of the people in general, proclaiming how they had lost their way, and that God's voice was present within their proclamations. So the people were getting the message that change needed to happen, but they were missing a piece of Jesus' message. If these folk truly believed Jesus to be one of these prophets reborn, then they also believed disaster was approaching, a disaster caused by God...


So Jesus asks his disciples "But who do you say that I am?"


Don't give me any of this missing-the-mark-group-think you are hearing from those other folk...who am I? Jesus, perhaps, is a bit put off by so many missing a key part of his teachings. Peter saves the day and is well rewarded by the Messiah whom he identifies. 


Group-think is a powerful elixir, a comforting tonic for us to swallow. It provides us with certainty that we are not alone. Jesus is asking us to think for ourselves, look at his teachings from our own experiences, and to join him in creating this kingdom that is so very different from the world in which we live. Isolating? From those uncomfortable with this kind of examination, yes. But we are never alone in this digging - for if we truly try to live out these principles Jesus sets forth, we have him, and all those who have gone before, and all those who are with us doing the same spade work to make this place we are gifted to live...better.
jfd+


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