The Unexamined Boundary Between The Beggar and US

Sermon preached on Sunday, October 28, 2012 at St. Francis Church, Fair Oaks, CA

Spirit of the Living God fall Fresh On Me!  Congregation Repeats!

Gospel Text: Mark 10: 46-52

I am really pleased that our two congregations have come together this morning for one liturgy.  You are very different congregations too.  I have enjoyed coming to know your different liturgical practices and the gifts you each bring to worship.  Both services are splendidly different.  Occasionally I suggest that you might venture from one service to the other to experience some of these differences for yourself.  To know St. Francis Church as a whole you have to experience both.  I am blessed to have done so.

One of the lovely aspects of the 11am service is the way together as a community of faithful we talk about what we hear in the readings of the day.  A few weeks ago one of our members talked about the way Jesus sometimes asks his disciples to do impossible things.  The reading of that day was to sell all your things, give your money to the poor and follow Jesus.  This member had the insight that Jesus knew that what he was asking was impossible.  It was this member said a way of teaching us that we must place our complete trust in God and in nothing else. 

I recalled this rich insight when I read today’s Gospel as I started to prepare my sermon.  The Gospel story is different today.  Today instead of Jesus asking the impossible of us, the blind man asks the impossible of Jesus. 

Asking even begging for the impossible is a sign of faith.  Every day beggars around the world ask for food, drink and shelter.  Most of the time beggars hear the word “no” from us or we just pass them by as we completely ignore them.  Beggars know the way it feels to ask for the impossible from others.  Beggars who have gone without food for several days have a passionate desire even lament sounding desire to be fed.  Some beggars are so desperate they resort to stealing food.  There is no way we are able to intellectualize such a longing for food, water and shelter. 

Bernie Glassman is an American Buddhist who wrote The Zen Peacemaker’s Diary.  Glassman leads urban retreats in NYC and San Francisco to offer people a firsthand experience of what it feels like to live on the streets. I have not done these retreats.  In Reno for an entire year I served as a part-time Street Priest working with the homeless.  I met men and women who had never before been homeless.  These women and men had lost their jobs and had failed to save enough money to carry them through long periods of unemployment. 

The people I met had no safety nets like family in the area.  The people I met had deep shame and often hid their faces from me.  As weeks passed you could see the way those new to homelessness would change after a few months of living on the streets of Reno.  These people became desperate and learned to be street-wise beggars.  They learned to find ways to meet their needs.  They learned to ask for the impossible with the hope that at least one in a hundred people would give them something to eat or to drink. 

When I was a chaplain last year in Philadelphia at a Level 1 trauma center, on a daily basis I witnessed people who experienced such pain that they literally cried out to be healed.  Some cries will never leave me as they were so wrenching by those who suffered in body and mind.  The desires were clear ones from those who yelled out in psych units and those who were just coming into the ER after a horrific unexpected trauma. 

Beggars and victims of severe trauma know their needs and they yell their needs out to God as the beggar did so in today’s Gospel, “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me.”  The beggars and victims of trauma I met were completely in touch with their needs for healing.  They knew where they hurt and why.  They trusted in the healing power of Jesus. 

During my years of Jesuit formation I heard my spiritual director ask me, “Joseph, what is it you desire?”  “What is it you desire from Jesus or Mary or God?”  I have to tell you I came to hate that question.  I met weekly with my spiritual director and weekly he would ask me, “Joseph, what do you desire?”  Honestly, I had no idea what I desired! I thought a nice piece of filet mignon, but that was not what my spiritual director was after! I was always relieved when our conversation moved away from this initial question.  I had no idea even the meaning of the question. 

In time I came face to face with my own lack of faith.  I had no answer to my spiritual director’s question about desire because I doubted that Jesus or God could do anything for me to make any substantial change in my life.  Why ask when you know you will get nothing back?  How different I was from the beggar in today’s Gospel.  Do you know what you desire from God?  Do you cry out to God in your prayer to be healed with the urgency and depth of trust as beggars and trauma victims?

By living an examined life we are able to develop the beggar’s trust in God. To live the examined life means that we come to know ourselves, as we are, particularly where we are most vulnerable.  We come to know and accept that we are powerless without the Eucharist the Word and the healing power of Christ. 

Living the examined life is hard work! As a priest and as a spiritual director, people in AA and Al Anon have reported to me that they have had a much greater experience of living the examined life at their 12 step meetings than they have ever found in their local church communities.  Many people who have been to 12 Step meetings never go back to church because they have crossed an important line. The line they have crossed is to choose to live rather than to actively choose death.

The twelve steps are one means to live an examined life.  The first step leads to the other eleven.  We admit that we are powerless.  The beggar today in his crying out admitted that he was powerless. As the beggar reached out to Jesus he practiced the second step to trust in a higher power than himself.  The beggar made a choice to turn over his life to Jesus following the third step.   For those of you who have done Cursillo you know what I am talking about too.

I think the other steps are worth our hearing.

Make a fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Admit to God, to ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Desire God to remove all those defects of our character.

Ask God to remove our shortcomings.

Make a list of all persons we have harmed and make amends to each.

Make direct amends, unless doing so causes greater harm.

Continue to take a daily inventory and when we are wrong promptly admit it.

Improve through prayer our conscious contact with God.

Having had a spiritual awakening through these steps, we practice these principles in all of our affairs.

There is much for us to learn from the beggar in today’s Gospel.

There is also much for St. Francis Church to learn about the way to live an examined life as a congregation from the 12 steps. 

People in recovery often stop going to church.  Churches live an uneasy relationship with AA groups.  Congregations often don’t understand why AA members don’t come back for church.  One common reason I have heard is that after one has experienced the depth of relationship, trust and deep sharing in AA churches, churches feel comparatively shallow.

You and I share in the ministry of fellowship that retains newcomers as members, like this woman I spoke to last week. Through Christian fellowship we don’t just hang out together.  To have a vital fellowship ministry we frequently meet to share our redemptive stories with each other. As a priest I have the privilege to hear redemptive stories all the time. 

It is not enough to tell your priest.  You need to tell your redemptive stories to each other.  Why? People yearn to hear and be fed by our redemptive stories.  If we the people of St. Francis Church aspire to be like the beggar in today’s Gospel we need to share our redemptive stories of when God healed us. We also need to pray for those who cry, “Jesus help me” and seek to be redeemed.  We all need to constantly admit our powerlessness before God and like the beggar place our trust fully in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. 

God Bless you!

The People of St. Francis Church Believe In The Resurrection: We Will Persevere!

Sermon preached on Sunday, October 21, 2012 at St. Francis Church, Fair Oaks, CA

  

Gospel text: Mark 10: 34-45

Spirit of the Living God Fall Fresh On Me!  Congregation Repeats!

“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

I love the simple honesty of James and John!  I know that I like what I want too.  In that way we are all like James and John.  We probably don’t quite reveal our intentions with such clarity as James and John. When we pray with our lists of requests and favors of God, don’t we sort of say, “teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you”.  On the other hand, how often do we pray, “Give me only your love and your grace, that is all I need”?

It is apparent that James and John did not understand what they were asking for. They wanted to be equal to Jesus in position and power AND share his glory.  Bold, bold men do not know what they are asking!  Actually they don’t know what they are asking for!

Without saying so, Jesus prepares his apostles and disciples for his passion and death.  Jesus knows that James and John know not what they are asking of him. 

A Joe Confession! I dislike movies that move back and forth in time without giving me the viewer any preparation.  Life is complex enough with its own multiple plots. Typically when Stefani and I are watching a complex movie, about 20 minutes into the movie, I hear Stefani saying to me, “Joe, did you catch that?”  Catch what?  Oh, OK, no I did not get that. By the time I get it, I have lost the last ten minutes and now I am doubly lost! 

I find that many of the Gospel stories are like complex movies because we have to constantly remind ourselves that what the disciples don’t get, they have not yet experienced.  Jesus knows what is coming because the Father has told him and he is trying to prepare the naïve disciples for what is to come. We read the Gospel stories knowing the sequence of the biblical story. As you see there are three story lines here – James and John, Jesus and us.  Although we know the story we share the disciples’ naiveté, but for different reasons adding to the interpretative complexity. 

We are more accountable than James and John for we should know better. To be servants in Jesus’ name means we follow Jesus in his hidden life, public ministry, passion, death and resurrection.  Jesus’ hidden life story is told through the nativity and his travels with the Holy Family. Jesus’ public ministry begins with the teaching in the temple and then includes all of his parables and healings. These are the stories that James and John have had access to at this point in today’s Gospel.  We on the other hand know the rest of the story.  Jesus’ passion and death begins with the Passover meal and concludes with Jesus’ crucifixion and being laid in the tomb. We are not certain when or under what circumstances Jesus resurrected, but the story told is that the women did not find him in the tomb and later he is revealed to his disciples in a variety of contexts.

Jesus tells us that, “whoever wishes to be great in the kingdom of God must be servant and whoever wishes to be first among you must be servant of all.”  Given what we know and the disciples did not know yet, the call we receive today is even more demanding than the call to the disciples.  I don’t think there are many of us asking Jesus to sit at his right hand.  We do say in our own ways, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 

What are Jesus’ expectations for us as his companions?

It is timely for us to reflect on this question as we prepare for our first healing celebration as a congregation.  Last Sunday I preached that the glory of God is the human person fully alive. When we seek healing there is usually a part of us that is wounded, hurt, not quite right, out of synch or you put your words in there to express your own feelings or sense of your inner being.  

Jesus’ expectations for us are well outlined for us in the baptismal covenant.  Please take your prayer book and turn to page 304.

The faith basis of our companionship with Christ is outlined in the Apostle’s Creed.  The Apostle’s Creed is followed by a few important questions.

Will we continue in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?  Before you respond, I want to underscore and amplify “the apostle’s teaching”. 

We believe in the holy catholic church.  By this we mean that we believe that we are a part of a larger Body of Christ than any one church.  The Nicene Creed instructs us that we are members of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. Even more so through the communion of saints we are members of the Body of Christ. Later in the prayers of Baptism, the universal church is referred to as “the household of God”. 

We believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. These faith statements are important for all Christians.  These faith statements have different meanings for us at different times in our life.  At this point in St. Francis Church’s history as a congregation these faith statements must be a part of our conscious and intentional prayer. 

You might consider saying in your daily prayer every day, I believe in the resurrection of the body.  No matter the future of St. Francis Church as one of The Episcopal Churches of this diocese, the body that is the people will be resurrected.  There is no question that this Body of Christ will be resurrected.  We do not yet know in what form resurrection will take. 

Remember the creed is not talking about those churches that stay open or those that close. The creed leads us to something much deeper.  In this deeper experience we share with Mary, the women at the tomb and the disciples at Emmaus the firm belief in the power of our immortality with Christ through resurrection. These faith statements are not lofty theological ideas or pious spiritual thoughts.  These faith statements have fleshy results in our being fully alive as persons and as a body of people as St. Francis Church.    

Now say with me – I believe in the resurrection of the body!

Will you continue in the apostle’s teaching, and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?

Will you persevere in resisting evil and whenever, you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? 

Even beyond resisting evil, let us as a congregation say, “we will persevere”.

Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?  I will with God’s help.

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?  I will with God’s help.

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every person?  I will with God’s help.

Did you sense in yourself any resistance as you responded to each of these questions?  It is normal to experience some or even a lot of resistance.  James and John were displeased with Jesus’ expectations of them.  While we know the story that James and John did not, we sometimes share in their lack of readiness with our own resistance to follow Jesus on Jesus’ terms.   If you felt this way, you could come forward today for prayers of healing to open you up to new life. 

There are lots of reasons why you might come forward today.  As I said last week all you need to do is name your desire for healing or just come forward in silence.  I will listen for your need and or your desire for healing.  Then I will invite you to smell the oil.  The oil has a beautiful scent that is a part of the healing you will experience.  I tell those parishioners I visit in their homes that after I leave them I want them to remember the scent of the oil as the scent of the healing Christ who persists in their midst.  Then I will anoint your forehead with the sign of the cross.  If you ask I will anoint your hands as I anointed Louise Biddle’s hands a few days before she died.   

In coming forward you would seek to renew yourself not only as we have already done by word through the renewal of our baptismal promises but also with the seal of the Holy Spirit through consecrated oil.

As I bless you I will pray with you that the Holy Spirit uphold you in the service of Christ.  I will pray that through this healing ministry that you experience less resistance to persevere in your faith and that with all your mind, body, heart and soul together we may continue to believe in the power of the resurrection of this body and of the sanctifying power of the Holy Eucharist that transforms our lives.     

God bless you!

The Glory of God is The Human Person (and St. Francis Church) Fully Alive

Sermon preached on Sunday, October 14, 2012 at St. Francis Church, Fair Oaks, CA

Gospel text: Mark 10: 17-31

Spirit of the living God Fall Fresh on Me!  Congregation repeats!

Sell what you own and give it all to the poor.  This text is truly an impossible Gospel message for most of us to live by.  So what do we make of this Gospel?  How do we find meaning in this text so that we might grow and deepen our relationship with Christ and give glory to God through all that we are and have?

For starters I doubt that if the rich young man sells everything that he will be happy or even solely on this one action gain eternal life.  As a Roman Catholic religious I sold all that I had twice in my life.  I am not aware of any personal spiritual gain from this exercise.  Given my own experience of poverty my sense is that poverty is far overrated as a virtue. 

Growing up our family was working class poor. My dad had three jobs to keep us all fed, clothed and educated.  My parents worked hard so that we could enjoy the rewards that they did not know.  As my parents made these efforts they also constantly taught us that to the one much is given much will be expected.

A few weeks ago I shared with you about my time as a Jesuit in the Dominican Republic.  I learned in the Dominican Republic the way to rely on the providence of God rather than solely on my will power.

It is my sense that my parents’ influence and my Jesuit experience in the Dominican Republic has substantially influenced the way I read the text of the rich young man.

It is too easy to read this Gospel as a condemnation of wealth. I come to this text in a very different way that may benefit you as well.  Let’s first review the details from our scripture text.  What do we know?

The rich young man is in a hurry as he “ran up” to Jesus.

The rich young man attempts to flatter Jesus and peppered him with questions.

The rich young man has kept all the commandments, but still seems unhappy and wants Jesus to tell him how to flourish.

Jesus says, “sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me.”

The question I hear deeply embodied in this text is in what do we treasure?

We cannot read any scriptural texts literally without missing the full impact of God’s message.  If we read, “sell all that you have” without attention to “you will have treasure in heaven” then we risk overly simplifying the Good News.     

Another way to think about what we treasure is to think about that which owns us?

Sell all you own or sell that which owns you are completely different messages.

The rich young man has done everything and his heart is still not at peace. We see that the rich young man runs up to Jesus.  He has a sense of urgency.  There has been a constant theme in my preaching, in my liturgical leadership and in my evolving leadership of this parish.  I have invited you to slow down. 

Several weeks ago I invited you to do less, so you could hear the faint whisper of the Spirit. With greater attention to the solemnity of the Eucharist through more silence you will also see my desire to slow us down as a congregation.  Today we will not rush from the reception of Holy Communion to the post-communion prayer.  Today we will hear Dr. Tog play the clarinet as he leads us in singing Amazing Grace. 

Jesus’ answer to rich young man might have been to slow him down.  In slowing down the rich young man might realize the great potential he has to serve the poor through his possessions without selling everything.   The problem is not that the young man is rich.  The problem is that the young man is not at peace with God.  He lacks purpose with and through his possessions.  His lack of purpose is due to his misplaced treasure.

We all at one point in our lives share the rich young man’s distorted treasure.

So how do we avoid the rich young man’s dilemma?

We do so by discerning the difference between all that we own and that which owns us.

Before we begin this individual and communal discernment I want to equip you with some foundational principles to enhance our discernment.

First, God wants all of us to flourish.  I love the words of Ireneaus of Lyon, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive.”  Upon a quick reading of this text and the common interpretation is that the rich young man will not be following Jesus until he sells everything.  I think such a reading merely scratches the surface of the text and does not reveal the power of Jesus’ teachings.  Jesus invited the rich young man to rediscover a means for the young man to flourish.

Second, all of creation serves one purpose and that is to give glory to God.  Everything that God has created is good and created so that we may give glory to God.  Our purpose is to give glory to God through who we are and that which we have been blessed by God. 

Sometimes it has been helpful for me to make a list of all that I own.  Then as I review the list, I note those things that own me.  That is, what are those things that I could not possibly live without?  I exclude those things that address my basic needs.  I exclude a few special treats and privileges.  

A few times a year I ask myself these questions:

What do I need?

What must I have?

What can I not live without?

And then as part of my daily self-examination, I ask myself, what owns me?

This kind of self-examination process has helped me name those things in my life that hold me back from full flourishing in the glory of God.

Next Sunday is healing Sunday.

Each week there is a prayer station where fellow congregants pray for one another’s needs.  I encourage you to participate in this ministry.  The ministry of healing through anointing is intended for far more than for those who are infirm or sick.  Healing is also about healing our spiritual heart, our spiritual bodies and during my time with you, healing this Body of Christ, St. Francis Church. 

Healing prayers and especially anointing is one passageway to spiritual freedom.  The rich young man was not spiritually free. The rich young man’s heart was paralyzed.  His possessions were not the basis of his purpose, his ministry or the way he gave glory to God. 

In my parish ministry I have witnessed the ways that healing ministry has helped people recover their sense of purpose and freed people to give glory to God.  One way that today’s Gospel will help you to prepare yourself for healing Sunday is to ask yourself what owns you. 

It might be some of your possessions own you like they did the rich young man. 

It could be a broken relationship or loss in your life that has paralyzed you. 

It could be that the past distracts you from feeling hope for the future, maybe even hope for this church’s future. 

It could be a disappointment that you never recovered from that still depletes your inner energy.

It could be that you are carrying so much inner pain that you might doubt the power of the resurrection or the efficacy of the Eucharist. 

Most of us carry things in our hearts, minds and bodies that hold us back from fully flourishing and giving glory to God.  We carry these burdens often alone and tell few people.  Sometimes our burdens are channeled like the rich young man’s anxious cynicism with Jesus.

There is a process of spiritual healing:

If the rich young man was more aware of his own spiritual brokenness he might have encountered Jesus differently.  Are we willing to admit that we hurt inside? Admitting that we hurt might just mean coming forward next Sunday in total silence without naming exactly the cause of our pain, just asking to be anointed.  You may not even be able to name that which hurts, but you know there is some area in your life that prevents you from fully flourishing and giving glory to God.

As we continue to discern what owns us, we will at some point be able to name it and locate and name our pain.

Through the healing ministry I hope in time you will trust your priest, as you whisper to me your pain and the healing you seek through anointing. 

As this congregation’s healing ministry continues, I pray with you that we will be freed up from that which owns us and embrace the gift of healing where we fully flourish as human persons and as a congregation that is fully alive.

Once we are fully alive, we will be ready to share our blessing with others.  Unlike the rich young man we will not go away sad.  We will give glory to God for we will be fully alive! In being fully alive we will have a renewed glimpse of Christ’s resurrection and the resurrection possible in our individual lives, collective lives and in the life of St. Francis Church.

God Bless You!