Meditating on Proper 24: The Glory of God

 

Proper 24    

The Sunday closest to October 19

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed
your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your
mercy, that your Church throughout the world may
persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your
Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Preface of the Lord's Day

Image created with Grok

There are three dimensions to the Christian faith: Beliefs, Behaviors, and Belonging. This is true for most faiths (or at least I can’t think of any exceptions). For some reason the Church founders felt it necessary to codify some particular beliefs in the form of the creeds (from a Latin word that means “I believe”). This drive for “right” belief has led, over the years, to so many atrocities (in the “Name” of God or Christ) that it is a wonder that anyone ever chose to embrace the faith over these intervening centuries.

I suppose much of that is due to the third dimension referenced above, the desire to “belong.” There was a time when one needed to belong to the local church if they were going to find work or get ahead. I interviewed for a two-point charge one time where the two churches were literally a mile or less apart. One parish was home to mine owners and shop keepers, and the other one was home to mine workers and shop staff. Any priest called to serve was little more than a wishbone over which the two parishes tugged for sport (more than mutual support). 

The second dimension to one’s faith is Behavior. That’s simply another way of describing how we act or behave – our rituals in worship and how we are expected to relate to one another and do things. It might refer to a dress-code or avoiding certain kinds of food; avoiding people considered “unclean” and things like that. 

No matter how open and welcoming a faith community might believe itself to be, there are people and behaviors they will struggle to be open and welcoming towards, and that’s OK. It was and is a survival strategy  that was handed down and developed by our species, and as ugly as some of those behaviors can be, they served us well when we were hunters and gatherers and needed to find ways to protect ourselves from what we perceived to be predatory nations, tribes, and peoples. Our fear of the other often blinded us to our own predatory nature, which is one reason Christ Jesus came into the world – to be and to show us a better Way, to show us there are new ways of relating and responding to the world around us.

This is why our prayer today is so important. We confess that God has revealed Divine glory to the nations (“ethnos” – peoples) in Christ. If there is a behavior God expects of us, it is to be Christ-like, not Pharaoh-like, or Caesar-like. It is to be a peacemaker, not a warmonger. It is to be a healer, not an abuser. It is to be a life-giver, not a life taker. It is to be an other-lover, not an other-hater. It is to be a child of God, not a godless brat!

How is the glory of God revealed? Through God’s mercy! God does not just show mercy to we few, we precious few, we happy few, we baptized and washed denizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. No, the glory of God is revealed through God’s mercy extended to all humanity and all creation. And why does God extend divine mercy? So that we may be given the strength and courage we need to overcome our nihilistic tendencies. As Jesus teaches us in the parable of the unforgiving slave (Matthew 18:23ff), God extends mercy in order that we might extend mercy, as well. Mercy requires us to be humble and  just (as Micah tells us).

I worry that we are too quick to judge and too quick to assume the worst about the other (person, community, group, nation, tribe) and too quick to absolve ourselves of responsibility for contributing to many of our world’s woes. Our prayer asks God to strengthen us in order that our faith may be more steadfast (not faith as in “believing” but as in actions that are consistent with the life of our Savior) – the means by which we engage our faith in Christ’s (and God’s) Name. 

We need to be more patient and more deliberate in practicing, not our piety, but God’s mercy. We need God to remove the blinders from our eyes, just as Christ removed the scales from Paul’s eyes once he got to Damascus. Was it God’s healing of Paul’s blindness that converted him from a persecutor of the faith to a proponent? Perhaps, but I often think it is just as likely the conversion came about because one fearful soul (Ananias) set aside his fear of the man who had come to arrest him and other followers of The Way, and shared what he knew about Jesus, and the Way, and about this new approach to God and neighbor. Saul/Paul listened, was healed, and came to believe. Eventually he also came to belong.

Believe, Behave, Belong. That seems to be the Jesus Way for which we pray this day, and always. Lord have mercy. Amen.

Meditating on Proper 23: Given to Good Works

 

Proper 23

Collect: Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Image by Grok

We see that word “grace” a lot in the life of the church. Most Christians say grace before meals, but there are some faith communities that say grace afterwards. I sometimes wonder which is the best way to offer grace: before in hopes it will improve the meal, or afterwards acknowledging that it was better than we had anticipated.

It probably doesn’t matter, but I was struck my today’s prayer in that we invoke God’s grace as something to go before us, like the pillar of cloud leading the children of Israel out of bondage, as well as to follow us, like a shepherd keeping an eye out for strays and stragglers.

I like this picture of God who walks before and behind us, who walks and stands beside us, hand in hand. It is an image of intimacy, love, protection, and comfort. But it’s not without purpose. It is the image of one who guides and directs, who confirms that we are not alone in life. We have a God who stands on the sidelines shouting out encouragement to all God’s children: “You can do it; you’re doing good; keep it up; I see you.”

This prayer reminds us we are to “continually be given to good works.” It’s not a start and stopping kind of thing. It’s a call to keep our eyes and ears open to opportunities to be of service. It’s really not hard. 

My wife and I stepped into the medical center for lab work the other day. We were moving more slowly  than I would like (but age does that). A young man was in the elevator and saw us coming. The elevator would be long gone before we got there, but the stranger stretched out his hand and held the car in place until we boarded it.

A smile. An outstretched hand. How hard was that? Not hard at all – for us or for him. “Which floor,” he asked, and punched the button. He even let us exit the elevator and get to the lab ahead of him. He was kinder than he needed to be, but then again, maybe he was one who knew he was to continually be given to good works, surrounded by God in front, back, and to the sides.

We need this prayer more than ever in this world of ours, where voices are more strident and opinions more divisive. We are more quick to speak than to listen. We are geared to listen in order to respond more than to understand. We are puffed up when we “win” or downcast when we “lose” the debate. We have fewer conversations and more arguments. We would rather convert (or destroy) our enemies than converse with them.

Today’s prayer reminds us we are called to continually be given to good works. Who really cares what our opinion is? What matters are our actions. When a drunk driver has an accident or kills someone, do we care whether or not they “intended” to do that? We are not judged by our intentions but by our actions. Accidents do happen, of course. When they do, we don’t ask people to ignore them. We acknowledge our part in what happened, make apologies (as appropriate), make amends, and then work to see that we don’t repeat whatever it was we did wrong. Those things are hard to do, but they are good works guided and directed by the Spirit.

We pray to God, asking the Holy One to help us do things that are good and holy. We ask God for grace to avoid doing things that harm others, or failing to do things that help others. Do we always get it right? Of course not. Again, we are not judged by our intentions but by our actions.

St. James was clear that it’s not enough to wish others well. As the old saying goes, spit in one hand and wish in the other and see which hand fills up first. While we generally think of Saint Paul as an advocate of “salvation by faith, not of works,” that is to misunderstand what Paul was saying. Saints Paul and James had their disagreements, but both know that faith is incomplete without a change in heart AND a change in behavior.

So let’s pray for the grace of God to lead us, push us, drag us along so that we might continually be given to do good works, and thank God for those opportunities that come our way. Meanwhile, hold the elevator, for we’re heading to the same floor! Peace.

Meditating on Proper 22: No Ask too Big

 

Proper 22    

The Sunday closest to October 5

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to
hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire
or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,
and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy
to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus
Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Preface of the Lord's Day

I am not always a good Christian. Every now and then I look outside and if I see two young men in white shirts and black ties going through the neighborhood from house to house, my temptation is to close the curtains, turn off the lights, and hide. They are not burglars, of course. They are not solicitors in the strictest sense of the word. No, they are missionaries on a mission, and I generally have absolutely no desire to speak with them or invite them in. It is not that I am inhospitable. On the contrary, I do everything I can to make people feel at home.

Do you need a cup of water or coffee? You’ve got it. Do you need to borrow a cup of sugar or flour or a stick of butter? You’ve got it. Do you need the shirt off my back or the sweat off my brow? Nothing is too much to ask of me. But …

… to ask me to waste time discussing your religion as compared to mine, your theological perspective as compared to mine, God as you worship them as compared to how I worship mine? No, I am at the age where I am not borrowing fifteen to thirty minutes out of what’s left to waste time on such drivel. They honestly do not expect to make converts, nor are they willing to reconsider their own perspective on things. They are out to do their “duty” as they understand it, and converting the masses is almost beside the point. I figure if Paul could not convert the Athenians with his philosophical approach to the faith (in the Book of Acts), neither will I convert folks of other faiths no matter how eloquent I may be. If one’s not thirsty, it doesn’t matter what beverage the other has to offer.

That brings me to our collect for the day. We have a God who is more ready to HEAR than we are to pray. We have a God who listens – who listens to not just our words, but to our hearts. God knows what we are thirsty for, and sometimes we are just too busy, bothered, or confused to know what we want or what we need. Like the missionaries who travel through our neighborhoods two by two, we are busy doing our duty and not really listening to the promptings of our God.

Every now and then our kids will call and ask for a little help. Life is sometimes tough, and I know what it was like when we were young and faced a financial or family crisis. Over the years my father-in-law signed over a few vehicles to us when we were in need. We didn’t ask. He listened. He paid attention to what was happening in our lives, and he did what he could. When our kids need help, we pay my father-in-law’s generosity forward. If anything, I think our kids ask too little of us. But I try to listen. I try to listen to not only their words, but their hearts as well.

I worry that sometimes I am not bold enough in my requests to God. I also worry that if I ask too much, perhaps God will expect me to step up as well. I don’t mind God fixing the world, but if I am expected to lend a hand, I’m tempted to keep my desires modest. Is that any way to be? Is that any way to be a Christian – a child of God?

Of course not. So we pray to God knowing full well that our requests may be met with some practical ideas of how we can assist God with our requests. Do you really want peace on earth? Stop fighting with your neighbors or relatives. Do you want the hungry to be fed? Donate to the local food pantry, volunteer to work it. Contact the school and see if anyone has fallen behind their lunch payments. 

There is no shortage of work for us to do. Remember, God’s love is like that of the Prodigal son’s father (Luke 15). The child returns ashamed, embarrassed, worried about an uncertain future. He asks for nothing, yet the father hands him his ring. The child doesn’t ask for hand-me-downs, but the father drapes him with his robe. The child doesn’t ask for a meal, but the father lavishes him with a feast and dancing.

We do not need to beg God for anything. God’s desire is to fill us with God’s love and give us meaningful tasks to perform – each task suited to our gifts and abilities (which are also gifts bestowed upon us by God’s very own Spirit). So, let God know the desires of your hearts, and then, like God, listen for the answers. They may not come in the form we expect or hope for, but they will come, for God is more ready to answer than we are to ask. Just keep your curtains open, your lights on, and don’t be afraid of white shirts or black ties.