The Proper of the Day: Pentecost XIV

This Sunday is the Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost. It's also Labor Day Sunday, and probably every parish has programmed "Come, Labor On" as the final hymn today. In addition to that particular hoary tradition, we read today from the prophet Jeremiah, who wants to know why God's people would change to gods "who are no gods," and have "changed their glory, for something that does not profit." I was intrigued by the image of forsaking God, the "fountain of living water, and d[igging] out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that hold no water." I had a vision of cracked baptismal fonts that would not hold the water poured into them.

We continued today with a portion from the Letter to the Hebrews as well. Today we hear some practical advice for living, including the admonition to show hospitality, and to "not neglect to do good, and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." Although I do not believe that works can earn salvation, I do think it's good to be reminded, as does the Letter of James, that faith without works as an outgrowth of the faith (and never in place of that faith) is something to strive for and examine oneself about.

The Gospel continues Jesus' travel to Jerusalem. He's having dinner at a Pharisee's house, and has all sorts of observations and advice about Christian gatherings and not making oneself bigger than one is. The preacher where I attended today (Trinity Parish, Saugerties, NY) made the point that every time there's a meal in the Gospels, it's a code for the Eucharist. I'm not sure that's always the case, but it did make me pause, and wonder how today's Gospel does affect our understanding (nor not) of Eucharistic hospitality and practice.

I have no conclusions yet, just wonderings. I mean, in most parishes we either have an Altar rail or do stations, so the actual distribution of Communion itself is egalitarian. But what about where we sit, and where visitors sit, and all that? There's an old story about St. Swithun's of a particular Sunday at the beginning of September. The rector was in the pulpit, expounding on the Scriptures. It was today's Gospel, as a matter of fact, which falls around the Sunday before school begins for most schools. A died-black-haired, black-tee-shirt and jeans, scruffy sneakers, much bejeweled and inked student came in the back of the church, and looking around, sees no seats. It's Homecoming Sunday and the church is full to the brim. So the student, in good student fashion, isn't fazed in the least. He walks down the center aisle and sits down right in front of the first row, on the floor, in front of the pulpit. He's a student, after all, and this is what students do. Well, this causes a stir, but the preachers keeps on. Who doesn't want an anttentive audience? A bit later the congregation stirs a bit. From the back, very slowly, because he is quite aged, comes Mr. Malcolm. Mr, Malcolm has been the chief usher of the parish for as long as anyone can remember. Longer than at least the last four or five rectors, even! He is very dignified in his freshly-pressed suit and carnation. Mr. Malcolm makes his way slowly down the side aisle. The congregation begins to mutter. What will he do? It's inconceivable for that goth kid to do what he did. Mr. Malcolm is perfectly in his rights to ask him to leave. And he's the chief usher, after all. Whatever happens, we'll all see!

So Mr. Malcolm continue up the side aisle. People aren't paying much attention to the sermon at this point; they're all consumed about what Mr. Malcolm will do. Finally he gets to the aisle in front of the pulpit and moves toward the student. He touches him on the shoulder, and you could hear the collective gasp of breath from the congregation. He says something to the student, inaudible to most of the congregation. Very slowly, with great dignity, Mr, Malcolm leans on the student's shoulder, and and very carefully eases himself down onto the carpeted floor next to the student. He crosses his legs, oh so slowly, and looks up at the pulpit so he can see the Rector.

The Rector choked back a sob and said, "You will never see the Gospel enacted in such a way again, and I can never add anything to what you have just seen." And he left the pulpit, wnet to his chair, and sat.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people!

RFSJ

The Quality of Time

Very often, Anglicans Online's weekly essay is terrific. They are always thoughtful and gentle. This week's is, I believe, sublime:

For our part, we're unable to treat time spent in bookshops, museums, churchyards, or fleamarkets as anything but open-ended. In what Kathleen Norris has called 'quotidian mysteries', we enter a kind of supra-chronological time that can't be measured — much less planned — on a clock. This richly textured, expanding, refreshing time is magnified in worship beyond even the loveliness of occasions outside church walls when we browse and meander without recourse to our watches.

Read it all.

RFSJ

Is Christ The Way? A Way? The Only Way?

Fr. Jake, in his excellent blog, has posted a reflection on what proclaiming the Gospel in a pluralistic world means to him right now. I was edified by his post and the comments which followed.

Read it all and see for yourself.

RFSJ

Some New Thoughts On An Old Topic

My friend and seminary classmate Fr. Matthew Moretz has posted a new addition to his video blog. Oddly enough, it's on the topic of sin. We probably don't talk enough - in the right ways - about sin, although we confess every Sunday and receive absolution from it as well as strength to resist it in the Eucharist. But check it out and see what you think. Which of the premises "sin = ________" resonate most with you?





RFSJ

When YouThink You Have the Answers

Years and years ago, my parents owned a copy of the Good News edition of the very 1970s edition of The Living Bible, a paraphrase of the Bible based on the ASV and RSV. This particular edition had cool 1970's-esque pictures of young people in front of every book - think the original movie version of Godspell ans you'll get the idea. This edition also had a little section in the front with suggested Bible passages for various events and moods: "When you're happy," "When you need to make a decision," etc. I was so impressed that I made a copy of these notes and stuck them in my own confirmation Bible, which was a hardcover NIV. I still have them, and that Bible, too.

I ran across the following on Fr. Tobias Haller's excellent blog In a Godward Direction. In honor of TLB's lists of "When you..." suggestions, here's his, which I have entitled, "When You Think You Know All The Answers:"

• Those in the position to understand the scriptures sometimes don’t, and those with the authority to interpret them are sometimes wrong.
• Sometimes those who are sure they are doing God’s will are working at cross-purposes with God.
• God still somehow makes the best of things. Sometimes these things are amazing and completely unexpected and unbelievable.
• So God takes a long time to do so — from a human perspective. (“A thousand ages in thy sight are like an evening gone...”) Even though David’s words had been sung for fully a thousand years, they only came to realization in Christ, and then were seen (by those with faith to believe) to mean something different from what people thought they meant all along. Much of the world still rejects this interpretation, even after 2,000 more years.
• Jesus came to bring liberation from sin, which obedience to the law of Moses could not accomplish.
• This too may take a long time to sink in.
• There is abundant evidence to show that the church has changed, developed, and evolved in many of its teachings over time, not just on moral questions but on doctrine. (A clear articulation of the Trinity and the Incarnation took about 400 years. The canon of Scripture itself remains unsettled to this day between the various branches of Christendom. There are many acceptable theories concerning the Atonement.)
• Scoffing is not an appropriate response to the possibility of a new understanding of God’s purpose or plan. A humility that admits one may be mistaken, even after having believed something to be true for a long time, or with great personal conviction based on one’s own experience, is advisable.
• We don’t have all the answers. God does. And even though God has revealed much, we still dare not claim to have understood perfectly — our knowledge is as partial as our love is imperfect.
• It appears there is a relationship between our ability to love one another and our ability to understand one another.
• God commanded the former. Perhaps we should work on that as a way to accomplish the latter.

Well worth pondering. God and God's plans for us are so much more than we can possibly imagine. To think all is, was, and ever shall be - to us humans at least - seems hubristic at best.

RFSJ

The Proper of the Day: Pentecost IX

Today is the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. We move today from the prophet Amos to the prophet Hosea, who likes to use symbolic actions and names to illustrate the Word of God to the people. Check out "have a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom." We also continue reading from Colossians. In the Revised Common Lectionary, which we use at Trinity and is mandatory beginning this Advent, the interesting portion was optional today. We are exhorted to not let anyone condemn us in matters of food or drink or religious festivals because of Christ's victory over the powers and principalities of the universe, and not, as we might expect from someone from the Pauline school, because of our freedom in Christ, although that's at work here too. It's worth a read, especially when you consider that the Book of Common Prayer calls for a slew of just such festivals, both Principal as well as Major and Lesser. And following up on what service means in the Parable of the Good Samaritan two Sundays ago, and putting into proper context service grounded in the Word in the vignette of Martha, Mary, and Jesus last week, we now learn one way to concretely ground our service in the Word in the very words of the Lord's Prayer.


(Above: Gillis van Coninxloo: Mountain Landscape with River Valley and the Prophet Hosea)

And of course, as we always do, we thank God for all God has done in Christ we when celebrate God's very presence among us in the Holy Communion. It was poignant to pray the Lord's Prayer today, and then to go out to live that prayer in our daily lives. Thanks be to God!

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

Turning Things Upside Down

This is pretty cool, and pretty right, too:




Hat tip to Purl and Java.

RFSJ

The Proper of the Day: The Third Sunday After Pentecost

Here's my sermon for today. I welcome your feedback and comments:

Trinity Parish in Bergen Point

Pentecost III RCL 2007

I Kings 21:1-10, 15-21a; Ps 5:1-8; Gal 2:15-21; Luke 7:36-8:3

R.F. Solon, Jr.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our rock and Redeemer. Amen.

Last Friday evening, I stumbled across the Daytime Emmys, and I watched for about ten minutes when I realized I had no idea who actors were and what the shows were about. So I switched back to the Mets-Yankees game. The Mets won that one, by the way.

But there’s a certain glamour about Hollywood and TV and being an actor or director. I saw it on the Emmys show and of course we see it at the Oscars and every night on Entertainment Tonight if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s hard to escape in this culture. We may not know the names of our politicans, but we sure know our celebrities. We’re on a first-name only basis with them. Even if you don’t watch much TV, you see screaming reports of the latest from Bennifer, or Mel, or Barbara, or Tom. And of course, it seems like we’ve been obsessing over Paris for weeks now.

Wouldn’t it be fun to be a celebrity? You‘re famous. Everyone’s watching you! You’re on the news a lot, just for doing ordinary things like going to the store. What a trip that must be. And the movies that have made celebrities who they are! Some of them are now classics. The Wizard of Oz. Gone with the Wind. Jaws. The Godfather. Casablanca. We can quote lines from them and we watch them over and over again. Movies and the actors that make them are a part of the consciousness of our nation, and have been since the first silents appeared a hundred years ago now.

Did you notice that those classic movies are all based on classic novels first? Nearly all the best-loved movies on the all-time list of the Internet Movie Database are adapted from books or novels. Seems to me that Hollywood has missed an obvious example, though. And that’s the fabulous story from this morning’s reading from Hebrew Scripture. It’s a gripping tale of treachery and intrigue. There’s innocent Naboth, who only wants to preserve his ancestral property. And weak-willed King Ahab, who sulks like a spoiled brat when he doesn’t get his way. There’s rightoues Elijah, who declares in very gruesome terms what will happen to Ahab. And then of course there’s Jezebel. Scheming Jezebel. The foreign wife of Ahab, she’s the one who frames Naboth on trumped-up and completely false charges and has him legally executed. If you’ve ever wondered where the term “Jezebel” came from, now you know. And it’s all so Ahab can have a comfy vegetable garden next to his summer palace. I mean, a producer should be drooling over this plot line. It’s got chicanery, and violence, and betrayal, and suspense. This could be great! It’s a blockbuster, for sure.

When it comes to casting our new film, there are all kinds of roles to fill. Who would you like to play? As I wonder about the cast of characters, I find myself drawn again and again to the unnamed people of Jezreel whom Jezebel ropes into having Naboth framed. She tells them to call a public assembly and make Naboth the presider, and then to get some stooges to accuse him of treason and heresy. Under Israelite law, a capital crime needed at least two witnesses, so there were enough to have Naboth whacked, legally at that. With Naboth out of the way, it was an easy thing for Ahab to claim the property he wanted.

But what about those people in the assembly, the ringleaders? And the other members of the assembly? Did they know what was going on? Did they realize that they were pawns in a game of royal scheming? What did they first think when they got the email from the Royal Palace? I mean, it was probably pretty obvious what was going on. Naboth’s vineyard was next door to the Palace, after all. Possibly lots of people knew about the conversation between Ahab and Naboth. How many people did Jezebel have to get to before she found some to do her nefarious will? A lot? Only a few? And if there were a lot of people who wouldn’t initially go along, then there were also a lot of people who attended that assembly, who knew exactly what was going to happen, even if they didn’t actively participate.

I think there’s a lot of that in 2007 too. What with the information explosion from the Internet, we all can see what’s going in the world, and right here in Bayonne too. We all know the latest news of our favorite actors and actresses. We celebrate the joys of our loved ones in this season of commencements. We hear stories of the latest drugs to cure diseases we never knew we had. And we are instantly aware of more deaths of our soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan. We see the pictures of the ongoing starvation in Darfur. We read the lurid details of the latest wilding in Jersey City and the latest burglaries right here in Bayonne. Sometimes what we read and hear is uplifting, and sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it’s a great joy to pick up the paper or check the newsfeeds, and sometimes I dread it and simply can’t read further. I’d much rather much rather check the baseball standings than read the editorial pages.

And it’s easy to do that too, to escape, or simply ignore what’s going on. With the explosion of information has come also the explosion of entertainment. There are ever more cable channels to peruse, new blockbuster movies to watch, new tunes to download to our Ipods, new celebrities to gawk at. I can spend hours fussing with my fantasy baseball teams – I have three of them now! It’s very easy to be bystanders in this world today. It’s easy to know what’s going on, and like those people at Naboth’s assembly, to simply watch impassively as yet another innocent person is victimized, oppressed, or even killed.

And with all that stuff going on, it’s also very hard sometimes to recognize the good that goes on as well. It’s so easy to accentuate the negative, we forget that there are those who are not merely bystanders, but are doing active things to make the world a better place, to take a stand against cruelty, injustice ore mere indifference. I think we here at Trinity Parish can today take joy in the fact that we are not bystanders. Not today, at least. Today we kick off our capital campaign, Miracle on 5^th Street. Today we take a stand and we say, we are going to continue to work for a better world right here in Bayonne. We’re going to expand our facilities right here at the corner of 5^th and Broadway so we can offer better and larger programs for the developmentally disabled and the autistic adults of Bayonne and Hudson County. And we’re going to eventually move our phenomenal Highways program from its current location at Hobart and Linnett right here as well. We’ll be able to offer more space for our shops and more space to meet with those who need our help. Getting to Highways will be more convenient as well, because it will now be on the bus lines. And we’ll have a new parish hall too, outfitted with cool AV equipment and a new kitchen. All of it will be done with the best energy-efficient and sustainable techniques we can, so we can show the community not only our commitment to those less fortunate, but also to our environment and the generations who will come after us as well.

My sisters and brothers, all of us are part of this great project. All of us will have something to contribute to the Miracle on 5^th Street, whether it’s our time, our talents, or our treasures or even some combination of all three. As Executive Director of our Windmill Alliance, I want to publicly acknowledge everyone who has helped put the Miracle on 5^th Street event together. You show us what it means not to be bystanders.

Every Sunday we come together to give thanks to God for what God has done for us. God reached out first to us and, as our Gospel says, forgives each and every one of us if the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Unlike the woman at the dinner party who was able to show her gratitude directly to Jesus, we can’t do that. He isn’t here in the same way. Jesus is here among in a real way in the Holy Communion we are about to share in just a few minutes, and we praise God for that. And God is delighted that we do so, because it was God in Jesus who asked us to remember him when we eat and drink. But that isn’t quite enough. That isn’t all God asks us to do. God asks ask to pay God’s love forward, because we can’t love God any more than God already loves each of us. God invites us to not be bystanders in the world around us, but to be part of the world around us, demonstrating God’s love in the world and not letting the world forget. We here at Trinity Parish do that every Sunday when we come together to hear God’s Word and experience that same Word in the bread and the cup. And we do that every other day of the week, too. We do that as a community by the work we do in the ministries of the Windmill Alliance. And we do that in the individual ways we pay forward God’s love to those we live and work with in our own day-to-day lives.

That’s why the Miracle on 5^th Street is so special. It’s special because it shows Bayonne that this community of faith, in thanksgiving to God for the Good News in Jesus, isn’t going to be mere bystanders of that Good News. We’re not standing passively by, watching the world around us. We’re not just enjoying the celebrities who are entertainment for us. No, we’re living out that Good News, that Gospel, not only on Sundays but every day. We do it now, and today we’re publicly committing that we intend to continue doing it. We can enjoy reading all about Bennifer and Mel and Tom and Brad - that’s fine and fun to do. I can continue to diddle with my fantasy baseball teams. There is a place in life for all of that. But there is far more to life than the latest dispatch about Paris. We today celebrate the abundance of life that the Miracle on 5^th Street represents. My hope and prayer is that we begin today will touch lives throughout Bayonne and that this parish will always be a place of more than mere bystanders.

Watching life is good. Having life, and having it abundantly, is better. That’s what God wants, and that’s what God promises. We join n that great work today.

Amen.

So I Went to See The Yankees

Yesterday evening, my friend and I went to see the Yankees play the Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium. It was a good game once it got started, but there was rain for a bit and so the first pitch wasn't until about 8:10 PM. That delayed everything just enough that it was just the middle of the 7th inning when we had to leave to catch trains and whatnot back to New Jersey. The Yankees won 4-1 and my man C.M. Wang got the win. It was neat to see him play. I found myself taking far more interest in his performance than I normally would for a pitcher. In fact, normally I'd prefer a high-scoring game - much more exciting, right? Not this time. I was perfectly glad to have Wang hold them to 1 run in his 7 innings - he got an excellent ERA out of this outing.

So it's the 7th Inning Stretch and we are all asked to get up and remove our hats for "God Bless America." I was expecting "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" but not this. ("Take Me Out" came after.) I have to confess I was a bit disconcerted about it. It's a tradition at Yankee Stadium to sing this since 9-11, so reports Wikipedia. Here are the full lyrics, from ScoutSongs.com:

"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. "

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

As I review these lyrics now, a day later, they aren't so bad. and I had no problem with the Star Spangled Banner, which I love to sing (mostly, I suspect, because I can actually negotiate the entire range of that almost-unsingable song). So why my angst? I kept thinking, "Well, God surely blesses all of God's people, no matter what country they are in. So why is America any different, any more special?" I mean, doesn't God want to bless England, and Wales, and France, and India, and China and yes, even Iraq, and all its people, as well? Are not all people everywhere created imago Dei and beloved by God? Is it somehow wrong to ask for blessings on one's own nation? Does doing so imply that there is only so much blessing mojo and God can't bless more than one nation at a time? Even and especially in times of war, do not armies pray that God will certainly favor them with victory and the enemy with destruction? I mean, that part is definitely a zero-sum game: if God blesses my enemy, then I'm probably out of luck. And it begs the question, at least for me: what does it mean to pray for one's enemies and bless those who persecute one?

It turns out there are some legal issues with this as well, that are well worth reading on the Sports Law Blog.

RFSJ

Sundays often make me feel like this:

It's called a Fire Rainbow and the conditions apparently have to be just so for one to occur. But the sheer beauty of it makes me think of God's bounty for the whole creation. I'll bet a Fire Rainbow is truly stunning in real life.

Blessed be God, who gives us Fire Rainbows to delight the eye and stir the Soul!


RFSJ

A Site Worth Visiting

As one who finds the Eucharist to be the center of my life, I think this site - dedicated to Anglican understandings of the Eucharist and what it means - to be worth visiting and revisiting.

Hat tip to Kendall Harmon over at titusonenine.

RFSJ

I'm Postmodern!

Well, I should hope so, being a member of Generation X and all:

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 89% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 79% Roman Catholic 71% Neo orthodox 68% Classical Liberal 61% Modern Liberal 50% Reformed Evangelical 43% Charismatic/Pentecostal 29% Fundamentalist 0% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

I'm a bit surprised at the Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan bit. And I love traditional liturgy, so I think there probably weren't the right questions about that on the quiz. All in all, seems fairly accurate though.

Hat tip to Brad Drell at Drell's Descants.

RFSJ

I don't remember this being in the BCP....

Well, the Yankees are playing the Mets in the Subway Series today and tomorrow....

This is not original with me, but I do wonder abut praying for a sports team to win. I'd like to think God is a Mets fan, but if so, wouldn't they always go 152-0? Is not God a fan of all God's people and their sports teams? And that gets me thinking about why we pray. At the beginning of this week, during the Rogation Days, we read from Luke 11:1-13, about how to pray. We're told, "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you." I don't think necessarily that intercessory prayer is wrong; after all, Jesus does encourage us to pray for our needs - look at vss. 5-8, for example. But the point of prayer isn't to change God, but to change us. Even when we pray for perhaps trivial things, like the Mets sweeping the Subway Series this weekend, it's us, by our willingness to be in relationship with God in prayer, who are being continually converted to the mind of Christ over time. We are the ones who change when we pray, not God. Ultimately, our best prayers are probably those that express our intention to be open to and strengthened to God's will in the world, but even less noble prayer is efficacious over time, it seems to me. Perhaps it's more the act of praying than the content of the prayer.

RFSJ

The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Tomorrow is Easter VII. We've been reading from the Gospel of John throughout Eastertide, and on this Sunday we hear from Chapter 17, Jesus's High Priestly Prayer. In vss. 20-26, Jesus prays for "those who will come after," meaning us. His prayer, interestingly, is not that everyone will come to know Him - that actually comes second. His prayer is first for unity among believers, so the the "world" (unbelievers in the Fourth Gospel, i.e., all those outside the believing community) may believe. In other words, unity comes first as a tool for evangelism.

Of course, the Fourth Gospel uses the simplest words (even in the Greek) - "that they may all be one" and doesn't tell us what that means. What does "being one" look like? Does it mean, for example that we Christians need to all agree on everything before we go out looking for converts? Does it mean a single hierarchy? Does it mean hierarchy at all? After all, when you have hierarchy, that implies power, which some have and some do not. How does that fit into "being one"?

See for yourself.

RFSJ