proper-14-2019-chapel.md

Sun, Aug 11, 2019 Chapel of Christ the King

Back when I was still in my 20’s in Colorado, my parish priest invited me to a presentation by a monk by the name of William McNamara in the nearby town of Pueblo. He wrote about contemplative prayer and I was interested. We drove to the auditorium of a Catholic parish there and found our seats.

There, sitting on dais was man with a huge beard, almost to his waist, wearing a cassock, carrying himself with a kind of awesome confidence in himself together with a contagious aura of submission to a mighty God.

When he stood up and began to speak, I had the distinct sense that he was one of the Old Testament prophets who had walked right out of the Bible and into this auditorium. He sounded like a prophet.

It was as if he announced, “Pay attention.” And he got my attention.

I hear the words of God himself being spoken by the prophet this morning:

From the opening of Isaiah:

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.

…

seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,

defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.

Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow;

God himself is speaking to us. We need to pay attention.

This past week I felt bombarded with signs of the times that seemed to speak no less loudly as the words of the prophet. Calling us to acts of mercy not solemn pronouncements. Demanding justice when we are too often content with complacency.

Seemingly in rapid succession over the last week we have had powerful events that we have to pay attention to.

August 6th was the feast of the Transfiguration. A day recalling Jesus’ transformation on a mountain, pointing so powerfully to who he was in the deepest possible sense. It was also the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. A day that marks a new high water mark in humanity’s ability to destroy.

Often I have focused on these events on the Sunday following because the meaning of the solemn days seems powerfully pregnant and poignant.

But the signs of the times didn’t end there.

Mourning:

We had a weekend of mass killings.

  • El Paso, Dayton, … (were these addressed last week?)

  • the target of the El Paso massacre appears to have been Hispanics – “people of color” for those who identify people by the color of their skin

  • the events raise the alarm about the overwhelming presence of guns in our society and not just guns but guns that are designed for use by soldiers.

  • After a pro-gun legislative session applauded by the National Rifle Association, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed new laws that eased restrictions on where firearms can be carried, from schools to churches, apartments and foster homes, and barred cities from passing their own gun and ammunition sales limits. API

  • Friday was the 5 year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown Jr., … shot by 28-year-old Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the city of Ferguson.

  • Tomorrow is the 2nd anniversary of the Charlottesville violence by white supremacists and the killing of Heather Heyer.

The signs can and ought to set us to weeping. It did in our household. Perhaps it did in yours as well.

There is so much violence. So much injustice. Too often the Church is more interested in solemn assemblies than in justice and defending the orphan.

Into the maelstrom Jesus speaks. It is a little like the setting of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass where the orchestra builds and builds until we can barely stand it, and then with a crash there is stillness. Into the stillness speaks Jesus.

The Gospel

Our gospel reading from Luke 12 this morning reads like a summary of what the Gospel is all about. …

  • Do not fear. Fear interferes with your ability to love.

  • The kingdom of God is ready for you – get prepared.

  • Sell your possessions and do all you can to help the poor and outcast, it’s a part of making yourself fit for the kingdom.

  • Be prepared for the holy banquet which is coming for the Son of Man will be here at an unexpected hour.

What are we to do? How to respond and be faithful? There is a temptation to be freeze. But it is times like these that the church must be present. We must not be complacent. To be complacent is to be complicit.

Quote / Refrain

When a great moment knocks on the door of your life, it is often no louder than the beating of your heart, and it is very easy to miss it. Boris Pasternak

Discernment requires us to listen to the beating of our heart. We live in challenging times that fight to drown out the stillness where we can hear the beating of our heart.

Our armor as well as our arms are to be found in the gospel. It is there we know what we must do (or not do).

We fight for justice. Our allies are the oppressed. We defend the orphans and the widow. We are not called to make orphans and widows but to defend them.

We may not see the full fruit of our endeavor.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Though may not see it, we shall, to quote Pete Seeger, “… travel with the good people.”
Lori True wrote this prayer for our journey:

May your travels be well. Traveling mercies.

Notes

Pentecost 9 08/12/2019

The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Color: Green Assigned Readings (Proper 14 )
Track One Lesson 1: Isaiah 1:1,10-20 Psalm: 50:1-8,23-24 T
rack Two Lesson 1: Genesis 15:1-6 Psalm: 33:12-22
Lesson 2:Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16 Gospel: Luke 12:32-40

lectionary

Hebrews: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. …

Thu, Aug 15, 2019: Saint Mary the Virgin 08/16/2019

Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ Color: White Assigned Readings Lesson 1: Isaiah 61:10-11 Psalm: 34 or 34:1-9 Lesson 2: Galatians 4:4-7 Gospel: Luke 1:46-55

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