Each week the same thing happens to me. I am greeted by Charles or Thomas, two of the custodians who work at Trinity Cathedral, "How are you today Dean?" I respond, "I'm fine Charles (or Thomas). How are you?" "Blessed, Dean Baker, I'm blessed!" And I think to myself, "Why did I settle for fine?"
Why be fine, when I could be blessed? I woke up this morning. Today didn't have to happen for me. But it did. I get to breathe air, eat food. I have people in my life who love me, whom I get to love. And I'm just fine? No, I am Blessed!!!
One of the problems for me is I take the many blessings in my life for granted. The gift of life and the gift of people to love simply become normal. They are the status quo; I no longer notice them.
What I do notice is what I don't have. I don't have a digital SLR camera. I don't have a motorcycle. I know my life would be so much better if only I had these things.
I also notice what I have that I might lose. I bought my house 1 ½ years ago. I'm sure it has lost value. My financial security feels like it is slipping away. And of course, so will my health - if not now, then eventually. It's hard to feel fine, let alone blessed, when life is so precarious.
I get to choose, of course, whether I want to look at my life through the lens of scarcity or abundance. I get to choose to be fine or blessed. But it is difficult in our culture to live in abundance. So many of the messages we receive tell us we either need to buy something new for fulfillment or we need to worry about our health or prosperity slipping away.
I find two spiritual practices helpful in realizing that I am blessed. First is the simple act of gratitude. I am reminded of this whenever Thomas tells me he is blessed. He often adds, "I got out of bed this morning." He reminds me it could have been otherwise. I too got out of bed. I was given the gift of this day. This little nudge from Thomas helps me remember that I'm blessed in many other ways as well. I thank God for this remarkable gift of life.
The other spiritual practice that helps me realize I'm blessed is generosity. For some mystical reason, giving things away, things that I care about, gives me life. It is strange, because our culture tells us we need more to be happy. But living as if my life was abundant, and sharing this abundance with others somehow makes my life more abundant. In being generous, I become more alive. And the voice in my head that tells me I can't be happy unless I have more, is weakened. My blessings increase.
I don't want to be fine anymore. I want to be BLESSED! I'm going to start by changing my response when greeted by others. So if you see me around town, please ask, "How are you?"
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Premarital Sex
“What is your position on premarital sex?” It isn’t like this is a completely unusual question for a priest to be asked. However, this was someone I had never met and who had never been to my church. And this question was our first exchange of words. I had just been introduced to this young woman, and the first thing she said to me was, “What is your position on premarital sex?” What a delightful way to begin a relationship. Actually I was thrilled. I’d much rather wrestle with an important issue than make small talk. And I like a challenge.
What was she expecting me to say? That premarital sex is wrong; that one should wait until marriage. Or that it is fine between consenting adults? I rarely find single sentence answers are adequate for ethical questions. After a long pause, here’s what I said:
The purpose of the spiritual life is to become more alive. (St. Irenaeus in the 2nd century said, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive.”) I try to judge courses of action by whether they will bring me more alive or deaden me. Not by whether they will be fun or easy, but will they bring me more alive. Of course the “me” that needs to become more alive is not my ego or “false self”, but my interior, spiritual self. Will a given course of action bring my true self more alive?
Our sexuality is a lovely gift from God. And sexual intercourse can move us out of ourselves and unite us to another person in a way that is spectacularly beautiful. I can imagine situations in which two people love one another, and are committed to one another to such an extent that sex would bring each of them more alive as it draws them closer together. The couple would not need to be married for this to be true. I can also imagine instances when sex between two people is not life-giving—times when it is cheap, or hurtful or vacuous—times when the sacredness of the act is not sustained by a relationship of mutual love. This deadening sexual act could happen within marriage as well as outside of marriage. Marriage does not guarantee that sexuality always be life giving. But it helps. The commitment to remain together, to love one another during happy and difficult times, or even when the “feeling” of love is gone, that commitment helps create a safe space for sexuality to be freely and safely expressed.
Our sexuality is a precious gift from God. And sex, outside of marriage as well as within marriage, needs to be engaged in lovingly, respectfully and reverently.
My new friend seemed satisfied with my answer. There was much more I could have said about the topic. Like how complicated sexual relationships can get in our materialistic culture where individuality and self-fulfillment trump authentic relationship and the value of self-sacrifice. Perhaps that can be covered in our second conversation.
Blessings,
Brian Baker
What was she expecting me to say? That premarital sex is wrong; that one should wait until marriage. Or that it is fine between consenting adults? I rarely find single sentence answers are adequate for ethical questions. After a long pause, here’s what I said:
The purpose of the spiritual life is to become more alive. (St. Irenaeus in the 2nd century said, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive.”) I try to judge courses of action by whether they will bring me more alive or deaden me. Not by whether they will be fun or easy, but will they bring me more alive. Of course the “me” that needs to become more alive is not my ego or “false self”, but my interior, spiritual self. Will a given course of action bring my true self more alive?
Our sexuality is a lovely gift from God. And sexual intercourse can move us out of ourselves and unite us to another person in a way that is spectacularly beautiful. I can imagine situations in which two people love one another, and are committed to one another to such an extent that sex would bring each of them more alive as it draws them closer together. The couple would not need to be married for this to be true. I can also imagine instances when sex between two people is not life-giving—times when it is cheap, or hurtful or vacuous—times when the sacredness of the act is not sustained by a relationship of mutual love. This deadening sexual act could happen within marriage as well as outside of marriage. Marriage does not guarantee that sexuality always be life giving. But it helps. The commitment to remain together, to love one another during happy and difficult times, or even when the “feeling” of love is gone, that commitment helps create a safe space for sexuality to be freely and safely expressed.
Our sexuality is a precious gift from God. And sex, outside of marriage as well as within marriage, needs to be engaged in lovingly, respectfully and reverently.
My new friend seemed satisfied with my answer. There was much more I could have said about the topic. Like how complicated sexual relationships can get in our materialistic culture where individuality and self-fulfillment trump authentic relationship and the value of self-sacrifice. Perhaps that can be covered in our second conversation.
Blessings,
Brian Baker
Same Sex Marriage
This essay was written for the Sacramento News and Review
Marriage is . . . something more than a civil contract subject to regulation by the state; it is a fundamental right of free men...legislation infringing such rights must be based upon more than prejudice and must be free from oppressive discrimination to comply with the constitutional requirements of due process and equal protection of the laws. – California Supreme Court in a 1948 decision that invalidated laws barring interracial marriage.
If, as the State Supreme Court states, the right to marry the person of one’s choice is a fundamental civil right, on what basis would we deny this right to same-sex couples? Because it is a new idea? Because the concept makes some people uncomfortable? Because it seems to go against the way we thought God has designed the world? These were all arguments used to justify laws against interracial marriage. Fortunately the State Supreme Court saw this prejudice for what it was and led the nation in invalidating laws that barred such marriages.
Now, it seems, history has a chance to repeat itself. The State Supreme Court may be on the verge of invalidating laws that bar same-sex marriages. Not everyone is pleased with this development. I have heard three arguments against same-sex marriage.
First, marriage has traditionally been limited to opposite sex couples. But tradition is poor justification for denying people civil rights. In our past, slavery was our tradition. Same-race marriage was our tradition. Fortunately we have moved beyond these traditions and broadened access to civil rights.
Second, some believe there is a strong religious consensus against same-sex marriage. Even if the Court was to consider religious arguments, which it shouldn’t, there is no religious consensus. I am an Episcopal priest in a congregation that welcomes with open arms people who are gay and lesbian. I believe that anybody willing to commit himself or herself in love to another deserves our support, our respect and our admiration. I believe the state should honor same-sex couples the same way it honors opposite-sex couples. And I am not alone. Over 400 religious leaders in California joined me in signing an amicus brief that stated our support for same-sex marriage.
Third, some argue that same-sex marriage threatens heterosexual marriages and families. How silly. My marriage is not weakened when a gay or lesbian people choose to pledge themselves to one another. It is foolish, as a society, for us to deny marriage to any group of people. Marriage, with its commitment to fidelity and stability, helps society. When two people want to pledge themselves in faithfulness to one another we should celebrate this commitment and honor them with the legal rights and responsibilities of marriage. It shouldn’t matter if the couples are opposite-sex or same-sex. The marriages of same-sex couples will strengthen marriage as a whole, strengthen families and strengthen our society.
60 years ago California led the nation in ending prejudice and allowing interracial couples to marry. We now have the opportunity to bring this same justice to same-sex couples.
Marriage is . . . something more than a civil contract subject to regulation by the state; it is a fundamental right of free men...legislation infringing such rights must be based upon more than prejudice and must be free from oppressive discrimination to comply with the constitutional requirements of due process and equal protection of the laws. – California Supreme Court in a 1948 decision that invalidated laws barring interracial marriage.
If, as the State Supreme Court states, the right to marry the person of one’s choice is a fundamental civil right, on what basis would we deny this right to same-sex couples? Because it is a new idea? Because the concept makes some people uncomfortable? Because it seems to go against the way we thought God has designed the world? These were all arguments used to justify laws against interracial marriage. Fortunately the State Supreme Court saw this prejudice for what it was and led the nation in invalidating laws that barred such marriages.
Now, it seems, history has a chance to repeat itself. The State Supreme Court may be on the verge of invalidating laws that bar same-sex marriages. Not everyone is pleased with this development. I have heard three arguments against same-sex marriage.
First, marriage has traditionally been limited to opposite sex couples. But tradition is poor justification for denying people civil rights. In our past, slavery was our tradition. Same-race marriage was our tradition. Fortunately we have moved beyond these traditions and broadened access to civil rights.
Second, some believe there is a strong religious consensus against same-sex marriage. Even if the Court was to consider religious arguments, which it shouldn’t, there is no religious consensus. I am an Episcopal priest in a congregation that welcomes with open arms people who are gay and lesbian. I believe that anybody willing to commit himself or herself in love to another deserves our support, our respect and our admiration. I believe the state should honor same-sex couples the same way it honors opposite-sex couples. And I am not alone. Over 400 religious leaders in California joined me in signing an amicus brief that stated our support for same-sex marriage.
Third, some argue that same-sex marriage threatens heterosexual marriages and families. How silly. My marriage is not weakened when a gay or lesbian people choose to pledge themselves to one another. It is foolish, as a society, for us to deny marriage to any group of people. Marriage, with its commitment to fidelity and stability, helps society. When two people want to pledge themselves in faithfulness to one another we should celebrate this commitment and honor them with the legal rights and responsibilities of marriage. It shouldn’t matter if the couples are opposite-sex or same-sex. The marriages of same-sex couples will strengthen marriage as a whole, strengthen families and strengthen our society.
60 years ago California led the nation in ending prejudice and allowing interracial couples to marry. We now have the opportunity to bring this same justice to same-sex couples.
Forgiveness
This essay was recently published in the Sacramento News and Review
Tariq Khamisa, a 20 year old college student was delivering pizzas when he was confronted by a 14 year-old boy. The boy, Tony Hicks, demanded a pizza. When Tariq refused, Tony shot him in the chest. Tariq died in the delivery car.
This past weekend, at the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival, I met Tariq’s father, Azim. Listening to him was a remarkable experience. After learning of his son’s death, Azim spent time in meditation. Informed by his Moslem faith, he realized that he had to forgive Tony. He knew that for his own sake, he needed to let go of his resentment and anger toward Tony. He also realized that Tony was a victim. He decided to fight, not against Tony, but against the influences that led Tony to do what he did. Azim met with Tony’s grandfather and guardian, Ples. Azim, a Muslim, asked Ples, a Christian, to work with him to end the escalating spiral of youth violence. For over 10 years now, they have been teaching forgiveness and nonviolence in schools.
Azim and Ples are featured in the film, “The Power of Forgiveness.” Prior to its television debut, this film is being shown in a few select locations, including Blacksburg, Virginia, the home of Virginia Tech. The film features Thich Nhat Hanh, Desmond Tutu, Marianne Williamson and other spiritual leaders. It also highlights the struggle to forgive embodied by the Amish community that was recently devastated by a mass murder in an Amish school.
When watching the film this past weekend, I realized that forgiveness is a learned skill. And that for many of us is not learned well. We don’t really understand forgiveness. Many of us think that if we forgive somebody, we must refrain from punishing or we must allow the other to continue to harm us. Or we think we must forget the infraction.
From a spiritual perspective, forgiveness is an internal act on the part of someone who feels they have been wronged. When I forgive someone, I say no to the voice inside of me that screams for retaliation. I strive to let go of the anger and resentment I hold toward them. And I refuse to look at them solely through the lens of how they have wronged me. To withhold forgiveness, to harbor anger, is like drinking poison in the hope that the other would be harmed. It only hurts me.
We desperately need to learn and practice forgiveness. We need to learn to respond non-violently in our increasingly violent world. We are fortunate to have models of forgiveness like Azim Khamisa. I am grateful for our religious traditions that teach forgiveness. And I am grateful that I belong to a religious community that is a lovely training ground for forgiveness.
Tariq Khamisa, a 20 year old college student was delivering pizzas when he was confronted by a 14 year-old boy. The boy, Tony Hicks, demanded a pizza. When Tariq refused, Tony shot him in the chest. Tariq died in the delivery car.
This past weekend, at the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival, I met Tariq’s father, Azim. Listening to him was a remarkable experience. After learning of his son’s death, Azim spent time in meditation. Informed by his Moslem faith, he realized that he had to forgive Tony. He knew that for his own sake, he needed to let go of his resentment and anger toward Tony. He also realized that Tony was a victim. He decided to fight, not against Tony, but against the influences that led Tony to do what he did. Azim met with Tony’s grandfather and guardian, Ples. Azim, a Muslim, asked Ples, a Christian, to work with him to end the escalating spiral of youth violence. For over 10 years now, they have been teaching forgiveness and nonviolence in schools.
Azim and Ples are featured in the film, “The Power of Forgiveness.” Prior to its television debut, this film is being shown in a few select locations, including Blacksburg, Virginia, the home of Virginia Tech. The film features Thich Nhat Hanh, Desmond Tutu, Marianne Williamson and other spiritual leaders. It also highlights the struggle to forgive embodied by the Amish community that was recently devastated by a mass murder in an Amish school.
When watching the film this past weekend, I realized that forgiveness is a learned skill. And that for many of us is not learned well. We don’t really understand forgiveness. Many of us think that if we forgive somebody, we must refrain from punishing or we must allow the other to continue to harm us. Or we think we must forget the infraction.
From a spiritual perspective, forgiveness is an internal act on the part of someone who feels they have been wronged. When I forgive someone, I say no to the voice inside of me that screams for retaliation. I strive to let go of the anger and resentment I hold toward them. And I refuse to look at them solely through the lens of how they have wronged me. To withhold forgiveness, to harbor anger, is like drinking poison in the hope that the other would be harmed. It only hurts me.
We desperately need to learn and practice forgiveness. We need to learn to respond non-violently in our increasingly violent world. We are fortunate to have models of forgiveness like Azim Khamisa. I am grateful for our religious traditions that teach forgiveness. And I am grateful that I belong to a religious community that is a lovely training ground for forgiveness.
Monday, September 24, 2007
the far side of the world
Monday 24 September - Ordinarily for tonight's healing & eucharist service, we would look for a saint's day to remember, or just use the readings from the back of the book of Lesser Feasts and Fasts (Church Publishing, 2006) in the two-year cycle for daily eucharist. However, recently I found that two on the calendar - Nathan Soderblom and Albert Schweitzer - were also Nobel Peace Prize recipients. So I went to the Nobel Prize website and searched on "September 24" ... which turns out to be the anniversary of the forming of the National League for Democracy, in Burma - the political party of Aung San Suu Kyi.
A Buddhist, she sees her quest as basically spiritual. “To live the full life,” she wrote, “one must have the courage to bear the responsibility of the needs of others… one must want to bear the responsibility.” And, she added, the quest for democracy in Burma is the struggle of a people to live whole, meaningful lives as free and equal members of the world community. It is part of the unceasing human endeavor to prove that the human spirit can transcend the flaws of its nature.
Aung San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991, yet even today lives under house arrest in the capital city of her country.
Very much in the news today are the protests of the current military regime of Myanmar - the country better known as Burma - which began Saturday with hundreds of monks gathering outside the home of Aung San Suu Kyi to pay their respects. How these events will end, in the short term, we do not know. We have hope of the eventual outcome, a restoration of peace and justice, for Burma and the world.
It was on September 24th in 1988 that the National League for Democracy was formed in Burma, with Aun San Suu Kyi as general-secretary, and a policy of non-violence and civil disobedience. There was hope in that year of many nascent democracies that Burma, too, would shake itself free of the grip of its ruling military junta. The struggle continues today: earlier today nuns and monks of the Buddhist tradition, predominant in central Burma, took to the streets of Rangoon and Mandalay in mass protest.
We do not know what turn these events will take. If the regime acts with restraint… I’d breath a sigh of relief. If in coming days some glimmer of recognition of the need for change were to emerge inside the junta’s palace… it would be an early sign of hope.
The readings for the evening of September 24 were not chosen for their appositeness to currents events - and yet they fit very well.
Ezra 1:1-6 recounts the End of the Babylonian Captivity of Israel.
Psalm 126
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion...
Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy.
Luke 8:16-18
'No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light. Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.’
From the history of ancient Israel, we know that powerful kings and military rulers do not give up power easily. But we also see in that history a continuing witness of hope, of fidelity to the promises of God.
That hope has begun to be fulfilled in Christ Jesus. In Jesus, the kingdom of heaven was proclaimed – and the day of the Lord began to dawn, the day of peace, righteousness and justice. We are called to live as children of that day – to align ourselves with the coming reign of God, knowing that, try as the rulers of this world might try to hide it, the light is dawning.
How are we to live? As children of the light, letting our light shine before all people – in our personal dealings, in our relations with one another, in our actions as a people of God, to follow the Lord of Light, Jesus Christ: to be the light of the world.
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sources for 2007 September 24th:
The Nobel Foundation - Nobel Peace Prize 1991 - Aung San Suu Kyi
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/
BBC News - Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia-pacific/1950505.stm
The Telegraph - Burma protest swells as 100,000 join march
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/24/wburma124.xml
Jim Carrey - Call to Action on Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NySuaJ2B20E
The Age - Tens of thousands add their voice to Burma protests
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/burma-protest-numbers-grow-by-thousands/2007/09/24/1190486223208.html
The Guardian - Burmese junta threatens protest crackdown
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2176125,00.html
Church of Ireland
http://ireland.anglican.org/worship/weekdays/2007/23-09-2007.pdf
A protester's view
'The middle class are now poor, the poor are destitute'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2177204,00.html
A Buddhist, she sees her quest as basically spiritual. “To live the full life,” she wrote, “one must have the courage to bear the responsibility of the needs of others… one must want to bear the responsibility.” And, she added, the quest for democracy in Burma is the struggle of a people to live whole, meaningful lives as free and equal members of the world community. It is part of the unceasing human endeavor to prove that the human spirit can transcend the flaws of its nature.
Aung San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991, yet even today lives under house arrest in the capital city of her country.
Very much in the news today are the protests of the current military regime of Myanmar - the country better known as Burma - which began Saturday with hundreds of monks gathering outside the home of Aung San Suu Kyi to pay their respects. How these events will end, in the short term, we do not know. We have hope of the eventual outcome, a restoration of peace and justice, for Burma and the world.
It was on September 24th in 1988 that the National League for Democracy was formed in Burma, with Aun San Suu Kyi as general-secretary, and a policy of non-violence and civil disobedience. There was hope in that year of many nascent democracies that Burma, too, would shake itself free of the grip of its ruling military junta. The struggle continues today: earlier today nuns and monks of the Buddhist tradition, predominant in central Burma, took to the streets of Rangoon and Mandalay in mass protest.
We do not know what turn these events will take. If the regime acts with restraint… I’d breath a sigh of relief. If in coming days some glimmer of recognition of the need for change were to emerge inside the junta’s palace… it would be an early sign of hope.
The readings for the evening of September 24 were not chosen for their appositeness to currents events - and yet they fit very well.
Ezra 1:1-6 recounts the End of the Babylonian Captivity of Israel.
Psalm 126
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion...
Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy.
Luke 8:16-18
'No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light. Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.’
From the history of ancient Israel, we know that powerful kings and military rulers do not give up power easily. But we also see in that history a continuing witness of hope, of fidelity to the promises of God.
That hope has begun to be fulfilled in Christ Jesus. In Jesus, the kingdom of heaven was proclaimed – and the day of the Lord began to dawn, the day of peace, righteousness and justice. We are called to live as children of that day – to align ourselves with the coming reign of God, knowing that, try as the rulers of this world might try to hide it, the light is dawning.
How are we to live? As children of the light, letting our light shine before all people – in our personal dealings, in our relations with one another, in our actions as a people of God, to follow the Lord of Light, Jesus Christ: to be the light of the world.
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sources for 2007 September 24th:
The Nobel Foundation - Nobel Peace Prize 1991 - Aung San Suu Kyi
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/
BBC News - Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia-pacific/1950505.stm
The Telegraph - Burma protest swells as 100,000 join march
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/24/wburma124.xml
Jim Carrey - Call to Action on Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NySuaJ2B20E
The Age - Tens of thousands add their voice to Burma protests
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/burma-protest-numbers-grow-by-thousands/2007/09/24/1190486223208.html
The Guardian - Burmese junta threatens protest crackdown
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2176125,00.html
Church of Ireland
http://ireland.anglican.org/worship/weekdays/2007/23-09-2007.pdf
A protester's view
'The middle class are now poor, the poor are destitute'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2177204,00.html
Thursday, September 20, 2007
those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it
John Coleridge Patteson
Bishop of Melanesia, and his Companions, Martyrs, 1871
September 20, 2007
Eight time zones east of here is the birthplace of John Coleridge Patteson; he was born in London on the 1st of April, 1827. Four time zones west of here is Nakapu, an island in the Santa Cruz group north of Vanuatu, where John Coleridge Patteson and his companions were killed on 20 September 1871.
And yet far away as these places are, and as far away as the 19th century is from us, we are bound to them by ties not only of affection but also of our common humanity.
Melanesia has an Anglican church now; Patteson went there to found it. Instead he went to his death – by mistake.
He worked to stamp out the flourishing slave trade in the Solomon Islands. The people of Nakapu mistook his party for slave raiders, returning after a recent raid, and took their revenge on his body – one stroke of the hatchet for each native who had been killed in the earlier raid.
The reaction of the government in England was to work even harder to stamp out slavery, and the slave trade, in the south Pacific territories under their flag.
The church redoubled its missionary efforts; Bishop Selwyn, who had sent Patteson to Melanesia from New Zealand, worked to reconcile the people of Melanesia “to the memory of one who came to help and not to hurt.”
The Most Revd Sir Ellison Leslie Pogo KBE, primate of The Church of the Province of Melanesia, is Patteson’s successor: we are all his heirs.
Stuff happens. The joke goes on: Why does this stuff keep happening to us? Or, less popularly: Why do we keep on doing this stuff?
As Tony Campolo recently pointed out, God created humanity to act in freedom, and thus to be capable of going against his will. Out of love, God gave us the freedom to choose to love God in return. Out of love.
Christine Sine of St. Alban’s, Edmonds, Washington, recently wrote: “All of us, no matter how strong our faith, will at some point in our life journey suffer pain and death.” Through Christ, God is able to use the suffering we endure to further God’s purpose in our lives and in the world. God’s grace works through human weakness.
Out of love, he gave us freedom. Out of freedom, we may choose, in the words of the apostle, to “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way [to] fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2) Out of love.
And somehow, out of death, comes life: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35)
To really live involves, eventually and inevitably, dying. But death is not the end of the story.
The life that is saved is not the life of this body as it is – but ongoing life in God, that begins when we choose to live in Christ.
Out of love. Out of freedom. Out of death. Into life.
****
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)
****
Sources
Lesser Feasts and Fasts (Church Publishing, 2006)
1 Peter 4:12-19, Psalm 121, Psalm 116:1-8, Mark 8:34-38, Genesis 22:1-14, Romans 8:31-39, Galatians 6:2
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/province.cfm?ID=M1
http://orders.anglican.org/mbh/history.htm
http://www.bcponline.org/
http://bible.oremus.org/
Context, September 2007, Part A, page 3-4 & Part B, page 6.
Tony Campolo, “God as Suffering Servant”, Tikkun, May/June 2007
www.tikkun.org/magazine/tik0706/frontpage/sufferingservant
Christine Sine, “The Challenge of Suffering”, Prism, March-April 2007
http://www.network935.org/Images/mmDocument/PRISM%20Archive/Sines%20Times/MarApr07SinesOfTimes.pdf
Bishop of Melanesia, and his Companions, Martyrs, 1871
September 20, 2007
Eight time zones east of here is the birthplace of John Coleridge Patteson; he was born in London on the 1st of April, 1827. Four time zones west of here is Nakapu, an island in the Santa Cruz group north of Vanuatu, where John Coleridge Patteson and his companions were killed on 20 September 1871.
And yet far away as these places are, and as far away as the 19th century is from us, we are bound to them by ties not only of affection but also of our common humanity.
Melanesia has an Anglican church now; Patteson went there to found it. Instead he went to his death – by mistake.
He worked to stamp out the flourishing slave trade in the Solomon Islands. The people of Nakapu mistook his party for slave raiders, returning after a recent raid, and took their revenge on his body – one stroke of the hatchet for each native who had been killed in the earlier raid.
The reaction of the government in England was to work even harder to stamp out slavery, and the slave trade, in the south Pacific territories under their flag.
The church redoubled its missionary efforts; Bishop Selwyn, who had sent Patteson to Melanesia from New Zealand, worked to reconcile the people of Melanesia “to the memory of one who came to help and not to hurt.”
The Most Revd Sir Ellison Leslie Pogo KBE, primate of The Church of the Province of Melanesia, is Patteson’s successor: we are all his heirs.
Stuff happens. The joke goes on: Why does this stuff keep happening to us? Or, less popularly: Why do we keep on doing this stuff?
As Tony Campolo recently pointed out, God created humanity to act in freedom, and thus to be capable of going against his will. Out of love, God gave us the freedom to choose to love God in return. Out of love.
Christine Sine of St. Alban’s, Edmonds, Washington, recently wrote: “All of us, no matter how strong our faith, will at some point in our life journey suffer pain and death.” Through Christ, God is able to use the suffering we endure to further God’s purpose in our lives and in the world. God’s grace works through human weakness.
Out of love, he gave us freedom. Out of freedom, we may choose, in the words of the apostle, to “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way [to] fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2) Out of love.
And somehow, out of death, comes life: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35)
To really live involves, eventually and inevitably, dying. But death is not the end of the story.
The life that is saved is not the life of this body as it is – but ongoing life in God, that begins when we choose to live in Christ.
Out of love. Out of freedom. Out of death. Into life.
****
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)
****
Sources
Lesser Feasts and Fasts (Church Publishing, 2006)
1 Peter 4:12-19, Psalm 121, Psalm 116:1-8, Mark 8:34-38, Genesis 22:1-14, Romans 8:31-39, Galatians 6:2
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/province.cfm?ID=M1
http://orders.anglican.org/mbh/history.htm
http://www.bcponline.org/
http://bible.oremus.org/
Context, September 2007, Part A, page 3-4 & Part B, page 6.
Tony Campolo, “God as Suffering Servant”, Tikkun, May/June 2007
www.tikkun.org/magazine/tik0706/frontpage/sufferingservant
Christine Sine, “The Challenge of Suffering”, Prism, March-April 2007
http://www.network935.org/Images/mmDocument/PRISM%20Archive/Sines%20Times/MarApr07SinesOfTimes.pdf
Saturday, September 8, 2007
whose service is perfect freedom: (costing not less than everything)
Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
When it came time to sign the marriage license for two of my college friends, the minister gave as his title, “Slave of Jesus Christ”. In his letter to the Christians at Rome, Paul introduced himself as “doulon christou iesu” – a servant of Jesus Christ, not distinguishing between bondservant and freedman.
In his letter to Philemon, a brother in Christ and a slave owner, Paul makes distinct the difference between enslavement in the world’s system and free service offered to the Lord. He greets Philemon as a “dear friend and co-worker”, telling him he remembers him in his prayers always thankful because of Philemon’s love for all the saints – all the saints – and his faith toward the Lord Jesus. This love Philemon shows is a source of encouragement and joy. “The hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother,” Paul writes.
Therefore, Paul continues, I appeal to you – rather than making a command. “Refresh my heart in Christ”, he asks. Back to you I am sending Onesimus, whom you held as a slave. He has become a Christian, and hence my brother – and yours. Meanwhile I myself am held as a prisoner, for the love of Christ. Do something extraordinary, Philemon: receive him back but do not punish him; embrace him as a brother, and further than that, do not hold him accountable for anything you might hold against him. Charge it to my account.
It was not unusual, scholars like Richard Horsley tell us, in those days for one person to own another. Even for Christians, to be a slave or a slave owner was a simple matter of economics. But not to Paul: he is challenging Philemon to break free from the economic system the world has enthralled him in, and to do something that will strike its own blow against the empire.
Set him free. Furthermore, flying in the face of the practice of the time — slaves could buy their freedom for a price but would always owe their former master a share of their income — do not charge him for his freedom, or require him to pay you royalties on his future earnings. And you shall be made free yourself.
Slaves are compelled; to serve in Christ is an act of freedom. Paul asks, implicitly, for Philemon to free Onesimus, and so to free himself.
Paul does happen to mention a little debt, and a small requirement for obedience. Not to himself, not really, not to anyone on earth: but to God in Christ Jesus. You owe him everything, Onesimus: even your life.
And here we are back at the cross, with Jesus, who reminds the crowds who were following him – up to this point anyway – that to follow him means giving up all you have. Family, possessions, even life itself, all are to be counted as loss, compared to the one thing left to them, the service of Christ.
Philemon is not being asked to give up a little. Paul reminds him he owes everything in obedience. It is being asked of him now. To give up – “I know my rights!” – he might protest – to give up what he has in the world’s terms in order to take his place in the kingdom of God. Like the rich young ruler who went away sorrowing, Philemon might have thought of what he had to lose – but perhaps, since after all he did save the letter, he thought of what he had to gain.
All this may sound symbolic, to modern ears… until we think of the cost of discipleship we might be asked to pay.
Imagine a world in which one person might presume to own another, a world in which people are bought and sold like possessions. Imagine, indeed, millions trafficked this way across the globe today. And then imagine someone taking some small step to redeem, or set free, someone who is being held hostage to wage slavery or debt, or through physical or other coercion.
That is a world we live in, even now. Organizations of Christians across the world – World Concern among them – are working to help people out of this system, and to challenge the system that enslaves. We might or might not be called to take direct action on this front, but we all will be called at some point to estimate the cost, of carrying the cross, of discipleship.
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.… So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."
Our God, whose service is perfect freedom (costing not less than everything) – how are we to serve? Whom would we consider a saint?
If a man were give up a good job in a prestigious institution, leave his fiancée behind, and join a conspiracy to assassinate the duly elected leader of his country, would we consider him a good Christian? If, then, caught, convicted, and imprisoned, he wrote that girl, telling her we now live in a world without God, would we praise his faith? We might acknowledge his contribution to Death of God theology, but would we call him a saint?
And yet there he is, on the calendar in Lesser Feasts and Fasts, for April 9th: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Pastor & Theologian, 1945. Bonhoeffer left Union Theological Seminary to return to Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, and who subsequently was involved in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler that failed on 20 July 1944, is widely held as an exemplar of faith in the 20th Century.
If a nun were to talk her way out of her vow of stability, and go live on the streets of a big city, would we consider her a model of obedience? If then, and from then on, she felt – and wrote in her letters – that she too felt the absence of God, would we consider her a model of faith? If she carried on like that for fifty years, would we call her a saint?
And yet Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who confessed that she had experienced the dark night of the soul over a period of fifty years of serving the “poorest of the poor”, is widely acclaimed as a model, an extreme model, of faith.
To give up family, friends, possessions, life itself – even to experience existence bereft of a sense of God’s presence – indeed our Lord cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – and yet somehow from this total loss, to experience the life of Resurrection, this is the cost, and the glory, of discipleship.
Sources:
Readings for Year C, Proper 18 (RCL): Philemon 1-21. Psalm 139:1-5, 13-18. Luke 14:25-33.
T. S. Eliot, ‘Little Gidding’ (1942); Four Quartets (1943) [http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/gidding.html]
Richard A. Horsley and Neil Asher Silberman, The Message and the Kingdom: How Jesus and Paul Ignited a Revolution and Transformed the Ancient World (Grosset/Putnam, 1997), p. 182-183.
http://www.worldconcern.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=527&srcid=429
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/b/bonhoeff.htm
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/texts/calendar/holydays.html
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031019_index_madre-teresa_en.html
Lesser Feasts and Fasts (Church Publishing, 2006) [http://www.io.com/~kellywp/CalndrsIndexes/TxtIndexLFF.html]
My Life with the Saints by James Martin, S.J. (Loyola Press Chicago, 2006)
http://www.nimblespirit.com/html/my_life_with_the_saints_review.html
September 9, 2007, Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento.
When it came time to sign the marriage license for two of my college friends, the minister gave as his title, “Slave of Jesus Christ”. In his letter to the Christians at Rome, Paul introduced himself as “doulon christou iesu” – a servant of Jesus Christ, not distinguishing between bondservant and freedman.
In his letter to Philemon, a brother in Christ and a slave owner, Paul makes distinct the difference between enslavement in the world’s system and free service offered to the Lord. He greets Philemon as a “dear friend and co-worker”, telling him he remembers him in his prayers always thankful because of Philemon’s love for all the saints – all the saints – and his faith toward the Lord Jesus. This love Philemon shows is a source of encouragement and joy. “The hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother,” Paul writes.
Therefore, Paul continues, I appeal to you – rather than making a command. “Refresh my heart in Christ”, he asks. Back to you I am sending Onesimus, whom you held as a slave. He has become a Christian, and hence my brother – and yours. Meanwhile I myself am held as a prisoner, for the love of Christ. Do something extraordinary, Philemon: receive him back but do not punish him; embrace him as a brother, and further than that, do not hold him accountable for anything you might hold against him. Charge it to my account.
It was not unusual, scholars like Richard Horsley tell us, in those days for one person to own another. Even for Christians, to be a slave or a slave owner was a simple matter of economics. But not to Paul: he is challenging Philemon to break free from the economic system the world has enthralled him in, and to do something that will strike its own blow against the empire.
Set him free. Furthermore, flying in the face of the practice of the time — slaves could buy their freedom for a price but would always owe their former master a share of their income — do not charge him for his freedom, or require him to pay you royalties on his future earnings. And you shall be made free yourself.
Slaves are compelled; to serve in Christ is an act of freedom. Paul asks, implicitly, for Philemon to free Onesimus, and so to free himself.
Paul does happen to mention a little debt, and a small requirement for obedience. Not to himself, not really, not to anyone on earth: but to God in Christ Jesus. You owe him everything, Onesimus: even your life.
And here we are back at the cross, with Jesus, who reminds the crowds who were following him – up to this point anyway – that to follow him means giving up all you have. Family, possessions, even life itself, all are to be counted as loss, compared to the one thing left to them, the service of Christ.
Philemon is not being asked to give up a little. Paul reminds him he owes everything in obedience. It is being asked of him now. To give up – “I know my rights!” – he might protest – to give up what he has in the world’s terms in order to take his place in the kingdom of God. Like the rich young ruler who went away sorrowing, Philemon might have thought of what he had to lose – but perhaps, since after all he did save the letter, he thought of what he had to gain.
All this may sound symbolic, to modern ears… until we think of the cost of discipleship we might be asked to pay.
Imagine a world in which one person might presume to own another, a world in which people are bought and sold like possessions. Imagine, indeed, millions trafficked this way across the globe today. And then imagine someone taking some small step to redeem, or set free, someone who is being held hostage to wage slavery or debt, or through physical or other coercion.
That is a world we live in, even now. Organizations of Christians across the world – World Concern among them – are working to help people out of this system, and to challenge the system that enslaves. We might or might not be called to take direct action on this front, but we all will be called at some point to estimate the cost, of carrying the cross, of discipleship.
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.… So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."
Our God, whose service is perfect freedom (costing not less than everything) – how are we to serve? Whom would we consider a saint?
If a man were give up a good job in a prestigious institution, leave his fiancée behind, and join a conspiracy to assassinate the duly elected leader of his country, would we consider him a good Christian? If, then, caught, convicted, and imprisoned, he wrote that girl, telling her we now live in a world without God, would we praise his faith? We might acknowledge his contribution to Death of God theology, but would we call him a saint?
And yet there he is, on the calendar in Lesser Feasts and Fasts, for April 9th: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Pastor & Theologian, 1945. Bonhoeffer left Union Theological Seminary to return to Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, and who subsequently was involved in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler that failed on 20 July 1944, is widely held as an exemplar of faith in the 20th Century.
If a nun were to talk her way out of her vow of stability, and go live on the streets of a big city, would we consider her a model of obedience? If then, and from then on, she felt – and wrote in her letters – that she too felt the absence of God, would we consider her a model of faith? If she carried on like that for fifty years, would we call her a saint?
And yet Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who confessed that she had experienced the dark night of the soul over a period of fifty years of serving the “poorest of the poor”, is widely acclaimed as a model, an extreme model, of faith.
To give up family, friends, possessions, life itself – even to experience existence bereft of a sense of God’s presence – indeed our Lord cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – and yet somehow from this total loss, to experience the life of Resurrection, this is the cost, and the glory, of discipleship.
Sources:
Readings for Year C, Proper 18 (RCL): Philemon 1-21. Psalm 139:1-5, 13-18. Luke 14:25-33.
T. S. Eliot, ‘Little Gidding’ (1942); Four Quartets (1943) [http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/gidding.html]
Richard A. Horsley and Neil Asher Silberman, The Message and the Kingdom: How Jesus and Paul Ignited a Revolution and Transformed the Ancient World (Grosset/Putnam, 1997), p. 182-183.
http://www.worldconcern.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=527&srcid=429
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/b/bonhoeff.htm
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/texts/calendar/holydays.html
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031019_index_madre-teresa_en.html
Lesser Feasts and Fasts (Church Publishing, 2006) [http://www.io.com/~kellywp/CalndrsIndexes/TxtIndexLFF.html]
My Life with the Saints by James Martin, S.J. (Loyola Press Chicago, 2006)
http://www.nimblespirit.com/html/my_life_with_the_saints_review.html
September 9, 2007, Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento.
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