The Person I Love the Least

4AfterEpiphany, January 31, 2016, Sullivan Park Care Center by Annette Fricke

            Last Wednesday, I was privileged to attend one of our cathedral’s Reel Theology.  Reel Theology is a weekly series of movies mean to provoke the mind and behavior beyond the present day fellowship of believers who may become way too focused on the immediate functioning of the building and needs of current members.  Here is a description of the movie last week: “January 27: Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids (R) This film is a chronicle of filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman’s efforts to show the world of Calcutta’s red light district. To do that, they inspired a special group of children of the prostitutes of the area to photograph the most reluctant subjects of it. As the kids excel in their new found art, the filmmakers struggle to help them have a chance for a better life away from the miserable poverty that threatens to crush their dreams.”  I am happy to report that the reactions of those present did not include what I frequently heard from a fellow choir member. For example, she used to always say to me, “We have plenty of needy people right here in this state.  Why are we investing money way out in Haiti?  We have some very poor people in Yakima.”  There was, however, a woman who pointed out that we have many children like this in Spokane and a man who pointed out this problem in Montana.  How far away children in need live is not the main point, though; just how to go about reaching them is.  How do you help children who live in poverty and worse yet, how do you help those who not only live in poverty but are also the byproduct of prostitution?  How do you reach to the edges of society when they don’t necessarily want your help?  It is a good thing to reach out to places like Haiti that have been ravaged by the forces of nature and have been and continue to be some of the poorest of nations in the world.  It is a good thing to reach out to neighborhoods such as the West Central neighborhood here in our own Spokane.  Not only is it a good thing to do, it is also what Jesus would have us do.  God claims all of us and wants all of us to live and care for each other, even those who have chosen or fallen into a life of self-destructiveness.  God’s children are endowed with many resources and with few.  They are healthy and they are sick.  They feel loved by God and abandoned, filled with hope and wonder as well as crushed in deep, dark depression.

            Jesus speaks gracious words and they all love him, but then he turns the tables. Why are people so upset with what Jesus says to them?  Well, for one, he is pointing out that Judaism was never meant to be an exclusionary way of life.  The Jews were to always care for all people.  He puts it in their faces that God cares even for the foreigner and the enemy of the Jews.  Jesus points out to them that their practice of religion has become closed in on itself in such a way that it is appalling.  His illustrations taken directly from scripture describe that the healing of God extends even to outsiders, desperate for relief from poverty and illness. They are saying among themselves, “Who are you to use our own scriptures against us?”  Jesus is trying to tell them that he is the long awaited Messiah, but they are unable to hear. They can’t comprehend such a message because they are filled with their own notion of what it means to be the chosen people of God. They hear about Jesus speaking in all the surrounding synagogues and his reputation and may have become a bit jealous.  They are asking why he hasn’t yet come to speak to them in his hometown.  Yet when he does, they are not happy.  In fact, they aren’t happy at all and Jesus truly offends them.  He angers them.  He angers them to the point that there is nothing that he can say or do at this point that will change their minds about him.  In no uncertain terms, they hate him. How could this man possibly be the Messiah?  How is it possible that a boy born in such poor estate could speak with such authority?  Why does God choose to heal people outside Judaism while ignoring the chosen people?  How is anyone to make sense of this story when it seems that we have stepped into the middle of a sermon?

            The fact is, we are always truly in the middle of things.  Many people have walked the face of the earth before us and I imagine there will be many after we are gone and the memory of us fades.  But I think there is something attributed to Dorothy Day that brings us back into focus as to what Jesus is trying to tell his audience about the history of Judaism and that would be this, “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.”  The writings we have about Jesus clearly put in his mouth that we are to love the Lord God with all our hearts, our minds, our strength and our neighbors as ourselves.  Jesus clearly meant that our neighbors were those traditionally despised by the Jews.

            This can be our meditation throughout the week, “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.”  That is the real challenge, especially in a world where some of us were taught at a very young age to dislike certain groups of people because they are not like us. Throughout history, people have told their children to hate the Jews, to hate the Blacks, to hate the Mexicans. People tend to hate that which they don’t understand. People tend to group certain people together because of a behavior not common to all in that group, but based on the behavior of some in particular.  And not only that, but this does not allow a person to speak for themselves because they are already labeled.  “Oh, he is Mexican; therefore, he is bad because he is just here because the US government gives him free food stamps.”  “Yeah, he is black.  He is too stupid to know how to work on his own.  That’s why they were slaves.”  “The Jewish people are bad because they killed Jesus.  It says so in the book of John.”  In our own settings, we might look down on the fat aides and think that they are not able to reach us fast enough because they can’t move like the skinny ones.  And I heard that she had a child out of wedlock.  I wonder what happened; did she do that on purpose or did he leave her because he didn’t want the responsibility of raising a child?  Or why would she want to raise a child on her own?  Why would a male want to be an aide or a nurse?  Why would someone want a male aide to give them a shower?  Why don’t you become a nurse?

            All of these statements and questions are taken out of context and are therefore untrue and filled with prejudgment. We can ignore these thoughts and simply tell ourselves that it is none of our business, revel in our own uninformed conclusions, or take the road less traveled.  It is work, and few dare go there, but the answer is to attempt to make connections and open the way for communication with that other person---the one we may have decided is so radically different from us. Sometimes, what we felt was a behavior so off base, we will learn later is really not that different.  We all share in a common humanity.  We are truly in the same boat.  We are sometimes out in the rough seas together with no land in sight.  It is not our job to decide who is worthy of being saved.  We all are.

You are a Sacramental Vessel

3SundayafterEpiphany, Sullivan Park Care Center and St John the Evangelist Cathedral, January 24 and 27, 2016 by Annette Fricke

            A few decades back, but still in the twentieth century, for two years I attended and graduated from Pacific Lutheran University.  It was a strange place for me and the second climate change.  The ethnicity had switched from the German and French Americans of my childhood to the Norwegian Americans.  Not only were the people who organized and formed PLU from the beginning Norwegian immigrants, but so was the corresponding church across the street. My RA at my dorm was actually directly from Norway, a Norwegian citizen.  I had some contact with the head campus pastor whose last name was also suspiciously Norwegian. My nephew John was born when I was a junior and many years later, he also graduated from that same fine institution, but that same campus pastor was no longer there.  I remember asking the campus pastor, “What is the purpose of God’s creating humanity?”  He basically told me that he didn’t know.  I remember my thoughts going wild at that answer.  Surely he should have a better answer being campus pastor to us lowly students, especially one of the pre-seminary students such as me.  I searched for years as to the answer to that question, positive there has to be a better answer.  The Presbyterian answer was that humanity’s purpose was to glorify God.  Good answer or at least better, but what exactly or more precisely does that mean?

            Several years later, after John had become a newlywed, he, his wife and his mom and I sat down at a coffee shop in downtown Tacoma for a brainstorming about how John and his wife could pay for their student loans.  You see, both were grads of PLU.  Tuition had risen significantly since I attended.  I had no idea what type of loans they had, but assumed they were the same as I had, the National Direct Student Loans.  I mentioned that there was a clause on those that said you could pay some of that off by teaching.  John came to me at a later date and told me he had met someone who remembered me from PLU.  He didn’t quite have the name right, but I did. Next thing I knew, they had decided to go to Africa to teach children in the country of Namibia…for two years. Before they left, I was invited to a send off reception after their commissioning at their church.  I saw someone there I hadn’t seen for several years and couldn’t help staring, staring because he had changed so much. He was now bald.  It was the campus pastor of long ago, so I went to sit at his table.  He told me that he had switched out of campus ministry and that some people were trying to tell him that he was betraying his calling.  He was now a person who gathered funds to send people to do work in Africa.  Here he was again, not as the perfected person I expected, but the vulnerable and trusting person who laid bare his very heart to me.  I was flabbergasted and humbled at the same time.  Why would he entrust his deepest struggles with me, of all people?

            A few more years later, he and I found each other on Facebook and he asked me the question, “Are you going to become clergy of the Episcopal Church or something?”  I replied with, “I don’t know.” 

            What I do know is this; we can reminisce about the past either mourning its loss or disappointments or speculate about the future.  This gospel lesson is about neither.  What Luke is trying to tell us is that we should live in the moment.  We should live our lives in ministry to others today, not thinking about what happened yesterday or what might take place tomorrow. 

            After Jesus’ baptism, he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. In the power of the Holy Spirit, he returned to Galilee and began teaching in the synagogues.  Luke emphasizes that Jesus is a teacher.  Notice the content that Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah.  The people are in expectation that he will say something about an ancient interpretation or about how great a prophecy this is.  That doesn’t happen at all.  He shocks his audience to the core when he proclaims to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  How is it possible that this person we know and his parents we also know could say such a thing?  What does he mean?  Our text stops abruptly there only to be taken up again next week.

            The Messiah has come and is now, today in their midst just as he is in our midst.  He is here and announces that the anointing of his baptism was to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.  Those are the content of what we do as disciples of Jesus, not just among ourselves, but in the larger community with everyone we meet. 

            On Friday night, I could see it clearly.  I am not working right now at a job I prefer.  It’s probably Plan C or D on my list, but I can see the give and take of a fellowship that goes way beyond me and my fellow sojourners.  Important people to me have left for other jobs.  One nurse was going to leave, but instead decided to stay.  A floor aide now works as a med assistant.  That night, I realized that the nurse, who had previously been at odds with me, now works with me and counts on me to be the one she trusts to do my job thoroughly.  The man down the hall seems to need affection in a physical way, so he kisses me and hugging is exchanged between us.  The woman a couple of doors down is lonely and only asks that people don’t rush so much and spend some time with her.  The new man on the other side of the hallway is a German immigrant who is still looking for a connection with others.  I ascertained that his family and mine have a common root. They came from the same area now part of modern day Poland.  All that they are really asking is that we not institutionalize them in any way.  All they request is to be treated like a person, a person who has the need to be cared for and loved. I don’t know whether they see this or not.  It is beyond my understanding.  I only know that I do.

            Through the Word of God that we hear in the readings of the scriptures and the working of the Holy Spirit, this Jesus is known to us in our every day walks through life.  Some may see that place where I work or where you live or work as just being a bunch of people thrown together randomly, but it is a living and breathing organism with a life of its own.  It is a place wherein dwells the children of God who are called to imitate Jesus.  Picture yourself as a sacramental vessel of God who is meant for the purpose of living your life day to day as one who is compelled to show compassion in all circumstances.  Not everyone believes this.  It is our job to both live it and teach it.         

Gallons of Grace

2EpiphanyC, January 17, 2016, Sullivan Park Care Center by Annette Fricke

                We know that marriage was very important during the time of the Jewish faith in Jesus’ day.  First of all, an on-going discussion takes place between the families.  There is a dowry and terms of a marriage contract.  A wedding does not happen until the families agree that it is time.  Both bride and groom bathe and put on perfume and oil, dressing in special garments.  Jewelry and garlands were also worn.  The bride is veiled throughout the entire ceremony and has bridesmaids.  Likewise, the groom has attendants.  Chief of the attendants was the best man.  After this, the public ceremonies begin with the groom and his attendants who process to the bride’s home. There they greet the family, exchange presents and drinks, then process with dancing and music back to the groom’s home.  If it is already dark, they take lanterns with them.  At the groom’s home are the invited guests who share in a meal and the marriage contract is read and public declaration is made by the groom that goes something like this, “She is my wife and I am her husband from this day and forever.”  Then the guests bless the couple with words like, “May the God of heaven keep you safe and give you peace and prosperity.”[1]  You might want to get a glimpse of this process in a couple of movies, “Yentl” or “Fiddler on the Roof” especially if you are as ignorant about Jewish practices as I am.

It’s important to note that weddings in the Bible were very elaborate, compared to a modern day wedding and the celebration lasted longer.  The bride and groom did not take honeymoons. The emphasis was on community celebration.  What is presented in the Bible however, is rather piecemeal, because the writers assume that you are familiar with weddings.  Because of that, you really do have to supplement your Bible readings with a study of the culture of the time in order to get a full picture of what constituted the whole process of planning and carrying out the whole extended event which lasted a week or two.  We also lack details as to just how often weddings didn’t turn out the way they were supposed to be.  Apparently, this is the problem presented in our gospel text designated for this particular Sunday.  Things did not go as they should and the mother of Jesus, as she is known here, wants Jesus to intervene.

            With such an elaborate celebration to prepare, I would imagine that there were a number of things that could go wrong.  What went wrong here is that only the cheap wine was served and they ran out.  Jesus, his mother and his disciples notice the lack of proper etiquette.  But Jesus doesn’t seem to want to make a fuss. However, his mother insists he “do something.” We lack the details.  Who is supposed to supply the wine and why was the good wine not served first?  How come the good wine wasn’t apparently served at all?  Whose fault is it? Is someone trying to be cheap or did someone leave with the good wine, to hoard it for themselves?  That’s the problem we run into if we see this as a literal story.  In fact, if we note that John is the only gospel with this story, we might make the observation that John has a purpose in mind. 

            Note the finer details of the story and put them in the context of John.  At the end of each of these stories, John states, as he does in this story, “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”  Some argue that John has in mind seven signs, but the evidence is ambiguous.  Signs and so called miracles are also designated by John to be numerous.  Signs of who Jesus is, are numerous and throughout his ministry.  But the important thing to remember is not just the signs themselves, but what they are pointing to—they are pointing to Jesus and Jesus’ identity.  Who is Jesus?  Jesus is the Son of God.  The signs reveal the glory of God and the response is belief in God, belief that Jesus is God.  Don’t get this wrong.  It’s not a belief in the sign, but in God.  The glory of God is how God is known in the world.  In the Old Testament, God is known through storms, fire, and earthquakes.  Here, the glory of God is known by changing water into wine.  It is a sign that Jesus infuses into Judaism newness, a robustness that is the same, yet changed.  The glory of God dwells in Jesus. Thus, the God who has command over the physical world now becomes more intimately involved with humanity. The cheap wine, formerly of limited and poor quality, is now the good wine flowing forth in abundance. There is nothing now to contain the workings of God and what God is capable of doing.  We now see that God is more capable through Jesus in showing us more clearly what God is all about.

            God is like a marriage feast.  The contract of marriage is likened to a covenant with God.  The covenant concept is unlike the non-Jewish religions of other peoples and cultures.  God always makes covenants that emphasize divine favor or what is also termed grace.  One only need look at the words in the beginning of Luke to see that favor means grace and forgiveness.  “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.”  God has mercy even on the lowliest of people.  God gives preferential treatment to the poor.  Perhaps the crops failed or the family responsible could not afford the good wine.  We have both spiritual and material needs and sometimes those are truly intertwined to where you wonder why they are somehow separated into two different concepts.  Certainly with the gallons and gallons of good wine we get the picture that God is full of overflowing grace, overflowing and unending grace.  We understand also that God will always be there to provide for our every need, no matter how great that need might be.  Like the marriage contract, it is for this day and forever between God and us.

            Like a marriage feast, God wants us to be joyful.  He wants us to celebrate and enjoy the fruits of the earth and the gatherings of the harvest.  It may be difficult to understand this because it is rooted in an agrarian culture, a culture where most people were more tied to the earth.  Jesus spent a lot of time getting to know people and share meals with them.  They were times of relaxation and celebration as well as a time of rest from the day’s activities.  The concept of the observance of the Sabbath was likewise meant as a time of rest as well as deepening relationships with family as well as devotion to God.

            Lastly, God wants us to seek justice for the poor and marginalized of our society.  In boldness, Isaiah states that God will not keep silent nor rest.  God’s work is through us, God’s children.  All belong to God and all are God’s family.  We are to welcome all people into our lives and to share our resources, even though they may not be material resources.  Bless others as God has blessed you.

---

[1] The Oxford Companion to the Bible, under “Weddings,” ed. Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan, Oxford Press, 1993.

Addendum

I must apologize for my lack of editing before I post my posts.  I try to go back and clean things up, so to speak.  So if you are a bit of a grammar police, check back later when the wording and spelling is just a bit more readable.  
On another subject, I will be preaching an unprecedented six times this month and intend to more carefully form my sermon to address the specific audience who will hear me when I preach for the Wednesday Eucharist on the 27th of January.  Our Wednesday Eucharists, for the most part, follow the previous Sunday's lessons.
Thank you for your readership.

What is Your Identity?

BaptismofourLordC, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 10, 2016 by Annette Fricke

            Who are you?  Most people would answer this question with a list of recent ancestors that go a few years back.  I have personally been able to trace my ancestry back into the 1600s, but only by way of a single female on Dad’s side of the family.  It is one line that I suspect is Jewish because of the last names and the fact that Jewish ancestry is through the female line.  My mom’s family history quickly fades to a dead end.  It is a common Jewish way to identify who you are by your lineage.  We see that most prominently in the gospel of Matthew which imitates the reciting of past relatives of several of the Old Testament books.

In Jewish history, identity is also determined by which tribe you are from as well as occupation.  For example, if you were born in a line of priests, you take on either the role of a priest or that of a supporting role for that function. On my mother’s side of the family, I found out that her mother’s family was involved in either making and or selling spoons.  Spoons were important in medieval Europe.  People love to talk about the great accomplishments of their families and their contributions to the communities in which they lived whether that is just locally or more globally.

But what if your ancestry had a few “bad apples”?  I knew a guy who had done some research on his family history who found out one of his male ancestors was a horse thief. My own family history includes people who struggled with mental illness including a suicide.  Notice how I put that in the past, denying the reality of present mental illness in my family. What about that side that we’d rather not put out on display?  If everyone is created by God as good, how do we reconcile with the not so good?  Human nature has a way of excluding that with which we choose to not identify, yet studies have shown that we are not all that different from each other.  We are interrelated and we are all the same blood.  Therefore, we are all the same family, just by our humanness.

If therefore, we accept as the early Christian community that Jesus is the second Adam, then Jesus is from the first Adam which only took a generation to have a murderer in the family; Adam and Eve beget Cain and Abel, but since Cain killed Abel, Abel was replaced by the next born, Seth.  Even those who would throw this out as being invalid because it probably isn’t true historical ancestry would still have to admit that it certainly is representative of the condition of humanity.  We continue down a very selfish course, intending good, but sometimes disregarding how we get there.  I see that behavior every day.  Life goes on to present opportunities to help others in positive ways, yet many of us listen to the question in our minds, “What’s in it for me?”  If you think that isn’t true, take a look back on your life.  Even if we made most of our decisions out of purity of focus on doing the right thing, sacrifice was at times at the bottom of our list.  Very few live and do what would be the altruistic way.  There always seems to be a character flaw of some sort.  And that is why Jesus is able to say later in his ministry to paraphrase, “If you are without sin, you can cast the first stone.”  We are not without sin. Those of us who have seriously examined our lives know well that none of us is without sin and come nowhere close to living the sacrificial, self-giving life of Mother Teresa. Even if we are quite sure that we are living a pure life, our doubts remain as to whether or not this is the path God meant for us or if God wanted us to live in another direction in life.  Life can resemble a big spider web where it is hard to determine if we are headed for the center or teetering on the edge.

Every gospel has its own take or emphasis on Jesus’ baptism.  In Luke’s depiction, we are given a picture of Jesus as just a normal, adult, Jewish male.  He comes for baptism from John just like anyone else, standing in line just like anyone else would.  We know what it is to be in line for something.  I remember way back in grade school standing in line for lunch.  You are no better than anyone else and you need to wait for your turn.  You are not allowed to let your friends cut in line.  If you do, someone will say something either to or in earshot of the teacher in charge.  That is your lot. Later in life, there is a similar line at the grocery store or the post office or the Social Security office.  I never did understand the method there where you have an appointment, but you still have to take a number and wait.  You also have a wait for your driver’s license.  Your identity has little significance because you are the same as others.  You have to wait your turn. 

Jesus’ turn in line finally arrives, but John knows that Jesus may appear the same, but he is not.  He is different, but John does not seem to know the difference immediately.  He knows the function of Jesus and what distinguishes him from others.  He knows that Jesus is more powerful and will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  He is probably not talking about fire in a literal sense, but that quality that is sensed on some level by the receiver.  Feeling the power of the Holy Spirit is something some of us continually need to know on some level and for others, one big jolt is enough.  For still others, just a gradual realization that the Holy Spirit is something that has been there all their lives is confirmation.  I don’t know about you, but I want to know that my redeemer lives.  I want to know the reality of God in my life.  Even though, God’s presence in my own thinking has mostly remained elusive, yet I also know that God’s presence in my life is known when I simply put my trust in God and try my best to be obedient to the will of God as I have perceived it.  This is what I see that Jesus is about. 

Jesus comes like any other Jewish believer.  He was raised as a Jew in a Jewish family in the teachings and shelter of the Jewish synagogue.  He knew also the discipline of daily prayer and scripture readings.  How early did he know himself to be the messiah or all that the title meant?  We have no clear record.  But as John baptizes him in the river Jordan, he prays and the heaven opens.  We don’t know exactly what that means except that we are pretty certain that it is something extraordinary.  This is the moment that heaven touches earth in a way that has never happened before or since.  A radical change has just taken place.  That is the end of the Lucan narrative.  We don’t know if anyone actually saw the Holy Spirit in bodily form.  We don’t know if anyone heard a voice from heaven, but we do know that the author of Luke wants to tell us and all who read his work that the proclamation from heaven is this, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

And how does that translate for us?  You are my sons and daughters, I love you way more than any mere human is capable, and I am well pleased with you. I know your sufferings and your struggles.  I still love you.

To Be God's Light in the World

EpiphanyC, January 3, 2016, Sullivan Park Care Center by Annette Fricke

            Imagine yourself as a person from a foreign country.  You are a seeker for that which lies beyond the immediate lay of the land which surrounds you.  It is your quest to go beyond the present day circumstances, to follow the lead of what appears to be the outstanding, most unusual.  You are an astrologer and you make it your habit to study the stars every night.  You have no idea where this type of obsession will take you.  All your friends and relatives think you are crazy, and can’t possibly understand why you do this night after night.  What could you possibly discover?  The night sky is the same as always.  We look at it every night, they reason.  What is it that will be any different from any other night?  But there are others, a small minority who believe as you do and suddenly, unlike the other nights, way up in the heavens, a star appears unlike any others.  It is much brighter and larger.  The illumination is so intense that it is impossible to ignore.  The star beckons to you in such a way that you go to tell your friends who also gaze at the night sky.  Are there any Jews around that we can ask about its possible significance? What does the Jewish scripture say?  Are there other writings to which we should refer? What do the ancient texts say? Whom can we consult? Is this something that might have been foretold many years ago? What can we do with the information of the star and with our findings of the prophecies about a star that might point accurately to the fulfillment of those prophecies? Where can we turn?  Herod turns to the upper hierarchy of the Jews, the ruling bodies of the chief priests and the scribes.  That’s his answer.  Then he inquires of the magi as to what they know.  Herod believes that the magi know something that he doesn’t and asks them to investigate for him, then to return to him to inform him of the answer of his real burning need to know, “Is this indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the actual king of the Jews who has come to take my place?  If that be the case, away with him and any other young male child who resides in the far reaches of the known world.  I’ll not have it.  Slaughter them all!  How dare there be anyone else to rival my kingship!” Have you ever thought about how the ideas behind the Grinch who stole Christmas originated? Certainly the story of Herod’s jealous rage was in the back of the author’s mind.  We do know the author of the Grinch story was raised as a Christian. Similar to the Grinch, the narcissistic character of Herod and that of many other power mongers of kings present and past or their equivalent contemporaries continues to this day.  What do we do with those who threaten to destroy the whole meaning of Christmas and the significance of the Christ child? The author and co-author of the Grinch character can see clearly how adults in their sophistication can get caught up in the wrong things when it comes to Christmas celebrations which obscure the true meaning and light of Christmas.  The conclusion is one to be remembered for many years: Christmas can still be celebrated without all the trees, the special Yule logs, the endless sweets, even the presents.  As with the rest of the teachings in Christianity, the meaning of Christmas has much more to do with how we treat each other. The true meaning of Christmas is to treat others, regardless of their intimacy or lack of intimacy with us and our circles of friendship, with respect and dignity helping others and supporting others no matter what their status in the world. The common belief of the woman named Alison who went from Soap Opera star to working for The Biggest Loser that Christmas is for children is only partially right.  It’s for children all right, but not just for children, it is for all of humanity.  If I were the host of that late night show where she made that comment, I would not allow that statement to go unchallenged. As ugly as the Grinch is and as mean as his spirit, the story continues to be told because that is the type of story we need to wake us up to his character not as example, but as the opposite of example.  His behavior is the extreme far end of the spectrum.  Most of us don’t know people who would do the same things as the Grinch, yet the Grinch will remain the reminder of what might happen if people did forget the true meaning of Christmas.  That is precisely why that story is so effective.  The spirit of Christmas has a power that even a very mean person cannot destroy.

            It’s a scary world out there.  There are people who don’t read the newspapers, who don’t write or receive letters.  English comprehension is dying due to the constant use of popular slang, almost unintelligible by older generations.  Words are left out of sentences and young people are speaking at an ever increasing rate of speed.  They are sometimes disrespected by older people because of their poor grammar.  Yet, if we dismiss them or think we can live without them, think again.  They have infiltrated our world.  In my world, they are my co-workers and in yours, they are your caregivers.  They are not all that way, but many are.  It is within our power to work on ways to be patient with them and gently correct them.  They need education rather than criticism. Respect should be mutual.  You can set a good example.  Sometimes that means starting from the beginning.  When I told my co-worker that I needed to write a sermon he said, “What is a sermon?”  This same co-worker apologized to a resident by saying, “My bad.”  I know what that means now, but to hear that for the first time can be confusing.  I am guessing that it means, “I am bad” or “mea culpa” which translates from the Latin for “the fault lies with me.”  An apology is certainly welcoming and encouraging if you know what that is.  Then, of course, when I first saw “mea culpa” in a letter written to me, I had to look it up.

            Close your eyes and imagine the brightness of that star, the one that stayed to rest over Bethlehem, where the baby Jesus laid in a food trough, crude and barren, yet just the right size at the right moment in history.  This is what the magi came looking for and this is where we also ought to look.  The star led them to Jesus, the son of God, the true light of the world who illuminates our lives and blesses them so that we may be a blessing to others.  It doesn’t matter if we are among the wealthiest and most powerful of the world or the lowliest of the lowly.  God calls all of us to be a blessing to those around us.  The gospel of God’s salvation is for all of us because we are all God’s children and God loves each and every one of us, no matter what.  Take that blessing and run with it.  Dare to spread God’s light everywhere you go. Remember always that God goes with you each step of the way. We have many tasks ahead of us.  We have much to do.  As the gospel of Matthew says elsewhere, “Let your light so shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16).”

Windstorm of 2015

1AdventC, Sullivan Park Care Center, November 29, 2015 by Annette Fricke

            During the aftermath of the now named “Windstorm of 2015”, I resolved to clean up more than just the mess that resulted from needing to clear out the freezer compartment of my refrigerator and the overflow of water from my kitchen sink.  It was time once again for a new beginning.  I thought it best, despite losses to plunge into the effort of getting my living space back into a more respectable “normal” clean and organized apartment.  I washed the rugs, dusted, mopped the floor, and washed the essential laundry. My plants have been relocated to a proper place in the waning sun where they can drink in what rays might be available as the days grow shorter. I promised myself that despite the mailing today announcing the increase of rent once more, I would trudge on; doing my best to tighten my belt even further and hoping my raise at work would fill in the gap where expenses would threaten to usurp my paychecks.  I am thankful for family who put up with me and my habits for several days, knowing full well that many did not have someone else willing to share heat, light, food, and a place to shower and do the laundry.  Beyond that, my niece’s family even offered to share Thanksgiving dinner with them. They even giggled when I told them that I reasoned I didn’t have to brush my teeth before I came because I still had a toothbrush there. This will not be a storm that will fade quickly from my memory. There is no usefulness in becoming angry or depressed at something beyond my control.  It’s done; it’s over. It’s time to move on.

            This type of gospel text comes to us not only at the end of the church’s liturgical year, but at the beginning as well.  Today is the first Sunday of the church year of a season that only has four Sundays preceding Christmas.  We are now in the season of Advent.  The word advent is from the Latin meaning coming. During this time period, we will see readings that emphasize both the need for repentance as well as hope.  Thus the liturgical colors for the season can be either purple, as in Lent or blue.  Blue has become a preferred color in many churches denoting hope.  When we repent, we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ, both the birth of Christ and the second coming of Christ.  We look forward to celebrating Christmas and also the second coming of Jesus in power and glory.  These elements are descriptive and inclusive of what we call apocalyptic literature.

            This Lukan text proclaims loud and clear for all to read and hear that the Messiah is coming. The message is the same for 70 CE when it was written for a very different culture and happenings as it is for today in 2015.  While many people have predicted the end, they were all wrong and the end is yet to come.  There is almost an implicit message if we read between the lines that predicting is of no value.  If that was the case, why should we be on guard or alert?  That would in no way be logical.

            Is it not true that our lives are marked by beginnings and endings all the time and that we are frequently in a state of confusion because of that very phenomenon?  For example, is a graduation an ending or a beginning? Isn’t it the case that we also call this same event a commencement?  A birthday or anniversary is a commemoration of the past and also a look into the future.  Our whole lives are a state of being somewhere in the middle all the time: that is where I was, this is where I am and the future is yet to come.  Some days are lived in reminiscing, some lived in the moment, and still others dreaming of the future.  And God’s story is the same with a beginning at creation which is the past, the continual giving of the Son and the Holy Spirit which is the present, and the consummation of God’s saving grace at Jesus’ second coming.  Our lives parallel God’s.  God has the upper hand in all things, can and will make it happen.  This is still the beginning of the end of all things.  Despite how many storms or earthquakes we experience or live through or upheavals in our personal lives, God remains the eternal provider for all that is necessary for life for all of creation.  God still has in mind the restoration of God’s kingdom and will bring it to completion.  Caring that much about each and every one of us and all of the created order is God’s purpose. God will not abandon us or leave the work of redemption unfinished.  Jesus promises that God’s word will not pass away.

            That is why we can sing with confidence, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”  It is Jesus who is the foundation of our hope.  It is Jesus who is the solid rock of our lives if we will but cling to him.  “In every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil.”  But most of all, our hope is in that fourth verse which goes like this, “When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found, clothed in his righteousness alone, redeemed to stand before the throne!”[1]  We have a sure hope in Jesus.  In the words of the fourth verse of another hymn, “My soul is waiting for the Lord as one who longs for morning; no watcher waits with greater hope than I for his returning.  I hope as Israel in the Lord; he sends redemption through his Word.  We praise him for his mercy.”[2]

            Do not be like those who have no hope, who with every twist or turn of life think it must be the end.  It is not the end, but only the beginning, and even ends have beginnings.  We live in a confused and muddled world, a time of great anxiety about all sorts of problems.  We live with war planes, terrorism, destruction of lives and property caused by humans or the natural universe in which we live.  Our hearts are tugged and pulled every which way when we hear the presidential debates.  We want a president who will advocate for us and our needs, being fair to all the citizens of the United States as much as possible.  We want a president who will seek justice for people both here and abroad.  The time is here again when there will be another change in the governing body of our national government.  It is up to us to vote our conscience among those candidates who are elected by their respective parties.  Yet despite all the upheavals, no matter what happens here in our world, remember and think about your overriding hope in Jesus.  Jesus is the one you belong to and Jesus will bring you the redemption you have waited for all your life.  God will not disappoint you. 

            “When you become confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves and the shaking of the heavens, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.  However, be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with the worries of this life.  Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”  Remember, your redemption is drawing near. 

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[1] “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” by Edward Mote (1787-1874), Hymn 293/4 Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978.

[2] “Out of the Depths I Cry to You” by Martin Luther (1483-1546), Hymn 295 Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978.

What seems Permanent may be an Illusion

25BPentecostProper28, Sullivan Park Care Center & St John the Evangelist Episcopal Cathedral, November 15, 2015 by Annette Fricke

            I’m at work now. The call light goes off and I rise from my chair to answer it.  It is a woman that I have known for years; from the time that I delivered dinner trays to her door due to a contagious malady when she lived in the independent apartments.  She asks me to look out the window and points with her finger to a tree outside, “Look at that tree!  It’s an oak tree and it’s dead.  It’s a shame; they should cut that thing down.”  I immediately recognize that she doesn’t remember; she said the same thing to me last year.  I know she will want an explanation, so I say to her, “Are you sure it isn’t just the change of seasons?”  There’s a pregnant pause and I can see that she is rolling over in her mind what I just said.  This is just an example of another daily dilemma for the job description of an aide. It isn’t a test; it just is. Although I’ve had considerable training and experience in counseling from both psychological and theological perspectives which ought to be sufficient, she remains a challenge for me as well as to others.  Those writers of books about counseling who would purport to know what to say with precise timing and wording are only speaking with authority out of their own sense of “the right thing to say” from their own perspective.  And since she taught Psychology, I can’t claim to be an expert. There are times when I really think it is better to simply do my best to listen to what the resident is trying to communicate. But I do know her well enough to know I need to respond with something, something that will ease her sense of anxiety about things she can no longer comprehend.  I know her well enough to know that she will demand a response. As time goes on, she will become a prototype for me, yet each resident will respond just a bit differently according to their personality and brain processing. I keep to the balance in my own mind of being both an authority and not an authority.  I am a child and an adult almost simultaneously as the case may be. Like all people living in this world, I too, am subject to all the changes and chances in life.  When I lived for a month and a half in Dubuque, IA I could tell when a big storm was coming, because my left knee had the tendency to give out when ascending the stairs just outside my classroom.  Then living in Minnesota after a tornado, I witnessed the aftermath of broken glass from one of the classroom windows.  One thing that is for certain, anxiety comes from within and without and is the result to our reactions to both personal problems and the effects of “natural disasters” and war. We can certainly resonate to both the Old Testament and gospel texts. 

In the Old Testament lesson, Hannah probably keenly observed that the seasons of the year continued to change as predicted and compared that to her own personal life.  On a regular basis, the trees produced leaves and flowers blossomed every year. She prayed for many years, but remained barren.  Her husband’s other wife had both sons and daughters; however, she was unable to produce even one offspring.  Even though her husband loved her deeply and showed that love, she was repeatedly shamed by others who had children.  Surely she felt very alone and ridiculed in the world, especially when even the priest accused her of being drunk.  Many in her situation would become filled with despair and hopelessness, but not Hannah.  Hannah was determined and persistent, correcting and demanding respect from Eli. A harsh exchange of words quickly turned into a mutual pronunciation of blessing.  Hannah is an indisputable, almost flawless model of faithfulness to God.  Just like the widow who put the two mites in the temple treasury of the Gospel lesson last week, Hannah does not waver in the face of having nothing; she goes forward with her life fearlessly and without regret, forgetting what is past and ready for the future.

            Both our Old Testament and Gospel lessons were written during times of turmoil.  For Hannah, it was personal turmoil.  For Mark, the destruction of Jerusalem was either about to happen or already did.  But to keep perspective, this is an example of apocalyptic literature.  The purpose of apocalyptic literature is not to foretell the future, but to encourage faithfulness and patience in the present time, especially in times of trial, adversity, and suffering.[1] There will be destruction of lands, houses, and peoples as there has been since the beginning of time.  It makes no difference if someone is out there predicting the end of the earth as we know it, as if someone’s prediction coming true validates God’s existence. It is more likely to point to the predictor than to God.  Those who predict the end of the world want people to take notice of them, not God. Martin Luther was asked what he’d do if he knew the world would come to an end tomorrow and he said he would plant an apple tree.  When the world ends does not matter because we are still called to live our lives, as Hannah, in faithfulness to God. We are to live into the future in spite of external eruptions and disruptions around us, despite persecutions by those who would try to destroy us.  None of these matter because they are only temporary, just as the Jerusalem temple of God for the Jews was temporary.  Our situations in this life will pass. 

            Note what one of Jesus’ disciples says, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’  The temple complex had more than one building and there are a couple of different Greek words to denote different parts of the complex.  The Greek word for temple here can refer to the temple itself or the larger complex. The other Greek word for temple is the inner sanctuary.  This is where God dwells according to Jewish tradition and this is the same word that Jesus uses when he talks about the temple to be re-built in three days.  It is also the word used to describe the curtain in the temple. Christians concluded that Jesus took the place of the temple as the presence of God.  God no longer is restricted to a designated physical place as was the case in Judaism for much of their history.  God is much bigger than that. No, the presence of God is in you and all around you.

            “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.”  “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.”  God has promised an end that is still in the future. “…let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds…encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  None of us know when that day will be, but learning how to relate to each other in the meantime is an on-going, daily task. Don’t follow the temptations of this world and its alluring invitations.  Seek from God and each other how to be a Christian in your world, in your space at this moment in your life, for God goes into these tasks with you.

           

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[1] Brian Stoffregen, “Gospel Notes for Next Sunday” for Mark 13:1-8