Ascension Sunday "Watching Loved Ones Disappear"
Acts 1.1-11 Psalm 47Ephesians 1.15-23 Luke 24.49-53
Chapel of the Incarnation, Gainesville
The Rev’d N. Martin-Coffey+
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, Oh God our strength and redeemer.
Forty
days after Easter the Church commemorates the Ascension of Jesus, which
is recorded in Mark as well as Luke and Acts. We affirm the ascension
in both the Nicene and Creed: He ascended into heaven and sits on the
right hand of the Father.
What does the Ascension mean
exactly? That Jesus was good at levitation? That he could be beamed up
like in the new “Star Trek†film? That he was the first astronaut?
That Jesus went home to God floating through the clouds as Toto and
Dorothy went back to Kansas from Oz. Hardly. Simply put the Ascension
reveals that the Jesus of the dusty roads of Palestine, the wisdom
teacher who had nowhere to lay his head, and who suffered under Pontius
Pilate, is also the Jesus who is Lord of heaven and earth. Jesus is
not simply an historical figure in space-time but beyond it. Simply put
the Ascension reveals God’s glory to us, and it is a pledge of the
final glorification of all who believe in Jesus as the Christ.
Those are the theological basics of the Ascension but I think there are other lessons as well.
I
remember as a child having a picture Bible and looking at and getting
lost in the pictures during church, especially when it seemed boring.
The scene of the Ascension of Jesus from this earth is one that I
remember vividly, Jesus’ final departure--his white robes flowing,
ascending into high white clouds on that brilliant day. He faced
towards me and was looking down on the disciples. His hands and feet
were scarred from terrible suffering. I suspect the artist used
Luke-Acts for his inspiration since Luke says that the ascension was
forty days after his resurrection whereas the chronology of Mark has
the Ascension occur on the night following Easter Day. Anyway in that
Bible picture book, I remember Jesus hand was raised giving a
blessing—or was it a good bye? Was he saying so long, farewell?
In
reading this passage I found myself thinking about farewells. Goodness
knows we have lots of opportunities around here with people coming and
going out of Gainesville.
I know something of what it is like to
watch a loved one disappear from sight. I was with my father that
early morning several years ago at Brooks Rehabilitation Center in
Jacksonville when he died, holding his hand, talking with him and
assuring him of my love as he went from one side to another. Even
recently on Mother’s Day I learned something of what it is like to
watch a loved one disappear from sight, a story some of you know.
Michael and I had gone to an Episcopal Church on Ft. George Island and
then stopped off to see a dear friend of his that had been the best man
at our wedding. John was his best high school friend and we kept in
touch with him. We had a great visit with this 58-year-old man in his
home for an hour. An hour after we left he was on the kitchen floor,
death from either a heart attack or aneurism. Watching loved ones
disappear from sight has taught me not to be shy about expressing my
deep feelings of love.
In Christ’s ascension, we know that
the voice of Christ, the touch of Christ, and the presence of Christ
have not disappeared with Jesus’ disappearance into the cloud. They
go on in the church through the word and sacraments, and from there the
voice of Christ, the touch of Christ, and the presence of Christ go out
into the world in the daily living of every baptized child of God. Amen.
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6th Sunday of Easter "Abiding in Christ's Love in Galveston"
Acts 10.44-48 Psalm 98 1 John 5.1-6 John 15.9-17
Chapel of the Incarnation, Gainesville
The Rev’d Dr. N. Martin-Coffey+
In the name of the one who made us for love, who saved us by love and who loves us still
In
our gospel for today we are reminded of God’s love for each of us and
how in turn we are to return that love of Christ in loving one
another. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I
have loved you.†(15.12) That is just I experienced on our recent
mission trip to Galveston, Texas to help with relief and recovery work
following the devastations of Hurricane Ike in September of 2008--the
third most destructive and costly hurricane to hit the US (second to
Andrew and Katrina).
Nearly a week ago a group of 23
Episcogators and Episconoles completed a one-week mission trip to
Galveston. I suspect many of you have heard us planning for the trip,
seeking your prayers. Maybe you have seen some of the photographs on
facebook or on our website. Some of you were along.
We
selected a verse to put on our t-shirts from Ephesians (4.16): “In
Christ’s body, we’re all connected to each other…†That
scripture seems especially apt this sixth Sunday in Easter—with
Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, we are his body as the
church. We are his hands, his heart, his feet, and his love. As we
worked we did feel the necessity of being connectedness, as we worked
together, especially when one person held the ladder for another as she
climbed up high to paint the eves on a house. We felt this
connectedness when one person held a board while the other used the
circular saw to cut boards for the deck they were building. We
realized our connectedness to one another as two people held up a sheet
of drywall while others nailed it up.
Our pattern was to wake
up early, have breakfast and then make lunch, which we took to the work
site. We finished around five, had something to eat, and then relaxed
in a variety of ways—walked and prayed the outdoor labyrinth, played
games, read, watched TV, ending the day with prayers. Every night as a
community we had a prayer service called Compline, the last service of
the day, when the day was completed with prayers. Each student took a
turn being on the worship planning team, and Gators and Seminoles
serving together side by side the entire week.
At our closing
Eucharist all were invited to reflect on what the trip had meant, or
what way we encountered Christ, or what learning would we would take
away. (1) One person brought up scripture and spoke of how we treated
the four houses on which we worked as our own, with care, regard, and
tenderness—not as hired hands. Another spoke of (2) the joy of
serving others, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as
I have loved you.†Another spoke of (3) how taken he was that our
group thought outside the box when deciding where ministry was. For in
addition to the four houses on which our team worked, several
ministered to a 101-year-old woman who lived next door to where we were
working. This elderly woman needed to retell her experience of
Hurricane Ike, needed her lawn mowed, needed some garbage picked up,
which we were only to glad to do. “This is my commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you.â€
I personally felt
this love being manifest in our little community there at the William
Temple Center of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, the campus ministry of
the UTMB—University of Texas Medical Branch. In some ways it was not
easy, sleeping in bunk houses—one for men and one for women. It was
not easy taking showers in a hot outdoor metal portable shower unit. It
was not easy dealing with the heat, bugs, and mugginess. Or the roaches
for that matter. But through it all, I felt the love of God in Christ
being manifest in our community—in the patience and charity
constantly manifest, in the spirit of cooperation, in one person
stepping aside and letting another have their preference of hard jobs.
I remember the site supervisor asking if we would rather load the truck
in the hot sun or do the tedious job of scraping paint off floors, and
the response was, “Whatever you most need us to do.â€
This
night I encourage us all to remember Jesus’ command to abide in his
love—to love one another as He has loved us. And may we too do
whatever our Lord most needs us to do. Amen.
4th Sunday after the Epiphany “The Lookâ€
Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Psalm 111 1 Corinthians 8: 1-13 Mark 1:21-28
Joy Willard-Williford, Theological Sunday
I
didn’t see it myself, but I believe it happened. I heard about it
from a TV commentator, so it must be true, TV commentators being such
dependable authorities and all. Anyway, she was telling a story about
Malia and Sasha Obama misbehaving during the inauguration parade. Like
I said, I didn’t see it myself, but the TV commentator insisted that
they did – misbehave, I mean, just a little bit. Michelle Obama
observed the goings-on. Now she didn’t hit the girls – boy, would
that have made a story! - nor did she verbally admonish them in front
of billions of TV watchers. Instead, our brand new First Lady shot
them… The Look. Well, any girlish nonsense vanished right then and
there. That’s all it took. The Look. Those Obama girls got right with
their mama on the spot.
You know The Look. Maybe you’ve given
it yourself. Maybe you’ve been on the receiving end of The Look. The
Look commands authority. It shouts I’ve lived more, so I know
more…I know better than you. I know better for you. In a good way of
course. Often times The Look is meant to save you from harm, such as
The Look given by the protective father of a teenage daughter to the
nervous young man with the pink corsage at the front door. We sit up
and fly right at The Look. We listen. We learn. We pay attention to The
Look-giver. We obey The Look-giver. We respect The Look and honor
Look-giver. We respect The Look and honor the Look-giver when The
Look-giver is also a Love-giver.
Mark’s gospel today
recounts a story of Jesus giving The Look to an unclean spirit. This
unclean spirit inhabited some poor fellow attending the synagogue where
Jesus was teaching. This spirit has a sassy side. “What have you to
do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you messin’ with us? Have you come
to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.†Well, that
did it. Out comes The Look – or its equivalent - from Jesus. He tells
the unclean spirit to… well, he tells him to shut up, and then Jesus
commands the unclean spirit to come out of the man. It was a Jesus
smack down. Mark tells us that folks were amazed!
But Jesus
didn’t have to give The Look. Why, Jesus didn’t even have to do an
exorcism to get folks to pay attention! There was just something about
him that was different. He’s a home-boy visiting a local synagogue in
Capernaum, kind of like a guest preacher in his home diocese. Folks
were probably not expecting much from the traveling rabbi, but Mark
reports that “they were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them
as one having authority, and not as the scribes.†Amazed and
astounded! If there were a word in Greek for “flabbergasted,†I’m
sure Mark would have used it. The response from the congregation in the
synagogue that day was as preacher’s dream! Folks left that place and
began telling other folks about this fellow who teaches with
authority. “At once his fame began to spread throughout the
surrounding region of Galilee.†And this was before Facebook, mind
you.
Jesus was just plain different. In a very good way. Jesus
was revealing himself as “one with authority.†That is, the
authority that can only come from God. In a synagogue in a village
along the edge of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus is using his authority to
do a new and very big thing that will have global, historical, even
eternal consequences. When he commands the unclean spirit to be silent
and come out of the man, he is, essentially, declaring victory over
evil. He is declaring God’s victory over evil in that little place
for all people and for all time. He is initiating the reign of God.
Everyone pays attention, but as we read later in Mark, not everyone
gets it. But the unclean spirit does. The unclean spirit - you can read
that impure spirit - recognizes that he is dealing with his antithesis,
the Pure Spirit, the Holy One of God. By calling Jesus by that title,
the unclean spirit knows he’s licked. Sadly, it took Jesus’ death
and resurrection for most folks to synthesize and appreciate and
acknowledge what all they had seen and heard that day. You cannot fault
them too much. How many of us don’t believe the facts of a matter
even when they are right in front of us? We are frail, broken human
beings. In declaring victory over evil in such an authoritative and
commanding way, Jesus is heralding that he is the Holy One of God. As
Jesus’ story continues to unfold, readers of Mark will soon realize
that Jesus’ power and authority not only come from God, but they will
be used to accomplish great things, to restore us to wholeness and
health and to give us hope of restoration to the Creator God who made
us. God, after all, is the ultimate Love-giver.
The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the Psalmist said in our reading
today. Responding to The Look from God the Love-giver, is the beginning
of wisdom. The Look calls for obedience, for respectful listening and
for a faithful response. I received not The Look, but The Glance from
God early in my life. A series of God-glances led me to several
service-oriented careers, in nursing, with Hospice, with Habitat for
Humanity, and with local government. The Look came unexpectedly in
mid-life for me. I was struggling with a career fork in the road,
wondering which path I should take. A dear friend stated it bluntly:
“Joy, you won’t ever be happy until you become a priest.†This
was totally out of the blue. I had never discussed a call to priesthood
with anyone, friend or family. I had gotten a God-glance or two about
it on occasion, but had always dismissed it immediately. It wasn’t
practical. There were too many obstacles. Through my friend, though, I
believe that God gave me The Look. This time I paid attention. This
time I listened. This time I obeyed. A period of discernment ensued
which led me, ultimately, to the 13,000 heavily forested acres atop
God’s holy mountain, known as Sewanee, Tennessee and the School of
Theology there.
Now, the Sewanee Tigers are no Florida Gators,
although we must give credit where credit is due. In 1899 their
football team did travel 2,500 miles in six days to shut out Ole Miss,
LSU, Texas, Texas A & M, and Tulane. Not quite a national
championship, but it is a record unbroken to this day. One hundred ten
years later, however, the School of Theology at Sewanee is a special
place, a holy place where a community of faith – folks who paid
attention and responded in faithful obedience to The Look – worship
together, play together, study together, discern together, and learn
together. We are a diverse bunch. We are men and women from age 23 to
65. We are married; we are single. We are black; we are white. We are
American. We are Tanzanian and Sudanese. We are Episcopalian with a
Methodist or two to mix it up a bit. Our women are strong; our men are
good-looking, and our children are way above average to borrow a
phrase. We are Gators. But we are also Razorbacks and Bulldogs and
Tigers and Volunteers. I have not spotted any ‘Noles, but if they are
getting The Look from God, then they are welcome too.
God may be
giving you The Look, in God’s only begotten Love-giving way. Pay
attention. Listen. Obey. Faithfully responding to The Look, whatever
The Look is telling you to do – whether that be lay or ordained
service - will be Life-giving.
2B Christmas "The Incarnation and Vulnerability"
Jeremiah 31.7-14Psalm 84 Ephesians 1.3-6, 15-19a John 1.1-18
Chapel of the Incarnation, Gainesville
The Rev’d N.Martin-Coffey
In the name of the One who made us for love, who saved us by love, and who loves us still..
It
feels good to be back in Gainesville, and I hope that you all had the
sort of break you wanted and needed to have---full of rest, catching up
on your sleep, family time, reflective time, reading, praying, visiting
with friends. I am glad that we have at least one Sunday in the season
of Christmastide to be together, especially given that our Chapel is
named after this season-incarnation. Many Episcopal churches have a
patron or matron day—a paternal or maternal feast day, where they
focus on the life and faith in Christ of that saint, whether that be
St. Joseph, St. Bartholomew, St. Barnabus, St. Mary Magdalene, St.
Mary, St. Agnes. But we are a belief--a basic theological concept and
understanding) of our faith--the incarnation. Incarnation comes from
incarnatio, take on flesh, and names that God took on human flesh (not
merely a divine influence) in Jesus of Nazareth. The first chapter of
John that we just heard is clear articulation of this fundamental
affirmation in Christianity—“and the word became flesh and dwelt
among us.†I would name other dogma of Christianity as the
resurrection (Christ coming to life after his bodily death),
Christ’s nature as fully human and fully, genuinely divine, and the
trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) plus the Virgin Birth of Jesus
from Mary, theotokos, mother of God.
Tonight I wanted to focus
on the incarnation, and to mind comes a story when I was trying to
explain this to a group of little people in children’s chapel. I
asked them to close their eyes and shared the birth story, the
so-called Nativity of our Lord. I asked them to think about them being
there, and where they would be standing. Then I asked them to open
their eyes and I asked them to tell me what they saw in the manger
scene. “Animals.†“Shepherds.†“A baby.†“That’s
right,†I said. I wanted to emphasize the fact that the manger was in
fact a feed box for animals and not a very special place—it was used
to feed the animals. One little hand shot up into the air, and without
waiting shouted, “That’s not Jesus—that’s just a baby!†I
explained that Jesus was like us—he was born, he spent time as a
baby, as a child, and even as a teenager before becoming a man.
Although
the child understood I think there was a part of this little boy that
didn’t grasp that Jesus was a real baby. It is sometimes hard, even
shocking for us, to behold the king of the universe unable to turn over
on his back without assistance, utterly dependent upon the kindness of
others. In a way, the fact that God choose to reveal God’s own image
in a baby is troubling—it is so vulnerable. It is so open to being
wounded. The Bible’s image of the child in swaddling clothes and
lying in a manger pushes us to think in ways that are not natural.
In
coming in the flesh as a newborn, God is opening God’s self to being
wounded. It is God’s vulnerability that is so profound during the
Christmas and Epiphany season (which we will start next week). But it
is also vulnerability that shapes the seasons of Lent and Easter.
In
short, being vulnerable is at the core of being Christian. We tend to
spend so much time trying to protect ourselves, defending ourselves.
These last days of Christmas let us contemplate what it means to be
vulnerable before God and each other. If we are to build a community of
faith at the Chapel that is truly in the image of Christ, perhaps we
should be letting go more than taking control. Faith, it seems to me,
is not about greater security, but greater vulnerability. To be called
into relationship with God and each other is to risk pain. It is risky
to be open to one another in the way it was risky for God to open to us
in Christ’s birth.
Let us find comfort in God’s presence
with us and then willingly make ourselves vulnerable by stepping into
life’s challenges, risking our beloved security, and so become a
vulnerable servant of the vulnerable servant—Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thanksgiving Saturday --Episconoles and Episcogators Gather
Deuteronomy 8:7-18 2 Corinthians 9.6-15 Luke 17.11-19
Chapel of the Resurrection, Tallahassee
The Reverend Dr. N. Martin-Coffey
In the name of the One who made us for love, who saved us by love, and who loves us still...
It
is good to be back in Tallahassee. I came here recently for the
installation of Father Abshire at St. John’s Episcopal Church as new
rector but before that it had been a good number of years. As a UF
student many years ago, I came to Tallahassee to visit a FSU friend and
stay with her at the Delta-Delta-Delta house, check out the party
scene, and meet some of those handsome and clever FSU men that I had
heard about. College was a time of agnosticism. I had been a faithful
Southern Baptist church girl from when I was 6 to 18, going nearly
every Sunday. In college I sought out places that were more comfortable
with the head than the heart. And I found the academic college culture
to be very acceptable as a place for responsible and rigorous
intellectual discourse and stimulation that I so longed for. Maybe
though I was just looking for love in all the wrong places, as Waylon
Jennings used to sing. Looking for the love of Jesus in all the wrong
places.
So I have huge respect you all for making church a part of your college experience. I thank God that
•
that you are seeking places to talk about faith, spirituality, and
service and commitment to social justice. I give thanks that you
•
all engage the inner life, that you embrace the inner life, honoring
inner questions and paying attention to those nudges from God. I give
thanks for you all and your
• persistence, wisdom, for a listening in deeper ways to the call on your lives.
I give thanks that you all are trying to
• make your lives more connected, integrative, and spiritual.
Giving
thanks is what we have been about this week. Our gospel, which was so
splendidly acted out is about the ten men who had leprosy who were
healed. Only one turns back after seeing that he was healed,
glorifying God with a loud voice. He recognized that God has acted
through Jesus, and he offers praise to God. Untainted gratitude and
pure praise of God for God’s saving mercy. Gratitude and praise of
God.
Praying with gratitude for God’s being and praying for a
resignation to God’s will are an ancient way of praying. As early as
the 2nd century with Clement of Alexandria and Origin, we hear about
people who prayed in thanksgiving for God’s graces and mercies and
with openness to God’s will.
I think being a thankful person
is vital, foundation, for Christians. An attitude of gratitude rather
than entitlement is an important aspect of discernment too, of finding
one’s way in accordance with God’s will. Other aspects of
discernment that I would name are:
+ empty or Sabbath space
+ doing what one can to maintain an interior attitude of peace
+ movement from an attitude of entitlement to gratitude
+ care of one's health--sleep, exercise, healthy eating patterns
+play--deliberate choice to include activities, which are enjoyable
+commitment to personal prayer
Even
though Thanksgiving weekend ends tonight and a new church year begins
tomorrow, let us boldly and faithfully carry on in a spirit of
thanksgiving.
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15th Sunday after Pentecost Welcome Back Sunday and Blessing of the Backpacks Exodus 1:8-2:10 Psalm 124 Romans 12.1-8
Matthew 16.13-20
Chapel of the Incarnation, Gainesville The Rev’d Dr. N. Martin-Coffey
In the name of the One who made us for love, who saved us by love, and who loves us still.
How
wonderful and exciting to begin another academic year here with you! I
hope that your summertime was what you needed it to be—whether that
was taking or teaching classes or doing research here in Gainesville,
getting ready to come to UF, working at a camp in Texas or here in
Florida or somewhere else, learning about your trade in Alexandria,
studying for and taking the GRE, I hope it was a good and holy summer.
I enjoyed the summer here in Gainesville. How good it was to not be
doing apartment renovation work as I occupied much of my time last
summer, but instead be engaged in keeping things moving along here,
planning for the fall, and having time to get to know some of you a bit
better and search for new folks God might be sending us. I did take a
couple of weeks out of Gainesville for a fourteen state train trip
including some time in Boulder where my family and I lived for some
thirty years. I saw some dear church friends from the last parish I
served. Repeatedly people asked me what it was like to serve on a
college campus, at the number #1 party school! In response to their
probings, I talked about how fulfilling it was to be a part of a
community in which people desired to grow not only their minds but
their souls too. How fulfilling to journey with people seeking beauty
and to be more caring and loving people. How rich to journey with
people struggling authentically with spiritual and ethical issues.
Before
Tropical Storm Faye came through town on Friday and UF closed down on
Friday, I was scheduled to be a part of a UF freshman orientation
called “Navigating the Swamp†to talk about the importance of
integrating spirituality into their lives. “Searching for the
Spiritual†was the name of the presentation. So I have been
thinking about the value, the importance of finding a spiritual home
while at college and graduate school. Perhaps I am emphatic about this
because when I was UF undergraduate, I shied away from the church. I
had been a very active and eager churchgoer from ages 6 to 18, but in
my early college I rejected the church of my youth—it seemed
hypocritical to me. There was a discrepancy between what the talk and
the walk, and so during college my spirituality was more agnostic.
Spirituality
is a term thrown about a lot. Years ago, I heard a definition of
spirituality as ‘where you hang your hat†and this speaks of home
because home is where one hangs one’s hat. Home is the place one
comes to re-group, rests, catches one’s breath before going back into
the world. In a certain sense, this understanding rings true but
spirituality is much more than that. The root word from which the word
‘spirituality’ comes is the Latin noun spiritus, which means
‘spirit.’ Our Christian spirituality has to do with Christ’s
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit--terms we use interchangeably.
Christian spirituality has to do with the way one lives one’s
beliefs-- how we live in Christ.
This summer there was an
article in the Alligator, and in fact is posted on the bulletin board
in the office, that reported on a long-term study involving 12,000
students. It found that religious students are more likely to finish
college and have higher academic achievement. I suspect that being
strengthened to finish college and achieve more academically is not
exactly what is behind your showing up here tonight.
On this Welcome Back Sunday I invite you to think about why you are here tonight. For some, it may be
∑ that a friend, or your roommate, or your Godmother drug you here!
∑
a hunger for God, wanting to journey with the very question that Jesus
asked his disciples and asks us tonight—“Who do you say that I
am?â€
∑ a desire to move into the deeper dimensions in trying to figure out who you are and what you are to do with you life
∑
that you are seeking a safe place where you can talk about what you
believe or what you don’t believe. Maybe you have more questions or
doubts than you do answers—know that you are welcome in the Episcopal
Church.
∑ seeking a community that will journey with you in
sadness and joy, a group of people searching and questioning and
doubting and finding more questions about that presence together.
∑
desire to serve Christ in the world, helping those less
fortunate-knowing that in serving others they can become your teachers.
∑ Hopeful to find friends or maybe even a life partner.
There are indeed lots of reasons people come to church.
This
night I pray that this year you will be intentional in your searching
for the spiritual and intentionally about finding and dwelling in
places that feed your soul.
This night I pray that you will
have the courage to make spirituality and religion a part of your
conversations here in Gainesville.
I pray that you will take at least one class that feeds your soul, and that
I pray you will come back and consider making this your spiritual home. Amen.
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Soil of Our Soul
Holy Eucharist 10 A
Genesis 25:19-34 Romans 8.1-11 Matthew 13.1-9 18-23
Chapel of the Incarnation, Gainesville
The Reverend Dr. N. Martin-Coffey
In the name of the One who made us for love, saved us by loves, and who loves us still.
One
of the things I have really enjoyed about being back in the good-ole'
South is gardening. I enjoy purchasing plants from places, like from
the Gainesville Farmer's Market and the stand next to the museum in
Micanopy even Lowe's. The growing season is so much longer here, no
snow to content with, and in general there is such good, rich soil here
in Gainesville, especially when compared to the sandy soil at the beach
or the rocky, stony, hard-packed soil of Colorado. I know I sometimes
bore some of you by dragging you to see the growth of the jasmine,
wisteria, and olive tree--all things we put in on Earth Day. I like
checking on Lincoln's herb garden as well as the tops of carrots and
potato eyes that were planted in our study garden. I see parallels in
the growth in the garden to our growth around here at the Chapel of the
Incarnation.
Watching things take root and grow has helped
remind me of the spiritual growth into which we are all invited.
Thoughts about soil and our Gospel passage about the Extravagant Sower
set me to wondering what is the most suitable place for us to be open
to growth in Christ Jesus-- the best spiritual soil for us to grow?
Where are we to ground ourselves--putting down roots to be fully alive
so that we can grow strong and healthy?
In our gospel reading
from Matthew, Jesus uses a parable that speaks of finding a place into
which we can settle and grow. God is the sower. The seeds are God's
revelation ---Jesus Christ and his word and ways of mercy,
transformation, hope, reconciliation, justice, forgiveness.
In
the parable there are four places where the seed falls: on the footpath
that is hard packed, in rocky, places where there is not much dirt and
full of rocks and stones, on land contaminated with thorns, and in good
earth. Someone in our Thursday night Bible study, which happens every
Thursday from six to seven (and this is an advertisement for our study
group!), noted that for her these are different seasons in her life.
The different soils can also represent the different human receptions -
ways and places that we can be open to and responsive to God's word and
presence. And so I ask you to reflect with me on your soul's soil.
When
I was a UF college student myself, a book by Ayn Ran called the
Fountainhead was very influential on me. The main character of the book
was Howard Roark--a brilliant and independent-minded architect. He was
my model of where to orient - to fix myself and that was on the
self--on the packed down path of narcissism, a self-serving,
self-beholding sort of life. The seeds of Christ could not penetrate my
packed down self-centered soil.
Then there was a time in my own
family life -when we a three year old and a newborn, and it was so very
difficult to get everyone clothed and fed and diapered all at the same
time to go to church. My husband and I actually tried to have our own
little church on Sunday mornings downstairs in the basement. It wasn't
very long before we realized how lacking was this soil. We couldn't put
down deep roots in Christ without community. Christianity is to be
lived in community--with other Christians. We were to be a part of the
community of the faithful- a congregation of faith and love and hope
congregation of the faithful, the body of Christ, in the fellowship of
the Spirit. We so need the soil of Christian community
.
During
my graduate school days I tried to put down roots in some pretty
unhealthy places. This was the 70s after all, when encounter groups,
sensitivity groups and altered states of consciousness were the rage.
Ultimately, instead of making me more alive, I was confused and
strangled in this environment. There were plenty of thorns around, let
me tell you. But I suspect you all know some of those thorns that draw
you away from things of God, holy things and ways.
This evening I encourage you to think about what kind of soil are you providing your soul?
Is
it so hard packed with such busyness and not finding time to linger in
the mysteries of our Lord that the seed of Jesus can no penetrate your
soul?
Do rocks and stones of old fears, resentments, lingering
guilt, self-righteousness, or being resistant to new life get in the
way?
What are the thorns choking God's activities out of your
life? Over exposure to some of the distractions of this world? Are you
making something else or someone else in your life a God? Is laziness
the weed that is choking out the emerging seedlings in your soul?
There
is the good soil which yields thirty fold, sixty fold, a hundredfold...
That is where we want to be - in the good soil - grounding ourselves in
God... - the one, true, and living God.
For God is interested in producing life -- abundant life, extravagant life, my cup runneth over life kind of life.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, what will it be? Let us choose this day the soil of our souls. Amen.