Sunday, August 31, 2014

Take Up Your Cross



                                                                Proper 17A 2014
                           Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 105;Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28
Father Adam Trambley
Aug 31, 2014 St.John’s Sharon

This summer has seen significant persecution of Christians in Iraq.  In Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, Christians have been given the option of converting, fleeing, paying a tax, or being killed.[1]  Most have fled.  This past June 15 was the first Sunday in at least 1600 years that mass was not celebrated in Mosul. [2]  Mar Louis Raphael Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad said that this is “perhaps the darkest and most difficult period in (the Church’s) recent history.”  Comparing the life of Iraqi Christians to that of the disciples in the midst of the raging storm while Jesus slept in the boat, he said, “Despite everything, we do not despair.  We are invited and pressed to awaken Christ, to take advantage of our faith and to continue in a calm sea.”[3]

Jesus said, “If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” 

Persecution of Christians is not limited to Syria and Iraq.  In many parts of the world, Christians, and especially Christian pastors, face persecution and death.   Sometimes, like in China, pastors are imprisoned on trumped up charges.  Sometimes, like in parts of Africa, military organizations, often with government ties, use all manner of terror against Christians and Christian villages.  Sometimes, as was the case with a Yemeni woman recently burned to death, family members or friends kill converts to Christianity out of a warped sense of honor and shame[4].   Sometimes, as is it the case in much of Palestine where Arab Christians are a double minority, the persecution includes strong economic elements, where non-Christians refuse to do business with Christians, forcing them to leave. 

In many places, persecuted Christians have made the difficult decision to flee their homes, go to jail, or even face death.  They have decided to take up their cross and follow Jesus, certain that if they lose their life for Jesus’ sake they will find it.  If they die with Christ, they will be raised with Christ. 

Now I want to make clear a couple of things that aren’t helpful as we talk about following our crucified Messiah.  The first is lying and exaggeration about persecution, usually to make a political point.  Some of you may have seen or heard about images flying around the internet and social media of beheaded children or children with guns to their heads.  These photos are at least a few years old, and are not from the current crisis in Iraq[5].   Obviously what is happening in Iraq is evil, and Christians and non-Christians are being terrorized and killed.  But false exaggerations do nothing to help those targeted, and are mostly used to manipulate those who seeing them.

Also not helpful are those who claim that Christians in the United States are facing religious persecution.  Certainly we live in an increasingly pluralistic society whose first amendment both guarantees religious liberty and protects us from any particular group of religious taking too many liberties with those who disagree with them.  We may or may not agree with any particular restrictions about where and how prayer happens in public or various implications of government health care or fiscal policy.  But we are free to gather with whoever we want, whenever we want to pray, to read our Bibles, and to engage all the disciplines and practices of our Christian faith.  Not having every political decision go our way is not the same as being persecuted, and we demean the witness of our martyrs past and present when we cry wolf. 

So if God has blessed us with life in a place where our lives are not in danger for being a Christian, what does it mean for us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus?  How do we lose our lives for Jesus’ sake to find them?

To begin with, we might think about those folks who catalog the unfortunate results of own choices, or the annoying traits of their family members, and, sighing audibly, put their hand to their forehead and gasp, “I guess that’s just my cross to bear.”  What Jesus is saying has nothing to do with that.  Having a martyr complex does not make someone a martyr. 

Part of taking up our cross means standing with our persecuted brothers and sisters by praying for them, learning about their situation, and providing whatever support we can.  Groups like Voice of the Martyrs at persecution.com is a good source of reliable information.
 
At the same time, losing our lives for Jesus’ sake means to live in such a way that we care more about advancing Jesus’ cause than our own agendas.  It means making the difficult little decisions day in and day out that choose love over callousness and apathy, that choose generosity over fear and greed, and that choose helping others over keeping score or demanding what is mine.  Losing our lives for Jesus’ sake means that we form habits that erode away the selfish parts of our own egos to let the mind of Christ shine through our lives.  It means that if we were accused of being a Christian, our everyday lives would show enough evidence to provide a clear conviction. 

We could look to any number of places in scripture or the great spiritual writings for help on the details of this life, but the portion of Paul’s letter to the Romans we heard today is as good a place as any to start.  I’ll just hit a few highlights and suggest that you take your bulletin home and re-read this passage during the week.  Look back on your day and see how you lived into Paul’s teaching.  Then intentionally decide on one or two things you can do the next day that would be better.  These are the little steps that lead us into the fullness of life in Christ.

Let love be genuine and a little later Paul writes love one another with mutual affection.  We’re supposed to have real relationships with people that start at the core of our heart and move out.  Sometimes that’s very hard, but I’ve actually seen examples in this church of people struggling with those in neighboring pews, who decided they wanted to love them instead of resenting them.  They prayed for them, and worked at intentionally being nice and talking to them, and now they are important, loving and supporting brothers and sisters in Christ. Do the work and don’t write anybody off. 

Hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.  We all have choices, and we should pay enough attention to figure out what is really good and go for it.  Just because something is in front of us doesn’t mean we have to pick it up, literally or figuratively.

Outdo one another in showing honor.  Can you imagine what our families or our churches or our communities would be like if we tried to outdo one another in showing honor? Instead of angling to get the honor or the stuff we want or think we are entitled to, we could look for ways to lift up those around us, and not just a little bit, but in an outdoing kind of way.  It might be like living in some sort of over-the-top British comedy about ultra-chivalrous knights, but who wouldn’t want to live in that kind of world.  Of course, if we act that way, we will be living in that world, and eventually those around us will be influenced, as well.  Hard to imagine a better antidote to divorce and family problems or to church conflicts than outdoing one another in showing honor.

Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spiritrejoice in hope, be patient in suffering.  These instructions all have to do with our inner attitudes and the tapes playing in our heads.  Keep focused on what is important, and tell ourselves about the power and life and the goodness of God.  Remember that Jesus suffered and he is with us in our suffering.  Work to encourage others.

Serve the Lord…persevere in prayer…contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.  These instructions aren’t complicated, even if they can be difficult at times.  As Nike once said, “Just do it.”

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Then later he continues Do not repay anyone evil for evil and Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty; give them something to drink…” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  Jesus said the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount.  When people are mean to us, we don’t get to be mean back.  Just because we are hurt doesn’t mean we get to hurt others.  Just because we could take advantage of people who by some measures may deserve it, we are instead supposed to go out of our way to help them when they are weak or hungry or thirsty.  They may feel like we are heaping hot coals on their heads, but that is the only vengeance we get to have.  Another way of thinking about this is that all our strength comes from love alone.  We are powerful because we are self-disciplined in loving others, and not because of force, violence, money, status or prestige.  If we are relating to people in any way except love, we have put down Jesus’ cross and picked up a spear to walk with the Roman soldiers.

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.  Part of loving people is listening to them and being with them where they are. 

I’ll close with these instructions from Paul about how to be people who can live together in community.  Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are….take thought of what is noble in the sight of all.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Baptismal Covenant Questions -- Part 2



                                                                Proper 14A 2014
                              Genesis 37; Psalm 105;Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33       
Father Adam Trambley
Aug 10, 2014 St.John’s Sharon
Baptismal Covenant Questions, Part 2

Today we are going to continue looking at our BaptismalCovenant.  When we are baptized, either we ourselves make, or others make on our behalf, a series of promises concerning the practical implications of our baptisms.  We also renew this Baptismal Covenant when we are present at baptisms, or when during worship services, like this morning, when we renew our Baptismal Covenant instead of reciting the Nicene Creed.  Over the past month we have looked at the creedal aspect of the Baptismal Covenant and the first question: Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?   Today we will explore the last four questions.

Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

This question, like all of the four questions we will look at today, has two parts.  The first part asks if we will persevere in resisting evil.  We are asked not only to resist evil, but to persevere in resisting evil.  Just resisting evil is not always easy, and the world around us often lulls us into a sense of complacency about what resistance is necessary.  The evil we are called to resist is usually not some guy with pointy horns and a red vinyl suit who magically appears in a puff of smoke and offers us some amazing deal if we sign his contract in blood and hand over our immortal soul.  Of course, if that does happen to you, don’t sign it!  But usually evil comes to us in other forms, and the hardest evils to recognize and resist often seem small and an ordinary part of life.

These pleasant and easy temptations may be hard to resist but they can be small steps down a deadly road.  Plus we have a society that tells us if it feels good do it, and actively markets a wide variety of behaviors that can easily become destructively addictive, whether they come from the bar, the kitchen, the internet, or the mall.  Or maybe we listen to the voice that says that we are entitled to sit on the couch and be entertained rather than attentively love those we live with, or rather than reach out to meet the needs of our community, or rather than care about what happens in the wider world.  Or maybe we actually have begun to believe that we have earned what we have and that God doesn’t really own everything and that we haven’t received what we have as a gift and blessing to be used for ourselves and those in need.  Or maybe we feel entitled to lash out at others in harmful ways just because we are hurt or upset about something, and we if are unhappy we have a right to ensure that everyone around us is as miserable as possible, as well.  And we’re not just to resist those evils, but to persevere in resisting.  Leaving church and feeling inspired to turn aside from temptation isn’t enough, but we are also committing ourselves to turn aside when we are tired, hungry, weak, and grumpy.  We are in this for the long term, and only persevering in resisting develops the habits and forms the character that makes us the people we were made to be.

Of course, the second half of the questions assumes we aren’t always successful in such perseverance because it asks if whenever we fall into sin, will we repent and return to the Lord.  We all fail.  We all fall short.  We all sin.  The question is what we do next.  Do we rationalize that our failing was OK?  Do we just say “we all make mistakes” and go blithely forward?  Do we hide it as best we can so that we at least look good on the outside?  Or, do we recognize that we have messed up, ask for forgiveness from God and from whoever else we need to ask, and seek the help necessary to make better decisions in the future?  God will forgive us, no matter what we have done, if we turn and seek him and seek his help to loving lives.

The next question is: Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

The Good News that we are meant to proclaim is that God created us and that he loves us.  In fact he loved us so much that when we sinned he sent his son who died and rose from the dead to reconcile us back to himself.  We are beloved children of God who have had our sins forgiven, have a new life in Jesus Christ, and are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to live lives of love and service to others. 

On one level, sharing that Good News by word is simple enough.  We can just tell people what God has done for us and what that means for us.  What it means to us that God loves us.  How God has touched our lives.  How we have felt God’s forgiveness and ability to start over in a new life.  How God has blessed us in whatever ways we experience that blessing.  Thinking about what we might say is helpful in preparation for when opportunities to share that good news arise.  We can also invite people to join us at church or at church functions so people can hear what we believe through our worship and parish life.

More important, though, is to proclaim by example the Good News of God in Christ.  Proclaiming by example means that we live like people who actually believe we are loved and forgiven, so that we love and forgive others.  It means caring for others, including in some of the ways we will talk about in a few minutes.  If we are continuing in the Apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayers, and resisting evil and repenting and returning to God when we fail, then we will experience so much of God’s love and grace in our lives that it will overflow out onto others.  Our lives will be living examples of God’s good news, and that will example will be compelling to others.

The next question is: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

Toward the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells his disciples the parable of the sheep and the goats.  The upshot of the story is that whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we really do for Jesus.  When we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, or visit those in prison, we are serving Jesus.  The sheep and the goats within the parable don’t recognize Jesus in the people around them, but we are expected to know better.  (That’s why Jesus told us the parable.)  We are called to look for Christ in everyone around us, and to love and serve them.  Some people talk about seeing Jesus in a disturbing disguise.  The way we treat others is the way we treat Jesus, whether we are looking for Christ in other people or not, so we are better off paying attention, seeking Christ in others and treating them the way we would want to treat God if he were here in front of us.

The second part of this question is another way of pledging the same basic care to others.  Drawing from the great commandment, we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Not a difficult concept – just treat others the way you would want to be treated, or maybe just a little bit better. 

Our final question also has two parts: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

The first part of this question reminds us that we have a Christian duty to our wider community.  Justice and peace are at the core of any society maintaining the least resemblance to the Kingdom of God that all of us are meant to live in.  Justice and peace go together, as well – one isn’t really possible without the other.  Part of our baptismal covenant is a commitment to do whatever is in our power to allow everyone to live in a just and peaceful society.  This pledge doesn’t necessitate a certain political, diplomatic or military program – reasonable people can disagree on how to accomplish these ends.  But it does mean that we have to care, and we have to be willing to work and sometimes sacrifice so that everyone can live in a community that lets them live a decent human life.  We aren’t allowed to write a situation off as “not our problem” because all people are God’s children and we are called to love them as ourselves.  Obviously we can help more effectively in some situations than in others, but no matter what the situation, we can at least pray and see where God might lead us.

The second part of this question asks us to respect the dignity of every human being.  We were all made in the image of God, and we have to respect that image in everyone.  On the one hand, this means that we recognize everyone is created equal.  As Paul writes, in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, no woman or man.  We get this – it doesn’t matter what color you are, whether you are male or female, how old you are, where you live, how pretty you are, how big your nose is, how much hair you have, or even what religion you are.  Every human person is worthy of our respect.

But respecting the dignity of every human being means more than just not falling into the “isms.”  It also means that we don’t decide people are less valuable or worthy than we are based on how we feel about them.  We do not respect people’s dignity when we determine that other people are trashy, stupid, slutty, ignorant, incompetent, morally reprobate, terrible parents, plagued by a horrible sense of fashion, bad drivers, or just incredibly annoying to us, and that therefore we have every right to judge them, spurn them, or dismiss them.  Every person we decide to look down on is someone for whom Jesus died.  Psalm 1 says that happy are they who have not sat in the seats of the scornful.  We may occasionally have reasons to evaluate someone’s behavior, although these times are much less frequent than we generally believe, but anytime we dismiss someone as less than the image of God, we are lying to ourselves, sinning against them, and rejecting their Creator who lovingly made them.

OK.  Just moments from now, we are going to renew our Baptismal Covenant, agreeing to live into these Christian practices, with God’s help.  As we answer these questions, think about places in your own life that need to be brought more in line with the life God is calling us to live.  Use the response “I will, with God’s help” to really pray for God’s help, so that our lives resemble more and more closely the life of the Kingdom of God.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Baptismal Covenant Questions Part 1



                                                                Proper 13A 2014
                                 Genesis 32; Psalm 17; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21          
Father Adam Trambley
Baptismal Covenant Questions, Part 1

For the past three weeks we have been looking at the basic elements of our faith as laid out in the Apostles’ Creed, which we use during our baptismal service.  Each week we have also been using the Baptismal Covenant, which includes the Apostles’ Creed, in place of the Nicene Creed we normally use for Eucharistic services.  As we renew our Baptismal Covenant each week, after the portions of the Creed, we answer five practical questions about how we plan to live out the faith we have just professed. 

These five specific questions were included for the first time in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.  Their roots, however, go back to the 1662 English Book of CommonPrayer.  After the affirmation of faith, the minister asked: Wilt thou then obediently keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of thy life?[1]  During the Prayer Book revision, some liturgical committee or other decided that it might be helpful to spell out what it meant to “obediently keep God’s holy will and commandments” and make “walk in the same all the days of thy life” more comprehensible to the modern ear.  What they came up with were the following questions, all of which are answered with “I will, with God’s help.”

·         Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
·         Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
·         Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
·         Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
·         Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

Today we’ll look at the first question, because it has four parts, and then explore the final four next week.

The first question is taken directly from scripture.  On Pentecost, Peter receives the Holy Spirit and begins to preach to the crowds.   He exhorted the crowds to “repent and be baptized…in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  Of those listening, three thousand welcomed his message and were baptized.  Once they were baptized, scripture says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”  Since these activities were what the first convents did on the “Birthday of the Church,” they seem like good ideas for all of us.

The first element is continuing in the apostles’ teaching.  This point probably looks different than it did two thousand years ago.  Those who came to Christ on Pentecost got together with the apostles and listened to whatever they had to say. The apostles were the people who had a personal relationship with the man Jesus before he died, who met with him after the resurrection, and received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  They knew what Jesus taught.  They experienced his miracles.  They felt his love even when he was tired and cranky and disappointed in them.  They saw him pray and pour himself out in compassion on crowds when all he wanted to do was to be left alone for a while.  They saw him go to the cross and forgive his murders.  If you wanted to know Jesus, and understand how he wanted you to live your life, the apostles were the ones that could tell you.

Now, of course, we have a slight problem here.  The last apostle who spent years walking the dusty roads of Galilee with him, John, son of Zebedee, died over nineteen hundred years ago.  We can’t just text the apostles a quick “What would Jesus do?” about whatever life questions currently befuddle us.  Providentially, however, God provided two other avenues for us to receive the apostles’ teaching.  The first is scripture and the second is the church.   Both are important, and both are handed down to us from the apostles. 

The New Testament was written either by the apostles, including Saint Paul who became an apostle through slightly different means, or by those who worked with the apostles.  We believe that the crucial teachings and activities of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection were recorded for us in scripture and are enough for us to enter into a saving relationship with him.  At the same time, the apostles set up the church as the community of faith that would carry on the traditions that Jesus had established and handed on to them, and that would develop those traditions as necessary for the good of the people of God.  Some of these important apostolic teachings are the Creeds, which are not found in scripture, but which are important to us.  The Sacraments are also important elements of faith that come to us through the church.   Even though the sacraments are found in Scripture, much of their practice has come down through the Church. 

To continue in the apostles’ teaching, then, means to read our Bibles regularly and learn what the church teaches us.  We to finding out what we need be the Christian men and women God calls us to be.

Then we commit to “fellowship.”  Fellowship means all of those things that help us create the bonds of love between one another.  Fellowship allows us to live as a real church family that can be as strong when necessary as a biological family.  We aren’t always aware how important a church family can be to people who are turning their lives around and starting over through Baptism.  Think about the depth of fellowship they need in order to start over.  Or think about people who need to know real Christian love in their lives, and have never really received that from their other family or friends.  Christian fellowship is meant to help all of us in any of those positions, as well as whatever our own difficulties are with feeling loved and accepted by God and one another. 

Continuing in fellowship means coffee hour and church dinners.  But fellowship also means sharing meals; it means hospital visits; it means offering each other’s children playmates and places that are safe and supervised to play; it means the daily phone calls to make sure people in failing health are OK; it means the casseroles delivered in stressful times; it means celebrating together or crying together, or both, during major life transitions; it means giving somebody else something to do that doesn’t involve what we would now call “at risk” behaviors but that they used to call “sinful”; it means being available by phone or text or whatever in the middle of the night when there is a crisis, or late in the evening when loneliness and isolation hits, or during the day just to touch base; it means inviting people from church to something that we might be doing anyway.  Continuing in fellowship means taking the time to love the brothers and sisters who are part of our church family in whatever ways we can, even when doing so is inconvenient or a struggle.  We need to continue in fellowship to allow ourselves to give and receive the depth of love Jesus wants us to be able to share, and others need us to continue in fellowship so they can experience that depth of love, as well. 

I’d just note here that St. John’s can live into this depth of fellowship.  When and where we have, we have usually incorporated new people and touched their lives.  When we haven’t given I that much attention, we usually have had the opposite experience.

In the next part of the question, we agree to continue in the breaking of bread.  This phrase refers to weekly participation in the Eucharist.  On the night before he died, Jesus broke bread with his disciples and told us to continue in memory of him.  So we do.  By coming to communion we receive the body and blood of Christ in a way that incorporates us and those around us more fully into Christ’s body,  forgives of ours sins, strengths us in our weakness, and provides a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.  We have talked more specifically about the Eucharist at other times, and I’m happy to answer any additional questions people have.  In the context of the baptismal covenant today, we are recognizing our commitment to continue in regularly being part of our Eucharistic weekly worship.

Then the last part of this question is continuing in the prayers.  Prayer is how we grow closer to God, how we let the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives to heal us and smooth out our rough edges, how we encounter Christ until we are slowly transformed in someone who looks and acts like Christ, and how we do the spiritual work of lifting up our brothers and sisters to God so that their spiritual and other needs are met.  Probably nothing is more foundational to our Christian life than our willingness to encounter God in prayer on a daily basis. 

Prayer can take many forms.  God knows that we are all different, and he provides different ways that we all can reach out to him.  Prayer can be meditating on scripture; it can be reciting memorized prayers that give our mind something to do while our heart reaches out to God; it can be the daily offices of morning and evening prayer or compline; it can be singing; it can be dancing; it can be centering prayer or contemplative prayer or just sitting in silence before God, maybe with an icon or a candle; it can be thanking God for every good thing that happened today or repenting of everything done wrong today; it can be picturing our loved ones surrounded by God’s golden light or telling God conversationally what we hope he will do for them; it can be done on our knees beside our beds or sitting in our favorite chair or standing up and walking around our neighborhood; it can be done by ourselves, or with our family, or with others, and ideally is done each of those ways; it can be done while waiting for a red light, but needs to be done more often than only when waiting in traffic. 

The kind of prayer isn’t so important.  What is essential is that we pray, and that we pray every day.  Ideally, we all probably need to pray at least a half hour each day, and more in times of crises or if we are in church or other leadership where there are people depending on us.  In those cases, we should be praying for all those people every day.  Prayer is the beginning of everything else important that happens in our spiritual lives, and in the rest of our lives.  As we are baptized into our Lord Jesus Christ, we need to spend time with him, and prayer is the primary way we do that.  If you have questions about prayer or types of prayer, please ask me and I’ll be happy to answer them.

Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?  I will, with God’s help.