The Holy Gospel: May 19, 2013 (Year C)

Read:  John 14:8-17, 25-27

Meditation:  “Preserving Christ’s Voice”

I once read that people who lose loved ones miss their voices most of all.  We have photos to remember what people look like, but pictures do not “talk” to us.  Thanks to Jeannie, we have some audio recordings of our parents, and occasionally we re-listen to them.  The preservation of sound, along with sight, enriches our memory of those we love.

The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was (among other things) a way of preserving the “voice” of Jesus (v. 26).  Because the third person of the Trinity is invisible, the Holy Spirit does not remind us what Jesus looked like, but what he “sounded” like–what he said and continues to say. [Maybe this partly explains why we have many images of Jesus, but only one Gospel]

Pentecost preserves Jesus “voice” as the Spirit brings to our remembrance what he taught, and still wills for his disciples to hear and enact.  When the Spirit speaks, we hear the voice of Christ.

And Your Daughters: More Recommendations

Carolyn Custiss James, Half the Church

Shawn Madigan, Mystics, Visionaries, and Prophets

Jan Richardson, In the Sanctuary of Women

Laura Swan, The Forgotten Desert Mothers

In-Sight: Where Is James When You Need Him?

Blogging has become a very personal exercise for me.  I find that often, I have to write about something that is more of a lack in me than a possession.  Today, is one of those times.

We would be in a much better place spiritually if we lived in tune with James’ message: “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and even slower to become indignant” (1:19, my translation).

Apart from our fallen-world tendency to be judgmental (or at least strongly opinionated), our instant-gratification society makes us reactionaries.  I don’t have time to put James’ two guidelines (good listening and less speaking) into practice, so I “tell you what I think” before I really understand what you think….before I really know what I think.  We all lose.

Wisdom only emerges from us when we give it space and time to emerge. Perspective comes when we hang around people and things long enough to see them from more than “our angle”–while hoping others cut us the same slack.

Most especially, this is the way God treats us, so why would we even want to do less in our relations with others? But alas, we do.

Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy!  Where is James when you need him?

In-Sight: A Two-Sided Coin

Pope Francis’ selection has revived various media-driven conversations along lines of “the church is out of touch” with whatever the particular speaker or writer wants to highlight.

Often, the comment points to a truth, for the Church is not now, nor has it ever been, absolutely correct about everything. 

But strangely missing in these observations is the other side of the coin: “I am out of touch with the Church.”  Our individualistic culture rarely allows that side of things to reach the table, preferring to leave it with “the Church is out of touch with me.”

From a spiritual formation standpoint, we should at least use moments of dissonance to raise questions in us–not just about the “other.”  The Church does not always get it right, but neither do we.  In the Church-culture debate, there are winners and losers on both sides.  The Spirit creates moments of dissonance as much for “us” as it does for “them.”

We will never escape the feeling that “the Church is out of touch with us,” but may we never forget that “we are out of touch with the Church.”  Perhaps at that intersection point we will find insight, not merely judgement.  At least we will find that either/or thinking rarely leads us closer to God.

And Your Daughters: Did You Know?

Did you know there is a translation of the New Testament produced by a woman?  For a long time I didn’t know there was.

But we have The Montgomery New Testament, originally called The New Testament in Modern English, originally published in 1924. It is still in print.

Helen Montgomery’s life is as fascinating as her translation.  When she was chosen to be President of The American (now, Northern) Baptist Convention in 1921, she was the first woman to head a major denomination.  Prior to that (1914), she was elected the first president of the Women’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Board.

She was known nationally and internationally for her work in advocating women’s rights, partnering with such leaders as Susan B. Anthony. Additional interesting information about her is easily available online.

Because she produced her translation almost one hundred years ago, it does not have the inclusive-language feature.  This was not an issue for women then in the way it is today.  Her only aim–perhaps drawn from her missionary interests–was to produce a version of the New Testament that would speak an accurate and persuasive word to those whose native (or acquired) language was English.

But I often like to see how Helen viewed a particular passage, sometimes finding that her choice of words opens the way to a fresh way of encountering scripture.

In-Sight: Sticking To Our Job

God has divided the work between Himself and us.  We are to proclaim, and God does the judging.  The one fits our capacities; the other fits God’s–both of which are variations of love.

We misrepresent the Gospel when we try to mix proclamation and judgment.  God knows that’s too much for us to handle, so Jesus came clearly saying, “Judge not.”  Why is this so important?

For one thing, we quickly turn judgment into judgmentalism.  Assessment deteriorates into arrogance (we are “right” and they are “wrong”), which leaves us focusing on the speck in the other person’s eye and missing the log in ours.

For another thing, mixing proclamation and judgment changes the tone from love (John 3:16) to condemnation. The fruit of the Spirit is violated, and we are never allowed to do that. Never.

Perhaps the greatest problem is that adding judgment to proclamation stops grace from having time to work.  “You are out,” spoken as the first word prevents God from having the last word.  Love gets lost in the confusion, leaving people to think God is mad at them–concluding they could never “measure up” to God if they don’t to Christians.

It is difficult to talk about making love the basis, because some hear that as “being soft on sin” or believing “nothing is forbidden”, or something like that. But that is not true, and it misses the point.

To make love our aim is to follow the way of Christ, who went where “religious” people would never go and befriended those whom “good” people walked on the other side of the road to avoid. The religious leaders scandalized Jesus for doing it, and still do today when we try to follow his example.

But in his words and actions Jesus gave us our job description: proclamation–go everywhere and preach the Gospel (good news) to everyone (Mark 16:15) using words when necessary (St Francis). Our task is to be the messengers; God deals with the responses to the Message.

We should stick to our job, and leave the rest to God.

The Holy Gospel: May 12, 2013 (Year C)

Read:  John 17:20-26

Meditation:  “Christ Prays For You”

I had not been a Christian very long before I was spiritually “knocked off my feet” when I realized I have been prayed for by Christ.

He prayed for me in the upper room (v. 20).  Somehow, in the mystery of his nature, he could see down the corridors of time, and when he did so, he saw me and prayed for me.  I was overwhelmed to realize this.  I still am.

He prayed for me from the cross (Luke 23:34), for I am among all those who didn’t realize (for a long time) that my sins were included in those that made it necessary for Christ to die on the Cross.

He prays for me at the right hand of God (Romans 8:34 & Hebrews 7:25).  As the ascended Christ, his ministry is now that of continual intercession.  Again, in ways we will never be able to put into words, Jesus prays for us—today, in this moment.

Today’s lesson calls me to ponder Christ’s prayers for me.  In relation to the text I can ask myself, “Am I believing as I should?”  Jesus prayed that I would.

“Am I living in the forgiveness of my sins?”–not only by asking to be forgiven, but by rejecting the power of sin in my life as I seek the power of grace to overcome it.

“Am I walking in the atmosphere of Christ’s ongoing intercession?”–that is, am I keeping my relationship with Christ up-to-date and paying attention to the ongoing promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Returning to my first days as a Christian, it was powerful to recall that before I ever prayed to God in Jesus Name, he had already prayed for me.  It still is.  And….it is a great comfort to know that, from the vantage point of heaven (the best vantage point of all), Jesus continues to pray for me as I pass through the days of my life.

Lord, hear our prayer:  “Thank You for praying for us!  Amen.”