Looking to the universal reign of Jesus

Two images of Jesus help us think about what it means to call him Christ the King.
They are at different ends of the spectrum.
The first is the king born in the stable at Bethlehem,
and the second is the king enthroned on the throne of Calvary.
The stable and the cross.

Readings for Sunday 24th November 2013 Proper 29-The Feast of Christ the King 

(Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Luke 1:68-79) or Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Psalm 46 Colossians 1:11-20 Luke 23:33-43

To be a king in the tradition of Jesus

is to embrace a fundamental contradiction

That we bring nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of the world.

That true wealth and power

is born out of poverty and humility,

that in order to live as a king

you must first learn how to die.

It is a deep mystery,

It is the mystery of what it means to be a Christian.

Because both stories are rich and profound in content, meaning and symbolism

I won't attempt to cover all bases

but perhaps suggest one idea

and then a couple of thoughts

about how we might understand this.

The idea

The idea is that we should allow the stable and the cross

to speak for themselves.

When you look into the stable

and there see the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus

what does that cause you to see about your life

about the state of the world

and about what God is calling us to do.

Where do you stand as you witness the event of

The Word becoming flesh?

Are you detached, are you an observer,

or are you a participant?

Are you shepherd, wise man, Jospeh or inn keeper?

What is God speaking to you

as you witness the birth of the eternal Word?

As we do the same thing at the foot of the Cross

what is the king saying to us from his throne?

Does he speak to me as to his mother, am I a soldier ignoring the demands of justice and cooperating in the torture of an innocent man?

Am I the thief who is speaking to Jesus?

How does the king, whether in stable or on the Cross, speak to your life?

Because that is what is important.

It is not just what these very key ideas and stories are meant to say

It is how they speak to your life, to your hopes, desires and dreams

how the mother of Jesus holds your brokenness in her arms,

or how the love of God enfolds you and nurtures you at the breast?

A couple of thoughts

So, for me, I see the invitation to look beyond the values of the world

and recognise that being born a king is not about the trappings

it is about the transformation and change that the good king will bring to the world

and his subjects

it is not about economic growth

but about quality of life

that the king strives to bring about for his subjects.

Is this how we live our lives?

Is this how our new kings will exercise their government?

But let's not just blame them

because is this, also, how we will live our lives?

If the stable reveals such depth

how much more the mystery of the Cross

which says that it is in dying we are born again.

Where do I need to die to self, to embrace the suffering,

to see that kingship is not about fame and fortune

but about character, leadership and sacrifice.

They are the same story.

Contradictory in a way.

But both invite us to see beyond the outward guise of kingship

and embrace the challenge

of humility, service, and sacrifice.

Where does this speak to your life today?

Aeterni Christi Munera

The eternal gift of Christ our king

invites me to tie my child's sandal

and to encourage her

to leap small buildings

The eternal gift of Christ our king

invites me to dare to love

badly

but to dare to do it any way

The eternal gift of Christ our king

invites me to step into the traffic

with a body of one my friends

following in a hearse

The eternal gift of Christ our king

invites me to accept myself with love

not with indulgence

but with love, and perhaps a little care

Such is the eternal gift of Christ

who doesn't seem to think of himself

as a king

written by Stephen Clark , November 2006

The Tidy Priest-The busy Bible

Peter Samwell Roper-A tidy Priest

The homily preached at the funeral of Peter Roper, husband, father  retired priest and faithful parishioner

I am two years older than Peter.

You may think I look remarkably well preserved! (he is 87 and I ….well let's say "I'm not!)

In the way that all professions play their games

we clergy measure our age 

not from our birthdate

but from the date of our ordination

and I was ordained two years before Peter

so I am 33 and Peter was 31.

Both trained at the same theological college 

and ordained by the same Bishop. ( who was happily sitting in the congregation)

Peter followed me as an assistant St Mary’s Church, 

and then had solid  ministries as a parish priest at Bordertown and Port Elliot.

He was what one of my friends (who is much older than both of us!) would call a ‘tidy priest’

This is for Peter and I 

quite an accolade

(I am anything but tidy!)

It means...he knew what he had to do

and went about and did it thoroughly and well.

(Peter was also, I think, a “tidy man”)

This has its strengths and its weaknesses.

One of my abiding memories is how sometimes 

when I was not a parish priest

my family and I would go to St Jude’s Church 

at Port Elliott

for the lovely Easter Vigil

There would be candles, beautiful flowers 
Peter would preach a good sermon

and celebrate the Eucharist.

He would always be glad to see my family

and so Easter would begin.

I was delighted when he & Joan retired back home to become  parishioners

in this their home parish.

In a parish (any parish) where sometimes things are really difficult

it is good to have wise counsel (even though he was two years younger!)

He never let my UNtidiness (some would say...bizarreness)

stop him from being supportive. 

if ever he disagreed he would speak quietly and attentively

I always felt supported.

Most of you don’t know what it means to be a priest

(though there are quite a few gathered here

which is a tribute to Peter's character, life and ministry

and a witness to us, and particularly his fine sons 
about the importance and value of his life as a priest)

The call to be the Good Shepherd

was important to Peter....in his family, as a husband, as a priest. (which is why we read it today)

He didn’t always get it right

sometimes was bit too conservative,

and maybe a bit dogmatic.

Infusing his life was the desire to be a Shepherd like Jesus.

Caring for those committed to his care

Peter’s ‘tidiness’ meant he did this in a certain conventional way.

I quite like that (but I am not like that)

I like his tidiness, thoroughness,.

Let me show you his Bible.

The workbook of the tidy priest...the good shepherd.

Notes, lists of people to pray for, comments and thoughts

pages falling out ....Bishop Bruce Rosier said to me once this is what a Bible should be like...we should have to replace them...it is a workbook

Peter of course would have like to have been not only a Good Shepherd..but a better Shepherd,

Only too well aware  that as father, husband, grandfather, priest

there was great responsibility and some failure and disappointment
More than a little sadness

But we thank God for this tidy priest...this man...this Good Shepherd.

Thanks be to God

Surely God is my salvation

One of the great things about the new Daily Office Readings and opportunities for praying each day 

(this may indeed be mind blowing to some/many who do not realise that there are many who pray daily in a regular way…psalms and scripture, hours and seasons)
 …. any way  we have been exposed to a whole lot of new scripture songs.
There is indeed a multitude of readings for this penultimate Sunday of the Church's year. November 17 2013; 26th Sunday after Pentecost and today we have the amazing Song of Isaiah which expresses something of what the psalms do about our hope in waiting for God.

• Isaiah 65:17-25 and Isaiah 12  • 
 
• Malachi 4:1-2a and Psalm 98  • 
 
• 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13  • 
• Luke 21:5-19

x Don’t give up your day job!x

Christians took a while to understand what Jesus was saying. On the one hand they heard him say he was going to ‘come again’ and bring everything to completion.

But on the other hand their experience for the first two hundred years was that Jesus didn’t seem to be coming immediately

I don’t think  we can begin to imagine how much of a dilemma this presented for early Christians.

Some were so caught up with the idea of Christ’s second coming that they stopped living their normal lives. We have seen that happen from time to time throughout Christian history.

Well-meaning (but perhaps zany) believers put their life on hold.

Jesus told them not to

This is despite the fact that Jesus told us not to worry about when this great return was going to happen.  

Even today some Christians think they can hasten God’s plan

some believe that when the Jews return to Israel, for example, then Jesus will come to reign from the Holy City.

There is a certain irony that millions of American dollars were shelled out by fundamentalist Christians

to encourage Russian Jews to emigrate to the Holy Lands.

Thinking that some how they would hasten the second coming

And I say it again

This is despite the fact that Jesus told us not to worry about when this was going to happen.

Jesus’s point seems to have been not that we should stand around waiting

but rather that we should live each day

as if it were our last.

What would YOU do this week, or today 

if you viewed it as your last possible opportunity

--to express your love for your child, or your friend

--to seek forgiveness for something you have done wrong

--to do something you’ve always felt you should do

Few of us would be saying: “I should work longer at the office”...or “I just need to ensure that my financial situation is more secure.”

This would seem to be more of the point.

Paul tells the Christians not to stop working

but rather to get on with finding Christ in their day to day life

Far from being pious 

(he is a bit blunt) you should get on with living 

But do it with this new and better perspective.

If you stop working...you won’t eat.

Balance

There is a balance that needs to be struck

But it is not the balance of trying to manipulate God (it won’t work any way)

But rather of trying to have in our life

that sense of priority and perspective

that says

Live this day as if this is not only the day that the Lord has made.

But also the day when we will sit down

and explain to Jesus just what we think we are doing with the life we have been given

Some more saints

In this season of the saints I came across this post I wrote some years ago

Would it be too maudlin, pious or whatever on this Halloween E'en to begin my litany of saints
Tom, reader and arguer, who has muddled along with faith for most of his life, and now finds himself in medium care nursing home a bit bored
Allan, pray-er and writer, my alcoholic friend who amidst a crazy life used to come & pray with me every day; sometimes in a stupor so thick you could almost blow over the limit just breathing in his air. Wrote funny, observant novellae about Australian pub culture. I loved to talk to him. Died Christmas Day 2005 waiting to go to his family's for lunch
Charles and Mary, teachers, musicians and worshippers. Faithfully devoted to each other for decades, without children he gave himself to teaching young children the faith through Sunday School, she to being his faithful companion, friend and spiritual support.
Lillian, mother and struggler. I said at her funeral she had a hell of a life. Which she did like most people of her era. But she loved her children and refused to love one of us more than the other. She never felt she was too old to learn more about Jesus, and she loved to sing.
Martha, matriarch and widow. In a quiet way my grandmother inculcated in her three daughters the importance of being a faithful Christian and a wise mother.
Spencer, priest and scholar. What ever else he may have been (boring old so and so springs to mind) he was a priest who was faithful to his call. He drove like a maniac, and loved to pray and to read. He served as a Bush Brother in outback Queensland and always loved the sense of call that said being a priest is about embracing challenge and loving the people God gives you.
Helen, counsellor. Who has shown me and others the richness and mystery of Christ within through our subconscious and the mystery of dreams.
Philip, troublemaker and director. A priest who has stuck to the truth of paying attention to Christ within and without. This has got him into all sorts of curious places where he couldn't (and didn't) keep quiet.
Laurie, good man and public servant Quiet municipal treasurer and faithful man, encourager of the young. Who encouraged us to grapple with the complexity of right and wrong.
John, pompous know it all priest. Too smart for his own good, he enthused many young people with a vigour for things catholic. Too foolish, ambitious and unaware he boxed himself in to an awful view of life
Keith, priest and scholar. Who when I told him as my supervisor that I'd been done for DUI laughed..and put it into perspective. With a commitment to true catholicism he refused to be intellectually boxed in and set himself in retirement to read through the Goolwa library. He died too young. He challenged us to think hard
Jan, friend. Who allowed me to challenge her complacent faith and who used to walk me to challenge my weight!
Joyce and George, missionaries and priest. Good evangelicals tested by personal weakness, they were of great support in time of difficulty. At her funeral

Mark, priest and pastor, said..."She loved Jesus". Testament enough.

And I could add:

…..well many others

Ora pro nobis

Try and listen to the truth..be serious about the answer

Readings for Sunday 10th November, Proper 32 (2th Sunday after Pentecost) -Haggai 1:15b-2:9 and [Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98] (orJob 19:23-27a and Psalm 17:1-9 ) 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38

The Gospel reading for today is decidedly curious
but remembering the recent election we should not be so surprised or puzzled by it!
Jesus is asked a question by some antagonists

they are neither interested in the answer
nor in any real engagement with Jesus.

They are trying to get him to put his foot in it.
This happens on a number of different occasions in the Gospels,
and, we might reflect,
it happens a lot in day to day life!
We talk, but are not interested in listening.
We say a lot of things;
but we need to also pay attention to more than the words.

Classic Question
The question that Jesus is asked is no doubt a 'classic'
He is asked it by Sadducees, who were one of the major parties at the time.
They differed from the popular party, the Pharisees,
to which Jesus probably belonged,
in that they did not believe that life continued after death.
This was a key part of Jesus's teaching.
The question that they ask:
If a person has been married multiple times
and if this resurrection is true
then who will the person be married to after death
when everyone is dead and husbands and wife
are all living happily ever after in this supposed resurrected bliss
It is sort of amusing and clever (on one level)
but simply blind on another.

It is like many of the political questions that we.
Not designed to elicit an answer
rather trying to expose a weakness
It is not about hearing the truth;
it is rather about struggling with versions of right.

Are we aware
That we ourselves are like this
that we often choose what is a view of 'right'
rather than engaging with truth.
Perhaps the infuriating things about politics and family disagreements
remind us of this.
We are often more judgmental of the person or the party
than what is being said or done?

Maybe that is what politics is about.
It is rather more serious I suspect
when we do this in our lives!
When we dismiss our husbands and wives
children and friends
sisters and brothers
workmates and neighbours
because we are feeling angry with them
or not terribly at one with ourselves;
rather than responding to what they do or say.
This encounter reminds us that 
there can be no end of game playing
But this is not really about Truth
with a capital T!

THIS WEEK
we invite the Spirit to show us where prejudice has become our way of operating
rather than judgment or discernment

pray for the grace and perception to be more discrimnating
and for the will to put it into practice.

And if I tempted am to sin
and outward things are strong
do thou, O Lord, keep watch within,
and keep my soul from wrong
Isaac Williams
Victorian Hymnwriter

Get down from your tree!

I read recently of a Bishop's visit to a parish; 

the priest said that the Bishop told the people 
that what we need is "More Jesus!"  I heartily agree, it is the key to Christian life.

What ever else Christians think they have to say,
our key focus is Jesus!

In this "Kingdom time" it is an exhortation we do well to hear

Reading for this Sunday, 3rd October the 24th Sunday after Pentecost come from Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 and Psalm 119:137-144 • (

 

Isaiah 1:10-18 and Psalm 32:1-7 ) • 

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12• 

Luke 19:1-10

(this is also the Sunday after All Saints' Day so there is another feast that may be kept on this day see the other entry for some thoughts about the Saints)

The story in the Gospel this morning is pretty straight forward. Jesus is in the town of Jericho, and a crowd throngs around. A tax collector called Zacchaeus (who we are told is short!) climbs a tree.

If we take this as a guide today we could see the challenge

in our own life

to climb the tree and get a better look at Jesus.

In the last couple of weeks

we have been reminded to snap out of our apathy

and get back to the task.

As we think about the saints

we see men and women who inspire us

because they have seen Jesus and responded.

Sometimes we become a bit lacklustre

and take it all a bit for granted.

Far from being excited about Jesus

we just ignore him.

So we are being reminded today to climb the tree

and get a better look at Jesus.

What we note is that Jesus speaks to Zacchaeus

Directly to his condition.

What, I might ask,

is Jesus saying to me today?

Mary McKillop heard a call to serve the poor and teach the young,

Francis heard Jesus' call to rebuild the church

and to attend to the creation

to love the unlovely

and be there, first and foremost,

for the poor.

If Jesus was speaking to you today

what is he saying

From the readings

there is still a vision for the appointed time....... the righteous live by their faith.(Habbakuk 2:3-4

What enlivens us is "faith"

we might think, it's organisation, or wealth

but we are reminded that it is faith ...the assurance of God's promise ...

that is the dynamic that transforms the life of God's people.

What promise of God do you hear from Jesus

and how can you act on that.

Is it about forgiveness, healing, prayer, love and mercy

service, action and care

In your tree as you look at Jesus

what is he telling you to get down and do!

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

We are reminded that we can look at others (we have been calling them 'saints'...Mary MacKillop, Francis and many others) who take this call of Jesus on their life seriously and see how it is transforming

Zacchaeus at least alludes to the possibility that his encounter with Jesus will make a difference.

An I suppose that a gauntlet is thrown down

to be more than just 'fair weather' Christians

THIS WEEK

Where is God looking at us and speaking into our lives?

Where are we being invited to come down out of the tree and welcome Jesus?

What can I resolve to do today to put this encounter into practice?

Passing the buck

Readings for Sunday 27th October 2013 Proper 24 of Year C the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost. Joel 2:23-32 and Psalm 65 [or[Sirach 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22] ]and Psalm 84:1-7
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18:9-14
(Reading in the Australian version of the Revised Common Lectionary use Luke 18:15-30 this week)
The standard  ploy when we don't want to look at ourselves
is to try and hide and deflect attention away to others.
This goes right back to the Garden of Eden
God asks Adam (Genesis 3:11): "Why did you do
what I told you not to do? " and Adam says,
"Eve made me do it!"
When God asks Eve, she says "The serpent made me do it!"
Like everything in the Creation stories
it is talking about what human beings are like
-We pass the buck-

Luke editorialises on this parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector
"He told  this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt" ((Luke 18:11)
The Pharisee we are told stands praying
giving thanks that he is good:
Jesus told the parable "to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous!"

We might ask...if I am righteous on my own account
then what need do I have of God
(plenty of people in today's world say "None!"
And the next question we need to ask is
"Is this what I am like?"
This is not the Christian position
but it is often the way we speak and behave
as though we have made the grade
and we are pretty good

It is of course not true!

So if we ask the second question:
Who says you are perfect...
then we hide and point the finger elsewhere...
I actually  am good because I am not like that guy over there!

We should be outraged to be scandalised by this sort of analysis!

There are many things we could say:
We so often judge people harshly for the very things they represent that are like us.
We are critical of the people who can accurately assess us,
 a sort of process of discrediting the reliable witness

We may think this is the stuff of politics
It also seems like the stuff of human rerlationships

There is the other figure....who simply says
"God be merciful to me a sinner!"
Neither saying he is fixed and nearly perfect
or not as bad someone else.

This week
Where do I fail to properly scrutinise myself and present myself honestly to God?
Where am I guilty of judgmentalism

Lifestyle

Praying is a lifestyle not a one-off pursuit.

Not just to fire off once but to keep on going.

Readings for this Sunday 20th October 2013...include Jeremiah 31:27-34, Psalm 119: 97-107, 2 Tim 3:10-4:5 and Luke 18:1-14
[ The Australian lectionary conflates both this week's and next week's Gospel readings]

This is the idea that is being presented in the metaphor about prayer.
When we were talking about this the other day someone said to me.  "This seems to be saying that God will only hear our prayers if we nag!"
when ever we talk about God we are speaking metaphorically and imaginally.
That is, we are using an image to try and understand something that is, in reality, more complex than the words that are used to convey it.
We might for example think about the word 'love'.
It is clear enough...but the word alone does not convey the depth and subtlety of everything that 'love' is about.
When Jesus is teaching with this level of subtlety he uses images or parables
The image here is a woman who wants a judge to hear her case. We are told she keeps on and on until she gets her way.
It is about persistence.
And Jesus is wanting to help his listeners to understand that prayer is about
Persistence.

In fact Luke's editorial hand even tells us that this is what this parable is about
"Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart"

Don't pray just occasionally, or in a limited set of circumstances
keep on praying.
Rather like nagging !
It is of course not the nagging that Jesus is talking about
it is the persistence.
So often persistence is not in our prayers
We 'fire one off' if we feel like it
or in emergency.
And then wonder why so often it seems to us that nothing happens.
All that is well and good
but let there be more Persistence!

This week
Have a think about what you might currently pray for and decide that you are going to throw some energy at it
The sort of energy that is typified by nagging....just keep going on and on.
Try not to nag God....but do try to keep the energy at that sort of level.

Lord help me to persist in my prayers

When I feel like giving up

may I know your encouragement to persist

And then persist! 

Getting it wrong

Does God really care about anyone?

This Sunday October 13th 2013 is the 21st Sunday After Pentecost and we can use some or all of the readings below: 

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 and Psalm 66:1-12 [or 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c and Psalm 111 ]

2 Timothy 2:8-15 & Luke 17:11-19

We like it when it is pictures of 'proper' doctors and nurses
of scouts and hospital orderlies

Leprosy has a sort of romantic attraction for many Christians
and indeed, we find it more 'comfortable'
if God is healing people who are outcast
but who we would want to like (if they weren't so awful)

but in reality that romanticism is ill-placed!

Leprosy is as romantic as AIDS in the modern context

and as socially stigmatising as skin cancer

or any disease which has disfigurement associated with it.

The story (Luke 17:11-19) has not only some interesting reflections to make about seeking healing from God

...Do we for example live out of the thankfulness of answered prayer?

Or do we quickly forget that God desires healing for us all?

This story reflects that 9 out of 10 people

forget to give thanks to God.

and my estimation would be that that is about right!

But the story also tells us that God's healing is not confined by religion,

it isn't just confined

to who we think

God should be disposed towards.

God's concern is towards humanity and not just to Jews or Christians,

white or black.

It is not just to be nice to children

or those who say their prayers

God's concern is for the whole of humanity.

God's grace, the free gift of eternal life,

is without bounds

and is offered to all.

It is a reminder to us that we should be no less open.

That our compassion needs to be challenged beyond the bounds of niceness.

We are to be open to be compasssionate

beyond the bounds of our own social caste or religion.

The world is not like this.

9 out of 10 people get this wrong.

Prejudice

We witness prejudice in all manner of ways.

I once sat with someone in hospital and listened while his wife told me

that the staff were fabulous

except for the Indians

who you just couldn't understand.

I found myself thinking of the many many Indian doctors and nurses

who have served us well in this country

and just shuddered.

This week

Can you reflect on where you make judgments

based on prejudice rather than compassion and mercy?

Invite the Holy Spirit to let you do better than this and to show you how?

God who is truth and love

grant to us your people

the wisdom and compassion

to act justly and with mercy

in the name of the guiltless Jesus

who died that all people might know the love of God.

Amen

Getting rid of trees

Sunday October 6 is the 20th Sunday after Pentecost and readings can be from Lamentations 1:1-6, Psalm 137, 2 Tim 1:1-14. Luke 17:5-10

Christians live in a different world from many others.
It is the world of the mustard seed...rather than the world of the Apple or the hamburger

So we read today

Luke 17:5-6 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry   tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Interesting words.. One of the commentaries I was reading, is reminding us that Greek has two type of "If" clause...one (we so often use it this way in English) is really negative...we second guess ourselves
"If only I was good enough then: we would win, I would be successful, people would like me...."
The implication is that it really isn't  like this in the world I inhabit

But there is a second type of way of using "if"...perhaps  we would more naturally say "if we could just....".  This is a positive challenge.

When we read this passage today...it is this second type of "if" that we encountering.

It is as if Jesus is saying...."You already have faith, and that is all you need...because if you have the tiniest amount of faith then I can use that to work through you."

The world (what the picture above calls the 'mcworld') is different from this. The world of faith is certain that what is hoped for can and will be achieved....

What, you might ask, is this hope....well I would name certain things like a world in which people can know and experience Love and Forgiveness. Where the blessing of God in our life is powerful, tangible and transforming.

Powerful...people are experiencing the genuine power of being able to forgive and to be forgiven.
Tangible...it makes  a difference. I live my life differently because of the way I hear the Holy Spirit of Jesus speak into my life.
Transforming   I really wonder why we (as Christians) bother if this doesn't make a difference. I DON'T want my life to remain the same.  I detest the McWorld...I want tangible, transforming change.

Jesus offers us this through the dynamic of faith!

What is the challenge in our life that we can and want to respond to?
I want to be more loving!
I want to express forgiveness!
I want to be a genuine source of God's healing!

If you have mustard-seed faith...and of course you do!...........then just let God work this through you!

THIS WEEK

Where is God calling you to real love?

Where can you express forgiveness that really hits home?

You are a person who has faith...of course you are...what is God asking you to be?

Running the futile race

After day one of a Supervision Conference with Lucy Abbott Tucker

Divine mystery
you are not hidden,
nor is your life untold,
but I try to outrun you and outrun myself.
I turn my shoulder
and find you are still there,
I am still there;
running frantically
pounding roughly

The race, this pointless race
will only be over
when I stop;
and, head-turned
this way or that
realise I stand up straight