Third Sunday after Epiphany, January 27, 2019

Chancel wood carving, Christ Church Cathedral, Hamilton

Instead of “The Word of the Lord,” imagine a new curate today proclaiming: “I am the Word of the Lord.” I can assure you the good people in the congregation would not be long setting that new minister straight. “Shocking gall!” would be the response, rather than the expected: “Thanks be to God.”

But our imagined curate’s response must have been what it sounded like to the clergy and lay leaders of Jesus’ home synagogue. Remember he was standing before the people who formed him. They knew the stories of his family and they knew him from childhood. “Isn’t he Mary’s son!” “Doesn’t he have a brother, James?!” They had taught him the ways of the faith through the words of the law and the prophets. But how did these sacred words get so turned around?

Our churches and homes, our schools and communities, are all places of formation. Young and old alike are given the opportunity to learn, integrate, change and grow. But when people change it alters our patterns and sense of security. We like the idea of change, but rarely does it come without some pain.

In the past few months I have been watching people profoundly change as they experience spiritual growth. People well into their eighties are sensing God in new ways they couldn’t have imagined. I wonder what forces will work on them in their parishes to support or quell that fire? Will their communities welcome their new found enthusiasm, their new ways, their yearning for more? It is easy to destroy fragile growth—a careless comment, gentle teasing, or just simply ignoring. Individuals can change, but their communities are far less resilient. What will our communities do when our people start to proclaim God’s Good News which to many may sound like bad news?

Are you spiritually growing? Do you feel free to talk about this growth with your family, friends, in your church? Is your growth welcomed in your church community? How does this growth and deeper relationship with God change how you see the church and your role within it?

On my heart this day I come before God and ask for insight in how to help prepare the soil for the growth that is coming.

LUKE 4:14-21 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 

Second Sunday after the Epiphany, January 20, 2019

St. Andrew’s Grimsby

I sense tension. She simply pointed out that there was no wine. But I bet he heard: “It’s time you got off your duff and did something!” Parental nudging towards maturity is a delicate and tricky business that requires sensitive pacing and a thick skin. In our Corinthians reading Paul talks about spiritual gifts—those talents, skills and abilities given by God and activated by the Holy Spirit for service to the world. As a parent, other than providing a secure and loving home, our greatest mandate is to see and encourage the blossoming of our children’s gifts and abilities. But I know I am constantly asking myself if I am pushing too hard or not hard enough. Am I imposing my own unprocessed past and are my motivations as pure as I hope? Discerning gifts in those we love really does require the discipline of self-reflection since, in truth, we stand to either benefit or be adversely affected by the manifestation of those gifts. Jesus as miracle worker or carpenter was bound to directly affect Mary’s future plans.

Paul tells us that everyone has been given spiritual gifts, that all gifts are given by God and that no one gift is better or more valuable than another. Do we believe this? I know my spiritual journey has involved coming to the realization that there are some gifts that are simply out of my reach and no matter how much I may yearn for something different, I need to accept who I am, which includes both my gifts and my limitations. To do otherwise just ends up hurting too much.

And in some way, it is all about seeing abundance, isn’t it—whether in the gifts we or our children or other loved ones have been given. As our psalmist poetically says: “Your love reaches the heavens.” At Cana it wasn’t just a bottle of wine. It was 180 gallons of great wine! If you want to know when you are living into and through your particular spiritual gifts, then look for signs of abundance—a love and passion that goes beyond imagining. What brings forth joy, celebration, fecundity and capaciousness, for you? Follow that and you will find self; follow that and you will find God, too.

There are layers upon layers to our motivations. Many I know or sense and many remain deeply hidden. In the quiet of my time with God this week I will ask for divine loving insight. What do I truly and deeply want and yearn for? What are my spiritual gifts and the spiritual gifts of my loved ones? Help me, God, see and bring forth those gift in myself and others. What do I not want, or are not ready, to see?

JOHN 2:1-11 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 

1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-11 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. 

Baptism of Lord, January 13, 2019

Baptism of the Lord, St. Barnabas, by Paul Gosen

Have you ever had a spiritual experience, that is, heard a voice or sensed a presence that could not be explained physically? Surveys indicate that most of us have had some sort of spiritual encounter but that we are reluctant to speak about it with others. Who wants to be thought of as crazy or have something so precious scoffed at?

Spiritual experiences are those rare occurrences when we sense first-hand an immediate encounter with the mystery of God that goes beyond our material world. These experiences evoke profound feelings of love and meaning. Carl McColman, in his Big Book of Christian Mysticism, says that “mystical Christianity is less about attaining unity with God and more about creating the inner emptiness where you can offer God hospitality.”

I wonder if the story of Jesus’ baptism is one of just such a spiritual encounter? We are told that when he prayed, after being baptized, he physically felt the Holy Spirit descend on him, and he heard a voice speaking to him.

One way or another we are left wondering what we are to make of such encounters.

My advice…

1. Privately cherish them, as they are special gifts that are fleeting and few. They can provide the spiritual journey with buoyancy and poignancy.
2. Publicly share them, but only with a trusted few such as a spiritual director. They can be deeply meaningful, but you will likely need help discerning their significance. So be wise about who gets to speak into that meaning.
3. Never proclaim them, especially when a community is in discernment. Offering a vision is one thing, declaring the direct voice of God is quite another. A humble and thoughtful thank-you to God for personal insight is a great response. It is interesting that Jesus did not immediately pivot from this mystical experience into his public teaching ministry but fled to the wilderness where he was tempted and tested.

How open are we to hearing that we are loved? What would it feel like to know you are God’s beloved? McColman says that we are called to be loved, to love, and to be love—and in that order. Is it possible to love other’s and God’s creation without first experiencing God’s love?

Today I will enter into the silence with centering prayer. My sacred words will be: I am beloved.

LUKE 3:15-17, 21-22 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 

Epiphany, January 6, 2019

A new year and new resolutions! Renewal and new life are at the heart of our Christian story, promised at our baptism. But can we really change? Time and time again, new resolutions turn into good intentions and before long we find ourselves where we were before, deeply mired in the ruts of an old familiar way.

A spiritual director of mine many years ago said that when, despite our best efforts, we repeatedly find ourselves in the same emotional or relational place, we should really pay attention. That moment of, “How did I get here again!” might just be our life trying to tell us something.

The wise men set out on a new journey. Maybe it all began with new resolutions for them too. Who knows? They encountered two kings: one of political and military might while the other was of just and loving hope. If they had chosen to return to Herod they would have likely found themselves back in the familiar warmth of the secure and controlling courts of the powerful. Instead, they took a different, riskier path that ultimately had tragic consequences for many Bethlehem families, and resulted in Mary, Joseph and the baby becoming refugees. Could this be another example of those ugly moments when tragedy, adversity, and suffering become unwitting instruments of change?

This year, will we choose the road of comfort and pleasure, a place where our ego and sense of security and self-sufficiency will flourish? Or will we find ourselves in a new place where we can look back on the journey and realize the freedom and peace we have gained? But be careful, when the terrain is new we sometimes fail to see its seductive familiarity rounding us back in a slow curve toward where we were.

What is at the heart of your New Year’s resolution? What do you really want to change? What do you really want to become? Where is God in the midst of this change and yearning? Who or what will help you notice when the terrain becomes familiar? Who or what will guide you along a new, less familiar way?

God’s love yearns for us to move closer.

MATTHEW 2:1–12 1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” 7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.