Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

 

We are taught to read literature as though it is newspaper. Time is sequential and one–dimensional, in which the words on the page are an assemblage of letters to communicate information in real time. What you see on the surface is literal and is in black and white. This is not the case with reading the Gospel, especially John’s. 

Brother David Steindl-Rast writes: “to understand John’s word images in the way they were intended, we need to develop a sense for poetic language. These images speak to us through an intuitive dimension beyond the literal…Tuning in to this language requires an acquired ability to read between the lines.’” Marcus Borg writes “John invites his hearers to know in a radically new and different way. He appeals to the imagination, to a place deep within, which invokes a palpable sense of knowing outside the bounds of any anatomical natural human sense.” 

When John writes In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God (verse 1)…And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, he announces the incarnation of God in Jesus. By extension, he informs us that that the Word becomes flesh in us too. “The Word speaks to us in a place deep within that we intuitively sense and know.” 

So in (John 14:1-12) as Jesus is preparing his apostles for his departure, he comforts them and says: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe  also in me. Trust me. Trust God— you have seen God in me. I am enough. Trust that you will find me in the community as we come to see God in one another. 

Andrew Prior writes: “I do not think we can overstate the love and the intimacy of the household of God and our place in it. What we can miss, however, is that it is not a geographical place at a certain time. It is a relationship in eternity into which we can enter; in which we can place our trust. We will not be left alone, or orphaned.” 

We know that Jesus was killed for political reasons: he violated the “status quo” of the prevailing Jewish law that caused the Judeans, not all Jews, to want him removed. The Judeans were those who aligned themselves with Rome to maintain “control” of their “religion” and maintain their “status quo.” As such, their religious leaders collaborated with Imperial Rome to have Jesus “removed.” 

Throughout his life, Jesus made it clear that he resisted the man-made rules of “organized religion” as they existed. I wonder what he would think about the religions of today.  How different are some of its members from the Pharisees who resisted change? History reminds us that Jesus was not the last to be persecuted for bucking the “status quo.” Leave things alone I’m comfortable with the way things are; hey, I read the scripture and preach the Gospel; isn’t that enough?  But where is the Love that was Jesus? 

Gary Wills tells us that “Jesus opposed any religion that is self-righteous, quick to judge, wallows in gossip that destroys and divides the community in order to serve its own purpose and not God’s.” And how do we relate to Jesus’s words in our Gospel: Do not let your hearts be troubled…I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.

What do You Think?

 

In his parables Jesus invites his audience to be part of the story by relating explicit scenarios that are relevant to the listener’s world. These parables also serve as implicit invitations for them to see something else beneath the narrative. As we discussed in last week’s blog, Seeing is Believing, Jesus would sometimes insert a clever device such as a visual element or use a provocative form of speech, e.g., an aphorism, which would prompt the imagination to know his meaning beyond what any literal interpretation could do, causing it to become an indelible memory. And so it is in this week’s Gospel (Matthew 22:15-22) Jesus uses the Roman coin to illustrate and memorialize in the mind’s eye of the listener (and for us forever) the answer to his question, “what do you think?”

Over the centuries, this famous passage has framed societal attitudes toward the relationship between religion and government. There are those who believe that Jesus is establishing two separate realms, Caesar's and God's. This interpretation may strike many Americans as obviously correct, given our separation of church and state. Looking at this more closely, Jesus was less concerned with taxation or political authority. These were in his world but not his world. Let’s face it, we’re told that in the first century Jews paid many taxes:  customs taxes, and taxes on land and of course, tithes to the Temple. Yet, in this parable the question posed to Jesus was not about how many taxes they paid but rather whether it was lawful to pay taxes After all, taxes were paid to Caesar, who as the emperor of Rome and the son of Augustus, was deemed to be the “son of God.” As such, the Jews believed that even possessing the coin with the image of Caesar, was idolatry and in violation of the commandments.  

 

So back to the question put to Jesus in our Gospel. What do you think?  A “yes or no” answer either way would have gotten Jesus in trouble. "Yes" would have discredited him with those who found the imperial domination system unacceptable. "No" would have made him subject to arrest for sedition.  By avoiding the trap Jesus asks us to recognize that while we may owe the rulers of this world earthly things like taxes, we owe God our spiritual being, our whole selves. For me, this Gospel and specifically the Roman coin, are the most effective of all Matthew’s devices to illustrate the Kingdom of God. The coin exists in the world while its facades metaphorically reveal two realms of our reality, earthly and spiritual. What do you think? 

 

Father, I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.  My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them...while they are still in the world  

John 17. 

Seeing is Believing or is it?

 

Our culture is highly visual. It’s hard to believe that anyone lecturing today would not draw on the myriad of audiovisual aids available. Visuals are powerful. They say things that words cannot say. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures reach places that words may fail to reach, penetrating the closed mind or imagination allowing us to see things that words might only obscure.

This passage is probably the most strategic text for explaining why Jesus performed miracles. In some miracle stories considerable attention is given to the occasion, setting and nature of the miracle. In Luke 11:15-26 all these elements appear in a single verse.  It is a miracle story turned upside-down in which it’s less the miracle and more the commentary on the miracle that counts. Here scripture departs from the standard form and uses the miracle as its own series of metaphors for the source of Jesus’ message.

As Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem Luke deals with religious leaders’ question regarding the source of his healing power. Not willing to accept Jesus Divinity as the source of his power, they ascribe it to Satan. In the midst of this growing opposition there is the call to know what miracles mean and to understand the times. 

Two options are suggested by those who have doubts. First, some attribute his capabilities to Beelzebub, the prince of demons. They clearly have Satan in mind and imply strongly that Jesus is demonically controlled.

The second alternative is a wait-and-see approach. Some want more proof through some sign from heaven. It is unclear what this might have involved a heavenly sign or just more miracles? In any case, not all are persuaded that demonic control is the answer.

These two possibilities well summarize reactions to Jesus today. Some reject him; others want to see more from him. But clearly, those who were exposed to Jesus realized that they could not ignore his actions or claims. His ministry demanded that people consider his identity.

For those who believe, know proof is necessary; for those who don't, no proof is necessary. Stuart Chase

Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen

A few years back we received a hand delivered rather large 8 x 10 envelope by a private messenger service. Not recognizing the return address I was at first unwilling to accept the envelope, but noting the considerable expense of the courier service, I decided to accept it. To our amazement, it was a strikingly beautiful embossed invitation to a private celebration along with an accompanying letter describing specific instructions as to travel and lodging. The invitation was to honor Tony Bennett’s 91st birthday and lifetime achievements in music and art. Of course I thought it was a promo to lure us into buying vacation property. But then as I read the details covering the invitation, I realized that it was legitimate.

Why us? We met Tony Bennett with his wife years ago at a nightclub in the City in which John Pizzarelli was performing. I became friends with John, a local boy whose career I had followed over the years. We spoke often of Tony and his ability to maintain his art, despite his advanced age I often said how I would love to have a one-on-one conversation with Tony about music and his career. But I never thought that we would have the opportunity.

The accompanying letter described our pre-arranged all expenses paid travel to and lodging in a villa in Florence. We were to provide our passport information to an intermediary who had scheduled our travel via private jet leaving and returning to Teterboro airport at a specific date and time. Information as to the celebration was private and confidential. As such we were asked to sign a security bond insuring our willingness to comply. No other communications were required or frankly permitted.

Needless to say, we were excited at first but then began to wonder how we would fit in with this group. While we had the requisite formal apparel required for the party, we began to wonder how we would interact with an elite jet set of luminaries, likely to be in attendance. I am usually not at a loss for words and can pretty much talk to anyone, however, I’m not a professional musician and would be out of my element rubbing elbows with people who, with the exception of my love for music, had little in common. And while we really love Florence, we realized we would have little time to ourselves and be somewhat confined to our designated luxurious villa with lots of strangers for 3 days.

Needless to say we came up with enough reasons (or excuses) and decided that it wasn’t worth it, so we regrettably declined the invitation, although we did sign the confidentiality agreement pledging secrecy. What would you have done if you were in our shoes? Most of our family and friends thought we were nuts for declining this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Our readings in (Matthew 22:1-14) this week speaks of a wedding. Jesus tells of a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son and invited everyone to attend. But they all declined. Hurt and insulted he sent his servants into the streets to collect anyone and everyone and see to it that they came to the wedding. One attendee came without being properly groomed or dressed and was thrown out.

Throughout the gospels, Jesus makes curious comments about the marriage of heaven and earth and our being prepared for the event. OK, our invitation to Tony Bennett’s birthday celebration would have been a dream come true but it was unfortunately fictitious; it was made up and, not unlike Jesus’ parables, intended to bring the question home. What would I really do? What would you do?

Forgiveness: Joseph and His Brothers

 

 

Near a town in the state of Washington, millions of gallons of radioactive atomic wastes are being stored in huge underground tanks. The tanks have a life expectancy of 20 or 30 years. The wastes within them will remain deadly for about 600 years. We live in a society which, like those tanks in Washington, can no longer contain its anger and bitterness, which in some cases has led to violence and destruction. Haven’t we learned that this anger and inability to let go of hurt, real, imagined or manufactured is a societal cancer. It's particularly troubling  to know that we allow the not so subtle transition from justifiable anger to a carefully manufactured agenda to destroy our society.  Why do humans find it easier to hold on to anger than to let go and find a way to forgive. Over the past months our readings and discussions of Matthew remind us that our forgiving and our being forgiven is what it means to be Christian.  

No character in the book of Genesis  better illustrates the fundamentals of forgiveness than Joseph, and no chapter more clearly defines and describes the essentials of forgiveness than the last, chapter 45(Genesis 45). The years that Joseph spent in slavery and prison could have been the occasion for a slow burn that might have ignited into an explosion of anger at the sight of his brothers. 

And how angry was Joseph with God who he "credits" for getting him into such a situation? Yet through it all Joseph recognized that God was with him in his sufferings and that these trials he believes  were from the loving hand of a sovereign God. Most of all, Joseph could have been angry with his brothers, who had callously sold him into slavery. While we justifiably credit Joseph being a model for forgiveness, I am puzzled by the number of times God is “credited” for setting up obstacles for Joseph that creates threatening situations for him as if it were God’s plan. This Genesis reading leaves us deep in the mystery of God and how God’s interacts with humans. Some folks see God directing their lives, while others express God’s presence in other ways. Genesis was just the first book of the Bible. Where and when did the concept of a punitive, retributive God begin in these very early writings? The universe is about 14 billion years old; Genesis was written only 5,000 years ago. God didn't just show up when man started to write about him. 

Personally, I have a difficult time believing that the God of love as made flesh by his incarnation in Jesus, would purposely inflict pain and entrap us in order to test our faith. It just doesn't make sense. But then, that’s what I believe and I suppose we all must come to terms with this question; some will be comfortable with Joseph’s theological speech and others will not. The great benefit of the text is the opportunity to ponder what we believe and why.  

Ok, back to Joseph, the high point of Joseph’s relationship with his brothers comes in chapter 45. Here reconciliation was made possible on the brothers’ part by their genuine repentance, regretting their sin with regard to Joseph, and reversing it when a similar situation was presented with regard to their youngest brother, Benjamin. Joseph’s reconciliation was achieved through his sincere and total forgiveness of his brothers for the evil they had committed against him. Forgiveness is pivotal to what it means to be a Christian. It is essential to our relationship with God.  

Based on The Fundamentals of Forgiveness (Genesis 45:1-28), Bob Deffinbaugh, May 2004.

I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel

 

Can we imagine what it feels like to have a pressing need or a significant request met with silence? Just think about it for a moment. For me, the question and related unpleasant memories bring the plight of the Canaanite woman home. (Matthew 15:21-28). This Gospel has always made me uncomfortable. In years passed whenever it rolled around as our assigned reading, I wrote around the story, not wanting to address it, not fully understanding it as it was so contrary to Jesus’ nature and earlier events in Matthew’s Gospel. Even Mark in his corresponding account of the story (Mark 7:24-30), chickened out and did not include Jesus’ somewhat callous response in Matthew: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

Admittedly, women’s words are too often met with silence or are interrupted or disrespected, by men and sometimes by other women. Those times in my life when I asked for information or help and received nothing but silence, were hurtful. No one immediately responds to the Canaanite woman or gives the impression that they will respond. The disciples urge Jesus to send her away because, it appears, they are annoyed by her continued shouting, and her refusal to take silence for an answer. Too often we either cannot or refuse to empathize with people whose experience is different from ours. If we are not at the receiving end of oppression or injustice we find it easy to dismiss it as unwelcomed noise. If our common humanity and our relatedness does not move us, what will? The Canaanite woman’s blood ran through Jesus’ veins and for that matter, ours…but it didn’t seem to move Jesus!

So many women or disenfranchised people in history like the Canaanite woman have persisted as lone minority voices among a majority of authoritative and powerful men. She persisted! She didn’t go away; she would not be dismissed. Her plea for help was met with the language of societal indifference: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

In the end, Matthew’s Jesus responds by commending the woman for her faith. (In Mark’s version, Jesus commends the woman with no mention of faith.) Matthew calls what this woman does an act of faith. Yet, Jesus does not perform an exorcism; he simply says, “Let it be done for you as you wish.” He does not say let it be done as you believed but as you will. The woman’s strong will manifested by her persistence, identified as faith, led to her daughter’s healing.

While Jesus doesn’t tell us, we are told that the woman’s daughter was healed instantly. Perhaps faith engenders persistence or maybe persistence feeds faith. Either way, persistence and faith make a powerful pair. While we can never  underestimate the power of a persistent woman and determined mother and the God in whom she believes, we still wonder why Jesus hesitated and initially responded as he did? For me, the answer lies in the fact that Jesus was as fully human as he was divine. I wonder if this was meant to be a teachable moment for him and that this woman at this precise moment in time, was the vessel for this powerful education? 

While I feel a little better, I still have difficulty with this Gospel. You see, it’s so easy to relate to the loving, compassionate, Jesus who is “above it all,” but when I encounter Jesus who in this case, behaves as I might have, it makes me uncomfortable. Maybe that’s the lesson for us; we’re are trying; we’re still learning. We are only human.

Remember man, presume not God to scan, the proper study of mankind in man. Alexander Pope

 

Yes, I'll get by with a little help from my friends

 

The gospel of the Centurion in Luke (Luke 7:1-10) and in Matthew (Matthew 8:1, 5-13) is a story of great faith especially in one who would have been considered at the very least, an outsider, if not a persecutor of Jesus. While in Matthew, the main characters are Jesus and the Centurion face to face, in Luke the Centurion never appears in person but rather is represented by his surrogates, his “friends.”  The message is not only about great faith, it is about friendship, brotherly love and community. Could there be a more disparate group of friends than those characterized in Luke? The image of Jewish elders coming forward to appeal to Jesus on the part of a humbled Roman centurion, who in turn, petitions Jesus on behalf of his slave, runs counter to what we know of the social order of the day. 

The story is enriched when the believer’s community connects the believer to God. Even the powerful centurion could not do it alone. Isn’t that the way it is with us? There are times in my life when my needs and story were being carried to God by my friends. My guess is that neither I nor they even knew it at the time. However, the threads that connect us to God are often woven by our friends. So, it's not just about me. It’s not just about you. It’s about us and Jesus and the community that nourishes us and helps us stay connected. But what about this thing called community? If it works so well, how come there are times when we would prefer to fly under the radar, unnoticed and content to be left alone?  In our men’s group discussion this past Saturday we read from Genesis 12:1. There was a passage that prompted considerable discussion: “We will be summoned to act upon the faith we profess: ‘Get up and do. Get up and  go….bring others with you.’”

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."

John Donne, Meditation 17 from Devotions, 1624