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Weekly Focus
Eighth Sunday After Pentecost
Begging From Prison
Martin Luther King, Jr. did it in Birmingham, Alabama, as did Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Germany. Simon Farisani did it in South Africa, and St. Paul did it in Rome. From their prison cells, they begged-they begged for the church.
Paul's begging from prison in the letter to the Ephesians is not about begging for more food from his guards or for an early release from the judge. He's begging the church to remember that it is the body of Christ, with each member connected to the others. Bars and guards and walls may keep Paul from visiting his friends in person, but they aren't enough to separate him from them in spirit. "We are one body," he tells them, "with Christ as the head that guides each part of the body in love."
That's a powerful witness, to those of us on the outside of prison. We are free to come and go as we please, and they are not. We can do or not do whatever we want, whenever we want, and they cannot. We can eat what we want, we can sleep when we want, we can work when we want and play when we want, and they cannot. And still, Paul's voice from prison preaches to us with a power we cannot escape.
Do you live in a prison? Family expectations can be as strong or stronger than metal bars, coercing people into certain roles and ways of acting. Illness and disease can be more commanding than a prison guard, forcing people into certain activities at certain times-no matter what they may want to do themselves. Poverty and economic insecurity can be more binding than barbed wire, pushing people into choices and behaviors that they would never otherwise consider. Fear of violence, fear of oppression, fears of all kinds can grip people's spirits and twist them into doing all kinds of things that make no sense.
Paul is preaching from prison, to prisoners like us. Remember who made you, says Paul. Remember who called you and filled you with the Spirit. Remember your partners in Christ-your fellow members of Christ's body. Remember the gifts that God has given to you. Remember that despite the brokenness of the world, you are filled with God's love-and nothing can take that away.
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
Not Getting Away from it All
Teaching and preaching and working miracles can really take it out of a person, and Jesus just wanted to get away from it all. "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while," he told his disciples. "Let's take a retreat, and recharge our batteries." So they got in their boat, and went over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
Sadly, the crowds didn't get the word that Jesus wanted to be left alone.
So they came-thousands of them. They ran, says Mark, coming from all the towns around to meet Jesus when his boat landed. The site may have been isolated and lonely most of the time, but when Jesus got there it was anything but. A welcoming committee of thousands was on hand to greet him.
Jesus could have gotten back into the boat and sailed away again. He could have shouldered through the crowd and ignored them. He could have railed against them and told them to leave him alone. But he did none of these things.
Instead, Mark tells us, Jesus had compassion on them. He taught them, and when he saw that the hour was late and they had no food, he fed them-thousands of them.
Most who preach on this story focus on the miracle of feeding a crowd from only a few fish and loaves of bread. But as powerful a sign as that is, it misses the bigger miracle of Jesus' compassion. The sheep are wandering, without a shepherd, and so Jesus stepped up to gather them in. He taught them and he fed them; he cared for them and protected them.
Getting away from it all sounds good in theory, but in practice it never works out that way. Fortunately for us, God never gets away from it all so far that we are left without a shepherd to guide us, to feed us, to care for us, and to lead us home.
Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
Preaching to the Choir
It's a cliche. The choir already knows the message, after all, so "preaching to the choir" appears to be a safe thing for a preacher to do. "Come to church on Sunday!" says the preacher, and all who hear it nod their heads. "Yes," they think, "everyone ought to come to church on Sunday." Of course, that "everyone" really means "everyone else," since the hearers are already there.
Preaching to the choir is what gets Jesus in trouble in today's gospel reading from Mark. Indeed, this is a story made for the regulars, for the faithful, for those who already believe. "Why, we knew him when he was just a kid," the people in Jesus' home region thought. "We remember seeing him standing around Joseph's shop and playing with his dad's tools." It's a way of putting Jesus in his place. "Don't go thinking you're something special; we've known you since before you could dress yourself." But even as the crowd took offense at him, Jesus continued with his preaching. "Others may listen to prophets, but not the folks 'back home.'" He literally drove the message home, to the home town crowd's dismay.
It feels safer to hear the preacher talk about "those" people over there. "I'm fine, thanks, but those folks need to hear about their sin and their need for salvation." But Jesus is having none of that-not in his home town, and not in ours.
Here in this place, the regulars come every week (call them "the choir"), but they're not exempt from the preaching. Neither, for that matter, is the preacher. When our self-righteousness gets in the way of our hearing, we are the ones who lose out. Fortunately for us, Jesus continues to preach to the choir, offering us all a new way of seeing, a new type of community, and a new way of life.
Now can we all sing that song?
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
Little Girl, Get Up
Jesus does a lot of talking in the Gospels. He talks to his disciples and he talks to his opponents. He talks to good and pious Jews, to Samaritans, and to complete foreigners. He talks to powerful leaders and to outcast lepers. We hear his words, over and over and over again, as he engages people of all kinds in conversation.
And then comes today's gospel reading: the story of Jairus and his daughter. It's the only story where we actually hear Jesus speaking to a child. Children are present in other stories, but we don't hear Jesus speaking to them. Only to this little girl.
People on the margins tend to get lost and overlooked. That's almost the definition of what it means to be marginal. Jairus, on the other hand, is at the center. He's a man in a male-centered culture and a religious leader in a religious-centered society. In this story, though, Jairus knows that all his power from being in the center does not matter. He calls Jesus to come to the margins, to the bedside of someone who is (a) ill to the point of death, (b) female, and (c) only a child.
And Jesus comes, willingly and quickly, to the margins.
There are so many margins in our society and so many people who find themselves banished there. Women hitting a glass ceiling. Children and youth, overlooked in the conversations of adults. Gays and lesbians peeking out from closets. Elderly residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, hungry for visitors. Non-English speakers in a society that often fears the foreigner ... Yes, there are lots of people sitting on the margins.
But know this: Jesus continues to come to the margins. Thanks be to God!
Third Sunday After Pentecost
Awe and Awful
Awe.
It's that feeling you get when you realize you are somewhere you think you do not belong. Imagine being a rookie outfielder, and sitting on the bench between Barry Bonds and Willie Mays as they share batting tips with each other. Imagine being the cook in your home, and sitting down with Emeril Lagasse, Paula Dean, and Bobby Flay as they swap recipes. Imagine being a musician who finds herself in a club listening to BB King, the Dixie Chicks, and Bono talk about the next piece of music they are working on. Imagine finding yourself at a dinner with Senator Boxer, Governor Schwarzenegger, and Secretary of State Rice, as they talk politics around the table.
Awe is the feeling that inspired the line from the Wayne's World skits, as Garth and Wayne bow down to the floor before their rock star idols: "We are not worthy! We are not worthy!"
That's awe.
Sometimes, awe becomes awful. "What if they ask me for my thoughts, my opinions, my techniques?!?" wonders the rookie hitter, the amateur cook, the musician, the dinner guest, each filled with fear. "What if I'm not supposed to be here at all?" Will someone cry, "What are you doing here?" or "How did someone like that get in?" Will security come running and remove the interloper from the premises?
That's awful.
In our readings today, Job knows about awe. He's standing there, listening to God ask, "Where were you when I created the world?" The disciples know about awe, after watching Jesus calm the storm. "Who then is this?" they ask one another-but what they're really asking is, "What are we doing here, in the presence of such power?" But Jesus calms them, even as he calmed the storm. "Why are you afraid?" he chides them gently, telling them that in his presence there is no need to fear. Don't let your awe become awful.
Despite our failings, despite our complaints, despite our fears, we do belong in the presence of God. It fills us with awe, to be sure, but that's how welcoming and loving God is.
More Weekly Focus:
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
Monthly Focus Archive
2006:
Easter Focus: New Covenant
Lenten Focus: A Covenantal Response to Poverty
February Focus: Moving Forward
2005:
December Focus: Longing
November Focus: The Gift of Years
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Foundations
Summer Focus: The Book of Acts
Easter Focus: Tapestry
Lenten Focus: Rule of Life
January Focus: The Next Wave
2004:
December Focus: Surprising Grace
November Focus: Free Indeed
October Focus: Money Madness
September Focus: The Outrageous Promise
Summer Focus: Into the Fullness
June Focus: Thick Faith
Easter Focus: All Things New
Lent Focus: A Hungry World
February Focus: Commitment
January Focus: Unity
2003:
December Focus: Hope
November Focus: Worship
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Seasons of Faith
Summer Focus: The Gospel of John
May Focus: Faith
April Focus: Resurrection
March Focus: Truth
February Focus: Covenant Groups
January Focus: Sabbath
2002:
December Focus: Shut Up and Sing
November Focus: Spiritual Gifts
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Intentional Faith
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