Meditations

“All things counter, original, spare, strange…” God “fathers forth,” sings poet Gerard Manley Hopkins – demons by name and stars by name and all manner of abundant green, and new life, and hope and liberty and each of us by name. Praise him:

This is the right side.

Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17 

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 

John 1:43-51

This is Epiphany season, whose theme is, God made manifest.  The divine presence is a comfort to the Psalmist (Psalm 63), who even in the night season is pleased to remember all that God has done for him.  The other readings for today are like a catalogue of what can go wrong.  Philip, called to the service of Our Lord (1 John 43-51), finds that friend Nathaniel is not so easily convinced.  His sneering put-down is notorious - 'Can any good come out of Nazareth?'  In the Second Reading (1 Cor. 6: 11b-20), Paul's sketch of the costs of discipleship is also notorious - this is his 'temple of the body' speech.  Samuel, in the First Reading (1 Sam 3:1-10), is set up - filled with prophetic knowledge of Eli's downfall, then commanded by Eli to tell him "every whit" (KJV), even though Eli doesn't need to be told.  The course of an epiphany is unpredictable.

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
 Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
Romans 16: 25-27
Luke 1: 26-38

Meditation for the 4^th Sunday in Advent

his name shall be called JESUS, for he will save his people: I will

bring them and plant them, and dwell with them forever*

“here i am,” she said, attending to the terrifying promise: but she

treasured these things in her heart

i still my soul and make it quiet,

like a child upon its mother’s breast*

my soul is quieted within me

o israel, wait upon the LORD*

From this time forth for evermore

glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy spirit

I will bring them and plant them, and dwell with them forever*

“here i am,” she attended to the terrifying promise: but she treasured

these things in her heart

as it was in the beginning is now and will be forever. hallelujah

This is the right side.

The Pharisees ask Jesus a question to test him, which he answers successfully. For test we should probably read embarrass or trip up, since the educated Pharisees most likely didn’t feel the need to be enlightened by an uneducated peasant. Jesus then asks the Pharisees how the Messiah can be the son of King David if David calls him “Lord,” a title of respect given my a son to a father, not the other way around. Jesus asks a question that the Pharisees cannot answer. Do we have a glimpse of the human Jesus here? One where, being annoyed at constantly being tested, Jesus decides to give his opponents a taste of their own medicine?  Like us, Jesus was human, he got annoyed, and laughed, and cried, and finally, died-though not finally, since he also rose again, and so will we, who put our trust in him.

What are words? Moses uses words, and in the face of them, God Himself relents.  The Pharisees throw words at Jesus, he throws other words back, and the Pharisees yield in wonder.  Our political leaders throw words at each other, and each side seems to ignore the other.  What causes one result to be different from another?

I was on the phone with the accountant.  The messenger said "Be present!"  But I have to collect the mortgages.  This year, it would take evicting some peasants.  Attend, indeed.

I was leaving a meeting. The messenger said, "Attend!" but you should see my schedule. I put my headphones back on and hit shuffle. Be present? I need diversion.

I was just on my way. The messenger said, "Attend! Be present!"

"Here I am," I answered. I was on my way somewhere, but the banquet shook me. Being present. Attending.

God takes Moses's statement, "What shall I do with this people? They are ready to stone me," and turns the image around: "Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink." How often do church people make the same pleas as Moses, throwing up our hands, complaining that others won't cooperate with what we think is the best for our community? It's apparent throughout today's readings that God's work does not always conform to our expectations. In today's Gospel, we learn that it might be better to change our mind and respond to God's call rather than to our own desires. As today's Collect says eloquently, God declares "almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity." How wonderful that our minds and wills can be changed by the overwhelmingly loving and merciful power of God!

Meditation:

We may view this week's lessons through the lens of management. Exodus relates how the Israelites threatened CEO Moses and COO Aaron with a strike. Working conditions disappointed, company cafeteria food was scarce, raises nonexistent. The team's faith in the mission waned.

The beleaguered execs acted quickly to regain buy-in. The divine mission had to be achieved. Their urgent appeal to the Chairman resulted in the release of funding for manna, which fell copiously from heaven. Halleluiah! The Israelites regained confidence in their leaders, the mission was saved and company stock soared.

Matthew illustrates that God's interpretation of best practices may differ from our own. Those who labor long in the vineyard, earning tenure and seniority, may expect a larger compensation package than that awarded to newcomers. Yet the rewards of heaven will be the same for all, early adopters and late, management and staff, and it shall be just.

Meditation:

There is a great deal of talk in the press and all about lately of what God expects. God's supposed works and will are part of our political scene in a manner and to a degree that those of my generation have never seen before. In my youth it was thought that a Roman Catholic could not be elected President of the United States because they might take their marching orders from the Pope. Yet now, we have multiple serious candidates who openly claim to be getting their orders from God. Sadly, it is a God that I recognize only vaguely and do not particularly want to be associated with, a God who might be made to fit in with the drowning of the Egyptians but not comfortably with the admonition of Romans, "Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister?" or that of Matthew's gospel, "How often should I forgive?...I tell you, seventy-seven times." This is not a time we can afford to be silent.

Meditation:For many years my devotions included the Psalter, a new psalm each day.  To pray this way is to encounter, as in today's psalm, #149, the dark side of the Force.  And to be invited to join in... frequently.  The psalms are not nice.  When I began to catch on to this, I began to look forward to prayers.  C.S. Lewis wrote a book on the psalms.  He notices their dark side too, finding especially wholesome the view sometimes expressed that certain evildoers deserve public shunning, and worse.  The more vicious kind of scandal-mongering journalist, he thought, should be pelted in the streets - though, he hastily adds, not with stones.

How, then, are we to understand today's Gospel (Matthew 18:15-20) - where Our Lord describes how to confront evil.  Carefully, he says, very carefully; and in the light of Psalm 149, one can see why.