Midweek Meditation: John 8:12

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Fr. Peter

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

In the 8th Chapter of the Gospel of John Jesus says, “He who follows me will not walking darkness, but will have the light of life.” Following can mean two things, the light that comes from the source of life or the light that gives life and in this passage, it says both. Jesus is that light that comes from God and came among humanity, and He is the light that gives life to humankind. Our lives can never flower with the grace and beauty until we radiate that light of Christ.

The great Scottish theologian William Barclay suggests that follow has five distinct but interrelated meanings for us.

It is often used to describe a soldier following the orders and example of his captain. The soldier is to follow his leader wherever that leader will lead them. In this example Christians are soldiers, and we are to follow Christ wherever he may lead us.
It is often used to describe a slave following his master. Wherever the Master went, the slave would follow to be in attendance to him and always ready to spring into service and action when the teacher calls him. For us Christians, we find our joy when we follow Christ.
It is often used to describe the acceptance of a wise counselor’s advice. When a person is in doubt, they will often seek out someone to ask their opinion, and if they are wise, they will receive that advice. The Christian is the one who guides his life and conduct based on the counsel of Christ.
It is often used to describe following the laws of the place where one lives. To be a useful member of any society, one must follow the rules and laws of the pace where they live. Being a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Christian accepts the law of the Kingdom and Christ in how ones govern one’s life.
It is often used to describe the following of a teacher’s line of argument of following along with someone’s speech. As Christians, we must understand the meaning of the teachings of Jesus Christ. We must take the message into our minds and take the words into our memories and then transfer that to our hearts for real understanding.

If we are to truly follow the light, then we have to give ourselves over to the light, Christ, in body, mind, and spirit. When we walk alone, and in the dark, we can often stumble and even lose our way. We need the wisdom of Christ to lead and guide us along our path. To be followers of Christ is to walk in safety through life and then enter into his glory.

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Verse of the Day

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Fr. Peter

God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:12-17

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Let Your Light Shine

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Fr. Peter

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

In 1630, Puritan leader John Winthrop sitting on board the ship Arbella looked up the new city of Boston and her high hills, and it reminded him of this passage from the Gospel of Matthew, “You are a city on a hill.” Now this passage has been used by many people for many different reasons and to prove many various points, but what does it mean, from the Gospel standpoint to be the salt and light of the earth and to be set up on a hill?

For Governor Winthrop the hope was that this new colony, this new group of people, would set the example for generations to come all around the globe as a way to live, but he also cautioned that since the city was so high upon this hill, figuratively and narratively, that the world would indeed be watching and therefore we would be held to a much higher standard.

This passage come between the Sermon on the Mount and the programmatic saying of Jesus about himself and about those who would follow. It is a bridge between the two if you will that closes out one passage but also sets up what is to come in the next section. The Sermon on the Mount ends with a very personal saying, Jesus says “You who are persecuted,” before that Jesus is speaking in more general terms about people, “Blessed are those who…” What Jesus is saying here is you who are persecuted for my sake MUST be the salt and light of the world. This is an imperative statement, and Jesus is commanding those of us who will be persecuted in his name to step up. Not unlike what Governor Winthrop was saying in 1630.

There is an interesting turn of phrase happening in this passage, Jesus is speaking to people as individuals, but he is also speaking to the church if you will. You are the salt of the earth but not for yourself, and you are the light of the world but not for yourself, we have to do something with this salt and this light, or it will lose its saltiness, and the light will go out. If we exist only for ourselves or for those right around us, our mission will fail.

Each of us is called to be the light and the salt, but it is, in fact, the community, as a whole, that is being challenged to be the salt and the light to the world we must work together if we are to be an effective witness. The early settlers of Boston could have gone their separate ways, but their strength came in working together to build the city that survives to this day. No one person can hold off the enemy when the enemy approaches, but the community working together can.

Jesus is also not saying that the salty ones become the elites of the world as some ethical giants that must be obeyed, far from it. Salt adds flavor to everything; it adds that zest in food that enhances the flavor that already exists with the food. The Christian is to come along side and accentuate the work that is already being done, not judging the work or the workers, but adding zest to their lives.

It is only as the church genuinely proclaims the Gospel of Christ and that Christ is the Risen Lord, that is, not by just spouting mere theological platitudes, that the church can truly be the light and salt of the earth. The effectiveness of the witness of the church comes when the message is the message that truth is truth and that message and that truth are that God loves each one of us and sent his Son to show us the way.

The Christian life will not be easy, and Jesus addresses that directly at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are YOU when YOU are persecuted for my faith. He did not say blessed are those, as he does with all of the other passages, but this becomes personal for each one of us and each person listening. We must be that city on that hill, we must be the salt and the light of the earth, and we must be like a lamp in full view for all to see.

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The Sin of Partiality

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Fr. Peter

Apparently, religious freedom is under attack in America. I guess my head must be in the sand as I do not recall my right to practice my religion being infringed upon at all. My place of worship is still open, and we gather each Sunday morning at 10:00. We do not have to pass through armed guards or others shooting at us. I can pray wherever I like, inside or outside of my church. I was recently asked to pray at the start of a meeting for a local civic group, so I am not sure how and where religious freedom is under attack. Perhaps it is under attack because you cannot force your beliefs on me or you wish to be able to discriminate against me, or others, based upon your religion. Now that could be a problem.

Now I am a progressive theologian and believe that folks should be able to really so whatever they like as long as what they want to do does not infringe on what I want to do. I believe that is the fundamental definition of freedom. My right to practice my religion ends if I am trying to force you to think the way I do.

Last week I preached on the Sermon on the Mount. This is a remarkable passage of the coming together and the transformation of the law. The law of Moses was written on dead tablets made of stone. Jesus came, as he clearly states in the passage from Matthew that he has come to fulfill the law and by doing so the law becomes written on our hearts and thus becomes alive. The word of God is replaced by the Word of God. Jesus is the living example of the Word of God, and it is now his example that we are to follow not simply the law written on cold dead tablets that have disappeared.

So this brings me to Letter of St. James. James is often overlooked in the canon of scripture, and I think that is mainly because it is an in your face letter showing us the way to live. In the second chapter, James writes about the sin of partiality. We are to treat everyone the same regardless of where they come from or what their lifestyle is. This means we have an obligation, not to force someone to believe the way we do, but to help and assist them. Read the words:

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place, “while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

We are to show mercy to everyone. Notice that there is no mention of one’s safety or security we are to assist everyone. Show no partiality.

Americans have more freedoms than most people in the world and to hear my fellow Christians speak about how their faith is under attack while watching citizens in Syria and other places just make them look foolish. Your right to deny someone something based on your religion is not a right, discrimination is against the laws of the land and the laws of God.

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Verse of the Day

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Fr. Peter

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.

“Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Luke 6:24-26

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When the government makes a list

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Fr. Peter

While recently recovering from either the flu or an awful cold, I was searching Netflix and Amazon Video for a movie to watch. I stumbled upon the 2015 movie Trumbo starring Bryan Cranston, turns out this is a fabulous movie and one that definitely should be watched in light of what is going on in our government today.

The storyline follows the life of Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Screenwriter and a member of the Communist Party of the United States. The movie takes place during the tumultuous period of the 1950’s when we were so afraid of the Red Menace here in America we changed E Pluribus Unum to In God We Trust on the currency of the United States and add the words, “Under God” to the pledge of allegiance.

But it was also a time when the Congress of the United States, specifically the House Committee on Un-American Activities took it upon itself the power to destroy lives of Americans and to make lists of people they believed were un-American. The making of the list was taking place only a few short years after another Congress decided that Japanese Americans could not be trusted, so they were rounded up and put in Concentration Camps, I know we are not supposed to call them that, but that is what they were. Rather than fight the Red Menace we frightened America into thinking that her citizens, especially actors, writers, and directors were all part of the problem. That’s how it begins, you find a group, and usually a minority group, and you make things up or exaggerate things about them, and make other folks afraid of them.

On Friday, January 27, 2017 (Holocaust Remembrance Day) President Donald Trump signed an executive barring access to the United States of human beings, I know we are supposed to call them refugees but that just takes the humanity out of the equation, barring human beings from seven predominately Muslim nations entry to the United States. Many of these human beings have been vetted for more than two years. Have paid significant amounts of money, and some of them were on airplanes in the air, heading the safety in America only to find out that they would be sent back. If that is not bad enough permanent residents of the United States and humans with valid visas, who happened to be outside of the United States when the order was signed, were also denied access. Many of these humans have jobs and family here and have been cut off.

Apparently, there are scores of people from these seven countries roaming the United States plotting all sorts of heinous actions against us that it was important that we cut off everyone from coming. Coming from places like Syria and Iraq where a military operation of the United States under the last two Administrations caused the destabilization of the governments in the first place.

In the days following the signing of this heinous executive order, spokespeople from the regime have said, on numerous occasions, that the media that criticizes the President should just “shut up.” The President himself said in an interview with a Christian broadcast network that he believes the media is the opposition party, well yes they are. Otherwise, they would be called propaganda. Other spokespeople have said that Republican members of Congress need to get in line and support the President all the while, very quietly, generals and the Director of Intelligence were removed from the National Security Council to be replaced by Steve Bannon, senior counselor to the President and known white supremacist.

Now I was not alive in the 1950’s so I am not how successful the Hollywood Blacklist was in defeating the Red Menace but countless numbers, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, have commented that this executive order will do anything but keep us safe it will only turn up the heat of our enemies and maybe that is the plan. But placing the lives of tens of thousands of people we promised to help in jeopardy is not what made or will make America great. America is a country of immigrants, in fact, the President’s parents were both immigrants, and his mother was an illegal!

Friday, January 27, 2017, was a sad day for America. It created yet another list that we will be putting people on and on a day when we were supposed to pause and remember what happened the last time minorities were scapegoated we scapegoated another group of minorities.

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Verse of the Day

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Fr. Peter

Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure[a] for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you. James 5:1-6

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Monty Python and the Sermon on the Mount

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Fr. Peter

I am a fan of British comedy. I do not know why, most of the time I do not understand the type of humor, but there is something about it that I guess refreshing. They do not take themselves very serious, and they are not afraid to laugh at themselves. I am especially fond of the comedy of Monty Python. I was introduced to this troupe at a very young age and their comedy; I guess you would say had formed my sense of comedy in my life. From time to time we have to deal with rather serious topics from this pulpit, and we will get to that, but I use Monty Python today as an illustration of how what we think we hear we do not hear.

Without going into a defense of their movie “The Life of Brian” which is a story of a man called Brian, who lives in first century Palestine, and gains attention and a following. All Brian wants is to be left alone, but the harder he struggles, the more people follow him. I will not tell you how the movie ends so I won’t spoil it for you.

So picture this. The opening scene of the film. We are transported to first century Palestine. We are in the desert. It’s hot, lots of sand around, and a large group of people has come together at the foot of a small mound. A top of that mound is a man, dressed in white. Long hair and beard, not uncharacteristic of a man of his age and position. We are not told who the man is, so I will let your imagination run with it. He is speaking “Blessed are this group” and “Blessed is that group.” The camera pulls back through the crowd, back some 50 to one hundred yards. People are straining to hear what is being said and then someone yells out, “Blessed are the cheese makers?” It’s a question; the man is not sure he has heard correctly. Someone, who is dressed in fine linen with a slave boy holding a parasol over his head to shield him from the sun, obvious a man of great importance and learning. The man replies, “It’s not meant to be taken. Literally, he means all manufacturers of dairy products.” It’s much better with a British accent. The crowd seems content with that answer, and they continue to struggle to listen.

Next someone mentions the Greeks and that they are going to inherit the earth. Well, this sets off a fire storm of conversation, why the Greeks? Why not us? Then someone yells out, “the meek,” he said “the meek.” Ah, well that changes things.

The point of this illustration and the point of the scene from the movie is the further away from the actual event you get the more open to interpretation we become. The people listening were a hundred yards away, and they were only getting part of the story, so they filled in the parts that they needed too with what they wanted to hear. They were indeed listening the problem was they were not hearing.

When we approach any passage of scripture, it is important for us to leave our bias at home. This is not an easy task, and yes, we all have bias we are human after all. The Scripture passage we read this morning was spoken by an actual person, Jesus, to a real crowd of people standing in the desert in first century Palestine. But let’s go back a little further in time. Back to another mount and another speech.

Moses stood at the foot of Mount Saini and gazed up. The people who lived at the foot of the mountain believed that the mountain top was where God lived and if the mountain glowed red God was angry. We have all watched the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston; you know the scene I am talking about. Moses feels a calling to climb this mountain, to see this God they speak of. He arrives to find the bush burning, now we Christian look upon this Bush as an image of the Trinity, but Moses did not know this. God speaks to Moses and gives him the Law written by the very finger of God. The man climbed a mountain to receive the law of God.

Now, standing years later on a dune in the Palestinian Desert is the fulfillment of that law, not some burning bush, but the very, living and breathing Word of God. No longer is this Word contain on stone tablets to be carried around in a golden ark, this living Word of God is to be carried around in the ark of our hearts! And what he is about to share with those listening is how to fulfill that law.

Scholars agree that what we read here in Matthew’s Gospel and also what is written in Luke’s Gospel was not proclaimed at one time but is rather a summation of the teachings of Jesus. Be that as it may, these are still vital words from the Word himself. It is a list of the Blesseds or the Beatitudes, the way of life.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness sake, merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted for righteousness sake, and blessed when people revile you and hate you because of me. We have all been here at one point in time or another.

This chapter goes on to describe those listening as salt but cautions us not to lose our taste. Salt is bitter to the taste but is also an important part of life. Sure low salt is all the rage, but one cannot completely remove salt from one’s diet. When salt, us, loses its taste, faith, we become useless and should be cast out. We cannot lose faith; we must keep fighting for what is just and what is right.

Jesus then makes reference to us being the light of the world. I have used this illustration with you before so it should come as no surprise. We must be that light now more than ever. The forces of darkness are all around us, and we must be the ones that carry the light for justice and mercy for all people regardless of where they are from or what religion they are. Our job, and I have said this before as well, is to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted no matter who they are and no matter what color their skin happens to be. Blessed are the merciful, why? Because they will be shown mercy.

To be a flower of Jesus is to work to break down barriers, artificial and physical, between people. We are to work for justice and peace in the world, not just right here, but around the world. Blessed are the peacemakers, why? Because they will be called the children of God. In Verse 42 of this chapter Jesus says, “Give to everyone who begs from you and does not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.”

Give to everyone who begs from you. If someone comes banging on your door in the middle of the night and tells you people are after them and are going to try and hurt them, I hope you would let them come in your home and shelter them and try, as best you can, to assist them. There are people begging at our doors right now, and we have slammed it shut and turned our backs on them, and this is not the first time this has happened. Blessed are the merciful, why? Because they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, why? For they shall be called the children of God!

The end of this chapter Jesus tells those listening, and yes that is us, that we are to love not only our neighbor but we are to love even those who hate us and want us dead. He goes on to say that it is easy to love those who love us back he tells us the reason why we need to do this in verse 48 “Be perfect, therefore, as your heaven father is perfect.” To find perfection, we have to love everyone, and that means we have to care for them, help them, seek justice for them, work for mercy for them and treat them as if it was Jesus Christ himself standing right in front of us. Remember what he said, for what you do for the least of these you do it for me!

Friends, where are we in the crowd? Are we close to the front where we hear the words of Jesus clearly? God is still speaking I know this as certain as I know my name, but the question is, are we listening and are we hearing? We listen with our hearts, and we hear with our hearts and with our minds. When we listen and hear God speaking, we will hear His voice on our hearts that will compel us to do what is right, not what is popular, but what is right. Being a follower of Jesus requires risk, it is not safety that we look for when we say yes to Jesus. Mary said yes and that that yes could have cost her her very life. Peter said Jesus and that yes got him crucified upside down in Rome. Countless numbers of people have said yes, and it has cost them dearly, but the crown is worth the cost and the crown is worth the cross!

I know that we all come from different backgrounds and represented in this room are people all along the theological and political spectrum, but this transcends all of that. I hope that whether I have made you happy today or whether you are getting ready to nail me on that cross we can agree that love is the answer, love is, in fact, the only answer. It has to start somewhere so why not let is start right here and right now.

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Why I Still Have Hope

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Fr. Peter

Today is the day, January 20th, 2017, inauguration day when the peaceful transfer of power will take place here in the United States. I will be honest; I was not looking forward to this day. It is my firm belief that Donald Trump represents all that is wrong with America. I was angry at his election, and I was sad, but I got over it.

We had an election and my candidate lost. I should say, candidates, since I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary and Hillary Clinton in the general election. So I guess that makes me a two-time loser. We had an election and at 12:01 pm today we will witness the peaceful transition of power. At the same time, in the African country of Gambia, the former president, who conceded the election, refuses to leave office and the military has now been called in. Although President Obama and President-Elect Trump stand on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the power will transfer peacefully, and the sun will rise tomorrow.

I will not join the chorus of people who call Mr. Trump’s election illegitimate. I will not join in on the whole Russia got Trump elected nonsense. Maybe all of that will prove to be true, and there is a process in place to deal with that when and if it happens, that it how we do things in America. We have survived bad presidents, we have survived numerous wars, including a Civil War. We endured the Great Depression and many recessions, and we survived the worst terrorist attack on our nation on that morning in September of 2001. What makes America great is what we are witnessing today.

I will also not join in the chorus of people who say Trump is not my president. I am an American; I spent most of my adult life in the United States Army defending what we see today. Like it or not, Donald Trump will be the President of the United States and as such, will be my president.

I will also not join the chorus of people who say they will treat Donald Trump with the same respect that some in the GOP treated Mr. Obama. There needs to be an end to opposition simply because the president is from the other side. Loyal opposition opposes what they feel is wrong based on the needs of the country not just the needs of the party. We need a sense of doing what is right not just what is popular.

But, I support people’s rights to boycott the inauguration, they have to do what they feel is right and it happens every four years. I was not going to watch today, but I decided that I had too, this is a historic moment not only in the history of the United States but the history of the world. After all, we have been through as a country; we are still here.

Do I hope Donald Trump fails, on some things I certainly do? I hope his planned Muslim registry fails, I hope his wall across the Mexican border fails, I hope his plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement fails, and I hope his tax breaks for the rich fail. I hope many of his sections for Cabinet positions do not get confirmed, but do I hope Donald Trump fails; I do not. Do I hope he is a one term President? Yes, I do, but I do not want any physical harm to come upon him nor do I hope he fails. For America to succeed, everyone needs to work together.

But let me be very clear, I will resist the policies of President Trump with every fiber of my being on the issues that I feel need opposing. This is what the opposition does, it is what the Tea Party did the last eight years, and it is now what we will do the next four years. My faith drives me to care for those less fortunate and to be their voice, and that is what I have done, and I will continue to do. I did not always agree with the opposition these last eight years, but they have their beliefs, and I have mine, again, that is what has made America great.

Yesterday, Mr. Trump tweeted in all caps “the movement continues – the work begins!” He is right, the opposition movement continues, and the work of resistance begins.

So why do I have hope? I have hope because America is bigger than any one person or political party. I have hope because there is opposition, and I have hope because I have to have hope, I will not give up on America!

As I finish writing this, all of the players have assembled at the Capital, and the prayers have just started by the various religious leaders that have been invited. I offer my prayer for you, as I will for the next four years. Celebrate today, and get to work tomorrow for I will be watching.

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Christian Scholarship in the Age of Trump

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Fr. Peter

Messiah College history professor John Fea drew my attention to an article by Scott Culpepper who teaches history at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa on the subject of Christian Scholarship in the Age of Donald Trump. Scholarship has always been important but, in the age of fake news, scholarship is going to become crucial.

Since religion played such a significant role in this past election, it will be important that a moral voice remains active in the years that come. Reminders of our Christian responsibility to love one another and to care for one another and creation will be needed. The Evangelical voice that aided in the election of Mr. Trump is not my Christian witness and will continue to make my voice heard.

I am undecided if I will participate in the local march here in Boston the day after the inauguration. I firmly believe in protest, and that it does, in fact, change things, I am just not sure this particular march is for me. I was recently reminded that those of us who write also protest, and so I will continue to use these pages, and others, to voice my opposition to the policies of the Trump administration.

Here is just a selection from the article, follow to end for a link to the rest.

The times call for renewed conviction, creativity and courage on the part of Christian scholars. The masses may not know they need us, but they need us. The endorsement of popular influence as a virtue in the framing of our American republic was predicated on the hope that education and character formation would equip people to exercise their rights intelligently. No one is better prepared than Christian scholars and the institutions they serve to provide this kind of education infused with serious attention to character formation.

In a time when forces abound that pressure Christian scholars to adopt a posture of compliance to fit in, we need more than ever to stand up and stand out unapologetically. All clouds pass in time. When they do, a new generation will build on either the ruins or the foundations of the past. That generation sits in our classrooms today. We have the opportunity to model something very different from what they are seeing on the national stage in both church and state. May Christian scholars in the age of Trump have the courage to give the masses what benefits them rather than what has been mandated in their name.

The Rest