Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 24 Yr B Oct 17 2021

Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 24 Yr B Oct 17 2021

Job 38:1-7, Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37b, Hebrews 5:1-10, Mark 10:33-45

 

Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us, James and John ask Jesus. Arrange it, they say, so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory - one of us at your right, the other at your left. James and John ask Jesus for something Jesus has shown no desire to give, placing some above others. Or giving some more or better attention. But James and John are not ill-informed or ignorant. They’ve witnessed Jesus’ miracles and listened to his teachings. James and John are doing what humans do best, hoping and praying that the world has not and will not change as much as it already has and as much as they know it will. But there is no return for James and John to what once was after the heavens were ripped apart. There is no going back to life before the storm. 

 

This misunderstanding follows the third time in Mark’s story Jesus tells the disciples the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes and will be condemned to death. The disciples, even though this is the third time they’ve heard Jesus say this, find this news astounding, alarming, and frightening. And equally as astounding, I think it causes James and John especially, and the others as well, to be confused about their own calling, and who Jesus is. James and John seem to think this is about seating order at a party, not life in God's kingdom. They don’t seem to remember that Jesus has just taught them about laying down their life, or about what greatness looks like, or the words about being last of all and servant of all. And so Jesus has to tell them again. Jesus says, this is hard, are you willing to accept that? Are you willing to drink the cup I will drink? Are you willing to be in this all the way to the end? Are you willing to participate in this earth shaking change? Are you willing to receive my love, my gift, for your freedom? Because, Jesus’ love for us, God’s beloveds, washes over all of us no matter what.

 

For James and John and the other disciples, and for us, there is no going back to life before the storm. But we try. And we have been trying. Hoping and praying that the last twenty months are a mere blip in our shared life. That everything will return to normal when this is all over. Even a bump along this road of declining church attendance. We are more like James and John than we care to admit. We fall back on what we know—what’s comfortable; how the world always worked. The “used to be’s”. For James and John, that meant glory as hierarchy and power as prestige. For the 21^st-century church, it’s no different, with a bushel of denial of the truth and a doubling down on a kind of privilege our culture never should have exercised in the first place.

 

But the world changed for James and John. Jesus went to the cross. The world has changed for us. What once was, is not working anymore. We know that. Deep in our hearts and souls. And we don’t know how to fix it. There is no going back to life before the storm.

 

So we remember, Jesus’ love for us, God’s beloveds, washes over all of us no matter what.

 

Aren’t we a lot like James and John though? If Jesus were anything like me, and thank goodness he’s not, Jesus would say to James and John, since when did you think this was about you? Since when did you think this is about your power, your prestige, your privilege? It’s about Jesus’ love for us, and we are God’s beloveds. It’s about Jesus’ call to us to love our neighbor. Have we lost our way? We get frightened or confused about our calling as citizens of God’s kingdom, and we forget who Jesus is.

 

Jesus’ love for us, God’s beloveds, washes over all of us no matter what. The call that James and John seem to be missing is right there in front of them, and is really good news, whoever wants to be great must become a servant. In the household of God, no one can claim privilege of place; we are all adopted children by our baptism. Jesus asks James and John if they are willing to dive into the water with him. "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized." Jesus’ journey in the gospel of Mark began in the waters of the Jordan, in baptism, and that journey will be to the cross and resurrection. The grace in this story is that Jesus is the one who comes and shows the way of love, Jesus shows the way of vulnerability all the way to the cross. You see, speaking and acting in terms of who deserves what, who deserves health care or housing or hospitality, who deserves eternal life, who deserves to be on Jesus’ right hand, are so beside the point. The grace in this story is that Jesus, with his very life, death, and resurrection, puts himself in our place, in your place, and in my place, and says, everyone of you is worth my love.

Jesus’ love for us, God’s beloveds, washes over all of us no matter what.

 

You are God’s beloved. You are baptized into Jesus' life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Taking Jesus' cup is about diving into the waters of our own baptism, waters that bring the dead to life, waters that fill an empty soul, waters that give a heart the only thing worth living, and worth dying for. We get completely wet in these holy waters. There is grace in diving into the waters of baptism, and receiving the unconditional, undeserved, underrated love that is God’s love. When we take the cup that Jesus drinks, when we are washed with the waters of baptism, we, God’s beloveds, are called to respond to Jesus’ love, with love. We are called not to the seat of power, but to the posture of service. And our lives are made new, our lives are transformed, our lives become the wave of change. The wave of change, the wave of love, the wave of mercy, the wave of kindness. 

 

The world has changed forever, there is no going back to life before the storm. But remember that when the heavens were ripped apart, the Spirit was let loose into the world, descending from firmament’s fissure and into Jesus.

It would be that same Spirit who would be present with Jesus in the wilderness, on the cross, and in that cold, dark, and seemingly hopeless tomb.

It would be that same Spirit who would stir the hearts of Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome to go back to that grave and look death in the eye once again.

And it is that same Spirit who is in and among us, with us and beside us, calling us to change our perspective, to see what can be, to trust that the kingdom of God has come near and still is.

It is that same Spirit who is inspiring God’s church once again to lead from and preach the gospel we know to be true: our God is here. Believe in the good news.

 

Trinity Sunday Yr B May 30th 2021

Trinity Sunday Yr B May 30^th 2021

Isaiah 6:1-8, Romans 8:12-17, John 3:1-17, Psalm 29

 

We find ourselves at the time of our church year and our common life for that matter, when it seems like we are completing one thing and embarking upon another. The Sundays of Easter have come to a conclusion, we have celebrated the Day of Pentecost, although we call these days the Days after Pentecost, and we alight for just a moment on this, Trinity Sunday, our feast day, before we come to rest in the ordinary days.

 

That all sounds so linear, like we can finish up one thing and then begin the next. But you all know that I am not a linear thinker, and therefore in my mind, seasons have a tendency to overlap, or to extend, or to be hurried, but never to happily move in a straight line. That presents a bit of a challenge for me, a challenge to be fully present to the now. It’s good to look back and see where I’ve been, and to look forward to see what may be off on the horizon, but to let the anxiety of the past and the future be the present reality, robs the present of it’s grace. And this time around, that seems even harder. We’ve been through so much, and sometimes just want to get over with it all and get back to normal. 

 

But if we don’t pay attention in this moment, we’ll miss incarnation, and we’ll miss resurrection. In other words, being fully present to now, puts us in a position to see, hear, feel, God in our midst, the reality and the truth of God in you and me and in all of creation. Being fully present helps us to experience the wideness, the boldness, the tenderness, the compassion, of God. It is to be able to listen to God, and to subject ourselves to God’s authority. If our lives are a narrative, a story that we write with God, then God’s authority is as author, creator, maker. 

 

I do believe being fully present is a good way to experience this thing we call Trinity. The three in One, the One in three. Because Trinity is much more like a dance than a doctrine. Imagine, the God of the universe who creates, who authors, who makes, all that is, seen and unseen, who is love, exuberantly spilling over into what we call son and spirit. God being with creation, in the midst of creation, continuing to create, loving, healing, reconciling, speaking, writing the story. So how do we talk about Trinity?

 

Here is an example. I really love being a mother. And motherhood has changed for me these days. My children have grown up and are having their own children. I continue to love to watch Tom and Willie grow and deepen. Deepen in character, faith, expression and relationship. As their mother my heart breaks when they are in pain, and my heart soars when joy finds them. As their mother, I try to prepare them and support them both in their successes and their mistakes. My greatest hope is that they will grow into the full stature of Christ. And now being a mother has made me a grandmother. 

 

Even though my mom and dad have both been gone for years now, I’ll always be a daughter, and I’ll always miss my mom and dad. I’ll always hope that they would be happy for me. 

 

And then there’s being me. A woman who is creative, passionate, stubborn, compassionate, controlling, a woman who has good judgment sometimes not so good judgment once in a while, a priest, and now a widow. 

 

All of these, mother, daughter, widow, are always in relationship. Nothing I do, or think, or am, can be separated from the rest. I bring to this present moment all that I am, all that I have been, and all that I am becoming. It is the story that I write with God while responding to the joys and challenges life presents.

 

If that’s not Trinity, I don’t know what is. Trinity is at its essence relationship. It is relationship among what is, what was, and what shall be. It is relationship among creator, created, and community. Trinity is lover, beloved, and new creation.

 

I remember so very clearly the Sunday night youth group that the priest came to, to explain to us teenagers everything we ever wanted or didn’t want to know about the Trinity. I remember nothing else about that night, except that I left as confused as I had come.

 

Today I know that that is because understanding Trinity isn’t an exercise of the intellect. Nor is Trinity to be described adequately by our language, because Trinity does not dwell in the world of language. I think efforts to construct Trinity are woefully inadequate. Even the Nicene creed that we all recite by memory each week, which was compiled by men who tried desperately to describe what Trinity is not, is only a glimpse of what may be true. Because the real truth of Trinity lives in that part of us that is intuitive and relational. Trinity exists in the part of our humanity that yearns to be in relationship, that yearns to dance.

 

Theologians have written tomes about Trinity, I write only this. Trinity is the truth we find in the God who loves us so much to come into our lives as one of us, to be forever among us and forever before us. Trinity is the way in which our lives are lived in relationship, relationship that makes real the body of Christ. And Trinity is the life that is made absolutely new through our creator God.

 

Sharon Grover’s favorite hymns goes like this. “I bind unto myself today, the strong name of the trinity, by invocation of the same, the three in one and one in three. I bind this day to me forever, by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation…. I bind unto myself the power of the great love of cherubim…..I bind unto myself today the virtues of the starlit heaven… I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead.” We call upon the authority of the one who is creator, the one who created, and the one who gives new life.

 

We must bind ourselves to the strong name of the Trinity. We must bind ourselves each and every day to the chance for new life given to us and written for us by our Creator. I wonder what Trinity means for us, at Trinity? What is the new story that is being written as we come out of this extraordinary time? 

 

We must bind ourselves to the strong name of the Trinity, to the authority that creates us, redeems us, and makes us new creations. We must be fully present to Trinity, to the relationship that enfolds us, empowers us, gives us new life, and calls us from darkness to light, brokenness to wholeness.

 

In the name of the one who is creator, who is redeemer, and who is sustainer of all life, in the name of the one who is father, son and spirit, in the name of the one who is mother, daughter and compassion, in the name of the one who is Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver may we be present to the power that protects us, guides us, and gives us new life.

 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God: Come let us adore him. 

Day of Pentecost Yr B May 23 2021

Day of Pentecost Yr B May 23 2021

Ezekiel 37:1-14, Acts 2:1-21, John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15, Psalm 104:25-35, 37

 

It is so good to be together isn’t it. After all our isolation and so much loneliness of this past year, here we are together. Here we are, this particular group of Jesus followers, in this beautiful garden, gathering in the presence of the Spirit. And as we listen to the word, sing spirit songs, and revel in this togetherness, I want you to wonder about the Presence of the Spirit not only on this day of Pentecost, but also in this season as we move into ordinary time. And I want you to wonder about what the Spirit is doing. 

 

So first of all some things we need to know. In the gospel of John, Jesus promises the disciples and us that the Spirit will accompany us. Advocate, Comforter, Intercessor, Companion, Guide, Teacher, Helper, are all translations of the word Paraclete in Acts and in John. I understand the Spirit in all these ways and as the one who walks alongside of us and breathes the breath of God into us. The image in Ezekiel is powerful, in verse 4 and 5 we hear Ezekiel prophesy to the dry bones and say, “I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live!” This breath causes new life for the dry bones of Israel. This breath causes new life for what was dead.

 

The breath of the Spirit reaches all the way to creation, where in Genesis chapter 2 the Lord God formed humans from the dust of the ground and breathed into the human’s nostrils the breath of life, and they became a living being. We hear the reverse of that in the Psalm today, in verse 30, when you turn your face from God, your breath ceases, and you return to the dust. The Spirit shows up like a violent wind in Acts, calling the followers of Jesus together into community, and it reaches all the way to the promise Jesus makes to the disciples and to us, that we will not be left alone, that the Advocate comes to accompany us on the way of Love. 

 

In Acts, the Spirit gathers the community from far and wide for the Jewish harvest festival called Pentecost. The people gathered were people who had been dispersed, who had been isolated and alienated, who had returned to town for the festival, and God breaks into this moment. The Holy Spirit saturates the gathered community, not to recapture whatever they had done before, but to gather the community and to launch what becomes the church in a whole new direction. 

 

And the good news in John is that the disciples are not left alone, we are not left alone. This is Jesus’ promise. The one who walks by our side, accompanies us, guides us, helps us, holds us, is here and breathes new life into our weary and broken bones. The one who protects us and guards us, is here with us and is the breeze we feel on our cheeks. The one who reconfigures the desert with a violent wind is here reshaping us and our church into something new, something unrecognizable. Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet, says “stay in the spiritual fire, let it cook you.” Let it cook you, let it change you, let it bring new life to you.

 

We gather here on this day, for the first time we can actually look at each other. What is the Spirit doing? I wonder if we can we take our lead from Acts? Rather than recapturing what we have always done, what has always happened, can we let the Holy Spirit gather us and launch us in a new direction. What would that look like? What are the ways the Holy Spirit brings new life? What are the ways the dust of our isolation is regathered and animated in new ways? How do our bones come together with new sinews and new flesh? 

(solicit answers to these questions) Limitless possibility and dreaming.

 

What do you think the Spirit doing?

 

On this, the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church, we gathered all the big symbols together to remind us of who we are to whom we belong. We have the water of baptism, in it we are born again and called to be co-conspirators with Christ in the spreading of love in all the places. I choose that word quite intentionally, what’s in the middle of it? Spirit! We have the Easter candle, we lit it again with the new fire of Easter just fifty days ago. We sang “the light of Christ, thanks be to God.” The advocate, the spirit comes by our sides as we go out into the world bearing the light of Christ. We have the cleansing fire, the cooking fire, the fire that helps us shed all that is not of the spirit and life-giving. We have the dove, that shows us the Holy Spirit. 

 

And then we have some not so big church symbols that help us have fun in the spirit. Pinwheels and red things on a stick, and our clothes, that help us to not take ourselves too seriously. 

 

Spirit is ever creating, ever inspiring, ever co-conspiring. Spirit is ever burning, ever reminding us who we are, God’s beloveds. The Spirit will not leave us alone. Thanks be to God.

Feast of Pentecost Yr A May 31 2020 (Sunday after the murder of George Floyd, riots in Minneapolis)

YouTube video

Feast of Pentecost Yr A May 31 2020 (Sunday after the murder of George Floyd, riots in Minneapolis)

Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 20:19-23, Psalm 104:25-35, 37

What does one say on the Feast of Pentecost, a joyous celebration? This day when we celebrate Spirit, like the rush of mighty wind and tongues of fire. The Holy Spirit, the gift of God’s continuing presence with God’s beloveds, you and me and every one of us, regardless of the color of our skin, the lilt of our voice, the health of our bank accounts. What does one say about Holy Spirit, when my home, Minneapolis Minnesota, is under siege? (and my son is on the front line)

What can be said? Kyrie Eleison, O Lord have mercy.

Holy Spirt, descend upon us, meet the fire of human pain and want and need,

with your fire of justice. Kyrie Eleison, O Lord have mercy.

Holy Spirit, descend upon us, meet the fire of outrage at not being heard, not being seen, not being believed, with your fire of compassion. Kyrie Eleison, O Lord have mercy.

Holy Spirit, descend upon us, meet the fire of self-righteous privilege,

with your fire of refinement. Kyrie Eleison, O Lord have mercy.

Holy Spirit, descend upon us, meet the fire of destruction and looting,

with your fire of merciful judgement. Kyrie Eleison, O Lord have mercy.

Holy Spirit, descend upon us, meet the fire of hate,

with your fire of love. Kyrie Eleison, O Lord have mercy.

Holy Spirit, descend upon us, ignite the fire that was placed in us at our baptism, the fire to resist evil in all its insidious and racist forms, the fire to proclaim by word and example your Good News; the Good news that not one of God’s creations is outside of God’s love, the good news that Jesus is all in all. The fire that seeks and serves Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor, all our neighbors, and especially those who have been systematically excluded from a path of progress, as ourselves. The fire that strives for justice and peace among all people, the fire that respects the dignity of every human being. Kyrie Eleison.

How does one speak of the Holy Spirit? Very carefully. Like the murmuring of a dove’s song, like the rushing fire of refinement, a burning bush that is not consumed. If we took the Holy Spirit seriously, we’d all be on fire. So, we will stop speaking of the Holy Spirit, and instead, we will let the Holy Spirit have its way with us.

The kingdom of God imagines a very different future from the reality in which we find ourselves. A world in which each person can walk down the street and be safe, a world in which each person can walk into the grocery store and not be stalked. We must be on fire with the proclamation that systems must be just. We must be a part of the change. Holy Spirit set us on fire for justice, peace, and love.

Kyrie Eleison.

Day of Pentecost Yr C June 9 2019

Audio  Day of Pentecost Yr C June 9 2019

Acts 2:1-21, Romans 8:14-17, John 14:8-17, (25-27), Psalm 104:25-35, 37

Many of you know a few weeks ago I went to my synchronized swimming reunion. We watched the young girls who are synchronized swimmers now, swim their routines. Sitting in those bleachers just watching, I held my breath when they held their breath. Sometimes more than a minute under water, all while swimming tremendously hard. Fast forward quite a few years, and I am doing yoga. What do I learn? I'm stronger when I breathe. I can balance better when I breathe. My muscles stretch more freely when I breathe. An old practice being replaced by a practice that is much better for me at this time in my life.

Breathe in, breathe out. Strength, balance, flexibility. I invite you to close your eyes and breathe with me. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. Breathe out God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. The Spirit is here, in this room, Ruach, God's breath, soft and sweet, or the rush of a violent wind and flame.

"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability." Jesus is the one who receives the Holy Spirit from God and who pours it out on all those present, empowering them and us to be agents of healing, and forgiveness, and compassion.

The Spirit empowers believers, you and I, and I think one of the things the Spirit empowers us with is speaking God’s language, and hearing God’s word. Speaking God's language, words of grace, healing, and reconciliation, and hearing God’s truth of grace, healing, and reconciliation. What a miracle that would is. I can just imagine filling the room, this air and this space, so that it spills out into the street, and the neighborhood, and the community, with words of God's love, with words of God's grace, with words of God's healing and reconciliation. I can just imagine all of us going out into the world breathing out God's words of love, of grace, of healing and reconciliation. I can just imagine those words falling out into the air, and being breathed in by those who so desperately need to hear God's words of love, of grace, of healing and reconciliation.

It’s hard though, isn’t it? Many people have so little experience receiving words of love, of grace, of healing and reconciliation. People, maybe even us, are suspicious, or frightened. Paranoid, or perplexed. Pentecost, the gift of hearing God's word, Love wins. I choose to live in a world of Spirit, a world in which God's word surrounds us, and is in us, a world in which peace and reconciliation is in the wind and in the breath, and falls on each and every one of us.

And this Spirit transforms us. We are transformed together into a community of love that calls us into relationship, that calls us to live the way of love. You see, this Holy Spirit empowers us so that we may be agents of healing, and forgiveness, and compassion. God interrupts and intervenes in our world, through Jesus, whose Spirit empowers us to partner in changing the narrative. It’s tough out there, it’s tough to keep speaking words of love, of encouragement. It’s tough to keep speaking words that build people up instead of breaking them apart. It’s tough to keep our eyes and our hearts on the truth that each of us is beloved of God. But the Holy Spirit empowers us for this ministry of love. As we walk with Jesus, empowered by the Spirit, in this story of healing and reconciliation, this story of compassion, we leave love in our wake, we deposit words of grace, and our world is changed.

The Spirit transforms us individually as well. The Spirit not only blows into our lives, but seizes us and claims us as children. You are in this family because you have been claimed and named as one of God's beloved, and we cry "Abba! Father! That is your identity. You are God's beloved, you have been filled with Spirit, washed in water, marked with oil, claimed as God's own child, and that changes you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.

And the Spirit transforms us, blows in and through us, both in our community of faith and in our individual lives, for the purpose of loving one another. God's mission of healing and reconciliation is to love one another. The Christian life is to show forth God's love in the world, and to love one another.

We Episcopalians are a little timid about telling our stories of God, of our relationship with Jesus, a little shy about talking about the Spirit's work in our lives, a little embarrassed to tell others of our call to ministry by virtue of our baptism. But, this story of God’s love for us is the most important story, and a story we can tell. Your story tells of God's forgiveness, your story tells of the Spirit's movement, your story tells of Jesus' healing.

I’ve heard your stories of transformation. I’ve heard about heartache and healing. I’ve heard about death and resurrection. I’ve heard the Good News that God creates a new heart and a new spirit. I’ve heard that even when we fall so far that there seems to be no more hope, God raises us up, Love wins, forgiveness happens, healing begins. I’ve heard these stories from you. God changes the narratives of our lives and we tell a new story about our identity as God's beloved. Listen for these stories, tell your stories. Tell your story of God's amazing and abundant love in your life. Tell your story of feeling abandoned by God. Tell your story of feeling not good enough and yet being loved completely and absolutely. It is by the Spirit we speak God's language, God's words, God's actions.

As you tell your story, and as you listen for your neighbor's stories, you may hear a call to stand with one another in the work that God calls us to. You may hear a call to love one another. You may hear a call to action in places and with people that make you a bit uncomfortable. Listen, the Spirit is moving in this place.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. Breathe out God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. The Spirit is here.

Pentecost Yr C May 14 2016

Pentecost Yr C May 15 2016 Audio

When I was much younger, I was a synchronized swimmer. We spent a huge amount of time holding our breath, during practice and during the swimming of a routine at a meet. All that hard work without breath. Fast forward quite a few years, and I am doing yoga. What do I learn? I'm stronger when I breathe. I can balance better when I breathe. My muscles stretch more freely when I breathe. An old practice being replace by a practice that is much better for me at this time in my life.

Breathe in, breathe our. Strength, balance, flexibility. I invite you to close your eyes and breathe with me. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. Breathe out God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. The Spirit is here, in this room, Ruach, God's breath, soft and sweet, or the rush of a violent wind and flame.

"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability." What if the miracle of Pentecost was the gift of speaking God's language, and the companion gift of hearing God's word? What if the miracle of Pentecost today is the gift of speaking God's language, words of grace, healing, and reconciliation? What if the companion gift is actually hearing the truth of grace, healing, and reconciliation? Oh, what a miracle it would be. I can just imagine filling the room, this air and this space, so that it spills out into the street, and the neighborhood, and the community, with words of God's love, with words of God's grace, with words of God's healing and reconciliation. I can just imagine all of us going out into the world breathing out God's words of love, of grace, of healing and reconciliation. I can just imagine those words falling out into the air, and being breathed in by those who so desperately need to hear God's words of love, of grace, of healing and reconciliation.

It is harder for me to imagine the companion gift, the gift of hearing. That I think is the harder part. So many people have so little experience receiving words of love, of grace, of healing and reconciliation. They are suspicious, or frightened. Maybe paranoid, or perplexed. But I do think that is part of the miracle of Pentecost, the gift of hearing God's word, Love wins. I choose to live in a world of Spirit, a world in which God's word surrounds us, and is in us, a world in which peace and reconciliation is in the wind and in the breath, and falls on each and every one of us.

And this Spirit transforms us. We are transformed together into a community that calls others into relationship, that calls for turning around and changing our ways. We hear in Acts, that your sons and your daughters shall prophesy(i). Remember a couple weeks ago I talked about the idea that the book of Revelation, and prophesy in general, is not about foretelling the future. But it is so much better than that. It is about having the power to change the narrative. No longer must our story be one of destruction, we can give up our destructive ways and instead with God's help, build and create a new way of being. No longer must our story be one of power and greed, we can give up our greedy ways and instead with God's help, build and create a generous way of being. No longer must our story be of isolation and alienation, we can give up our isolating ways and be in relationship with God and with others. As we walk into this new story, this story of healing and reconciliation, this story of wholeness, we leave love in our wake, we deposit words of grace, and our world is changed.

The Spirit transforms us individually as well. The Spirit not only blows into our lives, but seizes us and claims us as children. You are in this family because you have been claimed and named as one of God's beloved, and we cry "Abba! Father! That is your identity. You are God's beloved, you have been filled with Spirit, washed in water, marked with oil, claimed as God's own child, and that changes you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.

And the Spirit transforms us, blows in and through us, both in our community of faith and in our individual lives, for the purpose of loving one another. God's mission of healing and reconciliation is to love one another. The Christian life is to show forth God's love in the world, and to love one another.

We Episcopalians are a little timid about telling our stories of transformation, a little shy about talking about the Spirit's work in our lives, a little embarrassed to tell others of our call to ministry by virtue of our baptism.
But, these are important stories, tell them. Your story tells of God's forgiveness, your story tells of the Spirit's movement, your story tells of Jesus' healing.

Just the other night I heard an Episcopalian tell a story of transformation. I heard about heartache and healing. I heard about death and resurrection. I heard the Good News that God creates a new heart and a new spirit. I heard that even when we fall so far that there seems to be no more hope, God raises us up, Love wins, forgiveness happens, healing begins. God changes the narratives of our lives, we tell a new story about our identity as God's beloved. Listen for these stories, tell your stories. Tell your story of God's amazing and abundant love in your life. Tell your story of feeling abandoned by God. Tell your story of feeling not good enough and yet being loved completely and absolutely. It is by the Spirit we speak God's language, God's words, God's actions.

As you tell your story, and as you listen for your neighbor's stories, you may hear a call to stand with one another in the work that God calls us to. You may hear a call to love one another. You may hear a call to action in places and with people that make you a bit uncomfortable. Listen, the Spirit is moving in this place.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. Breathe out God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. The Spirit is here.

Pentecost June 8 2014

Audio 6.8.2014

We tell each other stories all the time. We tell stories that are funny and that are sad, we tell stories to entertain and to inform. Some of our stories are great and some are pathetic. By telling our stories we come to understand ourselves better, and we come to know each other better. 

And although some can tell a mighty fine story, none of our stories are as good as the one we share together. That is the story that Love wins. 

And that story goes like this. God, who is love, who is creator of all that is seen and unseen, who promised to be in relationship with creation, who became human, who lived and loved and suffered and died, who rose from the dead and gives you and me the gift of new life and the spirit, that God, loves us absolutely and abundantly. And God's heart's desire is that we love God back by loving each other, by loving ourselves even when we believe we are unlovable, and by loving those who seem outside the possibility of our love. 

This story of God's love is a story that is in process. It is a story that began with the dawning of time and will continue until the fulfillment of all time. It is a story that lives deep within our hearts and our minds. It is the story that gives you and me our identity, it tells us who we are and to whom we are related. Your story, my story, our story, belong within the story that Love wins. It is a story in which we are brought out of fear, out of bondage, into freedom. It is a story that brings us from old creation to new creation. We move from a self-centered story to a God-centered story. It is the story that transforms us. It is indeed the greatest story ever told.

The Day of Pentecost is an important event in this story. The setting of the story is The Festival of Weeks, a joyous celebration of the spring harvest. Jewish people from all over Israel and many foreign lands came to Jerusalem. Peter and the rest of the disciples were at the Temple bright and early. The air was probably very still and hot, I understand Jerusalem summers are not windy. The huge crowd that was gathering  at the Temple expected nothing unusual. But . . . suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting! You've felt that wind, sometimes it blows so persistently we think it may drive us crazy. And then this amazing thing happened, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in languages they didn't even know, as the Spirit gave them ability. As the story is told, this event happened on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus, therefore we have Pentecost, meaning the fiftieth day.

The Holy Spirit is God's gift of presence, God's presence in and among and through us, and that gift happened then, but is also happening now, and will continue to happen. The Holy Spirit is God's gift of assurance,  that God is with us and always will be with us. The Holy Spirit is God's gift of wisdom, of knowledge, of faith, of healing, of discernment, God's gift of the Holy Spirit is wide and broad and diverse. As the story is told, the Holy Spirit can be seen and heard.

It is said that Pentecost is the birth of the church. It is a new chapter in this sacred story of which we are a part. Today we observe Pentecost as all of that, we observe Pentecost as we give thanks for God's gift of spirit, in and through and among us, we give thanks for God's gift of the church, which is one way we express our relationship with God, and God expresses relationship with us. 

I think the challenge of Pentecost is to not let it get caught in a one day observance and to not make it about individual gifts. The Holy Spirit is clearly about the story we share together. 

The challenge of Pentecost is to let it, along with incarnation, resurrection, and ascension, narrate our life, change our life, transform our life. The challenge is to find ourselves in the story of God's abundant and amazing love for all people at all times and in all places. 

How does God's love, God's life, God's spirit include each and every one of us? If indeed Love wins, and I believe with all my heart, my soul, and my life, that it does, how does that transform my story, and your story? What it would be like if we, all of us here at St. Andrew's would tell our stories about how we have experienced God's love in our lives. I think we would be transformed, I think we are being transformed. What is your story that brings you here today, to this place of spirit, of love, of bread and wine, of communion, of brokenness and of healing and forgiveness? 

What is your story that brings you to faith and to doubt? Your story is part of the story that Love wins, your story is part of the story of Pentecost, your story is part of the story of the church, in all it's glory and with all it's warts. What is your story? It is part of God's story.

You see, all of it is about God's story that has the power to change our lives, and is changing our lives. God's story of Love, and life and suffering and pain and joy, and wandering in the wilderness erecting idols, tearing down those idols and loving one another and loving God back in the midst of our very imperfect lives, that is all happening here now, through the power of the spirit.

And now I am going to tell some of your stories, even though they are not my stories to tell.

You are a young married couple, this chapter of your life is just beginning to be told, you know God's love in your lives, and you want to be able to express that with each other and especially with the new lives you have brought into this world. You come to this place, because you see joy on the faces of those who love God back, and you want to be a part of that. 

You are in the middle of your life, your story is already well into the middle chapters, you have raised your children, sent them out into the world loved and cared for, and you are excited and anxious to discover what all of that means for you. You come here, because here you know that there are people who love God back.

You find yourself single in the middle of your life, your story too is in the middle chapters, but nothing like the way you thought it would go when you were in the early chapters. You continue to search for meaning, you continue to find your way among the missteps and mistakes you have made. You know that you must return to others the kind of help you received along the way. You come to this place, searching for something, and what you find here is people who love God back.

You are seeing the fulfillment of your life, the end chapters are being written. You look back to the early chapters with love and longing, you look to the middle chapters with nostalgia, you live in the loneliness of life without your partner, you wonder where the time went. You give of your time and your talent as a volunteer at the hospital, or building houses, or through the schools. You come to this place for comfort, belonging, stability, and what you find here is people who love God back. 

This is Pentecost, this is church, 

this is Holy Spirit, people who love God back.

6 Easter Yr A May 25 2014

Audio 5.25.2014

Rick and I were married 30 years ago this November. If your math is as good as mine, that makes it 1984. We met through YMCA camp, I was the waterfront director and he was a camp counselor. But the point of this is baseball. When Rick and I met and were dating, we went to the Metrodome for Twins baseball. Now, in those days, I rolled my eyes at baseball, boring! And actually fell asleep during baseball games. But I went, because he seemed to enjoy it and I loved him so I went. We got married, and had kids, and brought our kids to the Metrodome for Twins baseball. As long as the kids could walk under the turnstile, they were free, we packed our own hotdogs in our picnic basket, and got to the dome early so we could sit way down in front, or on the third base line to watch batting practice. Before the game began, we'd move up into the nosebleed section into our own seats. I grew to love baseball, our kids love Twins baseball. These days, the only reason we pay for cable is to get FoxSports North, to watch Twins baseball. It's crazy what we'll do for love. 

In the fifteenth chapter of John, following what we hear today is, "This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." And what we have from John this week is a follow up to what we heard last week. John is reminding us, you know how to do this, love is hard, and you can do hard things. John reminds us that love is about a relationship, love God, love yourself, love others. And in John, Jesus reminds us that we will not be left alone, love is a hard thing after all, and so Jesus gives the Advocate. Advocate is one way to translate the Greek word, Paraclete. Paraclete can function relationally by designating one who brings help, consolation, comfort, and encouragement. All of these meanings however, derive from the most basic meaning of the word to “come along side another.” My friend Ted Huffman, pastor at First UCC downtown, was telling me that there was a time when a person who was standing for trial literally stood in the box the entire time. A Paraclete is the one who stands with, the one who holds up, and the Paraclete was the one to come along side to help the person stand throughout the trial, and if needed, to stand in for that person. This is the image that John evokes in this passage, this is the truth of what Jesus does in this passage. Jesus shows us what God's love for God's people looks like, we are not left alone, we are not left to our own devices. 

What is hard about love, is that our world has led us to believe that love is about a feeling. Love is the same as romance, or passion, or sex. Love comes and goes. You can fall into and out of love. But that is not this love that God commands, that is not the love that this story shows us. A real love story is a story that shows a relationship that endures, a relationship in which the lovers treat each other well, respectfully, compassionately, lovingly, even when they don't feel like it, even when they don't want to. A real love story is a story in which a father pushes his son's wheel chair for the whole race, so that the son will know what it is like to run. A real love story is when one friend, who is blind, puts his friend who has no legs, on his back and they go about living life together. A real love story is when a couple watches baseball together, because they've grown to love baseball together. 

Love is holding another person up, when all we want to do is fall down. Love is holding another person up when it seems impossible to stand another moment. Love is standing there for another person, speaking on behalf of the other, being the voice for the voiceless, love is showing up. And it is hard, so Jesus leaves this Spirit, this Advocate, this Paraclete, with us, we are not left alone. 

Love is hard, and you can do hard things. Have you ever known that Spirit, that Advocate, that Paraclete coming along side of you? This Spirit, this Paraclete is hard to identify. But it lives somewhere in the wind and the flame of compassion, of grace, courage, faith, peace, laughter, music, strength, and joy.  

Love is hard, and you can do hard things. When is a time when you have wanted to just lie down and die, but someone came by your side and held you up? When have you been broken and spent, and someone came by your side and gave you words of encouragement? When have you been ready to throw in the towel, when have you been ready to call it quits, and someone came by your side and said, that's why a baseball game is nine innings. When have you stood by the side of one you love, when doing so may have seemed doomed. 

An understanding of Advocate is "to speak on behalf of another." In John, this is a manifestation of the third person of the trinity that is different than the more familiar Spirit, wind or fire. The Advocate will stick up for you, and you will stick up for others. You will bear witness, you speak on behalf of love, you will stand by the side of the other or the beloved, you will hold one another up, because you can do hard things, because God loves you, and because Love wins even when the Twins don't.

Alleluia, Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia.

Pentecost Yr C May 19 2013

Many people have asked me how I'm doing with the Taize event so close, and with leaving for the sabbatical so close, and my response has been, I'm breathing, breathe in, breathe out, it's really all I can do right now. I invite you to close your eyes and breathe with me. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. Breathe out God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. The Spirit is here, in this room, Ruach, God's breath, soft and sweet, or the rush of a violent wind.

"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability." What if the miracle of Pentecost was the gift of speaking God's language, and the companion gift of hearing God's word? What if the miracle of Pentecost today is the gift of speaking God's language, words of grace, healing, and reconciliation? What if the companion gift is actually hearing the truth of grace, healing, and reconciliation? Oh, what a miracle it would be. I can just imagine filling the room, this air and this space, so that it spills out into the street, and the neighborhood, and the community, with words of God's love, with words of God's grace, with words of God's healing and reconciliation. I can just imagine all of us going out into the world breathing out God's words of love, of grace, of healing and reconciliation. I can just imagine those words falling out into the air, and being breathed in by those who so desperately need to hear God's words of love, of grace, of healing and reconciliation.

It is harder for me to imagine the companion gift, the gift of hearing. That I think is the harder part. So many people have so little experience receiving words of love, of grace, of healing and reconciliation. They are suspicious, or frightened. Maybe paranoid, or perplexed. But I do think that is part of the miracle of Pentecost, the gift of hearing God's word, Love wins. I choose to live in a world of Spirit, a world in which God's word surrounds us, and is in us, a world in which peace and reconciliation is in the wind and in the breath, and falls on each and every one of us.

And this Spirit transforms us. We are transformed together into a community that calls others into relationship, that calls for turning around and changing our ways. We hear in Acts, that your sons and your daughters shall prophesy(i). Remember a couple weeks ago I talked about the idea that the book of Revelation, and prophesy in general, is not about foretelling the future. But it is so much better than that. It is about having the power to change the narrative. No longer must our story be one of destruction, we can give up our destructive ways and instead with God's help, build and create a new way of being. No longer must our story be one of power and greed, we can give up our greedy ways and instead with God's help, build and create a giving way of being. No longer must our story be of isolation and alienation, we can give up our isolating ways and be in relationship with God and with others. As we walk into this new story, this story of healing and reconciliation, this story of wholeness, we leave love in our wake, we deposit words of grace, and our world is changed.

The Spirit transforms us individually as well. The Spirit not only blows into our lives, but seizes us and claims us as children. You are in this family because you have been claimed and named as one of God's beloved, and we cry "Abba! Father! That is your identity. You are God's beloved, you have been filled with Spirit, washed in water, marked with oil, claimed as God's own child, and that changes you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.

And the Spirit transforms us, blows in and through us, both in our community of faith and in our individual lives, for the purpose of loving one another. God's mission of healing and reconciliation is to  love one another. The Christian life is to show forth God's love in the world, and to love one another.

We Episcopalians are a little timid about telling our stories of transformation, a little shy about talking about the Spirit's work in our lives, a little embarrassed to tell others of our call to ministry by virtue of our baptism. But, these are important stories, tell them. Your story tells of God's forgiveness, your story tells of the Spirit's movement, your story tells of Jesus' healing.

Just the other night I heard an Episcopalian tell a story of transformation. I heard about heartache and healing. I heard about death and resurrection. I heard the Good News that God creates a new heart and a new spirit. I heard that even when we fall so far that there seems to be no more hope, God raises us up, Love wins, forgiveness happens, healing begins. God changes the narratives of our lives, we tell a new story about our identity as God's beloved. Listen for these stories, tell your stories. Tell your story of God's amazing and abundant love in your life. Tell your story of feeling abandoned by God. Tell your story of feeling not good enough and yet being loved completely and absolutely. It is by the Spirit we speak God's language, God's words, God's actions.

As you tell your story, and as you listen for your neighbor's stories, you may hear a call to stand with one another in the work that God calls us to. You may hear a call to love one another. You may hear a call to action in places and with people that make you a bit uncomfortable. Listen, the Spirit is moving in this place.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. Breathe out God's joy, God's spirit, God's Word. The Spirit is here.

The Feast of Pentecost

We often talk about the Feast of Pentecost being the birth of the church. It's not about the birth of the church as we know it today, in our contemporary minds we often equate church with the church building, and church with institution. But these readings don't point us to buildings or institutions, they point us to people who are filled with the Holy Spirit. People who become followers of Jesus. People who know that in their lives, Love wins.

Indeed, today I think Pentecost is about breaking out of the framework, and being about God's reconciling mission in the world. Pentecost is about being a follower of Jesus and doing it together, with other people on the way. And for us, it is about doing it in this peculiar and particular way as Episcopalians at St. Andrew's. As I've been reflecting on church, and as I've been influenced by a few "top ten" lists I've seen floating around blogs, I've come up with my own "ten reasons to do church." They are actually in no particular order.

1 Church is where there is always something to eat, and everyone gets fed. We know our risen lord in the breaking of the bread, we know our risen lord in the sharing of a meal, we know our risen lord in the hearts and the faces of those we feed as well as in the feeding. Something mystical and amazing happens when we are made Jesus' body through the sharing of a meal. We are made whole, we are put back together, we are joined with God and with one another.

2 Our liturgy, what we do when we are gathered together, makes sense of our lives. Because many of us live hectic and full lives, we make room for silence. Because we need a language for worship of that which is not us, we pray with words and symbol, we pray with music and song, we pray in order and in chaos. Because when the pain gets too hard to bear, we have a place to put it here, in this place. And when the joy and gratitude bubble over, there are others to catch it and share it.

3 No matter what you believe, there's bound to be at least one other Episcopalian who agrees with you. That one is not really mine, it's from Robin Williams, who is an Episcopalian. We engage in the very important skill of theological reflection. We engage the world, and we consider it through the lens of scripture, tradition, and reason. We read scripture together, we learn about its context, we talk about it, we even argue about it, and we make up our own minds as to how we live its call in our lives. You don't have to check your mind at the door. And no matter what we gather around the table and eat together anyway.

4 People love one another. That is an action, not necessarily a feeling. We treat each other, and all those who come looking for acceptance, with dignity and respect. And when we don't, we ask for forgiveness and are granted it. This is a vision of the kingdom. In God's kingdom, all are loved, all are cared for, all are forgiven. In church, we fall short but that continues to be the vision.

5 Children are always welcome, old people too, and gay people and straight people for that matter, and ordinary people, and extraordinary people. God loves everyone, no exceptions, and church, this church in particular, lives that out. Again, not perfectly, there are times when we forget who we are, we forget that our number one priority is to welcome all as Christ welcomes all.

6 There are some important times in people's lives that we pay attention to: birth and baptism, marriage, death, and even the times in between, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, times of sickness and suffering, times of joy and celebration, comings and goings. We pay attention to these times because it is often at these times the time and distance between us and God, us and the others in our lives, thins. It is these times when we lift our hearts and our voices to give God praise, to ask for strength and courage, to turn to one another for support, not because we have to, but because it is what our humanity calls us to. We talk to God and with one another in the words that come into our hearts and our minds, and when we cannot find the words to say what needs to be said, we turn to our Prayer Book. We turn to the words that have been said and prayed through the years, the decades, and the centuries. There we can place our joy and our sorrow, and know that we are held in the awesome presence of our Creator God, our Father and Mother God, our loving God.

7 We show up consistently, we listen, we tell the truth, and we try, hard as we might, to let go of the outcome. This one is the foundation of all ministry. We show up. That's a tough one these days. There is so much that demands our attention. There are many, many things we could be doing besides coming here to do this each Sunday morning. But we know that it's not about having the time to come, none of us really have any time, instead, it's about knowing that to be whole people, we need to stop for a few moments, stop and listen to God and to one another. We show up.

We listen, we listen to God's word, to one another, sometimes you even listen to me, I try to listen to you. We listen in the silence of this space, we listen to the cacophony of the marketplace, we listen to the music of the spheres and the music we make together. We listen.

We tell the truth. How hard is that? The truth that God loves you no matter what. The truth that God came and comes into this created world to walk with us on the way. The truth that there is pain and suffering and sometimes life just sucks, but we are not alone. The truth that in Jesus life, and suffering and death on the cross, Love wins. The truth that nothing belongs to us anyway, the truth that we are stewards of God's creation, stewards of our children, stewards of this beautiful building, and we live in gratitude for all of it.

We let go of the outcome. See number eight.

8 We recognize that God is God and we are not. We are not the center of the universe, we are not the hub of the wheel, we are not the most important of God's creation. We are interdependent, we are one part of a mighty creation, we are not in control. We let go of the outcome.

9 We recognize that we are transformed by God's amazing and abundant love in Jesus Christ. The relationship that God has with us changes us, the relationship we have with others changes us. We begin to look more and more like people of mercy and compassion, we begin to look more and more like people who feed each other, who feed the hungry. We begin to look more and more like people who miss the mark, ask for forgiveness, and are loved regardless.

10 We go out into the world as followers of Jesus, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, and to visit the imprisoned, see number 9. We embody mercy and compassion, we listen to God's call in our lives, we seek to get on board with what God is already blessing. We recognize that God is the greatest healing and integrating force in an increasingly fragmented world. We understand that it is our call to be the peace makers, the light bearers, the agents of healing and reconciliation in the world.

So there's my ten reasons for church, and for this church. On this Feast of Pentecost, I ask some questions about the future of the church. How do we keep ever reforming, ever emerging? How do we find a way to speak in a language people can understand? How do we stay nimble, that is, how do we respond to the global nature of the world in which we live, and how do we respond to the ever more instant communication that people have in their hands and at their disposal? How do we help people to see that true freedom is in relationship with God, with Jesus, with the Spirit, and with others?

I have ten answers, see above. Love wins. Amen.

6 Easter Yr A

Each one of us lives in a web of relationship. We are mothers, daughters, siblings, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, friend. In each of these relationships there is a degree of intimacy, isolation, and alienation. I want you to imagine today your most intimate relationships. The relationships in which you are free to be fully who God created you to be. These are the relationships in which when apart, the beloved is on your mind and in your heart, and when together, you may sit in companionable silence. This relationship may be your spouse, or maybe a child, or maybe a parent, or even a friend. This kind of relationship is a glimpse of what the gospel writer John tries to show us when he uses the verb abide. John writes, "you know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." "And then, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." The verb abide describes the mutual indwelling of God, Jesus, and the disciple whom he loves. This evokes a particular Johannine sense of divine presence and companionship. What John shows us is a picture of intimacy, and that picture sits next to a picture of transcendence on our mantel, and together give us a glimpse of the totality of the love that God has for us.
 
Before the cloud, before google docs, before apps, before the internet, even before every household had books, before every one in a civilized society could read, was art. In frescos on church walls, in stained glass, on massive ceilings, were the stories of our faith. The artwork showed us who we are and to whom we are related. In those days, there was a painting of Mary, nursing her son Jesus. In fact, there were many depictions of Mary nursing her son Jesus. This is an intimate view of mother and child, of savior of the world and the one who bore him. So intimate indeed, that it is very very rare for us in this time and place to even see it. As women's bodies were objectified, these intimate depictions showing the nourishment and nurturing that Jesus received at his mother's bosom were removed. In it's place was the violent image of the cross. But it is the nourishing and nurturing image that John's gospel evokes for us, the intimate incarnated image in which we are in the father and the father is in us. It is this image of wholeness, not of brokenness, the image of interdependence, not isolation, the image of healing not of fragmentation, that abides in John's gospel.
 
The gospel passage we read today is a piece of John that follows after Jesus telling the disciples about the new commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. And that when they do so, everyone will know that they are Jesus' disciples. And that follows after the last supper of John's gospel, and at that last supper, Jesus washes the disciples feet. Jesus' disciples, you and me, take Jesus into our bodies. Jesus' disciples, you and me, have our feet washed and wash other's feet. Jesus indeed abides in us, if that's not intimate, I don't know what is.
 
All of this conversation in John's gospel takes place at the table in the upper room on the night of Jesus' betrayal. So in the context of a meal, in the context of foot washing, is this intimacy that is nourishing and nurturing. The intimacy of abiding is enlivening and sustaining. It calls us to be fully present. It calls us to be fully in the "here" not somewhere else, not "there", not in the future, not in the past, not somewhere else, but right here. In fact, God can't bear to be without us, not one second, God tells us that our "here" is all right here, the way is less about where you are going, than what you are being. Jesus says I'm right here, Jesus says I am the resurrection AND the life, I AM the way. Right here right now, and yet the disciples will abandon the here because here is so very difficult. They and we have become so good at "there" and not very good at "here". They and we arrive at the "Heavenly Holiday Inn" without ever having really made the journey.
 
The word Advocate in John means the Spirit, and it is in this place of being fully present that the Spirit finds us. As we pay attention in the here, in the present, and not so much to what the reward is at the end, whenever that end is, last week, next year, or the undetermined future, we are are thrust into the intimacy of relationship. We look the others who are here with us on this journey in the eye, we sit with them in these pews, we stand next to them in the grocery line, we see them sleeping under bridges, we serve them dinner at the Mission, we visit them in the hospital, we disagree with them at the dinner table and across our fences. And in them, like in every one of us, abides Jesus, God, Spirit. Being here, means acknowledging that truth, and for many that is so very hard.
 
What's so hard about being fully and completely here? What's so hard about the journey? It's the difference between entering into what is right in front of you, the immediacy and the intimacy of the incarnation, which is sometimes mighty scary, or keeping that incarnation cradled in the manger, never growing, never changing, never challenging, never imagining, never redeeming. It's the difference between worshipping Jesus in the beauty and the wonder of church, and looking into the eyes of the people you meet and serving Jesus right here. Maybe it's the difference between talking about all the different ways to pray and actually sitting in the quiet and centering yourself and listening to the still small voice. Maybe it's the difference between talking about feeding people, clothing people, and loving people, and actually doing it. Here, not there. Here, not then.    
 
I am actually not sure what it looks like to live in the here, not there, because it is a challenge for me as well. I am distracted by what's next, what's new, what's down the road. I think that's partly why I love to read science fiction, it's often all about what may be, albeit a judgement on what is. I have had to be very intentional about sitting still and listening, I have been much more comfortable on the move, fidgeting when asked to sit for long periods, getting up and pacing when I have to listen to long lectures, much longer than this however.
 
But, being in the here, being in this intimate and incarnational relationship with Jesus, God, Spirit, is transformative. At the clergy retreat I attended in Arizona a couple of weeks back, one of the fellows talked about "making camp." I realized that is just what I must do, what we must do. Making camp is about being fully present, it is about being here, not there, it is about seeing exactly what and who surrounds us, it is about giving thanks for that and not lamenting where we aren't or what we don't have, and when we make camp, God knows where we are, and we are transformed. Making camp is about gathering around the campfire, or the dinner table, roasting marshmallows, breaking bread together, sitting in companionable silence, making room for the Spirit to abide in us. And as the Spirit abides in us, we are transformed, we look more and more like God's image, we treat others and serve others with mercy and compassion.