Look Deeper

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Baptist, Christ, Christianity, complain, God, Gospel of Matthew, gossip, Jesus, John, John the Baptist, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The gospel for this morning from Matthew, chapter 11, has Jesus comparing the people “of this generation” (which, ironically, could be ours) to children who sit around in a marketplace complaining about each other. His point, it seems, is that nothing seems to satisfy them; they jump to judgment no matter what is presented to them. When John the Baptist came “neither eating nor drinking” they said he was possessed of a demon (“crazy” in our parlance). Then Jesus himself came eating and drinking and they said he was a glutton and a drunkard. So what is it that they wanted? What is it that we want? Most likely it is someone who looks like us, dresses like us, talks like us and acts like us. We’re not anxious to be moved very far from our comfort zone. It’s interesting that just this week, my teacher, Cynthia Bourgeault, said that it’s very difficult to grow if we remain in our comfort zone. Jesus said the same thing in another way this morning:

Wisdom is vindicated by her works. (Mt. 11:19)

Do you believe?

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believe, Christmas, Direct relationship, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus, miracles, Nicholas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nicholas Day, Santa Claus, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There seems a direct relationship this morning between the feast of St. Nicholas which we celebrate today and the incident from Matthew’s gospel about two blind men who ask Jesus to have pity on them. We’ve already commented on the meaning of Santa Claus in our life which goes far beyond the material. As we know, St. Nicholas was a real person whose generosity and care lives on in Santa Claus, and the question is always one of belief in the power of that spirit to affect our lives. It seems, in fact, that every miracle includes an element of faith on the part of some major character in the story that is being recounted. The blind men shouted out to Jesus as he passed by them on the road, but it wasn’t until they followed him into a house and had a conversation – a personal encounter – with him that the real issue came to light. They were, by necessity, it seems, participant in the miracle that restored their sight. Jesus asked them a direct question before he acted; their answer sealed the deal. He asked: Do you believe that I can do this?

This seems a good reflection point for us when we are moved to ask for a large, or even a small, miracle from God.

Where to Build a House

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Earth Sciences, Flood, God, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus, Matthew, Natural Disasters and Hazards, Rock music, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, tornado

Reading the gospel this morning from Matthew about houses built on sand and rock brought to mind images of the terrible devastation in so many places in our country that were buffeted by floods and tornados this year. It is instructive to replay those images and listen again in my head to the people being interviewed on the news, people who have “lost everything” and are generally standing in the rubble of what was once their home. To a person, they recount their losses saying that they’re grateful because the only thing that mattered was that their loved ones were safe. Some said they don’t know what to do now, most spoke of rebuilding, but always – even through tears – they speak of gratitude to God for what matters: those they love.

It appears from this reflection that these people have not built their lives on things that do not last. Sometimes, it’s only when we lose what we call (and what truly are) our “prized possessions” that we learn what we can do without. But in the end, the good advice that Jesus gives this morning is what we need to pay attention to when we think about all this. He says:

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like the wise [person] who built a house on rock . The rain fell and the flood came. The wind blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse, because it was built on rock.

Living in the House of the Lord

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Advent, God, Gospel of Matthew, Isaiah, Jesus, Kingdom, Lord, Psalm 23, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The readings this morning are indicative of the two aspects of the Kingdom of God, namely the “here and now” and the “not yet”. The first reading from Isaiah the prophet (ch. 25) speaks of the future when, on the Lord’s holy mountain, all will eat rich food and drink good wine and no one will be hungry or thirsty any more. Jesus brings that vision into reality when, in Matthew 15, he takes pity on the crowds that have been following him because nobody has been thinking about eating and now it’s getting late and they’re out in a desert somewhere with no place to buy food. In one of the most familiar stories of the gospels, a few loaves and fishes become more than enough for everyone.

So is everything taken care of then? Was the miracle of Jesus that day enough to satisfy Isaiah’s vision? Not likely if we look at the statistics from around the world, or more to the point, around our own country where food pantries are hard-pressed to serve all their clients and the lines at soup kitchens get longer every day.

The psalm refrain for this morning is instructive, I believe. Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd psalm, is punctuated after each verse with the words:

I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Trusting that God’s promise is true for our ultimate destiny in the Kingdom to come but understanding that we are co-creators of that Kingdom in our day, we must follow the example of Jesus in two ways. First, we must wake up (a familiar theme in this Advent season) to the needs of those who hunger for food for their bodies or souls. Secondly, we must be willing to put ourselves out to answer the question that the apostles put to Jesus: Where would we get enough food for all these people? Living in the house of the Lord posts a challenge that calls us to mindfulness at every tick of the clock, in every encounter of our day. It seems a good day, then, to keep the psalm refrain as a companion all day, pondering how I perceive “the house of the Lord” and how I might take up residence there each day.

God’s House

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God, Gospel of Matthew, House (TV series), Jesus, Lectionary, Peace, Psalm 122, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, United States

This morning I read an alternate translation of Psalm 122, the lectionary psalm for today. I found it beautiful and replete with images worthy of reflection. I offer it as a streaming thought pattern instead of the normal way a psalm is written (in verses) because the progression of ideas from the “house” being a place, to the house becoming those who dwell there through the intermediary of God’s rule of love.

With joy I arose and went into your house when called to the worship of your name. I entered and now stand singing at your gates with all those gathered to worship and adore you. Your holy name becomes for us a blessed city, a place of peace that draws us deeper in, where people of every tongue and race rise up before the presence of your face and know and love the God of peace as one.

So in this hallowed space and ground your judgment and your rule of love become for us a kingdom. And may that kingdom come, your peace be done over all the earth, we pray.

Within the inner walls of heart and soul, and on the outer towers of human being, may peace descend, and be for everyone a fortress and a keep where nothing evil enters in. And this we pray now for the good of all, for all who are your house, your dwelling place forever.

“Wake Up Spirituality”

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Anthony DeMello, Christmas, Gospel of Matthew, Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, Jesus, Paul, spirituality, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

A wonderful Jesuit spiritual writer, Anthony DeMello, coined a phrase in the 1980’s that has endured to the present time. He called it “wake up spirituality.” Today’s readings could be used as a “proof text” for what DeMello was saying. Paul says to the Romans, “You know the time; it is now the hour for you to wake from sleep, [to] cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is short and not so sweet in his wording. He simply says: “STAY AWAKE!” We know that neither of these readings is suggesting that we “pull an all-nighter” but it was the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures that gave me the deepest insight into the power of today’s message. Although Paul intimates that being awake is more than just “being there” and recognizing the choice of good rather than evil, Isaiah’s vision includes a time when “they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” That’s pretty specific and full of transformative images. No going back from this time and place. No raising sword or spear against another because there are none left. They’ve been turned to more peaceful uses. And no training for war ever again. In this peaceable kingdom we will only find creatures of light, living as we were always meant to live, treating one another with unconditional love. What better way to spend this month in anticipation of Christmas? Waking up, staying awake, getting reading for the birth of love incarnate.