"When All Means All"

 

Ready for Healing

This Sunday we watch as Jesus does something truly amazing. A man who was blind from birth is healed by Jesus so that he can suddenly see like everyone else! In later verses in John chapter nine, the blind man states to the Jewish leaders interrogating him "that no one in the history of the world had done such a thing". Some claim to have this same power today (and there may be a miracle out there of this magnitude that I have not heard of), but suffice it to say, it would be an amazing healing if we witnessed it as well.

However, this healing work of Jesus brought many in our story consternation and frustration. The disciples were shown that their Jewish Theology (supposedly based on Holy Scripture) was wrong. As we know from all of the Gospels, Jesus constantly challenged their poor thinking and theology on a regular basis. When the Jewish leaders discovered the healing, Jesus breaking yet another one of their hollowed traditions, they are outraged. In turn they look to put pressure on the family of the man (who were members of a Jewish Synagogue) to answer for this heinous crime!

Are you maturing in your Christian journey? Are you humble and teachable in your readiness to change your beliefs or their application when Christ's teachings are clearly in conflict? If you answer is "yes" then let me ask you a few questions:

· Was (and is) this a painful and difficult action involving a lot of courage and perseverance?

· Or was changing your thinking easy, painless, and comfortable?

The disciples of Jesus had a lot to lose and went through a lot of discomfort and pain to "lose their beliefs and applications" in submission to Jesus as their Lord. Holy Scripture makes it clear that to grow and mature in your Christian faith, one's beliefs, priorities, and actions will continue to change and readjust to him and his definitions of eternal life.

If your answer to the above question regarding maturity is "no" as a baptized follower of Jesus, then what does that indicate about you as his follower and his place in your life? What does that indicate in your approach to "Seek first the Kingdom of God"? Or is that just another one of those "suggestions" or "ideals" that we might consider?

If it was easy to mature in Christ, then everyone would do it. Like in ANY endeavor, if we aren't honest with our needs and refuse to put in the work, we will not be effective in anything we attempt or pursue. Do we want to be continually “conformed to the image of the Son”? The let’s expect it to be unsettling, challenging, and needing of courage. This in turn, opens us up to let go of needless anxiety and to know true peace.

The Blind Man in John 9:1-12 shows himself "ready to be healed" as a disciple of Jesus, and if you would like to know what that means, then I will see you on Sunday! (or Fr. Tom Youtube Channel - "Belief Readjusted"). Jesus heals and wants us to bring healing to the world around us. What joy awaits us when we trust him and his ways.

Towards Christ and His Kingdom,


Fr. Tom

Authentic or Contrived?

Performance and production can be manufactured; a growing, humble, and teachable heart is given only to those who seek it.

Came upon these verses today while planning services for the Season of Epiphany:

Micah 6:
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Humility and ceremonial precision can be faked; a character being shaped through the power of the Spirit, cannot. Remember what is most important to God as we seek to be spiritually disciplined and obedient to him. The Church of Jesus Christ does not need more moralists and religious sycophants who fit the Kingdom of God into their lives as it is convenient. God calls us to be humble and courageous followers of Jesus, no matter what the risks to our insecurities and need to find our worth using the values of the world.

Political Extremism

 A well-written article by the Dean of our Diocesan Cathedral in Springfield, IL.

Extremism - by the Very Reverend Andrew Hook

Breaking the Rules

 

When is it OK to break the rules?

I am thankful that I was raised in a house where I was taught manners and respect for other people. I was taught, in keeping with the teaching of Jesus to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. This kind of mutual respect and honor is in part what keeps any human group or human society from turning into chaos. Today, in the United States, in the broader sense of our popular culture and our national debates, good manners seem be the exception rather than the rule.

But at what point does a person’s or societies’ view of “good manners” or “appropriate behavior” become manipulative, unduly restrictive, and/or downright abusive? Every human family or group, no matter how large or how small, has unwritten expectations and “acceptable manners”. This does not mean that their definitions are healthy or to be adopted.

When Jesus came to live among us, he walked into both civil and religious structures with many assumed and expected manners and rules. Those under the power of these leaders knew the consequences of thinking outside of their holy and elevated rules and used their so-called prestige and knowledge for their own selfish desires. This not only bothered Jesus, but it also often infuriated him to the point of rebuke and at times even name-calling for specific theological application.

Jesus knew the importance of the Law of God in the Old Testament, and he knew the authority and power of the truths of the Old Testament Scripture in general. However, he also knew, that human rules, established to give limits and boundaries to facilitate structure and order, were to be contextually applied based on the core, Godly characteristics of righteousness/justice, mercy, and shalom as God had revealed it to his people.

However, those who love POWER over their love for God, revel in rigidity and simplicity – laying aside a patient, gracious, and thoughtful discerning of truth and error or right and wrong. Jesus never pursued the leadership of Israel to change them. They pursued him as a threat. When Jesus pushed back at their duplicity and parasitic behaviors, the Jewish leaders saw Jesus as a disrespectful, rebellious, and dangerous prophet. Of course, any prophet in the Old or New Testaments that pushed against corruption, injustice, or the disobedience to God’s Word also faced these same responses.

Our text for Sunday comes from the Gospel of Luke chapter 13 (see the link below). Jesus again, chooses mercy over the strict interpretation of current man-made applications regarding the sabbath. The RIGHT group, the POWERFUL group was non-too-pleased. But the powerless, marginalized, and ill woman who was healed were ecstatic and gave praise to God!

How might we be a people who give this “gospel” news and love to others who know only the marginalization and power structures so valued by the world? How can we avoid this kind of off-putting, Holy Spirit dousing, and selfish approach to leadership at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church? To the Church of Christ?

"Controlling the Rules" - Luke 13:10-17

Waiting on God

So, why is it so hard to wait for things? The first, although admittedly shallow, example that comes to my mind is a child who is waiting for Christmas to come. Finally, the week before Christmas arrives, and then Christmas Eve. Growing up, our family opened gifts on Christmas Eve. As a young elementary student, I found that day almost unbearable in its slowness.

And, yet, learning to wait for things that we so desperately want (or have convinced ourselves that we need) continues as a challenge (and often a problem) into adulthood.

We, the redeemed, are also called to wait: for God’s strength, healing, encouragement, and especially for the final return of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is with His return that we will know a final healing, joy, and the fulness of human life in reconciliation to God.

But the good news is that we are not alone. The human beings and central characters in the story of God's Covenant People also struggled with waiting on God - even when God miraculously delivered His promises in overwhelming and shocking ways. The reality is that our gracious and dependable God always keeps His promises. However, He is rarely in a hurry, nor is He often moved to placate our childish behavior.

In the sermon below, we look at the "waiting" required of Abram. May it comfort us to know that God is right in the middle of the "waiting" that consumes so much of this life, just like he was with Sarai and Abram. And, our Lord tells us - over and over again - that, in the end, our waiting will be well worth it.

Waiting on God - Genesis 15:1-6 - Video Sermon

Navigating the Heavenly

 

Have you ever heard the statement about certain Christians that they are "so heavenly minded, that they are no earthly good"? The idea is that the theology of some seems so focused on the future glory of heaven, that they tend only to emphasize the ethereal or spiritual. Thus, these believers are vastly detached or impractical about everyday Christian living and/or the needs of others around them.

However, many in response to this culture of "doing church" over-react (for a host of complex historic and cultural reasons) with a similarly poor approach to theology, believing only what is done practically and literally in this life matters. Helping the needy and marginalized and leading them to the American Dream = heaven. The End.

As our texts on Sunday (see below link) will emphasize, neither of these extremes is remotely scriptural. Our "heavenly mindedness" is what fuels our loving, earthy, and faithful living. We love others now as we will love them for all eternity. We are to be living examples, and a taste of heaven for those who are exposed to our transformed character and actions. We embrace the temporary nature of all of our material blessings and our wealth. When we die, we leave as poor and vulnerable as we entered.

But to live this new life, our old ways and perspectives (fueled and informed by the disobedient of this world) have to be put to death. Thanks be to God, our old lives and their rulers and authorities have been defeated, and in our baptism, we are given the power to be Christ to the world around us. However, we must claim and rely on this change in our character through the power of the Holy Spirit. It takes effort and determination to live in such a heavenly way.

 

 “Living Above it All” – Video Sermon, Colossians 3:1-14

Living or Fabricated?

 

Authentic people discern reality and truth as they present themselves, so that love and wisdom may be rightly applied. 

Inauthentic people create the narratives they must have, and then desperately try to manipulate others and situations for their own happy returns. One approach reflects the character of God. The other, the power brokers of this world.

Loving and Hating Truth

 

From Confessions, by St. Augustine, Chapter 23.