Sunday, April 13, 2014

Sunday, April 13, 2014 

Psalm 24 & 29  ( Palm Sunday)

Today I'm aware that for many of us in the Christian Church, we will be  recalling the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem  riding upon a donkey, amid the cries of Hosannas from some of his admirers.

As I look at these two psalms 24 & 27, I can see why the Church has seen fit over the years to associate the themes of these two ancient  psalms  of  God's glory  with the Entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem.

This picture of Jesus' entry is a statement that his Kingship is one unlike temporal secular  ones of human power and might, but rather one that is spiritual , based upon gentleness and peace, a humble sense of God working within the realm of Creation, within and transforming life . Likewise for the psalmist centuries earlier, he too sensed the Spirit of God moving in space & time. Psalm 24 might well be summed up, "The earth is the Lord's, who can ascend the hill? Lift up your heads, O gates...and the king of Glory shall come in!"

 Likewise in psalm 29, we read "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.... ": his voice is heard in thunder, blowing through the cedar trees, shaking the wilderness, and the people in the temple crying Glory!

I'm  currently rereading a book by J Philip Newell   Listening for the HEARTBEAT OF GOD...A Celtic Spirituality 1997 (published by SPCK, & Paulist Press) . He served at one point as Warden of Iona Abbey.   In a serendipity  way I find that these two psalms, and  Palm Sunday, and the thought of this book  converge and resonate with me. In fact I would recommend this book for any seeking or who are  wishing to refresh the roots of their faith.

-The Ven. Ken Cardwell

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Jeremiah 31:27-34

Jeremiah has been called by some the weeping prophet. In this passage it suggests that the God of Israel and the God of Judah has been with the Israelites consistently. Jeremiah was thought to have been a witness to the suffering of his people as his Judean civilization experienced devastation at the hands of their Babylonian conquerors who destroyed, dispersed or enslaved the Jewish religious and political leadership from Jerusalem and exiled most of the general Jewish population. 

This passage ends with the suggestion that God will create a new covenant with the people of Israel. It will be a covenant that represents renewal and hope as the people would come to intimately know their God and adjust their personal behaviour in accordance with this knowledge. Jeremiah likewise stresses that God will forgive his people of the sins that they committed in the past. This message might be a source of hope for many that have suffered from the devastation of military conflict and displacement in our world.

- Terry Rothwell

Friday, April 11, 2014

Friday April 11, 2014  

2 Corinthians 4:1-12

We are nearing the completion of a study of John Spong’s book, “The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic” in our adult study group at St. John’s.  Bishop Spong is a controversial speaker, and an equally controversial writer.  We don’t all agree, in our study group, with everything he posits. But that is not to say that much of what he says is good, and makes good sense.  One of the meaningful concepts Spong has drawn out of the gospel of John is that of light coming out of darkness, a theme that weaves its way throughout most of that gospel.

In this passage from the second letter to the Christians at Corinth, Paul elicits the same wonderful teaching.  The gospel you and I are called to share is one of light given to a dark world.  And Paul doesn’t stop here, but uses another powerful analogy to bring home his teaching.  He speaks of treasure stored in clay jars – not ours, but given to us by a loving God, who calls us to share this treasure – this light, if you will – with those who seek the light, and, I would add, with those who may not even know that they desire this light. 

In what ways are we able to share the light of the good news – this good news that proclaims the love of God for us, and for all God’s creatures?

- Rev'd Paul Kett

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Psalm 130, 131

Psalm 130, known to many as De Profundis (a translation of its first words) is a penitential Psalm, and one of the most famous.

I find the pain and yearning to be incredibly powerful, and very, very human. Along with the pain, though, there is hope - if we stick with it.

When we pray the Psalms we enter into a number of possible situations or moods, from joyful to furious. They are all feelings we have felt at one point or another, though. Perhaps even if our own state of mind is not reflected in Psalm 130, we can pray for those for whom it does. In this sense, our entering into the Psalm through prayer is an act of solidarity.

I commend to you this beautiful and haunting piece of music, "De Profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)" by Dead Can Dance. You might recognize the singer Lisa Gerrard from her solo output and film score work (Gladiator, Whale Rider).

- Matthew Kieswetter

Wednesday April 9

Exodus 7:8-24

1. When Israel was in Egypt’s land,
   Let My people go!
   Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
   Let My people go!
   • Refrain:
     Go down, Moses,
     Way down in Egypt’s land;
     Tell old Pharaoh
     To let My people go!
   • 
     

Well, Moses and his brother Aaron went to old Pharaoh, and told him that the God of Israel says, 'Let my people go', but old Pharaoh wasn't about to let his slaves stop work let alone go out in the wilderness to "celebrate a festival".   That brings us to today's reading and the first of ten plagues inflicted on the land of Egypt that eventually led to the Egyptians urging the Hebrew people to leave.  They are the same ten plagues remembered each year in the Jewish Passover Haggadah:

"These are the Ten Plagues which the Holy One, blessed be He, brought upon the Egyptians:  Blood. Frogs. Lice. Wild Beasts. Pestilence. Boils. Hail. Locust. Darkness. Slaying of the First-born.

The Ten Plagues by Chassidic artist, Shoshannah Brombacher.  Note:  Start with the fish in red blood and move counter clockwise around the painting.

As many Jewish scholars point out, the ten plagues can be understood as an "undoing" of the ten utterances of God in the story of creation.  The creation story moves chaos to order; the story of the plagues moves order to chaos.  

In today's bit of the story, the Nile River is the target.  Each summer the Egyptians could count on the Nile flooding and leaving behind rich, black soil that created a fertile green valley across the desert.  But the river that sustained life is now a source of death.  When it turned to blood, all of the fish died; this further contaminated the water and the Egyptians had to "dig along the Nile for water to drink".   Order to chaos.

In our time God's good and life-giving gift of water is threatened by plagues of our own making. For example, ground water is exploited by the bottled water industry. Lakes, rivers, and oceans continue to be used as dumping grounds; the month-long search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been hampered greatly by the sheer volume of garbage in our oceans.  In the midst of this chaos, there are international calls for the healing of our waterways.  Perhaps today we can pray with Brother Cathal Duddy, a Franciscan monk: We praise and thank You, Lord, for the gift of living water.  Guide us to use it wisely, learn from its humility, consume it sparingly, and protect its purity, so that with St. Francis, we may truly enjoy water.  Amen.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

1 Corinthians 14:20-33

How can we understand being a prophet in our day? There are some in the world that we might consider prophets: Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Theresa, Gandhi – people who critiqued the established institutions and struggled for justice. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul recognizes the gifts of prophets because they speak in a vernacular understood by all.

Though at first glance, it might seem that Paul is condemning the use of tongues in worship, he presents instead a warning: an excess of speaking in tongues should not drown out the need to interpret these words thoughtfully and carefully. Yes, he says, there is excitement in being touched by the Holy Spirit, but – as in all relationships with God – it is two-sided: God inspires by the Holy Spirit, but we as people must also take time and be patient to understand what is being given to us.

There is something to be said about the spontaneity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and we should not detract from the joy found in their presence among us. But spontaneity does not mean that we go blindly forward without thought for what might come ahead. We must recognize the unexpectedness of such a gift from God, we must reflect upon it as a doorway into God, and then we can go forward.  

-Josh Zentner-Barrett

Monday, April 7, 2014

Monday, April 7, 2014

Exodus 4: 10 - 20

In many ways, this is a very funny story!  It began in the previous chapter. Moses is having a conversation with a burning bush!!  God is speaking to him.  Moses’s first reaction seems to have been that he believed it was God speaking because he is said to have hid his face, afraid to look at God.  The funny part for me is how human, how like me, Moses is.  “Why me?!”, then “What makes you think I can do this?” (The Message 3:11)  He carries on with a classic “What if?”  “What if they ask me who sent me, what shall I say?” (3:13)  The task he is being told by God to do is overwhelming to Moses, but he doesn’t come right out and say No, or even admit his own fear; rather he suggests that God must have made a mistake, must not have thought this thing through!!

As God, amazingly patiently, answers his challenges,  Moses continues with his objections: “They won’t trust me. They won’t listen to me. They’re going to say, ‘God? Appear to him? Hardly!’ (4:1)  God then responds with what looks like a magic trick for Moses to use to convince his listeners. (Later we see Pharaoh’s magicians perform something similar - 7:11-12)

Now to today’s part of the story.

Finally, Moses names why he can’t possibly do this: “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.” (4:10)  He is so aware of his weakness and can only see his failure. Again, God is incredibly patient with him, reminding him that He is the one who made his mouth, who gives the ability to speak, and he promises to be right there with him.

Finally, Moses cries (I can hear the pleading and whining in his voice), “Oh, Master, please! Send somebody else!”  His reluctance exasperates God!!  Still patient, though “angry”, he says for Moses to take his brother with him; God will tell Moses who will tell Aaron, who will tell Pharaoh. Hilarious!! This clinches it.  Moses goes. I wonder why Aaron’s presence was better for Moses than God’s?

Funny scene to watch and listen to.  But sad too because it is so true.  I say I believe in God who created, and continues to create, everything in this whole universe, God who loves us and is “able to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine”, yet when invited to participate in His work, it is so easy to see not the possibilities but the obstacles.  It is almost reflex to say, “Me? No way I could do that!” (Is it really, “I don’t want to do that?”)  Easy to imagine all the things that can go wrong, how ridiculous I will look or sound, how risky it is.

God’s patience with Moses reminds me that He will be patient with me; BUT, he did not let Moses off the hook - I guess that means I’m not off the hook either.

Blessings

Ann Kelland