Wealth beyond our dreams

 We are presented on a daily basis with everything that we ever want if we could pay for it. What do we do? We tend to buy what we can when we can or even when we can't and go into debt so that we can have what we want. Be it a car or a house or a phone or a boat or... Then we moan about the debt or about the burden of paying it back, we very rarely think about the future at such times. If we do think about our future then we ensure that we have plenty of financial worth to live of in our retirement years. We give no thought about others in the community and even if we have wealth we tend to ensure that what goes out has some form of benefit to us in the end, whether through recognition or eventual investment payback. The reality becomes all about us rather than anything else and our thinking whether it is in spending or saving is for ourselves much like the rich landowner who saves everything for a rainy day (Lk 12:16-20).

Is this what God wants of us or is this what we have always done and continue to do despite being called into a different mode of living? Paul, seems to indicate that this is what we always do prior to our accepting God's presence through Christ into our lives (Col. 3:6-10). These are the things that are meant to have been stripped from us in our acceptance of the way of Christ. Yet, in our own hubris we have not neglected these but in some ways we have increased their hold on us. We are conditioned by the society we live in not by our enduring faith. For us, as Christians it should be the other way around, we should be conditioned by our enduring faith rather than by the society around us. Yet, over multiple generations the communities that we live in have taken up the understanding that we hoard our wealth rather than use it for the greater good. There have been very few societies that have looked at the greater good of the individuals rather than at the selfish needs of the individuals. In doing so we have engendered this greedy outlook so that justice and peace are purely symbols of something that is unattainable and a constant future state.

We lavish our wealth on ourselves and neglect God's presence in our lives. Yet, God is the one person who persists in loving us irrespective of our neglect of God. God's lament of faithlessness is seen in Hosea  (11:1-9) and how the persistence of love for God's people continues on despite our movement away. God's love is a total outpouring into the world and in favour of those he loves (the whole of humanity who are made in God's image). We are asked to mirror that love in Christ and in action within our own circumstances even if it means beggaring ourselves for the sake of God. In doing so we are being faithful to God and knowing that God will be faithful to us and not allow ourselves to be forsaken. This is a difficult road to walk as we are putting ourselves into the hands of the unknown rather than our own wants and wishes and the comfort of what we have earned. Even when we are on the cusp of wealth and peace within our own lives we must still look beyond to those who are unable to afford what we have. It is pointless for us to hoard our worldly goods when others are being impoverished.

We want it all for ourselves and not for the other

In the Gospel parable, there is nothing about giving to those beyond or outside the community. It is based within a rural community much the same as that which Ruth and Naomi entered. It means that there were rich and poor living cheek by jowl, just as we have in this community and in our surrounding communities. Tragedy strikes at the heart of our comfortable life but is more prominent when it is away from us. We think we are doing our best by contributing towards the other that is apart from us whilst neglecting those that are closest to us. In the story and the context of the time the wealthy person was encouraged and expected to contribute to the welfare of the community. The stored grain was not going to go anywhere except for distribution on his death. There was no point in hoarding it. There is no point in our own hoarding whether it be toilet rolls or our finances or our love, we cannot spend it in the end. We are thus asked to put our love and our lives and our wealth to care for those in the community beyond our own circle.

The covenantal presence in Christic love

 Today all we have to do to attract attention is to proclaim something is fake news. Some politicians are adept at this easily drawing attention to themselves. Then what happens is that everyone and I mean everyone follows what is happening. That really is all we have to do proclaim something is false or fake and we will have all sorts of people visiting us. However, as Christians we build on foundations of honesty and the truth. Of course there is the question of whose truth and what teaching is false. The Colossian's letter is quite specific regarding the fact that we must be constantly on our guard against 'hollow and delusive speculations, based on traditions of human teachings' (Col 2.8). So, how do we tell who is right and who is wrong in terms of how we speak of God.

There are those who will speak of biblical inerrancy and even those who will suggest that there is only one way to read the scriptures whether from the original texts of the Hebrew bible in language or from the New Testament in Koine as they are God inspired. Problem is that when we start to pick apart the scriptures and cherry pick what we believe then we are subject to our own interpretations of the text that is 'God inspired'. In looking at this we need to understand that all of our interpretations are 'fake' Good News as we are not God nor are we necessarily God inspired in the way that those who wrote the scriptures (as some would believe). So what is the criteria that distinguishes our interpretation from fake news and its continual draw upon ourselves and the truth that we proclaim.

Do we prostitute the Gospel for our own purposes?

If we look at the prophet Hosea (1.2-ff) we can see that despite everything, his love for God, determines his course. It is a course that would have brought all sorts of stigma onto him and yet just as in the Gospel (Luke 11.5-10) there is a persistence in Hosea's living and loving arrangements. He is upright before God and is deep within his covenantal relationship. So when we come to determine between fake and Good news we need to look for that persistence in the covenantal relationship with God. In other words we have to ask whether our whole character is based in Christ whom we have taken on in baptism. It is our foundational relationship that is of prime importance as it is this that has to be grounded in Christ (Col. 2.7). This is the important understanding that it is in Christ who is Jesus and not the other way around. The importance of God is paramount when we come to speak of the Gospel. Once we start to place the humanity of Jesus before Christ we begin to lose our way and proclaim those things which are part of our misunderstanding and thus part of that which is Fake.

In the Lord's prayer, which is a reiteration, in some respects, of the shema, we re-insert ourselves into that covenantal relationship as we ask God for his presence in our daily undertakings. This is the covenantal persistence that we require to ground ourselves in Christ. In doing so we reiterate the relationship that is found in the Godhead. In undertaking this relational movement we become part of the body of Christ, not Jesus, and bring God's light into the world. In communion with each other we join the hospitality of the Godhead around the table and invite those that are external to ourselves into relationship with the community that is embedded in Christ. This community which may become the Church, is one that portrays the truth of Christic, covenantal love by accepting all no matter who they may be for it is not for us to bring judgement. Only when we are in as deep as Hosea can we understand the presence of God that is fully present.

Seeing humanity

 Martha and Mary are quintessential displays of opposites within the scriptural challenges that appear in the Gospel passages (Lk. 10.38-42).  In looking at this passage all sorts of reasons are given for the reason for Christ's saying that Mary had chosen the better part.  In some respects all are quite right and it is very dependant on our own circumstance as to how we will interact with the implications within this small vignette.

Perhaps, for me it is the way that the two women are in their being which is of importance rather than what Christ is doing or saying.  Martha is for me the epitome of  many wives and partners who are house proud.  I am not saying anything against this, in fact I am reminded by Martha of my wife.  Whilst she was alive we enjoyed, immensely the opportunity to entertain friends and colleagues around the dinner table.  Often I would be the cook for these occasions whilst she would make the table arrangements and  insist that every nook and cranny was dusted and cleaned to perfection.  There was none of this sweep it under the carpet or close the door on the untidy aspects of the house.  The house was swept and cleaned from top to bottom prior to the guests arrival.  I would often despair at the minutiae and detail to which she was prepared and insisted on going to on behalf of the guests.  It helped that she kept the house appearance clean in the first place.  For me this is Martha.  A woman who worries about the state of things prior to and during the guests stay in the house.  It is a celebration of the household and the person takes pride in offering first class hospitality to the stranger and friend alike.

I am in contrast somewhat like Mary.  I am content to be with the guest or the company (if I were not cooking), not as an entertainer, nor as a conversationalist but by the pleasure of being with, listening and contributing to the peace and companionship of the moment.  My concern was that the food be delicious and that I could spend quality time with our guests, irrespective of who they were. I often became frustrated with the pedantism  of my wife in the lead up to a dinner or having guests around.  It was not that I did not see the need for a clean house and a neat appearance, what I objected to was the fuss.  I am quite content to ensure a clean appearance but I don't need to make an overt effort just because guests are arriving.  My kids and the family live in the home, it is not a show house, we are here to be with the guest not to showcase the house as if it were an object for sale.

In this story, we must remember that it is Jesus that they are entertaining.  This is something we often overlook when trying to come to grips with the interpretation of the story.  We automatically see the entry of the Christ and make an assumption that this illustrates Mary's understanding of the Christic presence.  Let us see the humanity on display when we look at the episode not the presence of God/Christ.  This for me is an emphasis on Jesus' humanity and the interaction that is happening at the human level.  If we delve into the fanciful footwork of seeking the spiritual in every reading we fail to accommodate the more basic human reality that brings us into contact with God. It is here in the simple humanity of two people in company that brings in the Christic presence not the fact of Jesus 'the Christ'.

Interacting with a person takes energy, is this why we only see individuals? (www.lifehack.com)

This simple interaction of a person with a person, when we engage with the other as a person not as a label, denies our tendency to ostracise and individualise everyone.  If we do not see this in our lives, we become the same as the Israelites that Amos rails against (Amos 8.5-6) who are only after their own individual success and not the concerns of the person.  Our day to day dealings are with individuals who have no personality or rather whose personality is of no consequence to us.  Until we realise for ourselves the need to come into conscious communion with our neighbours as ourselves, look them in the face and see them for themselves, we will be unable to find Christ and God's gracious presence in our lives. We burden ourselves with our day to day concerns, as Martha did, whilst not attending to our day to day interactions that happen in the present not the future.  The presence of God is in the present, this is where we live. Mary sees the person of Jesus in the present and therefore sits before Christ.  It is not that Mary sits before Christ who happens to be Jesus, this is the wrong way round as it means that Mary is seeing an object not a person.  Although Dr Ike, from Global Ethics, is talking about leadership and followership his quote equally applies to each of us on a daily basis:

 "The bottom line for leadership and followership is not always the emphasis on what I have but rather on who I am. Not what I learnt from others but rather on what I taught.  Not what I received, but rather on what I gave.  Not what I pulled out and took but rather on what I put in. Not what I accumulated, but what I shared.  Indeed and worthy of thought, not even on how or what I lived, but what I left behind.This is the challenge."

Neglecting the plumb line

 We all enjoy the stories and the parables that are in the bible and one that has become  something of a commonplace saying in our society is that of the "Good Samaritan". We even have groups that call themselves Samaritans who do good works. So when we say someone is a 'good Samaritan' we automatically think back to Christ's parable in Luke's Gospel (10:25-37). However, this story has no real impact in today's world as it's meaning is to a certain extent known and applied as a descriptive to people in society. Attempts have been made to re-cast the story so that it has made more of an impact, such that in the modern world we might substitute 'LGBTQIA+ person' or 'Refugee' or 'Russian soldier' to try and make an impact depending on the audience. Yet, we know the story so the impact is often lessened irrespective of how we choose the protagonist. The shock factor is gone from the edgy story that Christ tells in his community. So what does the story and the other readings tell us for the modern day?

When we walk through the community or when we engage with the community it is always a specific group that we interact with either friends or else others that we know through some means or another. It is not often that we interact with strangers to and within the community. That is simply because we are often unaware of their presence or else we like everyone else in the community shun them. They are often thought to be beneath us or are tolerated within the community because they are doing an essential job. In some instances it is because they are doing the jobs that no one else wishes to do. They are those that pass unnoticed, for whatever reason, through the community and society in general. It is also of note to suggest that many of these will also profess 'no religion' but certainly not all. In a manner of speaking these are often the outcast of society those that are untouchable. It is not those that are within the system, so to speak, that are the ones that are demonstrating the presence of God. In reality it is often those that are on the inside who have lapsed into inattention and require a shock to the system to enable them to participate with God.

So, who is your neighbour?

I pause to note an article by Rev Sempell referring to the conservatism in Sydney and suggest that this ultimately reveals the loss that we have when we neglect the outsider that Christ uses to illustrate the point in the Samaritan story. It is clear that we often do not take note of that outsider and are more often prone to look only at the priest or the scribe as they make their journey past the wounded man, more importantly we should change the gender of the wounded person to make this point. Even when Christ tells the story we are left to wonder the ethnicity of the wounded man (sic). Is it indeed a case of like looking after like or as we seem to have surmised is it the other looking after the other and opening themselves up to that love. By committing ourselves to our own self portraits of what it means to help the other or even listen to the other we seem to limit our ability to reach out. What is fascinating about this is our loss of 'bums on seats' and the increased number of 'nones' (who used to be 'none of the above' meaning the normal list of religious affiliations) who almost see this as another 'religion'. The disillusionment that has been increasing has increased the number of those on the outside who we should be listening to rather than disregarding whilst bemoaning their loss. Perhaps, it is our own laissez faire attitude to our faith that has allowed this to occur and demonstrate that we too are among those who pass by the opportunity to engage with the other to bring healing and love.

The plumb line that God (Amos 10:7-9) has taken out is the one that matters and we cannot disregard those who say otherwise. We cannot afford to be dismissing of the voices of the other (Amos 7:12-13) but rather we need desperately to listen to those who are not part of our little group in the world and try to find that open ground that allows us to listen as much as speaking about what God can do for the other. It may well be that we will find that each of us is travelling towards God in different ways but all of us still have Christ at the centre rather than the laws that we enact and that we formulate and that we control our lives by. God calls us out to the other to bring the Kingdom of God near to them by willingly ministering and showing God's love in our lives rather than preaching what we do not necessarily live. 

Following the new possibilities

  We all have our faults and sometimes those faults exacerbate our poor relationships. Unless the fault is pointed out we often believe that we are doing nothing wrong and yet our relationships continue to suffer. The repair may become something simple as it was for Naaman who was asked to wash in the Jordan but balked because it was not a river of his own country (2 Kings 5:10-11). We often find our faults within our own religious experience as we have a tendency to push our own views on others so that we look as if we are in the right or at least in a position of spiritual and faith authority (Gal. 6:13). I feel that this is often where we go wrong in terms our walking with God and proclaiming the Gospel in the world. Certainly when the missionaries went out into the world from London and conquered the world for Christ there was much harm done as a result of their thinking. In a manner of speaking we too have inherited the gifts of fault from our forefathers in how we look at spreading the Gospel.

We really need to look at the sending out the disciples in a new light (Luke 10:1-24). This is not so much as radical as practical and is as such radical in a manner of speaking. We always talk about doing mission but what is that in terms of the Gospel? There are reams written on missiology or the study of mission and how it is undertaken. There are a number of Theological degrees in Missiology or contain aspects of Missiology. I am no means a missiologist but it seems to me that Christ instructions are either lacking or simply superb for our modern day. There are no detailed how to paragraphs in the passage around the sending out of the disciples either in Luke or any other Gospel. There are really only about four things stay where you are, eat what is set before you, heal the sick and tell them that the Kingdom of God has come near. In other words become accepted into the community without disrupting and live as God intended you to live. There are no commandments around worship, around proselytising or anything other than to be ourselves and in doing so heal those around us. Yet, this is the hardest thing to do because we cannot allow our behaviours to disrupt relationship but rather create relationships in the presence of God.

Just think for a moment about the political life of the Anglican church here in Australia when we think of harm being caused as a result of our belief systems. In some sense there is a tendency by some to focus on the narrow aspects of the law and cling to this as if it is a lifeline while others seek God's presence in difference so they can out reach to those who are in need. Neither are wrong but the way that we as a group behave by creating the polar difference, we are enacting that which has gone before. We are not asked to place our burdens on others but rather to heal and relieve the burdens that others carry. We cannot heal if we ourselves are imposing restrictions and the means to bring healing into the world by our increasingly polarised views. No matter how we go out into the world Christ asked us to bring God's love not our own views on who or what God is or the restrictions we place on ourselves as a result of our own viewpoints.

Walking with God does not have to be alone

If we are to think of ministry and mission in these terms what does that actually mean for a community such as ours or any other community that believes in God? Some would I am sure tell you that you should be gearing up for a group effort to go out and bring the Gospel to those around us. How? Well obviously going house to house and telling them about God and talking about the Church, which Church? Well the Anglican, one of course! The Catholics and others have all got it wrong. However, I do not think that is what Christ and God actually call us to. Christ gave himself to new life, not a re-hashing of what has gone before. We need to re-look at ourselves and say what is it that does not appeal to those around us to such an extent that they do not want to worship or come together? Perhaps, it is not that they do not want to participate but feel that our anchors in the past are too much to overcome. Perhaps they are just looking for a normal life but with love. Perhaps its wanting to explore new understandings without being tied to traditional ways and yet profoundly show God's love in what they do. Perhaps you are called by God into something new which others deem as not us. If so then perhaps you need to find God's Spirit and be encouraged because God calls us to new life not stagnant life.

 At the end of Luke 9 (51-62) Christ says to a disciple that he has no place to put his head while foxes and birds have there homes.  He further tells others to leave funerals and not say farewell to family members. Yet, Christians proclaim community and the need to look to the other and assist the other before ones self.  In deed, Paul in Galatians refers to the commandment to love neighbour over self (Gal. 5. 14).  A commandment that we fail to live up to in our parishes on a regular basis.  We continually turn to ourselves and if you would our homes.  In fact we do many o the things that Paul suggests not to do when our comforts are being or about to be disturbed (Gal 5.20-21)

I am not sure what the consequences of Trumpism will eventually have on the world but it is perhaps correct to say, as others have, that Trump makes decisions on whims with which he feels at home rather than on a sound understanding of the truth.  All decisions as I have expounded on in other blog posts, have consequences whether they are with regards the whims of Trump or our own perceptions of how a Church should be laid out for worship.  In a manner of speaking both such decisions are made on the basis of where we feel at home or how we understand Christ's call on our lives.  No matter how we look at it, the comfort of home is the greatest comfort we have in this world for most of us.  It is where we find the greatest safety; it is where we can invite our friends; it is where we can relax from the pressures of life.  It is also where we find that which is most recognisable and comfortable.  We do not wish to be disturbed in our homes whether it is in the form of changing the furniture (ladies/gentleman how much resistance do you get if you ever suggest this), a new way of preaching in Church or the way the liturgy is undertaken or how we approach our political life in the wider world.  Such change is undertaken with enormous angst to ourselves.

Christ in the Wilderness series:The foxes have holes  - 

Stanley Spencer (1891- 1959) - Art Gallery of Western Australia

Stanley Spencer's painting, found in the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, The Foxes have holes is a rendition of this reading from Luke.  The painting portrays Christ resting against a bank in the wilderness with foxes going in and out of their dens in the bank.  Christ's body is depicted as being at home as he rests against the bank, almost as if he is at one with the earth, yet his face portrays a yearning that can only be described as a yearning for home.  A spiritual home that is not found in the mundane things of the world, a world in which his body finds comfort and rest.  The words from the gospel also supports this contention of  paradoxical opposites as 'the son of man has nowhere to lay his head'.  It is an uncomfortable feeling this being at home and yet not being home which for us Christians is a tension that we must encompass if we are true followers of Christ.  A tension that is always found in those who have journeyed in faith and look to Christ for their future. Christ calls us out, makes us uncomfortable, creates space for an-other, fills our lives with uncertainty, asks us to bring others to God.

Spencer's rendition of Christ speaks to us in this moment and as we move forward on our life's journey.  We cannot rest at ease within the comfort of our homes, yet we must rest at ease within the comfort of the world in which we live.  The rest of Luke's passage demonstrates Christ's insistence on this articulation.  Each person who raises a question with regards their personal life's journey at that point in time is given the same answer.  The traditions of the past in which we have made our homes must be laid aside as we look to the future of following Christ.  Unless we have overcome our fears that bind us to our homely comforts and rest at home in Christ we will never achieve the coming of the reign of God in this place.  That does not mean that we do not learn from the past, as Anglicans this is one of the pillars of our journey,  It means we do not cling, like Linus, to our security blanket 'tradition' but embrace the life that Christ offers to us. For us to do that we must be radical, so radical that we love our neighbour as ourselves, which means gladly leaving our comforts behind us whilst finding our new places in the world.  It is in dis-ease we should come to Christ and open ourselves to his healing balm.

Silence as opposed to noise

 We like to think that we hear God, especially when there is something fantastic happening. Some miracle or some equally gobstopping moment when we can point and say "there was God's presence". Indeed, often that is what we look for. Like Jesus and the possessed person (Lk 8:26-39). The moment that the spirits went into the Gadarene swine must have been spell binding. It is from these stories and others in the scriptures that we take our cue as to what we expect from God.  Building a picture of the fantastic that in today's world connects with the cinematic world of the Marvel Universe where grandiose miracles continue to occur. This world of fantasia hooks the general public and diverts them away from the reality of life. This is where our culture and civilisation is at with regards to expectations. Even back before COVID the then government's win was seen as miraculous or rather something spectacular which is beyond the normal.

There is so much turbulence in the world today that we are carried away with expectations of similar turbulence when God comes amongst us. Yet, when our friend Elijah goes out on to the mountain it is not the crashing and turbulence that calls to him but rather a still small breeze of a voice that calls out to him from amidst the tempest (1 Kings 19:12).  We often neglect our inward looking or setting aside time to be alone so that we can hear the voice of God in our lives. We bang about and expect God to speak above the noise of our own lives even while we tune out the noise that is around us, remember COVID, remember lockdowns, remember violence in the Ukraine, remember refugees... Once it falls from the news headlines it becomes nothing but background blather that we ignore like billboards on the side of the road. I know because I am the same, I get cranky with the number of posts about the environment or the Ukraine situation or COVID, etc. If we forget the consequential noise from our own society how will we ever come to know the still voice of God speaking to us in the everyday.

We listen to God in the stillness of the day

We are now past all the big bang liturgies as we move now into ordinary time. An ordinary time that we need to make more than ordinary as we move into our lives in the post resurrection life. If we fail to live up to the promptings of Christ then we fail to live up to our own Christian faith journey. It is now at the start of Ordinary time that we need to reset our inner lives, so that we may hear the still small breeze blowing through our hearts that is Christ and God's Spirit. It is in the coming months that we work out God's presence in our lives so that we can show God to those around us. It is when our imaginations should come to life in the reality of our everyday. The imaginations that come to us at Pentecost and we strive to fulfil in our imaginations of the Trinity. Only when we can be still can we begin to understand the message from God so that we can fulfil our call into the world. This paradox of movement and stillness is encompassed in the wind amidst the earthquakes and the fires of revelation on the mountain.

Our everyday is the earthquake and the fire. They are noisy. they are difficult to turn away from as they have a mesmerising effect on our lives. We are attracted to the bells and whistles that attend the concealer of God and those that offer gifts of life which lead to darkness and despair. Life is found in the movement of the stillness of God. Due to our perpetual motion in the daily noise of our lives we tend to miss the movement of God as we have no stillness in us. Eastern religions strive towards this stillness but for a different purpose, to eliminate all movement, where we must strive to become still and hear God moving around us so that we may follow God's quiet voice. The attraction of the noise over the silence is due to the fear we feel when confronted with silence. Silence comes across to us in the missed meeting, the missed opportunity as a silence of rejection, of being unwanted whereas the noise draws us in saying that we are wanted we are part of the music so to speak. This is the requirement of God to turn away from the noise of the Golden Calf to embrace the call of God that is not showy and not brazen but rather intimate and loving.