Mark 2:1-12 and Mark 9:2-10

Epiphany 7 – Year B

Mark 2:1-12 and Mark 9:2-10

We last left Jesus, having changed places with a leper, wilderness wandering. He has quietly returned to Capernaum. Eventually word leaked out that he was back and a crowd re-gathers to hear teaching, not receive healing. At this point, one of the folks who was either not present during Jesus' extended healing the last time he was in town or had contracted some paralytic condition between then and now was brought by faith-full, faith-active friends.

Emboldened by unnamed friends, Jesus asks us to hear beyond our words to the action of life. A better question than whether it is shorter or easier to say, "You're forgiven" or "Stand; walk" is whether you can hear and see and experience each in the other. This is astounding work.

You may be led to practice this new way of listening and speaking this week. It will be a translational challenge for you and those you interact with to speak divinely in regular life and to speak commonly in ritualistic situations. There will be those who will respond that you are taking a larger jump than they are able to do and, one way or another, label you a blasphemer or just crazy. You may get scared of the possibilities and back away. There will be those who will be thankfully amazed at being able to reframe their life. You may find a rebirth of action in your own faith.

Here are two additional thoughts:

For whom will you make a new backdoor to fuller life? For whom will you activate your intentions? Having identified someone or someones, what is your plan to participate in their healing and the blessing of those who are witnesses to it?

Contrast this scene with that of Job and his friends. On a scale of Job's Friends to the Paralytic's Friends, where do you fall?

= = = = = = =

At this point it dawned that we are not on the story of the Paralytic's Friends, but the Friends of Jesus (Moses and Elijah) who come to him to say the easy thing, "Stand up; Head to Jerusalem."

In the first story, the crowd is transfigured – amazed and glorifying G*D. In the second story, Jesus is glorified.

Now we have a three-way scale between Job's Friends, the Paralytic's Friends, and Jesus' Friends. Oh, it was so much easier when I was dealing with only one layer instead of trying this three-dimensional scale. Wouldn't it be easier to just have to deal with one pericope or the other and forget all this trying to hold them together in a both/and approach? I suppose, but not nearly as fun.
 

deeply moved

Epiphany 6 – Year B

deeply moved

If you want to . . . I'm ready, too.
If you choose to . . . that will make two.

deeply moved
all the primal emotions
jump to the fore
each seeking ascendancy

deeply moved
energy ebbs and flows
betwixt and between
finding commonality

deeply moved
a moment arrives
departs
leaving questions

deeply moved
symbol and silence
wrestle
meaning from moment

deeply moved
hearts forever entwined
change places
and change again

deeply moved
attractive glow
fearsome light
moved deeper
 

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Epiphany 6 – Year B

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

In today's world, what does it mean to "run to win". Are spiritual steroids appropriate? Can one hire a Prayer Warrior to cover your back? What are the limits of using perishable means to arrive at an imperishable end?

While there is much to be said for Type-A, workaholic, intentional and disciplined people, the other side of the coin is good old grace. Paul, so into grace, not law, comes pretty close here to relying on the law when it came to himself.

Give yourself a break Paul, relax your hyperbole, just do your best. Jesus will reach out and hug you, paunch and all, the leper told me so.
 

Psalm 30

Epiphany 6 – Year B

Psalm 30

Verses 11-12 indicate how good news has a way of bubbling up. Not only does the arc of G*D bend toward justice, but toward beauty and other expressions of good news.

You did it: you changed wild lament
     into whirling dance;
You ripped off my black mourning band
     and decked me with wildflowers.
I'm about to burst with song;
     I can't keep quiet about you.
God, my God,
     I can't thank you enough.
               [The Message]

As folks who are living toward being G*D, this becomes a part of our call – to change lament into dance. As you pay attention (but not too much) to the news of the day, there are many opportunities to identify lament and to address them with your presence. Pick one. Rip off your mourning hesitation and deck the halls with wild-flowers. It may be you will change places with a leper; it may mean addressing your own sorrow; it may find you simply smiling and humming through your day, making folks wonder what you are up to.

2 Kings 5:1-17

Epiphany 6 – Year B

2 Kings 5:1-17

"Two mule-loads of dirt, please."

Some pilgrims bring back a vial of water from the Jordan River and put a drop in the Baptismal Water as though this sort of sympathetic magic would make the baptism more special than, "This is my beloved child!"

Naaman has come a long way from his beginning sense of entitlement and later attempt to adequately recompense Elisha for his healing. He still has a way to go if he thinks that sprinkling "Holy Land" dirt around his constructed altar will make it more special than it would otherwise have been.

Relics of water, soil, bone, or shroud all are important markers along life's journey as we move from the concrete to the universal. Eventually, however, Naaman, like all of us is going to have to become the ground of G*D's love wherever he is. This is considerably different than standing at the right place, at the right time on some ground deemed particularly holy.

This is a significant issue in the Palestine/Israel area. Is it the stones or the living stones in the land that is most important? We have a lot of Naamans running around with their little piece of G*D. How might we put down a symbol of life that we might pick up our life and have it become a sign for others? What choice will you make?
 

Mark 1:40-45

Epiphany 6 – Year B

Mark 1:40-45

How hard it is to choose to keep a good to oneself.

L. If you choose, you can heal.
J. I choose.

J. If you choose, you can keep this to yourself.
L. I don't choose

Choice is a key issue in life. To what will we choose to be true? What will we choose to bring into being or help on the way out? How do we choose between just these two when they are in conflict?

Do you choose to follow the tradition wherein Jesus shows pity or that which has Jesus being angry about the request and not just sending the former leper away, but casting him forth as a demon would be cast out? Whichever choice you generally make, this is a good year to go the other way.

Here our preferred approach is through a translation that honors Jesus' anger. So, looked at through a lens of pity with an underlying tension of anger, Jesus sees the pitiful state of humankind. We have been run out of a garden, been raised up and let down, violence qua violence and retributive violence abound, we are caught without hope and an imagination too small. We don't even know how to claim a birthright of relationship and healing. We are left begging for these rights.

In responding to pitiful with pity, Jesus heals - knowing all-the-while that good-telling will eventually lead to bad-telling and put Jesus in the pitiful position of saying in another garden, "If you choose, you can let me off the hook. All I will have to do is keep you to myself. . . . Oh, I see, neither of us can do other than pity the circumstances and choose to be whole regardless of circumstances around us. I take it back."
 

be in on it

Epiphany 5 – Year B

secret prayer closeted
off in a dark wilderness
sets off a light
beaconing far and wide
let's go
invest broadly
get in on pleasure

pleasure to do good
pleasure in self
pleasure in others
pleasure beyond these

in a demand-free zone
flying beyond
expectational limits
deep within a fountain
of living water
we spring quickly
entering altiverses

real religious folk
and non- as well
high fliers and low liars
moralists and im-

enter other lives
entering our own
mix and match
this point of view
and that
til prayer is pleasure
and we're in on it
 

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Epiphany 5 – Year B

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Given that you gotta serve somebody (click on the first "listen" triangle) there is a key question of what are you going to get out of such service. Will it simply be survival in the face of coercive baptism or other threat of death? How about some deemed sufficient amount of the coin of the realm? A promise of insurance, whether health or eternity? A degree of importance from celebrity or being a Friend Of ____?

Paul's reward of "pleasure" [The Message] from proclaiming good stuff is pretty humbling in light of all the conflicting desires we have. He claims that he doesn't just want to talk about a better way, but wants to be in on energizing it. His service is to model his proclamation in his living.

It is this issue of meaning of life or explicit vocation that extends Jesus' wilderness prayer regarding his perceived task. Instead of serving the sick in one location he expands his service to teaching and healing in a wider arena. For some, their prayer would move them in exactly the other direction – a particular ministry in a localized setting. It is not that one is right or wrong, as an ideal, but that one's prayer call be clear and followed – simply for the pleasure of it.

I wish John Wesley, when he stole a Covenant Service that over time shows up as the following, would have added a word about it being our pleasure to do another's pleasure (G*D or Neighbor) to these powerful words:

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
     exalted for you or brought low by you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

Our "pleasure to participate" is different enough from "freely and heartily yielding" to be noted. One thing adding our pleasure does is to square the pleasure – mine and yours.
 

Psalm 147:1-11, 20c

Epiphany 5 – Year B

Psalm 147:1-11, 20c

How wide a net do you need to join in healing the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds?

What resources and power do you need beyond what you already have to lift up the downtrodden, to cast the wicked to the ground?

How wide and how deep our experience of and participation in compassion are questions that are continually before us. They can get us down when we measure ourselves against compassion professionals or continually see the more that needs to be done. They are also questions that can be approached from a perspective based on how far we have come. Whether from a view of a glass half-empty or half-full, we can avoid denigrating or aggrandizing our part by joining in a company of outcasts who take pleasure in every success and are borne through every wearying worry.

The network of fingers at the end of your arm, the hook at the end of your prosthesis is a wide-enough arc for your compassion.

The energy you have is sufficient for your opportunities.

Hallelujah!
 

Isaiah 40:21-31

Epiphany 5 – Year B

Isaiah 40:21-31

Let's back up a bit to verse 18: "To whom will you liken G*D, or what likeness compare with G*D?"

Whatever you have chosen to listen to, to attend to, sets the relationship between yourself and G*D, yourself and Neighbor. Our tendency is to set our sight too high or our expectation too low. We give G*D credit for more than G*D would do and we discount G*D's presence in our routines and patterns. And so we aggrandize ourselves as G*D's special agent and interpreter or experience ourselves as disregarded and lost.

To be called out to play with Neighbor G*D, to soar and dive, invites us to face our realities and throw out the high and low bids for recognition and simply pick up the ball of life rolled to us and toss it back. It is always the right time and space to play catch, even when what we perceive as a Nerf ball tossed our way turns to a raw egg half-way here or our return of a wicked backhanded sliced tennis ball morphs into a badminton shuttlecock. The funner the game the less weary we be. Calvinball lives where eagles soar, kids run, and the faint walk on.

As Mary Poppins puts it: "In ev'ry job that must be done there is an element of fun – you find the fun and snap! The job's a game." And here we have been Jane and Michael finding every excuse for not doing our tasks. Remember the Doxology has been sung – so, Play Ball!
 

Mark 1:29-39

Epiphany 5 – Year B

Mark 1:29-39

In Jesus' setting and Mark's emphasis upon cleanliness, touching a woman, even for healing, leads to uncleanliness. Imagine the residue of uncleanliness that has accumulated through the night with wave upon wave of sick people come to Jesus. Is it any wonder that Jesus was up very early in the morning and away to pray?

In this darkness may be found an extension of Mark's shorthand version of Jesus' post-baptismal temptation. Here the temptation is to locate, to heal and heal again. Here, Simon, as later, personifies a tempter that would have us settle for a little good that matches his expectation rather than a larger good we have been called to.

How do you measure the calling of others to you and a calling or vocation from what you understand to be G*D? Are they close the to the same (G*D and Neighbor) or are they ranked in some fashion?

Where and when is your time to prayerfully sort out your next step? Here the word is that I will be retiring from full-time pastoral ministry in an institutional church setting this coming July 1. I expect I will be working on this pericope in a variety of ways over these next months and will appreciate any wisdom/prayers you might have regarding opportunities, tasks, and temptations I'll be facing.
 

Teaching Is . . .

Epiphany 4 – Year B

Teaching Is . . .

Teaching is a contrarian sport. You enter where you can into arenas that are not at the same place you are and teach.

Teaching is intentional confrontation. Such encounters can be gentle, but there must be clarity about what is and what a better option might be.

Teaching is humility inducing. To be a teacher is to be continually taught and that informs what and who you will be teaching.

Teaching is teacher recruitment. Without an eye to who might climb on your shoulders, as you have risen in honor of others, you are but an idealistic declaimer.

Teaching is hallelujah enjoining. We move from hallelujah to hallelujah being raised within oneself and another.

Teaching is sensitive freedom. To know a small step for a small faith and a big step for a big faith is a precious knowledge, wisdom even.

= = = = = = =

-- With thanks to Charles Schulz and his first book from so long ago, Happiness is a Warm Puppy
 

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Epiphany 4 – Year B

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

The tension between living what I know to be true and living by what you know to be true is a truly difficult spot. After trying to legislate on behalf of those with a different political bias and coming up with no takers from the other side, demonstrates the demon in taking sensitivity to the point of no return.

At that point any tension has been resolved in favor of the "weaker". That sounds a lot like Jesus telling folks they are to serve one another and the greatest among us will be the greatest servant.

Certainly that is one part of a larger story, but not large enough to stand on its own. For Jesus did not back down from Pilate or others to backtrack on his sense of belovedness.

The weaker among us will bully and whine, alternatively, until they wear down the firmest prophet or saint. A question for us is where we stand because we can do no other. Even if the weaker have to get themselves into deeper difficulty, we cannot presume growth to more strength without having a larger vision, a stronger stance against which their internal contradictions might break apart.

While freedom is not to be flaunted it is also not to fizzle out. Blessings upon you as you go forth to carefully sin boldly and to boldly live carefully.
 

Psalm 111

Epiphany 4 – Year B

Psalm 111

[G*D] manufactures truth and justice;
All [G*D's] products are guaranteed to last—
Never out-of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof.
All that [G*D] makes and does is honest and true: [The Message, vss 7-8]

In all of Days 1-7 we have reported the externals of light and life and reptiles and rest. What is not reported at that time, but later noted here, is that each day has its part to play in revealing truth and justice.

Light is created . . . TO REVEAL TRUTH AND JUSTICE.
Water is separated . . . TO REVEAL TRUTH AND JUSTICE.
Plants are seeded . . . TO REVEAL TRUTH AND JUSTICE.
Time proceeds . . . TO REVEAL TRUTH AND JUSTICE.
Fish swim, birds fly . . . TO REVEAL TRUTH AND JUSTICE.
Animals procreate, humans create . . . TO REVEAL TRUTH AND JUSTICE.
Even rest pauses . . . TO REVEAL TRUTH AND JUSTICE.
Today we are . . . TO REVEAL TRUTH AND JUSTICE.

= = = = = = =

Hallelujah! I give thanks…. [The Message, vs 1]
. . . . . . . .
[G*D's] Hallelujah lasts forever! [The Message, vs 10b]

We live between Hallelujahs!
Are you remembering to let your Hallelujah loose?
Are you remembering that even G*D Hallelujahs?
 

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Epiphany 4 – Year B

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me (Moses). . . ." (18:15)

"Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses. . . ." (34:10)

In light of the blessings and woes associated with being a prophet (living on the edge of G*D and Self) wherein one might profit or lose everything, is there any doubt about G*D's HR problem. No wonder prophets are notoriously reluctant and extravagant props like burning bushes are needed.

All that to the side, there is a distinction to be made between you being raised up as a prophet and the lack of heed you will receive from a larger people. These two parts of the equation are separable, he said regretfully for he had prophesied well enough to be heeded.

Even before we get to Lent you may want to do a mini-fast around the discernment of your prophetic gifts. Then, heeded or not, proceed to remind folks that their attempts to wriggle out from their responsibility (their facing G*D) by putting that responsibility on a prophet has come to an end. It is time for prophets to prophesy the end of prophecy. Each and all are accountable.
 

Mark 1:21-28

Epiphany 4 – Year B

Mark 1:21-28

Teaching draws opposition. This seems to have been true from before Socrates and ever since. Teaching (of which preaching can be a subgroup) has its power in clarity (authority is revealed in clarity, not subterfuge) and this is always dangerous for people and times that are interested in simply consolidating or actively trying to replicate a previous experience..

The opposition in this passage is confusion – noise and accusation (still favorite tools of those not ready to proceed).

Can you imagine Jesus not yelling back, not shouting or raising a voice or using an exclamation mark – but simply stating, "Quiet," in a low tone that can be heard in the midst of chaos?

For some it would be enough to settle for "Quiet" but there remains a need for a resolution of the situation. In this case there is also a sending away of that which broke in. A boundary was set. Again, authority is not just control but resolution.

News of this kind of authority does travel. It even awakens the one who demonstrates such authority to additional uses of this resolving power to make whole and make one.

An image we might remember is the play honoring Anne Sullivan, in regard to Helen Keller, is entitled, "Miracle Worker", while the story Helen tells about herself and Anne is entitled, "Teacher." May we all tell this story about ourselves – that we taught those who came after us that they might go further.

A question for us this week is about the authority we demonstrate regarding our own life and the lives of those around us. May it help us resolve the questions we have about who we are and give direction to our courage to be on the edge of new teaching.
 

for all the people

Epiphany 3 – Year B

John is arrested
Jesus ascended

whence will come a call
to life here for all

changing vocation
into Vocation

using resistance
to show persistence

that simplicity
brings reality

time's up - change your life
it's your turn to live

arrested you're not
ascended you're not

once spoken twice heard
gives power to word

believe you're a part
of healing a heart

everyone changes
G*D and each image

new vision new life
time enough to live

I'm not arrested
I'm not ascended

free to go I am
grounded well I am

prophet disciple
for all the people
 

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Epiphany 3 – Year B

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

"I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don't complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple —in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out." [The Message]

Time is important. It is always coming to an end and opening up. In this regard it is as tricky as particularly wavy light that can't be pinned down to one state or another. Whatever the reigning paradigm, early or late, it will be gone soon enough. This whether it is desired or not.

Referencing the recent transfer of power between George W. Bush or Barack Obama, regardless of political perspective, the world as it has been known or is currently known is on its way out. So, don't complicate things. Be whom ye be. Barack was Barack before entering professional politics. George remains George after his political run. Every pastor and president and teacher and doctor and reformer knows how quickly their effectiveness fades when their presence fades. All one can do is all one can do. Opportunities pass and opportunities arrive. Take advantage of your time without taking advantage.

Run toward good news or away from bad news: pause between runs to reflect that time is of the essence. Have a Powdermilk biscuit and do what needs to be done. May you leave a freshness stain wherever you go.

= = = = = = =

Bonus material
 

Psalm 62:5-12

Epiphany 3 – Year B

Psalm 62:5-12

For G*D alone my soul waits in silence.
For G*D alone my soul pants like a deer for flowing streams.
For G*D alone my soul searches the heights and depths.
For G*D alone . . . .

My rock, my deliverance, my questioner, my friend, my image, my judge, my . . . .

For Neighbor alone my soul waits in silence.
For Neighbor alone my soul pants like a deer for flowing streams.
For Neighbor alone my soul searches the heights and depths.
For Neighbor alone . . . .

Beyond an affirmation that G*D pays a fair wage for a good day's work, how's your good-day's-work quotient? What would you consider a fair recompense for it?

Would you be willing to be recruited to the long line of prophets who are able to see the good and evil results of current behaviors and speak it clearly (whether believing it will make a difference or not). It is this seeing the results of present actions that is the gift of Eve's choice, not some a priori ideal of good and evil to be parsed beforehand and chosen for or against. Waiting in silence, etc., brings a new view of disciples and prophets. In addition to being alternative spellings of one another, they are both experience-based. Prophet Eve leads to Prophet Jonah leads to Prophet (your name here).

Play prophetically with these pairings:
     silence – rock – deliverance – pour out
     hope – salvation – honor - trust
 

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Epiphany 3 – Year B

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

I just saw a sermon for this coming Sunday that posited WalMart (called Mall Marty World in the sermon and VoldeMart by others) as Ninevah. That may trigger other arenas for you where this tale might well be told. The message Jonah brought in the sermon is: "It's not keeping the customers happy that I'm most concerned about; it's the way you treat your employees. They have nowhere else to work and you don't pay them a living wage. When their children are sick, they have no health insurance to pay for their medical care. When they are too old to work, there are no pension funds to help them maintain their mortgage and car payments. It's not right. Your managers and executives live very comfortably." [Found on Midrash posting from John Sumwalt]

Instead of just a generic "Repent" it is helpful to be specific about what is needed. When you find your Ninevah you will also find your voice and it will thrive on detail, not generality.

Behind every prophecy is an understanding that the future stands open, G*D is open. An important corollary is that G*D is not fate, but life. Change is at the heart of life. Responding to new situations with new responses is crucial to healthy living. When one part of the equation changes, the whole situation can be rethought. To change the present is to change the future. However you cast it, smile, a Living G*D is at work and a Living Image of G*D can do no less.