Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Easter 7

Easter 7 (John 17:1-11) This is eternal life.

Some words are so familiar and so unknown that they elude any meaningful impact on or lives.

The words “eternal life” are very familiar to religious people. They even have a false familiarity in the minds of secular people. They are words that Jesus fills with meaning, and purpose and power.

Most people think of eternal life as a future concern. A teen once told me he really had no interest in eternal life. “That’s for old people to worry about,” he said.
Most people think of eternal life in terms of rewards and punishments. And so, some older folk I visit in the hospital or nursing homes will say something like: “I was never very religious but I tried to live a good life.” Usually, they trail off there and never complete the thought. The implication is that heaven, or eternal life, is a future reward for doing good, or at least having good intentions.

Many people in our time and culture believe eternal life is a basic human right. They become agitated at the suggestion that any religion would presume to question this belief or apply sectarian definitions to eternal life.

A significant number of people in our world, especially in Europe and the United States, assert that eternal life is irrelevant, superstitious, and deleterious to living well here and now. They define eternal life as “pie in the sky”, or more graphically as the “opium of the masses.” For these people, eternal life is a fantasy concocted by religion to impose abusive restrictions on human behavior.

Religious people sometimes envision eternal life as endless existence. Sometimes the vision is very mundane. And so, some forms of religion teach that endless existence in heaven is about pursuing all of the pleasures you denied yourself on earth in order to assure your place in heaven.

Sometimes the vision of endless existence is abstract and ethereal. It is completely divorced from any experience of life we have in this world. In some forms it involves the loss of our personal identity as we leave this world of cause and effect and enter into a transcendent world where everything merges into one final unity.

Not so surprisingly, all people hear the word “eternal” and immediately translate it into a measure of time.

Eternal means “timeless”. Eternal means that reality that has no beginning and has no end.

In the realm of the Eternal there is no past and there is no future. Those are sequential categories of time. Some suggest that the eternal is the present moment, now. Yet, even that word has been crafted and shaped and defined in opposition to something that came before now and something that will follow now. The idea that there is only now is unsupported by human experience in the world of time.

Jesus assures us that eternal life is real. It is not a reward. It is not something you can earn, or merit, or lay a claim to as a basic human right. Eternal life is a gift. And, it is a universal gift offered to all people everywhere regardless of who they are, what they do or fail to do.

Jesus also tells us that eternal life is a quality of being not a quantity of existence. That quality is expressed in the Greek word agape. There is no single word in English to translate agape.

Agape is steadfast holy unconditional love.

Jesus teaches eternal life is a relationship.

It is a relationship with God the Father, through God the Son, by the indwelling Presence of God the Holy Spirit.

Eternal life is the life we experience in a personal relationship with the Trinity through Jesus Christ. Jesus and only Jesus is the incarnation of the co-eternal Beloved Son of the Eternal Father.

There can be no eternal life apart from Christ because only God is eternal. Only God is the author and creator of life.

If this is true then eternal life starts right now.

The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church teaches that eternal life starts at the baptismal font. At our baptism, our Heavenly Father sends the Holy Spirit to graft our souls into the Body of His co-eternal Son, Jesus Christ.

If this is true then the choices we make in this world and in this body have eternal consequences. That is why our Heavenly Father sends the Holy Spirit to transform ordinary bread and wine into the body and blood of His co-eternal Son. That bread and wine become the medicine of immorality, the food and drink of eternal life here and now as well as in the hereafter.

If this true then it does matter how we set our priorities and make our choices.
The Good News is that eternal life is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the infinite compassion of God in human flesh. Jesus knows what it means to be human. Jesus has in fact experienced all of our sinful choices and their consequences on the cross. Jesus transforms sin back into love and death back into life.

All choices are eternal choices for those who in Christ have eternal life. The Good News is that the Holy Spirit is God Present to us and in us to help us yield our sins to be transformed in eternal love.

It is because we have eternal life here and now in our present relationship with Jesus, however tenuous and imperfect it may be, that we can offer our thoughts, feelings and will to God to be transformed.

Reunification with the Father, through the Son, by the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit is the Plan of Salvation.

Transformation of our attitudes, actions and priorities is the purpose of the Plan of Salvation.

The personal dynamic of our relationship with Jesus Christ forms the pattern of the Plan of Salvation.

Eternal life for human beings begins in a moment of time in the waters of baptism and then immerses our souls in the timeless reality of Divine Love and holiness. That timeless reality initiates a process that will never end. We will forever grow and transform in the infinite love and eternal life of the Triune God.

The impact of the words “eternal life” is the new life and the new way of living we receive from Jesus Christ. It is a gift. We can use it. We can ignore it. We can refuse it. It is available for everyone to receive.

Have you received the gift of eternal life in the waters of baptism?

If you have received the gift- how are you using it? Be careful how you answer this question. Since you now have eternal life all of your choices have eternal significance. You are co-creating your own soul either with Jesus Christ according the plan, the pattern and the purpose of God; or, you are not. The choice is yours.
Jesus prays that we might know with assurance and delight that we already have eternal life in him.

Jesus further prays that since we have that assurance of eternal life we will grow up, mature and make decisions that are grounded in that new reality.
The new reality is the Good News of God’s infinite and eternal and transforming love for us in Jesus Christ. It is that steadfast holy love at work in our souls here and now that is eternal life.

This is eternal life that you may know God in an intimate and personal relationship through Jesus Christ.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Easter 6

Easter 6 (john 14:15-21 “I will not leave you orphaned.”
Eternal Love transforms mortal life.

Our heavenly Father directed the archangel Gabriel to instruct Mary to name her son Jesus, savior. That is the name by which we know the co-eternal Son. The Father knows the son by a much older and profound name: The Beloved.

Jesus is the fullness of the Beloved in human flesh. He came to restore what humanity lost.

In the original choice to separate from God, humanity aspired to power. That original choice produces an original sin, a broken and lost human nature that cannot and will not act in its own highest and best self interest.

As that original sin entered into the world of cause and affect , it produced many terrible consequences. One of those consequences is the experience of rejection and abandonment.

The process that leads to isolation begins with Original sin. Original sin produces the will to power. The will to power seeks to dominate life, other people, even God. The Bible records the personal stories of hundreds of people over the course of a thousand years who experienced this terrible distortion in life.

The desire to dominate is the desperate desire to over come separation though condemnation and conquest. It cannot accomplish its goal. It can only achieve greater levels of separation, distortion and disintegration.

The bargain lost souls make with the world is dominance and submission. If you submit to my will then I will affirm your value and take care of you. If you refuse to submit to my will then I will condemn you and abandon you.

Much of human created religion is based on this bargain. Most religion relies on a structure of rewards and punishments that states: if you obey God then God will (and must) give you what you want. However, if you disobey God, then God will punish you with pain and suffering and death.

Jesus wanted his disciples to know and understand that he did not come into the world to assert his will to power to dominate any one. There is no condemnation in Jesus Christ because there is no condemnation in God.

God just doesn’t have love. God is love: holy unconditional love.

Jesus tells his disciples that love is the solid rock foundation of life. If we have love it is the love that will motivate us to follow Jesus Christ and to keep his commandments.

Note that Jesus does not use the language of rewards and punishment. He does not endorse a religion of dominance and submission. He does not say: if you obey the laws then I will love you and reward you. He says: as you are in my love you follow the way of life I offer. As you are in love you find the passionate desire to keep the law.

Jesus then assures his disciples, and us, that his Ascension into heaven is not abandonment. There is no abandonment in divine love.

The orphan is left alone to question why. Why did they leave me? Why did they abandon me? Original separation from God produces further experiences of separation in broken relationships among families, friends, neighbors and nations. The will to power seeks to overcome the pain of separation through force.

No wonder Jesus took the time to reassure his disciples that he would never leave us or forsake us. His ascension into heaven is not abandonment. He sends us another Helper. That other Helper is the co-eternal third person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit.

Jesus assures us that he brings no condemnation from the Father. He brings acceptance, life, truth and unconditional love. He came to earth to give us these things as a gift. It is as we receive the gift that we experience a new life and a new way of living. It is as we receive the gift that we experience the transformation of our thoughts, desires and will.

The Bible is very clear that no one by their own will can keep the Law. Life is not about law or the human will to power. Life is about steadfast holy unconditional love. Jesus is very clear that people don’t need more law. We need more love.

How do we know that Jesus makes a difference in our lives? How can we discern where we still live from the place of original separation? Jesus tells us: if you love me you will keep my commandments. It is not about obedience or disobedience. It is not about dominance and submission. We keep the commandments as we immerse our selves in the divine love of God in Jesus Christ.

We keep the commandments as we hold the commandments in conscious intent to live the new life of grace by faith. We keep the commandments as we set the intention to make our relationship with Jesus Christ the first priority in our lives. We keep the commandments as we choose to suspend judgment and give other people the benefit of the doubt by asking others: how may I help? We keep the commandments as we offer our selves and souls and bodies to the Holy Spirit to be transformed into living chalices of grace.

It is our responsibility to make the choices in life that expand love. All choices either expand love or further distort love into fear, self will and pride.
God does not expect us to do this alone. In fact, our Heavenly Father sends the Holy Spirit, the Helper, to transform us into living temples of love and holiness. We have access to the same Divine Presence and Power that filled Jesus and formed his life.

Eternal Love transforms mortal life. That love is not just a feeling or even a principle. It is a person: Jesus Christ. Jesus assures us: I am with you always. I will never leave you or forsake you. I will not leave you orphaned, abandoned, rejected or alone. Claim the promise. Live the promise. Make a real choice to transform in the real presence of the promise.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Easter 5

Easter 5 (John 14:1-14) You know the Way.

The Way of salvation is the way of life. The way of life is Jesus Christ.

After three years of walking with Jesus, the disciples already knew the way of salvation. They knew the way in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They blocked that knowledge as they chose to redefine Jesus in the very limited one dimensional category of the human will to power.

The disciples wanted Jesus to give them a well defined program for the Kingdom. They wanted that program set forth in very detailed laws, charts and time tables. The program needed to meet the needs they had identified for themselves. They cast those needs in the categories of politics, economics, culture, religion, pleasure and power.

None of those categories are necessarily bad. None of those categories can bring salvation. And none of those categories is the foundation for life.

What did the disciples already know?

They knew Jesus. They knew his unconditional love and compassion. They knew his sinless life. They knew his active dynamic and passionate participation in all aspects of human life. They knew his priority for living in the world: Worship, service, personal holiness.

The Way of Salvation is the Way of life. It cannot be limited to a single list of dos and don’ts. It cannot be contained in a narrow religious, cultural or political system. It is not about programs. It is about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The principle underlying our Heavenly Father’s Plan of salvation is that we become who or what we worship. We discern who or what we worship through our priorities.
That is why Jesus said: not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Salvation is not just about the outward and visible signs of religion. Salvation is about the inward and spiritual choice we make to mold and shape and develop our souls, our personal identity.

The Kingdom of Heaven was right in the midst of the disciples but the disciples couldn’t see it. They also would not see it. They wanted something else. They wanted the power and the wealth and the assertion of their own self will.

The Bible is very clear that people tend to look past the clear and simple message of salvation. People complicate Biblical teaching because we don’t want to hear the simple and direct message God placed in the Bible. Sadly, this tendency to ignore what God reveals only results in greater levels of frustration, fear and anxiety among the religious.

So, Jesus, as he prepares for his arrest, torture and execution, reveals to the disciples what they had missed.

First, Jesus tells them: do not let your hearts be troubled. The frustration, fear and anxiety come from a choice we make to ignore who God is. The troubled heart is a heart focused on making the world of matter, energy, time and space the sole arena of meaning and purpose. Religious people tend to use religion to try to make the world of impermanence and duality stand still.

The world won’t stand still. All things in this world are only temporary. Mother Teresa once said: hold all things lightly. She did not say: give up all things. This is the world of duality, the world of action and reaction, the world of pleasure and pain, the world of life and death.

There is only one thing permanent in this world. The one thing that is permanent is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the co-eternal Beloved of God the eternal Father.

And so, Jesus redirects his disciples to focus their belief in God. No other person, program or object is worthy of belief. God is not an instrument by which we achieve our goals. Worship is not something we do to gain God’s favor and avoid God’s punishment. If we approach God as a means to an end we miss the meaning and purpose in life. God is the goal. God is the end.

The Way we enter into the reality of God is Jesus Christ.

The disciples all had religion. They also all missed the relationship.
The four biographies of Jesus Christ very clearly focus on the specific and personal relationships Jesus formed. Jesus reached out to everyone he met with friendship, healing, laughter, compassion and unconditional love. He brought forth that love in holiness.

For most of his public ministry, people simply chose to look past who Jesus was and what he offered. At the end of his life, at the foot of the cross, only a teen named John and Jesus’ mother with her two companions chose to value the relationship more than the anticipated reward.

The disciples knew the way of salvation. It was the way of life. It was Jesus Himself as he modeled a life of worship, ministry and personal holiness.

Jesus’ statement: I am the way, the truth and the life, is an outpouring of divine love and holiness to all people. It is not, as some seek to assert, religious chauvinism. It is grace. It is mercy. It is the peace that passes understanding. It is the new life and the new way of living. It is the Original Blessing of Creation re presented to a lost and rebellious species that chose the way of separation.
Before any one invented the word “Christian” the followers of Jesus simply described themselves as the followers of the Way.

The Way begins in a moment of time at the baptismal font. The way unfolds and transforms as we make a real choice to enter into the real presence of Jesus Christ through Word (the Bible) and Sacrament (Holy Communion).

Those who enter into the personal relationship with God the Father through God the Son enter into a new way of life. That new way of life is defined and characterized by the Presence of God the Holy Spirit.

The way of salvation is the way of life. Every choice we make, every priority we set is either contributing to our personal transformation in the divine love of God, or it is inhibiting our ability to live the abundant life our Heavenly Father offers us in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the way in the context of a personal friendship. Jesus is not the way in the context of religion, culture, politics or programs. These things have their place and they are also transitory and passing away.

Jesus is eternal. His friendship is forever. The relationship he offers us is active, dynamic, transforming and limitless.

You know the way, Jesus told his disciples. I suspect he said this with a smile and an invitation.

Jesus offers the same invitation to us today. You know the way. Like the first century disciples we can easily look past who Jesus is. And so, the Holy Spirit reminds us. He just doesn’t remind us, He also helps us make better choices, wise choices.

What does it mean for you today to hear the message that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life? What difference does Jesus make in the way you make choices and set priorities?

Jesus is very clear. We don’t need more knowledge. We need more love: steadfast, holy, unconditional love.

We don’t need to make judgments about who is right and who is wrong. Judgment cultivates pride and pride kills. Divine love and compassion covers a multitude of sins and heals a multitude of hurts. Divine love and compassion preserves the relationships. We need to cultivate the relationships God has given us. The reality of life is in the relationships we choose to embrace. The joy of living emerges through those relationships.

Jesus says: you know the way. Do you believe this? Will you make a real choice to seek the way in a personal transforming relationship with the Living Lord, Jesus Christ?

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Easter 4

Easter 4 (John 10:1-10)
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Jesus Christ is the plan, the pattern and the purpose for life.

In a series of startling “I am” statements Jesus reveals that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the logos, the co-eternal Word of God. As the logos he is the creative, dynamic and rational pattern of the universe.

People wanted Jesus to reveal and endorse the right religion that would produce right behavior and allow its followers to earn the rewards of righteousness. People were looking for the right laws, the right program and the one right way to acquire God’s favor and to avoid God’s wrath.

Jesus reveals that righteousness cannot be expressed in religious or political categories. Jesus reveals that righteousness is right relationship. Jesus reveals that all people everywhere already have God’s favor. God just doesn’t have love God is love. God loves all people unconditionally.

What Jesus reveals about God is very difficult for people to accept. The Bible is a record of the reason why the revelation Jesus brings is difficult for people to accept. Most people believe the Bible is a record of one of many ways people seek God. Moses and the Prophets record their observations of the many ways people reject God and hide from God.

Jesus is the Way God seeks us. God seeks us out in all of our confusion, fear, self will and pride. He seeks us out in person. He comes to us with an offer of unconditional love and eternal friendship. And in fact, the Bible records how most people most of the time really aren’t interested in what God is offering in Jesus Christ.

Even those who followed Jesus as his disciples, his students, looked through Jesus and past Jesus to what they really valued and really wanted. It is what a fallen and lost humanity seeks. And it is what keeps us lost and broken. It is pleasure, prestige, position and above all else: power.

A separated and lost humanity seeks meaning, purpose and diversion in the externals of life. We define ourselves by what we have and how we can assert our will to get what we want. We divert our awareness of our condition through pleasure and entertainment. These things have their place. These things can never satisfy the deepest longing of the soul.

Jesus offers us who God is. God is steadfast, holy, unconditional love. The disciples heard that message, observed that message, experienced the reality of that message and looked past it. They essentially said: love and compassion. Very nice, Jesus. But, when do we get to the real stuff? When do we get the reward? When do you defeat our enemies, form a new government, purify our religion and give us what we really want? They focused on the externals. They focused on the transitory. They missed the eternal reality Jesus came to give them.

People then, and people now, saw Jesus as a means to an end. Jesus presents himself as the pattern, the plan and the purpose for life. The life Jesus offers is creative, spontaneous, active, dynamic, joyful and self giving. That life is a well of living waters that immerses our soul and pours forth from our soul regardless of the external circumstances our lives.

Jesus is not a means to an end. Jesus is not a bullet point on a resume. Jesus is life, abundant life.

Belief in Jesus does not earn for us an external reward. Jesus is himself the reward. Jesus is the very gate of life. Friendship with Jesus is a new life and a new way of living. Jesus very firmly warns us that he is the only gate, the only way, to reunification with God the Father and transformation in God the Holy Spirit. All other ways are detours and dead ends.

In those detours and dead ends we will meet many who offer to sell us a program and a pathway to satisfy our desires. Jesus warns us that they will also steal our joy and destroy our ability to live the abundant life.

Jesus is the door. Jesus is the way. He actively seeks us in the various detours and dead ends we pursue. He actively invites us into a new life and a new way of living.
The new way of living is neither self indulgence nor self denial. It is the middle way of steadfast holy unconditional love. It is the way of worship, discipleship, evangelism, service to others and fellowship with other believers.

It is no wonder the disciples could not understand this teaching. The new life is inner directed. It emerges in the depth of the soul as the soul immerses itself in the steadfast holy unconditional love of God through worship and service. The new life sets us free from the external circumstance of our society and our world.

The disciples lived lives that were outer directed. They looked at life, they looked at Jesus, and asked: what’s in it for me? How does Jesus help me get and keep the pleasure, possession, prestige and power that I demand? What program does Jesus offer me to meet my needs and my desires? In that pursuit they knew insecurity and fear.

The new life in Jesus Christ sets us free from fear. The new life in Christ transforms fear into compassion, compassion for other people and compassion for ourselves. The new life redefines who we are and how we can best live our lives.
Jesus reveals that we are each a unique manifestation of one aspect of his infinite and eternal love. Jesus reveals the best way to be human and to live in this world is to set our first priority as worship, our second priority in our service to others and our third priority in our own personal transformation.

Jesus calls us to reset our priorities by pledging our life and love and loyalty to him. It is as we make a real choice to immerse our mind, heart and will in the real presence of Jesus Christ that we meet the living Lord in the daily events of our lives and discover how Jesus is the abundant life of God who makes all things new.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Easter 3

Easter 3 (Luke 24:13-35)
He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Seeing is not necessarily believing.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not something the disciples believed easily. Many of the disciples did not immediately recognize Jesus in his resurrection body even when they saw him. People have attempted to explain this phenomena in mystical or occult terms. The reality is likely far more ordinary.

A 14th century English scholar named William of Occam developed a principle of inquiry that may help us understand the problem. William said: the simplest explanation is usually the best explanation.

The simplest explanation for why so many of Jesus’ disciples, from Mary Magdalene to Cleopas and his friends, did not recognize Jesus at first is that they never expected Jesus to rise from the dead. Resurrection was outside the parameters of what they believed was possible in this world. And, it was outside their own religious beliefs.

Seeing is not necessarily believing when the person who sees cannot accept the reality of his senses. If we hold onto strong beliefs and expectations about how the world works and what is possible we may very well miss the moment of grace when the Eternal intersects with the temporal, when the infinite God makes himself known in the particularity of human experience.

More often than not, believing requires a wider and more profound context.
Jesus understood this very well. In his human nature he was a student of the present human condition. As the logos, the co-eternal Word of God, he himself is the pattern of original human nature. He observed the discrepancy between the original pattern and the present reality.

Jesus knew his disciples were lost in separation from God. He knew this separation had produced distortions in the way we think, feel and make choices. He knew that most of his disciples in that generation would not be able to believe in the resurrection within the context of their assumptions about the world.

So, Jesus provided a new context. We hear in this story the three fold nature of the new context. It is the Bible, the Sacraments, and the Community of Faith.

The first thing Jesus did when he spoke with Cleopas and his companions was to lead them in Bible Study. From Moses and the Prophets Jesus explained the context for faith. That context is the great love of God at work in the nation of Israel for over a thousand years prior to the incarnation.

Moses and the Prophets provide the foundation for faith and set the parameters for belief.

The problem was the overlay of human tradition that had evolved over the centuries and obscured the clear and concise message of Moses and the Prophets. So, in addition to Bible Study, Jesus manifested the new reality through the new sacrament of the new covenant: Holy Communion.

As Jesus broke the bread he invoked the memory of the Passover sacrifice and applied it to himself in the present moment.

As Jesus broke the bread, Cleopas and the others had an “aha” moment. It was a moment of grace. And, it was a moment Jesus had prepared through the Bible study that preceded it.

In that moment, the disciples recognized the Plan of Salvation was not law and wrath but love and grace. In that moment, the disciples understood what Jesus had been teaching for three years and what Moses and the Prophets had declared for centuries.
In that moment, the new context Jesus provided facilitated faith. And the faith gave birth to belief. In that moment of grace that produced faith their eyes were opened to see what had been there all of the time. Suddenly, within the new context of Word and Sacrament, seeing became believing.

Their faith resulted in belief. Their belief fulfilled the work of the moment. Jesus vanished. And the disciples rushed back to Jerusalem to report to the apostles who had had their own moment of grace.

The third context of faith that produces belief is the Community of Faith. The disciples gathered together. They shared their personal and individual experience of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. That experience became the living tradition of Faith.
The tradition is living not dead. The tradition unfolds in the present time in the personal experience of the faithful. We hold the experience in the context of Word and Sacrament so the universal and unchanging truth of Jesus Christ can be revealed in the particularity of the present moment of our present experience.

This story that we heard read only exists to help us and many others in the world to discover the reality of God. That reality is a new life and a new way of living that over time heals the distortions of human thought, emotion and will. That reality unfolds in a particular moment in a particular place through a personal relationship with the particular person: Jesus Christ.

One of the lessons we may draw from this story is that seeing is not always believing. Another lesson might be: pay attention.

Pay attention to your life. Pay attention to the world around you. Pay attention to the people who are closest to you. Pay attention to your own assumptions about life.
As you pay attention to what is you prepare to enter your moment of grace. The moment of grace will be different for every individual. The moment of grace will be very personal. It will also be your invitation to hear the Good News of God’s love for you in the living Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith does require a new context for belief. The context is not a philosophy or a set of laws or even ritual. The context is the personal invitation from Jesus Christ to hear, and to see and to believe what has been present to us all our lives.
Through word and sacrament Cleopas and the others found a new way of understanding themselves, the world, and God. They saw what was right in front of them. They saw Jesus.

The process is normative for all people everywhere. The process is a continual invitation to transformation in the community of Faith, the Church. The process produces the faith that can joyfully affirm the belief: Alleluia, the Lord is risen indeed!