Like the Hypocrites Do?

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? 

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What should we do with Ash Wednesday?  A couple of years ago on Ash Wednesday I had a sudden and disturbing wondering.  Was I enabling people to disfigure their faces so they could go out into the world and be seen by others?  Was I enabling people to “practice their piety before others” like the hypocrites do?  Well, I thought (attempting to justify myself), at least here, the ashes come in the context of confession, scripture, prayer, eucharist, and instructions for keeping a holy Lent.  But that didn't make me feel any better.  After all, we were still leaving here and going back into the world where others would see them.  And being seen by the world, this lesson seems to tell us, will be our reward… rather than any sort of reward from the Divine.  So, what should we do with Ash Wednesday?     

I’ve seen some folks dismiss worriers like me by saying THESE Ashes represent “repentance” and are not an indication of “fasting” so they're different than what Jesus warned against.  I personally don’t own a pair of tweezers fine enough to pull that distinction apart.  So, what should we do with Ash Wednesday, to keep it from just being a way to signal our piety to the world?    

I think the answer comes from the prophet Joel who says, “Rend your hearts and not your clothing.”  I think the answer also comes from Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and Paul who get way more personal than just talk about clothing.  They all tell us that what God is looking for is not a circumcision of the flesh… not an outward change in appearance… but rather, what God is looking for is a dramatic circumcision of our hearts!   

But what does it look like in our day and age to rend our hearts instead of our clothing?  To circumcise our hearts and not our bodies?  To impose ashes on our hearts rather than on our foreheads?  I think… it looks like taking the next right step on the path toward doing justice and loving kindness with humility... rather than with an outward show.  So, what should we do with Ash Wednesday?

Should we get ashes today or not?  Keep them on when we leave, or wash them off?  To get to that answer we each need to discern if the ashes received now will help us to mark a first step on this season’s recommitment to doing justice and loving kindness in our hearts.  If ashes, and the accompanying words, "you are dust, and to dust you shall return" help you mark that recommitment… then by all means get ashes!  

Will having those ashes on your head for the rest of the day be a constant reminder and drive that recommitment more deeply into your heart?  If you believe those ashes will do that, then keep them on!  

Likewise, if fasting will assist you in changing your heart, then fast!  If giving alms or doing acts of service will rend your heart, then do that!  If additional prayer and meditation will facilitate an inward transformation, then please, please, please do that!  Ashes, fasting, generosity, acts of service, prayer and meditation… whatever will work to aid you in a genuine change of heart… driving you deeper into doing justice and loving kindness in the world… THAT is the discipline to which God is calling us this Lent.

The last thing I have begun to think about Ash Wednesday is that more important than ashes, fasting, alms giving and any other Lenten discipline you might consider, is Joel’s call to, “Call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged and gather the children.”  I am beginning to believe that the Lenten practice of presence… genuine, in person, in the flesh... presence… the holy practice of showing up and investing real, significant time to be together in community, consistently… some might even say “religiously”… I am beginning to believe THAT sort of sacrifice of significant time... spent in the physical presence of one another, might possibly be, in our individualistic, drive thru, To-Go sort of world, the most important thing we could do to experience a holy Lent.  

What we are called to be about for Ash Wednesday and what we are called to be about through the season of Lent… is whatever it is that will assist us in rending our hearts so they become hearts that drive us to do justice and hearts that move us to infect the world with kindness and hearts that never worry about who gets the credit along the way.  Whatever practice… ashes, fasting, generosity, service, prayer, presence… whatever practice it is that will help you do THAT… THAT, I think, is what you should do about Ash Wednesday.  Amen. 

Moses, Elijah, and St. Bette of Midler

Matthew 17:1-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Six days later begs the question… what happened six days earlier?  Well, six days earlier Peter declared that Jesus was the Messiah! The Son of the Living God!  Then… almost immediately… he turned around and told Jesus “God Forbid you go to Jerusalem!  Jerusalem will kill you!”  Peter gets slammed for that, but you know what?  He was right.  Jesus was the Messiah AND, (spoiler alert for Good Friday)… when Jesus went to Jerusalem he got killed!  Peter was RIGHT…      TWICE!

AND for being right… not once, but twice… Peter got put on administrative leave.  Told a retreat might help him reel it in, bring down the volume, move him off the edge, stop him always causing a ruckus.  The very fortunate thing here is that Peter had Jesus for his boss and Jesus knew that Peter had only caused a ruckus because he CARED SO VERY deeply and passionately about what they were doing.  With every fiber of Peter's body, he believed he had been called to fish for people… by the Messiah.  That call PROFOUNDLY MATTERED to Peter.  So when it looked to Peter like everyone had lost the plot to the very story he had dedicated his life to living… yeah… he couldn’t just go along to get along.  He caused a ruckus!

One thing the story of the Transfiguration shows us is how Jesus took care of Peter when Peter’s world suddenly stopped making sense to him.  He didn’t sideline Peter or push him out.  Instead, Jesus grabbed a couple of the guys, James and John, and took Peter up a mountain… together!  When our world stops making sense, Jesus is showing us it gets more tolerable in the company of others.  In that way, this story becomes a parable.  Jesus showing us how to be in the world when someone is having a hard time.  Jesus shows us, you grab a couple of friends, and surround them with compassion. 

So off they went as a foursome!  They could have played 18 holes together, had a poker night, put together a band, or, my personal favorite… sat down for wings and beer.  They chose to walk up a mountain… you know… to each their own!  But what mattered most was that they went together…. as friends… and as St. Bette of Midler reminds us…  “You gotta have friends!  Ya, gotta get you some of them!”  

But wait!  There’s more!  Because what happens next?  Jesus gets all shiny?  Yes, but what else happens?  Two more friends show up for Peter… Elijah and Moses.  Yes, they had been dead for a very long time, and some might think that get in the way, but apparently it was not enough of a problem to keep them from showing up!  Because there they were!  

Now, the down-side to Moses and Elijah showing up was that golf was now off the table as a possible group activity, but I think that’s okay because what them showing up GIVES US is a reminder that there are always many, Many, MANY more friends out there ready and able to show up for us than we might ever be able to imagine.  Including… the Saints. 

Growing up Lutheran, my understanding of “praying to Saints” was that people did that who had been taught they were unworthy to pray directly to God or Jesus.  They needed a go-between.  Someone less dirty to pass on a message.  For a Lutheran that’s nonsense!  We are justified by grace through faith!  Worthy, simply and only because God, in Baptism says, “you are worthy” and when God says something, it comes into being!  Therefore like many a Lutheran, I threw ALL the Saints out with my Baptismal bathwater!  They might be good historical roll models, but that was it.  

But I’ve come to see, that WASN’T it, nor was it the genuine Lutheran position on Saints.  While it’s true we don’t need anyone to carry a message for us, we can still ask a Saint to show up for us when we need a friend, in the same way we can ask one another to show up for us when we need a friend.  We can also still ask a Saint to pray for us, in the same way we can ask each other to pray for us, because in the asking for presence… or prayer… or both… we are reminded that we are not alone.  As St. Bette of Midler reminds us, “I had some friends, but they’re gone.  Something came and took them away.”  But I am here to tell you that those who have gone before us are still right here among us, granted, in some mysterious way I don’t fully understand.  But they are there “from the dusk to the dawn”… a great cloud of witnesses… the communion of Saints.  

This parable reminds us this life is not meant to be done alone.  Peter had friends… both among the living and among the dead.  You and I… we too have friends… both among the living and among the dead.… right here... all around us!  Look around!  See them!  Those among the living and those who surround us now only in spirit.  These are your friends.  A great cloud of witnesses.  The communion of saints... gathered here to give you the compassion you need when the world is dark and making no sense.  Look!  See them with your eyes... with your heart... with your spirit... with your soul.  See them... they are here for you.  Transfigured and shining like the sun.  Amen.

Staring Down the Barrel of Apocalypse

Micah 6:1-8

Hear what the Lord says:

  Rise, plead your case before the mountains,

  and let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, you mountains, the case of the Lord,

  and you enduring foundations of the earth,

 for the Lord has a case against his people,

  and he will contend with Israel.

“O my people, what have I done to you?

  In what have I wearied you? Answer me!

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt

  and redeemed you from the house of slavery,

 and I sent before you Moses,

  Aaron, and Miriam.

O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,

  what Balaam son of Beor answered him,

 and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

  that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”

“With what shall I come before the Lord

  and bow myself before God on high?

 Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

  with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

  with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

 Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

  the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

He has told you, O mortal, what is good,

  and what does the Lord require of you

 but to do justice and to love kindness

  and to walk humbly with your God?

How do we walk into an apocalypse?  That’s what the people asked Micah.  The Assyrian Army had destroyed the Northern Kingdom and they were next on the list.  But that’s not just an ancient question, is it?  It's the question we are asking too.  How do WE walk into an apocalypse?  How do we walk into the weeks to come, with our country led by a mad king and sadistic enablers, who kidnap foreign leaders, threatens to invade our allies, and picks fights with Canada… CANADA!?  How do we walk into this apocalypse where our neighbors are shot down in the street?  How do we walk into this apocalypse where the the words from Orwell’s 1984 have been ripped from the pages of fiction and glued into the pages of the news with our neighbors’ blood?  How are we to walk into this apocalypse where we are told just SAYING THE WORDS… “ICE is acting like the Gestapo and are kidnappers,” have “consequences” clearly meant to imply consequences like those suffered by Alex Pretti?  HOW are we to walk into this apocalypse?

Well… as it turns out… we’ve been told how.  It’s just that, staring down the barrel of an apocalypse… it’s as easy for US mere mortals to forget “how” as it was for the mere mortals in Micah’s day.  God has told us, O Forgetful When Frightened, Fatigued, and Frustrated Ones… God has told us what is good.  God has told us how to walk into this apocalypse and it requires no more than what we already possess.  We don’t need a calf, nor sheep, nor rivers of oil.  We don’t need enough votes for impeachment, nor do we need to shame others into action.  God has told us, O Forgetful When Frightened Ones, what actually IS required of us, and that is… to do justice... and to love kindness... and to walk humbly with our God.  

BUT, you scream!  (I scream a lot these days, so I’m guessing you do too.)  BUT, you scream!  They are trying to incite violence so they can implement the insurrection act.  Yes, they are.  They are kidnapping 5 year olds in blue bunny hats and using them as bait.  Yes, they are.  They are deporting children who are US citizens to countries in which they’ve never lived!  Yes, they are.  They are claiming the first, second, fourth, and fourteenth amendments for themselves alone and labeling others who claim those same rights, as Domestic Terrorists!  Yes.  Yes they are, and it is true… the vast, horrific, enormity of the apocalypse we are staring into can NOT be minimized nor poo-pooed away, and it can NOT be overstated.  ALL of that… is true.  

AND.  And.  and… as Rabbi Shapiro wrote in his Talmud/Micah mash up poem:  We are not to be “daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.  Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now.  We are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are we free to abandon it.” 

The apocalypse that is breaking down our nation’s front door seeks to wind us up and spit us out.  It plots to separate us from one another, turn us on our fellow allies.  This apocalypse is violently shoving us and our neighbors into a maniacal, political centrifuge that seeks to fling us violently apart from the things we value and the people we love.  

But hear this… it is a Word from the Lord… there is a place, even in the midst of the wildest, most frantic spinning of a centrifuge, where things come together rather than get flung apart.  It is the center.  It is there… in that center… there at the core of all things, there… in, with, and under the One in whom we live and move and have our being… there, in THAT Divine center… there at THAT Holy Core… that all of creation is grounded by roots so deep, so strong, and so vast, that every past apocalypse has inevitably run aground upon it, been left wrecked, and now lies in complete and utter ruin.  

There at that Holy Core… there in that Divine Center… is where justice lives, where kindness shines, where humility is found.  From that Divine center vulnerability, gentleness, empathy, peacemaking, and compassion grow and blossom and spread with unstoppable abandon across the heavens and around the earth.  There at that Holy Core, erupts endless volumes of compassion, steadfastness and resiliency.  At that Holy Core… In that Divine Center… my friends… is unbounded, unlimited, undaunted… LOVE.  Self giving, all powerful, apocalypse-ending LOVE.  Love has been the ruin of every past apocalypse and LOVE will be the ruin of this apocalypse which has been unceremoniously dumped on our national doorstep in these dark, dark days like a giant, flaming bag of shit!  

So how do we walk into tomorrow, staring down the barrel of an apocalypse?  We walk into it DOING JUSTICE…“Justice is what love looks like in public” Cornell West reminds us.  We walk into this apocalypse by LOVING KINDNESS…“Being kind whenever possible” and as the Dalai Lama reminds us, “it is always possible to be kind” and we walk into this apocalypse WALKING HUMBLY… “Walking in love as Christ loved us,” loving God and loving neighbor as Jesus showed us with his life.

How do we walk into tomorrow while staring down the barrel of this apocalypse?  We walk into tomorrow the Jesus WAY.  We walk doing justice.  Walk loving kindness.  Walk being humble.  Walk with the poor.  Walk with those who mourn.  Walk with the meek and those who long for justice.  Walk mercifully.  Walk without hatred or malice.  Walk building up and not tearing down.  We walk in a peace that passes all understanding.  

Your stride on this walk will be different than mine.  Be careful not to mistake a different stride for not walking at all.  For some are called to walk loudly, others quietly, still others in the shadows.  Walk the way YOU have been called to walk.  Don't let anyone tell you that you're doing it "wrong" because if you are walking forward… always forward… faithful to WHO and WHOSE you truly are… holding the hand of your neighbor on one side, and the hand of the divine on the other you simply can't do better than that!  Walk forward… always forward… hand in hand… drenched in apocalypse-wrecking love, and in our walking we will see this apocalypse (like all others before it) brought to complete and utter ruin.  Then… together… in Love… we will keep walking, hand in hand, into the abundant life that God created us all to live.  Amen.  

My Boyz... C+M+B

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Every year my boys… Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar… get completely and totally SLAMMED on Epiphany in a light hearted (or maybe not so light hearted) way!  They get trashed for… NUMBER 1.  Not asking for directions.  NUMBER 2.  Being late to the birth of Jesus.  NUMBER 3.  Bringing ridiculously impractical gifts, and NUMBER 4.  Being absolutely useless, completely unhelpful, totally out of touch, overwhelmingly pointless… MEN.  Which is why when we get to Epiphany every year the jokes come out about how Wise WOMEN would have asked for directions, got there on time, helped deliver the baby, brought diapers and other practical gifts, cleaned the stable, and if they had been Lutheran or Episcopalian… they would have made a casserole to boot!

It get it.  I really, really get it.  Men have dismissed wise women for, oh I don’t know, let’s say the last 300,000 years or so and because of that, the world has missed out on SO MUCH WISDOM that it just boggles the mind!  Just imagine where we would be as a species if we had NOT just poo-pooed literally HALF of the world’s brain power for three hundred millennia!  We’ve been doing the species-equivalent of punching ourselves in the face over and over and over again for 300,000 years… and we just…keep… doing it!  

Unfortunately there is the temptation out there that after 300,000 years of living under a self destructive, idiotic system of male superiority… after being excluded as a source of wisdom for millennia… after all of that injustice and rank stupidity… the temptation is out there to fix all of that by doing all those same things… just in the opposite direction.  To give men a taste of their own medicine.  To get even.  To seek retribution rather than reconciliation.  

I get the temptation… I really do… but I don’t think retribution is the way to get our species, or any of the organizations and institutions made up of people from our species (including the church) to move forward in this world.  We missed SO MUCH GOOD STUFF for SO LONG.  Is the answer really to intentionally miss out on the opposite set of good stuff just to get even?  I think we could do better by our whole species and by extension, do better by all of creation, if we used BOTH the ancient story of the Three Wise Men AND the modern joking/not-joking rebuttal about Three Wise Women to find a better way.   

The Wise Women, who were certainly present at this scene, although not recorded in the story, certainly brought specialized, practical, and powerful wisdom to the process of Mary’s labor, the moment of Jesus’ birth, and to a set of brand new parents.  They certainly brought practical gifts they knew every woman giving birth needed.  They brought wisdom and experience about the birthing process along with coaching, companionship, empathy, and yes, maybe even an ancient pre-cursor to the casserole.  What further wisdom did they bring?  We can only imagine, but female wisdom was certainly there and was absolutely critical to the successful and safe delivery of Jesus.  BUT, that doesn't mean that the Wise Men were absolutely useless, completely unhelpful, totally out of touch, or overwhelmingly pointless.  

The lesson to be learned here is that the presence of Wise Men does not preclude the existence of Wise Women.  NOR does the presence of Wise Women negate the Wisdom brought by Wise Men!  And those men DID bring wisdom! They were wise enough to notice a new star, that it was moving, and that it needed to be followed. They did actually stop for directions AND at that stop they had the wisdom to discern that Herod was not the friend he pretended to be AND they had the wisdom to stay out of the way and let the women experts handle the birth.  They also had the wisdom to bring small, easily transportable, readily marketable, high value gifts.  The sorts of gifts that would be exactly what a refugee family would need to pack up quickly, carry, and sell easily to finance a life in exile if an unhinged authoritarian dictator decided to slaughter every child under the age of two in Bethlehem and the surrounding suburbs! 

The ancient story got it wrong by ignoring, dismissing, and not recording the tremendous wisdom that was certainly brought to Mary’s side by Wise Women as she gave birth to Jesus.  But the modern joke also gets it wrong by dismissing and poking fun at the Wise Men, who in reality understood the intricate and complex dangers of the political situation into which Jesus was born and brought exactly what would be most useful at precisely the right time to facilitate the Holy Family’s escape to safety.    

The lesson for this Epiphany is that dismissing ANY GIFT of Wisdom that God has given to ANY part of creation is not only foolish, but it is also deadly, both to our species and to all of creation.  This world of ours needs every fraction, of every ounce of Wisdom that God has given us so that we might first, simply survive as a species, but then to achieve the real goal as well… which is to live abundantly.  Dismissing half the population’s wisdom just to shore up fragile egos is simply unsustainable!  As is mindless retribution just to get even for the stupidity of the past.  God has given us more than enough wisdom to solve every single problem that exists for all of humanity and all of creation.  May we, as a species accept God’s Wise Gifts with gratitude, and stop obsessing over the packaging in which that Wisdom comes to us!  Amen.