Friends, last week we were asked to consider, “What are those things in our lives that truly last—to consider what it is that we strive after, and to ask, ‘Am I on the right path—is there more peace in my life because of how I choose to live my life?’  Am I in fact growing closer to the One I profess to follow, the One who is the way, the truth, and the life; or am I adrift and lost?”

This week we are challenged to consider our faith, what is it that we believe? I reflect back to the few times that I have baptized individuals into our faith community, one being our grandson, Elliot, or of when my own children were baptized. When the one to be baptized is an infant, the parents, godparents and all present are asked to answer questions about commitment and about what they basically believe.  Of course the child can’t answer at this point and the fact that the parents, family and community answer the questions, speaks to the fact that they will attempt to be good role models for the child.

As the child grows, she/he will act in accordance with what they see lived out in their parents’ lives and the lives of others who are close to them. When I baptize, I tell the parents during the service, and I know I heard these words at my own children’s baptisms, “You are your child’s first and best teachers” which underscores their responsibility to show their child “the way.”

The fact that parents ask for baptism for their children says that they want them to be part of a community that tries as well to live out what they say they believe.  Jesus tells us all today, “Wherever your treasure lies, there your heart will be as well.”

When I was still working as a chaplain, staff members would occasionally ask to have their babies baptized. Somewhere in their history was the notion that baptism is an important thing to do for their child, even though they weren’t always sure why.

I would always ask if there was a faith community that they were part of as I told them that baptism is meant to make us part of a community of believers who will help them in their responsibility toward their child to basically show them the way to live.  Either I would invite them to come to our community or help them get connected to another.  If they came out of a Catholic background, I would always try to dispel their urgency to baptize because of “original sin” and instill more of a notion of their child as an “original blessing” and to take their time to find the right fit of a community for them.

Let’s look at this idea of faith then and consider what it truly means for each of us.  We often hear the adage, “Seeing is believing.”  With faith, it has been said that the opposite is true—“Not seeing is believing!” When we consider our faith, we realize how often this is the case. We believe, we trust—we hope about many things that we aren’t totally sure of.

I have many times had this conversation with people when they are considering the after-life. No one who has gone on before us has come back to say that heaven exists, but yet most, if not all of us professing Christians believe eternal life with God is a reality yet to be experienced.  When we consider heaven, most of us, in the past and perhaps even now consider it a place we will go to one day.  Maybe that place is here, but only with a heightened awareness.  We don’t know. When we consider the reality of eternal life, the words of the writer to the Hebrews today come to mind, “Faith is the confident assurance of what we hope for, the conviction about things we do not see.”  This is one of those lines that rings like a bell upon our hearts and one we recognize even if we aren’t the types to remember bible quotes, book and verse.  I want to repeat that line: “Faith is the confident assurance of what we hope for, the conviction about things we do not see.”

Faith is indeed a gift—no getting around it. It isn’t something we can sit down, study about, think over and then say, “There, I’ve got it—I believe! Faith is something that tracks us down over a lifetime, through the ups and downs—all the experiences of life. And this is especially so when we say that we don’t believe. When we are perhaps angry with God for what feels unjust and believing becomes hard. For me, faith has grown more through the wonder of life—in an exquisite sunrise or set—the first time I looked upon the faces of my new-born children—upon that of my grandson at 3# 2oz., so tiny, yet so perfect! At such moments—one can only say, “I believe!” And in the times when it is difficult to believe, I hold on, as you do.

Faith it seems, gives us reason to get up each day, to keep hoping against hope for better times, for fulfillment of dreams that await the age when all will be at peace, when all will walk hand in hand, when we will go to war no more, when there will be no distinctions among us—not gender, not race, not age, not lifestyle differences; where we will truly see God’s face clearly, “Not as through a dim glass,” as Paul says, but as God truly is, and we will then finally understand all. I recall a parishioner’s words recently, talking about God and God’s simplicity—so different from what we think of who God is.

Our readings today from Wisdom, Hebrews and Luke each give us pieces to hold unto in our grasp of the faith.  I have already mentioned the line from Hebrews about “confident assurance” which leads us to wonder where that confidence comes from.  Wisdom tells us that “devout parents beget devout children.”  Again, we reflect on the sacrament of baptism and the challenge to the parents that their child will be as faith-filled, good, compassionate and loving as they themselves are!  A child that is loved and made to know of their true worth, first to their parents and others and ultimately to God, will grow up as fruit that falls not far from the tree.

Wisdom continues; holy people share all things—blessings and dangers alike.  Our faith is based on our God having been faithful in the past.  When Abraham considered if he could trust God, there seems to be no doubt, even when he was asked to give his son, Isaac.  Abraham knew of God’s goodness in the past and even if his son would die—the one from whom his generation, that would be as many as the stars in the sky and the sands on the seashore, would come; he knew God could and would bring him back—such was his faith!

Now that is quite a faith! I think many of us feel we would be hard-pressed to believe so steadfastly, yet life calls each of us, at times,  to put all our trust in God when we can’t truly see the outcome and simply believe that as Julian of Norwich said so well, “All will be well, and all will be well.”

Looking back again at Abraham and Sarah, and seeing that even though they were, as Scripture tells us, “as good as dead,” they trusted in God and God’s promise that a child would be born to them, the beginning of a great family. But we know their truly human response when the word came, in their old age, after waiting their entire married lives for this to happen, that they too would be parents—Sarah laughed and probably Abraham too and thus their child, Isaac, which means, “he who laughs, was born! But Sarah and Abraham, even with their great faith, struggled to believe—this is good for all of us to know.

Sarah gave her servant girl Hagar to Abraham because she worried that no children were being born, even though this caused her great pain to see another woman have the child that apparently wasn’t, to come to her, but she did it because she believed so completely in God’s promise—she believed that God would be faithful to the promise even if she might have to intervene to make it so.  This couple exemplifies perfectly the words of the Hebrew writer, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.  This action on Sarah’s part calls each of us to ask if we have done our part in making that which we hope and pray for in our world to come about.

As we reflect on these readings today, we see that peoples’ faith is built on what came before them—God can be trusted because of past promises fulfilled.  The Hebrews looked to the example of Abraham and Sarah as proof of God’s faithfulness.

The gospel of Luke calls us to realize that we are the recipients of so much faith lived out in those who have gone before us—we may possibly think of our parents and grandparents in this regard.  We are now the stewards of the gift of faith and it is our duty to carry it on with the integrity of past figures—certainly in the footsteps of our brother, Jesus.  Peter asked, “Are your words just for us, or do you mean them for everyone?

Jesus responds, “Much will be required of you who have been given much—more will be asked of you to whom more has been entrusted.”  Jesus is never easy on us when it comes to passing on the mission which he lived and died for.

But if we can keep it simple and keep it in focus—we only need to remember—love God and love our neighbors as ourselves—anything we are about in life; we can ask the question, “Are these two commandments violated in any way by what I am proposing to do? We then know how to proceed.

Yesterday, August 6^th marked the 71^st anniversary of Hiroshima Day in 1945—the day our country dropped a bomb equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT on a people.  We have talked about this in the past, but a review of it is always important so that we never forget.  And just to put it all in perspective, the largest bomb during World War II was equivalent to 100 tons of TNT—the Hiroshima bomb was 20,000 tons. Today this is considered a small bomb because we now measure bombs in megatons and one megaton is equivalent to one million tons of TNT.  It would seem to me that these actions wouldn’t pass the two great commandments’ test—to love God and others as ourselves.

Joan Chittister, in reflecting on the actions of this day asked this question: “Does that sound like the presence of God to you? She also reminds us that August 6^th ironically, is the feast of the Transfiguration, the awareness of the apostles that Jesus, alight with God, brought divinity into their midst.  She concluded with this challenge—“When we become aware of the conjunction of these two things on the same day, we become mindful of our obligation to bring Jesus into chaos again.” Wow!  Let me repeat that ….When we become aware of the conjunction of these two things, Hiroshima Day and the Transfiguration, we become mindful of our obligation to bring Jesus into chaos again!”

When we reflect on our mission in this world, first as divine beings birthed by our God to have a human experience while here, and as followers of Jesus, the Christ, his final words to us give hope and strength in our ability to truly make a difference; “Remember, don’t be afraid, I am with you all days, even to the end of time.”

So friends, it would seem that we are called to keep looking to our brother, Jesus, keep checking his words, keep striving to be our best selves, striving to bring to each situation that component that is, as Joan Chittister says, “alight with God!”

Friends, today we hear about futility—the older translation of which we are probably more familiar speaks of “vanity” and the “vanity of vanities.”  No matter which word we use, it seems that both point to what is empty and foolish.  The story of the rich, prosperous man in today’s Gospel is a prime example.  His answer to overflowing fields of grain is to build bigger barns, and he expresses quite a bit of excitement around this fact!—perhaps a very human thing to do. There apparently wasn’t any malice involved in the way that he acquired his wealth—at least Jesus doesn’t raise the issue—he is more concerned, it would seem about what the man wants to do with his surplus.  It is for this reason that this parish gifts most of our financial treasure out to our local, national and international community—those who have needs beyond our own.  In fact it is one of the greatest joys of those who serve on our board to take your money out of the bank and pay it forward, as it were, which we did this past week and you have received that report.  It has always been my belief that truly Christian churches should not have bank accounts, or at least not have ones that, like our farmer today, grow ever larger—I thought this long before All Are One came to be.

The Old or First Testament clearly instructs wealthy farmers to leave at least, the corners of their fields, for the poor and widows to glean.  It seems there is necessity to write into law, care for those less fortunate, as we in our natural tendency toward greed and hoarding, forget at times, to care for the less fortunate.  The Scripture lessons today tell us that the meaning of life can’t be found in things that do not last, yet we humans still strive for more, many times oblivious to what our ever-growing desire for things might be doing to our earth.

This past winter, Robert and I began the process of going through our “stuff” stored around our home, throwing lots and sharing that which others could use that we no longer needed—it was really very freeing! And, to say nothing of how happy our kids will be one day that they don’t have to do it! I know in talking with many of you who have begun simplifying your lives and getting rid of some of the extra stuff as we have, that you know that sense of freedom and the joy of sharing the extras with others.

In our world, the value of people is often, sadly, linked to what they have, especially money and material goods. And right alongside this are the issues of power and prestige that are linked to those who are well-off financially. The standards in society that govern how we live, what is acceptable, are often set by those with money.  At least these are the people who are listened to.  The wise teacher, Qoheleth in Ecclesiastes, says all of this is lacking in substance.   The election this fall is very much about making sure that those without are taken care of.

Within our Catholic church we see that the power is definitely in the hands of half of the human race. And the trouble seems to be that those who hold this power, those who have the voice and are allowed to minister at our altars, have no idea, no concept of what it would be like to have the tables turned.

Eight years ago when I was ordained, a female, ELCA Lutheran pastor and colleague wrote to me expressing her praise and wonder at what women in the Catholic church have to go through to realize their God-given calls to serve at the altar.  She went onto relate her own personal experience of hearing God’s call, entering seminary and at the conclusion of her studies, becoming ordained.

Years ago when the first woman was ordained within the Church of England, I can remember reading the transcript of her homily and she said something to the effect that for the first time, little girls in the Church could look on and say, like little boys have done for centuries, I too could be ordained one day! Politics aside, we heard the same thing this last week from our First Lady, Michelle Obama when she said and I paraphrase, now my girls know that they too one day could be president!

Women within the Catholic church are hoping that Francis will one day, soon, see how poor our world is when the gifts of women are discounted.  It is simply not enough to say that we should “give the women more to do!” What our Church needs is the gifts of women, fully realized, in every Catholic church in our country and in our world and until that happens; we will not be whole—the Catholic church will fail to be all that it can be—all that Jesus intended it to be.  The Democratic nominee for vice-president, himself a Catholic, has said as much—the Catholic church basically stands in the way of women’s rights being fully realized in our world! Had this been the case, that of complete involvement of women in Church ministry and leadership, it may not have been so easy for male priests to abuse the children of the People of God and cover it up for so long!

The readings this week definitely call us to look at what occupies our minds and hearts and takes aim at excessive wealth and power and calls it, “futile.”   If we look at those who have the wealth in this world; we often see them as people striving for even more—they are never satisfied.  The constant striving for things tends to blur the path to wholeness. We are reminded of this truth in music scores over the years that decry a simpler time when love was good and it wasn’t about the wealth.

Jesus points to the foolishness of stockpiling that which we can’t take with us. In the end, we leave this world with only what we brought in—ourselves. We smile at the farmer, building bigger barns to store his grain—but our world still hasn’t learned this lesson that Jesus taught us so long ago—people continue to build bigger houses that are like barns to fill with stuff and often with only two people wandering about in them.

Our “first world” world has a long ways to go yet in understanding that the material gifts of our planet were meant to share with the world.  In our dealings as a nation with other world governments, we need to keep the good of all people in mind, not just ourselves.  In my position, it isn’t appropriate that I advocate for one candidate over another, one political party over another, but I can advocate, as one former candidate running for office did recently, “Vote your consciences!”  Who will do the best job to care for all of the people not only in our country, but around the world? Who has the broadest vision of what it takes to deal with world problems of justice and security for all? Who has the ability to listen to others and come up with sound solutions to big problems?

When we look at the human tendency to want for more, to sometimes, be selfish even, we might ask what all the striving and hoarding is about. It does seem that fear is probably the driving force in all that we strive after and we are all guilty of this pursuit in some form or fashion.  If it is about fear, then we have to ask—what do we fear?  I think we fear not being accepted, not being loved—we fear for our reputation—what would people think of me if I were to do that, wear that, say that—be with them? So in our fear of being looked down upon, thought less of, we sometimes do the socially more acceptable thing and surround ourselves with stuff that will bring us a certain amount of prestige, acceptance and comfort—for a time.

Again, Qoheleth tells us—it is all fleeting—here today, gone tomorrow.  As we age, I think this reality becomes ever more apparent.  Stories abound of the bum on the street who was once a top executive—it can all go so quickly, so it behooves us to strive after that which lasts.  For the younger ones among us, you are at a different place, simply trying to take care of the constant needs of your families.

But for all of us, Paul outlines well what our lives should look like due to the fact that we say we follow Jesus, the Christ.  As his followers, as Christians, each us is called to not simply consider ourselves, but others—how does what I do, how I choose to live, affect others—affect global existence for all who share this planet?  Our baptism in Jesus was a death to an old way of thinking—one that considered us above all others.

Through the waters of baptism, we are born into the image of our Creator—called to be generous with our time, talent and possessions in a world that sometimes applauds selfishness and greed. We are called and required to be honest in all our dealings in a world that isn’t always honest.  Our culture idolizes youth, money and pleasure—but we are called to so much more—the practice of genuine love, which shows itself through mercy, goodness, unselfishness and peace.  I recall how I struggled several years back with turning 60. With each passing year, I struggle less as I am coming to terms with growing older, realizing it isn’t about a number, but the quality of my years.

We all know—those of us with gray hair and mid-drift bulges that youth doesn’t last—pleasure-seeking is a beast that can consume us if we let it.  But life that Jesus our brother and friend laid out for us is one that does last—a life that is consumed with love—love for people, love for our earth, love for ourselves—a love that seeks balance in our lives.

For this reason, I can only marvel at those in this world who would think that our good God would be against those who choose to love someone of their same sex in conjunction with how they were created.  Incredible! “Love is love is love…” as my friend, Paul Alexander, musician and song-writer has said so simply and well. Our loving Creator God wants us to enjoy our human existence—taste of the joys of this earth and of each other—but not make the pleasure, the experience, a god in itself.  This is where we lose our way.

Let us pray for each other today, that we can always keep our eyes on Jesus who so perfectly, showed us the balance—the way—the truth and the life.

Opening Comments

It is my privilege on behalf of the Margaret and Gerold Redig family to welcome you all here today for our 5^th Mary of Magdala celebration—I couldn’t say “annual” as we missed last year!  Margaret and Gerold were both always happy to have people; family and friends come here to share this special place they called “home.”  Margaret especially wanted this place to be shared with others—she envisioned it as a place that people would come to for retreat.   So, friends—you are welcome!

We come today to celebrate and to remember someone, Mary of Magdala, who in Sr. Joan Chittister’s words is an icon for the 21^st Century because she calls women and men to listen to the call of Christ over the call of the Church—when did we ever need that more?—at a time when our beloved Church seems so plagued by the lack of prophetic leadership.  Whenever we are in doubt about the right way to go; we must always check it against the message of Jesus. This is the real challenge Joan Chittister says: “Women are called to courage—men are called to humility.” Mary of Magdala calls us to face this challenge.   Even Pope Francis got on board just recently in making Mary of Magdala’s feast on July 22^nd one on par with the other apostles, so at least he is saying, she is someone to keep our eyes on.

We celebrate this feast day as well to uplift the position of all women in our world–the tactic of making light of who women are, what they have done and what they are called to do is one that has been used in Church and State for far too long to misuse and abuse women, to control them and it is time for it to stop!

An aside: Dick Dahl couldn’t be with us today, but shared this story when he was returning from a visit to his daughter and her family in Austria just recently.  Coming through Chicago airport, his daughter had a wheel chair arranged for him to get him through Customs, baggage, etc. –as many of you know; he has had problems with his hip lately.  The young person pushing his wheel chair was named Maggie. Dick asked if that was a nickname and what her full first name might be. She said, “Magdalen.”  Dick said he would be with us in spirit.

Homily

Friends, the Scriptures just proclaimed tell us so much about our sister, Mary of Magdala and many of the women who followed Jesus. The gospel passage from Luke lets us know that Mary and the others were faithful followers cured of demons and other illnesses.  They were women of means who supported The Twelve and Jesus.    The selection from Mark’s gospel tells us of Jesus’ burial and of who was present; Mary of Magdala, Jesus’ mother and Salome—persistent in their faithfulness to the end.  John’s gospel account describes in full detail whom Jesus chose to spread the news that he had indeed risen—someone, a woman and a faithful woman at that, who in her culture was not even permitted to give testimony in a court of law.  Jesus was always about turning things on their heads and there is no exception here! Jesus is calling his society, the Church, then and now, to more.

Joan Chittister, present day prophet, Benedictine Sister, writer and speaker reminds us that two women, Mary of Nazareth and Mary of Magdala are central figures in the Incarnation and the Resurrection in a society that didn’t value women.  God called them to be their full selves—can we in this society with 2,000 years living in Jesus’ memory really do less? Isn’t it really time that we begin to hear the voices of women—their stories—their authentic calls by God to serve at the altars of our churches alongside their brothers?

In the past, I have shared with you the uncovered history of Mary of Magdala, the fact of her being maligned in history by a certain pope by the name of Gregory who saw fit to morph all the stories of Mary, excepting those of Jesus’ mother into a composite including the woman of ill-repute who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, and by the time he was done, Mary of Magdala lost her role of Apostle to the Apostles, at least it was not uplifted, that of a prophet and friend and faithful follower of Jesus the Christ and was recorded going forward, through teaching and sermon, to say nothing of art and music as no more than a reformed prostitute.   And even if it were true, which it is not, it seems to me that one doesn’t do this action alone, but no mention if ever made of that—no stories about men caught in adultery!

Now if this doesn’t anger you as much as it does me, you might be thinking—“Well, they said she was a reformed prostitute and faithful follower, so was there really any harm done?” I am here to say, “Yes,” because the incrimination and the lies give the Church hierarchy permission not to take Mary of Magdala, or any women, for that matter, seriously.  What can we expect really, from a prostitute?! We certainly don’t want our daughters to take that route to sainthood hoping for a reformed life along the way. Oh no, Gregory had a plan and it worked for centuries until women theologians and others began uncovering the truth.  So Francis’ step in upgrading Mary of Magdala’s feast is a good first move in uplifting women’s place in the Church.

Think of what our Church could be if all the prophets were allowed to speak their truth, if every woman and man called by God were blessed to serve at our altars?—there would be no shortage!    Shame on a Church that excommunicates those called by God to serve because they happened to have been born female! Shame on a Church that teaches the lie that Jesus only called men when the Scriptures just proclaimed the opposite!  And shame on a Church that excommunicates and defrocks male priests who publically stand with women in support of their ordinations like Roy Bourgeois and Tony Flannery.

It is time that our Church hierarchy begins to listen to all the voices, but especially to its women for the truth they have to tell.  Our Church will never truly proclaim the reign of God until it does. In fact, it is time that our world begins to listen to the voices of its women, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, women in all walks of life, from war-torn countries around our globe, asking for peace, not war.

Several years back, a young Pakistani schoolgirl, whom we have come to affectionately call Malala, a victim of ignorance in her own country, nearly losing her life, spoke her truth at the United Nations—a simple, but most eloquent message, “We are really tired of all these wars—women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world.”  I believe most of us would agree that war is not the answer, but it demands that we all do the hard work of peace which is underscored by listening, understanding and negotiation.

Leonard Pitts, Jr., a syndicated columnist, spoke a few years ago of how the world could easily dismiss Malala as a mere child, saying that she’s too young to understand the complicated issues that causes countries to go to war.  But what if we took her seriously Pitts challenged, heard her words imploring us to work and really strive for peace because it is the right thing to do?  No matter the rhetoric we heard out of Cleveland this past week.

What we do here today friends is about truth-telling and our Church needs to be about the truth, first of all, because our brother Jesus was, and if we say that we are his followers, we must be too! The new archbishop of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Bernard Hebda made a significant step in that regard this past week in telling the truth and taking responsibility for wrong-doing in the abuse of children and that cover-up in the previous tenure of Archbishop John Nienstedt.  We can only hope that this is a beginning that won’t end with him.

When we don’t know the truth, we can’t live fully. When the truth is not told, we are less of a people. When the truth is not told, we fail to see a piece of God in our midst.  And worse, as we all know from the sexual abuse scandal, when the truth is not told, people are hurt.

If we allow Mary of Magdala to be cast as a prostitute, then we don’t have to take her seriously. We can devise a false piety around her memory that directs our attention to the loving God who saved her from herself; or, we can look to her for a true role model of courage in how to follow our brother Jesus because in truth, this Mary was indeed, a prophet, a priest and an evangelizer—chosen by Jesus to herald the news of the Resurrection as stated by Joan Chittister to the frightened male apostles hold up in the Upper Room. Mary was known to have conducted a house church leading Jesus’ followers in the breaking of the bread. This Mary spoke truth to power and she was known to have had disagreements with Peter! Imagine that?!

Allowing Mary of Magdala her role of prophet and priest encourages all women and lifts them up to find their own God-given power to be prophets, priests and evangelizers.  If we allow Mary to be simply a reformed prostitute, this lie, as it was intended, puts this dynamic prophet, priest and evangelizer in a place deemed right by the hierarchical Church, along with all other women, not to be taken seriously.  Even our good Pope Francis has a long ways to go in seeing his sisters in the faith as God sees them, not as second-class citizens, but prophets, priests and evangelizers. We were all saddened recently to see the continued badgering from Rome of the Women Religious and the attempts to dictate to them their calls to ministry.

As Joan Chittister says, women have been integral in the mission of Jesus from the Incarnation to the Resurrection in the persons of Mary of Nazareth, whose prophetic canticle we will sing today in closing and Mary of Magdala. Why was it necessary to diminish the roles of these prophetic, priestly women? One word friends—power.  And we know that those who have the power have the control to spin the story in the way that they wish.  Yet, throughout history, who has it been that have primarily taught the children, got them and their men to Church, but the women? Who are the ones who have been so faithful and trained so well to do all that “Father” has asked over the years?—the women.

In my opening remarks friends, Joan Chittister’s sentiment that women need courage and men need humility is absolutely true if our Church is to survive and to thrive—the youth, those who are thinking, have already, for the most part,  turned their backs on this archaic model of Church that doesn’t allow all the voices to be heard. Women must stop being men’s doormats, affirming everything that they utter—women are as capable of being vessels for the Holy Spirit as are men and it is time that we begin!

And it’s time to do this for our men, so that they can be all that they were called to be. And the men have a wonderful example in Fr. Roy Bourgeois who so humbly has stated, “How can we men claim to have calls from God and act on them when we deny the same to women?” How indeed?!

Friends, this is an issue about power from the male standpoint, and about ministry from the female standpoint.  “Power over others,” instead of “love over others” allows for a Church and world that abuses its women through violence of all kinds—human trafficking to name just one. If you haven’t yet read President Jimmy Carter’s book, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power, do pick it up—we have a copy in our library.  It’s unconscionable the evil done to women around the world because of their lack of voice and subsequent power.  This is an issue that we all need to be aware of and take responsibility for, for the women in our lives, and for all the men too, so that we can all be the people we were called to be.

Perhaps we would be wise to invite more of the voices of women to our national discussions, to our Church tables, at the highest levels, to have for once, the full complement of the face of God. Perhaps it is time to set all the captives free, allow all those called to serve to in fact do it,  to give full voice to all the prophets—perhaps it is time!  Yes, perhaps it is time, in the memory of Mary of Magdala, Mary of Nazareth, both, priests and prophets, and faithful witnesses to the memory of Jesus of Nazareth–perhaps, it is time!!! Amen? Amen!

 

Friends, this weekend we are asked to contemplate the ministry of hospitality in the context of service to others. We begin with Abraham and Sarah and their life together as nomads in the desert.  For them and people like them, hospitality was key in their lives because travelers depended on the hospitality extended by those one met along a journey. This rule of hospitality was an expectation whether the traveler was friend or foe and was extended religiously to one and all.

It might strike us as strange that Abraham and Sarah would go to such an extreme as to kill the fattened calf, but for a guest, nothing was too much. We see the same sense of hospitality in the Gospel passage concerning Martha and Mary; only here, Jesus asks Martha to see the bigger picture.  Paul, in his letter to the Colossians is asking them to also see the bigger picture—to see beyond the suffering that life sometimes brings in following in Jesus’ footsteps to the joy also present in such a life.

All the tension and strife of the last several weeks in our country, with the killing of black men by police and the killing of police by someone looking for revenge, calls each of us to see the bigger picture too.

President Obama, in his message of condolence this week, called each of us beyond the grief we are feeling over the killing of five police officers and the wounding of nine others to see the whole picture of race relations in our country.  As he said so well and I paraphrase; it is about the disparity in equality in our country, as we spoke about last weekend—the higher rates of pull-overs, higher rates of killings by police, higher rates of sentencing of black individuals and so on. It is about all of us as a nation forgetting about inner cities that have no jobs, no chances for education and moving ahead.  It is about failing to take responsibility for all of this as individual Americans and giving all that responsibility to our police officers and then wondering why it all reaches the boiling point from time to time.  The freedoms we enjoy in this country come with a price and that is responsibility—each of us is responsible to see that all enjoy these freedoms.  Sigmund Freud wrote: “Most people do not really want freedom because freedom involves responsibility.  And most people are frightened of responsibility.”

The readings for this weekend call us to be creative in our belief—in our lives, as we try to do the right thing for the right reason—to see what is most important in any situation and then choose the better part, as Jesus instructed Martha.  It is one of those head versus heart situations again—law over love choices that we are so often called to make as Jesus’ followers. Freud calls it “responsibility”—I would call it our “mission” as Christians.

Friends, our God is trying to help us to see that we have to go deeper, beyond our fears to see what is really being asked of us.  In the situation of race relations in our country, which we have seen recently is only exasperated by the proliferation of guns, it is time that we must move beyond the fear, see the whole picture and do the right thing—demand of our Congress safety measures as a start.  Then, as a safer nation, we can begin to tackle the racism that has raised its ugly head so many times throughout the presidency of Barack Obama.

Abraham and Sarah, our parents in the faith had a strong belief—they were people of principle and did the right thing that their culture asked of them—to extend hospitality to travelers whose lives would be in danger if they didn’t tend to their needs.  They are our models in the way we need to go—we may have to be inconvenienced to care for each other as were Abraham and Sarah in giving hospitality.

We know that these particular travelers of our Gospel story today were no ordinary travelers as they carried a special message for this elderly couple to wrap their hearts and minds around. The travelers seem anxious to share the news that Abraham and Sarah have waited their whole married life to hear, that at last, they too will be parents.  Instead, the travelers have to wait until the couple has done the tasks that hospitality demands.

Today’s readings are all about seeing what is most important in a series of good things that we might do—while it is good and necessary to be hospitable, caring for others, there are different kinds of hospitality as Jesus indicates in his response to Martha.  Listening, really listening to another is a priceless gift of hospitality.  Abraham and Sarah could have done less by way of caring for their travelers’ physical needs and spent more time listening to their guests, finding out much sooner the gift that these particular travelers had to share. Our black brothers and sisters need the gift of listening too, from their white sisters and brothers—whites need to hear the black stories so that there can be more acceptance and appreciation of what their daily lives look like. Last week, we spoke about, “who is my neighbor?”

Our community, through written media has been discussing the slogan, “Black Lives Matter” juxtaposed with that of “All Lives Matter.”  Some whites are not able to get the point of the “Black Lives Matter” slogan. Ray Dretske of Winona, this week, in a letter had this to say:

“The problem with the saying, “All Lives Matter” is that it erases the need to do anything about racism.  It allows us to say the words, and then just go back to our regularly scheduled lives. White America needs to take responsibility for the problem and finally begin addressing solutions; it’s not something blacks can fix.”

On face value, Jesus’ words may be hard for us to grasp as they were for Martha.  After all, she was simply doing what her culture told her to do in this situation—take care of the traveler who came her way.  As always though, Jesus asks her and us, to go further.

It is important for us to know that Jesus was not “picking on” Martha or criticizing her—he only says something to her when she objects that her sister, Mary, is not doing her part.  He is calling her to more in her life—to realize that Mary is caring for him too and in this context, perhaps a greater way, by listening to his words.

Jesus is asking Martha and each of us to grow out of our comfort zones, to stretch, to be creative, to be responsible as Freud and Ray Dretske put it—to find new ways to serve all “travelers” who come our way. Listening, as in my commentary about our black sisters and brothers from the context of white people of privilege in this country is so very important.  When we are busy about many things—all of which probably have purpose and are needful; we may miss the most important thing happening.

The Mary/Martha story is more about doing the right thing for the right reason, a good point for us to consider. Martha and Mary were both faithful disciples of Jesus—Martha is caring for Jesus’ physical needs, Mary is listening to his words, giving him spiritual comfort. If truth be told, part of Martha’s need is to be recognized for the gifts she is supplying to make Jesus’ visit comfortable and pleasant, and her human hope, no doubt, is that Jesus will recognize her in a special way for the gifts she is providing.  The same might be said of Abraham and Sarah—perhaps the killing of the fattened-calf wasn’t necessary and perhaps Abraham had his eye on being known in the area as the one who cared best for travelers, so his motives may not have been totally pure.  In Jesus’ time, he is gently calling Martha and us from our selfishness and asking us to grow.

My friends, I believe Jesus is asking us to be well-developed people, good listeners, caring for people in physical, spiritual and emotional ways—as whole people, in other words. This total care and awareness of what people need will allow each of us to become our best selves so that all the “travelers” who come our way, might see in us, our brother Jesus.

 

My friends, today we are challenged to ponder the question of “who is my neighbor?” within the context of the two great commandments of loving God and my neighbor as myself. The Israelite people come from a long history of studying and interpreting the law—one only has to look to the Old Testament book of Leviticus to know and understand that this people had law-keeping down to a fine art.

What this people was challenged by Moses to see, as related in our reading from Deuteronomy today and later by Jesus was the fact that the law is written on their hearts—the words of love, compassion and care are already in their mouths—in their psyches—they, and us by extension, are already hard-wired for loving—God made us this way—we only have to act upon it.

In the recent speech by our president, Barrack Obama, after the second shooting by the police of a black brother here in Minnesota, he challenges us basically with the same question as Jesus in today’s Gospel, in the simple statement, “We are better than this as a nation.” This was in regard to the fact that our black brothers and sisters are stopped by police 30% more than are whites, once pulled over; they are three times more likely to be searched and are shot by police at more than twice the rate of whites. African American individuals are arrested at twice the rate of whites and are 75% more likely to be charged with offenses carrying mandatory minimums—they receive almost 10% longer sentences than whites for comparable crimes.  Jesus asks us to consider, “Who is my neighbor” and our president says, we all as a nation, can do better!

When the Book Shelf closed this spring, I picked up, It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton— in deference to the election year, a book that I had always wanted to read.  It lays out her life-long care and passion to raise our children well.  Given what each one needs to grow well—first the basics; food, shelter and clothing and moving on to the next and probably more important elements; love, care and respect; each child can grow to become an asset to this world, and as Hillary stresses throughout, it takes a village, all of us, to make it happen.

In the president’s speech, he mentions that we ask much of our police force at times to patrol cities that we have forgotten about, where jobs are scarce as are good schools—where, as Hillary has said, “the village” hasn’t always cared well for its children.

While I believe that we are hard-wired to love, we also know that those who aren’t loved as infants and small children aren’t necessarily going to grow up to be loving people.  Children also need guidance about right-living—how to live in our world with others. And we have all witnessed what happens when children don’t get this guidance.

In some respects, given the fact that God made us to be people of love, it would seem that this shouldn’t be a hard thing to do.  Yet, as we see in Leviticus and in our reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses needed to remind the people to keep their eyes on the heart of the law, not merely the letter of the law.  You will recall from last week—Paul let us know that merely performing ritual isn’t enough—we have to engage our hearts.  And then there is free will—both a blessing and a curse at times—a gift that each of us must struggle with to become all that God intended us to be.

By the time of Jesus, there must have been a true disconnect between the letter of the law and the heart of the law for him to tell the story of the Good Samaritan.  There was also apparently, in their thinking, a disconnect, as to what it meant to love God and to love their neighbor as themselves.  Jesus makes it clear that if we say, “we love God,” we must extend that love to our neighbor.

And yet, I struggle as I know you do with those who misuse and abuse power in Church and State. I struggle to love those who refuse to see, because they are in power, that there is any different way to come at a problem—that listening to where another is coming from is what we are called to do in our world from both a human and a spiritual standpoint if we ever hope to live in peace on a personal, national or international level.  Our president’s call was not to us as members of any political party, but as Americans.  We can’t refuse to help immigrants out of fear; we can’t label whole races, cultures or denominations as bad because of the evil of some within any particular group.  And finally, in light of the recent black shootings, I am called to task as a white person of privilege simply by how I happened to have been born to not have to worry about my adult children being pulled over for little or no offense because their skin is white too.  And I have to ask if in my life, I am doing all that I can to safeguard the children of my black brothers and sisters because the danger is not in my own backyard.

So, we must face the question—who is my neighbor? Jesus tells the people and that includes us, that our neighbor is anyone basically who needs us—our neighbor has no gender, culture, race or particular way of life—and further, our neighbor must be treated as we would want to be treated.  President Obama said in conclusion to his speech, “What if this happened to someone in your family? How would you feel?”  And friends, until we can truthfully answer this question and do something to change “the way it is” mentality, we can’t say that we truly love God.

Treating others as we would want to be treated has to be the starting and ending point and if it were, we could accomplish so much—so much!  If we wouldn’t want the evil we are about to do, inflict on another by word or deed, to happen to us, then we simply should not do it to another. We need to stop—stop—stop—before we act!

Part of the trouble is that we live in such a fast-moving culture that wants everything now, where claimants to Second Amendment rights demand automatic, rapid-fire weapons designed only for killing humans, and all this has left us as much less of a reflective people. What indeed would you do if what happened recently in Louisiana and in our beloved state of Minnesota happened to someone you love? So, let us stop and reflect, finding a better way that calls us to our best selves—the part of us, hard-wired to love.

We see an interesting twist in today’s Gospel—the model for right behavior comes from the one most despised and looked down upon by the Israelite people—the Samaritan.  He is considered “less than” by probably everyone mentioned in Jesus’ story—even the man he is helping; yet, this despised one, shows the way.  Which again lifts up the truth that goodness is not inherent to individuals because of race, gender, nationality and the same can be said of evil.

I have shared before who the Samaritans were and why they were despised, but in order to make the reading more understandable, a bit of review. When the Babylonians took the Israelite people into exile, not all the people were taken. The people living around Samaria were Jews too, but during the time of exile, they intermarried and became lax in other Jewish practices too.  When those in exile returned, they began to look down on the Samaritans for lacks in rigidity following the letter of the law—they seemingly had forgotten the heart of the law. This judgmental attitude on the part of the returned exiles, given their own treatment in captivity might strike us as strange given Moses challenge to always get beyond the letter of the law to its heart.

We might look to ourselves in this regard. As I shared earlier, I often struggle with those in both Church and State who talk the good talk, but fall far short of the heart component. There is a contingent in Rome and in more conservative groups throughout our Church who are worried that Pope Francis will destroy the Church that they have become comfortable with—a practice that involves law first and second, if ever, love.  One cannot look at the life of Jesus and see anything but love first.

So, how do we stack up? I think we all have been subject to the judgments that happen in a split second upon meeting someone new who is different in any way from those we generally associate with. And if we never take the next step to move out of our comfort zone, to get to know the person behind the outward appearance, we may very well miss a wonderful connection.

Today’s readings speak of loving God and our neighbors as ourselves, which is many times not easy.   In fact it will often demand that we pay a price to fulfill our call as Jesus’ followers—we may be the only one and we may stand alone. The Samaritan cared for one who was in his culture, his enemy.  He could do this because God’s law of love was written on his heart. He may not have followed the letter of the law—but he had the heart component down!  How about us, do we act on a regular basis out of our hard-wiring to love, or is our faith just on the surface? The Levite and the priest were on their way to the temple and would have become ritually unclean had they stopped to assist their brother who had fallen in with robbers.  Evidently the letter of the law was their guide, not the heart of the law.

Who are the people that we perhaps don’t want to be seen with? Is our faith big enough to include any and all in our circle of friends?  Because that is what we say we believe in here at All Are One. Sometimes we don’t want to be bothered, but often times it takes little time to give the gift that each of us is already hard-wired to give.

My friends, our call today is the same as for the Levite, the priest, the Samaritan. We must go the extra mile; pay the price of truly being Jesus’ followers by standing with our brothers and sisters in need. As we reflect on the violence of this past week, the disparity in the freedoms in this country and what we can do about that, we must remember that there is one thing we know for sure in this country—there are far too many guns with little or no restrictions on who can purchase them, which makes all of us less safe and vulnerable. I believe that most of us would agree that when a situation escalates the prominence and availability of guns makes that situation immediately more dangerous. So, let’s be calling our Congress people and demand the votes that will make all of us safer.

The book I mentioned earlier by Hillary Clinton, published in 1996 spoke of a time when all the measures now being asked for to make our country safer were in place—waiting periods to purchase, background checks and bans on the types of weaponry that could be purchased.  All these measures have been dismantled over the years because the letter of the law has become more important than the heart of the law.

My friends, may God bless us all as we strive to love with all our hearts, minds and souls.