My sisters and brothers, the resurrection takes place both in our world and inside each of us.
The lesson we had from Ezekiel, the valley of the Dry Bones is a powerful symbol of renewal and restoration. It may well be the source of the Jewish belief in the resurrection at the end of time. It is likely that Ezekiel was among those deported when the Babylonians first took Jerusalem, in 598 BC. He opposed a political solution to Judah’s woes, espousing instead the notion of Israel as a community faithful to God in religious observance. This story involves both one of the prophet’s visions and an interpretation. Namely, that faithful Israel will be resurrected.
In our lesson from Romans, we have Paul’s classic duality of Spirit (things of God) vs. Flesh (things of the earth). The Christian is able to live a life for God, in the Spirit. Christian life is bound up in the Spirit, and not by the desires of the flesh. Now he explains the difference between what he calls living in the Spirit and living according to the flesh: two very different mind-set. A person whose mind “is set on the flesh,” whose view is limited to the natural world, is at enmity with God because he is fundamentally unable to obey God's law – he lacks the power to transcend his inner conflicts, and. On the other hand, Christians are in the Spirit. Spirit of God dwelling in them, fills and motivates our Christian lifestyle.
Today’s gospel story, of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, is a dramatic representation of Jesus’ divine power. He, like God, has power even over death itself. In way, the story sets the stage for the resurrection story of Jesus himself. As the story begins, Jesus and his disciples are at a safe distance from Jerusalem, out of reach of the authorities that are out to get them. Thomas, shows great courage in his readiness to travel back to the Jerusalem area and risk his life with Jesus.
In that day, people thought that one’s soul hovered around one’s body for three days, but when Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been dead for “four days;” making his miracle all the more powerful. I love the gentle way Martha rebukes Jesus for his tardiness wile showing her confidence in his ability to heal. She goes further: perhaps because the Father grants the Son whatever he asks, Jesus will restore life to Lazarus. She, as many did, believed in “the resurrection [of all] on the last day” (v. 24), but this is small comfort to her now. Jesus identifies himself as he who raises believers from death. Yet, even Jesus becomes distraught and his humanity shows in his tears. Causing some to say that he weeps at the loss of a friend (having compassion for Jesus), but others criticize him for his tardiest. They are about to be amazed and overwhelmed at Jesus’ compassion and power.
All of this gives us a view of the end of our Lenten journey, a reminder of our Easter celebration which is just a couple weeks away. As we make our way toward Easter, we have some choices to make about how we get to Easter. We can choose not to focus on the things of the world that distract us from our relationship with Christ. We can choose to resist spite, envy greed, etc. We can deny those things that satisfy a sense of artificial power based on material things. Or we choose to allow God to restore and renew us by filling us again with the risen Spirit of Christ. Let us pray for this gift!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Homily for: 4 Lent A, April 3, 2011
My sisters and brothers, God is full of surprises.
Our first lesson from the prophet Samuel begins a saga for us. The prophet is off about God’s work, blessing the next King of Israel. But, God has not chosen the usual suspects. The present king (Saul) has enjoyed God’s favor, but has lost it by disobeying the prophet Samuel’s instructions. God now orders Samuel to anoint a new king, a son of “Jesse.” The story goes into great length describing how God had not chosen any of the young men that Samuel or Jesse might have guessed. When Samuel does anoint David as the upcoming king, the “spirit of the Lord” fills the young man in a noticeable way. His brothers themselves are witnesses to the event. Saul will persecute David relentlessly but upon Saul’s death in battle, David unifies the northern and southern districts and ascends to the throne over all of Israel. The unexpected boy, is God’s chosen instrument.
In the letter to the Ephesians, the author has exhorted his readers to conduct themselves ethically as befits those who have adopted the way of Christ. Having “put away your former way of life” and being clothed with the new self in baptism, they are now to lead moral lives befitting members of a body in which the Holy Spirit dwells. An offence against a member is an offence against God. Using terminology one also finds in the Qumran scrolls and Matthew, the author contrasts unbelievers (who live in “darkness”and disobey God) with those who are in “light,” i.e., “in the Lord.” Evil deeds are never hidden from God.
The gospel story we just shared, about the man born blind, is one of John’s most rich and intricate stories. In ancient Judaism, illness and physical disability were often attributed to sin: in this case, either of the man (prenatally) or of “his parents.” Jesus dismisses the link between sin and illness. Rather, he says that this man’s impairment gives him opportunities to do the works of God. The Pharisees consider making mud on the Sabbath as breaking the Law so they question the man. They are divided among themselves: some clamming that Jesus cannot be from God (for he breaks the Law) and those who wonder how a sabbath-breaker can perform miracles (which only one approved by God can do). Finally they side against Jesus and the man he cured. The man boldly asserts the fact of the cure. Eventually, in frustration, he ridicules their expert opinion. Jesus must be “from God” for no one has ever before performed such a cure.
There are several themes in this gospel that I believe we need to take note of: 1, The man’s spiritual journey on the way to faith, takes him through three levels of awareness about Jesus: Jesus is a prophet, He is of God, the man worships Jesus. We all have phases to go through in our lives of faith, we grow and mature along the way.
2, Blindness. Spiritual sight or insight is not a given in our lives. It is something that some of us are better at than others. It is something that we all grow in as we invest more effort into our spiritual lives. Even the best of us can miss what God is doing and have the experience of being taken by surprise.
3, The self-righteous-know-it-all vs. the humble peasant. The peasant recognizes that God does not have to operate in the way we expect. Jesus broke the Sabbath law to heal a blind man. What might God do that takes us by surprise.
God’s ways are not our ways. They are above and beyond us. God can and usually does take us by surprise.
When I was a college sophomore, working towards a degree in electronics, with a job in the college lab and an active outdoors-man life style; the last thing I expected of God was to be called to ordained ministry. Yet we can all see who prevailed......
Let us not get to confident about what Jesus would or would not do.
Our first lesson from the prophet Samuel begins a saga for us. The prophet is off about God’s work, blessing the next King of Israel. But, God has not chosen the usual suspects. The present king (Saul) has enjoyed God’s favor, but has lost it by disobeying the prophet Samuel’s instructions. God now orders Samuel to anoint a new king, a son of “Jesse.” The story goes into great length describing how God had not chosen any of the young men that Samuel or Jesse might have guessed. When Samuel does anoint David as the upcoming king, the “spirit of the Lord” fills the young man in a noticeable way. His brothers themselves are witnesses to the event. Saul will persecute David relentlessly but upon Saul’s death in battle, David unifies the northern and southern districts and ascends to the throne over all of Israel. The unexpected boy, is God’s chosen instrument.
In the letter to the Ephesians, the author has exhorted his readers to conduct themselves ethically as befits those who have adopted the way of Christ. Having “put away your former way of life” and being clothed with the new self in baptism, they are now to lead moral lives befitting members of a body in which the Holy Spirit dwells. An offence against a member is an offence against God. Using terminology one also finds in the Qumran scrolls and Matthew, the author contrasts unbelievers (who live in “darkness”and disobey God) with those who are in “light,” i.e., “in the Lord.” Evil deeds are never hidden from God.
The gospel story we just shared, about the man born blind, is one of John’s most rich and intricate stories. In ancient Judaism, illness and physical disability were often attributed to sin: in this case, either of the man (prenatally) or of “his parents.” Jesus dismisses the link between sin and illness. Rather, he says that this man’s impairment gives him opportunities to do the works of God. The Pharisees consider making mud on the Sabbath as breaking the Law so they question the man. They are divided among themselves: some clamming that Jesus cannot be from God (for he breaks the Law) and those who wonder how a sabbath-breaker can perform miracles (which only one approved by God can do). Finally they side against Jesus and the man he cured. The man boldly asserts the fact of the cure. Eventually, in frustration, he ridicules their expert opinion. Jesus must be “from God” for no one has ever before performed such a cure.
There are several themes in this gospel that I believe we need to take note of: 1, The man’s spiritual journey on the way to faith, takes him through three levels of awareness about Jesus: Jesus is a prophet, He is of God, the man worships Jesus. We all have phases to go through in our lives of faith, we grow and mature along the way.
2, Blindness. Spiritual sight or insight is not a given in our lives. It is something that some of us are better at than others. It is something that we all grow in as we invest more effort into our spiritual lives. Even the best of us can miss what God is doing and have the experience of being taken by surprise.
3, The self-righteous-know-it-all vs. the humble peasant. The peasant recognizes that God does not have to operate in the way we expect. Jesus broke the Sabbath law to heal a blind man. What might God do that takes us by surprise.
God’s ways are not our ways. They are above and beyond us. God can and usually does take us by surprise.
When I was a college sophomore, working towards a degree in electronics, with a job in the college lab and an active outdoors-man life style; the last thing I expected of God was to be called to ordained ministry. Yet we can all see who prevailed......
Let us not get to confident about what Jesus would or would not do.
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