The feast of St. Michael and all Angels

Today we celebrate the traditional Christian feast of St. Michael the Archangel and his companions whom we read about in the book of Revelation (12:1 – 12). In this archetypal story the evil one (who we later come to know as a fallen angel) is depicted as a dragon. This dragon tries to devour the Messiah and his birth. Thwarted, he and his followers (other fallen angels) enter into open warfare in heaven. Michael leads the other angels (who are loyal to God) into battle. They defeat this enemy and cast them out of heaven.

Today it is traditional to pray for and give our blessings to those who serve in law enforcement and the military. Below, the blessing prayer I will use at all our services this weekend. Please join me in praying for all who embrace of the vocation of standing between us and the evils of this world!

Blessing of Police and Military Personnel:  
Gracious God, in the scriptures we read of how you empowered the Archangel Michael and all angels to clear heaven of the evil one and his followers; bless these human beings as they serve our earthly society by standing between us and the evils of our day.  

Bless them with:
Courage in times of danger;
Patience in times of frustration;
Watchfulness in times of quiet;
Integrity in times of temptation;

Above all, dear God, keep them and all in the Military and Law Enforcement under your divine protection.  Fill them with your grace and let them always know of our gratitude for their service.  This we ask in your holy and ancient name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit +

Homily for September 22, 2012: Proper 20 B

 My sisters and brothers, to be great Christians we must focus our energies on those whose dignity is most abused or forgotten. 

In our first reading, the Prophet recognizes his enemies and prays for deliverance at the hands of God!  The plot against Jeremiah was instigated by his family and intimate friends.  Not all that different from Jesus being betrayed by one of his intimate disciples!

James has previously identified one sin commonly found in the community: intemperate speech. Now he seeks to correct a second: arrogance – and in the process, tells us the qualities of wisdom. His understanding of wisdom is like that of the Old Testament wisdom writers, and of Paul. If you live your life with “gentleness”, moderation, courtesy and humility (all qualities bound up in the same Greek word) then you are motivated by “wisdom.” 

But quarrels (“conflicts and disputes”) in the community show a lack of peace; they should be resolved. Are they not the result of conflicting inner urges (“cravings”)? The author gives two examples: murdering to gain what you do not have, and desiring something belonging to someone else. 

Ultimately he calls them to return to God.  To do this, they must “Submit … to God” and resist the devil’s influence.  God will not reject them but they must make the necessary effort. 

In our Gospel the disciples demonstrate the jealousy and competition that James preaches against.  To be great in the Kingdom of God, one must be peaceful and humble, respecting all (AKA, Wise). 

As you know, the disciples have been arguing over rank.  Jesus says, in effect: to be my disciple, you must abandon seeking positions and prestige.  To welcome a child “in my name” (because of regard for who and what I am) is to welcome me, and indeed God.  In Aramaic and Greek the word for “child” is the same as for servant, so one could also speak of welcoming a servant, one sent by his master.  If so, Jesus is saying: whoever receives the servant receives the master. Whoever receives a child receives Jesus, and whoever receives Jesus receives God, who sent him. Both child and servant are without status. They are unable to repay a kindness, in earthly terms. 

We humans do like our pecking orders, our signs of status, influence, etc.  Men and Women go about it very differently but we each experience the drive to have things our own way.  We each experience self-centeredness or egotism of some sort even though we act it out in very different ways.  The calling from God is to be “other centered.”  That is to lovingly and generously give of our selves rather than “take” for ourselves.  As Christians, we are to put the focus on those members of society who are the lowliest and most abandoned.  In our modern (American) society we have a certain base status, or individual rights, which are guaranteed by law.  However, we all know that if one is unable to defend those rights (fight back in some way) one can be grossly abused none the less.  In our society, we must focus on the people who are the most marginalized, who’ rights are most commonly abused or neglected.  They are the people without status in our society. 

Remember Jesus example from today’s gospel, children and servants were without legal standing or rights as we would say today.  Jesus is telling us that if we wish to be Great Christians we must put the focus on loving the lowliest and most abandoned of our society.  Those whose rights are most denied. 

“Jesus said to them, my wife…”

On September 18, 2012, the Harvard Divinity School issued a press release. They're announcing the discovery of a gospel fragment written on ancient papyrus in the Coptic language. Among the few readable lines on this fragment are the following: "Jesus said to them, my wife."

There are several points we need to be clear on in our discussions about this discovery. First, this is not a silly hoax or a ploy to attain notoriety. This fragment of a lost gospel has already been studied by serious scholars here in the United States and in Europe. They have found it authentic to the era and see no signs of fakery.

Second, it dates back between the years 150 and 200. This is well into the third generation after the time of Jesus. It cannot stand for us as an eyewitness account. It also cannot be dismissed as the idle musings of a later generation because the author could have recorded an accurate oral tradition; although that is unlikely. We simply do not know.

Third, Professor Karen King of Harvard University is being completely truthful when she says: "Christian tradition has long held that Jesus was not married, even though no reliable historical evidence exists to support that claim."  None of the New Testament authors talk about Jesus marital status, one way or the other. None of the non-biblical historical sources that have been discovered so far comment about his marital status. Once again we simply do not know.

To the best of my recollection, Prof. King is also correct in stating that the earliest texts proclaiming Jesus as single or celibate come to us from about the year 200 and the hand of Clement of Alexandria. This question was seriously debated during the era we are talking about and the newly discovered fragment simply represents the other side of that debate.

Here is a link to the actual news release on the Harvard website; there is a video on this webpage you can click on and watch. [Click Here]

And here is a link to some questions and answers about the fragment. [Click Here]