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Homily 7/13 on Amos 7:7-17
I’d like to take a look at the Old Testament lesson today. The gospel of the Good Samaritan is so familiar, from way back to our children’s Bible story books, that I wouldn’t have much to add. But with Amos today, I’m not going to explicate so much what he says as how we are to understand it. I’d like to explore Biblical interpretation. Let’s take a look at the passage from the prophet Amos with the allegory of the plumb line. Would you look at your bulletins and just scan it for a few moments? You’ve heard Ann Patry read the OT lesson from Amos, and you’ve looked it over. In it Amos has a vision of God by a wall with a plumb line, commenting unfavorably on Israel’s loyalty, faithfulness, and rectitude. Then Amos says God predicts doom on Israel’s future as a nation. Now, if you were in San Francisco, standing on a street corner, waiting for a bus to take you up Nob Hill to Grace Cathedral, and a man on the corner took up a position and yelled to the passers-by that God talked to him and that God told him what to say to all who would listen, and if he then quoted God in the words that Amos did, and gave the allegory of the plumb line and predicted doom and disaster on all those around, would you listen to that man as carefully as you listened to Ann, or would you shake your head and deliberately head for the next corner to take the bus? Why the difference in attention, in respect for the words? Why is Amos a prophet and the guy on the corner a nut case? What we’re dealing with here is context, and context makes all the difference. Amos’ words are only one part of a whole tradition of Hebrew/Jewish insight into questions of the existence of God, the nature of God, God’s relationship to humans, God’s work in the world (or not,) human freedom of will, creation and creaturehood, etcetera ad infinitum. The words of the man on the corner are 10 verses of words picked out from an anthology containing scores of authors and editors, putting forth diverse opinions about all the topics above, and collected from a span of 1000 years. When we read the Bible we have to put ourselves in another culture to even begin to understand where they’re coming from. Translating from one culture to another is, in itself, hard to do and harder yet to know if we got it right. Translating, understanding another culture, interpreting—all this must go along while we listen to Ann read Amos’ words. As we listen to the words of Amos, we need to know that he is of a culture that values the visionary as a means to communicate with God. He is of a culture in which many thought that if a nation disdains God, God will punish it, but if it acts righteously, God will favor it. (It’s clear that God is in a punishing mode!) He is of a culture that has the audacity to quote God! The quote marks are there; these are not quote marks around Amos’ words when he speaks for God; the quoted words are the words Amos heard God speak. These are very different mind-sets from ours today; I find it interesting that we can so easily nod along with it and say, “Nice reading, Ann.” What do we really make of Amos’ words? Do we go along with the idea that God speaks sentences in Hebrew? Do we go along with the idea that God manipulates certain nations to destroy other nations to wreak vengeance for God? If we don’t share these opinions, then what do we do? And here’s where we have to find interpretive principles to listen to Amos and take his message seriously. To find from him what we can apply to our own lives and what we can’t. As we have come upon modernity, we have found ways to deal with the divide from antiquity. Early on, before literacy was widespread, the problem of interpretation didn’t seem to bother the hearer. They probably took the words at face value and literally. As literacy did become widespread, the very power to read and understand the word invested the written word with a sort of authority which made one hesitate to question it. If you read it in a book, it was true. If you saw it in a newspaper, you didn’t question it. I remember my father saying that theological questions in the rural Swedish Covenant church where he grew up in the 1890s were settled by someone pointing out, “Sa stor det,” -- “So stands it” meaning, it’s in print, so it has to be right. The fundamentalist movement in the 1800s suggested that the Bible is printed and is God’s word, which makes it right and true. The issue of contrary and contradictory points of view within the Bible is brushed aside, not dealt with. It was, perhaps, a bibliolotry—a worship of the printed form of the Bible, even to a reverence for a given treasured translation. In the early 20 century the need for interpretive principles became apparent; we needed to apply historical interpretations, literary interpretations, linguistic interpretations, source interpretations. And we ourselves, as avid Bible readers, need to be aware of and apply these insights as we read the Bible, as we study the Bible, or we will be in danger of misunderstanding the author’s intent. Before we can apply the Bible to our lives, we need to know the context from which it comes, we need to make analogies from their lives to our lives. We need to know what God’s use of a plumb line meant to Amos, and how, when we do know what that means, it can be applied to us. Well, what does it mean to Amos? It’s a builder’s device to make sure a vertical structure, like a wall, are truly vertical—90 deg. to the ground, that the structure is not tilted or askew. Amos could count on the Israelites applying that analogically to their national life—that their national life had gone askew, left the path of righteousness and loyalty to God, and God, being in their mind punishing and favoring, would implacably punish them. Our job is to see if this is true for us, for our national life, for our community life, for our personal lives. How must we act to being us back to plumb? My point today is not so much about the meaning of the plumb line story as it is about the duty of a Christian to move beyond 8th century BCE and apply it to the 21st century ICE. Then, as an addendum, I thought about the role of Jesus in the interpretive process. When Jesus appeared on the scene, he was hailed as the Messiah, Savior, and also as God because he seemed to have an innate authority to bridge the gap of years and history and cultures, to say what the prophets and priests of Judaism meant. Amos spoke God’s very words in quotes because Amos felt he was not the author of the words; he received the words; he spoke those words out to the Israelites in quotes. Jesus spoke without quotes. He spoke from inner authority. Perhaps this is why we call him God, because he was not speaking for God; he was God--and unlike the prophet, he spoke without quotes. Lenny Erickson One of my greatest joys when I was a bit younger was to go backpacking in the Sierras. For a week or more I was out in the wildness of nature with only as much as I could carry on my back. But I was not alone, I was not self-sufficient. I always went with a group, and we shared the group equipment. I might be carrying a saucepan and a fuel container and Wednesday night’s dinner while someone else would have the stove, the shower and half of Thursday night’s dinner.
Self-sufficiency is a big part of the American myth. If you google the term, you will quickly find a number of pop-psychology articles and blogs about the importance of self-sufficiency. Yet Jesus did not send his disciples out as self-sufficient well-equipped individuals with everything they needed for their journey. Jesus did not send them out alone. In today’s gospel reading Jesus sent seventy disciples out in pairs to places which he intended to visit: he sent them with no spare clothes and no cash so they were entirely dependent on God’s provision. God’s provision which would come through their work together and through the kindness of strangers. And whether or not they were welcomed, they always had the same message “The kin-dom of God has come near you.” Now notice what he tells them first – pray. Ask for God’s help. Although their journey might be dangerous or difficult, they were commissioned by Jesus and sent by God through prayer. In the few months I have been worshiping with you, I have heard several people wondering about how St Peters can grow and particularly how you can attract more young people. This is how you do it. You pray and then you pray some more. I notice that there is no regular prayer group here and I wonder how y’all pray for the church. You do a great job of looking after the physical property. Sarah cares beautifully for the memorial gardens and I often meet Gary here, improving this or that. But I wonder how you take care of the spiritual body of the church. Is there a way that together you nurture your spiritual life through prayer, and pray to engage with more people? Or is that something you leave to the priest or to chance? The foundation of the disciples’ journey was prayer and dependence upon God and each other. And wherever they went they brought a blessing of peace. Jesus said, “Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.” I wonder how it would be if wherever we went we brought a blessing of peace? Every Sunday we greet one another with a sign of peace and being a small church, we can take the time to greet almost everyone, but what if that extended to every place we go and every person we meet? I feel sure that if each and every time we went into Albertsons, everyone in this church prayed for a blessing of peace on everyone in the store it would make a difference, yes a subtle one, but a difference. The message the disciples bring is the same whether or not they are welcomed – the reign of God has come near you. Some translators argue that the text really means “the reign of God has come upon you.” Either way, Jesus’ proclamation and ours is that the reign of God is here and now. We are not waiting passively for the end of the world and the coming of the reign of God, because the reign of God is right here and right now. A few chapters after today’s reading, Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, “Look here it is!” or “There!” for indeed the kingdom of God is in your midst.” The reign of God is in your midst. In our midst. Isn’t that amazing! While you were eating breakfast this morning, even while you were cleaning your teeth, the reign of God was right there, right then and the reign of God is right here, right now. I know it doesn’t feel that way all the time. It’s difficult to imagine how the reign of God can be present in the midst of the Texas flooding with all the loss of life and the children still missing. This is where faith comes in. When we look at a tragedy, when we feel the grief of loss and the pain of betrayal we know that God is there. Jesus died on the cross. It was a tragedy. But God brought new life from it and showed that the reign of God was present all along. Tragedy happens. It is part of being human. And we don’t understand why a loving God allows tragedy, why our loving God allows children to be swept away in the night. We don’t understand but our eyes of faith know that even in the midst of it all, Gods’ reign is there. God does not protect us from tragedy but God sustains us through it. The fruits of the Spirit, the gifts of a life spent in the reign of God are love, joy and peace. This is our proclamation. The reign of God, of love, joy and peace is in our midst. It is available here and now. It never makes the headlines and it is subversive in a culture that feeds on death and disaster. It is a gospel of dependence on God, not of self-sufficiency. And it is a gospel of community. There are no lone rangers in the reign of God. God is sending us like the seventy disciples to go out together, in prayer and in complete dependence on God to meet all our needs, as we proclaim peace to each person we meet and each place we go, as we proclaim the reign of God and invite others to join us in worshiping and serving the God who does not protect us but always sustains us, and opens our eyes to the reign of God happening right here, right now in our midst. The reign of love, joy and peace always with us like an inner fountain from which we can bring up the water of life and share it with those who need God’s healing touch. Which, of course, is all of us. the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall Today we are celebrating our patronal festival – the feast day of St Peter, which he shares with St. Paul because they are seen as pillars of the early western church. Peter is mentioned 109 times in the gospels – more than any other disciple. He was one of the first disciples Jesus called, and he was one of the inner circle.
The day Jesus was transfigured he took Peter, James and John with him up the mountain. And you will remember that seeing Moses and Elijah with Jesus, it was Peter who immediately offered to build them each a tiny house. When Jesus came walking on the water, it was Peter who jumped out of the boat and took a few brave steps towards him before he noticed the storm and lost his nerve. It was Peter who finding his fishing nets surprisingly full of fish recognized Jesus on the shore and jumped out of the boat to get to him as fast as possible, leaving the other guys to bring the catch in. And it was Peter who cut off a man’s ear when they came to arrest Jesus, and then followed Jesus as they took him away to the Jewish authorities. But then he lost his nerve. This is the account from John’s gospel, "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, "I am not." ... As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it, saying, "I am not." One of the high priest's servants… challenged him, "Didn't I see you with him in the olive grove?" Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow. Jesus had told Peter that before the cock crowed, he would deny him three times, but Peter was sure that was impossible. When it happened like Jesus said, he was devastated. In today’s gospel reading from after the resurrection, Peter is given the opportunity to make things right. Just as he denied knowing Jesus three times, Peter now gets to declare his love for him three times. And so Jesus tells him to feed his sheep. Peter subsequently became seen as the great shepherd of the early church. You probably noticed that in this short account Jesus isn’t calling him Peter but rather Simon. Simon was the name his parents gave him, Peter was the name that Jesus gave him. As Lenny told us in this week’s Pebble, “In Greek “petra” means “rock,” more specifically “massive rock formation.” And in Matthew 16:18 Jesus asks the disciples who they deem him to be. Simon immediately answers, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then says to him: “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” Any parent will tell you that names are important. Parents-to-be often spend hours thinking about, talking about and choosing the names of their children. In the ancient world, names were even more important. They carried the very essence of the person and sometimes their destiny or their purpose. So the change from Simon to Peter was not a minor thing, not like giving him a nickname but a life-changing event. When Simon saw that Jesus was the Son of God he became Peter. Which has me wondering about what it means that this church is called St Peter’s. Yes, it was the obvious name because of Morro Rock and because Peter was a fisherman. But was there some other movement of the Spirit that made Peter our patron saint? Let’s take a few minutes to reflect on that together. What qualities of Peter or aspects of his life do you see here in this congregation? And what aspects would you like to see more of? Yes, it’s time for Think, Pair and Share. When you’ve had a moment to think about it, please find someone else and talk together about this question. You may need to move so that everyone has someone to talk to. What qualities of Peter or aspects of his life do you see here in this congregation? And what aspects would you like to see more of? … As I thought about it, I noticed three things. The first one is a little tricky. Peter is rather impetuous – he jumps into things with a lot of enthusiasm – but at the same time he is the rock which is very stable. It seems that there are both impulses among us. Some of us want to do something new, to jump in and get our feet wet, while others are pretty comfortable with the way things are, thank you, and don’t want to be disturbed. Which is a bit like The Episcopal Church as a whole – we strongly value tradition at the same time as wanting the Holy Spirit to move us forward. This apparent contradiction between stability and experimentation can be a blessing when we hold them in balance but a problem when it holds us back from moving with the wind of the Spirit. The second one is a little tricky too. A month or two ago we talked about Peter’s dream. The one in which he saw all sorts of unclean foods and heard God tell him to eat. Of course, as an observant Jew he wouldn’t do that. But God said, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” And God said it three times so Peter knew she was serious. And after that he met Cornelius the Gentile, and baptized him. Peter was taken to task by the church leaders in Jerusalem but explained that God had shown him that the gospel was for Gentiles as well as Jews. But later it seems that Peter went back on this insight and started to think that maybe Jesus was for Jews only after all. This church welcomes new people – you have made Jill and I very welcome here. But when a church or any organization is more solid and rock-like than fluid that welcome may only go so far. If we really offer a radical welcome to new people we will need to change as we give them voice and welcome them into positions of leadership. Which means that people who have been doing a great job for a long time may have to move to allow new ideas and new possibilities, and that can be painful. After all, why change something that is working perfectly well? The third thing I notice is that Peter always got a second chance. Even when he did something really crazy, like denying Jesus that terrible night before the crucifixion, he still got a second chance. You could even call him Second-Chance Peter. And I notice that in this church you give each other second chances. You go on loving people even when they screw up or act in odd ways. Forgiveness is not always easy but you don’t hold people in old patterns by thinking that the way they were on their worst day is the way they always are and will be. You don’t rush to judgment. And that, my friends, is a wonderful gift. And it is the gift that God offers us today and every day. We are reconciled with God and with one another by grace. Pure grace. Pure gift of God. Second-chance Peter is not the only one. Second-chances abound in the reign of God. But second chances also bring opportunities and responsibilities. Jesus said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” …After this he said to him, “Follow me.” Feed my sheep. Follow me. the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall I admit that I don’t much like today’s gospel reading. For some reason Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee into what is today the Golan Heights region of Syria. We can be sure that the people there were not Jews because they kept pigs and pigs are among the Jewish unclean foods. The story of Jesus’ meeting with the crazy man in the tombs, his subsequent healing and the fear of the local people could almost be a cartoon or a graphic novel. It may even be that there’s a joke in there which would make first-century people giggle or even guffaw. But from the perspective of the 21st century reader the death of the innocent pigs is rather horrible, not to mention the loss of livelihood for the agricultural workers. Whatever happened to compassion and care for Creation?
For a while I thought that this morning I would be talking about the way our thoughts affect the way we behave which directly or indirectly affects the rest of Creation. For example, our desire for convenience leads to using much more plastic than we need which in turn gets into the stomachs of sea creatures and can kill them. But then I asked myself why Luke tells us this story and in such detail, and looking at the context I realized that he is showing us the power of Jesus the Christ. On the way to the land of the Gerazenes, Jesus calms a storm on the lake, once there he casts out a passel of evil spirits and when he gets home he brings Jairus’ daughter back to life and heals the woman who has been hemorrhaging for 12 years. In just one chapter, Luke shows us that Jesus has power over the weather, over evil spirits, over death and over chronic illness. All these stories are part of Luke’s run-up to the big question Jesus asks his disciples in the next chapter: “Who do you say that I am?” All of these stories are hints about what the right answer to that question is—they are not so much accounts about what Jesus did, as they are about who Jesus is. And who Jesus is has to do with power. It has to do with the question of which, of all the powers in the universe—regardless of what categories we use to talk about them—which of all these are the strongest. Which powers will have the last word? There really are a lot of powers out there; powers that can and do hurt and isolate and torment and destroy, in all sorts of ways. Whether we use first century or twenty-first century language to describe them doesn’t matter that much. Whether we live in a world full of demons or mental illness, of storm-gods or indifferent natural laws, of possession or of illness—regardless of the categories we use, we live in a frightening world. I found myself fearful yesterday when I heard that the US has bombed Iran. I wondered what evil has been unleashed by that use of deadly power. But today’s gospel, like the story of the calming of the sea, like so many of the other stories about what Jesus did—about who Jesus is—these stories are ways of saying that, of all of those powers out there, regardless of how we name them or organize them, in spite of how terribly real they are and how awful they are—none of them is ultimately powerful. None of them has or will have the last word, none of them will ultimately prevail. In the end, when all is said and done, we are cared for and cared about. In the end, the power that Jesus brings, the power of obedient, self-sacrificing love, the power we see most clearly on the cross, that power will prevail. And his victory is ours by gift. Pastor Karen shared a meme with me that says, Fear says what if? Faith says Even if. Fear says what if? Faith says Even if. Even if the worst thing we can imagine happens, even then God is with us. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what is lined up against us. Notice how the man in the gospel had much more to worry about than his demons. He was also a pariah, cut off from family, friends, community, relationships—from all of those connections that together weave the fabric of our very humanity. That isolation, that apart-ness, was also the victory of powers, powers we humans create, powers that can destroy as effectively and as completely as madness or a storm. Yet by the time Jesus got through with him, he was properly dressed, in his right mind and able to rejoin society. Fear says what if? Faith says Even if. In our first reading we heard about Elijah and his fear as he ran away from Queen Jezebel into the wilderness, alone. He was running for his life. He was saying what if? And in his fear God came to him. There was a big show of physical force. We heard that there was “a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire” but God was not in that either. God was not in the display of power but in the quiet that came afterwards. And just like the man with the demons, after he had met God, Elijah was able to rejoin his community. The power that we see in Jesus, the power of our God is not in big shows of force. It is not in dropping bombs on other people. God’s love is shown in Jesus’ death on the cross. From the human perspective it was a devastating loss of power. But in the topsy-turvy reign of God, that devastating loss of human power was the very thing that made it into a glorious victory of God’s power over evil. So, I mentioned a 1st century joke in the gospel reading. Here it is. Jesus asked the man "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; and Luke tells us that was because many demons had entered him. But it’s a pun, a double-entendre; Legion also referred to the occupying Roman army. And what happened to Legion? Jesus sent them into the pigs. Jesus sent a legion of evil spirits just like detested Romans into the pigs and to their deaths. I think you probably had to be there – because when you explain a joke it’s not funny anymore. But the power of God is a joke in human terms. We think power is in tornados, in earthquakes, in fires, in presidents, in bombs. But God’s power is in the quiet word of God speaking in our hearts and restoring us to our rightful place in the community of God’s daughters and sons. God’s power is in our baptism that enables us to participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus and draws us together across all man-made barriers and prejudices. God’s power is on our participation in the Body of Christ. God’s power restores us to be the people we were made to be – made in the image of Godself. And it is in God’s power that we trust. Alleluia. the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall A couple of weeks ago Jill and I were in Ireland. It was as green and beautiful as you might expect – and as wet! And in the gift shops and tourist places we saw lots of pictures of shamrocks. Legend has it that in the 5th century, St Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. Although shamrock or clover has three leaves they form one leaf, just as the three persons of the Trinity together form one God.
Although this is a useful way of thinking about the One-in-three and Three-in-one it has its limitations because it is static - the three leaves never change their relationship to each other, they never move. But what we know about the Trinity is that Creator, Word and Spirit are in constant relationship to each other – it has been described as a dance. God is always in community with Godself, dancing together. Today is Trinity Sunday, a day when we focus on the Triune nature of our God – one of the few days when we focus on a doctrine or a teaching of the church rather than on a teaching of Jesus or something from his life. You may have noticed that our readings were unusually short. There is no Scripture passage which described the Trinity, because it is an understanding developed by the church as they lived into the reality of Pentecost. As they became God with flesh on, they found that although they believed in one God, this one God showed up in different ways. We can hear echoes of the Trinity in Jesus’ teaching. We often hear him talking about God as his Father and he also talks about the Spirit. But he never tied them together in a neat package because Jesus was not writing a systematic theology. It was up to later theologians and bishops to try to make sense of what he taught and what his life meant. We heard part of one explanation this morning in our second reading. Paul, a very early theologian and teacher, told us that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” This includes all the persons of the Trinity but doesn’t spell out that they are all the same God. Scholars used to think that there was one true Christianity which was true from the very beginning and that heretics were people who diverged from that true understanding. But recent scholarship has shown that the situation was very different. Back in the first century there was no New Testament. As churches popped up like mushrooms they didn’t have the written gospels, some of them had gifted teachers and some had letters from gifted teachers like Paul, but each group of Christians learned different things and understood the Good News in a way which made sense to them. It was quite some time before there were agreed understandings. The process of getting there was messy, as human affairs often are. There were arguments and excommunications. Some people left, others stayed. It took several centuries before the majority of Christians agreed that God is indeed three persons in one. One of the reasons that most Episcopal churches say the Nicene creed together every Sunday is to remind us that we stand in the same energy stream as our ancestors – we are a Trinitarian church. But the Trinity is difficult for us to understand. God is far more complex than we are and so we cannot wrap our minds around him, or her, it or them. Imagine if you were a single-celled amoeba, a little creature made of just one cell, you would not be able to comprehend the human bodies that we take for granted – how could there be creatures with so many cells? I think it’s the same for us, we cannot fully comprehend the greater complexity of the divine. And our confusion is shown in the language we use. Jesus talked about God his Father, and some people think that if that’s what Jesus called the Creator God Father, so should we. But that elevates half of the human race and suggests that men are somehow more godlike. So there is a move to eliminate gender-based language for God in order to make it clear that women and men are equal and in fact there is no reason to suppose that God is either male or female. When Jesus talked about God the Father, he was using an analogy which made perfect sense to his disciples as the relationship between son and father was especially privileged in their society. A quick sidebar here to recognize the fathers among us and all those who have been fathers to us and all those fathers who we love, our sons and grandsons, cousins and friends. Happy Father’s Day! So… what does it matter? Regardless of the angst and arguments of our ancestors, do we today care whether God is one or God is three-in-one? Personally, I find the idea of the Trinity enormously exciting. As I have already said, the three persons, Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit are in constant relationship to one another, just like the cells and the organs in our own bodies. And that relationship is infinitely creative. It is the nature of the Trinity to be love and to be creating. And from that love and creativity comes creation as we know it, not a process that God put in motion and walked away from, but an ongoing creative project of love. And we, my friends, are made in God’s image. We are made to be in loving, creative relationship with one another and with God. And as we explore further how the three persons relate to one another in love and mutual submission, it gives us an exciting model of how we are to be with one another. The goal of our spiritual path is to become one with God. To become a very small part of that amazing dance which is the Trinity at work and play. To become completely love. the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall Aflame with the Spirit
I have noticed that Americans love an unlikely origin story. From the rise of working-class men like Carnegie and Rockefeller to become titans of industry, to the legends of the garage inventors who became Apple and the dorm room coders who became Google, the idea of the American Dream is fueled by stories of surprising success. And we also have great stories of resistance, like Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus. Yet all of these surprising success stories look utterly predictable when compared with the astonishing rise of Christianity in the first and second centuries. One year, the church is nothing but a couple of laborers, a few fishermen, and a tax collector in the hinterlands of the Roman Empire, and the next, Christian churches are popping up like mushrooms all over the ancient Mediterranean world! How could a few Palestinian peasants accomplish all of this? The apostles frequently misunderstand Jesus, even deny and betray him – these are not the great founders of a mythical past, but profoundly real, regular human beings; and yet, from those 12, those 70, those few hundred, come you, me and The Episcopal Church; from these humble origins spring the Lutherans, the Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and the Pentecostal Free Will Baptists. This infinitesimally tiny Palestinian sect of Judaism, in a single generation, spreads like wildfire and goes on spreading to become today’s 2.4 billion Christians, the largest group of human beings on planet earth. How can this possibly have happened? The day of Pentecost! The amazing day when the disciples gathered with the doors locked for fear of the authorities and suddenly the Holy Spirit swept through the place with a sound like a rushing wind and tongues like fire rested on each of them and “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” Pentecost is not just a Christian festival – it is one of the principal feasts of Judaism and celebrates the giving of the Torah to the people of God; it is the feast of the revelation of God by those who are called to spread the knowledge of him to all nations. So the city was full of pilgrims. God the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, filled the disciples, transformed the disciples, and they went from being a group of C-minus students of the Lord hiding out in an upper room to being Christians on fire with the love of God preaching in the streets. Suddenly, there is no more fumbling, no more confusion. They are aflame with God the Holy Spirit; it is not until this moment, in which they are filled with the presence of God, that they are transformed into the living temple of the Spirit: the church. Suddenly, they are unstoppable. St. Basil of Caesarea, in his book “On the Holy Spirit,” says that, even though God is surrounding us, filling all things, we cannot see him; even though we have his perfect image in Jesus, walking with us, teaching us, leading us through the darkness, we cannot comprehend him; and so, it takes God the Holy Spirit, filling us with light, surrounding us with the fire of his love, to know God. “If only,” we might say, “I, too, had been present on that Pentecost morning,” “If only I, too, had received a tongue of flame,” “If only I, too, had been filled with the Holy Spirit, transformed by the Holy Spirit,” “If only I, too, had the same intimacy with God, the same indomitable courage in God, the same astonishing ability to do the works of Christ, to draw all those around me to Christ…” But guess what? If you have been baptized in the baptism of Jesus, you have been baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit. You have shared in Pentecost, just as the apostles did. You, too, have become a walking, talking temple of God the Holy Spirit. Baptism is our Pentecost, it is our reception of the fullness of God dwelling within us, animating us, and transforming us. To live the apostolic life, to do Christ’s works of peacemaking, reconciling, healing, and feeding, all we have to do is say “Yes!” to the presence of God within us. I am sure that many of you, like me, are watching events in this country and this weekend in Los Angeles with disquiet and even with horror and wondering, what can we do? From the human perspective there is very little we can do. We can call our elected representatives, we can write to the White House, we can join in local demonstrations yet as individuals we are relatively powerless. But from the inner perspective the God perspective, we are apostles, called to live the reconciling work of God and filled with the Holy Spirit, empowered to change the world. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us, “If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” God the Holy Spirit enables us to truly ask in the name of Jesus, to truly reach out and receive the offer of God’s grace… and we ourselves, in him, are capable of his works. We are capable of his works. People of God, we promised in our baptismal vows to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to strive for justice and peace among all people. That is our promise and God’s promise is to empower us by the Holy Spirit working in and through us, to do just that. The early Christians challenged the Roman Empire by refusing to follow pagan ways, by living lives of generosity and peace, not afraid to refuse to worship the Emperor, saying that only Jesus is Lord. For some it meant working quietly in their own neighborhoods, sharing God’s love and proclaiming the gospel of forgiveness and reconciliation, for others it led ultimately to martyrdom. We don’t know where our commitment to the reign of God will take us, but we know where it starts. It starts with our baptism. It starts when we say yes and enroll in the church, the Body of Christ in the world. It starts today when we commit ourselves once again to following the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It starts today when we invite the Holy Spirit to take us where we need to go both in our inner life of prayer and meditation, and in our outer lives. It starts when we as the expression of the Body of Christ as St Peters, Morro Bay, ask the Holy Spirit to use us, to empower us, to bring the gospel of Jesus to this town and to this state, when we ask the Holy Spirit to show us how to bring true peace and reconciliation and live lives of resistance to the pagan world which seeks self-aggrandizement and personal power at the expense of the poor and marginalized. Knowing that Jesus promised to honor our prayers, let us pray: Holy Spirit who brought power and transformation to the disciples gathered on Pentecost, bring your power and grace to work in this church, emboldening us to be fearless in proclaiming your gospel, in living gospel values in every part of our lives and in standing up for justice and peace. Speak to us and show us how to live our baptismal vows to bring your transformative love to this community and country, and to stand up for those who are being victimized and oppressed. We ask these things in and through your name, Amen. the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall With thanks to Rev. Bertie Pearson, https://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermon/will-you-day-of-pentecost-c-june-8-2025/ UNITIVE CONSCIOUSNESS John 17. 20-26 “So that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one.” This prayer of Jesus for us feels like a soothing balm in a time where there are so many temptations to think in terms of being separate from, different from, or even in opposition with one another. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said that most all our problems stem from the fact that we have forgotten that we belong to one another. In many ways we are prone to falling into the “us” vs “them” trap. But I say that any perception that we are somehow separate from each other is an illusion. The illusion of separateness fosters division, operating from scarcity and fear, whereas a unifying consciousness fosters unity, operating from compassion, abundance, and love. This unitive consciousness is the nature of God and the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is a foundational teaching of Jesus Throughout the Gospels, Jesus makes continual reference to the “Kingdom of Heaven.” He says that the Kingdom of Heaven is near; the Kingdome of heaven is about us; the Kingdom of heaven is within us; the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; the Kingdom of Heaven is like this or the Kingdom of Heaven like that. So, how do we understand the Kingdom of Heaven? One of the most important books on my shelf is Cynthia Bourgeault’s The Wisdom Jesus. In it, she points out that the question of interpretation of the Kingdom of Heaven has been a point of debate among Biblical scholars for millennia, and that some might say that the Kingdom of Heaven is out there somewhere – a place where you go when you die. But the problem with that interpretation is that Jesus contradicts it when he teaches that the “Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” Bourgeault goes on to say that the other approach is to say that the Kingdom of Heaven is some sort of earthly eutopia where there is peace and justice and everyone lives in harmony. But again, Jesus rejects this. When the disciples try to proclaim him in as the Messiah – the new king of Israel who would inaugurate the reign of God’s justice, he shrank away from it saying strongly and unequivocally, “My kingdom is not of this world.” So where is it then? Taking Jesus at his word, I’ll go with the Kingdom of Heaven is within us. Mystics, teachers, and theologians such as Thomas Merton and Richard Rohr and others agree with the contemporary suggestion brought forth in Jim Marion’s book: Putting on the Mind of Christ that the Kingdom of Heaven is really a metaphor for a state of consciousness; it is not a place you go to, but instead a place you come from. Marion suggests that the “Kingdom of Heaven” is Jesus’ favorite way of describing a state that we would now call nondual consciousness or unitive consciousness. The hallmark of this awareness is that it sees no separation – not between God and Jesus, not between God and humans, not between humans and other humans – and this underpins Jesus’ teaching. “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one.” No separation. This is a complete mutual indwelling: I am in God, God is in you, you are in God, we are in each other. This is the indivisible reality of Divine Love. So, how do we achieve this state of consciousness that is the Kingdom of Heaven within us? It requires that we are grounded in something larger than ourselves – something that is beyond our ego – that lies within us waiting to be discovered, or for some, rediscovered. The term contemplative awareness or meditative awareness refers to that state in which our mind, having gone beyond itself, is silent, open, and aware. It is a state in which we can posture our hearts in hospitality to the mystery and love of God. Meditation is the portal through which we can experience this. It is something that we can practice daily, and day by day we begin to more fully realize the expansiveness of the Kingdom of Heaven within. We will begin to realize an overall sense of calm and clarity. We will feel less anxious and triggered by the sometimes-troubling events that surround us because we are tapping into a truth that is much larger, much deeper and eternal than the finite and the superficial This does not mean we will not experience hardship or crisis in our life. It doesn’t mean that we become immune from feeling frustrated or frightened by troubling and chaotic events unfolding around us. But it does mean that we will have a refuge where we can recover and rejuvenate. We need more than ever to give ourselves the gift of silence and align ourselves with something deeper. That something is contemplative awareness. It is the Kingdom of Heaven within us. In the Eleventh Step in the recovery program of Alcoholics Anonymous, as much a profound spiritual path as I have ever experienced, says this: Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer and meditation would no more do without it than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine. And for the same reason. When we refuse air, light, or food, the body suffers. And when we turn away from meditation and prayer, we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support. As the body can fail its purpose for lack of nourishment, so can the soul. But meditation is not only for us as individuals. Our sitting practice prepares us to serve the common good with a clear mind and open heart. We respond from a silent center and reduce the noise and chaos rather than add to it. In this way, because we are all interconnected, the unitive consciousness that is the fruit of our meditation practice is a gift to others not only around the corner, but around the world. If you already have a daily meditation practice, know that you are inter-connected with millions of others. If you want to develop your practice, you can begin by simply sitting in silence for a few minutes each day and build your practice over time and know that you are also inter-connected with millions of others in that way. This is a time for us to cast away any illusion of separateness so that we can help guide a hurting world that is hungry for a sense of community and belonging. All religious traditions and spiritual expressions have a tremendous opportunity to show the world what coming together for the common good of humanity can look like. We need each other. Together we can make the world a better place. Together we can help each other realize the Kingdom of Heaven within us. As the Psalmist says: “Oh, how good and wonderful it is when people live in unity.” Brother Dennis UNITIVE CONSCIOUSNESS John 17. 20-26
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