Sermon 1.21.2018 Avoiding Whales, Leaping to Follow

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Leap, a special commission created by Wayne Stratz

Mark 1:14-20 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Simon, Andrew, James, and John made a decision that leads to sainthood.

Imagine this. You are at work or you are with family on a walk. A man walks by and says “The time is fulfilled!”  What do you think?  How do you react?

The stranger says, “The Kingdom of God has come near!”  And you look at him. Do you say anything? Do you walk closer? Do you back away?

He says, “Repent and believe in the good news!” Do you turn away from your current life; or do you turn your back to the stranger? 

What would you want your children to do? Your spouse? Your best friend?

Now imagine a loved one turning toward this stranger and away from you.

What would you say about their decision? Do you see them becoming saints?

Did these four men have great learning and insight to help them discern this spiritual path? If you read through the Gospel of Mark, you won’t find much evidence. You will find apostles who continually miss the point and Jesus trying his best to explain things to them.

How could they leave their jobs? Their families? How did they trust in this stranger, Jesus? How did they decide so quickly? Did they even think about it? What would I have done? Could I leave everything behind?

***

Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopal priest and author, suggests that we're missing the point if we linger on such questions; and that this is a story about God, not the disciples or us.  She suggests that we focus not on what the disciples gave up or whether we could do the same.

She calls this passage from Mark a "miracle story," and sees it as an example of "the power of God--to walk right up to a quartet of fishermen and work a miracle, creating faith where there was no faith, creating disciples where there were none just a moment before."

She continues: “What we have lost . . . is a full sense of the power of God—to recruit people who have made terrible choices; to invade the most hopeless lives and fill them with light; to sneak up on people who are thinking about lunch, not God, and smack them upside the head with glory.”

At a time when a Rabbi would wait for followers and then deem them worthy or not to be taught, Jesus shows us the kingdom of God. God did not care how learned they were. And God does not wait, God seeks all of us with a love that seems to throw discernment out the door. The four fishermen, two poor with their nets, two rich with their boat and hired hands; do not stop to think. They leap without discerning.

We want to make the right decisions. Then we ask God to judge us on how we have chosen the right jobs, the proper church, the nice neighborhood, and the decent friends.

But Jesus may simply just want us to leap into the Kingdom of God.

***

For some reason I chose not too doodle at a staff meeting a few days ago where on our laptops we were examining student test results from recently completed reading and math exams. Their scores fell into the red zone of needing improvement, the blue zone of being better than average and a thin green zone that separated the red from the blue. A friend, who had invited me to sit next to her, was looking up the reading results for our best readers. She seemed disheartened that one after another were in the thin green zone. I said, “That means they are okey dokey.”

Would Jesus place your career choice in the green okey dokey zone?

One of my favorite quotes is “Vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need.” Frederick Buechner

Do you find joy at work? Do you help someone through your work? If yes, then its okey dokey. 

Is your job creating hatred for strangers, or making people hungry, or creating homelessness, or imprisoning the innocent? If no, then it is okey dokey.   You do not have to leave everything behind to work with the poorest of poor.

If you are unhappy and don’t feel right about your job, consider those stirrings to be the presence of the holy spirit. It may not lead to the perfect job for you, but to one that feeds your spirit more than the present not quite okey dokey job.

Following Jesus may not be anything more than moving by leaps and stumbles towards the Kingdom of God. Do I have to discern whether or not to feed the hungry? Is Jesus going to be upset about how I then choose to help. I can send a check to Manna, or buy a ten pack of tuna at the grocery, or volunteer on site.

We miss opportunities to help. We ignore some that we see. We act upon others. We are okey dokey.

***

Jonah 3:1-5, 10
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

When I read through the Bible twenty years ago, the story of Jonah caught my eye. It wasn’t just that Jonah spent time in a whale or that the people of Nineveh listened to the prophet. Though both of those are amazing. It was that Jonah did not want to be successful; in fact he was in the whale because he tried to flee his calling (think about that the next time you try to ignore a calling from God). Once the whale took him to Ninevah, then he wanted to fail so that he could watch God destroy his enemies. Clearly Jonah’s deep gladness was not in sync with God’s hope of expanding the Kingdom.

It is just so human of Jonah. Do we want our enemies to fail or succeed? From football teams to businesses, from politicians to foreign nations; are we that much different from Jonah? Do we feel joy when bad things happen to these teams, corporations, people? Are we hoping that those who we do not favor are ruined and humiliated; or are we be praying that we all repent and turn toward God?

***

Anne Lamott writes: "I think joy and sweetness and affection are a spiritual path. We're here to know God, to love and serve God, and to be blown away by the beauty and miracle of nature...”

To survive winters without hibernating, shrews in Europe can shrink their skeleton, including their skull. Their brain loses a fourth of its mass, but they survive when food is scarce and their heart keeps beating 700 times a minute. Dwarf Lemurs on Madagascar store enough fat in their tales to hibernate through a seven month dry season.

There is science behind these abilities but they are also miraculous. I tell my students these things with the hope that they will be blown away by the life on this planet.

Anne Lamott continues: "… You just have to get rid of so much baggage to be light enough to dance, to sing, to play. You don't have time to carry grudges; you don't have time to cling to the need to be right."

Jonah was so heavy with hatred and grudges that he could not dance. Those four fisherman were more than ready to dance when a stranger invited them into the Kingdom God. The apostles didn’t stop and think about whether or not it was the right path. They would be baffled by the one they chose to follow, but they kept following Jesus. So go forth and meet the needy with joy, be blown away by the miracles of nature, and don’t let worries and grudges stop you from dancing.

A Bishop's Gift changes the tides

The seven prayer mandala by Wayne Stratz

What does it take to change the tides in your life? Once pulled away it takes a shift to bring us back to a place where we were progressing. This summer as we had far less rain than normal, I spoke of the need of a weather event to knock that prevailing dryness for a loop. Apparently my blog needed the same thing and it came one day at my church, when a friend asked me to create a gift for the new Episcopal Bishop for southe east PA. 

When I pray, awe in the studio, this is it what I mean: When friends and people I have never met, trust that I will create beauty; I am awed. 

When we are awed by God's presence, a flower, a bird, a piece of music, a meal, or a story; we are called to be aware of how amazing creation is, to be awed." 

When I am trusted to create a piece of art that will be seen as beautiful, is a gift of trust that I don't want to ever forget. So I keep reminders in my studio to keep me aware that God's presence is there. 

When someone sees my art on their computer or phone, they may or may not know about the spiritual side of my studio; but my friend has listened to me lead discussions to adults and youth at our church and so he knows me in ways that others may not. He trusted me to not only to be artistic, but also spiritual. 

The tide shifted. And that is why this commission meant so much to me. And I felt a need to write a post.

Here is what I wrote to the Bishop:

"Dear Bishop Gutierrez

It was an honor to be asked to create a piece of art to celebrate your visit to Holy Trinity Lansdale. Welcome.

When you look at this you may or may not see seven circles, but at one point that is all that was on a piece of paper. The circles represent what I pray each Sunday after I receive the Holy Eucharist.

Love in my home

Awe in my studio

Beauty in my garden

Music in my church

Joy in my classroom

Grace with my friends

and

Hope in all things.

I wrote these down at a silent retreat at The Jesuit Center in Wernersville, PA in 2014. Over time they have not changed, except switching out music for jazz, however, show up on a Sunday when I am setting up coffee and you will hear some jazz.

However, I have seen them changed and how they flow from one place into another. My experiences of God in a sunflower help my eyes to see beauty everywhere. A hymn bringing tears to my eyes, only reinforces my desire to play music in my studio.

If I try to understand why I wrote down Grace with my friends, I am not sure, but maybe one day it will be clearer. A conversation at a memorial service yesterday seems to be a piece of the picture.

And maybe it is the blending of these circles in my life, that shaped the design in front of you. As I listened to Clark Terry play ballads, the circles that I wanted became blurred. It was not my plan, but luckily I let it unfold into what it became.

And a thought about the colors: The colors were chosen from memories of a trip to New Mexico in the late 90’s and the landscapes of Cezanne. I started with the green and chose a variety to flow through the mandala. That left 14 pieces. Seven for a red created by the Youghiogheny glass company here in PA and a deep amber that took me to NM and Cezanne.

Again, welcome to PA. My day job prevents my presence today, but I do hope to meet you in the near future."

...

My sermon: plans and acknowledgement 2 samuel 7: 1-14

Moss as it caught my eye. Jesuit Center, Wernersville PA. 2015. Wayne Stratz

as it was on paper when I entered Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Lansdale:


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Plans, we make them all the time. I don’t necessarily like planning. I make lesson plans for my supervisor. I don’t go into great detail because I doubt I will be teaching what my plans say I will be teaching 7 days in the future.

As John Lennon said…“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”

I am better at seeing the values in plans; and my wife, who likes planning, has helped. You know, why eat an OK meal while on the road when you could plan it out and find a good restaurant in advance. Plans can give our journey the bit of guidance it needs.

And then there is the concept of God’s plan for us. David did not plan to become king. David would have not been taken seriously if he had left his flock of sheep and announced he was making plans to be king, the youngest does not get the power. Why make plans when the future is beyond our control?

A few weeks ago, I arrived at the Jesuit Center for a silent retreat and even though I knew the suggested verse, “Be still and know that I am God,” I looked it up in my Bible. In silence, it is key to seek stillness. Quiet your whole self, not just your mouth. I expected a night focused on becoming still. It was my plan, but my Bible did not say what I expected, instead of “know that I am God,” it translated the Hebrew, “acknowledge that I am God.” My retreat would be altered as I thought to myself, acknowledge is not the same as know.

Much had happened since a prophet told David that he was the anointed one and now David had a plan for God. God will get a new home. A God, who brought the people of Israel into a permanent homeland and into a time of endless peace, deserved something better than a tent. So David told the local prophet to tell God what he planned to do. Have you ever told God what was what? Were you willing to listen to what God said back to you? As the UCC church loves to tell us, God is still speaking.

God first makes it clear he digs his tent which is free to move. He is a God who roamed above the waters of the Earth creating new days and new creatures. She is a God, who is not searching for a permanent home. God tells David, “I will let you know when I am ready to have a new home.”

We often focus more on our plan for God than God’s plan for us. How will we worship God? How will we pray? What music will be used to praise God? What color scheme meets the season? What Bible is the best translation?

I woke up in the silence of birds greeting a new summer day. Dawn had emerged. After breakfast, I had a plan to photograph an amazing gate. Funny thing was that when I walked to the bottom of the hill, I discovered the gate was gone. I hadn't noticed this huge gate was missing when I had driven into the Jesuit Center the previous day. But flowers, moss, lichens, trees, rust, and birds caught my eye on the journey to the gate. I spent the rest of the retreat fascinated by moss and I have to admit I began to imagine a new plan for my future; to become a professional moss photographer, clearly a profession with a need for more members.

David was thrown into the job of warrior king. And in that role he did well. One could easily see or assume that God was with him. When God turns down the offer of a nice house, God spins the story and says, “No, No, David, let me build you a house. A Dynasty of leaders that begins with your son.” The reading ends with God saying, “I shall be a father to him and he a son to me”

But God continues speaking:  if he does wrong, I shall punish him with a rod such as men use, with blows such as mankind gives.

15. But my faithful love will never be withdrawn from him as I withdrew it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

16. Your dynasty and your sovereignty will ever stand firm before me and your throne be forever secure."

17. Nathan related all these words and this whole revelation to David.

In other words, God may get annoyed, but all will be forgiven and the Dynasty will endure.

On Sundays here at Holy Trinity I walk back to my chair after sharing in the Eucharist; and pray seven desires: To fill my house with love, my studio with awe, my garden with beauty, my church with jazz, my classroom with joy, my friendships with grace, and in everything hope.

“Be still and acknowledge I am God.”

In the stillness of the retreat, I slow this prayer and I acknowledge I am asking for God’s blessing. God is with me in my hopes and desires. I acknowledge God and give thanks.

David acknowledges God, but soon he will sin testing God’s promise of never ending love. It begins when David sees a beautiful woman and filled with lust David arranges for her husband’s death. When I first read this, David became unlikeable. For me, all other David stories are tainted by this act.

“Be still and acknowledge I am God.” 

In silence I enter a parlor to talk. I share with my spiritual director what is easy and what is difficult for me to acknowledge. Jesus heals. OK. Jesus teaches. OK. Jesus gives me eternal life. Hmmm. I acknowledge my doubts and my realization that it is time I have a conversation with Jesus. It has been a journey to get my science-educated brain to create room for the mystical.

A friend says something negative about another friend. Seeds of doubt about the second friend grow. David was not perfect. I am not perfect. My friends are not perfect. We are called to love. Dawn used to have great meaning before electricity lit up darkness. Dawn was defined as the moment when light allowed you to recognize a person as your friend. Jesus asks us to acknowledge him as our savior, to stand at dawn in the emerging light with our neighbor, to see them in a new light, and to love even the Davids who have done something awful.

Can we make plans that take us deeper into our faith? As I said, I don’t like planning, but I found a quote that might just be my style of planning.

Gloria Steinem said, “Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”

I have not given up my day job, but I do not think I will pass up any commissions to photograph moss. Planning to get somewhere because we feel called to take a journey does not mean ignoring the possibilities and beauty we pass along the way. By the time we get to where we felt called to journey, the gate might be missing or a bit less pearly than described. But the journey will fuel us and we will stand in the midst of an imperfect world and leap with our imagination.

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”

Amen.

The text:

2 Samuel, 7

1. Once the king had settled into his palace and Yahweh had granted him rest from all the enemies surrounding him,

2. the king said to the prophet Nathan, 'Look, I am living in a cedar-wood palace, while the ark of God is under awnings.'

3. Nathan said to the king, 'Go and do whatever you have in mind, for Yahweh is with you.'

4. But that very night, the word of Yahweh came to Nathan:

5. 'Go and tell my servant David, "Yahweh says this: Are you to build me a temple for me to live in?

6. I have never lived in a house from the day when I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today, but have kept travelling with a tent for shelter.

7. In all my travels with all the Israelites, did I say to any of the judges of Israel, whom I had commanded to shepherd my people Israel: Why do you not build me a cedar-wood temple?"

8. This is what you must say to my servant David, "Yahweh Sabaoth says this: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel;

9. I have been with you wherever you went; I have got rid of all your enemies for you. I am going to make your fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth.

10. I am going to provide a place for my people Israel; I shall plant them there, and there they will live and never be disturbed again; nor will they be oppressed by the wicked any more, as they were in former times

11. ever since the time when I instituted judges to govern my people Israel; and I shall grant you rest from all your enemies. Yahweh furthermore tells you that he will make you a dynasty.

12. And when your days are over and you fall asleep with your ancestors, I shall appoint your heir, your own son to succeed you (and I shall make his sovereignty secure.

13. He will build a temple for my name) and I shall make his royal throne secure for ever.

14. I shall be a father to him and he a son to me;

My Reflection on Luke 24: 36b-48 featuring thoughts on strudel and crows

 

Making cabbage strudel

This sermon was inspired by reading sermon notes by Kathryn Matthews (Huey), who posted them for this very day; and a recorded sermon by Richard Rohr.

Alice Walker, 21st century "Wake up and smell the possibility."

I wonder if the disciples would have been less shocked if the spirit of Jesus would have returned in the bodily form of a bird. Soar on the wings of a vulture or mingled with the masses as a pigeon.

Nearly twenty years ago I was birdwatching before heading to a middle school in Urbana Illinois. It was a haven of migrating birds who traveling over corn and soybean fields found a place of respite, a place to refuel.

My hope that spring was to identify 100 species by the school year’s end. Migration would be over. Mosquitoes would be furious. The weather steamy. I would rather not outside. I remember seeing the 100th bird. I remember getting into the school filled with joy to have seen so much beauty, and then I found a note in my mailbox to call Margaret, who tells me my grandmother had died.

I took a flight home with a book in hand. I turned the page to a new chapter and there was a poem by Emily Dickinson. It was short. It was about the souls of the dead returning to us in the bodies of birds. I thought about the 100th bird. My already strong connection to birds grew.

Today we read two passages written by Luke. Rich Rohr highlights : “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.” from the books of Acts. What Rohr makes these points: The forgiveness echoes Christ from the cross; the spiritual truth that when we do evil, it is done in ignorance, and that if we were fully conscious we would never do wrong. How often do we wish some wisdom from God had flowed into our brain faster than words flowed out of our mouths? Richard Rohr talks about a spirit that could lead to such forgiveness and connects it to what Luke wrote in today’s Gospel.

Jesus is at least in two places at once. He is walking on a road. He has appeared in a locked room, we get to hear the locked room story. The disciples know a spirit that is everywhere and just pops up to say “Hi.” Rohr’s translation of “peace be with you.” A spirit that will dine with us and will reflect on scripture with us.

But what Rohr and many other focus on is the physical aspect of the resurrection. As Stephen Cooper puts it, "To insist on the reality of the resurrected body is to demand that we accept our present reality as the place where transformations of ultimate significance take place." Christ is not a spirit only, but is flesh that we may not recognize. God is not just the one who creates, but is also the one that resides in creation. Jesus asks the disciples to touch his hands. Hands that fed the hungry, cured the ill, and chased evil spirits.

I think of hands. Barbara Taylor Brown does as well, ”Not our pretty faces and not our sincere eyes but our hands and feet – what we have done with them and where we have gone with them.” Hands make us human and when we are conscious they do amazingly lovely acts. Imagine for a moment hands that have loved you.

I make strudel. Often with help. For decades my grandmother made strudel, with no help. When I moved back to Pennsylvania, I felt a desire to learn how to make strudel. I have a photos of that day. My Mom Mom’s hands were old and would never touch strudel dough again. Not long after teaching me the art of strudel, a stroke would prevent that from happening and also prevent me from ever making strudel for her. My parents have one request of me before they move to NC. My dad wants strudel. Can I do anything more loving than to use my hands to stretch a ball of dough to be paper thin?

And then there are crows. Do you love them? Hate them? Fear them? Consider them wise? They are like us in many ways. John Marzluff’s work at the University of Washington has proven that crows can recognize human faces, remember the face of one who has annoyed them, and then teach other crows including their young to fear that human. (video where I discovered his work and much more about crows) The author Lyanda Lynn Haupt knows this and experienced angry crows when she took an injured fledgling into her home to splint a broken leg. A day later she returned the crow to its parents. Then something happened. The crows have gone out of their way to both provide long term care for their grown child and to daily come with their child to visit her. The crows know she cared. How? She has named her Charlotte.

She writes, “I cannot help thinking that some communication has taken place, that is somehow clear to the crows that my grievous offense was accomplished in good faith. We all experience such times—— don't we? —— when our guarded separateness breaks down.”

God returns to be part of creation and the disciples respond with fear, their guarded separateness needs to be broken. Then they feed Jesus. Ms Haupt believes that no other wild animal has so much contact with humans as the crow. Can we see Jesus in the hands of others? Can we see Jesus in the flight of a crow. Is it an unconscionable act to attack a crow? Is the crow announcing to all creation that we are against it?  A young girl has taken to feeding the crows of her neighborhood. The crows have taken to bringing her beautiful objects. Are we cursed to have been followed by crows? Have we been blessed? Has God sent us a wild creature to help us to remember we live on a planet filled with the creation?

Was it all coincidence 20 years ago or did my grandmother visit me in a small patch of woods in the midst of a university town surrounded by farms? We need a community to share our moments “when our guarded separateness breaks down.” Maybe it is our doubts of what we experience more than the faith in what we believe, which brings us here on Sunday mornings.

"When author Madeleine L'Engle was asked, 'Do you believe in God without any doubts?' she replied, 'I believe in God with all my doubts.’"

NO WORDS! celebrating a Dogwood Tree

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Celebrating the old and the new

I was sitting and waiting to celebrate our new priest, Mother Amanda, when the young man in the striped shirt (far left) asked me if I was going to take photos for our church's website, a website I have helped to create in the past month.  So I walked home.

As I looked at the images, I was disheartened by the less than crisp images that showed up on my computer.  The one of the cake looked OK, the ones of the cheese were a disaster.  But then this one caught my eye.  There is one man who stands out.

He was at the church long before I arrived and has been one of those people I have met along my journey who calls out for the church to help those in need.  A man to follow into a life of reaching out to the poor.

An hour before the service I had dropped off some cheese and some Nanaimo bars and headed out of the church to the farmers market.  When I emerged from the church, it was he who offered me a ride.  I needed the walk, so I passed on the offer, but my heart was lifted up be his presence.  Attendance has been difficult for him over the past year, but how important to have a man, who had witnessed so many rectors at Holy Trinity be there for today's Celebration of New Ministry.

So I am glad that of all the people to shine forth in my photos, it was the man, who had offered me a ride.

The Bread of Life Banner

Jesus said, 

"I am the bread of life; 

whoever comes to me shall not hunger, 

and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." 

 John 6:35

I had had no idea that the Holy Eucharist would feed my hunger.  When I walk towards the meal, when I take the bread and drink the wine, when I ask to be renewed and cleansed... this is when my doubts fade to the side and my faith grows stronger.

time consideration... the Wernersville 2009 retreat

Tonight I had my first meeting with a spiritual director. In 80 minutes I managed to talk about the retreat which I began blogging about many days ago when I wrote about the last morning.

more this weekend.

school and jazz rule the day till then, but here is a thought...


Sunday I spent much of worship feeling out of sorts as I was getting used to the Episcopal service after 8 straight days with the Jesuits. Then the opening line of the final hymn had these words... I fell to my knees.

I thought that is familiar and I saw it was from Ephesians, the verse I shared on the first post about the retreat (see link above). Wonderful choice of a closing hymn if you ask me, but I forgot the name. feel free to help me out Holy Trinity folk.

fresh and frozen

Life is good... a friend is someone who knows you well, or at least well enough that when you mock her, she laughs. It goes like this. Sunday at church she asks you for a gift of sorts. Monday night at Bible study you give her fresh rosemary, parsley and thyme. Tuesday night you run into her in the corner deli in our neighborhood (yes we have one) as she buys butter for the chicken pot pies. Wednesday, the phone takes you out of the studio, and you are offered a pot pie. In no time at all she is at your house and she dares to tell you that she used frozen veggies instead of fresh root vegetables. You say, "how could you have done that to my fresh herbs!"

there are more than one way to say thanks.

anyway, back to my after dinner snack. It is tasty.