Isn’t the second helping just a little more tasty? Maybe because you had it already and know what to expect? Maybe it’s because you only took a little and weren’t sure if you’d like it? Whatever the case, seconds are to be savored and enjoyed.
If you were fortunate enough to listen to cycle C from the lectionary at Church Sunday, the 2nd Reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians begs another helping.
Let’s do ourselves a favor. Let’s read this, pray this, taste this, savor this passionate passage. Let’s give ourselves some time to slowly read these beautiful words of Paul to the church at Philippi – – to us – – read them silently, read them out loud. Hear the intensity with which Paul proclaim these profound and spirit filled words.
Reading 2 Fifth Sunday of Lent PHIL 3:8-14
Brothers and sisters: I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.
NOTE: Again, for this Fifth Sunday of Lent, I would like to suggest that we take some time to pray and reflect on the readings for this Sunday. Like a mini-retreat, how is the Word speaking to us and leading us to deeper conversation and conversion? Let us pray for one another.
Have
you ever been at the receiving end of a pointing finger? Or an accusatory tone?
Or the brunt of the gossip and whispers of others? I have.
There are times when I deserved it.
Other times when it was as false as a late night infomercial. Nonetheless, the pain, sorrow, anger, regret,
embarrassment is real. I know what that
feels like. It is as real as the blood
pulsing through your veins, and the sensation of the heat rising on your
cheeks.
The
Gospel today is an awesome display of our hypocrisy in the light of God’s
overwhelming authenticity. Before Jesus
is the woman “caught” in the act of adultery.
Makes you think…was she set up? Were
they on the lookout? Was she the Oswald
of Adultery Conspiracy Theories that they could trap Jesus with? Those that brought this woman before Jesus
could care less about her. They were
looking for a fight…they were looking to trap this preacher into a corner from
which there was no escape. “This woman
has been caught in the act of adultery. According to the law, Moses commanded
us to stone such women. What do you
say?”
So how does the Word-Made-Flesh respond to this challenge? Silence. Jesus is silent. He stoops and scribbles on the ground. When He “straightened up” he points their inquiry back at them… “Let the one among you without sin be the first to cast a stone at her.”
Touché
Jesus! Like David to Goliath, the
Messiah hit them full force between the eyes with the sling shot rock of his
words. No more voices. No more fingers. No more accusations. They walk away.
FIRST COMMENTARY Where do you want to live? Do you want to live ONLY in this world? What does this world give you? This world gives you hypocrisy. We live in a salacious TMZ/CelebrityEdition/Gotcha world. (Just ask Joe Biden if you are wondering? And I am no Joe Biden fan). We live in a culture in which at any given moment, anyone or any group can be slighted and DEMAND an apology….and once they get it, it is either, not good enough, too late, insincere etc. The truth doesn’t matter, because there is no truth. What is true for you is yours and what is true for me is mine. We must accept everything and reject nothing…unless I don’t like it…in that case you are a bigot, racist or Nazi and I can relegate you to a fringe that doesn’t matter and should not be heard or seen…but everyone in this culture should have a voice and matter, right? Very confusing this world we have invented.
What
has made us invent (and I mean Invent) such a world? Is it perhaps because life is hard? True, we struggle here. We have a need for
each other and at the same time we drift away and choose sides and point
fingers. We know the truth and do
everything to cover it if it does not reflect well on us. Life is hard. No doubt. Lord knows.
Yes,
the Lord does know. The difference
between Jesus and the Scribes and Pharisees is how they embrace reality. The scribes and the pharisees see sin and the
challenges of life as someone else problem…like the adulterous woman. For Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us, He sees sin
and the challenges of life is everyone’s problem…even His.
SECOND COMMENTARYSo
now Jesus, God-with-us, is face-to-face with the adulterous woman. Reality.
Real Drama.
He
asks, and she replies. I sometimes
imagine this scene. Does Jesus whisper
his question? Does he speak softly? Does he stand up and look at the crowd who
just wanted to see a stoning to shout at them?
“Woman, where are they? Has no
one condemn you?”
And
how does she reply? What is the sound of
her voice? Is it soft? Relieved? Frightened? Exhausted or embarrassed? “No one
sir.” There it is. Definitive.
No one. No one condemns her. No she is not innocent by any means, but no
one is there to condemn her…but her. That is reality.
But
Jesus, the redeemer, savior, messiah, He is creator as well. He creates a new reality. How?
By His WORD. “Neither do I
condemn you.” Where her sin condemned
her, His Word does not. It transforms
her. It offers her an entirely new
identity. From outcasts to insider –
from sinner to saint – for derided to beloved – from lost to found – from
harlot to innocent. This is the offer.
Jesus’
next words are as much for the scribes and the Pharisees as they are for the
woman, as they are for you and me. “…Go
and for now on do not sin anymore.” This realistic Savior changes us and enjoins
us. We are now His. Our world and our world view is now new…difference. No longer are we to look at life through the
lens of sin. Now we are to live life through the power of grace.
Where
do you want to live? The scribes and Pharisees
made a choice to live in this world. To
live with their eyes fixed on sin. Those
who were very loud when they came to Jesus, walked away in silence. And I dare
say, sadness. The one dragged silently
to the feet of Jesus is silent no more; powerless no more; sin-bound no more.
This is but one of our Lenten invitations. Let us repent of our hypocrisy and embrace our (plural) authenticity in Christ. Let us reflect in this world, the world we really want to live in…and the world to which we are called.
Hope you had a good
week. Mine was kind of all over the place – – as you can tell by my sporadic
posts. I’ve either been too tired or uninspired, such is life.
Anyway, it’s Friday.
TGIF. During Lent, TGIF might mean Thank God It’s Fish. The Lenten abstinence
from meat has never been a challenge for me. (Fasting on the other hand is a
whole other story.) But I grew up with Mrs. Paul’s fish sticks, creamed tuna fish
on toast, McDonald’s fish fillet and an occasional fish fry. I’m convinced that
the real origins of the push for FISH on Friday is that there must have been a Medieval
Pope who had a brother with a failing fish stand! But I digress.
The purpose of this simple
abstinence is awareness. Awareness of what you could have but choose against,
for something better. There is nothing wrong with Meat. Fish is not the king of
the food chain. Our awareness then moves
us to the choice of Christ. He could
have walked away from the garden. He could have said yes to his needs. There is nothing wrong with walking
away. There is nothing wrong with attending
to your needs. But Christ chose against
that immediate, for something better. He
chose that Cross. He did not walk away,
he walked toward…and by doing so, not only bound himself to the Father on that
crossbeam – he lifted us up…to be forgiven, cleansed, and redeemed. All this on
a Friday that was Good.
Remember the earthquake? The one that happened before the start of the third game of the 1989 world series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s…that earthquake. On October 17, just minutes before the start of Game 3, a 6.9 earthquake struck the Bay Area. The game was postponed for 10 days…and the series wrapped up on October 28. But that was not the most interesting part of the earthquake. Not only did it shut up Al Michaels for a while, the footage of the players warming up on the field revealed something very interesting.
Camera
footage shows players, standing, looking into the stands. All of a sudden you realize they are not just
reacting – they are searching. They are
looking. Later, one of the players said that all he could think of was where was
his wife and my kids, family, friends who came to the game? The one who came to be watched were now
looking…looking for what really mattered, their loved ones.
The joyful season of Lent offers us a time to look…to re-flect…to see again, what really matters in our life. Our relationships matter. God matters. Make him a place. Our loved ones matter. Make them time. You matter. Hopefully it won’t take an earthquake to make us see.
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:27-40
I know I have posted this before, but in light of yesterday’s message, I felt it was worth repeating. I listened to a TEDtalk in which one of the speakers said, “I learned that, I can do anything for a day. But for the long haul, I know I need others.” Profound reality.
Serenity, sobriety, mindfulness, wholeness, holiness is not a solo-enterprise. It takes a community to lift you, pull you, carry you, challenge you, hold you and help you. The first stanza of Reinhold Neibuhr’s famous prayer is a beginning. But the next stanzas lead to the fullness and the finish. The goal. Let’s pray it and live it in FULL.
God, grant me the Serenity To accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And Wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will. That I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with Him forever in the next. +Amen.
