The ShemaFrequently during our Noontimereflecting we have observed how Jesus both promises and warns the world that there is a clear choice before us always: we may choose Beatitude or we may choose Woe. Jesus also warns us frequently about true and false prophets, the difficulties and gifts we receive from entering into self-knowledge, the presence of evil in the most intimate and holy of places, the importance of praying the Shemain all our actions, and the peace of heart that arrives when we give over everything to the following of God above all else. Today we look at perhaps the strongest indictment of false leadership present in the whole of scripture in which Jesus – at the height of his success among the people – steps into the comfort zone of church leaders to condemn their collusion in the corruption of God’s beautiful creation. If we are in doubt as to whom Jesus might be seeing as false when he looks at us today, we have only to read the opening lines to see if we are his target for remediation: Those who preach but do not practice, those who tie up heavy burdens to lay on others’ shoulders but lift no finger to help, those who perform works to be seen, those who love places of honor at banquets and seats of honor in places of worship, greetings in market places, those who widen their phylacteries and lengthen tassels. Phylacteriesare small, black leather prayer boxes worn on the upper left arm and forehead that carry the Shema prayer we thought about just several days ago. Tasslesare also prescribed in the Shemaand they are the blue border or the blue and white fringe or threads at the four corners of the outer garment that would remind practicing Jews to adhere to the Law as prescribed in Numbers 15:38 – with their body, mind, heart and soul. Gospel-followers today wear crosses and medallions, frequent religious places and ceremonies, practice peace and justice in their work and play. We can put ourselves under the same examination that we give to the scribes and Pharisees we read about today.
Bender Stanislaw: Laying Phylacteries at a BarmitzvahHypocrites, blind guides and fools, whitewashed tombs all beautiful outside and sparkling in the bright sun, but dark and empty on the inside, full of death and filth. Jesus proclaims woe on and to the people who stubbornly believe that they are immune from scrutiny. Jesus calls out to all of us to turn a discerning eye on what we say to see if it matches what we do. Jesus laments the loss of so much potential in the closing verses of this chapter as he predicts the end of their present life.
When Jesus visits with each of us, he confronts our own hypocrisy and false fronts; yet he also comforts where he finds hurt, he heals where he finds damage, he cures where he finds regret, and he restores where he finds a conversion of heart. This conversion is evidenced when we ask forgiveness. It is witnessed by our willingness to accept responsibility for our missteps and our honest attempts to make amends. This conversion is seen in our openness to what we have thought to be impossible – that we might both change and be changed by the blessed one who comes as an expression of God’s love to and in the world. We have only to let the Christ enter our lives, and then to give our lives over to him.
“The Song of Songs, meaning the greatest of songs (1,1), contains in exquisite poetic form the sublime portrayal and praise of the mutual love of the Lord and his people. The Lord is the Lover and his people the beloved. Describing this relationship in terms of human love, the author simply follows Israel’s tradition. Isaiah (5, 1-7; 54, 4-8), Jeremiah (2, 2f.32, and Ezekiel (16; 23) all characterize the covenant between the Lord and Israel as a marriage. Hosea the prophet sees the idolatry of Israel in the adultery of Gomer (1-3). He also represents the Lord speaking to Israel’s heart (2, 16) and changing her into a new spiritual people, purified by the Babylonian captivity and betrothed anew to her divine Lover ‘in justice and uprightness, in love and mercy’ (2,21) . . . [The Song] is an allegory in which each remark, e.g., in the dialogue of the lovers, has a higher meaning. It is a parable in which the true meaning of mutual love comes from the poem as a whole . . . In Christian tradition, the Song has been interpreted in terms of the union between Christ and the Church and, particularly by St. Bernard, of the union between Christ and the individual soul.” (Senior 791-792)
In this last chapter, we see the young lovers walking toward home; and the seal in verse 6 is a reference to a ring or emblem with which one marked, signed or identified an object. In this poem, love is seen as the force that conquers all else. “In human experience, death and the nether world are inevitable, unrelenting; in the end they always triumph. Love, which is just as certain of its victory, matches its strength against the natural enemies of life; waters cannot extinguish it nor floods carry it away. It is more priceless than all riches.” (798)
The Bride, the Church, the soul, remains chaste. Her rich dowry is kept under watchful eyes until the time when she has matured, until the time she will be given in marriage and the dowry handed over to the groom who waits.
We are this bride. We are this beloved.
We – like this bride – have suffered, have wandered, have searched, and have found. We have also been found by the one who treasures us, the one who knows that we are a pearl of great price, the one who values us. A dowry has been set aside for us to assure our redemption. We are the seal set upon the heart. Knowing this, having endured much, we still thirst.
This evening, as we wander home through the garden with its intense and alluring aromas, we are accompanied by the one who waits for us as we grow and mature. We continue our journey up from the desert, leaning upon the lover. We awaken under the apple trees where we were once conceived. And when we open our eyes, we know that we have been found once again. And we look into the eyes of our creator. The one who calls us anew to rise with the new day.
Yet we endlessly seek the opinion of others about what we are to do and say.
This is what the Lord requires of you . . .
There is no need to ever be in doubt about what we are to do or what we are to say if we can only place our head and heart into the hands of the Holy Spirit.
Do what is right . . .
When we look for excuses that pardon our actions and words, we know that we are moving in the wrong direction.
Love goodness . . .
When we find ourselves splitting hairs to win arguments, we know that we are loving the darkness.
Walk humbly with God . . .
When our feeling are hurt because we are not noticed enough for our accomplishments, we know that pride is ruling our words and actions.
As we celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit in our lives this Pentecost Sunday, let us remember these words from Isaiah 30:20-21: The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you will see your Teacher, while from behind a voice shall sound in your ears; “This is the way; walk in it,” when you turn to the right or to the left.”
As we celebrate the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts this Pentecost Sunday, let us remember these words from Matthew 10:16-20: When they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say for it will not be you speaking but the spirit of your Father speaking through you, Mark 13:11: When you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking but the Holy Spirit.
If when we ponder what is loving, what is just and what is wise, we come up with no answers, we have only to turn ourselves over and to open ourselves up to the Spirit, for it is in this Spirit that we find our God. It is in this Spirit that we find ourselves. It is in this Spirit that we will know what to say and what to do.
It is the same Spirit that comes to abide with us that we hear about today, on this day after Pentecost Sunday.
Written on Pentecost Sunday, May 23, 2012 and posted today as a Favorite.
The Tirzah ValleyTirzahis a probable reference to the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel and most likely means pleasant. The following descriptions use pastoral allusions, creating images that would certainly be pleasant to the people in the first century before Christ. The other marriage imagery is familiar to New Testament readers who are accustomed to hearing Christ describe his own union with us, his church, his bride, his beloved. Footnotes send us to Matthew 9:15; 25:1-13; John 3:29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32 and Revelation 19:7; 21:9. The portion of the Song of Songs we focus on today is a description of the charming characteristics of the groom’s beloved. A description of us, the bride.
We see here that Christ is centered on wooing us, drawing us into his ways. Do we consider Christ to be the center of our own lives?
We read here that Christ seeks us out no matter where we are. Do we seek Christ in the same way?
We reflect on the fact that Christ sacrifices all he has – himself – for his beloved. Do we sacrifice all that we are and have in the same way for Christ?
This is how we acquire the charming inner beauty of the Beloved we read about today: through our constancy, preparedness, fidelity, and trust. This inner beauty radiates outward, calling to the groom, echoing his own faithful love. Nothing else matters. No other union is more real. No other love is more secure.
This Song is accredited to Solomon yet was most likely written at the end of the Exile (around 538 B.C.E.). It describes the intimacy of a conjugal relationship; the same relationship we are to have with Christ. In such a close bond there in nothing hidden, there is no illusion, no deception. We must put all of that aside if we are to find the happiness we seek.
In this sublime description of abiding, ardent and even passionate love, we find the meaning otherwise hidden from us by a material life full of itself with its alluring deceits, waywardness and trickery. If we are to be both serene and passionate in our love for God, if we are to find peace that holds us faithful, we must put all worldly ways aside because . . . my lover belongs to me and I to him . . . Before I know it, my heart makes me the blessed one of my kinswoman.
Pomegranate Trees
The invitation to union with the beloved is open to each of us. So let us go down to the garden to look at the fresh growth of the valley, to see if the vines are in bloom, if the pomegranates have blossomed . . .let us set a little time apart each day for it is in this serene and peace-filled place that we encounter a love we have only otherwise imagined, the love of Christ.
A re-post from May 26, 2012. Originally written on April 21, 2009 and posted today as a Favorite.
We are told in the story of the Revelation (7:16) that those who thirst will find true water which quenches forever.
I will renew you with the everlasting covenant . . .
We are told by the prophets Jeremiah (23:4) and Ezekiel (34:16) that the true Shepherd has promised to bring all of his sheep home from all the places to which the false shepherds have scattered them so that none of them shall be missing.
Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near . . .
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord . . .
We are told in the first letter to the Corinthians (13:1) that our childish ways are not the childlike ways in which God asks us to walk; and in Ephesians (2:2) that the ways of the world are not God’s ways.
For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.
We are told in Ezekiel (37:27) that God will dwell among his people; and we are told by Jesus in the Gospel of John (10:34-38) that he was sent among us to call his faithful home, and that these faithful live in him just as he lives in the father.
Yes, in joy you shall depart, in peace you shall be brought back . . .
We are told in Jeremiah (29:11) and throughout the Psalms, but especially in 126, that God has plans in mind for us which are plans for joy rather than sorrow.
This shall be the Lord’s renown, an everlasting imperishable sign . . .
We are told in the Gospel of John (4:10) that God offers us the gift of everlasting life, of true water which quenches forever.
All of scripture isChrist, isGod’s word to us, God’s expression of love to us. And all of this scripture cries out to us that we are invited to the feast of the bridegroom as the beloved bride. In the album Speechlessby Steven Curtis Chapman there is a song entitled The Invitationwhich tells us all we need to hear about the love the father holds for us. It reminds us that we are bride to a constant, faithful, ardent lover, the true prince of peace who leaves nothing lacking, who will not rest until he holds us closely. This is our invitation to blessing. This is our invitation to beatitude. This is our invitation to grace. This is our invitation to love.
We can use these words of encouragement as we approach at any number of times in our lives for we are frequently wearied by life’s turmoil. We have seen the Easter story play out and we have full knowledge of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We also know that Christ’s story is also our story. We know that the dead rise, the weary rejoice, and the impossible becomes possible; yet despite this knowing we need support in order to move forward. We dread the suffering we know is part of our existence, and we anticipate eagerly the happiness in store for us. The Eastertide always presents us with both the terrible and wonderful as we remember Christ’s pain and joy.
In the paradox which is Christ, we see strength come from his gentleness, compassion from his understanding, empathy from his justice, love from his constancy. In turn, we draw upon his storehouse of strength and wisdom.
When we continue to grapple with the obstacles in our lives, Jesus calls us to him to ask us if we want to be healed. We have the choice to go to him or remain stuck in our illness.
When we are so burdened that we struggle to lift our eyes to look to the light, Jesus is there in his gentle understanding. We have the choice to enter into a conversation with him or not.
When we are lost in the fog of turnings and wanderings that characterize our lives, Jesus offers to cure and heal. We have the choice to continue to mourn our losses or to rejoice in our gains.
In today’s reading, gentleness has become the weapon against unchecked power; and the child-like are rewarded, for to them does God reveal himself. Those who are “no account”, who are marginalized and who suffer know God far more intimately than do those who live in comfort and ease. The invitation God extends through his son to the weary and to the burden-laden is an open invitation to all, but especially to those who are broken in body, spirit and heart.
Today’s message is an invitation and it is written out to us in the name of Gentleness. Love is meek rather than submissive, peace-seeking rather than manipulative, kind rather than self-serving. Love is gentle, just as St. Paul reminds us 1 Corinthians.
When we reach the limit of our resources yet look up to see that we have miles still to go, we might lean on the gentle Jesus . . . for his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.
We frequently look at this prophecy written by one betrayed in the most intimate of ways. We will need this lesson because in our lives we will often find suffering at the hands of those we trust. This prophet speaks to us from the depths of sorrow in authenticity about his own intense suffering as a result of the infidelity of his wife, the harlot Gomer.
Chapter 6 begins with a verse that stands out to us because it speaks to our broken-ness as people: broken covenants, broken vows, broken oaths, broken words, broken spirits, broken hearts. But the beauty of this prophecy and of this first verse is this: for as much as we are broken, we might heal others, and in so carrying and living out Christ’s message, we might ourselves be healed.
In the morning reading in Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime,we find an important reading: Mark 3:13-19. Jesus has cured many people of their physical broken-ness and now the throngs are pressing in upon him in such a way that He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. This is where we come into the story. Jesus ascends a mountain – usually a sign of moving toward God in scripture – and then he calls forth those whom he wanted.And these came to him. He appoints them as apostles that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. Among these twelve is the Iscariot. Judas. Even Jesus allows betrayers to enter the camp, knowing that they will break his heart.
What an amazing God is this who comes to live among us to suffer as we do; yet this is exactly the good news that we have yearned to hear. How will our broken hearts be mended? How will broken oaths be healed and broken friendships fixed? We step forward, called out of the crowd as apostles, to be sent into the world with God’s authority to drive out demons and to heal. And how do we obtain this authority? By participating – with Christ – in his suffering and death upon the cross. This is what Hosea comes to understand through his own agony as he watches his wife dangle herself before any man who will take her. This is what we can understand as we suffer at the hands of those we thought we knew, those in whom we trusted, those with whom we shared our inmost thoughts, desires and fears.
When we look at some of the images in Hosea 6 we see the depth of betrayal. Verse 4: Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away.Verse 9: As brigands ambush a man, so do bands of priests slay on the way toShechem, committing monstrous crimes.
And so we pray that broken hearts be healed, that we become messengers of the good news that Christ has come to heal. We ask for the gift of willingness to enter God’s vineyard, that we allow our suffering to be converted into the authority of an apostle so that we might in turn drive out demons in Christ’s name.
Good and gracious God the Creator, God the Saver, God the Holy Spirit that lives within us: Keep us close to you in all we suffer that we might be with you as your apostles. Teach us your way of love that we might go forth as your apostles. Continue to speak to us of your story that we might preach it as your apostles. Grant us the patience to rest in your word that it might give us authority as your apostles. Give us the power to drive out and away all the demons that settle into us without our knowing. We ask this in Christ’s name. Amen.
The Risen ChristDo not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you; because I have many people in this city. This is thinking we have visited often in our Noontimes. The Risen Christ constantly reminds us that there is nothing to fear – even when we wander into enemy territory.
We are afraid to risk loss – loss of a friendship, loss of status, loss of youth, loss of vigor, loss of value in any way.
We are afraid to speak up and to speak out. We shrink from what my Dad used to call Stand up time.We do not want to be shunned. We want to be part of the whole. We want someone else to voice what we are thinking and fearing, believing that if we do not say the words we can disown the fear.
We do not like uncomfortable silence. We avoid pregnant pauses and knowing looks. We know that the dictator’s greatest weapon is fear engendered in others and yet we succumb to the tyrant’s whippings by hiding our words and thoughts. We unknowingly – or knowingly – hope to keep ourselves safe by using passive aggression but this always backfires on us and leaves us less than whole.
We want to either solve our own problems or totally give our worries away to let them bother someone else. Solutions stand before us but we humans seem bent on avoiding the Spirit’s help at all costs. And it need not be so.
Jesus tells us to shake away the dust of those who reject us; he tells us to move on in our mission and leave to him the task of converting hardened hearts. (Matthew 10:14, Mark 6:11, Luke 9:5)
Matthew’s Gospel (10:18-20) records Jesus’ words to his disciples: On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Luke’s account is similar (12:11): When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.
Jesus himself relies on the Father for both words and nuance (John 12:49-50): For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.
It is clear that we are never alone and yet we childishly refuse the help offered by our creator, our redeemer and the gentle abider. We cling to wrong thinking because we do not want to make waves or cause turmoil; yet how much turmoil does wrong-headed thinking cause? All we need do is steady ourselves and rely on the creator of all things.
It is obvious that we are in constant company of the Spirit; yet we do not use the words we are given because we fear we are not up to the challenge. How much more difficult is the struggle when we fail to act as we are asked? All we need do is to quiet ourselves and listen.
It is evident that we are not alone, and yet we refuse to recognize the company of our brother and constant companion in life. How much anxiety is caused by our refusal to see who stands before us? All we need do is settle ourselves. And speak.
We are not alone. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: all three remain even though we reject their advice and deny their presence.
EstherI love this story for its crystalline message: The measure that we measure with is measured out to us. (Luke 6:38). We need to hear this story today because lately we have been reflecting on convolutions and betrayals big and small, on expiatory sacrifices, on our complaints, on making a proper response to the call we hear from God, and on forming the alliances we will need to see us through our journey in this life. All of these themes are present in the story of Esther, and they can weigh heavily on us in this season when we want to participate in Easter joy.
Often we are exhausted from the many lessons of discipleship which we must learn. Often we grow weary of hearing the message that only God can pass judgment and exact retribution. Often we spend ourselves down to the bottom of our resources keeping up with both listening for the call and by managing our human desire to ask for revenge. Often our personal well runs dry after we drink from it more times than we replenish it.
Today offers us an opportunity to fill the well, to re-stock the granary, to rest a bit and to recoup. There are many psalms and stories in scripture in which humans petition retribution and violent revenge on their enemies who appear to skate through life unscathed by the wreckage they leave in their wake. What today’s story tells us is this: These enemies drown in their own wake.
Yes, we reply, we hear this. But when will we see it? And why does it happen? And how do we survive?
We can never visit this story often enough. We help ourselves if we read it several times a year because it has so much to offer and speaks to the basic human desire to judge and to enact our own retribution. Various Bibles order the inserts differently and the introductory commentary and the accompanying footnotes will explain the reasons for the jumbled structure of this book which ought to be important to each of us. It is through this story that we are reminded of how our enemies fall. It is through this story that we remember that we doom ourselves by not answering the call we hear. It is through this story that we can assure ourselves that our reward will be certain, definite. And will flow from our own hands. It is also from this story we learn that our own actions wash back on us if we enter into the world of envy, fear, obsession and hate.
Rembrandt: Haman Begging the Mercy of EstherToday we read about how Hamanis content and happy with the plot he is weaving. We see how he flatters himself and gets lost in his own distorted view of life. We cannot miss how Haman’s friends and wife misdirect him. These are such important lessons for us to read. We cannot hear them enough. These are lessons we must see and live because in the living of these events, we become more like God. We respond to the call of our potential. We enter Christ’s Mystical Body. This is how we survive.
And so we pray: Help us to see, help us to live, O God.
When we are weary from learning the lessons of life: Help us to see, help us to live, O God.
When we tire from seeking and waiting and searching: Help us to see, help us to live, O God.
When we become lost in the webs we and others weave: Help us to see, help us to live, O God.
When we are exhausted from living on the edge: Help us to see, help us to live, O God.
The Noontimes 