5/18
Last night we also had two former students of Katherine’s in a performance
project. I meet my friend (and Andrea’s) Ellen on her way out. Ellen’s son is
Matt Turk, the musician. (http://www.turktunes.com/)
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| The Zohar |
Stephen S and Samantha are waiting for me as I arrive. Quite a
relief to have back up help on Sunday mornings. Especially when I’m running
around to find an open copy shop for the bulletins when I find my Bangladeshi
place closed. When I get back, Debra and Dion have arrived to help and Jeremy
is ready to work on the music.
A lot about rocks and stones today.
After reading about the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7: 55-60, we read Psalm 31: 1-5 and 15-16 and find a
prayer that could easily belong to Stephen with its rock of refuge (2) and 5Into
your hand I commit my spirit with the same lines spoken by Jesus at his
crucifixion.
Could it also be a song for the kidnapped African children? We reflect on the story that has so captured the heats and minds of the world. While we all seem unable to come up with a plan.Is it they are children that captures us so? And we reflect on the role social media played in spreading the story. And how the leader of the kidnappers relishes in the attention.
The
we move to 1 Peter 2: 2-10
Again, a stone,
4Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet
chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5like
living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy
priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ. 6For it stands
in scripture:
6 See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame and…
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame and…
The
stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner,
8and
A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.
has become the very head of the corner,
8and
A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.
And after we read it, I respond by
playing my own version of Rock of ages,
cleft for me,let me hide myself in thee. And as we talk, I recall the stumble stones in an old Jewish neighborhood
of Berlin placed there so that the uneven walk will constantly remind us of those who lived there and were taken away
and murdered. And I recall those who
visit the Holy Land just to see rocks and stones and never see the living stones,
as the Palestinian Christians see themselves.
Finally,
Arcadia reads John 14: 1-14 in Spanish and then Don in English and then Jeremy
cranks up the piano and we do Rainy Day Women #12 and 35, you know, as
in….everybody must get stoned…I explain that Dylan once said he had never
written and never would write a song about drugs. Have you never read the book
of Acts? He asked. If you listen close, it’s clear it’s about persecution. No
matter what you do, they’ll still come after you. To make it (overly) obvious,
I add my own verse:
They’ll
stone you and say they’re just getting even
They’ll
stone you just like they did to Stephen
They’ll
stone you and lay their coats before Saul
You
know the guy who later called himself Paul?
Well,
I would not feel so all alone
Everybody
must get stoned…..
And
I asked if anyone had ever felt like that. We don’t set out to be sign up to be
martyrs. We seek to be faithful. We seek to be obedient. And if this leads to
the cross, well all right. But no one wants to go there. Not even Jesus.
We find in the gospel another farewell discourse. We take this story from earlier and place it in the context of Jesus preparing his disciples for his eventual not being here. In the flesh. He says he’s going to prepare for us a home.Like where? What does that mean?
In our clergy lectionary study, someone quoted a commentator as saying that with all this talk of a Christian nation, we are not so much into that that as we are a moralistic therapeutic deism, almost Christian, Christianish. John’s gospel is so much about incarnation, but this is about the departure of incarnation.
And then we come to that quote:
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me. That can so easily be
misread. But, our concern here, as always,is about living, not
laying theological traps for others. It is about access. Promise, not
discrimination.
The first Pastor I worked with was a a Scottish Canadian in
Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bill Wiseman. He told me that
when he was a young pastor, he always heard this like Jesus holding his
hand up, like a traffic cop, saying STOP, unless you say the right words. And
as he reached the end of his time, he saw it different. Jesus with open arms,
saying, I’ve got this covered. You're in. Assurance of access. It’s never about
words. Or doctrine or giving assent to theological propositions. It’s about, as
they say in Spanish, el camino, the way, a pathway, a journey. A lived life in
which we see truth. The big T truth. And by following that way, life.
Our biggest task is to equip people not for church projects,
but for living faithful, abundant lives,
where we are, at work, at home, day in, day out. That is the way.
It’s a good discussion. Our circle has expanded out into the
pews today. Some old friends back. And we close with everyone in the circle.
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| Leila made flowers |
I give a few tours. And as I’m getting ready to leave, two
earnest young women come to visit. One German, the other eastern European. Quite
young. Turns out they’re with the Kabbalah society. (They’ve got the red thread
around the wrist. Just like Madonna.) An ancient Jewish mystical practice of
numerology, cosmogony, etc. they have brought with them a copy of the Zohar (Hebrew: זֹהַר, lit. Splendor or Radiance ), written in a trippy Aramaic from 13th
century Spain. They’re on a mission to place Zohars everywhere they can. It seems
a circle of Zoharim are currently protecting the Florida coast from extreme
storms. (The ultimate solution to climate change?) It seems that the mere presence of
this book is sufficient to ward off evil. I gladly accept one. And a carry
along personal size as well. It all helps. And in return I give them two of
Angelo’s angelitos. To protect them on their journey. Before I leave, I place
the Zohar on the communion table. Open. Beneath Debra’s flowers and the Dos
Pueblos flowers. I’ll take help from wherever it comes.
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| One of Leila's flowers |
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