At Chelsea Community Church: " ...has been fulfilled..."

1/27

                                                           Ready for worship

The Chelsea Community Church began in 1975 as a grass roots, lay led congregation which would not be tied to any specific theology, doctrine or denomination but solely to shared life as a community of Christians. For most of their life, they have met in the historic St. Peter's Episcopal Church on what was originally the farm estate of Clement C. Moore. It's thus very fitting that the church's signature event is a night of candles and carols and a reading of "The Night Before Christmas," Moore's classic Christmas poem. Artists from the community look forward to reading the poem in this much anticipated annual event. 

I was very excited to be invited to be the guest speaker in a service led by the people of the church.

A guest soloist, Aaron Lee Butler, sang a moving interpretation of " "Abraham, Martin and John" before my sermon based on Gospel Luke 4:14-21. 

Good afternoon.  It's good to be with you today. Let me say that I am very appreciative of your model of ministry here. A few words about myself... I retired from my pastorate at West Park Church after 22 years of service almost two years. But I continue to be engaged in active ministry. I preach regularly, work with "troubled" congregations and do consulting work on "the urban church in the global city." I continue to chair the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing.  In the last 18 months,I've been able to see the church at work in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Berlin as well as various churches in this city. You have created a model here that is very much consonant with where the church seems to be headed. Increasingly, lay led models are the trend. Sometimes of necessity...New York City Presbytery has 100 congregations and at least half do not have a pastor. (Although not necessarily by choice.) Leaving aside the Pentecostal world, which is its own reality, I see this model emerging wherever I go.

But what is true as well is the decreasing importance of denominations. Most congregations have little awareness of what goes on at the institutional level of the church and could care less.  More and more Christians and their communities care more about discerning together what it means to follow Jesus with little interest in debating points of theology or doctrine. It's how you live your life as a Christian  that matters most, not the specifics of what you believe. So that's my starting point today.

We've lived through another one of those weeks. You never know what to expect and it's the rule, not the exception. It appears after 35 days, the longest shutdown in history is finally over. And like lay led congregations, it appears that it wan't the politicians who finally figured it out but the actions of common working people (at LaGuardia airport) that forced an end. I mean the thought of making LaGuardia worse is terrifying to anyone.

This story comes to  us in the season of Epiphany, the season of revelation. So our work is to see what  is revealed and what Jesus is up to these days in response to times like these. We find him immediately after he has finished his sojourn in the desert...I like to think of it as his training for what is to come. And has returned his hometown. A place where by tradition he had quietly worked in a family owned carpentry shop well into the age where most men his age would be married and on their own.

And now his story goes on.

What I do find interesting is that they hand him  the scroll, expecting him to teach.  And is it a lay led congregation because it's not a rabbi (or pharisee ) that teaches but Jesus? It seems he's done this before.

Only this tine something different happens. By way of Isaiah, he lines out his job description.  And makes a rather audacious claim. What is in that job description?


# Good news to the poor
# Release to the captives
# Recovery of sight to the blind
# Letting the oppressed go free
# Proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor
That's a tall order.

Let me first note he was filled with the power of the Spirit, the same Spirit that spoke to him at his Baptism and the same Spirit that drove him out to the desert. The Spirit seems to be directing the action of this story.

Scholars  would  say that all of these works would  fall under Proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor, or the Jubilee. Every 50 years, a sabbath of sabbaths plus one, there was to be reset. All slaves set free, all debts forgiven, property returned to its original owner. Think about that for a minute, what that world would feel like. The idea was that no family was to be forever dependent on the largesse of  society for its survival , that poverty was not to be generational or perpetual, that no one would have to go to their grave paying off student debt.

We should note that there is no evidence that the Jubilee was ever celebrated. The point is that the idea of it is there at the very center of the law, the teaching, the Torah. And it is clear that Jesus saw as his mission making the Jubilee real.

Things begin to get a little troublesome here. Because you can't engage the issues Jesus feels called to by Isaiah without getting political and there are those who will say you shouldn't mix politics and religion, but it is inevitable. The minute you have more than one person, you have to figure out how to live together and that process is politics. The Torah is as much a political  document about how to order a society as it is a spiritual document.

What it cannot be is partisan...as followers of Jesus, we know that no party or politician can ever be he full expression of the will of God. All will fall short. All will need to be held accountable in light of what God wants for this world. Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi  both equally under critique.

Like I said, it's a daunting list..any one issue could be its own sermon..
Good news to the  poor? Income inequality in this country, this city, globally...is at historic levels. Currently, the richest 1% hold about 38% of all privately held wealth in the United States. while the bottom 90% held 73.2% of all debt. According to The New York Times, the richest 1 percent in the United States now own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent.
In a city with record numbers of homeless people, over 63000, a penthouse apartment on Central Park South just sold for 238 million.  That to me is inconceivable.

Captives free? We have the highest percentage of our citizens behind bars than any other country on earth. And the vast majority of our prisoners  are people  of color.

Blind to see?  We live in a country where health is a class issue, a marketable commodity not a human right. Are you aware that Cuba has lower infant mortality and longer life expectancy than the US?

Oppressed? All this concern about "caravans" and a "wall" are because there are more people on the move than at any time in history and as long as their  lives are unlivable at home, they  will leave. I saw graffiti in Hamburg that said, "if you don't like refugees, stop creating them" As long as predatory economic relationships dominate the world, there will be "caravans."

Here's where Jesus' daunting claim comes in...
"Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." What?! How can that be? Look around....

It's kind of like the already/not yet of Jesus' kindom. We live in its reality even when the world around us remains unchanged. But more I am reminded of Bishop Tutu who in the midst of the darkest days of apartheid would smile that beatific smile of his and say "We have already won, the other side just hasn't realized it yet."

Jesus can say It has been fulfilled because the future is now and always will be in God's hands. And as Martin Luther King, Jr said, "the arc of history may be long but it bends towards justice."  And Jesus knows that his mission will continue until completion because we who bear his name will seek to be his risen body on this earth and we become his hands, his feet, his heart. 

It has already been fulfilled. Let us live into that reality. Let those with ears to hear, hear.

Eucharist is always celebrated immediately after the service followed by food and fellowship in the historic vestry next door. Two new visitors volunteered to help with next week's service. Chelsea Community Church was founded with a vision that has bene durable and vital with the capacity to continue into the future. 

                                                   "Abraham, Martin and John"



Luke 4: 14-21

14Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Remembering George Todd: RIP

1/15

George Todd  died this week after having served over six decades in urban ministry. During  those years he was involved one way or another with nearly every ground breaking development in urban ministry, literally around the world. His eclectic ministry began in the cutting edge East Harlem Protestant  Parish,  a decade in Taiwan, heading Urban Industrial  Mission for the United Presbyterian Church, global urban ministry for the Word Council of Churches, funding social change for the Wiebold Foundation in Chicago and finally serving as Executive Presbyter for New York City Presbytery. In each position he would make a lasting contribution.

George always saw his role as a facilitator of ministry with no desire to be in the spotlight. He believed that if God is in the world, it is the  Christian's obligation to go find God know what God is doing there. And that if God wants something to be done in the world, the probability is that it is already being done. And he saw his calling to identify and support those people who are engaged in creative and effective forms of church mission  throughout  the world.

For those  who did not have the opportunity to know George personally, we have his recent memoir Exposure and Risk: the Great Coming Church. A Half Century of Urban Ministry, (with Trey Hammond.) The book follows through the various stops on George's journey.

The East Harlem Protestant Parish was a vitaL model of shared ministry that remains relevant today in a time of diminished  presence of the old mainline churches. Those who made a commitment to this ministry took on four "disciplines": Religious (shared prayer, worship and study,) Economic (shared resources), Political (engagement in social action)and vocational (finding and staying with one's calling). One key principal...especially relevant today...was studied avoidance of church owned buildings ...and the institutionalization of congregations that inevitably requires. Tension over that issue would eventually  contribute  to his leaving the EHPP. That debate continues to be a major issue within urban ministry to this day.

With the Presbyterian Church, George would create a cadre of urban ministers. And help create new policy for the denomination's  General Assembly. He would reach out for ecumenical partnership and provide training. And his true passion was supporting his friend Sol Alinsky and Church  Based Community  Organizing  through the Joint Strategy and Action Committee.

In Taiwan, George would train a generation of leaders who would advance  the struggle for democracy there. With the WCCC, he would help Kim Dae Jung of South Korea into and during his  exile as Kim wrote what would become the constitution  of a newly democratic South  Korea.. He connected with Minjung(people's) theology in Korea and Dalit (untouchables) theology in  India (Jesus was a dalit..) and worked with the churches from throughout the socialist bloc of nations as they would come to East Germany to meet.


He would finish his ministry  in the most diverse Presbytery in the country, one which had no one group is in the majority and a long history  of institutional racism.

The book is written in George's own unassuming voice. One in which he can casually speak of having had Reinhold Niebuhr
perform his marriage. He describes  his influences of Albert Scweitzer  and his mystical reverencefor all things to Sol Alinsy and his  community organizing. From Barth's sense of the transcendent power of God throughout  the earth to Gollwitzer's use of Marxist tools for social analysis and work for societal change. 

He had a deep love of music and put together collections of "urban" hymns. He was close to Al Carmines and his creative Christian cabaret performances  in the Village and his friendship with Taize's Jacques Berthier led to the much beloved refrain,Jesus remember me when you come onto you kingdom."

Jointly with his wife Kathy, he won the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare  Association's John Park Lee Award for a lifetime of  commitment to the struggle for a more just society as a person of faith. He saw a great coming church, one less institutional, one more grass roots, flexible and engaged in the struggle for justice. 

Mainly he stood  beside us. Cared for us. Helped us to keep going. Much of what is good, creative and effective in the urban church today George Todd was involved with bringing to life.   I will miss him.

People on the Move: a perspective on the international migration crisis from Sicily

1/11

On the Move

Late last fall, activists and humanitarian workers from around the globe gathered in Catania, Sicily to engage the current global migration crisis. Called together by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, "On the Move" was to be a conversation about "Global Migration: It's causes, the journey and strategies of welcome." It would also be an opportunity to observe first hand the reality of the crisis on Italy's "front line,"so to speak. The conversation was supported by and gathered participants from a host of NGOs representing those working in areas of humanitarian rescue, relief, resettlement and policy change. And we would meet with migrants and refugees themselves.

One of the first learnings had to do with language  itself. The words we use to name those on this journey are fraught with shades of meaning, eg, "illegal alien" and "refugee" and "political asylum seeker" vs. "economic refugee." There is agreement that the most appropriate, and accurate, phrase  is simply "people on the move." In reality, there is no real distinction between "political asylum" seekers and "economic refugees." All leave their homes  because of political policy decisions that make life in their home impossible. No one risks their lives to migrate unless home has become unlivable.

We also learned of the concrete reality of Italy. At first, Italy sought to respond in the most responsible and humane ways possible.  in fact, Italy can be credited with having  saved over 100,000 lives. But as a whole, the European Union turned its back on Italy leaving it on its own. Further, the Dublin Accords allow countries encountering migrants within their borders to return them to the "first safe country of entry," which in the vast majority of cases meant Italy. Since 2014, nearly 600,000 have passed through Sicily as a port of call.

The new Italian head of state, Giuseppe Conte, won on an anti-immigrant platform and since taking office, his Interior Minister Matteo Silvani has been the spearhead of a new crackdown on migration, warning immigrants to "pack their bags." Even more troubling has been a campaign of criminalizing humanitarian actions. In a disturbing turn of events, Mayor Dumenico Lucano, hailed by Fortune magazine as one of the world's 50 greatest leaders, has been arrested on a variety of migrant related charges. His city, Riace, had been one of several moribund Sicilian cities virtually revitalized by immigrants. His arrest has sent shock waves through the community of those concerned with migrants. 

Thousands now find themselves trapped in Sicily unable to enter mainland Italy and unable to return home. 

We visited the Misercordia Mosque.

at the Mosque

Misercordia Imam

With the influx of people from Africa..and the Middle East...it is now the second largest mosque in Italy. It must not only be a place  of worship, but a social service center as well. A beautiful piece of artwork with Islamic calligraphy was gift of warm welcome from a local Catholic church in better days. 

a gift from the Catholics

We heard from a wide variety of migrants, including former child soldiers and those playing the invaluable role of cultural  mediators, those selected to act as connectors between their own community and the surrounding social, political and humanitarian communities. 

migrant panel

One of the learnings from the conference was that it is time to move beyond the dichotomy of the for /against debate. Which is to not be for immigrants or anti immigrants but with immigrants, developing a culture of solidarity.

in conversation

At the end of the conversation, these thoughts were clear:
1. Regardless of location, the issues and challenges of this crisis are similar in nature and content. 
(For those of us who work in urban ministry, one simply cannot be engaged in urban ministry without having to face the issues of the global migration crisis in our own cities.)
2. There needs to be enforceable international protocols on the treatment of migrants within a country's borders. 
3. There needs to be enforceable international protocols on the humanitarian rescue of people in motion, especially those imperiled crossing seas or deserts. 

Finally, there can be no resolution of the global migration crisis as long as international predatory capitalism controls the world. No wall, steel or concrete or policy, can hold back people who simply  want to live.

"If you don't like refugees, stop creating them" Hamburg graffiti

Two of our International Sanctuary Declaration work group,  Susan Smith of the Muslim Peace Fellowship

Susan Smith

(https://mpf21.wordpress.com/)and Jenn McIntyre of Toronto's Romero House(https://romerohouse.org/) spoke on a panel on 'Strategies of Welcome." 

Susan and Jenn on the panel

Together  we have been working on a declaration that begins to frame such protocols and building a growing international base of solidarity and support. (Any interested groups are invited to sign on.. see below following...)



                                              ****

In a union gathering place, there was a concert/party featuring Ciauda and Jhonny's Family Project. Ciauda

Ciauda

featured a spoke word artist who did long piece that sounded like an Italian immigration officer talking about Africans. In the end , it was a 19th Century American official talking about Sicilians.  Jhonny is a charismatic Senegalese singer with a band of Africans and Sicilians. His music is of the day..West African pop, reggae, Euro..with a rolling flowing rhythm. At one point he chants

Jhonny

'I am Sicily, you are Africa..."  The crowd is an eclectic mix of Africans, Sicilians and others. I was reminded of such a night with young Germans and Turks in a waterfront Berlin abandoned warehouse...As you watch the crowd, you know the young (er) people are already living ..and dancing... in the  world to come, that's already here.  The reactionary forces seeking to turn back the tide of history will not succeed. But they can do a lot of damage in the meantime. Our call is clear. 

                           ****
I am aware that this blog has many readers from Italy..please share this post with friends and feel free to comment....

INTERNATIONAL SANCTUARY PRINCIPLES STATEMENT CALL FOR ENDORSERS
The following statement sets forth five principles of sanctuary that can be used to guide grassroots and governmental response to the global escalation of displacement. It is in conformity and solidarity with the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951, a multilateral treaty that defines who is a refugee, and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. To sign as an individual or organization, please contact globalsanctuarymovement@gmail.com
We express ​​our deep concern for the well-being of the refugee children, families and all migrants currently arriving at our borders, as well as those struggling to live within our borders. In response to the increased numbers of people around the world who are being forced to leave their home countries, and the simultaneous increase in punitive enforcement in many receiving countries, we affirm the following principles to guide and inspire our efforts to respond:

• ●  Compassionate Response: ​​We care deeply about refugee children, families and all migrants, and we urge our countries to have open arms to protect them and preserve their human dignity. We reject detention of migrants as a violation of human rights and dignity.
  
• ●  Due Process: ​​We advocate for fair and timely legal proceedings, ​competent legal representation, and due process for children, asylum seekers, and all migrants.
  
• ●  Family Unity: ​​We uphold and respect the unit​y of families as a basic human right.
  
• ●  Restorative Justice: ​​We desire revitalization and healing of our borderlands, not militarization.
  The only long-term solution is a holistic approach that prioritizes safety and opportunity for
  migrants and addresses root causes.
  
• ●  Civil Initiative: ​​As long as our governments are not adequately addressing these huma​nitarian
  crises, citizens have the right and responsibility to respond with an approach that follows the mandat​e to provide sanctuary when needed and, above all, to love our neighbours.
  Based on these principles, ​we covenant with one another ​​to work together for just and humane response to all migrants both at our borders and within our countries. We call on our governme​nts, and the governments of all countries receiving migrants in response to the current and ongoing international humanitarian and refugee crisis ​to embrace these principles.
  Organizational Endorsers:
  

1. Asyl in der Kirche (Asylum in Church), Germany
   
2. No More Deaths, Arizona
   
3. Community of Living Traditions, New York
   
4. Presbyterian Church USA
   
5. Canadian Sanctuary Network
   
6. Muslim Peace Fellowship
   
7. International Fellowship of Reconciliation
   
8. Burma Task Force
   
9. Our Common Beliefs, New York
   
10. Coalition for Peace Action and Peace Education Fund, New Jersey
    
11. The Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE)
    
12. Peace Action New York
    
13. International Qur’anic Studies Association, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
    
14. Westchester Peace Action Committee Foundation (WESPAC)
    
15. Books Not Bombs
    
16. Voices for Creative Nonviolence (VCNV)
    

17. Muslim Jewish Solidarity Committee 18. Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare 19. Action Corps NYC
20. The Message Islamic Center, Berlin 21. Jewish Voice for Peace
22. Interfaith Center of New York
23. Comboni Missionaries JPIC North American Province
24. Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement
25. Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
26. House of Peace, New York
27. Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
28. The Alliance of Baptists, USA
29. Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (Muslim ARC), USA
30. The Muslim Network, New York
31. Fellowship of Reconciliation, USA
32. Ambazonia Prisoners of Conscience Support Network, USA and UK
33. African Women and Children Empowerment Initiative
34. Church World Service
35. Hope Border Institute, USA and Mexico
36. International Tribunal of Conscience of Peoples in Movement, Mexico City, Mexico
Individual Lead Signers:

• ●  Hanns Thomä, Asyl in der Kirche, Berlin, Germany, ​hari.thomae@t-online.de
  
• ●  Rev. John Fife, No More Deaths, Arizona, ​jfife666@aol.com
  
• ●  Juergen Quandt, Former Pastor, Holy Cross Church, Berlin, ​j.quandt@evbs.de
  
• ●  Rick Ufford-Chase, co-moderator, Presbyterian Church USA, ​rickuffordchase@gmail.com
  
• ●  Rev. Dr. Robert L. Brashear, Pastor, West Park Presbyterian Church, ​rlbrashear@gmail.com
  
• ●  Susan Smith, Muslim Peace Fellowship, ​susanhsmithmsed@gmail.com
  
• ●  Ulrich Sonn, Internationaler Versoehnungsbund-Deutscher Zweig, International Fellowship of
  Reconciliation–German Branch, ​ulisonn1@gmail.com
  

RIP Amos Oz

1/10

I've been wanting to  say some words about Amos Oz, who died last month. Some have said he was the last left Zionist. He was always a writer--and man-- of contradictions. Unapologetic Zionist, yet adamantly opposed to occupation. A supporter of Israeli military actions yet almost always  changing his mind as those actions continue. Criticized -- and worse-- by both left and right with an undying longing to see peace between  Israelis and Palestinians as neighbors in adjoining states. 

( A short story, "All Rivers," is published for the first time in English in this week's New Yorker.. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/14/all-rivers)

He was an author who wrote with a sense of existentialism, beauty and an underlying sense of melancholy.

His last novel, Judas, in 2014,(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01912QAJM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) was both an intriguing look into his innermost thoughts and also a very valuable resource for interfaith dialogue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (see https://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/2017/05/judas-by-amos-oz-traitor-or.htmlm)

The main protagonist is Shmuel,  a young scholar working on producing a Jewish understanding of Jesus. An important issue for the scholar becomes the person of Judas. In the novel, Oz summarizes an overview of scholars on these issues and takes a position that would later emerge when the actual "Gospel of Judas" would be translated and released. That is that Judas was necessary to Jesus' mission, his closest friend, and the only one he could trust to help him live out his narrative. 

The  scholar works as a live in assistant to a man, Gershon Wald, who was the father of  a son who died in the war of independence. His son's wife, Altalia, was the daughter of Shealtiel Abravaniel, an idealistic member of the First Zionist Executive Council who passionately argued against creation of a Jewish state and died branded a traitor, like Judas.

Through Wald and Abravanel, Oz could voice his own internal argument as well as articulate his deepest misgivings about the reality of Israel, something he wouldn't do directly in his own voice. Certainly he sees himself reflected in the traitors Judas and Abravanel. He makes clear that sometimes it is the one who is branded a traitor who is closest to the truth and most loyal to his people. 

In the end, Amos Oz lived out this unresolved tension in his own life. Sadly voices like his are disappearing. As the two state solution recedes into the rear view of history, Amos Oz will be sorely missed. 

The 12th day of Christmas: Epiphany

1/6

Nativity scene at Beverly Church

Today it takes me almost as much time to get to Beverly Road Church in Brooklyn as it usually does to get to my mom's place near Trenton, New Jersey. I'm a little anxious about being late as I walk up Beverly Road from the subway station. But I have to stop.

I walk into the Panaderia MJP, a Mexican bakery where I like to get a  cafecito and a pastel or galleta on my way to church.  And today, the little shop is filled with tall stacks of freshly baked rosca de reyes, the traditional Mexican bread for el dia de los tres ryes magos, Three Kings Bread.

Rosca de reyes

It's shared with friends and there's a baby Jesus hidden inside.

Baby Jesus

And whoever finds one, by tradition, has to host a party on Candelaria (Candlemass) forty days after Christmas. 

When West Park was at its multicultural peak, we shared a rosca every Epifania. And actually did have our parties 40 days later. We would send someone to the Bronx or El Barrio to bring one to our service. But here I found las roscas right on my way to church. It was very clear...I needed  to take one to the Beverly Road Church. The storekeeper smiles as I try to balance my cafe, my rosca, my bag and my guitar. 

Geraldine smiles when I present her with the rosca and tell her the story. And smiles again when she sees I've brought my guitar. 

We begin the service with praise songs and a new Epiphany hymn and soon enough it's time for my reflection....

Since this is our first time together since Christmas, Happy New Year! SO...it's the 12th...and last...day of Christmas. Also called Epiphany. For our Latinx brothers and sisters it is el dia de los tres treyes magos,Three Kings Day...and they'll be parading through el Barrio today. Live camels and all. And by tradition, these were the guys who bring the gifts, not Santa. And tomorrow is Russian Christmas. So here we are...

I always loved 3 kings day.  That 12 days after the 25th we had one last opportunity to celebrate Christmas and to sing "we three kings" and that they get a day all of their own. It does get confusing. Our manger scenes tend to be mash ups, we  put everyone in there together. Or if you've ever been to Radio City Music Hall, the live camels walk right up onto stage along with the shepherds and angels and donkeys and....But in the Bible they're two separate stories.

The details for Matthew come from the Old Testament.  From Psalm 72:
10  May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles 
          render him tribute, 
     may the kings of Sheba and Seba 
          bring gifts. 
11  May all kings fall down before him, 
          all nations give him service.

And from Isaiah 60:6:
6   A multitude of camels shall cover you, 
          the young camels of Midian and Ephah; 
          all those from Sheba shall come. 
     They shall bring gold and frankincense, 
          and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.


Notice only gold and frankincense....myrrh to come later....

One of my favorite experiences this holiday season was getting to see Amahl and the Night Visitors  again.  From 1951-1968 it was on NBC every year and my family always watched it. It was part of our annual Christmas. It's an opera by Gian Carlo Menotti about the kings stopping along the way on their journey at the cottage of a poor woman and her son who has a crippled leg. Over the course fo the night, a miracle occurs and the now cured boy leaves with the kings who are very clear that this new king has come for the poor.

This was a special production because it took place in a soup kitchen and the chorus included present and formerly homeless people. 
And the kings were dressed like eccentric street people, one with his valuables in a wagon, another a shopping cart and another in a baby stroller. They reminded me of people I regularly encountered in my ministry. 

And it was all fitting. As it said in Psalm 72 after the kings, 
12  For he delivers the needy when they call, 
          the poor and those who have no helper. 
13  He has pity on the weak and the needy, 
          and saves the lives of the needy. 
14  From oppression and violence he redeems their life; 
          and precious is their blood in his sight.

Matthew is clearly telling us this new king would have special care for the poor. For those who have been left out of so much of the celebration of this season. There's another angle here as well. That's the myrrh. It's added to the story because it's an embalming spice. That Jesus would suffer and die...

Scholars think that these three gifts were chosen for their special spiritual symbolism about Jesus himself—gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh a prefiguring of his death and embalming

(They've now discovered that frankincense can also help with arthritis...)

At any rate, the gifts say something about who Jesus is...

SO Herod knows this child is a threat and tries to trick the magi. But they go "home by another way" to avoid him.

James Taylor wrote a song about the Wisemen and it finishes....

Well it pleasures me to be here
And to sing this song tonight
They tell me that life is a miracle
And I figured that they're right
But Herod's always out there
He's got our cards on file
It's a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch
Old Herod likes to take a mile

It's best to go home by another way
Home by another way
We got this far to a lucky star
But tomorrow is another day
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

                                                         "Home by another way"

Epiphany is from a Greek word meaning manifestation or appearance. And by extension,  a sudden appearance in which all of a sudden you get it. (As in I've just had an epiphany....)

So what are we getting? 



Herod IS always out there, trying to trick us. And as James Taylor sang, give an inch he'll take a mile...

Herod is so many things...for us, it's that seductive or manipulative or even  coercive power that tries to take us off of our path. And in the process, betray or abandon others. Or even ourselves. 

So we need to go home another way.

Maybe there's another sense about that as well...
so often we keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. And of course it doesn't happen. 

We have a new year ahead of us. An opportunity to "start over" if you like. Maybe a time to look at how we've been rolling and think about how we might go home by another way. It's your choice, if you want it...

Let those with ears to hear....

I share how I first encountered Epiphany when I worked at St.Paul's Episcopal Church in New Haven and returned from Christmas vacation to find yet one more candlelit service. And about West Park and the rosca. And how I had brought one to share and that it was waiting downstairs. 

And then I sang for them "Early on one Christmas Morn" by Frankie Jaxon and the Cottontop Mountain Sanctified Singers...and they even sang along!

                                                       " Early on one Christmas Morn"

We shared the bread and cup of communion. And our prayers. Now just time to sing "We Three Kings" and "Joy to the World."

This Sunday, there's spaghetti and meat balls to share. And homemade ginger beer from the Virgin Islands. And homemade cakes. And of course, the  rosca. And this one has three Baby Jesus.' 

One of the baby Jesuses

They can help each other host.

Eugene (Evgeny) is sharing pictures from the Christmas party. He had taken it on himself to create a virtual winter wonderland in the social hall downstairs just as he had created the barbecue last summer. He is engaged in many repair projects and is documenting the life of the congregation with his photos. People are excited because the photo displays on the walls documenting their life have lain dormant, not added to  for years. There is a stirring of new life here. And like so many other small churches, it is lay led, not clergy driven.

I have no idea who Eugene was back in Russia. But here in Beverly Church he has become a valued member of the community doing all he can to bring life. As I get ready to leave, he is at a back table, cutting and trimming photos. 

I tell them I began the season with them the first Sunday of Advent so it is good to end the season with them as well. Geraldine says she could really feel the spirit today. Yes. A new year is underway.




Gospel Matthew 2:1-12

1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 
6   ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, 
          are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; 
     for from you shall come a ruler 
          who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

1   Give the king your justice, O God, 
          and your righteousness to a king’s son. 
2   May he judge your people with righteousness, 
          and your poor with justice. 
3   May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, 
          and the hills, in righteousness. 
4   May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, 
          give deliverance to the needy, 
          and crush the oppressor. 
5   May he live while the sun endures, 
          and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. 
6   May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, 
          like showers that water the earth. 
7   In his days may righteousness flourish 
          and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

10  May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles 
          render him tribute, 
     may the kings of Sheba and Seba 
          bring gifts. 
11  May all kings fall down before him, 
          all nations give him service.

12  For he delivers the needy when they call, 
          the poor and those who have no helper. 
13  He has pity on the weak and the needy, 
          and saves the lives of the needy. 
14  From oppression and violence he redeems their life; 
          and precious is their blood in his sight.

First Reading Isaiah 60:1-6

1   Arise, shine; for your light has come, 
          and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 
2   For darkness shall cover the earth, 
          and thick darkness the peoples; 
     but the LORD will arise upon you, 
          and his glory will appear over you. 
3   Nations shall come to your light, 
          and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4   Lift up your eyes and look around; 
          they all gather together, they come to you; 
     your sons shall come from far away, 
          and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms. 
5   Then you shall see and be radiant; 
          your heart shall thrill and rejoice, 
     because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, 
          the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 
6   A multitude of camels shall cover you, 
          the young camels of Midian and Ephah; 
          all those from Sheba shall come. 
     They shall bring gold and frankincense, 
          and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.