Living in coronavirusworld 224: from the inside out

 12/7

pop up tests

West Park

Cold day.  On my walk. I see a pop up cover testing site in response to the spike in numbers.  Down at 86th and Amsterdam, new scaffolding is going up at West Park to replace what came down in the hurricane.  

John 1: 6-8,19-28

Tonight in Bible Study, we’re looking at the Gospel reading for the third Sunday in Advent. Usually known as “Joy” Sunday. Or Mary’s Sunday. The pink candle Sunday. And usually the Sunday when we read Mary’s militant magnificat. But the actual reading for this Sunday in Year 3 is John’s version of John the Baptist. A second visit in two weeks. Why? What’s up with that? The Magnificat is only an alternate. The John reading doesn’t; seem to have much socio-political punch and pretty much leaves me cold. I’d just as soon go to the Magnificat. But for that very reason I want to go with John. The pericope is cut to leave out all John’s cosmic Christ prologue, we’ll get to that on January 1. Some commenters believe that was originally a separate  poem anyways. All we’re left with is John.  Clearly based on Mark 1, which we studied last week, it becomes John’s own creation.  This is the most developed testimony of John about the Christ in the gospels. 

Luke is the only other Gospel to include Messianic expectations of John. The Messiah being the anointed king expected at the end of time. (His repeated denial seem to indicate that even in the time of John's writing, this was still an issue.)When John uses the word Jews, (19) he is referring to religious authorities, most likely Pharisees. But that word usage will create havoc and suffering for Jewish people for millennia. The Levites were Temple assistants, liturgical aids, administrators, musicians, guards, singers, etc. I explain that indeed the names rooted in Levi, eg Levy, Levine, etc., came from the tribe of Levi. Names like Cohen, Kahane, etc. come from the priestly class. Ultra Orthodox Jews believe that when the Temple is restored, people with these names need be ready to take on the assigned tasks. Ignoring how immigration officials at Ellis Island randomly assigned those names to Jewish immigrants for decades.  The question they bring to John is who are you, really?

Is he Elijah? Expected to return at the end?  Or a prophet like Moses?  He denied this  and quotes Isaiah 40: 3, he is the voice crying in the wilderness. The one they seek is “among you” but you don’t know him, referencing the prologue’s "..but the world knew him not..” He says the one who comes after me will be greater than me because he was before me, referencing the prologue's eternal Christ again. Amber Lee immediately gets that this is an early Trinitarian formulation.  That  if Jesus is divine, he had to be there from the beginning and if God is one, then Jesus and God are one and so eternally. This  all takes place on the east bank of the Jordan, in what today we call Jordan. And I describe how Jordan has its own set of holy places on the rive bank in parallel to Israel, most notably Jesus’ baptism place. 

So what is significant about all of this? First, in contrast to a certain contemporary President we endure, John is adamant that this is not about him. He is only the Messenger. The message matters, not him. And while the other readings today explicitly speak of liberation and deliverance (Luke 1:46b-55, Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11 and Psalm 126), John sees his job as preparing the people for restoration. The one who comes will baptize with the Holy Spirit, the people will be changed from the inside out. And that inside work is important. As much as Psalm 126 calls us to rebuild cities, we need to rebuild broken hearts, broken relationships and broken spirits. We are called to deal both with the external and internal. As much as we are to work for peace and justice, we are also to work for compassion and connection, it’s both/and.  Which I need to hear. I’m always suspicious of the internal focus as taking way form the external. A place to get lost. But the older I get, the more I recognize the importance of the internal. 

Certainly laws shape behavior and attitudes often follow behavior but the current division in our country shows the limitations of that strategy. Certainly the current President has shown how easy it is to organize unchanged hearts. 

We are called to make the path straight. We do that through living as citizens of God’s reign. When we touch people with love and through our actions, we have made straight the path and prepare the way for people to open their hearts to God’s transforming presence. 

I came to see that preparing the way is every bit a concrete justice work as the Magnificat.

(Thanks to Jon van de Laar, a Methodist pastor in South Africa for his thoughts on this passage.)

                                                     ****

Because we are living in coronavirusworld, we gather on ZOOM to remember our friend Rachel. We share out stories about this woman who, as one person put it, was old New York, when a nurse could  own a townhouse on Central Park and there were annual bloc parties.  We celebrated her attitude of grace toward life, never judging, accepting. Understanding  how complicated life could be. Anyhow important love is and passion, wherever, however they come.Welcoming any in need of a place to stay. I recalled how when she hit 90, she decided she could smoke again and how our communion was a Nat Sherman special cigarette from the tobacconist and a shot of single malt scotch on ice. And how I came to enjoy the Westminster Kennel Dog show with her, something I never would have done otherwise. And her profound sadness when her daughter died of bipolar and depression. So many stories. She was a woman in full. I said the final prayers. We had a toast, appropriately. And said farewell. 

Advent 3: Joy: Re-cycle, re-new, re-sist

12/11 

Re-cycle, re-new, re-sist:
papers by hand by Jubia

Today we lit three candles, including our pink one. And sang 3 verses of Barbara Lundblad’s Emmanuel …

O come, O come, Immanuel

And bless each place your people dwell.

Melt ev’ry weapon crafted for war,

Bring peace upon the earth forever more.

Rejoice, rejoice! Take heart and do not fear,

God’s chosen one, Immanuel, draws near.

2. O come, green shoot of Jesse, free

Your people from despair and apathy;

Forge justice for the poor and the meek,

Grant safety for the young ones and the weak. Refrain

3.O come, now living water, pour your grace

And bring new life to ev’ry withered place;

Speak comfort to each trembling heart:

“Be strong! Fear not, for I will ne’er depart.” 

And while lighting the candles we read from Isaiah 35: 1-10:

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,

 the desert shall rejoice and blossom;

 like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,

 and rejoice with joy and singing.

 The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

 the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

 They shall see the glory of the LORD,

 the majesty of our God.

Reader 2:

Strengthen the weak hands,

 and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

 “Be strong, do not fear!

 Here is your God.

 He will come with vengeance,

 with terrible recompense.

 He will come and save you.”

Reader 1:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

 and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

 and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

 For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

 and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,

 and the thirsty ground springs of water;

 the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,

 the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

Reader 2:

A highway shall be there,

 and it shall be called the Holy Way;

 the unclean shall not travel on it,

 but it shall be for God’s people;

 no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

No lion shall be there,

 nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

 they shall not be found there,

 but the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,

 and come to Zion with singing;

 everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

 they shall obtain joy and gladness,

 and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

and saw that in the King James Version, it comes out The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

And Jeremy and I sang Lo How a rose and the Rose as Better Midler sang it…

On this Sunday we consider JOY. Traditionally this Sunday has been known as Gaudete Sunday…as Advent was a time for contemplation, this third Sunday in Advent became a time for break in the reflection…a pause for joy….and we break up the purple candles with  a  pink….for JOY snd for Mary….

And on this Sunday, she sings a song from the depth of her soul…a song of joy….of resistance …of victory…we call it the magnificat…

My soul doth magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth : all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath magnified me : and holy is his Name.

And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm : he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel : as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.

And Jeremy played for us Paul Mc Cartney’s riff on the magnificat, i.e. Let it Be

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 1: 18-25,Jesus answers John’s questions in terms of the prophet Isaiah…what do you eyes see?

Matthew 11:2-14 (The Message)

2-3 John, meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples to ask, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?”

4-6 Jesus told them, “Go back and tell John what’s going on:

The blind see,

The lame walk,

Lepers are cleansed,

The deaf hear,

The dead are raised,

The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.

“Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!”

7-10 When John’s disciples left to report, Jesus started talking to the crowd about John. “What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A prophet? That’s right, a prophet! Probably the best prophet you’ll ever hear. He is the prophet that Malachi announced when he wrote, ‘I’m sending my prophet ahead of you, to make the road smooth for you.’

11-14 “Let me tell you what’s going on here: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer; but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. For a long time now people have tried to force themselves into God’s kingdom. But if you read the books of the Prophets and God’s Law closely, you will see them culminate in John, teaming up with him in preparing the way for the Messiah of the kingdom. Looked at in this way, John is the ‘Elijah’ you’ve all been expecting to arrive and introduce the Messiah.

We have been celebrating all weekend and exploring paper…with Junia 

Junia and Bob

Junia getting ready to make paper

Junia and 

…and the Flute Choir of New York City that played for her opening…

The Flute Choir of NYC

learning about the history of and the the making of paper…

The history of paper

And so we had our conversation…

Why paper? What drew you to paper?

She started working with paper during a time when her flute had been stole and found that making paper filled her with the same feelings that plain the flute did…a sense of meditation and onenesss and JOY…What does the experience feel like for you?

For her, the experience is not unlike that of prayer…

She says that you can’t make paper if you are not at peace with yourself….what does that mean?

One has to see the paper…describe that …it takes split second timing, the particles of fabric floating in the water come together for just a moment, you have to pull it just then or the moment …and the paper is gone…

"Finding the paper"

And when you lose the moment, you just have to, as the song said just, “Let it be”….metaphors, metaphors….and just because you are not supposed to mix natures, vegetable and mineral, paper and rock, she worked at it until she could include gem stones in her paper…. 

Paper with gemstones

Where do you get your materials?  Recycling….

She has always been a saver, one who finds them and put stem to use, especially  in a city of conspicuous wealth and consumption where so may good things are replaced and out on the street.. Old blue jeans, old shirts, all recycled, turns it into something new. 

Why do you always begin with flute playing? 

Junia begins the service with her flute

Andre, of course  sees the two  as related….how so?

It’s all about 

Creation and joy

Creation and resistance…

The act of playing, of creating, is the first step in resisting the powers that deaden life, that threaten us with non-being

And so in that spirit, we join in Mary’s song and go back into the world…her papers remain on the walls of the chapel, to remind us…

Thank you Pat and leila

The Third Sunday in Advent: .....Don't worry....

12/13

A holiday pot luck

^{It’s a warm, too sunny, too warm, strange spring in December day.I haven’t seen Marty in awhile. He’s sitting in front of Dunkin' Donuts, hand out looking for tips.  When he recognizes me, he nods, salutes.}

^{Pastor, did Albert Einstein have anything to say about the weather?}

^{Not that I’m aware of Marty.}

^{72 pages of equations. he said it all comes down to e=mc2. And that only 3 people in the world understand it.}

^{And I’m not one of them, Marty.}

^{And he laughs. You have a good day, Marty.}

^{He nods. Salutes  again.}

^{Our scriptures for the day are  Zephaniah 3: 14-20, Isaiah12:2-6, Philippians 4:4-7  and Luke 3: 7-18. As part of our musical reflection, Jed and I do Don’t Worry be happy by Bobby Mc Ferrin. And then our reflection….}

^{Yesterday when I got on the subway to come to the church to rehearse with Jed, the train was filled with Santa Con revelers.  And then I noticed….the air conditioning was on!! Much as I enjoy December spring, there’s something basically just not right about that.}

^{What I’m thinking about today is worry.  Is thee anyone here today who is free from worry?  I worry about the church. My kids… My future…I could go  on…Perhaps the best expression of  this is the Bobby McFerrin song.  I wanted to sing it today because I used to find it completely annoying. One time, I was at a church leaders retreat back in Pittsburgh. Our leader was from the intentional community Church of the Savior in Washington, DC. He was kind of like a monk and was wearing  sandals in winter. Every break he would play this song. After 2-3 times, it  was driving me crazy. I said to my friend John, if he does that one more time, I’m outta here. Which is exactly what happened. One more Don't worry, be happy…and we were off to the bar.}

^{It seemed insipid.  Is anyone here old enough to remember Alfred E. Newman?  Mad Magazine? The What, me worry? guy? And of course, our advice from Donna Schaper last week on living mercy,  promise never to offer illusory hope…which usually begins  with don’t worry…}

^{I told Andre about this one time. He kind of of scowled a little. Told me that he’d studied with Bobby Mc Ferrin’s father. You ought to think about this, he said. He really means it.}

^{It’s been said that worry is its own reward…as when you are worrying about something,  you emotionally feel as if you’re engaged, as if you don’t need to do anything about  it…because you are worrying…}

^{So Bobby Mc Ferrin say, Don’t worry, be happy. Paul says :}

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Prayer….with all the shootings, think about that a moment, you always see the Facebook post sending with thoughts and prayers…it’s almost meaningless..it doesn't change anything. Prayer must be accompanied by doing…

Paul’s prayers are not easy…. by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God….that thanks-giving we’ve been talking about the last two weeks…the idea being if you put your whole self into it, all your heart, clearly tell God what you are  asking, be profoundly sincere in your asking, you will turn it over to God…you will feel peace as you let it go…..your hearts and minds will be guarded…you will do what you need to do, what you can do.. and after that, it’s out of your hands…

It was CS Lewis who said, I don’t pray to change God’s mind, I pray to change  my own…

I will also say that when two people pray together, there is real intimacy that is formed. Spiritual  intimacy. We meet each other in a deeper place, a place where the holy spirit dwells.  The Place where God is.

When I was I Seminary, I was part of an urban core group of about 12 people my  senior year. We each worked 20 hours a week in an urban church. We met for four hours every Monday. We began with a theological reflection paper.  Then a case study from our experience. Then group process. Then finished with worship. Eucharist. There we people in that group that I just plain did not like, but as we met each week and prayed for each other, near the end of the semester I discovered that while I still didn’t like some of the people, I had come to love them…We are a small enough community.. what if we each prayed for all of us each week? Consciously and deliberately? What might change? Pope Francis always asks of people pray for me. Are we able to ask that of each other? Pat asked me to pray for her mother-in –law  last week…What if I asked you to you pray for me? By name? In your home, in your heart? What might change?

I cannot say that any change in external circumstances are ever guaranteed. What can change is your heart and mind.

Our three passages share a model of  Fear, presence and joy…

We name ,claim our fear….

We experience the presence of the Holy Spirit

And then experience joy….. we sing praise….we feel….happy…?

I can’t leave without touching on John the Baptist again this morning. He stormed in here last week,  like  he always does, every year. With his wild hair, rough clothes and strange diet. Knowing hast he was raised in the Temple, it’s like he’s gone form Trinity Episcopal Wall Street to the sawdust tent revival trail of hot August nights. And he comes on strong today…You brood of vipers…this not seem to be a good way to build a  church. Who wants to hear Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

But I’m struck by his advice…..He starts with sharing serious crowd sharing….

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" ¹¹In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise."

And then check this out…

Tax collectors? Those despised collaborators with the empire? Making their living by cheating their  own people?

, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." ¹

 And Soldiers? Not Roman soldiers, but those who worked for the Jewish establishment, kind of  like the Palestinian authority" Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."

He’s saying do your job…and do it appropriately…he doesn’t say, Walk off your job…join me in the wilderness..become revolutionaries a las montanas …her says DO your job where you are….

He doesn’t say, NYPD officers, occupying enforcers of the empire, Leave the force, join the people…he says, serve the people, do what you are  supposed to do, are pledged to do…protect, serve, defend….

The revolution will never get anywhere without defectors, without those who are converted into a new way of living where they are.

We traditionally hear the wheat and chaff part as separating the bad guys…the good from the bad, our enemies from ourselves…but here is the point…we all have both wheat and chaff inside of us…we are all BOTH…the call is to allow the holy spirit to burn chaff away from  inside of us all that keeps us from being who we are supposed to be. Internal from a

That’s what this season of preparation  is all  about…

In this meeting ahead…

Don't worry

Feel the Presence

Be open to Joy

Joy…this  gaudate Sunday….it’s hard to think about as we  go from  holiday party to party, but in the past, this was a time of reflection, penitence…. This was to be a Sunday to break the  darkness, to be a break from penitence ….so let us go  into our time together with that spirit….

Amen

Following the service, we go to the chapel for a very important congregational meeting. We have a serious discussion of our financial situation, always perilous. We discuss the plan for our new 501c3 (not for profit ) finally putting legs under the Center at West Park. Possible changes in pastoral coverage.  Hard stuff. But there is support. And enthusiasm. We’re still in it. Willing to take a risk. The next step.

After our meeting, we share in a holiday pot luck. Everyone has brought something to share. The spirit is good. It is a time of anticipation. Of hope.

Pastor Stephen and Russ

^{Zephaniah 3 :14-20}

¹⁴Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter Jerusalem!

¹⁵The LORD has taken away the judgments against you,

he has turned away your enemies.

The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;

you shall fear disaster no more.

¹⁶On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands grow weak.

¹⁷The LORD, your God, is in your midst,

a warrior who gives victory;

he will rejoice over you with gladness,

he will renew you in his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing

¹⁸as on a day of festival.

I will remove disaster from you,

so that you will not bear reproach for it.

¹⁹I will deal with all your oppressors at that time.

And I will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

and renown in all the earth.

²⁰At that time I will bring you home,

at the time when I gather you;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes, says the LORD.

CANTICLE ISAIAH 12:2-6

²Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid,

for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might;

he has become my salvation.

³With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴And you will say in that day:

Give thanks to the LORD,

call on his name;

make known his deeds among the nations;

proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;

let this be known in all the earth.

⁶Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

SECOND READING PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

GOSPEL LUKE 3:7-18

⁷John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" ¹¹In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." ¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" ¹³He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

¹⁸So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.