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Daily Scripture

+ Ascension Thursday

There is no proof; there are only witnesses.

Readings: Acts 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:14-23 Luke 24:46-53

You are witnesses of all these things. And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high. [Luke 24:50-51]

In an age of technology and scientific progress, we have an explanation for everything or at least the promise of the same. Yet, there are still truly human experiences – both positive and negative—that defy human explanation. Death is one such experience. Doctors know the medical reasons for death but an autopsy doesn’t tell the whole story. Conversely, who can explain the field of energy that binds lovers for life?

During his life on earth Jesus created a field of energy that changed the course of history and it did not cease at his death or even at his resurrection. It continues to this day – locally and globally. Or else how explain the heroism of the saints of yesterday and the saints of today? Women and men, energetic witnesses who have said ‘yes’ to unconditional love under any and all circumstances continue to change the course of history in the face of those who attempt to chain the Word of God. No, most of them are not formal preachers or even religious teachers per se, but people who live the message of the Gospel of Jesus day in and day out.

The gospel today is typical of the departure of a hero. We might even consider it the conclusion of a hero story. Jesus assures his disciples that he is not abandoning them. Not only that but he will send an advocate who will empower them to continue his mission. “You will be clothed with power from on high.” They will be clothed with the mantle of Christ just as the ancient Elijah was clothed in the mantle of Elias before Elias departed in his chariot to the heavens. It’s metaphor and allegory, of course but the underlying truth of Jesus mission will continue to be proclaimed as Good News for all.

But hang in there until Pentecost when the gifts of the Spirit will be renewed and we will be empowered once more to preach the Good News—using words only when necessary.

Feast of Christ the King 'B'

Sunday November 26, 2006

Life in the ‘Kindom’ of God

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” And Jesus said, “I do!” But it didn’t happen that way. Pilate spoke in the name of Caesar, not in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. And he wasn’t interested in the whole truth, but only that which fed his curiosity. “Are you the king of the Jews? Answer me.” Jesus replied, “Is that what you think or are you asking about what you have heard others say about me?” “Don’t mess around with me, Jesus. I didn’t drag you up here. Your own people handed you over. I’m not one of them. Tell me, what have you done?”

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not from this world. If it were, I would have my own armies to fight for me so that I would not have been handed over.” In other words, “I have no real status on this earth. In terms of world power, I am powerless. You say that I am a king but my kingdom is not bounded by territory or driven by political maneuvers or strong-arm tactics. My power comes from another source and in my kingdom truth is the ruling force which guides those who follow me.”

For some reason, Pilate’s ensuing question “What is truth?” in verse 38 is omitted from the text for today’s reading. But then who doesn’t know what the word ‘truth’ means even if it remains a scarce commodity in many earthly quarters. I suppose in the face of face-saving, all truth is relative to time, purpose, and convenience. Many folks including some in ecclesiastical circles prefer to talk around issues through a subtle form of denial called prevarication or mental reservation. This happens when leaders fail to take the pulse of the faithful in the pew.

John the Evangelist seems to have a specific purpose in his unique portrait of Christ. Being the last of the gospel writers, he appreciates more fully the spiritual nature of Jesus’ kingdom. His stress is on truth in the face of raw secular power and the facade of those whose religiosity was so bound to external rituals and legal prescripts—not terribly unlike our own times.

I suppose we would do well to explore the contrast between God’s kingdom and earthly reigns or dwell on the dwindling appreciation for integrity in governments throughout the world and even in the world of religious institutions. This would not be inconsistent with the meaning of the texts and the purpose of the feast. However, in as much as respect for truth in the public forum begins with respect for truth in the deepest self, we might do well to allow the words of Jesus and the witness of his testimony to challenge our own ambivalence about truth and its companion virtue, integrity.

Kingdoms have come and gone; battles have been fought over boundaries, and wars have been waged over who has the right to power. The will to win is second only to the will to fight. But wars begin with unrest in human hearts and in the denial of our original blessing in God.

Psychologists support the notion that those who are at peace with themselves generally have a lesser need to be at war with others. Here is a mantra I adopted many years ago and which I share with those who want to make the world a better place: “If you want others to be well, be well yourself.” Or in more classic words, “To thine own self be true.” Having treated hundreds of patients from every corner of the earth, Carl Jung stated that among all those thirty-five or over, there has not been one whose greatest challenge was that of finding a religious [spiritual] root in the core of their being.

At first glance, the readings this weekend seem to be about the “politics” of God’s kingdom. In fact, they are more about the “soul work” necessary to belong to the ‘kindom’ of God — a ‘kindom.’ if you will, without boundaries. It is about getting into the rhythm of God’s life, i.e., thinking with God instead of thinking for God. Jesus is the exemplar and the tone setter. His word is truth, he is truth personified.

So how do we recognize someone who has caught God’s rhythm? In his ltter to the Romans, Saint Paul told us that “those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God” [Rom 8:14] and it shows in their charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and purity of heart all of which are what we have traditionally called gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The ‘kindom’ comes to life in the commitment of husbands to wives and wives to husband, parents to children and children to parents. It shows up in government when people act with integrity; in the Church when leaders speak without prevarication; in the marketplace when employers pay just wages and workers work for a just pay. It shows up when the poor are fed and unjust economic systems are dismantled giving way to structures that honor human dignity and human rights guaranteeing an equitable distribution of resources necessary for life. It shows up in parish life when people pull for one another instead of competing with each other.

The prophet Micah said it best: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow before God most high? … You have been told what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” [Micah 6:6-8]

“Empower me O God,
to be a bold participant,
rather than a timid saint in waiting,
in the difficult ordinariness of now;
to exercise the authority of honesty,
rather than to defer to power,
or deceive to get it;
to influence someone for justice,
rather than impress anyone for gain;
and, by grace, to find treasures
of joy, of friendship, of peace
hidden in the fields of the daily
you give me to plough*. ”

Amen!

[*Ted Loder, from the Complete Book of Christian Prayer, Continuum Publishing Co, New York, NY 1996]