Ordinary 20A; Proper 15 Genesis 45:1-15; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28 Emotions reverberate through both the Old and New Testament readings for this week. “Joseph could no longer control himself.” Or, “he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them.” The Canaanite woman shouts, croaks, squawks and cries out in desperation. The disciples are irritated, anxious to have her sent away. Jesus appears indifferent at best, uncaring at worst. We’ve got grief, anger, relief, frustration, love, fear – the roiling gamut of human feelings are woven into these stories, and I find this messy display a relief. No earthy response to life’s circumstances is considered unclean or unwelcome in the realm of the holy. God utilizes our whole selves, our whole lives, all our complex feelings and relationships to make manifest divine truth and will. Alleluia. Further, even Jesus has compassion fatigue, capitulates to cultural stereotypes and must be prodded into a transformation of the … [Read more...]

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28: Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33 Ordinary 19A; Proper 14 I once had someone tell me that he didn’t believe in God. He didn’t believe in God because to imagine that God cared about him, his daily life and his well-being was the height of self-aggrandizement. Further, he wouldn’t want to believe in a God concerned with such trivialities. To believe in God, he posited, was to make himself too big in the face of clearly much bigger issues. I considered his perspective. Christianity has long denounced the sin of pride, and I suppose his argument at least took that human tendency seriously. Nonetheless, I responded to him that perhaps he wasn’t making himself too big so much as making God too small. Could God not be capable of giving attention to both the personal and the cosmic? I thought of those lists of divine descriptors in several our confessions: omnipotent, all-powerful, eternal, maker of heaven and earth. The list, of course, goes on. Had I … [Read more...]

Genesis 32:22-31; Matthew 14:13-21 Ordinary 18A; Proper 13 Jesus tries to get away, at least for a short time. He gets in a boat and goes to a deserted place. Jesus attempts to withdraw and then withdraw some more. He had just learned of the violent death of his cousin, John the Baptist. No wonder he wanted to escape. John knew Jesus like no other and now, because of his closeness to the Son of Man, John has been murdered. Oh, and right before Jesus heard of John’s death, Jesus had been run out of his hometown. In the brief time of his earthly ministry, this had not been a season of affirmation and encouragement. What does St. Ignatius call this? Desolation? Who knows, of course, what Jesus was feeling when he got in the boat and sought to be alone. One can imagine sorrow and grief must have been part of the mix. Maybe even despair lurked as he thought about the people he’d grown up with ridiculing him and his cousin dead on account of remaining loyal. But he can’t get … [Read more...]

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 Ordinary 17A; Proper 12 What is the kingdom of heaven like? A) A mustard seed B) Yeast C) Buried treasure D) Fine pearls E) A net a net full of fish F) All of the above As I read the verses appointed for today from Matthew’s Gospel, I couldn’t help but recall the evil standardized tests of my grade school years. No. 2 pencils, fill in the entire bubble, timed, tense and given far more weight than they could have possibly merited. I dreaded those highly hyped test days. It felt like our worth and that of our teachers and school was riding on the right answers to those endless Scantron sheets. (               ) : mustard seed :: yeast : bread A) Kingdom B) Growth C) Tree D) Birds If the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed and yeast (as well as buried treasure and fine pearls), explain, with examples, how it is also like a net full of fish? (You have 20 minutes to complete your essay. Spelling and punctuation will be … [Read more...]

Genesis 28:10-19a; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Ordinary 16A; Proper 11 “Let me sleep on it.” That’s the phrase we use when we aren’t sure which direction to go, which decision to make, what we should do next. Let me sleep on it. Jacob sleeps on the stone that will be the foundation of his tribute to the presence of God made known to him in his dreams. The farmer in Matthew will sleep after a hard day’s work in the fields only to wake up to weeds infecting his crops. What happens in the dark of the night when we are sleeping? Dreams of divine promises or nightmares of evil thwarting all we’ve worked so hard to make grow. Sleep can bring respite or terror, depending on the circumstances. What’s odd is that one would think Jacob ripe for nightmares and the one who sowed upon good soil destined for sweet dreams. Jacob is exiled, having just tricked Esau out of his birthright, in a place far from home, with nothing but a stone for a pillow. He is on the run from his rightfully … [Read more...]

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Ordinary 15A; Proper 10 Jesus’ parable of the sower would not make it into a self-help book. Nor would it be the basis for a business best-seller. Current titles like “Rich20something,” “Extreme You” and “Boss Bitch” may well have helpful advice, but Jesus’ take on success runs counter to that of our capitalistic, individualistic culture. Jesus tells the crowd – so large and so eager to hear him that he must get in the boat to be free to speak – that sowing the seeds of the kingdom results in abject failure three out of four times. Did you catch that statistic? Seventy-five percent of the time the work you do related to the divine reign will yield not a little, not something, but absolutely nothing. Imagine that stat on a college recruitment postcard or an annual financial report or the list of best jobs or a guide to happiness, health and wealth. Come join us and fail – often, repeatedly, spectacularly, totally! See your efforts result in nothing! Not … [Read more...]