Sermon: Gen: 9:8-17 and Mark 1:9-15
1st Lent March 26, 2012
The number 40 keeps popping up today, along with a number of other themes. If I were superstitious I might use it to play the lottery. The Old Testament reading about Noah, for example, is preceded in the book of Genesis by the story of the great flood. It rained 40 days and 40 nights in order to cause such a deluge. Then in the Gospel of Mark we are told that Jesus after his baptism was driven by the Spirit into the desert for forty days. And the season of Lent, which we began last Wed., lasts for forty days.
Then there’s the water. All that water in the flood, the waters of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan and the practice in the Episcopal Church of blessing the new waters for Baptism at the Great Vigil of Easter.
What emerges for me from this symbolism is a theme of death and resurrection. Yes, God made this idyllic world described in Genesis where all things were in harmony, but when men and women messed it up He got fed up and moved to destroy all life on earth. That’s the death theme. Yet he provided a way for life to regenerate by saving Noah, his family and all those animals. That’s the resurrection theme. And He set the rainbow in the sky after the rain as a reminder to himself, but mainly I think for us, that He will not destroy like that again. Now the rainbow doesn’t come after every rain or even after most rains, but when it does come and we get to see it is such a beautiful, hopeful sign.
Jesus goes off into the wilderness, like a death to his old life, certainly a major departure from His former life. He goes back to nature, to the elements, and comes out ready to begin His life of preaching. Baptism symbolizes all that dying to the old way and rising to the new life.
Lent is the time to think and pray about these things, a time for going figuratively into the wilderness to get our heads straight, to focus on elemental things, those things that are most important. It is a time to get rid of the debris that builds up in our lives, the old ways, as it were, those things that distract us from that which really matters. Hence the custom of denying ourselves as Jesus did, of giving up things during Lent.
It is time to stop focusing on things as problems or disasters, but rather as opportunities. Noah sensed this; he sent the birds out to see if there was dry land yet. They had a great opportunity to start the human race all over again and God sent them a rainbow as a sign of hope. Lent is a time to look for the rainbows. If we don’t look, we won’t see.
We have been through a bad time economically in this country, especially in this state, but there are signs that the worst may be over. We are not out of the wilderness quite yet, though, and before we leave the wilderness let’s resolve to not return to the old ways of taking things for granted. Times of scarcity are times of opportunity to band together and help one another. Times of plenty are times of temptations to just look out for number one, ourselves. So maybe as things continue to improve we will just return to our old ways and not remember the lessons learned in an economic downturn, like what is most important. Let me ask “what things are most important for you?”
As is my custom and as I mentioned last Sunday, I am recommending something to give up this Lent. In previous years the recommendations have been resentments, prejudices, and gossip. This year it is worry. Not an easy one. As a help let’s look at the Serenity Prayer. It is a prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, the great Protestant theologian. He is, reportedly, President Obama’s favorite theologian. That would make sense. I hope the president has been able to pray the prayer and benefit from it during these three plus years in the wilderness. The prayer has been popularized by the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and the other Twelve Step groups. You know it already.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
Okay, let’s look at those three elements. If there is something bothering me that I don’t have the power to change, rather than worry about it, I need to just put it in God’s hands. If there is something about me that I need to change, then rather than fret about it I have to get on with changing it. If I am worrying about something and don’t know if I can change it or not, then it is time, big time, for prayer. So, I recommend we use the number 40. Each day of the 40 during Lent stop, center yourself and say the prayer. Ask the question what am I worrying about? Decide which of the three situations applies and move accordingly. Oh yes, four of the 40 have already passed. So that means do it twice for four days in order to catch up.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Mother in Laws
Sermon: Mk. 1:29-39
Feb. 5, 2012
Mother-in-Laws can be controversial characters. A lot of jokes are made about them, but what would we do without them. We married men appreciate that they had daughters. Witness today’s Gospel which just casually tells us that Simon Peter had a mother-in-law, so he must have had a wife and probably children.
The main theme of today’s gospel is healing. One of those healed is Peter’s mother-in-law. Often times we think of healing, whether directly from God or indirectly through the medical professions, as being exclusively physical healing without reference to the other elements in a person’s life.
The kind of healing that Jesus brought to his ministry was holistic, healing the whole person. I have a model for that. It is called bio-psycho-social-spiritual. Bio refers to those disorders which are primarily physical, such as genetically inherited ones, a fractured hip, a viral infection. Psych means psychological, those disorders which have a mood component, such as depression, those disorders which are complicated by our thinking process, maybe our beliefs about certain things. It isn’t so simple that we can divide illnesses cleanly into those that are biological from those that are psychological from those that are social from those that are spiritual. Many, if not most, have maybe all four components intertwined.
Depression is a good example, as evidenced by this fictional case. Here is a young woman, who may have a proneness to depression, perhaps genetic, but it has never really been triggered into a serious mood swing, until she gives birth to her firstborn. The hormonal changes result in post-partum depression, a common occurrence. Add to that the environment; she lives in Michigan during the winter where many people suffer from SAD, seasonal affective disorder, because of the lack of sunshine. These things alone could account for a serious depression, but then her mother dies, a major disruption in her social support network. The resulting grief pushes her over the edge into a whale of a depression.
Clearly in such a case all the relevant areas of a person’s life need to be seriously considered for engagement if recovery is to occur. Medication, counseling, strong social support and assistance, as well as the sacrament of anointing are examples of a holistic or bio-psych-social-spiritual approach to recovery.
Where does the spiritual fit in? It is that element in our lives which unites, which gives meaning, which pulls it all together into a unity, so we are able to devote ourselves to something greater than ourselves and in return we benefit. Prayer, Bible reading and worship life are often a major part of it.
So, how did Jesus heal? You think he stopped and said I’m going to heal holistically, body, mind, soul and family relations? No, that would not fit His times, but he did heal holistically, if I understand the Scriptures.
Let’s look at today’s story. After synagogue Peter invites Jesus and the other three Apostles to his home for dinner. Did he warn his wife and mother- in-law he would do this? I doubt it, knowing what we know about his impetuosity. A major social catastrophe is about to happen, because the woman in charge is in bed with a fever and the great teacher along with a bunch of other guys comes to her home for dinner. Jesus sizes up the situation and does what is needed. He heals the key person, who is able to do what she does so well and what she wants to do. She serves them all.
Then the whole town, it says, like a mob gathered at their door and he spent a long time healing people and driving out demons. But he slipped away before sunrise to a quiet place where he could pray. He looked out for himself by tending to his own spiritual needs, preventive wellness, if you will. When Peter finds him and tries to coax him back because he says people are looking for him, Jesus says he must go to the neighboring towns so that He could proclaim the message there also. Healing is secondary to His primary mission, which is to establish the reign of God on earth, a kingdom of justice, peace and love. His healings were impressive, especially the physical healings, but notice that He didn’t do away with all sickness. I doubt that he even healed all those He came in contact with him. For one thing, they needed to believe and many did not. For another, spiritual healing was more important to him than the physical. Often, he would say, when he healed blindness or paralysis or deformity, go and sin no more. He was healing people of their selfishness, their hatreds, their dishonesty, in addition to their physical illnesses. Of course, that kind of healing requires faith and repentance on the part of the person.
So when and why does He heal even today? He heals when he is moved by compassion, just as He did when he walked the earth, when he sees suffering and wants to alleviate it. If you notice, most of the time, if we are given the context, that suffering is also affecting other people, usually family. The son of the widow of Naim, Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law are examples.
It is no accident that we have our monthly healing service today, the Sacrament of Anointing, after the main service. Anyone feeling the need for healing, whether the disorder is physical, psychological, social, spiritual or all four intertwined is encouraged to be with us.
Feb. 5, 2012
Mother-in-Laws can be controversial characters. A lot of jokes are made about them, but what would we do without them. We married men appreciate that they had daughters. Witness today’s Gospel which just casually tells us that Simon Peter had a mother-in-law, so he must have had a wife and probably children.
The main theme of today’s gospel is healing. One of those healed is Peter’s mother-in-law. Often times we think of healing, whether directly from God or indirectly through the medical professions, as being exclusively physical healing without reference to the other elements in a person’s life.
The kind of healing that Jesus brought to his ministry was holistic, healing the whole person. I have a model for that. It is called bio-psycho-social-spiritual. Bio refers to those disorders which are primarily physical, such as genetically inherited ones, a fractured hip, a viral infection. Psych means psychological, those disorders which have a mood component, such as depression, those disorders which are complicated by our thinking process, maybe our beliefs about certain things. It isn’t so simple that we can divide illnesses cleanly into those that are biological from those that are psychological from those that are social from those that are spiritual. Many, if not most, have maybe all four components intertwined.
Depression is a good example, as evidenced by this fictional case. Here is a young woman, who may have a proneness to depression, perhaps genetic, but it has never really been triggered into a serious mood swing, until she gives birth to her firstborn. The hormonal changes result in post-partum depression, a common occurrence. Add to that the environment; she lives in Michigan during the winter where many people suffer from SAD, seasonal affective disorder, because of the lack of sunshine. These things alone could account for a serious depression, but then her mother dies, a major disruption in her social support network. The resulting grief pushes her over the edge into a whale of a depression.
Clearly in such a case all the relevant areas of a person’s life need to be seriously considered for engagement if recovery is to occur. Medication, counseling, strong social support and assistance, as well as the sacrament of anointing are examples of a holistic or bio-psych-social-spiritual approach to recovery.
Where does the spiritual fit in? It is that element in our lives which unites, which gives meaning, which pulls it all together into a unity, so we are able to devote ourselves to something greater than ourselves and in return we benefit. Prayer, Bible reading and worship life are often a major part of it.
So, how did Jesus heal? You think he stopped and said I’m going to heal holistically, body, mind, soul and family relations? No, that would not fit His times, but he did heal holistically, if I understand the Scriptures.
Let’s look at today’s story. After synagogue Peter invites Jesus and the other three Apostles to his home for dinner. Did he warn his wife and mother- in-law he would do this? I doubt it, knowing what we know about his impetuosity. A major social catastrophe is about to happen, because the woman in charge is in bed with a fever and the great teacher along with a bunch of other guys comes to her home for dinner. Jesus sizes up the situation and does what is needed. He heals the key person, who is able to do what she does so well and what she wants to do. She serves them all.
Then the whole town, it says, like a mob gathered at their door and he spent a long time healing people and driving out demons. But he slipped away before sunrise to a quiet place where he could pray. He looked out for himself by tending to his own spiritual needs, preventive wellness, if you will. When Peter finds him and tries to coax him back because he says people are looking for him, Jesus says he must go to the neighboring towns so that He could proclaim the message there also. Healing is secondary to His primary mission, which is to establish the reign of God on earth, a kingdom of justice, peace and love. His healings were impressive, especially the physical healings, but notice that He didn’t do away with all sickness. I doubt that he even healed all those He came in contact with him. For one thing, they needed to believe and many did not. For another, spiritual healing was more important to him than the physical. Often, he would say, when he healed blindness or paralysis or deformity, go and sin no more. He was healing people of their selfishness, their hatreds, their dishonesty, in addition to their physical illnesses. Of course, that kind of healing requires faith and repentance on the part of the person.
So when and why does He heal even today? He heals when he is moved by compassion, just as He did when he walked the earth, when he sees suffering and wants to alleviate it. If you notice, most of the time, if we are given the context, that suffering is also affecting other people, usually family. The son of the widow of Naim, Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law are examples.
It is no accident that we have our monthly healing service today, the Sacrament of Anointing, after the main service. Anyone feeling the need for healing, whether the disorder is physical, psychological, social, spiritual or all four intertwined is encouraged to be with us.
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