Sermons

First Christian Church

“The Goodness Trap”

Mark 10:17-31

Right off the bat we're challenged by this response of Jesus to a very wealthy man. The man calls him “good” and Jesus replies that no one is good except God. We're challenged because most of us consider Jesus' life and ministry as filled both with goodness and good deeds, and by extension a life of faithful discipleship is understood as also filled with goodness and good deeds.

Jesus' surprising response may be because he considers the question as somehow spiritually unsatisfactory. Perhaps entering the kingdom of God has little to do with being good, and everything to do with right seeing or proper vision. Once you begin to imagine entering the kingdom requires goodness and good deeds you can consider yourself off the path.

To take this the next step we might consider what it means to be idolatrous. A strict definition of idolatry is when we make anything other than God our central concern in life. Specifically, and in terms of discipleship, it is the kingdom of God that Jesus makes clear needs to be our most central concern. I say that because in this gospel alone Jesus cites the kingdom of God fourteen times! Since there are sixteen chapters in the Gospel of Mark that amounts to nearly once for every chapter.

Let's shift gears now to another important dimension of our text and that is the question of wealth and how it can create problems concerning entrance into the kingdom of God. Jesus looks at his disciples and says: “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who 'have it all' to enter God's kingdom? The disciples couldn't believe what they're hearing, but Jesus kept on: 'You can't imagine how difficult. I'd say it's easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for the rich to get into God's kingdom.'” (Mark 10:23b-25; The Message Bible)

Now we arrive at another source of idolatry especially for our culture of wealth and privilege. Lets begin with the question: Can wealth make us less empathetic to the needs of others? If wealth results in an independence from others as opposed to a necessary dependence, simply in order to survive, is the overall result a desensitizing to the needs of others.

My immediate response to that question is yes and no, because it depends upon the person and their genetic make-up, behavioral conditioning, culture, religious training, education and so on.

For example: Bill and Melinda Gates are one of the wealthiest couples in the world, yet the Gates Foundation is also one of the most charitable organizations in history meeting the needs of millions of people. On the other hand, examples of wealthy, selfish, power-hungry people can easily be identified with some of the more obvious being people of history like Hitler and Stalin.

Let's continue to explore the idolatry of wealth by broadening the topic some and considering the benefits of simplicity. Minister Adele Ahlberg Calhoun offers these thoughts by first citing the words of Jesus: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

Jesus wants us to know that we don't need all the things or experiences we think we do. What we really need is to keep first things first – Jesus and his kingdom. Life becomes much simpler when one thing matters most.

Simplicity creates margins and spaces and openness in our lives. It honors the resources of our small planet. It offers us the leisure of tasting the present moment. Simplicity asks us to let go of the tangle of wants so we can receive the simple gifts of life that cannot be taken away. Sleeping, eating, walking, giving and receiving love....Simplicity invites us into these daily pleasures that can open us to God, who is present in them all.

Aging has always been about simplifying and letting go. Sooner or later, we realize that we can't manage all the stuff and activity anymore. We have to let go. The practice of letting go and embracing simplicity is one way we prepare ourselves for what is to come. One day we will all have to let go of everything – even our own breath. It will be a day of utter simplicity – a day when the importance of stuff fades. Learning to live simply prepares us for our last breath while cultivating in us the freedom of truly living here and now.

That's a meditation after my own heart! It begins with a focus on the kingdom of God which was an intentional transference for me early on in my walk with Jesus. In my earliest studies of the Bible it soon became apparent that the kingdom of God is what the gospel is all about. What happened over the course of time, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, is I exchanged my focus on an alcohol addiction to a focus on the kingdom.

The kingdom of God became my substitute addiction which in time, and a lot of journal work, struggle and centering prayer, morphed into a healthy spirituality. This is a path any recovering addict can follow, and undoubtedly some form of this is happening for some people attending NA meetings in our church.

Once you have the right focus, as she says in the meditation, life becomes simpler. And a focus on the kingdom as opposed to any detrimental source of addiction leaves one on a path of continual spiritual growth. Following this path results in greater and greater experiences of spaciousness and grounding, and a connection to self, others, and the creation.

She goes on to describe simplicity as helping us in “tasting the present moment,” so that the “simple gifts of life” can be appreciated and fully experienced. She names some of the most important simple gifts as sleeping, eating, walking, giving and receiving love.

The other day I was walking Oreo through the campus of Peninsula College, and we had ventured to the backside of the college behind the soccer field. I suddenly became aware of the leaves being pushed by the wind making a rustling sound as they scraped the blacktop. It occurred to me that it was now Autumn.

I began to look for other signs of Autumn and found them in the cooler temperature and the increased population of students on campus. I continued to think about other things peculiar to Autumn all made possible because I was paying rapt attention to what was happening in the moment. It's really just a shift away from the egos constant thought process to being aware of what is happening right here, right now. We do this all the time momentarily, and the challenge is learning how to sustain the experience.

Her meditation ends with comments about aging as a time for simplification and letting go. She says this letting go is inevitable because we simply can't cope with all the things and busyness in life. Simplicity gives us a chance to get ready for what's on the horizon

for all of us. She says the day is coming when we'll have to release our hold on everything including our last breath.

A practice of simplicity prepares us for even this ultimate letting go of dear life itself, and it also provides the mental and emotional freedom to be present to what is happening both within us and in the world around us. The Message Bible translates a couple of the beatitudes to perfectly describe what she is talking about:

Your blessed when your content with just who you are – no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourself proud owners of everything that can't be bought. (Matthew 5:5) and....

You're blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and heart – put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. (Matthew 5:8)

Let's return now to the goodness trap since, after all, that is the title of the sermon. Jesus had more to say about goodness and the following comes right out of the Sermon on the Mount:

Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding. When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure – “playactors” I call them – treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get.

When you help someone out don't think about how it looks. Just do it – quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out. (Matthew 6:1-4; The Message Bible)

Notice the phrase: “trying to be good,” which implies goodness doesn't come naturally – we have to make an effort if its going to happen at all. The reason for that is, as Jesus shockingly admits about himself, we're not good. We are all ego centered, self-focused creatures, and we remain that way until enlightenment is reached. Yet, even after enlightenment the ego still rears its ugly head, though now its easier to identify and therefore can be avoided at will.

Paradoxically, most religious people think of themselves as being good people. It just comes with the territory, and even people who aren't religious at all think of themselves as being good. For example: If you ask them if they believe in God they often say, “Yes.” If you follow that question up by asking if they think they're going to heaven a typical response is, “Yes, I'm a good person.”

But whether you're religious or not this self-definition of goodness is a trap. One reason for that, in particular for Christians, is a good person has no need for confession, let alone repentance, when you approach the Lord's table in a few moments. A good person doesn't need God's forgiveness. To see yourself as good leaves you trapped within an illusion of goodness that isolates you from God. In biblical terms you're in exile.

When the wealthy man calls Jesus good, he responds by saying no one is good but God. If not even Jesus Christ thinks of himself as good where does that leave us.

Rev. Mitch Becker

October 13, 2024

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Wilderness Wandering”

Job 1:1; 2:1-10

 The Book of Job is a story, a parable really, about someone who has it all and is doing everything right, yet it's all taken away from him in the course of a few verses in the Bible. It is everyone's nightmare leaving Job and his perfect life sitting on the refuse heap, covered in sores, and utterly alone.

Further, the Book of Job is not actually about Job. It's about God and therefore a very theological piece of literature. We know this because the reason Job ends up on the refuse heap is because God is putting him to a test. This is where Satan enters the picture, and this isn't the Satan we Christian's are familiar with.

The Hebrew translation for “Satan” here is not so much an evil entity as it is a title. A more appropriate way of putting it would be “The Satan.” The Satan is like an employee of God that travels about the earth checking up on people. It's also important to note that it is not The Satan who points out Job and his integrity – it's God. It's God that wants to prove that no matter what happens to Job he'll remain faithful and righteous.

This is where we arrive at the first significant challenge to our common theological understanding of God as displayed in the ministry of Jesus. Where is God's love in this parable about Job who's nightmare is a result of God putting him to the test! One way to come at this is to understand it in terms of faith. Job's unrelenting faithfulness finally results at the end of the book in a profound mystical connection many people deeply desire. Perhaps God envisions this ending and knows Job will endure the test.

Let's look at the way the Book of Job might confront our American way of life lets by imaging him sitting on a refuse heap just outside of Port Angeles. In the American version Job's not going to just sit there and lament! He's going to protest and demand answers, and eventually move on. He'd look for a new job, a new wife, and possibly find a good therapist. He'd certainly look for better friends, and he would be completely dedicated to this reinvention of himself.

Yet, that does not describe this parable in the Hebrew Bible. What it leaves us with is a lot of hard questions such as what do we do with a God that behaves this badly, and a Satan figure that's not all that bad, and a wife that wants him to chuck it all curse God and die.

What we're tempted to do in our culture, and elsewhere in the world, is to give God a bye and place blame on Satan, or on Job's wife, or both, or to question whether Job was really all that good in the first place. That's what his so-called friends do for about 30 chapters!

Over the course of history this is how many people have found resolution to these difficult questions the book presents. Perhaps the most difficult theological question of all is how can a benevolent God be the instigator of such a cruel test?

In a way, the Book of Job is a dangerous book because it invites us to ask hard questions while pushing us away from easy answers, so we can discover the truth. You might say that the Book of Job looks reality straight in the eye and that could be the primary reason it was included in the Biblical canon.

The book is also long, 42 chapters in all, and the conversations with his three friends Eliphaz, (Elee-faws) Bildad, (Bill-dad) and Zophar (Zo-far) can feel as though it's really dragging out, so it takes some discipline to get through it. And if you commit yourself to reading it the questions that arise may take you into a kind of theological wilderness.

In our culture wilderness wandering is seen as a waste of time, because we're driven to be producers. One of the commentaries I read described our culture in this manner: “Our national myths favor rags to riches, underdog to victor, pull yourself up by your bootstraps story lines. But Job does not fall into any of these categories. In fact, his is a billionaire to beggar, top dog to underdog kind of story. What happens to Job is our worst nightmare.”

It comes down to seeing faithfulness as trusting the wilderness wandering to eventually give you the answers you seek. Author Sarah Bessey in the following meditation describes an “evolving faith:”

To me, an evolving faith...has proven to be about the questions, the curiosity, and the ongoing reckoning of a robust, honest faith. An evolving faith brings the new ideas and the ancient paths together. Its about rebuilding and re-imagining a faith that works not only for ourselves but for the whole messy, wide, beautiful world. For me, this has proven to be deeply centered in the Good News of Jesus.

....An evolving faith is a resilient and stubborn form of faithfulness that is well acquainted with the presence of God in our loneliest places and deepest questions. And an evolving faith has room for all the paths you may navigate....

Anyone who gets to the end of their life with the exact same beliefs and opinions they had at the beginning is doing it wrong. Because if we don't change and evolve over our lifetime, then I have to wonder if we're paying attention to the invitation of the Holy Spirit.

What does it mean then to be paying attention to the Holy Spirit. I'm of the school that believes you don't necessarily need to be a Christian to be listening to God. God is speaking to everyone and sometimes people hear and respond to the Spirit without defining it as such. An example comes from a movie Karen, and I recently watched on Netflix about daughters and their fathers in prison.

In the movie which is simply entitled “Daughters” it is the daughters themselves that come up with the idea of holding a dance inside the prison walls. The idea is presented to the authorities and they give the go ahead to have the dance. The movie begins by introducing us first to the daughters who range from school aged to teenage girls. Next the fathers are introduced in a group setting taking place inside the prison.

The fathers are carefully prepared for the dance in this group, and I was impressed by the level of intelligence and the communication skills exhibited by them. Most of them had not been in physical contact with their daughters in years, and it was clear that they were both excited and nervous at the same time. One father was concerned about his poor dancing skills!

Some of the daughters were also apprehensive about the Date with Dad as the dance was called. One of them was worried that it had been so long since she saw her dad that he might not recognize her. The one concern I didn't hear prior to the dance was how emotionally painful it was going to be when the dance ended. It was not hard to be empathetic when the dance did end, and everyone began to say their goodbyes.

It took a lot of courage on everyone's part, the daughters and the fathers, to come together in this manner. Everyone was deeply affected by this reunion and the love that was shared between parent and child. And though it is difficult to discern to what extent the daughters evolved because of the event, the evolution of the fathers was made clear in the final statistic that came up with the credits.

Out of all the fathers who had participated in the Date with Dad program in the last 12 years 95% of them have never returned to prison. The national average for recidivism (ruh-sid-duh-vizm) in the United States is 70%. In this respect, Date with Dad is a powerful agent for change with prisoners in this country.

In this example, we see two things required for human evolution to take place. The first is it means to be willing to do something different, and we all know when you try something new mistakes are made. And as painful as mistakes can be they're the catalysts for evolution. We learn a great deal from our mistakes.

The second thing required is the willingness to take risks. This was apparent in the heart-wrenching scenes as the father's reluctantly said goodbye to their beloved daughters. I remember one father telling his probably 5 year old daughter that it would be hopefully no more than 7 years before he could come home. His daughter was trying to imagine how long 7 years was which exceeded her entire lifespan. She simply stared into space trying to wrap her mind around this unimaginable span of time.

A serious study of the Book of Job could take you into a theological wilderness that may challenge your commonplace notions of God, and this is what makes Job one of the most dangerous books in the Bible. For example: What do you do with a God who makes a divine wager with Satan using poor Job as a pawn. Or in the first chapter where ten children are mercilessly killed and in the last chapter they're replaced as if children were replaceable!

And what do you do with a God that bullies and intimidates one of his children into submission even though it's that very act of submission that results in the profound religious experience denoted with the words: “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.” (Job 42:5) What's meant by that is Job had listened to teachers and preachers all his life, but now due to a spiritual awakening he sees what they've been talking about all along!

One way to sum this up is to quote the author Virginia Woolf who said, “I read the Book of Job last night. I don't think God comes out of it well.” This is not a depiction of God any of us are comfortable with, but if we're to evolve and more forward in our faith journeys the Book of Job can serve that purpose.

Rev. Mitch Becker

October 6, 2024

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Divine Reversals”

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22

We really can't understand this text without knowing the rest of the story. Therefore, the setting for the story is the palace at Susa (Sue-suh) the capitol of the Persian Empire where King Xerxes (Zurk-sees) rules. The king throws a party and wants to show off his beautiful queen by the name of Vashti (Vhash-tee). But the queen doesn't want to fulfill her role and refuses to come to the party.

This infuriates the king and upsets his advisors who warn him if the queen gets away with this every woman in the empire is going to get uppity with their men. The king bans Queen Vashti from the palace and sends out a royal decree that says: “Every man is master of his own house; whatever he says, goes.” So, we see early on in antiquity that men's fear of women taking control was already fully in play.

As the story continues the king's advisors suggest he round up virgins throughout the empire and bring them to the palace to be beautified. Esther (S-stir) is one of these virgins, and her Jewish heritage remains concealed. It so happens that the king falls in love with Esther who is especially beautiful and has a good figure to boot! Esther then replaces Vashti as Xerxes queen.

During this time Mordecai (Mor-duh-kye) is introduced as the uncle of Esther who raises her and continues to counsel her. Mordecai is a relative of Jewish exiles and one significant accomplishment of his is he uncovers a plot to assassinate the king. He reveals the plot to Queen Esther who then tells the king who the conspirators are. They're killed and Mordecai gets the credit putting him in the king's favor.

The next major character introduced is Haman (Hay-mun) who becomes the highest-ranking official in the government. At this point Mordecai, whose Jewishness has been revealed, won't bow down to Haman and this infuriates him. Haman wants to kill Mordecai, but why waste his fury on just one Jew. Haman goes to the king and tells him of an odd set of people scattered throughout the empire who disregard the king's laws.

The king agrees that these rebellious people need to be eliminated, and Haman says he'll finance the whole operation. The king likes the sound of this offer and sends out a decree by couriers on fast horses who ride out to all the provinces in the Persian Empire. The decree is also posted at the palace in Susa, and when Queen Esther learns of the decree to eliminate the Jews she's stunned. She contacts Mordecai and assures him she'll do all she can to prevent the elimination of her people.

All the while Haman builds gallows of a ridiculous height of 75 feet and intends to hang Mordecai on it, but the king is reminded of Mordecai's uncovering of the plot to assassinate him. The king wants to honor Mordecai, and he has him dressed in fine robes and paraded about the city on a horse. Because of this honoring of Mordecai Haman feels humiliated.

Then Esther convinces the king that her people have been unfairly treated and shows how they're about to be violently eliminated. Esther identifies the evil schemer behind this plot to kill all the Jews as Haman! The king then orders Haman be hung upon the gallows that had been built for Mordecai. This is the first of the great reversals and is where our text begins today.

The next great reversal has to do with the decree to eliminate the Jews being lifted, and they're even given the right to defend themselves against anyone who wants to do them harm. Mordecai gains great power and the king's forces not only help the Jews to defend themselves but even assist in the elimination of their enemies. In this respect, the ending of the book is quite gruesome! At the palace alone 500 people were killed!

Esther's influence over the king resulting in the Jews release from the royal decree to eliminate them, and the subsequent empowerment that followed, is celebrated on a yearly basis by the Jews. The tradition celebrated is known as “Purim.” (Poor-rum)

The Book of Esther comes with a couple important distinctions. The first is that it appears only once in the three-year cycle of the Common Lectionary. One possible reason for that is God is not specifically mentioned in the book, and other than the Song of Songs which is not a story but rather is wisdom literature, this is the only book in the Bible that doesn't mention God.

Yet, underlying these events which occur, especially the great reversals where Haman is hung on the gallows meant for Mordecai, and the Jews are enabled to not only defend themselves, but also eliminate the people who hate them – its pretty obvious there is some unseen hand at work. In this way, its conveyed to God's people that they have not been abandoned by Yahweh and this is a strong theme in biblical literature written after the Babylonian exile.

This is understandable since many felt God had abandoned them after Jerusalem was sacked and largely destroyed and nearly 5,000 people were forced to walk the long, wilderness road to Babylon. Any of us faithful can feel abandoned by God at times, especially following catastrophic medical events or the loss of a loved one or due to some type of natural disaster.

As illustrated in the Book of Esther one way to cope with feelings of abandonment is to be reminded, through story, of God's abiding Presence. Another way is by lamenting which is the opposite of denial. In the following, Ugandan theologian Emmanuel Katongole (Kat-tong-go) and peacemaker Chris Rice describe their understanding of lament:

Lament is not despair. It is not whining. It is a cry into the void. Lament is a cry directed to God. It is the cry of those who see the truth of the world's deep wounds and the cost of seeking peace. It is the prayer of those who are deeply disturbed by the way things are, we are enjoined to learn to see and feel what the psalmists see and feel and to join our prayer with theirs. The journey of reconciliation is grounded in the practice of lament.

The prophet Jeremiah writes of Rachel's lamenting “voice of Ramah” that can only weep at the world's suffering: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping for her children. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15)

The voice from Ramah refuses to be consoled. These are profound words in a world full of easy ways of consoling ourselves. Rachel's cry refuses to spiritualize, explain away, ignore or deny the depth and truth of suffering in this world. She rejects soothing words and “can't we all just get along” sentiments. Her refusal takes seriously the rupture and wounds of the world as well as the deep cost of seeking healing. It is a protest against the world as it is and the brokenness that seems so inevitable. Rachel allows the truth to shake her to the core. And she is remembered for this.

As suggested by this meditation the temptation is to avoid the truth of the world's wounds and the “brokenness that seems so inevitable,” or as the Goo Goo Dolls sing: “And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand, when everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.” Those verses from the song “Iris” can easily be understood as lament. The following example of a child lamenting can bring this all home for us:

The family lived in a tenement building in San Francisco not far from Coit Tower and the little girl had lived there all her life. She was now reaching the age where she could responsibly take care of a pet and one of their neighbors' cats was close to giving birth. Her parents told her she could have one of the kittens but upon certain conditions. The conversation went something like this:

 “Carly, when the mama cat gives birth, you may have one of the kittens”

 “Oh, thank you, thank you mama, that means soooo much to me.”

 “But you'll need to feed it and give it water and brush its hair and give it a name.”

 “Oh, I'll do all of those things you just watch me, and I'll love it with all my heart!”

 “Of course you will dear, and we're always here to help when you need it”

The great day arrived but something went wrong and out of the entire litter only one kitten survived and that went to the daughter of the family who owned the mama cat. Carly's parents were more than apprehensive about having to share this news with their daughter, but it had to be done. When Carly returned from school that day, they broke the news to her and understandably she was devastated. She never even got to hold the kitten let alone care for it.

That weekend they went to a family reunion at a park across the bay and Carly's grandparents, and uncles and aunts were there and knew about her recent loss. They took turns trying to console her with hugs and caring words, but all the attention in the world didn't seem to make much difference. All Carly could think of is that her kitten was dead.

Carly's grief and lamenting went on for some time, and on more than one occasion her parents wished they'd never said anything about the prospect of her caring for a kitten. Carly, as children can do, never pretended that something terrible hadn't happened. Yet it was the constant caring attention of those that loved her that eventually did bring healing and acceptance of the loss.

Love given in response to losses of this nature doesn't heal overnight, but with perseverance in honoring the loss and the wounding that results love does, in the words of the Apostle Paul: “...bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7)

Rev. Mitch Becker

September 29, 2024

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Afraid to Ask”

Mark 9:30-37

Our text can be summed up in three parts: Jesus looks ahead to his crucifixion and resurrection, and then moves to a dissatisfaction with his disciples because they're arguing among themselves about who is the greatest. The last part of the text is Jesus picking up a child and telling them they must be humble and self-effacing if they want to be his disciples. Also, of interest are the two events that it is sandwiched with – that being a failed exorcism and an attempt to silence a man performing exorcisms in Jesus' name.

Once again, I'll use the “What if” approach: What if the disciples had prayed prior to their attempt to expel the demon. If they had succeeded would they have grown a bit in spiritual wisdom? The text doesn't really give us enough information to answer that, but what it does tell us is that their failure to pray also results in an inability to comprehend Jesus' gloomy prediction.

What makes this especially troublesome is that earlier in this gospel Jesus told them they'd been given “the secrets to the kingdom of Heaven.” (Mark 4:11) Since heaven has been opened up to them why are they so dense? The text says: “They did not understand what he was saying, and they were afraid to ask him.”

Enter now our second “What if:” What if they had not been afraid to ask him? It is possible that their fear of asking questions stems from anxiety about how they might look dumb in front of their peers. A quick example can be given from one of the commentaries I worked with...Alyce M. McKenzie writes:

I suspect they were afraid to ask him because their priority was how they would look at each other if they did not understand. I became afraid to ask questions in algebra 2, geometry, and trigonometry in high school. I lacked aptitude. I tried, but it did not come easily, or really, at all. I remember the feeling of just not understanding something, or feeling like everyone was getting it but me. I felt stupid and frustrated.

There was a ray of hope on the first day of geometry class in the ninth grade. We had a new, young teacher who waxed eloquent about the “beauty of mathematics.” I felt momentarily enthused and energized, but after about my second question, she got an annoyed look on her face. I stopped asking and just muddled through with an anxious mind, memorizing formulas rather than understanding their derivations (dure-ah-vay-shuns), grateful for the C at the end of the year.

Her conclusion explaining this behavior is she was afraid to look dumb in front of the teacher and her classmates. She relates this to the disciples behavior and ponders the question what would have happened if they would have been humble enough to go to prayer. Might they then have then been able to exorcise the demon and grasp Jesus' gloomy prediction about his death.

There is something very important said at end of the text and I don't want to overlook it: “He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me – God who sent me.”

In this case the detail is conveyed with the word “cradling.” You might hold a small child in your arms, but you would only cradle an infant. An infant is a child in the earliest stages of life before walking or talking, and is still enraptured by all it sees and senses around it. The world is a magical, wondrous place that has yet to be disrupted by language and labels.

Jesus is telling his disciples that to embrace him means to embrace the Father that has sent him, and this is accomplished by returning to our infant like perceptions of the world. Another way of describing this would be to say we need to become as transparent as Christ was when he walked on the earth. To try to be open in both heart and mind trusting all that God brings into our realm of experience. The former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams expounds on this:

Christ's human life is open to the divine at every moment; it is not that God the Word deigns (danes) to take up residence in those parts of our lives that we consider important or successful or exceptional. Every aspect of Jesus' humanity and every moment of his life is imbued with the divine identity, so that if our lives are to be images of his, they must seek the same kind of unbroken transparency.

This “unbroken transparency” can be reached when we learn how to pray to the extent, we can see God in the way Jesus saw God. This type of prayer requires constant practice and a true dedication to the transformation of our souls. In this regard, James Finley shares a few insights with us:

St. Symeon instructs us to “shut our eyes” when praying the Jesus prayer. What if we could all close our eyes right now and be interiorly awakened? And what if, when we opened our eyes, we would see through our own awakened eyes what Jesus saw in all that he saw? What would we see? We'd see God! Because Jesus saw God in all that he saw.

What's wonderful about this is that it didn't matter whether Jesus saw his own mother or a prostitute, the joy of those gathered at a wedding or the sorrow of those gathered at the burial of a loved one. It didn't matter whether he saw his disciples or his executioners, or a bird or a tree – Jesus saw God in all that he saw. Jesus tells us, “You have eyes to see but you do not see.” (Mark 8:18) You have not learned to awaken to your God given capacity to see the God-given, Godly nature of yourselves, others, and all things.

Our task more than anything else in this life is to awaken to the Godly nature of Reality. It is a difficult task when the ego is front and center. A quick example can be taken from my walk with Oreo on the day this sermon was written. Though the sun was out the wind brought a chill to my bones and its not surprising considering we're on the cusp of Fall on the peninsula. Maybe it wouldn't make any difference to Jesus, but I certainly felt the full effects of the approaching season.

James Finley suggests that whether Jesus is walking in the chill of an Autumn breeze or on a hot day in mid-summer it made no difference. It's all the same to him because God permeates all of Reality and that's all that matters to Jesus. That kind of unitive perception can only be experienced as a consequence of a deep, spiritual/psychological transformation. You simply can't get there with normative thinking. Such a transformation takes you beneath thought and dualality to that “unbroken transparency” spoken of earlier.

To see the world the way Jesus did involves more letting go than we're comfortable with, and ultimately it means letting go of thinking itself. It is our own minds that can literally torture us and I imagine there was a time, albeit far in the past perhaps, when woolly mammoths roamed the earth that human beings didn't think so darn much. One good example we can all follow is that of our pets. They don't spend there time consumed by thought or as Dostoevsky says, “Love the animals. God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Don't trouble it, don't harass them, don't deprive them of their happiness, don't work against God's intent.”

As you know Karen and I have made a home for two kittens, Symphony and Sebastian. Though Karen has cared for cats before this is a new experience for me. I have had several dogs and am accustomed to their habits and mannerisms. However, the characteristics of cats continues to amaze me. Symphony, for example, will look at me as if she is thinking, but I know she isn't. She's just looking and its very unlike the way a dog looks at you.

When Groucho or Oreo look at me it's usually with an expression of anticipation or expectancy. As if they're saying, “Give me, give me, give me?” Symphony simply looks, and maybe its my imagination, but there seems to be a particular intelligence about her look. It's an intelligence I do see in the dogs on occasion, but Symphony always looks like that! She displays the “rudiments of thought and joy untroubled” and it has a calming effect upon me.

James Finley was a student of Thomas Merton and often his writings reflect Merton's theology. One way to sum up Finley's comments as well as the contemplative nature of animals is this quote from Merton: “If one reaches the point where understanding fails, this is not a tragedy: it is simply a reminder to stop thinking and start looking. Perhaps there is nothing to figure out after all: perhaps we only need to wake up.”

The problem is that “waking up” means to put the overactive, ego centered mind to sleep. That's most effectively accomplish through a practice of contemplation, but not limited to it. There are other ways to slow or bring thinking to a complete stop and it happens to everyone on occasion. The spiritually minded person concerned with good discipleship wants this to be more than an occasional happening.

Just before Jesus picks up and cradles the infant the disciples are arguing about who is the greatest among them. The Gospel of Mark seems to be especially hard on the disciples often making them look like a bunch of knuckleheads. My hunch would be they're pretty much like the rest of us – just trying to do the best they can with what they've been given.

Often Jesus' teachings go over their heads as they do for us, but we needn't be afraid to ask the Teacher for clarification or further explanation. The Teacher isn't going to chastise us or be annoyed by our inquires. Most likely, he'll be pleased that we're showing any interest at all.

Rev. Mitch Becker

September 22, 2024

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Rudders & Bits”

James 3:1-12

You've heard the phrase “My cup runneth over” and this applies to the number of metaphors in our text for today. The metaphors include rudders on boats and bits in a horses mouth, forest fires and springs that gush forth pure water, and fig trees that produce figs. All of these images are used to describe the destructive potential of words that come from our mouths.

In-spite of all these metaphors designed to raise our awareness to the possibility of hurtful speech that really isn't the focus of the text. The real focal point is found near the end: “With our tongues we bless God the Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women made in his image.” (James 3:9; The Message Bible)

Metaphors are powerful tools that draw our attention to various subjects the author wants us to consider, and James has brilliantly woven metaphors into the fabric of this text, but in so doing he's also obscured the primary point to the passage. The text isn't about speech in general or even about teaching. It is about the way we faithful people can speak about other human beings made in the image of God.

Therefore, the more comprehensive purpose of the text is to encourage us to behave in caring and considerate ways toward our fellow human beings, because everyone is made in the image of God. The Christ Self resides in everyone, though granted some folks are far away from this realization. Thank God, we faithful have the word, a prayer life, and each other to help us along The Way to enlightenment.

Keeping the real focal point in mind let us consider what is said about teachers. In the opening verses James counsels that not many should become teachers because they will be held accountable for what they teach. If the teaching is wrong there may be disciplinary action taken by God. Here, the focus is upon what teachers say, because the speech of such authority figures can have a significant impact on the life of the students.

The text begins to wind down in talking about the way we speak to each other in the church. Here the metaphor of both the spring that can put forth either brackish or sweet water, and a fig tree that produces figs is applied. When considering the epistle as a whole we can say that James would want us to speak to each other in the way we speak to God.

This can all lead to a final consideration about not the way we speak, but more so the way we listen to God and each other. It all begins with careful listening or as James says early on in the epistle: “Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear.” (James 1:19; The Message Bible)

As already stated, what James wants us to consider in this portion of the epistle is how we treat others made in the image of God. We do not have to look far or wide before we discover the way people abuse and misuse others with both speech and behaviors. Following is a story about such abuse and the way God convicted a Christian for doing nothing about it:

Debbie was in her third and last year in seminary. She was still living on campus and had moved to a dorm where she enjoyed her own room that was actually spacious as far as student housing goes. Of late she had been working on six separate papers all due at the end of the semester. This meant a considerable amount of research along with typing in front of a computer screen often going on into the wee hours of the night.

It was her practice to take a little break as the midnight hour approached and this often entailed going to an all-night cafe. The cafe was small with only a couple modest tables and a row of stools to sit on at the counter. She'd sit on one of the stools and order a cup of coffee and a piece of pie. The guy behind the counter knew her and what she wanted other than her preference for pie changed each visit.

On this night she was at the counter when an old man walked in who was Black and looked to be homeless. He also sat at the counter on the last stool and waited patiently to be served. As time went by Debbie was given a refill and everyone else was attended to while the Black man waited. Finally, the man behind the counter went over and asked him in a less than courteous manner what he wanted.

She couldn't hear what he said but watched the attendant go to the fridge and take what looked like a burrito out and stuck it in the microwave. He then took the burrito like item over to him and the man handed him some money. The Black man thanked him and walked out onto the street and sat down on the curb to eat his food. He sat there by himself with the wind from the cars and trucks whizzing by chilling both him and his warmed burrito.

Debbie watched all this from her comfortable stool and said nothing and did nothing about what she witnessed. What was mostly on her mind were the papers she needed to finish before the semester ended, and she went back to the dorm to work on them. But something in the back recesses of her mind was stirring.

As she worked through the night on her papers images of what she saw at the cafe kept creeping into her consciousness until just as the sun was beginning to come up she heard a cock crow. She thought of the way Peter denied his relationship with Christ and how the Lord predicted the cock would crow when he was finished with his act of betrayal.

As people of faith we each have been gifted with a conscience that often troubles us when we do less than what we feel God expects of us. The Epistle of James rather than letting us off the hook tends to reinforce ethical boundaries with verses like, “With our tongues we bless God the Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women made in his image,” and “Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.” (James 1:27; The Message Bible)

I know I often struggle with guilt which has to do with both fear and punishment. Perhaps a bit of guilt is necessary to keep us on the path of Salvation, but my hunch is most of us overdo guilt blocking God's forgiveness. Even though a good part of the New Testament is about forgiveness, guilt and punishment can often rule at the end of the day or at least they do for me.

In the following meditation written by author Megan McKenna she begins with the all-important scripture where Jesus says: “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing,” (Luke 23:34) and tells us were called to do the same. Next she describes the journey to spiritual liberation as a journey to forgiveness. She reminds us how Jesus went to the cross with some of his last words being “Father, forgive them.” She continues:

With Jesus, we pray always: Father, forgive them. It is Jesus' foundational prayer with and for all of us, all ways....We must forgive – we must begin with the words of forgiveness as a mantra that can transform our minds and souls. When we forgive, we do not consider all others as possible enemies but as possible neighbors, allies, and friends.

And then we must forgive – in the sense that we must make new memories, start relationships anew, open doors of possibility with different ways of relating to one another as equals, both and all intent on the fullness and wholeness of life shared and lived together as one.

Many of us pray the words of Jesus daily, with the Our Father. Midway through the prayer we say, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are in debt to us....

We glibly (meaning thoughtlessly) pray this at every Eucharist and often in our personal prayers. Yet, it calls on us without any glibness. All of us know intimately how hard it is to forgive someone who has deeply offended and hurt us....It is difficult to let go of the past and be present now to the other person and to all that it triggered in us....

It is hard for us to let go of bitterness that seems to rise up in our throats over time like bile – even after we have said the words of forgiveness to ourselves, and to others. We struggle to forgive the same person over and over again. Our broken hearts crack again and again....But forgiveness is God's greatest gift to all of us, setting us free to live as the beloved children of God. Forgiveness, more than any other act, perhaps, makes us like God.

Much of the New Testament has to do with forgiveness including Jesus forgiving from the cross with the apostles after him spreading the message of forgiveness. There are also the parables about the unmerciful servant and the prodigal son, and the epistles of 2 Corinthians and Ephesians all come together to convey the importance of forgiveness.

Yet, is there anything we struggle more with than to forgive those who have hurt us, and ultimately to forgive ourselves? We will probably go to our graves with people we have yet to forgive, and parts of ourselves that are still waiting to be set free. Forgiveness is that hard, and the Epistle of James doesn't directly show us how to gain forgiveness. Its approach is more indirect through encouragement to endure trials, and to apply the teachings of Christ to our everyday lives.

This epistle serves as a moral/ethical mirror we can look into, and what we may see can be hard to accept. If we have wandered from the path of Salvation it can help us find our way back. As it says in the psalms:

You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. (Psalm 119;4-6; The Message Bible)

With that scripture passage in mind let us consider the Epistle of James as God's counsel.

Rev. Mitch Becker

September 15, 2024

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“What if?”

Mark 7: 24-37

At times in the gospels Jesus sort of sits in one place and people come and go with an example being the woman at the well. (John 4:5-30) In that parable people are coming and going all the time while Jesus remains stationary. It's the same way at the wedding at Cana (Kay-nuh) in Galilee. (John 2:1-12) Mark's gospel differs in that Jesus seems to be constantly on the move and our text today is no exception. In Mark's gospel we find people approaching Jesus on the road, and he's always on the way to the cross. People need to be ready to contend with the crowds if they want an audience.

The way I want to approach this text is to ask the question, “What if?” For example: What if he had simply stayed on the move and ignored the Syro-Phoenician woman's request altogether. After all, in the chapter that precedes our text he had attempted to take the disciples apart to a deserted place where they could be alone and rest. This desire to separate from the crowd ends with Jesus going off by himself: The gospel reads: “After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.” (Mark 6:46)

What's being suggested here is Jesus is avoiding the crowds by withdrawing inside himself probably using contemplative prayer. At times, Jesus is attempting to escape notice, but his divine Call along with the power given to him by the Father does not allow him an exit. In the chapter which precedes our text its just before he feeds the 5,000 that he attempts to break away with the disciples to a lonely place apart. But the crowds follow them, and he subsequently feeds them. After he feeds everyone is when he does actually get away by himself and following this prayerful escape he walks on the water!

Its safe to conclude that at times Jesus wanted to escape notice, but this was very difficult because of his special Calling and inherent powers. If it was so hard for him to distance himself from his mission how does he escape our notice? If we're honest we're often not aware of his Presence either here in worship or when we're on our own. In the end, we have to take responsibility for his absence in neither being alert to his Presence nor respectful of his power.

Another “What if?” we can entertain is what if the Syro-Phoenician woman had not been able to muster the courage to approach Jesus? There were several good reasons for her to stay away including she was the wrong gender (rabbis didn't typically talk to women), the wrong race, and the wrong religion. On top of this her daughter was possessed by a demon. That is several good reasons for her to stay away, yet she doesn't. In light of this what's our excuse? Are we lacking in courage or compassion?

One way to consider this is to note that the Syro-Phoenician woman is approaching Jesus not for her own sake but for her child's sake. When we seek Jesus with the good of someone else in mind it gives us the motivation for moving ahead.

Finally, what if he'd refused to heal her daughter? In the context of our story today its relatively easy to answer that question. If he refused to do the healing he's a Savior whose salvation is only for his own kind. In other words, he'd be no Savior at all. But Jesus did heal her daughter who was not of his own kind, but rather was the daughter of a Syro-Phoenician.

This brings us to one of the odd aspects of our text today. Jesus is far away from his usual stomping grounds which is the Sea of Galilee. He's not even in Israel any longer, but rather north of his own country. Phoenicia was really a civilization of maritime sailors and was a part of Syria which was a province of the Roman Empire. Therefore, he's deep in Gentile territory.

This makes his comment to the Syro-Phoenican woman even more confusing when he responds to her: “Stand in line and take take your turn. The children get fed first. If there's any left over the dogs get it.” (Mark 7:27; The Message Bible) We can assume that by “The children” he means the Jewish people, and “the dogs” is a reference, and not a kind one, to the Gentiles. This is not the sensitive, caring Savior we're accustomed to and relative to the rest of the gospel its a bit shocking.

Scholars for centuries have debated about what is going on here, but I don't want to take up a lot of the sermon with that discussion. Rather, I'll offer a way of understanding that God's mercy is for everyone, and to do this lets begin with a little fish that has come to an alarming realization. This is provided by mystic, Episcopal priest and writer Cynthia Bourgeult (Boar-show):

The story comes to mind of the little fish swimming up to its mother, all in a panic: “Mama, mama, what's water? I gotta find water or I'll die!”

We live immersed in this water, and the reason we miss it is not that it is so far away but, paradoxically, so close: more intimate to us than being itself...

(Mercy) is the water in which we swim. Mercy is the length and breadth and height and depth of what we know of God – and the light by which we know it....

The mercy of God does not come and go, granted to some and refused to others. Why? Because it is unconditional – always there, underlying everything. It is literally the force that holds everything in existence, the gravitational field in which we live and move and have our being. Just like that little fish swimming desperately is search of water, we, too – in the words of Psalm 103 – “swim in mercy as in an endless sea.” Mercy is God's innermost being turned outward to sustain the visible and created world in unbreakable love.

Cynthia tells us God's mercy doesn't come and go the way Jesus does sometimes in the gospels. When we're open to it we discover its immediate Presence. The problem is that much of the time we're not open to it because our various ego filters won't allow it. The solution then is to “drop” those filters allowing God's mercy to flow through us.

Jesus was able to do this in a sustained way with the result being his teachings and parables that show us the way to a type of freedom that's hard to explain with words. The most effective way I can attempt to explain this freedom is by sharing one of my own religious experiences that I call my hour of bliss (and I apologize if you've heard this before, but some things are important enough to repeat):

One afternoon I was studying the Gospel of John in my office at South Tacoma Christian Church. While sitting at my desk I suddenly came to the realization that John's church in the first century and my church in 1995 was one in the same church. This came with a feeling of liberation as if a heavy weight had been lifted off of my back, and I said to myself, “O (an expletive) this is the kingdom of God!”

I got up from my desk and walked outside and proceeded to walk around the neighborhood in a state of absolute bliss. What I mean by that is the feeling I had was of romantic love except I wasn't in love with any particular person – I was in love with reality itself and in real time this lasted around an hour. What I now understand to have happened is real time had completely collapsed to the point it no longer existed at least in my perception of it.

Time is one of the filters of the ego meaning it is a way we look at and understand the world around us. If that filter drops away (and this is what gets so difficult to explain with words) you experience a oneness, or a connected-ness very unlike everyday experience. What I felt is that I wasn't a part of things but rather I was everything! I also had no fear about what was happening other than far back in the recesses of my mind was the thought that if this didn't stop would I have to be like Jesus. Apparently, being Jesus was not a favorable prospect for me at the time.

Religious experiences of this nature are not unusual, and you've probably had momentary breakthroughs like this as well. What is unusual about this particular one is its duration. It far exceeds any other religious experience I've ever heard or read about. Typically, they are both short and transient meaning they soon pass by and the person returns to a normal state of consciousness.

It seems apparent to me that this untypical religious experience was derived from many years of the contemplative practice that preceded it. Since then I've had only one other religious experience comparable to it which occurred on November 20, 2012. That breakthrough experience can only be explained as trans-formative and in profound ways is still influencing me.

I don't want to close the sermon before something is said about the tenacity of the Syro-Phoenician woman which resembles the tenacity Jacob showed with the angel he wrestled with in the wilderness. (Genesis 32:26-29) Jacob would not give up before the angel blessed him and in the end his determination paid-off.

In our story today the Syro-Phoenician woman is not put-off by Jesus' uncharacteristic rude remark about the dogs getting the children's food. Instead, she responds with reason saying that even the dogs get the crumbs that fall under the table. Perhaps, Jesus sees her response as an expression of faith and consequently decides to do what she's asking. He heals her daughter.

It appears she has persuaded the Savior to change his mind to perform the healing she desperately wants to see happen. The message is clear. We need to be persistent in prayer even when it seems God is resisting our request. We need not be afraid to wrestle with God because such encounters often reveal the true colors of our faith.

Rev. Mitch Becker

September 8, 2024

Port Angeles

First Christian Church

“Wanted Posters”

James 1:17-27

We can consider our text for today as wisdom literature, but technically this letter from James is also regarded as an epistle like the letters of Paul. Let's launch into this epistle then by determining the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge about God amounts to a collection of ideas in our minds, whereas wisdom is about living out these ideas from our God-created selves.

This epistle is written for the purpose of sharing the wisdom of God with the “twelve tribes in the dispersion” or better described as the followers of Jesus in the Mediterranean basin. That is why James reads like a collection of sayings and teachings for the fledgling new communities of faithful followers.

When I first became a serious Christian fully engaged with the Pentecostal church my Bible was highlighted in both florescent yellow and green. The Epistle of James was almost entirely highlighted because for a new Christian it always satisfies. For one thing, it held little back in illustrating the various dangers and pitfalls in a world full of spiritual poison.

So, one way to image this epistle is to see it as a collection of wanted posters that are scattered about an old western town. What the wanted posters depict are the various ways in the world that we are tempted to veer off course from the divine path. Some of the posters portray the lust for money and others for status or fame. James is saying when we blindly follow these types of desires it breaks down the fabric of the Christian community.

In stark contrast to such lustful desires James defines true religion as religious practices that reach out to the poor, widowed, and the orphans. These are the most vulnerable in society, so what's actually being said is true religion cares for the most unfortunate and endangered.

We can call this part of the epistle the morally motivating aspect of it. It wants us to employ wisdom in our daily walks with Christ by being “doers of the word.” (James 1:22a) Another quick analogy can be applied here: We all possess knowledge about God and what God wants from us. We all know we're to be morally motivated in the world.

This epistle then serves as a kind of mirror which allows us to judge whether we're acting upon what we know of God or simply hoarding knowledge. For example, when we look at ourselves in the mirror and our hair is messed up, unless we're teenagers, we correct the error. Who doesn't comb their messy hair? That's how we should behave in our religious lives. If we look in the moral mirror James makes available and find we're hoarding knowledge rather than undertaking wisdom we need to correct our behavior.

On the morning, I began to write this sermon I was driving into town and nearly rear-ended a truck towing a trailer. Oddly enough, this happened almost in the same place the recent fatality occurred in front of Joshua's restaurant, which also involved rear-ending a vehicle. The balloons and flowers in recognition of the loss of life on the side of the road were still pretty fresh.

The way this near miss applies to our text has to do with the reason I almost hit the trailer. It had no brake lights! The trailer was a simple box probably used for hauling yard waste and the driver apparently felt he could get away with not putting brake lights on it. The immediate consequence for me was when the truck and trailer began to stop to make a turn onto North Baker Street, I instinctively sensed I was closing in on the back of the trailer. With no brake lights to confirm the stop I had to rely entirely on my perception along with the alarming realization that an accident was about to happen.

I thought about turning around and following them up Baker Street to confront them about the moral issue they were creating by not putting brake lights on the trailer. I let it go and continued on to work. If I were to put up a wanted poster it might suggest the criminality of people who disregard the safety of others in their sinful, self-centered pursuits. The verse that applies comes just prior to our text where we read: “Lust gets pregnant and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood and becomes a real killer.” (James 1:15; The Message Bible)

The incident left me angry about this person's negligence and the way they were endangering others. That kind of anger could be described as “good” anger. We should feel indignant when people act in such a manner in the same way Jesus did when he entered the temple and turned over the money-changers tables. I could have confronted this person because I know how to do that, which is by using “I” messages.

Though our text says to be, “...slow to anger, for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.” Anger used in a proper way can be a tool for righteousness (I often exchange the word “righteousness" with “justice.”)

When using “I” messages to express your anger there's a better chance that the recipient won't get defensive because the “I” messages indicate you're taking responsibility for your anger. “You” messages are interpreted as placing blame that will result in a defensive posture which will then assure no message will be received.

If I would have confronted them, I might have said, “I nearly rear-ended you back there because I didn't see any brake lights on the trailer!” By putting it that way I just identify the cause of the near miss without pointing any fingers at the perpetrator. This creates some space for them to acknowledge their own negligence and the feelings of guilt most sane people will have. Beyond this, it also raises their awareness to the danger they're posing to the public.

This would be an effective way to express good anger to someone who needs to hear it. Author and spiritual teacher Barbara Holmes can tell us more:

Many spiritual traditions warn us against anger. We are told that anger provides fertile grounds for seeds of discontent, anxiety, and potential harm to self and others. This is true. However, when systems of injustice inflict generational abuses upon peoples and communities because of ethnicity, race, sexuality, and/or gender, anger as righteous indignation is appropriate, healthy, and necessary for survival.

….A theology of anger (for communities under siege) assumes that anger as a response to injustice is spiritually healthy...A theology of anger can help us construct healthy boundaries...and healthy expressions of righteous anger can translate communal despair into compassionate action and justice seeking...The question is rather or not we will recognize our wounds and the source of our anger so we can heal ourselves and others and awaken to our potential to embody the beloved community...

First note how she has moved the conversation from individuals to speak in terms of community. Also, she's beginning to identify how we arrive at a place within ourselves where we can express genuine, heartfelt “I” messages that have the potential to be heard and create positive change. It means to become consciously aware of your own wounding and in that way identify the source of your anger before you express it toward someone else. There is a little technique one can use to accomplish this and it goes: “Name it, Claim it, Aim it,Tame it.”

This means to name the anger you're feeling and then to accept responsibility for it. Then it can be aimed at a target but expressed with a sense of ownership thus avoiding a defensive reaction. In this way the anger itself is tamed because it gets released in a healthy way that maximizes the potential to create positive change.

Barbara continues by further explaining how we own our anger and the way that can lead to forgiveness:

If we take a theology of anger seriously, first we come together, then we grieve together, then we consider where we are and where we're going. If there is opportunity, we engage in deep considerations of cause and effect, and we listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit....Health and wholeness requires that we take off our masks of Christian piety and do the difficult work of acknowledging our anger, our vulnerability, and our pain. It is this contemplative work that moves us toward forgiveness, for when we recognize our own human frailty, we can more easily forgive the fragility and failings of others.

She just identified one of the central messages of the gospel which has to do with forgiveness and then describes how we contemplatively find the ability to forgive. At this point it might be fun to challenge the central theme of the text and in doing so possibly grow a bit in Spirit. The primary contention of the text is to be doers of the word and not just listeners, but there is an inherent danger in doing before listening.

Doing things, even good works for God when done from the blindness of the ego often does more harm than good, and forgiveness from the ego is an impossibility altogether. To live out the gospel in practical ways that lead to wholeness requires not only getting in touch with our own wounds and vulnerability, but also listening to the “whispers of the Holy Spirit.”

It takes both courage and work to acknowledge our wounds and how they make us vulnerable, and it takes patience, even a passionate patience, to be quiet in the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Journal work, therapy, and deep, quiet contemplative prayer can all work together to help us get the job done. After we've done the hard inner work then at some point, we may be ready to do the good works of God.

What often motivates us to do the hard inner work are life's challenges which the Epistle of James encourages to face:

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work, so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2-4; The Message Bible)

Rev. Mitch Becker

September 1, 2024

Port Angeles