How important is our Christian Faith? (Mark 8:27-38)

I grew up in New Zealand, in a time when the churches were full on Sundays and the shops were closed. Yet over the years, I have watched our country change. The former Presbyterian theologian, Lloyd Geering, made a similar observation more than 20 years ago:

What are we witnessing? Not the death of spirituality, not the death of belief, not the death of meaning, but the death of religious institutions, the death of organised religion, the erosion of Christianity's historical core, its hold on the heart of the West... It is the death of Christendom 1

It is the reference to 'the death of organised religion' that caught my attention because I have been part of the Church for the whole of my life. My father was an Anglican Vicar, and I followed in his footsteps along with two of my brothers. However, I have also noticed a slow decline in Church attendance during my ministry. There have been many reasons: The advent of sport on Sunday mornings; the stand the Church made against the Springbok Rugby tour in 1981 that resulted in a lot of ill-feeling among some parishioners. As one parishioner said to me: 'You will not see me in Church again because the Church has no right to stop me from enjoying my Rugby'. Then in 1990, our retail laws changed to allow Sunday trading. The impact of political decisions on religious practice is not new. It even occurs in the Gospel reading for this Sunday which comes from Mark 8:27-38.

Jesus was aware political opposition towards him was increasing. So he reminded his listeners about the cost of discipleship. Anyone who wanted to be his follower would ultimately 'lose their life'. Taken at face value, they are challenging words. In a way, he could foresee his death, but his words also applied to what was happening in the early Church when the Gospel of Mark was written. They apply to us as well, and cause us to ponder: 'What does it mean to be a Christian in our day and age?' Should my values and faith influence my political choices? And to what degree should politics affect the way I express my beliefs and faith?

The Gospel reading also reminds us, that the values Jesus stood for were for justice, compassion and peace and he was quite prepared to challenge those in political and religious leadership regardless of the cost. It also reminds us when we take a similar kind of stance to Jesus, we also take a risk.

The reason being is that Jesus and the religious and political powers of his day represented two different sets of values. Jesus valued compassion, beauty and truth, and these values found their fulfilment in what he called the kingdom of God. We see another set of values reflected in every self-seeking political power system in history. When we decided to take a stand for the values Jesus promoted, we also take a risk that remains as valid today as it was when St Paul wrote to Timothy: 

'Indeed, all who wish to live God-loving lives in Jesus Christ will suffer persecution'.2

So what does it mean to be a Christian? How do we keep our faith alive? Can Religion and Politics mix? I find living a God-centred life is like any other valuable relationship we may have in our life – it is a daily practice. The Jewish-Christian tradition reminds us that the whole of creation is already God-created and God-breathed. Every person, animal and plant carries the Divine life-giving breath within it. Sometimes we may catch a glimpse of this in the beauty of a sunrise or sunset or when we witness a new birth. Or when listening to a piece of music that captures our attention and wraps itself around us, carrying us within its melody. What we may lack is the constant awareness of this Divine Life-giving Presence.

If we see this way of living as something we long for then how do we foster that awareness? Jesus gave us the answer in many of his parables. It grows and flourishes within us as we begin to want it, look for it and value it. Jesus spent a lot of time outdoors. Perhaps following his example and spending time in creation may be the easiest place to start, because nature is not complicated by other people's ideas. Then we may begin to look for glimmers of the same Divine energy shining in the life and life-giving actions of other people. Then one day, we may discover the same life-fulfilling presence deep within ourselves. Enriching and delighting us with peace, love, and joy; faith and faithfulness, hope and self-giving to others. Qualities that are all windows and doorways into the Divine Mystery that is already surrounding and enriching our lives. As St Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said:

Seek the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and the Divine hand in every happening;This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world.3

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

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1 Ward, K, Religion in a Postaquarian Age, https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/about-us/research-resources/research-papers/religion-in-a-postaquarian-age#_ftnref1

2 2 Timothy 3:12

3 St Mother Teresa of Calcutta.https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/252963-seeking-the-face-of-god-in-everything-everyone-all-the

Faith Involves Risk, Trust and Uncertainty (Mark 7:24-37)

Seeds of faith are always within us;
sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth.
Susan L. Taylor

I don't know how you would define 'Faith', but one common definition says faith' is a 'strong belief in the doctrines of a religion'. However, I find the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday (Mark 7:24-37) challenges this view because Mark recounts two different situations when people seek help from Jesus where their belief in the doctrines of Jesus' religion are secondary to their healing.

The first is a woman from the neighbouring country of Syrophoenicia. She wasn't a Jew but that did not stop her from begging Jesus to heal her daughter from her bizarre and anti-social behaviours. The second situation involved a man who was deaf and mute. He is taken to Jesus by friends who ask for him to be cured. Jesus responded to both requests and both people were healed.

However, the two stories invite us to explore their deeper significance if we want to find their relevance to our lives. And I believe that was the reason the Gospel writer included them – regardless of any health issues we may or may not have.

The first discovery is that both stories echo similar situations recorded in the ancient Hebrew Scriptures. The healing of the woman's child reminds us of Elijah healing a foreign woman's child in response to her pleading (1 Kings 17:8-16). Even the dodgy comparison Jesus made when he compared the child to a 'dog' echoes the words of 2 Kings 8:7-15.

Then the healing of the deaf-mute echoes Isaiah 29:18 and Isaiah 35:5-6. The latter reference looks forward to the day when the Hebrew captives would be released from Exile in Babylon (587-539 BCE). On that day the whole of creation would join in celebrating their release: the desert will burst into blossom, the blind will see, the ears of the deaf will be opened, the lame will leap like a deer and the mute will sing for joy! However, while both stories come to us from a different time, place and culture, they still remind us that we all have or will have to face times of risk, trust and uncertainty.

We see the reality of this sense of risk, trust and uncertainty spelt out more clearly in the story of the woman from Syrophoenicia. First, because she was a lone woman in a male-dominated society, and second, because she came from a different country and race which again marked her as an outsider. Further, she was travelling alone with a sick child and without access to any form of health care or support. However, she took the initiative and the risk of rebuff to beg help from Jesus. And what did Jesus do? As hard as it is to understand, he responded with a cultural insult. However, the woman was not deterred. She showed courage in being willing to debate with him and argue her case. She revealed her wisdom and worth by matching and winning his argument! In doing so, she reflected the radical calling for anyone, regardless of gender, race or religion, who seeks to follow in the Way of Jesus.

The author of Mark's Gospel then uses this short story to illustrate several important qualities of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. First, the Gospel way is not about rules or creedal statements – these are all sideline issues – yet how quickly they become bench-marks for belief and practice. In contrast, following the way of Jesus involves risk, trust and the willingness to live with a degree of uncertainty. It challenges us to move outside our comfort zone as the woman did in today's story. But above all else following in the Way of Jesus involves desire – a deep sense of motivational longing that energised the mother – and the men – in today's Gospel passage.

The same applies to us as well. Are we willing to reach out and realize our hopes and dreams? Or do we let them stay as longings and possibilities? Realising them may require a degree of risk, trust and the willingness to live with uncertainty. Being a follower of Jesus will be the same but we will not be on our own for he has promised to be with us – always.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga
May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

We Are What We Eat (Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

'We are what we eat' is a familiar saying, first attributed to Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, 2,500 years ago. And yet, as most of us will be aware, monitoring what we eat is not always easy, for a whole lot of reasons.

Early in my career, I was a Medical Social Worker based in a small regional hospital and worked alongside the Hospital's Geriatrician. One day I accompanied him to the bedside of a person who was having issues with her weight, so much so it was affecting her health. It was the reason for her admission and special weight reduction diet. However, the diet seemed to have little effect. In response to the doctor's questioning, the woman assured us that she was careful about what she ate, but food just seemed to stick to her. (Not an uncommon reality for many people – especially as the years tick by). The doctor, with sudden insight, reached over and opened the draw in the woman's bedside table. It was stuffed full of chocolates and biscuits. He was not amused. 'The only way you gain weight', he said, 'is through your mouth'.

'We Are What We Eat' we eat is a common issue. Just Google the number of Cook Books based on that title. In 2016, even the United Nations produced an exhibit to draw the world's attention to the impact caused by an unbalanced diet. For some, it is the result of not having access to enough healthy food. For others, it is because they overeat. The exhibit also drew attention to the global necessity for food and agricultural practices that are adequate, secure, and safe. And it is with this last issue we come to the Gospel reading set for this coming Sunday that covers a conflict between Jesus and the Jewish Leaders (Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23).

The conflict arose because some of the disciples were ignoring the strict Jewish code on hand washing. Living as we are in the midst of a Covid-19 outbreak, we have become well informed about the need to sanitise our hands numerous times a day. And we do it because we understand the importance and relevance. However, the Gospels were written long before the discovery of bacteria and viruses.

For the Jewish legal experts, it was about power and control. They had taken the written laws (found in the Old Testament of our Bible) and turned them into a complicated oral code that controlled every aspect of life. It included the way a person must wash their hands. Ignorance was no excuse. Nor intelligence, for that matter, even if the rules were ridiculous. They had made so many conditions it was impossible for the ordinary person to know or keep them – and this included most of the people who flocked after Jesus.

What I find interesting in Sunday's Gospel reading is the way Jesus cuts to the core issue. He ignores the petty rules and regulations. Things are neither clean nor unclean in a religious sense: only when people make them so. It is when we focus on the minor issues in life, we tend to lose sight of the major ones. We then reveal our attitudes through our thoughts and actions, our moods, our plans and choices.

Jesus showed us that the only law that matters is love. And it is the love-relationship we have with God that affects the way we treat others and ourselves.  As Pope Francis once said:

Keep your gaze fixed on Jesus Christ and learn from him how to love with a truly human heart, to care for the lost and hurting members of his flock, to work for justice and show solidarity with the weak and the poor. Learn from him to give hope and dignity to the destitute, and to go forth to all those places where people are in need of acceptance and assistance¹.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga 

May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil

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1http://popesprayerusa.net/2017/09/18/pope-francis-encourages-devotion-to-the-sacred-heart/

 

Do This in Remembrance of Me

For the last few Sundays, our Gospel readings have come from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. The chapter began with the story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people using the lunch offered by the generosity and naivety of a young boy. The Gospel writer then compares the feeding of the crowd with the feeding of the early Jewish refugees who lived on 'bread from heaven' during their journey from Egypt to their promised land. Jesus then claims he is the bread of life, and those who come to him will never be hungry.1

His claim evokes a critical response from the Jewish authorities since, in their eyes, Jesus was only the son of a carpenter and had no recognised training nor authority to teach. It is also quite understandable that many of the crowd found his teaching confusing and difficult to believe and ceased to follow him. Taken literally, I am sure we also would struggle to understand what Jesus meant when he announced:

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them”2

To say he was referring to the Eucharist is an anachronism. Although by the time the Gospels were written, the followers of Jesus met regularly in their homes. Their meetings often included a meal with a simple ritualised remembering of the last supper Jesus shared with his disciples. They took bread, as Jesus had, and said, “This is my body that is for you”. At the end of their meal, they took a cup of wine and said it was “The New Covenant in his blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me”.3 However, the belief that the bread and wine changed into his literal body and blood came later and was not universally accepted.4 It is also pertinent to note, that in Jewish thought, blood was a symbol of life, and all life belonged to God. Hence, the Jews had strict laws against the consumption of blood and protocols on draining all blood from meat before being cooked.5

The second thing to note is that the Gospel of John was written much later than the other three Gospels included in the Bible. The images and metaphors are more those of a 'Jewish Mystic', reflecting a genre closer to that found in the Gnostic gospel of Thomas. Both, for example, invite us to move beyond a literal interpretation of the words and listen to the experience to which they point so that we, in turn, can enter that experience and live it. So that we can learn to become a Christ to the communities in which we live as we feed our minds, hearts and souls on his life and teaching.

The following story offers a lovely illustration of what it means to be Christ to someone else and to share Eucharist with them. It is set in the early days of our country and is about a pioneer seeking his fortune, hunting for gold. One day, as he was making his way up an empty river bed, he noticed something shining amongst the stones. Bending over, he discovered a large nugget of pure gold. Thrilled with his find, he tucked it away carefully in his bag and continued his journey. Shortly afterwards, he met a man staggering down the river bed. He looked thin and exhausted. When they met, the man begged him for some food. While they sat sharing the simple meal, the man poured out his story. He had been in the hills for weeks hunting for gold and found nothing. He was now returning home empty-handed and bankrupt. His life was in ruins.

The man's plight moved the prospector. Reaching into his bag, he handed over the gold nugget. The man was speechless with joy. Now he could return home with his pride intact. The prospector wished him well and continued his journey up the riverbed. A little later in the day, he heard someone hurrying up behind him. It was the same person he had met earlier. When the man reached the prospector, he handed back the gold nugget and pleaded, 'Please take it – for you have a treasure far more precious than this gold nugget. Can you teach me what enabled you to give it away so easily?'

Jesus said... I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me...
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these
who are members of my family, you did it to me.”6

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

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1 John 6:35
2 John 6:56
3 1Cor 11:20–26.
4 For example, see Nathan Busenitz https://blog.tms.edu/did-the-early-church-teach-transubstantiation
5 Genesis 9:4
6 Matthew 25:35,40

St Mary, the Mother of Jesus

 

This Sunday, the 15th of August, is the day in the Church year when we celebrate the Feast of St Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The actual title of the day depends on the Church you attend. In the Roman Catholic Church, for example, it is called the Feast of the Assumption marking the bodily ascent of Mary into heaven at the end of her life. For Orthodox Christians, it is called the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, traditionally kept as a national and religious holiday to celebrate the “falling asleep” or death of the mother of Jesus. And in the Anglican Church calendar, it is referred to as St Mary, the Mother of Jesus – a title that occurs in Acts 1:14 – and is implied in various Gospel passages. This title is also a compromise between the streams of belief found in the Anglican Church.

Those of a more evangelical or low church tradition, for example, usually avoid the feast day partly because it is not Biblical. However, those of a more Anglo-catholic faith, celebrate the feast in a very similar way to the Roman Catholic Church. And those Anglicans of a more Orthodox outlook might use lots of incense and music in their celebration. Understandably, those who have no religious faith may feel both confused and curious.

I grew up in an evangelical Anglican household. My father was an Anglican minister, and my mother was a Church Army Officer. (The Church Army is an organisation within the Anglican Church that trained people to become street evangelists and run evangelistic missions). As a teenager, I loved going into the Church near our house in the evenings when no one else was there. Sometimes I would play the organ. Other times I would sit and allow the silence of the building to wrap itself around me. In that space, words were no longer necessary. The silence was more potent than words could ever describe.

Years later, when living in a Franciscan Community in the USA, I explored one of the tracks that made its way up the hillside. On this particular track, someone had placed fourteen posts at intervals, marking the events mentioned in the Gospels during Jesus journey to the cross, usually referred to as The Stations of the Cross. When I came to the fourth post, which marked Jesus meeting his mother, I experienced a moment when time suddenly felt it was standing still. And while nothing changed – everything changed because I had a strong-extrasensory feeling that Mary was also standing there.

I have often pondered that experience. Some years later, I came across this passage from Albert Schweitzer. He was commenting on the mystery of human relationships and wrote:

We wander through this life together in a semi-darkness in which none of us can distinguish exactly the features of our neighbour. Only from time to time, through some experience that we have of our companion, or through some remark passed, they stand for a moment close to us, as though illuminated by a flash of lightning. Then we see them as they really are. 1

That moment on that hillside was a similar moment for me, when Mary, the mother of Jesus, stood 'for a moment close' to me 'as though illuminated by a flash of lightning'. The experience also provided me with new insight into a prayer that Father Bede Jarrett. O.P. once wrote and is often used at funerals:

Life is unending because love is undying,
and the boundaries of this mortal life are but a horizon,
and a horizon is but the limit of our sight.
Lift us up, strong Son of God, that we may see further!
Strengthen us in faith that we may see beyond the horizon!
And while you prepare a place for us, as you have promised,
prepare us also for that happy place,
that where you are we may be also,
with those we have loved, forever.2

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

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1   Albert Schweitzer, Charles Rhind Joy (1947). “Albert Schweitzer: An Anthology”, Boston: Beacon Press

2  https://rccav.org/prayers/day-5-november-fifth

Living Bread for the Soul (John 6: 51-58)

During the past week, my wife and I had some friends over for the evening. When they arrived, we offered drinks and nibbles and later an evening meal. The meal had taken quite a lot of time to organise and cook – yet their coming wasn't just about the meal. We wanted to catch up. To hear what was happening in their lives and to share our lives with them. The food might have been important – but the conversation was more memorable.

This coming Sunday, we continue our journey through Chapter 6 of John's Gospel ( vv 51-58). The author introduces a lot of important themes during this chapter. Poverty and the positive side of doubts are just two I have mentioned in earlier blogs. Our next bite of 'food for the soul' is when Jesus talks about being 'living bread': “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood will have eternal life”. Naturally, his listeners thought he had lost the plot.

Traditionally, this passage is understood as referring to the Eucharist. A service celebrated in many Churches and based on the Last Supper Jesus had with his disciples1. The Roman Catholic Church, for example, considers it the most important act of worship and usually celebrates it daily. The words of John's Gospel are taken literally. During the ritual, they believe the bread and wine become Christ's “body and his blood with his soul and his divinity”2. In contrast, there are other Christians, such as the Quaker's, who might never celebrate the Last Supper as a ritualised physical meal. They believe no ritual is needed to get in touch with God because God is already present within us. Over the centuries, much ink and argument as ensued as to what Jesus meant or intended.

I find ritual can be helpful, especially when done well or it is personally meaningful. Before I start my daily meditation, for example, I light a candle and some incense. I find this action helps to prepare me for my time of reflection and prayer. I am not alone in this as Timothy Jennings mentions:

“Rituals are the tools [God] uses to get us to think and to stimulate conversation with (the Divine).”3

I also find the Quaker, Brent Bill's comment in his book 'Holy Silence' insightful. He invites his readers to discover how God can grant us insights and guidance when we make time to be silent. These spiritual understandings are different to those we might experience in our noisy and everyday lives. Brent Bill then gives us an example that occurred during one of his Quaker meetings.

As people arrived, there was the usual chatter and conversation. Then, when it was time for the meeting to begin, it was followed by the usual noise people make as they settled down and make themselves comfortable. Slowly, as these exterior sounds dropped away, Brent was left with his internal chatter. The sort of concerns that so readily fills our minds when the events of everyday life no longer demand our attention. Gradually, this too settled, and he experienced something that he described as being 'dropped into a well of holy silence' which guided him into the 'deep waters of his soul'. And that was when he became aware of the Divine Presence deep within. It was as if the words of John's Gospel had suddenly become alive for him: 

'The Word became flesh and made its dwelling among us,
and we beheld his glory, the glory of the One and only who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth'.4

For me, that is what Jesus was referring to in John 6:51-58. God has given us the gift of life and invites us to shape our lives into a loving gift for others and God, as we:

Become familiar with her ways.
Grow to love her, feel [her] with all your heart,
and you will come to hear her silent music
and become one with Love’s silent song.5

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil 

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1 See Matthew 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–38; and I Corinthians 11:23–25
2 Catechism of the Catholic Church, St Paul's Pub., 2nd Edition, 1997, para 1413
3 Timothy R. Jennings, The God-Shaped Brain. How Changing Your View of God Transforms Your Life (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2013), 115.
4 Brent Bill, J, Holy Silence – The Gift of Quaker Spirituality, Paraclete; 1st Edition edition, 2005. p. 3.
5 Davis, Noel: http://effortlesspeace.com/silence-quotes/

My Daily Prayer