The Power of Story

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Another Christmas is upon us!  Where to begin?  How to tell the story?   There are so many ways!  But ah, the POWER of story!

You know, I usually don’t watch much TV, but there is one show that I really like, and I have to watch it every Sunday night when it is on.  It’s called “Once Upon A Time”. 

Have any of you ever watched it?   Well, it is a very interesting & creative show that takes the stories & characters in the fairy tales we all grew up with, and sort of “re-tells” them... but not quite exactly the way we may have heard them.  It is a new version of some very old and familiar stories.  

The story takes place in Maine, in this little seaside town called “Storybrook”.  And little do they know it, but the people who live there are all actually various fairytale story characters!  But they can’t remember who they really are, as their memories have all been erased! 

The first grade teacher who works at the school, is really Snow White!  The guy who works at the animal shelter is Prince Charming!  The town mayor is really the Evil Queen (of Snow White).   And who is the guy who owns the antique shop?  Yes, it is Rumpelstiltskin.  The town psychiatrist, is Jiminy Cricket, and so on! 

And how did they all get here?  Well, a terrible curse was enacted by the “Evil Queen” who wanted to take away all their “happy endings”,  erased their memories and brought them all to a dreadful land where there is no magic and no enchantment!     

Our world!

Ah, now we see the need for stories! 

Now, we may think fairy tales are just for amusement and mean “fiction”.   But upon a closer look, many of these stories have a very deep spiritual message, or lesson, a moral to the story.   But you have to sort of read or listen between the lines to get it.

The characters in Storybrook, are all walking around with their memories erased, not knowing who they really are, or what is really going on.  But how many of us walk or go through life this way?

Hmmm.

And on this night, we once again re-tell, re-remember & re-live a very familiar and very old and very powerful story!    

The Christmas story is our story, all its versions.   Whether it be in song, storytelling, music, traditions, rituals, and so forth! 

And on this night, here in this place, we once again tell the Christmas story! 

Wonder why we have incense tonight?  We are enacting part of the Christmas story, you are smelling &; breathing real Frankincense, straight from Arabia!  I brought it here from when I was there in 2009!  Remember, the three Magi, or Wise Men bring gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh!?  And here you are, breathing the story!

We just heard Luke’s gospel.  Mary & Joseph had been traveling on the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register for the census.   

Bethlehem, by the way is about five miles south of Jerusalem, very hilly and means “House of Bread” in Hebrew. “ Baet” meaning house.  Well, being there were so many people also in Bethlehem trying to register for the census, they could not find a room at the inn, so they “checked in” to a stable.   And among the animals, Mary gives birth to Jesus, and lays him in a food trough full of hay, a manger!

Meanwhile out in the fields, the shepherds are watching over their flocks.  Suddenly, an Angel of the Lord appears to them.  And what happens?  

They are terrified!  And what does the angel say?  “Do not be afraid!   I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. … you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."

So, the shepherds go to Bethlehem to “see this thing that has taken place", and there they find baby Jesus in the manger.  They tell everyone there what had been told to them by the angel.

What did Mary do?    Well, she listened!  And she pondered these things in her heart.   Do you ponder these things, in your heart? 

And then, the shepherds went away praising God!

I know, that for some of us, it may be difficult to feel the joy of Christmas.  Perhaps you are grieving, or going through a rough patch in life.  But to be sure, in time, it will change.  Life will change.  It will change, because we all change.  For the one thing constant in life, is change. 

And over and over Christmas comes, a constant in our sometimes turbulent lives & world.  Christmas comes every year, in all its versions and ways…  Giving us comfort, hope, joy, courage, strength, healing, and a time to re-remember what life is really all about!

Now someone mentioned their favorite Christmas song is "Silent Night".  Yes, it tells the story, er, sings the story of Christmas.  But do you know this song has a story?   Well, here goes...

Once upon a time, a long time ago, at a little church in Austria, it was only a few days before Christmas, and the church organist announced to the priest that the aging church organ had broken down.  "Bad news Father", said the organist.  The organ is broken, and it can't be fixed by Christmas Eve.  What are we going to do?"   The parish priest responded, "Hey don't you play guitar?  Maybe we can have guitar music instead.  I know it's a little unorthodox, but we are between a rock and a hard place!"    The church organist agreed.  The priest added that he had written a little poem, perhaps he could put it to music?   

And so, on that night, on Christmas Eve in the year 1818, the world heard and sang “Silent Night” for the first time.  And we still sing this simple yet noble song, for it captures so well the spirit of this holy night!

And once again we are re-reminded, that even in the longest, coldest and darkest of “nights” in our lives, that Emmanuel, God is with us… always!  

Amen!

[Sermon given DEC 24, 2013 at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Casa Grande, AZ.]

The Price of Love

What is the price of love?  

Zeke

Last May I took in a new little doggie, a foster from a rescue organization.  Zeke was eight years old, and had become homeless and found his way into a rescue organization as his human had passed away.   And then he found his way to me.

This little guy was my second foster doggie.  My other two doggies and I "decided" we needed to try and help other animals find homes.  After all, my two little doggies were once in need of a home and rescues themselves...until I adopted them.

Zeke found his way into my heart, and after eight or so weeks, I thought I would ask him him if he would like me to adopt him, and live with us forever.  I held him in my arms, and asked him.  Amazingly, he let out a yelp and put his head down on my lap! 

And so I adopted him.  

Zeke smiling, sitting comfortably on the couch

I don't think I need to explain the love that grows between an animal and a human.  It is a natural thing.  I bought him his collar and leash, his harness, his little dog dish, and a name tag for his collar.  He became 'my little guy'.

I took him on many a walk.  How wonderful it was to see him run and play in my backyard.  A happy little dog.  And sitting with me on the back patio as I drank my morning coffee.

But then one day Zeke would not eat his breakfast.  Very unusual for him.  And then he would not eat dinner.  He felt warm, something wasn't right.  I took him to the vet. 

Zeke died gently in my arms a few days later. 

Tears.  Lots and lots of tears.  Grief.  For when you truly love, when they leave it hurts.  It hurts.  Even if they were only with you a short while.

That is the price of love. 

"Spiritual Maintenance"

Spiritual Maintenance, Luke AFB 2004

How do you take care of your soul?  

The first three years of my eight years assigned at Luke AFB, I served as a reservist working with the active duty Air Force, the 56th Fighter Wing.  

Luke AFB, by the way is a training base for fighter pilots.

The wing's Maintenance Group had a number of crises, and the chaplains felt that more presence in the maintenance areas would be a good idea.  The commanders liked the idea, and the "Spiritual Maintenance" section was born!

A large couple of rooms in one of the maintenance hangars were given to the Chaplains.  They were soon transformed from storage rooms full of junk into an oasis for airmen, kind of like a "USO".  

"Spiritual Maintenance" was a welcoming environment with big comfy couches, free goodies, freshly baked Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, a wide screen TV,  fresh coffee, cold waters and drinks, popsicles.... and air conditioning.  Yes, those hangars and working outside on the flight line were awfully hot in the summer!   And oh yes, the chaplains office was right off to the side!  

Maintenance hangar for the F-16s, Luke AFB

"Spiritual Maintenance" was a huge success.  In fact, it became a model for other bases to emulate.     

I loved being out there.  I say 'out there' because this was on the far side of the base from the offices, medical clinics, the dining facilities, the BX, Commissary, dorms and housing, the gym and sports fields, etc.  It might seem like all I did was hang out, visit, chit chat with the airmen, make coffee and batches of fresh cookies in the little Otis Spunkmeyer oven, and walk around the hangars and flight line...but a lot of ministry was done "out there"!  

Another edge of the earth!

On an FTX (field training exercise) at Gila Bend!

Most will not go across the base to the Chapel to see a chaplain when they are distressed or in need.  

But if you (the chaplain) are always around, and in their world... you become part of their world....

"Spiritually Transmitted Diseases" - The Rich Man and Lazarus

The Rich Man and Lazarus

SERMON:  “Spiritually Transmitted Diseases”  SEP 29 2013, Proper 21, Amos, 6:1, Psalm 146, 1 Tim 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31

One of the summers of the years I was in seminary, I attended a 30 day residency at Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA.,  a place of solace and spiritual learning.  It is a retreat center and a monastery, owned and run by the Sisters of Mercy.  

One day, one of the leaders was giving a talk, when she made a slip of the tongue.  She meant to say sexually transmitted diseases but accidentally said, “spiritually transmitted diseases”!    We all burst out laughing. 
Needless to say, her teaching moment was over! 

But it makes you wonder.   Are there “spiritual diseases”?   

I think there most definitely are, but these days they are usually not referred to in spiritual or religious terms.  Rather, they are usually in the jargon of psychology, sociology, political science, and or medical terminology. 

What might be some of the spiritual diseases of our world, today’s society?    

Spiritual blindness, entitlement, shallowness, lack of awareness, spiritual deafness, arrogance, pride, “affluenza”, conspicuous consumption, greed, vanity, oblivious to one’s blessings, spiritual laziness, sloth, apathy, ridicule, rage, wrath, jealousy, envy, lack of empathy and compassion, narcissism, addictions… the list goes on!

Now hold onto this thought as we explore the scripture readings for today...  

Today’s gospel passage in Luke is the parable of the rich man and a poor man.  Let’s take a look at the deeper aspects of what this lesser known parable might teach us…

The parable tells the story of two men, one, a rich man who lives in luxury and comfort, oblivious to the suffering of others.  The other, named Lazarus, poor, starving and laying outside the rich man’s gate.  Lazarus dies and goes to heaven.  Then the rich man soon dies and he goes to Hades.   

Suffering and now in hell, the rich man asks Father Abraham if he can send Lazarus to warn his brothers, who live like he did, in extravagance and blind to the suffering of others.  He does not want them to wind up suffering in Hades, like he is now.

And what does Abraham tell him?    If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they listen to Lazarus or anyone who rises from the dead.

So, what’s the spiritual lesson?  Is this parable saying that having money or wealth means you are going to Hades? 

The rich man has a spiritual disease; he was spiritually blind!  And lacked empathy and compassion for the suffering of others.  The rich man was aware of Lazarus's presence, laying at his gate.   He even asked Abraham for him by name, yes he even knew his name!  But when he was alive, he never stopped to help him.  

It was not his wealth or money that sent him to Hades, rather it was his spiritual disease, his spiritual blindness and deafness to the suffering of others in the world.   

And so I ask you, what is it we are not seeing or hearing?  What are your spiritual blind spots?   

Are we even aware we may have them?

It is not easy, I know.  How can we see what we can’t see?  Not just about the world and other people, but about ourselves?  How can we see more?  How can we spiritually grow, raise our awareness, go deeper?  

When I was making the transition from being an ordained Minister with the United Church of Christ to becoming a priest in the Episcopal Church, the first step in the long and arduous process was meeting with a group of people at my home Episcopal Church, my "Discernment Committee".  

One man asked to me, “Laura, what is it you are not seeing?” 

His comment really hit me.  My first thought was, “What?  What?   How can I see what I cannot see?”    But I kept hearing his question over and over in my mind.

But he was right, I had “blind spots”, spiritual blind spots!  

I began to pray for God to help me see more, to help me grow and see what I could not see!” 

It did not happen overnight, but amazingly over the next few years, all kinds of things came into my awareness that I had never seen before!  It took a whole lot of years and work to get to a much deeper level of awareness!

I am not saying I have "arrived".  Growth, awareness and learning never ends!    But it does require work.  It takes humility.  It takes being open and willing to listen.  And more.

Spiritual diseases.  We may have one or two of them, to varying degrees... and in all their variety...   

God speaks through many people; our friends, our family, colleagues, perhaps even a brief comment by someone behind you in the grocery store check out line!   God speaks everywhere!

But, are we listening?   

Let us pray…

Lord help us in our spiritual blindness, to see what we cannot see, to hear what we cannot hear, open our eyes and ears and hearts … help us to grow in the spirit… and to see, hear and feel your presence in all things. 

Amen!

Chaplaincy with the "Red Tails" The 944th Fighter Wing....one of the descendant wings of the Tukegee Airmen!

F-16 "Red Tail" jet at the 944th Fighter Wing, Luke AFB

A few years ago, I served as the Wing Chaplain at the 944th Fighter Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit at Luke Air Force Base.  The wing flew F-16 fighter jets and trained pilots to be fighter pilots.  

With two of the original Tuskegee Airmen in 2007!

The 944th was a "Red Tail" wing, meaning it was historically connected with the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII, the first African American pilots in the USAF, (and the military).  They painted the tails on their aircraft red, and the "Red Tail" became their signature symbol!


In 2007, the 944th was B.R.A.C.'d  (base realignment and closure).  Meaning, it was chosen to be seriously downsized, perhaps eventually shut down and totally deactivated. 

Photo of some of the original Tuskegee Airmen in WWII

For the next 18 months or so, the wing went through a sort of death process, deactivating sections of the wing.  It was a sad and stressful time.  People were scrambling to find other positions and assignments in the Air Force.  Many wing members were having trouble selling their houses as the economy had just crashed.  

"Red Tail" P-51 Mustang, aircraft flown by the Tuskegee Airmen in WWII

For a chaplain, doing ministry during this time was like doing hospice ministry on a massive scale.  

We did the largest retirement ceremony I had ever done, more than 250 people all being retired at once.  For others, some could not find a new assignment, and had to leave the Air Force.  And for some, they found assignments with other units.

944th FW saying goodbye to their Red Tail F-16s

There were deactivation ceremonies of the Operations and the  Maintenance Group.   Hangars and office buildings were vacated.  The wing's F-16 fighter jets were taken away, and the wing began to look like a ghost-town.

At one of our deactivation ceremonies, many of the original Tuskegee Airmen attended in person.  The above picture is me standing with two of the original Tuskegee airmen! 

Of course, there was much more than just this period of deactivation during my time of assignment with the 944th and Luke AFB.   In all, I served for eight years at Luke AFB, and it was a wonderful eight years! 

Pretty amazing to be part of this incredible legacy!

Sir Francis Drake's Chaplain and The Prayer Book Cross

Prayer Book Cross, Golden Gate Park

Did you know that the first English worship service in America was conducted back in 1579 on the West Coast by Sir Francis Drake's Chaplain? 

Yep, it's true.  The first English service in America was on the West Coast, (what is now the San Francisco Bay Area) and conducted by a Chaplain!

Today in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California there is a giant sixty foot Celtic cross, "The Prayer Book Cross".  

The Prayer Book Cross was a gift from the Church of England back in 1894, to commemorate the first English worship service in America!  

Worship using the Book of Common Prayer, of course! 

And yes, this occurred even before all the European activity and colonization on the American east coast!  

Prayer Book Cross, early photo

Now surrounded and obscured by trees, the cross was easily seen from the ocean when it was first installed back in 1894.  

No wonder I have never seen this cross!

And just who was the mystery chaplain back in 1579 who led that "first ever" English worship service on the West Coast of the Americas?  

His name was Sir Francis Fletcher.    

Another fellow chaplain, doing ministry at the edge of the earth!

Does Religion Do More Harm Than Good?

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SERMON:  AUG 18, 2013  “Does Religion Do More Harm Than Good?”   

Luke 12:49-56            

The Rev. Laura Adelia   

Proper 15  Pent. 13

In my Religions of the World classes that I have taught over the years at Mesa Community College, I like to begin the semester with a class discussion to get the students intrigued and thinking… 

·      Why do we humans have religion? 

·      How did we get so many religions in the world? 

Inevitably, someone will ask, ‘with all the divisions and conflict religion seem to cause, wars and acts of violence done and all the other not so lovely things done in the name of God…. Does religion do more harm than good?’ 

In some ways, it certainly can seem so. 

In today’s Gospel passage in Luke, Jesus says he came to bring fire, not peace but division and conflict, to set father against son…mother against daughter… and so on.  This is not Jesus as the Prince of Peace we thought we knew! 

What did Jesus mean by this passage?   This seems to go against everything he taught and stood for!

If you are perplexed by this passage, you are in good company.  For centuries, theologians and religious leaders and scholars have themselves argued and have been divided over the meaning of this passage!

Perhaps for some of us, we can relate to this passage, especially if we have family or friends or neighbors of another denomination and have endured painful and ridiculous arguments on who is right, which is the true faith, and so on!

We don’t like tension.  We like to understand and to resolve things. But perhaps this pericope is not meant to be totally resolved, at least with literal words and understanding.

In his book Falling Upward, A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, Roman Catholic Franciscan priest Richard Rohr explores what he calls the ‘two halves of life’.   Perhaps this can help us to make more sense of this troubling gospel passage.

Rohr says in the first half of life, we are taught to value, our traditions, respect for authority, civil and church laws, a sense of goodness, do correct rituals, the special importance of one’s ethnicity, country, and religion.  In this half, we are in the pursuit of success, happiness, security, looking good to others…. and pursuing things of merit such as degrees, awards and other types of external validation.  As well, we are mostly ego based.

Interestingly, Rohr says most of organized religion tends to live inside of these first half of life issues …. but not only organized religion, but also our culture and society, and most cultures and societies in the world!

Richard Rohr says that as a priest of 40 years, he has found that much of the spiritual and pastoral work done in churches is often about keeping status quo and keeping people content… not so much about challenging people to real transformation and spiritual growth. 

In short, he says, we have not found a way to do incorporate both first half and the deeper spirituality and issues of the second half of life into religion.

So, how do we get there?

Inevitably, for some of us, we get to that place in life where we begin questioning… wondering….  A sense of uneasiness comes over us, there has to be more to the picture … the things that used to make sense and satisfy us no longer seem to work.   

If you are questioning or wrestling with your faith, or wondering why we do certain rituals and prayers and say certain creeds … then I say, good for you!    This is a good thing!  Really!

For some of us, we are pushed by a major and unexpected life event that can many times be very painful.  We usually don’t or won’t leave our little comfort zones willingly!

And for each of us, that life event, or events may be different, but the experience rocks us to our core.  It jars us awake. 

But not for everyone.  We all have known people who have been through horrific life events, or have lived many decades, and still remain unchanged, asleep.  So, the “second half of life” deeper spirituality is not necessarily attained just by chronological age. 

Rohr says true and deep spiritual growth does not come by memorizing bible verses and doing correct rituals, or by our own willpower or moral perfection…it comes by making mistakes, and or going thru the dark night of the soul.  It comes by going thru the fire.  It changes us.

Suddenly certain scripture passages that never seemed to make sense before, now make sense!  “The first shall be last and the last shall be first”, and “when I am weak, I am strong”.  We begin to gain spiritual maturity.  Our eyes are opened to things we could not see before.   

All those rules we learned, all those bible quotes, all those correct prayers and rituals… the things that gave us a basic structure can seem to go right out the window when we get to the second half of life!

But we would not have gotten to this point of spiritual growth without having gone thru learning all those rules, correct prayers and rituals in the first place!  And with second half of life wisdom, these time tested rituals, prayers and creeds now bring much deeper meaning to our lives.

So, getting back to where Jesus says he came not to bring peace but to bring fire, conflict and division…

Perhaps, this passage is better understood in the totality of the gospel story, the bigger picture and the interplay between the ways of God and the world of human history.  In this light, we could say that this passage is descriptive, rather than prescriptive. 

It is not Jesus’ purpose to set children against their parents, or to create conflict and division.  Rather, it seems to be the way of human nature.

When I was in seminary, I remember a discussion I had with some fellow students.  We wondered what would Jesus say if he came back today and saw all these denominations that have evolved over the centuries in his name, and all the arguing, fighting, wars, etc. done in the name of God and his teachings,  Jesus would say to us, “Guys, this is not what I was talking about!”

What does this passage mean?  Contemplate this Zen Buddhist story:

”When I first set out on the spiritual journey, mountains were mountains, rivers were rivers, the forest was the forest, and the ocean was the ocean.  But then, as I travelled down the road of life, mountains were no longer mountains, rivers no longer were rivers, forests no longer forests, and even the ocean was no longer the ocean.  But then, even further along the journey, much further… mountains once again became mountains, rivers once again became rivers, forests were again forests, and the ocean was once again, the ocean.”  

Let us pray.  Oh Lord, open our eyes.  Help us to grow and see, help us to see what we cannot see.    

Amen.

Lord Teach Us To Pray

SERMON   July 28, 2013  “Lord, Teach Us to Pray”  Luke 11:1-13   The Rev. Laura Adelia

In the spring of 1995, I received a call and invitation from my sister to come and visit her and her husband in Greece for a couple of weeks in the summer.  My sister and her husband used to rent a condo on one of the Greek islands during the summers.   Coincidentally, this was also my first year of seminary.  Needless to say, upon receiving my sister's call, I jumped at her invitation!

I flew to Athens and we visited the sites; the Acropolis, the Temples, Plato's Academy.... and then we flew out to the island where they stayed.

On the islands of Greece we visited, I noticed that many houses had their own little chapels in their backyards.  Little tiny prayer chapels…they were everywhere, and each little chapel had its own charm, painted white with Mediterranean blue trim.  Each one was about the size of a large garden shed, and could possibly hold up to about 6 or 8 people inside it.

I was intrigued and asked one of the the locals about the tiny chapels in people’s backyards.  She was a little old Greek lady, with just a hint of a bit of a mustache.  She responded to me in English with her heavy Greek accent, “Well, one has to have a place to pray!”

Do you have a favorite place to pray? 

Notice in Luke’s gospel, it says, ‘Jesus was praying in a certain place’.  In fact, Jesus is always praying.  The scriptures describe him going to the desert, to places away from the crowds, to be alone, and pray.   

Garden of Gethsemane

We do not know exactly where he was praying at this certain instance, but it was known that the Garden of Gethsemane was one of his favorite places to pray.  The Garden of Gethsemane is actually a grove of olive trees at the base of the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem.  It is a very peaceful place. 

I am sure for many of you have found that a quiet, beautiful place in nature is a wonderful place to pray and feel the presence of God.

Prayer… it is central to all spiritualties and religions.  There probably have been more books written about prayer than any other topic.  Needless to say, there are many different ways and styles of prayer!

Prayer is a communication with God, it can be both a thought and an act. Prayer can be a solemn request, or an expression of gratitude.  Prayer can be done individually, or communally.  It can be done as a ritual, as in worship.    

Notice too when we say, Let us pray, many pray with hands folded, heads bowed, or downward.  But in Jesus' day, people prayed with hands raised upwards, and looking upward.

Prayer can be verbal or silent.  Prayer can be listening…such as in a contemplative meditation.  Prayer can be done sitting, kneeling or standing.  We can pray as we work, pray as we drive down the road, pray while doing chores, pray working in the yard, and pray as we take a walk!

Prayer can really be done just about anywhere!

Prayer can be danced and prayer can be a sung!   The book of Psalms is actually an ancient prayer-song book.   “Psalm” means “song” in Hebrew.  So when we say or sing the Psalms, we are singing / saying prayers and songs that were sung and chanted 3,000 years ago! We could say, these song-prayers are ‘time tested’!  As St. Augustine once said about music and prayer, “One who sings, prays twice!”

So when the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus teaches them what becomes, as we know, the most well known and prayed prayer in all of Christianity, the “Lord’s Prayer”.

We all know it well.  Notice the prayer as we say it today begins with the words, “Our Father”.  In Luke’s gospel it starts out with “Father, hallowed be your name…” .  It also is in the gospel of Matthew, and begins, “Our Father in heaven…”   

Have you ever heard the Lord’s Prayer in other languages?  “Our Father”, is “Padre Nuestro” in Spanish.  In Aramaic, “Abwoon”.  In German, “Vater Unser”.  Greek, “Pater Hemon”.  In Swahili, “Baba Yatu”.  And on it goes!

In either version, or whatever the language, Jesus teaches us to pray by at first focusing on God. 

In many ways, the Lord’s Prayer is similar to the Jewish prayer hymn, the the Kaddish that praises God, “hallowed be thy name”. ‘Kaddish’, by the way, means ‘holy’ in Aramaic.   

In fact, the Lord’s Prayer has many similarities to Jewish prayer.   “Lead us not into sin (temptation)” is in the morning blessings of Jewish prayer.  And there are many other parallels.

And go figure!  Jesus was Jewish!   So, it would probably help to better understand Jewish prayer to go deeper with the Lord’s Prayer.  Let’s take a look…

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, author of many books on Jewish Spirituality, says of Jewish prayer….that a person is like a shofar, (the ram’s horn, blown on Jewish New Year as a ritual of awakening).  A shofar sounds only when breath is blown thru it.  When we pray, God moves thru us!   God’s essence or energy needs hands and mouths to give prayers voice and melody.  People are the instruments that transform prayers into music and words and movement.   We become God’s instrument!

Prayer connects us to God and joins us all to creation.  And that, says Rabbi Kushner, is the essence of Jewish prayer, to become closer to God…to awaken, to see the Holy everywhere…

I think this is what Jesus was always trying to teach his disciples…and us.

Another thing Jesus teaches is about persistence in prayer.  To ask, to search and to knock…and to persist.

Does this mean that Jesus telling us to ask over and over until we get what we have asked for?  To search until we find what we are looking for?  And to knock until a door has been opened?

Authentic prayer is not about getting everything we ask for.  Rather, persistence in prayer is perseverance in prayer.  To pray without ceasing.  In other words, to just pray! 

Remember, prayer is not only words and us talking.  In fact Jesus teaches against long, wordy verbose prayers.  Prayer is listening too.  Listening for God, giving time to feel God’s presence. 'Be still and know that I am God’, as Psalm 46 says.

Yes, we can ask, we can search and we can knock….and yes it is wonderful when our prayers are answered.  Many times though as we know, our prayers are answered very differently than what we had envisioned.

There is an old saying….God answers our prayers in three different ways.  One answer is, “Yes!”.  Another answer is, “Yes, but not now.”  And a third, “No, because I have something much better planned for you!”

Thus prayer is not so much about us receiving what we ask for.   Rather, it is more about relationship with the Holy, being open to what God may be trying to offer or teach us.

Prayer is powerful....and prayer goes beyond the boundaries of religion or denominations.... 

As a chaplain in the Air Force and Air National Guard, over the years I have prayed with people of just about every denomination of Christianity.  I have prayed with Jewish people.  I have prayed with Muslims.  I have prayed and meditated with Buddhists.  I have prayed with people of many religions, even those with no religious preference!

Prayer heals, prayer teaches, and prayer transforms! 

Lord, teach us to pray! 

Amen!

The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan

SERMON:  July 14, 2013 Proper 10, Pent. 8, Deut. 30:9-14, Ps 25:1-9, Col.    1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37    The Rev. Laura Adelia

“The Good Samaritan” 

Mercy.  Kindness. Compassion. 
The parable of the Good Samaritan at its root is about love, mercy and eternal life.  It is probably one of the most well known, if not THE most familiar parable in the New Testament.   

A lawyer asks Jesus, what must I do to inherit eternal life?  Jesus answers with a question, what do the scriptures say?  The lawyer quotes Deuteronomy, “Love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul...and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus tells him he has given the right answer, and ‘do this and you will live’.  But the lawyer continues to question, “And who is my neighbor?”, and Jesus tells the famous parable of the Good Samaritan.

Mercy.  The Greek word for mercy is eleos.  Interestingly, it is related to the Greek word for olive (eliá) and olive oil, (elaiólado).  Olive oil has been used for hundreds of years for healing and anointing.  Notice too, when the Samaritan finds the man left for dead, he pours olive oil onto his wounds and then wine, and then bandages him up.  Wine was good for disinfecting wounds.  Oil to soothe.

Think of the countless kind people who have helped you along the way of life.  Our family, our friends, relatives, neighbors, doctors, teachers, professors, and sometimes, absolute strangers, and many of the invisible people who have helped us in life that we do not even know of!

The story is ingeniously told, and there is much symbolism in the parable.  The dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho, twists and turns and descends over 3000 ft in altitude, can be a symbol of our lives and our spiritual journeys, with all its twists an turns, ups and downs, and dangers along the way.    

Let’s look at the characters in the story.  Who do you most relate to?  

The Samaritan?  The outsider, perhaps a bit misunderstood, not liked by Judean Jews…but the quiet, kind and invisible helper to the man in need?

Why did the Jews not like the Samaritans? 

Well, they practiced a different version of Judaism.  Samaria is a region just north of Jerusalem, the hill country.  You see, back in the 700'ds BC, Assyria invaded Samaria and deported them.  Other people were brought into the region.  So Samaritans were ethnically and religiously a little different from Jerusalem, or Judean Jews, which led to antagonism as time went by.  
Ironic, because in the present day the geographical region of Samaria is now known as the West Bank, Palestine.

I guess the more things change the more they stay the same.   Judean Jews and Samaritans….  Neighbors that well, did not get along so well.

Or perhaps you most relate with the man who was robbed and beat up?  The victim in the story, but also the lucky recipient of a stranger’s kindness and mercy…waking up and wondering how you got here and who helped you? 

And what about the priest or the Levite?  The ones who walked by but did not help?  So stuck on religious law, rules and regulations, (“Canon Law” in the Episcopal Church!).  Religious law stated if the priest or Levite had touched the injured man, they would have become ritually defiled.   Then they would not be able to lead worship, as they had to be in a religiously pure state.  So they walked on by…

But eternal life does not come from laws and regulations, but by living in love, for God is love … Lord have mercy! 

Or perhaps you relate to the innkeeper.  The person who observed an incredible act of kindness…but not only that, the innkeeper witnessed someone bring in and care for an injured man and even paid out of his pocket for his lodging and care!

Mercy.  Kindness.  Love.   

And what about the robbers?  Well, I thought about not talking about the robbers.  The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a very dangerous road.  What drives people to criminal activity?  Probably the same things that lead people to a life of crime today…  Desperation… anger…evil.    In those days, many wealthy landowners would buy up or take over many small pieces of land owned by the peasants, and then they found themselves landless, with nowhere to turn…

Well everyone, I have been here at St Peter’s now for nearly 2 months, and I already love you!  But, I have hit a threshold, I feel like I am preaching to the choir here!  For, what I see, is that many of you are practicing much kindness and mercy!  You visit each other, you check up on each other, you take each other to the doctor or hospital when needed...  

So I know I am not saying anything new here, you are already practicing much kindness!   I really feel the need to get to know you all better.  And so look forward to doing so!

In closing, I wanted to share a story with you that reminds me a lot of the parable of the Good Samaritan.  It is from another religion, so bear with me here! 

As you know, I teach World Religions classes at Mesa Community College.  One day awhile back I was preparing for my class, and that day we were on the Buddhism unit.  So I thought I would read a Buddhist story to tell in class, rather than just lecture about what the textbook covered. 

So, I picked my book to read and came upon the story of the Buddhist monk who wanted to achieve enlightenment.  

By the way, sitting on the floor next to me was my little dog.  He was convalescing from a big surgery, back surgery.   I began reading the book and my story…

A Buddhist monk decided he wanted to achieve enlightenment and see the Buddha, so he began to meditate.  He figured if he meditated and meditated, he would eventually reach enlightenment and see the Buddha.

But to no avail.  So he decided to go to monastery up on top of hill, and stay there and meditate until he reached enlightenment.  And he meditated and meditated.  Twelve years went by, but to no avail!  Naturally, the monk was getting disillusioned.  So he decided to leave the monastery.

The monk was walking down a windy road, and on the way he spotted a small dog lying on the side of the road.  It had been injured and left for dead.  Moved with compassion, the monk went over to the dog and began to clean his wounds.  As he cleaned the last of the little dog’s wounds suddenly the dog began to stir…and then, POOF!  The dog turned into the Buddha! 

The Buddha said to the monk, “For twelve years I have been waiting for you to get over yourself and actually do an act of compassion!”

At that point, I looked down from my book, at my little dog sitting at my feet, wiggling with happiness and looking up at me!  I looked back at the book about the dog and the Buddha.  I had just spent lots of money on my little dog’s back surgery. 

I then looked back to my dog, paused, and said to him, “I know who you are!”

So many have been merciful and compassionate to us and us to them; friends, family, absolute strangers, and others unknown and invisible to us, our neighbors… and our animal friends!  

Mercy, kindness, compassion and love.   We never know who will be our "Good Samaritan".

We learn from everyone, you know!
Thanks be to God!

Amen.