On A Metaphor of Amma Syncletica, a Desert Mother

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The life of faith looks like a mother bird brooding her eggs and waiting expectantly for them to hatch.  For all we know, the mother bird has moments when it seems like nothing is happening.  There are moments when real boredom sets in and the temptation to leave the eggs and do something more interesting arises.  (Mary C. Earle; The Desert Mothers, Spiritual Practices from the Women of the Wilderness, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, NY, 2007, pg 22)

This week with all the snow and my inability to get out and about has reminded me of Amma Syncletica’s story.  Here I am “stuck” in the house and brooding about when this stuff will melt.  Amma Syncletica would tell me this is an opportunity to sit and listen for a word from God and I’m sure she would say quit wasting your opportunities!

Two of the most frequently asked questions about spiritual practices are “how do I quiet my mind and how do I stop fidgeting?  These two questions are as old as meditation itself and all spiritual practices, and the only answer I’ve ever heard for either of them is to “there is no right way to do this except practice, keep doing them until you discover for yourself that which draws you into your deepest being.”  My problem with this answer is it’s so vague, it could mean anything, but I also know that it is true and right.  The only way to become proficient at any Spiritual Practice is to “practice” that’s why it’s called a practice.

In the last 4 days I have sat and quieted my mind and stilled my heart but suddenly I am remembering something I have to do, only I can’t because I can’t get to where I need to be.  Such moments in our lives are sources of frustration and are filled with “have to’s” and need to’s.”  I have been, we have been, given the opportunity to slow down and listen, for that quiet word of the Spirit being whispered to us every day, but too busy to listen for, rather than the lists in our heads.

Yes being still is a problem, especially when you have an active family, or a job that provides our families with the things we use to survive.  If you only take 5 or 10 minutes out of your day to sit and stare out the window at the white wonderland, over a cup of steaming coffee or tea, letting the days troubles take care of themselves for a few moments, you will find you are more centered within and able to cope.  Don’t worry about mental intrusions, acknowledge them and let them go, let the stillness of the winter’s day, enter into your life for just a moment.  It might take a few days, and for some of us a few weeks, to get to that still point, but when you do you may just hear the whisper of the Spirit.

Peace and Blessings to you all

©Ruth Jewell, January 20, 2012

Snow Storm

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The world is cold, white and dark
a soft blanket drapes over tree,
bush, and building
a small bird stops at the feeder
fluffed out to keep the warmth in

I may be blessed by a warm house
but my brother sleeps in an alley
cold, wet, hungry
my sister huddles in a doorway
wrapped in a worn blanket

We are not so different
my sister, my brother and me
except by circumstance If things were just a little different
I would be alongside them, sharing our warmth

Who ordains who is blessed and who is not
why do we,  . . . my sister, my brother . . .
walk such different paths
what choices made by us, God, or others
led to this place in our lives

Some say God punishes
I say we choose how we live
I thank others sometimes make our choices for us
I believe God cry’s every time someone
huddles in a doorway

©Ruth Jewell, January 18, 2012

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

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This has been an odd Christmas for me.  Usually by this time I’ve baked cookies and stollen, prepared pie crusts, wrapped dozens of presents and decorated the house.  None of that has occurred, all I really want to do is sit and read and listen for the silence.  Just before Thanksgiving one of my friends was talking about celebrating an “it’s not my birthday Christmas,” where instead of presents for yourself you ask for gifts for a charity.   I’ve given that quite some thought and I like that idea.

I’ve really always disliked receiving presents anyway, they are usually things I don’t need and often don’t want.   And, while I would give great thought to the gifts I gave I often felt the recipients of my gifts had the same feeling.   So this year I’ve done things a bit differently.  Instead of buying gifts for family and friends, I told them I was giving, in their name, a gift to the Chief Seattle Club, a day shelter for homeless urban Native Americans and First Nations Peoples.  I asked that instead of gifts for me that they would either send a gift for the Chief Seattle Club or give a gift in my name to a charity of their choice.  No wrapping, no shopping, no shipping and someone who really needs our gifts would receive them.  In addition since I wasn’t going to cook a big dinner I gave the money I would have spent to the Chief Seattle Club for their Christmas dinner.  I don’t think I’ve enjoyed preparing and giving a gift so much in my whole life.

Yes, I know I haven’t done my part for the economic recovery and as a result someone somewhere may not have my few pennies for their Christmas.  But shouldn’t Christmas be a time of reflection and not consumerism, a time to remember the graces given to us by God throughout the year and offer our gifts of thanks to the Christ Child.  As I remember, it isn’t what you give but how you give that matters.  Tradition tells us that Jesus was born in a stable and laid manger, he was poor and homeless most of his life and giving gifts to those who can’t provide for themselves seems like the proper offering to the Child in the hay.  As I was dropping off my gifts at the Chief Seattle Club I had to turn away homeless men who also wanted my gifts but I am unable to feed and clothe all of the homeless, and I wonder sometimes if God understands there are too many people who can’t care for themselves and that there are way too many people who tug at my heart.  I wish I had more to give.  If I had the billions that some people had I would go from homeless shelter to homeless shelter just handing out gifts, but I don’t, and I don’t know what to do about that.  I do the best I can and hope that is good enough.

So what will I be doing for Christmas?  Well, I will be in church offering a gift of another kind, prayers and service.  As an Intern Pastor I am participating in the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day service at Queen Anne Christian Church, Seattle, WA.  I am grateful to be able to give to those who come to the services prayer, song and love and I am honored to read a Christmas Story I wrote a number of years ago titled “The Innkeeper” on Christmas Day.

May you be filled with the blessings of the Christ Child and may you pass on those blessings to those who are hungry, cold, suffering and/or homeless.  For it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Peace and Love this Christmas Season

©Ruth Jewell, December 19, 2011

A Story of Openings

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I was preparing to leave for class when I suddenly remembered I had the homily for the 8:30 am Morning Prayers, and I hadn’t written anything yet.  As I stood in my office, panic setting in, I grabbed my notebook, and a book on the interpretation of scripture and ran out the door.  I am fortunate, blessed even, in that I ride a bus from my home to the University of Seattle and that was all the time I had to write the homily, a 30 minute ride, but somehow a door opened for me as I rode in that day.  Here is what I offered November 8th at Morning Prayers.

A STORY OF OPENINGS

Matthew 15:21-28
The Canaanite Woman’s Faith

21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ 23But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ 24He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ 26He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the
children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 27She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ 28Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

This is a story opening doors not a story of how rude Jesus could be.  We can compare Matthew to the other three Gospels and Paul all we want but Matthew could care less about the other four writer’s audiences.  Matthew is talking to, writing to, a Jewish community and one more than likely in crisis.  And, because of the makeup of his community (we could say his social analysis) we need to ask what door he is opening.

In Matthew’s community the salvation Jesus offered came first and foremost to the Jew, but something is happening in this community that causes him (or her, we don’t know the author of this Gospel), in this story, to open the door to the Gentiles.  We do not know what that was, we can speculate but that is all it would be.  What I find interesting is how the cracked door may speak to us, today, in the 21st century.

So we have this woman doubly, maybe triply, taboo for Jesus, a Rabbi, to speak to in public.  Rabbis didn’t speak to women, most certainly not to Gentile a woman and probably not to a married woman. But this woman, a Gentile, approaches in an attitude of prayer and Jesus relents, telling her she
has “great faith.”  “Snick,” the door of salvation just opened to the “other.”

Two thousand years have passed since Matthew wrote those words and in all those years many still haven’t opened wide the door to the other.  Matthew is telling us today, just as he told his community that faith without action, without social justice is an unfulfilled faith. We all have individuals we would avoid, after all Jesus was avoiding the religious authorities by going into Gentile territory.  But Matthew was telling his community, and us, that Jesus and God have a plan for the “others” in our lives, just as God has one for us.

How much will it take to open wide the door?  How much will it take to let the
others in not just into our presence, but into our hearts?

Ruth Jewell, ©November 8, 2011

Sermon October 16, 2011, Queen Anne Christian Church

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Micah 6:6-8

6‘With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 22.15-22
The Question about Paying Taxes

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.16So
they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher,
we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with
truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with
partiality.17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius.20Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’21They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Here we have another confrontation between the religious authorities and Jesus and we now see Jesus getting quite testy with these people who won’t listen to what he says and beginning to call them out.  This must have been an important story for all three of the synoptic Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark and Luke, for they offer this story using nearly identical language.  Given that, we may have here the actual words of Jesus and for me that is very exciting.  But why was this story so important to the early church and why should we consider it important for us in the 21st century.

First of all the significance to Jesus’ audience was very evident in the way Jesus responds to these supposed authorities, we see that he is losing patience with them.  They won’t hear what he is really saying and so his temper is getting short, he doesn’t have much time after all and he knows it.  But it is in the way he answers the question that turns the tables on the Pharisees.  He asks for a Roman coin, for that is what Roman taxes were paid with and they produce one.  On the surface this seems like a normal thing to do, except, the only coins allowed in the temple were temple coins.  The reason being under Mosaic Law the Jews were not allowed to have graven images and the image on the coin produced is Caesars, who claims to be a god.  The religious leaders are now the point of a joke, they are shown to be what they really are, people who crave authority at the expense of what they believe.  By having the Roman coin in the temple the Pharisees have been discredited in front of Jesus’ disciples and the crowd.

However, it is the answer Jesus gives the Pharisees that has the greatest significance for us today.  In his answer Jesus told the Pharisees, and the crowd, that it was alright with him to pay taxes, if Rome wants its coins, if that is what they value, then give them to Rome.  But, give to God what belongs to God!

Now there is the answer that raises the greatest of questions, what belongs to God?  The answer of course is everything, including ourselves and everything we have!  If we look at the Book of Job from chapter 38 through 41, you will hear God outlining just what does belong to God, it is rather specific and to the point.  So why do we, today, have such a hard time giving back to God what belongs to God.

I think one of the reasons is we’ve allowed our monetary emblems to become a symbol of authority and power.  Who has the most, is the most powerful.
Michael Raschko in his book A Companion to the Gospel of Mark talks about this scripture as it is written in Mark and he says that “Authority and power do not exist for their own sake.  They exist for the sake of bringing life to other … we are to use authority for the others.  Authentic power gives life to others.”    How we use the abundance we are gifted with determines our real power, that’s an interesting concept and one we all wrestle with every day.

It is in what we do with our money that determines in what way we use power.  Do we use it only for self-absorbed matters, gathering more and more stuff, or do we use it in such a way that we have enough and those in need also have enough.  One of my passions is helping the homeless and indigent so when I walk down the streets of Seattle and I sometimes stopped by a homeless person who asks me for money I have my own way of providing assistance.  Now, I make it policy never to hand over money to people on the street, instead I usually carry and extra sandwich, or if I’m in the car I carry a small bag of grocery essentials and offer those instead.  Sometimes the individual
turns down my offering and in that case I know that they didn’t really want
food they wanted to buy drugs or alcohol so I simply tell them that is all I have and move on.  Despite what some might think I don’t have a lot of money but I try to share what I do have with those in need.

Let me get back to this coin Jesus is holding, are we required to share our monetary abundance?  Micah tells us that God has told us what God wants us to do, “do justice, and love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Are those acts associated with money in any way?  Yes they are, to ease poverty and hunger requires someone to provide shelter, clothing and food and that means sharing from our monetary abundance.  Does it mean we have to give until we are in poverty, no it doesn’t.  It does mean we are called by God to share from our abundance no matter how small the amount, or how small the act.  But we are called to share.  That coin Jesus was holding was the exchange medium of the Roman Empire and except in the temple would have been used by every member of the crowd to purchase everyday needs.  The crowd knew that, they knew that having money wasn’t evil, nor was spending it.  It was the hoarding, using it as a way to gain excessive power that was wrong.

But what about Faith Communities and in particular our Faith Community here at Queen Anne, what do we give to God that belongs to God?   This Faith Community depends on each and every one of us participating in the life of this organization.  And, I am amazed at how much participation takes place here.   As a group and as individuals we do try to give to God what belongs to God, our work together here within our community does make a difference.  Our young people go and fill bags of frozen vegetables for the food bank.  Our
building is used during the week as a place where children learn and play.   We join in worship and welcome the stranger into our midst.  We have teams of people who teach and work together to pass on our love of God.  We have community members who volunteer, and work, for non-profit organizations that provide services to those in need.  We care about not just those in our building but the other, those who are different from whom we are.   In our own way we bring our authentic power to bear and offer life.

There is enough on this planet to care for all of us, humans and non-humans, IF we only learn to give back what belongs to God.  Letting go of unnecessary power and embracing our authentic power to love kindness, do justice and walk humbly with our God is all that God asks us to do.  Is that so hard, apparently it is for some people. Maybe it is our responsibility, here in our Faith Community, to be the example and to show the way.  The life of Jesus and his disciples demonstrate just how hard that is. We will grow tired, we will want to give up, we will want to say it’s not worth it.  But look into the eyes of a child or hold a puppy and know that we aren’t alone in this struggle, nor have we ever been alone.  And we aren’t along just for a free ride.

Jesus may have had Micah in mind when he offered his answer to the Pharisees.  To walk humbly with your God means living a life that is God like, which means doing justices and loving kindness and it means that we as individuals and as a Community of Faith are called to care for those God cares the most for.  Jesus tells his Disciples “when you do for the least of these, you do for me.”  I know it’s a bad paraphrase but you get the idea.  We as community have much to offer, we have an authentic power to offer life, and I believe it is worth offering.

Ruth Jewell ©October 2011

By What Authority

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I am sitting here at my desk listening to the rain fall outside and just mulling over the sermon I gave yesterday.  I keep thinking on authority, what it means
for me and how so many people use and misuse that term.   What I’m trying to figure out is how do I claim my own authority?  What is the authority I have to claim and will I use it not for my own selfish reasons but for the good of all.

Tomorrow is my official start to my last year the School of Theology and
Ministry and so I am thinking where I’m going and what I will do.  I will be 65 when I graduate next fall and for me that was an ages when I believed people retire not start a new career!  I have so many questions of the God and (Hello God) sometimes I think God is just sitting up there giggling at me as She tells me ‘to just wait for the surprises I have for you.’  I love a good mystery, one I have to figure out and laugh when I get it wrong or celebrate when I get it right.  But, it’s not quite so comfortable being the center figure of my own mystery.  Well, I guess I will just have to wait and see how this all ends up; actually I will have to wait because God is talking!

Below is the sermon I preached last Sunday and I offer it to you, as I told my community, as an invitation to the conversation.  I look forward to your comments.

BY WHAT AUTHORITY

Sermon for Queen Anne Christian Church
September 25, 2011

This scripture from the Gospel of Matthew is not only rich in meaning but difficult to open up.  The questions Jesus asks the leaders of his people are difficult ones and not to dissimilar from questions we are asked as Christians or the ones we ask ourselves.  I think to understand what the author of Matthew is trying to get at we need to first understand the scriptures historical context.

First of all the audience for the Gospel of Matthew was a Jewish community.  There may have been a few Gentiles and converts to Judaism but essentially it was a community of Jews who would have known well their Jewish history.  In addition this gospel was written following the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, so the author of Matthew is talking to a group of displaced Jews who have fled their homes in terror and are now wondering if what they had believed in has any meaning.

The actual story takes place the day after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem when on that day Jesus had cleansed the temple of the money changers, and healed the blind and the lame before escaping the hands of these very leaders now questioning him.  In addition as Jesus and his disciples had entered the city on this morning he had cursed a fig tree for not producing its fruit.  So we have here several miracles and events that the leaders would have seen as a test of their authority to rule.

One interesting note is how the debate between Jesus and the elders takes place.  Did you notice that Jesus asked a question instead of answering the question given him?  Well this was a common technique of rabbinic debate.  When a rabbi was asked a question the response would often be another question.  So while it might look as if Jesus is side stepping the question it is actually what the Elders and Chief Priests would have expected from a fellow Rabbi. However, Jesus is not an “ordained” rabbi; he has no official status with the religious community.  Jesus is an itinerant preacher and charismatic speaker who had a loyal following, not unlike many self-proclaimed preachers on our own frontiers or even today.  Yet the Chief Priests are treating him as if
he is one of their own.

We also need to understand that the Elders and Chief Priests who confront Jesus are members of the priestly aristocracy and are not “the Jews.” Rather they are compromised leaders who collaborate with the Roman Government and are under the control of the Roman Governor.  So it is in the interests of the Priests and Elders to keep the status quo in place for that is where their power comes from, they had a vested interest in not rocking the boat.  Therefore, whenever anyone outside their own select group showed any ability to inspire the people they would have looked at it as a serious threat to their own safety.

Mind you the Chief Priests and Elders weren’t necessarily bad people.  At least some, if not most, probably felt they had no choice but to collaborate with the Roman Government if they were to protect their people.  The issue here is who were the people they were protecting.

So let’s get into the story.  Jesus is teaching in the temple when the Chief Priests and Elders confront him with the question, “who gave you the authority to do what you do?”  On the surface this seemed like a silly question to me. After all the care of the indigent, widows, children, and strangers are mandated by God in the Hebrew Scriptures.  However, this is a very serious question for these leaders because if Jesus’ authority comes from God then what does that reveal about their own authority, for they have not taken God’s charge all that seriously.

Instead of directly answering their question Jesus asks one of his own, “where did John’s authority come from?”  Now this puts these guys into a real pickle for they know they are trapped.  They have three ways they could answer Jesus’ question: a, agree that John’s authority came from God; b, John’s authority came from human origins; or c, they didn’t know.  Recognizing the consequences of the first two they chose C, they didn’t know.  This was a way to save face without actually acknowledging anything about John.  But Jesus, as we soon see, is not about to let them off the hook.

Jesus’ next act is to tell one of his famous stories, and he ups the ante with this story because the Priests and Elders will be unable to side step the final question.  Jesus’ story of the Two Sons is a simple one, but with deadly consequences for Jesus.

A father asks his first son to go and work in the vineyard and the son says NO, then the kid thinks better of it and goes anyway.  Not knowing that his first son has gone to the vineyard the father asks his second son who says YES, but instead hangs around the house playing video games.  Jesus now asks the Elders and the Chief Priests who has done the will of the father?  This is not a multiple choice question, rather there is only one answer and these leaders know it.  They have no option except to say the first son does the will of the father.  They also recognize that Jesus is identifying them with the second son
who says they will do the will of God but don’t, they protect themselves not the people in their charge.  Jesus identifies the first son with the crooks and prostitutes who originally tell God no, only to repent and live changed lives.
This is not what these learned men want to hear.  They have been compromised by their own egos and a wish to survive at all cost, while the authority of the poor has grown as they begin to do the work of God.

So what is the meaning of the words “by what authority” for me, us, today?  How do I, we, respond to the story of the Two Sons, who do you identify with? How do I, we, respond to Jesus’ question?  Most of all, how do I, we, interpret this story in such a way that does justice to the author of Matthew, but still has meaning for all of us in the 21st century?  These are important questions because I need to be honest and recognize I’m not the audience the author of Matthew was writing to.  However, I think I can draw some insight from the story despite the fact that I live in a world 21 centuries beyond the authors Jewish community.

If I examine this event in the context of the whole Gospel of Matthew I recognize that the author of Matthew, more so than the remaining 3 gospel writers, is trying to call his Jewish community back to the original Mosaic Covenant with God in the context of Jesus’ teachings.  That Mosaic covenant called for caring for the widow, the orphan and stranger, to share from abundance graciously given, not just material wealth, but from spiritual wealth, compassion, mercy and justice.  In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus is calling for a way of living where all have “enough” to live whole and healthy
lives, and that all give out of their grace given abundance to those who, for
whatever reason, are in need.  In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus repeatedly tells his followers that the Kingdom of God is here, all we have to do is live in to it.
It is not a Kingdom that will come in some future date but now, all the reader of Matthew has to do is “see and listen” and they will see the Kingdom before them.  I’m not sure what it meant to our First Century reader to “live out” the teachings of Jesus and I am struggling with what that would look like for me.

I recognize and sympathize with the Elders and Chief Priests as they wrestle with this question because it is just as much an issue for me as it was for them.  After all I live a comfortable life, and while my family was never rich, nor am I rich now, I never went hungry, or without clothes or shelter.  Despite what I might say I have lived a privileged life and I would guess that most of us in this room have lived such privileged lives as well, it’s not bad, it’s just who we are.

But if I am honest with myself I can sometimes identify with the second son.  And, while I don’t believe I’ve ever been intentionally cruel or unjust, I know that at times I too have not been as kind and merciful as I like.  All of us have had our moments of brokenness and despair, times when we’ve turned away from God and said NO, or, I am going to take care of just me and leave it at that, our moments of survival.  That is part of being Human, but it is what we do with our lives after such moments that matters.

In the story of the two sons Jesus wanted the Chief Priests and Elders to identify with one of the characters.   He wanted them to see, listen and repent.  He wanted them to recognize their covenantal duty to all of the Jewish people not just the rich and powerful.  In 5 days these same men would prosecute him and it would cost him his life on this world, this was a last ditch effort to get the leaders to see their role in the abuse heaped upon those who have no power.  It obviously did not work.

But what about me, all of us in this room, what does it mean to live our lives as Jesus taught, to see and hear the Kingdom of God.  How do we look at our 21st
century lives and say ‘I want to act like Jesus?’  Does it mean I have to give up modern conveniences’, or modern technology?  I don’t think so, I think if I accept the challenge Jesus gave to the elders and Priests as doing the will of God, then that means I need to respond to those God cares for the most.  If I live my life as if I have “enough” I will have enough, and If I give out of my grace filled abundance, I will always have grace filled abundance, but so will
everyone else.  Jesus tells me not to worry about what I will eat or wear, that will be taken care of.  My survival is assured simply by giving to those who are in need.

What gifts did the elders and priests have: they had money and goods, but they also had compassion and mercy all of which they horded in order to maintain their life style.  I must admit I do that myself, I might be trying to change but I haven’t quite given up something’s, … such as books.  Now, I don’t believe I have to give up everything.  I, we all, have special possessions that link me, all of us, to the past and lead us into the future; Jesus isn’t calling any of us to give away everything.  Rather, I believe that Jesus is calling all of us to be generous with what we have and to remember that while we are fond of some special possessions they are not to become our idols, our stuff isn’t supposed to own us.

Last year I interned at the Chief Seattle Club, a day shelter for Urban Native Americans, and I learned so much about what is important in life.   Community, family and friends top the list for Native Americans.  Those who frequented the Club were the ones that even those in their own culture often didn’t want to acknowledge: the chemical and substance abuser, the sexual offender, the unskilled, the murderer, the mentally ill, and those who just wanted to be left alone to live as their ancestors did.  Yet in this place I found an abundance of spirit.  I found graciousness in that they welcomed me into their midst and accepted me as one on a journey.  These are the people we all rush past on street, the dirty, the smelly and the strung out and I was honored that they called me friend.

I became close with one gentleman in particular who lived on the street by his own choosing, and carried his entire life on his back, yet he went every day to the home of a handicapped lady to cook her meals and make sure she made it to the doctor’s office.  One day he told me a story of sitting on the grass at Seattle U and watching a soccer game when the wind came and circled around him.  He felt that somehow he was being watched over and that this breath from the Great Spirit was to remind him he wasn’t alone.  Was he perfect, no, but his spirit was moving in the right direction, in him I saw the Kingdom of God, kind, gentle, giving, working for the other.  It makes me wonder if people see the Kingdom of God in me.

Laurie and I talked about what authority means, and I said, I didn’t know what authority I have to preach from this pulpit.  Laurie reminded me that preaching isn’t what I’m to do, but rather to invite you into the conversation.  So I’m inviting you into my conversation of what it means to live out the teachings of Jesus, what does that look like for you, and how are you wrestling with all of the questions Jesus asks?  None of us can figure this out by ourselves.  How you view the Kingdom of God maybe, and probably is, different from mine and that’s Ok.  We all have different visions, we will all live out these teachings in our own way, the idea is that we make the effort.  Don’t be like the Elders and the Chief Priests who cop out and do nothing.  Nor would I want any of you to identify with the second son, rather even if you’ve said no, go anyway into the vineyard. While the company you keep may be a bit smelly and dirty, their hearts shine with the light of God.

Ruth Jewell, ©September 25, 2011

Deceptive Scriptures

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Lectionary
for July 24, 2011:  Genesis 29:15-28

Jacob Marries Laban’s Daughters

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?’16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.17 Leah’s eyes were lovely,* and Rachel was graceful and beautiful.18 Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ‘I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.’19 Laban said, ‘It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.’20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.’22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast.23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.)25 When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, ‘What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?’26 Laban said, ‘This is not done in
our country—giving the younger before the firstborn.27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me for another seven years.’28 Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.

When our pastor on July 24 read this scripture I was struck by the deception that Laban plays on Jacob and it started me thinking about all of the deception found in scripture.  There is Abraham’s pretending that Sarah is his sister instead of his wife and get’s the host kings in trouble with God (Sarah must have been one hot 100 year old woman for this to happen, but, that’s another issue altogether).  And of course son Isaac has to imitate good old dad with his wife.  Then of course there’s God who deceives Abraham into taking his son up to the mountain to be the blood sacrifice then just blows it off saying, just joking, didn’t think you take me up on it.  And, don’t forget Jacob deceiving his father into giving him the birth right and all of this is only in Genesis.  I’m not going to catalog all of the deceptions our religious fathers and mothers used.

As I have pondered this revelation that my faith is founded on deception I have to also accept that the Jewish and Islamic traditions are also based on deception andAs I look at other world religions deception is common to all of them. Over the past couple of weeks I have been struggling with what that means for my own faith.   When I did a Google search on Deception in Scriptures I find lots of stuff; about half of it is from conservatives who seem to find the deceptions somehow honorable, one fourth is from those who say the recording of the deceptions are the reasons God doesn’t really exist and the remaining fourth use the deceptions to defend their claims that their sister religions are false.

However, I keep thinking I am missing something here and I’m supposed to learn some kind of lesson from all of all this deception.  If I look at the first story of the Creation in Genesis we see no deception what so ever and everyone seems to ignore that.  God creates the universe and everything in it, and then creates man and woman. God tells the two of them everything was created for them so go for it, just take care of this world and we’re good. No trees you aren’t supposed to touch, no snakes in the grass, no original sin, nothing deceptive, just pretty much straight forward and simple. This is a believable story and I like it! God finds her creation good, including man and woman and trusts them to take care of things.  God was only asking that we be responsible
partners with him.  So what happened in chapter 2 were Adam and Eve switched at birth? Somehow we lost our ability to find the good in each other, and, for several thousand years our lives were lived by finding only the bad in each other.

What strikes me is the 4 Gospels of the New Testament seem to reflect the first chapter of Genesis in that Jesus teaches the message that God finds his creation good and all that is necessary for us to see it is do what the first Adam and Eve were supposed to do and that is take care of each other and the planet and we’re good with God.  But, yet again this message gets set aside and we end up finding only the bad side of each other and everything quickly goes downhill.  Why is it that we can’t accept the message God gives when she say’s that creation Is good?  Whenever someone points this out and calls us to return to the message of Genesis 1 we as a people manage to wipe them out, I just don’t understand.

I am wondering does anyone else find this odd about us humans, are we so simple minded that we can’t seem to learn what God has been trying to teach us all these years.  Have the gods of greed and ego so taken us by the throat that we can’t recognize the teachings of God, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha or any of the other innumerable messengers sent to us.  Are we really that stupid?

I’d like to think that in the second creation story when Eve went and ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad that she was trying to become what God wanted of her and Adam.  But, after eating it she and Adam blow it by not taking responsibility for what they did.  Are we now trying to learn to be responsible partners with God because if we so we aren’t doing a good job of it?  We have the tools to repair this relationship, given to us over and over again by so many messengers all we have to do is learn, so why is it so hard?  I have no answers to these questions and I really don’t know if I have it right or not and I don’t expect anyone else to have the answers either.   I put this out here for conversation only, surely we can come up with better questions than those who only condemn other traditions and those who make the statement “that my faith is the right one and everyone else is wrong.”

As you can see I have been wrestling with this issue for a couple of weeks before I put this out there.  So if anyone else has something to say I have an open mind.  However, please be respectful of others opinions because I’m not sure any of us has the “right” answer.

Ruth Jewell, ©August 8, 2011

A Cell Phone Conversation

Posted on by a quiet walk

“Hello God”, “this is Ruth, I have a few things to talk to you about, do you have the time to chat right now.”  …

“Oh wonderful” …

I’m not really complaining mind you because it is so hot elsewhere in the country right now, but, common on God, while Western Washington is supposed to be cool and cloudy, we’ve only had a few days worth of summer.  If this keeps up, we, the residents of said Western Washington, are going to have moss growing in our hair!”  …

“What was that God; you wanted some place in the North American Continent to be cool.” …

“Well I’m honored you chose us and like I said I’m not complaining, too much, but we are becoming very depressed and our bones are become a bit brittle from the lack of vitamin D so we need some sun.   Wouldn’t a balance be a better choice than our little corner being in the 60’s and gray while everyone else is in the 90’s or 100’s with only blue skies?” …

“I know you control things … what you don’t, not really.”  …

“God how can that be?” …

“OOOOHH, it’s partly our fault, we’re supposed to be partners.” …

“Yeah, I know, some of us haven’t been very good at taking care of this ol’ planet earth.” …

“OK, OK, none of us have been very good at taking care of the earth.”  …

“ aaaannnnddd, I admit I fall into that group as well, we all could do better.  But, the powers that be on this planet seem to be a bit preoccupied at the moment with matters they think are important so what’s a poor person like me supposed to do.” …

“Quit complaining and start working and helping out? Well I guess that would be a start.”  …

“And, start looking after each other instead of beating each other up with whatever is handy.  Now that might be a bit harder to do!  God, it’s just that when you gave us free will some of us choose to use it to gather power into themselves and turn everyone else out into the cold.  The ones who choose to use your free will for the betterment of those around them seem to be getting the short end of the stick and some people don’t seem to be able to use their free will at all.  They seem unable to make choices for themselves. How do we help them?  How do we help ourselves? All I’m asking here is for courage, and enough knowledge to stand up and say and do what is right for those who are unable to fight for themselves.”  …

“Yes, I know you gave us instructions” …

“I admit we’ve never followed them”  …

“But God they seem so hard to do” …

“Wellllll, I suppose we could give it another try”

“But, God, there is one other problem, some of those who are unable to fight for themselves don’t want any help unless they get what the power hungry ones have.  So the problem is how do we get those who have so much they can’t possibly use all of it to share with those who have little and how do we get those who have little to not want all of what those who have too much? The way I see it is that greed on all sides is the real issue and I am not exempt.  Jealousy and envy are powerful emotions that drive all of us humans and I’m not sure how to prevent or at least mediate those feelings.  Where do I find the answers to these questions.” …

“Yes, I know I’m in school to find the answers but all I keep finding are questions and I want some answers. mmmm I wonder if I am getting them but don’t recognize them?  Hmmm, well maybe, but, I could use a little more guidance, just a little,    ahhhhhh …..”

“Hello? … God, … God, are you still there, are you listening to me” …

“Rats, must’ve been cut off.”

Ruth Jewell, ©August 1, 2011

Sermon: John 4:5-42

Posted on by a quiet walk

This morning’s scripture just happens to be one of my favorite from the Gospel.  One reason is this story is rich in imagery.  I can see the well, the tired Jesus who watches the woman walk to the well he sits by.  I imagine that the well is surrounded by trees probably olive or maybe a fir-tree and I can smell the dust that still floats in the air from the passing of the travelers.  I can feel the noon day heat and see the woman walk through the heat shimmer on the road as she carries her water jugs to the well. 

Now, I am quite sure you are all familiar with story of the ‘woman at the well’ but let me recap for you, the highlights so to speak.   Jesus is traveling with his disciples because he is avoiding the Pharisees in Judean territory.   Tired, thirsty, and hungry, he stops by a well to rest while his companions go on ahead to search for food for the mid day meal.  A woman comes to the well to draw water and Jesus asks her for a drink.  They end up talking and Jesus awakens something in the woman who runs to the village to tell everyone else.  We have all heard this story hundreds of time and I’m sure you can tell me why this woman is so special and why it was so radical that a Jewish Man, a Rabbi, was talking to a woman, a Samaritan woman.  Think of it this way, here are Jewish men, traveling in a territory that all other Jewish people avoided like the plague and they are even willing to eat their food and drink their water!  Scandalous!   But in the heat of the day, maybe things look a little differently to hot, tired and dusty people.  But more than the individuals of the story I’d like to talk about what this story meant to the community that was hearing it for the first time.

I have been trying to come up with a comparison for today’s time and maybe this might give you a tiny idea of what this journey meant in first century terms.  Suppose you had to travel to Monroe and between you and your destination lay a land filled with criminals, sexual predators, and mentally unstable people, called the Monroe State Prison.  And just suppose the accepted route to Monroe goes around the Prison and takes 7 days  , but, if you went through the Prison territory, your journey would take you 1 day.  Which route would you choose?  Remember the people living in the Prison area are outcasts and to speak to them or get the dirt from their ground on you will make you unacceptable in polite society forever.  Don’t even think of eating, drinking or speaking to the residents.  That was the choice Jesus and his disciple had to make.  Do you now have some idea of just how radical it was for Jesus and his companions to even be in Samaritan territory, let alone speak to someone or eat and drink their food? 

There are Biblical Historians who believe this is not an actual encounter of Jesus and the Samaritans.  That it probably is a reading back into the ministry of Jesus due to a post resurrection Samaritan mission, and the influence of Samaritan converts on the Johannine communities.  That means that someone, the author of John or someone else added a story of the conversion of the Samaritan community by Jesus himself.  The writer wanted to legitimize the Samaritans position within the evolving community of first century Christians.  Does that change the meaning of the story, well maybe, because, for me I think the story has a great deal to do with the  embracing of “the other” even when that “other” was as despised as Samaritans were.  It’s not just about a woman who was the first apostle to a hated people, rather this is about one group of people trying to welcome another group they once found repugnant.   

  The writer of this passage is struggling with the presence of a people who 20 or 30 years before would have been banned from their places of worship but now are part of their community.  People who were really thought of as charity cases in the best of moments.  People they could help so they would feel good about helping someone less fortunate than they were.  People they could say “boy I’m so glad I’m not one of them!”   I’m not saying that it is better to be an outsider, what I am saying, and the writer of John is saying, is there is no difference in the eyes of God between any of us.  This passage is trying to tell two communities, which probably were at odds with each other, that Jesus would have found both sides to be worthy of God’s love and that if  God find’s each side acceptable then why couldn’t everyone in the community. 

The plight of this first century community is not so different from the one we are facing today.  Today we too are struggling as a community with the addition of people from other cultures who bring some new and strange ways of worshiping into our midst.  I am not talking about Queen Ann Christian Church or any specific church, rather I am talking about the wider church and how we as Christians are struggling with welcoming the new ethnic churches into our fellowship of compassion, justice and mercy.  It is often difficult to see God in ways different from ours even when it is enlightening and transforming; but it can also be scary. 

I can just imagine how the members from both sides of the Johannine community felt because I’ve been there.  I’ve been on both sides of the issue of acceptance of the “other,” a little afraid that what I believe will be challenged and at the same time exited that what I believe will be challenged.    If I am honest with myself I have to admit that learning I don’t have all the answers means that I just may not be as secure in God’s love that I thought.  If we all stop and think it is where we all are when a new way of “seeing” God is presented to us.  So first let’s look at how the Jewish Christians visualized God, Christ and Holy Spirit. 

Jewish Christians in the first century were primarily Jewish in nature; they saw their world through the lens of the Hebrew Scriptures as taught by Temple and Synagogue.  That meant that by becoming Christians they had already made a huge transition to a new way of thinking and many felt Christianity should remain as Jewish as possible because that is what they were comfortable with. Do you remember all those arguments about Gentiles between Paul and the Disciples?  

The Samaritans, on the other hand, were no longer purely Jewish and as a result they were not able to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem.   Therefore The Samaritans set up their own place of Worship on Mt. Gerizim and developed their own worship customs, mostly in defiance of Temple authorities. 

So now you have two groups that hated each other being converted to Christianity and entering into community together, each with different ideas about worship, and God.   Wouldn’t you feel threatened?  Wouldn’t the other feel threatened?  Yet there is a conflict here, they’re Christians and that means they are my brothers and sisters in Christ, so they can’t be bad.  Oh it just makes my head hurt to think about it.  Wait a minute both sides say, if you worship the way I do, which is the right way, then we won’t be strangers anymore, we’d be one.  Can’t you just see both sides coming together across a table and speaking those words at the same time?  My head is beginning to hurt again. 

Does this scenario sound familiar, we’ve all been in those places where we’ve been threatened by someone else’s way of worship, yet somehow we also find something wonderful in those moments.  The unfamiliar becomes a door way into a new understanding.  We just have to get beyond our own belief that we are the right ones.  It is a fact that most new Disciples churches are ethnic, and that means that we will encounter new ways of worship and praising God that are different from our own.  As a faith community we are not called to assimilate the other into our way of worship, nor are the others called to assimilate us into theirs.  Rather each community is called to celebrate the life and faith of all and recognize the presence of God in the diverse ways we all reach out to the Divine ones.   

As part of my course work for a Masters of Divinity I am interning this year at a Day Shelter for urban First Nations People, The Chief Seattle Club, and so I work two days a week with individuals that have held a status not all that dissimilar to that of the Samaritans.  They too have been, are, a despised people, a people forgotten unless we discover they have a resource we, the dominate culture, want.   We see them as one people yet I have come to learn just how diverse their cultures are.  Just like the rest of the diverse people’s of the United State the members of the Chief Seattle Club are made up of many different tribes each with their own unique cultures and ways of being.  I have learned much about being a person of faith from being with, eating with, sitting with, and praying with people who have a deep spirituality.  It’s not my spirituality, but I honor the beauty of their hearts because God honors them. 

This week I was asked how I, a Christian, can accept people who may not believe the way I do.  Our discussion was long and involved, at least on his part, I just kept saying what every way you are fed by God and the Spirit is right for you and I honor that.  I am a Christian, I will always be a Christian, but just as Jesus went into Samaritan territory and recognized God’s presence I too recognize God’s presence in the people I meet, whether they are First Nations people who follow their own tribal beliefs, Muslims who follow Mohammad or Buddhists who look for enlightenment through the teachings of the Buddha.  All are children of God. 

In the NRSV version of Romans 5:1-2 Paul says “5Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we* have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access* to this grace in which we stand; and we* boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.”  I have some problems with this version, mostly because I don’t like the way the word ‘justified’ is used. 

But I really like the way it is restated in the paraphrase bible The Message:  “1-2By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.”   Yes we as Christian find our way through the Master Jesus, but God has thrown open the doors and as we stand there we discover new spaces where God’s glory is magnified.  So it’s not what we have been used to and maybe it will challenge us.  But, oh the spaces we will discover when we embrace the other.  

I keep hoping we will be better than the first century Christians and open our doors to new ways of visualizing God, finding God in unexpected places, seeing God in people we haven’t met yet. 

Sermon presented on March 27, 2011, @ Queen Ann Christian Church

©Ruth Jewell, March 26, 2011