[Propertalk] Proper 23 b - 1

[robertpmorrison at charter.net]

I'll try sending this in two bits. I haven't had much luck posting
lately.
Happy preaching and presiding!

Bob

	THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY   THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY
AFTER PENTECOST 

	JOB 23:1-9, 16-17   PROPER 23 b 

	HEBREWS 4:12-16     11th OCTOBER, 2015 

	MARK 10:17-31     PSALM 22:1-15 

	  Here we go again! 

	  That can work different ways. We can be excited about something
enjoyable happening. Like October being National Apple Pie Month. Did
you know that? Do you care? Maybe there’s something else which would
make you really happy. Each of us, I’m sure, has her or his own
favourite activities, rituals in which we engage and remind us of good
times, good company, good outcomes, the memories of which make us
relax and breathe easily, knowing that all is pretty well with the
world, especially our own little corner of it. Emotionally, physically
and, yes, spiritually, we all need these moments and memories.
They’re what enable us to keep going on, to be engaged with
ourselves and with one another, to be reminded of our worth. This is
especially true when we hear, once again, that God loves each one of
us, no matter what, and when we get some little goose-bump inducing
feeling, some thought, some sensation, that actually allows us to FEEL
God’s loving Presence, then we nay sigh with relief and joy. 

	  Such is often the case for me at the actual moment that I take the
Body of Jesus into my mouth, when I lift the cup of Jesus’ Blood,
when, in some unintelligible way, the Bread and the Wine become Jesus
in me; what that happens, there’s an enormous feeling of gratitude,
of comfort, of peace that Jesus becomes joined with me and accepts me,
despite my shortcomings. 

	  The late Henri Nouwen wrote, “The Eucharist is the sacrament of
unity. It makes us into one body. The apostle Paul writes: ‘As there
is one loaf, so we, although there are many of us, are one single
body, for we all share in the one loaf.’ (1 Corinthians 10:17).” 1


	  It’s not something I do, and yet, in a way, it is. I have to say,
“Yes.” I have to stretch out my hands, to wait, to allow myself to
be touched. I have to empty myself in confidence that I shall be
filled, not pushing myself forward in any way – simply waiting. And
Jesus comes. 

	Henru Nouwen went on, “The Eucharist is much more than a place
where we celebrate our unity in Christ. The Eucharist creates this
unity. By eating from the same bread and drinking from the same cup,
we become the body of Christ present in the world. Just as Christ
becomes really present to us in the breaking of the bread, we become
really present to one another as brothers and sisters of Christ,
members of the same body. Thus the Eucharist not only signifies unity
but also creates it.” 

	THIS is what makes life for me, and I can and long to experience this
again, not merely for the joy it brings, but for the other side of
“Here we go again”. 

	Here we go again – because we’re let by the compilers of the
lectionary to spend more time wrestling with the story of Job. The
struggle never really leaves us. 

	 I’ve heard people say, If only I had a million dollars. Or was
guaranteed good health. Or was promised safety and even moderate
comfort for the rest of my life.” 

	I’ve heard people say that, but even those who DO have these things
have worries. I’ve read of those whose lives were close to that
until the mess created by the economic immorality and corruption of
eight or so years ago obliterated their safety nets. A healthy bank
account, a fine home, a family with stable relationships do not give
guarantees against strain, and tension, or catastrophe. 

	In fact, “Here we go again” played out not a weekend after the
tragedy of 

	Roseburg, when schools and colleges were evacuated and closed on the
receipt of threatening notes and phone calls around southern Oregon,
less than a hundred miles from Roseburg. 

	  Will we have to live with this for the rest of our lives? What of
our children, and our children’s children? 

	  What did Job have to say about this? He looked all round. He kept
turning, listening, hoping for something – a sound, a vision,
anything – to bring him into touch with God. But Job discovered, as
painfully as the psalmist, as painfully as Jesus who quoted that
psalm-writer as He hung on the cross – Job discovered the difficulty
of living which never fully disappears. Job wanted to be swallowed up.
At least in nothingness there would be no pain, no fear. But, at the
back of his mind, he knew also that there would be no joy, no light,
no ecstasy from being taken into God’s Presence. Something like our
taking Bread into our hands, drinking that Wine, something like that
enabled Job to go on seeking, to keep turning, to keep walking, no
matter how discouraged, how tired, how unsettled he felt. Something
about the Presence of God lived deep within him and enabled him look
even for the Almighty whose brilliance and purity terrified him. 

	  And THIS is what enables us to go on. Do we WANT to see or read
about another Umpqua Community College, no matter where it occurs? Do
we want to deal with ANYthing that troubles and discomfits us? Of
course not! No one does. Even if we have limited goals and
aspirations, no human wants to live with the sort of emotions and
physical situations that keep us so on edge that we lose the desire to
do anything, to go anywhere, to meet with others. So what are we to
do? How are we supposed to get along when the newspapers, the radio,
the TV, the social media – maybe we should start to call them the
ANTIsocial media, at least part of the time! – how are we supposed
to get along when we’re constantly bombarded with threats, and
innuendos and thinly veiled lies? To whom may we turn? In whom may we
trust?

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