[Propertalk] 6 Epiphany a 2017 - part 1

[Robert P Morrison]

It's been a busy week, but I have a draft for Sunday.
Best wishes,
Bob

	THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY   THE 6th SUNDAY AFTER THE
EPIPHANY a

	DEUTERONOMY 31:15-20     12th FEBRUARY, 2017

	1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-9    PSALM 119:1-8

	MATTHEW 5:21-37

	 It’s the small things!

	 Have you ever faced and wrestled with near catastrophe, something
which looms over life like a huge, explosive cloud? Have you had that
experience and managed to survive, albeit with several more silver
hairs and shorter finger nails? Somehow, when we come up against all
the big events – and I’m not trying to belittle them in any way;
they CAN be dangerous – somehow, when we come up against all the big
events, we seem to be more or less ready, and can begin to deal with
them, even although we may not have been totally prepared for them.
Somehow, we find the resources to manage to get back on with our
lives.

	 But the small things – the person who doesn’t pay attention to
anyone in traffic; the toilet paper placed on then roller in the way
we don’t like; the line at the pass-through between the kitchen and
the parish hall which may mean that the tea or coffee runs out before
we get to it – it’s the small things which can trigger terrible
reactions, even if, normally, we’re as placid as-all-get-out.

	 We may joke about it, if we’re lucky, but the joke often has a
barn in it.

	 It’s the small things, Jesus seemed to suggest, that can kill us
spiritually and prevent us from progressing on our faith journey.

	 The problem is, there’s so much in our lives – or, at least,
there are so many things I experience – which can be shrugged off as
if they’re no big deal. But then there are those other things which
really absorb all my attention and divert me from doing what I can and
should accomplish, even although they’re of no greater significance
that much of the rest of the stuff.

	 Suzanne Guthrie, whose weekly meditations I find helpful, wrote that
“Jesus brushes past the surface stuff (murder, adultery) to get to
the tendrils of evil rooting within the heart. It isn't enough just to
refrain from killing or from infidelity but to uncover the anger and
lustful impulses that form into thoughts, desires, and then deeds.
Purity of heart is called for.” 1
 Suzanne concluded her opening remarks by quoting the monk Thich Nhat
Hanh (Tik · N'yat · Harn), who wrote, “I would not look upon anger
as something foreign to me that I have to fight....I have to deal with
my anger with care, with love, with tenderness, with nonviolence.”

	 From a purely physical standpoint, this makes excellent sense. If we
don’t address anger, if we ignore conflict, if we allow it to
consume all of our lives, then we’ll develop adverse physical
symptoms, just as we’ll develop adverse emotional and spiritual ones
as well.

	 Neither the Buddhist monk, nor Suzanne, are suggesting that we
forget about what it is that makes us angry, or frustrated, or
irrational. Far from it. Nor is their suggestion that murder and so on
are passé. The point is to examine ourselves, our lives, our
thoughts, our reactions with minute care, each day, in order to see if
what we did and how we reacted shows care, and love, and tenderness,
and did not suck us into violence in any form.

	 Of the many negative consequences of social media, especially just
now, is the way in which we feel drawn in to make instant,
insensitive, often self-serving remarks which seem to end up being
more like pouring gasoline on any number of fires than anything else.

	 Perhaps our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, summarised what Jesus
was talking about when he told a congregation at a three-day mission
in Pittsburgh last week, “Don’t be afraid to be people of love.
Don’t be afraid to stand up for the name of Jesus. Don’t be afraid
to reclaim this faith again. And don’t you be ashamed to be an
Episcopalian.”  2

	 Bishop Curry wasn’t talking about instant reaction or instant
gratification in a negative way. He wasn’t, to deal with some of the
issues mentioned in this morning’s Gospel passage, he wasn’t
looking for people to lash out. “The emphasis was on both sparking
individuals’ faith lives and a commitment to show the love of Jesus
beyond the four walls of their churches. Anchoring Episcopal revivals
in the needs of the world was a constant theme of the weekend.

	 “‘Episcopal Church,’ (Bishop Curry called out,) ‘we need you
to follow Jesus. We need you to be the countercultural people of God
who would love one another, who would care when others could care
less, who would give, not take, …

	  “To do that, a revival must channel the emotions of the moment
toward something bigger and lasting, Curry said during a news
conference. ‘It is about claiming new and authentic and genuine
life. That’s true for our nation, true for our world. We must find
better ways to live together, to care for each other, to care for our
society and to care for our global communities,’ he said.

	 “We who are followers of Jesus believe that the way of love and
the way of Jesus is the key to doing that. But, we join hands with
people of other faiths and people of goodwill – anyone who wants to
help us end what so often is a nightmare of poverty and injustice and
bigotry and wrong and violence, and realize God’s dream of true
harmony and peace and justice for everybody.”

	
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20170209/61c8ce97/attachment.htm>