[Propertalk] Proper 19 b 2018 - part 2

[Robert P Morrison]

	I'll try this in 2 this time. Who knows what'll happen!

	 What do we need? James Lemler outlines what he sees we need to
address today. The overarching word which he believes we need to
embrace is “transformation”. Of course, nothing stays the same,
anyplace or at any time. But what he – what the Gospel – asks u to
do is to start with whatever is inside us, whatever is at the hearts
of all the institutions and to throw our everything that hinders us in
growing not only to be lore and more LIKE Jesus, but, in seeking and
walking more and more in His company. As the writer of the first
reading put it, if we seek Wisdom, if we seek to enhance God’s reign
and presence in our midst right here in Albany, then we have to
realign our lives so that we too can stand at the busiest corners and
intersections of this city; we too have to get to the gates, the
places where we can interact with the greatest variety of people.
It’s not enough to sit and believe that the people will come to us.
It’s not enough to keep on doing the same thing. It’s not enough
to say, “Oh, I’ll pray about this, or for you.” 

	 OF COURSE, we all need prayer. We all need to take time to be quiet,
to settle down, to set aside conversation, to focus on what God may be
saying and how Wisdom may be appearing. And in that silence, the
silence for which we may have waited a whole week till we come into
this place; and in that silence, we can ask Wisdom to come, to raise
up in our hearts and minds what is important, what SHE wishes we’d
heard and consider. 

	 One of the problems about where we find ourselves is that we can
easily become trapped by what is familiar do that often we don’t
think about stretching ourselves in new directions. 

	 Take the episode described in today’s Gospel I get the feeling
that Jesus’ friends didn’t WANT to ask themselves who He was.
Certainly, they recognised the power He had and the incredible love
which directed Him in how to use His power. They must have been really
pleased to have the opportunity to be in His company, even if some of
the things He said and did, and some of the people with whom He
interacted, made them uncomfortable. 

	 Then came the day when Jesus was SO direct. “Who do people say
that I am? Who do YOU say that I am?”  

	 It may have been easier to answer the first question rather than the
second. It’s nearly always less of a challenge to repeat other
peoples’ comments without necessarily fact-checking them. In fact,
we’re very adept at passing along all sorts of statements, no matter
how relevant or apposite they are. But when you and I have to say who
or what is deep within our thoughts and our understandings, then that
puts us on the spot. Yet THIS is what we need to do. THIS is that with
which we have to wrestle 

	 How do we think God acts? Where do we think we’ll see Wisdom, and
what will She be wanting us to do? 

	 Who IS Jesus? And do these questions have any significance for our
day-to-day living? Do they control/inform how we think and speak about
ourselves? Do they influence how we think and speak about others? ARE
these questions of transformation, and are we willing to see them as
such, act on them as such? DO these questions and the answers we give
guide and colour who we are and how we relate to each other? 

	 THIS is what Jesus is asking again. 

	 Of course, the second part of the Gospel story is the one that we
just like the friends of Jesus, don’t want to hear. The second part
talks about how our understanding of the desire and call of God
inevitably leads to confrontations with all sorts of people, some of
whom we may expect to find and others whom we might imagine would NOT
be troubled by the demands of the life of a friend of Jesus.  

	 Wisdom stands among us who say we are friends of Jesus and says that
we need to have frequent vision exams, not only that we may see Her,
but so that we may see where She is and where She is leading. Wisdom
asks to examine what we do every day to enable people to live in
loving and fulfilling relationships with everyone in creation. As
James Lemler put it, we need Wisdom to help us to develop “a
willingness to embrace the new models of generosity and spiritual
practices that can transform the church’s outmoded attitudes towards
stewardship and wealth (among other things). 

	 “Like Christians in the early church, we live in a secular culture
that can be apathetic and even hostile to Christianity. Living in a
setting where people are not familiar with the message or narrative of
Christian believing requires new responses and new kinds of mission
for the Body of Christ.” 2 

	 There’s always a question about how open we’ll be to finding
Wisdom in our society, This openness HAS to include a willingness to
seeing Wisdom in the strangest of places, and asking the strangest,
perhaps the most awkward questions. Like, “Who do YOU say that I
am?” or, “Just what do you think you’re supposed to be doing
with your life, your relationships, your resources?” 

	 So, where does this lead us? 

	 [Is Wisdom asking the right questions at the corner?] 

	NOTES: 

	1  James Lemler, Series Editor, _“Transformations: The Episcopal
Church in the 21st Century”_ in _“Transforming Stewardship” b_y
C.K Robertson. Church Publishing, Incorporated, New York, N.Y. ©
2009. Preface page vii. 

	2 Lemler, Op. cit, page viii.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20180913/ab1c5cc4/attachment.htm>