The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa
Rabbi Harold Kushner, in his book “Overcoming Life’s Disappointments,” describes three types of experiences for human beings regarding dreams for their lives: 1. Those who dream boldly even as they realize their dreams may not come true. 2. Those who dream more modestly and fear that even their modest dreams will not come true. 3. Those who do not dream at all; lest they be disappointed.
A strange day that we Christians dare to call Good, is this day. Strange because today we live with the disciples in the deepest expression of disappointment and disillusionment as we are drawn into the agony and despair of Jesus. How do we affirm our innate nature to dream or how do we participate in God’s dream for humanity and the world when on this day we live a story of an execution of one who dares dream the world through God’s eyes, Jesus of Nazareth? The story is one whose themes we know oh so well. There are betrayal, false accusations, ultimate injustice, torture, and unspeakable acts of violence against another human being. Make no mistake, at the center of the day is an act of corporal punishment carried out by an occupying government, and the policy of this act is to keep an occupied people firmly rooted in a theme of disillusionment and disappointment.
What of us, Jesus’ disciples, on such a day we dare to call Good? What of Jesus’ disciples who have come to a crossroad in their faith and following of Jesus and the dream he boldly proclaims? How do they watch this abuse and what will become of the dream Jesus carefully implants in them? And what of us? Even as we strive to affirm the possibility that Jesus was victorious against death when at the same time we recount how his body was literally broken and crushed. The powers of death and destruction surround us, who would dare dream boldly? There is war, there is terror, and despite the rhetoric of the day where one is implied as an answer to the other, the result it seems is similar, that is despair and destruction. There is betrayal and there is injustice. There is inequality and there are false accusations. There is abuse and there is even torture in the most surprising of circumstances. There is neglect and there is suffering. There is, even in our day, similar governmental policies of execution and corporal punishment. Yes, it seems ironic as we carry all of this with us as it enfolds itself in the story of Jesus that we could call such a day as this good, even as we are tempted then to be among those who dare not dream at all, lest there be pure disappointment and disillusionment.
BUT, there is the dream, one dreamed boldly that comes in the sure and certain knowledge of God’s I AM. Ehyeh, Asher, Ehyeh, God says, I Am who I AM, I will be who I will be. God’s name, Rabbi Kushner suggests in the Hebrew translates, is I will be with You! For Jesus, the Son of God, Who are you who dares to die for the dream you embody? I AM Resurrection and Life, I will be with you in Resurrection and Life!
God’s dream embodied in Jesus takes on the insufferable ways of the world, takes on abuse, injustice, torture, neglect, not because these themes can be avoided in a world whose default setting sometimes seems to be darkness, BUT because and in spite of it. God’s dream of new life can only come into being by participating in our lives, in the brokenness of it, and by being present as the light that shines in the midst of darkness! Where do we find the strength to dare dream boldly a world of compassion and justice? A world where the dark default setting cannot be betrayal, false accusation, war, injustice, discrimination, abuse, torture, and the execution of our dreams for something better? We start by looking for the light of Christ even as it shines through the mysterious darkness of a day we dare call Good. Listen to words of compassion even from the cross: Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Dreams of compassion start with our own lives. Even our own brokenness may not always be entwined in the powers and forces of all the world, but may even be as challenged by forces that break us down personally. Broken relationships, addictions, the breaking down of our bodies, and the unimagined fragility of our very lives! Yet shining, even in the shadow of the cross, is the I AM! I AM with you in Resurrection Jesus will promise! New life even in the midst of darkness! The Goodness of the day begins with a dream that death cannot conquer! Ehyeh, Asher, Ehyeh, I AM with you as light in the darkness and the darkness will never, ever overcome the light! We choose the light and call it Good. We move through the darkness toward the light as the light moves toward us.
1. WILL YOU THINK OF ANOTHER PERSON IN A FORGIVING OR AN ACCUSING WAY?
2. WILL YOU ACCEPT OR REJECT THOSE WHO ARE DIFFERENT THAN YOU ARE?
3. WILL YOU REACH OUT AND EMBRACE OTHERS OR HOLD BACK, PROTECTING YOURSELF AND YOUR EMOTIONS?
4. WILL YOU SHARE WHAT YOU HAVE OR WILL YOU HOARD?
5. WILL YOU, THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, LIFESTYLES, ATTITUDES, SEEK TO HURT OTHERS OR HEAL THE WORLD?
6. WILL YOU TAKE A STANCE OF LIFE THAT RESENTS OTHERS OR BE GRATEFUL FOR OTHERS?
7. WILL YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE WITH A GENERAL SLANT THAT IS GLAD OR SAD? HOPEFUL OR DOOMFILLED?
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Maundy Thursday
The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa
This night we find ourselves at a place in our Lenten Journey that is for some awkward and unbalancing. It is the night in which we live our liturgical drama in a way that challenges us to visit the story of Jesus and risk a bit of ourselves as Jesus has risked himself with us. Our Lenten journey is one that at its core is an opportunity to reflect on the deepest yearnings within us, that is the yearning to be connected with God intimately! Inviting God into the deepest parts of our beings, the broken parts of our beings, the parts of our beings that desire love and need love the most, for some of us that means dark and ugly parts!
There is no irony, just symbol and metaphor that on this night through our ritual we will expose (if we choose) in a spirit of vulnerability, our feet. Awkward as it may be, to deliver our feet, dirty and rough, or sensitive and smooth, or uneven and imperfect, is to lay symbolically a piece of our being bare! To lay ourselves bare in the end is what God desires of us, to open ourselves fully is to invite God intimately into our lives so that our lives are lived in the world as God would have them!
Intimacy! Intimacy defined means Intrinsic or essential. Belonging to or characterizing one’s deepest nature. Our ritual this night is found in the story of Jesus on the most intimate night of his life on earth. He gathered around him those he loved, among them one who would betray him. Jesus would seize the night before his death to give a sign (as John’s Gospel would have it) of what it would be for those who follow him to live as a community of believers in God’s dream for the world as they knew it. He would, in a moment of intimacy, wash their feet! Dirty and tired, aching and smelling, blistered and swollen, the master would engage in an act of servant hood, cleansing and washing their feet, inviting them once more into the fullness of what it is to be a follower of the dream! If they are to be keepers of the dream, they are to “love one another as Jesus loved them”! A “mandatum” is the Latin that gives us our title of this liturgy “Maundy,” a new commandment; to love one another the way Jesus loved them! How did Jesus love them – “intimately”! How will Jesus love us – “intimately”! The disciples’ “deepest nature” would be loved into being a “new community” that stood by the principles of servant hood and compassion, righteousness, and justice! The “deepest nature” of being loved so intimately would lead them not perfectly as a “new community,” but faithfully even as they would certainly watch the powers of the day execute their master! The “deepest nature” of being loved so intimately would lead them through what they would surely witness in the days ahead, that the dream would die on a cross on a hillside in Jerusalem, but that Christ himself would live with them in love as they loved one another and dared to live into Jesus “value system” of serving the most vulnerable and needy.
Raymond Brown, New Testament scholar wrote, “When we live into Jesus’ value system, we make him alive rather than just memorializing him.”
Tonight, our liturgy is a liturgy of intimacy! Our deepest nature yearns for God to love us “intimately”! We draw near this night to Jesus through the power of signs, feet laid bare to be washed in an act of servant hood and love! Our deepest nature yearning to be loved so intimately that God’s dream for our lives might live new, even in our brokenness and awkwardness. Our “mandatum” or commandment to love one another as Christ loved us perhaps draws us into an opportunity to make Christ alive by living into Jesus “Value system” of servant hood! St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” Come, draw near, and love one another as Christ has loved us.
This night we find ourselves at a place in our Lenten Journey that is for some awkward and unbalancing. It is the night in which we live our liturgical drama in a way that challenges us to visit the story of Jesus and risk a bit of ourselves as Jesus has risked himself with us. Our Lenten journey is one that at its core is an opportunity to reflect on the deepest yearnings within us, that is the yearning to be connected with God intimately! Inviting God into the deepest parts of our beings, the broken parts of our beings, the parts of our beings that desire love and need love the most, for some of us that means dark and ugly parts!
There is no irony, just symbol and metaphor that on this night through our ritual we will expose (if we choose) in a spirit of vulnerability, our feet. Awkward as it may be, to deliver our feet, dirty and rough, or sensitive and smooth, or uneven and imperfect, is to lay symbolically a piece of our being bare! To lay ourselves bare in the end is what God desires of us, to open ourselves fully is to invite God intimately into our lives so that our lives are lived in the world as God would have them!
Intimacy! Intimacy defined means Intrinsic or essential. Belonging to or characterizing one’s deepest nature. Our ritual this night is found in the story of Jesus on the most intimate night of his life on earth. He gathered around him those he loved, among them one who would betray him. Jesus would seize the night before his death to give a sign (as John’s Gospel would have it) of what it would be for those who follow him to live as a community of believers in God’s dream for the world as they knew it. He would, in a moment of intimacy, wash their feet! Dirty and tired, aching and smelling, blistered and swollen, the master would engage in an act of servant hood, cleansing and washing their feet, inviting them once more into the fullness of what it is to be a follower of the dream! If they are to be keepers of the dream, they are to “love one another as Jesus loved them”! A “mandatum” is the Latin that gives us our title of this liturgy “Maundy,” a new commandment; to love one another the way Jesus loved them! How did Jesus love them – “intimately”! How will Jesus love us – “intimately”! The disciples’ “deepest nature” would be loved into being a “new community” that stood by the principles of servant hood and compassion, righteousness, and justice! The “deepest nature” of being loved so intimately would lead them not perfectly as a “new community,” but faithfully even as they would certainly watch the powers of the day execute their master! The “deepest nature” of being loved so intimately would lead them through what they would surely witness in the days ahead, that the dream would die on a cross on a hillside in Jerusalem, but that Christ himself would live with them in love as they loved one another and dared to live into Jesus “value system” of serving the most vulnerable and needy.
Raymond Brown, New Testament scholar wrote, “When we live into Jesus’ value system, we make him alive rather than just memorializing him.”
Tonight, our liturgy is a liturgy of intimacy! Our deepest nature yearns for God to love us “intimately”! We draw near this night to Jesus through the power of signs, feet laid bare to be washed in an act of servant hood and love! Our deepest nature yearning to be loved so intimately that God’s dream for our lives might live new, even in our brokenness and awkwardness. Our “mandatum” or commandment to love one another as Christ loved us perhaps draws us into an opportunity to make Christ alive by living into Jesus “Value system” of servant hood! St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” Come, draw near, and love one another as Christ has loved us.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Palm Sunday: Breathe
The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch
Matthew 21:1-11, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Matthew 27:11-54
Breathe.
“Breathe,” my colleague tells me as he senses my anxiety mount because one more thing has gone wrong with my day.
“Breathe,” my friend emails me, “Take care of yourself as Holy Week approaches...hope you can find a few breathing spaces here and there.”
“Breathe,” I tell my companion and I gift him with post-it notes that say, “Things I need to do today: 1) Breathe in. 2) Breathe out.”
Breathe. How simple…and how complex! Breathing, the act of respiration, is a complex chemical and biological process. It is the transformation of oxygen into carbon dioxide. Every cell needs to respire in order to produce the energy it needs. So, if breath is necessary for energy, why do we think of taking a deep breath when we want to calm down?
Perhaps we need energy to focus, to be. Lately I have been reading a book called Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabot-Zinn. He writes, “Bringing awareness to our breathing, we remind ourselves that we are here now so we might as well be fully awake for whatever is already happening.” (p. 18)
Wherever you go, there you are. So where are you this day, Palm Sunday? With the excitement of the palms? With the solemnity of the passion? Somewhere else completely? Wherever it is, breathe. Remind yourself that you are here and now. This is the moment that you encounter God.
Matthew 21:1-11, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Matthew 27:11-54
Breathe.
“Breathe,” my colleague tells me as he senses my anxiety mount because one more thing has gone wrong with my day.
“Breathe,” my friend emails me, “Take care of yourself as Holy Week approaches...hope you can find a few breathing spaces here and there.”
“Breathe,” I tell my companion and I gift him with post-it notes that say, “Things I need to do today: 1) Breathe in. 2) Breathe out.”
Breathe. How simple…and how complex! Breathing, the act of respiration, is a complex chemical and biological process. It is the transformation of oxygen into carbon dioxide. Every cell needs to respire in order to produce the energy it needs. So, if breath is necessary for energy, why do we think of taking a deep breath when we want to calm down?
Perhaps we need energy to focus, to be. Lately I have been reading a book called Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabot-Zinn. He writes, “Bringing awareness to our breathing, we remind ourselves that we are here now so we might as well be fully awake for whatever is already happening.” (p. 18)
Wherever you go, there you are. So where are you this day, Palm Sunday? With the excitement of the palms? With the solemnity of the passion? Somewhere else completely? Wherever it is, breathe. Remind yourself that you are here and now. This is the moment that you encounter God.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
The Fifth Sunday of Lent
The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa
In the fifth chapter of the Gospel according to John, Jesus reveals the promise that lives in him as he speaks to those who would listen: “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will…Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live…Do not marvel at this: the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth…” Today then, a few chapters later, Jesus show us what he means in the long Gospel we just read.
A middle-aged man finds himself in an uncertain situation. Struggling with a depression, a recent fracture and separation from his spouse, a loss of his job, a struggle with alcohol and chemical addiction, he wakes in the middle of the night and becomes aware of his surroundings. The unfamiliar surroundings rise to his awareness, and he becomes fully conscious as he acclimates to the reality of the place he seeks refuge, the basement in his parents home. The despair of his life rises up almost choking him to death. Dead, in fact, is how he feels, and almost making friends with it, he moves from his temporary bed, a pull-out sofa, and lies on the cold ceramic floor. In the middle of the night, his refuge becomes almost tomblike, cold and damp, dark, despairing. Night after night, it seems this is the routine, awakened by despair, oriented to an unfamiliar surrounding, moving to the cold and damp floor. Family members keep vigilant watch: His parents and sisters, though polite and respectful, their broken hearts over their loved one’s despair, offered outside of “the tomb” as day by day they keep watch! How long will death surround? Lazarus, will you ever come out? “Do not marvel at this: the hour is coming when all who are in the tomb will hear his voice and come forth…” Lazarus, come out!
A door opens a crack, a familiar voice follows the light as it walks down the stairs to a tomblike basement, Come on, we’re going to Eucharist. Hymns are sung, a table prepared, a moment comes…Hands extended at an altar rail, a host placed gently, a chalice makes its way, Christ is coming toward, it seems! Lazarus, come out! Years of Sunday school teachers, youth group leaders, bible study partners, a crescendo of voices now seem to fill the heart, head and body, seemingly overcoming the once droll symphony of grief and anguish (like Mahler’s Fifth), that certainly was being offered as if by mourners standing outside a tomb. The voice returns...“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever believes in me shall never die.” Lazarus, come out! I am coming toward you! “Aionious” – the Greek word used in John’s Gospel, I have a “new life,” is promised!
How about you? How about me? Lazarus, come out! I am coming toward you!
“Aionious” – What new life is promised?
In the fifth chapter of the Gospel according to John, Jesus reveals the promise that lives in him as he speaks to those who would listen: “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will…Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live…Do not marvel at this: the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth…” Today then, a few chapters later, Jesus show us what he means in the long Gospel we just read.
A middle-aged man finds himself in an uncertain situation. Struggling with a depression, a recent fracture and separation from his spouse, a loss of his job, a struggle with alcohol and chemical addiction, he wakes in the middle of the night and becomes aware of his surroundings. The unfamiliar surroundings rise to his awareness, and he becomes fully conscious as he acclimates to the reality of the place he seeks refuge, the basement in his parents home. The despair of his life rises up almost choking him to death. Dead, in fact, is how he feels, and almost making friends with it, he moves from his temporary bed, a pull-out sofa, and lies on the cold ceramic floor. In the middle of the night, his refuge becomes almost tomblike, cold and damp, dark, despairing. Night after night, it seems this is the routine, awakened by despair, oriented to an unfamiliar surrounding, moving to the cold and damp floor. Family members keep vigilant watch: His parents and sisters, though polite and respectful, their broken hearts over their loved one’s despair, offered outside of “the tomb” as day by day they keep watch! How long will death surround? Lazarus, will you ever come out? “Do not marvel at this: the hour is coming when all who are in the tomb will hear his voice and come forth…” Lazarus, come out!
A door opens a crack, a familiar voice follows the light as it walks down the stairs to a tomblike basement, Come on, we’re going to Eucharist. Hymns are sung, a table prepared, a moment comes…Hands extended at an altar rail, a host placed gently, a chalice makes its way, Christ is coming toward, it seems! Lazarus, come out! Years of Sunday school teachers, youth group leaders, bible study partners, a crescendo of voices now seem to fill the heart, head and body, seemingly overcoming the once droll symphony of grief and anguish (like Mahler’s Fifth), that certainly was being offered as if by mourners standing outside a tomb. The voice returns...“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever believes in me shall never die.” Lazarus, come out! I am coming toward you! “Aionious” – the Greek word used in John’s Gospel, I have a “new life,” is promised!
How about you? How about me? Lazarus, come out! I am coming toward you!
“Aionious” – What new life is promised?
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