Saturday, December 15, 2012

What’s New about the Good News?



What’s New about the Good News?
Homily By The Rev. Marcia McRae
At St. Margaret of Scotland, Moultrie, GA
1st Sunday of Lent Year B RCL: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15

Jesus says: ...The kingdom of God has come near;

repent, and believe in the good news.
“Believe in the good news.” “Believe in the good news.”....I have trouble with that news part. My decades of work in the news business bring to mind a scene from an old movie. It goes something like this:
The editor is in the newsroom, chewing on his cigar, anxious for a lead story – breaking news worth the headline. A reporter rushes in. The editor demands, “Wattaya got?” Reporter: “12-car pileup. Dozens injured.” “When did it happen?” “Yesterday.” “That’s not news!” A second reporter rushes in. The editor demands, “Wattaya got?” “Thief robs little old lady in her home. Escapes with $2 million!” “When did it happen?” “Late last night.” “Hmmmm.” A third reporter rushes in. “Wattaya got?” “Cop shoots fleeing suspect!” “When?” The reporter pauses, listening....Sound effects from outside: Bang! Bang! Bang!
Reporter: “NOW!”                 Editor: “THAT’S NEWS!”
Would our Good News of Jesus make today’s headline? Do we even report our 2,000-year-old Good News? Jesus says: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near..." Does it look like the kingdom of God has come near? Not from our headlines – with us tearing each other apart like wild beasts.
Our Gospel says there are wild beasts in the wilderness where Jesus goes after his baptism – impelled to go there by the Holy Spirit – that peaceful dove that descends from heaven forces Jesus into the wilderness with wild beasts. The wilderness is their territory where they roam – the leopard, the bear, the wild boar, the jackal.[1]
Those terrifying beasts I would fear and avoid if I were in the wilderness. I know a bit about wild beasts....As I said, I worked decades in the news business, and I know what we are like at deadline.
One Bible commentator gives a different perspective on those wild beasts with Jesus. The beasts keep Jesus’ company as do the angels.[2] The beasts with Jesus echo Isaiah’s vision of God’s kingdom when enmity between humans and beasts will end.[3] In God’s kingdom “the wolf (will) dwell with the lamb...”[4]
God’s kingdom IS community. God, the Holy Trinity, IS community. Community IS the essence of God. We are made in God’s image. We are made for community. Jesus is not alone in the wilderness. We are not alone. God gives us each other as community in the Body of Christ to love and to serve.
Even in the news business, we function as a community. Each member of the news team has a specific task to do. Each member of the news team – from the front desk to the back shop, from the on-scene reporter to the person behind the camera – each has a talent, a gift to bring to our work so that we can report the news – the bad, the helpful, the inspiring, and the good news.
You and I have the BEST Good News to report. Part of our Good News IS that God gives us community. Part of our Good News is that God does not leave us on our own. Part of our Good News is that God acts. We respond.
Our Prayer Book tells us that God acts in our sacraments. In Holy Eucharist we pray that God will bless and sanctify the bread and the wine. In our sacrament of reconciliation, God absolves our sins. In our sacrament of Baptism, God sanctifies the water. To bless the oil for Chrism at Baptism, the Bishop prays that God will “...consecrate this oil that those who are sealed with it may share in the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ...” Community IS the essence of God’s kingdom.
Do we share this Good News? Maybe we don’t report our 2,000-year-old Good News because we don’t see that the kingdom IS near us. Maybe we don’t see the kingdom because of the direction we look. We need to change the direction we look. To repent is to turn to a new direction. Turning can give us a new perspective to see the vision with new eyes, to hear the Good News with new ears, and to work with new hearts for God’s kingdom, to work as sisters and brothers of God’s Beloved – God’s Chosen One. The Chosen One refers to an act of will – not a feeling”[5].
God’s kingdom IS Good News WHEN we share it with brothers and sisters who do not know the Good News of Jesus. IF we share this Good News, then our faith “can become a solid wooden bench for (our brothers and sisters) to stand on to see over the hedge that keeps (their) awareness so limited that (they) sometimes feel hog-tied and wish they were dead”[6] (to use the imagery of a 14th century mystic).
Our faith – your faith – can become a solid wooden bench for our brothers and sisters to stand on to see over the hedge that keeps their awareness so limited that they sometimes feel hog-tied and wish they were dead..... (That’s my paraphrase of Hafiz, the 14th Century Persian mystic.)
Hafiz also says that the language (your) illumined heart speaks can do for another what rain does for a well[7]. The Good News you speak from your illumined heart can fill a brother or sister like rain fills a dry well. Your faith can fill a dry well. Your faith can be a solid wooden bench for this brother or sister to see over the barrier that blocks them from life in community through Jesus Christ:
life in Community, life in God’s kingdom, life in God’s image!
Jesus says: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." God acts. God IS the newsmaker:
God tears apart the heavens and speaks. God places the rainbow in the sky and tells Noah that God makes a one-way covenant and says, “I will see this sign and I WILL remember.”
God makes us the Body of Christ to be God’s sign of God’s promise of Good News – the new kingdom of community. God calls us together to feed, nourish, strengthen, and empower us in the work of ministry God has for us in our time and place. God calls you here in this time and place to be the Church – the Body of Christ.
My brothers and sisters of St. Margaret’s – YOU ARE God’s visible sign of God’s promise of community for all people. This is Good News. This is Good News each day.
You ARE God’s news team in this time and place. Beloved, chosen sisters and brothers in Christ: Report the Good News!


Bibliography
Barclay, William. The Gospel of Mark. Revised Edition. Philadelphia:The Westminster Press. 1975.
Benhase, Bishop Scorr. Ecrozier #123 – 17 February 2012. Accessed: Feb. 17, 2012.
Harper’s Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988.
Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints. New York: Church Publishing. 2010.
Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Landinsky, Daniel. A Year with Hafiz: Daily Contemplations. New York: The Penguin Group.2010.
Lectionary Page. http://www.lectionarypage.net/. Accessed Jan. 17, 2012.
New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. Eds.: Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger. New York: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1977.
 
...With God’s help we will respect the dignity of every human being.
...Con el auxilio de Dios, respetaremos la dignidad de todo ser humano.
Baptismal Covenant
Book of Common Prayer  p. 305
Pacto Bautismal
El Libro de Oración Común  pj. 225.

[1] Barclay, William. The Gospel of Mark. P. 23.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid. P. 24.
[4] Ibid.
[5] New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. Eds.: Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger. P. 1213.
[6] Landinsky, Daniel. A Year with Hafiz: Daily Contemplations. P. 58. Text adapted in part.
[7] Landinsky. Ibid. P. 59. Text adapted
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I Will Inscribe My Law on Their Hearts



Crucifix from Florence, Italy, gift of friend.

I Will Inscribe My Law on Their Hearts
Good Friday 2012 Meditation
By The Rev. Marcia McRae
At Nelson Chapel AME Church
For Holy Week Community Lunch, Bainbridge, GA
Year B RCL: Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Psalm 22,

Hebrews 10:16-25, John 18:1-19:42
We meet as the family of God today for our final lunch of this Holy Week. We have not neglected to meet together, and we have encouraged one another to love and good deeds, as our reading from Hebrews encourages us to do.
As part of God’s family, shining the Light of Jesus in this community in a variety of ways, we have more love to share and more good deeds to do to bring more people into God’s family. Among those good deeds is sharing the Good News that is written on our hearts and minds: Jesus died for us – for all people. Jesus died to restore us to right relationship with God.
While we enjoy fellowship and good food here, let us think of this hour on that Good Friday and ponder the torture Jesus suffers for us.[1] John’s Gospel in the 19th chapter says it is about noon when Pilate gives up trying to save Jesus, gives up trying to placate the crowd. It is about noon when Pilate sits on the judge’s bench and hands Jesus over to be crucified. Pilate hands Jesus over to die for us on the hard wood of the cross.[2] This reality gets to our hearts.
The heart of the matter is Good News: Jesus dies on that cross to create for us that new relationship with God. In that new relationship, God writes God’s law on our hearts. Some translations say: “I will...inscribe it upon their hearts.”[3]
God inscribes the law on stone tablets for Moses to take to the people. Now, God inscribes the law on our hearts. To inscribe is to write deeply, to etch. In geometry to inscribe is “to draw...one figure within another figure so that the inner (is) in the boundary of the outer at as many points as possible.”[4]
God inscribes God’s law on our hearts so that it is in the boundary of our hearts at as many points as possible – at as many points as possible in our lives. This anchors our hearts to God so that we can know God more deeply, more intimately, than we know facts.
This anchors our hearts to God so that we can remember that God forgives. God blots out our sins. God says: "I will remember their sins no more." In our technological age, we might say God erases our sins so completely, they can’t be retrieved. God erases them from God’s hard drive with top security software. That’s expensive software. I’ve looked into it with a friend.
Computer experts tell us there are cheaper alternatives. One way is to shoot a bullet into the hard drive. My friend asked her son, an expert hunter, do this. So, one day, he takes rifle and hard drive into the woods and is gone a long time. My friend gets worried. What has happened to her son?
Finally he returns and says: “It is not easy as you would think.” He says it is really hard to shoot a bullet through a hard drive to wipe away the memory. It is something I can’t do....I have no firearm.
My tech friend says to erase the memory in my old computer I can hammer a nail into its hard drive. If it’s hard to shoot a bullet into a hard drive, how much harder is it for non-muscular me to hammer in a nail?
It is easier to hammer a nail through human flesh....Jesus’ dies on that cross to erase our sins from God’s memory. Jesus dies on the cross for us. God totally wipes out our guilt. God totally forgives us. God remembers our sins no more. When we confess our sins and turn them over to God, we should remember them no more. He who has promised IS faithful.
God forgives. God remembers no more. AND God renews a right spirit, a steadfast[5] spirit, within (us)”. As one commentator notes, God restores...(our) lost relationship, our lost harmony between us and God[6]. Jesus stretches out his arms of love on the hard wood of the cross to draw all people to him[7] – to draw all people into relationship with God the Holy Trinity.
“Therefore, my friends” – my brothers and sisters in God’s family – “since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through...(his flesh)...let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith...Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised IS faithful.”[8]
This IS Good News to share! God loves us. God forgives. God restores our relationship because Jesus stretches out his arms of love on the hard wood of that cross so that everyone might come within the reach of his saving embrace...[9]
Lord Jesus, we lift our hands in praise and thanks to you. We are your hands and feet and mouth in this community. We pray, Loving God: “So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name.”[10] We pray in the name of the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Bibliography

The American College Dictionary. C.L. Barnhart, Ed. in Chief. New York: random House. 1966.

Barclay, William. The Gospel of John. Vol. 2. Revised Edition. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1975.

Barclay, William. The Letter to the Hebrews. Revised Edition. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1976.

Book of Common Prayer. New York: The Church Hymnal Corp., and The Seabury Press. 1979.

Daily Office. Mission St. Clare. Accessed: March 24, 2012. http://www.missionstclare.com/english/March/whole/morning/23m.html.

Dios Habla Hoy: La Biblia. Nueva York: Sociedad Bíblica Americana. 1983.

The Four Translation New Testament. Minneapolis: World Wide Publications. 1966.

Handy Dictionary of the Bible. Ed.: Merrill C. Tenney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. 1965.

Harper’s Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1988.

Harper’s Bible Dictionary. General Ed.: Paul J. Achtemeier. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1971.

Holy Bible. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.

Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.

Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.

Lectionary Page. http://www.lectionarypage.net/. Accessed March 16, 2012.

The New American Bible for Catholics. South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1986.

New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. Eds.: Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger. New York: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1977.

Vox Modern Spanish and English Dictionary. Editors of Biblograf, S.A. and of NTC Publishing Group. Chicago: NTC Publishing Group. 1986.




...With God’s help we will respect the dignity of every human being.
...Con el auxilio de Dios, respetaremos la dignidad de todo ser humano.
Baptismal Covenant
Book of Common Prayer  p. 305
Pacto Bautismal
El Libro de Oración Común  pj. 225.

[1] Note: Photo is of a crucifix from Florence, Italy. A gift from a friend.
[2] Book of Common Prayer. “Morning Prayer II”. P. 101.
[3] Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation. P. 991.
[4] The American College Dictionary. C.L. Barnhart, Ed. in Chief. P. 628.
[5] New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. Eds.: Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger. P. 695.
[6] Harper’s Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L. Mays. P. 457.
[7] Book of Common Prayer. Morning Prayer II”. P. 101. Text adapted.
[8] Hebrews 10:19-23. Lectionary Page. http://www.lectionarypage.net/. Accessed March 16, 2012
[9] Ibid. Paraphrased.
[10] Book of Common Prayer. Morning Prayer II”. P. 101. Text adapted.
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Truth Shatters Belief



Truth Shatters Belief
 Sermon By The Rev. Marcia McRae
May 29, 2011, at St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church, Valdosta, GA
Easter 6 Year A, RCL: Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:7-18; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21
Today’s scriptures challenge us to see with new eyes, to see past what we understand, to love as Jesus commands, to do God’s work, to proclaim the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This challenges us to see beyond what we expect. Expectations can interfere with belief.
Expectations can distort reality.
As we drive, my husband, John, stays alert for LOW gas prices. We are driving along one day and he points to a sign and says, “Gas $3.60. That’s pretty good!” ....I remember when our response would have been horror to see gas so high. Experience changes perspective.
Perspective does not always fit reality.
My mother’s miniature silver sombrero is a souvenir she brought from Mexico to remember her wonderful trip. She cherished that little piece of art, proud to have a genuine Mexican silver item handcrafted by a Mexican artist. Years later she is polishing it and happens to turn it over as she rubs away tarnish from the imprint. It says – in ENGLISH: Made in Japan.
In an instant, truth Shatters Mother’s long-held belief.
The risen Jesus shatters the long-held belief of Peter’s faith tradition that the people of Noah’s day – believed to be the most corrupt ever – were forever imprisoned in death.[1] The risen Jesus shatters death’s power. Death cannot separate even the most corrupt people from Jesus’ proclamation of God’s mercy.[2]
Peter says the flood water of Noah’s day, through which the ark floats, prefigures the water of Baptism that saves us. . . .
Water destroys. . . .Water saves.
We know Noah’s story: he obeys God, builds the ark, loads animals two-by-two, shuts the door, saves humankind. Do we think of the reality Noah and his family faced? This apron[3] – modeled by Deacon Karyl – humorously shows us there are practical realities as we do God’s work.
Peter tells us in today’s Epistle to expect suffering for doing God’s work. Jesus suffers. His followers will suffer. Jesus commands us to love others. Love is willing to risk suffering.
Paul understands suffering for doing God’s work. Paul understands practical realities of how to approach this work. He meets the people of Athens where they are. He speaks to their religious perspective that includes the altar “To an unknown god.”
Remember what Paul says: “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
Like Paul, we must meet people where they are in their lives and speak in ways they can understand so that God’s Truth shatters false belief. These days many of us put a lot of trust in technology to keep us safe and free from harm. Most of us have experienced our technology crashing.
In all the natural disasters lately our technology failed to keep destruction and death away. People call these “acts of God” and think that God has crashed...

GOD has not crashed. God has not failed. God is still here for us. What has crashed is false belief in the face of God’s Truth: God does not promise that following Jesus means no suffering.
I can hear Paul speaking to people today, like he did to the Athenians: “People of the 21st century, I can see how extremely technological you are. As I surfed the net, I looked carefully at the objects of your worship – your Doppler radar, your advanced warning systems, your droids, twitter, and iphones,– and I found among them a pop-up ad inscribed: ‘Totally integrated Unity! The unknown way to connect.’
“What you worship as the unknown way to connect, this I proclaim to you. I proclaim the Ultimate Way to connect.
“God – NOT things made by humans – is what I proclaim. God IS in charge even in disasters, even in death.”
Technology does not prevent disaster and death in Joplan, in Tuscaloosa, in Japan, in Valdosta. Technology can enhance lives and save lives. It cannot breathe the Holy Spirit into lives.
The Holy Spirit gives the wisdom to create life-saving technology. The Holy Spirit gives us the courage to love as Jesus commands us to love – the courage to risk suffering.
What makes a difference in disaster and in the face of death is the same as in Paul’s day and Noah’s: Trust God. Pray. Prayer never fails.


Your prayers at the news of disaster and pending storms are the first responders. Prayer helps the practical “boots on the ground” have courage, strength, and wisdom to do God’s work.
We know God has prepared for us good things that surpass our understanding. We know the Holy Spirit helps us to love as Jesus loves. We know the Holy Spirit helps us see beyond what we expect.
We know the truth of God’s totally integrated Unity: The Triune God we worship IS the ultimate way to connect.
This we proclaim!
Bibliography
Book of Common Prayer. New York: The Church Hymnal Corp., and The Seabury Press. 1979.
Brioadt, Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction. New York: Paulist Press. 1984.
Harper’s Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988.
Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Lectionary Page. http://www.io.com/~kellywp/. Accessed April 19, 2011.
New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1977.
  
...With God’s help we will respect the dignity of every human being.
...Con el auxilio de Dios, respetaremos la dignidad de todo ser humano.
Baptismal Covenant
Book of Common Prayer  p. 305
Pacto Bautismal
El Libro de Oración Común  pj. 225.


[1] Harper’s Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L. Mays. P. 1283.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Note: Posted on blog is photo of apron, a gift to the author. Apron tag says: helenware the kitchenworkshop.
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