In Honor of the Apostles for St. Andrew's Day

Today the church commemorates the life of St. Andrew the Apostle, and the readings are selected as such.  In the Gospel of John (1:35-42) we read of the story of Andrew coming to follow Jesus.  Andrew and another disciple of John the Baptist are following behind Jesus.  Jesus then asks that loaded question: “What are you looking for?” Within a day of meeting Jesus, Andrew is so impressed with Jesus he is bringing his brother Simon along, claiming Jesus is the Messiah.  Later in the Gospel whenever we see Andrew mentioned he is always an agent bringing people to meet Jesus.  In St. Andrew we see the prime example of an apostle; one of the first to begin bringing the world to encounter Jesus of Nazareth.

The New Testament Lesson for today is an intense one from I Corinthians that elaborates on these apostles.  In this letter we have St. Paul, another apostle, talking about the apostles:

“for I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals.  We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ.  We are weak, but you are strong.  You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.  To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands.  When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly.  We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day. (ICor. 4:9-13).

I imagine if Simon or Andrew were to have read this before meeting Jesus they probably would have thought twice. Yet this is where the meeting of Jesus took all the apostles (except the one) eventually.  Something is peculiar about these men though; something has happened to them that makes them so different.  I think we see their wisdom if we read more from this chapter; Paul writes:

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself.  I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.  It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.  Then each one will receive the commendation from God.(ICor.4:3-5)”

I think here we can see a glimpse of the “glory” of the apostles.  These are free men; spiritually free from the judgement of the world.  These were men, who after their treatment by others surely had cause to judge and condemn others, all the while lifting themselves up high; yet that is not what we see here.  We hear from St. Paul, who has been abused and treated unjustly, the command “do not pronounce judgement.”  It is a shame that this portion of Paul’s letters has been neglected in modern mainstream Christian discourse.  We know that most of the apostles (including St. Andrew) were eventually martyred (a pretty word for murdered) for their faith in Jesus.  They suffered tremendously and the Church has always recognized the blood of the apostles as the seeds of the Church; for without them the message would have been lost. 

There are few things I think that is important for us to remember on these days that we honor the apostles: 1) though Christianity has a lot in common with the other religions of the world, this is something that separates it from the others: its ability and insistence to accept and embrace suffering and shame as a part of God’s redemptive will, plan and blessing. In the Christian Faith, God is in the suffering, just as much as he is in the joy.  2)  we should reflect on the VAST chasm between the faith and life of the apostles versus the life of the “church” in Christendom (including its lust of hierarchy) and modern American Christianity.  I think it is important that as we re-think Church, as we explore faith in our current age, we are able to look back and discern what are the roots of the Apostolic Christian Faith, and what are its sacrilegious perversions. 3) and lastly, I encourage us to reflect on the lives of the apostles with gratitude.  In them the prophecy was fulfilled: “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Is 49:6b)”

Endurance, Patience, Wisdom, and Hope: The Virtues of Advent

If you were to read both the readings from today’s Daily Office and Lectionary for Advent 1, you will have read in the Gospel sections most of Luke 21.  If you have read Luke 21, you should be disturbed.  In the midst of the holiday season; the sales, the noise, the peppermint coffees, sweets, and desperate struggles to achieve happiness during this time of year, the Church’s assigned Scriptures are about the Apocalypse, or the Great Revealing.  We know that the Gospel of Luke was the last of the synoptic gospels written, and that by the time it was written Luke 21:5-19 (Daily Office Reading) had already occurred and was occurring.  The Temple had already been destroyed by the Romans and the Church was facing persecution from Rome and the Jews.  The Gospel writer/s are giving comfort to the Church by explaining why these things have taken place and are taking place.  Did Jesus really predict the destruction of the Temple?  Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t; but he was not stupid, I am sure he could see the writing on the wall, and knew that it was only a matter of time before Rome had had enough of rebellious Israel.  I believe he said something similar to this to give comfort to his disciples and followers knowing that tribulations and testing lie ahead for them; the Gospel writer/s were conveying this message.  I think it is important to realize the purpose of these warnings are for comfort and encouragement, not for fear-mongering or guilt-smacking.

What I think is important to draw out of these reading are the virtues of endurance, patience and wisdom.  Wisdom and patience in not giving into whims or "fads" of fear-mongering by people saying “The End is Near,” or “Jesus is coming on this day.”  Patience and wisdom in being able to wait; to be inspired to action and resolve by our common hope in Christ, not from fear of destruction.  In these Scriptures we read of the persecution that will be a part of this journey for the Church.  We are blessed to live in a place and time where real persecution of Christians does not occur, however, the body is still persecuted elsewhere in time and space.  It is important to remember that Our Lord is saying that persecution, suffering and shame are just as much a part of our common journey as joy, hope, love and glory; we are to be in it for the long-haul, just like God.  In all our lives as disciples and followers of Jesus we are to have endurance and by this endurance we “will gain our souls.”

The reading from the Lectionary (Luke 21:26-36) has a wonderful line of irony in this holiday season: “People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world,” (Happy Holidays!). Ironically, I think the message we are to get here is hope.  When we read the whole Scripture, we read of awful things happening and then we read:, “Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” I think it is important to pause and reflect on how Jesus is describing us in the midst of the Apocalypse.  Jesus is painting a picture of events that will cause others to be paralyzed and driven mad with fear, but not us…we are different, we will meet this standing with heads held high.  Jesus is describing a people without fear; Jesus is describing a people of hope, which in the end the world will not break.  The Apocalypse, the Second Coming is for us a hope, a consummation of our faith and the faith of our people throughout the generations, and it is something to embrace not fear.

So I leave you with these thoughts: The writings and warnings of the Apocalypse are not meant to frighten us, but to give us hope and encouragement.  We are informed Jesus knows this suffering will take place, just as he knows that God’s Glory and Kingdom will take place.  Also, we read that endurance, patience, wisdom and hope are how we are to approach all our trials and one day the Apocalypse.  In Christ we can and we will face all things together; and that is much more real and life-affirming than a bargain on the Internet.

The Inconvenience of Mercy (from the Daily Office Matt 20:29-34)

               Jesus’ work tends to thrive in social awkwardness.  This makes sense: the mores of the Kingdom are different than mores of society in any age or location.  Today we hear Jesus is walking and two blind men hear of his approach and start yelling “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us!”  The crowd tries to hush them up.  Please take note the crowd has just heard “whoever wants to the greatest among you must be your servant” now wants to silent these blind men who need mercy.  It is what “we” do. "We" who want order and peace and proper religion.  We want to admire Jesus from afar, or want to be close to Jesus all by ourselves.  “The crowd sternly ordered them to be silent; but they shouted even more loudly.” I can picture the scene vividly, including the rolling of the eyes and the looks of disgust, asking “why won’t they just go away?”

Once Jesus hears them, he stops walking and calls them over, and asks a peculiar question: “What do you want me to do for you?”  This is not the only time he asks this question, but I always find this question odd: I mean clearly he sees their blind!  Why ask?!?  I think this says a lot about how we should approach being merciful or helpful.  Jesus demands the interaction, the partnership, the dialogue.  He is not some lofty king throwing bread to the ground to the homeless children while expecting their thanks;  he is not some rich church donating turkeys to the local soup kitchen they never work (and expecting thanks), but he is initiating a real engagement.  Jesus gives all people the dignity to say what they want and need: "What do you need? How do you want me to help?  "  We too should follow the example of our Lord.  Instead of assuming what “they” need, instead of trying to quickly resolve “their” issue so we can be on our way with our gold star of piety, we really need to engage those who seek help out of desperation.  Jesus of course heals them, and then they follow him.  They don’t go away, they stick around, and as far as we can tell Jesus certainly welcomes it.  A part of Jesus’ mercy is the continual relationship, the continual inclusion and welcome after the healing has been completed; we should follow this example too.

The cry of the poor, the needy, the destitute, the oppressed, those seeking justice is extremely inconvenient in our world of fast-paced trendy disconnection.  And we as a Church are certainly not immune from this aspect of our society.  The comforting fact is that apparently “they” have always been inconvenient to those seeking to follow Jesus, and yet in this story Jesus is paying more attention to them than to the crowd; Intimacy is more important than fame. In Jesus we see God revealed, and what we see here is a particular attention to those who cry for mercy.  And when we look at the crowds we see ourselves; seeking to keep them quiet, to “shush” them, to ignore them “Why won’t they just go away?”  What we see in this story is that mercy is awkward, it is inconvenient, but it is the Way of Our Lord.  And the crowd murmured uncomfortably, “Thanks be to God.”