Courage to speak up

 

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom

Margaret of Cortona, February 22, 2021

Zephaniah 3:7-13; Psalm 30: 6–13; Luke 7:36–50

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Today we remember Margaret of Cortona. There are many things about her life and faith that are notable - her courage, her fasting, her good works - but it was this line from Lesser Feasts and Fasts that stood out to me: “Twice, following divine command, she challenged the Bishop of Arezzo . . .because he lived and warred like a prince.” A woman in the thirteenth century was decidedly on the margins of society and the Church, and yet she did not hesitate to speak truth to power. She did not hold back. She stood up for what she believed in. She was empowered by God. She did not wait to be asked for her opinion. She spoke her truth with conviction - more than once!

And then in our Gospel for today, we get the story of the woman with the alabaster jar. This is a familiar story and there are a hundred different directions we can go with it. So much food for thought and reflection here. But reading it in light of Margaret’s life story, I am struck by the fact that the woman just goes up to Jesus and starts anointing him. Notice there is no preamble. No exchange. No, “Jesus, would it be okay if I . . .” No, permission given by Jesus, except implicitly by his acceptance of the gesture. Just like Margaret, the woman with the alabaster jar does not hesitate to act on her convictions. To take a risk for what she believed in. To offer care and generosity with no expectation of anything in return. She does not come seeking a transaction. She offers a precious gift - both in terms of monetary value and personal cost - because doing so is deeply meaningful to her. 

So these women have gotten me thinking about the importance of holding to our convictions, of speaking the truth without waiting to be asked. I think how different that is at least from my own life, perhaps much to do with how women and girls are socialized, especially in my own upper class WASP culture. I have been conditioned to wait, not to rock the boat or risk upset. I remember an elementary school teacher telling me how he and other teachers preferred to have a higher girl/boy ratio in the classroom, because girls were so much less disruptive. Or how in so many ways, we female caregivers are told that the mark of a good daughter, wife, mother, is to always put the needs of others before our own. 

But the women whose lives and stories we honor today did not hold back or hesitate. They did not simply follow the societal scripts laid out for them. They had stories to tell and truths to proclaim - about the depth of love and care, about how even the one who was willing to give his life for us all deserved to feel some measure of his impact, to receive the kind of communication that is only possible with the touch of a hand. They had truths to proclaim about the kind of world we are called to create as followers of Jesus and how those of us in positions of power and authority ought not to take that responsibility lightly - how we ought to live exemplary lives that point to the Truth of the Gospel.

Those women did not hesitate. And neither should we, no matter our gender. No doubt all of us have grown up with challenging and problematic scripts of various sorts that can hold us back, keep us from stepping out in faith or saying something important for fear of how it will be received. In the midst of this time, and all the challenges of these days, it can be particularly easy to say, oh I’ll wait until we get through this to say anything. I don’t want to add to anyone’s stress. Well, maybe . . .

And yet if this pandemic has taught us anything, it has been a profound reminder of the fragility and uncertainty of life. A reminder that is so powerfully reinforced in this Lenten season. “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Life is precious and short. We never know how long we will have.

May this season and the courageous, unhesitating witness of Margaret and the woman with the alabaster jar remind us of the importance of acting and speaking with conviction. Whether it is a truth that needs to be spoken to the powers that be or an expression of how much someone matters to us, may we feel empowered to speak up. There will be no perfect time. And yes, there are risks involved in speaking up, but God has certainly shown me, shown us, over and over again that the risks are well worth it. Far more often than not, speaking up opens the doors to new, more life giving possibilities. 

So in the days ahead, throughout this Lenten season and beyond, I hope we will have the strength and courage we need to proclaim the Truth, to make our voices heard, and to trust that the rewards of doing so far outweigh the risks. Amen. 

Beloved Sheep

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom

November 5, 2020

Phil. 3:3-8a; Psalm 105:1-7; Luke 15:1-10

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?”

Okay, so my first thought on this passage was, really, God? Don’t you understand we are weary. We are anxious. We do not yet know how things will go. There is much to be fearful about and most of us have not had anything that would qualify as a true vacation since 2019. Now you want us to do more? You want us to go off searching for someone. Isn’t 99 enough? I mean on most grading scales that is still at least an A if not an A+. 

But then I took a deep breath. I turned the text over in my mind. I thought, Oh. I think I might have it all backwards . . . What if in this story we are not the shepherd? What if we are the sheep? Things look very different then. 

If I am the one who is lost, then, yes, please God, seek me out. Please forget everything I said about 99 being good enough. 

I feel like I needed this passage this week. I needed to be reminded that I matter that much to God. I needed to be reminded that God is indeed our shepherd. I needed to be reminded that I belong to a flock. 

It would be so easy to get ourselves down any number of roads, possibly very scary roads of what ifs about what could happen tomorrow or next week or next month. We could tie ourselves up in knots and skyrocket our blood pressure. That does not serve us or our communities right now. 

What we need today is to breathe a little more deeply. We need to be present. We need to rest in the truth that we are beloved of God. Really. So beloved that God would seek us out. We are that beloved. 

We need to remember that we are in a flock. We do not travel this journey alone. We are safer together. We are happier together. We can do more because we have each other. 

And then we also need to remember that God is not partisan. We are all one flock. We are one people. One human race. Even those people with whom we might vehemently disagree on issues of policy or on who the best candidate is. They too are beloved of God. 

My friends, this election has put in stark relief the divisions that are present in our nation right now. There is much work ahead of us. We have not yet realized the Beloved Community. God’s Kingdom has not come. But it is coming. It is our daily prayer. And we - all of us together, the whole flock - are part of making that happen. 

I am convinced that it is possible for us to journey together into a different future. It is possible because we are beloved of God. It is possible because we do not journey alone. 

May we hold fast to the love God has for each one of us, and may that love flow through our words and actions into our communities and the world. Today and everyday. Amen.

Remembering we are loved

Garden at Harkness Memorial Park in CT

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom

October 27, 2020

Eph. 5:21-33; Psalm 128;Luke 13:18-21

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

“Wives, be subject to your husbands, as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.” So, it may not come as much of a surprise to you that I find this to be a challenging reading.  It seems to go against my own values, my own understanding of what marriage is supposed to be in today's world.  I want to start arguing with the text. I want to argue that it was written for another time and another place. Its author was trying to promote the social mores of his day. I want to argue that his vision of marriage does not fit my own ideas, those of our current world, or the modern Church. I want to point out to the author that the woman's marriage vow in the Book of Common Prayer has not contained the word “obey” since the 1892 Prayer Book. 

So, I could make these points. Yet where does this arguing get me? The author is not here to argue back. Nor I do not have the right to go editing or changing this text, nor is it likely the 5th chapter of Ephesians is going to be removed from the Christian Canon, just because I find it problematic! This arguing only gets ME upset. If it accomplishes anything, it keeps me from really reading the text, from really listening to what they text is trying to tell me. It keeps me from seeing the breadth and depth of this text. 

The broader message at the heart of this text that is valuable for all of us is about our relationship with God and our relationships with each other. Note that the text actually starts with the line, “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” 

The language about human marriage, about human partnership is an analogy. The language of the intimacy of partnership is the best way we have of describing our relationship with God. And the values that underlie this passage, that underlie a marriage at its best, are, in fact, applicable to all deep and strong relationships. 

A marriage at its best is a relationship that is grounded in love, respect, and care.   Founded on trust. Where each is faithful. Where we put the needs of the other above our own. Where we value the good of the whole over any solitary gain for ourselves. Where forgiveness and grace abound. It is a relationship that brings out the best in the other.  A relationship of mutual joy. A partnership where each brings strengths and gifts that enable mutual flourishing. 

This is to be our relationship with God and our deep and meaningful, relationships with each other. This also means it is God’s relationship with us. I think that is the part we might need reminding of these days. It can be easy to talk about our love for God and the obligations that come with that. We can be measuring ourselves up, striving to do more. I think sometimes we forget that relationships are a two way street. We forget to acknowledge and really let into our hearts the truth of God’s love for us.  God loves us with a profound, deep, and unending love. Ultimately Ephesians acknowledges that this love, this partnership is a mystery- it is beyond words. A love deeper and more beautiful than we can describe or fully comprehend. This love can only be lived. 

Lived with joy and passion. Lived with gratitude. Lived without fear. We are loved by God, utterly and completely.  It is an unending love. No matter what; we are loved.  

We are called to live out the truth of God's love in our lives. We are called to “walk in love as Christ loved us.” We are called to love ourselves, to love our neighbors. We are called to show God's love to the world. To be an example of grace and forgiveness. To be an example of light and love. Even in the face of hate, even in the face of darkness. We are called to live out the truth that God loves us.

Yet so often we do not live as though this is true. We often live in fear. We live in fear of our mistakes, afraid of our shortcomings, afraid we are not worthy of this love. We live afraid of the future, afraid of the “What ifs?” And in our fears we seem to forget the truth, the foundation of our faith. We are loved. Our sins are only scary if forgiveness is not possible. The future is only scary if God is not in it. Yet Christ tells us over and forgiveness is possible. Grace abounds. And God does not abandon us. The future will contain challenges- there are no guarantees that the road will be easy - yet we are promised that God will always be with us. ALWAYS. The truth of God's presence, and God's love in our lives is an enduring, eternal truth. 

So let us live into this truth in our lives. May it give us quiet confidence. May it give us strength to move forward in spite of our fears, in spite of the challenges we face. May we be open to God's daily reminders of how much we are loved. Each and every day may we live into and proclaim with our lives the deep and profound assurance that each of us is loved by God.  AMEN. 

  

Saying Yes to God

                                                        Mosaic from Hagia Sophia

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom

Nativity of Mary, September 8, 2020

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word, who is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

So today we celebrate the nativity of Mary. We honor the birth of Jesus’ mother. It is of course a great and glorious thing to honor Mary. A remarkable woman who rightfully has a profound and prominent place in our tradition. From our Scriptures, it could be easy to just think of today as a celebration of unexpected pregnancies and miraculous children. But I think that ultimately, both the story of Hannah and the story of the Angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary point to us even wider ideas and understandings. 

We are in good company when things are not going as we had hoped. That is exactly how Hannah spends much of our reading from Samuel today. In a place we have all been, and might be right now - a place of wishing things were different than they are. If we are feeling as though life is mixed up or out of order or things are not at all going the way we planned, we are not alone. Hannah had a very different life in mind for herself, but that was not how it went. Do you think Mary was planning on having a baby that year? Considering she and Joseph weren’t even married yet, it is not likely. She had not expected an Angel to appear to her and inform her that she was going to have a baby, and not just any baby, God’s Son. And she certainly wasn’t planning on giving birth in a stable miles and miles from her family.

And there is an invitation here, today, in our stories of Hannah and of Mary and the Angel Gabriel. It is an invitation to be faithful and to be open. It is an invitation to be alert to the ways God shows up unexpectedly in our lives, and to pay attention when that happens. An invitation to trust that there is more at work than we can know. An invitation to believe the Angels who show up in our lives and invite us to follow God on paths that seem far different from what we had planned. Perhaps we will be like Hannah and find a longer and more circuitous path to the realization of a long held dream and desire. Perhaps we will find ourselves like Mary to be invited to take a direction we never expected or even believed was possible, but which is more beautiful, challenging, and meaningful than we ever could have imagined. Through our Scriptures we are invited to be faithful like Hannah, and to be open like Mary. We are being offered an invitation to take a deep breath and to be present in the moment. An invitation to pay attention and to say yes when God shows up.  

We may all have our own ways of slowing down and paying more attention. And I would guess there are some similarities. I know I can’t pay attention well if my physical body doesn’t feel well. Enough sleep. Enough exercise. Enough water. Eating well (and in my case often - those who know me well will attest that if you don’t feed me regularly I get cranky.) That basket of snacks on my office table at 815 is absolutely for sharing, and I am glad it is enjoyed by others. It is also there, because I can’t usually go a whole day without snacks. So, taking care of our bodies matters. We also need to care for our minds and our souls. We need things that challenge our intellect and expand our mental horizons. We need time for reflection and prayer. We need to read things that are uplifting and inspiring. We need conversations that bring us joy. This may seem like a tall order. How are we supposed to do all those things and get our work done, our children educated, pay our bills, do all the chores around the house and so on and so on? Here’s the thing though. It is all about the order of operations. Remember middle school math? You only get the “right answer,” the whole problem only works if you do things in the right order. If you do the subtraction before the exponents the answer will be an order of magnitude off. If we do all the things to take care of ourselves first, we will be more productive at work, we will be more patient with our children, we will find more energy and creativity to deal with whatever tasks come our way. Start with the important stuff. That is how we can thrive, and it is how we can foster the kind of heart space needed to be open to God’s invitations in our lives - even the unexpected ones.

This day reminds us that  things will not always happen the way we would like. Sometimes it may feel as though things are moving far too fast or far too slow. Sometimes it will seem as though things are all mixed up. But that is okay. We are not alone. Some of the best stories started out in confusing and unexpected ways. Today’s readings are a prime example of that. And so we are invited to be like Hannah, to be like Mary, and to trust in the workings of the Holy Spirit. Even when we feel scared or uncertain. God is present. God is at work. We need to remain faithful and to be open to the Angels that show up in our lives. The ones who manifest God’s presence to us. The ones who invite us into new possibilities, to stretch beyond our comfort zone. The ones who remind us that the path will not always look the way we expect, but we can and we should trust that God is leading us. We are being led into a brighter future, one of light and life, always. It may not come on the timeline we had planned. It may not be exactly as we had imagined it. And yet it will be glorious and wonderful, because it is God’s future. 

AMEN.

Hope in the midst of suffering

 

One glimpse of the splendor of creation

Rev. Molly F. James

DFMS Noonday Prayer

St. Bartholomew, August 24, 2020

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

I don't know about you all, but it feels like Psalm 91 might have been written just for us... pestilence and sickness, thousands falling. Oh my. It sounds far too much like our news headlines. In a document that is thousands of years old. What are we to make of this?

I think we can find hope and reassurance. The challenges we face have been faced and overcome by generations before us. Even by generations that did not have our advanced technology or level of scientific knowledge. If they can do it, surely we can too. There is hope and reassurance in this psalm, because it reminds us of the all important Truth to put our trust in God. That has to be our foundation, first and foremost. 

It could be tempting to read this psalm and think that it is saying if we only pray hard enough or do all the right things, then we will be saved from the sickness. It does say that if we choose God, then no plague will come near our dwelling. That sounds nice. If only it were that simple. But we know it is not. Viruses don't ask your faith affiliation or check when the last time you went to worship was. The status of our prayer lives is not some kind of magic shield that will keep us from being infected. Washing our hands, wearing a mask, and taking precautions are far more likely to help with that.

But just because our 21st century knowledge would say that proper hygiene is our best protection, we would be amiss to toss aside the rest of our psalm for today. There is a profound wisdom, a profound comforting truth at its heart. It is the truth that God is our refuge. That we do not need to fear. 

It is a hard and challenging truth for us to face the fact that there are no guarantees of how long we have. There is no way for us to be fully alive, to engage with the world, to be in meaningful relationship without taking some risk. If we did not venture forth we would miss out on the splendor of creation. If we did not do our work and stay connected with colleagues, valuable ministries would wither, and we would miss out on so many opportunities to learn and grow. If we did not risk love, if we did not allow ourselves to care deeply about other people and did not allow others to care for us, we would miss out on a beautiful gift. We would miss out on a glimpse, a taste of what it means for us to be beloved of God. We would miss out on so much joy.

There are indeed risks in life, my friends. Nothing can ensure that we never get hurt or never fall ill. We are all mortal. And, and this is a really important and, we are people of faith. We are an Easter people. Neither pain, nor suffering, nor death ever have the last word. Hear that again. Neither pain, nor suffering, nor death ever have the last word. God has shown us most profoundly on Easter morning, and over and over again in so many stories and in our own lives that LOVE has the last word. Love is and always has been stronger than death. 

That is the truth we can hold on to today. In a world where there is so much uncertainty and the mundane tasks of daily life can feel far more risky and complicated than they used to, it can be easy to lose sight of that truth. And yet it is there. God is our refuge. Our strength. Come what may, the truths that we are beloved of God and that love endures will be there. They do not change. There is our hope. There is our salvation. 

We do not need to do anything or be a certain way to earn it. We cannot earn it. It is pure grace. Pure gift, freely offered by God each and every day. May our hearts be ever open to receive that gift. Amen. 

 

Do not be afraid

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Rev. Molly F. James, PhD
DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom
Augustine of Canterbury, May 26, 2020

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’” Do not be afraid, from now on . . . Well, my friends, those might be words to live by in these days. I imagine this is a familiar passage to many of us - the story of where Simon is called away from his boat to follow Jesus, to become a “fisher of men.” And even though it is familiar, I believe it has something new to say to us in this time and this place. Think about Simon. He knew all about fishing. It was his profession, his life, his livelihood. He probably never ventured far. His life centered around his home and his boat. Then comes Jesus. This new teacher. This charismatic leader. There is something powerful, something so inspiring in who Jesus is and the message he shares, that without hesitation Simon leaves behind everything that is familiar and goes to follow him into an unknown and uncertain future.

Ah, an invitation to follow Jesus into an unknown and uncertain future. Yes, we have that too don’t we? It is becoming clearer and clearer as the weeks go by that we will not be “going back” to life as it was before. We cannot return to what is known and familiar. The way things have been. No, we are being invited into an uncertain future. The change and the “not knowing” can feel overwhelming. When and how will we travel again? What will our work lives look like in the coming months? What will our home lives look like? When will we get to have sustained opportunities to visit with family and friends? How long will it be before we can gather in large groups again?

It is easy to get our brains going on all the fear and uncertainty. There are so many rabbit holes of wondering that we can go down. But all that worrying does not serve us. There are indeed too many unknowns. We cannot figure it all out yet. For now, we have to be like Simon. We have to trust.

There is so much that is new and different in this time, I think it can make us forget that actually we know how to do this “stepping out into an uncertain future” thing. We have done it time and time again in our lives. From that first day at a new school to that first day at a new job. From moving to a new town or embarking on a new relationship. We have done change over and over again. We have moved into a future where we did not know what was going to happen. When it comes right down to it, of course, we actually do this everyday. There are, actually, no guarantees ever that tomorrow will look like yesterday. No guarantees of how long we have or how our lives will go.

Blessedly, we can often settle into predictable routines that allow us to put our trust in the regularity of our schedule, our tasks, the people we see, and the places we go. So, establishing a routine can be one of things that can help us find comfort and confidence in the midst of uncertainty. We may not have control over the big questions, but we can set our schedule and choose what we have for lunch. The little things really do help.

Creating a routine and finding the areas in which we do have freedom and control is one way to help us move forward in the midst of anxiety and uncertainty. I would guess we have many other things that have also helped us over the years. Don’t sell yourself short. We do actually know how to do this change thing. Those tried and true habits that have served us well can come to our aid again. Grounding ourselves in prayer and worship. Keeping up the spiritual practices that keep us connected to God and keep our perspective wide. Having a friend to call with whom we can process all that we are learning in our new adventure and who also can help us remember who we are when it seems like the uncertainty might expand to include our very self. Whatever has helped us before can be useful in this time too.

And it will help us also to remember Jesus’ words to Simon, “Do not be afraid.” Just like Simon we are not heading off on some solo adventure, we are following Jesus. We are not in charge of it all. Thank God! And so we can trust in God, trust in Jesus, trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit.

We do in fact have what we need to move forward. What a blessing indeed! Amen.

St. Joseph

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD
DFMS Noonday Prayer on Zoom
March 19, 2020
Feast of St. Joseph

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word, who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the hallway of the retreat center where I go regularly for Spiritual Direction, there is a small painting of Joseph holding the baby Jesus while Mary sleeps. It is a simple painting that looks like it was probably done in the 1970s or 80s - reminds me of illustrations in the Little Golden Books of my childhood. The painting reflects its era, and the baby Jesus is far too white. Despite its flaws, I have consistently found myself drawn to this picture. I think part of this is because it is an uncommon image. There are so many different images of Mary holding the baby Jesus. In classic art, in icons, and in umpteen Christmas cards. We so rarely see images of Joseph as an engaged father. We are rarely invited to think about him as a caregiver for Jesus. That image of Joseph holding Jesus while Mary sleeps invites us to rethink our very familiar version of the story that we carry around in our own minds and hearts.

I don’t know about you all, but I am finding comfort in that right now. “Being invited to rethink things.” Well that just about sums up the week doesn’t it? We are being invited to rethink everything. From our how we do our work, to how we interact with our community to how we do our grocery shopping and how we wash our hands. Add on to that a high level of anxiety in our hearts, our homes, our communities and the world. Oof. What a lot to be dealing with at once. It can feel like quite a test of our resilience, of our faith, of our ability to hold on to hope and trust in God in the midst of darkness. Hmm. That also sounds like the story of Joseph.

One of the things I have always loved about the story of Joseph that we usually get in Advent is that it is such a classic human story. Joseph is going along with a nice plan for his life. He and Mary are going to build a nice life together. They will do the things the average family in Nazareth did in the 1st century. But then the Holy Spirit intervenes, as she so often does. Mary is pregnant and everything seems to be going to turn upside down. At first Joseph is going to dismiss her quietly, quite understandable . . . things are not going according to his plan. But blessedly the Holy Spirit intervenes again, and helps him to understand the fullness of what is happening. The plan is not going to be exactly what he thought it was . . . and yet on many levels it is going to be more wondrous and amazing than he could have possibly dreamed. Joseph is left with a choice. Does he walk away because things are not going how he imagined they would or does he stay in the complicated, messy situation that also has amazing possibilities? Does he say yes to God and choose to step into a now uncertain future? Does he choose faith and trust or certainty and isolation?

Now, for most of us our current dilemmas are not exactly the same. We are not being asked to welcome the Son of God as the newest member of our family. And yet at the more basic emotional and spiritual level, the questions are the same. What does it look like for us to move forward in faith even when the future feels scary and uncertain? How do we trust in God, trust in goodness, trust in life and possibility, when it seems like everywhere around us doors that we thought were open are suddenly closing? There is a very real temptation to give into the fear and the worry. Fear is sneaky that way. Playing out the worst case scenarios and running through all kinds of possibilities in our heads can have the illusion of being productive and prepared. Now I am not saying we should not be prepared. But stocking up on groceries and medicine for an extended time at home or making concrete plans with our family is a different thing from lying awake at 2 in the morning playing out disaster movie scenarios in our brain.

So what exactly does it look like to choose hope? I will tell you what it looks like for me, and I hope some of that will resonate. It looks like being present in the moment, and noticing the little things. A daffodil blooming. The smiles and laughter of my children. The longer days. The fact that these days I get to eat three meals a day with my children. The clarity of priorities a crisis brings - in the midst of all of this, it is easy to be sure of what really matters. Choosing hope also looks like being gentle with ourselves. It looks like being compassionate with ourselves, our loved ones, our colleagues and friends. Life is hard right now. Adding anger and frustration to the mix won’t be helpful. And that leads me to the other tool of building hope. Relationships where trust is paramount and vulnerability is always possible. Holding on to hope is rarely (if ever) a solo endeavor. It is possible because we do not walk alone. We have companions on the way with whom it is okay to be fully ourselves, to name our fears and our frustrations, to process our challenges. Relationships that support us, inspire us, and help us to be our best selves.

So I hope that today, and every day in these challenging times, you will be given the grace, the courage, and the companions you need to choose hope. To follow in Joseph footsteps, stepping out into an uncertain future, trusting that the possibilities that God has in store for us are always more than we could ask or imagine. Amen.

Christ the King

Mosaic in Hagia Sophia

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, CT

Christ the King, November 25, 2018

2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19) ; Revelation 1:4b-8;John 18:33-37

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Collect for today prays that we “may be freed and brought together under [the] most gracious rule” of Jesus, who is “king of kings and lord of lords.” It is a beautiful image to think of all humanity unified under one gracious and benevolent ruler. An image that seems impossible and like a fairy tale in our current reality where we are more profoundly aware of all that divides us. It seems naive to talk of unity. And what does it mean for us as Americans, who prize our democracy to talk of having a king?

I think we Americans have an interesting relationship with monarchy. On the one hand we are fascinated by it. Note how much news coverage the British Royal family gets on our TV networks and in our magazines, even when our Presiding Bishop isn’t preaching. Or even note how he is still referred to by the news media as the Royal Wedding Preacher. We are fascinated by royalty. And yet we are adamant in maintaining our democratic and republican principles in our government. We have not forgotten the words of the Declaration of Independence, that long list of grievances written to a far off king who, the founding fathers believed, had overstepped his bounds and abused his power. To be an American is to believe in the principle of self-governance, to believe that “We the people” have a right to have a say in how we are governed and by whom.

So, how do we reconcile our identity as Americans and our identity as followers of Jesus? Well the easy way out would be to say that all this talk about Jesus as King is not about the here and now, so we can just chalk it up to dreams for the future. This would be easy to do. Our reading today is from the book of Revelation, a book that is all about the end times, If Jesus is only going to become our king in the Eschaton (big, fancy, Christian word for the end of the world as we know it), then we don’t have anything to worry about. The American Nation and the Eschaton won’t exist at the same time, so there is really no conflict.

We could do that, but I think that doing so keeps us from doing some important reflecting on the role Jesus has in our lives now. Given the political realities of our world, it does not make sense to think of Jesus becoming a literal “king,” at least not in the way we understand monarchy here on earth. Although, from what we know of Jesus, our loving, merciful Lord, it is tempting to wish he would hurry up and become King of the World. Clearly he would do a far better job of governing us than we seem to do for ourselves.

So, what does it mean on a personal level for each of us to speak of Jesus as our King, as Lord of our lives? And yes, that is what we all agreed to do at our baptisms. We agreed to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Now, we could easily spend a whole semester on the person of Jesus, his identity as the Christ and the Son of God and what that means for us. Much ink has been spilled and will continue to be spilled by Christian writers over the centuries. But I know that one of the things many of you appreciate about me is the brevity of my sermons, so I will just focus on two aspects of Christ as King of our lives. The first is priorities and the second is trust.

I believe that setting Christ as the center, as the king of our lives means that we will have our priorities straight. If our focus is on Christ, on what it means to be a follower of Jesus, then everything else falls into place. It means that we keep our focus on what really matters in life. We keep our focus on the central Commandments of loving God and loving our neighbor. Jesus reminds us that living and acting with love is who we are called to be.

I had the privilege of hearing our Presiding Bishop preach the week before last at a meeting of various Commissions and Task Forces of The Episcopal Church. He reminded us that if it is not about Love, it is not about Jesus. Indeed. Walking the Way of Love, having Jesus as the center of our lives, means that Love becomes the lens through which we view everything. Whenever we are trying to make a decision, whenever we are wondering how to respond to someone else’s action, we have a simple question to ask: “What is the most loving thing we can do in this situation?” If it is not about Love, it is not about Jesus. Love must be the guiding principle of our lives.

If Love is central to our lives. If that is what guides us. If we can keep our focus there, then we will not be sidetracked by all the temptations of this world that would like us to put our focus elsewhere. This is an especially important reminder as we enter the holiday season, a time when we are inundated by messages about how our lives will be complete if only we buy a new gadget or a new car. At this time of year especially, it is so very easy to be tempted to think that the focus of our lives ought to be the acquisition or the giving of lots of material goods. We can be tempted to let our lives be governed by our to do lists or our internal list of “shoulds” to create a perfect holiday. That is a futile road to go down that will no doubt lead to disappointment and failure. Again we come back to the reality that Jesus is and must be the King, the Lord, the Ruler of our lives.

And this brings us to our second aspect of having Jesus as our King: Trust. And this can be trickier than it sounds. On the surface, it might be easy to say, of course we trust Jesus. I mean, he is Jesus after all. But even here, human temptations can get in our way. Having Jesus as our King means a rather significant power differential and that can make us wary. We are far too used to stories of how secular and religious leaders have abused their power. We are quick to list off leaders who have treated their subjects harshly. We point to our own Declaration of Indepence. As Americans and students of history, it is very easy to come up with a list of why monarchy is bad, and we would be wrong to trust in the leadership of a king. And this is where we must make a very important distinction. Jesus is not like any other king. Jesus is Jesus. He is not interested in earthly power or dealing with some internal sense of inadequacy that prompts him to belittle others, so that he can build himself up. Jesus is Jesus. His way is the way of Love. And the only way it will work for us to be true followers is for us to trust his leadership in our lives. We have to be willing to give up our own egos, our own desire for power or accolades. We have to remember where our priorities are. We have to remember who is the center, who is the leader of our lives.

Living with Jesus as the King of our hearts and Lord of our lives is not easy. I fall short of it on a regular basis, and yet I am continually inspired to keep striving toward that goal. To keep focusing on the Way of Love and to trust in his leading. I am inspired because I have experienced the freedom and the joy that come in those moments when I am able to get it right. It may seem counter-intuitive to say that freedom comes from submission, but indeed it does. For in submitting ourselves to Christ we are putting aside all that does not serve us. We are getting out of our own way. We are removing the stumbling blocks to our own flourishing.

So as we move into Advent, I invite you to think about where your priorities are and how you might be able to more fully trust Jesus as the Lord of your Life. Prepare a space for him in your heart and in your life, for living a life with Christ at the center is a blessing beyond our imagining. AMEN.