"Who's Are You?"

We have been talking about an identify crisis lately.  Here is a riddle for you!

When is a car not a car anymore?  The answer is at the bottom of the sermon today.  

Jesus asks this proactive question “who do you say I am”  it is a personal question, do I have any takers?   

Reading today:    Matthew 16: 13-20  

To get the full meaning of these passages from Matthew 16: verses 13-20 we need to hear what was happening just before Jesus asks this provocative question, ” who do you say I am”  

Again Jesus is quite pointed when it comes to the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducee and their obsession with maintaining the 613 man-made religious laws.  He warns his disciples not to be misled by their doctrine and not to follow in their ways.  Now wonder they hated Him and ended up crucifying him.  May I suggest His warning was because they were more concerned for man-made religious Laws than following the great commandment, the love commandment set out by “Moses” in Hebrew Scriptures?   This may be a problem the modern day church has to deal with folks.    I think it might be a good time to have a short History lesson here folks.

The law of love, which Jesus quotes, is the most important commandment of all and it was being ignored by the Jewish leaders?  Often people have assumed that this great commandment came from the New Testament and was coined by Jesus himself, not so.  This commandment did not come from the Gospels, it came from the Hebrew Scriptures, or our modern term, the Old Testament.  The major problem with its new modern name, “the Old Testament” insinuates that the text is now somehow out dated, it’s old stuff, and therefore is irrelevant to a new Christian.  Again not so, the Hebrew Scriptures tell the stories and struggles of the original followers of the one and only God, Yahweh.  The chosen people as they are often referred to were not chosen because they were Jewish.  They were chosen because Yahweh needed a people to bring the one God concept to the world. We need to understand these stories in order to get the complete picture of the whole Bible.  They are very relevant even unto today.

In most cases the Pharisees and the Sadducees completely left out Moses teaching on unconditional love, found in Leviticus 19:18 “Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them but love you neighbors as you love yourself.”

 And again in Deuteronomy 6: 5.  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” When Jesus said this He was actually quoting the prophet Moses, This love commandment came from God through Moses not Jesus.    

Talk about an Identity Crisis, from the Chief Priests and the teachers of the law to the Emperor of Rome all having different opinions as to who Jesus really was.  Even His disciples were not in total agreement.  Jesus himself never completely discloses openly to anyone who He was.   Right from the start of today’s reading though, we here Jesus once again stirs up the hornets’ nest as He asks this provocative question:  “Who do you say I am.”  Did you note Jesus did not say, who do “they” say I am.  I think the point of the question here is that Jesus wants a personal response from his disciples and from us.   There is no right answer here folks because it is your perspective that is being ask for, not a right answer.  Jesus is looking for you to boldly say who you think He is.  Who is Jesus for you?     

The way we often hear the question is:  “Who do THEY say I am.”   Letting others answer for me gets me off the hook, because the question has already been answered.  May I suggest that the real point here might be this folks?   Who they say Jesus is, is meaningless to you if you cannot identify yourself and have not known Him within your own personal experience.  How can you identify a stranger? Jesus doesn’t have a problem with this because He already knows who He is and He knows who’s we are, which points to your real parent.  There are many times in scripture where Jesus reaffirms for us that you do not belong to your family, your human parents, country, nation or your religion.  No, He knows we all belong to God, because God created us and is our true parent.   Many believe that we were created by our earthly mom and dad, not so, God created you!   We were created in God’s likeness and we all began in a womb as, “Children of the Light.”   Oh, we can make the claim that there is no God and you think you can go your own way, but let me reassure you folks, you do not have the power to change the will of God.  Gods will, will be done because unconditional love always wins, it never loses.

Jesus is the one who knows everything and if you begin to trust Him, His teaching, and follow Him doing as He does, what others may say or think about Him or you, becomes irrelevant and meaningless to.  For you will discover who’s you are.   A precious creation, a child of the living God.
 Jesus knows that all of us are truly the offspring of the living God.  Peter’s reference to the Living God in this passage suggests that God is not dead, nor has God ever been dead but alive, living within us all. Folks!  If that were not true then you nor any before or after you, would have been born.   We are all God’s children and because we are of God we all have the God gene or factor within us and we are loved unconditionally.   

God’s not dead He is alive, God’s not dead He is alive, God’s not dead He is alive I feel Him all over me.

Who Jesus is for you is the only relevant answer to His question.  It is not important who others think Jesus is.  The answer to this riddle is never going to be of one mind, because who Jesus is for you keeps on changing if you are a growing Christian.  Now if you’re not growing in your faith, Jesus is still just a portrait on the wall of your home or church.  It makes no difference to your faith how others see Jesus.  I believe this question in the scripture today was meant for Peter.   It was meant so Peter could take another step forward towards the establishment of the church.  Many at that time saw Jesus as an imposter, others a prophet, Rabbi, Peter said He was the Messiah the Son of the living God.  Paul, in his writings claims Jesus to be the resurrected Christ.  That would suggest that Christ was not Jesus’ last name.  Oh! Now there is a revelation for some seekers.  Then, who or what is The Christ?  Come to the bible study and you might just discover something new.    {If you are just reading this sermon on the net, may I suggest you find a bible study and begin to grow?}   

May I suggest that Jesus isn’t really that interested in who you say He was or is.  His real interest is in getting you to grow and to following in His footsteps.  Amen   Let us pray.

When is a car not a car?         When it “turns into a parking lot”
                                     "You Are A Child Of God"

"Identity Crisis"

What comes to mind when you hear the words “Identity crisis”?

Have you ever heard the term "what side of the tracks are you from?"

Most people are identified by their status in society, place of origin, their color, race or ethnic background. For some that can be a positive and for others it a negative. 

Do you consider yourself an us or a them???

I grew up in the small mining town of Springhill N. S. Canada and often adults would ask  "what is your name son."  I would say "Sim Rushton."   “A Rushton you say”, the next comment could be consider derogatory, “what side of the tracks did you come from ”.  Have you ever heard that statement?   This was usually a sarcastic comment used to try and identify my family’s ancestry.  To dig a little deeper they might ask “who was your father then sonny”  "Herb" I would say,  Now if that didn’t satisfy them they would ask: "who was your grandfather on your mother’s side. " "A J Mason”  I'd say.   "O, I know who you are now!   Now truly folks, they didn’t know who I really was.     

Aug 20 2017 Romans 11” 29-32, Matthew 15: 21-28

If you were to have read the earlier passages of Matthew 15: 1-9 you 
would have heard Jesus call a group of Pharisees hypocrites.  The disciples were concerned at this derogatory comment so they came to Jesus and said to him:  “Do you know that the Pharisees had their feelings hurt by what you said?”  Matthew 15:12.  This truly sets the tone of next set of passages because as we heard in verses Matthew 15: 21-28 this morning Jesus once again uses a derogatory term when addressing this women who has a daughter that is possessed by a demon.  Jesus’ use of a slang word dog, leads the writer, Matthew to suggest that this women’s ancestors are Canaanite, thus he labels her Canaanite in the scripture.  There were 7 tribes within the lands of Cannon but the Canaanites were considered the dogs of the pack.  The conquest of Cannon took place some 1400 years before Jesus enters the picture.  This race was supposedly completely wiped out in an act of genocide but of course, decedents of the tribe would continue.   Jesus with his comments was not speaking to her personally as a Canaanite but to her Canaanite ancestry. 

What we really should take note here folks is this: How do His disciples treat this poor women.  She is obviously an outsider because of her ethnic background, Canaanite.   Do they go to Jesus with a concern that her feelings may have been hurt by his comments?   No, they tell Jesus she is not one of them and has no right to be there asking for help, “tell her to go away” they say.  Are you beginning to see the connection between the Pharisees, this women, and her ethic background?  The question we and the disciples need to ask ourselves is this:  How do we treat people when it comes to their ethnic background.  How do we treat those in our community who hold positions of status, what about color or race and who is the outsider?  All good questions folks.   I would like to suggest that Jesus was not being rude here but used sarcasm, not insult to make his point?   I do not see Jesus as being arrogant, insulting or malicious anywhere in the gospels.  This is one of the great example in the gospels where Jesus illustrated for his disciples and for us as well, just how predigest we can be when labeling a person because of their ethnic background, their race, color, religion or their place of origin.    His disciples were concerned that Jesus hurt the feelings of the Pharisees with His comments but there was no concern for this women.   May I suggest that He is even being sarcastic with his comment about the people of Israel, suggesting that He came only for them? Matthew 15: 24. 

Why would I suggest this:  because we know that He came for all those who are lost and we know that the lost are not separated from Him because of their status within the community, their ethnic background, their religion or their place of origin.   His illustration should show us and His disciples "not how He thinks" but how we often think of others, especially when it comes to people who are not one of us.     

May I suggest that Jesus was not being malicious but sarcastic to make the point of how his disciples and we sometimes labeled people by their religion, ancestry, culture or their place of origin?   In fact, is that not what is happening in our world today, even here in Bermuda folks.    Are we witnessing the rise of fascism once again?  It seems to be a lesson the world does not yet want to learn.   Let’s just reflect for a moment on these words from hymn 400 in VU   If you know the tune, sing the words softly and gently.   Lord listen to your children praying.     Lord send your spirit in the place.  Lord listen to your children praying, send us love send us power send us grace.

Can you see what Jesus is really trying to teach his disciples and us about placing the history of a race, its culture, or it geographical location on a person?  Just as I illustrated in my own personal story this morning.  Sometimes we do it with sarcasm to, just joking around but it is still hurtful to those who have not surrendered to the light and I’m sure Jesus was aware of that to.

Here Jesus completely turn the tide of hate, prejudice and bigotry around by showing us the complete opposite of how we should react to someone who is different from us.   He not only heals this women’s daughter who was possessed with a daemon but He lifts the spirit of this persistent women with a positive label calling her “a women of great faith.”   Can you imagine the positive effect these power filled words would have had upon her?  This wasn’t just anybody offering these words,  it was Jesus himself.  Think about that, and what it would mean to you to hear Him lift you up in this way.  This is what I would call giving someone a real hand up, not a hand out and the turnaround would have been shocking to his disciples.  

But that is exactly what Jesus wants to do to us.  To turn us around folks, to shock us into the reality of what we are doing.  Do you see what this story points to?  Jesus uses metaphor, riddles, and yes even sarcasm to illustrate to us that He accepts all, no matter the religion, race, color, or ethnic background.  Read the gospels and you will see that status is always irrelevant to Jesus.  Jesus show us and the women, that having faith in Him, is the key to His heart and to the eternal Kingdom He offers us.                   

                                      If God was One of US

Adam Was "White" ?????

                        Ever wonder if Adam was black or white?

Let’s try and simplify things so the scientific jargon doesn’t confuse us too much.  All living things including humans are made up of atoms that join together to make DNA. Remembering that it is an atom, not Adam although it is perfectly OK for religious purposes to use that metaphor.   It took more than one atom to develop the human DNA.  Thus we have Atom 1 {Adam if you prefer} joining with Atom 2 {Eve if you prefer} to make us human. Logic might suggest then, that humans are both male and female in our origins?

In western countries, unfortunately nearly every imaginative painting of Adam and Eve depict two adult Caucasians with fair skin and blue eyes. I think the same mistake was made of the Jesus paintings.  These images, even used as Bible illustrations, tend to shape the reader's mental image of the first man and woman and many conclude that Jesus himself was white.  The Sunday-school origin of the dark races is often that they were descendants of Adam and Eve who had migrated to a hot climate where the suntan eventually became an inherited characteristic. These images and explanations discredit religions, especially Christianity and have only added fire to white supremacy.  Scientific studies of DNA and genetic history are proving this to be misguided information.

The true explanation began to be resolved in 1913 when it was shown that human beings carry two genes for color and that each gene consists of "black" or "white" alleles. One allele was received from the mother and the other from the father. The allele is part of the gene, and the gene is part of the DNA – while the DNA resides in the nucleus of every cell in our body. Our skin color is caused by the pigment melanin, and this is controlled by two pairs of genes that geneticists refer to using the letter designations Aa and Bb, where the capital letter represents dominant genes and the small letters represent recessive genes. A and B, being dominant, produce melanin in good quantity while recessive a and b produce only a minor amount of melanin. Hence, our coloration depends upon the number of black and white alleles we received from our parents. The color genes express themselves in only one place – specialized skin cells called the melanocytes – that produce granules of melanin that are delivered to neighboring cells.

According to the biblical story, Eve was made from Adam's rib and was thus a clone of Adam [Genesis 2:21-22]. They would therefore have had identical genes for melanin production. If they were both AABB, they would have been black and produced children of only the darkest of black coloration. If this were the case, the world's population today would be entirely black. In fact, only about 10% of the world's population is black, so we can be certain that our first parents were not of the AABB combination. By the same argument, if Adam and Eve had both been aabb, all their children would have been aabb meaning that all their descendants would be the lightest white possible – there would be no other colors. Clearly, this is not the case, so by a process of deduction we can conclude that Adam and Eve were heterozygous, each having two dominant and two recessive genes, AaBb. They would thus have been middle-brown in color and from them, in one generation, the various shades of brown would have been produced. The bottom line is that we can conclude that Adam and Eve were not white or black but a good middle brown. That would make us all a bit black, a bit white or somewhere in-between no matter where you live on this planet.  No one should be labeled by color, race or ethnic background, we are all just people folks. Its so simple its hard to teach.  

Reference: Harrub, B. and Bert Thompson. 2003. The Truth About Human Origins. Alabama: Apologetics Press, Inc. Pages 444-445.

                                          "Ebony and Ivory"

"Trouble Waters"

Did you know that meditation was practiced in the early Christian Church?

Psalm 19: 14   May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Or Psalm 49: 3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.    

Are you aware that Jesus taught this by example?  Look for it in the gospel reading you will hear this morning. Matthew 14: 22-33

Psalm 105:  Matthew 14: 22-33

The passages from Matthew this morning introduces us to another miracle and continue on the themes we had from last week’s message.    Crowds the scripture tells us, came for the nearby villages to be healed, fed and to hear Jesus’ words of hope.  He demonstrates for us a mind that does not think of people as them and us, winners and losers.  Jesus doesn’t see people as insiders, and outsiders because for Him, all are worthy of the bread of life, Jesus is the bread of life and servant to all.   This brings up a very important question for those who claim to be followers.  Has the Church elevated itself in such a way that we look down upon some people with righteous eyes?  Jesus shows us by example that we are not to seek out, or look down upon anyone. Our position is to serve without question those who are on the margins of society, those who are hungry, sick, and lonely, rejected, or feel unworthy.  The Church was meant to be a community of love that would offer sanctuary for all, no conditions attached.  Love you see will make a way when there is no other way.

Today another miracle is in our midst.  Again I said in last week’s message, we should not get distracted or become argumentative over the miracle as fact, meaning, did it or did it not really happen.  In doing so we might just miss what Jesus is trying to show us, about our everyday walk with Him.  So then, let us take another look to see what this story has for us.

Many of us here today know when it is time to quit whatever it is that we are doing to rest and recover for the next day, right! Or do we? You have heard the quote “rest in peace” it is often quoted at the grave side, well, did you know it was not intended for the dead folks.  Oh no, It was meant for the living.  Often I have slept through the night only to wake feeling just as tired as when I retired.   Has that ever happen to you?  Why is it then?  May I suggest that I did not rest in peace, there was still just too much going on in my head?  Have you ever heard the term monkey mind? Meaning a mind that is constantly on the move.   I don’t know about you but I’m plagued with it at times.   Plan ordinary rest in general has its place but resting in peace, is what we need to strive for.  Many of us, when we are working or celebrating for that matter, often don’t recognize when it time to quit.  You could say this is when the body and the mind are at their wits end.   Others can often tell you quite quickly by your behavior and your attitude.  

 I would also venture to say that for many of us, a quiet place to rest in peace, reflect and meditate, to help our body and mind to recover properly doesn’t happen often enough.   Pent up fear, anxiety, frustrations, anger or just over tiredness puts a great deal of stress on our health and sleep and so we in the west hemisphere have been programed to turn to medication.   We have been over conditioned by the media and our culture to medicate rather than to meditate.  Don’t get me wrong folks for medication is often necessary and has it time and place in our lives, but mediation is just as important because, it is soul medicine.  Did you hear that, soul medicine and Jesus wants us not just to be physically healthy, but to also be spiritual healthy?    Medical doctors, Phychologists  and good religion today know the great benefits of mediation and its effects on our physical, mental and spiritual health. 

Jesus show us that we all should recognize when our body is speaking to us, when it is time to stop, whatever we are doing, be it work, play or just a bad habit and allow our bodies to rest in peace, reflect and to recover.  Now I have to admit that this adjustment might hurt the world economy but Jesus is not concerned about that.   He show us by example, His first concern is for His own spiritual well being always, so he can be there for us when we call upon Him.   Are you aware that you cannot be for others something you are not for yourself?   If you allow yourself to become run down, tired or angry that is all you can give to others in that moment.  Looking for facts, this is one.

The passage today from Matthew shows us Jesus knows He needs His space and He asks everyone to go home.   He even sends his friends off in a boat to the middle of the lake.  After a hard day of work Jesus show us that we should always return to a quiet place to rest in peace, meditate, and reflect upon the day through pray. 

Again daily meditation and prayer are an essential part of following in Jesus’ way.  This Spiritual practice is just as important to the soul as physical activity is to the body.  If you don’t use it you will lose it folks, it’s that simple.    The more we practice it, the easier it develops into a good habit.  The modern Christian tradition has often not taught this spiritual practice well.  In fact more often than not when Christians leave worship on Sunday many do not meditate or pray until the next Sunday. We just might learn something from our Muslims brothers and sisters for I am told they are disciplined to offer prayer 5 times during the day.  

Jesus after recovering from a hard day’s work, goes right back to His # one priority which is, serving others.  The miracle again becomes immaterial if we do not see what the phenomenon points to.  After his time alone, Jesus goes to the rescue of those who are in distress out on the lake.  Peter is the first to call out to Jesus and then illustrates for us in great detail what happens when we put God of Jesus to the test.   

Peter put Jesus to test by saying:  “if it is you Lord, order me to come out on the water with you.”  “Come” answered Jesus.  Can’t you just imagine the look on Peters face, Oh, No! What did I say, what have I done now?  Have you ever put God to the test?  “If you do this for me God, I’ll never - - - - again”.  And if you have you probably experienced what Peter did.   Peter’s faith and trust lasts only for a moment.   You have to admire Peter’s courage here, at least for that moment as steps out onto the water, but fear and doubt rush in and he begins to sink.  Peter’s moment of faith was short lived but it was enough for Jesus, as He doesn’t let him sink into the abyss, no, He reaches out to save Peter once again.  Peter’s faith was like the mustard seed illustration in Matthew 17: 20 as small and short lived as it was, it was enough for Jesus.  He demonstrates, for Peter and for us, I will always be there if you just call upon my name.  When you are called out of your comfort zone remember even if your fear and doubt returns, Jesus will be there for you too.

There should be no question here that Jesus reaches out to those who call upon His name.  He saves and saves and saves, over and over again, those who call out to Him in fear, in sickness, in depression or when rattled by disease, even though you have doubts.  Even though your trust might only be momentarily.  After Jesus saves Peter from the abyss the stormy waters are calmed not just for Peter but all who have ears to hear.       

                                             "Wade In The Water"

"Is There Really Room For All?"

May I suggest that within the stories of the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament, we often get distracted by disagreeing whether or not the miracles really happened, without mediating on the story, to get the deeper meaning?  Often belief in the miracles or church doctrine {a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church} divide us into two groups.  The believers and the non believers.  I have a question for you:  Is it imperative that a person believe without a doubt that the Red Sea actually parted or that Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale as stated in the story to be a follower of Jesus or to call yourself a Christian?  Let us never forget that those closest to Jesus, his disciples, would fall into the category of non-believers today.    

For centuries, Christianity has been presented doctrine and miracles as a system of beliefs. If you believe you will become part of the elite saved, if you believe, God will favored you over unbelievers, if you believe, your prayers will be answered.  You name it, but the condition “IF” always seems to appear within the religion, often so settle you don’t even heard it.  Why, because most of us have been trained to accept conditions, as part of God’s love and will, yet we know that God’s love is unconditional, meaning, there are no strings attached?  Conditional love is the way our love works, in the real world, unconditional love seems almost too good to be true.   When Jesus said “believe” he wasn’t speaking of the miracles, or church doctrine, he meant believe in “ME”, follow me, make my way your way, there are no conditions folks.     

Unfortunately because the emphasis’s was and still is for some focused on believing, it has supported a wide range of dualistic thinking, or as the Apostle Paul puts it, double mindedness.  Separating Gods children into “US” and “Them” Yes we all do it folks.  The haves and the have not's.   Systems of beliefs including Christianity have the tailing of Colonialism, white supremacy , slavery, subordination of women, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and promotes exclusion of those who are different, especially those of different sexual orientation, seen today as the unclean.   What would it mean for Christians to rediscover their faith not as a problematic system of beliefs, but as a way of life, Jesus’ way, a way that includes every person?   For Jesus shows us that His Way is the only way to the truth and the life.  It is a way to live and a way to die, free of the tailing's of this world.   It is rooted in God’s unconditional love for all his children and is dedicated to a beloved inclusive community for all?  Could Christians migrate from defining their faith as a system of beliefs and doctrine to expressing it as a loving way of life, to love God, neighbor and self as the commandment states without conditions?  Do we worship a Supreme Being who showers blessings upon the insiders, favors religious institutions or rituals over acts of charity, compassion, love and goodness?  

Do we worship a God of wrath who punishes outsiders with eternal conscious torment?  May I suggest that many do not, "WHY" because Jesus reveals to us God's unconditional love.   He is the one who “eats with sinners,” welcomes the outsider, and forgives unconditionally while being rejected, tortured, and killed. . . . He preached that God was to be found in self-giving service rather than a system of beliefs, doctrine or church ritual.  What would it mean for Christians to understand, experience, and embody God as the loving, healing, reconciling Spirit in whom all creatures live, move, and have their being?
Acts 17: 28 You think about that folks.

Can you see my point here?  As Christians and followers of Jesus, if we all agree upon putting our faith and life in his hand, why should we remain divided folks?   

So let’s take a quick look at the story one more time but let us discard our differences about belief and look for the message that the story can reveal for us in our everyday walk with Christ.   

First you can never get the jest of the human story if you do not read at least a chapter before or after the passage you are studying.  Just before the reading today, Jesus has just encountered a great loss.  His friend and prophet John the Baptizer has just been beheaded on a whim by the request of a young dancing girl.  What a terrible circumstance and great waste of life Jesus must have thought.  When tragedy strikes in your life as it has or will, how do you react?  Who do you blame, who do you go after?   Often thoughts of anger or revenge only create bad circumstances in our lives.  Jesus’ illustrates for us that his thoughts did not go there, "then neither should ours".  There is an important teaching here folks, about anger and revenge.  If we were to go there, we would fall into the evils ones trap you see.  Jesus’ reaction is to go to a quiet place to meditate and grieve.  He shows us by example, seek a quiet place where you can pour your sorrow and your negative thoughts out to God in prayer, then like He, the Spirit will administer to you.  Jesus show us something else, as he doesn’t stay long in grief either, as many of us often do, some for days, weeks, I'm sure you know people who have remained there for years and I have sat at the bedside of some who have died with their grief.  That is a real tragedy. 
Next he shows us how to quiet the negative voices that lead us into anger, revenge, loneliness or depression?  His compassion for other sends him right back to doing his Fathers will, which is to be in service to  others.  He offers a word of hope to all who have ears to hear and open minds to take it in.  Do you not see the power in surrender, compassion, service and love of self and others?  Did you notice that just before Jesus feeds 5000,  he doesn’t go through the crowd trying to figure who is in and who is out.  He offers the bread of life, which is himself and is a servant to all.  My goodness folks, how could we miss it?   Want salvation, then live as He lived, Grace you see abounds in his way of life.  This is a truth within the story.  Live it and you will begin to believe.

Now do you see that the miracle of feeding the five thousand is immaterial as a fact if you cannot see what Jesus is really trying to teach us.  How to deal with loss, and what we are called to do.  There are always sick, lonely, lost, hungry, poor people for us to take care of.  Jesus shows us, grieve your losses but do not get lost in your grief.  Do not get consumed by anger, jealousy, or revenge because of loss, return your losses with service to others.  That is just a small piece of Jesus' real teaching in this story.  Take a long meditative look at the story on your own time, for yourself and you will find an even deeper personal teaching for you.  Praise be to God and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit Amen.        Click the link and Listen to "Seven Is Sufficient"  recorded by the Trio " Mike Lawry and  Sim "  
 https://soundcloud.com/search?q=seven%20is%20sufficient

"Contemplation gives power back to the “People.”

This may come as a shock to the corporate Church and its employed commissioned or ordained Clergy. 


If the religious institutions and its clergy taught both students and parishioners’ contemplation, where individuals can and do experience the mercy of God for themselves, the result would have been the people would no longer have to be dependent upon clergy.   Although this codependency on organized religious institutions was not engineered maliciously, it did create job security for paid accountable ministry in later years, at lest in the last 1000 years.    We all have a hard time doing things that essentially work ourselves out of a job or make ourselves unnecessary.  Sin management does hold the flock together, but soon we realize that there is little maturity, discernment or even love, in a flock that is glued together in this way.  The passive, passive-dependent, and passive-aggressive nature of the church is rather obvious to many of us who have worked on the inside, to quote Richard Rohr.

This may come as a shock to academia or commissioned clergy but there is nothing in Jesus’ teaching to suggest there should be different levels of discipleship in his vision.  In fact he shows us the complete opposite for we are all equally called to follow Jesus, but we have created our own caste system; where some people “got it” and took his teaching seriously, but somehow his non dualistic teaching or the Apostle Paul's teaching of double mindedness seems to have fallen through the cracks within the history of the Christian church.   The very term layperson implies someone who doesn’t know anything, how did that happen?  We were left with thinking in dualistic terms of the professionals and the amateurs, but we were all meant to be called into discipleship, to be professional.

Richard Rohr and others theologians have suggested that contemplative prayer {a form of meditation} could be the very thing that has the power to both democratize and mature Christianity.  Here is the most exciting thing about this spiritual practice:  It does not require a degree in education; it does not need a hierarchy of decision makers, {corporate church}; it does not argue about gender {however that is understood} issues in leadership or liturgy; nor does it demand licensed officials to serve the traditional sacraments {corporate church}.   This might be pretty scary for some but meditation/contemplative prayer does not need preachers and bishops; it does not have moralistic membership requirements.   Meditation and contemplation lives and thrives with those dedicated to pray who have every chance of becoming healers in their world, each according to his or her gift.  This seems to be the foundation for Jesus ministry and his teaching because he talked a lot more about praying and healing than anything else.  And it was always with those on the margins of life. 

Faithfulness to contemplative practice can achieve the radical inner renewal that the sacraments and formal initiation rites have had on many devoted followers since the beginning of the Christian church as we know it today.  Contemplation takes us deeper and addresses the root, the underlying place, where illusion and ego are generated.  It touches the unconscious, where most of our wounds and need for healing lie.  Richard say that with meditation or contemplation, I think we have every likelihood of producing actual elders for the next generation, and not just elderly people.

 Reference:

Adapted from Richard Rohr, Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer (Paulist Press: 2014), 55-57, 98.

You may not have 1hour to listen to this presentation at the moment but may I suggest that this pod cast is certainly worth your ear and gives food for thought.