sandyhook and the vipers in our world.

Advent 3, Luke 3:7-18

a note: i was assigned to preach at st. mark's lutheran church in san francisco on december 16th, 2012.  i prepared the first draft of this message not knowing the events in connecticut that would transpire on december 14th, just two days prior.  in shock and with a heavy heart, i rewrote portions of this sermon until early sunday morning.

            While Christmas might be just 9 days away, the events of this past week painfully remind us that we live in a world where the presence of the Christ child is sometimes difficult to experience.  While for many this time calls for joy and celebration, we are reminded that we live in world of vipers.  While one might expect a more pleasant, joyful gospel message for this week, instead we are greeted with one that perhaps is more fitting for a nation that is anxiously waiting in hope, for a time when peace and justice will prevail for all, especially little children.             

This text begins with the course words of John the Baptist—cursing at the crowds who were too anxiously awaiting in hope, so ready to greet the coming of a messiah, too eager for change in their world.  John’s message is not an easy one. While we want to rejoice in the arrival of Christmas, John painfully reminds us that there is still preparation to be done.  As much as we think we are, we are not ready to meet the messiah. 

            This gospel story speaks of life before Jesus’ ministry.  As we heard last week, John the Baptist has been sent to prepare a way for the Lord—to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus’ ministry.  From the tone in John’s voice as he angrily addresses the crowds, it becomes clear to us that he believes that the people who have gathered are not yet ready to hear the message of Jesus.  Jesus’ message, after all, is pretty scandalous.  In the Gospel of Luke especially, Jesus’ message is for the weak, the social outcasts, the marginalized and the poor.  Indeed his critique of the rich and social elite leaves many uncomfortable, causes many to walk away, and leaves some anticipating his death.  John preaches giving to our neighbor, Jesus preaches loving our neighbor.  Perhaps we too need to prepare ourselves to hear the message of Jesus again, a message that can often leave us in shock—uncomfortable about all of the ways to which it speaks of our own needs.  Like the crowds, as we too await anxiously for coming of the messiah, I wonder what we must do to prepare ourselves. 

We cannot possibly welcome the ministry of Jesus, and hear his message with open hearts until we look critically at the way we are orienting ourselves in the world.  So often we are more eager to serve our own selfish desires and wants before we meet of the needs of others.  We orient ourselves inwardly—closed off from the needs of those around us.  This being turned in on ourselves prevents us from engaging in the powerful, world-changing ministry of Jesus—not only serving our neighbor and giving to our neighbor but loving our neighbor radically in all and through all of their uncomfortable needs.

In order to prepare the crowds for the ministry of Jesus to come, John calls all those listening to clothe those who are without clothing and feed those who are hungry.  John calls the crowd to turn from their inward orientation, outward and into the world—better able to see and act upon the needs of those around them.  John too knew the dangers of this inward orientation and he gives a most artful example of a tree too focused on it’s own growth to produce fruit that will feed those around it.  This image of the tree speaks to the vulnerabilities of inward orientation.  When we continue to be focused only on our own growth, we miss opportunities to share our gifts with others, working to make our world the kind of place that God may have originally intended it to be.  A place of relationship, giving, service, humility and love.  A place where everyone’s needs (social, physical, emotional and psychological) are met, where isolation does not drive someone to violence-- A place where innocent children do not have to die at the hands of another human being. A life oriented towards our neighbor opens us to meeting our world’s greatest needs. 

This turning from inward orientation to outward is the first step in preparing ourselves to engage the radically inclusive message of Jesus’ love.  When we begin to think of the needs of others alongside our own we are better able to enter into a love that transcends all boundaries.  That’s the message of Jesus—right?  God in Godself comes to earth in the form of an innocent child, vulnerable and dependent and those around him.  God transcends all conceivable boundaries to meet our greatest needs in the most radical type of love that we can comprehend.

As we once again find ourselves in the advent season, let us continue to await in hope and expectation a time in our world where true justice will prevail, everyone’s needs will be met, and love will again transcend boundaries in radical inclusivity.  As we wait again for the arrival of Jesus, our great peacemaker, let us remember the ways in which we can be instruments of that peace—participating and active agents in realizing God’s kingdom of Earth.  Let us turn from inside ourselves to outward, better able to hear the cries of our world and take place in radical ministry of Jesus.  

good enough: a homily for maundy thursday

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Growing up as a child, it became clear pretty early on in my life that I was and am a perfectionist.  Being a perfectionist has its advantages, like any personality type, but it also has a downside.  For me, this downside was the persistent twinge of guilt after completing any endeavor—no matter how encouraging my parents or teachers were, I continued to feel like whatever I accomplished just wasn’t good enough.    As I grew older and started figure skating competitively, even at a young age, being tall and big boned, my body just wasn’t good enough.  In high school, I would dwell on my orchestra auditions—even if I made the top orchestra, my performance just wasn’t good enough.  My senior year of college, I worked my absolute hardest and graduated cum laude, but it wasn’t summa or magna cum laude, it just wasn’t good enough.  And today, even though I am now fully aware of my perfectionist tendencies and have done a lot of healthy self-reflection I will still catch myself falling into that same pattern of comparison and doubt in my own abilities. 

Maybe you relate? I don’t believe you have to be a perfectionist to relate to these tendencies.  Perhaps this drive for perfection, this feeling of “not good enough” says more about the world we live in than it does about my internal conversations.  We love to compare ourselves to others, we love to measure success with something tangible, we want our hard work to be rewarded—and when we don’t meet the ridiculous expectations of this world its easy to feel “not good enough.”  This is why I find the stories of Jesus’ disciples in the gospels to be so liberating.  They too, were not “good enough.” 

Jesus calls his disciples from their lackluster jobs and as Jesus’ ministry continues throughout the gospels it becomes pretty clear that Jesus has chosen the b-team, the last string, the benchwarmers, to be his followers.  They fail, they question, they doubt, they just can’t seem to figure out who this Jesus really is—When we think about what followers of Jesus should be, they’re just not good enough!  Yet, as our gospel text for tonight begins, Jesus loved them, and he loved them until the very end.  What does this say about Jesus?

See Jesus knew that soon he was going to die, he knew he was going to be betrayed and persecuted by the very people he had loved.  Still, he chooses to spend his last night washing the feet of the disciples who just weren’t good enough.  He chooses to spend his last night serving his clumsy disciples in a job that was uncomfortable, dirty and rancid.  At no other time is the disciple’s unworthiness so potent that even they sense the radical, counter-cultural way of Jesus’ love.  Footwashing was reserved for the lowest of lows, society’s outcasts—it was gross, a messy job.  The idea that Jesus, the host of the Passover meal would be left to wash the feet of those present was absolutely offensive.  The disciples knew this and they try to escape the intimacy of the situation—the world has told them that they are indeed not good enough for their rabbi and teacher Jesus to wash their feet.  Still, Jesus continues. 

As Jesus finishes washing the feet of the disciples and sharing with them the bread and the wine he says, “little children, I am with you only a little while longer, and where I am going, you cannot come. I leave you with this one command: Love one another as I have loved you. Remember me by your love.”  In one of his last acts on earth, Jesus claims his disciples in love, as his own children.  In his time of earth, his disciples failed, they couldn’t keep it together, they’re lives were messy, they just weren’t good enough.  But Jesus claims them as his own, he bathes the messiest parts of their bodies, the feet, in his love.  He loved them until the very end.

If you ever feel unloved, unimportant, insecure, or “just not good enough” remember to whom you belong.  You belong to Jesus.  You belong to Jesus Christ the very Son of God who chooses to spend his last night in an act of service that crosses all boundaries.  The same fully human, fully divine, God incarnate that meets us every week in bread and wine.  That is to whom you belong, and you don’t have to be “good enough”, he will love you until the end.

God's table and what has been affirmed.

hi.

i'm not really sure why i randomly decided to write a blog post while trying to fall asleep on a tuesday evening except for the fact that there are thoughts, tense with energy floating above my bed and my patience is slowly losing its rationality.

i have been in berkeley at the lovely institution we wish to call plts for close to four months now and i'm still trying to catch my footing. where do i fit at such a place?

i'm 22 years old, a suburban minnesotan in a large city, biblically liberal, theologically a little conservative, socially possibly too liberal for my candidacy committee to admit, a soellist wanna-be liberation theologian, half hearted feminist, hater of earthquakes, quietly witty, sometimes an ass hole, passionate, not soft spoken but very reflective, yeah yeah yeah.

as i continue to try to find my place at this new place overlooking the bay, i continue to be affirmed in this one inkling: i am pretty sure that there is room at God's table for all of us.

and when i say all, i really mean all.

ok. background. go.

i have always believed that God is loving, inclusive and that God's redemptive act through Jesus was and is intended for everyone regardless of social status, gender, political background, race or sexual preference. there are some, but i'm not sure of many people who would disagree with this, especially many of my friends at the hippie seminary of the west aka plts. however, if we truly wish to proclaim this gospel than we must be willing rid ourselves of our own fine print clauses.

i have little interest in trying to convert my self-proclaimed "conservative" friends to my own beliefs and understanding of God, even if i may secretly wish that they would. more important than trying to "reclaim" christianity from whatever group you wish to hate on, we should be focused on learning how to live and work together and oh, hey, maybe to love each other too. after all, we are all children of God and made in God's image. perhaps we too often stray away from this concept because it is much easier to point fingers than to do the hard work of loving someone.

i think the belief that God sent God's only son, jesus, to suffer and die for our messed up lives is proof enough that God is interested in eventually having us all at his crazy-ass table.

if we are called to be christians then we are called to love one another, regardless. so, the next time you want to punch someone in the face for hatin' on obama, maybe you should try seeing them as God may: justified, beautiful, forgiven and loved.

dear concordia, please pay for me to fly to new york and present my research. love, maggie.

the following is the abstract for my senior research paper... don't fall asleep!



I began my research on Saint Augustine’s views on women with my own preconceptions in regards to the topic. Tainted by popular analysis in academia, I had believed Augustine to have a negative concept of women, in support of the superiority of men. What I found was quiet different. Through looking at several of Augustine’s writings throughout his life, I was able to see changes in his concept of women. Augustine, in his younger years, may have entertained the ideology of the previously suggested notion, however, if one is to look closely at his later writings, one would see that Augustine often writes in support of women’s equality with men in their spiritual power, role in original sin as well as choice, marriage, etc. In my paper, I will use a historical methodological lens to take a closer look at the periods in Augustine’s life that influenced his views on women. By focusing on Augustine’s time immersed in Greco-Roman pagan culture, practicing Manichaeism, his study of Neo-Platonism and, finally, his life as a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church, one is able to clearly observe the metamorphosis of this great theologian’s theories on women. Throughout each of these life periods, Augustine is influenced by the cultural views, thought constructs and practices of that particular lifestyle that formed popular opinion on the views and treatment of women. As previously eluded, this is not a common view throughout academia. Many would agree that Augustine was influenced by his surroundings; however, I have yet to discover a scholar that embraces the idea that Augustine’s different life periods influenced his views on women, allowing them to change throughout his life. In my paper, I hope to bring greater light to this concept, sharing my findings in hope of continued dialogue throughout the academic word.


word.

i am not.

you know that feeling you get when something just doesn't feel right? you get a twinge in your stomach, a reaction in your heart, tension in your muscles. well, this has been happening a lot lately.

i honestly feel like, this past year, i have fallen into the person in which i was made to be. i feel like i finally know who i am, what i want, how i want to grow and be challenged, etc.
a lot of this self-discover has been made possible by the statements and beliefs of others...they have helped me define who i am not in order to better see who i am.

make sense? well, maybe i can articualte through the serious and the silly.

i am not.

i am not interested in the latest hoax.
the lastest diet trend... the latest work out trend.... the latest beauty trend....
my skin may never be perfect and my butt may never be small and that's ok. i wasn't made to fit into a cookie cutter shape of a person. i am healthy and i take great pride in that.

i am not interested in making my life seem as though it is perfect.
sometimes things are not awesome...that's life. i am not interested in putting on a face for the people around me. if i'm upset, it will be healthy for me to articulate.
it's ok to be mad, hurt, let down. if anything, these emotions let us know we are alive.

i am not interested in being loud, obnoxious, rude or inappropriate in order to get others attention.
there are so many beautiful ways to make a statement, to stand up for something, to show your intentions. i want people to see my life as a compliment of action. i don't need to be recognized... in fact, this makes me quite uncomfortable.

i am not interested in taking sides.
i don't care if what someone believes is completely different that my own philosophy, theology or idealology. there are always similarities...why not recognize them?

i'm not interested in judging.
i sin, you sin, we all sin. what kind of right do you have to point fingers? i heard someone, last year, say that they believed the disaster in haiti was God's punishment for the people who practice witchcraft. i didn't say anything...and i still cry about that.

i am not interested in the word "tolerance".
it implies that we are better than the person/object/thing/idea we are tolerating. it implies that you must accept this person/object/thing/idea but not love it.
we are all called to love.

i am not interested in being idle.
i love to move, i love to be busy. i love finding different purposes for my life.

i am not interested in complaining.
if you have food, clothes and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world.
if you have any spare change, you are in the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
less than 1% of the world will have a college education.
your life is not that bad...really.

i am not.

the view from mt. sinai

hello all :)

yes, yes..i know it's been awhile. i give you permission to ostrasize me; but honestly, i'm not sure if anyone reads this anyways so i may just ostrasize myself. i have full intentions to blog regularly this summer...we'll see how that goes.

anyway.

i spent the month of may in the middle east. i spent two weeks in jordan, living in a small village named orjan. the other two weeks were spent in the mountains and desert land of egypt's sinai peninsula.

there are a million things i could talk about in regards to this adventure and my future blogs will probably touch on a few of these topics but for today, i would simply like to talk about mt. sinai.

yes, thee mt. sinai.

as in moses and the 10 commandments.

i got to hike up and camp on the side of mt. sinai as i was transitioning from my time in the mountains to my time spent in desert. now, i'm a religion major and i want to do graduate studies in christianity. climbing up mt. sinai should be kind of a big deal.

but it wasn't.

i was expecting being on mt. sinai to be this huge, pivitol, life changing moment for me and it just wasn't. with my time spent in the middle east i climbed several mountains and mt. sinai felt like any old mountain.

i found an overlook on the mountain and sat down to catch my breath and to analyze this lack luster reaction. this got me thinking about pilgrimages. as i sat on the peaceful, "road less traveled" side of mt. sinai i thought about the thousands of tourists on the other side being safely escorted to the top.

i wonder, what brings them? what do they expect to experience from an air conditioned charter bus? why mt. sinai?

i wonder, why do people feel the need to go on such pilgrimages? why are they so often encouraged? certainly, they're not bad things but why is it so important to visit places such as mt. sinai?

i believe in a faith that is alive and active. my faith is not just alive on mt. sinai, it is everywhere. God does not reside on sinai alone, i believe God is in the hearts and souls of everyone, whether we recognize that or not.

certainly, i believe that mt. sinai is a holy place but i can affirm that this world is covered in holy ground.

from egypt to jordan. from the red light district of amsterdam to the projects in davenport, iowa. from the most beautiful mountain peaks to the unimpressive flatlands of fargo-moorhead. this planet is holy.

i had much more of faith building experience while spending the afternoon laughing with my muslim friends in their mountain garden than i ever will on mt. sinai.

i saw God much clearer in their eyes than i ever would while staring into a pile of red granite.

i don't think this discounts anything that happened on mt. sinai, or it's biblical importance. instead i think this view gives credit to the amazing power of God. how awesome is our God that he can reside in the hearts of all who love Him, even those who don't.

something to think about.

peace,

m.

first timer :)

hey all.
so a few weeks ago i started a video blog on facebook. it was a noble idea (haha) but i really didn't have time for it so i am transferring into the world of "normal people blogs".

i am one of those people who is constantly thinking.

i think about everything and this world will never stop amazing me/giving me things to think about. i don't usually talk about what goes on in my head, so maybe this will be good for me :)
before i begin... i would like to address my blog title: qadosh is reality.

qadosh is hebrew for something being "holy" or "set apart". as much as we may try to make them into something else, our lives are holy. we are all set apart for something much greater than ourselves. whether we want to deny this or not it's our reality.

in john 15:16 jesus tells his disciples, "you did not choose me, i chose you"

qadosh is reality.

peace,
-m.