I just returned from a conference with members of my religious order, "Lindisfarne," about Celtic Spirituality and Earth Spirituality. It was good to share with old friends and new people.  I had been away since two retreats ago and it felt good to reconnect in person.  We were joined by fellow clergy from two Celtic-oriented churches.  Unfortunately, I was unable to stay through Sunday for the ordination and incardination and professions of membership.  It is interesting to see how we have evolved theologically regarding theological and religious inclusion.  Such open-mindedness and respect!

Tomorrow, June 15 is the last Sunday I lead worship and preach at the United Methodist Church of North Chili.  I leave with many fond memories and experiences and a blessing upon those I have ministered with, among and to.

Taking on the Authority of Jesus

This story took place once upon a time in a faraway place:

A rancher had a wonderful black stallion.  It was his pride and joy.  One day it ran off never to be seen again.  The townspeople learned of the rancher’s news and went out to him:  “We are sorry” they said, “for your loss.  It was such a beautiful stallion and we know you valued him greatly.  It is so unfortunate.”  The rancher replied, “How do you know that it is unfortunate?”

One day, the rancher’s son was out riding on the plain when he spied a beautiful white mare.  He set out to catch her and brought her home.  The townspeople were happy for the rancher.  They came out to him and said, “What a beautiful mare.  She will give you a wonderful stallion.  She is so strong and beautiful.  How very fortunate.”  “How do you know it is fortunate?”

The rancher’s son decided to ride the mare.  She was very wild and had never been ridden before.  The son bridled and saddled her and climber upon her.  Immediately she began to run and jump and bucked the young man off.  He crashed to the ground in pain, his back broken.  The townspeople learned of the accident and came out to the rancher and exclaimed:  “You loved your son so much.  He was so able bodied.  Now he is crippled.  How unfortunate!”  “How do you know it is unfortunate.”

It was but a short while later.  The king sent out riders to call all the young men in the kingdom into the army.  The captain proclaimed to the rancher, “We understand that you have a strong and able son.   We have come to take him to the front where he will serve the king with honor and likely die for him.”  “Alas,” said the rancher, “My son would be the first to lead a charge for the Kind, but unfortunately he was injured in an accident and cannot accept this honor.”

Each time I have left a church for another, or a job for another”  I have been offered congratulations.  And I have been asked if the church is bigger as if bigger is better than smaller.

But you know “Congratulations” are not in order and the question is irrelevant.   I am not moving on to bigger and better. 

You know, “the grass is never greener.”  It’s just grass.  It’s all grass everywhere.  God hasn’t sent me to greener grass but needy grass.  Grass is good.  God said so.

Some remark about the opportunities I will have where I am going.  There are opportunities here is well.  And the job here is the same as it is where I am going.  It’s the gospel.  It’s the people.

The church, the community, the people there are no more important there than they are here; each and all different and important but no more important.

What is true for me and for Marcia is true for Pastor Dan and Elaine.  They are not coming from a worse place to a better place or a better place to a worse place.  They are coming to you.

I am not a better pastor than Pastor Dan and Pastor Dan not a better Pastor than me, just like I am not a better or worse pastor than Pastor Sherri.

Bishop Fisher said to me when I went to Gouverneur, “This is a good church.”  She was right.  It was a good church.  The people there were good people.  But so was Danby and the people there, and Odessa and Adams Basin and Rochester: Lake Ave.

Bishop Matthews said to me, “This is a good appointment for you.”  And Bishop Matthews was right.  This is a good church with good people.  You are good church full of good people and have an important function.  I am glad to have been here.  I’ve done some good.  The church has done good.  I have grown as the result of being here.  I am who I am now because of you. 

I’ve rubbed some people the wrong way (I’m sorry for that) and they me, but God uses all things for the good.  You have allowed me to share with you some special moments of your life, deep and meaningful for you and for me.

In the opening story, something that may have been unnoticed is that the townsfolk cared about the rancher.  That counts for something doesn’t it?  It is important that you care for your pastor and the pastor care for you.  If you don’t care for your pastor you have some work to do.  If the pastor doesn’t care for you the pastor has some work to do.  If the pastor doesn’t care for the previous pastor or the following pastor the pastor has some work to do.   There’s no more important work for a church and for a pastor.

A struggle between a congregation and a pastor is a struggle between that congregation and the conference and the pastor and the conference, but more importantly it is a struggle between that congregation and God and that pastor and God.  And if a congregation is at odds with itself over its pastor, it is at odds with God.  I have had many a difference with God.  I have wrestled with God and the result has been I’ve end up disjointed, just like Jacob in his wrestling with God.  God wants us to love one another and in doing so we love God and are better able to serve God.

Bishop Fisher said something else to me of great importance.  She told me to take my authority.  She was talking about pastoral authority.  She was talking about taking charge.  Pastors are appointed not to churches but to charges that include church and community.  But where does that authority come.  In the church it comes from God.  It comes from Jesus.  And to have true authority one has to come under and accept authority.  The first disciples did just that, at least eleven of the twelve.  There first act of taking authority was to go to Galilee to the mountain that Jesus directed them to.  They did not expect what occurred next, seeing Jesus there.  He had been killed.  They worshipped him, but some doubted, they wondered, they worried.

And Jesus said to them, even as they doubted, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  Jesus was in charge.  He was given and took authority from God.  And with this authority Jesus sent his disciples.  “Because I have this authority I sent you to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”  This is the authority given to me in my ordination.  These are my orders which I trust and obey.  And as you become disciples you take authority that is given to you and carry out the commands given you.  Your authority is passed down to you from Christ through the apostles through pastors and you appropriate it in your discipleship.

Really, forming disciples is about bringing people into the flock, helping them to grow in faith and knowledge of God, including more and more of the lost until they have the experience of being found or at home.  It’s about including people in your love that is ultimately an expression of God’s love for all.  Recognize the authority of you pastor, Pastor Dan, as derived from God through Jesus Christ, the source of our authority.

It is a new day for me.  I recently was appointed by Bishop Mark Webb to Tabernacle United Methodist Church in Binghamton.  The church there is progressive, inclusive and reconciling which matches my calling. I hope to increase racial-ethnic and theological-religious diversity there.  I also hope to do some teaching at SUNY Binghamton.  I'd like to see a training center for theological and social diversity around sexual-orientation/gender identity, racial-ethnic, and theological/racial develop there.  I hope to teach in a seminary cross-cultural and Hispanic theology and ministry and general practical pastoral theology.  I see myself doing spiritual direction and beginning a multi-cultural, multi-religious faith community.  Finally, I'd like to see a service organization for residents of Binghamton that provides supportive counseling and information and referral services and perhaps community organization to eradicate poverty, addiction and violence.

My own spirituality continues to be Christo-centric with a Buddhistic, Siddhistic, and Gnostic perspective. This is a very direct experiential path with an emphasis upon awareness, equanimity, compassion, responsibility, knowledge, simplicity wisdom and truth.  It is collaborative and recognizes the unique contribution of different worldviews and perspectives and aims at a positively transformed humanity and human beings.  I continue to utilize NLP modeling, but am moving beyond seeking external models for living fully to internal ones.

Born to Perfection

Born to Perfection

John 3:1-17

Genesis 4:1-4a

Wilfredo Baez, Ph.D.

Perhaps John Wesley’s most important teaching is his doctrine of Christian Perfection.  It is also one of his most misunderstood teachings.

When any clergy member of the UMC is ordained they are asked if they intend to go on to perfection in this lifetime.  The correct answer to the question is “I do” or “Yes. “ And everyone hedges and adds the statement “with God’s help.”  Then everyone laughs.

Interestingly, this question was not posed originally to clergy but to lay members of the church in their class meetings.

So are you going on to perfection in love in your lifetime?

Most people respond “Are you kidding.  Of course not.  Nobody is perfect.  Why are you asking such a silly question?”

But Wesley’s question does not presuppose that someone is going to be sinless his/her whole life long.  Rather Wesley is asking a motivational question.  He is asking a question about intention.  Do you intend to go on to perfection in love in this lifetime?  Are you committed to going on to perfection in love in this lifetime?

Jesus charged his disciple, “Be perfect as God is perfect.”

In order to succeed in fulfilling this commandment it is necessary to believe that you can accomplish it.  If you don’t believe that you can, you can’t.  And in order to believe that this is possible you have to believe Jesus.  If Jesus commands that you do something, you can do it.

Look at Abraham.  He and Sarah were old. God said to Abram:  “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God made a promise of land to Abram; to Abram’s offspring.  Did I tell you that Abram and Sarai were old; old beyond child bearing years?  God promised them children and innumerable descendants.  As far as Abram and Sarai were concerned was what God was directing them to do was impossible.  But Abram believed God and God’s promises to him came through.  What if they did not believe?

Look at Nicodemus.  Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 

Nicodemus was incredulous:  “What are saying?  What you are saying is absolutely impossible.  Where did you study science?  I’m a grown man.  I’m bigger than my mother.  How am I going to be born all over again?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no-one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 

“Be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect.  Leave your home.  Take your family and all of what you can take of your possessions and go to where I send you.  I will give you descendants and make of you a great nation and a blessing to all who would embrace you.  Be born gain, born from above, born in the Spirit.  Live in the light of resurrection.”

Abram and Sarai had their doubts but followed God’s instructions none the less.  Nicodemus had his doubts. And you have your doubts about being perfect.

Nicodemus said to Jesus, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

You can be born again!

To be born again is to remember your spiritual origin, made in the image of God as you are.  What does God look like?  Look in a mirror, but not a physical mirror, a spiritual mirror.  Being born again is awakening to your original nature before original sin.  Look within to your spiritual essence.  Detach from who you think you are and be aware of the “you” who is thinking, feeling and acting.  Forget the past or learn from the past and get on from it.  Engage the present.  Change your mind about the future.  Believe what Jesus has said.  Believe what God has said.  That is how dreams and promises come true. 

Remember the song, “I believe I can fly.

I used to think that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
But now I know the meaning of true love
I'm leaning on the everlasting arms

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away

I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly, I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

See I was on the verge of breaking down
Sometimes silence can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve
But first I know it starts inside of me

If I can see it, then I can be it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread wings and fly away

I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly, I believe I can fly$
I believe I can fly

Hey, 'cause I believe in you

KELLY, ROBERT S. / SADOK, CATHERINE

To be born again you have to die.  Your body doesn’t have to die, but your ego has to die.  You have to let go of your way of thinking, perceiving and conceiving and discover a new way of being, perceiving and conceiving; a new way of being human; a new way of being you.  And to do this you have to radically trust God and trust life rather than resist God and resist life.  You have to accept reality as it is and live forward in faith.  That’s why you want to look to Jesus.  Eternal life comes from believing in Jesus; that is, by putting your entire trust in Jesus.

Have any of you ever done a trust fall or a trust lift?  In a trust fall, you fall back into someone’s arms trusting that the person will catch you.  In a trust lift, you lie down and a group of people lift you and rock you.  You feel like you are floating up as they lift you and floating down as they put you down.  To be born again from heaven or in the Spirit is to be a spiritual person, in the body, in the world, but not in the world, transforming the world by virtue of being alive, awake and aware in it, consciously choosing your response to it from moment to moment.  This is the path of Christian Perfection.

Desire

Desire

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 and Mathew 4:1-11

Rt. Rev. Dr. Wilfredo Baez

March 9, 2014

There are all kinds of desires aren’t there?   There are physical desires, sense desires, emotional desires, desire for pleasure and relief of pain, desire to be fed when hungry, desire to be warm when it is cold outside, desires for treasure, talent and trophy, desires for attention, recognition and reward, desires for peace and quiet, desires for love and acceptance, desires for self-esteem, and spiritual desires like to climb the stairway to heaven, to be enlightened, perfected, forgiven, liberated and saved.  There is always something better than the here and now and we better get going after it or we’re never going to get to it.  Or we’re never going to get to it, so we are not even going to try. 

The Buddha said that the root of suffering was desire; reaching, grasping desire.  Spike Lee said it was the desire for more, better and different.  We all know that the grass is always greener somewhere else or with someone else.  We all want to do the right thing to get us to the right reward; the right person, the right place, the right experience.  In the U2 song we just heard, “Desire” we heard of the desire for bright lights and urban delights, for entertainment, for highs from substances and experiences, for possessions, for money, for protection.  Human desire is an insatiable hunger and thirst.  We want more, better, different.  We want higher.  It drives us to fulfill desire after desire.

What are some of your desires?

What was Adam and Eve’s temptation?  They were tempted with the desire for knowledge of good and evil.  And even more than that, they were tempted with the desire for power, to be like God. 

When God made Adam, the first human, God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden with instructions to till and keep it.  And God commanded Adam, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”  Seeing Adam alone in the Garden, God thought to provide Adam with a partner.  So God made, from the earth, all the animals and birds and presented them to Adam as helpers.  Adam did not know that he desired anything else but the animals and birds proved unsatisfactory.   Then God decided to make for Adam a partner out of Adam’s own flesh, a partner like Adam and complementary to him.  Waking up from a deep sleep during which God performed this operation, Adam was not one, but two, and seeing the woman, Adam said, “This is what I desire.”

Adam’s desire was met but Adam had not desired.  Adam had been provided for.  Adam’s desire was a desire that did not involve wanting, search, reaching and satisfying.  For Adam was not looking for something outside of Adam but within Adam.  Desire was not something Adam did, yet Adam’s need was met by God before Adam even had a need.  Adam and the woman clung to each other.  They were naked together, yet they were not ashamed.  There was nothing unnatural and embarrassing about their relationship.  There was nothing good or bad about their existence and what they might share together. They merely belonged together.

Then another creature came upon the scene, a crafty creature called a snake.  He slithered to the woman hissing, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’“ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  Prior to this the woman had no designs on the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  She was innocent.  But the snake opened her eyes to see that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.”  Seeing that, the woman took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.  He had been innocent, too. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

The man and the woman could see now in a new way.   They looked at themselves and each other differently.  They were naked before, but now they knew they were naked.  They were not ashamed in their nakedness before, but now they were ashamed.  The felt vulnerable and so they covered up their nakedness.  It was no longer natural for them to be joined as one.  They were separate.  They belonged to themselves not to each other.  They minded each other.  And they felt separate from God, separate on account of their guilt.  They minded God.  They hid from God not wanting to be exposed for their choice.  They tried to deflect responsibility for their choice, first to one another and then to the snake.  But they could not escape their nakedness or their responsibility.   They were faced with a curse.  They would no longer be provided for.  They would provide for themselves.  No longer would their needs be met.  Rather they would suffer.  The woman would desire children and suffer birth pangs.  She would desire a husband to rule over her.  The man would desire to provide for his family but need to work the ground for food.  He would desire to protect them from the wilds of life.  They would have to work.  The root problem in our primordial story was not pride or disobedience but desire.

Desire to have what one did not have before was introduced into the hearts of human beings, right from the beginning. And that desire produced suffering.

Jesus was tempted to utilize spiritual power for personal comfort, power, prestige and privilege.   After all, he was the Son of God.   And the tempter of Jesus is not unlike the tempter of Adam, this time not a snake, but the devil.

In Jesus’ case, filled by the Holy Spirit as he was, I do not think he felt tempted because Jesus had only one desire; that to please God, a desire as natural to Jesus as breathing in and out.  But he was tempted.

 “The devil said to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘it is written: ‘one does not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’’’ 

“Then the devil led Jesus up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours. ‘Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’’’ 

“Then the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

The devil knows where human beings are most vulnerable.  As a human being Jesus had desires.  We are most vulnerable at the level of desires.  Jesus was vulnerable there, too.  If we had no desires we would not be subject to the devil’s wiles.  Jesus proved that despite having desires, he was not subject to desire.  He was only subject to the will or the desires of God.  Jesus transcended all human desires, sublimating them to the will of God.  In Jesus’ case, God’s will was Jesus’ will; they were one and the same.

Jesus transcended the desire to be comfortable and have pleasure. He was hungry and weak.  He could use his power to feed himself.  But it was his fasting and isolation that put him in the state that he could face these temptations.  Jesus could wait to eat until he was done with his testing.  Why would he have to feed himself when God was feeding him?

Jesus transcended the desire for power, prestige and authority.  Jesus had no need for power, prestige and authority outside of himself.  He had nothing to prove to anyone including himself.  Jesus accepted who he was.

Jesus transcended the need to be known or recognized as the Son of God and to put responsibility for his life in the hands of others, including God and God’s angels.  He did not need to have God prove his status with God.  That was already a given.

So how does this apply to us?  You say that the root of all suffering is desire.  What about good desires or right desires?   All desire produces suffering.  There can be good suffering.  Jesus’ suffering under Pontius Pilate is an example.   Your hard work in school, at work or at home often has good results.  Or did Jesus suffer?  An Indian saint was having surgery on his arm without benefit of anesthesia.  He was asked if he felt pain.  He responded “Of course I feel pain.  But I was not suffering.”  Suffering is often the mental anguish we have about our condition or situation.  The pain cannot be eliminated, but the anguish can.  Jesus certainly felt the hooks on the whip cut into his skin.  He felt the thorns from the crown of thorns break the skin of his brow and scalp.  He felt the weight of the cross on his shoulders, back, arms and legs as he carried it.  He felt the nails hammered into his hands and feet and spear jammed into his side.  He felt parched as he hung from the cross in the scorching sun.  But he was not suffering when he cried out “Father, forgive them for thy not what they do,” or when he stated “It is finished.  Into your hands I submit my spirit,”  “or even Father, why have you abandoned me.”  In the latter case, he and the Father were one.”  Jesus had one desire; that was God’s desire.  Any other desire God provided for without Jesus asking.  Remember Jesus’ statement, “Seek first the reign/rule of God and all these things will added to you.”

My father died when he was 36.  I was 14.  He told me, before he died not to quit school.  He expected me to go to college.  When I was 25 years old I was in a doctoral program.  I completed my exams and was advanced to candidacy.  I had written the dissertation except for results and conclusion.  I had data in hand.  Interpretation of the results was dependent upon an outsider to do.   The agent I had set to do that could no longer do it.    The project was virtually finished.  But instead of saying something to my committee I quit.  I did not ask for help.  I recalled this recently and discussed it with a friend.  Why did I sabotage what I had worked so hard to attain?  What was I afraid of?  My father had told me not to quit school.   I realized the truth.  If I had completed the dissertation and graduated I would die.  But I was not afraid of dying.  What I was afraid of was life after the dissertation.  It is amazing how one’s understanding of God can be formulated by human experience.   I worked so hard at spirituality.  But I could never do enough to experience the highest state or please God.  What I realized as I realized that there was nothing I could do to please my father was that I did not want to die.  But I was not afraid of dying.  I was afraid of life after death.  I was afraid of resurrection living.  I was afraid of living fully in the light, because it was an unknown.  Then I realized that there was nothing that I had to do to be myself.  I did not have to prove myself to my father.  I did not have to prove myself to God.  I did not have to do anything, pursue anything, seek anything or find anything.  I just had to be.  The rest would take care of itself.  And that’s true about you.  You have nothing to prove.  You don’t have to do anything to be accepted by God.  God has made you and has called you good.  And if you have done wrong God has forgiven you.  You can relax and just be and God will provide.  You will realize what you need when you need and respond with wisdom and compassion to events around you quite naturally, just by being awake and responsible.

Mindfulness

 Norma Hochgraf has introduced to our Tuesday morning Bible Study the concept and practice of mindfulness.  Mindfulness is a practice of one-pointed focus and awareness.  It is amazing to me how much our state of being is dependent upon what we put our minds on.   We can only really put our minds on one thing at a time but our minds dance onto and off of one thought and the other in rapid succession.  Sometimes we get so caught up in an idea it takes control of us.  The problem comes when it is the wrong idea.  It is like we are enchanted by it and placed under its spell.

Christian meditation and contemplation puts our mind on one thing; for example a word, a phrase, an image, breath, an activity or prayer.   By virtue of the practice our minds are taken off other things. Today I want to introduce to you a prayer that comes from the Navaho tradition.  Sit with these words in relaxed and prayerful contemplation when you do your daily prayer.  Put away distraction and center yourself with them. Address them to God out loud and return them silently.

O you who dwell in the house made of the dawn

In the house made of the evening twilight . . .

Where the dark mist curtains the doorway,

The path to which is on the rainbow . . .

I have made your sacrifice.

I have prepared these thoughts for you.

My feet restore for me.

My limbs restore for me.

My body restore for me.

My mind restore for me.

My voice restore for me.

Today, take away your spell from me.

Away from me you have taken it.

Far off from me you have taken it.

Happily I recover.

Happily my interior becomes cool.

Happily my eyes regain their power.

Happily my head becomes cool.

Happily my limbs regain their power.

Happily I hear again.

Happily for me the spell is taken off.

Happily I walk.

Impervious to pain, I walk.

Feeling light within, I walk . . .

In beauty I walk.

With beauty before me, I walk.

With beauty behind me, I walk.

With beauty below me, I walk.

With beauty beside me, I walk.

With beauty all around me, I walk.

It is finished with beauty.

It is finished with beauty.

It is finished with beauty.

This is the Christian prayer:

With God/Christ/Spirit before me, I walk.

With God/Christ/Spirit behind me, I walk.

With God/Christ/Spirit below me, I walk.

With God/Christ/Spirit beside me, I walk.

With God/Christ/Spirit all around me, I walk.

It is finished with God/Christ/Spirit.

It is finished with God/Christ/Spirit.

It is finished with God/Christ/Spirit.

The invitation of this prayer is to be aware of where your mind is focused, so often in a restricted sense of self, and look beyond it to a transcendent reality that is always present for us in the daily walk of our life.  Where we place our attention matters because it is there that we find our meaning.

In Christ,

+Pastor Will+

Gospel of Thomas, coda 24

24. His disciples said, "Show us the place where you are, for we must seek it."

He said to them, "Anyone here with two ears had better listen! There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark."

Gospel of Thomas, Coda 24.

“His disciples said, ‘Show us the place where you are, for we must seek it.’ He said to them, ‘Anyone here with two ears had better listen! There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark.’"

The disciples ask Jesus to show them “the place” where he is.  Where is this place?  What is this place?  It is not a geographic place.  It is not a place at all, whether located within Jesus or outside Jesus.  It is not associated with his body.  Rather this place is the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God being Self or Consciousness, not a personal self or state of consciousness.  They are asking Jesus for direction about how to realize this Self or Consciousness.  This is not something Jesus can give them.  He can reveal it to them, but they need to seek it and find it.  They need to pursue it and realize it.  Their true individual self or consciousness must connect with this true, essential Self or Consciousness.  We can say that this Self or Consciousness is God, so we can say that what the disciple is seeking is God-realization or Self-realization.

A person of light is one in who exists divine light, the light of Consciousness or Self or God or the reality of the Kingdom of God.  As this light is uncovered, it shines upon the world.  It is possible for a person to not be a person of light.  At this point in the person’s evolution or development there is neither light nor semblance of light.  Therefore it doesn’t shine and is dark.   The light can be discovered after it is revealed to the disciple and the disciple pursues the practices that lead to its realization.

Self-realization or God-realization involves both grace and works.  Grace comes into a disciple’s life through the presence of the teacher.  The teacher initiates the disciple into knowledge of the reality of the “place that he is in,” the Self that is God or the Consciousness that is God.  The teacher is one who knows what he initiates the disciple into.  The disciple then must seek or pursue the knowledge, or experience, that has been realized to him.  An external teacher is helpful, even important, but essentially the teacher is within, the Christ or Light that is within.

Gospel of Thomas - coda 23

Gospel of Thomas, coda 23.

 “Jesus said, ‘I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one.’”

We do not choose Jesus.  Jesus chooses us.  The disciple does not choose the Master.  The Master chooses the disciple.  Jesus, as Master, chooses his disciples from among those who are spiritually ripe or mature.  He chooses only those who are ready.  But, “ready for what,” you may ask?  He chooses those ready to stand spiritually alone with Jesus, in unity with him, and unity with the God. 

Jesus spoke to various size groups of people.  He taught the crowds.  To these Jesus presented very important teachings.  These are people he ministered in a variety of ways; teaching, blessing, healing, driving out demons, and feeding for instance.  Then there were his disciples.  These carried out much of the work of preaching, healing, driving out demons, and feeding.  This was a smaller group.  His instruction of them was more exacting.  And then there were the Apostles.  There were only twelve of them.  They were given the responsibility to lead and teach in addition to the other responsibilities given to the disciples.  His instruction to them was at a deeper level according to their further understanding.  And there was even a smaller, inner circle.  Different scriptures suggest that different apostles were in his inner circle.  In the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, it appears it was Peter, James and John.  Other non-canonical gospels suggest Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Philip, and Judas.  John suggests the “Beloved disciple.” 

In the Gospel of Thomas, Thomas is such a one, spiritual twin to Jesus, in consciousness.  He is no longer Jesus’ disciple but equal.  He has been chosen by Jesus and received from Jesus the knowledge of Self or God and understood it.

Thomas has attained to what he has as the result on his relationship with his Master Jesus.  But, according to certain Gnostic schools, he has arrived at that relationship as the result of many lifetimes.  He is a mature soul.  Anyone who has come this far in this study of Thomas is a mature enough soul, not necessarily to achieve in this lifetime what Thomas has, but is moving towards that.  They are likely one of the thousands chosen or one of the two of ten thousand.  Others will attain to this as well, but perhaps they are not ready to be part of this number.  They have additional incarnations to go through.

As of 2010, the world’s population was 6,840,507,000.  There are 2,300,000,000 Christians.  1,100,000,000 consider themselves to be non-religious or atheist.  84% of the world population is religious, 33% Christian.  Of these, religious and Christian, likely only 20% consider themselves religious in the sense that they seriously seek spiritual development.  The level of spiritual development referred to in Thomas is likely of a subset of this 20%.  Among Christians, 1 in 1000 equals 2,300,000, small, but significant and 2 in 10,000 equals 460,000.

Jesus’ point is that only a few will have the preparation and commitment to realize the fruit of discipleship at this level.

Gospel of Thomas - coda 21

Gospel of Thomas, coda 21.

“Mary said to Jesus, ‘What are your disciples like?’"

It is not clear who the Mary is who asks this question.  There are a number of known Maries, of course.  Perhaps it is not necessary to know who this Mary is.  What is more important is to know what Jesus’ disciples are like.  The following statement answers the question.

“He said, ‘They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Give us back our field.' They take off their clothes in front of them in order to give it back to them, and they return their field to them.’”

The disciples are like little children living in a field that is not theirs.  They lack ownership of the field that they live in.  Really they are living in a world that belongs to someone else.  What is this field?  Perhaps it is the material world.  When the owners of the material world come they ask for the field back.  And the children remove their clothes in order to return the field to them.  The clothing the little children wear are their bodies, the necessary vehicles for living in the material world.  The children return to their original nature when they remove their clothing, an original nature that is spiritual.

“For this reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief is coming, they will be on guard before the thief arrives and will not let the thief break into their house (their domain) and steal their possessions. As for you, then, be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves with great strength, so the robbers can't find a way to get to you, for the trouble you expect will come.”

Who is Jesus speaking to here?  If this coda is to be counted as one, then he is speaking to Mary.  Does Mary want to be a disciple, is she a disciple, or is she merely inquisitive about being one of his disciples.  It appears that she may be a disciple herself.  In this case, the house Jesus refers to is the spiritual self, the domain of the spiritual.  Jesus is saying that the owner of the house, the disciple, must be awake, aware and on-guard against the thief.  The thief is the world.  The thief could take away his spiritual unity and peace.  The disciple in this case is an adept who as attained enlightenment but not as a permanent state, and thus is in danger of losing it.  The disciple needs to practice diligently to maintain that connection or spiritual oneness.

Let there be among you a person who understands.

The person among you who understands may be one in the group of disciples or adepts.  Or it can be that part of one that knows; that is awake and aware; that part is the Christ within.  When one falls asleep or becomes unaware or ignorant it is like one is living a dream that perpetuates itself and keeps one from waking.  It is like the dream is real, but it isn’t.  It is an illusion, but it is difficult to return to one’s spiritual reality.

When the crop ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested it. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"

Who is that will come to harvest the ripened crop?  And what is the ripened crop.  There is no real harvest in the material world.  Everything there is dead; temporal.  The harvest is of a spiritual crop.  It is a gathering into the spiritual domain of those who have attained that original state of spirit, akin to that of the first spiritual creation alluded to in the first creation story in Genesis, before the second.  When one (crop) develops spiritually (ripens) one is leaves the physical world and enters into the spiritual (is harvested).  At this time there is no one who harvests as the harvest and harvester are one.

Gospel of Thomas - coda 22

Gospel of Thomas, coda 22

 “Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, ‘These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father's) kingdom.’

Jesus is referring to infants, the youngest of children, suckling children, innocent and dependent for their life on the mother.  It may be, and likely is, that Jesus is referring to the state of being that existed as the result of the first creation story, creation of the spiritual human and before the creation of the physical and mental human.

They said to him, "Then shall we enter the (Father's) kingdom as babies?"

It may be tempting to interpret this passage in physical terms.  Jesus is not saying that it is necessary to be a baby, but to be aware spiritually, in that consciousness that is not physically and mentally based, where there is not dependence upon physical nurture but spiritually nurture.

The state that Jesus describes is one in which there is unity of opposites; inner and outer, upper and lower, male and female.

Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."

Gospel of Thomas - coda 20

Gospel of Thomas, coda 20.

The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what Heaven's kingdom is like."He said to them, "It's like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky."

In the synoptic gospels the mustard refers to faith and to the kingdom of God.  Davies offers that mustard seed refers to faith, the church or the kingdom of God.  In the context provided by Thomas it appears likely that the reference here is to the kingdom of God.   Davies states that the mustard seed is a weed and not a crop.  It is a colonizing plant that takes over newly broken ground.  It rises up without any human effort.

However, it seems that Thomas is making a different point here.  Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God is present in the world, but it is in potential form.  After it falls into worked ground it takes root and sprouts a large stem.  It then develops branches upon which all the ideas and inspiration of heaven can come to roost. 

Could it be that the ground is the spiritual seeker?  She cultivates her spiritual ground through relationship with her spiritual teacher, spiritual practice, and spiritual study.  The seed comes from outside herself, an act of divine providence or grace, and falls into her spiritual ground, her heart, and works itself into her life, establishing itself in her like a stem, thick and strong, and then branching up and out so that the birds of the sky, ideas and inspiration born of heaven find shelter and expression in her branches.

The ground, too, from another perspective, be humanity.  Humankind cultivates its spiritual ground through relationship with the divine and development of its corporate consciousness.  This seed of the kingdom of God enters in to it and works itself into it, and it establishes itself in human consciousness which expanded is now open to all of the ideas, ideals and inspiration of heaven, even taking on the character of heaven as the result.

Do You Care?

Do You Care

I was reflecting the other day about what a church is?  What is a church to you? I’m assuming to that the church is important to you.  Why is the church important to you?

Certainly a church is many things, but if I was to define a church I would define it this way.  A Church is a community of people who care like Christ cares; cares about other people . . . cares about the world.   The Church of Jesus Christ cares.  The United Methodist Church of North Chili cares.  Indeed, this church is a center of Christ’s caring . . . God’s love of the world. 

You are the Church . . . a community of people that cares about other people and the world in the way Christ cares about people and the world.  You are in the Church because others in the Church have cared about you.  You mattered to the people of the Church.  So many people feel that nobody cares . . . that they don’t matter.  That’s a problem many people experience about the world.

Isn’t that the witness we received last week from Ileana, Alberto, and Jose . . . They are overwhelmed by your care for them.  No questions asked, after they were referred to you, the Body of Christ here in North Chili, you embraced them and were extravagant in your care.   They hardly understood a word you said them and they felt like they mattered . . . that they were important.

It matters that you care . . . it matters to God . . . it matters to others and to the world . . . and it matters to you . . .

Why do you care?  Why, it’s a matter of salvation; your salvation; others’ salvation; the salvation of the world.    Indeed we’re saved because God cared enough to send his son into the world to save it.  We’re saved because God thought about us enough to save us rather than condemn us.  John Wesley says it this way, “Saved even me, undeserving as I am.”  God treat us like we’re deserving even when we believe we are undeserving.  And we all go through times when we think that we are undeserving of God's grace! 

What do you do when you reject or condemn something?  You abandon it.  You leave it like it is worthless to be destroyed.   What do you do when you accept or save something?  You invest in it.  You treat it like it is worthwhile to be renewed.

God has invested in you through Christ!  God has chosen to build you up rather than tear you down!  And God has not said “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps” or “here are some resources, save yourself.”  Hardly!  Here is my Son!  Here is my Spirit!  You are part of my family now!  You are part of me!  You matter!  You are so important to me that I have sacrificed the life of my son for you!  That’s our story!

Do you care Church?  Let me hear how much you care.  “I care!”  When you care you make a difference to God, to others, to the world and get this, you matter! 

That is why it is important for you to pledge your financial suport for your church.  You care.  You care that the church is able to fulfill its mission or not . . . to install its core values in its members and in the community.  You care.  And you know that it is consequentia that you care. . . to give . . . to serve in Jesus’ name.

Herman Cain has been accused of four counts of sexual harassment.  Does it matter?  He’s running for President of the United States!  Did he do it?  He claims not.  Some like his business acumen and ideas.  They say he would be an excellent President. They want him elected.  They say Cain is being set up, not because they believe he is innocent, but because they don’t want to know whether he harassed those women at all.  They don’t care!

Some don’t like his ideas at all.  They don’t think he has what it takes to be President.  They don’t want him in the White House.  They don’t care if the allegations are true or not.  They just want the allegations to stick.   What matters to them is not whether Cain is guilty of sexual harassment or not.  They just want him to lose.  Really, they don’t care!

But did Cain harass those four women?  Does it matter? Do you care? 

Do you know that as many as 70 percent of women and 45 percent of men report experiences of being sexually harassed in their workplaces?  Does it matter? Do you care?

Graham Spanier, President of Penn State University and Joe Paterno Head Coach of the Penn State Football Team, and a few other prominent persons with the University and football program have been fired over covering up the sexual assault of a boy by an assistant coach in the team locker room, a coach that assaulted 8 boys over a 15 year period.  The number of reports has grown as the investigation presses forward.  This cover up lasted ten years.   Does it matter?  Do you care? 

29% of women and 14% of men report being sexually abused as children.  78,000 cases of sexual abuse were reported and substantiated in 2006.  It is estimated that only 12-30% of cases are reported to authorities, so as many as 260-000-650,000 cases of child sexual abuse occur in the United States per year.  Does it matter?  Do you care?  That sexual abuse has occurred in homes, in schools, in day care centers, and in churches.  Does it matter? Do you care?

Sexual harassment . . . Sexual abuse . . . poverty . . . hunger . . . homelessness . . . immigration issues . . . racial profiling . . . the high rates of incarceration among Blacks, Hispanics, Native-Americans and poor whites . . . the lack of educational advancement among Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans and poor whites . . . domestic violence . . . lack of access to healthcare and jobs . . . Does it matter? Do you care?  What is the consequence of not caring for the victims, ourselves, our communities, and our nation?

There are obviously a lot of people in our country that don’t care.  Leave Herman Cain alone.  You’re only on his case because he’s a black man.  But did he do it?  And does it matter that he did, if he did?  Do you care?  And how about all those other women . . . and men . . . who say were sexually harassed?  Do they matter?  Do you care? What is the consequence of not caring?

Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno at Penn State . . . Leave these men alone.  Look at what they’ve done for Penn State all these years. They were doing their jobs; looking out for the interests of Penn State . . . Did they do what they could do?  Does it matter?  Did they care?  What is the consequence of their not caring?

So the time has come, the Son of Man, the Christ comes in glory, all his angels with him, and he takes his place on his throne.  And he looks at everyone gathered before him; people from every nation and every age.  

And he separates the people, like a Shepherd separates sheep from goats.  And he places those who are like sheep to his right, and those who are like goats to his left. 

And he sees to those seated at this right, “Come into eternal life with me!  You are blessed by God!  Receive your inheritance, the Kingdom of God.  It has been prepared for you from the beginning, because you cared about me.  You fed me when I was hungry, you gave me drink when I was thirsty, you welcomed me when I was a stranger, you gave me clothing when I had none, you cared for me when I was sick, and you visited me when I was incarcerated.”

And those, pleased as can be with his words wondered, but “when was it . . . where . . . how . . .?  And they searched their minds . . . when did we feed you . . . when did we give you drink . . . when did we welcome you . . . when did we clothe you . . . when did we comfort you . . . and when did we visit you in prison?”  And he answered . . . “as you did to for one of the least of these who are members of my family you have done to and for me.  You cared about me.  I mattered to you.  You made a difference!

Then, he turned to those at his left and he said, “Get away from me.  You are cursed by God! There is no inheritance for you! You will have no part of me and the Kingdom of God.  Yours will be the kingdom prepared for the devil and his angels. For when you saw me hungry, you sent me away with nothing, I was thirsty and you didn’t even offer me a glass of water, I was a stranger and you wouldn’t talk to me or let me in, I was cold and needed cover and you didn’t offer me any clothing, I was sick and you let me suffer, and when I was in prison you left me there alone to rot.  You didn’t care about me.  I didn’t matter to you.”

And those, agitated by his words demanded, “But Lord, we didn’t know it was you!  If we had we certainly would have helped!”  And Jesus responded, “Just as you did not do to and for one of the least of these, you did not do to or for me.  You didn’t care.  I didn’t matter.  And now, you expect me to care about you?  Now that you haven’t made a difference with your lives, you want to matter?  I do care.  That’s why I’m sorry.  By failing to help these others you have neglected and denied yourself.  Do you care?  And now you know the consequences of caring and not caring.  Does it really Matter?

And the righteous shall go to eternal life, and the ignorant to eternal torment.

Herman Cain, if he is innocent, will rise above the accusations made of him.  And if he’s not will be vilified.  There are consequences to his actions.  And for those who look the other way and vote for him, if indeed he has harassed women, because there are consequences for not caring.  Does it matter? Do you care?

Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno and others at Penn State are paying the price for not caring or not caring enough for the boys who were victimized and their families.  Penn State is paying the price.  The Catholic Church is paying the price. Our schools are paying the price.  Our society is paying the price.  Does it matter? Do you care?

Do you care that so many of women and men in our society are being sexually harassed?  Those are our daughters and son, being brought up in a culture that says “Hush now.  Don’t tell.  And boys will be boys.”  A culture that teaches them that sexual harassment is okay.

Do you care that so many people in our society, boys and girls, are sexually abused by people they love and trust and have power over them? Does it matter to you that are ashamed of themselves for what has been done to them, and grow up in a culture that says “Quiet now.  Don’t make problems for your abuser.  They are good men.  (Does that mean the children are bad?) You let it happen and no one is going to believe you?” Does it matter that they grow up wanting to feel powerful in an area where they have been made to feel weak, and so become abusers themselves or feel so guilty that they let their spouses abuse them?

Do you care that so many in our country, Black, Hispanic, Native American and White, are poor, hungry, are failing academically, lack access to health care and jobs, and end up in prison rather than college dorms, and living hand to mouth rather than prospering? 

Here it is in a nutshell:  You make a difference by your caring and by your not caring.  You make a difference by what you do and say and by what you don’t do or don’t say.  You make a difference because you do matter!  Do you care like Jesus says he cares?  Does it matter, like Jesus says it matters?  Because there are rewards for caring and consequences for not . . . Does it matter? Do you care?