A Prophet in Your Own Country

Scripture: Luke 4:21-30

The people of Nazareth knew Jesus as one of Joseph and Mary's family, a young man of the village, a friend, a carpenter. They were amazed at his wisdom in the synagogue when he read the scripture from Isaiah. "This text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening," he said. Was this the man they knew? Where had his wisdom come from? How could it be that this carpenter was interpreting scripture for them?

There was no doubt in Jesus' mind who he was. Yes - as a human being he had an identity in the world: he had a mother and father, brothers and sisters, he had friends, he went to the synagogue, he was a carpenter - but he himself knew who he truly was, he knew his God-self as the son of man. And his sense of empowerment came from this deep inner knowing. So sure of his role as God's messenger, knowing himself as he did , knowing his true nature, was he really likely to have fallen into the very human creation of not being a prophet in his own country?

When I read this scripture, it seems to me that he created the situation; indeed he appears to have set himself up: comparing himself to Elijah's and Elisha's experiences with the Isrealites, he brought everyone's attention to the parallels, the similarities, with himself thus goading the people of Nazareth into hustling him out of town and trying to kill him.

"but he passed straight through the crown and walked
away"

Jesus was a wise and clever teacher indeed. He set up a situation to demonstrate that we can rise above what people think of us. He came to show us our God-selves; and when we are strong and secure in our connection to God and who we are, made in his image, all-powerful, here to serve, here to use our unique gifts. When we are strong in this, we will do God's work on Earth and spread the word, and people will see the Truth of who we are, not just our Earthly, human persona.

Jesus begins to preach

Luke 4:14-21

"This text is being fulfilled today even while you are
listening."

All I have to say about this scripture is, "Please listen to Rev'd Jim Cooper, Rector of Trinity Church - St. Paul Chapel in New York, preach."

Go to

http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/onlinetv/?sermon

and watch the sermon for January 21st, 2007: it is 16 minutes of pure inspiration.

The Wedding at Cana

Scripture: John 2:1-11

What is the message this week from the marriage at Cana?

Mary said to Jesus, "They have no wine," and she said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

Mary knew who Jesus was; there was absolutely no doubt in her mind as to his purpose on Earth. He was not only here to take away the sin of the world on the cross, he was here to show us what it means to be the incarnate children of God, to be made in his likeness. And one of these likenesses is to perform miracles.

Not only those miracles that we see everyday when people overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to accomplish something (the metaphorical "move mountains"), but also those miracles that appear to defy the very laws of nature, of physics and science.

The "water into wine" was Jesus' first miracle, but he went on to perform many more and, some would say, greater miracles than this.

In all truth I tell you,
whoever believes in me
will perform the same works as I do myself,
and will perform even greater works,
because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12

Why is it that we find it so difficult to accept the possibility, let alone the actuality of modern day miracles?

I have a friend who prayed and invoked Reiki healing energy over her baby who had been diagnosed with a heart defect. At her next appointment, the doctor could not find any defect; he was completely baffled and bemused!

I know of someone who went for heart bypass surgery after attending a prayer and healing service. When the surgeon looked at his heart, it had already grown its own new bypass valve.

I have watched someone massage a new-born puppy back to life - why not a new-born human being?

In her book "There is Always Enough", Heidi Baker tells the story of her mission house in Africa where 100 children had taken refuge. Her neighbour, a nun, had brought a pot of stew for her family of four - when she saw all the children, she said "I will have to go and make some more!" Heidi said, "No; pray," and she began to ladle bowls full of stew - enough to feed one hundred children!

The pastor of a local church here was asked, "Why would God choose to shower gold dust and diamonds from the ceiling?" the paster reflected this question and asked God to answer it - "Because I can!" came the reply.

If we believe in a loving, benevolent, abundant God who sees more than we can ever know and only wants the best for us, how do we explain so much suffering in the world? Is it because we have separated ourselves from God? What is our journey when it takes down a seemingly tortuous path?

In a world of miracles, what happens to these questions?

Jesus didn't come to show us how powerful God is - he came to show us how powerful we are!

What is the role of miracles in your life?

And if you have faith, everything you ask for in prayer,
you will receive.
Matthew 21:22

Baptism of The Lord

Scripture: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Now it happened that when all the people had been baptized and while Jesus, after his own baptism, was at prayer, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical form, like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my son; today I have fathered you."

What a rich scripture this is! How to connect the Holy Spirit, baptism, the baptism of the Lord and Jesus' entry into his ministry as a model of the incarnation of the Word?

This announcement from heaven "You are my child; today I have fathered you." shows me God's overwhelming love for mankind. We are formed in God's image and Jesus showed us how that image appears in incarnate, human form.

Baptism reconnects us with God and we are baptised in the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If we see Christianity as the way of love in action then at our baptism, we commit ourselves to a life of service of witness to and demonstartion of Love.

Initiation into the Holy Spirit is through the laying on of hands. At baptism we are baptised with water and with the Holy Spirit; the water is the symbol of washing away our sin of separation from God.

In the Anglican church we are baptised as babies, supported in the cradle of the Holy Trinity, enveloped in the presence of the Holy Spirit. As young adults we return for the next rite in our initiation into a life of service as witness to Christ. A bishop performs the ceremony of the laying on of hands and is a channel for the Holy Spirit to infuse the life of the apostle being confirmed.

As we continue our life of service and witness, we always have the wisdom of the Holy Spirit available to us.

In this passage, we hear again how Jesus models for us that the Holy Spirit appears in times of prayer and meditation, quiet and contemplation.

Come Holy Spirit, come!

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling on their knees they did him homage.

I am not quite sure where to go with this scripture. Researching it has led me to some wonderful sermons and to some scary opinions.

The Rev'd Canon Anne Mallonee, vicar of Trinity Church - St. Paul's Chapel in New York, expressed her meesage of the Epiphany in her sermon on January 6, 2005 - Jesus came to show us the light and we are all included, all invited to step into the light. It was a message of hope, of inclusion, of love and of reaching out.

I also found messages based in fear, and that saddened me.

Who were the wise men? there is much speculation about this and the only gospel they appear in is Matthew's. We do know that they were foreigners, from the East. The wise men, learned men, sages of their time were probably steeped in the mystery schools. They have been idenitfied as astrologers, they were used to gathering information from deep observation and the patterns derived from nature, mankind and the interaction between nature and mankind. Thus they were not surprised to find that a star led them to the birth of the Messiah.

One definition of Epiphany is the manifestation of the light.

Lead me from the unreal to the real.
Lead me from the darkness to the light.
Lead me from death to immortality.

Upanishad invocation
(Hinduism)

It is through Epiphany that we see a connection between Christianity and the other schoolsl of mysticism.

Andrew Harvey, in his book The Essential Mystics, calls Christianity "The Way of Love in Action" and he writes,

One of the most significant results of the revolution of the sacred feminine is that it is leading to a radical reassessment of the Christian tradition. The patriarchal accretions of two thousand years of authoritarian misinterpretation of the Christian message are being discarded to unveil the revelation Christ came to bring again in all its starkness and urgency; Mary is being increasingly turned to not merely as the Mother of God but as the most poignant of all humanity's images of the divine Mother; the witness of the Christian mystics is being increasingly celebrated for its humble accuracy, range and devotion to the transformation fo reality through service. Many Westen seekers, like myself, have been on long complex journeys into the depths and disciplines of Eastern mysticism to find at the end of them a renewed wonder at the Christian inheritance.

Reflections on Luke 2: 41-52

Scripture: Luke 2:41-52

His mother stored up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and with people.

What were the things Mary stored in her heart? She had observed Jesus sitting, listening and questioning with the teachers in the Temple. We are told that the learned men were astounded at what he had to say, at his intelligence and his replies. He was certain of his place in the world; “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” he asked his parents. He was not perturbed by their worries.

How did Jesus come by this wisdom? How did his childhood allow and encourage such wisdom to develop?

Mary and Joseph protected him yet allowed him the space to become fully who he was. As a young child, they removed him from danger by taking him into Egypt: following guidance from God, they took him out of the path of Herod’s wrath. Jesus, Mary and Joseph return to Nazareth after Herod’s death. (Probably Jesus was about 3 years old when this happened.)

When Jesus was presented in the Temple, his parents heard the prophecies of Simeon and Anna. All the events of Jesus early life, along with their own visitations, are the pieces that begin to add up; they create a mosaic that points to the purpose of Jesus’ life.

As a wise being, Jesus is a model for us – not a model of self-righteous “goodness” or “sinlessness” but a model of living in “right relationship” with God. He came to show us that we are made in God’s image and God is always there to guide us. He took away our sin of separation from God and showed us the power of prayer.

Prayer is about listening. When we pray, do we honour Jesus’ teaching and the example of Mary and Joseph, enough?

Prayer is about listening. The key question in prayer is “what do you want me to know?” ‘or “What is your will for me?” Not giving up our power or handing over responsibility to God, but knowing that he holds the key to our life on Earth - we were with him before we incarnated and we will return to him when we die. He will guide us to learn as we journey though life.

Thoughts for reflection…

Honouring a mother’s wisdom: What instances in your life can you point to when your mother showed understanding and allowing of your innate wisdom – enabling you to grow, trusting your inner strength and connection to God and the rightness of all things?

Jesus chose his parents – did her choose wisely? If we are made in God’s image and Jesus came to show us how to be the Father’s children, then we too, surely, chose our parents even if we have forgotten that which occurred before our birth. In what way did you choose wisely? In what way have future choices upheld the wisdom of your incarnation?