Spokane Friends Meeting

I know. Christmas seems to have been a really long time ago.  We’ve long since returned what we didn’t like, exchanged what didn’t fit, put away most of our decorations, discarded the wrapping paper and have gotten on with life.  But as far as the traditional church calendar is concerned January 27th is the third Sunday of Epiphany.  And, not being Greek or Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic or Episcopalian we Quakers are not all that familiar with what Epiphany means.  It means “manifestation” or “revelation”.  An epic narrative begins with a revelation to Mary in which we hear the story of a pre-natal revelation of Jesus as Messiah. Creation iparticipates with the story of the Magi’s pilgrimage. The angelic announcement to the shepherds continues the revelation.  The infancy and childhood narratives of Jesus’ visits to the Temple,  the story of Jesus’ baptism God in Christ is further revealed.  In turning the water into wine Jesus reveals even more about himself. You could say Epiphany is about Jesus’ coming out…as the long awaited Messiah.

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Some have come to question God’s response to human suffering and have concluded all sorts of things about God’s character or even that there is no God at all. But this quiet miracle challenges that conclusion by suggesting that sometimes God works without taking out an ad in the paper. There was no thunder clap to herald this event. Remember, the only eye witnesses to this miracle were the lowest of servants whose task it was to fill the empty casks with water.  In the New Testament Jesus often does his work in a way that is misunderstood and misrepresented. 

Jesus was, at this point, fresh from the most disturbing personal conflict of his life.  His work lay ahead, a work full of intense strife, hazard and pain; yet pre-occupied with these things it is the joy of the marriage celebration of a country couple that gets his attention.  This most uncommon gesture of grace brings true joy to the most common place event in a simple couple’s new life together.

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Shepherds Quake

Just prior to our recent national election Mark Danner, writing from Ramallah for the New York Review of Books, concluded his article saying: “Across eleven years of the war on terror, and two presidents, the politics of fear have not been forestalled, or banished, or defeated. The politics of fear have been embodied in the country’s permanent policies, without comment or objection by its citizenry. The politics of fear have won.”  Its article “Islam Employs Fear as a Terror Tactic” drew me to the recent edition of Charisma Magazine, ostensibly a Christian publication.  Among the other articles the magazine offered were these titles: “Are You Ready for America’s Impending ‘Economic Armageddon’?”  Fortunately there was another article on how Christians can benefit from the  “fiscal cliff’.  Another was “Where Will America Be at the End of Time?” The next was about the new Joel Rosenberg book which “Echoes Fears of Syrian use of WMD”.  How about this one  “The Spiritual Avalanche That Could Kill Millions”, described as an expose’ of “heretical teachings from Christian pastors and teachers that will cause the spiritual death of millions”.   What was that criticism of Islam? Oh yes, that they employed fear as a terror tactic!

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Shepherds Quake

Luke 2:8-20

Fear is a distressing, unpleasant emotion evoked by the dread of or threat of imminent harm. Its source is our anticipating a loss of some kind.  Friday the worst fear of the parents of twenty elementary school children in Connecticut validated for parents across our nation that to harbor such fear in our hearts is, unfortunately, reasonable.  That the loss of life was limited as much as it was speaks of lock down drills having trained staff and students what to do.  The death of six members of the faculty and staff testifies to responsible and sacrificial behavior.   That it occurred in an elementary school of 600 students that did everything right does little to assure us.  While the horrendous act of acts of mass violence, first in Portland and then in Newtown, Connecticut, lit up the national news, our local news reported on two of the three bodies found in my neighborhood last week. Most Americans live in a state of hyper-vigilance, being really anxious and in fear mode most of the time.  Continue reading →

Our advent isn’t about Jesus coming to us – it is about Jesus accompanying us on our journey of faith.  It is the advent of our salvation.  Its ultimate manifestation, which entered the world with Jesus’ birth, is when Christ takes root in our lives and we begin our own journey home. 

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George Fox then began, in the middle of the puritan revolution, to  preach that “Christ has come to teach his people himself.” His conviction was a new immediacy of revelation. The Light, the Holy Spirit, would lead a person to an insight of power and clarity.  “The Light” is the power of God in one’s life. It is a power for good but before that it is a terror for one’s sinfulness.  Only as I  know myself to be alienated from God can I yield to forgiveness and restoration.  What God does in order to lead me  to convincement is to relentlessly shine into me the terrible light of God holiness, finally bringing me to yield to his healing purpose. The essence of pain was to know one’s sins and self-will, but the source of the pain was the Light itself. To  modern Friends it is startling to find the inward Light described in terms of such fierce judgment. The Light that ultimately gave joy, peace, and guidance gave at first only terror.  It was as if George Fox could say “If that is the way God conquered me, by shining through me the truth that first judged and then restored, then that same power of the truth is to be the way God will conquer ignorance and ill will in my fellow humans. No threat or coercion can convince, only truth, which takes its own time to penetrate.”

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Christ the King Sunday

Neat things happen sometimes for reasons that may be questionable.  In 1925 Pope Pius XI created The festival of Christ the King.  It was to be celebrated on the last Sunday in October primarily to combat the popularity of Reformation Sunday which commemorated Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the Whittenberg Cathedral Door.  In 1969 it was moved to the last Sunday of the liturgical year. Intentionally divisive it has become part of a uniting movement .  There is a strong emphasis on unity in the Prayer of the Day from the Evangelical Lutheran Book of Worship.

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John Calvin wrote that an idol is anything that comes between us and God.  A key three places in this passage the word “worry” shows up. The Greek word means be preoccupied with or be absorbed by. To be preoccupied with food or our appearance is to view life much too narrowly…. God knows the needs of his people, so worrying about them is to suspect him of forgetting or neglecting his people and their needs.  Those who seek security in possessions aren’t followers of Jesus and don’t trust God’s munificence. 

Be grateful for what God have given you. Trust God and don’t let worries about what the future holds distract you.

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How Should Confirmed Christian Pacifists Commemorate Veterans Day?

           Veterans’ Day this year falls on Sunday. In most years Veterans’ Day passes in churches with little or no mention. Historically and traditionally, Veterans’ Day has been more a civic than a sacred observance.Armistice Day became Veterans’ Day by an act of Congress in 1954, changing its purpose and scope. President Eisenhower called on the nation not only to remember the sacrifices of those who fought in all our nation’s wars but to rededicate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace. 

Kay Ellison found the 1941 report to Oregon Yearly Meeting the 1941 by Levi Pennington, the  Superintendent of Peace. His report began: “What can a Christian pacifist do in a world that is war mad?”

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