Pride, Prevailing Grace

We are in Pride month, we are on the eve of “Juneteenth” … is it a coincidence that celebrations of liberation coincide?

They are the evidence of grace, which is the work of God’s love in and among us. Grace always prevails.

The hard part is that “prevail” part … unfortunately, it means there often are struggles. Pride is about LGBTQ people saying we are proud of who we are and more importantly, we are ready to proclaim our creation as people created in God’s image. Juneteenth, well, it is a celebration of the end of the enslavement of people in the United States, but as we know, it was the end of the beginning … we could hardly say that black people have equality in the US today. Just as we could barely choke it out that some of us queers are sort of equal a little bit sometimes.

But look at what God asks of us—to “proclaim with boldness the truth” and to “minister justice with compassion” [collect for Proper 6].

God appeared to Abraham “as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day” [Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7)]. Theophany at high noon while you’re sitting on the front stoop? Not only does Abraham not realize this is God, God does nothing but appear and the sit down in the shade of the tree.

God drops in and waits for hospitality. What a concept!

Abraham begs pardon of the visitors and throws open his home and his larder. The whole household rushes to make a meal–they bake cakes, they roast a calf, they even make cheese! and then they stand by while they partake of hospitality.

And then grace prevails. Then, God says that Abraham, who is 100 and his wife Sarah who also is 100 will have a baby. And they do!

I love this story. At first Sarah hides, then she laughs, then she sings with joy. Abraham did not recognize God, but did the right thing anyway. How much does that sound like real life? How much does that sound like a pride parade? Laughter, song, tears of joy, and grace … not to mention the heat of the day.

We are called to follow the examples of Abraham and Sarah, to be hospitable—to walk in love—and to “offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving” [Psalm 116:11, 10-17], to sing praises to God and to creation.

Paul [Romans 5:1-8] reminds us that it takes perseverance. That although grace prevails, it is not without the hard work of walking in love that we realize grace. Paul writes that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint” because we are after all made of love at the core.

Sounds like Pride to me again. I am (erm) “mature” enough to remember when it was a crime to be me, to remember when I dare not express my love in public, to have known the joy of both dancing queens and marriage equality. I am wise enough to know that this fight has been fought over and over and over and that we must not now give in to the voices that would oppress and suppress us. We must walk in love, offer hospitality even in the heat of the day, and sing praises to God. We must march with joy and pride. Most of all we must persevere.

And grace will prevail.

Jesus goes on a campaign from town to town and he sees that the need is immense so he ordains his disciples to act as well in his name, to heal, to cure, to bless [Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23)]. He gives them quite specific instructions, which, as we can see, match the actions of Abraham in the unknown presence of God.

And here is the sum for today: it is in hospitality that we will find that God is in our presence. When we open our hearts to the possibility of love we can see that God is with us always and that grace has indeed prevailed.

And, finally, is Jesus’ perfect advice about those who will not receive God .. shake the dust off your feet and move on … and when you find a welcome sing praises and give thanks.

Proper 6 Year A 2023 RCL (Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7); Psalm 116:1, 10-17 Dilexi, quoniam; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23))

©The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

Laughter, Joy, Love and Everyday Miracles

Laughter is said to be the best medicine. I guess about now we want to take advantage of all the free medicine we can. I know that laughter is thought to reduce stress and increase immune response. But, of course, it also just feels good. I don’t laugh much during the course of a regular day; I spend most of my time at a computer with my brain metaphorically buried in manuscripts or statistics (but then, I love being a scholar, and I know that loving my work also affects low-stress and better immune response). I have a kind of dry wit sense of humor, which tends to lead more to the occasional chuckle than a good old-fashioned belly laugh. This is one reason I took up watching I Love Lucy a couple of years ago as a kind of discipline; every weeknight I watch at least one episode. It never fails to make me laugh out loud, and I admit it feels really good. I hope it has the desired effect.

The story of Sarah’s pregnancy, if you will, in Genesis (18:1-15, 21:1-7) seems to pivot around Sarah’s laughter. I think, like many people, Sarah starts laughing as a response to a shocking surprise. At first, hearing she was to become pregnant in old age, she laughed to herself. In the end, after the birth of her son, she understood better that “God has brought laughter for me” and “everyone who hears will laugh with me.” Laughter, after all, is contagious.

Of course, the surprise Sarah experienced, the surprise that made her laugh, was a visit by God. At first encounter “three men” appear at the entrance of Abraham’s tent. After he feeds them “one” of them speaks to Abraham, he even asks about Sarah’s laughter. At the end of the tale Sarah knows God has visited to bring her laughter, which is love.

God, as we know, is love. And God, as we also know, doesn’t really need to visit because God is always with us. Rather, it is we who need to learn to see that God is acting in our lives. This is why the visitor to Abraham and Sarah says “I will surely return to you in due season” meaning, “sooner or later you will let down your guard and know me again.” And it is the very laughter that is the opening of the gate, if you will, in Sarah’s consciousness that let’s her see and know that God is with her. “Is anything too wonderful for God?”

Well, laughter brings joy, and joy stirs up love, and love makes miracles happen. God’s “due season” is any time our laughter builds up enough joy to stir up enough love to realize not just the presence of God all around and within us but also the miracles of everyday life. Little things are God’s miracles—a recipe works, a rose blooms, a tree limb falls and doesn’t knock down the fence (just to name a few of my own)—a child is born as a sign of hope in a time of trial. God’s presence is made palpable by joy, by the sharing of love, by realizing in our hearts, with laughter or tears, the very miracle of the pure experience of love.

In the letter to the Romans (5:1-8) Paul writes that it is through the intermixture of the experience of life as faith that we see how God’s Holy Spirit has been given, is given eternally, to us. The Holy Spirit is always with us. Like the visitors to Abraham’s tent, we experience the “visit” of the Holy Spirit when we are able to experience the love that makes God’s presence palpable. We are justified by faith, by the love that does indeed make God’s presence known to us. This is the grace in which we stand, of which we boast, from which comes our hope, which enables us to endure. Hope is the joy given by the realization of the presence of God when we share God’s love.

In Matthew’s Gospel (9:35-10:8) we enter into the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as he begins to travel from village to village, summons his disciples, gives them authority, and then sends them out as well. Jesus’ instructions are all active verbs—go, proclaim, cure. “As you go, proclaim the good news.” The good news is this, that God’s love already is all around us. We stir it up by its proclamation. We stir up God’s love by the act of loving whether that means a good belly laugh or a soft chuckle or just a hug—remember hugs? Loving is action, not just feelings but the outpouring of feelings that makes God’s presence palpable. Going, doing, curing, proclaiming … these are the ways Jesus calls all disciples to stir up the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, which we endure in hope, which we realize in laughter, even the laughter of God’s surprising everyday miracles.

One more thing, Jesus sends his disciples to “go … to the lost sheep.” Who are the lost sheep? Why, we are of course. We are lost until we can pass through the gate of love into the dimension of God’s presence where we experience the very palpable companionship of God.

 

Proper 6 Year A 2020 RCL: Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7); Psalm 116:1, 10-17 Dilexi, quoniam; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23)

©2020 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

Endurance

I have a real talent for letting my thoughts run away with me. It always surprises me too, because in general I’m pretty even-keeled and optimistic. But sometimes even a tiny thing will run away with me and when it happens I find it all consuming and very difficult to ride out.

A good example was the evening I lost my wedding ring for awhile. It was a few weeks ago. We had gone out one evening for our first exciting symphony concert in the city. We waited in the driveway for our Uber, it was a nice sunny afternoon. We noticed the funny tree by the end of the driveway, that we hadn’t looked at much all summer, was now filled with the most exotic dark purple fruits—a fig tree! I was very excited. We had a lovely evening; that wasn’t when it happened.

But all week long I took to bringing a few figs into the house with me. I diced some into a salad, I sliced them for dipping in hummus, I was really enjoying having my own fig supply. Late in the week, Friday maybe, as we came in from whatever errands we’d been running I grabbed a bunch of very ripe figs, thinking maybe I could make something interesting from them over the weekend—I think I wound up making a pizza with them and some mushrooms. These figs were very ripe and were oozing sticky liquid on my hands. I brought them inside and plopped them on the ripening plate in the kitchen and then washed my hands.

About an hour later I was doing some work on my model railroad and tiny things kept sticking to my hands so I went to wash my hands. I remember moving my ring just a bit to wash under it because it was sort of sticking to my finger.

A few hours later, after dinner, I sat down to watch my evening television. Wouldn’t you know, the show on my watchlist was the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy loses her wedding ring. I thought “how funny” as I reached for my ring only to discover it was not on my finger. Uh oh …

I got Brad, who had similarly “lost” his about six months ago for a few hours, and we moved furniture and combed the room where I had been sitting but no luck, no sign of a wedding ring.

I became obsessed. I could not watch television I was so distracted. I tried to go to bed but I couldn’t sleep or even really relax because I was so distracted. I actually experienced physical sensations of a kind of feverishness—maybe a fight or flight response? I couldn’t read. I couldn’t even play iPhone solitaire. It was as though a storm was raging in my psyche, as though my soul was at war with itself.

I did eventually drift off and fell into a silly dream about having lost my wedding ring. In the dream I retraced my steps like a mystery detective and found the ring. Excitedly happy I awoke, only to discover the ring still missing from my finger. But I decided to go with the message. I got up, turned on lights around the trains and tried to work back through what I had done. Suddenly I remembered the sticky tiny things and washing my ring finger, so I returned to the sink where that had taken place and there was my ring—just poised to go down the drain. I didn’t recognize it right away because, well, it looked a bit odd sitting in the sink, and also because I was still physically affected by my dark spirit.

Here’s the rub, as they say. Salvation was mine but I was so consumed I couldn’t see or feel or experience it. Well, I picked up the ring, put it on my finger and went to show Brad, who was sound asleep. Oh well I thought as the relief washed over me and through me and released my spirit and resurrected my soul.

In Isaiah 65 God announces through the prophet just how a “new heavens and a new earth” will be built, “the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind … be glad and rejoice forever.” In Luke 21 Jesus tells how the temple will be destroyed; a series of terrifying “signs” is recited. But the parable ends with “by your endurance you will gain your souls.”

We are called as God’s heirs to love not only each other but also ourselves because by living in a constant state of love we create God’s kingdom around us. It is a tough lesson for many reasons, not the least of which is that to live in love (or to walk in love as it often is expressed in the New Testament) is really like a job. It means being constantly vigilant. It means keeping your soul and your spirit focused on love and on loving and not on the fear and panic of self. I know—easier said than done. But it is in remembering that the “dark nights of the soul” are many and the solution is to cease to give them honor by filling your spirit with the hope of salvation, the return of a soul filled with love, and thereby enduring, as Jesus put it.

The “First Song of Isaiah” is a good verse to keep at hand. “I will trust and not be afraid … give thanks … sing the praises of the Lord … ring out your joy.” It is in these ways we build up love and so endure to find our way back to the proverbial mountaintop of joy.

Why is my wedding ring so precious to me? I suppose there are layers of emotion wrapped up in it. The obvious part is the symbol of love it represents as it is the tie that bound the two of us in marriage making us each other’s family. Maybe part of it is that it was only after 30 years of our relationship (and many ups and downs) that we were allowed by society to marry, so that for us it is all the more precious as a symbol of the way that hope and love can overcome even oppression.

Well, the truth is in here somewhere. It is certain that we are called by God who not only created us but created us as loving lgbt people to walk in love as we go. Our trust in that love is our salvation. For it is by our endurance that we will gain our souls.

Proper 28 (Isaiah 65:17-25; Canticle 9 (Isaiah 12:2-6); 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19)

©2019 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.