Jewish Roots

When I read Luke's account of the birth of John the Baptist, I am struck at the author's highlighting the Jewishness of Zechariah and Elizabeth.  In  the face of developing bitterness between those Jews who followed the way of Jesus and  those who followed the way of the rabbis, Luke wants to make it clear that Christianity has its roots in Judaism.  At the very beginning of his Gospel in this well-told story he gives us a lovely picture of a Jewish neighborhood gathered for the circumcision of this little baby (1:57-66;80.)
It didn't take long for this early bitterness to grow among Christians into a mean anti-Judaism and eventually over centuries to grow into the cruel prejudice of anti-Semitism.  Reading Luke's Gospel is like a racist finding out that his ancestors were black.

Hiddenness and Smallness

Mountain laurel grows wild and unattended.
The chair in the corner was my father's chair.  There he read newspapers and books.  He also kept in the stand there two small prayer books from which I saw him read every day.  I don't recall his ever telling me what they were, but somehow I knew that he was praying.
Mark has only two of Jesus' parables about the Reign of God (the Greek word usually translated "Kingdom" refers, not to a place but to the act of ruling.)  One is about seeds growing without the farmer knowing how; the other is about tiny seeds producing a large plant (4:26-32.)  God extends his rule over each of us and all of us slowly in powerful ways that we do not notice.

Unobserved Growth

Every summer Saturday evening when I was about ten an evangelical group worshiped in an open space downtown in a way that they could be heard even up on the hills that surrounded the town.  My father and I were walking on the path over the hill to church for confession.  I started laughing and making fun of their worship service.  My father stopped and turned to me and simply said, "We don't make fun of other people's religion."  It was many years later when the ecumenical movement was just beginning that I worked hard to help people understand each other's religion.
Jesus said, "The Reign of God is like a man who scattered seed on the land.  Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does no know" (Mark 4:26-27.)

Tiny Beginnings

I was about five.  My father took me with him to the grocery store.  There was a black woman shopping (She was the only black person in town, the servant to two old sisters.)  I had never seen a black person before and stood looking at her curiously.  My father came over and pulled me aside and said, "Stop staring at her.  She's the same as you."  Those two short sentences influenced the rest of my life as I preached and worked for racial equality.
Jesus said that the Reign of God is like a tiny mustard seed that grows into a large tree.

Family of Jesus

I wish I could also send you the sweet smell.
The crowd told Jesus, "Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you."(Mark 3:31-35.)  A very frequently asked question is "Who are these relatives that we hear nothing about in the rest of the Gospel?"  Throughout church history three solutions have evolved: (1) they were the children of Mary and Joseph, born after Jesus; (2)they were children of Joseph by an earlier marriage; (3) they were cousins of Jesus.  The Catholic commentary that I most often use says that we can believe any of these.
Jesus, concerned about something else entirely, answered, "Whoever does the will of my Father is my mother and sister and brother."  Obeying the Father makes us family.

Trinitarian Prayer

Morning after Memorial Day this was my alarm clock.
Our prayers have always been Trinitarian, "In the name of the Father and of  the Son and of  the Holy Spirit," but we don't often advert to it.  Our prayer can be richer when we pray in the Blessed Trinity.  We surrender to Love living within us, Who unites us to the Risen Christ, Who gives us to his loving Father.  I start my prayer, "You are Love (Spirit) with Whom (Son) I love You (Father.)"

Overflowing Love

God is Love 

1 John 4:8  

God is an overflowing communion of Love.

Love flows towards us as the Energy that powers evolution, creating our entire universe, the source of everything that is.  We are used to calling that manifestation of Love "Father."
Love flows towards us taking on human flesh as Jesus and living among us, uniting humanity forever with Divinity.  We are used to calling that manifestation of Love "Son."
Love flows towards us remaining within and among us, building us up into a community which calls attention to gracious Love.  We are used to calling that manifestation of Love "Holy Spirit."