e-vo for week of October 30

Dearest e-votees-

Please pardon this belated devotion. The gospel for today is the appointed one for All Saints Sunday. This is the time of the church year where we stop and give thanks for the great cloud of witnesses that has gone before us. We commemorate all the saints (not just the officially endorsed ones by the larger church). We are mindful of all that have gone before us showing us the way of the faith. We are confident that God will raise us up with them because God is faithful to God's promises. Peace,
Karl

----------

20 Then [Jesus] looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you[a] on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

27 “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Luke 6:20-31, NRSV

One of the definitions of sin is being turned in on oneself. We could call this being centered on self or "me"-o-centric. Much of our problems in life, in relationships, in our ways of trying to serve God in our own power and understanding come from the fundamental flaw of being meocentric.

There is a much better way to align our life, our relationships and certainly how we serve God. It comes in shifting the center of our focus from ourselves to God. It comes from allowing God to recenter ourselves as theocentric as opposed to meocentric.

Questions about what we could give and what we could spend take on a whole different tone when asked from the theocentric alignment.

What does it mean be a saint takes on a whole different feel and significance when we shift from meocentric ("what must I do?", "who must notice and affirm me?", "how do I compare to others?") to theocentric ("what has God declared to be true in baptism?", "how has God empowered me to live as God has called me?", "how does God regard all the saints, including me?")

Many pastors I know greatly prefer to preside over funerals than weddings. In part I think this is because weddings can be so meocentric (our special day, make way for Bridezilla, years of false expectations crammed impossibly tightly into rented clothes and expensive reception halls) rather than funerals which are necessarily theocentric (God's promises, Jesus lingering at Lazarus' grave, resurrection hope, sighs too deep for words to express).

Who gets into heaven or is permitted in our church or will be deemed acceptable to us takes on a very different tone if the circle of welcome is theocentric rather than based around us. God's grace can be likened to a circle. Circles are defined by two things: a center and a radius. I believe we center God's grace around ourselves and make the radius entirely too small. Meocentric grace invites others to measure up to our expectations (some might see Pharisees in this). Theocentric grace looks at who Jesus chose to accept. Our radius is so much smaller than God's. If we will have such conversations in heaven I certainly expect to bump into someone from my past who will greet me with "I certainly didn't expect to see you here!" and I will reply "I was thinking the very same thing." God's grace and mercy are so much more generous than ours. It is good to shed the meocentric and lean hard into the theocentric.


God, recenter our lives on you. Thank for you for declaring us saints and folding us, too, into the great cloud of witnesses. Amen.