The Audacity of a Single Thankful Heart

 Dearest e-votees,

As you well know tomorrow is the day set aside for Thanksgiving here in the United States (our neighbors to the north already had their day on October 12).  President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday of November to be that national day set aside for giving thanks.

You may not know that there are daily texts set aside for the commemoration of Thanksgiving.  The gospel text is the cleansing of the 10 people with leprosy in Luke 17:11-19.

I hope and pray you find yourself in a place surrounded by friends and family (in person or through the interwebber), with ample food on your plate and ample gratitude in your heart.

Blessed Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Peace,

Karl

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Leprosy (whatever exactly it was in Biblical times, not necessary what we would classify as leprosy today) was a malady that caused separation.  Those with leprosy would be cut off from those who did not have it.  They may have been isolated into separate communities or colonies. They may have abided by the regulations spelled out in Leviticus 13:45-46 to greet people crying "Unclean!  Unclean!" and living outside the camp.  There is quite a bit of attention devoted to leprosy in the 13th chapter of Leviticus.  And the upshot is that if you have leprosy it is not good news for your ability to defy social distancing and to flourish in community.

Jesus was passing between Samaria and Galilee (that is to say between Gentile territory and Jewish territory--that is to say between an "us" and a "them") and he encounters people who are living in between.  Perhaps as ones suffering from leprosy that have been rejected by both "us" and "them"--they are in some sense an über-them (outsiders to all).  Normally Samaritans and Jews wouldn't associate.  But in their mutual malady these 10 lepers had blended across that social divide.  There were 9 Jews and one Samaritan.  

Jesus tells them to go an show themselves to the priests (see Leviticus 13) and they go.  Presumably the 9 Jews go one way and the 1 Samaritan goes the other way to their respective priests.  All 10 of them demonstrate some faith as they leave before having been healed.  It is in the journey that they are healed.  Only the Samaritan, however, after realizing what had happened turned back towards Jesus to give thanks.  Jesus offers praise for the Samaritan's actions.  

We are living in a time chock-full of "us"s and "them"s.  We all struggle with maladies (self-inflicted and from without).  We all need cleansing and healing.  Jesus comes into the world to do just that.  All of us are able to be made clean by Jesus.  Will we follow where he leads and answer his call?  And when we see ourselves being made well--being salved, being saved--do we turn to Jesus and offer thanks and praise?  Jesus invites us to turn from our ways that do not honor God and to give thanks.  Abraham Lincoln offer the same sort of call in his Thanksgiving proclamation.  Today God still calls us to be a people of repentance and gratitude.  Will we?  Are we able to hear Jesus speak to us as he did to the lone grateful one:  Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well?

Dear God, be with us wherever "our way" takes us.  Stir up your faith and your healing in us.  Help us never stop thanking you.  Amen.

Thankfulness

Dearest e-votees,

One of my favorite Biblical passages is Philippians 1:3-6:

3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4 constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5 because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (NRSV)

It seems a good passage to linger with as we lean into Thanksgiving.

Peace,

Karl

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When I studied Philippians at seminary it was in a class called Prison Epistles.  This is one of Paul's letters that we believe was written while he was imprisoned.  It is likely towards the end of his life when he is nearing his martyrdom from the business end of a Roman sword.

As Paul reflects on this relationship with the saints at Philippi he has two responses:  thankfulness and sustained prayer.  Think about the sustained relationships you have throughout your life.  Are you able to give thanks for those people every time you remember them?  I wish I was as gracious and loving as Paul holds himself out to be.  Do you constantly remember with you in all your prayers for those people?  Again, I wish I was as gracious and loving as Paul holds himself out to be.  Sometimes I suspect that Paul might be overselling himself.  Nonetheless verses 3 and 4 serve as aspirational goals for me in any community in which I find myself--particularly faith communities that I am blessed to serve.

What truly resonates with me in this passage is verse 6.  Paul expresses steadfast confidence that the one who began a good work among you (I believe this to be God, not the mission-planter Paul) will bring it to completion.  When a baby (or an adult convert for that matter) is baptized God begins a good work which will be brought to completion.  When someone engages the work of reconciliation God is in that work and it will be brought to completion (at least to do the good that the effort can if not 100% reconciliation).  When we wrestle in fervent prayer, seek to see Christ in our neighbors and those who aren't our neighbors yet, step further along the costly path of discipleship those faith endeavors (begun by God) will be brought to completion.  

I want you to know:  I thank God for you.  I thank God for God's stirrings in your life that will be brought to completion.  When I pray for you (which is never enough, let alone constantly) I give thanks and find joy.  Have a blessed celebration of Thanksgiving (whether incarnational or virtual) with friends and loved ones.  You are a blessing.  I see the image of God (imago dei) in you.

Peace and blessings,

Karl

Calendars out of synch

 Dearest e-votees,

I don't know about you but keeping track of time on the calendar and routines during the day has been challenging.  Normal rhythms have been out-of-whack for quite a while.  Day blurs into night blurs into day.  Weekdays blur into weekend blur into week.  Sabbath time looks very different than it used to.  The changing clocks just add another level of detachment.  It feels like I am living in chapter 2 of Slaughterhouse 5:  "Billy Pilgirm has come unstuck in time".

How about you do you have your chronological and routine moorings?

Peace,

Karl

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Another piece of the "Where am I and what time is it?" conundrum is the fact that the church and the world work on very different calendars.   Our church year ends this Sunday with Christ the King Sunday.  The world has another 43 days until the big ball drops in Times Square.

The church enters into a season of Advent at the tail end of November which leads all the way up to Christmas Eve.  The radio stations and stores started trimming the shelves and decking the aisles with Christmas paraphernalia weeks ago.  People have swapped out their spooky lawn decorations for Christmas bits (although there are some staunch owners of inflatable turkeys who won't let Thanksgiving pass by unnoticed).  The isolation, extra-time and pent-up energy are causing some to over-function even more than usual in terms of holiday decorating.  At least most places aren't as out of control at the mall in 'It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" which has a Christmas Display labeled 246 shopping days until Christmas.

The point of all of this is that we are always being pressed upon with competing calendars, schedules, priorities and deadlines.  Work and play, friends and family, holy and secular.  It can be very stress-inducing and detrimental to all of those realms of our life even in the best of times.  These, it seems, aren't the best of times.  Layer a pandemic, various levels of lockdown and constraint and the craziness of an election that won't seem to stay within the bounds of normal election dates and all of us become a little unstuck in time.

I don't get all bent out of shape about Christmas oozing over and past Advent.  Some churches are even having an extended time of Advent this year to help cope with the distancing of the pandemic.  If it is helpful to fire up the Hallmark movies and the holiday music for your soul you'll find no objection from me.

My hope and prayer for all of us is that we will let Jesus help us find our bearings and grounding during this disorienting time of shifting sands of time.  Michael Card, in "The Final Word" spoke of Jesus as eternity stepping into time so we can understand.  I have always resonated with that turn of the phrase.  In the fluidity of our schedules or lack thereof may we find some time to let Jesus come in to bring direction, grounding and understanding in the ways that matter most.

God, we invite you.  Come into our lives in your time and in your way.  Help us be gracious to others on different calendars and different levels of unstuckness in time.  You are our Rock and our Redeemer.  Help us rest in and cling to you amidst all the churning around us.  Amen