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dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

dreamprayact

Tag Archives: Communion

What Tugs at Your Love

13 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Reflections, Sermon portions

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Tags

Agape love, Christian community, Communion, Gospel of John, Post-resurrection stories, sacrificial love, Simon Peter, Spirit of the risen Christ, spiritual nourishment, Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Version 2When Jesus met the disciples on the beach a week or so after being raised from the dead, he prepared them a breakfast of fish and bread, and in those holy moments they recognized their Lord. As Jesus gives them food for their hungry, tired bodies, he is giving them himself, the bread of life. They are just beginning to understand that whoever comes to Jesus will never be hungry. After a long, frustrating night on the water catching nothing, Jesus guides them to let down their nets in a place that produced abundance.

The gospel of John then relates the conversation between Jesus and his most impetuous, risk-prone disciple Peter.

When they finished eating, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me more than these?”

Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

A second time Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” and Peter replied in the same way.

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.”

When Jesus asked Peter a third time if he loved him, it seemed to cut deep into Peter’s sense of identity as a loyal disciple. He replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.” It was clear that his feelings were hurt.

Jesus once again said, “Feed my sheep.”

Peter may still not fully grasp how life-changing his relationship with the rabbi Jesus the Nazarene is going to be. It’s as though Peter is willing to be on board a train that holds the promise of shifting the world’s power structures, but he isn’t quite convinced that the empty tomb has clinched the deal. Peter’s love is of the brotherly Philios kind and he hasn’t yet come to understand the immensity of Christ’s unconditional Agape love for the world.

The Lord’s challenge to him to feed and take care of those who are within the fold of God’s care – a much larger fold than any of us dare to imagine most days – is a challenge to go beyond the limits of our usual affections. Peter and the other disciples encounter the love of God embodied in their crucified and risen Lord and it calls each of them into deeper expressions of love that hold the power to change the world.

These post-resurrection gospel stories are wonderful antidotes to a faith that is lazy or content. Like Peter, we are being called toward a sacrificial love in which we share with our neighbors the spiritual nourishment we have received from Christ. This may involve inviting persons to worship or other places we experience Christian community. More likely though, it is about the ways we reach out to people through supportive, hands-on forms of self-giving love with no personal return in mind.

In what ways do you and I allow the Spirit of the risen Christ to breathe new life and love into our lives? This is the post-Resurrection question we face in the 21st century.

Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes, in his April 8th blog on Unfolding Light writes:

Jesus asks deep, self-giving love of us,
love not for our sake but his.
Sometimes the best we can do
is lightweight friendship.
And in his deep love for us,
Jesus takes whatever we can offer.

And directs that love, whatever it is,
toward the rest of our kin,
for that is where we really love God:
“Feed my sheep.”
Sometimes we discover our love for God
by loving others.

Always Jesus invites us deeper.
“Follow me.”
Peter may not expect much of himself,
but Jesus promises that he will go on:
“You will be led where you did not choose.”

Pay attention to what tugs at your love,
however weak it may seem.
Let it lead you deeper.

Words (c) 2016 Mark Lloyd Richardson (except where noted)

Fasting and Feasting

18 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Reflections, Sermon portions

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Tags

blessing, Communion, compassion, desert wilderness, fasting, feasting, God's mission, grace, Jesus, justice, Lent, meister eckhart, sabbath, spirit, spiritual journey

548640866fA pear seed grows up into a pear tree,
a nut seed grows up into a nut tree–
but a seed of God grows into God, to God.
~ Meister Eckhart

Lent is an invitation to reflect on our faith experience, a time to delve more deeply into the spiritual meaning of our lives. We study the life and ministry of Jesus for clues about the will of God and the work of the Spirit in the world. We seek fresh insight into the basic patterns of the Christian life – prayer, worship, reading Scripture, and giving our selves as servants of Christ.

During this 40-day period, we begin with ashes and commit to a discipline that we believe will ultimately be resurrecting! It may involve fasting from certain foods or activities. But it will certainly involve feasting as we gather on the Sabbath and receive the bread and cup of communion with Christ as nourishment for this spiritual journey.

We have an opportunity in these forty days to renew the commitment of our way to Christ. This is our chance to put our faith into practice in new ways. This is a time set aside for us to “grow into God, to God.”

A short piece from the curriculum The Whole People of God provides an opening for us to choose how we will use this holy season. We are invited to…

Fast from pessimism, and feast on optimism.

Fast from criticism, and feast on praise.

Fast from self-pity, and feast on joy.

Fast from bitterness, and feast on forgiveness.

Fast from idle gossip, and feast on purposeful silence.

Fast from jealousy, and feast on love.

Fast from discouragement, and feast on appreciation.

Fast from complaining, and feast on hope.

Fast from selfishness, and feast on service.

Fast from fear, and feast on faith.

Fast from anger, and feast on patience.

Fast from self-concern, and feast on compassion for others.

Fast from discontent, and feast on gratitude.

Fasting and feasting – not just for the experience, but for the same reasons Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit following his baptism by John. Jesus was preparing for the saving mission of a loving God – the mission of restoring creation, the human family, the sick, the lonely and isolated, the marginalized and vulnerable, back into the truth of who they are, beloved ones made in God’s own image!

Just as Jesus was baptized and given a blessing, and then sent into the wilderness to contemplate that blessing, so it is for us. You and I – Christ’s body on earth – have a mission, to share God’s gracious love and resurrecting hope in every possible way!

The season of Lent calls us to choose: Choose life! Choose grace! Choose compassion! Choose justice! Choose blessing! In the desert experience of Lent, may God grant us to the grace to grow in wisdom and in love. In the wilderness of this holy season, may God lead us along the resurrection road to a place called hope.

What is your commitment this Lent? What do you choose to do or not do as a way to move toward the Center of this human adventure where we meet God?

Words (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson

 

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