Gone Fishing!

Gone Fishing!

Simon Peter and Andrew, his brother, cast their nets into the sea one day as they did every day, but this day was different. James and John the sons of Zebedee, were in their boats mending their nets as they often did just as a matter of routine, but this day was different. On this day Jesus said “Follow me”. They put down their nets, they left their boat and their father immediately. The why’s and how’s of this immediacy are lost to us now but there was something about their encounter with Jesus that leant an immediacy to Jesus’ call to follow.

It is a matter of urgency that we listen and respond to that call just as the disciples did. It is on the masthead of all of our Diocesan printed matter; “Answering God’s urgent call”. This is no casual call. This is a matter of life and death; not just our own but of the life and death of the whole world.

It was for the sake of the world that Jesus came to us. We know the words by heart, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16). This is a matter of life and death.

How appropriate that it is in this biblical context that we come to this congregation’s Annual Meeting. For it is on this day that you and I are called to answer God’s urgent invitation; “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men, women and children.”

Gone fishing! What more fun is there for anybody than to go fishing. Not that I’m into fishing but I can see why there are those who love the sport. It is relaxing. It is beautiful. We are surrounded by God’s beauty, invigorated by the bracing refreshment of the winds, and lulled to peace by the call of the gulls. Just now at this particular time of year, those images might be a bitt too invigorating and much too chilling, and no doubt startled at how those gulls set themselves in those fish freezing waves, as it it were just another day. 

But Jesus tells us that real life is like taking time off to go fishing. In our baptism the refreshment of the waters of life bathe us in a whole new way of living. Who wouldn’t want to follow such a one as this immediately. His whole life is dedicated to forgiveness, love and reconciliation. What a way to live! Who wouldn’t want to live this way? It is as if we were invited to wait patiently until someone comes to us, attracted by the peace and joy that is obvious in our lives. People are drawn to the Christ within us. They ask us about God. We then share and learn together of this new and abundant life.

When we compare that with the greed, the violence, and the addictive self absorption with which much of the world lives, who wouldn’t want to live in the way that leads to eternal life?

There is a movie called the “Wolf of Wall Street”. It is directed by Martin Scorsese and stars Leonardo DiCaprio. I heard a discussion about the movie on NPR’s “On Point” with Ed Ashbrook, the show’s broadcaster; one of the more intelligent conversationalists I know. I love listening to all the issues that come up about politics, economics, technology and culture. The issues Ed Ashbrook explores are always matters of immediacy, urgency and controversy. But the conversations are always enlightening as those participating make serious efforts in exploring many facets of the great issues facing us.

This movie; “The Wolf of Wall Street” explores the story of one especially intense trader whose appetite for greed, sex, and cocaine are a matter of legend. The misuse of funds leads to many clients losing their millions, as the traders pocket their ill gotten gain. The whole culture of Wall Street and banking excess led to the collapse in 2008, not just of the American economy, but much of the economy of the world.

When it comes to sin, this movie takes the idea to a whole new level. Many commentators complain that the moral ambiguity presented in the movie suggests that this example of art is itself a glorification of evil in many forms. Even animal rights groups are up in arms about the movie because of the harmful way in which a chimpanzee was forced to “act”. 

So then what of this idea of discipleship? What of God’s urgent call? What of this immediacy? How shall we challenge the world’s greed? It’s violence? It’s dangerous flirtation with drugs, sex, and all its other addictive behaviors?

Sin is so seductive. I was young once, and I’m still not too old to look. But I know a dead end road when I see one. I know where addiction to greed and all the other sins leads. It leads to death. 

It is interesting that Jesus begins with a routine, everyday, hum drum life profession like fishing. Jesus greets them with something far more interesting, let’s go fishing for folk. 

He calls out to a tax collector. “You know, Matthew, everybody hates you. You are the essence of greed and corruption. Is that the way you want to lead your life?” 

The woman at the well; “Yes, dear one I know you have had seven husbands and the one you have now is not your husband. Is this the way you want to live your life? Hated and despised by all except during those transient and meaningless interludes?”

For all sorts and conditions in life Jesus issues an urgent call. “Is this really the way you want to live?” If you do it will take its toll not just on you and those you love, it will ultimately be the undoing of whole world. The way you are living leads ultimately to the dread of a very dead end indeed.

In contrast Jesus calls us urgently toward his baptism and toward our own. Let’s try a whole new way of life; one based on bringing ourselves and others to the knowledge and love of God and of the God’s people. Lets do so with all our hearts, our minds, strength and our souls. Let really make this fishing expedition one of the great achievements of humankind.

Let’s call this the Church. Let us put on earth a gathering of people who live for the sake of the world, just as Jesus did. Let us organize our lives around the needs of the people; our needs as well as the needs of others. You will notice that in today’s Gospel Jesus teaches and heals. So too shall we teach and become a healing presence for our gathered people and the communities in which we find ourselves placed.

Let’s build these churches. Let s become more visible, more inviting, more skilled in greeting and incorporating people into God’s communion. We are not so much interested in making people members of our church, as we are interested in making people members of Christ and members of one another in the body of Christ.

And let’s go fishing every day of our lives. There is nothing boring about being alive; not when we are fully alive! Not when we realize that our fundamental urgent call is to respond to God’s invitation to share with one another the story of what it means to encounter the living Christ in our lives.

Jesus is always here; loving us, forgiving us and reconciling us. This is a life long effort that requires our very best efforts; namely to be Jesus to one another; always loving, forgiving, and reconciling one another.

It is he who begins his sermons; “Blessed are you...”

In every report for this annual meeting, we document the work of God by the people of God on behalf of the servant ministry of this church. There are many programs and organizations dedicated to the work of the church. We teach and heal those in needs of learning and healing. We tend to the household of God; its program, property, and finances.

“Blessed are you...” because you are not far from the kingdom of God, and this is so because you have dedicated yourselves to the love and the care of God’s house and God’s people. The stirring words of today’s psalm speak well of our hearts desire as we love and care for this place and these people; 

One thing have I asked of the LORD;

one thing I seek; *

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days

of my life;

To behold the fair beauty of the LORD *

and to seek him in his temple.

~Psalm 27:5,6

So, let’s go fishing.

Fr Paul.

"THANKS-TAKING"

As for me and my family we will be nowhere near any retail stores today.

Thanks to the marketing gurus of Walmart, the Corporate Greed of Financial Institutions and Multi-nationals, much of America and the Western World has been sold a bill of goods. Like sharks in a feeding frenzy many will descend upon the Big Box stores and push their way through to a bargain.

It is not necessary to live this way.

There are many other ways to live.

Today I will enjoy a long walk with the dog, I will do some writing, listen to some good music, enjoy the company of my wife and be in touch with our children. The eldest is visiting his friends in Britain. The next is with his friends in Virginia. And the youngest is in Chicago with his friends.

One works for an inner city anti poverty agency.
One is devoted to great literature, particularly the mastery of Shakespeare.
The third sings for an internationally renowned acapella singing group.

Living as an ethical presence, on behalf of the poor, delving into the human condition through the literary corpus, and singing exquisite music....ah, these are the things that satisfy something profound in the human soul.

Much is missing in the human soul if it does not satisfy itself with something a bit more profound than crashing the doors at Walmart.

As for me and my family, we shall search for something more. Something to satisfy the soul.

Thanksgiving is not "for" anything. I am certainly not thankful that I am rich in things. I have enough and am giving away much of what I have accumulated through the years.

No, Thanksgiving is a way of life. Gratitude is simply the manifestation of a heart that finds in life all that is uplifting and especially on behalf of those who had been laid low.

The American worship of the Almighty Dollar has much to learn.

This Black Friday is black indeed. Especially when it blackens the soul with nothing more than the frenzy of shopping.
Black Friday is black indeed when it exploits the worker with a minimum wage that keeps working people working harder and falling further into poverty.
The Pope is quite right in calling this a modern form of idolatry.

"THANKS-TAKING" is a very long way from Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Fr Paul

Greed and Idolatry

The following is a a sermon preached at Trinity Church, Topsfield on August 3,2013

Greed and Idolatry

Good morning all. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Paul Bresnahan. I am a native of Somerville, Massachusetts. I am married and have three grown male children two of whom live locally and one of whom lives in San Francisco. He sings for a well known musical group “Chanticleer”. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Glendon College, York University in Toronto, Ontario in 1967. I majored in Psychology and minored in Sociology. The behavior of human beings as individuals and in groups has turned out to be a life long fascination for me in parish ministry. That I’ve done for over 41 years now in congregations in my home Diocese of Massachusetts, the Diocese of Ohio, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Most recently I served in an interim assignment in Douglassville, PA not far from Reading. Now, I’ve been invited to consider another position in the Diocese of Bethlehem. I felt like I was getting to old for all this until a 72 year old Irish carpenter came to the house the other day to do a few small improvement projects for us. We compared notes. He likes to work for 6 months and take six months off to go to Florida. I like to do part-time interim ministry and spend a week every month being in my home by the sea off Lynn Shore Drive. There the dog and I can watch the tides come and go. This is what keeps me going; the love of the sea and the love of the work I do for God and the people of God. People like yourselves.

I attended the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, MA; now known at the Episcopal Divinity School. I majored in Scripture and graduated way back in 1972. So then I studied the words of Jesus, the Law and the Prophets with some care.

In today’s Gospel, for instance, Jesus told us to be on our guard against all kinds of greed for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. My namesake, Paul the Apostle to the Outsiders and the Outcasts, identifies greed as being idolatry itself in today's Epistle. The Prophet Hosea recounts the story of God’s love for his people, and how he feeds them and quenches their thirst, but not just of the sort that is necessary for physical survival. He nourishes them with freedom from slavery and finds for them a Promised Land and gives them a Law to live by. But the people turned away from God to worship idols and God’s fury is kindled against them. So the story goes in today's First Lesson.

So today let’s turn out attention to greed and idolatry. My step father was a wonderful man. He was the only man able to love my mother, a feisty woman if ever there was one. But H.K. as my brother and I called him; his name was Homer Kershner, had backbone and knew how to stand up to my mother.  Oh the fights they had were impressive; but as I say he loved her. Neither my mom nor H.K. were the least bit religious. Mom was married and divorced at least three times we know of. When she married the only man who could really love her, the church refused to marry them. But this was back in 1958 long before the church revised its canons to allow for remarriage. And my uncle, well, my uncle was what my grandmother called a “confirmed bachelor”. I didn’t know at the time that meant he was gay. I had to become an adult to figure that out. He was reluctant to come very far out of the closet. And the church had little interest in standing up for the likes of him. As I say, all this was way back in the 50’s and 60’s, long before we talked about any of these things. I sometimes feel like there are eyes and smiles looking down from heaven as what now emerges as a much more merciful and inclusive church. I am pleased to say that I have played a small part in all this. Even now Pope Francis is making room in the heart of the church for divorced Catholics and gay clergy. Who would have thought!

But my step father was a very practical man. He was an engineer. It was his view that there might be a God. One can hardly account for the wonder of Creation without the notion of a God. So, as it was in H.K.’s theology; we can probably allow for God’s existence. Nice of him to all God to be, I thought. But as to the matter of life and death; it was pure simplicity; when you’re dead you’re dead. He was also a practical man when it came to business. He understood the rat race. He worked in the midst of it. To him business is driven by the profit motive and ultimately all that mattered was the bottom line. Ultimately, the only worship there was in the world was the worship of the Almighty Dollar. He said as much more than once and my mother would give her “Amen” to that frequently preached homespun sermon. 

As I grew more and more into the church, you can well imagine how our values clashed. Particularly as I studied the Scriptures such as the ones we have before us to study today, I sensed a collision between Corporate America and the Biblical mandates. 

Watch out for the Greed.

Feed my sheep

I have come to bring good news to the poor

Insofar as you have done it to one of the least of these you have done it to me.

These are the words I heard from Jesus. And so I built a homeless shelter and expanded soup kitchens, food pantries, and transitional housing for battered women and their families in congregations I served. The church as I have experienced it as least when it is vital and mission driven, organizes its live around the needs of the vulnerable in our midst. And we are fearless advocates for those in need. These values clashed with my family’s values.

Yet, I loved my step father. He was a good and honorable man and as I said before he loved my mother. As they ripened in age and faced weakness that age brings and began to face into the inevitable, my mother wondered sometimes about God and heaven, my step father continued to insist on his rather self evident truth, as he proclaimed it; “When you’re dead, you’re dead.” I often smiled at H. K. and said; “For living with my mother, you’re going to go to heaven whether you want to or not!” We all got a good chuckle over that one.

Greed and idolatry are two concepts that come back to us again and again in the scripture. And so does our love for one another. These themes continue to swirl around one another in a potentially creative or destructive dynamic. In the reading from Hosea today we see God’s wrath kindled as the worship of Israel strays away from the Justice and the Law of God; a Justice and a Law that requires the faithful to be caring of the vulnerable in our midst. But we know too how the prophets like Amos warned the people; “Woe to you who grind up the poor!” Notice that what deepens the ire of God in idolatry is not just the theological and liturgical dimensions of it; it is the way the poor end up being treated.

It is interesting that the warning involves the future of the nation. For if the idolatry continues the nation puts its own survival at risk. This is obviously true in the prophetic tradition. This same theme Jesus repeated at the end of his ministry. It is so important that the great Cathedrals of France like Chartres and Notre Dame repeat the theme in impressive sculptures placed prominently over the west portals. Every king, queen and commoner must pass under the same judgment seat of Jesus. There he is separating the sheep from the goats. I went to France earlier this summer with a group of young people from my church in Douglassville, PA. We were on Pilgrimage. None of the tour guides knew the of the biblical backdrop of that sculpture. To them it was just a quaint warning from a superstitious bygone society to keep the peasants in line. But none of the commentators I read seemed to understand that the sculpture was a reference to those ultimate questions of Jesus.

When I was hungry you did or did not give me something to eat.

When I was thirsty or not thirsty you did or did not give me something to drink. 

Likewise when naked, or sick or in prison...you did or did not minister to me.

Thus the nation shall be judged. Thus shall all the nations be judged; by how well or how shabbily the poor are treated. For insomuch as you have done it to one of the least of these, you have done it to me; Jesus said more than once. The French Revolution derived a great deal of its impetus from the callous disregard of the monarchy and the church for the plight of the poor. Whether she said it or not Marie Antoinette’s word’s “Let them eat cake” cut like a knife into the soul of the nation. The violent outcome may not have been necessary if the Monarchy and the Church had more of a heart for those in need. After all it was no less a light than Winston Churchill who quipped: “I’d rather fight an enemy who has been well fed than one who is hungry”. 

Alas, nations and empires come and go and when the heart and soul of a people is fully invested in the nation its chances improve significantly. But when the rich turn their backs on those in need history teaches us again and again that such a posture endangers the entire national enterprise. You can judge for yourself how we are doing on such measures especially when we think of something as directly related to this dynamic when our food stamp program is so drastically cut. As I say, you can judge that for yourself.

Suffice it to say idolatry and greed are directly related according to the biblical material we have before us. As we consider the factors that contribute to our social policies in the nation, I hope we also keep our biblical social ethic also in mind. 

Thankfully, God is reluctant to remove his love from his people as we can see from the passage in Hosea. Just because my step father and I disagreed about our theological position with regard to the resurrection did not interfere with our love for one another. We his children must also learn to love especially those most diametrically opposed to us.

After all, the Eagle cannot fly let alone soar without both wings. If those on the right wing learned how much we need those on the left and vice versa, imagine what we can do? In the meantime we sputter and stall in gridlock and mutually nullification. Imagine what we can become the day we discover we are all on the same side.

Fr. Paul

Showdown on Wall Street: God vs Greed

Speaking out Against the Baals

The prophet Elijah had Moxie. Moxie is a soft drink that was popular in the Boston area for a time especially in the 40's when Ted Williams endorsed the tonic tasting soft drink. Hence the generic word for Soda and Pop is the Boston area is Tonic to old timers like me. Ted Williams had Moxie when it came to the Boston Press.

Elijah had plenty of Moxie. He took on Ahab and Jezabel and in one unforgettable scene at Mount Carmel. There was a confrontation between the lone prophet and all the powers and principalities of his time. They had turned their back on God and had turned to the Baals for worship and service. The corruption and violence in the land was disquieting to God and to his servant Elijah, and Elijah alone was left. He against the 450 prophets of Baal were no match until that one day. 

Elijah went among the people and asked them to make a choice; if God is God then follow God. If the Baals are gods then follow them. The people were afraid to answer. So then Elijah gathered the people to him and promised that God would indeed reveal God’s power on the mountain. So the people gathered as did all the prophets of Baal. And then Elijah put it to them all this way. You folks, take a bull and cut it into pieces and put it up on a bed of wood but lay no fire to it and I will do the same. You then call upon the Baals and ask them if they can set the sacrifice to fire or not and I will do the same. We then will know whether God is God or whether Baal is god.

The prophets of Baal called on their gods all morning long until the noon day sun but there was only silence. So Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal by saying that perhaps he is musing, or that he has gone on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. The prophets then went on raving all day long but alas no one answered. 

Come near to me now Elijah said to the people, and when they did he repaired the altar and set twelve stones about the altar each according to the number of the tribes of Israel. He placed the wood in order and the cut up the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood and then he told the people; “Take four jars of water and drench the bull”. They did so. Then he called on them to do so a second time and so they did. Yet again, he called upon the people to drench the bull yet again the third time and this they did. 

So then Elijah prayed to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel and to show to the people that God is indeed God. You know what happened then. The fire indeed did rain down upon the offering. And then the prophets of Baal met an unpleasant end.

The moment did not resolve much with the Powers and Principalities, mind you. When Ahab told Jezabel what had happened, she swore that the next day would not come and go before the same unpleasantness would come upon our friend Elijah. Thus we meet him in today’s lesson, afraid under a broom tree and asking God that he might be allowed to die. 

An angel touched him and told him to arise and eat of the bread of those very angels. They told him to drink because the journey ahead was a long one. And so on the strength of that bread and that jar of water, he went on we’re told for 40 days until he came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, the same place that God revealed the Law to Moses. The Law and the Prophets thus came together under the authority of God.

We may think of these as fanciful stories unless we think through the metaphors. The Baals of today are not a bunch of Bedouin nomads, but are more likely the sort of banking and finance traders that would make the hucksters in all the annals of chicanery blush. 

What were once the most trusted names in banking and finance; Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and so on, so contorted the mortgage industry that when the housing bubble burst, so many Americans found themselves upside down on their mortgages, and these very bankers then went on to foreclose on those very same mortgages leaving millions of our countrymen without their most basic of American Dreams. That was in 2008. 

The markets took a dive and our Pension Funds and our life time savings took a hard hit. And we sit by as does our government, like a deer in the headlamps. The Baals of our time pocket their billions since they bet their options on the losses. They continue to bet on the worst for Greece, Spain and Italy. And as nations fall to their economic distress, they make money hand over fist.  It was the Bankers that played it fast and loose such that they really were at the heart of the S&L Scandals of the 80's, the Market Crash of 2008 and most recently the Libor scandal in London.

Interestingly enough, whether the markets go up or down, whether national economies prosper or collapse the traders and bankers are somehow always making money. And Greed knows no bounds. Who said we have no Baals to worship today?

As if that weren’t bad enough, this year the banking scandals merely got worse, now in London as the greed migrates across the pond to the World Capital of Greed. Now enter Barclays Bank and the LIBOR scandal; The London Interbank Offered Rate, or that interest rate that is set around noonday Greenwich Mean Time, by a tiny group of manipulative and shady characters. There are scores of books now to read to help us understand these amazingly creative and sophisticated financial strategies and techniques. But the long and short of it, is that they are robbing us blind. Bloomberg News recently observed; “The scandal over the manipulation of Libor has the potential to become on the most costly and consequential in the history of banking”.

To add insult to injury, the TARP funds that we took from our tax dollars to save their skins were merely a transfer of wealth from the Middle Class the the Super Rich. They refused to invest or loan out to American Businesses. Instead they kept the money so that they could steal more!

Let the word go out from this place: We're on to you!

No one has been prosecuted. No one has been convicted. No one has gone to jail. Billions and billions and billions of dollars, our dollars, have gone missing. No one is prosecuted. All the CEO’s are shocked that their underlings would do such things. They feign sorrow, and crocodile like they shed their tears at all too polite Congressional Hearing and it all makes me want to scream. 

Any kid that takes a few bucks from a Wawa or a 7/11 has to serve time. These folks count their billions and get off Scott free. Of all the books that go on to describe the looting of the S&L Industry and analyze the crash of 2008 and now the Libor scandal, my favorite title so far is; "The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One". The last ones we ended up jailing were the folks from Enron and Bernie Madoff. This crop of Robber Barons make Bernie look like a petty crook.

Showdown on Wall Street

If I had the power to do so, I’d call on America to make a choice between the way of honesty integrity and accountability (aka the Way of God) or the way of Greed, unregulated, unhampered, unbridled Greed. 

I may not have the power to do so, but I sure have the Moxie! Any President; Democrat or Republican may have that power but not so likely to have the Moxie!

If it were up to me I’d summon all the CEO’s of these Banks and Financial institutions and force them to OCCUPY WALL STREET. I'd give them the whole day long to call on the Bronze Bull they pray to, the Billions and Billions they worship and see if that Bull or those Billions can waken from sleep long enough to explain why these modern prophets of Baal should not spend the rest of their natural days in prison for Grand Larceny, Fraud and Theft. I suspect the Bull would remain silent.

At the end of the day, if they were unable to make the Bull talk, I’d lock them up and throw away the key. 

Mind you the Powers and Principalities are still very much alive. They are unlikely to lie down and play dead. They will unleash their fury with new corruption and new violence. They will unleash their power many fold more upon those of us who insist on what we thought the Banks stood for in the first place; Honesty, Integrity, and Accountability.

Alas, we sit under our broom trees, perhaps cowering before their power. I might ask God to just let me alone and die. But the Angels will have none of that. They will waken me from slumber. Oh God, how I'd like to see us waken from slumber! The Angles will point to the Altar of God. They will tell me to eat and drink from the Body and the Blood of Jesus, because the journey ahead is a long one. And so since I find, oh well, I’m still alive, and since that loaf of bread is a savory one, one of the favorites of the Bedoin nomads for millennia, by the way, I too will journey on with God. 

The Baals and the Billions are not like the Bread of Heaven spoken of in today's Gospel lesson. Their bread they keep to themselves. The Bread of Jesus feeds the multitudes. It will not satisfy me if I amass all the wealth in the world and my neighbor starves. Not at all. Jesus is the Bread of Heaven and whoever feeds on the life he gives us will live forever. "Feed my sheep", the savior said. Even if there’s only five loaves and two fish, I will not feast until all the others are fed first. Notice that the Apostle Paul got it exactly right in today's lesson: "Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy." 

What a novel idea! Work honestly with your own hands so you have something to share with the needy. Whatever happened to this kind and compassionate ethic?

The Baals have much to learn about Jesus. The Nation must choose between God and the Baals. I’m hankering for our showdown on Wall Street.

A blessing on all!

Fr. Paul