Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth

Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth

A few moments ago we sang "Jerusalem, my Happy Home". I can remember like it was yesterday singing the hymn as we approached the Temple Mount and as the Dome of the Rock came into view. I had a busload of high school students with me, including my youngest son who will sing this same hymn at his home church in San Francisco this morning. We had so much hope for the city named for Peace, Shalom, Salam.

Weeping and gnashing of teeth; there is plenty of that to go around these days, especially as we review the events of the past week. Hamas has launched a series of rocket attacks into Israeli territory, and the Israelis respond with rockets of their own, more accurately and with much more deadly force and inflicting so much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Young children and teens on both sides, innocents on both sides; too many families on both sides. There is so much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Rebel forces in the Ukraine, almost certainly supplied with rocket launchers made in the Soviet Union, shot down a Malaysian airliner. And for the hundreds of families of those who died, there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth. One of those who died was a friend of Dr Fred Duncanson, a research scientist and friend of mine. The world continues to shrink in size and what happens so far away touches those close to us more nearby. 

Cathy Kinison, former parishioner from Ohio suffered a massive stroke Friday and another young man, Alex Mead, son of Fr Alan Mead, another dear friend, only 42 years old, died on Monday. It has been a tough week. There is much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The politics of it all go deeply. Ever since the partition of Israel and Palestine after the World War II the encroachment of Israel into what was formerly Palestinian territory has been dramatic. The building of settlements in the West Bank is gobbling up what was once a recognizable territory; now alas disappearing quickly as are the hopes for peace. 

I know and love many Jews and Palestinians. Whatever I say will inspire anger of one or the other. Many international efforts have been made by the United States, Egypt, and other Arabic states to find a way to peace and to draw the lines in a way that satisfies everyone. And no effort to date has been successful.

One thing we can credit Jimmy Carter with was the extraordinary Camp David Accords of 1978 signed by Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. But the very signing of the concordat inspired acts of violence. Sadat was assassinated in October of 1981 by members of the extremist Egyptian Islamic Jihad.  And Yitzhak Rabin was similarly assassinated on November 4, 1995 at a rally supporting the Oslo Accords in which Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Authority granted one another recognition and adopted a set of principles by which a peace process could be set in place. 

Alas, it is a very dangerous thing to work for peace in a world where the “go to” place is violence. 

I have visited the Holy Land twice. It was a blessing to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, but what I found even more compelling was to visit Dr Elias Chacour, Melekite Priest and Bishop,  a fascinating man who has dedicated his life to finding a pathway to peace between Palestinians and Israelis. He grew up in a Christian home in Palestine and one day soldiers came and bulldozed his village and the olive vineyards that had been in the family for generations. His family moved to another village nearby where cousins lived. Some of the men and teenage boys disappeared in the night when more soldiers came by. As Dr Chacour tells the story this happened time and again in hundreds of villages across Palestine. In reply many resorted to violence.

He and his family became Israeli citizens in 1948. He went on to study theology in Paris and later he studied the Bible and the Talmud in Jerusalem at Hebrew University. He is the first Arab to receive a higher degree there. Dr Chacour calls himself a Palestinian Arab Christian Israeli.

Seeing that there was no school of higher education in that part of Palestine where he lived, he began building a High School there. Children from all faith traditions are welcome there. The “Mar Elias Educational Institutions” now number 4500 students where Christians, Jews and Muslims learn together of themselves and one another.

Elias Chacour was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and has received recognition and honors by many for his work for peace between Israeli and Palestinian. He is decidedly non violent and believes non violence is the only way forward. He sees Jesus as the pathway to peace. This way, this truth and this life is rejected by the extremes. And you can see the result; so much weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

In today's Gospel we are told that a sower went out to sow and he sowed good seed. There were those who sought peace with justice. Then an enemy came in the night and sowed weeds. Too many villages and olive vineyards have been bulldozed. Too many refugee encampments have been created. Too many men and teenage boys have disappeared in the middle of the night. 

We visited one such encampment in the West Bank called Dheisheh Refugee Camp. It was created in 1948 during the Israeli Arab war. Folks from 48 villages were concentrated into an area less than .3 square miles. The area has increased now to just over 1 square mile and well over 10,000 live there now. Some have access to water, sewage, and electricity, but not all. This “temporary” camp has been there since 1948. As one young man asked me during my visit; “Why must we pay the price of the Holocaust? There are over 2 million Palestinians living in such conditions in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan. This camp is near Bethlehem. But these folks may not visit the holy sites in Bethlehem or Jerusalem. 

Yes, there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

Who’s side do I take. Allow me to quote Elias Chacour

“You who live in the United States, if you are pro-Israel, on behalf of the Palestinian children I call unto you: give further friendship to Israel. They need your friendship. But stop interpreting that friendship as an automatic antipathy against me, the Palestinian who is paying the bill for what others have done against my beloved Jewish brothers and sisters in the Holocaust and Auschwitz and elsewhere.

And if you have been enlightened enough to take the side of the Palestinians -- oh, bless your hearts -- take our sides, because for once you will be on the right side, right? But if taking our side would mean to become one-sided against my Jewish brothers and sisters, back up. We do not need such friendship. We need one more common friend. We do not need one more enemy, for God's sake.”

As we consider what side to take in the the strife between Israeli and Palestinian, or in the civil war in Syria, or in the struggles in the Ukraine, the last thing we need is to have anyone take sides; least of all our politicians.

What we need is to have bold, courageous, intelligent and decisive leadership all among those who would seek reconciliation among warring parties.

When Jesus talks about “weeping and gnashing of teeth” he makes it sound as if this is a judgment that he will visit upon those who do not bear the kind of fruit God seeks for us to bear in this world. Among those things I think God seeks is peace with justice among the peoples of the earth. 

But I cannot help but notice that we often beat God to the punch when it comes to inflicting judgment that produces the very “weeping and gnashing of teeth” that Jesus warned us about. 

“Blessed are the peacemakers” we’re told by the savior and ultimate non violent One, sent from the Father.

Paul tells us “the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.”

And the Psalmist speaks of my inmost struggles as I read the daily papers or watch the news unfold before my eyes.

LORD, you have searched me out and known me; *

you know my sitting down and my rising up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

5

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *

it is so high that I cannot attain to it.

6

Where can I go then from your Spirit? *

where can I flee from your presence?

7

If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *

if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.

8

If I take the wings of the morning *

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

9

Even there your hand will lead me *

and your right hand hold me fast.

23

Look well whether there be any wickedness in me *

and lead me in the way that is everlasting.

   ~Psalm 139

What with God being where God is…that is to say everywhere, and what with this past week being what it has been for this world, a time for weeping and gnashing of teeth; I find myself thinking and praying for a life willing to double down on our efforts to be peacemakers seeking the justice of God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.”

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Fr Paul

Reconciliation as a Pathway to God

Living the Gospel II

Reconciliation

The Gospel is about reconciliation. 

All those false dichotomies of race, ethnicity, gender and orientation; they are all false. The cultural warfare over the Treyvon Martin killing in Florida, Marriage Equality, the dilemma over Abortion Rights and Freedom of Choice, Gun Control...it is all false...for all shall be reconciled in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How, you ask? I suspect it will take all of us working at it, honestly, openly, and with an open heart, ready to listen, change, and grow.

In today’s Epistle my namesake reaches what I consider to be a one of those great moments of theological insight. Paul, as we know, had his days when he seems to have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, but in this case, he seems to have hit the theological nail right on the proverbial head; 

“For in (Jesus) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”

         ~Colossians 1:19 & 20

If, last week we began with an exploration of the first great Gospel word “Love”, and worked it toward an understanding of how it becomes the standard by which we learn to live the Gospel life, so too this week, allow me to invite you to explore with me how the great Gospel word “Reconciliation” continues to keep us “on track” if you will, in living the life God would have us live. 

This three week Gospel series is really about “Living the Gospel” or “Proclaiming it” in thought, word, and deed. I am trying to suggest here that to do so is really quite a simple and straight forward matter. These three great words sum it up, crystallize it, and simplify it. The Gospel in a three word nutshell: Love, Reconciliation, and Forgiveness.

When we were a younger family, we used to look forward to packing  ourselves up in the minivan and towing our much loved pop up tent trailer to Maine; Old Orchard Beach to be particular, Powder Horn Campground to be absolutely precise. For many years it became our “summer home”, if you will. When we arrived, there was a lot of work to be done to set things up. There was a moment though in the midst of things when Cindy would say; “Why don’t you and the kids head off to the pool”. She didn’t have to say that twice. We were off in a flash. It was probably one way of getting us out of her hair so she could have a moment or two of peace and quiet. We headed off to the pool, and there we splashed the day away and cooled off and indulged ourselves in gales of laughter. Eventually, Cindy made her way down to the pool and smiled at the way we were obviously enjoying ourselves. 

My oldest son once told Cindy; “We love you mom, bud dad is more fun!”. Such is the case in our family. Often enough it seems to work out that she gets to do the grunt work and the boys and I get to have the fun.

Such is the case too it seems with Mary and Martha. Somebody has to do the grunt work. Somebody else gets to spend quality time with Jesus. Mary sits at his feet soaking up all that wisdom, being imbued with the radiance of his Light, and drinking deeply from the fountain of eternal life in the very presence of God Incarnate.

But it begs the question; “Do you not care that I have all this work to do? Tell my sister to give me a hand.” Is Jesus that callous as to disregard Martha’s plight or is something else going on here in this Gospel? 

Folks, if we look at our lives, let me suggest to you, you’re probably a bit too busy. You may not be taking enough time for yourselves. You very likely don’t take enough time to pray, to exercise, to read, to care for and about yourself and those who really matter.  Just Friday Brother Almquist of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist gave us this word.

"In our culture at this time, I suspect that most of us need to do less rather than more. The blur of our life begins to clear as we slow down and abide with contentment in the day and the place and the life we’ve been given, which is a gift. And God intends for it to be good."

~Br. Curtis Almquist

So we come back now to the Mary, Martha, and Jesus dynamic. There are the chores of Martha, there is the learning of Mary and there is the teaching of Jesus. I suspect that the fact is in life that all three things must be; simply be. There must be the teaching and the learning. But when all that is said and done, somebody’s is going to have to get up and do the dishes.

The fact is in any household, that there are dishes to be washed, floors to be cleaned, carpets to be vacuumed, lawns to be mowed, bushes to be trimmed and the trash to be taken out. That’s obvious. But there is also the matter of our vital conversations with one another. Any marriage or family system is driven to wellness or comes to a screeching halt depending on on well we communicate, and how effectively we deal with conflict. The matter of Justice simply requires that we all give one another a hand with the chores, the joys and the fun of life. We all need all of life, and we all need to look out for one another to live it to the fullest.

The Gospel is not just about the Compassionate Father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It is not just about the repentant son. Nor is it just about the resentful older brother or even the mother who has to cook for all the folly of all that testosterone. The Gospel is about all of us as we take our places on the stage of Salvation History and live out our lives as God would have us live them, so that all becomes reconciled to God and to one another.

Remember as you read the Gospel. It is not about who is right or wrong, it is about the whole of life and how we live each part of it. The Gospel is not about whether Mary or Martha is right or wrong. It is about the reconciling love of Jesus for both. Reconciliation begins with a recognition that the two are not a choice between the one and the other, but that the two are part and parcel of a whole. This is the ministry of reconciliation. 

Paul tells us we have been given the ministry of reconciliation not only in today’s Epistle, but in yet another of his soaring passages on living the Gospel. In his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, he says; 

“For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

~2 Corinthians 5:14-20

All this is very good, but what of those who do not want to be reconciled? After all there are those marriages that die due to irreconcilable differences. And moreover there are those seemingly intractable conflicts that always simmer near the surface of our lives. I suspect that too often we forget the Gospel words Love, Reconciliation, and Forgiveness. How powerful those words are and how graceful when we live them.

As a man of Irish descent, at least in part, I can tell you that the Capulets and the Montagues are not just two families in a play but the very archetype of human and family conflict like our own Hatfields and McCoys. 

And lest we forget the ages old Protestant and Catholic conflict in Ireland that is now somewhat in abeyance since the Good Friday Agreement of April 10, 1998. It is a complex agreement but it has held the animosities in check at least for some time now.

What then of the Middle East? Will our fellow Bay Stater and countryman John Kerry, actually get the Israelis and the Palestinians to the table to talk? Talk about animosities! Anyone who dares to approach such warring madness risks the ire of the extreme of either camp. Yitzhak Rabin paid with his life the price of signing the Oslo Accords with Yassser Arafat in 1993. 

Anwar Sadat also paid with his life for signing the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in 1979. Both men won the Nobel Peace Price. Both men gave their lives for the cause of peace.

Yes, exactly. what if there are those who do not want to be reconciled? What then shall we do? Shall we give up? Or shall we work on to that time when all God’s Children will hold their hands together and sing of the freedom God gives us in the very ministry of Christ which is to reconcile all to himself? This is not just the dream of Martin Luther King. This, in the words of Desmond Tutu is the Dream of God.

You know, when I think of Left Wingers and Right Wingers in American political life, I think too of the Eagle as a symbol of our this great nation, or at least about its potential for greatness. A bird cannot fly without both wings, duh! Neither can we without a recognition that it will take all of us pulling together to lift ourselves to the soaring heights we were designed to achieve. Alas, we have so much to learn in the infancy of our human moral development.

Jesus paid the ultimate price too for this ministry of reconciliation. I hope it doesn’t always come to that. But that’s our work: I'll grant you; an unending work. It is a good way to live our lives. A way that leads to eternal life. It is a Gospel life. 

So then there is Love.

There is the Ministry of Reconciliation.

Next week we’ll focus our energy on Forgiveness.

But every day we live the Gospel.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Gospel.

Fr Paul.