Why are you weeping?

Why are you weeping?

God knows there’s plenty of that!

But then there are those who are able to stare into the abyss and refuse to capitulate to the fear and the sadness of it. Take Betty, for instance; she lived her life with spina-bifida. She was not able to process with the choir but she sang with all her heart and soul. She fought off depression all her life until she approached the end. That’s when things changed for Betty. One day as the inevitable came closer, I went to visit her and bring her communion. She was remarkably excited and cheerful. As I was leaving, she said to me; “Don’t forget my envelopes! After all, I promised God that I would tithe.” 

And tithe she did. Ten percent right off the top. I told her; “Betty, certainly you need some of that money for your own living expenses!”

She looked at me resolutely with a cheerful smile; “Oh Fr. Paul, all my life I have not been able to walk without crutches but soon, I will be able to leap like a deer! Don’t you know that for all Jesus has done for me, the least I can do for him is tithe. Besides, I still get to keep 90%!” 

She was so excited and cheerful as she approached the end! Yes, she suffered plenty. But she suffered all her life! As the end approached, she knew things would be very different for her soon and very soon. Because of her witness, my attitude toward giving and generosity changed. Moreover, my whole viewpoint of life, death, and the resurrection changed because of her. 

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

In today’s Gospel we are told that Mary was weeping. Not only was she grief stricken over the death of Jesus, but now, to add insult to injury, somebody had apparently taken the body away! She will not even be able to give her “Rhabbouni” a decent burial. The defeat of the cross has now given way to yet another indignity. Of course, she was crying. 

“They have taken away my Lord.”

First the angels asked her why she was weeping. But apparently she didn’t recognize them as angels. That recognition was to come somewhat later on.

Then the gardener appeared to her. Maybe this is the grave robber she thought to herself, and so she said; “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him.” Small comfort, but at least she could give him a decent burial.

Then came the Astonishing Surprise that has altered all of Salvation History. 

“Mary!” 

In that one word there came the recognition that Jesus Christ is Risen today. Alleluia!

“Rhabbouni!” The word occurs but one time in the Bible. It is of Chaldean origin and can be rendered “teacher” or “Lord” like the Greek “kyrios”…meaning “the one who is in control of my life” or “my master”. It is a word used to describe obeisance to the Emperor in the ancient world. It is therefore used by the early church to describe our obedience to our Master. The turn of phrase, “Kyrie eleison” is applied to Jesus as we greet one another in worship.

Jesus tells Mary not to hug him yet. God knows why, but something in Divine logic prevents it. He has not yet ascended to the Father. So he instructs her; “go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”!

Thus Mary’s weeping changes suddenly. Now there is excitability, incredulity, and even maybe a tinge of panic. She went and told the disciples what she had experienced; namely, the first encounter of the Risen Christ!

The weeping was over.

Folks, I wonder what side of the resurrection you and I are on? 

I know what side of the resurrection the world is on. All the warfare, violence, hatefulness, racism, and bigotry; in short, the brutal sin of it all. This world is on the other side of the The Resurrection and hasn’t got a clue as to what the Gospel is. The world has yet to hear the Good News that all our sins are forgiven and that death itself has been vanquished by the Love of God.

The world has yet to hear that Jesus planted a community on earth dedicated not just to the love God but to the love of all humankind. This without any exception. Period. As Peter said; "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God.”

The world can be a depressing place and we ourselves can fall victim to its sin and despair. The angels and gardeners are likely to find us weeping. I suspect that you and I are frequently on the edge of Doubt and Despair!

But there are angels and gardeners all around us. In fact look around you today. You are surrounded by angels and gardeners. We can share with one another all our joys and all our sorrows. We can share our faith and doubt. We can tell our stories. We can wipe away the tears. We can proclaim the Gospel of Jesus!

And that’s because Jesus Christ is Risen today! We are the Easter People! We are on this side of the Resurrection! 

In the meantime we needn’t wait until we’re dead to know the victory of Jesus. It won’t do you much good to wait till then  to live eternal life! The living Christ is here and now in the angels and gardeners we meet all around us. You are the angels and gardeners of God for the sake of the world you live in.

Paul knew there was hardly a moment to loose in the new life he could claim in Jesus. He was forgiven. Jesus paid the price for his sins, even for his zealous persecution of the church. He more than made up for all that in the church building skills he developed. He was a teacher. He was an organizer. And what a writer! In his better moments his eloquence spoke of the love of God in such a way as to inspire us to love one another. His famous Hymn to Love is read at so many weddings. Intuitively his words speak to the heart of what we all aspire to in human relationships; “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” ~I Corinthians 13. 

What we aspire to in our life in Christ is eternal life. Still we must settle for reality. Again Paul says in today’s Epistle; “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and God’s grace toward me has not been in vain.” 

Eternal life is the Grace of God at work within us, as it was with Betty. I often remember her witness to the Victory of Jesus. Somewhere today she is leaping like a deer in the heart of Jesus. 

In the here and now of Eternal Life I invite you in the Name of the Church to Proclaim the Risen Christ: you, his Easter People!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

Toitle an' de Allumgatah

“Toitle an’ de’ Allumgatah”

Thank you for the privilege of serving here as your Interim Dean. Last night the Togendowogan Society sang for me an Honor Song. The beat of the drum and the ancient chants spoke to me of the heart and voice of God. You honor me as you do Cindy. Thank you.

The Gospel today proclaims a Day of Reckoning for each one of us, the call of a Dean, a Bishop, the election of those who represent us. The wise among us will want to be carrying lamps filled with the oil of God’s healing power, love, forgiveness and reconciliation. The foolish; otherwise.

Today I want to I tell you my favorite resurrection story, but before I do, I need to set the stage and provide a historic context for a parable I’d like to share with you. 

In the annals of human inhumanity to humankind, there is the story of the of the Great Expulsion of the French speaking peoples from what is now Eastern Canada and Northern Maine. That part of the world was known then and still is as Acadia. In fact Acadia National Park, located in Maine is one of my favorite destinations. The hostilities between the French and English speaking peoples has a long and unpleasant history in Canada. The Great Expulsion of which I speak occurred shortly before the Seven Years War (1756-1763). The French called it “Le Grand Dérangement”, after all it takes a deranged mind to deport 14,000 souls and dump them in a swampland. The long and short of it was that the Acadians were left in the bayous of Louisiana to fend for themselves. They became known as Cajuns and became part of a Gumbo Stew of humanity that included the native populations, the Creoles, and a sprinkling of indentured servants of Irish descent and so on. But you and I both know that they did not die off as perhaps the English speakers thought they might. 

Instead they rose again as a magnificent creative culture that has given us some of the greatest cuisine in the world today. They have given us jazz, blues and the Bourbon Street beat. They’ve given us Mardi Gras and so much more. 

We also know that the the Great Expulsion was not the last time when they were left to fend for themselves in the swamplands especially in the wake of natural disaster. Poor folks often are left to fend for themselves, are they not?

They gave us some great stories too. There is an old Cajun story that I love to tell. It is a parable of sorts of the resurrection, because just when you think that all is lost, something within you or something outside of you give you grace to “Rise Up” and live. Here then, my favorite resurrection story. “The Toitle and the Allumgatah”. My apologies for any innacuracies and exaggeration of dialect as I put on the persona of a Louisiana Cajun.

Wan day, toitle he go swinn in de swomp

An’ de sonne shahne downne

Own de show, dey be allumgatah

He say; “Mmmmm, dat look gewwd!”

So he on sliddle on in dat wawdah

And he shooks his tail lahk dat won

Quiet like, he don’t make no ripple in de wawdah

Toitle, he swimne along den he sudden say;

“Sonnin lookin’ at me”

He looks on his shoulah, he say:

“MMMM, dey be allumgadah!”

“I bettah speed up some”

So he move his arms fassah, still dat gatah comin’

Den he moves his legs too, fas he ken, But

dat don’ hep none,

Gatah he gettin closah and closah. 

Toitle say; 

“What ah gonna do, 

what ah gonna do, 

what ah gonna do?

Ah tell you what dat toitle done

He done pull hisseff up 

He stand up on top de wawdah

He ben’ his knees 

He jumps up out de wawdah

He donne grab on de branch hangin’ down 

He pull hissef up bend hissef over

And gator snap his mouf ‘en he cain’t get no toitle!

Now, I know what you’re thinking!

I know exactly what you’re thinking!

Hain’ no toitle ken jump out de wawdah like dat wan!

What you mean, he cain’t jump up out de wawdah?

He haaad to!!!”

This is a resurrection story! There are terrifying moments for all of us along the way and yet to come, but I am here to tell you that Jesus is with us in those moments. In all our moments, Times of joy, creativity, as well as all our moments of disappointment as well as terror. But above all and in all is the resurrection of Jesus! As Paul tells us in today’s Epistle; “with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet the dead in Christ will rise!”

This is our faith. I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Somewhere seemingly out of nowhere I know, through my own experience that the gift is given purely out of grace to “stand up on top ‘de wawdah, ben’ mah knees and jump up out de wawdah” 

Because the power God is Absolute

The love of Jesus is Unconditional

And the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit is makes us One, no matter who we may be.

When I say Goodbye to you as I must now do, remember that the word “goodbye” is a prayer. It means “God be with ye”. It is a combination of four words. The word “with” is dropped and “ye” is the Old English familial form of the more formal “you”. The first recorded use of the word was in 1575. So when I say “Goodbye” I am saying a prayer; “May God be with you. It is a prayer we use often as we bid each other well until another time when our Christian hope proclaims that we will meet yet again.

In the Name of God, the Most Holy, Undivided and Everlasting Trinity.

Amen

Fr Paul.