Beneath it all...

“How must I look to you, O God, coming to you every Sunday, dressed in all my pomp and circumstance? Beneath my robes do you not see me, a little boy with a scraped knee, so proud he survived the loss of a tooth, with dirty fingernails and grass stains on his knees? As a child I began this journey. As a child I shall reach journey's end. No need for vanity along the way. No need for pretense or ego or any of the brave fronts we put on to impress ourselves before time's patient mirror. Beneath it all the One who made us sees us for who we are and always shall be.”

~Bishop Steven Charleston Retired, Choctaw

What should be our legacy of love be? Here is something for you to ponder about.

As a young man, Al was a skilled artist, a potter. He had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his oldest son developed a severe stomachache. Thinking it was only some common intestinal disorder, neither Al nor his wife took the condition very seriously.

But the malady was actually acute appendicitis, and the boy died suddenly that night.

Knowing the death could have been prevented if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, Al's emotional health deteriorated under the enormous burden of his guilt. To make matters worse his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Al could handle, and he turned to alcohol to help him cope. In time Al became an alcoholic.

As the alcoholism progressed, Al began to lose everything he possessed - his home, his land, his art objects, everything. Eventually Al died alone in a San Francisco motel room.

When I heard of Al's death, I reacted with the same disdain the world shows for one who ends his life with nothing material to show for it. "What a complete failure!" I thought. "What a totally wasted life!"

As time went by, I began to re-evaluate my earlier harsh judgment. You see, I knew Al's now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his children and saw the free flow of love between them. I knew that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.

I hadn't heard Ernie talk much about his father. It is so hard to defend an alcoholic. One day I worked up my courage to ask him. "I'm really puzzled by something," I said. "I know your father was basically the only one to raise you. What on earth did he do that you became such a special person?"

Ernie sat quietly and reflected for a few moments. Then he said, "From my earliest memories as a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, `I love you, son.'"

Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to judge Al as a failure. He had not left any material possessions behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and he left behind one of the finest legacy of love, a most giving man I have ever known.

Our days are numbered. One of the primary goals in our lives should be to prepare for our last day. The legacy we leave is not just in our possessions, but in the quality of our lives. What preparations should we be making now? The greatest waste in all of our earth, which cannot be recycled or reclaimed, is our waste of the time that God has given us each day.  ~Billy Graham

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” ~ 2 Kings 2:9

Are you offended?

58 I am the true bread from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever and not die as your ancestors did, even though they ate the manna." 59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 Even his disciples said, "This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?" 61 Jesus knew within himself that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see me, the Son of Man, return to heaven again? 63 It is the Spirit who gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you don't believe me." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who didn't believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, "That is what I meant when I said that people can't come to me unless the Father brings them to me." 66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, "Are you going to leave, too?" 68 Simon Peter replied, "Lord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe them, and we know you are the Holy One of God." John 6:58-69

A sermon from The Reverend Jo Wilcoxson, Episcopal Church of the Messiah Winter Garden, FL 8-26-2012

John 6

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak Eph 6

Does this offend you?

How do we react when someone asks us if they have offended us?

How do we react to Jesus asking such a question?

He is the Jesus of the popular poem “Footsteps;” The God who picks us up and carries us through the tough places of our lives.  He is, he tells the disciples while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, ‘I am the very bread of life’, and that they are invited to find eternal life in eating the bread he offers.

And the crowds’ reaction to this divine pronouncement? “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?”

Already, even before the church was founded, the complaining begins. That’s the way John writes it in his gospel: “Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about his teaching, said to them, ‘Does this offend you?’” What an honest insight! Many Christians, seem to hold the view that Jesus’ disciples sat all the time around his feet, smiles pasted on their faces as they gazed with rapt eyes upon their Master and devoured with hungry ears every word from his lips.

This is a portrait of Jesus.   The funny thing about portraits is that they can be true but still be incomplete.

Have you ever tried to get an entire family together for a portrait? There’s the discussion over when and where to take the picture. There is the discussion about what to wear. There’s the weather. There’s the politics over who will stand next to whom. There are the different opinions between the people organizing the picture and the person taking it. There’s the problem of the grandson or the daughter who could not be there.

On the one hand, the professional and glossy photograph of a happy, smiling family all turned out in clean clothes is true. It is accurate. But it is not the whole story. Looking at that one portrait tells you some important things about the family, but it does not tell you everything.

So it goes with the portrait of Jesus.  It does not tell us about the Jesus that offends people, or about the Jesus who made a bunch of his followers turn away from him. It does not tell us about the Jesus who turned to the twelve to ask them if they would also turn away. Did they rise up in defiance and shout that they would never leave Jesus? No. What does the scripture say? It says the disciples looked at Jesus and said “to whom can we go”, “where else can we go?” Really? Jesus must have thought, thanks guys…what a rousing endorsement.

They had come to Jesus to get something from Him but when it came to suffering for Him or giving to Him they quit.

Jesus upsets us all because – as Paul writes in Romans – we all fall short of the glory of God.

Make no mistake… these were not anti-religious people who were doing the complaining; this was no secular crowd thinking that this Jesus was some religious nut. The people who were doing the complaining were those who had come to church to hear him preach and teach in the synagogue in Capernaum.  The great irony in this story is that the very grace that offended these disciples was provided for them by the same Jesus who offended them. Even for those who turned away, Jesus offered himself as the very definition of grace: God’s gift of reconciliation, just because He desires his creatures, his people to be reconciled to him. No struggling toward an unreachable goal of perfection trying to earn God’s forgiveness, but instead a forgiveness offered in his Son, Jesus, who did indeed ascend into heaven, sealing the promise and delivery of a bread of life. Not just to the eleven whom stuck with him; not just to those who listened without grumbling and complaining in the synagogue; not just to those who try to live a modern day Christian version of Judaic Law; not just to the pure did God offer his forgiveness in Christ.  Jesus brought grace and the promise of life to all who would accept forgiveness in Christ’s name.

And yes, God’s grace can be offensive. It’s not fair. God’s grace offends, because that grace and forgiveness is not only reserved for those who have lived their life as perfectly as possible, but is also available for that person who comes to understand and believe at the last moment, just like the thief on the cross beside Jesus. Grace is not fair by our rules because even those latecomers also receive the promise “this day you shall join me in paradise.”

The people of God have always been people who say upsetting things.  Shoot, Moses walked into Pharaoh’s courts and said God wanted his people – Pharaoh’s slaves to be free.

Stephen harangued the Jewish leaders for failing to see what Jesus had done.  Look where it got him…stoned to death.

All of us in our lives have chances to be a little impatient and a little bit offensive in the service of Christ. We can – just like Jesus did in our reading – remind people of the important things.

The question for us is not whether we ever have a chance to do what Jesus wants. The question more often is whether we are going to be like those who turned their backs on Jesus or like those who said to him “Where else can we go?”

It has been proven down through the centuries that it is not intellectual difficulty that keeps people from believing as much as it is accepting the moral demands of Christ. Many refuse to follow Christ not because they are intellectually puzzled but because its challenges their way of living.

Intimacy with God, that is giving Him full custody of your heart, is not all warm fuzzies and smiles.  When a relationship is intimate, one person can speak openly and in correction to the other so complete honesty might flow between the two.

The next time you feel in your heart the spirit of God tugging you to do something – especially if it is something that makes you feel a bit uncomfortable – think back to those 12 disciples and ask yourself, “Do you have somewhere else to go?” Have you heard the words of life? Do you know Jesus to be the Holy One of God?  It’s okay to follow him. He wants you to. That is why he came.

You might ask then why bother following the admonitions on how to live, or attend worship regularly, or volunteer, or donate to help refugees and the needy? If God’s grace and forgiveness is readily available merely for believing in Christ, why do all the rest? To which the answer is fairly clear, at least to those who do try to live in ways that please God, and worship faithfully, and give freely of themselves in Christ’s service – that it is in participating in all of these things as a response to what God has already done - that the deep, satisfying, meaningful and abundant life Christ promised is actually found. This is the essence of what Jesus was saying to his disciples, that by immersing themselves totally in his ministry they would discover and avail themselves of the bread of life, that they would be filled and fulfilled in ways that were not possible any other way.

When we discover that Jesus is not just there to cater to our needs, but to enlist us in a cause that is greater than ourselves, a mission to bring justice and peace to the world, then we have to decide if that is what we want to do. When we realize that Jesus is here not simply to give us the bread from heaven, but to fill us with his grace and truth so that we can give bread to others, then we have to decide if we want to continue following Jesus.

So let me end by asking, does this offend you? Really?

I.N.J.

To love is to serve.

“Your life is a gift, accept it.”

From Grey’s Anatomy

A gift of love

“Can I see my baby?” the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

Time proved that the baby’s hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred. When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother’s arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks. He blurted out the tragedy. “A boy, a big boy … called me a freak.”

He grew up, handsome for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. “But you might mingle with other young people,” his mother reproved him, but felt a kindness in her heart. The boy’s father had a session with the family physician. Could nothing be done? “I believe I could graft on a pair of outer ears, if they could be procured,” the doctor decided.

Whereupon the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man. Two years went by. Then, “You are going to the hospital, Son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it’s a secret,” said the father. The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person emerged. His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of triumphs.

Later he married and entered the diplomatic service. “But I must know!” He urged his father, “Who gave so much for me? I could never do enough for him.” “I do not believe you could,” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know… not yet.” The years kept their profound secret, but the day did come … one of the darkest days that a son must endure. He stood with his father over his mother’s casket. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish-brown hair to reveal that the mother had no outer ears. “Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut,” he whispered gently, “and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they?”

Real beauty lies not in the physical appearance, but in the heart. Real treasure lies not in what that can be seen, but what that cannot be seen. Real love lies not in what is done and known, but in what that is done but not known.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” ~John 15:13

Self help with God's help!

“The elders used to say that God is very thrifty because God does not like to throw anything away. Instead, God prefers to mend things. At the age I am now I know this to be true. I have had a broken heart, broken dreams, broken trust, broken spirit and a broken body. But each and every time, God has mended me. With patience and persistence, with a careful hand and a keen eye, God has put me back together, knit the pieces with the bond of love, restored them through grace, that I might once again be useful and help in my own fashion the healing of others.” ~Retired Bishop, Steven Charleston, Choctaw

Truth Beckons is the title of a book by Randolph Kay as well as Mr. Kay’s website. The Four Agreements were written by Don Miguel Ruiz and is found in his book of that title. These books can be found in the Spirituality, Self-Help, Anger Management, and New Age sections of the library or book store. I have not read the books, therefore I am not certain of the context in which the ‘Agreements’ are presented.  I do however believe that these are, as printed here, very sound advice and following them would generally bring very positive results. As a chaplain I am here for you both spiritually and pastorally. So, as you use these agreements remember:

“…fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

I.N.J.

You are invited to join us in experiencing the Moment in Hot Springs, Arkansas October 20th 2012

The Moment October 20th Hot Springs, Ark.“...The Moment represents an international gathering of people of all faiths, cultures, races, and backgrounds who are there to take a step toward recovering the collective soul of all mankind. This collegial effort based in our mutual faith in God as the individual knows the Creator, together in prayer, worship, ceremony, and fellowship represents many of the ideals curative and pastoral we work to achieve." - Rev. Dr. Fred D. Wilcoxson,

 — atManataka Mountain Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Why ARE youth in church?

By Jacob Nez 
with help from Jeremy Blackwater and Jay Begay

Every time someone whines about youth not being in Church I feel like dirt, like we who do go to church don’t exist.

I am 18 and I and 41 more of us go to the Episcopal Church. We don’t always go at the same time because we don’t have transport. We also have to pick and choose a Church that will welcome us. We are youth and we are Native Episcopalians. There is a lot of racism in some of these churches.

None of us live on the Reservations. We live in five border towns in N. Arizona. We are from four Native Nations in Arizona and New Mexico.

All of us came to the Church through the Spirit Journey Youth group in the Diocese of Arizona. When we began 12 years ago as a group, we were a lot of trouble. We would go to Church as a group and squirm around a lot. Kaze Gadaway, our youth minister had to tell us when to sit and kneel. A lot of the congregation complained about our being there.

I don’t know how we changed. Kaze took us to different churches until we found some who wanted us there. Now there are three main churches who always want us there and let us be acolytes and read the scriptures. Saint John’s Episcopal/Lutheran in Williams, Az.; St. Francis in Rio Ranch, New Mexico; and St. John’s Episcopal Church in LaVerne, CA. They all welcome us and go out of their way to tell us that they are glad we are there. They let us do some of our Native rituals with sage.

We don’t go to Church every Sunday. We meet in small groups in homes, parks, the van or a fast food place. We do our group worship service based on the Episcopal service. We pray and we do service projects for the homeless. We go to Church when we can afford the gas. We spend a lot of time together studying the Bible and talking about faith questions.

There are 17 young adults over 18 who are on the leadership team. We are learning about the ways of the Church and how to read the Book of Common Prayer. No one is over 21. Kaze checks out the churches we attend and makes sure that they will welcome youth and Natives. We are looking for churches who will accept us in their congregations as we move away from here. This is not easy.

Let me tell you why we go to Church.

It’s not the sermon. Sermons are usually not about anything we can relate to.

It’s not the music. The music is horrible.

It is the sacrament of Baptism and the Eucharist.

It is very important to us that we are in a ceremony that connects us to the Holy. It is important that we see the Christ in each other and that we work against injustices. It is important that people in a Church are serious about the ceremony and treat it with respect. Almost all of us have been baptized and have taken our first communion as the highlight of our spiritual life.

The way we know that it is a good Church to visit is when we pass the peace. If a congregation really treats us as one of them when they pass the peace, then we know we are in a holy place.

We go to Church when we can and when we are welcomed. We will continue to invite other youth to Church when we find one who welcomes us.

We are youth and we do go to Church whenever we can.

Jacob's bio: I am an Episcopal Native young adult with the Spirit Journey Youth group. I live in Albuquerque with other members of the Journey Youth Leadership team. I am in a community college and want to be a teacher.

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/daily/faith/why_are_youth_in_church.php
I.N.J.