Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ let it shine
Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine *

Dear reader—

What is sacred text?

I believe most people can agree that religious canon—for example. the Holy Bible, the Torah, the Koran—are most obviously sacred text. Taking it further, we can say that well established pieces—including hymnody—also may serve the purpose of canon to teach, inspire, guide us in a life of faith.

In the Episcopal Church tradition, our faith is facilitated by The Book of Common Prayer, especially by what it calls the three-legged stool: Scripture, tradition, reason.**

Today—among other clergy, undoubtedly—I have in mind a well-known hymn inspired by Christian canon: This Little Light of Mine.

Its idea is prompted directly from Matthew’s Gospel for today, in which Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.”

Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ let it shine
Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ let it shine
Everywhere I go, I’m goin’ let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Similarly, a bit later, he says, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works…”

This Little Light of Mine has enjoyed broad usage,  as a children’s song, or as a song of political resistance as when it was used at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

I don’t know how it touches you, but for me, I hear this message: Whatever talent, whatever gift, you’ve been given, use it. And it with all of your heart. It isn’t ours to measure and to dismiss, but rather to use for the good God’s people.

Listen to NPR audio (click here)

This idea shapes what belief looks like, what ministry looks like. Never mind the bigness and littleness of our gifts. Put it out there. Go all in. Let God sort it out.

In my neighbor’s home, I’m goin’ let it shine
In my neighbor’s home, I’m goin’ let it shine
In my neighbor’s home, I’m goin’ let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

*This Little Light of Mine, African American spiritual, 19th century. Number 221 in Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, a hymnal of The Episcopal Church.

A reflection on Mark 11:12-26

The lectionary for today offers up a selection from the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of Saint Mark. It is rich with opportunities of connecting with our lives.

I’m only going to take on one of the offerings, that of the fig tree. Jesus and his entourage are hungry. He spots a fig tree. As it was not fruit-bearing season for figs, this tree had no fruit for Jesus to eat.

He read it the riot act: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And no one ever did. When the group passed the tree again, they pointed out to Jesus its withered form.

Everything Jesus tells us offers a lesson. But what is the lesson here? How can a tree bear fruit out of its season.

Each human being, some believe, are to bear fruit worthy of the Creator. What we say and what we do should reflect the hands that made us. A food-bearing tree offers God’s love through being a source of strength and stamina. Endurance. Perseverance for the faith cannot hold if the physical body is weak.

The lesson for me? For you? I find it helpful to offer some space to the fig tree lesson. Each of us, definitely me, maybe you, has times of great fruitfulness over a lifetime. Sometimes, though, God needs us “out of season.” Or maybe it’s I’m too busy, I’m too distracted, I’m too tired.

But I think excuses do not get me off the hook. As with the little fig tree, Jesus may have need of me just when I think I have nothing else to offer. And so I must try. Because it’s Jesus asking.

Idols versus God
A reflection on Psalm 115
 Idols a
Think of an idol as a god that people make. For most believers, there is one God. A buck-stops-here God. A Holy God.

Idols abound in this world we call home. Idols that can draw attention away from the holy.

Now these idols are not little figurines, or images of what we think God must look like. If they were, it would be easy to spot them and walk away.

No, idols are much more subtle, things like money, charm, popularity, fame. Think about idols any time you hear the words, “I’d give anything for…..” 

Ambition can be a form of idol, moving up the ladder. It’s seductive, and it’s difficult to separate out from a healthy approach to doing your job well in this world.

A friend once said to me, “If you want to see what you worship, watch where your money goes.” Cars, jewelry, decor, clothing, education, charity? 

What does my spending—beyond for basic needs—say about my values?

To whom does Jesus belong?

It’s easy nowadays to forget some things about those early followers of Jesus.

Many of them believed him to be the long-awaited Messiah for the people of Israel.

The answer to that belief from followers today generally is “yes.” And “no.”

The passage from Acts 11, starting at verse 1, is a brief glimpse at how uncircumcised, non-Jews were eventually accepted into the family of Jesus the Christ. They belonged. Period.

Someone may be tempted to rush in with, “But that was a long time ago.There aren’t exclusions anymore.”

I proffer that many people today feel just like those first-century Gentiles: Not welcome. Not belonging.

It seems there’s always a category of person or persons who we believe have to work on a few things before they’re ready for our pews

But guess what? Jesus is ready for them, day or night, seven days a week. Amen.

Wisdom of Solomon 7:7-14

I wonder if King Solomon of old known for being very wise had issues arising from his family of origin.

I would not be surprised. Consider:
Father: King David.
Mother: Bathsheba

Married at the time of Solomon’s birth, their second child.

But David, a favorite of God’s, fell from grace after his lust for Bathsheba got the better of him. He arranged for the murder of her then-husband Uriah, leaving the lovers free to marry.

It was scandalous behavior, and some believe the death of the pair’s firstborn was God’s punishment.

But their second-born child, Solomon, was a gift to all humanity, then, and down to this very day.

Perhaps his passion for “wisdom” stemmed from disastrous decisions his parents made. In any event, Solomon sought out wisdom, prayed for it, respected its truth, followed its teaching.

For all of the wondrous decisions Solomon made, perhaps his greatest wisdom is shown in his seeking God’s help, guidance, in ascertaining the right thing to do. And then doing that.

Matthew 18:1-6: Agnes, Martyr at Rome 304

Despite her noble Roman lineage, Agnes made a vow of chastity before Christ, a vow that led to her death.

She was but a mere child, twelve or thirteen, but an old soul. when she died for her Lord

Agnes chose Jesus over the son of a high-ranking Roman prefect. Her being a Christian prompted the death penalty.

In Saint Matthew’s Gospel for today, his disciples want to know who will be the greatest in the afterlife. 

An annoyed Jesus calls over a nearby child and told his disciples that whoever becomes humble as a child is humble, that person will be the greatest in heaven.

It calls to mind these Bob Dylan lyrics:

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’

The young, the innocent. Spirit-filled integrity propels them toward justice and truth.

It is they to whom we look for hope.

Isaiah 40:25-31

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah offers hope and comfort to the people of Israel living in captivity in Babylon.

Here’s a part of today’s text: Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted, but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;   they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;   they shall walk and not faint.

The Temple in Jerusalem was the center of worship and community. Its destruction was a blow difficult to fully comprehend given what we see in current worshiping patterns in U.S. America. The first and largest group was exiled in 597BCE. That is estimated to be 10,000, joined by others in 592 and 586 BCE. The total expelled is estimated at 25,000, leaving behind a remnant of about 5,000, primarily the poor and unskilled laborers.

It’s always grace

A new question arises for me while reading the Gospel of Saint John, the first few verses of Chapter 2.

There we encounter the Cana Wedding, where Jesus turns water into wine. 

A lot is going on in these eleven verses, each worthy of being the sole focus.

But what catches my ear this time is this: 

“…and his disciples believed in him….”

Remember, these are somewhat new relationships. Chapter 1 concludes with Jesus calling the twelve men who will form his core ministry team. There was an instant, almost magnetic, connection between him and the men. Why else would they drop nets and walk away from all they have known?

Now, only eleven verses into Chapter 2—after the distribution of the water-turned-into-wine that rescues the reception from being a very bad party—what has me wondering are these words:

His disciples believed in him.

Did they not before? Based on what did they earlier go all-in with Jesus?

The answer is better than good news, it’s the greatest news ever: In whatever way we first meet Jesus, it’s only the beginning.

Who knows why they were first intrigued by Jesus? But relationship is not an all-at-once experience, there is more if we just stick with it.

Similar to our own highest-quality human relationships, it deepens, expands, and reveals.

That’s how I explain what happens. That, sometime after they joined Jesus’ team, the disciples realized they believed in him. There is ongoing revelation. And how does it happen, how are we made aware?

Someone in seminary told me that if I ever got stumped by a question, just attribute everything to God’s grace.

It was supposed to be an insider joke. A throwaway line.

But it turns out to be the only right answer so often.

Grace: God’s unwarranted, unearned, freely given affection and support.

Consider Amazing Grace, one of the most popular of Christian hymns. It was written in 1772 by John Newton, an erstwhile slave trader turned Anglican priest. Here are the words of Verse 2:

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.

Grace upon grace.

Amen.