Our nation is once again reeling from three mass shootings in but a few days’ time.  Once again there is an outpouring of “thoughts and prayers” from all corners, including our churches.  While in our hearts we may truly and sincerely be praying for those affected by these tragedies, these “thoughts and prayers” – though well-intentioned – are weak.  Ultimately they accomplish nothing but to make us feel better about ourselves, “for having prayed about it.”

There is much more we can do.  We can call and/or write to our lawmakers demanding action and gun law reform that prohibits weapons of war from being own by civilians, as well as other strict measures and protocols that other countries have adopted with great success.

Also in the news we read of local, state, and federal legislation being enacted that oppresses multiple categories of minorities:  LGBT civil rights are being eroded; women’s rights are being eroded; freedom of assembly is being eroded; voting rights are being suppressed.

In such times, people have often turned to the church for support and comfort.  Comfort is all well and good, but unless the underlying cause of the distress is addressed, then of what good will the comfort ultimately be?

The Jesus of the Gospels calls us to follow in his example and stand up for the oppressed.  The God of the bible can be described by the word “pathos.”  Rabbi Abraham Heschel describes the divine pathos as “compellingly absolute selflessness with supreme concern for the poor and exploited.”  We find this theme throughout Scripture:  The Jews against Pharaoh; young Amos who stood in the busiest intersection of Bethel and denounced the government for cheating the poor and exploited; and using the life and voice of Jesus to serve those in need, especially by being a voice for the voiceless.

To be concerned about salvation in a biblical sense means to be concerned about not only what is sometimes called the “state of the soul,” but also whether or not the persons concerned have soles on their shoes.

It is on these solid foundations of social justice in the example of Jesus that The Progressive Episcopal Church was founded.  We do not exist to offer empty platitudes.  We focus not on a crucified Jesus, but on a living Jesus who calls us to follow his example of challenging the status quo, of challenging unjust laws that oppress and subjugate our fellow human beings and deny them their dignity. The Progressive Episcopal Church is built on the foundations of social justice and social activism built by such martyrs as Bishop Oscar Romero and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

To feed the hungry is to worship God.  To stand up for the rights of our LGBT brothers and sisters is to worship God.  Anything we do to stand up and speak up for the dignity and worth of those who are oppressed is to worship God.  “As ye did for the least of these, ye did unto me.”

Jesus directly challenged the political corruption, sadistic violence, and economic exploitation of his time, and calls us to do the same.  This is what he meant when he said “Follow me.”  If we as the church do not follow Jesus, then we fail in our purpose, the purpose for which Jesus called his church into existence.

Our ordination vows as clergy call us to “seek and serve Christ in all persons.”  We do this by speaking for those who have no voice or whose voice is not being heard, and challenging the institutions that would deny the worth and rights of LGBT, minorities, women, and anyone else; and to denounce laws that deny basic human rights, and that promote violence, oppression, subjugation, and genocide.  During Word War II, churches throughout Europe were very politically active in the fight for human justice in the face of Nazi laws and policies.  It is what Jesus calls us to do as his church.

This is the foundation on which The Progressive Episcopal Church was established and built.  If all we do is offer our thoughts and prayers, then we are not doing to work God and Jesus call us to.  To act justly is to participate in creating a just society; to love tenderly is to actively engage in responsible action; to walk humbly with God is to respect the dignity of all people.  This is what it truly means to focus on Jesus.

What does the Lord require of us, but to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God?

by Rt. Rev'd. Thurlow Weed
Bishop of the Diocese of the West

Like millions of other Americans, I am appalled at the now well-publicized behavior of a large group of male Roman Catholic high school students.  It has been learned that the high school which these youngsters attend has a long history of prejudice against not only indigenous people, but black Americans as well.
 
As a bishop of the church, I join with countless other religious leaders in our country in denouncing what we have all seen in many video recordings of the events.
 
But if we trace back through the history of the Roman Catholic Church and the history of the United States, we will discover that these students appear to be following the teachings of the Church as set forth in the Papal Bull of 1493 known as Inter Caetera.  This Bull was issued by Pope Alexander VI which granted to the Catholic Majesties of Ferdinand and Isabella (as sovereigns of Castile) all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde islands.
 
The Bull decreed that “the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself ” and “Moreover we command you in virtue of holy obedience that you should appoint to the aforesaid mainlands and islands worthy, God-fearing, learned, skilled, and experienced men, in order to instruct the aforesaid inhabitants and residents in the Catholic faith and train them in good morals.”
 
Known as the “Doctrine of Discovery,” it became the basis of all European claims in the Americas as well as the foundation for the United States’ western expansion. In 1792 U.S. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson declared that the Doctrine of the Discovery would extend from Europe to the infant U.S. government.  It was Jefferson who created the first Indian Removal Programs under the terms of the Roman Catholic Doctrine which had become entrenched in English law.
 
In 1823, the Christian Doctrine of Discovery was quietly adopted into U.S. law by the Supreme Court in the celebrated case, Johnson v. M'Intosh, Chief Justice John Marshall found that ownership of land comes into existence by virtue of discovery of that land, a rule that had been observed by all European countries with settlements in the New World. Legally, the United States was the true owner of the land because it inherited that ownership from Britain, the original discoverer.
 
Marshall noted:
 
    On the discovery of this immense continent, the great nations of Europe ... as they were all in pursuit of nearly the same object, it was necessary, in order to avoid conflicting settlements, and consequent war with each other, to establish a principle which all should acknowledge as the law by which the right of acquisition, which they all asserted, should be regulated as between themselves. This principle was that discovery gave title to the government by whose subjects, or by whose authority, it was made, against all other European governments, which title might be consummated by possession. ... The history of America, from its discovery to the present day, proves, we think, the universal recognition of these principles.
 
Chief Justice Marshall noted the 1455 papal bull Romanus Pontifex approved Portugal's claims to lands discovered along the coast of West Africa, and the 1493 Inter Caetera had ratified Spain's right to conquer newly found lands, after Christopher Columbus had already begun doing so, but stated: "Spain did not rest her title solely on the grant of the Pope. Her discussions respecting boundary, with France, with Great Britain, and with the United States, all show that she placed it on the rights given by discovery. Portugal sustained her claim to the Brazils by the same title."
 
Marshall pointed to the exploration charters given to John Cabot as proof that the British had operated under the doctrine. The tribes which occupied the land were, at the moment of discovery, no longer completely sovereign and had no property rights but rather merely held a right of occupancy. Further, only the discovering nation or its successor could take possession of the land from the natives by conquest or purchase.  The doctrine has been cited by the US Supreme Court as recently as 2005, in City of Sherrill, NY v. Oneida Nation: "Under the 'doctrine of discovery...' fee title (ownership) to the lands occupied by Indians when the colonists arrived became vested in the sovereign-first the discovering European nation and later the original states and the United States."
 
In other words, Indians nations were subject to the ultimate authority of the first nation of Christendom to claim possession of a given region of Indian lands.  According to Marshall, the United States - upon winning its independence in 1776 - became a successor nation to the right of "discovery" and acquired the power of "dominion" from Great Britain.
 
The Court affirmed that United States law was based on a fundamental rule of the "Law of Nations" - that it was permissible to virtually ignore the most basic rights of indigenous "heathens," and to claim that the "unoccupied lands" of America rightfully belonged to discovering Christian European nations. Of course, it's important to understand that the term "unoccupied lands" referred to "the lands in America which, when discovered, were 'occupied by Indians' but 'unoccupied' by Christians."
 
The Doctrine of Discovery was promulgated by European monarchies in order to legitimize the colonization of lands outside of Europe. Between the mid-fifteenth century and the mid-twentieth century, this idea allowed European entities to seize lands inhabited by indigenous peoples under the guise of discovery. In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas declared that only non-Christian lands could be colonized under the Discovery Doctrine.
 
Going back a few decades, we find in the Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex of 1452, Pope Nicholas directed King Alfonso of Portugal to "capture, vanquish, and subdue the Saracens, pagans, and other enemies of Christ," to "put them into perpetual slavery," and "to take all their possessions and property."  When Columbus sailed west in 1492 - with the express understanding that he was authorized to "take possession" of any lands he "discovered" that were "not under the dominion of any Christian rulers" - he and the Spanish sovereigns of Aragon and Castile were following an already well-established tradition of "discovery" and conquest.
 
The lesson to be learned is that the papal bulls of 1452 and 1493 are but two clear examples of how the "Christian Powers," or "different States of Christendom," viewed indigenous peoples as "the lawful spoil and prey of their civilized conquerors." In fact, the Christian "Law of Nations" asserted that Christian nations had a divine right, based on the Bible, to claim absolute title to and ultimate authority over any newly "discovered" Non-Christian inhabitants and their lands.
 
It is well worth noting that several of the recent popes have denounced the atrocities committed under Inter Caetera and other bulls, but have refused to rescind them. Unrescinded, they still stand as valid decrees that are still in force. 
 
Against this background we now place the incident involving the students from Covington Catholic High School.  It is a 21st century demonstration of the principles of how the North American continent was conquered by people calling themselves “Christian.” These students demonstrated to us the active principles of 526-year-old Roman Catholic teaching regarding indigenous peoples, and have reminded all of us that the church’s decree is not only still in effect, but that it is part of United States law, and therefore (unfortunately), part of the American identity.
 
It probably comes as no surprise that I – and tens of millions of others like me – have a problem with this.  Especially when these actions are carried out in the name of Christianity.
 
There are two very distinct and unrelated forms of Christianity in play here.  First we have the imperial Nicene Christianity established by a succession of Roman emperors who decreed what the church should teach, in the interests of political favouritism, and national & religious imperialism.
 
Against this we have the teachings and example of Jesus, who denounced imperialism, thumbed his nose toward orthodoxy, and taught that all people irrespective of race, colour, or religious belief are all children of God, and co-equal members of one human family.
 
These teachings are opposed to the teachings of Christian orthodoxy, which regards Christianity as the only true religion, to which all non-Christian must convert.  Yet Yeshua never required non-Jews to convert to Judaism as a prerequisite for salvation.
 
This brings us to a possibly difficult question for many people:  Do we follow the imperialist and exclusionary teachings of Nicene Christian orthodoxy, or do we follow the universalist & inclusionary teachings and example of Yeshua ben Yosef?  For the most part, they tend to be mutually exclusive.
 
The imperialism of orthodox Nicene Christianity was revealed in front of the world in the actions of high school students.  And it is not limited to the Roman Church; indeed it is to be found throughout Evangelical Christianity in the United States.  Our current political climate has made this painfully clear.
 
The younger generation – the future leaders of this country and of our communities – see these actions by people calling themselves “Christian,” and are left wondering where in the teachings of the Jesus who these Christians claim to worship can be found any teaching that calls them to oppress and mock others in Jesus’ name?  Is it any wonder that the younger generation is so increasingly denouncing Christianity and choosing instead to follow the Way of Jesus?
 
Jesus, also known as Yeshua in Hebrew (Joshua in English translation), taught us “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  This teaching is found in the following passages of scripture: Leviticus 19:18, Micah 6:8, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 6.31, Luke 10:27, John 13.31, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8, and 1 Peter 1:22.
 
Yet it is the teaching most frequently ignored and rejected by those who profess to be Christians, as we were so vividly reminded by a group of Roman Catholic teenagers.
 
Who shall we follow?  Who shall we serve? Jesus and our fellow-man?  Or the Church?  Only one path truly & unconditionally welcomes all people as they are.
 
The choice is ours.

1 Samuel 17:32-39
 
We have here the familiar story of David and Goliath.  Goliath was a very tall man, described as being six cubits and a span tall, which comes to about 12 feet.  The sight of the fierce giant, six cubits and a span tall (about twelve feet), towering over the hill, clad in armor and iron and brass from head to foot, filled the Jews with great terror. There was not a single man in the Jewish camp who dared accept the challenge to fight this man.
 
Among the armed forces of King Saul were David's three older brothers, Eliav, Avinadav, and Shama. David was told to stay home to tend his father's flock. With his youthful age and poetic soul, David was not regarded as a warrior at all.
 
One day, Yishai ordered David to take some provisions to his brothers on the battlefield. David had heard of the great humiliation his people were suffering daily from that fearful giant, and his heart was filled with a burning desire to kill the giant, and restore his people's pride and faith. When he came to the camp and witnessed the painful scene, and the mortification of his people, he decided to take up the challenge.
 
The next moment, one of the king's adjutants came up to David and told him that the king wanted to see him. David followed him, and the next moment, he stood before the king. The king's face was pale with sorrow and anxiety. Seeing David, Saul recalled how the young shepherd had been first introduced to him as "a man who knows how to play (the harp), a fine warrior, wise and handsome, and God is with him"; and how David's sweet music quickly eased his troubled mind. Could this lad be the unnamed person whom the prophet Shmuel declared to be the next king of Israel?
 
"Do you think you could take up Goliath's challenge and defeat him?" asked King Saul.
 
"No man could defile God's name and get away with it," David replied. "I trust in God to fight the battle for me."
 
"But what chance have you - an inexperienced young man - against a tough and seasoned warrior, a giant at that!"
 
"God has never forsaken me in the time of need. Once, as I was tending my father's sheep, a lion attacked my flock and made off with a lamb. I gave chase and saved the lamb from his very teeth. And when the beast charged at me, I slew him with my bare hands. The same thing happened again when a hungry bear attacked my flock. Surely, God who protected me when I went to save a lamb, will protect me when I go to save the dignity and fate of my people, in a fight with a vicious heathen who dared profane God's holy name!"
 
"You are a brave lad! You have my permission to go, and may God bless you and grant you success!" King Saul said.

 
If we but look around us, and read the news stories that present to us almost daily, it can be quite overwhelming.  There are many Goliaths all around us.  We have a government that seems intent on letting the sick die, the hungry starve to death, the poor be made even poorer and left to their own devices; this same government is turning a blind eye to the dramatic increase of racism, xenophobia, and nationalism.  As a result, we – like David – find ourselves in deep sorrow at the humiliation and degradation of his people.  Like David, we are filled with a burning desire to do something about it.
 
Now, for David, it was easy …  relatively speaking.  The Goliath facing us is much larger and has many obstacles of bureaucracy and is not so easily conquered.  But that does not mean that it cannot be done.
 
“Charity begins at home” the old adage says.  Look around.   What is there, right here in our own town, that needs attention?  Who is in need of assistance?  Is there a school-child whose family cannot afford school lunches?  Take care of it.  Have you learned of a person or family in need of, say, a new refrigerator and they cannot afford a new one?  Connect with them, and go together to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore and get them that gently-used refrigerator.  They always have quite a few of all different shapes and sizes.  Is there someone who needs help with mowing their lawn or trimming shrubbery?  Help them out.
 
This is where it begins.  And as they used to say in those old TV commercials, “But wait!  There’s more!”
 
Indeed there is more!  Dare to be like David! 
 
David saw his people being oppressed, and he did something about it!!  Now, let me be clear, I do NOT advise you go out there and kill people who are creating a problem; that’s not how it’s done, that doesn’t pass the WWJD screener.  If you see someone being victimized by racism, gender-phobia, anti-LGBT vitriol, or anything else, SPEAK UP!!  Intervene!!  Don’t just walk idly by, or stand by recording it.  Do something useful!  If it is within you power to do something to intervene and protect the one being victimized, then do so.  If you fail to do this, you have taken the side of the oppressor.

In case you missed it, this is exactly what our buddy Jesus was talking about in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

But wait!  There’s more!
 
I would invite to turn in the Book of Common Prayer to page 417.  I’m going to ask you a few questions.

Will you persevere in resisting evil? [Pause] Are you sure?  How do you plan to do this?  [wait for answers.]
 
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbour as yourself?  How will you do this?  [wait for answers]
 
Will you strive for justice among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?  What do you plan to do to actively seek justice for those who are oppressed?   What do you plan to do to respect the dignity of every human being, especially those who are different from you?

These are all part of our baptismal vows that we renew every time there is a baptism in this church.  We join together in answering the questions as they are read to us.
 
Are we going to be hypocrites and just mindlessly recite the printed answers, or are we going to take them to heart, and LIVE according to the promises we are making?
 
Are we going to be like the Israelites who sat there quaking in fear despite all their armor and spears and swords, or are we going to be like David who actually DID something about the problem and liberated the Israelites?
 
Jesus calls us to be the liberators of the oppressed, each of us doing our part no matter how humble or seemingly insignificant, to free those living under the yoke of oppression.  And oppression comes in so many forms:  Racism.  Xenophobia. Homophobia. Islamophobia. And a lot of other isms and phobias. 

We currently have asylum-seeking families coming into the country who are being illegally arrested and whose children are being taken from them and placed in concentration camps all over the United States.  And once again, Scripture is being used to justify it, just as the same scripture was used to justify taking Native American children from their families and placing them into camps, and taking Black slave babies & children and selling them.  Though we may not be able to do very much with our hands and our feet at this time, we CAN make our voices heard by writing letters or making telephone calls to our lawmakers, making it clear that this is unacceptable and immoral.  For those who are able, be prepared to take in a refugee child and provide for them a home of love and safety, and be prepared to adopt them, just as did millions of people during World War II for Jewish children.
 
Unless we truly commit ourselves, dedicate ourselves, to bring freedom … hope … succour … comfort … to those who are oppressed …. then we cannot call ourselves Followers of Jesus.  We cannot call ourselves “Christian”  -- we’ve lost that privilege.  Because that is what Christianity – as Jesus taught us – is all about, and is embedded in the Great Commandment: Love your neighbour as yourself.
 
If you see a black person, or a Muslim, or a Jew, or a gay person, or ANYONE WHO IS DIFFERENT FROM YOU being oppressed or victimized, do something about it!!  This is how we love our neighbour.  This is how we are Jesus in the world around us.  This is how we change the world, this is how we bring light – the Light of Love - into the darkness of the world around us.  It’s all about actually doing something.  Not writing a check to a charity, not just sitting there and praying about it – that prayer’s not going to do you – or anybody else - any good.  Don’t pray for God to fix a situation that  you can actually do something about!  Instead of asking God to do something for someone, consider that YOU might very well be the one God is calling to do something about whatever it is that you’re praying about!
 
Dear God, there is a very hungry homeless man over there.  Please send someone to get him some food.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.
 
Instead of praying this and walking on, pull out your wallet, and go to the nearest food place and get the fellow a couple of burgers and some iced tea and bring it to him.  God put you there in the presence of a hungry homeless person for a reason, and that reason is NOT to pray for someone else to do your job for you!
 
David was but a simple, humble shepherd boy, too small and weak to move with all the armour on.  So he took off everything that was getting in his way, things he didn’t need, and used the one thing he did best, and he made a difference.
 
A simple act liberated the oppressed and brought freedom to the captives.
 
Look at yourself in a mirror.  Think about your skills, your talents, your gifts.  Ask yourself, “How can I use what I’m good at to persevere in resisting evil, to serve Christ in all those around me in my community, and to strive for justice for all people?  What can I actively do to LIVE my baptismal covenant?”
 
DARE TO BE LIKE DAVID!!!
 
Amen.

by Rt. Rev. Thurlow Weed

In the last few days, we have learned that Robert Jeffress, the head of the First Baptist Church - a megachurch - in Dallas, Texas stated that God has given Donald Trump the authority to "take out" Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea.  Mr. Jeffress cites a passage from the 13th chapter of Paul's Letter to the Romans as the basis for this authority.  He states that the passage allows rulers to use  “whatever means necessary ― including war ― to stop evil.”

The text is found in the first and second verses, and reads thus, in the NRSV translation:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.  Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

There are a few things I would like to say about this text to Mr. Jeffress.  The first thing is that the idea that all those in authority have been appointed by God would extend to other countries as well, not only the United States.  Using the same passage of Scripture, we will find the HRH Queen Elizabeth II is appointed by God as Sovereign Ruler over her people.  In fact, if you look at the history of the British monarchy and the coronation ceremony, you will discover that appointment by God is an intrinsic part of it.

Likewise, the duly elected or appointed leader of any country should be considered as having been appointed by God.  This includes North Korea.  This is the first thing you need to consider.

The next thing I would ask you to do is read the Chapter 12 of Paul's Letter to the Romans.  Chapter 12 is the one that precedes Chapter 13, the first two verses of which you cite as God's authority to "take out" the God-appointed leader of another country.  Remember also that Chapters and Verses are a relatively late addition to the Bible, and that Paul's letter is just that - a letter.   If you write a really long letter to someone, do you break it up into verses, or chapters?  Probably not.

With this in mind, read carefully what Paul says to the Romans just before he admonishes them about respecting authority.  He provides us with what defines a true Christian: " Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;  love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.  Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.  Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.  Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

You may have noticed that I emphasized certain passages.  Now according what you stated about God giving authority through Paul to "take out" the leader of another country, it is quite evident that Paul actually condemns what you say.

Now I would like for you to read what Paul writes and the end of the 13th chapter of his Letter to the Romans: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."

Again, I have emphasized select passages that once again demonstrate that Paul condemns your position.

Now I would like to turn your attention to the teachings of Jesus, teachings which supersede those of Paul.  Jesus teaches us first and foremost to love God with all our being, and secondly we must love our neighbour as ourselves. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and to good to those who hate us.  Jesus all says this in Matthew's Gospel as well. The New Testament letters of Peter and James say this as well. If we turn to the Old Testament, we find the same admonition several times in the book of Proverbs.

It seems clear, Mr. Jeffress, that based on what Paul teaches us about the hallmarks of a true Christian, that you are not one.  Not only does Paul condemn your position, so do the other Apostles, and so does Jesus himself.  It appears that you do not know what God's love is all about.  Throughout Holy Scripture, God repeatedly tells us to love our enemies; God tells us this through the Old Testament prophets, as well as through Jesus and the Apostles and through Paul. God's teaching on this is clear: DO NOT return evil for evil; instead, return good for evil, and do NOT seek revenge.

Mr.Jeffress, if God's teaching is so abundantly clear, why do you reject it?  Why do you preach and endorse the exact opposite of what Scripture teaches?   And how - since you reject the teaching of Jesus and of Scripture - do you justify describing yourself as a Christian?   A follower of Jesus you most definitely are not.  If being a Christian means to reject the teachings of Jesus and of Scripture about loving our enemies, then I give thanks to God that I am not a Christian!   I would much rather follow the teachings of Jesus than to follow the teachings of Christians like yourself.

A Reflection for Good Friday
 by Rt. Rev'd Thurlow Weed
 
Christian communities the world over are this day commemorating and reflecting upon the crucifixion of Jesus.  Traditional church teaching is that Jesus died for our sins, but that is really not quite correct. It would be more accurate to say he was crucified because of our sins.
 
Consider Jesus’ ministry and teachings.  He taught us that Love was the most important thing above all others.  That we love one another as God loves us.  That we worship God by giving of ourselves in service to those in need around us.
 
In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
 
To this the self-righteous replied, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”
 
Jesus answers them by saying, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.  But when I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, when I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  when I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, when I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, when I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.  Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

We find in this Parable a reflection of why the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah were destroyed, found in the book of Ezekiel: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.”   This is known as the Sin of Sodom.
 
Jesus did not come to start a new religion.  He came to release us from the chains and fetters of an old way that relied on rules and rituals and blood sacrifices, yet we formed a religion that relies on rules and rituals, and a ritualized symbolic blood sacrifice, despite that Jesus told us God doesn’t want blood sacrifices.  We have done everything Jesus told us not to do.  We even elevated him to the status of God, which Jesus himself denied, and told people not to worship him, but to worship only God in heaven.
 
We have allowed the religion we have created – along with the rules and rituals we have created – to usurp the beautiful and simple teachings of Jesus.  Sort of like a familiar song by the Beatles – “Love is all you need”   Even the arrogant and oft-despised Paul knew this: Love does no harm to its neighbour, love is kind and true; there are three things that endure: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.
 
When we ignore the plight of the hungry or homeless in our community, and set up a fundraiser for a new stained-glass window instead of a fundraiser for the Community Outreach Program, we crucify Jesus.  We have failed in love.
 
When we denounce our Muslim or Jewish neighbours and accuse them of terrorism or worshipping false gods, we crucify Jesus.   We have failed in love.
 
When we forget or ignore that Jesus ministered freely to Jew, Gentile, Pagan, male, female, gay, and straight without discrimination, but then choose ourselves to discriminate against others based on their religion, gender, or sexual orientation, we crucify Jesus.  We have failed in love.
 
Jesus brought the Old Law to completion, to its rightful end.  He declared us to be free from its shackles.  He stated only that we should love God and our neighbour.  Jesus also made clear that the God he prayed to was God of ALL people – God of the Jew, God of the Gentile, God of the Samaritan, God of the Pagan.   ONE God of ALL people!!   Religion was irrelevant!!  It does not matter your religion or belief system, we are all sons and daughters of the same God, the God whose name is Love!
 
This is the simple teaching Jesus gave us.  It is The Way.  When Jesus said “I am the Way,” he wasn’t talking about the human Jesus, but rather the Christ within him.  The Christ that has existed since the beginning of time; it is the Divine Principle known as Love.   To follow The Christ means to follow the Way of Love.  This Love was incarnate in Jesus, who taught us the Way of Christ, and how to follow it.  He also taught us that by following this Way – the Path of the Christ – we will discover and enter the kingdom of heaven within us. It is how we discover the Christ within ourselves and each other.
 
So on this Good Friday, ponder prayerfully ….  What have you done lately that crucified Jesus?  What have you done that disparaged someone because of their religion or belief system, or the gender, or some other aspect of who they are?  What have you done that diverts attention away from the real needs of your community and instead looks to shallow superficialities?  What have you done other than praying about it?   Praying about people in need is worthless. It crucifies Jesus.   We are not called to pray over our human family in need, but rather to do something – actively.   Whether through hands-on work or though advocacy or raising awareness and connecting people to each other – it is all actively caring for each other as Jesus calls us to.  His commandment does not require adherence to any religion, and in fact is beyond all religion. We heard it just yesterday, on Maundy Thursday: “This commandment I give you: that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently.”
 
So ….
 
Stop crucifying Jesus.    

by Rt. Rev. Thurlow Weed

I am part of several groups on Facebook that are centered on sacred music or worship.  From time to time, a question is posed (occasionally a rant) followed by a generally animated discussion.   In the music groups, the debate on whether Shine, Jesus, Shine or Here I Am, Lord pops up all too frequently, both hymns being often denounced by conservative traditionalists as trite indigestible pablum, with others countering that the texts of each are doctrinally sound and scriptural.   I’ve come to the conclusion that the main reason for the traditionalists’ objections is not so much the text (Here I Am, Lord is pure scripture), but that the music (and to some extent the text) doesn’t have a strict poetic meter; it isn’t a traditional Long Meter (L.M.) or Common Meter (C.M.) hymn, or even a stately 76. 76. D., such as the meter of The Church’s One Foundation.
 
So curious it is -- and sad – that a solid text with a profound message should be skewered for its lack of thee and thou and Thine as well as its pairing with a modern, perhaps even lilting, tune.
 
Then there is the argument I read all too frequently: that all hymns must mention Jesus.  Really?   That would omit such all-time favourites as O God, our help in ages past which is Psalm 90 from the Isaac Watts Psalter of 1719.   It would also prevent us from singing The God of Abraham Praise which is drawn from texts in Genesis, Exodus, Malachi, Galatians, and Hebrews.   Other beloved hymns such as The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended and Abide with Me would have to be relegated to the landfill as well, for they too fail to mention Jesus.
 
When we obsess with the failure of hymns to mention Jesus, we would do well to remember that there are two books on the Bible that make no mention of God.   Ought they to be cast out of Scripture or declared non-canonical for their failure to mention God?  

Such obsessions replace our worship of God with the worship of texts.  This is idolatry.  More than once I have encountered statements along the lines of “This awful hymn is keeping me from praising God.”  Here I Am, Lord (as but one oft-cited example of a “bad hymn”) cites no less than 36 passages of Scripture, including three each from Matthew’s and John’s Gospels, and two each from Luke and Acts.  Many modern hymns are in fact direct quotations of Scripture, but in a modern idiom.  When we reject these hymns, we are rejecting Scripture and the message thereof.
 
This brings me to the second form of idolatry I often encounter in my groups: the idolatry of the liturgy itself.
 
Anyone who has attended or experienced worship in various denominations (even vicariously via YouTube) is aware that there are a great variety of forms.  At one end you have high Anglo-Catholic worship which is highly ritualized, with strict rules about who does what and when they do it, as well as strict rules about when something may not be done.   Heaven forbid you should sneeze at the wrong time!   At the other end of the spectrum we may find traditional Quaker Meeting, with an hour of silence wherein worshippers follow the Biblical admonition to “Be still, and know that I am God.”
 
In liturgical churches & denominations, the rules – or rubrics, as they are called – define not only the nature of the liturgy and ritual, but prescribe when certain things may or may not be done.   The Roman Church is perhaps the most strict of all, not only in its rubrics, but also in the text of the liturgy itself; it is strictly forbidden to alter, omit, or add even one word.   Extemporaneous prayer is forbidden.   It is as if the Holy Spirit herself is not welcome.
 
I have encountered ritualists obsessing over such things as to whether a processional cross of permitted in the absence of a bishop; whether it is permitted for the congregation to participate in the singing of the processional hymn, whether the use of “Alleluia” is permitted for funerals during Lent.
 
More than once I have read or listened to comments from people who assert that unless the rubrics are strictly and rigidly obeyed, the worship becomes invalid and an offense to God.  The inherent problem I see here is that these rubrics are man’s rules, not God’s.   If you think God is offended and blasphemed by the use of the word “Alleluia” during Lent, what must you think of a Quaker Meeting where no one says anything (usually)? (Not to mention that Quakers do not follow a liturgical calendar.) Or a Pentecostal gathering where “Alleluia!” is the word of the day every day?  How is it that God is offended by your accidental Alleluia in Lent, whereas that same God welcomes the Alleluias from the Baptists down the street?   How is it that your God is offended by female ministers, but the Methodists’ God welcomes them?  
 
All of this falls under the heading of the Idolatry of Worship.  It is when we obsess over male vs. female clergy; when we obsess over the Eucharist being celebrated facing toward the people or facing East; when we obsess over free-standing altars over east-end altars; when we get offended by seeing a graceful liturgical dance incorporated into the liturgy on the 10th Sunday after Pentecost while completely ignoring the day’s Old Testament Lesson from II Samuel which tells us that David danced before the Ark of the Covenant, or perhaps when the readings include Psalm 149 or 150 which instruct us to praise God with dancing in his sanctuary?  In Scripture, we find it is the Pharisees who obsessed over such minutiae and rules, and we also know from the same Scripture that Jesus himself condemned the Pharisees and their behavior.  For Trinitarians who believe that Jesus is God, it then becomes God Himself condemning their modern obsessions with rubric and ritual.
 
When we arrive at church of a Sunday, it is meet and right that we should worship God, and God alone.   When you allow yourself to be gnawed at and upset by a free-standing altar, you are committing the sin of idolatry by worshipping furniture instead of God.  When you cringe and want to run away screaming at the hymn Here I am, Lord, you are not only committing the sin of idolatry of hymnody, you are also ignoring the command of Scripture in Isaiah “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”   What is it that God is calling us to do in worship?   He is calling us to give thanks for blessings received, and then listen to and obey His call to go for God to tend the poor and lame, and to bring the message of God’s Love to all people through service & stewardship within our community.   And it is here, in service and stewardship, that True Worship is found, not in church on Sunday.
 
The poor and the hungry and the homeless and the oppressed really don’t care about Alleluias during Lent; they don’t care whether the minister is male or female; they don’t care which way the minister faces at the altar, or whether the altar is free-standing or east-facing.   They care only if you are worshipping God by doing your part to live the Gospel, that you are being and doing Christ, and to the best of your ability making a difference for the better in the world around you.  When we fail to do this, everything else is idolatry.

All the earth is God’s Holy Temple.  When we are silent and still, we can hear God’s voice speaking to us.   If you are walking on a nature trail with a friend, do you have any conversation while you walk?   If so, why?   Do you not know that when you talk, you are ignoring the voice of God?
 
From time to time over the years I have greatly enjoyed visiting Conkle’s Hollow State Nature Preserve in southeastern Ohio.  It is an ancient gorge, and was formed after the last ice age, and is a vestige of the boreal forests that once occupied much of this land.  Back when I was still physically able, I would walk a portion of the 2-mile rim trail.  Although I did walk the entirety of it a few times, there was a particular spot about one-third the way around on the right side where I would sit in the shade of a lone young tree, overlooking the gorge.
 
There I would sit for perhaps an hour, feeling the breeze blowing over me, hearing the sound of the wind in the trees, hearing the birds and crickets, and other sounds of the natural world.  It was here that I realized this breeze I felt on my cheek was the breath of God.  And that all mine eyes beheld was a manifestation of God, that God is an intrinsic part of the whole.   And that I am no more or less significant that the tree under which I am sitting, or the crow and woodpecker I hear in the trees.
 
On one of my many trips there, I was caught in a brief but significant downpour.  I found shelter under the lush branches of a young hemlock.  After the brief downpour, I remained seated and listened to a cricket that had begun singing near me.   It seemed to me that the cricket was singing in thanksgiving for the nourishing and refreshing rain.   There were many dozens of birds of all different species singing in the trees.  The entire forest had come alive with a symphony of God’s own creation!

Yet when I was on my solitary walks, I encountered so many pairs and small groups of people who were not only walking at a brisk pace, but were engaged in conversation with each other.   In their haste and in their conversation, they were completely oblivious to the living world around them.   They were imposing their world on God’s world.  In their haste, they completely missed the beauty of the many wildflowers, or the deer standing in the forest not 100 feet away from them.  They shooed away a butterfly that got in their way, instead of regarding its beauty, and that its presence was gift for them for which to be thankful.
 
Yesterday I took my mother to Conkle’s Hollow, to stroll along the wheelchair accessible gorge trail.   As I was pushing her transport chair, we progressed mostly in silence, my footsteps through the fallen leaves on the path being, for the most part, the only sounds we made.  We encountered numerous couples, all of whom were walking with some determination and who were also engaged on conversation; when the passed us by, they had the audacity to greet us!   I did not reply, but simply nodded my head as a greeting.  On one point there was a group of about 25-30 young people who appeared to be part of a study group, possibly religious.  The entire group was engaged in all manner of animated conversation as they made their way quite noisily toward the trail entrance.
 
Such places are not just “pretty places.”   They are places where we can sit in quietness, and listen to the still small voice of God speaking to us in the wind through the trees, in the call of the bird, in the gurgling of the stream, in the chirping of the crickets.   These are the sounds of God.  If we are still and quiet, we can hear the Voice, and be attentive to what it has to say to us. 
 
Be still, and know that I am God.