Year A
Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 145:8-15
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s an old expression that\u2019s being used\u2026 with a new meaning\u2026 and it may even make it into the dictionary one day\u2026 it\u2019s a meaning that comes out of this pandemic\u2026 and it describes people who have tested positive\u2026 and who\u2019ve been maybe sick enough to be hospitalized\u2026 but even when they\u2019re discharged\u2026 even when they return to work\u2026 even when the virus is no longer detectable\u2026 well\u2026 they\u2019re really not recovered\u2026 they\u2019re really not well\u2026 they\u2019re really not back to 100%\u2026 for reasons not fully understood\u2026 similar symptoms return or new ones appear\u2026 things like excess fatigue\u2026 kidney or heart trouble\u2026 shortness of breath\u2026 and so these people are called\u2026 long haulers\u2026 and if you ever listen to Soundings on Sunday mornings\u2026 one of the regulars\u2026 Roman Catholic priest Fr. Mark Przybysz\u2026 is one of them\u2026 and he is slightly exasperated\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And today\u2019s chapter of Matthew starts off with an exasperated Jesus\u2026 frustrated at the unbelief of his generation\u2026 about being unable to please the crowds\u2026 and in the five verses that we didn\u2019t hear\u2026 between v. 19 and 25\u2026 he reproaches the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done\u2026 because the people there did not repent\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jennifer Kaalund\u2026 Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Iona College in New Rochelle\u2026 writes\u2026 Jesus describes a generation that cannot recognize the truth that is right front of them\u2026 they thought that John the Baptist was a demon\u2026 and considered Jesus to be a glutton\u2026 a drunkard\u2026 and a friend of tax collectors and sinners\u2026 interestingly\u2026 they describe Jesus not by what he does\u2026 but by the company he keeps\u2026 Jesus\u2026 on the other hand\u2026 compares them to children who are oblivious\u2026 children who are preoccupied with playing games\u2026 The Messiah\u2026 the one they have been waiting for\u2026 is right in front of them\u2026 yet they have failed to see beyond the superficial appearances of the prophet and the Son of Man\u2026 and they fail to see the good he does\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul laments in Romans\u2026 I do not do the good I want\u2026 but the evil I do not want\u2026 is what I do<\/em>\u2026 I wonder\u2026 what is the good that Paul wants to do\u2026 and what evil does he do\u2026 and I wonder\u2026 how do we choose\u2026 there can sometimes be a very fine line\u2026 between doing the good that we want\u2026 and resisting the evil that we don\u2019t want\u2026 and because sin can find ways to enlist us\u2026 because sin has a capacity to use the law to its own ends\u2026 it can be very difficult to tell the difference between good and evil\u2026 and sometimes\u2026 what seems to us like sin\u2026 may actually be blessing in disguise\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example\u2026 because of the pandemic\u2026 some people believe they have lost agency\u2026 have lost their power to act independently\u2026 and to make decisions for themselves… and because of the restrictions that have been wildly and inconsistently applied across this country\u2026 even the simplest choice is far from simple for some\u2026 do we wear masks in public or not\u2026 is it a gentle suggestion or a law\u2026 is it enforceable or not\u2026 do we believe we can infect others even when we feel just fine or not\u2026 can we eat out or not eat out\u2026 go to the malls or the beaches or the bars\u2026 or not\u2026 and sometimes\u2026 unfortunately\u2026 people\u2019s sense of their own agency\u2026 and their insistence on not being told what to do\u2026 can be diametrically opposed to the values of community\u2026 but maybe the blessing in disguise\u2026 is that we\u2019re becoming more mindful of the needs of others\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps you heard about the outbreak tied to Harper’s Brew Pub in East Lansing\u2026 as of Thursday evening at 6:30\u2026 128 people\u2026 who reported that they were there on one or more evenings between June 12 and June 20\u2026 have tested positive for COVID-19\u2026 and now\u2026 according to the Ingham County Health Officer\u2026 that total is up to 152 people across thirteen counties\u2026 and the total is up by two-dozen people who didn\u2019t even go to the bar\u2026 but who were infected by those who did\u2026 the average age of those who went is 21.2 years old\u2026 the two-dozen who didn’t go\u2026 range in age from sixteen to sixty-three\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus said\u2026 We played the flute for you\u2026 and you did not dance\u2026 we wailed\u2026 and you did not mourn\u2026 I wonder if there are any family members in those thirteen counties who would say\u2026 we asked you to wear masks\u2026 but you wouldn\u2019t listen\u2026 we gave you science\u2026 but you scoffed\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of us might think of the evil done in East Lansing\u2026 or the evil to which Paul refers\u2026 as a moral sin\u2026 causing harm to another person\u2026 acting ignorantly and with wanton disregard for those whose health is at greater risk than our own\u2026 but if sin is not only missing the right mark\u2026 but also hitting the wrong mark\u2026 what if the even greater sin that\u2019s being committed\u2026 is not even trying to become\u2026 the people God created us to be\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2026 I think\u2026 is where our reading from Zechariah comes in\u2026 Zechariah wrote in the early days of the restoration\u2026 when both returning exiles\u2026 and those who had never left\u2026 joined together to rebuild Jewish society\u2026 v. 9 alone reminds us of Jesus\u2019 victorious entry on Palm Sunday\u2026 Lo\u2026 your king comes to you\u2026 triumphant and victorious is he\u2026 humble and riding on a donkey\u2026 on a colt\u2026 the foal of a donkey<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Douglas Bailey\u2026 Professor of Urban Ministry at Wake Forest University\u2026 writes\u2026 to be engaged in the contemporary Jesus movement is always to be in the process of becoming prisoners and proponents of hope\u2026 in this lifelong faith journey\u2026 we will discover that there is no such thing as a completed “prisoner of hope”\u2026 we are human becomings\u2026 becoming more hope-full\u2026 more faith-full\u2026 prisoners of hope are always in process\u2026 on a winding pilgrimage\u2026 a sacred journey\u2026 a following of The Way<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Sr. Joan Chittister writes\u2026 hope is not a matter of waiting for things outside of us to get better\u2026 it is about getting better inside\u2026 it\u2019s about allowing ourselves to believe in the future we cannot see\u2026 about trusting in God\u2026 then we <\/em>can<\/em> hope\u2026 because we have no reason <\/em>to<\/em> hope\u2026 hope is what sits by a window and waits for one more dawn\u2026 despite the fact that there isn’t an ounce of proof\u2026 in tonight’s black\u2026 black sky\u2026 that it can possibly come\u2026 hope is the last great gift to rise out of the grave of despair<\/em>\u2026 it is life out of death\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yesterday was Fourth of July\u2026 the founding of this country\u2026 our insistence that a king 3,551 miles away\u2026 as the crow flies\u2026 isn\u2019t going to tell us what to do\u2026 yet for many\u2026 it was a day to assert individual agency\u2026 but how do we reach consensus\u2026 that the needs of the many\u2026 outweigh the needs of the few\u2026 we have an Independence Day\u2026 but wouldn\u2019t it also be nice if we had a Commonwealth Day\u2026 a national day to lift up\u2026 to laud\u2026 and to honor those who make sacrifices for the common good\u2026 and encourage others to do the same\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can be a heavy burden to experience a loss of agency\u2026 it can be a sacrifice to willingly give up what one wants to do\u2026 to not wear a mask\u2026 and take on what one does not want to do\u2026 and wear a mask\u2026and because we are yoked with Jesus\u2026 who shares our burdens\u2026 that kind of burden\u2026 ends up being a burden that is light\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I like what the Gospel says about how Wisdom is vindicated by her <\/em>deeds<\/em>\u2026 because it reminds me\u2026 that we are all on this journey together\u2026 we\u2019re in it for the long haul\u2026 and how it unfolds\u2026 depends on how we behave\u2026 so it\u2019s more important to watch what people do\u2026 than pay attention to what they say\u2026 or with whom they eat\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year A Zechariah 9:9-12 Psalm 145:8-15 Romans 7:15-25a Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 There\u2019s an old expression that\u2019s being used\u2026 with a new meaning\u2026 and it may even make it into the dictionary one day\u2026 it\u2019s a meaning that comes out of this pandemic\u2026 and it describes people who have tested positive\u2026 and who\u2019ve been maybe sick enough to be hospitalized\u2026 but even when they\u2019re discharged\u2026 even when they return to work\u2026 even when the virus is no longer detectable\u2026 well\u2026 they\u2019re really not recovered\u2026 they\u2019re really not well\u2026 they\u2019re really not back to 100%\u2026 for reasons not fully understood\u2026 similar symptoms return or new ones appear\u2026 things like excess fatigue\u2026 kidney or heart trouble\u2026 shortness of breath\u2026 and so these people are called\u2026 long haulers\u2026 and if you ever listen to Soundings on Sunday mornings\u2026 one of the regulars\u2026 Roman Catholic priest Fr. Mark Przybysz\u2026 is one of them\u2026 and he is slightly exasperated\u2026 And today\u2019s chapter of Matthew starts off with an exasperated Jesus\u2026 frustrated at the unbelief of his generation\u2026 about being unable to please the crowds\u2026 and in the five verses that we didn\u2019t hear\u2026 between v. 19 and 25\u2026 he reproaches the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done\u2026 because the people there did not repent\u2026 Jennifer Kaalund\u2026 Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Iona College in New Rochelle\u2026 writes\u2026 Jesus describes a generation that cannot recognize the truth that is right front of them\u2026 they thought that John the Baptist was a demon\u2026 and considered Jesus to be a glutton\u2026 a drunkard\u2026 and a friend of tax collectors and sinners\u2026 interestingly\u2026 they describe Jesus not by what he does\u2026 but by the company he keeps\u2026 Jesus\u2026 on the other hand\u2026 compares them to children who are oblivious\u2026 children who are preoccupied with playing games\u2026 The Messiah\u2026 the one they have been waiting for\u2026 is right in front of them\u2026 yet they have failed to see beyond the superficial appearances of the prophet and the Son of Man\u2026 and they fail to see the good he does\u2026 Paul laments in Romans\u2026 I do not do the good I want\u2026 but the evil I do not want\u2026 is what I do\u2026 I wonder\u2026 what is the good that Paul wants to do\u2026 and what evil does he do\u2026 and I wonder\u2026 how do we choose\u2026 there can sometimes be a very fine line\u2026 between doing the good that we want\u2026 and resisting the evil that we don\u2019t want\u2026 and because sin can find ways to enlist us\u2026 because sin has a capacity to use the law to its own ends\u2026 it can be very difficult to tell the difference between good and evil\u2026 and sometimes\u2026 what seems to us like sin\u2026 may actually be blessing in disguise\u2026 For example\u2026 because of the pandemic\u2026 some people believe they have lost agency\u2026 have lost their power to act independently\u2026 and to make decisions for themselves… and because of the restrictions that have been wildly and inconsistently applied across this country\u2026 even the simplest choice is far from simple for some\u2026 do we wear masks in public or not\u2026 is it a gentle suggestion or a law\u2026 is it enforceable or not\u2026 do we believe we can infect others even when we feel just fine or not\u2026 can we eat out or not eat out\u2026 go to the malls or the beaches or the bars\u2026 or not\u2026 and sometimes\u2026 unfortunately\u2026 people\u2019s sense of their own agency\u2026 and their insistence on not being told what to do\u2026 can be diametrically opposed to the values of community\u2026 but maybe the blessing in disguise\u2026 is that we\u2019re becoming more mindful of the needs of others\u2026 Perhaps you heard about the outbreak tied to Harper’s Brew Pub in East Lansing\u2026 as of Thursday evening at 6:30\u2026 128 people\u2026 who reported that they were there on one or more evenings between June 12 and June 20\u2026 have tested positive for COVID-19\u2026 and now\u2026 according to the Ingham County Health Officer\u2026 that total is up to 152 people across thirteen counties\u2026 and the total is up by two-dozen people who didn\u2019t even go to the bar\u2026 but who were infected by those who did\u2026 the average age of those who went is 21.2 years old\u2026 the two-dozen who didn’t go\u2026 range in age from sixteen to sixty-three\u2026 Jesus said\u2026 We played the flute for you\u2026 and you did not dance\u2026 we wailed\u2026 and you did not mourn\u2026 I wonder if there are any family members in those thirteen counties who would say\u2026 we asked you to wear masks\u2026 but you wouldn\u2019t listen\u2026 we gave you science\u2026 but you scoffed\u2026 Some of us might think of the evil done in East Lansing\u2026 or the evil to which Paul refers\u2026 as a moral sin\u2026 causing harm to another person\u2026 acting ignorantly and with wanton disregard for those whose health is at greater risk than our own\u2026 but if sin is not only missing the right mark\u2026 but also hitting the wrong mark\u2026 what if the even greater sin that\u2019s being committed\u2026 is not even trying to become\u2026 the people God created us to be\u2026 And that\u2026 I think\u2026 is where our reading from Zechariah comes in\u2026 Zechariah wrote in the early days of the restoration\u2026 when both returning exiles\u2026 and those who had never left\u2026 joined together to rebuild Jewish society\u2026 v. 9 alone reminds us of Jesus\u2019 victorious entry on Palm Sunday\u2026 Lo\u2026 your king comes to you\u2026 triumphant and victorious is he\u2026 humble and riding on a donkey\u2026 on a colt\u2026 the foal of a donkey\u2026 Douglas Bailey\u2026 Professor of Urban Ministry at Wake Forest University\u2026 writes\u2026 to be engaged in the contemporary Jesus movement is always to be in the process of becoming prisoners and proponents of hope\u2026 in this lifelong faith journey\u2026 we will discover that there is no such thing as a completed “prisoner of hope”\u2026 we are human 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