A Caveat:\u00a0 <\/b>Because of the pandemic, worship was done before the Supreme Court Decision came out.\u00a0 It will be the focus next week.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
——<\/p>\n
I’ve been repeating \u201cFoxes
\nhave holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of God has
\nno where to lay his head\u201d rather a lot recently. \u00a0Just to myself
\nthough, I haven’t muttered it to others, yet.<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/p>\n
\nLast weekend, my family moved
\nfrom the house I’d lived in for 8 years to a new one, which is more
\nor less up the street. \u00a0The new house is a better size for our family
\nthan the one I’d bought for myself. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/p>\n
\nAnd yet, there are parts of me
\nthat are a little bit out of joint with owning a house, with buying a
\nbigger house, with having STUFF, and such a sufficient amount of it
\nat that. \u00a0I wonder if I’m being an authentic Jesus follower, if he
\nwas the one who had no where to lay his head and I’m the one buying a
\nbigger house.<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/p>\n
\nSo as I’ve heaved boxes up and
\ndown stairs, and found places to put my favorite bowls, and organized
\nbook boxes by topic, I’ve been thinking about foxes, holes, birds,
\nnests, and where I place my head.<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/p>\n
\nI’ve also been thinking about
\nhow lucky I am. \u00a0There are so many people who are homeless, or
\ninadequately housed. \u00a0To live in a safe home is not a reality just
\nanyone can afford, which is a problem. \u00a0I want to live in a country
\n(and a world) were safe and adequate housing is universal. \u00a0Where the
\nsafety net is strong enough to provide housing for all, and
\nreasonable housing at that.<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/p>\n
\nBut, what about that Jesus guy,
\nwandering around with his band of followers, telling would be
\ndisciples that he has no where to lay his head? \u00a0I don’t know. \u00a0I
\nthink perhaps being uncomfortable with possessions is a good thing,
\nparticularly in capitalism that tells us we are what we can buy. \u00a0But
\nI also notice that Jesus didn’t have a home nor a consistent place to
\nlay his head, but he was welcomed into many people’s homes. \u00a0He opted
\nout of the system, but the system of housing and hospitality was big
\nenough to provide for him and for his followers. \u00a0Others had houses
\nand they used them to house Jesus. \u00a0And perhaps that is a
\nresponsibility of having spaces \u2013 making sure they’re being used as
\nthey’re needed.<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/p>\n
\nWhile I really like the list of
\nthe fruits of the Spirit in Galatians, I’m a little bit uneasy with
\nwhat appears to be some pretty strong body-soul dualism in the
\npassage. \u00a0I worry when we assume that bodies are bad and spirits are
\ngood, for a whole lot of reasons. \u00a0One of them is that both women and
\npeople of color get associated with \u201cbodies\u201d in that break down,
\nwhile white men get to be \u201cspirits.\u201d \u00a0But another is that I
\nsimply don’t believe we’re divided that way. \u00a0I don’t think our
\nbodies can be separated from our spirits. \u00a0We are whole beings, and
\nto claim that the body is somehow distinct from the mind, or from the
\nspirit, or from the emotions misses a whole lot about what it means
\nto be alive. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n\n<\/p>\n
\nSo, the good news is that the \n\n<\/p>\n \nAnd while at first it seems that \n\n<\/p>\n \nWhich gets us back to the \n\n<\/p>\n \nNow, Luke’s gospel lesson is \n\n<\/p>\n \nThe gospel seems to say whatever \n\n<\/p>\n \nThe early Christian community \n\n<\/p>\n \nIt is draining.<\/p>\n \nIt burns us out. \n\n<\/p>\n \nAnd while there are injustices \n\n<\/p>\n \nI have been appreciative of the \n\n<\/p>\n \nBut that, I think may be where I \n\n<\/p>\n \nNor can anyone else’s.<\/p>\n \n\n<\/p>\n \nThe freedom to love in Galatians \n\n<\/p>\n \nThis week I reflected on what I \n\n<\/p>\n \nBecause, as a person who got to \n\n<\/p>\n \nSo, I asked him about it. \n\n<\/p>\n \nYes, I think it is. \u00a0And, dear 1<\/a> 2<\/a>Same, <\/p>\n Rev. Sara E. Baron <\/p>\n June 26, 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nbody v. spirit thing that initially seems rather strong in the
\npassage isn’t so much upon further inspection. \u00a0The Galatians had
\nbeen having some rather big, awful fights, mostly about if new
\nChristians needed to be circumcised. \u00a0So Paul conflates the flesh of
\n\u2013 well \u2013 circumcision with the flesh of self-centered living and
\ncondemns them both. \u00a0Which means the fight was actually about who was
\ngetting included and who was being excluded, and Paul was responding
\nboth to the disagreement and to how it was being fought. \u00a0He urges
\nGod-centered living. \u00a0That is, \u201cFor Paul, hard debate and
\ninfighting among young Christians in Galatia were an outward and
\nvisible sign of enslavement.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>
\nPaul reminds them that they are free from that sort of behavior, and
\ncalled instead to love and relationship. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nPaul dismisses desire, it is more that he suggests that instead of
\ndenying desires nor submitting to them, the people focus their
\ndesires on what is good. \u00a0That is, on things of God. \u00a0Of course,
\ncommunities disagree, right? \u00a0But that’s a part of this too.
\n\u201cConflict is part and parcel of intimacy and risking oneself in
\ncommunity. \u00a0When we enter that place of co-discerned vulnerability,
\nhowever, generosity, patience, kindness, and faithfulness can provide
\n‘palliative care’ amid the inevitable disagreements that ensure.
\nSuch qualities are excellent companions on the journey, when we risk
\nintimacy with others in community.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
\nbeginning of the passage: the freedom to love and be in relationship.
\n That’s the whole point of freedom, is the freedom FOR love. \u00a0Perhaps
\nit is of use to ask ourselves what we need to use and maintain that
\nfreedom \u2013 to remind ourselves that nothing gets in the way of love,
\nand to free ourselves for love?<\/p>\n
\npermeated with urgency. \u00a0I’m not even sure why. \u00a0Is this urgency that
\nJesus really lived in his life? \u00a0And if so, was it urgency to get to
\nJerusalem, or just urgency to connect with as many people as he could
\nto help them see God’s love and life’s possibilities? \u00a0Was it urgency
\nto show compassion? \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nit was he was urgent about it was SERIOUS. \u00a0It was, \u201clet the dead
\nbury their own dead\u201d serious, and not like with Elijah let Elisha
\nsay goodby to his family (that’s the reference to \u201chand to plow\u201d
\nthat you might otherwise have missed.)<\/p>\n
\nexperienced a lot of urgency, in no small part because they thought
\nthe end of the world was coming any minute now. \u00a0So it is possible
\ntheir urgency projects back onto Jesus, OR that it is authentic. \u00a0I
\ndon’t know. \u00a0But I do know that urgency has some costs.<\/p>\n
It can’t be
\nsustained.<\/p>\n
\n(everywhere!) and lack of compassion (too often!) and needs for
\ncompassion and connection (all the time!) – no single one of us is
\nasked to do it all, all the time with urgency. \u00a0But sometimes we
\nthink we are, and that just means we hurt ourselves trying to love.
\nWhich isn’t really what we’re trying to do. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nquestions, \u201cwhat is important and what is urgent\u201d and separating
\nout the two, so that the IMPORTANT gets done even if the urgent says
\nit is more pressing. \u00a0I have to remind myself of this a lot, because
\nI don’t like to disappoint anyone, and I’d sort of rather be able to
\ndo both.<\/p>\n
\nfind the intersection of the spiritual and the physical to be really
\nimportant. \u00a0Neither my spirit, which needs rest, nor my body, which
\nneeds rest, can press on indefinitely. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nis set up so that we TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER. \u00a0That’s what we’re
\nsupposed to use it for. \u00a0Because we all need each other, and things
\nwork best when we’re doing what we love and are good at and trusting
\nothers to do the same. \u00a0That’s how both communities and societies do
\nbest. \u00a0That’s part of what the kindom looks like.<\/p>\n
\nlearned from the clergy person who took me on as a seminary intern.
\nThe Rev. Ed Hansen was nearing the end of his ministry when he took
\nthe time to teach me at the beginning of mine. \u00a0And he was made of
\npatience. \u00a0He let me follow him around for a year, without offering
\nmuch to him or the community, and he let me then ask him questions
\nabout everything I saw. \u00a0I am aware I will spend the rest of my
\nministry the way I’ve spent the last 18 \u2013 trying to be as loving as
\nEd.<\/p>\n
\nfollow him around for hours every week, I got to see Ed interact with
\na lot of people: \u00a0the church members, the church leaders, the church
\nstaff, homeless people asking for assistance, his children, his
\npartner, people who walked up to him in restaurants because he wore a
\ncollar. \u00a0I saw him be unfailingly patient and loving to each and
\nevery one of those people. \u00a0It was one of the most moving things I’ve
\never seen.<\/p>\n
\nBecause that was what I did. \u00a0I followed him around and I asked him
\nquestions. \u00a0So I asked how he was so patient, and so loving, with
\neveryone. \u00a0And he said, \u201cWell, isn’t that the whole point? \u00a0Isn’t
\nthat what it means to follow Jesus, to treat people with the love God
\nhas for them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nones, that’s where I allow there to be urgency (and importance): to
\ntry to use my interactions with people as expressions of God’s love
\nfor them. \u00a0For their bodies, their souls, their whole beings. \u00a0I
\nsuggest to you as well, that this is a good use of a life. \u00a0May God
\nhelp us. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJ. Williams Harkins, Feasting on the Word, on Galatians 5:1, 13-25
\n\tPastoral Commentary, page 186.<\/p>\n
\n\t188.<\/p>\n
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n