Philippians 1:21-30
Proper 20 (25) - Year A
The Message has it that "suffering is as much a gift as the trusting."
Reading backward from here we are able to strive, side-by-side, toward another gift – faith.
Reading further backward - faith perseveres, joyfully progresses.
All of this points to unending fruitful labor, regardless. There is no pie-in-the-sky desired here, only continuation with one another, growing in trust with one another and with G*D.
For some this reading backward is more helpful than reading forward. Try it both ways and see which better clarifies your own life.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html
"Life versus even more life! I can't lose." The Message
Our United Methodist language on abortion talks about the "tragic conflicts of life with life." How would it change us if we were able to move our vision of conflict from "tragic" to "edifying" or "gift"?
While there are many dangers in spiritualizing difficult decisions to justify whatever decision we make, there is something very appealing about setting life now and life eternal in parallel with each other, rather than in conflict with each other. Paul says, "I'll deal with now, now, and with later, later."
Part of how he gets to the vision of victory over the limits of time dictating behavior is, in the words of The Message, "There is more to this life than trusting in Christ. There's also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting."
To see today as much as a gift as eternity shifts our decision-making.
Let us help one another with all the decisions that bring front-and-center issues of "trust" and "suffering" regardless of which way we go. To deal with these head on does help with second-guessing.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/september2002.html
v.27 - Simply live as citizens of a new commonwealth, pointed toward G*D, as was Jesus, so, whether I am with you or not, come hell or high water, I will know we are striving together.
Not so simple, this. Dual allegiances and survival issues cloud the issue, as do inherent privileges so difficult to cast off. Is it better to go and be with G*D or stick around and be with y'all? Is it my physical life or spiritual life that is at stake as a result of my behavior? Is it the privilege I currently have that I need to wrestle with or the privilege I still secretly desire that shapes my interactions?
To have one foot in here and now and another in what is just, maybe, coming clear is a risky place for faith to be revealed.
Given this reality among us, it is perhaps the Christ position -- astraddle choosing points which are charging off in all directions. All the while, mostly consistently, finding a story large enough or contrary enough to keep choosing the best from the past for a better tomorrow.
Simple, no. Worth striving for, yes.
Uniform, no. Together, yes.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/september2005.html
And I'm hard pressed to know whether to align myself with the lucky or the unfortunate. Do I place my bets on personal responsibility or place my trust a mercy wide enough to accept a death-bed confession? Am I living as though I have a job assured or in the insecurity of being a temp among temps as a "new earth and heaven" is revealed? Am I looking for short-term gain or long-term sustenance? If I had a choice would I choose to be a first worker for the security it gives or a last worker for its surprise ending? Should I rapture myself off to be with Christ or re-enter a mission field to be a Christ?
All these, and more, lead us into the realm of the political, the land of communal decision-making. We are called to live our politics in a manner worthy of the good news of first and last being categories for fools. As soon as you have said "first" you have to deal with "last" and vice versa. This is sort of like reverse tag where it seems no one wants to be "it" and yet there is such joy in the reversal of roles.
We are all caught in this same struggle for clarity of meaning, action and consequence, that goes beyond a linear assessment. In the end we need to work at what we know -- the gift of being a creature in the midst of a creation filled with mutuality. So, I remain and continue with all of you (and many others) for your progressive joy with the firm expectation that you are remaining so with me. In this we move beyond our vacillation between first and last and find the abundance of a moment between.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/september2005.html
Philippians 1:21-30
Exodus 16:2-15 or Jonah 3:10-4:11
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 or Psalm 145:1-8
Matthew 20:1-16
Sitting on the shore of a great lake, with a state forest behind, it is easy to note that the context of our viewing/participating in life affects much. Here it is easy to note that when the Israelites of old heard G*D was coming they turned toward the wilderness. From whence else might G*D come? Everything else is too close to the usual sources of our complaining - inconveniences that don't match our projected desires.
For the preacher types it might be worth an intentional relocation of your reflection/writing/preparation time to meet G*D in your nearest wilderness. Yes, that might be a city as wide as Ninevah.
Jesus' story of a landlord hiring city folk to work a day or an hour brings together the rural and urban at a point of tension - the harvesting and consuming of food. At this point it is easy to find a dissatisfaction with life and a need to turn toward that strange wilderness of generosity beyond comprehension. Doesn't real generosity challenge all the structures we have put up around ourselves? In doing such we are again faced with a survival question - to protect ourselves from economic wildness do we need to give up radical generosity that comes with G*D from that same wilderness we have turned away from?
- - -
from the white breakers
methodically rolling on shore
to the indigo line
of the wide horizon
a circle wider than a rainbow
wraps a circle
around my eyes
there is no room
for personal ipod sounds
as giga-billions of rock washings
bring more sand to shore
slowing a stride to a stroll
until a next step
is taken in silence
with sight and sound
rhythmically cared for
doors to a wilderness within
crack open a bit
and with attention elsewhere
being a dance
to give themselves away
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html
One of the reasons we get caught in competition regarding a job or professional endeavor is that we participate not just for any fruitful results, but it becomes a measure of our value (longer workers deserve more than Johnny-come-latelies) or a validation of our importance (released folks versus those still captured).
Here we are encouraged to live life in a worthy manner. Every faith group would attribute worthiness to its particular value system. Here it is Christ, there it is Buddha, Mohammed, Jim Jones, No Taxes At All, etc.
Once we get past the particular we can experience generosity and release without claiming them as uniquely ours. Simply bringing forth fruitful work is enough. Whatever your religious focus, may it end in worthy living. This is a central point for inter-faith work.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/09/philippians-120-30.html