Holy Trinity Ankeny

We meet a man who approaches Jesus asking for advice. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus gives him an answer that he was not expecting. Jesus gives an answer that disappoints and grieves him. His story is our story.

Observing the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi is about love. Francis exemplified a love that sought unity with all things rather than seeing them as objects of mere affection. To objectify creation, other people, or God is to hold them at arm’s length and ask, “How does this object serve me?” To take something into our own being is to love. Francis learned that the yoke of Christ was light and easy to bear because Christ shared the burden.

Jesus grabs our attention with calls to chop off limbs and pluck out our eyes if they keep us from embracing the reign of God lest they send us to the fire of hell. Happy thoughts, huh? Before we dismiss the text as lacking “positivity” or an example of religious hyperbole, we should listen to what is said – because it is Jesus speaking! What do we think about judgment and hell when Jesus points to those realities? What keeps you from embracing the way of Jesus Christ?

The ancient Mediterranean world lived in a culture of vengeance which is a vicious cycle that continues to this day in some countries. Poverty is also a vicious cycle that pushes people to the edge of society and robs many of a future. Matthew was probably one who lived on the edge of society, on the edge of being able to support himself. Matthew was probably in dire straits with nowhere to turn but to a lousy job as a tax collector. Then Jesus comes and says, "Follow me." Matthew's life is changed through the mercy of Jesus. Jesus calls you also, saying, "Follow me." Learn how you receive mercy and the difference it can make when we follow Jesus.  Share it with others.

You know the old saying about sticks and stones. It ends by saying the words can’t hurt us. It’s a lie. Words can inflict some of the deepest and most abiding wounds we bear. According to James, our tongues – the words we say – both betray our true selves and do great damage to each other and the whole community. In a world where social media, media, and our speech is full of hate, intolerance, misinformation and lies, cause so much harm, the gospel has a word of how we train our tongues to guide our lives and make the world a better place.

With all of the struggle and suffering in the world, it is good that scripture reminds us God has promised to redeem everything, someday; to wipe away tears, someday; to put an end to even death, someday. But when? How long must we wait? Scripture also tells us that the coming of God’s kingdom (future) is perhaps closer than we think.

In today's gospel Jesus is confronted by the scribes and Pharisees because his disciples are not following the tradition of the elders. Instead they are eating with unclean hands.  Jesus instructs that evil comes from within a person.  So how can we be cleansed from this evil?  Listen as we explore external traditions and the mending of our hearts. 

We live in a world of choices. From the car we drive, to the cereal we eat; from the career we choose to the place we live we have choices. Very few of these choices, however, are life or death choices. Scripture tells us that faith is about a choice that does bear life and death consequences. First, God has chosen us. How do we respond? Do we chart the course of our daily living dedicated to the ways of death and division, the habits of the past, the way we have always done things? Or do we choose the God of life to shape us and our journey? As for me and my house…

In John’s gospel, one of the most challenging things Jesus says is that we must “eat his flesh and drink his blood.” What does this mean? Is it cannibalism? Is it a ghoulish take on the gentle Jesus we all know and love? It is about incarnation – the way in which God is manifest in Jesus Christ in flesh and blood. It is also about how Jesus becomes more deeply incarnate in each of us as we allow him to be the life blood that flows through our veins.

Elijah is tired – sick and tired. He’s fed up and beat down. He’s at the end of his rope and out of ideas. So, he sits under a broom tree and waits for death – that final rest. Instead, God gives him bread and all else he needs to go on. That is what Christ, the living bread, offers each of us – everything needed to sustain our hope when despair is all we can manage.