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Welcome to OneLife Ministries. This site is designed to lead you prayerfully into a heart experience of Divine Presence, Who is Love. While it focuses on Christian teaching, I pray persons of varied faiths will find inspiration here. Indeed, "God" can be whatever image helps us trust in the Sacred, by whatever means Grace touches us each. Please share this ministry with others, and I hope you return soon. There is a new offering daily. And to be placed on the daily OneLife email list, to request notifications of new writings or submit prayer requests, write to barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
Blessings,
Rev Dr Brian K Wilcox, MDiv, MFT, PhD
Pastor-Teacher, Author, Workshop Leader, Spiritual Counselor, Chaplain
Brian encourages support of the 4-Star Christian organization Compassion, which supports children worldwide; for more see www.compassion.com .
OPENING PRAYER
Dear Jesus, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others.
*Daily Prayer of Mother Teresa. See www.americancatholic.org .
LISTENING TO THE SCRIPTURE
23You Pharisees and [religious] teachers are show-offs [hypocrites], and you're in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your garden, such as mint, dill, and cumin. Yet you neglect the more important matters of the Law [religious teaching], such as justice, mercy [or, graciousness], and faithfulness. These are the important things you should have done, though you should not have left the others undone either.
*Matthew 23.23 (CEV)
RECEIVING SACRED TEACHING
In the book The Shack, by William P. Young, the Holy Spirit, called Sarayu, is giving Mackenzie a lesson on the lake, as they ride in a small boat.
"Mackenzie!" she chided, her words flowing with affection. "The Bible doesn't teach you to follow rules. It is a picture of Jesus. While words may tell you what God is like and even what he may want from you,you cannot do any of it on your own. Life and living is in him and in no other. My goodness, you didn't think you could live the righteousness of God on your own, did you?"
Well, I thought so, sorta..." he said sheepishly. "But you gotta admit, rules and principles are simpler than relationships."
"It is true that relationships are a whole lot messier than rules, but rules will never give you answers to the deep questions of the heart and they will never love you."
Dipping his hand in the water, he played, watching the patterns his movements made. "I'm realizing how few answers I have...to anything. You know, you've turned me upside down or inside out or something."
"Mackenzie, religion is about having the right answers, and some of their answers are right. But I am about the process that takes you to the living answer and once you get to him, he will change you from the inside. There are a lot of smart people who are able to say a lot of right things from their brain because they have been told what the right answers are, but they don't know me at all. So really, how can their answers be right even if they are right, if you understand my drift?" She smiled at her pun. "So even though they might be right, they are still wrong."
"I understand what you're saying. I did that for years after seminary. I had the right answers, sometimes, but I didn't know you. This weekend, sharing life with you has been far more illuminating than any of those answers." They continued to move lazily with a current.
* * *
In our Scripture today, the Gospel of Matthew addresses the new spiritual-social order Jesus sought to begin. Our verse is among seven [a number for completion] woes on religious leaders.
Woes three and four look at the religious leaders focusing on minor matters, and neglecting the more important. You could say they were missing the big picture. They were caught in little dramas and missing the big story of what life with God and others - indeed, all creation - is about.
Like the Roman empire, leaders had taken on a form of community life defined by oppression - even if subtle, even if they used religion to justify it. They were leaders of a religio-social-communal system defined by a dominating hierarchy, politically and economically exploitative of the laity.
Jesus focuses on the minuteness of attention to ascetic detail by the leaders. In our vernacular, we could read: "You are sure to tithe ten percent of your gross income, down to the penny, but you are unjust, ungracious, and disloyal."
Jesus does not disagree with their tithing - a ritual. But he focuses on their religio-social exploitation in the area of human relationships - social holiness. He says, "When it comes to the church thing, you run a grand show, but when it comes to the common people - the laity-, you are domineering, uncaring, and greedy."
* * *
The religious leaders might make an A on a theology exam, or a test on church growth. But they would score badly on empathy toward the common people - the laity - they were meant to be spiritual leaders for. Contrast Jesus...
10A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest. 11I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep. 12Hired workers are not like the shepherd. They don't own the sheep, and when they see a wolf coming, they run off and leave the sheep. Then the wolf attacks and scatters the flock. 13Hired workers run away because they don't care about the sheep.
14I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. 15Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep.
*John 10.10-15 (CEV)
This contrasts Jesus with some so-called spiritual leaders. There are "thieves" - out to use the laity - take from the flock - for personal gain. There are "hirelings" - to get paid for duties done, but not willing to stick it out when the sheep need them the most - when under attack, from within or without.
But Jesus? A true shepherd - the Shepherd. He says, "I really know God, I don't just know about Him or talk the religious talk. And I really love my sheep, and I would rather die for them than see them die. I will give myself for them."
Is it possible that much "spiritual" leadership is little more than managing a group to goals that "prove" success to the denomination and group itself - without forming a true, spiritual communion, exemplified by the sacrificial giving of the self-oblation of the Pastor? Is it possible that in some - maybe, many - instances, to be a Pastor with "success," means little more than being a how-to-make-friends-and-influence-people salesperson? This is not the essence of spiritual leadership, Jesus leadership, even if it does let one climb the ladder of the denominational staircase.
Now, at the core of all this, among leaders and people, is to know God and love God above all - meaning to love all in God, too. Jesus served out of his intimacy with the One He called Father: [T]he Father knows me; I know the Father."
* * *
The religio-social system the leaders "led" reflected their characters and "fed" themselves. See, self-serving systems perpetuate themselves by relying on things like: withholding key information, keeping power in the hands of a few, making the abuse of power appear the will of God, imputation of guilt and shaming, supporting the fear of the common people that it cannot survive without the exploitative "over-parent" and allegiance to the tradition - even if the allegiance is irrational.
Many persons have an irrational allegiance to their particular religious or political tradition. They will sacrifice persons for the system, thinking allegiance to the whole justifies supporting injustice toward a minority, or even one. This omission is how exploitative systems continue - not due to the power of the leadership, but the omission of laziness in the area of justice among the common people.
* * *
So, let us connect all this - if possible. We will try by returning to our opening story. Mackenzie has been more comfortable with rules. He has seen faith, church, family, friendship, nation, God, ... primarily through the lens of what things ought to be done - rules one should keep. Sarayu does not say, "Hey! MacKenzie, there are no things that ought to be done. Forget the rules, my boy!" No, Sarayu is saying, "Rules do not define relationship, with others or God."
What defines a relationship, then, with others or God? Well, just look at the word relationship? What do you get? - the process of relating together, sharing as one.
According to Jesus, righteousness is a relational process, and this he learned from his Jewish faith. He knew a relationship cannot fit into a rule book. And every relationship, like every person, is a mystery.
There is no final edition relationship book, test, or system, or ... for a relationship with God, with anyone. There is a mystery built into community, and everyone in that community. Honoring that makes the community a holy communion. In this, we keep discovering each other in God, not merely in ourselves as a collection of personalities.
This inmost self is beyond the kind of experience which says "I want," "I love," "I know," "I feel." It has its own way of knowing, loving, and experiencing which is a divine way and not [only] a human one, a way of identity, of union, of "espousal," in which there is no longer a separate psychological individuality drawing all good and truth toward itself, and thus loving and knowing for itself. Lover and Beloved are "one spirit."
*Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation.
* * *
Jesus addresses three qualities without which no relationship survives vitally - even if it continues to exist. Now, a marriage, for example, might survive on paper without these, but it will not have any soul, any core, to it. A church might keep its doors open, but it will be a religious, social, or both, group, but it will not be a communion. A friendship might appear intact without these three things, but it will be an empty shell of what it once was. A nation might call itself under God, but it will be un-godly.
* * *
The gospel selection sums up what Jesus is saying that will lead to the misfortune of the leaders and their religio-social structures, in verse 24 (CEV):
You blind leaders! You strain out a small fly but swallow a camel.
This refers to the practice of straining, in which the strainer would not let pass through objects. Jesus says, "You keep that little fly out of your food but, then, you sit and gulp down a huge camel." This means, again, you are so precise in attending to certain religious matters you see as important, but in this you miss what is so much more important - you do some things not essential, you forget to engage in what is essential.
* * *
Hypocrisy is not, as some think, a matter of always taking our religion, or spirituality, with an intentional slight of hand. Rather, hypocrisy can be an ingrained character of attending very well to nonessential religious matters, while neglecting uncompromisable relationship matters.
The Gospel, for example, makes this latter very clear in teaching on forgiveness. This appears to be a case when you or I have unjustly hurt another person in the faith communion, not simply a need to run out to appease or get right with anyone who gets ruffled at us - if that were the case, we might never get to leave our offering at the altar...
23So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God.
*Matthew 5.23-24 (CEV)
Then, note what the Epistle of John says about loving being central to the Christian life and a true church:
19We love because God loved us first. 20But if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see? 21The commandment that God has given us is: "Love God and love each other!"
*I John 4.19-20 (CEV)
But, what does it mean to love, in the way of Jesus? Jesus gives one answer in our Matthew scripture - always place a priority on being fair, being gracious, and being loyal. Indeed, these three qualities will mark any relationship as Christ-like.
No, I am not saying we get this perfectly. I am not saying turn this into another rule. I am saying, "The intent and effort to act in this way is the Christian way." If we intend and give effort, Spirit will help us along the way to be more the persons we are to be with others and God.
QUIETLY RESPONDING
Take the qualities of righteousness Jesus speaks of in the Matthew text and reflect on what each one means, not only generally, but in your present relationships.
Blessings!
Rev Dr Brian K Wilcox
May 26, 2009
barukhattah@embarqmail.com
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*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian K. Wilcox, of SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis. Brian is an ecumenical spiritual leader, open to how Christ manifests in the diversity of Christian denominations and varied religious-spiritual traditions. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at barukhattah@embarqmail.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.
*Contact the above email to book Brian for Spiritual Direction, retreats, or workshops. You can order his book An Ache for Union at major book dealers.
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