JESUS, HOMEBOYS, LOAVES, AND FISHES

 Jesus Is My Homeboy - Loaves and Fishes - David LaChapelle

Homeboy: noun; Originally used among transplanted African-Americans with Southern roots to refer to and aid in the assimilation of someone who might have directly migrated from a common Southern home town or is otherwise well known to the person using the term.

The epitome of a friend. Somebody you kick it with. A person who always has your back. You can't go through life without a homeboy. It's hard to have more than one, because they're one in a million. (The Urban Dictionary)   The photo above is from the artist and photographer, David LaChapelle. Highly influenced by Michelangelo, as well as present-day artists, LaChapelle desires to make commentary on our interdependence with modern consumer society. His Homeboy series also includes a New York street scene of a prostitute's arrest with Jesus' intervention. Jesus in a tenement kitchen with a modern-dressed,  Mary Magdalene wiping Jesus' feet with her long blonde hair, a Sermon on the streets, Jesus showing the wounds of his hands to everyday persons in a bedroom scene and a Leo Da Vinci-esque Lords Supper with myriad persons of hip-hop culture gathered are other works which LaChapelle said in a 2008 interview for The Art Newspaper TV. " If Jesus were here today, he said, he would be hanging out with the street people and the marginalized:  the poor, the homeless, prostitutes, drug dealers, gangsters, and so on.  And more than that, these people would have been his closest and most faithful band of followers." In our lectionary lesson for this Sunday from the book of Matthew, verses 14:13-21, when the disciples say that the people of the crowd are hungry Jesus tells his disciples to feed them. What is their response?  In the light of a wealthy, consumer oriented society as exemplified in LaChapelle's rendition how does the miracle of the loaves and fishes speak to persons, Materially? Spiritually? How do we participate in the miracle today? Matthew 14:13-21 14:13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14:14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 14:15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." 14:16 Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." 14:17 They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." 14:18 And he said, "Bring them here to me." 14:19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 14:20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 14:21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Walter Morton for Journey Across the Line

THE ROAD TO WISDOM

 Like art, wisdom is hard to pin down, but people generally recognize it when they encounter it. Psychologists pretty much agree it involves an integration of knowledge, experience, and deep understanding that incorporates tolerance for the uncertainties of life as well as its ups and downs. There's an awareness of how things play out over time, and it confers a sense of balance.
Wise people generally share an optimism that life's problems can be solved and experience a certain amount of calm in facing difficult decisions. Intelligence—if only anyone could figure out exactly what it is—may be necessary for wisdom, but it definitely isn't sufficient; an ability to see the big picture, a sense of proportion, and considerable introspection also contribute to its development. (Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/wisdom).

Praying for Wisdom:
I don't necessarily know why, but as a child I chose to pray for wisdom more than any other request from God. Of course when I became a teen, I was praying about every thing, just trying to figure out my way. The problem in asking for the intangibles of character is you can't see them until they are applied in context. So just as when we ask for patience, God uses our experiences to flesh out its presence in our lives, so too, wisdom appears as one of those character traits that become evident only when the situation calls for its expression.

Distance Learning:
I have received wisdom by observing others in situations and crises. This was particularly true being much younger than my brother and sister. I was able to see how they handled problems. And then I could reflect on whether in like circumstance I might approach such in the same manner or different. Vicarious learning is great and convenient, someone else stumbles and you get to participate in distance learning

The Wisdom of Experience:
But the greatest way to build wisdom for me has been through the personally lived experiences that God has provided for me in my daily experience. God has given me plenty of opportunities where I might gain wisdom from my mistakes. More than I believe I really needed perhaps. Probably one of the most fundamental characteristics of wisdom for me has been the "agnostic" approach. I am not using this term in the sense of not knowing whether there is a God or not. But agnostic in its generic sense which means "I am not informed regarding something or someone." So the process of learning about life is not so much a gathering of facts and making "wise" decisions, but the ability to sometimes say, "I don't know." That's my first step on the road to Wisdom.

What was Solomon's first step?
What is yours?   


 1 Kings 3:5-12
3:5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you."

3:6 And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.

3:7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.

3:8 And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted.

3:9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?"

3:10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.

3:11 God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,

3:12 I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.

Walter MOrton for Journey Across the Line.

JACOB'S ZIGGURAT

Jacobs Ladder, Cameron Park, Waco, TX

Jacob's Ladder: When I was growing up in Waco, Texas, my friends and I often played in Cameron Park. This was an 1100 acre area of winding roads, trees, forest, riverbanks, and trails, with limestone cliffs rising hundreds of feet above the flowing Brazos River. It had been granted to the city of Waco years before by the Cameron family, a wealthy landowner from the early days in central Texas. It was truly an amazing place to adventure as a kid. One of the roads meandered up from the river through the wooded areas until it arrived at the top of the cliffs at a place called "lover's leap," where young lovers had once,  according to legend, plunged to the lime rock of the river below.

In one of the cliffs set back from the bank, steps had been laid, climbing steep and vertical from the riverbed skyward to the cliff top, each step was quite a stretch, especially for a kid. Stripped wood branches ascended along each side of the rough stairwell, known to all as "Jacob's Ladder." I cannot begin to recall how many times I traversed Jacob's but every time the story of Jacob's Ladder came up in Sunday school my mind was always reminded of that limestone ladder.

Escalara a la Luna / Georgia Okeeffe  1958

 Jacobs Dream: During the late 1950's in America there was a lot of dreaming about traveling into space or having aliens visit us, at least in films of the day. We eventually made it to the moon. But in 1958 it was still a dream, much like Georgia O'Keeffe'a rendering of "Escalara a la Luna." I appreciate the ladder which lingers above the earth but below the moon. Not quite connected to either. A vision of what may or can be in our lives, in our world.

Traditionally as I have thought about Jacob's dream I have thought about it in its metaphorical connection to reality. There are angels ascending and descending, those messengers of God and his will. We have always attempted to build some sort of bridge between the temporal and the eternal, in art, song, poem, and even as seen in the architecture of the ancient Mesopotamian plains.

US 82nd Airborne descends Ziggurat at Ur in modern Iraq

 

Home of the god: Ziggurats (Akkadian ziqqurat, "to build on a raised area") were massive structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels. Built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians  for local religions, each ziggurat was part of a temple complex which included other buildings.

The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods and each city had its own patron god. Only priests were permitted on the ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and it was their responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their needs. The priests were very powerful members of Sumerian society. The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. In fact, the ziggurat at Babylon was known as Etemenankia or "House of the Platform between Heaven and Earth". (Wikipedia)

In our lesson from the lectionary for today, we get a glimpse of heaven through the dream of Jacob at a place referred to as Luz. After his dream encounter, Jacob renames the place Bethel (place or house of God.) How does Jacob's encounter with the Holy change the relationship.between the patriarch and God in the context of his times? What does that mean for us today?

Genesis 28:10-19a
28:10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.

28:11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.

28:12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

28:13 And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring;

28:14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.

28:15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

28:16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!"

28:17 And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

28:18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.

28:19a He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

Walter Morton for Journey Across the Line

 

SOWING THE WORLD ONE PERSON AT A TIME

Tree of Life

The early religious movement in Palestine that was the seed of the Christian faith, would face many trials. Not only from Roman and fellow Jewish antagonists, but also from internal struggles of the disciples themselves. There were times when the disciples fell away through their own fear and denial of what was to come. These two examples show how conflict and threat can come from both external and internal struggles.

Just as the early Christian faith struggled, we too. as individuals, struggle in our lives. The parable of the sower in today's lesson from Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, illustrates Jesus' awareness of what living life is truly like."Listen, a sower went out to sow..." the story begins. Just as simply as that, like our own lives, we set about a task of living through simple deeds, we think. But it's the struggles that make them complicated. We come to find that the simple "nouns" of our lives need the addition of "adjectives" coming alongside to bolster our deeds. We are emotional creations and desire the use of adjectives to give our daily deeds Spiritual meaning.

Jesus speaks of soil, water, sun, thistles, roots, birds and other things that the seed needs or struggles against. Speaking for our own lives and its development, what do we need simply to grow and how do we handle the conflicts that are an inevitable part of the complexity of living the faith?  

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.

13:2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.

13:3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow.

13:4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.

13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.

13:6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.

13:7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

13:8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

13:9 Let anyone with ears listen!"

13:18 "Hear then the parable of the sower.

13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.

13:20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

13:21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.

13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.

13:23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Walter Morton for Journey Across the Line