Readings for Sunday, April 22, 2012Readings for Sunday, April 22, 2012

Presented by staff and friends of

Sunshine CathedralSunshine CathedralMetropolitan Community Church

affiliated with the Center for Progressive Christianity Ft Lauderdale, Florida, USA

Rev. Dr. Robert Griffin

Sunshine Cathedral Chief Programming Minister

Rev. Dr. Durrell WatkinsSenior Pastor Sunshine Cathedral

Rev. Dr. Mona WestDirector, Office of Formation and Leadership DevelopmentMetropolitan Community Churches

Rev. BK HipsherVirtual Chaplain Sunshine Cathedral

Director of Sunshine Cathedral in Second Life

Rev. Tania Guzman Minister of Congregational Life

April 23: Cesar Chavez (1927-1993)—Farmworker.

Raised in a family of Mexican-American migrant workers, Chavez transformed a local labor struggle into a moral cause that challenged the conscience of the nation. He was committed to absolute nonviolence, and was supported by many religious leaders. Inspired by a priest who gave him a passion for justice, and a community activist who taught him how to organize, he became the driving force in founding the United Farmworkers Union.

April 25: St. Mark the Evangelist—Evangelist.

The writer of the oldest gospel in our canon. Mark’s gospel was written around 70 CE.

April 27: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) –

American essayist, philosopher, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century. His teachings directly influenced the growing New Thought movement of the mid 1800s.

April 28: Oskar Schindler (1908-1974)“Righteous Gentile.”

Here is an example of a person who is remembered not for being holy (living a religious or virtuous life), but rather for being used by God in doing something holy. Schindler was a German industrialist who made a fortune on the labor of Jews in his factory. Although raised as a Catholic, he was not religious. For reasons which have never been clear, and at great personal risk, he used his power and influence to save the lives of 1,100 men, women, and children during WW2. At the end of the war he was impoverished. Today he is buried in Jerusalem at Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial) among the “Righteous Gentiles.”

The Wisdom of Matthew Fox

“Beauty saves. Beauty heals. Beauty motivates. Beauty unites. Beauty returns us to our origins, and here lies the ultimate act of saving, of healing, of overcoming dualism.”

Acts 3.16

“[After a man was healed, Peter said] By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.”

Luke 24.36b-39, 41-43

Jesus…stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see… 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.

Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins ~ Biblical Reflection

“Peter…addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this [healing miracle of making someone who could not walk, walk again], or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of…our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you…’ Peter said, ‘By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.’” Acts 3.12-14, 16

So, when Peter says, “By faith in the name of Jesus this man [was cured],” he’s doing a couple of things.

1. He is insisting that Jesus is still relevant (remember, Luke is writing sometime between 85 and 120, decades after Jesus’ execution and even some time after the destruction of the Jerusalem). “Luke” is imagining the time right after Jesus’ death, but is writing much, much later to a community that had probably been formed largely by people who had never known Jesus or his first followers personally.

Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins ~ Biblical Reflection

2. This is being written after the Jewish Rebellion against Rome (66 CE – 70 CE) and after Rome responded with great force, putting down the rebellion and destroying the city and its’ Temple (70 CE). 2 to 5 decades later, the writer of the Acts of the Apostles, the sequel to the Gospel of Luke, tries to distance his community from the“disloyal” subjects of 66-70.

Luke has Peter blame his fellow Jewish practitioners (“You Israelites…handed Jesus over to Pilate…and asked to have a murderer given to you”). This is a great revision of history. Amy-Jill Levine (New Testament bible scholar and practitioner of Orthodox Judaism) reminds us that Pilate was in charge of Jesus’ fate. He was not a wimpy bureaucrat who would have just handed over a revolutionary who was to be executed for sedition against the empire just because a rowdy crowd asked him to! Levine also points out that there is no record beyond of the gospels of any such tradition having ever existed (releasing a condemned person at Passover).

But rather than blaming Pilate, Luke has Peter blame the “Israelites” for Jesus’ predicament; perhaps to suggest to the Empire that “’we’ are no longer trouble makers, we don’t even blame you for the terrible things you’ve done. Some of our own people made you do those terrible things; so, maybe, now you won’t need to be so rough with us anymore???”

Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins ~ Biblical Reflection

This “blaming the Israelites” message has been used within Christianityto promote anti-Semitism, while at the same time it refutes any notion of Jesus choosing to die or God ordaining him to die as a human-sacrifice to appease divine wrath.

In this story, Jesus is a victim of “the Israelites,” making it inconsistent with atonement theories and rewriting history (the Israelites didn’t have the authority, means, or influence to crucify or have anyone crucified…that was Roman punishment for subjects who were not Roman citizens…Pilate is the bad guy even though Luke goes to great lengths to shift the blame from Pilot to those victimized by Roman Imperial rule).

So, Luke is trying to throw Roman authorities off by implying that the movement has no hard feelings toward the Empire, and at the same time, is trying to make the case that the movement that is continuing to operate in Jesus’ name, that is, trying to continue the ministry that Jesus lived and died for, is still spiritually powerful, relevant, and meaningful.

Luke is still our author for the gospel reading, and in that reading he continues to make the case that Jesus (and what he stood for) can be experienced in community, sharing, and table fellowship.

Rev. Dr. Kharma Amos ~ Practically/Spiritually Speaking

•A Word About Healing

•The Role of Witnesses

Rev. Dr. Kharma Amos ~ Practically/Spiritually Speaking

“Salvation begins with the courage of witnesses whose gaze is steady. Steady witnesses neither flee in horror to hide their eyes, nor console with sweet words, 'It isn't all that bad. Something good is intended by this.' Violence is illuminated by insistent exposure. Steady witnesses end the hidden life of violence by bringing it to public attention. They help to restore souls fragmented by violence. They accompany the journey to healing. Salvation requires love. Fainthearted love, idealized love, impatient love cannot walk in the valley of the shadow of death. Healing love touches the hidden wounds of violation, lances the places of stored trauma, restores glimpses of soul. The world offers too few such love and care.”

Rev. Dr. Kharma Amos ~ Practically/Spiritually Speaking

•Vulnerability and Authenticity

Rev. Dr. Kharma Amos ~ Practically/Spiritually Speaking

“When we reveal ourselves to our partner and find that this brings healing rather than harm, we make an important discovery — that intimate relationships can provide a sanctuary from the world of facades, a sacred space where we can be ourselves, as we are. … This kind of unmasking — speaking our truth, sharing our inner struggles, and revealing our raw edges — is sacred activity, which allows two souls to meet and touch more deeply.” John Welwood from Love and Awakening (as quoted in All About Love, by bell hooks) Resource: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown