Oppression and Education

I recently returned from Haiti - once again. Without counting on my fingers I would say that this was my 14^th trip to Haiti since the year 2000.

Needless to say, I always arrive home relieved to be an American citizen, and with many new insights into the stress and turmoil of being a resident of Haiti.

Never before, however, have I understood, with the eyes and ears of my heart, the meaning of what living in a world of total and absolute oppression really means to those who must endure the weight of no help and no hope day after day and year after year.

Never before have I understood the absolute and utter impossibility of getting anywhere in such a world of oppression without the grace of God and without a partner in the arduous journey of raising oneself up and out of the dungeon of hopelessness.

Never before have I understood the power of education – all sorts of education - for those who have no education.

It matters little what brought about my epiphany this past week. What matters is that I do something about it – that I bring such an epiphany to others who are called to work with our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

What matters is education for the men, women and children of Haiti. Don’t ever underestimate its power, and your need to partner in providing it.

A Word of God

Sermon

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

All Saints Sunday 2013 

Ephesians 1:11-23 – Luke 6:20-31

This fall some of us here at St. Paul’s embarked on a journey called, “Mystics.” We wanted to learn more about those who claim to have experience God within themselves – those who have become beacons of faith by shedding the light of Christ and the God within them upon the world.

Our journey started last spring when I asked Chip if he would support my teaching a class on one or two of the more famous mystics. He said, enthusiastically, “Yes. I think that’s a great idea!” In discussing a possible curriculum, we spoke about focusing on Teresa of Avila, or perhaps Julian of Norwich. Nothing too heavy – just a bit of late summer fun. With Chip’s blessing in hand, I moved forward in planning for an early September start date.

Enter my best friend, Amazon.com. A quick search of the mystic’s section brought me to a book entitled “Mystics,” by William Harmless. Brother Harmless is a member of the Society of Jesus and Professor of Theology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

The overview and reviews of the book intrigued me; and, of course, I ordered it; and, as is usual with Amazon, the book was delivered within a few days.

After eagerly skimming through the Introduction and a couple of chapters, I knew that our Mystics class was going to look a lot different than a bit of late summer fun. It was going to be a good, old-fashioned seminar that introduced us to the scholarly study of mysticism. Harmless’ skillful presentation of his subject matter would take us on a journey through the lives and thoughts of eight path-breaking religious practitioners who claim to have experienced the infinite, word-defying Mystery that is God.

Before going too much further, let’s be clear about what mystics and mysticism are NOT. Simply put, mystics are not otherworldly, dreamy-eyed figures who gaze into crystal balls and hear heavenly voices. No similarity to Barbara Eden in “I Dream of Jeannie.” Not in the least!

Actually, most mystics have been hard-nosed, practical, well-educated and highly respected scholars and theologians. People like Thomas Merton, Hildegard of Bingen, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Saint Bonaventure, who is ranked, along with Thomas Aquinas, as the greatest of the Doctors of the church and one of the greatest philosophers of the Middle Ages.

Historically speaking, mysticism is a direct and ineffable experience of God – an experience that occurs within the depths of our soul and for which there are no words; and, a mystic is a person who has had such a direct experience. A mystic is one whose religion and life are centered, not merely on accepted belief or practice, but on that which he, or she, regards as first-hand personal knowledge of God.

Mysticism is no isolated vision, no furtive glimpse of reality, but a complete system of life. To use Evagrius Ponticus’ words, mysticism is “the ascent of the mind to God.” And, a mystical text is a religious text that describes a profound contemplative and experiential knowledge of God.

Thomas Merton writes of mysticism as “a response to a call from him who has no voice, and yet Who speaks in everything that is, and most of all, speaks in the depths of our being: for we ourselves are words of his…I myself am a word spoken by God,” said Merton.

Bernard of Clairvaux believed that the, “The long winding road back to God is about recovering our ‘likeness’ to God.” This “likeness” is, according to Bernard what “marries the soul to the Word… and shows that our soul wants to be like him by loving as it is loved.”

Meister Eckhart believed that God is constantly spilling over into us. We are recipients of a continual out-flow of God’s love that dwells within in us. Eckhart believed that we are all the same and that our sameness comes from God’s sameness in us. What mattered to Eckhart was that we live our lives out of that union with God, because the way we live our lives points everyone and everything back to the source [God] from which it poured forth.

Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians addresses the turmoil that invades the community of Ephesus. Paul warned the community of a demonic turmoil that invades our thoughts and intrudes into our way of being; a demonic turmoil that diverts our love from those around us to ourselves; a demonic turmoil that comes between us and our sacred “oneness” with God.

Paul assures his Ephesian brothers and sisters that Christ has been given power over these demonic forces, and that, through God’s graces, we are freed from their invading and intruding forces. Paul writes that God has a previously hidden plan for the salvation of humankind – the gift of His Son, Jesus. Paul insists that the Church is called to recognize Christ as its Lord and exemplar, and to embody and act upon its exalted status as a spirit-filled community that brings the power and presence of God to the world. The church has the mandate and the authority to re-establish God’s sovereignty over creation and the perfection of the church as the body of Christ.

Paul writes, “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”

In light of Paul’s words and the writings of Thomas Merton, Bernard of Clairvaux, Meister Eckhart and so many others, the beatitudes in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount spring to life in a vibrant and exciting invitation to enter into the love-filled Kingdom of God both in the here and now and forever.

“Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the Kingdom of God; blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled; blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh; blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven…”

God’s Kingdom is our kingdom. Praying without ceasing, the eyes of our hearts will be enlightened; we will experience the outpouring of God’s love. With the hope that springs from His abundant love, we will be overcome with joy and filled with peace; a peace that passes all understanding. Having entered the love-filled Kingdom of God we will no longer be isolated, left out, alone and living in fear and anxiety. We will be among all God’s saints, both living and dead, who dwell in the House of the Lord – God’s Kingdom both here and beyond.

All Saints Day is most certainly a day of sadness and remembrance - A day on which we solemnly honor those brothers and sisters who have departed this life. However, it is also a day on which we can rejoice and leap for joy as we acknowledge and experience the outpouring of God’s grace and love that fills our lives each and every moment of our lives.

We too can be – indeed God intends us to be – among the saints who live and move and have their being as children of God.

Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians is not only a letter assuring this fledgling Christian community about the gifts that God’s love and grace bestow upon us – that would not be like Paul at all - to merely tell us the Good News. Absolutely not – not Paul. Paul moves from reminding us of our blessings to instructing us in the use of these blessings. Characteristic of Paul, he gives us our marching orders when he writes,

“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” (Eph 4:11-16)

My friends, we are truly blessed with the continual outpouring of God’s love – we are His saints. And on this day honoring All Saints, let us open the eyes of our hearts, pray without ceasing, and allow our hearts, minds, and our souls to ascend to God. Let us truly experience the love and the peace that passes all understanding. Let us, as all the saints who have gone before us, shine the light of Christ and the eternal love of God to the world around us. Let us be what our Father intended us to be – a Word of God.