It's Sunday. But I Didn't Go to Church

It is Sunday. I did not go to church for services. Why not? There are several reasons. They may not seem like good ones, but they are mine. Here they are in no particular order:

• I am extremely tired of male/patriarchal language when speaking of God. (I believe that God is BOTH male and female. If you happen to believe or just like God being called, "He", I am fine with that, but please realize that not everyone feels the same way. Use inclusive language when speaking in public about God.)
• I like diverse ways of worship, not the same thing every. single. Sunday. (I realize that some folks LIKE services that never change - I'm just not one of them.) Mix things up a bit. Full stompin', Holy Spirit infused, speaking in tongues, yellin', hands waving and clapping, enthusiastic, EMOTIONAL worship, would really get my juices flowing. A poetry service, gospel, drama, just ANYTHING that shows a little ingenuity about worship. 
• Show some EMOTION during worship. Most services are almost completely devoid of intense, sincere, authentic, genuine emotion of any kind. How about some laughter (and I mean REAL laughter), tears, joy, happiness? Is that really too hard to plan and execute worship services that have all of or at least some of those things? I have attended a handful of services in my life that have those things, and I felt so good afterwards. And NONE of those emotions need come with shaming, hateful or damaging words. 
• And speaking of words, if a faith community is going to be following the words and teachings of Jesus, then there is no room for hate, shame or anger toward anyone. God made everyone, so God loves everyone. Period. Jesus didn't talk about hate or people that today we think of as sinful. His words were: "Love others as I have loved you." There is too much hating going on in religion, no matter the denomination or beliefs. People are using the Bible as a vehicle to justify the hate (read: fear) they hold in their hearts toward others. This cannot be tolerated or encouraged. IT is an abomination to hate anyone. 
• Music. Now, I am all for the old hymns, Bach or classical music in church. (Of course the old hymns either should be gender inclusive or re-worded so that they are), but a steady diet of that makes me feel as if I'm stuck in a time warp. How about some jazz, blues, rock, gospel, folk or praise? Why not REALLY mix it up with a little of each? I really like diverse kinds of music when I listen to music on my own and I think that would be fantastic in a church service.
• Let's have some good, thought provoking, burn-the-barn preaching. Yeah, that emotion thing again. Preaching from the heart always beats any other kind in my book. I realize that some really like intellectual, higher thinking kind of stuff, but frankly it leaves me cold. Touch me in some way. Give me something to think about all week. If you, as a preacher, have your hair on fire about something, PREACH it!! If, by the end of the "sermon", and by that I mean, whatever message is to be conveyed in whatever form, the preacher is exhausted, that is a good thing. Don't always have the message done as a sermon. Use other forms to get that message across - drama, poetry, story, 2 or 3 people involved. MIX IT UP.
• And finally,  be friendly to whomever shows up on your doorstep. No, I don't mean just say hello. I mean GENUINE friendliness. Show some warmth. Ask about me, don't just talk about yourself. Introduce me to another person. Introduce me to the entire congregation (without embarrassing me), find out why I am there and maybe even why I might stay. (Or might not.) Follow up. Don't ignore some people, and be friendly to others. Invite me to something that the congregation is doing. Have plenty of things that the people, who make up the faith community, are doing that I can be invited to join. Make me feel welcome and loved. Then I WILL be back. 

Does that make sense to anyone else but me? I'm beginning to think that I am the only one who feels this way. 

Mary Magdalene: Lost in the Jesus Narrative

Today is July 22, the feast day of Mary Magdalene. She was an important person in the Jesus movement, but nearly got lost when "The Boys" started to feel threatened by her.  By that, I mean that she was a leader within the movement, but when the Church started to take control of the Jesus narrative, she began to fade into the mist. That was exactly what they wanted. She had become very powerful. Women were not to have any kind of leadership in the Church and they had to be subjugated.  After all, they could create life and that creative force was a threat to all the men who dreamed of complete rule in every aspect of faith and life. Indeed, they tried to force women to become the meek, unstable, manipulated, cowering in fear beings that were the so-called ideal, but many females just pretended to act like that. Though, of course, some women believed that that was their role in life, many women did not. The Feminine went underground. Deep underground. But, live, it did. Today, that creative life force is beginning to really show its muscle: the nuns of the Catholic Church is only one example. Most women today, take for granted that they can work outside the home, hold political office, be faith community leaders, earn more money than men (though often they don't, even in the same jobs), marry or not, who they wish (though if it's another woman, not likely), live as a single mother head of household, have credit apart from husbands, make choices regarding giving birth, etc. I could go on, but all of these things were not a part of my growing up years. My daughter today knows nothing different. Let us take today to dedicate ourselves to furthering the power of womanhood. We have come a great distance, but there is much further to go to achieve women's fullest potential.

So, how do we know that Mary Magdalene got lost? First, we know almost nothing about her. There are only fragments of her existence in the Gospels, basically our only source of information. There are other, non-canonical gospels that talk about her, the best known is the Gospel of Mary. The Gospel of Thomas tells a narrative about the relationship between her and Jesus. You can read it and figure out what it was. I am of the opinion that she and Jesus were married. The Wedding at Cana may well be a story about Jesus' wedding, instead of someone elses. Based on the Gospel of Mary, we can surmise that she was a leader in the Jesus Movement. Though this information may not be totally accurate, again, you can make up your own mind. For me, it indicates that she was a leader. In many of the authentic letters of Paul, other women are portrayed as leaders of their faith communities. Later this was a major cause of concern to the male Church leaders. But at the time, this was not considered a problem. In the Gospels, on Easter morning, she is consistently the first one at the tomb and discovers something quite unusual. In the Orthodox Christian Church's tradition, she is named the Apostle to the Apostles. To me that says it all. I hold her in great esteem among those that followed Jesus.

The Boys in Rome

I've been thinking a lot lately about the conflagration that has recently surfaced regarding the conduct of American nuns in the Catholic Church. I've been trying to figure out how to write this without sounding as if I don't like Catholics. That is not what I mean. I do have issues with the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Now, I'm sure you know that I'm not Catholic, so all of my viewpoints come from the perspective of someone who is outside, looking in.

It seems that the boys in Rome are objecting to a group of womyn who have opinions of their own, can make decisions and are following Jesus' teaching. The rest of the world doesn't see anything wrong with that. But the Catholic church has a problem with all of it. One of the major criticisms is that they are caring for the poor and hungry and not getting all upset with same-sex marriage and abortions. In fact some of the nuns actually care for people who are gay and have had abortions.  Why is this such a point of contention? What century are they living in? Obviously, the nuns are living in the 21st century and the boys in Rome are stuck back in the Dark Ages. It was called that for a reason. To me, it proves what I have thought for a long time - that the Roman Catholic Church cannot handle being in the modern age, where people are accepted just for who they are and the teachings of Jesus are taken seriously. Remember what Jesus said? "Love others as I have loved you. Love your neighbor as yourself" Yeah, those teachings. Oh, and, "Take care of the least of these." That means the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the ones on the fringe of society. THOSE people. If you are going to call yourself a Jesus following or a Christian, those are the kinds of things that one must do. The nuns are doing that, but their church is rebuking them because they aren't paying any attention to the social issues that the (male) bishops have decided need to be addressed, and that are very much out of step with the rest of society. The boys in Rome just nailed the their coffin shut. They have no relevancy in today's world and it is no wonder that their churches are loosing members rapidly.

One of the most controversial topics that nuns in the United States has been talking about and exploring is the ordination of womyn to the Roman Catholic priesthood. The boys in Rome won't have any of that kind of talk. That is is blasphemous and heretical. The problem is that scholarship and archaeology have made their viewpoints on womyn in the priesthood obsolete. It is well documented, both in the Bible and in non-canonical literature that womyn were very active in the ministry, both when Jesus was alive and after his crucifixion..There have been archaeological sites that have uncovered the names of womyn as leaders of churches in the Middle East.  Many of the very earliest people involved in establishing churches were womyn. Up until the fourth century (and even perhaps later in some parts of the world) womyn were priests, bishops and they were also married. Yes, clergy was married, both men and womyn. It is historical fact that womyn were priests and that can't be swept under the rug anymore.

The other interesting fact is that the Church organization that is rebuking the American nuns is the Office of the Doctrine of the Faith. That used to be called the Inquisition. How ironic it is that this is the Office in the Roman Catholic Church that would censure American nuns. For several years this Office has been running an "inquiry" into the womyn who serve the Church here in the U.S.A. In case the boys in Rome didn't get the memo: In the United States there is freedom of religion, the right to think differently about many things including religion, politics and government. Not everyone is going to think exactly like you do. That includes those who are devoted followers of the Roman Catholic Church.

Easter

I have issues with Easter. I don't believe that Jesus bodily rose from the grave. I don't believe that he walked the earth as a human being before ascending to "heaven". I believe that his "resurrection" was not what many Christians believe happened. So, there is a reason I was hesitant to write about Easter. It makes me uncomfortable. But I do have a few (probably heretical) ideas about what might of happened.

I think that Jesus was seen "in spirit". What people saw was a full bodied apparition. I have seen one of those and I believe it was entirely possible that he appeared to his followers in that form. Jesus' soul or spirit was what was walking on earth, not his body.  It was Jesus' ghost that was being seen. And yes, ghosts can "speak", though its not in the same way a live human can speak. I believe that Jesus had a very strong, vibrant soul and it would have survived his crucifixion. I also believe that since his death was so traumatic that his soul stayed on earth for awhile and eventually it went to the light which is God.

That is not say some kind of resurrection didn't happen. It just wasn't a bodily resurrection. When Jesus' soul left his body and later ascended to God, he wouldn't have taken his bones with him. They (the bones) would have been laid in a family tomb for a year - the flesh would have disintegrated - and then a gathering of family and friends would have put the bones that were left in an ossuary (bone box). It would have been then put into a niche inside the family tomb and it would have lain there for centuries. Or perhaps it's still laying somewhere. What I just described was the way that most Jews were buried in the first century C. E. (Common Era). Though most people who were crucified were just left on the cross after they died, Jesus probably was taken down, because some of his followers were either in the priest class in Judaism or were Roman citizens.

Now we get to how it was that Mary Magdalene was the first one at the tomb after three days (well, actually more like 2 1/2). The people who prepared the bodies for burial in the tombs were the immediate family of the deceased. Women were usually the ones to do the preparation, because they didn't have to worry about being ritually unclean. In Judaism, touching a dead body made one unclean. One would have to go through a specific set of rituals to cleanse oneself, so they were no longer unclean. So, the women of the family would have gone back to the tomb to wash, anoint, and wrap the body in a clean linen cloth. In some of the Gospels there are a group of women who go to the tomb to do that, in others there's just one. But, you must remember it has to be members of the family. There is always one woman mentioned in all the Gospels who is there: Mary Magdalene. But why would she be there? She's not a member of his family. There is only one explanation for who she really was - Jesus' wife. The wife was a member of the immediate family of the one who had died. Wait a minute - it doesn't say in the Gospels that Jesus was married. Yes, that is true. That information could have been in there, but later taken out when it was decided that Jesus was celibate. Non-canonical gospels hinted at their relationship, but it was never spelled out. But only family members prepared the body, so otherwise why would she have been there?

It is always hard to describe what happened to Jesus after he was crucified, but I hope I have given you some food for thought.

Good Friday

So what is 'good' about Good Friday? Are we any better off than we were on Thursday? What is the purpose of Good Friday in Jesus' life? Let me answer the last question first - it is the last day of Jesus' life and some extraordinary things happen. First he is arrested, talks to Pontius Pilate, one of the bloodiest prefects of Judea. He was recalled to Rome a few years after Jesus' crucifixion because he seemed to really enjoy killing people. And this directive coming from one of the bloodiest Empires ever on the face of the earth. Then Jesus is flogged. Flogging in Roman times meant that a leather rope that has several "arms" on it is tied all together. At the end of each of these arms is a piece of metal. Finally he has to carry the cross beam that he will be tied to or nailed to (depending on which Biblical scholar you read) through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. There Jesus is hoisted up onto the stake in the ground and left to die. He dies in a matter of hours, rather than days, which apparently most people had to endure who were crucified. So he has died and is carried to a newly carved out tomb and laid to rest there, but without the usual burial customs because it is nearly sundown and Passover is about to begin.

Are we better off than on Thursday? I don't know. But we have to go through Good Friday in order to get to Easter. We have to acknowledge that we are mortal and we will die someday. Not a really pleasant thought for most people. But it is a part of life. Death happens to everyone, i.e. that we have all experienced the death of a loved one or a good friend. Sometimes death isn't necessarily personal, but we feel its pangs nonetheless, if it happens to someone that we admire. So it is a big part of every one's life. It is a sad part of life, but we know that, for those on this side of the veil of death, we always have the memories of good times together and sometimes through thick and thin and the love that we gave and received in that relationship. None of these things ever die. As hard as it may be to live without someone, we do have to move on and keep on living our life.

Now, why is it called "Good" Friday? It seems that in English, it is the only "Good Friday".  In German it is Sorrowful or Mourning Friday and in other traditions Holy Friday. But it could have come from having  been originally called, "God's Friday".  That being the day when God took back one of his/her own. It eventually evolved into being called, "Good Friday".

So the point of this day appears to be this: that in order for us to have new life, we must discard the old one. We must lose something in order to fully regain it, but in a new way.

Maundy Thursday

The Thursday before Easter is called Maundy Thursday because Jesus told his followers of a mandate (in Latin it is mandatum) - something they HAD to do: Love one another. How simple is that? Okay, so lets take that mandate into contemporary life - love your noisy-in-the-wee-hours-in-the-morning neighbor; love your uncle who thinks that cracking jokes about people of color and/or sexual orientation different from his are funny; love the political commentator who loudly talks about some idea you think is absolutely crazy; love the person who cuts in front of you on the highway in rush hour traffic and you have to slam on your brakes and come within inches of rear-ending them; love the little old lady who seems so sweet, but elbows you out of the way so she can snap up the last bag of dark chocolate M&M's. Do you see what I mean? I could go on. But these are just a few examples of people we are supposed to love, but we are having a hard time figuring out how.

This was also the night that Jesus instituted communion by breaking bread and drinking a sip of wine (or grape juice depending on one's tradition). It was during a Jewish Passover Seder that he did these things in front of his followers, disciples, friends and family. Yes, I think that the Last Supper had more than just men in attendance. Jesus' family, friends and followers of both sexes were there. Children were probably running around and making a lot of noise. It was like any friends and family celebration that any of us have attended. There was plenty of food, good conversation and drink. It was nothing out of the ordinary, except that it was extraordinary. Jesus probably had a suspicion that he might be arrested and possibly crucified. He had to have known that his teachings were so radical that the Roman occupiers had taken notice. He talked of a kingdom (or realm) that wasn't about Caesar and Rome.

The most striking teaching that Jesus talked about was his mandate to love one another. If we follow Jesus or call ourselves Christian, then we have to follow that mandate. It seems that some people who profess to be Christians have a hard time following it. Fear gets in their way. People who have a different religion, lifestyle, sexual orientation, food habits or believe in things they don't understand are "the Others". People who are different from them are automatically categorized as fear-factors. How sad. It doesn't take much to begin to understand someone else if you just take the time, but for them, fear gets in the way. Basically, Jesus' message is, "don't let fear get in your way, just accept people who are different from you and find common ground." You would think that that would be easy, but for some it isn't.

And let us not forget that Jesus did not set out to found a new religion. He was trying to reform or influence Judaism - the religion he was born into, lived on a daily basis and was crucified for. He was a good Jewish boy, period. He felt very strongly about the beliefs he had been taught since he was a baby. Passover this year begins at sun down on Friday, April 6, 2012.  That is also the day Jesus followers commemorate the day he was crucified - Good Friday. It is good to remember that Jesus was always an Other.

Palm Sunday and Moving Into Holy Week

I would suppose that most people don't know that there was another triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, other than Jesus on what became Palm Sunday. It was a contingent of the Imperial Roman army who had marched from Ceasarea on the Mediterranean. A bit of a hike, you could say. They would be patrolling Jerusalem during the days leading up to Passover. The Romans did not want those Jews getting too unruly. There were enormous numbers of Jews in the city to celebrate Passover. It is one of the most important holy days in Judaism, that of liberation from slavery  under the Pharaoh in Egypt. The celebration reminded the Jewish people that they were again under a foreign powers' authority. For the Romans it all made them very nervous. The priests serving in the Temple were nervous, too. They didn't want to have any trouble from their own people. It would upset the delicate balance of power they had with the Roman occupiers . So when Jesus came into Jerusalem riding a donkey, as was told by the Prophet Zachariah, and the people were waving palms and singing, "Hosanna", the priests knew they were most likely going to have to do something. When Jesus went up to the Temple in the heart of Jerusalem to teach, early in the week, the priests were surreptitiously listening to him. There were key words that they dreaded to hear, "kingdom" or "realm" being one of them. There was only one "king" or ruler: Cesaer. And there was only one kingdom or realm: Rome. Any deviation from that, would mean that the priests would have to explain to Rome what Jesus was talking about. They didn't want to have to do that. There was only one way to deal with this problem, but it had to be done carefully. They would have to wait for the right moment. Meanwhile, they were cultivating their inside contacts to see when they could take care of this "problem".