Welcome to Pastor Jack Buckley's weekly blog and podcast.
You have three ways to hear his weekly message:
- Read Pastor Jack's GODblog.
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Monday, March 26, 2007
When Is Worship Wrong?
Psalm 126; John 12:1-8
When can worship be wrong? I mean, if you believe in God, what could be the problem? Maybe it's a matter of method... or timing... or ignoring some other worthy act of faith. Like taking care of the poor, or feeding the hungry. That's what one of Jesus' disciples said in this week's Gospel story. Sounds good. Sounds like Jesus. But check out how he responded.
Listen to the GODcast!
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As a "man of the cloth" I am expected to be also a man of prayer.
So I'm happy enough when the request comes my way, "Pastor, would you lead us in a prayer?" After all, it's a major part of what I was hired for. Even when the invitation comes by surprise, I'm pleased to speak with God out loud on behalf of my companions.
But I have a problem with the whole idea of invocations at secular events.
No, I'm not talking about "civil religion" as some kind of spiritual counterfeit. As far as I'm concerned, it's a wonderful thing whenever and however people behave as if God is real and really present in the midst of this material world.
And I'm not very upset when the crowd expects that Jesus' name will be politely avoided. Even so, I'd definitely prefer for a Jew to be allowed to pray her own way, and a Buddhist his, for any faith tradition to use its own vocabulary. That way we'd accept and affirm each other with integrity -- instead of apprehension that some soul's sensibilities might be accidentally bruised.
What bothers me most about public invocations is the tendency to address them to the assembled multitude, instead of to God on their behalf. Such disguised speeches can amount to spiritual abuse of a captive audience. Give me a good nonsectarian inspirational "thought for the day" any day.
Like...
+"There is only one real deprivation, I decided this morning, and that is not to be able to give one's gifts to those one loves most." May Sarton
+"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart." St. Francis of Assisi
+"I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it." Dwight D. Eisenhower
+"I wake up in the morning asking myself what can I do today, how can I help the world today." Julia Butterfly Hill
+"Laughter is carbonated holiness." Anne Lamott
+"If the only prayer you say in your whole life is thank you, that would suffice." Meister Eckhart
By the way, that last one ties right in with the theme of this week's sermon. Okay, that was a little bit sneaky. But if you haven't already done so, check it out on the GODcast now.
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P.S. I found those selected "thoughts for the day" one day at a time, thanks to Brother David Steindl-Rast's Gratefulness.org Web site. Pay them a visit when you can. You'll come away blessed. Or your money back. I guarantee it!
posted by Jack Buckley at
11:30 AM
Monday, March 19, 2007
Come Home Soon
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
It's one of the most familiar stories in the entire Bible. Artists naturally love it for all its dramatic pathos. Evangelists, too, for pretty much the same reason. A prison chaplain once said he seriously considered posting a sign on the back wall of his chapel, for every visiting minister to see: "PLEASE, do NOT preach on the Prodigal Son!" His literally captive audience didn't need anybody to remind them of their bottomed-out plight. Least of all someone who would stroll back out into a life of middle-class comfort once the hour was up.
So familiar, this story. So universal with its archetypal markers of family dynamics. Such a pure and simple parable of God's unconditional love
And so, to keep my hearers with me, I needed to find some fresh way of retelling Jesus' story about one dad with two completely opposite kinds of son. Or were they?
Listen to the GODcast!
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posted by Jack Buckley at
3:34 PM
Monday, March 12, 2007
Not Just Yet, Lord!
Psalm 63:1-8; Luke 13:1-9
Jesus' situation in this week's Gospel story is kind of a cross between a Billy Graham rally and a press conference. He's interrupted in mid-sentence by an off-the-wall reference to the latest headline news. Without missing a beat, he answers the question with grace and poise. Then he uses it nicely to advance his prepared message.
But I had the hardest time tracking all that he said and composing a decent sermon about it. In fact, on Sunday morning I had to tell the congregation I still wasn't ready yet. Then I asked them to come along with my improvisation to see where we would end up.
They kindly agreed, and off we started. Where did we get to? And what did we learn along the way?
Listen to the GODcast!
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My friend Raphael, whose critical post-surgery condition I mentioned last week, has come through the worst of it and will be in rehabilitation for the next few weeks. If you prayed for him, thank you!
His dire straits on life support for several days after a routine heart surgery was the kind of bad experience that can leave the best of us asking, "Why me? Why now? What did I do to deserve this?"
Such questions come not from the head but from the gut. Most people nowadays would say life's joys and concerns come to us randomly, like storm clouds or sunny skies. You can trace patterns of cause and effect, sure; but whether your city gets hit by a hurricane, or your body reacts critically to anasthesia, has nothing to do with punishment.
But in a crisis, we easily default to acting as if retributive justice is the nature of things after all.
It's the old syllogism...
Righteousness is rewarded; wickedness is punished; therefore, if you suffer it must be because you've done something wrong.
Or, Somebody Up There is misbehaving, punishing you without a just cause.
Suppose, though, that it's more like Jesus says in Luke 13:8...
He's telling a story about a fig tree that hasn't borne fruit for three years, prompting the owner of the vineyard it's planted in to call for it to be cut down once and for all. It's just stealing nutrients from the vines around it, producing nothing in return.
Jesus says the hired hand asks for one more year to cultivate the tree. "I'll water it, pull weeds, and fertilize it with manure. If that still doesn't make it fruitful, next year you can cut it down."
Imagine, the hired hand gives the landlord permission! This is all the more startling when you consider that Jesus' parables are about God, the ultimate Landlord and Owner of the whole wide world.
But if the hired hand is Jesus, God's Servant who works to fulfill God's will, then this story means he's doing everything he can to help us become everything God wants us to be. And how does he do that?
Among other things, with fertilizer. Manure.
Now, be honest. Do you ever feel that things are crappy? Like, "Why me? Why now? What did I do to deserve this?!"
"I don't need this crap," you say.
But maybe God whispers, right there in the midst of your extremity, "Yes! Right now you really do need this. To make your heart and mind and life more fertile for my purposes. To produce in you the fruit of righteousness. To bless you and make you a blessing."
It's not about punishment. But it's all about God bringing something good out of even the worst circumstances.
I'm so glad Jesus prays for us in all circumstances, "Not just yet! Let's try this one more time." Even with fertilizer.
posted by Jack Buckley at
4:37 PM
Monday, March 05, 2007
All Due Disrespect
Psalm 27:1-14; Luke 13:31-35
Jesus led his disciples through one town after another, pressing on towards Jerusalem for a showdown with his religious opponents. How surprising, then, that this week's Gospel story has some of his most stubborn opponents tipping him off to coming danger. They were Pharisees, members of a sect committed to obeying God's laws at all cost. And they believed Jesus' teachings would make people all too happy to break those laws. They heard him say, "Love God and love people... the rest is commentary," and envisioned a slippery ethical slope that led to spiritual disaster.
But here they are, warning that King Herod is out to get Jesus if and when he gets to Jerusalem. His answer is quick and wicked: "Tell that fox Herod...." That fox!? The king!? Them's fighting words, Jesus!
Put yourself in his disciples' sandals... "Hoo boy, now we're really in for it." "I can hardly wait to walk into Jerusalem now." "What in heaven's name is he thinking?!?"
What, indeed.
Listen to the GODblog!
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I have a friend in a critical care unit right now, just barely conscious four long days after open heart surgery. The surgeon assured him the procedure was no big deal anymore and he'd come through it just fine -- at least that's the way for 90% or so patients. My friend is number 91, I guess.
I have another friend who started thrice-daily home dialysis a few weeks ago. He's had some incredibly painful side-effects, all predictable and (one hopes) treatable. Lately, he writes a lot of poems about mortality.
I have another friend who's halfway through his second year of dealing with metastasized prostate cancer. The doctor who diagnosed his disease predicted at the time that he would likely live about two more years.
I have another Friend whose death was guaranteed the day he called the king a worthless rascal. My friend Jesus had no respect for King Herod, and refused to be scared off by his threats if he ever set foot in the royal city. Facing his coming fate, he made sure that everyone who heard him out would come to terms with their own sure death.
Luke tells us (chapter 13, verses 24-25) that God's door of opportunity in this life is swinging shut, so we'd better do everything we can to find it and get through it while there's time.
He warns against two deadly mistakes:
1. Don't assume there's a miles-wide gateway into God's good graces. Unlike Rome, all roads do not lead to Heaven. Jesus discourages the spiritual smorgasbord approach to faith. "It seems good to me..." "One sincere idea's as good as another..." "Who's to say..." There's one door, and it's narrow. Opening that door cost Christ his very life; entering it costs you and me our lives, too. They're God's property!
2. Don't assume there's years of time for getting right with God. Each morning, when your eyes open from sleep, you can be sure of one more day in which to live, and maybe to die. Jesus warns us to make sure now that we get in on all God's promises before our time runs out.
The bad news in Luke 13 is that Jesus' hearers that day could find themselves locked out. The good news there is that other people could hear the invitation and gather from all points of the compass to accept it.
That's a prophecy about, among others, this all-American mongrel Jack getting in on the promises of a Jewish Messiah. And millions more like me all around the world and down through the centuries. Yay God! Amazing grace.
The friends I've mentioned have the ironic advantage of knowing how close to home their death has come. They're counting down through every day and night. So they assume nothing about much of anything these days. And they come to terms with -- well, everything that's ultimately important.
Truth be told, you and I have no more guarantee than these good people that we'll see next year, next week, or tomorrow. We too are wise to assume nothing. And to come to terms. Today.
posted by Jack Buckley at
4:08 PM
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